Aye Right Radio Podcast

What Branch Manager?  Jimmy and Stewart review the Sunday TV politics shows, Ridge on SKY, Marr on BBC1 and Politics Scotland presented by Gary Robertson on BBC...Liz Truss, the Irish protocol,  AstraZeneca,  Alister Jack,  Anas Sawar and Monica Lennon all feature… We read Roddy McLeod on the problems of SNP leadership facing FM Nicola Sturgeon and predict… We hear that Ken MacQuarrie has ‘left’ the BBC to get hired by the BBC at £325,000 a year to monitor/whitewash bias in the BBC...You figure?

 Gove-’Go to Scotland Boris’ A dull FMQs with Sturgeon, Davidson, Baillie and Rennie arguing about vaccine delivery and Covid testing, suddenly came alive when Patrick Harvie asked the FM if she had regrets about transphobia in the Scottish Government…Nicola passionately defended her government in the manner of her personal video posted yesterday…Changes to the wording of the Hate Crime Bill appeared to have triggered a social media attack on MP Joanna Cherry by trans-allies...The timing seems to be a distraction as it coincides with the court appearance of Craig Murray and his publishing of evidence which is damaging to the First Minister...PM Johnson’s Scottish visit gets supported by Keir Starmer (who knew?); ..roasted and then welcomed by the gang…Jimmy’s Indy strategy suggestion of deliberately collapsing an SNP government after the May election gets analysed and expect more debate on the idea…Someone suggested that a media mogul put up Michael Gove to persuade Boris Johnson to visit Scotland where he is despised...We wonder why.

Colony Scotland or Equal Partner?Jimmy delivers the Covid briefing report which featured vaccination figures again...supplies, jag centres, delivery and a ScotGov row with the UKGov about secrecy…At the podium steady Jeane Freeman delivered steady Covid figures including an infection/test rate of 5.8% where the W.H.O. target is 5%...The former First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, has challenged the orthodoxy of the sovereignty of the Westminster parliament...He claims that that sovereignty breaches the conditions in the Treaty of Union between Scotland and England...His case names A V Dicey, Joanna Cherry MP and Lady Hale (prorogation of parliament) ...We discuss the relevance in Scotland today…We roast Prime Minister Johnson’s visit to Scotland while still speculating about the real reason he came...Channel4 News gets roasted for metrocentric coverage of it with Scottish expat Tory MP Alberto Costa interviewed...Is Scotland a colony or an equal partner?...Jimmy is seeking a Ghandi type leader for Scotland while still maintaining that most politicians are vain, venal creatures.

Would the SNP Collapse Parliament?  Wee PMQs report…SGov Covid briefing on travel controls/quarantine hotels...Impact on tourism…Prof Curtice on polls...Backlash from England?...We’re the new Irish...Effectively causing a civil war...Surrounded by the EU…Twitter attack on Jo Cherry.

Son of the Manse  The news that the German government and the EU is in dispute with AstraZeneca about supplies of the Covid vaccine is our first topic...this issue has legs so expect more on it… We roast the UKGov’s invisible Scottish Secretary for his article in the Irish Times… We disagree with a well written London Times piece by Hugo Rifkind...and recall the friendly and excited atmosphere of Indyref1 and the AUOB marches… The new owners of the Scotsman and Evening News may have abandoned the previous strong unionist support...we ruminate… We offer our support to Craig Murray who faces political charges in an Edinburgh court this week… We recommend an article ( England’s Scotland Panic – What is to be done & why a mature UK debate on the union & on Scottish independence is not on the horizon ) by Kirsty Hughes of the Scottish Centre on European Relations...more to follow. (link below). https://www.scer.scot/database/ident-13005

 Grounds for Cautious Optimism  Maybe the Covid virus has peaked again in Scotland?...The figures have steadied...The hacks story will be that Scotland lags England in the vaccination race though…The BBC SNPbaad intro show had a London BBC reporter comparing with Scotland...apples and oranges…We comment about the SNP National Assembly stitch-up...We bitch about George Kerevan’s SNP leadership race...there’s a Bella ‘Lefty No to Yes’ story that gets memories going...Iain Lawson takes on the ‘blogger bullies’...Craig Murray says that the Crown Office still won't reveal the Murrell/Ruddick evidence that the Inquiry demands...and Kenny McAskill says Indyref2 in 2021 is impossible...There’s no Sturgeon V Salmond stooshie today.

