The best news ever
We don’t normally run rumours on Wings, but this one was too good to pass up. We offer it to you on the clear basis that it IS just gossip, but it’s from a source we trust.
Our source says that “he’s selling himself – to any influential figures who’ll listen – as a PR chief for Better Together 2. In my personal opinion I don’t think they will be silly enough to let him back in, frankly, but he seems to be indestructable.”
They also gave us a quote from what they described as “a well-placed insider”:
“McTernan is itching for a comeback.
He’s sniffing around both in London and among Scottish contacts to see if he can carve out a senior role in the inevitable indyref2 campaign, which everyone’s having to pretend isn’t inevitable at all.
Given his track record there’s a fair degree of concern, to say the least. But he still holds sway with some senior figures in London especially. He is disliked by many in Scottish Labour but seems to have charmed some of the Tories. Given the number of lives he’s had few will be surprised if he manages to worm his way in to the upper echelons of Better Together 2.”
We’re crossing ALL our fingers, folks.
Incidentally, every time I wonder why the Scottish Government doesn’t purchase Grangemouth…
Happy days!
Has he categorically said there won’t be a second referendum?
Bwah hahahahahahaha
Result! I always thought he was a mole/plant.
Oh, I’ve just … ooohhh
Sure there’s a word for such folk… starts with a p, does it not. Oh, yeah, plonker!
Careful, eveven a broken clock is right twice a day.
Providing the hands haven’t dropped off. Which, in McT’s case is perfectly possible.
Its good to hear of unexpected job opportunities for Scots!
Yay!
Oh please, pretty please.
Paddy Power, here I come.
fingers crossed, arms crossed, legs crossed everything crossed come on John you know you want to..
So if I recall from last time, he joined BT and they were ahead of YES by quite a considerable margin which over the course of the campaign FELL drastically. This time round the margin, if any, will only be visible through a microscope.
Is there a petition or something similar we can all sign that ensures he gets top billing for BT2?
It would be a lucky man who could get McTernan to work for him.
No will win again. You can take that to the bank.
Och, I thought you were going to say May’s having Trump’s baby. ???
If we’re not careful they won’t appoint him when they see this.
I am genuinely concerned. He’d be a real asset to BT 2.
Political genius and heavyweight if ever there was one.
Well, he would certainly get my vote.
For the job I mean obviously
Oh frabjous day.
Still can’t understand why anyone still employs him. He’s death to everything he touches.
They wouldn’t would they? *hugs self with glee*
This will be why some yoons are describing indyrefII as being potentially divisive -they must have had the heads up the Mr McTernan was planning on a return….
Given his recent backing of the right house is this not a good thing
It would be great to have him working for us, sorry for them.
Kezia could play his glamorous assistant.
He was on RT’s Saturday night comedy slot.
Clearly the best man for the job!
My prediction is there won’t be a BetterTogether2. It will be multiple organisations.
Firstly, of course, the Unionist parties won’t work together. The non Tories have learnt that lesson!
Secondly, they have learnt from the Leave experience where multiple organisations took different approaches. Specifically, one can be faceless but with a big advertising budget and can push the envelope on decency. The ones with actually human faces will behave better.
This will allow them to play dirty but with politicians able to claim plausible deniability for the excesses of other entities which they will deny responsibility for.
In IndyRef1 anything anyone in BT said is rightly to have been assumed to be the policy of all within BT. That won’t be the case next time.
Oh the irony would be delicious when Mr McT steers Yes to victory.
Jim McIntosh 5.40pm
“Och, I thought you were going to say May’s having Trump’s baby.”
And here was me thinking Trump only held her hand!!!
Remember when we all thought makin Jim Murphy Labour leader was a foolish thing to do….And they said we were only saying that cause we were scared !!!!
Hey Ho whit kin ye dae!!!!
I don’t know why but he reminds me of Beaker’s catastrophic rendition of Ode to Joy:
link to youtube.com
yesss please make this happen!
McTernan, the man who can turn any idea into shit.
“The Iceman Cometh”
This is the guy who said: “It’ll be president Clinton, and you can take that to the bank.”
Oh my aching sides, McTernan the ghoul of ghouls to lead bt2. Hope they make McDoughnut his second.
