When the law breaks the law
There is a not particularly funny joke that is sometimes told in legal circles about why a law student failed to finish his coursework – because he had no conviction. With rare exceptions lawyers aren’t renowned for their sense of humour but I can’t help thinking someone, at the highest levels of our justice system, is having a right laugh at my expense and those who have loyally supported me over the past six years.
I’m talking about the Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC – a sitting member of the Scottish Government’s cabinet who was nominated by Nicola Sturgeon to that post in 2021, five months after I was acquitted.
For those unfamiliar with my case, I offer this brief summary. In March 2020 I made a short video on my mobile phone that was two minutes and thirty eight seconds in length. I hadn’t planned to make the video when I went out for a walk in a field near my home. But I was annoyed and wanted to articulate that annoyance, although at the time I recorded it I wasn’t intending for it to go much further.
Later that night, just before turning in, I uploaded it to my YouTube channel on a closed, unlisted link and then posted that link to my Twitter account that, at the time, had a modest 1000 or so followers. I then forgot about it.
Little did I know that short mobile phone video would result in me facing initially a criminal trial, then a five year legal battle in the highest civil court in Scotland and now, most likely, an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
In that very short video, I expressed my disdain for the complainers and conspirators, male and female, who were still trying to destroy the reputation of Alex Salmond, despite the fact he had been fully acquitted at the High Court just a few days before I made that video.
So what did I say? What possible criminal offence could I have uttered in less than three minutes that would result in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, then led by Ms Bain’s predecessor James Wolffe, despatching five Edinburgh detectives to raid my home, confiscate all of my tech and then bring me to trial where I potentially faced a year’s imprisonment if found guilty.
The video simply highlighted my opinion that if the complainers continued with their efforts against the former First Minister, ignoring the judgement of the High Court that had acquitted Alex, and they persisted in this campaign behind a veil of anonymity, then eventually, one way or another their identities would become widely known.
In evidence produced at the High Court the complainers themselves made plain that they could undertake this politically motivated campaign by exploiting the legal protections that rightly exist to protect actual victims of sexual assault. Their cynical and stated exploitation of this important protection not only continued to damage Alex’s reputation but also undermined wider confidence in those actual victims of such assault whose identities do deserve to be protected from the wider public.
That aspect is one of the more egregious and nefarious undertaken by the complainers and those who coordinated them in what has become the Alex Salmond saga.
As Sheriff Patterson concluded at Jedburgh Sheriff Court, “I do not accept [the comments made in the video] would cause a reasonable person fear and alarm. The video contained an opinion, nothing more.” He accepted my defence team’s motion of “no case to answer” and the prosecution case was dismissed and I was fully acquitted.
But such is the lunacy of Scotland’s once-revered independent legal system that my only hope of a subsequent remedy for this wrongful prosecution would have come if I had been jailed in January 2021. Only then would I have a legal route to seek compensation.
As Fergus Ewing MSP, former Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary and Minister noted in Holyrood just last week (see from 17.08), that situation is plainly “absurd”.
After my acquittal I instructed Solicitor Advocate Gordon Dangerfield – easily the most tenacious and dogged lawyer I have ever come across – and Andrew Smith KC to act on my behalf and in May 2025 we finally secured two full days of legal debate with the aim, on our side, of moving to the “proof stage”. That would potentially have enabled “certain facts”, as Alex Salmond put it following his acquittal, to see the light of day.
After these hearings we waited for Lord Lake’s considered written judgement, which was finally published on 5th February 2026. It is 31 pages in length and narrates, for the most part, all the legal issues around my case in some considerable detail before coming to a conclusion on whether I could proceed to the proof stage and what would have been the “juicy parts”.
Myself and my legal team were confident we could prove that there was clear malicious intent behind the decision to prosecute me in 2021. However, as Lord Lake makes plain in his conclusions, my case cannot proceed because of legislation passed by the UK Parliament.
The Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, section 170 provides that prosecutors are immune from liability for malicious prosecution in summary proceedings like mine, where the person suing was not imprisoned.
In his written submissions to the court, my solicitor advocate posed these questions about that provision: “On what rational basis is a prosecutor liable for malicious prosecution only if imprisonment has been imposed on the person suing? … Is it compatible with Article 6 for there to be no remedy for a person seeking to sue and caught by the terms of section 170?”
Our answers to those questions had already been given almost four years earlier in our letter before action to the Lord Advocate, lodged as a production with the court. Section 170 was, we said, “incompatible with Article 6 of the European Convention in that it fails to provide a remedy when a wrong is committed”.
Lord Lake has now agreed. In a formal declaration in his judgment he has found section 170 to be “inconsistent with the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Article 6 (right to a fair hearing), as it is an unjustifiable restriction on a pursuer’s right to have a determination of the merits of his claim that he was the subject of a malicious prosecution”.
That is an incredible statement in its own right, but Lord Lake continued: “Nothing has been brought to my attention to indicate why, notwithstanding the submission of no case to answer being upheld, it could be said that there was a case fit to try. It therefore appears that in the circumstances, the decision of the sheriff to sustain a submission of no case to answer indicates that there was no objective reasonable and probable cause [for bringing a prosecution].”
He then conducted his own analysis of the evidence and concluded: “Whether on the basis of the view taken by the sheriff at the trial or an examination of the evidence available in relation to the requirements of section 38 [the statutory breach of the peace provision under which I was prosecuted], viewed objectively there was no reasonable and probable cause to commence the prosecution – no case fit to be put before a court.”
In other words, Lord Lake is saying that if it was not malice that lay behind the decision to prosecute me, then what was it? In effect, he is laying out the basis of my claim and that it has clear merit. Indeed, he concludes in terms that “the requirements for a case of malicious prosecution against the Lord Advocate … are admitted, established, or the subject of relevant averments” in my pleadings before the court, and that I should be able to go to proof on them.
However, my claim cannot continue because the law stands at present is inconsistent with ECHR and my rights to a fair trial.
Now you might think that conclusion would have been a welcome one for our Lord Advocate because it effectively brings an end to my legal claim against her.
But on Monday 16th February 2026 the Lord Advocate took the decision to appeal Lord Lake’s decision to the Inner House of the Court of Session, the highest civil law court in Scotland. It is a fair assumption that the Lord Advocate is not best pleased by the ruling, not least because it leaves the door wide open for us to proceed with an application to the European Court of Human Rights.
Given Lord Lake’s very strong judgement substantively in my favour, albeit having been forced to dismiss my claim, we are confident of getting a very sympathetic hearing in Europe.
However, one consequence (intended or otherwise is hard to say) of this decision is that we now face unexpected additional court costs.
From the start, it has been clear that the Crown Office, led by the Lord Advocate, has sought to grind us down and price me out of this important legal case. Through the sheer generosity of my supporters in both my initial criminal trial and later in this civil case, we have kept up the fight.
Some have argued that it might have been easier for me to have simply walked away after my acquittal in 2021. They have misjudged me.
For simply offering an opinion in a 158-second video that initially hardly anyone viewed, I had my home raided, my mobile and laptop taken and all of my digital fingerprint forensically scrutinised in what was evidently a fishing expedition. Even after this, so weak was their case they had to amend my initial charge and hope they could jail me under a catch-all breach of the peace.
The publicity, generated by the complainers who didn’t even wait for the initial police report to be actioned, was relentless and highly critical of me personally, causing huge reputational damage that ultimately saw me lose contracts amounting to tens of thousands of pounds. As so often in modern Scotland the process was the punishment, but if they had succeeded I would also have been in prison for a year, for uttering a short opinion on legal proceedings that had been concluded and were of huge public interest.
Senior Counsel for the Lord Advocate during his pleadings at last May’s Court Of Session hearings before Lord Lake made no effort to hide the real agenda; to send a chilling effect across all those who had criticised the complainers.
This is not how actual justice systems are meant to function or how a state prosecutor should be conducting public affairs. Their actions are, as many within the criminal justice system have already noted, brought the entire system into disrepute, but still they continue.
This week I have reluctantly relaunched my financial appeal to get us over this next hurdle. We are genuinely optimistic about our chances but we cannot do that without support.
It has already become a landmark and historic case but we need one big final push. Hopefully then, the joke and the last laugh will be on Scotland’s malicious state prosecutor.
Hi Mark.
“Even after this, so weak was their case they had to amend my initial charge and hope they could jail me under a catch-all breach of the peace.”
If you were charged under Section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010, (an attempt to repair the “damage” caused to prospective BotP cases by Smith V Donnelly 2001), then the following might be useful for anyone facing a similar charge: link to justpaste.app. It demonstrates how Section 38 was the first Scottish legislation to break the principle of “no crime without law”/no ex post facto determination of criminality, the second being the “jigsaw identification” argument made against Craig Murray in 2021.
Donating gladly
(even if it were only for the entertainment value 🙂 )
Police State.
I;ve donated a tiny amount, and am pleased to see that the appeal is going well – is there any indication how much is likely to be needed?
Donated
Not sure whether or not a video link to Fergus Ewing’s Holyrood intervention is embedded in the above article, but here it is anyway:
FERGUS EWING RAISES THE JUDGEMENT OF LORD LAKE IN HOLYROOD
link to youtube.com
We’re only a few weeks out from choosing Scotland’s government for the next 5 years. Surely it’s not too much to ask that one of the political parties could make sorting out the disgracefully partisan role of the Lord Advocate at HR a manifesto commitment?
It’s not as if HR lack the power to make sweeping changes to Scottish Law when it suits them. They’ve just got rid of the Not Proven verdict, FFS.
By comparison with that, surely legislating for the apolitical impartiality of the Lord Advocate should be a dawdle?
The prosecution of Alex Salmond, the ongoing protection of the alpabetties and the jailing of Craig Murray tell all you need to know about the separation been government and the Law in this country.
It is corrupt. A banana republic.
Burn it all down.
I’ve donated as we must when faced yet again by corrupt and immoral practices from government.
Your courage is remarkable Rev!
You do not stand alone.
As is now clear to see the rule of law is a hoodlum’s charter.
When the state can maliciously try to prosecute causing an individual to be harried and harrased, to lose their job, to lose their income for no other reason than unfounded political bias, but them cannot sue for damages because such tight is removed, then you know exactly what type of country we live in.
But Mark Hirst is not the only one to feel the legal jack boot that frankly is in place to kill those who need killing. I use the word metaphorically, but our dark state and their accomplices in the police and prosecution services would physically kill if needs be.
In this regard strange suicides appear a preferred option, but as was shown in Northern Ireland with the slayings of human rights lawyers Pat Finnucane and Rosemary Nelson by proxies of the Crown, or the strange suicide of nationalist lawyer Willie Macrae, extra judicial political killing does happen.
But of course too many think we live in some kind of democracy whereas in fact we live in a big beast jungle.
I hope folks fund Mark Hirst to have the legal resources to pursue this state thuggery. We truly need external intervention to help throw of the rotten and corrupt colonial yoke that chokes our country.
Corruption, rotten stinking, murderous even corruption runs deep in the British state as the Prince Andrew and Lord Mandelson exposures are now finally showing.
You were on fire, Willie, until your second last para. Then you crashed and burned.
The case we’re discussing here is entirely home grown. If it was a stick of rock, we could snap it in two and read “Made in Scotland” through the middle.
Get a grip. Just for once, is there no die-hard Indy supporter capable of accepting that we Scots need to start acting and thinking like grownups, and take responsibility for our own corrupt and incompetent fuck ups?
“The case we’re discussing here is entirely home grown”
Don’t be silly.
Despite the inevitable ‘on-the-ground indigenous agents'(Elkins) operating in colonial societies, this and related political persecutions can all be traced back to senior Whitehall-appointed civil servants running the UK-Scottish Government and their efforts to smear Alex Salmond.
Had that dubious process, which is assuredly a consequence of colonial rule, not occurred, there would have been no cases brought against Hirst, Murray, Salmond and others.
Aye, Alf, I guess if the only tool in your armoury is a spoon, every situation must look like a puddin.
Perhaps you could inform us which “senior Whitehall-appointed civil servants” just got rid of Scotland’s Not Proven verdict.
As always, I’ll wait.
Chris Wormald… former Cabinet Secretary for Great Britain, UK, and England recently replaced by:
Dame Antonia Rebecca Caroline Angharad Catherine Romeo born – Antonia Rebecca Caroline Angharad Catherine Rice-Evans – in London in 1974.
And I thought my middle names, Zephyr, Maverick, and Orion were verging on the ‘too much’.
North Zephyr Maverick Orion Code – to give me my full moniker – born in a galaxy long, long ago and far, far away.
Great stuff, Northy.
I’d heard of galactic clusters. Now you’re teaching me about galactic clusterfucks.
“Perhaps you could inform us which “senior Whitehall-appointed civil servants” just got rid of Scotland’s Not Proven verdict”.
That’s not how it works, Hatey, as you are in a position to know.
I used to work in St Andrew’s House – when it was the old Scottish Office.
Nothing – but nothing – was done in any Department without reference to our cognate department in Whitehall.
No Whitehall names appeared in the memo (except as cc-ed) but everyone knew who provided the authority and permission.
So-called “Devolution” has NOT changed that.
As you will well know from your own sponsors.
“you will well know from your own sponsors”
Sure. I asked them about your old department.
They tell me they take no interest whatsoever in the lavatory cleaning side of the operation.
I’m inclined to believe them, but by all means, if it helps you to feel better about yourself, you continue to believe that every requisition for a gross of bog rolls has to go through Whitehall.
GP at 2.26
“That’s not how it works (HMcH) as you are in a position to know”..
Please do share GP; what position did/ does the site spoiler have/ had?
Asking for the exasperated majority.
Well Young Lochinvar,
I know Hatey well. He was my boss: Head of Lavatorial Services.
Where do you think he gets the stuff he dumps here from?
Mark,
Good luck.
I’ve donated.
O/T – but the Mens’s curling team are through to the final – guaranteed at least a silver medal and good chance of Gold 🙂
I’m cheering them on, but no doubt someone will explain that it’s all just something straight out of post-colonial theory (complete with references).
There’s something about Fanon makes my hair curl.
I’m as British as a Canadian is North American
Pay day next week…standby!
The alphabets and their party connections are no secret. Nor indeed their motivations.
They still enjoy the protection of that rancid edifice that is Scots Law – the Brown Envelope Society where Crime Only Pays For Some.
