Tweet Archive

As of 1:40 BST on August 21st, 2011

The fundamental reality - http://bit.ly/kiQCpE #sp4 4 minutes ago via web

Has Senator Menendez heard the good news yet? - http://bit.ly/lsWo5K #sp4 about 23 hours ago via web

The Clarke episode illustrates everything that is wrong with our politics - http://bit.ly/mUOqiz 19 May 2011 00:57:50 via web

Scottish Liberal Democrats take another step backwards - http://bit.ly/jrgTDz #sp4 18 May 2011 02:15:18 via web

New blogpost : Since you asked, Mr Cochrane... - http://bit.ly/j6u7lC 17 May 2011 17:30:16 via web

Will there "always be a United Kingdom"? - http://bit.ly/kZk3SQ 16 May 2011 01:46:10 via web

Review of #Eurovision final - http://bit.ly/iHiuyT #esc2011 #esc11 15 May 2011 06:45:44 via web

Prediction for tonight's #Eurovision final - http://bit.ly/jt7oK2 #esc2011 #esc11 14 May 2011 08:14:13 via web

It's your future, it's your choice, and your weapon is your voice - http://bit.ly/lZf050 #Eurovision #esc11 #esc2011 14 May 2011 00:55:44 via web

Blogger has gone completely mad - it's just eaten three of my recent posts (one was quite long as well). That'll teach me to keep a copy! 13 May 2011 15:32:41 via web

YouGov poll sends @campbellclaret homewards take think again - http://bit.ly/jegcpV #QTWTAIN 12 May 2011 17:57:24 via web

Prediction for the second #Eurovision semi-final - http://bit.ly/lwBMIR #esc2011 #esc11 12 May 2011 04:20:31 via web

Holyrood makes us the laughing-stock of the world - http://bit.ly/m5bad1 11 May 2011 16:47:04 via web

A quick review of first #Eurovision semi-final - http://bit.ly/mfRhcz 11 May 2011 07:38:21 via web

Presiding Officer dilemma for SNP - http://bit.ly/lgxD11 #sp11 10 May 2011 16:34:00 via web

#Eurovision 2011 prediction for Tuesday's semi-final - http://bit.ly/luCeLm #esc #esc2011 #esc11 10 May 2011 02:31:34 via web

Is this the unanswerable case for SNP involvement in the next round of UK leaders' debates? - http://bit.ly/kHyLjO #sp11 09 May 2011 02:13:27 via web

A toast to Nick Clegg, the accidental midwife of Scotland's independence referendum - http://bit.ly/iFSAVs #sp11 08 May 2011 07:34:08 via web

John McTernan on one-man mission to thwart the democratic process? - http://bit.ly/jaworS #sp11 07 May 2011 16:04:55 via web

Final result : SNP win overall majority of nine seats - http://bit.ly/mOYIw0 #sp11 06 May 2011 17:29:36 via web

Yet another 'final' - and very silly - poll of the campaign : http://bit.ly/mwlGaB #sp11 05 May 2011 23:55:49 via web

@DBirkin - I've literally in the last few seconds persuaded my sister to vote #Yes2AV, so water off a duck's back! 05 May 2011 18:25:24 via web in reply to DBirkin

Colour coding genius, and a grand polling day for ducks - http://bit.ly/ktv40J #sp11 #Yes2AV #bothvotesSNP 05 May 2011 18:16:46 via web

The wall-to-wall insult to our intelligence that has been the #No2AV campaign - http://bit.ly/kJjuL1 #Yes2AV 05 May 2011 02:54:54 via web

@urbrainisntfull YouGov regularly close their polls on the morning of the day they publish - nothing sinister in that. #sp11 04 May 2011 18:18:29 via web in reply to urbrainisntfull

@scottishlabour Is that the YouGov poll? If so, you're telling porkies - the SNP share is identical to the last poll on both ballots. #sp11 04 May 2011 17:19:08 via web in reply to scottishlabour

New YouGov poll : SNP lead steady on both ballots - http://bit.ly/lqARaO #sp11 04 May 2011 16:19:20 via web

YouGov : 56% of public want SNP to either have more seats, or same number won in 2007 - http://bit.ly/mGb873 #sp11 04 May 2011 15:49:20 via web

@dhothersall What will they do with their left hand? #sp11 04 May 2011 15:16:47 via web in reply to dhothersall

@RealMacKaySTV Oh thank God, you had me worried there! #sp11 03 May 2011 17:21:33 via web in reply to RealMacKaySTV

Are the Greens determined to be so difficult to love? - http://bit.ly/keo2pD #sp11 03 May 2011 17:05:21 via web

@dhothersall - Sorry, Duncan, I popped away. No problem - I'll only engage you in future if you say something inaccurate again... #sp11 03 May 2011 16:39:16 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall I think you'll find Alex Salmond is the head of the Scottish government. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:45:43 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Yes, that's one of the points of difference you've come up with that fails to invalidate the indirect election analogy. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:44:14 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall Alex Salmond has on television. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:40:57 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Then the US people don't elect the President. That is the analogy, and it's not going away. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:40:29 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - I've already pointed out that at times in this campaign they've referred to it as the first vote. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:36:40 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall That any difference you can think of between the Scottish Parl and US electoral college somehow invalidates the analogy. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:35:54 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Because you're guilty of a logical fallacy. What's troubling is that you still seem to be unaware of that. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:30:55 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall Sophistry. It was unambiguously the first vote in 2007 - another decision of a Labour government. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:29:38 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall You claim that FM election isn't analogous to US Pres. Given that indirect is the analogous point, you've got a problem. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:24:54 via web in reply to dhothersall

@twodoctors I've already pointed out that the SNP have referred to it as a first vote. Logical, because it's the more important one. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:22:37 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors - Shame on the Greens for running away from answering for their own misleading tactics... #sp11 03 May 2011 15:20:48 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors - So why call it '2nd vote' if there isn't an agreed order? Bit misleading, no? #sp11 03 May 2011 15:18:20 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors - By 'first' you mean constituency, ie. the less important one? #sp11 03 May 2011 15:17:46 via web in reply to twodoctors

@dhothersall I'm not claiming that it is. I'm claiming that one indirect election is clearly analogous to another indirect election. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:17:08 via web in reply to dhothersall

@twodoctors Yes it is. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:15:29 via web in reply to twodoctors

@dhothersall Then why in heaven's name are Labour asking us to elect a Labour government if it's impossible to do so?! #sp11 03 May 2011 15:13:07 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Then the American people CAN'T CHOOSE their President. This is an incredible argument. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:12:29 via web in reply to dhothersall

@twodoctors Is that an indication that the list vote is handed over first? I'm just wondering because you didn't answer the question. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:11:52 via web in reply to twodoctors

@dhothersall "Lying"? If people want Alex Salmond for First Minister, isn't the way to get it to vote SNP? Jeez, this is basic... #sp11 03 May 2011 15:10:38 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall So in both cases the executive is indirectly elected. Thankyou. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:09:41 via web in reply to dhothersall

@twodoctors - Actually, I've heard the SNP refer to it as the first vote a few times. Which is handed over first? #sp11 03 May 2011 15:09:01 via web in reply to twodoctors

@dhothersall - Within both the letter and spirit of the rules, I may add. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:08:13 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall Of course it's unreasonable! There's nothing to blame them for - they're simply amplifying the importance of list vote. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:07:52 via web in reply to dhothersall

@twodoctors - You're on thin ground here, James, when your party has been peddling this misleading '2nd Vote Green' wheeze for weeks. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:06:59 via web in reply to twodoctors

@dhothersall - Yes, because they both are indirect elections, and that's the salient point. People are indirectly electing a govt. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:04:58 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall You appear to be trying to shift the "blame" onto the SNP. They're simply abiding by the rules a Labour govt laid down. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:03:49 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Simply intoning "it isn't the same" is not much of an argument. I'm still awaiting a salient point of difference. #sp11 03 May 2011 15:02:16 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - No, I'm asking you why Labour didn't legislate to stop it happening if they felt it was so 'wrong'? #sp11 03 May 2011 15:01:15 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall Sigh. ANY indirect election is the equivalent of MSPs electing the First Minister. The clue's in the word 'indirect'. #sp11 03 May 2011 14:54:32 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall If Labour had felt the latter point was such an integral part of Gould, they should have legislated for it. They didn't. #sp11 03 May 2011 14:52:46 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall Incidentally, if it was a 'wrong', 'As 4 FM' wouldn't be permitted under rules laid down by a Labour govt, would it? #sp11 03 May 2011 14:46:04 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Because they do indirectly, just as Americans indirectly elect their President via electoral college. #sp11 03 May 2011 14:45:12 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - They weren't as far as the BBC were considered. Why? An excuse to exclude the SNP and Plaid Cymru. #sp11 03 May 2011 14:41:43 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall What were the 'Prime Ministerial Debates' all about last year, then, Duncan? Who was electing the PM? #sp11 03 May 2011 14:39:04 via web in reply to dhothersall

Taggart actors are so easily distracted - http://bit.ly/jL6LMH #sp11 02 May 2011 18:38:10 via web

@John_Park - Cheers. I hope there's a career out there for you that doesn't involve saying the same three sentences every day... #sp11 02 May 2011 13:10:28 via web in reply to John_Park

@John_Park - Is the weather one of the things that really matter now the Tories are back, John? Maybe Labour should focus on it. #sp11 02 May 2011 13:07:21 via web in reply to John_Park

@dhothersall Weren't Labour using the "taking the electorate for granted" line back in the heady days when they were 10 points ahead? #sp11 02 May 2011 12:18:31 via web in reply to dhothersall

When will Gray be forced to simply admit : "I disagree with Wendy"? - http://bit.ly/jtRrAC #sp11 #spdebate 02 May 2011 01:32:46 via web

At least we were spared the 'not a choice, a dilemma' line. #spdebate #sp11 01 May 2011 22:46:18 via web

Only took Iain Gray twenty minutes to pop into a phone box and turn into The Snarl. #spdebate #sp11 01 May 2011 22:44:16 via web

YouGov poll : SNP retain clear lead on both ballots - http://bit.ly/kSWNs7 #sp11 01 May 2011 02:03:56 via web

@scottishguy919 I don't know, I'm afraid - I'm just going on the details that have been published so far. #sp11 30 April 2011 23:21:14 via web in reply to scottishguy919

New YouGov poll : SNP on 42% for constituency ballot, 35% on list. #sp11 30 April 2011 23:07:46 via web

@dhothersall - It's great that people are so polite that way. #sp11 30 April 2011 16:15:11 via web in reply to dhothersall

@AdamGraySays - You have absolutely no rational basis for believing that. Handcounts won't be that slow. #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 22:44:31 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays - You've lost sight of what that 'opinion' was referring to, I'm afraid. Check comment I was responding to. #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 22:43:11 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays - Indeed I was. NI elections under STV. Incidentally, 2003 and 1999 Scottish elections were counted by hand. #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 22:41:26 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays - No, I was simply hoping the 'No' leaflets might be factually accurate. #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 22:40:41 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

Labour become the nasty party again - http://bit.ly/fwXePn #sp11 27 April 2011 15:32:52 via web

@dhothersall - Apart from being more outward-looking, it's also in much the same category as Labour's British nationslism. #sp11 27 April 2011 14:17:58 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall Thankyou, but I don't need a "starting-point" to understand the SNP's open, inclusive, outward-looking civic nationalism. #sp11 27 April 2011 14:17:15 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - What in God's name is nationalism, then? If it isn't that, then the SNP aren't nationalists either. #sp11 27 April 2011 14:05:56 via web in reply to dhothersall

@AdamGraySays - That's an inane comment. As PR supporters they're saying #Yes2AV because it's preferable to FPTP. Same as many of us. 27 April 2011 14:04:48 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays Probably because they do the job better than anyone else. Doesn't mean machines are necessary. #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 14:02:16 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays - AND THEY'RE NOT USED IN THIS COUNTRY TO COUNT MUCH MORE COMPLICATED SYSTEMS #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 14:01:25 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays It's a bit rich to demand 'substance' if in your view 'opinions' are good enough to become 'facts' in #No2AV leaflets. #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 14:00:43 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@dhothersall - And who "cornered" me exactly? Iain Gray? #sp11 27 April 2011 13:58:17 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Baseless? Are Labour not British nationalists, ie. believe in a British nation state? #sp11 27 April 2011 13:57:47 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - "Labour" is not a global movement. It's a United Kingdom-only political party. #sp11 27 April 2011 13:57:11 via web in reply to dhothersall

@AdamGraySays - And I don't need to rely on Clegg's word of honour. Have the #No2AV side actually noticed one of their own is PM? #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 02:13:15 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays - The main circumstantial evidence (Australia) points in the opposite direction. Set your mind at rest. #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 02:11:50 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays - I think you'll find the ERS are rather keen on electoral reform for its own sake - that's the nature of the beast. #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 02:10:55 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays - By definition, they can't possibly be "needed" if other AV countries get by quite happily without them. #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 02:09:38 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays - Like the fact that counting machines are...NOT used in any country that actually uses AV? #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 01:53:36 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays - When the fantasy breakdown of that cost includes "£91 million" for the referendum itself, I'm afraid that is a lie. #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 01:52:24 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays In any case, it's the cost of a referendum (Yes or No), not the cost of AV itself, so that No lie is not subjective. #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 01:48:31 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays - The pro-FPTP Tories did 'demand' a referendum, in the sense that they feared Lab would bring in AV without one. #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 01:47:41 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@AdamGraySays - There's nothing 'subjective' about the fact that the referendum will cost the same amount whoever wins. #Yes2AV 27 April 2011 01:42:14 via web in reply to AdamGraySays