Scottish government believes it can call, win new independence vote – sources
link to archive.is
Getting McTiernan on your campaign team would be the political equivalent of getting the black spot in Treasure Island.
I didn’t know you could blow soup through your nose till I read this.
You learn something new every day.
Brilliant news – and image to go with it.
He just needs a tape measure around his neck and he’s one of the tailors from The Fast Show…
“Suits you Sir, suits you!”
I’m incandescent with relief…praise be hallelujah the heavens above rejoice for McTernan the seer has just guaranteed Independence for Scotland.
Victory is guaranteed!
He’s the political smell that won’t go away!
Nana says:
Me too!
One Scottish lawmaker … said: “If you don’t call (an independence vote) now, it’s off the cards for a generation, because economic damage from Brexit would make voters nervous of more change”
I agree with that too. The effects of Brexit on Scotland, intentional and unplanned, with be so catastrophic it will become impossible to leave.
I do like a wee bit of H.G. Wells:
Later a “meteor” lands on Horsell Common, near the unnamed narrator’s home in Woking, Surrey. He is among the first to discover that the object is an artificial cylinder that opens, disgorging Martians who are “big” and “greyish” with “oily brown skin”, “the size, perhaps, of a bear”, each with “two large dark-coloured eyes”, and lipless “V-shaped mouths” which drip saliva and are surrounded by two “Gorgon groups of tentacles”. The narrator finds them “at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and monstrous”.
All we need now is fundilymundily Murphy.
Only thing is that on the law of averages Jon’s got to be on the winning side once?
Please God. Make it so!
Dan Huil says:
23 February, 2017 at 6:30 pm
All we need now is fundilymundily Murphy.
He is out and about “arranging” delivery of his favourite soda crates as we speak.
@Itchybiscuit
Loved it! The book I mean but the metaphor is exactly right too
I hope he does. If so independence is in the bag.
Never a bad time to air this wee gem…
link to twitter.com
Macart @ 6:19pm – Were you whistling Colonel Bogey at the same time?
@Thepnr
Cheers min, it’s one of my favourites.
That passage just popped into my head. I dunno why. ;o)
Hah hah hah hah hah – a dick arises.
link to news.gov.scot
“At a meeting between the UK Secretary of State Andrea Leadsom and devolved administrations, Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing, Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham and Minister for UK Negotiations Michael Russell repeatedly pressed for all areas of EU powers within devolved competence to be passed straight to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.”
Our guys keeping the pressure on WM.
The way I see it, everyone is waiting for WM to turn round and tell us to “f’ off, you’re getting nothing out of our full English Brexit”
Smooth! The Delphic Diddy strikes again.
He must be the FM’s Ultimate Deep Sleeper agent, activated by some saucy, candid shots of Tony Blair’s boxers sent to his Inbox.
It’s in the bag, Vile Seps.
Oh Yes. The final piece of our independence victory is now in place.
Hopefully Kez and McT will team up and repeat the good job they did for Trump last year.
BTW, @Capella, surely that was Danny Alexander?
So let me get this right John McTernan’s touting himself for the job he said wouldn’t ever exist because Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t want a referendum anyway said John McTernan
So he’s even admitting he’s making a Numptie of himself and his his own predictions by hoping that the folk he’s touting himself to are as stupid as he is
Yep, he’ll defo get that non existant job then
Could be he wants to join the Blair and Murphy gang ?
Oh puleaze. If he starts a crowd funder I’m in.
But if he predicts an Independence win then that WOULD be BAD.
If he gets the job and predicts a win for “no”, I’m going to place a substantial bet on “yes” and start the celebrations immediately. He has a 100% record when it comes to predictions.
So this is what’s representing you Yoonworld a man wae a sweaty face like a reject fae a puss ridden leper colony
that even the lepers wouldnae huv
Get him oan the telly
A lot!
Normally I wouldn’t personalise looks but in this case, Well
Galamcennalath says:
23 February, 2017 at 5:49 pm
……My prediction is there won’t be a BetterTogether2. It will be multiple organisations.
Ha ha ha. Like it Galamcennalath. “Better Together – Apart”.