Not a single case of attempting to defeat the ends of justice – including from she who was not even where she claimed to be at the time of the alleged offence, with witnesses proving beyond any reasonable doubt that she wasn’t there and therefore lied under oath – has been brought.
Scotland’s government and judiciary stink like Peterhead harbour on market day and the sooner the Indy charlatans and their publicly funded consiglieries are given the boot, the better…
Indy for Scotland !!!
SNP Out !!!
Anyone else reckon Bain’s heid has a similar(ish) profile to a movie Predator?
Just without the odd breathy way of speaking- the Predator that is..
Is she really the best we can do?
“Movie”, YL?
You’re colonised and you don’t even know it.
HMcH
Eh?
Sorry, no idea what you’re talking about.
Have you been indulging in self-trepanation again..
Well, well! Grudging respect to Professor Baird.
Precisely as predicted by Fanon, Memmi, et al, the linguistically colonised YL has no idea he’s been colonised.
Still though, neither has Professor Baird, as we regularly observe in his posts.
Reply reply reply reply reply reply reply sneer fart waffle baffle babble…if you are a paid bot, you must have fucked up badly to be put on this detail. If you are not, you need serious psychiatric help.
@Onlooker
Not my fault that you lack the smarts to follow my posts.
You’re online, obviously. Most of human knowledge is only a few clicks away. There’s no reason for you to be huffily finding fault with those sharper than yourself, other than what Professor Baird would categorise as your colonised, habitual, Scottish cringe.
Educate yersel, dude! As well as becoming some use to yourself, you could become some use to your country.
Donated.
Best of luck Mark as you have been severely wronged and the thugs that targeted you need to be exposed as there is a conspiracy here that goes straight back to Alex Salmond.
All this is a powerful argument against devolved Scottish government. Scrap the bloody thing, it’s failed.
The Act of Union at least protected the Scots legal system and education system. The Labour/SNP governments have corrupted the one and degraded the other.
“The Act of Union at least protected the Scots legal system” ?
————-
Worth listening again to the seminal speech by PROFESSOR ROBERT BLACK KC at the United Nations in GENEVA:
link to youtube.com
Hasn’t the world’s greatest living half Scot, President Donald Trump, defunded that useless, toothless talking shop and safe haven for grifters, the UN?
@ Mark Hirst: I donated when you first opened the crowdfunder and will do so again. I note that the figure of amount raised £28,045 hasn’t changed since this article was posted yet I know people have donated so could you please give an update from time to time?
Perhaps we should be running a crowd funder for the world’s greatest living half Greek former prince who has fallen on hard times and had his collar felt by the Old Bill .Still if his family are not willing to chip in perhaps not. Then again just think of what his lovely family are going through. Dig deep folks.
Interesting how quickly, all things considered, that things have moved on since Auld Lizzie the lizard shuffled off this mortal coil..
Don’t ya think?
Hmmmm..
I recall you claiming you served in the British Army.
That will make you one of the very few (perhaps the only) regular on here who will have sworn an oath of allegiance to the late queen, and to her successors.
Slipped your mind, has it?
HMcH
Mumbling during the swear in was allowed back then in sectarian Glasgow!
Hasn’t Unherd told you that?
Oi Vey Y’all 🙂
“Claiming”!
You tw8t..
HMcH
Well Oi Vey Y’all!!
FYI: Mumbling was permitted when swearing-in in divided Glasgow back then..
AI not tell you that?
No?
Obviously not and you wouldn’t have known anyway as one of the “couldn’t, wouldn’t and dare not” cowards..
i donated but will do so again as needed, we the public must step forwrd to support people like mark who speak up in defence of the rights of the people that are so often ignored or abused by the likes of the dorothy bains in this world . keep going mark you are on the right side of the law as it should be administered !
Anyone see the irony of Ross Greer attacking Randy Andy (guilty as eff probably) while “its” party was the governmental stumbling block to defunding LGBTwhatever Yoof Scotchland of continuing public funding following homosexual child paedophilia and grooming scandals and prosecution.
?
Double standards Beaker eh?!”
Forgive my lack of exact recollection of details, but didn’t Nicola Sturgeon recommend Dorothy Bain for the Lord Advocate job after she let Sturgeon off for the way she fucked up the domestic violence case that led to her exit from the legal profession? A slightly flawed summary, but I am sure you know what I am talking about.
O
Not just bad men then eh?
@ Onlooker
link to grousebeater.wordpress.com
link to petercherbi.wordpress.com
Dan, thank you for the link to grousebeater’s exposition concerning Sturgeon’s history. Seems perfectly compromised for recruitment. Is any more known about the sheriff?
I’m sure it’s entirely coincidental, but from the looks of things, I’m confident that the sheriff has an above average tick box count, possibly high enough to put her in an unassailable position.
That’s the curse when you start to view people in positions of authority through the tick box prism. Suddenly you start to see correlations between job titles and tick box counts everywhere in today’s Scottish governing elite “blob”.
Obviously, these correlations can never be any more than sheer coincidence.
Any truth in the rumour Keir Starmer is going to appoint Gary Glitter as Ambassador to the USA?
A quick but serious word of advice, Rev. These people will stop at nothing to nail you. So make sure you get an independent accountant to review and approve every bit of income and expenditure from this appeal. Don’t want anyone to suggest you’ve been spending money on anything else like, well, you know where Im going…
“A quick but serious word of advice, Rev. These people will stop at nothing to nail you. So make sure you get an independent accountant to review and approve every bit of income and expenditure from this appeal. Don’t want anyone to suggest you’ve been spending money on anything else like, well, you know where Im going…”
It’s got nothing to do with me.
@McHate 11.14pm (20/2/26).
When you are sent to illegal wars and see obscene acts of violence against civilians you return from those wars with PTSD, the destruction of your own family life, and a desperate existence – that’s if you have been lucky enough to survive. Funnily enough there’s also a tendency to question the notion of allegiance. Allegiance to who exactly? Allegiance to what? In whose interest was that war fought? Political allegiance can change as can national allegiance. A young Scottish soldier sent to Iraq from a fanatically Brit Nat family can become a republican with a desire to see Scotland independent. A changed allegiance I’ve witnessed within my own family – the result of the devastating experience of the Iraq war.
Loving the idea that there are such things as legal and illegal wars, Marie, and that once the shooting starts, those involved are expected to politely ask enemy individuals if they are civilians.
I’m thinking you are gonna find the 21st century extraordinarily difficult to thole.
As for oath breakers, they’re ten a penny. And get this, every single one has a self justification ready.
Oath keepers, however, are a different breed. They’re the rare sort who understand that how ever many oaths they swear, they have to break but one to be finished forever in their own eyes, let alone anybody else’s, as a man who can be trusted.
We Scots used to be good at this sort of thing. It was one of the national characteristics that caused other nations to regard us highly.
Changed days.
It was easy to hoodwink people in the olden days. In the olden days could incur the wrath of a god and spend an eternity in the fires of hell for simply having your own opinions. That’s called coercive control. No thanks. I’ll continue to question. The scales have fallen from my eyes.
Hope ye were wearing a guid pair o tackety boots, Marie.
An nae standin oan a tiled flair!
HMcH
Oi Vey Y’all!
Oh dear!
Hebe geno side happy clapper and self professed coloured people hating “Oath Keeper” HMcH.
We have a total rocket in our midst people!
Seek professional help “old boy”..
“Prick”.
Good to see you back, James
People were worrying you’d gone blind.
Ah’m still here.
And you’re still a unionist prick.
Now, now, James, tell the truth.
You’re here for a few days because you’ve rubbed it red raw.
As soon as it has healed a bit, you’ll be back hunched over your dark web sites.
James
HMcH is either:
1. Flexing his +60% fat brain percentage inspired imagination
Or
2. Projecting YET AGAIN..
Absolutely interesting points about allegiance and fighting for who.
One thing that has come out into the public domain is how in 2010 Prince Andrew forwarded to Epstein confidential documentation relating to how Helmand Province was rich with opportunity for the extraction of gold, thorium, oil and other resources.
And there was the gullible GB population believing that their beloved sons and daughters in the military were in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban and the good fight.
Tragic this leak to his criminal chum reveals grimly that their sons and daughters who died or were injured did so for the potential of some big buck opportunities in gold, thorium, oil and other such resources. They died for what is therefore the question of royal Prince Andrew.
And will anything change. Will they dig up the dead who died fighting for money and honour them. Will anything really happen to the the ex Prince Andrew. The spin is the press is now that the government are going to focus on introducing legislation to remove ex Prince Andrew from being eighth in line to the throne. Well whoopers do, rape and pillage, sell out your country, and is that to be the sanction.
Or the equally rotten Mandelson and others. They are off the radar now. Jog on folks I think is the message folks and don’t ask if they died in vain.
To quote the words of the Delamitri hit ” nothing ever happens ” –
” And ignorant people sleep in their beds like doped white mice in the college Labs
And nothing ever happens, nothig happens at all.
The needle returns to the start of the song. And we all sing along like before ”
Never more accurate words put into a pop song to describe what is going on right now. Nothing ever changes – jog on folks!
Excellent post Willie.
“rape and pillage, sell out your country”
My, willie, either you subscribe to a much more sensationalist publication than I do, or your dictionary has pictures in it, not words.
For example, who got raped? What got pillaged?
“will anything change”
Not if the likes of you are driving it. You’re already bored with all the detail of evidence, proof, etc. If you can’t get to verdict and punishment within a week from a standing start, then you lose interest.
In many ways, your synthetic outrage over these allegations, for that is what they are, matches your enthusiasm for Indy and explains why Indy is no closer today than it was in 2014. You lack the attention span to focus beyond the short term.
Thus you are doomed to forever lose to those who see that something like this will, indeed must, drag on for years.
I predict that in only a few days, you’ll be posting with incandescent rage about something else entirely.
Q bot.
Divide, dstract, rinse. Repeat.
«This one has a way to run and run, and the stench which surrounds both politics and the Palace will only contribute to the concern that the whole edifice of the British Establishment and its leading institutions is rotten».
Says the Spectator.
England in deep trauma. The SNP might come up with a salve knowing all about treating and covering up rotten stinking bodies politic.
Just for the record, England is not in deep trauma, a mad sort of conception that bears no relationship to reality. The Spectator is not in trauma either but such hysteria sells copy. Perhaps what you and they share is a desire that the country is. No chance though, as for most people the relationship between royals and government is totally irrelevant to their daily lives and will remain so. It does provide a bit of mirth and letting of steam invective for down the pub.
I always find it funny that ignorant people base their opinions on a place they do not know or understand on the wittering of the mainstream media class, who they spend most of their time slagging off until it suits them not to. It is like they see England and imagine it saying ‘here be dragons’ next to it on the map, then make up a load of nonsense and look at ultra-conservative media commentators to draw a very skewed picture of the thing they hate in order to confirm their own prejudices.
It seems that intelligence and pretty wide knowledge still is very prone to confirmation bias.
Guid mornin’ tae aw yous folk fannyin aboot oan here. Hae a guid weekend the lot o ye, aye.
Thon Dorothy is in the shite the noo is she no?
A’m thinkin she micht be fir the boot soon enough… puir lassie. She’ll still be able tae dae the conveyancin’ work fir a few bob probably, sae no aw bad, eh?.
And puir wee Andy… and oan his birthday tae, whit a shame fir the boy – a wunner whit he wished fir whin he blew the candles oot on his cake.
Well, that’s us aw caught up wi the latest news in the Kingdom – cheerio the noo.
The Isle of Islay is now in British waters having steamed past Lands End and heading for Greenock at 15.6kn. Her Med holiday is well and truly over.
link to vesselfinder.com
Ah, c’moan noo, x, hoo mony years ye bin oan here an ye’ve learnit naething?
Nae sic a thing as “British” watters.
It’s the tawse fer ye!
It’s the concept of the UK that people on here have a problem with – not the reality that the largest of the two main British islands is known as Great Britain. Stop Gaslighting.
“British waters” is often used instead of “UK waters”
due to historical, geographical, and linguistic traditions that predate the political formation of the United Kingdom. Terms like “British Sea” or “British Ocean” originate from Roman times (Oceanus Britannicus) and have persisted, often referring to the islands of Great Britain rather than the political state.
While “UK territorial waters” is the correct legal term, “British waters” persists in common parlance, shipping, and fishing contexts as a traditional, shorter, and, in many cases, older name.
Touted with the great hurrah the reality is that the MV Isle of Islay was delivered one year and three months late due it was said being due to supply chain and labour shortage issues.
Aye right says the man with the cynical eye. More likely that there was a problem with the Calmac design and specification than the Turkish shipyard. October 2024 to the 15th January 2026 is some amount of labour shortage and supply chain delay.
And then there is the maiden passage of the tub itself. This was scheduled to take two weeks. In the event with the boat’s arrival on Sunday morning in Greenock it took just over four weeks. Seems the weather was bad and there was a rescue on route as the tub traversed and moored along the medditeranean with a crew of over thirty.
But hey hoe nothing to do with the design not being able to take the weather that other designs can take, or perchance some technical issues requiring long port stop overs.
Who knows save to say the Isle of Islay was only a year and three months late and for that the long suffering island natives should be grateful.
Or am I missing something?
Since bugger aw is happening in this place here’s some poetry scrieven in Scots and quilled by a Scot fir tae be read by Scots. Ther’s nae translation (bar a single word) sae fowk will hae tae figure oot its meaning fir thersels.
* WIDDERSHINS: In a direction opposite to the usual, in the wrong direction.
Wonderful.
There are faux-Scots poets who compose English verse and, with the aid of dictionaries, translate material they pass off as Scots “poems.”
Ellie McDonald is NOT one of those. She is the real deal whose compositions come straight from the heart in the Scots she has lived with for eight decades since her early childhood.
I am fortunate enough to have a signed copy of The Gangan Fruit.
Some years back the Dundee Rep performed Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, a bawdy work about an anti-war sex strike by Athenian women. It was adapted by Ellie into a Scots that demonstrated many earthy and hilarious terms besides “houghmagandie.”
Finally, like Hamish Henderson, Willie Neil, Robert Garioch and other writers in Scots before her, Ellie has great respect for Gaelic literature past and present.
Here’s a better version of Hamlet, the play scribbled doun by Shakespeare, scrieven by the same lass who wrote WIDDERSHIN.
A much better version than the original in my view.
“A much better version than the original”
Sorry, Northy, but naw.