National Assembly Day  We begin with three BBC shows;...The Andrew Marr show featured UK Health Minister Hancock and Scotland’s FM Sturgeon with Glenn Campbell opining...Then the Politics Scotland show anchored by Andrew Kerr which featured DFM John Swinney and had Glenn Campbell - again…Finally The Big Question presented by Nicky Campbell worried about social media…We then review Iain MacWhirter’s piece in the Herald exposing corruption at the Crown Office (prosecution service) led by Lord Advocate James Wolfe which Iain links to the Salmond V Sturgeon scandal…which we then discuss in depth…Also mentioned are;...Anas Sarwar,  Rape Crisis Scotland,  NHS health boards,  Gordon Dangerfield and SKY’s James Mathews disappearing reports,  Peter A Bell,  the Real McKay and the Red Hand Commando.

£60 million Is Nothing   BBC Politics;...Lynsey Bews,  Graham Stewart,  70% of infected not self isolating,  £500 Gov support?,  Welsh FM accuses,  lockdown till summer?,  extend travel ban,  keep schools closed,  UKGov in denial,  ‘vaccination a distraction’,  kids NOT immune... Covid briefing review;...Covid case rate down to 7%,  hospitals and ICU stable,  daily deaths 71,  FM  stresses/details dangers in supermarkets...brushes off police care home deaths inquiry and building work at Bute House…Main review;...Spectator Royal Commission delay,  Colonel Ruth Davidson,  Lizzie Hoose,  Nissan bribe,  Channel Tunnel refilled,  Watergate at Holyrood,  the Scotsman/Johnston Press,  nukes illegal,  Holyrood list voting,  Greens,  ISP,  Galloway,  Brexit...Sturgeon scandal;...James Mathews SKY story vanishes,  gagging orders,  Lord Advocate and £60m loss,  Craig Murray trial,  Lady Dorian,  Gordon Dangerfield,  alphabet women,  maybe I’m talking p**h...

Worst Excess Deaths in 129 yrs... That’s fake news broadcast by BBC Scotland BTW… Deputy FM John Swinney held the Covid press briefing supported by NCD Jason Leitch...The game was ‘let's compare vaccinations with England” and make ScotGov look bad on the day the UK death rate reached another awful peak…From the past came a poll about a prosecution of former PM Tony Blair…Alex Salmond’s former Chief of Staff, Geoff Aberdein, has been barred from giving evidence of a conspiracy against his boss to the Holyrood inquiry…Nicola Sturgeon is England’s favourite political leader...Who knew?…Lesley Riddoch analyses the detail in the latest poll by Scot Goes Pop…We all have a go at the threat to free speech from the woke division.

Don’t Haste Ye Back  The FMQs review majors on the vaccine programme roll-out… We discuss a new poll which shows 55% support for the May Holyrood election to be plebiscitary (viz. a referendum on independence)... The news from Labour sees Monica Lennon officially as a leadership candidate... There’s also a Keir Starmer appointment of a ‘former’ Mossad agent to spy on the UK Labour Party… The final main topic is the launch in the UK of two more foreign backed TV News stations (what’s new?)... Also included are;...Devi Sridhar,  Joanna Cherry + UK Supreme Court,  George Osborne,  Piers Morgan,  Andrew Neil,  Rupert Murdoch and Robin McAlpine out of Common Weal...

World Worst Death Rate   The MSM (NB. BBC & SKY & foreign owned press) gets roasted for failing to alert  the UK public in this most dangerous state in the pandemic...The UK has the highest death rate in the world and our media has let us all down by not headlining this so that we can all take extra care…The MSM focus on the international vaccination race is assessed…We then ask why the BBC Radio Scotland Kaye Adams show shut down discussion of the Israel vaccination programme when Palestinians were mentioned…In a blog by Barrhead Boy the issue of turning the May Holyrood election into a plebiscitory one (for or against independence) gets heated…We applaud the letter by Joanna Cherry challenging an article by Fintan O’Toole, both published in the Irish Times, about the SNP founders ant-fascist credentials and the omission of Alex Salmond from the SNP luminaries.