@dhothersall - But as it happens there's nothing more insular than the narrow, negative British nationalism that Labour espouse. #sp11 26 April 2011 22:22:08 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - By the way, in this instance 'UK party' was a statement of fact, not an insult. #sp11 26 April 2011 22:21:22 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - You're presenting a misty-eyed view of a coherent 'international Labour movement' that you know no longer exists. #sp11 26 April 2011 22:20:04 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall Every European political family has a changing membership. You have no basis for claiming special status for Labour. #sp11 26 April 2011 22:14:13 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - The European Free Alliance is international, if you want to put it in those terms. What makes Labour special? #sp11 26 April 2011 17:10:10 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Common purpose doesn't constitute an "international movement". Labour are a UK party. #sp11 26 April 2011 17:05:39 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - How is Labour an "international movement"? By being members of the SI? Bit thin, isn't it? #sp11 26 April 2011 16:51:40 via web in reply to dhothersall

Ed Balls : Don't stop eating the sweets, or you might feel sick - http://bit.ly/fe00vU #sp11 26 April 2011 16:41:04 via web

I agree with Nick : Salmond should be involved in 'national' TV leaders' debates - http://bit.ly/geYiTI #sp11 25 April 2011 20:02:18 via web

New blogpost : YouGov poll shows commanding lead for the SNP - http://bit.ly/iij7c9 #sp11 24 April 2011 00:46:06 via web

@dhothersall Small hint - it's usually best to win the argument before declaring victory. #sp11 23 April 2011 12:40:09 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Then the US electoral college "directly elected the President". You must know this is a desperate line of argument. #sp11 23 April 2011 12:39:23 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Duncan, an indirect election is an indirect election, no matter the time delay. #sp11 23 April 2011 12:38:28 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Which dodges the issue. Yet again. #sp11 23 April 2011 12:34:43 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - How can it be wrong, when it's factually indisputable? Does MSPs' mandate to elect FM come from God? #sp11 23 April 2011 12:34:16 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall No, that's still an indirect election. There are faithless electors in US system, in case you hadn't noticed. #sp11 23 April 2011 12:33:23 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Then how can MSPs? #sp11 23 April 2011 12:31:24 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - No, the basis of my argument is that FM is elected indirectly, just like US President. That basis will not change. #sp11 23 April 2011 12:30:07 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - That's like saying 'US president is directly elected by electoral college, nothing to do with public'. Sophistry. #sp11 23 April 2011 12:29:07 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - That's an answer to a question that I didn't ask. In what sense is US President not elected indirectly, just like FM? #sp11 23 April 2011 12:25:06 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - In that case, Americans don't elect their own President. I'm afraid they do. #sp11 23 April 2011 12:16:29 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Duncan, what I say is a better guide to what I say than what you say I say. And do stop this negativity, old chap. #sp11 23 April 2011 12:06:09 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Hmmm. You'd be on firmer ground here if you hadn't made negative comments about Salmond. #sp11 23 April 2011 12:03:57 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - No, I'm saying electoral college = indirect election, just like election of First Minister. Do try to listen. #sp11 23 April 2011 12:02:50 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - I know how AMS works, thankyou. Perhaps you should read up on the US system, to avoid contradicting yourself in future. #sp11 23 April 2011 11:31:59 via web in reply to dhothersall

New blogpost : The current voting system just isn't cricket - http://bit.ly/frMNY4 #Yes2AV 23 April 2011 11:26:30 via web

Confirmed by the servants of the Lord : the regional list vote decides who forms the Scottish Government - http://bit.ly/fO0GGm #sp11 21 April 2011 21:17:20 via web

Ipsos-Mori poll : SNP take double-digit leads on both ballots - http://bit.ly/hJTW70 #sp11 21 April 2011 03:24:41 via web

@james_christie Thanks, James - I've replied. 21 April 2011 02:51:37 via web in reply to james_christie

@dhothersall - Could you direct me to that bit? Sounds fun! #sp11 20 April 2011 20:10:39 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall No, its more that I've seen through your obfuscation. But if you think you can get a Lab govt without voting Lab, do try. #sp11 20 April 2011 20:10:00 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - You're claiming that Scots don't elect FM. If that's the case Americans don't elect President. Which is it? #sp11 20 April 2011 20:08:16 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Really quite similar. MSPs are not legally bound to vote in a certain way in FM election, neither are US electors. #sp11 20 April 2011 20:04:19 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall How? That's still an indirect election on the same principle as the electoral college - just a delayed one. #sp11 20 April 2011 20:02:21 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Because it's the only one that's remotely relevant to the issue of whether we're electing a First Minister or not. #sp11 20 April 2011 19:59:27 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall So you accept the 'single similarity' that both positions are indirectly elected? I'm afraid that's the one that counts! #sp11 20 April 2011 19:54:10 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall You'd have to explain how the US President is not indirectly elected. You can't, because he is - just like the FM. #sp11 20 April 2011 19:47:09 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - You insist there's an important difference without being able to specify one, and you call MY position ludicrous? #sp11 20 April 2011 19:42:49 via web in reply to dhothersall

@andrewindunning - You're on thin ground making that point given the grossly misleading slogan in your own avatar! #'sp11 20 April 2011 19:41:13 via web in reply to andrewindunning

@dhothersall - Is the US President directly or indirectly elected? Is FM directly or indirectly elected? No difference. At all. #sp11 20 April 2011 19:34:12 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall Which is why you vote for reps who will elect the government you want - just as Americans do with electoral college. #sp11 20 April 2011 19:29:46 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall Neither do the people of USA vote for a president - they vote for an electoral college. Still awaiting a difference. #sp11 20 April 2011 19:25:13 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - How do you get a Labour government then? By voting Lib Dem? By staying at home? You're right, I am confused... #sp11 20 April 2011 19:20:59 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall And if it's not even close to being identical, I'm still interested to hear a significant difference. I blame Iain Gray! #sp11 20 April 2011 19:18:12 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Fib? So we can get Alex Salmond as First Minister without voting SNP? Well, that's original... #sp11 20 April 2011 19:16:46 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - But absolutely identical in terms of how the FM is indirectly elected by the public. #sp11 20 April 2011 18:07:30 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Me, confused? At the start you appeared to be hazy on the notion that the US president isn't directly elected! #sp11 20 April 2011 17:08:27 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Can you think of a more important vote they undertake than that for FM? Don't the public have a big stake in that? #sp11 20 April 2011 16:57:37 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - That's true, but it's literally the only difference I can think of. It's still an indirect election of FM. #sp11 20 April 2011 16:50:07 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Certainly a whole lot more meaningful than a certain £500 million figure, by the sounds of it... #sp11 20 April 2011 16:49:12 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Which is utterly irrelevant. The issue is the identical principle of indirect election of both FM and US president. #sp11 20 April 2011 16:44:18 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - 'Implement' Gould implies legal implementation to me. It would be a funny choice of word for something broader. #sp11 20 April 2011 16:38:41 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - As far as governmental recommendations are concerned, in what sense have they not done so? #sp11 20 April 2011 16:28:08 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - But the electoral college does, not the public directly. Does that mean the public aren't electing the president? No. #sp11 20 April 2011 16:27:25 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Because they rejected that part of the argument. AS 4 FM cleared up the confusion about the importance of list vote. #sp11 20 April 2011 16:25:05 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Could you explain what the difference is? Is the US president directly elected? No. #sp11 20 April 2011 16:22:52 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall I'll tell you what's dishonest - the Greens pretending that list vote is a 2nd preference. Hence need for more clarity. #sp11 20 April 2011 16:21:41 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - Yes, elected by MSPs we elect. Just like the US president is elected by an electoral college the people elect. #sp11 20 April 2011 16:18:52 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - How are people going to get Salmond as FM if they don't vote SNP on the list? Not so much 'misleading' as clarity. #sp11 20 April 2011 16:13:58 via web in reply to dhothersall

New blogpost : Your super soarway Salmond - http://bit.ly/grNj1a #sp11 19 April 2011 02:26:29 via web

@LondonVisa - And all to considerably less effect than in the other states. #Yes2AV 18 April 2011 17:29:20 via web in reply to LondonVisa

@LondonVisa - Hazard? Based on what? #Yes2AV 18 April 2011 17:28:46 via web in reply to LondonVisa

@LondonVisa - It's absolutely obvious. Without compulsory voting, people will a) make up own minds or b) only vote one or two prefs. #Yes2AV 18 April 2011 17:28:21 via web in reply to LondonVisa

@Simon_Gardner - Thankyou for that detailed and illuminating response. #Yes2AV 18 April 2011 08:13:03 via web in reply to Simon_Gardner

@LondonVisa - Source? It's much, much harder to coax people to 'vote the card' if the use of all prefs isn't compulsory. #Yes2AV 18 April 2011 08:12:27 via web in reply to LondonVisa

@GBJobClubs - That would be grand. In the meantime we have to choose the best of the two systems actually on offer - AV is best. #Yes2AV 18 April 2011 08:10:23 via web in reply to GBJobClubs

@GBJobClubs - If that was the case they would just vote for them under FPTP, not give them a fourth pref under AV. #Yes2AV 18 April 2011 08:09:40 via web in reply to GBJobClubs

Scottish Labour godfather enters unholy alliance with the Tories in middle of Holyrood campaign - http://bit.ly/eZeAyL #sp11 18 April 2011 07:58:23 via web

@Simon_Gardner So you offer examples where it would be a bit less proportional and ignore examples where it would be a bit more so? #Yes2av 17 April 2011 18:14:52 via web in reply to Simon_Gardner

@Simon_Gardner - I don't see any evidence of that at all. It's a majoritarian system, but no more so than FPTP. #Yes2AV 17 April 2011 18:06:39 via web in reply to Simon_Gardner

@FSLReoch Funniest bit was the entirely made up claim that "third preferences can only be used for people already eliminated twice"! #Yes2AV 17 April 2011 18:05:31 via web in reply to FSLReoch

@alranson - But AV will lead to majority governments on most occasions, just as FPTP does. #Yes2AV 17 April 2011 16:49:25 via web in reply to alranson

@Sharpeneer - Neither AV or FPTP, but it was certainly closer in principle to AV. #Yes2AV 17 April 2011 16:41:44 via web in reply to Sharpeneer

@TomHarrisMP For some of us, that's a positive recommendation for #Yes2AV, Tom. But Ed M is on our side, so we'll have to live with that. 17 April 2011 16:26:21 via web in reply to TomHarrisMP

@LondonVisa Which simply isn't going to happen here because it won't be compulsory to use every preference, as it is in Australia. #Yes2AV 17 April 2011 15:45:45 via web in reply to LondonVisa

@GBJobClubs - Which could only have happened because they had a very broad range of support. Where is that broad range for BNP? #Yes2AV 17 April 2011 15:44:39 via web in reply to GBJobClubs

@GBJobClubs - AV makes it far, far less likely that extremist candidates can win. Look at French presidential election of 2002. #yes2av 17 April 2011 09:59:48 via web in reply to GBJobClubs

New blogpost : SNP move into clear lead on both ballots with YouGov - http://bit.ly/i3Xopk #sp11 17 April 2011 01:13:06 via web

Angus Reid : SNP on 36% for Westminster voting intention - http://bit.ly/fUQGnw #sp11 16 April 2011 18:35:09 via web

@KennyFarq - Meaning, why assume that Lydia was rubbishing a bad poll for her party when she has no idea of the results yet? #sp11 16 April 2011 17:02:55 via web in reply to KennyFarq

@KennyFarq - What a telling response, Kenny, taking it as read that Lydia knew what "fascinating" was code for. Well, didn't we all? #sp11 16 April 2011 16:04:32 via web in reply to KennyFarq

New blogpost : No polls is good news/bad news/indifferent news? - http://bit.ly/hXMpqf #sp11 15 April 2011 17:02:35 via web

The numerical proof that this election is a real choice - http://bit.ly/gZLzy8 #sp11 15 April 2011 05:45:03 via web

Yet another sign that Scottish Labour have adopted the "Big Lie" model of political propaganda - http://bit.ly/hZiPik #sp11 #bbcqt 14 April 2011 17:16:52 via web

New blogpost : MP helpfully lives up to the caricature depicted in #Yes2AV ad - http://bit.ly/gjEC3N 14 April 2011 06:26:32 via web

The first principle of 'first past the post' is that no-one has a clue where the 'post' actually is - http://bit.ly/fnZPG0 #Yes2AV 12 April 2011 05:21:01 via web

Official : Tavish only 'agrees with Nick' because to do otherwise would 'look like panic' - http://bit.ly/dXXoZq #sp11 11 April 2011 06:41:37 via web

@PentonKirk Other way round I think - Hammy McMillan beat Stoughton in 1999 (although Warwick Smith was also in the team). #wmcc2011 10 April 2011 04:31:12 via web in reply to PentonKirk

Scotland through to world #curling final - http://bit.ly/grKqnT #wmcc2011 10 April 2011 04:26:20 via web

