Fascinating intervention, in that it doesn't actually seem to have any strategic intent. Just a verdict handed down from the political Galapagos of the TBI. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Tony Blair on my radio doing full AI Silicon Valley boosterism Unrelatedly…. Tony Blair’s personal think tank has had or been pledged $350 million from Oracle boss Larry Ellison democracyforsale.substack.com/p/inside-the...

The expected response was “The UK Government does not support independence or another referendum.” But Scotland is not asking Westminster to support independence - only to respect Scotland’s right to choose. That decision belongs to the people of Scotland, not Westminster. Where's the democracy?

if you hate the SNP shouldn’t you be thanking Peter Murrell for stealing a bunch of the money they would otherwise have used for campaigning

The usual puerile, tone-deaf nonsense from London’s media. A textbook example of exactly why we need to be independent. #YouYesYet

any analysis of JK Rowling's radicalisation which doesn't explicitly discuss the independence referendum and her personal hatred of Nicola Sturgeon is incomplete

Thread of incomprehensible excerpts from the EHRC’s new guidelines on single-sex spaces. No alt text in thread unfortunately, but there is a link to the guidance itself. The amount of bother involved in all of this, turning a thing that wasn’t a problem into a massive problem for lots of people 🤦🏻‍♀️

Labour’s response to growing independence support has been to: A. Ignore it & claim it’s not important B. Denigrate any positive autonomous policies C. Move to the centre-right to compete for the shrinking pool of reactionary unionists Either they wake up and smell the coffee or it’s curtains

My latest blog post. The British media is hiding the truth about the sustained level of support for independence in Scotland. The new Scottish Parliament has a record majority for independence and is the fourth in a row with such a majority. weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2026/05/20/t...

Labour’s response to growing independence support has been to: A. Ignore it & claim it’s not important B. Denigrate any positive autonomous policies C. Move to the centre-right to compete for the shrinking pool of reactionary unionists Either they wake up and smell the coffee or it’s curtains

For many years Bella Caledonia has been a stellar platform for thought-provoking articles about Scottish independence & the political & cultural wellbeing of the country. It's your donations which help to keep this invaluable resource alive. Please donate - www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/Xy28pd7W

An interesting post about how we measure proportionality in mixed member systems - with particular relevance to the increasing phenomenon of ‘split-ticket’ voting in Scottish Parliamentary elections. #SP26

Today is Nakba Day. You cannot understand what lies at the heart of conflict in the Middle East unless you understand what happened to 85% of Palestinians in 1948. Here Eugene Rogan explains how hundred of thousands ended up as homeless refugees in Gaza

"I once said I was given £5 million for my security, then a few days later said it was a reward for Brexit"

Nigel Farage tells The Sun's Harry Cole that Elon Musk offered to give Reform loads of money "if we said certain things" and he refused. "I can't be bought." Two things: 1. This is an allegation of attempted bribery. Very serious. 2. It shows the obvious: donors expect something for their money.

Empty #KingsSpeech for Scots. Lower Thames Crossing goes ahead + Northern PH Rail + 'all measures to safeguard domestic steel production' not nationalisation. Energy Independence Bill will 'scale up home-grown energy' ie more Scottish hardware to supply consumers in S of E. Poor.

A party standing for an indyref which won more seats than the anti-indy parties combined, and another party standing for an indyref which won more seats than the Lib Dems have no right to talk about independence, says man who is neither liberal nor democratic. www.thenational.scot/news/2609840...

On Scotland, @robjohns75.bsky.social highlighted how independence still drives voting intention in Holyrood elections. Focus from unionist parties on "getting out the SNP" acts as a proxy for the issue because the SNP so much embodies independence.

A short thread with my tuppence-worth on the #SP26 voting tactics/ vote-splitting debate. In short: it’s up to individual voters to decide!

An entire politics-focused edition of Channel 4 News went by without a single mention of Scotland or Wales. At least 10 mentions of ‘local elections’ alongside references to ‘our country’ and ‘the nation’. That nation is England.

In my household there are 4 pro-Indy voters. 2 are Green and 2 are SNP supporters. All 4 voted SNP/ SGP const/List. Why? There was no SGP on the constituency ballot, so the Greens voted SNP. The SNP voters chose to vote pro-Indy Green on list as SNP would not win any Glasgow list seats. 1/4

A short thread with my tuppence-worth on the #SP26 voting tactics/ vote-splitting debate. In short: it’s up to individual voters to decide!

If you oppose antisemitism from the left but don’t oppose antisemitism from the right, you don’t oppose antisemitism. You oppose the left.

In my household there are 4 pro-Indy voters. 2 are Green and 2 are SNP supporters. All 4 voted SNP/ SGP const/List. Why? There was no SGP on the constituency ballot, so the Greens voted SNP. The SNP voters chose to vote pro-Indy Green on list as SNP would not win any Glasgow list seats. 1/4

According to the UK parties & press, everything is shite due to the SNP, but also no one's interested in indy. Yet the SNP keeps on winning more seats than the anti-indy parties combined, so either the SNP is running Scotland better than we're told, or there really is a wish for indy.