 Look Down On The Serfs   It was a brief Covid briefing and only 14 journalists turned up...Perhaps they were warned that Covid only questions were allowed…The figures have plateaued so the focus was on the vaccination roll-out and comparisons with England… The Review It’s an eclectic mix of topics as we cover;...The social media responses to Robin McAlpine and Craig Murray…The SNP re-launch of yet another plan to think about how to have a referendum…Charlotte St Partners,  the House of Lords and Norries support for an unelected second chamber…Peter A Bell on a camel from George Kerevan…Denise Findlay’s history of Nicola Sturgeon as FM…Monica Lennon’s chance to lead Scottish Labour…Exiled Scot Gavin Esler’s lost view of Scotland…And Scottish fish lorries protesting in London.

Not Another One?  The Marr,  Ridge and Politics Scotland shows are all reviewed...Jack McConnel was Gary Roberson’s Unionist guest on the wee show ‘where you are’ so the fortunes of Labour in Scotland and Anas Sarwar in particular were roasted…In Holyrood Magazine Mandy Rhodes roasts both First Minister Sturgeon and Permanent Secretary Evans and others over the Salmond V Sturgeon affair…’What About the Women?’...The Sunday National headlines another call to Yessers to prepare for Indyref2…’Not Another One?’  How many calls to arms have we had and how many more before we revolt?...The former head of the FBI James Comey dubbed  Donald Trump as a menacing mob boss and suggested Trump would love an impeachment trial live on TV from Washington spread over 3 years…Other topics included polls,  fish business and ferries.

Vaccination Passports... Health Secretary Jeane Freeman took the Covid press briefing... She apologised for mistakes in her department and announced South American travel bans due to the Brazil new variant... Also announced were testing for ‘care at home’ workers,  a big expansion of mobile testing teams plus waste water testing at sewage works... NCD Jason Leitch clarified the position on vaccination passports... We discussed the Scottish Labour deposing of leader Richard Leonard at length and an article by MP Joanna Cherry about Europe was the final main topic...

A Lobster Rosette   Our review is a Salmond V Sturgeon psychodrama-free zone but the press asked questions about it at the Covid press briefing which featured Dr. Nicola Steedman and Dr. Alisdair Cook supporting the FM.   The figures revealed another peak in hospital capacity but otherwise levelling off.   Issues included the Brazil variant and a vaccination plan spat with the UKGov. We discuss the seafood industry Brexit disaster.   A new poll has the SNP looking very strong for the Holyrood election 2021 and support for independence is holding at 57%.   Lesley Riddoch suggests the YES  movement is a healthy demonstration of citizen democracy.  John Curtice says the new Farage party,  dubbed ‘REFUK’ , will damage Unionist parties at the election. 

 Royal Prerogative Powers   It’s a show of two halves beginning with a review of PMQs and FMQs including updates on stricter Covid lockdown restrictions in Scotland…. The second half (from 24mins approx) gets angry as we tear lumps out of each other reviewing the latest Salmond affair revelations... We watched the Independence Live show by Twa Auld Heids, the ‘Skullduggery’ episode featuring Denise Findlay and Mark Hirst. 

 Footy, Fish and Fascism.... The Covid briefing report is upbeat...Current figures for Scotland have plateaued...Future lockdown rules could include closing food take-aways plus click and collect...‘Stay at Home and don’t go out to socialise’ is the message from the FM...People are also going out to ‘promenade’ says Stewart.....  FM Sturgeon continues to receive support in the latest surveys...The food replacement for a £30 voucher gets roasted as does MSP Michelle Ballantyne who has abandoned the Tories for Nigel Farage’s latest fascist party... Our latest opinions about the Salmond affair come at the end of the show.

