The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland



Quoted for truth #41 47

Posted on January 08, 2014 by

This wasn’t online when we wrote this morning’s piece, but it is now:

“Labour now find themselves opposing a move welcomed by just about anyone with anything to say about education and the eradication of poverty.

Labour are now at loggerheads with charities and campaigners like the EIS teaching union, the STUC, the Unison union and Save the Children, not to mention the Child Poverty Action Group.

These are organisations Labour should surely be on the right side of.”

(“Record View”, the Daily Record, 8 Jan 2014.)

Quoted for truth #40 50

Posted on December 15, 2013 by

The Huffington Post, 15 December 2013:

“The number of Britons who think Ed Miliband is likely to be the prime minister after the next election has fallen dramatically, according to a poll.

Research by ComRes for the Independent on Sunday and Sunday Mirror found 21% believed the Labour leader would be in No 10 after the next election, down 10 points since May.”

This, remember, is after a summer in which the nation’s political commentators almost universally agreed that Miliband’s conference promise of an energy price freeze and subsequent talk of a cost-of-living crisis was winning the hearts of the country.

Last week three separate opinion polls showed Labour’s lead over the Tories down to a pitiful five points, despite 70% of the population saying they’d felt no benefit from Britain’s feeble economic “recovery”.

We don’t think Labour has ever sacked a leader who hadn’t contested at least one general election. Ed Miliband will lead them to the polls in 2015, and only one in five Britons thinks he’ll end up in Number 10. Don’t take our word for it. Don’t heed the experts. Don’t even examine the statistics. Listen to the people who’ll be voting.

We agree with Margaret Curran 235

Posted on December 06, 2013 by

And that’s something we can’t say every day.

Read the rest of this entry →

Quoted for comedy 83

Posted on December 05, 2013 by

The Herald, 5 December 2013:

“A group of academics whose views on green energy underpinned a central plank of the Better Together campaign has published a shock U-turn report arguing that independence now offers the best way to meet Scotland’s renewables targets.

Quoted for truth #37 93

Posted on December 02, 2013 by

Professor James Mitchell of Edinburgh University, 2 December 2013:

“Under what circumstances would a UK Government (or Scottish for that matter) incline towards cooperation or conflict in its relations with its neighbour? The key is motivations.

Nobody should expect either Government to be motivated by good will. London will owe Scotland nothing and Edinburgh will owe London nothing.  Self-interest will dictate behaviour. Neither Government will act against its own self-interest but neither will act spitefully unless it wants to inflict harm on itself long-term.”

Read the rest of this entry →

If you listen, you can hear 97

Posted on November 24, 2013 by

Herald View in the Sunday Herald, 24 November 2013:

“The geriatric forecasts of the IFS are surely a vision of Scotland if it stays in the UK. Without a new immigration policy and economic policies that keep skilled Scots families in Scotland, how can we avoid an ageing population?

Carwyn Jones has also joined the clamour for the Barnett Formula on Scottish public spending to be cut. The message is clear: within the union Scotland faces a future of public spending constraints, falling population and economic decline. Scottish representation in Westminster will likely be cut under the McKay Commission into the consequences of devolution.

The Scottish Parliament will have to pay its way by raising taxes in Scotland, without having access to oil revenues or the ability to legislate for growth. Scotland may be dragged out of Europe if it remains in the UK.

This is the off-the-peg future offered by the unionists. They’d better have a care: Scots might actually start listening to what they say.”

It’s nice to know that – finally – we’re not the only ones paying attention.

Over and over and over again 78

Posted on November 22, 2013 by

That’s how often they tell us.

“The Barnett Formula, under which Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland receive more public spending per head than England, has long rankled south of the border. Even Joel Barnett, who was chief secretary to the Treasury when the system was introduced in the Seventies as a temporary measure, subsequently disowned it.

 If the Scots vote to remain in the UK, as we hope they do, it cannot be as a result of a bribe from the English. A few years ago, the Calman Commission recommended scrapping Barnett, reducing income taxes in Scotland and then allowing Holyrood to levy its own rate on top, introducing an enhanced element of accountability and fiscal self-governance.

