As a lifelong political geek and former SNP and Alba Party member, I’ve spent years supporting Scotland’s independence movement. However, over the last few years, I’ve watched the campaign (as opposed to support for independence) wither away. Being a Scottish nationalist has become increasingly disheartening, like watching someone you love succumb to a slow, debilitating illness. In frustration, I switched off from my homeland and turned my focus to the drama of US politics.
Over the last three years I immersed myself in it, watching both left and right-wing outlets. I became so hooked and invested that I jumped on a plane to Washington DC for the 2024 election. I canvassed with DC Democrats in rural Pennsylvania (that’s me third from the left in the pic below), attended Kamala Harris’s concession rally, and went to Trump’s only watch party in DC.
My journey led me to believe that Scotland’s independence campaign could learn a great deal from Trump’s victory and the Democrats’ failure.
Mike Russell, currently at the centre of controversy over his appointment as chair of the Scottish Land Commission, hit the political big stage during Scotland’s first ever SNP administration under Alex Salmond, whom, in turn, Mike had previously seen into office as Salmond’s campaign manager.
In 2007 he was appointed as Minister for Environment, then in 2009 he became the Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution, and his conventional ministerial career concluded when he went on to replace Fiona Hyslop as Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning until the end of 2014.
Following the 2014 independence vote, the pre-referendum era ended with Salmond’s dignified (albeit temporary) stage exit; Nicola Sturgeon took the helm and began to reform what had been left to her by her predecessor.
A core pillar of Sturgeon’s centrist reform was the construction of an almost entirely opaque ivory tower of power from which both SNP and the state would run their covert affairs with subversive, centralizing, strong-arm granularity, cleverly camouflaging its sinister implications from the public through cult-of-personality media management.
Instrumental in this, among a very few select others, was Mike Russell.
Robert Burns was well known for liking a wee dram. He grew up in the aftermath of the failed rising of 1745, living through the harsh and brutal consequences inflicted on Scotland by the Act of Proscription.
In “Earnest Cry and Prayer” the Bard was responding to the UK Parliament’s Scotch Distillery Act of 1786, a protectionist act aimed at supporting London’s gin industry by hiking duties on whisky sold in England and by taxing Scottish still capacity. It was a call for action to Scotland’s 45 members of Parliament from a man who understood the destructive power of such acts.
He asked which Scot would not feel his blood boil at seeing the resources of the nation’s stills destroyed and its wealth plundered, roaring to the MPs:
“God bless your Honors! can ye see’t, The kind, auld, cantie carlin greet, An’ no get warmly to your feet, An’ gar them hear it, An’ tell them wi’ a patriot-heat, Ye winna bear it?”
As the UK Parliament is set to return from its summer holiday it is hard not to see continued parallels over the ages and again today.
Two weeks ago a Wings scoop caused quite a furore to erupt around the SNP’s ham-fisted and corruptly-motivated attempts to increase BAME and disabled representation at this year’s Holyrood election.
We’ve always been opposed to what were until recently known as “quotas”, and prior to that “positive discrimination”, but have now been cunningly rebranded as “diversity and inclusion” because that’s a much more difficult thing to say you object to.
It’s easy to make an honourable-sounding case against any form of “discrimination”, because decent and civilised people are taught to automatically think of discrimination as a bad thing, even if you put “positive” in front of it.
So the word “quotas” was adopted to move the concept from a pejorative term to a neutral noun – objecting to “quotas” doesn’t sound intolerant, any more than objecting to (say) “procedures” does. So that’s fine, because you can still discuss it like adults without too much unpleasantness.
But those pushing the agenda got smarter still by changing the name again. If you say you object to “diversity and inclusion”, you sound like a monster and a racist, because diversity and inclusion are plainly good things – no decent person wants to live in a monoculture, or to exclude anybody from society – and so the debate is immediately drowned out by self-righteous tossers screaming “BIGOT!” and “NAZI!” at everyone.
And yet in the context of social policy the three phrases mean the exact same thing. They’re all systems for overriding raw democracy so as to increase the representation of selected groups at the expense of other groups, for one reason or another.
(Sometimes it’s ostensibly just penance for historical wrongs, while at other times it’s supposedly for economic benefits, and so on.)
And while the proponents of those systems will openly argue that the only group being disadvantaged is straight white men so it’s all fine (because nobody likes straight white men and anyone standing up for them can be easily dismissed as a “gammon” for lots of woke points and Twitter likes), it isn’t even remotely close to the truth.
Because in “diversity and inclusion”, some groups are a lot more included than others.
The dead hand running the show at SNP HQ is no better illustrated than by the career path of Shirley-Anne Somerville.