Dubai Travel Ban   Today’s show is long on news and short on opinionators.... The Covid press briefing covered the latest figures including vaccinations for the first time....Hospitalised infections exceed the April peak and 1100 vaccination sites opened.... Other topics include;... Court trials delayed...Dubai travel ban.  Football inc Celtic FC stooshie.  Stricter exercise rules.  Vaccination supplies.  Sturgeon V Salmond..truth?  Covid rules enforcement.  Covid deniers protest.  Reform party launch.  Online education delays.  Kerevan article.  BBC extended their briefing coverage to editorialise more. 

Critical Response to Covid  .......................................................... The Sunday morning political TV shows get reviewed...Linsey Bews hosted BBC’s Politics Scotland with guests Professor Steve Reicher and DFM John Swinney.  We also cover Ridge and Marr as usual.   ............................................. We have a serious debate following the publication of evidence prepared by Alex Salmond for the James Hamilton inquiry. Hamilton is responding to FM Nicola Sturgeon after she ‘reported’ herself about whether she misled Parliament over meetings with Salmond in 2018.   .................................................... Possible delays to the Holyrood 2021 General Election come up and also Council elections in England.

Mark Hirst is Innocent... It was a busy Friday Covid press briefing... In our review we cover the disturbing numbers in hospital and the high death rate.... We discover that it’s anti-Covid anti-bodies that matter and not who makes the vaccination....Teachers and police officers will not jump the vaccination queue....The FM is in total command as per usual.   We discuss another ill-informed piece in the New Statesman about Gordon Brown and DEVO, this time by Chris Deerin.... Joanna Cherry reminds us of historical precedent as the SNP head to a National Assembly that will discuss “the tactics and strategy on the route from here to Independence Day”.... Mark Hirst has been acquitted of the politically inspired charge in relation to the Alex Salmond affair.

Copy  070121   Events in Washington  Events in Washington and the consequences in Scotland dominate today.   Our views on some cross border skirmishing won by the SNP follows. 

A Reliable Alternative Route   The upcoming SNP National Assembly is focussing minds and the May Holyrood election campaign has begun.  Will the unionists get it delayed?   We debate the reasons for mistrust in the SNP leadership and include contributions/solutions from MP Kenny MacAskill,  blogger Jason Michael and an Aye Right viewer.   The USA elections get mentioned and the Scottish media get roasted again. 

Electrodes On Their Nipples... President Trump joins the gang very briefly as does James O’Brien of LBC who can’t find Dido Harding or Operation Moonshot.  What was that?   The rest of the show is mainly a review of a long and exhausting Covid press briefing where we roast the hyena pack of hacks and congratulate the FM on her delivery.   We manage to toast articles by Marina Hyde on Johnson and in particular Peter A Bell who has some manifesto advice for the new SNP President.

Tazer the Weans  -- Don’t miss a five star rammy about Nicola Sturgeon in the second half of the show.   -- We begin by reviewing the new Covid regulations outlined by FM Sturgeon.  Few surprises.   -- There’s a brief summary of the political headlines from a Scottish viewpoint including Assange and Trump.   -- Iain Lawson,  James Kelly and Peter A Bell all post thought provoking articles which we like.

Englishman Talking to a Scot   We focus on the Andrew Marr show followed by two articles in the Sunday Times by Alex Massie.  In interview by Marr, Northern Ireland FM Arlene Foster avoided the word ‘border’, reminding us that it's 100 years since the current United Kingdom union began and that the Brexit NI protocol can be ended by a Stormont vote in four years.  Then in interview, PM Johnson failed to affect Stewart’s blood pressure and revealed little for a Monday tabloid headline though Marr challenged him over what democratic tools were left for a pro Scottish independence voter if a fresh indyref was refused.  Alex Massie returns to assist us in dissecting topical independence issues. 

