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.
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: ““Much of it was faulty” An oft-repeated statement, but I have yet to identify what it means. My best guess…” Oct 23, 14:39
Spartan 117 on Faces In Sand: “To be honest I’m not sure many people *need* it explained to them, because the facts are blatantly obvious to…” Oct 23, 14:32
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: ““Half or more of the population living in or close to poverty levels” Ah Alf, as an academic you’ll understand…” Oct 23, 14:22
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “What you write is all true, Northy, but where’s the fun in being all grown up when we can be…” Oct 23, 14:11
James Che on Faces In Sand: “North code, Regards Scotlands Constitutional position in a modern democracy it is to realise there is no requirement for Scotland…” Oct 23, 13:15
factchecker on Faces In Sand: “I know there is not an equal union. It would be both stupid and undemocratic. More importantly, nobody has been…” Oct 23, 13:09
James Che on Faces In Sand: “North Code. Again appreciate your response and keeping the debate polite and clean, They are not actually my own personal…” Oct 23, 12:37
Captain Caveman on Faces In Sand: ““Independence would bring political responsibility closer to voters, strengthen democratic legitimacy and allow Scotland to adapt its institutions over time…” Oct 23, 11:24
Northcode on Faces In Sand: “James, I haven’t replied to you. My earlier comment was a general observation about the modern independence argument, not a…” Oct 23, 11:10
James Che on Faces In Sand: “Alf Baird, I suspect that the non – treaty of union issue and Colonisation issue will merge, for they become…” Oct 23, 10:53
Lorncal on Faces In Sand: “MaryB: they also infected people already in hospitals by placing them in wards with uninfected patients. I remember the huge…” Oct 23, 10:48
James Che on Faces In Sand: “North code. Thank you for your reply, I will answer your points one by one if I may. Firstly, We…” Oct 23, 10:43
Alf Baird on Faces In Sand: ““A convincing case for independence doesn’t need the colonial frame” How else can we explain to Scots: – the ‘union’…” Oct 23, 10:20
James Chey on Faces In Sand: “Fact checker. You are entirely correct in stating that there is no equal union, What you omitted by default through…” Oct 23, 10:10
Northcode on Faces In Sand: “I’ve been thinking about why the “Scotland is a colony” argument is actually counter-productive. A convincing case for independence doesn’t…” Oct 23, 09:43
James Che on Faces In Sand: “North code, Did not have time to respond fully to you yesterday, Which and what Sovereignty works nowadays and where…” Oct 23, 09:14
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Humza Yousaf has a new book out – just in time for Christmas – although it’s inconceivable that could ever…” Oct 23, 08:35
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Robin McAlpine claims Jackdaw will add 35 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere that wouldn’t otherwise have got…” Oct 22, 21:02
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Good post, Lorncal. As I’ve often observed, we should never underestimate the popularity of a government policy that enables people…” Oct 22, 20:32
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Faces In Sand: “Steven Bartlett (Diary of a CEO) extensive interview with VZ on 16 Oct 2026 www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x9dkYIRb58” Oct 22, 20:24
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Excellent questions, Confused. Well worth repetition. How come you’re an EXPERT ON INTERNATIONAL LAW? How come you’re an EXPERT LEVEL…” Oct 22, 20:10
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “@Geri 1:04 I absolutely love your posts and so I’d like to help you out. Teach yourself what 24/7 actually…” Oct 22, 19:52
Lorncal on Faces In Sand: “H McH: it was noted post WW II that few people in any of the affected countries expressed pre war…” Oct 22, 18:47
agentx on Faces In Sand: “• Ultimate Competence: Under UN General Assembly Resolution 1541 (XV), the UNGA established the specific criteria for what constitutes a…” Oct 22, 18:10
Aidan on Faces In Sand: ““You could be on 100K a year for some place with a nice wine cellar” – I am thanks (more),…” Oct 22, 17:34
Dan on Faces In Sand: “AIDan says: “Modern cars are more complex and aren’t always designed well, and come with the risk of very difficult…” Oct 22, 17:29
Captain Caveman on Faces In Sand: “Yeah great analogy, Confused. Not. Stay in lane with James, there’s a good lad. This is grown up talk.” Oct 22, 17:28
Confused on Faces In Sand: “Northcode would tell us a turd is not a turd because he found a peanut in it.” Oct 22, 17:16
factchecker on Faces In Sand: “Interesting, Confused. You say ” if an equal partner in a union we can just tear the fucking thing up”.…” Oct 22, 17:08
Northcode on Faces In Sand: “Aidan — yes, exactly. That’s the core point I’ve been trying to make. Whatever people believe about historical treaties or…” Oct 22, 16:51