Such reforms should be openly debated ahead of the referendum: for the Scottish people are entitled to know that even if they vote to stay in the UK, the current method of financing public spending should not be allowed to continue.”

Our emphasis, from today’s “Telegraph View”.

The Barnett Formula is worth, by our sums, approximately £7bn a year to the Scottish economy. Bear it in mind when you’re being told about the “black hole” in Scotland’s finances after a Yes vote, because even if you vote No you can wave bye-bye to Barnett, and then Scotland really WILL be looking into a black hole.

We’re getting fair warning, folks. Pay heed.

Quoted for faith 101

Posted on November 17, 2013 by

As a counterpoint to this unpleasantness from a couple of weeks ago, this is Kevin McKenna in this week’s edition of the Scottish Catholic Observer:

“The difference between Scotland and the rest of the UK at this moment is the difference between “Come to me all ye who are heavy burden’d and I will set you free” and “Come to me all ye who are heavy burden’d and I will stop your benefits”. I know which country I want to live in.”

Click the quote to read the whole article.

It’s a trap! 106

Posted on November 01, 2013 by

Blair McDougall, director of “Better Together”, Dundee University, 30 October 2013:

“UK ministers are not going to fall into the trap of acting against Scotland until Scotland decides to leave the United Kingdom”

blairsdu

You heard it straight from the horse’s – well, let’s be kind and say “mouth”, folks.

Read the rest of this entry →

Quoted for truth #32 116

Posted on October 23, 2013 by

Eric Joyce, MP for Falkirk, 23 October 2013:

“The announcement by Ineos this morning that Grangemouth’s petrochemical plant is to close is terrible news. Hundreds of jobs lost directly, many more indirectly. The loss of a significant element of Scotland’s industrial capacity. Why has this happened?

Ineos has been flagging likely cuts for months but instead of engaging with the situation and organising a coherent plan to save jobs, Unite called a strike over a pathetic and petty issue related to Labour Party internal politics. By the time the union woke up to the reality workers faced, it was too late.”

Sounds about right to us. Mind how you vote tomorrow, Dunfermline folk.

A change of heart 102

Posted on October 07, 2013 by

The new Scottish Secretary, Alistair Carmichael, in Holyrood magazine in 2010:

“Getting rid of the Scotland Office is a ‘job waiting to be done’, says Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael, dubbing the current Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy as a ‘tax-funded campaign manager for the Labour Party in Scotland’.

In an interview with Holyrood magazine, Carmichael said that if his party got into power there would be no Scotland Office, asserting that he would instead head up a department of the Nations and Regions.

 He continued: “I think there is a job to be done but having the Scotland Office is not the right way to do it because it should be the clearing house between government in Edinburgh and government in London but now it is just a focal point for conflict.”

Read the rest of this entry →

Quoted for truth #30 64

Posted on September 20, 2013 by

The Scotsman, 19 September 2013:

“Only one in ten voters would prefer the next General Election to result in another coalition government, a poll has found as Nick Clegg sought to convince voters it was in the country’s best interests. More than two thirds (67 per cent) would prefer to see an outright victory by one party.

Even if the election does result in another hung parliament, more than half (51 per cent) would rather see the largest party rule as a minority administration than another power-share, the ComRes poll for ITV showed.

Voters gave a resoundingly negative verdict on the Lib Dems’ contribution to the coalition, with almost twice as many (46 per cent) disagreeing that it had been “good for the country” as agreeing (24 per cent).”