We analyse the ten 2021 predictions of Richard Murphy, who blogs as ‘Tax Research UK’  Covid  Brexit  Economic recovery  Corruption  Freeports  Northern Ireland  SNP landslide  NHS crash  COP26  MSM fascists  New businesses  Disruption   We finish with an excellent piece by Marina Hyde in the Guardian unofficially titled ‘Boris the Podium Victim’ which strangely got Norrie and Stewart wondering about Nicola…

Special interview with drugsand alcohol mentor Philip Rainford

Foot on the Throat of Scotland   We begin with the Holyrood Brexit vote to refuse consent for Scotland to leave the EU.  Mike Russell made a barnstorming speech winding up for the Scottish Government.  There’s a clip at the end.   The rest of the show takes a familiar route linking topical issues/people as follows:-..  FT article offering advice to serious Unionists,  Occupied Scotland,  Trojan horse,  transport infrastructure..  Borders Railway to Carlisle,  direct European transport links,  North Sea electricity inter-connector,  Scottish water,  Lesley Riddoch wins award,  Stewart voted Tory,  Sicilian Mafia think London is more corrupt,  new gangster Lords,  Joanna Cherry,  wheesht for Nicola,  drive for democracy,  100% Scot  V  8% Brit.. you figure?,  no UK election for 8 years,  English foot on the throat of Scotland,  taxi full of weapons,  Holyrood campaign.. Nicola Sturgeon has no big idea,  Welsh Labour shame SNP Government. 

PARTITION   Today we begin with the Brexit votes in Holyrood and Westminster.  After that we range across/mention in rough order... Points of order,  Ian Blackford,  Ian Duncan Smith,  Keir Starmer,  Michael Gove,  Mark Francois,  disruption of Commons business,  Kenny MacAskill,  Labour leader in Scotland,  Richard Leonard,  Anas Sarwar,  Jackie Baillie,  Jenny Marra,  drown in a car park,  Neil Findlay,  The Vow,  Daily Record,  wobbly nose,  Jason Michael,  Murray Foote,  British spies,  Auchtermuchty,  77th. Brigade,  Scottish Press subsidy,  free press,  Leveson inquiry,  SNP manifesto,  UDI,  PARTITION.

‘She’s No Got the Chuckies’   We begin with Jimmy’s report of last night’s Zoom Meeting on Plan B.  MP Angus McNeil and Councillor Chris McEleny were in attendance.  Susan Blackley and Neil Mackay of AUOB hosted the evening.   MP Pete Wishart blots his copybook with a rude reply to a letter from the Dr. Timothy Rideout of the SNP Policy Development Committee.  We get excited over that.   Paul Goodman of Conservative Home gets roasted for his London Times opinion piece.   Jimmy coins some wonderful turns of phrase.  Norrie is on his own not wearing socialist red. Stewart apologises (again) for a mix-up over assemblies and letters

Foxhunting Galloway   Phil Attridge rejoins the gang today.    We offer advice to the SNP on the Brexit Deal vote in Westminster this week.   Keir Starmer gets another roasting.   We wonder when the rows over the Brexit Deal facts will start.   Further developments are expected when Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon appear before the Harassment Inquiry next month.  We speculate on the political future of Andy Wightman and for the Greens in Scotland.   Foxhunting and George Galloway finish the show. 

Boris Wins Brexit We all agree that Boris Johnson is the winner of the Brexit Games.  After that the show is all over the shop in this heated  ‘Silly Season’ episode.   Featured;   Tony Blair,  Erasmus,  London Financial business,  Fish and fishing parliamentary seats,  AUOB/YESALBA versus the SNP,  Can Sturgeon survive?,  Angus Robertson,  Joanna Cherry,  Indyref plans and funding?

Legacy iScotland Panel Debate  2013 An ‘as live’ recording by ‘3 Men In A Blog’ Behind the camera   Stewart Lochhead…  Featuring… Kevin Williamson ( Rebel Inc, Bella Caledonia, Neu Reekie ),  Duncan Hothersall ( Labour Hame, New Statesman, Business) ,  Iain McGill ( Conservative Politician, Street Soccer,  Business),  Norrie Stewart ( Aye Right Radio, Leith FM, Artist/Cartoonist, Business). Note the date and the balance on the panel between YES and NO.