We could stop calling them Yoons and start calling them Oxymorons, or with a drop of poetic license, how about “the Breximorons”.
Please let it be so!
O/T
Sort off but since we seem to be having a bit of light relief from all those statistics I thought I would add this to the mix.
From the Telegraph today. Apparently they are thinking of offering the USA associate membership of the Commonwealth.
link to archive.is
I seem to remember something about a unpaid bet , and McTornarse , could be wrong, but I believe a certain Mis Gillard from Australia is looking for John regarding a lost Premiership I believe she thinks he had something to do with her loosing it , then again it could just be one of those pesky roumours again , he does seem to attract controversy doesn’t he .
Spoilt for choice.
McTernan.
Rowling.
Davidson.
Taste of the great man’s Project Fear2, too,
John McTernan Retweeted Michael Gray
Man embraces 10% cut in GDP with surprising passionJohn McTernan added,
Michael Gray@GrayInGlasgow
John Letford MBE: Labour Party Lord Provost of Dundee from 2001-2012 on moving from No to Yes on Scottish independence. via @Zarkwan
Och, robertknight…
One of my pet hobby horses. The phrase is, and has always been, “SUIT YOU”, not “suits you”!
An example, featuring Johnny Depp:-
link to youtube.com
Breeks, I would deny them the oxymoron of publicity.
Anas Bananas will be leader of the Branch Office soon. McTernan and McDougall will release Project Fear’s Greatest Hits as a collector’s vinyl limited edition.
‘Brexit Together’ will trump ‘Better Together’ to achieve ‘efficiencies and savings’.
It’s gonna be fun, guys.
Oh no, NOT McTernan
All it needs now is for Mundell to be put in total charge and we’re dooomed I tell ye, doomed 
Happy days
Ruth Davidson gets a tank, and the other Davidson a bayonet. We don’t like it up ‘us.
BTW: The John Letford conversion is affie auld news. It was published in The Courier in July last year.
link to thecourier.co.uk
Has the penny dropped?
Are they really beginning to think that we are serious about another Independence vote?
Not long to go to find out when Nicola wants to vote on ‘ The Great Escape’.
Getting excited now.
Kissing all the right rings too,
John McTernan?@johnmcternan 5h5 hours ago
John McTernan Retweeted Philip Sim
Once again, @ruthdavidsonMSP is right – and right where the public are – by adopting a New Labour positionJohn McTernan added,
Philip SimVerified account@BBCPhilipSim
Ruth Davidson says @ScotTories will bring forward a members bill to bring in whole-life sentences, to tip balance back in favour of victims.
Hardly a surprise that some Tories like him. I still recall watching open mouthed on You Tube at the speech he gave at a Tory Party Conference fringe meeting where he said Thatcher hadn’t privatised enough and he would have privatised the London Tube.
He made Blair look like a Corbynite leftie. John really is Malcolm Tucker.
Will they put him charge? One might hope so
A John/Ruth dream team with Murdo and Fluffy as able lieutenants. If Kezia has any sense (which at the moment is questionable) she will give the whole lot a body swerve.
Yes!!! Yes!!!
What joyous news!!!
BBC STL@6.00.
Nice one,
It sums up the old VW advert with the guy coming out of the casino, except who knows what “quality” car Mctermite would own? “there’s an idea for the WoS media wizards.
” a new version of the ad.
Could’t we have a fund raise to ensure he works for his Tory pals at Indy Ref 2?
The Rev did a great article showing just how often he has been on the losing side.
Australian election,
Labour would win the last General Election,
Labour would win back Holyrood seats from SNP,
He worked for Clinton in the US elections,
and of course he guaranteed that the UK would vote remain.
He is a Thatcherite without shame, a lying bully boy, a sheep in a lamb’s clothing.
Long may he support the losing side.
The last BT boss has a very similar style of tweeting stuff, that no one has ever said. FUD’s are FUD’s basically.
Blair McDougallVerified account?@blairmcdougall 7h7 hours ago
More
Blair McDougall Retweeted BBC Scotland News
New channel must be properly resourced says person who wants to cut our broadcast budget by £3bn.Blair McDougall added,
0:44
BBC Scotland NewsVerified account@BBCScotlandNews
.@NicolaSturgeon welcomes new BBC Scotland TV channel, but says “vital” it is properly resourced #FMQs link to bbc.in
Its the exclamation marks that set aside the greats. Cringing, liar, fear monger? Welcome aboard.
