The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland

← Previous Entries
Next Entries →

Every which way but loose 85

Posted on November 23, 2014 by

The talk of the steamie in this weekend’s Sunday papers is that Scottish Labour are set to backpedal on the devolution of 100% of income tax, a position previously described by Gordon Brown – the great architect of “The Vow” – as a “Tory trap” which was “not in Scotland’s interests”.

(Coincidentally, the papers also report that Brown, who said he would personally ensure the safe delivery of the new devolution settlement, will stand down at the 2015 election in order to devote more time to his “charity” work.)

brownlaugh

It is, of course, a challenge to keep track of Labour’s position on the move from one day to the next. In 2013 it wanted to devolve all taxation, then in 2014 it decided as its final settled position that it wasn’t a good idea after all, and has flip-flopped on a more or less weekly basis ever since. Just this month the favourite for the Scottish branch office leadership, Jim Murphy, poured cold water on the notion, but now it seems yet another U-turn is on the cards.

We wouldn’t put a lot of money on it being the last one.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category analysis, comment, scottish politics, uk politics

Conflicting accounts 157

Posted on November 21, 2014 by

From an editorial in today’s Daily Record:

“The debate in the House of Commons yesterday proved once and for all that The Vow is doing its job.

David Cameron had to stick to his word under pressure from misguided backbenchers who demanded an end to the way Scotland is funded through the Barnett formula.

The Prime Minister insisted no review is ‘on the horizon’, saving valuable funds for Holyrood.”

But that isn’t a very accurate report of events, for several reasons. Not least of them is the fact that David Cameron wasn’t even there.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category comment, media, uk politics

A serious matter 257

Posted on November 20, 2014 by

Packed Labour benches for the devolution debate in the Commons today.

labdevocommons

We’re sure Gordon Brown’s just nipped out for a Snickers or something.

Tags:
Category comment, pictures, scottish politics, uk politics

An acceptable answer 301

Posted on November 05, 2014 by

Earlier today we published an email from Daily Record editor Murray Foote about “The Vow”. In it he referred to an editorial published in the paper on 8 September, attacking the “confused” and “shambolic” position of the three Unionist parties on further devolution to Scotland in the event of a No vote.

vowhearno1

The infamous “Vow” was their response. When publishing it on 16 September, two days before the referendum, the Record announced on its front page that “NOW VOTERS CAN MAKE AN INFORMED CHOICE”, thereby implying that “The Vow” had delivered what the 8 September editorial had demanded.

Readers can judge for themselves.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category comment, investigation, media, scottish politics

Victory’s missing fathers 134

Posted on November 05, 2014 by

Disappointingly, we haven’t received a reply from Daily Record editor Murray Foote to our email yesterday inquiring into the provenance of “The Vow”.

mfoote

However, an alert reader who wrote to him yesterday did. You can read it below.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category comment, investigation, media, scottish politics, uk politics

Chasing the story 328

Posted on November 04, 2014 by

A couple of things we’ve sent off this morning in relation to this.

files

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category investigation, media, scottish politics

Disavowed 187

Posted on November 04, 2014 by

Below is a letter from the editor of the Daily Record sent to a Wings reader yesterday (and, we presume, to many others). We thought you might find it interesting.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category comment, media, scottish politics

The cream puff 219

Posted on October 28, 2014 by

It seems the Daily Record has taken something of a sulk at our post of earlier today. This evening the paper’s editor Murray Foote issued this statement on its Facebook page in response to one of a number of readers who’d posted links to the story:

recordvow

It’s a telling reaction.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category comment, media, scottish politics, uk politics

Filed in Receptacle 13 199

Posted on October 26, 2014 by

We haven’t bothered sending a submission to the Smith Commission.

wastepaper2

Here’s why.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category comment, scottish politics

Trouble with numbers and words 106

Posted on October 24, 2014 by

From the Twitter account of the Aberdeen Conservative and Unionist Association last night, during the First Minister’s appearance on Question Time from Liverpool:

abtories

Just a couple of things.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category comment, scottish politics, uk politics

The man with no plan 198

Posted on October 18, 2014 by

The Guardian today carries an article by Gordon Brown, which echoes the content of his speech to the House Of Commons on Thursday. We’ve read it over and over again trying to make any sort of coherent sense out of it, but we’ve drawn a blank. The mighty architect of “The Vow” appears to have not the slightest idea what he actually proposes as a constitutional settlement for the UK and Scotland.

pixelbroon

But perhaps we’ve missed something.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category analysis, comment, scottish politics, uk politics, wtf

A fair assessment 382

Posted on October 17, 2014 by

Mark Steel in the Independent, 16 October 2014:

“Maybe one way they can reverse this is to try a more forthright approach, and to start with they could say: ‘If the Scottish are so daft as to believe our vow, maybe that proves they’re not fit to run their own country anyway, the idiots.'”

Craig Murray said something quite similar recently from the other side, as it were, and at the moment we’re finding it quite tough to disagree with either of them.

