Barely 18 months after this, here’s East Lothian Labour councillor Norman Hampshire (centre) and pals campaigning today with the aid of their new best friend.
As the story collapses and investigations begin into a cut-and-dried case of unlawful civil service interference in politics (and possibly worse), may they reap what they sow. If the current polls come true, never will a party’s fall have been more abject or more complete, nor its fate more richly deserved.
This is quite something. It took 15 hours into “MemoGate” before anyone got a Scottish Government representative on air – even though they’d found time to get quotes from Willie Rennie, who isn’t the leader of a Westminster party and whose party isn’t even involved in the story. When they did, here’s what happened.
Readers can form their own opinions about the interview. But at the very end of the piece the BBC’s James Cook says “this memo does exist”. It may do, but we’re not sure what his current grounds for that statement are.
To the best of our knowledge nobody is claiming to have seen it personally except the Telegraph. The Foreign Office have denied all knowledge of any memo, the Scotland Office apparently refuses to comment, and we have no idea who allegedly wrote it.
Cook has already made, then rowed back on, some rather questionable statements in the last 24 hours. Viewers may feel it might be better if he just stuck to the facts.
That clip (from just past midnight on the BBC News channel) isn’t a bad starting-point summary of last night’s extraordinary story, except by our count the Telegraph’s piece was fourth-hand rather than third-hand.
(First-hand would have been Nicola Sturgeon. Second-hand would have been the ambassador. Third-hand would have been the consul-general. The civil servant – who doubted the story him/herself – is fourth-hand.)
This is also a pretty good primer. Now let’s get to the fun stuff.
Sheesh. We pop out for a couple of hours to feed the Wings Emergency Kitten and we get back to find that it’s the UK press that’s barfed up hairballs all over its front pages.
And the contradictory cross-vortex coverlines aren’t even the mad bit.
Willie on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Sanction Starmer, sanction Britain. Surely not. The UK is in a special relationship with the USA. Great Britain is a…” Jan 9, 19:49
sarah on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “O/T but a very good piece of information. Alert readers will remember how Joanna Cherry won an important constitutional case…” Jan 9, 19:06
100%Yes on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Anna Paulina Luna, a US Republican congresswoman and ally of Donald Trump, warned she would bring forward legislation to “sanction…” Jan 9, 17:44
Scot Finlayson on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Europe needs to wake up. Too long expecting USA to protect them and have gone soft. Make Europe Great Again.…” Jan 9, 16:49
Chas on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “It used to be mince from 300 years ago. We are now going back 800 years for FFS. Do you…” Jan 9, 16:40
Young Lochinvar on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “H McH @ 9.53 We are in rare agreement. I revert to my original “beef” then, the fact this site…” Jan 9, 16:00
Alf Baird on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““English speech which is harsh tae the ear and is mair thick gruel than sweet liquid.” Aye Northcode, Englis aye…” Jan 9, 15:56
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “GEORGE STEINER: LANGUAGE AND SILENCE (Essays 1958-1966) « Languages are living organisms. Infinitely complex, but organisms nevertheless. They have in…” Jan 9, 14:51
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “They’re having an exciting day of rest in Tehran. Looks like the experts who wrote off the Domino Theory may…” Jan 9, 14:41
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “It’s taken you a while to get there 100% Yes. Not a few people said at the time that the…” Jan 9, 14:31
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Homer will speak Gaelic just as soon as Matt Groening decides he does. Perhaps in a scene involving Willie the…” Jan 9, 14:24
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “All parties pass their failures on to the next failing manager that does not actually manage until they achieve the…” Jan 9, 14:19
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Snp are as shameful as those down south, no different no better. I saw the vacant glaiket look on Starmers…” Jan 9, 14:09
100%Yes on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “John Swinney not informed of US using Scottish airport in military operation. Why would John care he’s just the caretaker…” Jan 9, 13:49
100%Yes on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Traitors from the SNP membership to councilors, MPs, MSPs, Business for Scotland, Believe in Scotland, The National, and the scroungers…” Jan 9, 13:23
McDuff on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Yes you are tired, very very tired which explains the bilge you believe to be a remotely accurate post on…” Jan 9, 12:45
Northcode on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““…to an extent that English does not do.” Aye, if only mair than hauf a dozen fowk roond the wirld…” Jan 9, 12:38
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “The story and law of Treaties is such that they stand until they don’t Stand. When one half of a…” Jan 9, 12:21
TURABDIN on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Never trust a search assistant, on anything. The Ai trolls everything, including the non fact checked with which the internet…” Jan 9, 12:20
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “The treaty of York, 1237, It was agreed in that treaty that the laws of Scotland would not ever go…” Jan 9, 12:12
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “I have no hash with the people of England themselves in England, Wales or Ireland they are pretty much like…” Jan 9, 11:59
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “The following quote is from TRANSLATING HOMER, John MacLean’s foreword to his Gaelic translation of Homer’s Odyssey (ODUSSEIA HOMAIR, Gairm…” Jan 9, 11:46
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Looking over old records once again and come across and old treaty that Wales supposedly had with Llewelyn prince of…” Jan 9, 11:32
James Barr Gardner on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Meantime the BBC carry on with their insidious propaganda – today’s bit – Sir Peter William Mathieson FRCP FMedSci FRSE…” Jan 9, 10:57
100%Yes on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Phil, I voted for the creation of Holyrood. I was proud when it opened and then when the SNP became…” Jan 9, 10:45
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “% Yes, Indeed a coloniser by a different name is still a coloniser. When some one else set their code…” Jan 9, 10:39
Northcode on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““…very sweet and liquid tongue.” Wells could only have meant the braw Scots leid… certainly not Gaelic (although it does…” Jan 9, 10:18
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “A thousand curses on Wells for never clarifying what that strange, sweet and liquid tongue was. Could it have been…” Jan 9, 09:58
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “I thought everybody here already agreed the mature tree (the SNP) IS rotten deadwood. The sapling (LS or similar) will…” Jan 9, 09:53