@dhothersall - Incidentally, won't your party be tainted by all the times in the past News International papers have backed you? #sp11 09 April 2011 16:50:33 via web in reply to dhothersall

@dhothersall - He says knowing full well they're not going to back Labour this time! #sp11 09 April 2011 16:48:17 via web in reply to dhothersall

SNP vote almost triples in Wick by-election gain - http://bit.ly/h7FqWq #sp11 09 April 2011 08:01:42 via web

New blogpost : 'Yeah, they had that AV in Mongolia, that's how the giraffes went extinct' - http://bit.ly/eTQ3lu #Yes2AV 08 April 2011 02:04:46 via web

Alex Salmond's most stunning personal endorsement yet? - http://bit.ly/htXetT #sp11 07 April 2011 03:31:55 via web

New blogpost : Mebyon Kernow leader backs #Yes2AV - http://bit.ly/fYAdUH 06 April 2011 16:38:44 via web

New blogpost : The ever-resistable allure of a Farage à trois - http://bit.ly/fsGIlZ #sp11 05 April 2011 00:47:21 via web

New Panelbase poll gives SNP five-point SNP lead on list vote - http://bit.ly/gVoFqG #sp11 03 April 2011 14:34:48 via web

@MsSaraKelly - And in those rounds everyone else's votes continue to count just as much. Your argument is sophistry. #Yes2AV 03 April 2011 05:48:26 via web in reply to MsSaraKelly

@MsSaraKelly - Every voter has their vote counted exactly the same number of times under AV. Everyone is equal. As you know. #Yes2AV 03 April 2011 05:23:15 via web in reply to MsSaraKelly

@MsSaraKelly - That's right, you'd have to arbitrarily ban them from voting. Is that what you favour? #Yes2AV 03 April 2011 04:59:37 via web in reply to MsSaraKelly

@MsSaraKelly And how precisely do you stop extremist voters having influence in the majority of seats where BNP don't stand? #Yes2AV 03 April 2011 04:59:06 via web in reply to MsSaraKelly

@MsSaraKelly - What you're describing as "undue influence" is an equal voice for each voter. What does "democracy" mean to you? #Yes2AV 03 April 2011 04:56:01 via web in reply to MsSaraKelly

New blogpost : One for the true connoisseurs of Daily Mail idiocy - http://bit.ly/fvqvkr #Yes2AV 03 April 2011 04:34:23 via web

@MsSaraKelly - If you want to arbitrarily ban people from voting, do so. This has got nothing to do with AV. #Yes2AV 03 April 2011 04:33:04 via web in reply to MsSaraKelly

@MsSaraKelly- An absurd argument, unless you don't believe in universal suffrage. #Yes2AV 03 April 2011 04:32:24 via web in reply to MsSaraKelly

@MsSaraKelly - We're not a democracy at all if the object of the exercise is to prevent certain voters from having 'influence'. #Yes2AV 03 April 2011 03:17:44 via web in reply to MsSaraKelly

@MsSaraKelly - So why do the BNP oppose AV? #Yes2AV 02 April 2011 14:57:35 via web in reply to MsSaraKelly

New blogpost : Herald error, and Record inventions - http://bit.ly/eYD8jw #sp11 31 March 2011 05:01:14 via web

New blogpost : Salmond eases to debate win, as expected - http://bit.ly/frPrOX #sp11 30 March 2011 03:50:59 via web

SNP storm into constituency vote lead with YouGov - http://bit.ly/hls8V6 #sp11 30 March 2011 00:38:37 via web

New blogpost : A Green masterclass in evasion and double-standards - http://bit.ly/hmY7m8 29 March 2011 17:43:30 via web

@twodoctors - I would say thankyou for your answers, but...well, thanks for the virtuoso display of spin anyway! #sp11 29 March 2011 16:25:45 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors - That's fine, but it does mean you're on incredibly weak ground attacking the SNP on 'AS 4 FM'. 29 March 2011 16:24:21 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors - So you play a straight bat. It was OK because it was in the rules, even though it caused confusion. #sp11 29 March 2011 16:23:52 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors - In fact, I suspect you know it's a double-standard, otherwise you wouldn't be evading the question like crazy. #sp11 29 March 2011 16:22:47 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors - James, this is a total double-standard. Your party had no responsibility for the confusion it caused in 03? #sp11 29 March 2011 16:21:56 via web in reply to twodoctors

@jamesdoleman - So five years is short-term, but twelve years is so far away as to be almost the stuff of myth? #sp11 29 March 2011 16:19:34 via web in reply to jamesdoleman

@twodoctors - And 'confrontational'? This is just a tad rich from the man who went into apoplexy over the tax powers non-issue! #sp11 29 March 2011 16:18:20 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors - James, why so evasive? #sp11 29 March 2011 16:17:16 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors James, simple question- were Greens elected in 03 who wouldn't have been had 2nd vote not been misinterpreted as 2nd pref? #sp11 29 March 2011 16:14:27 via web in reply to twodoctors

@jamesdoleman James, a nuclear power station takes a while to build. Promises made now do matter in relation to the long-term future. #sp11 29 March 2011 16:12:36 via web in reply to jamesdoleman

@jamesdoleman - And you're claiming non-nuclear by 2023 is only 'slightly more radical' than nuclear forever more? #sp11 29 March 2011 16:10:06 via web in reply to jamesdoleman

@twodoctors - Without such jiggery-pokery there wouldn't have been the need to clear up the confusion about importance of list vote. #sp11 29 March 2011 16:09:20 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors Now, why doesn't that surprise me? No comment on the question I asked about the grossly misleading 2nd Vote Green wheeze? #sp11 29 March 2011 16:08:30 via web in reply to twodoctors

@cyocum The SNP are inviting people to vote for a slate who will elect Alex Salmond as FM. Not so much "false info" as...well, true. #sp11 29 March 2011 16:04:47 via web in reply to cyocum

@jamesdoleman - Hunterston and Torness will come to the end of their natural lives and won't be replaced. #sp11 29 March 2011 16:02:37 via web in reply to jamesdoleman

@jamesdoleman You've got those labels wrong, James - it's #endofnuclearsalmond v #eternalnuclearfuturegray 29 March 2011 15:57:00 via web in reply to jamesdoleman

@twodoctors - That was the misunderstanding that 'AS 4 AM' sought to correct, and it did so very successfully. #sp11 29 March 2011 15:55:54 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors And the '2nd Vote Green' campaign in 1999 and 2003 wasn't misleading? Didn't lead to people being elected on false assumption? 29 March 2011 15:55:10 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors You need have no worry of Salmond causing a reapt, because 'AS 4 FM' was never a factor - it was the single ballot paper. #sp11 29 March 2011 15:53:11 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors - Yes, I have read the Gould Report, and the 'sloganisation' bit was utter garbage. #sp11 29 March 2011 15:52:29 via web in reply to twodoctors

@jamesdoleman - Hell of a lot more radical than Labour wanting to build MORE nuclear power stations. #sp11 29 March 2011 15:51:18 via web in reply to jamesdoleman

@twodoctors - Oh, come off it, James. Are you worried people will be reminded their list vote isn't some kind of second preference? #sp11 29 March 2011 15:50:20 via web in reply to twodoctors

@setindarkness - I was just going to ask that! #sp11 #gotafish 29 March 2011 15:48:07 via web in reply to setindarkness

@jamesdoleman - No, those stations would come to the end of their life and there wouldn't be any new ones. #sp11 29 March 2011 15:41:57 via web in reply to jamesdoleman

@DBirkin - Are you suggesting people vote AGAINST a crackdown on piracy? #Yes2AV 29 March 2011 15:37:44 via web in reply to DBirkin

Dramatic TNS-BMRB poll turnaround sees SNP draw level - http://bit.ly/ecIGHc #sp11 29 March 2011 02:45:19 via web

@cc_star - The only people pretending AV is PR are on the No side. When it suits them, naturally. #Yes2AV 29 March 2011 02:44:44 via web in reply to cc_star

@DBirkin - By the way, precisely what preferential system is it that you're attracted to? #Yes2AV 27 March 2011 17:43:31 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin - Then you'll have to campaign for a write-in option, because that simply isn't happening under FPTP. #Yes2AV 27 March 2011 17:42:58 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin - Whereas you just want my vote to count for lesser? That's what it boils down to, isn't it? #Yes2AV 27 March 2011 17:27:41 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin 'Decide' not to run? What if unable to because they can't raise the deposit? My FPTP vote then counts for 'someone lesser'. #Yes2AV 27 March 2011 17:16:18 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin So what, if that first pref is no longer a candidate? I might want Yesni Puhovnik under FPTP, but I can't have him. Red herring. 27 March 2011 17:02:34 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin - No, it doesn't. It simply follows the logic that already exists - that you can only vote for a candidate in contention. #Yes2AV 27 March 2011 16:59:41 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin - That being the case, why not campaign for a write-in option, instead of pretending that this is an issue unique to AV? #Yes2AV 27 March 2011 16:04:14 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin - What difference does "measurability" make to the principle? Under FPTP, enthusiasm for chosen candidate varies wildly. Correct? 27 March 2011 16:03:31 via web in reply to DBirkin

New blogpost : Could the party that "wins" the Holyrood election be frozen out of office? - http://bit.ly/hLzXP6 #sp11 27 March 2011 15:44:17 via web

@Lawson_James - Hmmm. The first rule of comedy is 'truth', Lawson. Second preferences don't come into play in two-horse races. #Yes2AV 27 March 2011 05:56:16 via web in reply to Lawson_James

@DBirkin - Nope. You said "precisely" when I pointed out that some votes under FPTP are cast with much less enthusiasm than others. #Yes2AV 27 March 2011 05:51:49 via web in reply to DBirkin

Events, dear boy, events - but which ones really count? New blogpost - http://bit.ly/he6Iwl #sp11 27 March 2011 05:34:36 via web

@DBirkin "Precisely"? You've just conceded that we don't weight votes by enthusiasm level, so FPTP is presumably nearly as 'flawed'? #Yes2AV 26 March 2011 20:50:38 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin Under FPTP, I wouldn't like my 1,574th choice of candidate any better simply because he's all that's on the ballot paper. #Yes2AV 26 March 2011 18:58:48 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin - So what? As soon as a candidate is eliminated, they are no longer a candidate. #Yes2AV 26 March 2011 18:57:24 via web in reply to DBirkin

My ultra-early prediction for Eurovision 2011 - http://bit.ly/ejI5fv 26 March 2011 18:40:28 via web

@DBirkin A 4th preference ceases to be a 4th preference at the point at which the more preferred 3 candidates aren't there anymore. #Yes2AV 26 March 2011 18:39:34 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin But they're not. At every stage under AV, the vote counted is for that elector's first preference of the candidates in contention. 26 March 2011 03:01:30 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin I don't think anyone is claiming AV is a proportional system - except, ironically, the No side. I wish it was but it's not. #Yes2AV 25 March 2011 17:38:13 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin - Quite. AV is a rather good way of making sure it really is a joint decision, not one hijacked by a minority. #Yes2AV 25 March 2011 17:37:11 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin - What do you mean "sometimes not"?! Sometime I ride a bike, sometimes I don't - an utterly meaningless observation. #Yes2AV 25 March 2011 08:33:52 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin "Starting a meal" means that "a bit" of a candidate has been elected. Candidates generally only come whole, even under AV. #Yes2AV 25 March 2011 08:32:43 via web in reply to DBirkin

More encouragement for the SNP from Angus Reid - http://bit.ly/eF0HRK #sp11 25 March 2011 04:38:59 via web

@morningtory - The word is in the eye of the beholder, MT! #Yes2AV 24 March 2011 17:07:07 via web in reply to morningtory

@morningtory - It would have been a very healthy thing if 1992 had resulted in a balanced parliament. #Yes2AV 24 March 2011 16:59:27 via web in reply to morningtory

@morningtory - According to every projection I've seen. But even common sense would tell you that - only 1992 and 2005 were close. #Yes2AV 24 March 2011 16:45:46 via web in reply to morningtory

@DBirkin - You know that's not true either - last eight GE outcomes would have been the same. So wrong on both counts! #yes2AV 24 March 2011 16:26:41 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin Not at all. Simply giving a second or third choice of meal in case first is unavailable. Forward planning, saves so much hassle. 24 March 2011 16:25:40 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin - "running but not winning would be on the menu but not picked". No, taken off the menu midway through the night. #Yes2AV 24 March 2011 15:10:06 via web in reply to DBirkin

@DBirkin - Not true. In the UK context with a centrist third party, AV would actually weaken the two-party system slightly. 24 March 2011 15:04:53 via web in reply to DBirkin

Sizzlingly sexy slogans for a bigger, better, brighter tomorrow - http://bit.ly/gJeZlg 24 March 2011 05:24:34 via web

Five reasons why Hamish Macdonnell has made my eyes roll to the heavens - again : http://bit.ly/i7skFK 23 March 2011 04:52:44 via web

New blogpost : SNP ingenuity risks repeat of Daily Record sanctimony shambles - http://bit.ly/h61lps 22 March 2011 16:43:36 via web

A statement from Comical Ali, now in employ of a man who can snarl in Portuguese - http://bit.ly/gyhxqx 21 March 2011 05:08:55 via web

New blogpost : The ugly face of global warming scepticism (there's a surprise...) - http://bit.ly/gOVRB7 20 March 2011 18:34:21 via web