Blair McDougallVerified account?@blairmcdougall 10h10 hours ago
More
SNP moan £30M for single evening-only channel “won’t stretch very far”. They want to replace £3.7bn BBC budget with £300m for all channels!
How demeaning is it for the once”big” man, chum of the great war starter Tony Blair, to have to go around begging for a job!
Hahaha, well at least the Tories like him, until he outlives his usefullness then…
Dear John blah blah blah
WORST POLITICAL PREDICTOR OF 2017:
Way out in front with a stonking 81% is our ‘numpty extraordinaire’….John McTearduct….keep those votes coming folks.
And so we have just received our first Vow, no1, for the next referendum, the BBC will grant Scotland an evening program slot by autumn 2018. The Scottish news will be broadcast at 9pm, in competition with BBC 1 & 2 silly costume dramas, bake-offs, train journeys by Portillo, and the second half of THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE matches. And £30m petty cash to help fund this new enterprise. The complex preparation for this , done elsewhere, will probably, regrettably, run in parallel with the campaigning for a second referendum, however the BBC no doubt will make an early start to recruit the targeted 80 journalists. I wonder what tasks they will be assigned to as the complex preparations run in parallel….
Vow 2 can be expected on naval ship orders. Complex design work, done elsewhere,
wii regrettably mean that the construction work orders for these X numbers of vessels cannot be placed with the Clyde shipyards until autumn 2018 earliest.fight us.
Vow 3. Design work to extend the High Speed Rail to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Inverness is progressing, elsewhere. It is anticipated that complex planning authority procedures will be overcome to enable construction work on the Borders to commence in autumn 2018 earliest.
oops, where’s the edit/correct button? Oh well.
Fuckin face lik a meltit welly, as one of my old girlfriends would have said.
Thanks to Nana and Rogue Coder for link to Ivan Rogers appearing before the brexit committee- for anyone wanting to get a better understanding of the process and the difficulties the UK faces it is essential viewing. Certainly it made for an uncomfortable morning for MPs. Here you have a guy who clearly knows everything you need to know about the EU and he has walked away in disgust. To have lost this guy has been a real blow for the UK government I feel.
His comments on the Commission sum up the situation well:
“What it does for a living and does quite well for a living is negotiation… negotiation with and against the member states. That’s by and large the thing in which it’s very proficient.”
He also says something ominous for whisky which I had not appreciated- that along with losing the Protected food name scheme with mere access to the single market we can sell whisky but if someone else wants to produce “scotch” not only can they do so but they can do so at a different level of tax. We would no longer be able to seek redress with the ECJ.
Anyway- worth a listen if interested.
link to parliamentlive.tv
Mail Online currently saying SNP sources think they can win second referendum.
They Mail goes on to say last Scottish referendum was won overwhelmingly with a 10 point margin.
Putting it another way, it was won by fewer than 198,000 votes and had it gone 5% the other way, we would have got independence. Hardly overwhelming.
The Daily Mail must be worried as they are stifling discussion and consequently are not permitting any comments to their article.
OT But WGD has a very heartening piece with awfy pretty pictures!
I notice the source dropped in a quick “frankly” halfway through that quote. Could only be one man, frankly.
FFS
A’body else think it ODD that (t)Ruthless never mentioned Independence today at FMQ’s???
Quick Stuart – offer him a wager on the result.
The best way to describe the “overwhelming” victory for NO in 2014 is to point out that one person in twenty voting the other way would have made it a draw and one person in ten would have reversed the result.
Well given his track record he should do well – Independent Scotland here we come
@Dorothy Define 8.59
Pretty pictures indeed. And how shocking to see Scotland’s size correctly displayed against England rather than the BBC weather map version.