Read the rest of this entry →

  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,935 Posts, 1,245,495 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • Young Lochinvar on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Shit fer brains @ 5.55am / early doors You; “fer (sic)”.. Oh my!! It’s the Chewin The Fat Banter Boys..…Jun 25, 03:09
    • Peter McAvoy on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Would it be possible to annul gender recognition certificates.I believe the removal of male prisoners from female jails makes them…Jun 25, 01:45
    • Young Lochinvar on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Shit fer brains Ye protest too loudly.. The other week you whinged oan about culture, historical stuff too. That’s ok;…Jun 24, 23:02
    • Mark Beggan on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Very interesting Karen.Jun 24, 22:38
    • Ex President Xiden on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “If those broken promises involve the appropriation of money based on those promises then the problem is criminal embezzlement for…Jun 24, 20:58
    • Hatey McHateface on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: ““how much money did the mullahs spend giving the yanks a spank?” Somebody less sociopathic might ask how many body…Jun 24, 20:14
    • Hatey McHateface on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Just imagine this story as a newspaper headline: “Politicians Tell Lies And Break Promises – Police Investigating” Do you see…Jun 24, 20:01
    • Emma Telford on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “From this Guardian article: The suspicions began when a pro-independence blogger, Wings Over Scotland, said this money had disappeared from…Jun 24, 18:12
    • Spartan 117 on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “A pretty good analysis. Westminster is broken. As far as Guyliner is concerned, its Same Old Shite, yet again, just…Jun 24, 17:59
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “SCOT GOVT FORCED TO IMPOSE BLANKET BAN ON HOUSING MEN IN WOMEN’S PRISON All men who identify as women are…Jun 24, 17:56
    • Spartan 117 on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Pished Rambling @2:05pm Swiping at air hysterically and missing. First time in my life I’ve ever been labelled “posh” or…Jun 24, 17:55
    • Mark Beggan on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “The word has been rebranded. Under new management. It’s not the other lot It’s that lot!Jun 24, 17:47
    • Confused on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “on the news this morning – what is andy burnham going to do? – fuckall is what he is going…Jun 24, 17:47
    • Confused on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Ghana showed how to play against inglund; they looked comfortable and should have had a penalty. Kane skied it over…Jun 24, 17:44
    • twathater on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Connor Gillies and the rest of the blind and dumb presstitutes are missing a trick they should have had multitudinous…Jun 24, 17:30
    • Andy Wiltshire on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “I thought that was the other lot.Jun 24, 16:37
    • Mark Beggan on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Darlington NHS Trust told the nurses that they needed to be educated and to shut up and go away.Jun 24, 16:31
    • Dan on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Willie says: at 8:45 am “What tools do you think we should be developing Dan.” We should have been developing…Jun 24, 16:25
    • Mark Beggan on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Columbo! Mercurius have also done ‘TV Blurps’ on Sturgeons BBC interview. Hilarious.Jun 24, 16:05
    • Spartan 117 on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Yep, yet another limp lame duck PM wedded to Socialist Authoritarianism, benefits confetti, Net Zero, The Big State, warmongering, Big…Jun 24, 16:05
    • Mark Beggan on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Words and their meanings, Number 12; Yoon! meaning; Someone who gets taken for a ride and enjoys it so much…Jun 24, 15:09
    • Young Lochinvar on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Maybe on the next tv interview she’ll just resort to form and turn the chair round to face the wall…Jun 24, 15:04
    • Young Lochinvar on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “HMcH For the sake of cordiality I could accept that you’d discounted the last paragraph, but won’t. Only this week…Jun 24, 14:54
    • Hatey McHateface on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Grassroots Scots, no dodgy hinterland, no history of sexist and racist tweets, middle-aged (fifties) with solid real life experience and…Jun 24, 14:43
    • Hatey McHateface on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “I discounted your final para as I can’t believe you have as much as a single glass still intact in…Jun 24, 14:29
    • Young Lochinvar on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “When will they learn? The news is reporting Andy “King ‘t oop Norf” Burnhams advisers are pushing the future former…Jun 24, 14:24
    • Janet on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Much as I detest Ms Sturgeon’s lack of focus on indy, the rev has missed a point, surely? It is…Jun 24, 14:16
    • Young Lochinvar on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “HMcH Hmmm.. Your post makes no sense. Try waking up fully before posting next time. And while you’re at it,…Jun 24, 14:12
    • Mark Beggan on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “The Messiah. The chosen one. The train journey south followed every inch by the media with helicopters in the sky.…Jun 24, 14:09
    • Young Lochinvar on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Shit fer brains @ 8.25 “Keech”.. Is that how you posh self professed culture vultures like to spell keich? Anyways,…Jun 24, 14:05
  • A tall tale



↑ Top