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Wings Over Scotland



But not yet, Lord 131

Posted on November 27, 2022 by

The SNP have been all over the place since Wednesday’s judgement of the Supreme Court. Astonishingly, the party hadn’t prepared an agreed line in the event of the Court ruling against it, with the result that various party figures had popped up with all sorts of different versions of what a supposed plebiscite election would mean.

The closest things to an “official” position were when the SNP’s Policy Development Convener Toni Giugliano, and former Glasgow city councillor and Nicola Sturgeon’s mouthpiece Mhairi Hunter (who’d dismissed the whole idea of a plebiscite election as “impossible” earlier this year), both suggested that a victory in a plebiscite general election would simply amount to another mandate to demand a Section 30 order.

The party’s Depute Leader Keith Brown, on the other hand, had claimed that winning such an election would produce independence by itself. But lest any Yes supporters get over-excited, on TV this afternoon Brown declared that the matter would have to wait at least a couple of years.

Why? Because apparently the SNP can’t be bothered with the paperwork.

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Progress update 1,173

Posted on April 13, 2022 by

In slightly over a month from now, Nicola Sturgeon will overtake Alex Salmond as the longest-serving First Minister of Scotland. It seemed a reasonable time to take stock.

It’s very nearly six years since the Sunday Herald headline above from 1 May 2016. (Remember the Sunday Herald, readers? It feels like another lifetime, doesn’t it?)

April/early May is very often the period leading up to an election, which is when the SNP traditionally ramp up the carrot-dangling about independence to secure the votes of the faithful for yet another “cast-iron mandate”, so it’s not a bad barometer. Let’s see how far we’ve come.

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    • Willie on The Party Of The Dead: “Ah Hatey, you raise a point. Number 10 North. The relocation of Nr 10 function to Manchester. Its a strange…Aug 11, 10:41
    • Chas on The Party Of The Dead: “‘Case in point in the Carse of Gowrie at the moment. 2000 acres of prime farmland (next to the biggest…Aug 11, 10:31
    • Captain Caveman on The Party Of The Dead: ““According to Andy Wightman” Explains a lot.Aug 11, 10:26
    • sam on The Party Of The Dead: “Large estates in Scotland historically have not been good for the Scottish people on them. According to Andy Wightman “83%…Aug 11, 10:20
    • Hatey McHateface on The Party Of The Dead: “Now you’re just boasting about the better class of rammie you enjoy in your hoose. We’re traditionalists. “Ach, shite!” delivered…Aug 11, 10:19
    • Captain Caveman on The Party Of The Dead: “Sam seems to be telling us “there are some land owners who aren’t 100% perfect” in 30,000 (cut and pasted)…Aug 11, 10:02
    • Minceheid on The Party Of The Dead: “Hatey McHateface says: 11 August, 2026 at 8:13 am Short and to the point, MH. But couldn’t you have phrased…Aug 11, 10:01
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    • Hatey McHateface on The Party Of The Dead: “From Robin McAlpine’s latest: “independence is our ‘product’ and the current available specifications of our product are rubbish, filled with…Aug 11, 09:34
    • Hatey McHateface on The Party Of The Dead: “He and his what?Aug 11, 09:23
    • Hatey McHateface on The Party Of The Dead: “If everybody competes in a letter box, then what’s the problem? Demographics tells us that’s what will happen eventually. So…Aug 11, 08:54
    • Hatey McHateface on The Party Of The Dead: “An interesting thread. I await with interest sam linking to a study proving that immigrant ethnic minorities are greatly under-represented…Aug 11, 08:45
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    • Hatey McHateface on The Party Of The Dead: “Short and to the point, MH. But couldn’t you have phrased it in Scots? For the True Sovereign Scots reading…Aug 11, 08:13
    • Aidan on The Party Of The Dead: ““Local government is also heavily influenced by large landowners in the area, seen as major sources of income and employment”…Aug 11, 07:53
    • Oneliner on The Party Of The Dead: “There is no common wealth. It’s in either London or The Cayman Islands. Why promote the myth?Aug 11, 06:51
    • sam on The Party Of The Dead: “https://www.thelandmagazine.org.uk/articles/who-owns-land-matters “Who Owns The Land Matters The Scottish Land Commission has found through extensive research that having a system dominated…Aug 11, 06:46
    • sam on The Party Of The Dead: “https://www.thelandmagazine.org.uk/articles/who-owns-land-matters “Much environmental work on such land is then paid for by the government, land rights campaigner Peter Peacock points…Aug 11, 06:38
    • sam on The Party Of The Dead: “https://www.thelandmagazine.org.uk/articles/who-owns-land-matters “Interviews from back in 2021 with enthusiastic representatives of Savills and Knight Frank show what is going on: We…Aug 11, 06:31
    • Young Lochinvar on The Party Of The Dead: “Anniversary today of the 1460 crowning of James III in Kelso Abbey. Not regarded as the best monarch he however…Aug 10, 23:28
    • Young Lochinvar on The Party Of The Dead: “Dan I agree we should be doing everything towards reaching zero reliance on importing agricultural production from elsewhere except where…Aug 10, 22:33
    • Young Lochinvar on The Party Of The Dead: “AX Don’t watch it myself but the argument could be made for such camera angles to see which female athletes…Aug 10, 21:59
    • Young Lochinvar on The Party Of The Dead: “HMcH Fash not so Hatey! A bit of a civil servant sore point over-reaction from you there. 🙂 I don’t…Aug 10, 21:53
    • Dan on The Party Of The Dead: “Chas there, showing what a pathetic twat he is in trying to get one over on somebody, and responding to…Aug 10, 21:46
    • agentx on The Party Of The Dead: ““New guidelines for broadcasters on using more respectful camera angles when covering live athletics events have been implemented for the…Aug 10, 21:24
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    • diabloandco on The Party Of The Dead: “And it was very bitty , though I acknowledge they tried.Aug 10, 20:50
    • Anthem on The Party Of The Dead: “Woop de doo, I’m sure that got maximum viewing across the rest of the UK.Aug 10, 20:40
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