Two new polls give massive boost to SNP hopes - ICM ( http://bit.ly/hZJ331 ) and YouGov ( http://bit.ly/e12c8i ) 18 March 2011 18:06:06 via web

New blogpost : SNP vote up 4% in Paisley South by-election - http://bit.ly/fDjnHC 18 March 2011 02:17:50 via web

New blogpost : The pain of responsibility - http://bit.ly/gpMg8H 17 March 2011 07:58:34 via web

Memo to Finkelstein : we've never "weighted" votes by levels of enthusiasm - http://bit.ly/h08DOF #Yes2AV 16 March 2011 15:15:33 via web

New blogpost : The wrong kind of player power? - http://bit.ly/gRz69M #curling 16 March 2011 04:45:08 via web

The real question the nuclear lobby will have to answer - http://bit.ly/fjhFvN 15 March 2011 03:20:44 via web

New blogpost : Why is less democracy always the solution? - http://bit.ly/eZMLnW 14 March 2011 05:29:48 via web

Well done to Eve Muirhead and co for winning the world junior curling championships - again! 13 March 2011 18:06:19 via web

@Londonandy - Well, it doesn't. That was the point I was making about the BNP. 13 March 2011 15:46:34 via web in reply to Londonandy

It beats me how anyone who's ever heard Swing Low Sweet Chariot could ever call Flower of Scotland a dirge. 13 March 2011 15:37:55 via web

Progressive Scottish Opinion : SNP support up on 2007 winning share - http://bit.ly/h222dn 13 March 2011 03:39:58 via web

New blogpost : Seeking the gift of knowledge? Get a Ferrari - http://bit.ly/fizQEb #bbcqt 11 March 2011 02:06:15 via web

New blogpost : Why a #Yes2AV would make it impossible for the BNP to win a seat at Westminster - http://bit.ly/foouOX 10 March 2011 05:10:24 via web

Eurovision : Corsica to the rescue - http://bit.ly/dUE1TR 10 March 2011 03:43:20 via web

New blogpost : A one-way conversation on domestic violence? - http://bit.ly/h5FORQ 09 March 2011 07:53:34 via web

New blogpost : Coalition catastrophe was written in the polls - http://bit.ly/exhxuY 08 March 2011 02:56:56 via web

TNS-BMRB poll : Labour list vote lead slashed - http://bit.ly/fgzKAj 07 March 2011 07:12:27 via web

Celebrity Watch : I saw Angus MacLeod of The Times in Sauchiehall Street this morning. Starstruck? Moi? 05 March 2011 17:21:14 via web

Headline asks : "How Many Millionaires are in The World?" Answer - they all are. 03 March 2011 17:41:31 via web

New blogpost : Decision day in Wales - http://bit.ly/erBj9m 03 March 2011 15:33:37 via web

New blogpost : Are we really supposed to "worry" about the prospect of less discrimination? - http://bit.ly/dLFU5c 02 March 2011 16:52:16 via web

New blogpost : A few more thoughts on that YouGov poll - http://bit.ly/hTV5Ic 02 March 2011 02:58:48 via web

New blogpost : F - P - T - P - Can - We - Fix - It? F - P - T - P - Yes - We - Can! - http://bit.ly/dS3BOf #Yes2AV 01 March 2011 03:19:48 via web

New blogpost : Green on the constitution? - http://bit.ly/hDdVd1 28 February 2011 06:52:00 via web

New blogpost : A silver lining from YouGov - http://bit.ly/haoa8k 27 February 2011 11:39:35 via web

New blogpost : Staines pronounces that black is white once again - http://bit.ly/gzjjE1 #ge11 26 February 2011 17:12:03 via web

New blogpost : A few thoughts on liberty and stealing - http://bit.ly/ffMlwh 25 February 2011 04:01:16 via web

New blogpost : It seems my "apologism" on Megrahi goes on - http://bit.ly/foTPsn #Libya #Feb17 24 February 2011 01:57:45 via web

#No2AV hit a new low this week. Take action right now to demand decent and truthful advertising: http://bit.ly/i5zfPl #Yes2AV @yesinmay 24 February 2011 00:01:59 via web

New blogpost : According to the #No2AV campaign, I apparently want BABIES TO DIE - http://bit.ly/g1CeFD #Yes2AV 23 February 2011 01:26:42 via web

@DavidAllenGreen - So if we think AV is better than FPTP, the logical choice is FPTP? Run that past me again? #Yes2AV 21 February 2011 18:00:31 via web in reply to DavidAllenGreen

New blogpost : The unavailability of loaves is no argument against taking half a slice - http://bit.ly/fGxevS #Yes2AV 21 February 2011 17:05:53 via web

Vote #Yes2AV or this dog goes hungry - http://bit.ly/egXbEA 20 February 2011 01:50:08 via web

Channel 4 FactCheck : "Fact" or assertion? New blogpost - http://bit.ly/frpabW #Yes2AV 19 February 2011 01:48:00 via web

New blogpost :Patel unwittingly makes Priti good case for saying #Yes2AV - http://bit.ly/gsVKap 18 February 2011 01:30:10 via web

New blogpost : Whatever the outcome, #No2AV now deserves to lose this referendum - http://bit.ly/fw8q74 #Yes2AV 17 February 2011 05:10:08 via web

@dachte : Sorry, only just spotted your tweet from last week. Here is what I wrote at the time about the revelations - http://bit.ly/h1qwpK 16 February 2011 02:04:52 via web in reply to dachte

New blogpost : SNP storm back into the lead with Ipsos-Mori - http://bit.ly/h4doJO 16 February 2011 00:38:06 via web

New blogpost : Will someone please tell Norman Lamont that AV does not stand for Proportional Representation? - http://bit.ly/elqNIr #yes2AV 15 February 2011 01:04:51 via web

Jedward's triumph : Come back, Dustin the Turkey, all is forgiven - http://bit.ly/eunrdo #esc #eurosong 12 February 2011 00:40:31 via web

New blogpost : Mubarak's IDS moment - http://bit.ly/eEZ7Wq #jan25 #egypt #tahrir 11 February 2011 02:36:50 via web

"Electoral reform" and "welfare reform" - either both terms are justifiable, or neither are. New blogpost - http://bit.ly/i51bym #yes2av 10 February 2011 03:47:20 via web

#SixNations prediction - http://bit.ly/gA3wud #rugby 01 February 2011 16:36:37 via web

Eurovision : Twelve hours to save Portugal from itself - http://bit.ly/e2iUMA 27 January 2011 01:08:24 via web

@Shadow_SolarPwr - To the best of my knowledge, there are no internal border checks preventing guns moving around the US. 16 January 2011 02:27:33 via web in reply to Shadow_ito

@Shadow_SolarPwr The Mexico point has been made to me before, and on closer inspection it doesn't stand up. See here - http://bit.ly/geSLrO 16 January 2011 02:25:44 via web

New blogpost : Rockets don't go to the Moon, people go to the Moon - http://bit.ly/fOYrcS #tucson #guns 16 January 2011 02:19:06 via web

@Shadow_SolarPwr I live in a jurisdiction with strict gun control. Criminals aren't finding guns in anything like such numbers here. 16 January 2011 02:17:17 via web in reply to Shadow_ito

New blogpost : Could yet another far-left tiff save a precious seat for the SNP in Glasgow? - http://bit.ly/fiq2hB 15 January 2011 05:29:52 via web

New blogpost : Back to Celtic Connections - http://bit.ly/ho4M5b 15 January 2011 00:20:05 via web

CiF comment : "Guns don't kill people? People kill people? Whatever. People with guns kill people." Spot on. 12 January 2011 00:59:53 via web

New blogpost : The Facebook 'electronic tagging' experience - http://bit.ly/hpCXjd 03 January 2011 16:53:08 via web

The other side of Reasoned Discourse : "I don't think you're a Nazi, but I do think you're a bigot." - http://bit.ly/flWF1u 23 December 2010 03:26:24 via web

New blogpost : Kevin Baker blows his top - http://bit.ly/h0sern 21 December 2010 05:48:23 via web

My latest (rough and ready) response to the American gun enthusiasts - http://bit.ly/eyprvf 20 December 2010 18:28:48 via web

Blogpost : It's equidistance, Jim, but not as we know it - http://bit.ly/h7rwx1 12 December 2010 08:58:19 via web

Trying to make sense of the curling final on the shot-by-shot service. It's very close, and annoyingly I'm going to have to go out soon. 11 December 2010 11:57:36 via web

New blog post : Fresh hope for modest electoral reform at Westminster - http://bit.ly/g5X8xv #yes2av #yesinmay 09 December 2010 01:16:40 via web

"Wishart makes me boak" - how about supporting fiscal autonomy, then? New blogpost - http://bit.ly/ejeRxP #voteagainst 08 December 2010 16:29:43 via web

New blogpost : Americans even spun themselves over Lockerbie - http://bit.ly/fracUt #wikileaks #cablegate 08 December 2010 02:15:29 via web

Blogpost : I'll be voting for independence on May 5th - http://bit.ly/gLZrsb #yesinmay 07 December 2010 15:58:14 via web

New blogpost : Dial 999 for ritual humiliation - http://bit.ly/egx3e1 03 December 2010 15:56:44 via web

It's stretching the point to try to fit the Scottish proposals into this supposed pattern - Cameron had every intentio… http://disq.us/tm2yf 02 December 2010 05:06:39 via DISQUS

@bellacaledonia - OK, sorry for the delay, but here is my reply to the points you raised - http://bit.ly/fDOFh0 01 December 2010 23:57:08 via web

@jesse_hathaway - Isn't that an "I know you are, but what am I"? 01 December 2010 17:55:55 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - You don't know how much that compliment means to me! It (almost) makes the tedium of your posturing worthwhile. 01 December 2010 17:52:48 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - I wish I could congratulate you on a valiant effort but instead I'll just have to say goodbye. 01 December 2010 17:45:27 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - Oh dear. You know someone has lost when they try to claim victory and scurry away. 01 December 2010 17:44:53 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - Dear God. It's known as an expression. I believe they're not unheard of even in your neck of the woods. 01 December 2010 17:44:05 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - How does one have a think? By trying so much harder than one currently is, Jesse. 01 December 2010 17:38:36 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - Do you want to have a think about the point I actually made to you? I know you WANT it to be something else, but it isn't. 01 December 2010 17:36:23 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - Yawn. 01 December 2010 17:34:03 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - It seems you're the one suffering from it, as you brought up the subject in the first place! 01 December 2010 17:32:37 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - I said that "it" is the same principle, and that therefore Bush's position is hypocritical. 01 December 2010 17:28:42 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - Er, no they're not. And that isn't what I said, is it? You've kind of made that up, haven't you? But do keep trying. 01 December 2010 17:24:02 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@twodoctors - But my instinct is that people being pressured into ending their life is the gravest concern of all. 01 December 2010 17:17:50 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors - I think people are going to suffer an injustice either way, quite honestly. 01 December 2010 17:17:07 via web in reply to twodoctors

@emmalouisenicol Enough so that people aren't falling back on the careful phrase "no evidence for it". There is a higher standard than that. 01 December 2010 17:15:19 via web in reply to emmalouisenicol

@emmalouisenicol - I'm sure there must be avenues for research. 01 December 2010 17:12:20 via web in reply to emmalouisenicol

@twodoctors - I think it's a bit of a cop-out to say there's no evidence FOR it, in this instance I'd want to see evidence against it. 01 December 2010 17:07:50 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors - But the fear is that some people might "feel" forced. 01 December 2010 17:02:37 via web in reply to twodoctors

@jesse_hathaway That's not an "explanation" - that's sticking your fingers in your ears and singing "la, la, la, can't hear you"... 01 December 2010 17:00:29 via web in reply to JesseInOH

New blog post : Why the @bellacaledonia referendum campaign should focus on the SNP in the first instance - http://bit.ly/gw6IJo 01 December 2010 16:49:59 via web

@jesse_hathaway You're not paying attention, Jesse. In this instance it's not about "blaming" Bush but identifying his (and your) hypocrisy. 01 December 2010 02:54:52 via web in reply to JesseInOH

New blogpost : In the final analysis, can extra powers for the Scottish parliament ever be a bad thing? - http://bit.ly/hsO3C0 30 November 2010 16:50:27 via web

@jesse_hathaway My point, as you very well know, is that Bush was denouncing one country for helping NK, but turning a blind eye to another. 30 November 2010 14:30:21 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - Superb! Your answer to the charge of shifting the goalposts is to move them to Mars! 30 November 2010 14:28:18 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - Ah, boredom was it? I thought it just dawned on you how transparently you were moving the goalposts with every tweet. 29 November 2010 16:07:02 via web in reply to JesseInOH

New blogpost : Time to stop pushing four-year-olds into formal education? - http://bit.ly/i37hQq 29 November 2010 16:03:19 via web

@jesse_hathaway Er, how was it proven correct? Are we still glossing over the 3rd member of the "axis", Iran's most deadly enemy? How cute. 29 November 2010 02:46:36 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - Laughter wasn't my reaction. It was an insane comment with real consequences. 29 November 2010 02:43:10 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - Ahem. Jesse, I was replying to a tweet of yours about Bush's axis of evil speech. The news just reached you? 29 November 2010 02:40:27 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - Whatever Pakistan "isn't", Bush was still happy to forgive it helping NK acquire the means to nuke Seoul. 29 November 2010 02:35:54 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - But it is the same principle. What am I missing? 29 November 2010 02:30:48 via web in reply to JesseInOH