 Band of Brexiteers2 -------------------------------------------- Seasons greetings and thanks to all our viewers and listeners, wherever you are.   It was the last FMQs at Holyrood before Xmas but apart from the obligatory thanks and best wishes there was little to cheer. Covid infections are still around 1000 a day. Care homes are still a ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’ issue and Willie Rennie almost starred in a low firmament.   Norrie and Stewart have another ‘debate’ about making progress towards an iScotland in the face of an anticipated refusal to negotiate from London.   Fresh light on the new Covid variant comes from a New York Times article.. Who knew?

Mutant Etonian Variant Keir Starmer’s DEVO speech continues to attract ridicule especially his use of the terms separatist and secessionist.  We range through reactions from Welsh Labour,  The Canary and Peter A Bell whose article leads us to consider alternative routes to iScotland.   Brexit and the France - UK border closure is also covered.   Your ideas for our Aye Right Yearly Awards are welcome.  Thanks for your ideas so far.   We expect to continue posting video and audio over the next few weeks except for 3 days at Xmas.

 Hairbrush for Boris   Today’s fulsome press briefing expanded on the emergency one on Sunday.  The senior hacks were back with some awkward questions and we ended up with a lot of important details about the new Covid restrictions..  The FM was supported by the Chief Constable and the Chief Medical Officer.   There’s more disagreement over the strength of the restrictions and police enforcement etc.   In the papers review Jimmy roasts Kevin McKenna and Stewart continues with more on the Keir Starmer planned DEVO speech.   Also mentioned are;  Iain Lawson,  Stuart Cosgrove,  Jason Leitch, George Kerevan,  JohnLe Carre and a hairbrush for Boris? 

Canon Kenyon Wright was interviewed by Alex Grant of Aye Right on Black Diamond Radio in 2014. Kenyon was Chair of the Scottish Constitutional Convention (1989-1999) and he explains the background which led to the return of the Scottish Parliament.  We publish this in light of the Keir Starmer announcement about devolution.

Xmas Dinghied    Stewart says ‘close the border’. Norrie says that FM Sturgeon doesn’t have the power. Jimmy says the new rules are a power grab. We have our say on a new Covid lockdown with Norrie mediating.   The Labour Party and Keir Starmer on ‘devolution’ get a roasting. We have a clip to promote an interview that Canon Kenyon Wright made on ‘DEVO’.   Andy Wightman dumped the Greens so we get wired into that.   Our ‘Aye Right Yearly Awards’ make an entrance.   The full Alex Grant interview with Kenyon Wright about devolution from 2014 is posted separately at https://ayerightradio.wordpress.com

Legacy FMQs Review 090513 Featuring the legendary Alex Grant plus Stewart Lochhead and Norrie Stewart reviewing a typical Alex Salmond FMQs with Joanna Lamont, Ruth Davidson, Willie Rennie and Patrick Harvie.   Neil Findlay, Margo McDonald and the un-named Presiding Officer also feature in a period when Sec 30 was under discussion and support for Independence was peaking around 30%+. 

Conversion Campaign   Today’s show begins with Brexit and ends with a Conversion Campaign.  We effectively segue neatly through the topics making it a single connected conversation.  On the way we mention issues raised in articles by Peter A Bell,  Jo Cherry and Iain Lawson.   You can’t leave the club and keep the privileges;    making a U-turn may not be that painful;   Welsh Labour have shamed BLiS (viz Iain Murray) and led the way for a legal challenge of the Internal Market Bill which gives Lord Advocate James Wolfe a quandary in Scotland;   Iain Lawson challenges the SNP old guard especially those on wages and reminds us of the failure of the 2017 campaign. 

Drug Deaths Capital    Drug deaths dominated FMQs. Ruth Davidson, Richard Leonard and Willie Rennie pressed FM Sturgeon about her responsibility for the scandal. The three of us had a proper barney about it.   Patrick Harvie raised the Supreme Court decision to approve a third runway at Heathrow and challenged the FM on her support for it. We also discovered that a Climate Change Plan was published yesterday. We will have to try harder.   A new Comres poll has support for independence at 58% again, meaning there’s now 17 polls in a row proving that ‘freedom’ is now the settled will of the Scottish electorate. 