As the most recent research indicates that Shakespeare was not only a woman, but a black woman, puir auld Ellie McDonald loses out when we come to count the ticked boxes.
I’m afraid Ellie can’t win that fight, not even if she takes to wearing a tea towel on her heid.
Sorry, again.
ALBA PARTY
LEADER’S UPDATE
Dear friend
Let me, firstly, thank you for your support for our Party over these past years. It has been gratefully appreciated. We were formed by Alex Salmond when the SNP faltered and fell by the wayside on pursuing the cause of Independence, compounded by their shameful treatment of him which disgusted so many of us.
It hasn’t been easy given the Party’s launch during Covid and the hostility of the SNP throughout. But we persevered. We were then though struck by the grievous blow of Alex’s tragic and early passing. Notwithstanding that we rallied in his memory and to maintain his dream which we all share.
However, as I mentioned in the last email financial irregularities have come to light since the dismissal of the General Secretary for gross misconduct. These have been reported to the Police and an investigation which we are assisting and fully cooperating with is ongoing. Matters are with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and I expect matters to progress further shortly. This was compounded by Ash Regan MSP, our former colleague, who despite being advised of the concerns we had, instead chose to give employment to the former General Secretary thus given credence to his denials of misconduct.
I can assure you of integrity of current staff and elected office bearers but neither that nor justice being done addresses the perilous financial position which we find ourselves in as a result. Despite the sterling efforts of Corri Wilson, our Director of Operations, in stabilising and then seeking to turn matters around our financial position remains acute.
We have been in touch with the Electoral Commission who have shown great forbearance in the late lodging of audited accounts and even been helpful in our dealings with the former General Secretary who has continued to seek to damage the Party. But we face a financial situation where we simply cannot provide the further accounts which they require, along with meeting staff wages and covering other costs which we are either tied into or are required to meet. In these circumstances fighting an election is simply beyond our resources.
Even the willingness of a hardy band of activists whose efforts I am truly grateful for does not address the immediate crisis which we face. To contest an election a Party requires to be registered with them. We require to formally reregister by the end of next month. We have met with the Electoral Commission who are reflecting on the issues we have raised and the information we have provided.
However, I have to advise that it looks likely that we will not be able to register and therefore even to contest the election. That brings also into question the viability of a Party which neither has financial resource nor the ability to contest elections.
I know this will come as a bitter blow to you. It is a feeling shared by those of us who have shared your journey and have tried to steady the ship when torpedoed by the actions of an individual. But we have a duty to staff and to office bearers and members of the NEC who could face personal liability for incurred debt.
?
I will keep you advised as matters will be clearer in coming days. In the interim we will be continuing to support Moira, assist the court case to ensure justice for Alex and launching an award scheme in his name for young people to ensure his memory is forever maintained.
Our Party may have difficulties, but our cause is eternal.
The dream shall never die.
Kenny MacAskill
ALBA Party Leader
link to albaparty.org
Hail Alba
link to tinyurl.com
….and Farewell Alba
It was under Kenny MacAskill as Justice Secretary that ALEX SALMOND’S woke colonial administration changed Scottish Prison Service policy to place male prisoners in women’s jails.
It Salmond that destroyed Alba without a murmur of disapproval from Kenny MacAskill with all the rigged elections and such a level of stinking corruption, bullying, lies and expulsions against anyone who dare complain about the abuses of power.
So, Hell mend Kenny MacAskill and his corrupt Alba Party money grubbers with their failed attempts to get their greedy snouts in the pig trough at Holyrood.
A general political rule of thumb that seems to be accurate most of the time:
With left wing parties, it’s always money that sinks them.
With right wing parties, it’s always sex.
HMcH
Nah, they are as bad in both departments as each other.
Is either department the one/ those GP referenced you further up??
Well, that’s that fucked then.
Looking forward to hearing the inside scoop from Stu on this particular pile of wombat droppings.
MacEleny a unionist plant?
He seems to have destroyed the party from the inside.
Where’s the money, Chris?
Kennys account is the truth of events and it is a tragedy ,for us and for Scotland .
Don’t forget Men’s curling team going for Gold (or at least Silver) at 18.00.
What an absolute waste of your old man’s effort you are. Turd.
GM – well said.
THE BRITISH STATE is experiencing a major existential crisis, Scotland’s «elect» are asleep.
Sadly, the electorate is dozing too.
The sleeper must awake.
Aye, totes poundshop politics here in Scotlandshire.
Lacklustre and spineless politicians, and divisive self-serving egotistic narcissism turned up to eleven and rife in the supposedly brightest and best political punditry, that should have balanced their output on holding those in positions of power and influence to account, with nurturing the development of new talent coming through the ranks.
So basically they’re aw jist gatekeeping cunts for the status quo that have put all sorts of caveats and hurdles in place that have stifled and held back improving Scotland’s lot for yet another electoral cycle.
Sic a parcel of rogues in n oot a nation…
Has LGBTQI etc etc etc killed the SNP and Alba?
Certainly disproportionately over represented per capita..
Can’t keep hands out of the till?
You decide..
“ Alba Party quits Holyrood election with questions over ‘viability’”
=========
link to tinyurl.com
Fanon and Memmi, Jonesy too, predicted this would happen.
“Leaked emails show Kenny MacAskill’s concerns of Alex Salmond’s Alba”.
At least Kenny MacAskill had the sense to distance himself from Alex Salmond using Alba Party resources for his own personal profit, according to this article:
link to thenational.scot
CA
As a point of order; that’s hardly an even handed source – over a year old – and, making an unproven accusation about who paid for petrol..
Now, if you’d quoted the National from before the current editorialship then it may have carried some weight.
Now?
No chance.
And the Quislings and Treacherous Wokists crawl out from under their rocks.
As I commented on Grousebeater blog re Mark Hirst
It is absolutely despicable that Scotland’s laws and legal system is constantly being used to wear down and financially cripple anyone who has the audacity to stand up and challenge egregious unwarranted malicious prosecutions
It is a travesty that our laws are being used to silence any dissent from a wrongly accused member of the public , especially when the learned judge has decreed that the prosecution should NOT have been pursued in the first place as ” there was no reasonable and probable cause to commence the prosecution “
The judgement in my opinion brings into question the actions and veracity of the lord advocate and the chief constable , what was their motivation for pursuing such a non verifiable prosecution when the justice system is already crumbling from REAL crimes without adequate resolution
When you have grooming rape gangs , organised criminal drug gangs , people trafficking gangs , county lines gangs , EMBEZZLERS, fraudsters , scammers operating almost with impunity it begs the question that should be answered , WAS this non criminal prosecution absolutely in the public’s interest or was this a malicious vengeful action orchestrated on behalf of someone else
The Scottish government is releasing real CRIMINALS well before their sentence is served without any consideration of the impact on Scottish society , they cite the lack of prisoner places and the unaffordability of building new prisons YET the lord advocate and the chief constable are determined to pursue spurious prosecutions investigated at great cost and resources that are DISMISSED with contempt
Well said.
I agree entirely with both your comments, Twathater. The current crop of Scottish politicians are indeed merely actors for independence – and bad actors at that. Their wages are paid by Westminster, and they deliberately undermine Scotland at every turn whilst claiming to act in her best interests. To paraphrase Upton Sinclair, “it is difficult to get a politician to understand Scottish independence when they are paid by Westminster not to understand it.” As Alf is always at pains to make clear, independence is decolonisation – and, as Ng?g? wa Thiong’o reminds us, a vital part of that process is the decolonisation of the mind. Just as language was used historically to suppress native cultures and ways of thinking, so too has the dominance of the unionist narrative worked to silence Scotland’s indigenous voice. Reclaiming that voice – linguistically, culturally, and politically – is central to regaining our independence.
Absolutely SR Prof Baird does sterling work and has to be applauded for his tenacity and resolve in the face of overwhelming odds of proud BUT Scots who refuse to even consider the possibility that they’re the perfect example of what 300+ years of brainwashing , lies and corruption by WM and Scots betrayers looks like
Why is it that every time somebody starts banging oan aboot us reclaiming oor indigenous linguistic, cultural and political voice, they refer for inspiration to some foreign cant with an unpronounceable name? In your case, SR, a name you can’t even translate into our alphabet?
Do you lot ever listen to yourselves? While you’re all self-congratulating yourself on how educated you are, do you ever pause to consider how that would go down on the doorsteps? What ordinary, indigenous Scot wants to take lessons from some white-hating nonentity who almost certainly could never have found Scotland on a map?
You make the People’s Front For The Liberation Of Judea look like political masterminds.
As I’ve said before, it’s unwise to ascribe your own failings to others – in this case, racism disguised as cultural defensiveness. The irony, of course, is that your reaction to Mr Thiong’o’s name illustrates exactly the colonial mindset he described: a fear of voices and languages that don’t flatter your own sense of dominance.
The garbled text you mention is just a character-encoding issue, not a “foreign” name problem. But even if it weren’t, the contempt you’ve shown says far more about your worldview than about anyone else’s scholarship.
I’d also encourage readers not to feed this sort of trolling. Its purpose isn’t discussion but attrition – to degrade the thread and drive away sincere voices. Recognise it for what it is, call it out, then carry on with the real conversation.
SR @ 12.39
Absolutely.
Bravo!
Well said..
Awa an shite, SR.
If you don’t share something approaching contempt for foreign, alien values and systems than you have no logical reason to object to adopting those foreign, alien values and systems.
You happy, clappy boys are forever wanging oan aboot how nobody should be judgemental or discriminatory and it’s all brazen hypocrisy.
To make a choice about anything is to discriminate between two or more alternatives and to make a judgement about which you prefer. Only an eejit would ever argue to the contrary.
You bristle in mock outrage at having your pretentious balloon pricked, primarily because it allows you, in your own heid at least, to avoid answering my questions. So here they are again:
Do you lot ever listen to yourselves? While you’re all self-congratulating yourself on how educated you are, do you ever pause to consider how that would go down on the doorsteps? What ordinary, indigenous Scot wants to take lessons from some white-hating nonentity who almost certainly could never have found Scotland on a map?
Scotland will never regain her independence until we have people who are willing to tell WM to fuck off, what we have and have had are a shower of cowards who want to be a big fish in a small puddle , is anyone convinced that ANY of our pseudo politicians are capable of really fighting for Scotland , the current lot sit and take all the denigration and derision that the engerlish arsewipes like to heap on Scotland and Scots without any resistance or comeback
I was rubbished by Grousebeater when I commented that MacAskill had shown no passion or anger to fight for independence , he responded that I didn’t know what I was talking about and that Kenny had done more for indy than I knew about
I responded that MacAskill had been in politics for DECADES alongside Salmond so WHY is Scotland STILL tied to the VILE uk if he is such a fighter
Our supposed indy fighters like Flynn and company are ACTORS for indy , they don’t believe in indy they believe in self aggrandisement and MONEY ,YET we still have people who believe clowns like him and actually vote for them , NO WONDER SCOTLAND IS FUCKED
“Scotland will never regain her independence until we have people who are willing to tell WM to fuck off”
Precisely what I’ve been saying for years.
We need a plebiscitary party, prepared to stand for election on the premise that a majority vote for them will see them commencing the process of Scotland leaving the UK within a defined time period.
We need that plebiscitary party to have plausible policies for achieving that goal and believable plans. We need the politicians involved to be inspiring, brave, committed, decent, incorruptible, and above all sane – free of the mindless woowoo. Only then will they be able to marshal a solid, democratic, majority mandate from Scotland’s voters.
With that mandate, neither WM, Scottish naysayers, or the international community will be able to write them off as inconsequential chancers. The democratic will of the Scottish people will be irrefutable.
Instead though, we’re only a few weeks out from trooping into the polling booths where a majority of us are going to vote for 5 more years of the status quo, served up by the people who collectively only ever inspire their fellow Scots to seek solace in drink.
We need to be careful not to make the perfect the enemy of the good. The independence movement doesn’t need to be a hive mind. We don’t need to agree on everything. Detailed policies are fine for parties, but “real” nationalists should be focused on the proximate goal, which is self determination.
Detailed policy positions, whether on republic versus monarchy, NATO membership or neutrality, EU membership or EFTA or neither, nuclear power, oil exploration, NHS, education or whatever can wait until after the goal is achieved.
It’s just bonkers to claim that every i has to be dotted and every t crossed before people will somehow be persuaded to make the leap of faith necessary to grow a pair and support independence.
This was the tactic and playbook the British nationalist elites – and particularly their Scottish unionist branch office – used to some effect during #indyref1. Of course, it was a crock of shit then, and stinks even worse now in a post brexit, post collapse of the post WW2 Atlanticist world order environment.
In any reasonable alternate future, the cost/benefit analysis for independence now is significantly tilted towards independence, particularly economically. The purported risks of independence pale in to insignificance in comparison with the real, lasting and on-going damage done to our collective prospects by the self inflicted damage of brexit.
The britnat arguments of “broad shoulders”, the fiscal black hole and the certainties of retaining the union trumping the perceived benefits of independence, the risks to NATO and EU membership have all been holed below the waterline by international events since 2014.
Although I agree we lack inspirational and/or charismatic leadership, the same can be said for Scottish unionist parties. Indeed they are arguably even worse.
The silver lining in the clouds is of course that support for independence now far outstrips that for the SNP, and that it enjoys a crushing majority amongst younger voters. It is earnestly to be hoped that when it comes to the time when independence is within our grasp, that generation exhibit more courage than ours and that they have lost any childish fascination with gender woo and similar electorally toxic policies.
Some truth in what you say, Andy, however I’ll refer you to what I wrote:
“plausible policies for achieving that goal and believable plans”
That may indeed leave out some of the issues until post-Indy, but not the major ones. Whether the union with Brussels, or the union with London, the same caveats apply. If you’re going to break it, make damn sure you know what its replacement is going to be. “Just Have Faith” is a religious message, not a political one.
Sorry, Andy, I replied to you a puckle of times, but every reply incurred the wrath of the moderation bot – I ken not why.
In essence:
Those who like to over-exaggerate the disaster of leaving one union (Brexit) sabotage the chances of leaving another (Indy). “It’s not the same thing” they cry, but actually, it’s very similar.
“majority amongst younger voters”
If that’s true why are so many opposed to our New Scots, who we are being told will have to make up the majority of our younger voters, as we indigenous sorts have largely stopped breeding? Actually, don’t the New Scots mostly believe Scotland is a region in England? How could they be for Indy?
