Since the astonishing election of 56 SNP MPs to the UK Parliament last May, the Unionist media – suddenly deprived of a whole contacts book full of friendly Scottish Labour bench-warmers ready to feed it cosy stories over a boozy expenses lunch in Whitehall – has raked through every bin and gutter in the land looking for anything (however pathetic) that it can try to puff up, distort, and rope into service as “dirt” on each of the Nat members, in an attempt to discredit them and the party.
So let’s just have a little look in here and – YIKES!
Sometimes it’s the smallest, most trivial things that give you away. Graham Grant is the Home Affairs Editor of the Scottish Daily Mail, and earlier this morning he tweeted this snarky dig at prominent independence supporter and pundit Pat Kane, also of the primarily-1980s band Hue And Cry:
Ostensibly it’s a throwaway gag aimed at puncturing an opponent’s pomposity and over-inflated self-regard while portraying the journalist as an arch, wise cynic.
(It seems needlessly churlish and picky to also point out that McGarry currently isn’t an “SNP MP”, so we won’t do that.)
Instead, the author, worth hundreds of millions of pounds, intends to try to pressure McGarry into making a donation to her childrens’ charity, Lumos, which we can only presume is happy to receive money generated by what some people might regard as intimidation bordering on blackmail.
So that’s all well and good. If you’re going to bully people, after all, it’s probably best if it’s at least for a worthy cause. Rowling was full of praise for abusive Tweeter “Brian Spanner” when he raised some money for the same charity last year by selling t-shirts mocking the loony “Scottish Resistance” campaign group.
But not all charitable donations attract such gratitude.
Social media amused itself briefly tonight over a spat between former SNP MP (now independent) Natalie McGarry and children’s author and hedge enthusiast JK Rowling.
In a cunning meta-twist which simultaneously proves and disproves its own claim, the headline above is itself a lie. It’s of course not true that every single headline you read in a newspaper is absolutely false.
As politics wakes up from the holidays, any readers still bothering to gaze at the pages of the Scottish media could be forgiven for a crushing sense of deja vu.
Over the last few days, as most of Scotland’s media has focused on hysterical smear stories and outright lies, we’ve been digging around trying to uncover the truth about events around and leading to the closure of the Forth Road Bridge.
We’ve lost count of how many times we’ve drawn people’s attention to the necessity of sticking with newspaper articles right to the end if you don’t want to be horribly misled by eye-catching headlines. But it never hurts to have another example.
If you only read the start of today’s Scottish Mail On Sunday “bombshell” on the Forth Road Bridge (the left side of the picture above), you might come to a very alarming conclusion. But if you get all the way through it, to the paragraphs we’ve highlighted in red and enlarged on the right-hand side of the image, you’ll discover the truth.
We were considering having a day off today, readers. There’s absolutely nothing of any note happening in Scottish politics, and the papers have been reduced to scraping up all manner of barely-reheated leftover dregs to fill their pages.
But then someone drew our attention to something in Scotland On Sunday about the ongoing Women For Independence fiasco, and we were too annoyed to let it lie.