Starmer Forces a Stammer   A busy day for news means a busy show for us.  Norrie reports on a PMQs where Keir Starmer’s question about a pay rise for Cummings made Johnson stammer.  Norrie and Stewart both get angry about the drugs death toll in Scotland, in particular at the hopeless official policies.  The Covid press briefing was extensive and lit up by DCMO Nicola Steedman who quoted Martin Luther King. ( a future in politics?) Jimmy joins us late but he lights up our final section. 

Xmas Coach Subsidy   The review of the Covid levels didn’t surprise Jimmy but it led us into a broader debate about the used/unused powers of the SNP Scottish Government.   The appearance of Michael Gove at a virtual Holyrood Committee about Brexit proved to be less exciting than we anticipated.  Compared to Johnson, Gove comes across as competent.  Norrie muses ‘next PM?’   We wind up talking about two independistas of very different stripes.  There’s Colin Fox of the left wing SSP and Michael Fry, our tame right wing friend.   Why is the UK Government subsidising Xmas coach travel while telling people not to travel?  You figure

A Scottish Maiden   A quiet review of the presser gets rowdy over the Edinburgh Covid level when Jimmy joins the show.   The FM says people are  ‘scunnered and fed up’ and so is she.   We watch a George Monbiot video about Brexit and then have a row about that.    Also mentioned are…English exceptionalism,  warlord capitalists,  domesticated capitalists…   George Foulkes,  Paul Hutcheon,  John Le Carre,  Prince Charles,  Fettes and Eton schools  and a Scottish Maiden. 

A Late Arrival   Jimmy joins Norrie and Stewart very late in the show.    Norrie reports on the Brexit dominated Sunday morning TV shows plus an Elliot Bulmer article about devolution.    Stewart reports on the lines of lorries at ports and the likely supermarket shortages and on Peter A Bell’s despairs of any reason the Unionists will give in.    We discuss the new SNP policy convener Chris Hanlon piece in the National and then Jimmy joins in on his soapbox about Nicola Sturgeon being too authoritarian.

The Salmond Conspiracy   A fulsome press briefing was hosted by the FM and supported by the Chief Constable who revealed the changes in policing since he began on the streets.  Lots of useful Covid information was also reviewed plus the London Times hack gave us a laugh.   Norrie and Stewart get a wee bit heated over the Salmond Conspiracy as outlined by Iain Lawson.   Boris Johnson in Brussels gets roasted and if a criminal banker is a ‘bankster’ what do you call a criminal brexiteer? 

A very busy FMQs review includes the Harassment Inquiry, Edinburgh Covid level and Brexit.  A Royal Visit to Scotland reveals a London bubble of ignorance.

PMQ + SG Press Briefing Only two brief reports today due to last minute staff shortages.  PMQs with Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer.  Scottish Government press briefing with FM Nicola Sturgeon and Chief Clinical Director Jason Leitch.

Brexit troubles Norrie as does Stuart Campbell’s announcement that the FM has definitely broken the ministerial code and will have to resign.Craig Murray, newly elected to the YES ALBA leadership, highlights the reality of far-right control of the Tory Government and wonders why Labour still lags behind in the polls.Paul Kavanaugh says its the SNP senior politicians who need to ‘Wheesht for Indy’

Roddy McLeod and Stewart discuss.....Brexit speculationSNP2020 Conference including SNP NEC revolutionWho speaks for the SNP?Does Nicola need a break or should she delegate Covid?Should the Holyrood election next May also be a plebiscite on independence?

It’s the eve of Vaccination Day, the first day of the end of the pandemic (we hope), and the Scottish Government top team appeared at today’s Covid press briefing. The First Minister, the Health Secretary and the Chief Medical Officer radiated a Xmas Eve spirit of expectation. The press wanted early details of any changes to the tiers of Covid restrictions and got none plus more on the roll-out of the vaccination programme, which they got. Our papers review include Stephen Paton in the National, James Foley in the Source, Stuart Campbell in Wings and Ruth Wishart in the National.