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Introducing… the Union Jocks 148

Posted on May 28, 2013 by

The No campaign makes for some unlikely bedfellows.

unionjocks2

We’d like you to meet our new favourite patriots.

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A reader writes 75

Posted on April 16, 2013 by

We were dismayed to hear this morning that the Scottish Parliament had wussed out on holding a debate on Margaret Thatcher’s legacy which had been scheduled for the day of her funeral (though not during it). But we were immediately cheered up again by this indirectly-related reader comment:

“By the way did I hear correctly that the funeral is supposed to have a Falklands theme? Would it therefore be bad taste to suggest putting Thatcher into a General Belgrano-shaped coffin and have it sunk into the grave by a hearse disguised as HMS Conqueror?”

Now THAT we’d pay money for.

But firstly 40

Posted on April 15, 2013 by

It’s Monday morning, so rather than have an “And finally…” tonight we thought we’d cheer you up ahead of the grimmest day of the week with a couple of completely genuine unPhotoshopped images from this morning’s BBC Breakfast.

thatcherkorea1

We’d love to imagine this was a satirical “accident”.

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Never the twain shall meet 46

Posted on March 27, 2013 by

A keen-eyed viewer alerts us to the alarming fact that the Herald appears to have been letting Magnus Gardham write its leader column with his crayons again:

eastlothian1

(Online version since fixed, print version preserved for posterity.)

Confused Unionist Of The Morning 244

Posted on March 25, 2013 by

tramtwat

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Opening your mouth and removing doubt 47

Posted on March 16, 2013 by

A couple of paragraphs in a Vince Cable story (to over-dignify the piece in question) from today’s Scotsman are quite amusing if you swap the order they come in.

“The first day I took up my job as the chief economist at Shell I was given a plaque which had an Arabic saying and when I pressed for a translation, they said ‘All those who claim to predict the future are lying, even if they are later proved right’.”

Righto.

“Business Secretary Vince Cable last night warned that an independent Scotland’s reliance on revenue from oil would result in savage public spending cuts or tax rises, as he addressed the Liberal Democrat Scottish conference.”

Oops!

Let’s twist again and again 77

Posted on March 13, 2013 by

Veteran readers of this site will know how hard it is to nail Scottish Labour down on a policy for just about anything. So when we suggested earlier today that the party DID have a (sort of) firm policy on something – namely calling on the Scottish Government to bring forward legislation to stop people being evicted over bedroom-tax arrears – we probably shouldn’t have been surprised to be contacted within minutes by a Scottish Labour press officer angrily insisting that it didn’t.

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Good morning, Unionists 46

Posted on February 21, 2013 by

This guy’s on your team. Congratulations on that.

farage1

(We’re particularly impressed by the attack on Nicola Sturgeon, just days after a poll found her to be the most popular politician in Scotland, and probably Britain. Genius.)

At the last Scottish Parliament election, UKIP secured 0.52% of the vote, a little over half the share achieved by the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party. We’re not sure why the press doesn’t give their leader, whoever it is, more front covers.

Ask Wings Over Scotland 31

Posted on February 16, 2013 by

We note with interest a letter in the Scotsman today:

“This debate about the word “separation” is annoying and a distraction from the real issues. I am waiting for some answers from the SNP about the potential shape of an independent Scotland. This is a waste of time.

J ADAMS
Harrison Gardens
Edinburgh”

We’re not in the SNP, Mr Adams, but we’re happy to help you out anyway.

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Better Together leaked posters #10 43

Posted on February 01, 2013 by

Seems to have been a small typesetting error on this one.

Better Together in the EU 159

Posted on January 23, 2013 by

We’ve got a bit of a dodgy Freeview picture this morning thanks to the weather, but we THINK this is what we just heard on the news from all the Tories (and others) who want the UK to leave the EU, but Scotland to stay in the UK.

Thanks to many alert viewers for sending in some we didn’t quite catch.

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Probably a coincidence 49

Posted on January 20, 2013 by

Alert readers might have noticed that this morning we tweeted a link to a post on the Facebook page of Labour For Independence. It was a retort to a sneering claim from Anas Sarwar that the group had “one or a maximum of two Labour members” and was in fact a front for the SNP, and it responded by printing a list of 13 named Labour Party members who were active in the group. One of them stood out a little.

Now, we have absolutely no idea if that Alex Foulkes is the same Alex Foulkes who’s the son of arch-Unionist peer and Nat-basher Lord George Foulkes. We’re sure there are lots of people called Alex Foulkes in the Scottish Labour Party. But given that Lady Judy Steel (the excellent wife of Sir David, another prominent No voice) came out for independence a while ago – prompting a slightly misjudged joke from Murdo Fraser last week – it’d be a moderately amusing development if it was.