For despite her failure to succeed in role after role, election after election, her star continues to ascend through the patronage of the SNP’s inner sanctum and to the bemusement of ordinary members and parliamentarians.
As a right-of-centre English conservative, there are Scottish National Party concepts I haven’t so far been able to comprehend. Perhaps it’s because I don’t follow Nicola Sturgeon and Ian Blackford. Should I keep an eye on what The Scotsman is saying?
SNP leaders talk in the same sentence of a “free” and “independent” Scotland having a future as a member of the EU. My grasp of those words is not theirs. Distinguished lawyers – be they Remainers, Leavers or Don’t-Care-Just-Pay-My-Billsers – all agree that a series of European Court of Justice decisions have established the unqualified supremacy of European Union laws – disguised as “Regulations and Directives” – over the national laws of EU states.
This week saw publication of the long-awaited Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) report on alleged Russian interference in British affairs. Despite media hysteria, the report contained no new revelations, just all-too-familiar catastrophising about Moscow’s ill-defined “disinformation” efforts and warnings of the undue influence rich Russians (most of whom are actually Kremlin opponents) have bought themselves.
The most salient point for supporters of Scottish independence to consider was the allegation that Moscow’s interference efforts extended to the 2014 indyref. As Wings pointed out earlier this week, however, the “evidence” to support this sensational claim amounted to nothing more than a heavily-redacted single paragraph, citing “credible open source commentary” as its sole source.
A look at the paragraph’s accompanying footnote reveals the “credible open source” commentator was Ben Nimmo of the Atlantic Council. For those in the fortunate position of being unfamiliar with his work, Nimmo is known for, among other things, falsely identifying a Syrian-Australian blogger and a British pensioner as Russian bots – so clearly someone whose expertise should be relied upon to determine the extent of Russian infiltration into Scottish politics.
I mention this not simply to reveal the transparently amateurish nature of the ISC’s report but rather to offer a commentary on the SNP’s (predictably) disappointing response to its allegations.
There are those who stay and there are those who leave. Since the 1700s the eyes of the ambitious Scot have looked towards London. Many have made the journey there and, as with Ireland, Scotland’s most precious export has been its people.
But for those of us who have remained in Scotland our eyes are still turned south.
There’s less than half an hour to go and we’re holding the previous year’s World Cup finalists on their own patch. A point would be a great result, but we’ve got men up. Try to thread it through on the left. Turn, hold it up for a second and knock it out wide to the overlap on the right and get forward for a cross or a cutback. If we just wait, if we take it slow, the situation can only get better for us.
But definitely don’t waste it on a wild, optimistic punt.
We haven’t talked much on Wings about the court case currently in progress against former Scottish Labour branch manager Kezia Dugdale, for hopefully obvious reasons.
The case is currently “in avizandum” – legal jargon for “the sheriff is considering his decision” – and a result is hoped for around the end of this month, and while as far as we know there’s no actual rule against talking about it at this stage, if you’re one of the participants it’s probably not the greatest idea as a general principle.
But what CAN be discussed is a much wider issue which it touched on, as highlighted by Daily Record columnist Anna Burnside while talking about the case during last week’s BBC Radio Scotland media review on the John Beattie Show.
The debate had a fully balanced panel: Burnside, who thought I was an awful person, Stuart Cosgrove, who thought I was an awful person with a sometimes-good website, and Anne Marie Watson, who thought I was an awful person. But it was Burnside who really went in with the boot, as can be heard from 2m 27s on the clip below.
There was a certain uncomfortable 2018 inevitability this morning over the fact that where people were offended, arrests would follow.
And the burning of a cardboard model of the Grenfell Tower last night was certainly right up near the top in the pantheon of cretinously offensive things. Many victims of the appalling tragedy, which killed 72 people and injured many more, still haven’t been properly rehomed almost a year and a half later.
So everyone’s fighting about Gaelic again. Provoked by a minor story about a Gaelic dictionary MSM and alt-media pundits are flying at each other with daggers over a language spoken by almost nobody on Earth and on which the government spends a few measly and irrelevant pennies, trying to turn it into a proxy war over politics and the constitution and fascism and genocide and goodness knows what else.
We’ve covered the political nonsense around the issue numerous times on this site, and we’re not about to do so again here. This, as befits the Soapbox section, is a purely personal view, which will doubtless attract more furious shrieking from the sort of people who long ago lost the ability to listen to a counterpoint – or indeed tolerate the mere concept of one – let alone consider it or debate it without abuse.
But hey ho. After a while you just learn to tune that stuff out, so let’s go.