@jesse_hathaway - North Korea and Pakistan were nuclear partners but that didn't seem to matter when Bush needed Pakistan's help. 29 November 2010 02:10:09 via web

New blogpost : It's in the public interest to understand America's true values - http://bit.ly/hz4oGQ #WikiLeaks #cablegate 29 November 2010 01:51:58 via web

How Strictly Come Dancing teaches us that AV would be a mildly good thing - http://bit.ly/hCPUoC #scd 27 November 2010 07:29:12 via web

New full-scale Scottish poll from Ipsos-Mori - http://scotgoespop.blogspot.com/2010/11/mixed-news-for-snp-with-ipsos-mori.html 26 November 2010 15:21:48 via web

@twodoctors That's a point of view, but we all know the SVR wouldn't have been used anyway. So the 'lapsed power' isn't the central issue. 24 November 2010 02:12:29 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors If those powers had been abolished, you might have a point. But they weren't, hence my allegedly mysterious sense of relaxation. 24 November 2010 02:07:53 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors Also the idea that this is on a par with devastatingly regressive cuts or hikes in tuition fees is pushing credibilty somewhat. 23 November 2010 01:04:10 via web in reply to twodoctors

@twodoctors Because I actually have to think the Scottish government have done the wrong thing before I find it hard to 'put up' with it. 23 November 2010 00:59:50 via web in reply to twodoctors

New blog post : Reflections on yesterday's Political Innovation event in Edinburgh - http://bit.ly/cVYYid #picamp 14 November 2010 07:04:28 via web

Kevin Baker's long-awaited "Überpost" on gun control falls somewhat short of its billing - http://bit.ly/dbo51j 10 November 2010 02:33:15 via web

@josephjedwards - So true about the right-wing, but thankfully he's older than Ed Miliband, so PM in 20 years is unlikely! 08 November 2010 15:41:55 via web in reply to josephjedwards

New blogpost : Labour's AV alibi, gift-wrapped by Nick Clegg - http://bit.ly/b3E2Wx #ukpolitics 07 November 2010 03:33:57 via web

I'm the editor of this week's Scottish Roundup, it can be found here - http://bit.ly/avm9lf 31 October 2010 07:07:45 via web

The test for the Lib Dem rank-and-file : at what point do they say 'up with this we will not put'? New blog post - http://bit.ly/as4v4d #csr 22 October 2010 02:37:02 via web

@bellacaledonia For the most part, I have no problem agreeing with that. 20 October 2010 17:10:29 via web in reply to bellacaledonia

@bellacaledonia - Switzerland is neutral, yet has one of the biggest militaries per capata. I don't want that, incidentally - just saying! 20 October 2010 17:04:53 via web in reply to bellacaledonia

@bellacaledonia Maybe the superficial appearance of paradox, but until Scottish armed forces are actually in being there's no contradiction. 20 October 2010 16:58:49 via web in reply to bellacaledonia

New blogpost : The @TomHarrisMP paradox, revisited - http://bit.ly/bNDBJ2 #ukpolitics 20 October 2010 01:58:08 via web

New blogpost : Salmond's paradoxical declaration of "independence is not everything" - http://bit.ly/9tSOxt #snp #snpconf 17 October 2010 17:28:40 via web

Child benefit : is Clegg this government's "Macavity"? New blog post - http://bit.ly/90fSWQ #con10 05 October 2010 00:58:30 via web

Nice to see Brian Cox puncturing Starkey's "comedy" on #bbcqt 30 September 2010 23:04:51 via web

#Lockerbie : A primer in so-called "journalistic objectivity" - http://bit.ly/a0dquN #ukpolitics #Scotland 30 September 2010 16:18:43 via web

Blogpost : "We interrupt this optimistic Party Political Broadcast to bring you a snarl..." - http://bit.ly/91XNpP #lab10 #ukpolitics 30 September 2010 01:39:50 via web

Tom Bradby : "But I'd be failing in my duty if..." Oh, go on, Tom. Why break the habit of a career? 28 September 2010 18:42:28 via txt

CNN - Abbott "was one of the few Labour MPs to vote against the Iraq war". What??? Yet more painstaking journalistic research. 26 September 2010 03:51:40 via web

New blog post : Trade unionists save Labour from itself - http://bit.ly/aY5rYB #lab10 25 September 2010 17:50:58 via web

@baronsarwar - Never thought of that. Tom Harris as well - icing on the cake. 25 September 2010 17:09:33 via web in reply to weegietastic

Ed Miliband wins - so much for body language. And for Nick Robinson predictions. 25 September 2010 16:52:34 via web

Blogpost : climax of Labour leadership contest is a strangely quiet pivot in political history - http://bit.ly/9H4OHf #lab10 25 September 2010 14:46:15 via web

Iain Dale's theory a few months ago that Diane Abbott couldn't possibly continue on #thisweek was clearly yet another belter. 24 September 2010 00:26:59 via web

In the middle of the English Channel. Heard some bagpipes in Paris yesterday. 19 September 2010 16:14:38 via txt

Had my most nightmarish 24 hours for months travelling the length of Britain, but at least the late Scotland goal cheered me up. 07 September 2010 22:30:37 via txt

Just seen Lancaster Town Hall all lit up in the darkness - very atmospheric. 5:56 AM Sep 7th, 2010 via txt

@John_Boettcher - Thanks, John. 6:29 AM Sep 3rd, 2010 via web in reply to John_Boettcher

We've just put up a fly catcher strip - which of course the flies are ignoring, they're crawling all over my monitor instead. 3:59 PM Aug 31st, 2010 via web

@NomziMx - Other people must be wishing for very boring things if they always come true! 5:25 PM Aug 30th, 2010 via web in reply to Hey_Macarena_

@NomziMx Ah, right enough, maybe I'm getting it mixed up with something else! Did the wish have to come true today, or is there still time? 5:22 PM Aug 30th, 2010 via web in reply to Hey_Macarena_

@NomziMx - That'll be because you forgot to touch your toes. 5:13 PM Aug 30th, 2010 via web in reply to Hey_Macarena_

Big Brother : Some formats can't be left alone. New blog post - http://bit.ly/bhyhRP #ubb #bbuk #bb11 5:42 AM Aug 28th, 2010 via web

@rach_taylor : I'll tell you what would be easily accepted as magnanimous from Blair - a sincere apology for the Iraq disaster. 7:31 PM Aug 16th, 2010 via web in reply to RachTaylor_

@rach_taylor - It would be magnanimous from someone who a) needed the money and b) wasn't desperately in need of good publicity. 2:59 PM Aug 16th, 2010 via web in reply to RachTaylor_

@Ben_Howe - Still lacking, in that case. Where is the slightest grounds for suspicion that the decision was not made in good faith? 11:54 PM Aug 15th, 2010 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

@Ben_Howe - And, of course, in spite of the contortions of that article, Sikora's initial opinion was not taken into account anyway. 11:49 PM Aug 15th, 2010 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

@Ben_Howe - Significance of that link? Sikora confirms that there was a greater than 50% chance of death within 3 months. 11:48 PM Aug 15th, 2010 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

@blessedbriliant - It's not a question of being 'proud', but of having made the right decision in good faith, which they did. #Lockerbie 11:42 PM Aug 15th, 2010 via web in reply to blessedbriliant

The Observer : words fail me. How many times does it have to be pointed out that Sikora's opinion had nothing to do with Megrahi's release? 1:56 AM Aug 15th, 2010 via web

Difficult to know if it's worth the bother of looking for meteors when the sky is almost covered by cloud, but not quite. Saw one, though. 11:30 PM Aug 12th, 2010 via web

# @garysibio - You have your interpretation of Christ's teachings, O'Brien has his. The charge of "heresy" is patently absurd. about 5 hours ago via web in reply to garysibio

# @garysibio - Heretical? Does the Bible have a section that covers compassionate release from prison? about 6 hours ago via web in reply to garysibio

# Memo to @iaindale : a graduate tax is something paid only by graduates, because they are graduates. It's a simple enough concept. about 6 hours ago via web

# @Ben_Howe - The 'circumstantial evidence' you refer to is entirely based on ignorance of the constitutional arrangements within the UK. 10 August 2010 00:54:10 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - No. I'd say first of all there has to be reasonable grounds for suspicion. 10 August 2010 00:52:58 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - If he wasn't about to die, I'd agree with you (unless Megrahi's conviction had been quashed, which is quite likely). 10 August 2010 00:40:56 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - Absolutely not. But it's only commentators who oppose the release who are presumptuously claiming to speak for "The Families". 10 August 2010 00:39:58 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe OK, I see it. I'm not very impressed - there's a 'Chinese whispers' effect in that piece, as it's based entirely on other reports. 10 August 2010 00:38:48 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - It would help if you linked to the article. You linked me to an MSNBC video that didn't seem to refer to the subject. 10 August 2010 00:32:03 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - What about the families that agreed with the release? Do the views of victims not count if they stray "off-message"? 10 August 2010 00:30:55 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe As far I can see the link didn't refer to the '8 people'. That report was littered with blatant factual inaccuracies, by the way. 10 August 2010 00:29:57 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - Hang on, you're now saying these 8 people weren't doctors? In that case (assuming they exist) how are their views relevant? 10 August 2010 00:28:40 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - We're going round in circles, except that you now claim these "8 doctors" were merely "associated" with the release. 10 August 2010 00:22:46 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - And neither the UK nor Libya would have been given "what they wanted" but for the sheer chance of Megrahi becoming gravely ill. 10 August 2010 00:18:19 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - It's not apparent at all. The medical report was made in good faith based on Megrahi's condition at the time. 10 August 2010 00:16:40 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe The Scottish Government had nothing to do with those negotiations (indeed opposed them). They alone made the decision on Megrahi. 10 August 2010 00:11:41 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - Negotiation between who? Basically, given the stance of the Scottish govt, Megrahi couldn't have gone free but for his illness. 09 August 2010 23:12:40 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - I'm afraid that makes no sense whatsoever. If they wanted to release Megrahi no matter what, why did they oppose the PTA? 09 August 2010 23:10:21 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - Absolutely. But there's a difference between a "guideline" and the law "requiring" it, which is what you suggested. 09 August 2010 23:00:49 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - I'm saying a consensus was never claimed. Incidentally, the law does not "require" a 3 month prognosis. 09 August 2010 22:53:17 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - It states clearly that it refers to Megrahi's illness being "hormone resistant". It certainly does not refer to a timeline. 09 August 2010 22:50:13 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - Even though that's a different source, you've misread that as well. "Firm consensus" does not refer to the 3 month prognosis. 09 August 2010 20:27:50 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @garysibio - A cardinal in another country "has to go" for expressing an opinion you happen to dislike? A bit extreme, surely? 09 August 2010 18:28:17 via web in reply to garysibio

# @Ben_Howe - You've misread that paragraph. The phrase "firm consensus" is indeed used, but not in relation to a 3 month prognosis. 09 August 2010 17:48:06 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - I beg your pardon? From memory there was nothing in the medical report about 8+ doctors forming a "firm consensus" on 3 months. 09 August 2010 17:38:05 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - Yes, absolutely he should have been released. It's scarcely an uncommon view here in Scotland - opinion is split on the matter. 09 August 2010 17:29:40 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - Almost regardless of what happens he's "winning". A 99%+ chance that he'll die before the timescale you allege. 09 August 2010 17:28:50 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe You're just totally uninformed, I'm afraid. ONE doctor, not even consulted for the decision, said a LESS THAN 1% chance of 10 yrs. 09 August 2010 17:24:48 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - And it was made clear at the time that he could live longer. They're doctors, not prophets. #Lockerbie 09 August 2010 17:03:22 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Ben_Howe - Don't be ridiculous. He was released because he was dying. #Lockerbie 09 August 2010 16:37:47 via web in reply to Ben_Howe

# @Yolande2226 Probably for the best - his accent was never that convincing. 08 August 2010 20:48:25 via web in reply to Yolande2226

# @marclanders - From memory there were at least two other polls, both showing a much more even split. In any case, 1/3 is scarcely "no-one". 08 August 2010 16:43:37 via web in reply to marclanders

# @marclanders That's what's called "interviewer bias". You're drawn to people who share similar views, and others don't want to offend you. 08 August 2010 16:42:20 via web in reply to marclanders

# @MetalRabbit13 - Well, yes, if there was the slightest scrap of evidence for that, it would indeed change things. But there isn't. 08 August 2010 16:40:28 via web in reply to MetalRabbit13

# @marclanders - In point of fact public opinion is split on the release, and there is considerable anger over the US Senators' arrogance. 08 August 2010 16:08:28 via web in reply to marclanders

# @ProfessorGary - Simple answer : yes. 07 August 2010 23:02:41 via web in reply to ProfessorGary

# And now the Toronto Sun wrongly describes Megrahi's medical reports as "just-released". Words fail me. #Lockerbie 07 August 2010 22:59:25 via web

# @Snov - Yes, compassionate release is exactly what it was. Compassion isn't just for the easy cases. 06 August 2010 03:05:05 via web in reply to Snov

