If this site seems to spend most of its time being angry at the SNP these days, that’s because we are. And a large part of that is because there’s very little that hacks us off more than people insulting our intelligence.
Smith’s tweet is just a crassly offensive flat-out lie. This week’s vote is NOT about “EU membership”. The United Kingdom hasn’t been a member of the EU since 31 January. We’ve already left and there’s no going back. The vote is about whether we leave with a sliver of a trade deal slightly reducing the self-inflicted harm, or the total catastrophe of no deal at all, and it’s just crushingly embarrassing for all concerned that Smith thinks so little of his own supporters as to believe he can “frame” it otherwise.
We’ve just received the most extraordinary Freedom Of Information response from the Scottish Government, readers. Trust us, you want to go and make yourselves a strong cup of tea before you read it. Or get this guy to bring you one.
We’re grumpy this morning, readers, because it’s Sunday and we were planning a long lie and then someone told us about this. It’s the First Minister appearing on the Sophy Ridge show on Sky News at around 8.45am and you need to see it.
In news that will come as a shock to absolutely no readers at all, McDougall wasn’t just lying, and wasn’t just wrong about one thing, but was both wrong and lying about pretty much everything he said.
Both of the Yes camp’s “scare stories” which were sneeringly mocked by McDougall during a BBC debate in Inverness actually came true – the Tories DID win the next election, and Johnson DID end up as leader of the party and then as Prime Minister.
(McDougall burst into tears at Scottish Labour HQ on the night of the 2015 election as his party lost 40 of its 41 seats despite his services as Jim Murphy’s speechwriter and adviser, his powers of chortling seemingly having deserted him.)
The Daily Record today carries a piece by Scottish Labour MPs Ian Murray and Martin Whitfield (no, us either) bitterly attacking their leadership over the Euro election results.
The two men complain that Jeremy Corbyn and Richard Leonard won’t listen to them, and insist that the party must “heed the people” if it ever wants to wield power again.
So it’s a bit ironic that they won’t take their own advice.
Wings Over Scotland isn’t the only website dedicated to scrutinising the truthfulness of things claimed by politicians and media pundits. There’s the widely-respected and diligent FullFact.org, there’s Scotland’s own The Ferret, and there’s the BBC’s Reality Check (which frequently takes the more unconventional approach of, er, not making a finding either way about what the reality of things is).
And then there’s Channel 4’s FactCheck, which we’re going to generously assume had a liquid lunch yesterday and was a little under the weather.
Because not only is the conclusion that it reached on the subject of an independent Scotland having to use the Euro utter nonsense that’s been debunked roughly 1000 times in the last six years, it doesn’t even agree with itself.
Michael Glackin of the Sunday Times is the only serious contender to the Scotsman’s demented Brian Wilson as the most poisonously, blindly instinctive hater of anything even passingly connected to the SNP or independence in the Scottish media. His weekly bilious rants in the paper make even Scottish Daily Express hacks wince and say “Blimey, that’s a bit strong”.
But even by those standards, this week’s column is quite something. So let’s take a little look at just how much of an idiot you can make of yourself if you never allow facts to get in the way of your rage.
The extremely sharp and perceptive New Statesman writer Stephen Bush buries some of his political insight in a daily email newsletter (because, we assume, his fax machine doesn’t work, you can’t send telegrams any more and London flats don’t have enough room to keep a lot of messenger pigeons or let you send smoke signals).
And it’s a lot easier just to quote you a chunk of today’s than it is to rewrite the same observations into a new article ourselves.
Nicola Sturgeon attended a meeting of the SNP NEC yesterday.
Or maybe she didn’t.
One of these people/publications, inescapably, is flat-out lying to their readers about the event in question. Given the Scottish media’s ingrained habit of lying about pretty much everything almost all of the time, we honestly wouldn’t like to hazard a guess as to which one of them it was.