… Ivan Rogers yesterday was pressed on the economic consequences for the EU of not coming to a trade agreement with the UK- the “falling off a cliff” scenario. Quite interesting response:
“That is economically damaging to them. They will obviously assert and insist that it is less economically damaging but why would you with a major… I mean we will be when outside the EU their single biggest trade partner. So why would you want an abrupt stoppage of flows of goods and services with your… I mean unless you’re nuts you oughtn’t to want to do that”
Different situation of course because we will, I am sure long term remain within the EU and so be on the side of the big boys but it is the kind of rationale you will never hear uttered about trade between Scotland and England post independence.
In terms of potential harm to the Yoons’ cause, McTernan must be worth at least twice as many minus points as would have been notched up by Johann Lamont, Jim Murphy, Kezia Dugdale and Ruth the Tank-and-Bull-Straddler all rolled into one.
No! Surely not!
McTernan …LOL
And the perfect storm just keeps growing…
@ Sandra – yes you’re right but I think there’s an uncanny resemblance. Besides, Danny’s in China now so we need a new person for the role.
Mack the Knife – Never less that topical: link to wp.me
Jack Collatin says:
23 February, 2017 at 7:46 pm
Breeks, I would deny them the oxymoron of …….
Lol. I’m looking forward to Better Together 2 campaigning as separate tribes who now need two minibuses to get around the country, as they also declare themselves separate from Europe. When the ‘separatist’ cap fits, we must make sure they wear it at every opportunity, and especially all those who would insist on calling Indy “separation” because they could never bring themselves to say the word Independence.
It’s kinda funny too, all the bile and venom they put into the word “separatists” was obviously profoundly important to them, intended derision I’m sure, when for my part, I was quite relaxed about being called a separatist and never had any particular axe to grind on the subject. Calling me a separatist was as insulting (or not) to me, as me calling them a Unionist. Hardly a term of endearment it’s true, but if they wanted me to feel insulted by calling me a separatist, then sorry, try again. It’s a badge I was quite happy to wear any time.
Such strange critters Unionists….. For the life of me, I cannot even pretend to put myself in their shoes and see the world through their eyes. I could never be at peace with all the denials, contradictions, and suspension of objective reality that it would take. It must be such hard work to keep a lid on it.
As a metaphor, when you read from the YES handbook, every page came with references and sources, facts that could be verified, and a paper trail that could be followed. Secrets being revealed. In contrast, the Better Together handbook was abstract fictional delusion that required considerable suspension of reality just to make any sense. The secrets were denied and reburied.
You ask yourself, can that be right? What if it’s me who lacks perspective? Am I the one deluded? Then you remember all the Better Together gaffs; their 500 questions ridiculed by every one, National Collective being sued over Neil Taylor and Vittol and standing their ground like champions. “Bruiser” Carmichael reduced to “Help Me Rhona “,… I could go on, and on, and on… the rent a mob crowds who couldn’t fill a phone box, grass roots campaigns turning out to be AstroTurf… The holdy-hand crowd at Hadrians Wall… The love bombing… Remember too the Rev raising a few eyebrows (my own included), by sending out wingers to count the no shows at Better Together Meetings? Better Together Meetings that revealed closer mastery of crowd control than One Man and His Dog to get the venues looking busy before the camera. Jim Murphy’s glowing endorsement for Johann Lamont when asked by Brillo if she was REALLY going to lead the campaign…
Aye, We’re not the deluded ones. But it still knocks me stone cold sober that we lost so much that was precious to us all, to such a phoney bunch of dingers who just happened to be backed by a sleazy greasy £3.8 billion propaganda machine and unscrupulous string pullers and cheats at Westminster.
@
Breeks. Thats what always gets me, WHY did they have to bus in all their support? Didnt more than half of Scotland vote Naw. Why wer’nt No supporters here supporting them. Maybe we’re missing summit.!
This could be even more joyous than when Jim Murphy was made Scottish Labour leader and all the Labour big men cheered merrily.
Surely it is TOO MUCH to hope for.
I see Councillor Alex Gallagher and Ian Smart are both against the new Scottish Channel. Seems I have to like it it by default as a result. Could cause a family feud though since Gallagher’s daughter-in- law fronts bbc Scotland news on occassion’s and son does some TV.
Hell, can things get any better?
breeks , thanks for the reminders! And ditto as far as the last paragraph is concerned.
Nostraternan is Notforturnin.