“can wait until after the goal is achieved”
Naw. “Just Have Faith” is a religious statement, not one that savvy Scots are prepared to risk whatever they have worked, saved, scrimped and fought for, on. The lie that was Brexit, remember?
“support for independence now far outstrips that for the SNP”
An odd claim. Politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum. I don’t see any other polity where something that supposedly has widespread support doesn’t spawn the political movement to make it happen. If your claim is true, the lack of a credible, coherent, popular political party to meet the need for Indy is inexplicable and leads to the conclusion Scots really are something special and unique.
But not in a good way.
““real” nationalists should be focused on… self determination”
That is correct, but nationalists also need to better understand what self-determination means and why it is necessary, and this requires them to look at the reality of their condition:
link to youtube.com
Gie’s a brek, Alf.
Real nationalists ken fit self-determination is.
It’s just the faux nationalists who want Scotland immediately locked into Brussels rule once we leave the UK.
As for the UN, that’s already gone the same way as The League Of Nations – descended into irrelevancy.
It really does beat me why you don’t focus your efforts on standing for election and making your case to the Scottish people at the ballot box.
@Hatey
Those who like to over-exaggerate the disaster of leaving one union (Brexit) sabotage the chances of leaving another (Indy). “It’s not the same thing” they cry, but actually, it’s very similar.
Not so, because they are in no way analogous situations. There is absolutely no doubt that brexit has reduced our GDP by 5-6%. It has been – as all the serious analysts at the time predicted – been a ruinous act of economic self harm. Of course swivel eyed British nationalists and little Engerlunders (if they are honest) will at least admit that they don’t care.
They see the fact that brexit has left us worse off as a price worth paying for “independence” from Brussels. The side of a bus lie of £350M a week for the NHS achieved it’s aim: the fact it was total bollocks is now neither here nor there.
Leaving the British nationalist union, but joining the EU is rather a different prospectus. There is little doubt that an independent Scotland would quickly become a far more successful small, independent European state than the UK, or than a Scottish region within the failing UK state.
I know this is one of your “idees fixe”, but it’s totally fallacious that brexit and Scottish independence are somehow functionally the same.
If that’s true why are so many opposed to our New Scots, who we are being told will have to make up the majority of our younger voters, as we indigenous sorts have largely stopped breeding? Actually, don’t the New Scots mostly believe Scotland is a region in England? How could they be for Indy?
I doubt you have polling evidence for those conclusions. We DO have polling evidence for >80% of 16-30’s supporting independence. You don’t know how many oppose “New Scots” being enfranchised. The moonhowling bigots infesting BTL here are not representative of the movement, still less the whole Scottish electorate.
If you actually think that the younger generation in particular buy in to the nativism of the cranks in here, I have a few bridges to sell you.
Again, I doubt you have a shred of evidence that New Scots mostly believe Scotland should remain a region not an independent state. One poll post indyref1 about how non-native Scots voted can’t be held to be indicative of the situation now, or when the time comes to vote.
As Rev Stu himself has observed, significant numbers of voters have switched both ways, which suggests an element of ideological fluidity your superficial analysis ignores.
Naw. “Just Have Faith” is a religious statement, not one that savvy Scots are prepared to risk whatever they have worked, saved, scrimped and fought for, on. The lie that was Brexit, remember?
Come now – at least TRY to be consistent. The britnat prospectus was and remains every bit as much a faith based statement as the nationalist alternative. All the platitudes and bromides trotted out by Project Fear haven’t exactly stood the test of time or reality since 2014 have they?
Our EU membership was pulled from beneath our feet. We’re economically significantly worse off than if we’d have become independent, because if that had happened brexit would never have occurred. The economic damage of brexit is orders of magnitudes worse than the short term dislocations of independence would have been in the couple of years after 2014 had we voted Yes.
The Project fear playbook worked 2012-14, but it won’t work again. The risk/benefit analysis has shifted decisively. Sadly in that period, too many “persuadable” soft unionist voters were swayed by the argument that on balance the risks of indy were too great, and the potential benefits too uncertain. The scales will have fallen from many eyes since.
The fact that pro-independence Scots now constitute the majority rather proves the point – particularly given that they now exceed the number saying they support the SNP.
An odd claim. Politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum. I don’t see any other polity where something that supposedly has widespread support doesn’t spawn the political movement to make it happen. If your claim is true, the lack of a credible, coherent, popular political party to meet the need for Indy is inexplicable and leads to the conclusion Scots really are something special and unique.
But not in a good way.
It’s not an odd claim. It’s verifiable fact. you not believing it doesn’t render it any less true. Recent polls demonstrate a clear majority now support independence. The figure for under 30% is much higher.
The fact that the movement now finds itself in the ridiculous situation of not having an engine in the form of a political party to advance the cause – or a coalition of parties or leaders to construct a single issue platform to force the issue – is regrettable, but in no way alter the numbers.
As many of us have been saying for some time, it was ALWAYS a stupid proposition to rely on one party. Real nationalists shouldn’t be accepting any other principle than 50% + 1 pro-independence votes in either a referendum or a plebiscitary election represents de facto independence.
The Scots aren’t unique, nor anything special. The same rules and requirements apply to them as to any other people. Their situation (i.e. part of a liberal democracy asserting its independence from the “metropolitan” state by democratic agreement) is however without exact precedent, as is their uncanny ability to now be sitting with a pro-independence majority amongst its people and no proximate way of making it so.
“We’re economically significantly worse off than if we’d have become independent, because if that had happened brexit would never have occurred”
Sorry, Andy, you were skating on thinnish ice but still holding it together until you wrote that.
Then you plunged in over yer heid.
There’s no way the EU would have accepted separate memberships for Scotland and rUK on the same terms and conditions the UK enjoyed as an unitary entity.
Just as there’s no way an Independent Scotland will be going into the EU, enjoying the same favourable treatment the UK enjoyed thanks to Thatcher’s hard negotiating.
It beggars belief that you still try to peddle this “keeping the lights on” illusion.
Just as it beggars belief that the people forever claiming we should emulate Norway like to gloss over the fact that Norway isn’t in the EU.
Norway isn’t in the EU because that’s the only way Norway can retain its own currency and control over its own resources. Its independence, in other words. And most importantly, avoid subsidising the poorer EU countries as per EU rules.
People really do have to make a choice. If we’re going to be wealthy post-Indy, then we don’t need the EU. If we’re going to be poor, daft and helpless, then we need the EU to keep us afloat and make the big decisions for us. Choose one.
“If you actually think that the younger generation in particular buy in to the nativism of the cranks in here”
The polls I read indicate a surprising level of support among younger people for what are labelled “far right” views by the virtue signalling finger waggers.
I’ll willingly concede that whatever anybody wants to prove, there’s a poll, statistic or expert to back it up. But that goes for you too.
@Hatey
There’s no way the EU would have accepted separate memberships for Scotland and rUK on the same terms and conditions the UK enjoyed as an unitary entity.
Pure speculation on your part, and none to well informed I’m afraid. The EU would have bent over backwards to ensure an independent Scotland had the fastest possible accession in the event of a Yes vote in 2014. We were already part of the acquis communitaire so were in effect already most of the way there.
Finland joined the EU in 24 months from ground zero with no previous access to the acquis communitaire. All the information and briefing at the time was that the EU (if for no other reason than to stick 2 fingers up to the Euroseptics in Westminster) would have loved to ensure rapid Scottish succession.
the idea that Scotland would somehow have struggled to become a member when the former Yugoslav & USSR republics didn’t is just fanciful.
Norway isn’t in the EU because that’s the only way Norway can retain its own currency and control over its own resources. Its independence, in other words. And most importantly, avoid subsidising the poorer EU countries as per EU rules.
Norway is however part of the single market and part of the EEA. It knows that its economic interests dictate that makes sense. Scotland could of course go for the Norwegian option. You and other brexshitters have in any case comprehensively lost the argument in Scotland vis-a-vis EU membership. the ship has sailed.
A supermajority of Scots support it. The % has actually RISEN since brexit. It’s not an opinion, it’s a fact reflected consistently in polls.
Sweden and Denmark have retained their currencies. There is no compunction and it’s ridiculously easy for any EU member to perpetually delay adoption of the Euro if it so wishes by simply refusing to comply with the exchange rate mechanism. Facts, eh Hatey?
The polls I read indicate a surprising level of support among younger people for what are labelled “far right” views by the virtue signalling finger waggers.
Mainstream parties will either lose their shirts to the far right, or finally do something to address the issue. It’s quite possible Bardela & the neo Front National will replace Macron in France, or that AfD will make progress in Germany, just as Reform are predicted to do well in the UK.
Whether some of the other policies of the far -right, like fluffing for Uncle Vlad and cheerleading for MAGA & the orange man baby in the White House will prove as popular remains open to question. Time will tell no doubt.
Looks like Orban’s party will be booted out by Peter Magyar’s Tisza party soon for example, so perhaps the rise of populism won’t be as soon or as overwhelming as many fear (or indeed as some appear to actively want).
The Coalition of the Willing, the 6 or 9 EU members (plus the UK, Norway and Canada) may be about to finally wake up and start the process of making Europe a federal superpower in its own right.
Quite frankly, if the alternatives are that, domination by the far right / atomisation and domination by the “existing” superpowers, or an independent Jockistinian Scotland “doing a Sinn Fein” and stanning for the ayotollah’s, Uncle Vlad or any other odious dictatorships on the basis of anti-imperialism, I’ll take option 1 in a heartbeat!
“comprehensively lost the argument in Scotland vis-a-vis EU membership. the ship has sailed”
Blethers. The argument has never been made.
If it has, drop us a link to where Scotland’s PA contributions to EU coffers has been detailed. I’ll take a look at what we will get, what we will have to cough up, and what we will have to sacrifice in order to be EU members.
Who knows, if the figures work, maybes I’ll change my mind!
HMcH
Given GP as good as outed you as a Scotchland Office stooge further up BTL then should any “rational sane Scot” other than your bestie Don Quixote going full on “moonhowlers” and “like us” self promotional references really listen to a word you are saying?
I mean;
Other than the “Don”, clearly being a has been politico speech writer, yourself though?
Well over in Scotchland Office “overpaid and underemployed” troughers what do you actually do other than play Twister and post on here 24/7?
Criticising GP suggests rank narcissism, so, as you “chaps” say; if it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and, sounds like a duck then it’s probably the Scotchland Office tea trolley operative!
“One or two sugars viceroy? And let me know if there’s anything milkytoast you require on the side”..
What a snooty snobby crew of failures you pair are!
Try holding down real productive jobs Rozenkrantz and Guildenstern”..
A bit early, YL. You’re never in the zone much before 2 AM.
I think that oath of allegiance you betrayed is tearing you apart inside. Maybes keeping you awake nights too.
HMcH
What exactly don’t you understand about the 15th of March?
Like missing-in-action bestie of yours (overweight/ overblown) Wilma Flintstone you really aren’t that bright are you?
Thankfully (seriously) special needs schooling is taken seriously these days.
HMcH @ 10.35
Nope!
There’s nothing that indentured you (through coercion) beyond your time of service.
Look it up unless Grok has broken down.
Don’t you remember?
Doh!!
Sorry!!
My bad; you never served-did you- being one of the “couldn’t (they at least have an excuse), wouldn’t and (this bits for you) dare not” cowards..
Debating club at school just doesn’t cut it “old boy”..
Young Lochinvar: Having only recently become a ‘Wings’ reader (occasionally making comments), there seems to be a substantial degree of allusion to matters outside my knowledge. Whilst it would be hugely preferrable never to have any comments from ‘Hatey McHateface’ on the site, recent references suggest that some contributors actually know who he is.
It seems that being utterly objectionable is his religion. Also, he has provided grounds to think that he has some fairly serious problems of a sort considered by an author named Krafft Ebing (spelling questionable) and not pleasant.
The sheer quantity of comments from him is astonishing as is reference to previous comments from others which suggests he keeps some kind of log of ‘who said what’.
I deliberately omit indicators of my identity and that seems appropriate where there are signs of a disordered personality, and other perversity/perversion (readers decide which term) including Unionism. The only sign (as I recall) of affiliation from him has been imperialist/colonialist.
What can be revealed to a naive outsider such as I? Is he paid or is it simply obsession?
Is there any chance that Rev. Stu might block ‘Hatey’ comments entirely? I cannot recall any positive contribution from him for the cause of Independence nor anything which could serve as a negative guide for the political movement.
Jay
Depends on your age.
Younger, and you probably are (correctly) worried about saying the “wrong thing” that in the long run the gravy train embedded bosses won’t like.
Me, I’m retired, he/ she/ it has got nothing on me so it’s a guilty pleasure winding it up.
If you’ve got your life ahead of you then I suggest you steer well clear!
Best.
@Jay
Sorry, just noticed your cry for help.
Don’t feel bad that you’re unable to contribute anything of merit to the Indy cause. You’re in understanding and sympathetic company.
As you say, you haven’t been around here for long, so we can all forgive your naïveté about how this works. Although I’m tempted to explain, I think that in this case I’ll adopt the safety first attitude of the life-long conspiracy theorists.
There’s every chance you could be a colonialist puppet dancing to the music of your Scotland-hating masters in London.
If you’re not, stick around, read the posts, learn the familiar themes, and fill in the gaps.
Once you think you have a good grasp of the ancient guff (1707 and the theft of our kelp), the witterings of Fanon and Memmi, how it costs nothing to build monstrous turbines dozens of miles out to sea, how record levels of government spending is Thatcherite austerity, how NS single handedly forced all of Scotland to do her will despite being an obvious cack-handed failure and numpty, how all the people who hate the SNP are about to vote them in for another 5 years, how the millions of Scots who emigrated to the new colonies never colonised anybody in their puff, etc. etc. please run all these sure-fire Indy winners past your friends, family and acquaintances and report back on how they went down.
SCOTLAND MIGHT JUST POSSIBLY be on the right track when people of certain type are no longer in charge of the route map….which way up, back to front, this is a map of Albania etc.
link to archive.is
such a parcel of total idiots in a nation.
Isle of Islay arrived in Scotland 🙂
link to vesselfinder.com
This angers me more than mere words can express:
It is impossible to roll in a standard eight feet long two and a half feet wide grave; a corpse might shake, tremble, quiver or rock in its final resting place, but never roll since rolling implies a direction of travel where there is no travel (in the mundane world, at least) to be had within the confines of a Scottish lair.