Young Lochinvar on The Great Hollowing: “Ah well, who knows, give him a break. As we used to joke asking the local Germans back in the…” Jan 22, 01:59
Skip_NC on A short treatise on stalking: “In this context, “tortured sole” is correct. James Kelly is like a fish out of water.” Jan 22, 01:50
Young Lochinvar on The Great Hollowing: “Still waiting for a meaningful factual reply yoon (or is it scum!). Heck I don’t know but you sound well…” Jan 22, 01:45
Skip_NC on A short treatise on stalking: “Alba is doing something. It’s just that the media don’t talk about it.” Jan 22, 01:43
gregor on The Great Hollowing: “BBC (2025): Gray apologises over football match meetings: “Health Secretary Neil Gray has apologised for “inadvertently” misleading MSPs over the…” Jan 22, 01:37
gregor on A short treatise on stalking: “Olde Throne: Greyfriars Kirkyard: “Oh, Greyfriars Where the Covenanters lay Ceased by the black judge Cut down by his hand…” Jan 22, 00:55
gregor on The Great Hollowing: “Funnily enough – same could be said for J.K. Rowling (et al)… https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1881728397598175645” Jan 22, 00:06
Confused on The same old tricks: “another classic from the archive” Jan 21, 23:50
gregor on A short treatise on stalking: “If you insist, McFetish… “The sole of your foot or of a shoe or sock is the underneath surface of…” Jan 21, 23:50
Confused on A short treatise on stalking: “main cavorts with satan and a black cat under moonlight in greyfriars a heretic by any measure” Jan 21, 23:42
yoon scum on A short treatise on stalking: “One thing that has always un-settled me about a very large part of the YES movement is the rage that…” Jan 21, 23:33
yoon scum on A short treatise on stalking: “Don’t forget not one single YOON has ever had a job a “fact” I have been told by a good…” Jan 21, 23:20
gregor on The Great Hollowing: “The Fraud (2025): How will bequests have helped the SNP’s finances by millions: “The SNP have received millions in will…” Jan 21, 23:10
Hatey McHateface on The same old tricks: “Your remedy is obvious, Confused. Scorn the accumulation of all stuff. Then you can enjoy the last laugh. BTW, if…” Jan 21, 23:07
Hatey McHateface on A short treatise on stalking: “It’s a complex subject and there are lots of nuances that could be discussed, on a forum that had the…” Jan 21, 23:01
Martin on A short treatise on stalking: “The two Davies will think his return to the SNP is big big news and will welcome him into team…” Jan 21, 22:46
Confused on The same old tricks: “this is the enemy he wants to steal your stuff expects you to be grateful about it fart in your…” Jan 21, 22:45
Confused on The same old tricks: “This is why the UN needs to be involved; they know all the tricks and won’t stand for them. If…” Jan 21, 22:44
sarah on A short treatise on stalking: “There’s more than one way to skin a cat. As someone who dislikes living the lie of a Union which…” Jan 21, 22:38
Hatey McHateface on A short treatise on stalking: ““hee haw else to write about” On the sites I read, they’re publicising that President Trump has announced to the…” Jan 21, 22:35
Northman on A short treatise on stalking: “I assume that is partly because sensible posts don’t rile people up. People nod their heads and read on. We…” Jan 21, 22:34
Scot Finlayson on A short treatise on stalking: “The 2022 census found that of the 514,543 people residing in Edinburgh, 47.9% identified with a Scottish identity.” Jan 21, 22:32
Insider on A short treatise on stalking: ““Salvo, as the campaigning group for Liberation.scot, have formed a Scottish People’s Liberation Movement”. ? Is this a Monty Python…” Jan 21, 22:31
yoon scum on A short treatise on stalking: “With the current lot in Holyrood An independent scotland would welcome anyone with open arms no matter how much they…” Jan 21, 22:26
Hatey McHateface on A short treatise on stalking: “As we are phasing out burning of gas 5 years sooner than they are in England, he’ll have to move…” Jan 21, 22:22
yoon scum on The Great Hollowing: “Did you actually read the post above? The majority of the English you hate Also hate the idiots in Westminster” Jan 21, 22:19
sarah on A short treatise on stalking: “Now, I’m pretty sure you are pulling my leg! Alf Baird will step in to correct me in due course,…” Jan 21, 22:17
yoon scum on The Great Hollowing: “Ask Greece how much the EU cares And you voted to leave the EU when you voted YES in 2014…” Jan 21, 22:15
Hatey McHateface on A short treatise on stalking: “In other news, the thing the Scotsman was going to do in 24 hours hasn’t been done.” Jan 21, 22:15