# @alexmassie - From what I've read, a link between a) and b) has already been established by some of our more excitable cousins. 06 August 2010 00:39:28 via web in reply to alexmassie

# @John_Boettcher - Thanks, John. 06 August 2010 00:33:00 via web in reply to John_Boettcher

# @elainedecoulos - Lockerbie hasn't got anything to do with the English legal system. But I agree the libel laws are appalling. 06 August 2010 00:31:58 via web in reply to elainedecoulos

# After all this time, I genuinely cannot believe I am reading yet another article based on so much ignorance. How m... http://huff.to/cytuMz 04 August 2010 22:06:33 via The Huffington Post

# Aaaaaargh! Tesco. I'll spare you the details, but just...Tesco. 04 August 2010 20:47:50 via web

# Delighted that the Scottish Government have dropped the diplomatic language with @SenatorMenendez and his committee of clowns. #Lockerbie 02 August 2010 16:42:56 via web

# New blog post : My back-of-the-envelope blueprint for an independent Scotland - http://bit.ly/a7PGaA #Scotland #ukpolitics 30 July 2010 21:45:05 via web

# @blairmcdougall - But would he be the public's choice if the two brothers were equally well known? I doubt it. #uk #ukpolitics 29 July 2010 23:51:04 via web

# @SenatorMenendez Your emollient tone for UK audience was rather spoiled by the uninformed bile you've been spewing for domestic consumption. 29 July 2010 23:49:02 via web

# @amickkm - What lie? 29 July 2010 15:28:21 via web in reply to amickkm

# New blog post : American views on compassion are based on "emerging evidence" - http://bit.ly/a2LUPy #Lockerbie #Scotland #ukpolitics 29 July 2010 03:22:33 via web

# @SenatorMenendez I trust you'll begin that appearance with a long-overdue apology for the inaccuracies you've been peddling. #Lockerbie #BP 28 July 2010 18:20:25 via web in reply to SenatorMenendez

# @fscottberman - If there was an ounce of truth in that outrageous allegation, you'd have a very fine point, sir. 28 July 2010 16:42:45 via web in reply to fscottberman

# @SlyPangloss - Thankyou! I like your profile picture, by the way, Sylvester McCoy is too often forgotten! 28 July 2010 01:48:23 via web in reply to SlyPangloss

# New blog post : Why is the Scottish government even cooperating in writing with this committee of clowns? - http://bit.ly/djsnE3 #Scotland 28 July 2010 01:11:35 via web

# @dachte - From the way some US politicians are talking (ie. @SenatorMenendez ), you'd think only the American lives were of any consequence. 28 July 2010 01:03:40 via web in reply to dachte

# @SenatorMenendez A "game of tennis worthy of Wimbledon"? And you reckon you're the umpire, do you? Umpires generally check the rules first. 28 July 2010 00:10:00 via web

# @SenatorMenendez Why don't you show courage and admit you got your facts wrong about Megrahi, before questioning the integrity of others? 28 July 2010 00:03:36 via web

# @dachte - So the Scottish courts determine the verdict, and at that point you step in to unilaterally decide the sentence? Sounds rum to me. 27 July 2010 23:47:02 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - And ours has given a ruling you personally dislike. Shouldn't it still be respected? 27 July 2010 23:43:22 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - And who draws this line of where "the pale" lies? How can it ever be other than arbitrary? 27 July 2010 23:40:29 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - As I said to you before, compassion for the fluffy and innocent is the easy sort. 27 July 2010 23:38:04 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - No, but they're a hundred times less compassionate to the dying. 27 July 2010 23:36:00 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - You don't have to. Compassionate release is very unlike a pardon. 27 July 2010 23:35:40 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - Compassionate release is not a 'pardon'. It is, however, very much 'by-the-law'. 27 July 2010 23:31:17 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - So in your view respect for the rule of law and human rights is not a 'value'? 27 July 2010 23:30:27 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - You're certainly gainsaying Scots Law's entirely proper verdict on the termination of his sentence. 27 July 2010 23:25:28 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte More so than the extrajudicial execution of a man whose guilt has been brought into doubt by an official body? A bold claim indeed. 27 July 2010 23:21:44 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte So respect for the law is great when it suits, but disrespect is better when it doesn't. Fine example to set fledgling democracies. 27 July 2010 23:17:26 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - But an extra-judicial assassination is a good example to set? 27 July 2010 23:13:58 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - In that case, all the more important that we set a good example, rather than trying to match them for cruelty and repression. 27 July 2010 23:00:18 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - But (in this fantasy scenario) he could "inspire" future bombings even if he was still in jail. Hess still inspires and he's dead. 27 July 2010 22:57:40 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - You really are overestimating the man's importance. Not even the prosecution suggested that he planned the bombing. 27 July 2010 22:55:29 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - And if that cruelty makes Western society LESS safe by provoking fury in the Arab world, as may well have happened here? 27 July 2010 22:54:44 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - "Even if not"? How are we defending society if there is no threat? 27 July 2010 22:52:42 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - I don't doubt the suitability of long jail sentences for serious offences. I'm talking about gratuitous cruelty. 27 July 2010 22:51:54 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - But the cruelty of leaving a man who poses no threat to the public to die in jail is of a different order of magnitude. 27 July 2010 22:49:32 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - But first of all you would have to demonstrate that cruelty actually works as a deterrent, rather than inspiring more vengeance. 27 July 2010 22:47:18 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - I'm really struggling to see how by releasing Megrahi, Western culture is committing suicide. Demonstrably, that hasn't happened. 27 July 2010 22:43:04 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - True, but the decision was made by an elected government, based on laws passed by an elected parliament. 27 July 2010 22:40:43 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - When we respond with such hysteria our culture (ie. tolerance, compassion, justice) is already debased. 27 July 2010 22:39:47 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - The law should be blind to such considerations. In any case, there wasn't a guilty man in prison in the first place. 27 July 2010 22:38:41 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - The values of Scotland, reflected in our laws (including compassionate release) ARE Western values. I'm defending those values. 27 July 2010 22:37:27 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - In what sense am I not defending it? 27 July 2010 22:34:28 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - There's nothing 'theoretical' about compassion to Megrahi, who is actually dying and has an actual family. 27 July 2010 22:33:32 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - I'm guessing what I would find are some strong views on resistance to the brutal Israeli occupation. 27 July 2010 22:32:45 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - I've no brief for Galloway, but to the best of my knowledge he's never expressed any sympathy for terrorism. 27 July 2010 22:27:43 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - If Libya are planning an atrocity, I can't think what they could do with the help of an ill man that they couldn't do without him. 27 July 2010 22:10:40 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - No, I think compassionate release would have been appropriate even if he was guilty - he's gravely ill and poses no threat. 27 July 2010 19:56:52 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte For that alone, and nothing else properly under their jurisdiction? A bit of a cherry-picking approach to such a serious principle! 27 July 2010 19:55:37 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - By assassinating men who have been released from prison under due process of the law, for example? 27 July 2010 19:50:18 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - How can you meaningfully say that, when you've admitted yourself you're little acquainted with the details of the case? 27 July 2010 19:44:03 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - It is in Scotland. And as you've said, it's a "duty" to replace private judgement with legal rulings. 27 July 2010 19:43:06 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - I quite agree. The sole (huge) failing of Scots Law in this case is that Megrahi remains wrongly branded the "Lockerbie bomber". 27 July 2010 19:41:59 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - A principle that includes the acceptance of compassionate release under due process, surely? How is extrajudicial killing better? 27 July 2010 19:40:34 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - The Commission report automatically triggered an appeal, which would have started last November. Megrahi's illness intervened. 27 July 2010 19:39:34 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - Except that Megrahi was falsely identified in Malta, and without that the case against him falls apart. 27 July 2010 19:35:56 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - That's a rather thin, technical justification for bloodlust. 27 July 2010 19:33:17 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - Oh, I quite agree. The US and UK are reaping what they sowed on that score - ought to learn the lesson, surely? 27 July 2010 19:32:31 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - No, you were right the first time. Farage is just idiotic. 27 July 2010 19:31:29 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte To kill a man with as I've just pointed out has significant doubt over his guilt? Never mind murder, ever heard of the word "rash"? 27 July 2010 19:30:48 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - Europe is mainly "trampled on" by US arrogance. This is a rare example of a government willing to stand up to the Americans. 27 July 2010 19:29:07 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - No, they can't. The legal proceedings are closed, and they have no power to reopen them, unless there's a new charge. 27 July 2010 19:27:22 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - Perhaps that's the difference between American and Scottish ideas of 'compassion'. It's not just for the easy cases. 27 July 2010 19:25:48 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - As I understand it, they have no power to do so now. That's the real tragedy of Megrahi's situation. 27 July 2010 19:24:55 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - Only Megrahi's illness prevented that appeal from being held. 2/3rds of cases referred back in that way result in a quashing. 27 July 2010 19:22:12 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission referred the case back to the Court of Appeal as key evidence had been discredited. 27 July 2010 19:20:54 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - If it does so outwith international law, it's for the rest of the world to resist America's misuse of its great power. 27 July 2010 19:19:43 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - And most of them have a motive. Now that Libya has come in from the cold, what possible threat does Megrahi pose? It's fanciful. 27 July 2010 19:18:33 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - So by that standard no killing ordered by Pol Pot can be regarded as "murder", as it occurred on his own territory? 27 July 2010 19:17:45 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - He certainly should have been exonerated at the first appeal. That was the failing of Scots Law, not his compassionate release. 27 July 2010 19:15:58 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - But it is the legal system that properly applies in this case. It's not for the US to dictate based on its own values. 27 July 2010 19:15:07 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - Not when he's dying in hospital he's not, and especially not now that Libya is an ally of the UK and US. 27 July 2010 19:14:22 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte Do you realise the absurd irony of what you're saying? By that standard "Libya's bombing of PA103" was not murder but assassination. 27 July 2010 19:13:24 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - And last but not least, Megrahi's conviction was almost certainly a miscarriage of justice in any case. 27 July 2010 18:48:09 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - Yes, they do, if they are estimated to have 3 months or less to live, are no threat to the public, and are subject to Scots Law. 27 July 2010 18:47:29 via web in reply to dachte

# @dachte - No, I meant murder and that's why I said it. The taking of life on one man's whim is murder. 27 July 2010 18:46:19 via web in reply to dachte

# @GovKaineBrow - No wonder. Sounds like you need to get away from the land of the GOP and smell the clean fresh air. 27 July 2010 16:57:12 via web in reply to GovKaineBrow

# @GovKaineBrow - It wasn't fallacious because you were making a spurious point about "socialized" medicine. Any evidence for the "oil" link? 27 July 2010 16:47:08 via web in reply to GovKaineBrow

# @GovKaineBrow - In what sense fallacious? He was released on compassionate grounds in the light of the best medical evidence. 27 July 2010 16:30:52 via web in reply to GovKaineBrow

# @GovKaineBrow - So under the wonders of American medicine, doctors are prophets who can accurately judge life expectancy to the precise day? 27 July 2010 16:18:22 via web in reply to GovKaineBrow

# @dachte - Murder is the common good? 27 July 2010 03:20:17 via web in reply to dachte

# @alahrodriguez - But the US media simply don't understand that the Scottish govt are political opponents of UK govt, with nothing to gain. 27 July 2010 03:07:07 via web in reply to alahrodriguez

# @alahrodriguez: It's true that UK (and US) interests have been assisted - but it just so happens that had nothing to do with the decision. 27 July 2010 03:00:41 via web in reply to alahrodriguez

# @alahrodriguez - And it was made wholly clear at the time that three months was only a reasonable estimate. They're doctors, not prophets. 27 July 2010 02:44:58 via web in reply to alahrodriguez

# @alahrodriguez - Since Scotland drew up its laws on compassionate release, based on our own values. 27 July 2010 02:43:33 via web in reply to alahrodriguez

# @alahrodriguez - That's nonsense. The decision was made on compassionate grounds, so unless BP somehow arranged Megrahi's illness...? 27 July 2010 02:36:57 via web in reply to alahrodriguez

# @Sami_Shamieh - Come off it. Megrahi is dying. 27 July 2010 01:54:48 via web

# @GreatHairGuy - No, I'm simply claiming that I know more than the US media about what goes on in my own country. A relatively modest claim. 27 July 2010 01:50:22 via web in reply to GreatHairGuy

# @GreatHairGuy - Oh, and of course there's the small matter that BP didn't lobby the Scottish Govt, so no, nothing to do with oil. Nice try. 27 July 2010 01:42:29 via web in reply to GreatHairGuy

# @GreatHairGuy - 10+ years? You've been listening to the US media echo chamber too much. Sikora said a less than 1% chance of 10 years. 27 July 2010 01:39:03 via web in reply to GreatHairGuy

# OK, Senator Menendez, you've convinced me - you're a buffoon. New blog post : http://bit.ly/aWMOLj #Scotland #ukpolitics 27 July 2010 01:31:39 via web

# @GreatHairGuy - The very reason he was released is that he's about to meet his maker. Have you actually been following this story? 27 July 2010 01:28:04 via web in reply to GreatHairGuy

# @GreatHairGuy - I beg your pardon? Are you suggesting God will "execute" Megrahi in the afterlife? Or will the CIA do it? 27 July 2010 00:55:16 via web in reply to GreatHairGuy