Having said that, it is possible that a corpse might roll in upon itself as one might roll a handkerchief into a ball, but as a metaphor to express the condition of an angry spirit, rolling in one’s grave does not serve nearly as well as spinning in it.
Ah me, if only it were an ill chosen metaphor which were to anger me more than words could express in regard to the implosion of the Alba Party.
Calm doon, Northy.
It’s likely just a poor translation into the lying tongue of the coloniser (Inglis) from the original Scots.
If I understand the zeitgeist on here, every True Sovereign Scot communicates only ever in Scots, in preparation for the day when Scots will be enforced on the majority of Scots who don’t know it.
Incidentally, why aren’t you posting in Scots today?
“Alex Salmond will be rolling in his grave”
———————————————
The usual phrase is “turning in his grave”.
Although “turn” was most likely used first in a speech given by a Mr Windham on the 4th November 1801 in the House of Commons, the expression to “turn in one’ s grave” has lost much of its power in the 21st century.
“Spin” implies a greater corporeal RPM… possibly as many as 3,000 rpm in a single burst of afterlife activity – whereas “turn” might only involve a corpse completing a single rotation – or more likely half a rotation.
Therefore, rhetorically, to spin in one’s grave invokes a more powerful moving image of shock and horror than does the almost still picture rendering of a body simply turning over… “spin” has more corpse-power, one might say, as a means of measuring the force of rhetorical shock in the deceased.
Graves used to be a lot more spacious.
Shrinkflation gets its teeth into everything.
Back in the Victorian Age, when graves were roomy and people were generally smaller, turning cartwheels in one’s grave was often feasible.
Not any more.
I think you mean burlin in his grave?
Wrong:
It’s birling (spinning)..
Yet another “true Indy” MICRO-PARTY (Alba) has collapsed due to lack of public support (1% in the polls), plus fraud and internal bickering.
Will “Liberation” (or whatever this micro-party is calling itself this week) be next?
Since there’s nothing much happening on here again theday… here’s anither fragment of a braw poem scrieved by that most special and unique Dundonian and Scot, Ellie McDonald.
Aye, puir auld Scotland… a great natioun brought low a hanlawhile by widden heidit feckless randies; yon swarm o medocrity; thaim politeecians and thair ceevil servants, gillies and flunkies aw – thick as theeves, twice as stupit, and thrice owercome wi greed.
Surely “brocht low”, Northy, not “brought low”.
It angers me more than mere words can express that I’m better at making up Scots than you are.
Get a grip, Northy.
You must be on piece-work from whoever pays you, Hatey, that’s 28 worthless diversionary contributions on this article alone from you out of 112 comments overall, which means you account for one quarter of all comments.
‘Hate over Scotland’!
Surely exactly as predicted by Fanon and Memmi, Alf.
I do wonder why nobody is ever up for dealing with simple questions of fact.
Is it “brocht” or “brought” in Scots?
Alf
Given a perusal of tedious posts and GPs Scotchland Office and (ahem) “sponsors” unrebuked bombshell then I think it’s fairly on-mark to posit HMcH’s “sponsors” as;
1. Friends of Is Rye Ale.
2. Courtesy of Uncle Sam- The Proud Boys
3. Again courtesy of across the pond- far right loon “Oath Keepers”..
4. Very minor donatories; Oswald Moseley appreciation society/ Conservative Party, Reform, MI5, MI6, Bodie and Doyle, Big Pharma, Friends of UK Fracking, Fox Hunters United, the Anti Muhammadan League (z33k H31l!), Shylock Land reclamation and plant hire, the Lords petty cash account, Anas Sarwars daddy, English Defenc3 League, the George Michael Bad Boys appreciation forum, Chelsea fan club supporters- (all very minor monitory value donors)..
The rest were redacted but Langley and T Avi5 could be made out under the Sharpie marks..
Oh dear “old boy”!
The behaviour of cads, bounders and blagards (which in fairness the Scotchland Office is rammed with not least as it’s got nothing to do now)..
Good luck playing Twister tomorrow nonentity HMcH/ non achiever..
Wow YL! Three special posts, and all for me.
Honestly now, you shouldn’t have.
I always laugh when somebody posts about having “struck a nerve”, but tell us.
Have I struck a nerve?
I’m not sure you are in the position to lecture others about worthless diversionary “contributions” Alf since you and the worst offender BTL by some measure.
The ignorance of Scotland’s colonists (unionists or colonialists if preferred… same thing) on all things Scottish does not in the least surprise me.
This:
And so the Scots word variant “Brought” as used in a previous comment of mine…
“a great natioun brought low a hanlawhile by widden heidit feckless randies”
… is legitimate in the Scots leid.
Although, I could have used any one of the following spellings instead:
brocht, broght, broight; broucht, brouht, brouth, browcht, or browght.
And perhaps next time I will… if I feel like it.
But why risk calling out what one erroneously considers a mistake in the use of the vast Scots lexicon when there was an open goal in the form of my misspelling of the word “Mediocrity” that was passed over and unremarked upon?
An oversight brocht aboot by haste, perhaps; a haste broight ower the senses in the confused and heedie glee of a unionist’s sweat-drenched flustered rush to denigrate this humble Scot.
Honestely, a dinnae ken hou thae bather thersels… thae aye come aff the worse fir it.
Many thanks for the injection of fact, NC.
“Bring, Bryng, v. Also: pryng. P.t. and p.p. brocht, broght, broight; broucht, BROUGHT, brouht, brouth; browcht, browght.
ME. bring(e, bryng(e, early bringen, OE. bringan.]
meaning: To bring, in various senses.
definition provided by the “Dictionars o the Scots Leid” online dictionary.”
This shows clearly that, whichever variant of the spelling used, it is a word derived from Old English via Middle English. And therefore presumably a word imposed on us by our colonisers in the distant past.
“And therefore presumably a word imposed on us by our colonisers in the distant past.”
You presume wrongly, yet again, Dances without Facts – to use your ethnic moniker.
I would explain why you’re wrong, but a cannae be ersed.
Why don’t you check out the facts for yersel, factchecker?
Haha, “humble Scot”.
Maybes you forget your claims to be a millennia-old, interstellar-travelling, Pict.
But the denizens of Area 51 will surely have you on their watch list.
@Alf Baird, 22 February, 2026 at 7:43 pm
========
Alf, I commend to you the advice of HH Asquith:
“Never wrestle with a chimney sweep.“
Didn’t he also say “never try to introduce new ideas to those whose heids are dense as stone”?
He should have.
Not sure whether the late Ruaraidh MacThòmais / Derick Thomson (who was certainly committed to Scottish independence) is preoccupied in this poem with personal provenance, national deliverance, or vexed metaphysics. Perhaps all…
TEAGAMH
Dùil ’am gu robh mi saor ach cha robh:
an geata gu bhith dùint’ air fàire,
an leathad na bu chaise na bha dùil,
’s nuair a dh’fheuch mi na sìnteagan
thuig mi gu robh ‘n spearrach sìoda a sin fhathast,
agus is dòcha feist mu m’ amhaich,
a’ phrosbaig cho doilleir ri mo shùil
nuair a ràinig mi ’n rubha;
ach dè ’m feum a th’ ann am prosbaig?
fear-saoraidh, ge ta, dhèanadh esan feum,
is cinnteach,
nam be ’s gu bheil saorsa ann ach chan eil.
Derick’s own translation –
DOUBT
Thinking I was free but I wasn’t:
the gate on the horizon almost closed,
the hill steeper than expected,
and when I tried to stride it out
the silken shackles were there still,
and perhaps a halter round my neck,
while the telescope was so dull
when I reached the headland;
but what’s the good of a telescope?
a redeemer, though, he would work,
surely,
if indeed there is freedom but there isn’t.
(SMEUR AN DÒCHAIS / BRAMBLE OF HOPE, by Ruaraidh MacThomais/ Derick Thomson, Canongate, 1991)
link to scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk
He might have been struggling with one of those colds you get at this time of year.
The worst of the symptoms have passed, but the feelings of lethargy and low energy drag on for weeks.
NC says ““And therefore presumably a word imposed on us by our colonisers in the distant past.”
You presume wrongly, yet again, Dances without Facts – to use your ethnic moniker.
I would explain why you’re wrong, but a cannae be ersed.
Why don’t you check out the facts for yersel, factchecker?”.
Yet another assertion made by NC without a shred of evidence; “a cannae be ersed” says it all. If a word that NC has already established comes from Old English via Middle English, it seems a reasonable presumption that it came from the “English”. If NC would condescend to use his superior knowledge to explain where else it came from, I’m happy to listen. What I I was taught about the history of the English Language while I was studying at a Scottish university was obviously plain wrong.
Excuse my facetiousness, factchecker.
Sometimes what I think of as playful banter might come across as rudeness in this place.
You are, of course, correct in that English and Scots have a common root in ‘Old English’, but they diverge at ‘Anglian’ with England following the ‘Mercian’ path to arrive at ‘Standard English’ via ‘East Midland Middle English’, and the Scots following the ‘Old Northumbrian’ route arriving eventually at Scots.
My assertion, contrary to what I understand as being your view, is that words from Middle English were not IMPOSED upon the Scots through colonisation, but were borrowed by them (along with words from Latin, French and Gaelic among others) and incorporated freely into the Scots language.
A rational and factual answer, NC – thanks.
Part of our debate would perhaps be concerned with a definition of ‘colonisation’, which fills the posts of some regular contributors who evidently do not equate ‘colonisation’ with ‘occupation’. What is now called ‘Scotland’ was certainly never occupied by ‘the English’ although the Kingdom of Northumbria for centuries extended as far as Edinburgh.
But a further question arising from your final paragraph would be: into what pre-existing Scots language were such words assimilated? The entire grammar and syntax of ‘Scots’ and ‘English’ are fundamentally the same, suggesting much more than simply an assimilation of loan words. Standard English has assimilated many thousands of loan words from Latin, French and many former colonies over the centuries, but the grammar and syntax has not changed.
Much more likely is your penultimate paragraph, of “Scots following the ‘Old Northumbrian’ route arriving eventually at Scots”. It was, as you suggest, an assimilation of a language, not just loan words.
It can be argued that Standard English is simply a dominant dialect. What is now called ‘Scots’ was many centuries in Scotland called ‘Inglis’ and was the language officially taught in Scottish schools from the Establishment of Schools Act of 1616. The spread of ‘Inglis’ throughout Scotland followed as the policy of the Scottish Parliament.
Part of our debate would perhaps be concerned with a definition of ‘colonisation’
A modern definition of colonialism:
“It was, as you suggest, an assimilation of a language, not just loan words.”
No, not assimilation (not merely an assimilation, anyway), but an evolutionary route.
Scots is a distinct language and not just a copy and paste of Old Northumbrian, and while Old Northumbrian has influenced the development of the Scots leid, it isn’t the sole progenitor.
The evolution of the Scots language is rather more complex and nuanced than it simply being a duplicate of Old Northumbrian.
Scots has its own distinctive idioms, its own vocabulary and its own phonetic patterns all developed over centuries and reflecting its long traditions and its great literary heritage.
Scots evolved into Middle Scots by the late 15th century and by that time Scots orthography and phonology had diverged significantly from that of Northern Middle English.
“It can be argued that Standard English is simply a dominant dialect.”
Yes, it can… but not successfully.
“The entire grammar and syntax of ‘Scots’ and ‘English’ are fundamentally the same…”
There are similarities, certainly, but Scots and English have distinct characteristics and evolutionary histories that give them their unique identities and that make them entirely separate languages.
In the end…
Scots is Scots and isnae Gaelic and Inglis is English and isnae Scots… and the two (Scots and Inglis) only met as they passed by each other on their distinct developmental journeys.
« Scots is descended from Northumbrian, while Standard English emerged from the East Midland dialect of Mercia. Although markedly different, the Old English dialects did share a common store of vocabulary. Due to the different linguistic developments in the separate states of Scotland and England, however, the language of England lost many old words which are retained in Scots.
« Examples of these include dicht (to wipe), sweir (reluctant), blate (diffident), reik (smoke) and greet (to weep). Characteristic Scots sounds, too, such as coo and hoose for cow and house, or richt and nicht for right and night, were common to all the Old English dialects but disappeared from Standard English due to sound shifts which occurred in Southern and Midland dialects. If antiquity was any justification for a language’s survival, a special case could certainly be made for Scots against Standard English, as guardian of an older form of English. »
(Extract from SCOTS: THE MITHER TONGUE by Billy Kay, pp 50-53)
Alf Baird says:
22 February, 2026 at 2:47 pm
““real” nationalists should be focused on… self determination”
That is correct, but nationalists also need to better understand what self-determination means and why it is necessary, and this requires them to look at the reality of their condition:
link to youtube.com
——————————————————————
727 views Streamed 2 years ago
“Decolonisation is regarded by the UN as Independence…” – Prof Alf Baird on Decolonisation and Scotland’s Route to Independence
727 views in two years!
I’ve viewed it 110 times. Northy 615.
Who’s the ither twa?
@ factchecker
“Part of our debate would perhaps be concerned with a definition of ‘colonisation’, which fills the posts of some regular contributors who evidently do not equate ‘colonisation’ with ‘occupation’.”
Franchise colonialism is a form of colonialism whereby England, the colonising power, established control over Scotland and used it for economic exploitation, rather than settling large numbers of its own population here. This type of colonialism often involves the use of local populations for labour and resources while maintaining political and economic dominance from outside.
Examples are the Highland Clearances and the introduction of sheep farming; kelp manufacture for export to England and the militarisation of the Highland young men enabled England to further its colonialism in Scotland and elsewhere.
Basturts! It’s Scotland’s kelp.
HOW SCOTTISH REGIMENTS FORGED BRITAIN’S EMPIRE
Intro text on YouTube site –
« When you picture the British Empire, you see the Redcoat. But for over a century, the tip of the imperial spear wasn’t English—it was Scottish. This is the story of how a nation of rebels became the Empire’s most feared shock troops.
« The “Thin Red Line” is more than just a battle legend; it is the defining paradox of Scottish history. In this documentary, we peel back the layers of the “British” Army myth to reveal the distinct, bloody, and heroic contribution of the Highland regiments.