BRIAN TAYLOR ‘They’re scared they’ll lose it, that’s why (the UK Government) won’t allow it.’ #Indyref2

You might have formed the impression that Paul Johnson, former director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, knows what he's talking about. The media treats him like the voice of God. But here he is - and not for the first time - talking out of his hat. Let's break it down in a short thread. 🧵

Anas Sarwar on the Sunday show admitting he got the campaign strategy wrong, he got the messaging wrong and his stance on #indyref2 was not successful. So what’s he going to change? Nothing. That’s pretty much the definition of insanity. #SP26

The biggest loser of #SP26 ? The BBC. ➡️ Missing or cutting away from key declarations ➡️ Focusing on interviews over analysis ➡️ ‘Experts’ who don’t understand the voting system ➡️ Projections that didn’t make arithmetical sense (and very late) ➡️ No constituency List vote breakdown ➡️ Martin Geisler

One Reform politician is one too many, but Scotland remains an overwhelmingly left-leaning, inclusive, socially progressive nation, whereas England is en route to give unprecedented power to a guy like Farage. Scottish independence is not just a choice, but a necessity - for our country's sake.

Independence MSP's 1999 - 36 2003 - 34 2007 - 49 2011 - 71 2016 - 69 2021 - 72 2026 - 73 SNP has won 5 Holyrood elections in a row, Labour had their worst ever election & Tories fell to 4th. Independence MSP's have been the majority since 2011. If that's not a mandate what is?

Despite the UK media telling us the SNP 'failed' to win a majority, the SNP won 58 seats, 2 more than the combined total 56 seats won by the 4 anti-indy parties. The Greens won 15 seats taking the pro-indy MSP total to 73, a record pro-indy result, a double mandate for this Scottish Parliament.

Absolutely FUCK THE BBC.

My #SP26 prediction was not too shabby. I got most constituencies right. (Shetland was a left-fielder) SNP - 2 off but got the H& I list one Mercifully Reform underperformed, 4 off Got Labour total correct. Greens 2 off - they were robbed of at least 1 seat by IGV fraud. Tories 3 off LibDems 1 off

The biggest loser of #SP26 ? The BBC. ➡️ Missing or cutting away from key declarations ➡️ Focusing on interviews over analysis ➡️ ‘Experts’ who don’t understand the voting system ➡️ Projections that didn’t make arithmetical sense (and very late) ➡️ No constituency List vote breakdown ➡️ Martin Geisler

Worth repeating that the SNP has more MSPs than all the unionists put together. The bbc and other right wing anti-Scotland, anti-EU folk seem to have trouble understanding that. Scotland isn’t England.

Yas! I was correct. 2 x Green & 1X SNP Good night all 😴 #SP26

It’s kind of ironic that this voice-over guy is trying to blame the other Councils for the delay when it’s only the actual Highland Council counts that we’re waiting on. So sad. #SP26

*Niche post for #SP26 election nerds still up* The voice-over guy on the Highland Council YouTube channel sounds very much like the guy who tells you where the muster points are on the CalMac ferries. And, yes, I have been drinking 🍻

The Scottish people have spoken … and now Westminster will ignore our voice A pro-independence majority will be elected once again in the Scottish Parliament. And once again, London will deny a referendum This is a democratic outrage and it must be resisted My @heraldscotland.bsky.social column

The @scottishgreens.org should do well from the Caithness and Skye constituencies, so I'd expect them to secure a second list MSP in the Highlands and Islands.

The good performance of the #LibDems in the #SP26 Highlands and Islands region and Labour taking nan Eilean s'iar means @thesnpmedia.bsky.social has a chance of a list seat here. The Greens could also benefit with a second list MSP.

And what's worse, possibly, is that the "Independent Green Voice" fraud has let in the Tories' living potato Stephen Kerr back into #SP26 Parliament.

The @scottishgreens.org missed out on a second list seat in Mid Scotland & Fife by 0.1pts - the so-called Independent Green Voice polled 0.9%. This is a clear wrecking tactic by the far right and needs to be sorted! #SP26

The BBC news #SP26 Scotland headline, still bigging up Reform. Get a fucking grip #BBC

"If Angus Robertson loses does that mean Tommy Sheppard gets in on the list?"* Mate, you're on the telly as a #SP26 political strategist, you fucking tell me! *No it bloody doesn't

The BBC now have pundits and SPADs on the telly discussing the regional list vote who clearly don't have a scooby how the #SP26 de Hondt system works. Embarrassing.

The final list seat in #SP26 Glasgow region is on a knife-edge between a third Labour and a third Green seat. It's down to the Rutherglen list votes, so gonnae be close. So far 2xLAB, 2XGRN, 2XRUK

So only one Glasgow constituency for @scottishgreens.org but look on course for two #SP26 list seats.

Note: I'm hearing figures for some regional votes but for some reason these are not really appearing on council social media or websites. If you're at a count and have regional declaration figures for individual constituencies, please email a photo to [email protected]