After all, if the leading lights of the No campaign can’t even convince the closest members of their own family to back the UK, how the heavens are they going to be able to sell the ailing Union to the rest of Scotland?

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    • Hatey McHateface on The shifting sands of memory: ““after they clearly lost Indyref” Of course, Barbie, the Yes campaign won the Indy Referendum. The behaviour of the SNP…May 22, 21:05
    • Hatey McHateface on The shifting sands of memory: “The Romans were all gone from Britain, not just Scotland, by 410. The Scots started coming over from Ireland to…May 22, 20:39
    • Geri on The shifting sands of memory: “The massive fly in yer ointment is that the Union between Scotland & England wasn’t territorial. What Scotland entered the…May 22, 20:38
    • agent x on The shifting sands of memory: “Ah so Scotland is responsible for the evil British Empire. “The British Empire, at its peak, encompassed a vast network…May 22, 20:24
    • Anthem on The shifting sands of memory: “Fair point.May 22, 20:18
    • Scot Finlayson on The shifting sands of memory: “The English needed our soldiers to win themselves an Empire, the Scottish Highlander was known to be the greatest fighting…May 22, 20:06
    • Hatey McHateface on The shifting sands of memory: “Haud oan noo, Bob. The regulars on here don’t like “former states of the Soviet Union” “determining their own path”.…May 22, 19:34
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    • Marie on The shifting sands of memory: “Yep – merely crumbs off the table – kept to placate elite Scots in the day and used to hoodwink…May 22, 19:22
    • agent x on The shifting sands of memory: ““Did any of the above prevent the people of the Republic of Ireland determining their own path? I didn’t think…May 22, 19:18
    • James Jones on Just a couple more shots: “‘In law, people are either male or female.’ Also in real life, in nature. You can choose to play-act like…May 22, 19:04
    • Hatey McHateface on The shifting sands of memory: ““You have problems matey” Not as many or as serious as you have Barbie, if your post is anything to…May 22, 19:03
    • robertkknight on The shifting sands of memory: “Did any of the above prevent the people of the Republic of Ireland determining their own path? I didn’t think…May 22, 18:50
    • Aidan on The shifting sands of memory: “@Mia – there are many reasons why Scotland cannot qualify for NSGT status, but the most definitive one is the…May 22, 18:44
    • agent x on The shifting sands of memory: ““The Duchess of Rothesay officially named a new Royal Navy warship in Glasgow with a traditional statement – as she…May 22, 18:20
    • Mia on The shifting sands of memory: ““but this whole Salvo thing is a total dead end” If you are so convinced it is a dead end,…May 22, 18:08
    • James Cheyne on The shifting sands of memory: “Alf, Do you know if Salvo have copied the Statement by present Westminster parliament that a debate was held by…May 22, 18:01
    • Mia on The shifting sands of memory: ““In which case the people behind it will go silent on this particular initiative” Nonsense. There is absolute no reason…May 22, 17:53
    • agent x on The shifting sands of memory: “Can I just check something please? When Scotland decides to walk away from the Union on Monday morning will they…May 22, 17:34
    • Northcode on The shifting sands of memory: ““It does matter how it came about” I do believe you are correct, James. But how the last three centuries…May 22, 17:32
    • Aidan on The shifting sands of memory: “The hour is 17:04 and Geri has been on the Buckie (probably since 8am). Which despotic regime or famine-inflicted region…May 22, 17:29
    • Geri on The shifting sands of memory: ““A response has been received which says “thank you for your submission, this is not a matter within our remit…May 22, 17:04
    • James Cheyne on The shifting sands of memory: “Northcode. It does matter how it came about, due to the present monarch being the monarch of England and the…May 22, 16:59
    • James Cheyne on The shifting sands of memory: “Except the Scots did not merge, or become part of Westminsters Great Britain because Westminster state there was no treaty…May 22, 16:37
    • Aidan on The shifting sands of memory: “Yes, so here’s the thing, I think that either; a) no response has been received because this has gone into…May 22, 16:27
    • Northcode on The shifting sands of memory: “Here’s what I think. And because I’m not a lawyer I’m probably right. It doesn’t matter now if Scotland was…May 22, 16:21
    • James Cheyne on The shifting sands of memory: “Lorn, When Westminister state that Scots were not asked to join the treaty even although they were aware they should…May 22, 16:17
    • Andy Wiltshire on The shifting sands of memory: “I just love that film ‘Passport to Pimlico’.May 22, 16:09
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    • Steven Lannigan on The shifting sands of memory: “When the National & Westminster banks ‘merged’ they became the NatWest. Neither the National nor the Westminster exist anymore. Now…May 22, 15:50
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