Hatey McHateface on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “Sorry Alf. Common sense tells me that even if you accept the existence of the Coloniser (with one set of…” May 27, 20:00
Hatey McHateface on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “Be honest now, Marie. Wouldn’t you be better for shedding a few pounds? If you don’t want to entertain any…” May 27, 19:39
sarah on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “I am really surprised at that response from ISP. I’ve read and thought over the MforI and cannot see anything…” May 27, 19:26
duncanio on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “twathater I have supported SSRG, Salvo and Liberation since inception, having attended the Edinburgh Proclamation gathering on 1st September 2022…” May 27, 19:13
Alf Baird on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “We cannot treat “the colonial question…as a subsidiary part of some more important global matter” (Robin D. G. Kelley). And…” May 27, 18:47
twathater on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “I agree with you Sarah regarding Roddy and Peter Bell, duncanio criticises Liberate for having no publicly clear immediate route…” May 27, 18:25
Dave G on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “I’m glad you even manage to see a “Brit” identity. It is now routine to walk down High Street or…” May 27, 18:18
Aidan on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “Yes, that was the motivation behind the blue sea rule. The legal principles on decolonisation and NSGT’s were agreed by…” May 27, 17:42
duncanio on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “Sarah – We don’t have the luxury of time. Every time there is an election it could be the last…” May 27, 17:33
Xaracen on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “But, Aidan, how can the ‘blue water’ requirement be “fundamental” when you made it clear to me that its purpose…” May 27, 17:04
James Cheyne on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “I have been squinting quickly through, Textual Amendments to “Scotland union with England” Acts House of Lords ( privileges Committee…” May 27, 16:43
Northcode on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “Hello, Sam. Good to know you’re still about this place. “We are much the same genetic material now as in…” May 27, 16:21
sarah on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “That is indeed interesting about the party whip system. I’d love to see their candidate win.” May 27, 16:14
sarah on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “@ duncanio at 11.23 p.m. and twathater at 03.33. Thank you, twathater for correctly pointing out my motivation for supporting…” May 27, 16:12
Northcode on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: ““Towards decolonization and then liberation.” Indeed, Alf. The third and final phase of Scotland’s decolonization has begun there’s no doubt…” May 27, 16:04
Kelpie on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “I live in Hamilton so we have people canvassing and leaf-letting for the by-election next week. I’ve never had so…” May 27, 16:01
James Barr Gardner on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “Wallonia has the right of veto in Belgian Federal decisions, it’s population of 3.7 million is 31.4% of Belgium……..” May 27, 15:32
Breastplate on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “Yes, John, you’re correct, it is something you eat, particularly in Scotland. What the English call rolls, tend to be…” May 27, 14:25
Alf Baird on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “A soond analysis Robert. Yer deid richt, thar’s faur too mony jubous poleetical assumotions in this piece. Poetry theory is…” May 27, 14:10
sam on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “Hello again Northcode. Genetic studies of the Scots identify how little change there has been within Scots. We are much…” May 27, 13:55
Hatey McHateface on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “It’s defo interesting you don’t believe in viruses, Billy. Back in the early decades of the last century, the inhabitants…” May 27, 13:11
Lorn on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “Spot on, Susan. In order to do that, we need to create new and sustainable industries across the board, and,…” May 27, 12:44
Lorn on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “It is true, twathater, that our politicians have gone out of their way to penalize women who do not work…” May 27, 12:37
Billy Carlin on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “Hatey McHateface Oh Dear! One of those who do not want to use their own brains. First off there was…” May 27, 12:32
James Cheyne on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “The down fall and hollowing out of Scotland and changing its ethic population and culture were dilberate actions talen, The…” May 27, 12:30
Hatey McHateface on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “@ Billy Carlin says:27 May, 2025 at 11:31 am So what you’re saying is that we don’t actually need Indy…” May 27, 12:25
Aidan on What Are We, And Where Are We Going?: “I won’t be aghast, the failure to even address the fundamental ‘blue water’ requirement just continues to show that this…” May 27, 12:23