« From the ashes of Culloden and the tragedy of the Highland Clearances to the cliffs of Quebec and the desperate stand at Balaclava, we examine how the British government weaponized the martial culture of the Highlands. We uncover the economic desperation that filled the ranks, the psychological terror of the bagpipes, and the staggering “butcher’s bill” paid by Scottish communities to build an empire that often tried to erase them. »
Posted by ‘British Military History’ on 19 Dec 2025:
link to youtube.com
Anybody know if they swore an oath of allegiance to the British Sovereign and his successors?
And if they did, did they mean it?
“ From the ashes of Culloden and the tragedy of the Highland Clearances to the cliffs of Quebec…”
========
It was before the 1759 Battle of Quebec , General James Wolfe, Hanoverian veteran of Culoden referring to Highland soldiers under his command said “no great mischief if they fall.”
A number of these will have been “out” for the Prince at Culoden -which did not endear Highlanders generally to Wolfe. At the Heights of Abraham, he established for future British wars the cannon-fodder principle for Scottish, especially Highland, soldiers.
HMcH @2.30
Hay fit, straw fit..
Based on that I very much doubt it.
Oi Vey!
How does that sit with yer sons of anarchy Oath Keepers pals y’all?
Scotland all over the MSM today, as the waves of synthetic outrage swell into a tsunami sweeping all of yesterday’s old news (Epstein, Mandelson, Starmer) to oblivion.
Step forwards John Davidson and take a bow!
You have my deepest sympathy, but you may be another one who has over estimated the power of the boxes you tick.
And under estimated the power of the boxes ticked by the attention seeking complainants.
It’s 2026 and in the culture wars we all need to know where we stand in the hierarchy of grievance. I rather fear that John Davidson will be forced to make his abject, grovelling apology, possibly halting and confused as he struggles with his disability, soon.
I wonder if host Alan Cummings would have been so fulsomely inclusive and supportive if the tick in question hard referred to him an “effin” screaming fudge packer..
Frae BBC
“A health trust spent more than £600,000 on an employment tribunal which found it harassed a group of female nurses by requiring them to share a changing room with a transgender woman.
Judges ruled County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust “violated the dignity” of the nurses from Darlington Memorial Hospital and bosses failed to deal with their concerns.
In a report to the trust’s board, chief executive Steve Russell confirmed the cost of the litigation and said there would be no appeal to the findings.”
link to bbc.co.uk
Obviously in not mounting an appeal Durham and Darlington dont have the unlimited resources like the Fife NHS have.
Incredible isn’t it that already having lost Fife NHS appear to have no restriction on how much the spend on legal fees in these cash strapped times. And of course in addition to legal fees there is also the cost of NHS staff time, legal fees payable to the pursuer and of course damages.
Right glad should we all be that NHS Fife ( and the other health boards who are sharing the legal fees ) are able to diverted from front line health care.
Scots Gov has priorities you know!!!
GROUSE BEATER: ‘ALBA PARTY NEWS’
« […] Four senior ALBA members have offered to take over the party to ensure it can contest the election: on Sunday, four ALBA members – Tommy Sheridan, Angus MacNeil, Christina Hendry and Suzanne Blackley – said the party leadership had “left the door open for a transition team to take the party forward”. Ever the democrat, MacAskill told the BBC: “The decision to stand as ALBA Party is a decision for the party and will be made by the national executive committee. It will not be made by any individual. It will be for the national executive committee – not from me as an individual or indeed from Tommy Sheridan or Angus Brendan MacNeil – it’s for the national executive committee collectively.” […] »
link to grousebeater.wordpress.com
Shows you how Tas, Corri, Kenny and Neale run Alba if they could not be arsed to consult with other senior party officials before dropping that email bomb
they couldnae run a bath.
an absolute shambles, and I’m a founder member.
There’s a rumour they’ve been taking lessons from Your Party.
The one with Corbyn, the Sultana bint, and noo oor verra ain CM.
And a puckle of adherents to the religion of peace running the show in the background, while the household names, second class human beings by definition, are exploited to present an acceptable face to the gullible media and voters.
Both me and my wife have just rejoined the Alba Party to support any new leaders and to stick two fingers up at James Kelly.
I’d like to see the Alba Party survive and join Alliance To Liberate Scotland and lets get the job done.
The Alba Party isn’t able to go it alone it needs to join forces with other Indy Parties to defeat the Unionist.
@ 100%Yes: I hope you succeed in bringing Alba under the Alliance to Liberate Scotland umbrella. I’ve been dropping the suggestion onto sites e.g. The Crossgate Centre for months but that site hasn’t welcomed the idea – far frae.
As for James Kelly, he has now turned his guns onto Sara Salyers, of all people – accuses her of “sickening hypocrisy”. I don’t know what he’s talking about as I no longer read the articles, just see the headings on Voices for Independence.
James Kelly, is best ignored and forgotten about, he’s a thorn in the Indy movement side.
You could write pages of what Sara Salyers and other have done for Scotland cause, whats James Kelly brought? Nothing I can see, like I said he’s best Ignored.
Sara’s response has been posted onto Liberation Scotland’s facebook. She shows JK up for what he has become.
Don’t do Facebook , could someone put up Sara’s response?
PUBERTY BLOCKER TRIAL HALTED OVER SAFETY CONCERNS
Work on NHS England’s planned puberty blocker trial has been paused after the medicines regulator raised concerns over its safety and efficacy.
The Department of Health announced that the trial will not start to recruit children until issues raised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have been resolved. Discussions between trial sponsor King’s College London (KCL) and the regulator are due to take place this week.
KCL has been given £10.7 million in funding for the Pathways project, which includes the controversial trial. Puberty-blocking drugs are due to be given to children with “gender incongruence”, who will be monitored for two years with brain scans and tests.
‘UNQUANTIFIED RISK’
The MHRA stated: “Since potentially significant and, as yet, unquantified risk of long-term biological harms is present to participants and biological safety has not been definitively demonstrated in this proposed cohort, at the very least, there should be a graded/stepwise approach starting with those aged 14 as the lower limit of eligibility.”
It called for improved safety monitoring and specified withdrawal criteria to be included in the protocol, including a “much more detailed physiological safety assessment” of gender-confused children displaying “normal biological hormonal and sexual development”.
The regulator pointed to data that suggests taking certain puberty blockers beyond twelve months “will result in persistent and potentially permanent bone structural changes” and called on KCL to “clarify whether participants with any reduction in bone density” after this period would be removed from the trial.
It also raised the risk of unreported vaginal bleeding and the need for haematological monitoring, the likelihood of infertility, whether the trial’s “consent process” was sufficiently robust, and urged closer monitoring of the effect of puberty blockers on cognition.
‘OUTBREAK OF COMMON SENSE’
Announcing the pause, the Department of Health said: “This trial will only be allowed to go ahead if the expert scientific and clinical evidence and advice conclude it is both safe and necessary.”
Institute Deputy Director Simon Calvert Simon Calvert commented: “It is dangerous and immoral to use children as guinea pigs for drugs that we already know are harmful for them and useless at treating gender dysphoria.”
“In the overwhelming majority of cases, childhood confusion about gender typically resolves during puberty. So these drugs block the very process which relieves that confusion.
“We must hope and pray this outbreak of common sense is permanent and that the trial never goes ahead.”
NORTHERN IRELAND
Last week, Stormont Health Minister Mike Nesbitt suspended Northern Ireland’s involvement in the trial.
At the time, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Executive member said he would only revisit his decision if legal proceedings launched in London by campaigners to stop it from going ahead fail.
However, UUP leader Jon Burrows has since confirmed to the Belfast News Letter that his party “would not support the resumption of NI’s participation in the trial, regardless of the judicial review’s outcome”.
Bayswater Support Group, psychotherapist James Esses, and detransitioner Keira Bell recently lodged papers with the High Court seeking judicial review of what they called “government-funded experimentation on young children”.
(The Christian Institute, 23 Feb 2026)
link to christian.org.uk
AUTISTIC DETRANSITIONER AWARDED $2m AFTER HER BREASTS WERE REMOVED AT 16
An autistic woman who underwent a double mastectomy at just 16 years old has been awarded $2 million in compensation.
In the first verdict of its kind, a jury in New York State gave Fox Varian $1.6 million for pain and suffering, with $400,000 for future medical expenses.
According to court documents, the now 22-year-old was diagnosed with autism at 14 and struggled with anxiety, depression and an eating disorder. The following year she started questioning her gender, but just five months before her surgery she reportedly told a counsellor that she was still unsure of her ‘gender identity’.
‘DISFIGURED FOR LIFE’
The court was told that Varian’s mastectomy was “wrongly presented” as a solution to her gender dysphoria, and the jury agreed that there had been a “departure from the standard of care”.
Mum Claire Deacon said she only consented to the procedure because she was told that her daughter could commit suicide otherwise, but now Claire suggests that it had been a “scare tactic”.
Speaking in court, Varian said she quickly realised that the procedure was a mistake.
“I immediately had a thought that this was wrong, and it couldn’t be true. It’s hard to face that you are disfigured for life.”
LACK OF EVIDENCE
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons has announced that it will no longer recommend transgender procedures for children, becoming the first major medical association in the US to do so.
In a statement obtained by The Washington Post, the group advised its members that trans-affirming chest, genital and facial surgery should be delayed until a child is 19 years old.
The new guidance explains that there is “insufficient evidence demonstrating a favourable risk-benefit ratio” on such procedures, and also warns of a “substantial uncertainty” about the long-term effects of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
According to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, mastectomies currently account for the majority of trans-affirming surgeries for under-18s.
(The Christian Institute, 5 Feb 2026)
link to christian.org.uk
Anyone see the watermelon party’s PPB?
nothing of course of their obsession with trans rights
john davidsons outburst at the baftas that so annoyed people – that illustrated perfectly the whole point of the film which won the award – beautifully.
– I think worse stuff than what JD says, but I don’t come out with it – unless I am deliberately being obnoxious, to some cunt that is asking for it.
I think JD is just an “honest man”, a man without guile, who lacks the “censor circuit” we all have, and which we all need to just make life a bit easier; not every battle is worth fighting, just get through the day, back to home, and a cup of tea. Mostly I don’t give a shit, every arguments costs energy.
The original film “john’s not mad” made by the BBC when he was just a kid is one of the funniest things I have ever seen, I was rolling around, my ribs hurting; but it was never fun for him, his existence being a comedy show for others, or worse, to be pitied
– you might be able to find it on the web, but while the BBC must have it, I doubt you will get it on iplayer
JD did some work with other sufferers; there was this amazing geordie lad who had his own style and when he and JD got together their tics started triggering each others tics – it was amazing
– sometimes I have been in situations e.g. you are getting the passive aggressive shite from some HR nurse ratched about your “behaviour” and you just want to say “get fucked you sad stupid frigid fucking thundercunt b1tch” and you wish you did have tourettes, so you could tell the witch to fuckoff without getting sacked, and if she complained, get her sacked on the basis of all the diversity/tolerance/safe space shite she espouses
If I ever became famous, since the general herd and their stupid opinions bores me, I would unfortunately be forced to talk to the public; I would have hired JD as my press spokesman, so he can do all the swearing at cunts I want to do, but can’t get away with
link to youtube.com
african greys are smarter than most humans
link to youtube.com
here is to the joy of swearing
JD does have a condition, and he is not faking it; what excuse do THE CUNTS around here have?
Mandy in the Jile!
But Randy Andy & Dandy Mandy not (yet?) sharing a cell.
link to tinyurl.com
I prefer the nomenclature of Randy Andy and Handy Mandy. But as the media now moves on to Handy, rhe huge issue that these two slurpers expose is the extent of regulatory capture by a confederation of elite oligarchs.
At one time folks would respond to allegations of their being a huge crime syndicate influencing and controlling western governments as being wild conspiracy. But the capture of Royal Prince Andrew with all his titles and ultra senior Mandelson exposes just how deep regulatory capture is.
The bigger and more important question is who else has this crime syndicate of the super wealthy oligarchy captured.
Mandelson was number two to the great Gordon Brown. He chose Mandelson as his number two and effective ‘ deputy prime minister ‘ Brown therefore in his role as Prime Minister and Chancellor of the exchequer before that must have been fully aware of Mandelson and indeed the royal Prince. He could not have not known
And now the great man awakes from his slumbers to shout for Ma delson to be pursued. If ever there was a case of a lady protesting too much this seems it. Mandelson did not work alone. He was Prime Minister Brown’s number two. Blair, Brown and Mandelson were the top team. And years after Mandelson returns as prime minister Starmer’s man in the USA.
Its absolutely wild and for me exposes how much our democratic system is a sham. Bought and sold for Caliguan gold we dont know even the half of it.
Moral compass Geordie Brown. Looks pretty broken to me or like Starmer is the line that you didn’t know, nothing to do with you.
Aye right as they say!
“The bigger and more important question is who else has this crime syndicate of the super wealthy oligarchy captured.”
=======
You will have to ask that son of Scotland, Dòmhnall Iain Trump. He is protecting most of them..
“At one time folks would respond to allegations of their being a huge crime syndicate influencing and controlling western governments as being wild conspiracy”
At one time, folks would have responded to allegations, etc by saying they’re allegations, FFS. Prove them or shut up.
It’s beyond belief, to me at least, that so many people seem to find it acceptable that the publication of a supposed email suggesting criminality should allow the elimination of formal charges, gathering of evidence, a trial, and delivery of a verdict.
This is in a world where if your neighbour’s teenage son wants to post a high quality video online of you porking his mum, he likely already has the technology to do so on his mobile phone. Yet, so much easier to fake emails are being presented as irrefutable gospel proof of criminality by those with clickbait to sell. And snapped up by those with deeply tedious lives and axes to grind.
But there we have it. Yet more proof that the world is hoaching with attention-deficit eejits who should never have been allowed a vote.
I find Farage to have been impressive in this regard. As he pointed out yesterday, everybody, EVERYBODY, must be regarded as innocent until the opposite has been proved.
“You will have to ask that son of Scotland, Dòmhnall Iain Trump. He is protecting most of them..”
Why don’t you provide some evidence to back up the feeling in your watter, StaneHeid?
Maybe that feeling in your watter is no more than a jammed kidney stane.
Interesting “double tap” at the end of your post, BTW. Did you momentarily forget which identity you were posting under?
For those of you interested in the health of our nation. Here is a link to a talk on health inequalities in Scotland given by Professor David Walsh of Glasgow University.
I heard David give a similar talk about 8 years ago.I urge you to listen and watch.
link to royalphil.org
I found a FOI request online from which I post a fragment:
“As stated in my original response of 16 July 2019 (attached) the answer to your request is that from July 2009 to June 2018, an estimated 332,900 people have migrated to Scotland from overseas.