Tags:
Category comment, media, scottish politics

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »

  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,938 Posts, 1,245,831 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

    and finally and firstly arithmetic fail braveheart klaxon britnats captain darling cartoons Chris Cairns confused cringe crybabies dateline debates Devo Nano Federalists Unionists and Devolutionists flat-out lies foreigner watch from the archives fundraisers galleries Greg Moodie hamish hypocrisy liars light-hearted banter lizards memogate misinformation one nation perspectives poll project fear project feart qft Scott Minto smears snp accused soapbox the positive case for the union The Vow ticktock toldyouso too wee too poor too stupid unionist of the day vote no get nothing

  • Recent Comments

    • Young Lochinvar on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “HMcH Tried to reply earlier, it just didn’t appear, and I know posts at this time upset you so very…” Jun 29, 01:01
    • Saffron Robe on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Excellent comment, Achnababan, which I wholeheartedly agree with. However, I wouldn’t say that there is a significant number of MSPs…” Jun 29, 00:15
    • Oneliner on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “How naive. So the Holyrood spad who was caught with a transponder aerial in his gusset was acting independently. Where…” Jun 28, 23:56
    • Rob on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “We are descending down the conspiracy rabbit hole now.] If you raise something the “british state” doesn’t like you will…” Jun 28, 23:24
    • Hatey McHateface on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “The references to Scotland’s illustrious history as a Kingdom under a long and noble line of Scottish Kings and Queens…” Jun 28, 22:16
    • Hatey McHateface on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Whispers in the shadows. “The swirl of a cape. Masked figures, partially seen in the gloom beneath smashed streetlights. The…” Jun 28, 22:07
    • sarah on Off-topic: “@ Tinto, I thought Cape Verde’s example was an obvious one for Scotland to follow – their defenders and midfield…” Jun 28, 22:00
    • Young Lochinvar on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Tomorrows anniversary of note; Battle of Buittle (near Dalbeattie) in 1308. Bruce’s fortunes were on the up and the fictional…” Jun 28, 21:54
    • sarah on Off-topic: “Definitely fewer summer birds here near the head of Loch Broom but on the other hand a huge increase in…” Jun 28, 21:53
    • sarah on Off-topic: “Thanks, aLurker. I too am a supporter of the Manifesto for Independence and cannot see why it wasn’t adopted across…” Jun 28, 21:36
    • Alf Baird on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “This fits with postcolonial theory on how colonialism is enabled and protected, where the national party elite is ‘co-opted by…” Jun 28, 20:25
    • GeoffC on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “We shall keenly await Murrell’s book titled “I Was The Scapegoat; Clearly”.” Jun 28, 20:24
    • Hatey McHateface on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Enough already, Alf! I get it. We Scots can’t do anything because we’re pre-ordained to be doomed. We need others…” Jun 28, 19:55
    • Alf Baird on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: ““form an anti-colonialism party” Postcolonial theory predicts the political process in a colony always fails the people, Hatey. Which is…” Jun 28, 19:35
    • aLurker on Off-topic: “Hi all! 😉 Grand to see youse are all doin awa this fine mid summer. There has been a noticeable…” Jun 28, 19:21
    • Hatey McHateface on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “@ Jay says: 28 June, 2026 at 6:18 pm Ref. my post 7:30 on 27th., there’s a school of thought…” Jun 28, 19:00
    • Hatey McHateface on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Slap some micro-panels on the top of your tinfoil hat and you’ll get enough current to power a personal cooling…” Jun 28, 18:33
    • Hatey McHateface on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Back in May, I did seriously hope you might learn a new tune for the next 5-year Hollyrood cycle. More…” Jun 28, 18:23
    • Jay on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “McHateful, ref. your post 7:30 on 27th., if Northcode were able to pose sufficient threat to a scheme pursued by…” Jun 28, 18:18
    • Luigi on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: ““So why was NS not prosecuted?” A more plausible answer may have been “Because I was instructed by my masters,…” Jun 28, 17:40
    • Lee Floyd on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “I’ve said many times before. This site is unquestionably the finest investgative journalism provision anywhere in the UK. If only…” Jun 28, 16:41
    • robertkknight on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/taking-action/simple-procedure/guide-to-simple-procedure/ You don’t need a fraud case to cause the SNP some fully justified inconvenience… Be certain you have proof…” Jun 28, 15:28
    • Alasdair Roy on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “However unpopular it may be with my fellow followers on this site I cannot see a prosecution on the missing…” Jun 28, 14:50
    • Stuart Swanston on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “The Crown Agent used many more grammatically correct complex sentences to say as little as the Deputy Chief Constable. That’s…” Jun 28, 14:19
    • Alf Baird on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: ““the British State is controlling Scotland” Indeed so, and as you imply, colonial institutions are a central feature of control…” Jun 28, 13:43
    • aLurker on Off-topic: “Hi Sarah. I’m a rare visitor to WoS these days, but great to see youse still alive and kicking. I…” Jun 28, 13:35
    • sam on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “https://www.fraudadvisorypanel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Fraud-in-Scotland-4th-ed-July2020.pdf “Common law fraud Common law fraud is the common‘catch all’ for most fraud prosecutions in Scotland. Fraud is committed…” Jun 28, 12:41
    • Lorncal on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Yes, H McH: actions have consequences – so often not foreseen. Sometimes, it is actually better to let sleeping dogs…” Jun 28, 12:23
    • Lorncal on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Yes, well put, except that there is no legal basis for holding a political party to account for spending funds,…” Jun 28, 12:12
    • Jay on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “For avoidance of misunderstanding: laughter mentioned at 9:19 was thanks to Northcode for comment at 7:50, Saturday, worthy of honorary…” Jun 28, 11:56

  • A tall tale



↑ Top