James Cheyne on The Gulf War: “The people whom died in WW11 fought for our freedoms, our rights in a free Country a Britain that was…” Jan 2, 06:43
James Cheyne on The Gulf War: “The error Alba made and still make is trying to emulate the Snp old party that had long gone. That…” Jan 2, 06:07
Young Lochinvar on The Gulf War: “Correct. Can the talking heads here who brook no disagreement please advise; who should we actually vote for? ISP and…” Jan 2, 03:50
Phil on The Gulf War: “The fatal flaw of this excellent site is the dogged insistence on taking these independence polls seriously. Thus a ‘six…” Jan 2, 03:07
Cynicus on The Gulf War: “Lorna Campbell says: 1 January, 2026 at 2:41 pm “Somebody biased almost certainly had a hand in the decision. Don’t…” Jan 2, 01:13
Ian Brotherhood on Off-topic: “This will perceived as perverse by some but we had steak pie on Christmas Day, with the option of gravy-soaked…” Jan 1, 22:11
DaveL on The Gulf War: “@Hatey. Off topic. As I mentioned here: https://wingsoverscotland.com/a-matter-of-class/#comment-3150406 They’re doing it again and as you’re a fanboy I thought I’d…” Jan 1, 21:49
Towbar Sullivan on The Gulf War: “Now and again I read the Guardian for a laugh. There’s an article in it “Labour needs complete ‘reset’ to…” Jan 1, 21:33
DaveL on The Gulf War: “Stop yer whining.” Jan 1, 19:42
diabloandco on The Gulf War: “Seconded!” Jan 1, 19:30
twathater on The Fear Of The Briar: “Alf reform have been back pedaling on their policies e.g. their opposition to the gender woo woo , the immigration…” Jan 1, 18:18
twathater on The Gulf War: “@ James Cheyne as our infested deluded yoonionists keep telling US the ONLY one who has the authority or right…” Jan 1, 18:05
James Cheyne on The Gulf War: “Are you upset… didums. Trying to control the narrative, as far as I am aware it still relates to Scots…” Jan 1, 16:46
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Gulf War: “KID-ON SCOTLAND Cardboard box with two holes cut for eyes. Wee boy in there pretending he wants out. In reality…” Jan 1, 16:41
Alf Baird on The Gulf War: “The Rev has rightly again pointed out the ever widening gulf between votes for SNP and votes for independence. By…” Jan 1, 16:27
sam on The Gulf War: “Guid New Year, James. I used AI to get this information. The sources quoted include “thebarristergroup.co.uk”. “Search Assist Yes, there…” Jan 1, 16:26
Insider on The Gulf War: “James Cheyne says: 1 January, 2026 at 3:49 pm “Scotland is a independent Country,” Well, so glad to hear that’s…” Jan 1, 16:08
sam on The Gulf War: “The decision is written by the Tribunal judge and his panel.I doubt they were stupid enough to believe this would…” Jan 1, 16:00
James Cheyne on The Gulf War: “Should Scotland be an independent Country, Scotland is a independent Country, just that England and media controls the narrative not…” Jan 1, 15:49
James Cheyne on The Gulf War: “AI is a computer, A computers output is only as good or sound as the creators imput. That why you…” Jan 1, 15:37
David Holden on The Gulf War: “Honest John one of the first successful charisma bypass operations in our wee country. As for James Kelly and his…” Jan 1, 15:33
Robert McAllan on The Fear Of The Briar: “Andy Wightman ‘the keynote speaker’??? FFS the ba’s burst afore it even touches the slates!!!” Jan 1, 15:25
100%Yes on The Gulf War: “What I find totally unbelievable is how people actually do believe Liberate Scotland or the Alba party is going to…” Jan 1, 15:24
James Cheyne on The Gulf War: “Voters decisions. One nation has spent over three Centuries trying to rid themselves of the indigenous Scots vermin from Scotland,…” Jan 1, 15:23
geoff on The Gulf War: “You don’t seem well.” Jan 1, 15:10
100%Yes on The Gulf War: “Alf, I’m afraid a lonely fart will have more effect than liberate Scotland will. We need to stop fucking around…” Jan 1, 15:10
Alf Baird on The Gulf War: “Yes, national identity and therefore national consciousness (based on culture and indigenous languages) is a central feature in colonial societies…” Jan 1, 14:53
Lorna Campbell on The Gulf War: “Happy New Year, ane an a. Great piece, Rev. If the Sandie Peggie appeal is successful on the grounds that…” Jan 1, 14:41
Northcode on The Gulf War: ““Westminster will never allow Scotland’s money to escape no matter what.” It isn’t up to Westminster… it’s in the gift…” Jan 1, 14:34
Lorna Campbell on The Fear Of The Briar: “Do you know of any party that disbanded itself after independence, David? Even if the SNP lose eventually, they will…” Jan 1, 14:33