Over this time, an estimated 196,200 people left Scotland for overseas, meaning the net increase from overseas migration was 136,700 people.”
I suspect things won’t have changed very much since 2019, other than by the numbers increasing.
So that raises an interesting question. Does Professor David Walsh of Glasgow University touch upon the beneficial effects to Scottish population health (and the beneficial effects to our overloaded SNHS) of screening potential immigrants and allowing in only the fit, healthy, young ones?
I mean, it beggars belief we would be allowing in unfit, unhealthy, unproductive ones, and plonking them straight onto benefits and waiting lists.
Doesn’t it?
I would expect that statistical analysis could identify which policy has the biggest effect on Scotland’s health inequalities. Try to fix those that are already unhealthy? Or simply replace them with new healthy people?
But on a more general point, sam. None of the statistics you like to present, NONE OF THEM, can be sensibly interpreted without first being broken down into ethnic categories.
How many English white settlers have moved up here in the last year Hatey?
I’ll be its more that 300,000, because England is fucked.
“None of the statistics …can be sensibly interpreted without first being broken down into ethnic categories.”
The same may be said about the Yes:No independence vote, as the post-referendum survey found, whereby Scots-identifying fowk maistly voted ‘Yes’, whilst British or English-identifying folks maistly voted ‘No’.
Which confirmed Professor Hechter’s theory of ‘the UK internal colonialism model’, and that the Scottish independence movement ‘depends on the solidarity of the oppressed ethnic group’, who in this instance comprise maistly Scots-speakin and hence Scots-identifying fowk.
Which also tells us that ‘ethnicity’ remains a fundamental determinant of independence (and also in regard to the anti-independence vote!); i.e. self-determination of ‘a people’, the latter defined by their ethnicity and other factors such as their national culture, language, history, heritage, and common suffering:
link to yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com
If you’re right, Alf, as Scots speakers are a mere 30% of the population, then obviously Indy is doomed.
The Indy movement needs to focus on something relevant to the majority. Economic competence, good governance, tangible improvements in our everyday lives, that sort of thing.
You wouldn’t have to be a Scots speaker, in mourning for the injustice of Culloden, an expert on the Ancient Guff or a rabid English hater to get behind Indy if it were to ditch the minority interests and deal with the concerns that transcend divisions and affect the majority of the voters in Scotland.
But then, Alf, I think you already know that.
Postcolonial theory is quite clear about the immense importance of indigenous language of the colonized people and the effect of its suppression, as well as its re-discovery.
As Memmi wrote, and aptly describing the state of the Scots language today: “the colonized no longer knew his language except in the form of a lowly dialect. In order to emerge from the most elementary monotony and emotions, he had to borrow the colonizer’s language.” (And within that process of cultural assimilation the native borrows the colonizer’s identity).
Independence produces outcomes the colonized could not imagine, including after “recovering his autonomous and separate destiny, he immediately goes back to his own tongue” no matter if after a century and more of colonialism “its vocabulary is limited, its syntax bastardized.”
For the native’s ain langage is “the tool” whit aye “finds the shortest path to its soul, because it comes directly from it.”
And which in turn helps explain oor colonizers longstanding desperate efforts to prevent Scots language teaching tae Scots bairns in schuils. For learning his own native language would allow the colonized “to regain possession of himself”, to be certain of his ain authentic identity and to end the cultural illusion from having to borrow another peoples identity.
“In the 2022 census, 1,508,540 people reportit that they cuid speak Scots, wi 2,444,659 reportin that thay cuid speak, read, write or unnerstaun Scots.” – taken from The Scottish Government’s website.
I visited the Scottish Government’s website and discovered this interesting information about Scotland’s population.
62.4% of Scotland’s population said they were ‘Scottish only’.
A further 18.3% of the population said their national identity was ‘Scottish and British only’.
So, 80.7% of Scotland’s population identify as Scots… with a few of them confused about being British anaw – puir brainwashed sowels.
3.37 million people reported they had Scottish identity only.
988,200 reported they were both Scottish and British.
So, a total of 4,358,200 of Scotland’s population are Scots – which means thers aboot a million furriners kickin aboot the place – maistly Inglis escapin thair ain country fir a better life in Scotland.
That means 74.08% of those identifying as ‘Scottish only’ have some skill with the Scots leid.
So, 45.3% (and probably more) of Scotland’s total population (which includes a million non-Scots) claim to have the Scots leid… not bad for a people whose language the English have been trying to eradicate for the past 300 years and more.
Hate to break this to you, Alf, but no kid learns to speak their parent’s language in school.
No force on this Earth can prevent indigenous Scots from learning Scots if they want to.
The truth is, outside of that 30% minority, nobody cares.
You’re absolutely set on your plan to build a 50+% majority in favour of Indy from 30% of the voters.
I think you’re beyond help.
Behold! The other pole of the Baird/Northy axis appears. As if from nowhere.
Alert readers will be verifying Northy’s claims. If 45.3%, and probably more, have the Scots leid, 45.3%, and probably more, posts here BTL will be in Scots.
After all, the bedrock of Indy support lies with those linguistically oppressed and suppressed for 300+ years.
Anybody prepared to claim posts in Scots on here even get to 4.53%?
Naw. Easier to claim decimal points and percentages are all tools in the lying language of the coloniser.
The neoliberal policies that Scotland in the UK has experienced since 1979 seem like a kind of colonialism, A rentier economy extracting more wealth for the already rich while dominating politics for over 40 years.
Such neoliberalism is like colonialism in that the focus is on market freedom (laissez faire in Colonies) while suppressing local governance.
The health inequalities that cause so much alarm to David Walsh and his colleagues stem directly from neoliberal politics.
Tell me, Alf, did you bother to listen and watch the talk by David Walsh? You, Northcode? Anyone?
As part of his efforts to bring attention to their concerns they contacted all MPs and MSPs. The responses showed an alarming amount of ignorance and a lack of concern.
“The responses showed an alarming amount of ignorance and a lack of concern”
One interpretation, certainly.
Other interpretations are possible, plausible, likely and maybes even certain.
There is neither dignity nor morality in colonialism, whose very aim is ‘to widen inequality’ (Memmi) based on ‘hateful racism’ (Cesaire).
Liberal Imperialism (Elkins) has dominated us Scots and many other oppressed peoples for centuries, and here we are reminded that ‘imperialism gave birth to fascism’ (Bunche).
Du Bois argued ‘that the colonialism of Great Britain and France had exactly the same object and methods as the fascists and the Na**s were trying clearly to use’.
Colonial societies therefore need look no further than postcolonial theory in order to understand their true condition, or to find the only remedy.
Willie says:
24 February, 2026 at 9:05 am
“I prefer the nomenclature of Randy Andy and Handy Mandy. “
=======
Actually, so do I. Why did I reject it? I thought readers might see it as an accusation that Lord Mandelson , chez Epstein, was manually molesting young women: highly improbable.
As far as I know, Epstein did not run a stable of rent boys in with Mandy moonlighting as a “masseur” – à la hetero Ghislaine.
“Mandy Pandy” was also in the frame on account of the good Lord’s alleged pandering to Mr Epstein’s keen interest in politico- economic affairs. But the nuance, I think you’ll agree, is too much of a stretch.
Have your own fun constructing narratives around bandy, candy, Nandy (be careful!), sandy (another rejected contender: I didn’t want to make the Boy from Ipanema feel jealous), Tandy (one for the Rev.?) and even wandy(Prince of Darkness).
I’m not going beyond one initial vowel e.g. brandy. Life is too short.
.
“Have your own fun constructing narratives”
It sure beats working towards Indy.
I believe the Germans use an observation that covers scenarios like this one.
“These are not serious people.”
James Kelly, asking for Sara Salyers to a video debate. If I was Sara I would turn him down, better still Ignore him he only talks about Independence as a mean to make a living.
Don’t tell him, Sara!
With due acknowledgement to the immortal words of Captain Mainwaring.
Trade Envoys: investigate the lot of them!
Watch out “Beefy Botham”!
Numbers 32:23 an’ that..
“More than 3,000 pages of internal Scottish Government emails and legal notes — now dubbed the “Salmond Files” — have been released following a lengthy freedom of information battle. The documents relate to James Hamilton’s ministerial code investigation into Nicola Sturgeon.”
—————————–
At last.
Happy anniversary of the battle of Roslin 1303.
3 victories for the price of one, yet another airbrushed out of Anglocentric British history.
“airbrushed out of Anglocentric British history.”
————————————————-
If it was airbrushed out how do you know about it?
Contradiction of terms.
AX
Very droll 🙂
Try original sources?
Very educational: “learns you things”..
Here you go
link to archive.is
History, remember, is written by the winners.
The winner here was NOT The Bruce but his rival John Comyn whom Bruce later murdered in Greyfriars Kirk, Dumfries.
CY
Yes.
But Fraser was better, Comyn effed up at Fa’kirk, did the dirty at Dumfries while Bruce won the war of independence.
You can take your choice but..
Unless you have an axe to grind?
Love these history chats, but, try not to get so bitchy this time eh?
@Cynicus
That’s an empty slogan that doesn’t stand up to thoughtful assessment, parroted by the dense.
History is written by those who possess the ability to write, if they can be arsed.
Young Lochinvar 25 February, 2026 at 2:10 am
CY……
….You can take your choice but
Unless you have an axe to grind?
Love these history chats, but, try not to get so bitchy this time eh?
========
Sorry, I don’t get any of that. Are you sure you have the right guy?
100% correct. I tried several times to get the SNP run council and the MP, MSP to have this recognised. result…. Mothing! Not even a steet sign.
SNP careerists suck!
Plans for Flamingo Land resort at Loch Lomond rejected! At last the SNP does something right for Scotland.
Excellent news!
Yeah can’t have people enjoying themselves in Scotland or creating jobs.
MSM still all in a lather over the Davidson story. It’s unbelievably entertaining to see the Wokists putting their own 21st century gloss on the Victorian idea that the disabled should be hidden away to ensure they don’t embarrass the “normies”.
Funny how it’s always the same communities whose fragile confidence shatters at the first hurtful wordz. I don’t suppose telling them to man up is ever going to work.
Funny too, that in any list of the highest grossing actors of all time, Samuel L Jackson always comes at or near the top. A man whose mastery of and comprehensive use of the N word is legendary.
They should never have kept with the name `Flamingo Land`,
Loch Lomond Leisure or Eagles View Holidays.
we need to be filling up the highlands and islands,
Scotland was never meant to be a desolate landscape,
every nook and cranny would have been purposed back in the day, before the Anglo/Normans replaced the clans with sheep.
FGS – no-one wants fun and enjoyment and jobs in Scotland. Misery rules OK?
Unicorn Land.
Immensely popular with the youngsters, whilst staying true to our rich, cultural heritage.
Maybes a nod to our aspirations for Indy as well.
I am deeply annoyed at the rejection of my planning proposal for
TOP HAT BUGGERY LAND
at trinity college quadrangle, cambridge.
People just want a good time, surely?
This would have brought in jobs and investment to an area that sorely needs it, and the bouncy castle was also wipe down, for easy clean of cum.
Next up : fracking at queens college, oxford.
Good one, Confused.
No messing about. Straight to what’s on your mind.
Ach, maybe immediately is better. Straight doesn’t quite apply.
You know, I quite like that idea. My only concern would be that the place might become popular with equestriennes and would therefore end up being mobbed by shouty, aggressive wifies who smelled of horse jobbies…and take it from me, you do not want that 🙂
Nae fear o hoarse joabbies, TFIOD.
Unicorn joabbies smell, taste and look indistinguishable frae Pick’n’Mix, richt doon tae the individual wrappings.
Haud oan noo. Ye dinnae think … 🙂
Maybes the Unicorn Land gift shop sweetie counter is gonnae be entirely sustainably self sufficient!
I would expect a lot of support for an amended proposal, especially among those Scottish patriots who extol the virtues of freedom fighters and abhor imperialist colonisers. ‘Flamingo Drone Land’, in honour of our fighting friends in the east, has a good sound to it.
Our brightest brains could surely find something worthy of the ‘Neptune’ name, and then there’s ‘Trident’, ‘Mariupol’, ‘Bucha’, etc. These are all names we Scots could be proud and honoured to bestow in Scotland in recognition of the people whose fight and sacrifices for freedom make our own current struggles look inconsequential, trivial and yes, contemptible.
I think Main has tourettes and his tics make him post all day
– time for a wee film
“John (MAIN)s not mad”
– he’s just a raging faragist yooniac flagshagger
maybe we should go easy on him?
I say : no
in other news, why were those negroes on my television last night?
– that’s white-man-technology; cultural appropriation is just wrong.
Somewhere there is a bale of cotton needs pickin.
If you are too soft with the negro then they will revert to the barbrous norms of that dark continent; they be wheelin, dealin, divin, jivin, creepin on some fools, gangbaggin, grabassin, talkin back, playing their bongo bongo jive music, doing the moonwalk, putting up the price of watermelon and fried chicken, making drill videos and generally makin white-folks feel unsafe … one day you feel like you are living in england
then it all gets to : “helter skelter” because its like oil and water mate, innit; miscegenation and we all become a mulatto race
why oh why did Lincoln not ship them all off to liberia, where they could thrive among their own kind
– has no one read Conrad?
link to youtube.com
(gets a bit fruity about 1 hour 4 mins)
niggaz gonna nig
das right muthafucka
– hollywood should remaster all tarantino movies and replace n word references with “people of black colour who are better than us”
Debatable, given the turnouts in EU elections. I voted remain because I thought England might vote to leave. Political ammunition, nothing more. I would not vote to rejoin, it’s a basket case run by nation hating, punter despising contemptuous arsehole, basket cases.
I don’t think it is clear cut at all.
If 80% of people are Scottish or Scottish and British only, why is joining the EU so popular?
And what’s your point caller?
Scottish and European me… Not British!
(Only thing ‘British’ about yours truly concerns either geography, as in being born on the island of Great Britain, and my passport, which one day I hope to exchange for one which isn’t “British”… after 5 years residency the Irish can giveth what the English have taken away: my EU citizenship).
Wow! Check out the proud, colonialist boasting from Bob.
Off to Ireland to grift from them what his home country can’t provide.
Yet another Scot with his hand out, for which the best part of Scotland is the road heading away from the place – in this case, the road to the EU.