# @Rab_Rouser - Coalition Britain is looking a good deal more like an abyss than Norway at the moment. 27 July 2010 00:43:19 via web in reply to Rab_Rouser

# @GreatHairGuy - Ah, but Scottish law isn't based on what you think "should" happen. Cuts both ways, doesn't it? 27 July 2010 00:42:18 via web in reply to GreatHairGuy

# @Rab_Rouser - You must have missed the bit where "that septic dung" were voted into office in 2007. 27 July 2010 00:36:04 via web in reply to Rab_Rouser

# @GreatHairGuy I believe on 2/3rds of occasions when the SCCRC have referred a case back to Appeal Court, the conviction has been quashed. 27 July 2010 00:34:32 via web in reply to GreatHairGuy

# @GreatHairGuy - Good luck with reconciling your moral outrage with the report that referred Megrahi's case back to the Court of Appeal. 27 July 2010 00:33:22 via web in reply to GreatHairGuy

# @GlenSpicer Missed my point, Glen. I'm asking you if we shouldn't have MUCH higher standards, rather than settling for fractionally better? 27 July 2010 00:32:34 via web in reply to GlenSpicer

# @Rab_Rouser - You're devoted to ending the union? Then why not donate to the SNP? Tsk, tsk, such counter-productive antics. 27 July 2010 00:30:50 via web in reply to Rab_Rouser

# @GreatHairGuy - I wanted compassion shown to a dying man, who I happen to believe had nothing to do with the bombing. 'Nuff said. 27 July 2010 00:29:58 via web in reply to GreatHairGuy

# @GlenSpicer - I don't believe Megrahi was guilty, but even if he was, is the standard for our own morals "better than a terrorist will do"? 27 July 2010 00:28:06 via web in reply to GlenSpicer

# @Rab_Rouser - Parented wrong? Would that be by his half-English mother Judy, also clearly an Anglophile? 27 July 2010 00:26:21 via web in reply to Rab_Rouser

# @GreatHairGuy - Yes, I'm afraid "ashes over gates of hell" is rather extreme language, and it was YOUR language, not anyone else's. 27 July 2010 00:25:39 via web in reply to GreatHairGuy

# @GlenSpicer - No. Because in Scotland, compassion rules every bit as much as justice. 27 July 2010 00:22:24 via web in reply to GlenSpicer

# @GreatHairGuy - I didn't say he was. But you're the one making extreme moral judgements based on questionable evidence. 27 July 2010 00:17:06 via web in reply to GreatHairGuy

# @GreatHairGuy - To clarify, it totally discredited a crucial piece of evidence against Megrahi. 27 July 2010 00:06:31 via web in reply to GreatHairGuy

# @GreatHairGuy I know it goes against righteous certainties, but you might want to look at the SCCRC report that questioned Megrahi's guilt. 27 July 2010 00:05:41 via web in reply to GreatHairGuy

# @Rab_Rouser - The irony is you haven't spotted that Andy Murray is an Anglophile who almost certainly supports England as his second team. 26 July 2010 23:57:47 via web in reply to Rab_Rouser

# @SenatorMenendez - Senator, would you expect a member of the US government to testify before a Scottish Parliament committee upon demand? 26 July 2010 23:51:44 via web in reply to SenatorMenendez

# @SenatorMenendez - Senator, would you expect a member of the US government to testify before a Scottish Parliament committee upon demand? 26 July 2010 23:51:44 via web in reply to SenatorMenendez

# @SenGillibrand - Oh, and there's only one 't' in "Scots". A lack of basic homework has been your problem in this whole Megrahi affair. 26 July 2010 17:03:15 via web in reply to SenGillibrand

# @SenGillibrand - Oh, and there's only one 't' in "Scots". A lack of basic homework has been your problem in this whole Megrahi affair. 26 July 2010 17:03:15 via web in reply to SenGillibrand

# @SenGillibrand - Senator, "releasing" Megrahi under the PTA is a contradiction in terms. By definition, he'd still have been in jail. 26 July 2010 16:57:14 via web in reply to SenGillibrand

# @SenGillibrand - Senator, "releasing" Megrahi under the PTA is a contradiction in terms. By definition, he'd still have been in jail. 26 July 2010 16:57:14 via web in reply to SenGillibrand

# @Rab_Rouser - They already have, MacAskill consulted them before the release. 26 July 2010 16:08:13 via web in reply to Rab_Rouser

# @Rab_Rouser - They already have, MacAskill consulted them before the release. 26 July 2010 16:08:13 via web in reply to Rab_Rouser

# New blog post : If you're good enough to be an MP, you're old enough (or young enough) - http://bit.ly/cxqrAr #ukpolitics #uk 26 July 2010 03:04:20 via web

# New blog post : If you're good enough to be an MP, you're old enough (or young enough) - http://bit.ly/cxqrAr #ukpolitics #uk 26 July 2010 03:04:20 via web

# Couldn't we give Digby Jones a 'radical overhaul' and leave the universities alone? #uk #ukpolitics 24 July 2010 15:39:07 via web

# Couldn't we give Digby Jones a 'radical overhaul' and leave the universities alone? #uk #ukpolitics 24 July 2010 15:39:07 via web

# New blog post : "Megrahi is a bad guy, BP are bad guys and I've got an election to fight in November" - http://bit.ly/cYL7x4 #Scotland #uk 24 July 2010 02:57:58 via web

# New blog post : "Megrahi is a bad guy, BP are bad guys and I've got an election to fight in November" - http://bit.ly/cYL7x4 #Scotland #uk 24 July 2010 02:57:58 via web

# Salmond's refusal to appear before US Senate makes an important statement about equality of esteem between nations - http://bit.ly/dxzEXd 23 July 2010 01:44:07 via web

# Salmond's refusal to appear before US Senate makes an important statement about equality of esteem between nations - http://bit.ly/dxzEXd 23 July 2010 01:44:07 via web

# New blog post : American TV's version of the truth over Lockerbie - http://bit.ly/b2VVZu #Scotland #uk #ukpolitics 22 July 2010 17:21:51 via web

# New blog post : American TV's version of the truth over Lockerbie - http://bit.ly/b2VVZu #Scotland #uk #ukpolitics 22 July 2010 17:21:51 via web

# New blog post : Israel's deceptive inequalities - http://bit.ly/bFrKDd 22 July 2010 16:32:51 via web

# New blog post : Israel's deceptive inequalities - http://bit.ly/bFrKDd 22 July 2010 16:32:51 via web

# @moon - Actually, yes, we have got Scottish banknotes with Scottish faces on them. Any more ignorance you'd like me to correct for you? 22 July 2010 01:52:10 via web in reply to moon

# @moon - Absolutely, and the "Crown" in Scottish terms is the Scottish authorities. There is no UK veto on cases like Megrahi's. 22 July 2010 01:37:25 via web in reply to moon

# New blog post on the false hopes for the US Senate inquiry into the Megrahi case - http://bit.ly/cehbWn #Scotland #uk #ukpolitics 22 July 2010 01:11:49 via web

# @moon I dare say they have - and you have my congratulations. But I fail to see how that relates to Scotland being a separate jurisdiction. 22 July 2010 01:09:45 via web in reply to moon

# New blog post : One 'mistake' that a senior UK minister has correctly identified - http://bit.ly/9SA1oH #uk #ukpolitics 21 July 2010 17:15:49 via web

# @NomziMx There must be dozens of other people called "Jeremy Kyle" in the UK. I'd like to see one of them go on the show and use that line. 21 July 2010 16:02:35 via web in reply to NomziMx

# @JacksonTar - You don't have to think he did the right thing to have sympathy for him, and want to see the persecution end. 21 July 2010 15:59:52 via web in reply to JacksonTar

# @moon And that point is nonsensical. Scotland isn't independent, but is a separate jurisdiction in terms of criminal law. No UK veto rights. 21 July 2010 15:55:52 via web in reply to moon

# @moon Am I meant to be impressed? He's a non-violent offender with a high suicide risk, and you want him treated like a dangerous terrorist? 21 July 2010 15:51:43 via web in reply to moon

# @moon - Are you implying an Irish computer hacker would be subject to extra-judicial execution by the SAS? More than a touch fantastical. 21 July 2010 15:46:55 via web in reply to moon

# @moon - You're slightly behind the times, I'm afraid - the last execution in the UK was in 1964! 21 July 2010 03:40:27 via web in reply to moon

# @moon - Exactly, that's all he did. No-one was hurt. Scarcely justifies the persecution he's been subject to by the American authorities. 21 July 2010 02:46:57 via web in reply to moon

# @JonSena80 - Well, I respect your opinion, but I've never been more proud to be a Scot than I was that day. 21 July 2010 01:05:39 via web in reply to JonSena80

# New blog post : David Miliband's severe case of false memory syndrome - http://bit.ly/cDfDoZ #Scotland #ukpolitics 21 July 2010 00:44:37 via web

# New blog post : Kenny MacAskill is already 'nationally accountable', Mr Kawczynski - http://bit.ly/cucmqQ #Scotland #uk #ukpolitics 20 July 2010 03:19:07 via web

# Nigel Don rebutted Kawcynski's nonsense really effectively - the SNP ought to put him up for TV appearances more often. #scotland #uk 19 July 2010 23:27:38 via txt

# @mrbry - He'd hardly be out of place if he does. American politicians aren't exactly shy about name-checking the Almighty. 19 July 2010 16:39:12 via web in reply to mrbry

# Just caught up with the amazing news that Ron Davies is to stand for Plaid Cymru. Wonder if that could cost Labour a vital seat next year? 17 July 2010 06:29:04 via web

# New blog post : Should Kenny MacAskill submit to American imperial pretensions? http://bit.ly/bBev6C #scotland #ukpolitics 17 July 2010 04:58:19 via web

# @John_Boettcher - Ah, that sounds potentially delicate...hope the two of you are still on good terms! 16 July 2010 18:13:13 via web in reply to John_Boettcher

# @John_Boettcher - Cheers, John. Look forward to following your tweets. 16 July 2010 17:52:49 via web in reply to John_Boettcher

# @bakerbelle - Holding my breath sometimes works for me! 16 July 2010 17:51:04 via web in reply to bakerbelle

# Does Lord Taylor resigning the whip mean that Cameron will have to appoint yet another Tory peer to make the Lords more "representative"? 16 July 2010 17:49:15 via web

# @Domponsford - He should have done it last night, though. Going on Sky to have a rant about Channel 4 looked a bit evasive. #uk #ukpolitics 16 July 2010 17:46:20 via web in reply to Domponsford

# New blogpost : Cameron gives corpse of 'respect agenda' a good kicking - http://bit.ly/beoM1y #scotland #ukpolitics #uk 16 July 2010 15:42:17 via web

# Blogpost on the exposing of the right-wing agenda that lies behind the 'Devolution Distraction' wheeze - http://bit.ly/9U2gw9 #scotland #uk 16 July 2010 01:24:44 via web

# Great to switch on the TV and see Andrew Coltart near the top of the leaderboard. #golf 15 July 2010 14:48:43 via web

# New blog post on the false choice we're being presented with over Raoul Moat - http://bit.ly/cZpNC8 #uk #ukpolitics 15 July 2010 01:47:20 via web

# Blogpost : The real 'distraction' is the argument against Scottish self-government - http://bit.ly/8WZ3Yq #Scotland #ukpolitics 14 July 2010 02:22:07 via web

# Blog post on John McTernan's apparent belief that the Queen would not respect democratic principles - http://bit.ly/bAskDT #uk #ukpolitics 13 July 2010 01:52:08 via web

# @AngusReidGlobal - I'm struggling to find any figures in that poll that could reasonably be interpreted as "Canadians want Harper as PM". 6:28 PM Jul 12th via web in reply to AngusReidGlobal

# @Rab_Rouser - I think you're beginning to lose me on this analogy. 3:21 AM Jul 12th via web in reply to Rab_Rouser

# @Rab_Rouser - The vast majority of countries have quite happily got by without that kind of "insurance". It's a status symbol, nothing else. 3:08 AM Jul 12th via web in reply to Rab_Rouser

# I get the feeling the commentators are trying to construct a scenario in which Howard Webb can win the World Cup. #wc2010 #worldcup 8:55 PM Jul 11th via txt

# New blog post : Could the greatest challenge to Calman's timidity come from Wales? - http://bit.ly/bUoWB9 #ukpolitics #uk 2:54 AM Jul 11th via web

# So it's unthinkable to spend £400 million on the census, but the billions that could be saved on Trident is just a 'drop in the ocean'? #uk 1:55 AM Jul 11th via web

# Blogpost: The Lib Dems' strategic blunder means that the coalition is more likely to be an aberration than a new dawn - http://bit.ly/9wq4sr 4:48 AM Jul 10th via web

# @rubyzaffiro - If they do, let's hope they recast the character of Kay Burley. 2:38 AM Jul 10th via web in reply to rubyzaffiro

# @luv4rob Absolutely - robots, spaceships, cannibalism...it's a logical progression. #bb11 2:18 AM Jul 10th via web in reply to luv4rob

# @lauraleslie23 - She could always just tell him to his face that he's a narcissist. No crisis our Kay can't defuse. 2:09 AM Jul 10th via web in reply to lauraleslie23

# Whoever said C4 News is dumbing down? Where else could you you find out the exact odds of an octopus guessing 8 #worldcup results by chance? 1:32 AM Jul 10th via web