Tak a bow, Bob. You’re an inspiration to us all.
MP URGES LESSONS TO BE LEARNT FROM DETRANSITIONER HARMED BY ‘AFFIRMING CARE’
A girl ushered into social and medical treatments to affirm her gender confusion has called it a “terrible mistake”.
Jenny, from Fareham, received ‘gender affirming treatment’ and underwent a double mastectomy by the age of 18. She later regretted the decision and her family sought help from their MP Suella Braverman.
Braverman shared that when Jenny’s parents came into her constituency surgery and explained what had happened, it solidified her opposition to transgender ideology.
‘AFFIRMING ZEAL’
In early adolescence, Jenny developed depression and anxiety. She later chose to go by the name Jonny. Her parents sought help for her mental health, but Braverman explained, “the world beyond their front door had already made up its mind”.
Jenny was treated as a boy at school with classmates warned against “misgendering” her, and counsellors and clinicians “aligned themselves not with caution but with affirming zeal”.
Her parents were “presented with a grotesque ultimatum: ‘do you want a dead daughter or a happy son?’”
They consented to puberty blockers, testosterone and, soon after, surgery: “By eighteen, Jonny had facial hair, a broken voice and scars across the chest.”
IRREVERSIBLE
Seven years later, the parents told their MP that “Jonny believed it had all been a terrible mistake. He wanted to return to being Jenny.” They asked for help.
Braverman explained how she wrote to the local NHS trust to advocate for them, but the medical intervention was “irreversible”.
She noted that there is a “growing cohort” of similar stories to Jenny’s, calling them “casualties, in effect, of an era that mistook affirmation for care. Their stories cannot be airbrushed away; they are warnings”.
SOCIAL TRANSITIONING
The MP for Fareham and Waterlooville said that “’social transitioning’ is often portrayed as harmless – a matter of names and pronouns,” but the Cass Review labelled it “a significant psychosocial intervention”.
She stated: “An absolute prohibition on social transition within schools would not be an act of cruelty. It would be an act of clarity.”
Braverman highlighted the need for this clarity, and criticised the new guidance issued to schools for “sanctioning social transition even within primary schools.”
(The Christian Institute, 25 Feb 2026)
link to christian.org.uk
“The Scottish government has announced it will establish a Scotland-wide grooming gangs inquiry chaired by Prof Alexis Jay, who led the original Rotherham abuse inquiry, after ongoing pressure from opposition parties and survivors.
Justice secretary Angela Constance faced criticism last year for her handling of initial calls for an inquiry to mirror the one ordered by Keir Starmer for England and Wales. Ministers previously said they wanted to gather more evidence but it seems an initial review by Jay has identified sufficient material to merit a full inquiry.”
————————————
About time.
People in Scotland, a rich country with many resources, do not have healthy lives. The average period of good health in Scotland now is 59.4 years for women and 59.1 years for men.
“Healthy life expectancy, which is the number of years a person can expect to live in good health, has been falling since the mid-2010s for both men and women. Life expectancy has seen a small increase in recent years, however.
The NRS said people living in some of Scotland’s most deprived communities were more likely to live in poor health than those in the least deprived areas.
The figures show women have lost almost four years of healthy life expectancy and men have lost three years since 2014 to 2016.
The figures are based on answers to a national survey where respondents rate their health as very good or good rather than fair, bad or very bad…
..Individuals in the 10% most deprived communities spend around 60% of their lives in good health.
In contrast, those in the least deprived areas can expect to spend over 80% of their lives in good health.”
link to bbc.co.uk
Child poverty in England is at 31 %. In Scotland it is 22%. Still too high but the difference is due to Scottish Child Payment.
Poverty can significantly impact birth weight, with low-income mothers more likely to have low birth weigh infants due to such factors as: poor nutrition, limited access to healthcare, and higher rates of smoking and substance abuse. Low birth weight is associated with increased risks of infant mortality and long-term health issues for the child.
“This review identified consistent evidence that lower occupational status, especially manual occupations and unemployment, were significantly associated with increased risk of multiple adverse pregnancy outcomes. Strategies to improve pregnancy outcomes should incorporate approaches that address wider determinants of health to provide women and families with the best chances of having a healthy pregnancy and baby and to decrease pregnancy-related health inequalities in the general population.”
link to bmjopen.bmj.com
The first food bank in the UK opened in 2000. In 2026 there are about 2600 food banks.
The main reasons for the growth of food banks in the UK include rising poverty, financial instability, benefit delays, and increasing living costs. Many users are in full-time work but still struggle to make ends meet.
Many individuals and families face financial difficulties due to stagnant wages and rising living costs.
A significant portion of food bank parcels goes to families with children – the impact of child poverty on food insecurity.
Increasing mental health issues among food bank clients can complicate their ability to seek employment or manage finances effectively.
Sam, are you surprised that if somebody gives away something at no cost (or at a reduced cost) to the recipient, be it food, golf clubs or whisky, people line up to get the freebie?
If the government established a “curling stone” bank, we’d have 2600 of them in no time, with a voting bloc clamoring for more. That doesn’t prove any inherent “need” for a curling stone bank.
UK population was around 59 million in 2000 and around 70 million in 2025.
As you say, sam, absolutely scandalous that the extra 11 million immigrants and their kiddies haven’t immediately been given the median UK income so that all of their material needs are met.
Nae wonder so many of them go aff their heids and start slicing up wee white lassies on the street.
Mental health issues. England and Wales.
“One in five adults (20.2%) in England are living with a common mental health problem – with rates higher in women (24.2%) than men (15.4%)
Those aged 16–24 are particularly affected, with prevalence rates rising from 17.5% in 2007 to 25.8% in 2023–24
Over one in three reported a?deterioration in their mental health?while waiting for an appointment with their GP or a voluntary/third sector organisation.
In England, adults in the most deprived areas have higher rates of mental health problems (26.2%) than those in the least deprived areas (16.0%)
People in problem debt were more than twice as likely to experience a mental health problem (39.0%) than those without (18.4%)
Children from the least well-off 20% of households are 4 times more likely to experience serious mental health difficulties by age of 11, compared to those growing up in the wealthiest homes.”
link to centreformentalhealth.org.uk
Ultimately if you live with a shortage of money, food, heating and lighting life becomes hard and stressful.
Factor in despair and despondency and it becomes no surprise that many then suffer substantially lower outcomes in terms of education, a way into work, familial relationships and ill health.
For many this is the downward spiral that is impossible to escape. As a society many of us complain about the benefit junkies of which there are indeed many. But not everyone on benefits, or low paid wages are like that.
No accident then that nice middle class homes by and large have children that prosper in education results and come from households where health and aspiration is light years away from the benefits and low wage section of our community/
It’s an ill divided policy that allows this to happen to the utter detriment of our society.
Its not rocket science especially one realises that the middle class class do not have children much more clever than children from the deprived classes.
Regression to the mean insures that this is so, else the tall would get taller, the short shorter, fat fatter and thin thinner. Rich folks can have as many very dim children and poor folks have very bright.
Its the societal environment that counts.
Willie,
Studies show that poverty can alter brain structures, particularly in areas responsible for higher cognitive functions. For instance, children from low-income backgrounds may have reduced hippocampal volume, which is crucial for memory.
Growing up in poverty can lead to chronic stress, which negatively impacts brain wiring. Elevated stress hormones, like cortisol, can hinder the development of brain regions involved in emotional regulation.
Studies over many years looked at the impact of adverse childhood experiences. ACES, for short. Enough of these 4 or more can result in chronic stress and permanently elevated levels of cortisol.
This can lead in young adult men and women developing mental health problems as well as other significant long term health problems and heart attacks
Scotland’s mental health problems are somewhat worse overall than in E&W. One in 4 Scots has a mental health problem- depression, anxiety.
Those in areas of deprivation, substance users, and ethnic minorities, are at higher risk for mental health issues.
In 2023, 1 in 5 children aged 5 to 16 had a probable mental health problem.
There has been a 22% increase in children referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Scotland 9,672 young people sought treatment between January and March 2022. The likely causes are impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing cost-of-living problem.
Mental health inequalities in Scotland’s deprived areas are primarily driven by factors such as poverty, unemployment, social isolation, and lack of access to services.
Adults living in the most deprived areas are approximately twice as likely to experience mental health problems compared to those in less deprived areas. This shows the impact of socioeconomic factors on mental health, with poverty and social exclusion being major contributors to mental health challenges.
link to health.org.uk
“This briefing compares trends in mortality within the UK and with 21 high-income countries, based on new research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The findings are stark, underlining deep inequalities in health between different parts of the UK and a worrying decline in UK health compared with international peers.
Improvements in UK mortality rates slowed significantly in the 2010s, more than in most of the other countries studied. By 2023, the UK female mortality rate was 14% higher than the median of peer countries and the UK male mortality rate was 9% higher. For both, the gap to the median widened significantly after 2011, and the UK’s ranking relative to peer countries has now worsened.
Improvements in mortality rates slowed across all UK nations and regions in the 2010s – but there are significant geographic inequalities. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have higher mortality rates than England. Scotland is performing particularly poorly – of the countries studied, in 2021 only the US had a worse mortality rate. In 2021, mortality rates were 20% higher in the North East and North West of England than in the South West.
People aged 25–49 have seen a particularly pronounced relative worsening of mortality rates. In 2023, UK female mortality rates for this age group were 46% higher than the median of peer countries, while male rates were 31% higher. Of the other countries studied, only Canada and the US experienced a similar worsening of mortality rates among this age group over the 2010s. This worsening of mortality rates is a sign of ill health in the working-age population, acting as a drag on economic growth.
Of the main three causes of death for people aged 25–49, mortality rates for cancers and circulatory diseases improved between 2001 and 2019, but rates worsened for deaths from external causes. Deaths from external causes explain between 70% and 80% of the divergence in UK mortality rates compared with the median of peer countries over this period.
While in the 2010s alcohol-related mortality rates for people aged 25–49 plateaued or declined and mortality rates for suicide (and undetermined intent) slightly increased, the rate of drug-related deaths rose sharply. In contrast, rates of drug-related deaths continued to decline for peer countries. As a result, the drug-related mortality rate in the UK was more than three times higher in 2019 than the median of peer countries.”
Doesn’t matter how many reports you cut and paste, sam, without ethnic analysis they are meaningless.
I fully recognise that you don’t want to face the facts. Mass immigration means the importing of great masses of people of poorer health, more fragile mental states, un-vaccinated, with endemic health affecting behaviours (cousin marriage), propensity to violence, narcotics abuse, poorly educated and above all, mired in poverty.
Mass importing of people who adversely affect the statistics you cite means we can’t tell if the figures for our own people are going up, down, or remaining the same.
Mass importing of people who need more benefits, more health care, more counseling, more education, etc. bloody obviously affects the services available to our own people.
As I said, sam, it’s important to you that you don’t face these facts. It’s bloody important to the rest of us that we do, and face down the liars and dissemblers like yourself who have their own agenda to push.
Charity begins at home. We don’t owe the inhabitants of the world’s shitholes a free lunch at our table at our expense.
Coroners’ reports in England have been found to misrepresent the total number of drug deaths. Research indicates that over 13,000 opioid-related deaths were not included in official statistics from 2011 to 2022. This discrepancy suggests that the actual number of drug-related fatalities is significantly higher than reported.
link to bbc.co.uk
Mark Hirst has said that over £6000 donations have been received in the last week. That’s good but surely he’s going to need more than that? Rev, can you find out?
Dot B has been taken to court over failure to pay take away delivery charges.
Ms B claimed she had not paid the (most recent) delivery charge as it was not in her purfew in accordance with position and tradition of payment dodgers.
When quizzed about historical default of payment Ms B stated that she couldn’t comment as she hadn’t had time to review the case (which spans several years).
Ms B claimed insofar as the charges were de-jur therefore unproven and remained subject of advice yet to be sought on time-bar that she remains impartial to the whole trifling “little people” matter of payment default as incompetent in law.
Ms B then stated; “Next”..
TRULY «THE LAW» is an ass, must it also look like one?
TURABDIN @8:57
‘TRULY «THE LAW» is an ass, must it also look like one?’
=======
You reference “ass” twice. The first (DIRECT)sense is obvious from the well known maxim which you quote – Equus asinus.
As to the (INDIRECT) second: do you refer to the term here in the American sense?
I do not know if the old Scots Law crime, “murmuring the judges” applies to the Lord Advocate. But, just in case it does, you should perhaps be careful.
Decision day for Gorton and Denton.
The Green Party are going all in with their attempt to get an MP for G@za into the HoC. Hannah Spencer, the Green Party candidate, has taught herself Urdu so she can appeal directly to the adherents of the religion of peace. Her obvious disadvantages for the role, being a white, cute blonde woman, can be countered to a certain extent by artful wearing of the obligatory tea towel.
And hey, if a youngish, working class, white, cute, blonde woman says the grooming gangs scandal is a lie spread by racists, who are you going to believe?
Shouldn’t we be doing the same kind of thing up here? Maybe with tartan tea towels for local protective coloration?
Off Topic.
Sorry to see that another family of 4 beavers have been released into the wild by doubtless well meaning enthusiasts with, I fear, little idea of the damage this protected species can so speedily accomplish.
” 26 February 2026, 06:11 GMT
A family of beavers has been released into a Lincolnshire river to live in what officials claim is England’s largest beaver enclosure.
The four animals are expected to help return the West Glen River near Grantham to a more natural course after centuries of being straightened and deepened to drain farmland.
The family will live in an enclosure measuring about 200 hectares (494 acres) which includes 20,000ft (6,000m) of specialist perimeter fencing and shelters made by community volunteers.
Claire Barrett from Nattergal, which runs the site, said: “The beavers will be our nature engineers and create an amazing complex of wetland habitats which bring in other species to enjoy the landscape.”
The release is part of a 30?year restoration project by nature recovery company Nattergal, which began transforming Boothby Wildland, external in 2021.”
The beavers about which I posted earlier were released at Loch Beinn a Mheadhoin in the Glen Affric National Reserve Nature on 20/02/2026.
One trusts that in time to come they and their descendants will choose to recognise the NNR boundaries and forbear from spreading their activities far and wide.
AX
Sounds a bit like you have beaver fever 🙂
Hands up everybody who, when they read x writing about “England’s largest beaver enclosure”, thought he meant an enclosure to house the largest beaver in England.
Ach. Was it really just me whose mind boggled?