# David Dimbleby and Wee Dougie - grrrrr. New blog post - http://bit.ly/9VPgir #bbcqt #ukpolitics #uk 09 July 2010 02:40:15 via web

# Raoul Moat's actions make us thank our lucky stars yet again that we have a measure of gun control. New blog post - http://bit.ly/cJpy6g 08 July 2010 02:29:39 via web

# My GP is so keen for me to be a guinea pig she's sent me two slightly sinister-looking invitations, both of which she's forgotten to sign. 07 July 2010 15:01:28 via web

# New blog post : The SNP and Labour already have the power to thwart Clegg's referendum opportunism - http://bit.ly/cghM1j #ukpolitics #uk 07 July 2010 01:25:10 via web

# Oh joy unbounded - now we get landed with a Clive Tyldesley SOLO commentary. Was the referee born in 1966, Clive? #wc2010 #worldcup 06 July 2010 19:44:21 via txt

# Chekov asks "where in the world is Lady Silvia Hermon?" At a rough guess, somewhere that "UCUNF" will never be... 06 July 2010 15:20:25 via web

# The Lib Dems don't seem to know the meaning of the term "joined-up thinking". New blog post - http://bit.ly/centGg #ukpolitics #uk 06 July 2010 02:18:37 via web

# Why did all the "Spanish supporters" the BBC found have South African accents? #worldcup #wc2010 03 July 2010 23:54:17 via web

# Iain Dale is the bringer of good news - size doesn't matter. New blog post - http://bit.ly/c34fdl #ukpolitics #uk 03 July 2010 19:35:15 via web

# @iaindale - Your position : the quality of representation doesn't matter, so long as an MP has exclusive ownership of those he represents. 03 July 2010 17:55:43 via web in reply to iaindale

# @iaindale - And on that basis you support FPTP? Other than single-member seats, it does the opposite of what you claim you want. 03 July 2010 17:53:28 via web in reply to iaindale

# @iaindale - That's a pretty contrived argument - someone representing 5000 people has a WEAKER link than someone representing 80000? 03 July 2010 17:44:42 via web in reply to iaindale

# @iaindale - Not AT ALL? How can you possibly justify that statement? Does a ward councillor not have a stronger link than an MP? 03 July 2010 17:36:44 via web in reply to iaindale

# @iaindale - That's not the point I'm making. Larger seats by definition dilute the link. Western Isles subsumed into what, for instance? 03 July 2010 17:25:22 via web in reply to iaindale

# @iaindale - If you're concerned STV dilutes the constituency link, doesn't the same apply to Tory plans to cut the number of MPs? #uk 03 July 2010 17:10:48 via web

# Looks like the second all-European final in a row. #worldcup #wc2010 6:02 PM Jul 3rd via web

# @alisonthewliss - Congratulations Alison! 4:30 PM Jul 3rd via web in reply to alisonthewliss

# Reckon Steve Wilson is the best of an otherwise poor bunch of #worldcup commentators this year. #wc2010 4:26 PM Jul 3rd via web

# Today's umpire sounds like Eva Green whenever she says the words "first set". #wimbledon #tennis 3:41 PM Jul 3rd via web

# Following #uru Uruguay v #gha Ghana, it's time for football to adopt the 'penalty try' principle from rugby. New blog post - http://bit.ly/bFCDfe #wc2010 2:07 AM Jul 3rd via web

# Astonishing to think how superior Uruguay's World Cup record is to England's. Well, perhaps not. #wc2010 11:47 PM Jul 2nd via web

# Keep going Andy. We need more opportunities to hear the umpire pronounce the silent 'e' in 'advantage'. #wimbledon #tennis 7:00 PM Jul 2nd via web

# @DanLafferty - Judging by Twitter earlier, his nationality varies from point to point. #wimbledon 11:22 PM Jun 30th via web in reply to DanLafferty

# When I saw 'Hurricane Alex' was trending on Yahoo, for a few seconds I assumed it was a reference to the snooker player. 11:16 PM Jun 30th via web

# New blog post : Forces of conservatism suffer defeat in the Scottish Parliament - http://bit.ly/9DH1N2 #ukpolitics #uk 6:07 PM Jun 30th via web

# Pity that, even if Federer loses, it doesn't help Murray reach the final. #Wimbledon #tennis 4:25 PM Jun 30th via web

# Blogpost : Handing the SNP one seat on the Scottish Affairs Committee on an ad hoc basis is not a sign of 'respect' - http://bit.ly/dB2Ztj 2:36 AM Jun 30th via web

# Longest ever penalty shootout was 20-19 - so unlikely #par Paraguay v #jpn Japan will rival Isner v Mahut. #wc2010 6:35 PM Jun 29th via web

# Looks like Kim Clijsters is the last glimmer of hope for the #Wimbledon women's event. Surely not another all-Williams final? #tennis 29 June 2010 01:02:46 via web

# What's the US Supreme Court's brilliant solution to the country's horrendous gun crime problem? "Quick, more guns!" 28 June 2010 17:39:23 via web

# Come on Maria Sharapova, we've had enough Williams-dominated Wimbledons. #tennis 28 June 2010 15:06:03 via web

# MEN of ENGLAND! It's time to join the Oompa-Loompas... (If Carlsberg did post-match analysis.) New blog post - http://bit.ly/cymbMa #wc2010 27 June 2010 17:42:32 via web

# New blog post : As the Lib Dems slump in the polls, is there a word for a reverse Cleggasm? - http://bit.ly/aOOi9K #ukpolitics #uk 27 June 2010 01:54:33 via web

# I admire Sunder Katwala's ingenuity in declaring the Left ahead in the World Cup, but relying on "Obama's USA" may be stretching the point! 26 June 2010 16:55:55 via web

# New blog post on Peter Hitchens' call on #bbcqt for the reintroduction of academic selection - http://bit.ly/aI3ejB #ukpolitics 25 June 2010 02:14:01 via web

# New blog post : Cameron and Clegg 'face the audience' with a fantastical false choice - http://bit.ly/cslXRC #ukpolitics #budget 24 June 2010 01:55:04 via web

# No offence to Serbia or Ghana, but I hope to be a German for the day on Sunday. It's like slipping on an old coat. #wc2010 #worldcup 23 June 2010 17:38:34 via web

# New blog post : Scrapping Trident would have been the real "tough choice" for Osborne - http://bit.ly/dvmXip #budget #ukpolitics 23 June 2010 01:25:29 via web

# New blog post : Mmmmama used to say, take your time, #Labour - http://bit.ly/aDTkI7 #ukpolitics 18 June 2010 01:29:04 via web

# A bit ill-advised for Cameron to label Harriet 'unfunny' and in the next breath tell a lame 'beam me up' Star Trek joke. #pmq #ukpolitics 17 June 2010 02:12:24 via web

# New blog post : Salmond still a class apart - http://bit.ly/bYxHk6 #ukpolitics 17 June 2010 01:24:08 via web

# New blog post : The best things in life are free (ie. not Murdoch newspapers) - http://bit.ly/9QLuYG #ukpolitics 17 June 2010 00:42:57 via web

# New blog post : Andy Burnham the clear loser in #Labour leadership debate - http://bit.ly/bkEvYN #ukpolitics #newnight 16 June 2010 01:11:43 via web

# Now Tyldesley uses N Korea as an excuse to witter on about 1966. Why not tell us about 1962, Clive? A change is as good as a rest. #worldcup 16 June 2010 00:21:56 via web

# Bit harsh for ITV to sack Robbie Earle, surely? It's not as if he's done a Ron Atkinson. #worldcup 15 June 2010 16:50:04 via web

# New blog post : There's good money to be made from Clive Tyldesley's predictability - http://bit.ly/d4o2OX #worldcup 13 June 2010 02:03:32 via web

# New blog post : Have #Labour pulled an Abbott out of the hat? - http://bit.ly/bUGEmO #ukpolitics #ThisWeek 11 June 2010 07:11:33 via web

# Big Brother "monk" Dave has a firearms certificate - GET HIM OUT. *Cough*. Had to get that out of my system. #bbuk #bb11 #bb2010 10 June 2010 01:40:52 via web

# New blog post : Does Pamela Nash cut a dash? - http://bit.ly/97FicW #ukpolitics #Labour 06 June 2010 02:46:14 via web

# New blog post - The Tories' instincts are in the wrong place on gun control - http://bit.ly/dtRvey #Cumbria #UK 04 June 2010 00:49:04 via web

# New blog post : One more tragedy too many - http://bit.ly/bHlYqn #Cumbria 03 June 2010 01:28:52 via web

# New blog post : Was Alistair Carmichael even Clegg's THIRD choice for Scottish Secretary? - http://bit.ly/bz16tR #ukpolitics 30 May 2010 07:02:06 via web

# Review of the Eurovision Song Contest final - http://bit.ly/bz16tR #eurovision #esc #Oslo2010 30 May 2010 02:11:48 via web

# I wonder if Spain would have been given the second chance if they hadn't been one of the Big 4? #eurovision #esc #Oslo2010 29 May 2010 21:22:48 via txt

# My prediction for the #Eurovision final - http://bit.ly/aR9aqO #esc #Oslo2010 29 May 2010 03:57:03 via web

# Review of the second Eurovision semi - http://bit.ly/9VovI4 #Eurovision #esc #Oslo2010 28 May 2010 00:45:01 via web

# Review of the first #Eurovision semi - http://bit.ly/94vsZ0 #Oslo2010 #esc 26 May 2010 01:59:18 via web

# Malta was much better than I remembered from the national final. #Eurovision 25 May 2010 20:53:39 via txt

# My prediction for tonight's first Eurovision semi - http://bit.ly/bKZG8p #eurovision #Oslo2010 #esc 25 May 2010 05:51:27 via web

# I've just noticed that Keith Mills seems to like the UK Eurovision song more than I do. It'll be mauve bison next. #eurovision #esc 23 May 2010 16:39:14 via web

# "Good news, boys: we're not a left-wing country" says D Finkelstein. Interesting use of the words "boys" and "country" there. #ukpolitics 21 May 2010 01:23:40 via web

# Lib Dem triumph : children will now be incarcerated in a slightly less chilly climate. New blog post - http://bit.ly/a9Z5Rf #ukpolitics 20 May 2010 00:21:51 via web

# Judging from David Laws’ interview on Newsnight, Lib Dem members are in need of a huge supply of “I agree with George” T-shirts. #ukpolitics 18 May 2010 00:27:16 via web

# Memo to Labour's Tom Harris : I'm afraid Scotland DID notice you wanted a Tory government. New blog post - http://bit.ly/ajFZqs #ukelection 14 May 2010 17:40:24 via web

# New blog post : If I ever wondered what ambivalence feels like... - http://bit.ly/aWyAhY #ukelection #ge2010 14 May 2010 01:21:03 via web

# @diegost2 - Not literally. He's the youngest since Lord Liverpool 200 years ago. #ukelection 12 May 2010 15:00:19 via web in reply to diegost2

# Contrary to the spin, very thin pickings for Lib Dems in the Cabinet - two non-jobs and none of the Great Offices of State. #ukelection 12 May 2010 14:58:30 via web

# So only one of Scotland's four parties is not currently in government. You were saying something about 'irrelevance', Mr Murphy? #ukelection 12 May 2010 05:19:28 via web

# Will Mundell or Carmichael be the new Scottish Secretary? The first test of who wears the trousers in this relationship. #ge2010 #ukelection 11 May 2010 16:34:37 via web

# New blog post : the Scottish Labour treachery that seems set to bring the Tories back to power - http://bit.ly/d3Bzst #ukelection #ge2010 11 May 2010 15:38:04 via web

# New blog post on the day that ITV News' Tom Bradby completely lost the plot - http://bit.ly/9JY5iy #ukelection #ge2010 11 May 2010 04:04:49 via web

# New blog post : A little 'relevant' lesson in basic arithmetic for the Labour party - http://bit.ly/aLUcuh #ukelection #ge2010 09 May 2010 17:32:19 via web

# New blog post : Tom Harris prefers a Tory government to a democratic vote on the electoral system - http://bit.ly/d3SxdN #DontDoItNick 09 May 2010 03:10:25 via web

# Labour suddenly in urgent need of those "totally irrelevant" SNP votes at Westminster? New blog post - http://bit.ly/cnqoAL #ukelection2010 07 May 2010 17:35:03 via web

# Robin Butler - "the danger is that one party might make a deal they later regret". Nick Clegg, beware of Tories bearing no gifts. #ge2010 07 May 2010 15:25:35 via web

# On the situation now, so much for the SNP being an 'irrelevance'. Will Murphy be Labour's emissary when they come begging? #ukelection 07 May 2010 06:50:32 via web

# Britain has a Green MP! About time! The Lucasm moves the earth more than the Cleggasm ever could. #ukelection #ge2010 07 May 2010 05:53:42 via web

# Well said, Vernon Bogdanor - I never had him down as an electoral reformer. #ukelection #ge2010 07 May 2010 05:31:04 via web

# Looks like the Lib Dems made a mistake ditching Charles Kennedy after all... #ukelection #ge2010 07 May 2010 04:41:11 via web

# If Glidernew really has won Fermanagh and South Tyrone for Sinn Fein, it really is utter disaster for the Tories in NI. #ukelection #ge2010 07 May 2010 04:12:43 via web

# @MalcH - By the look of it, it'll be closer to 42 or 43% by the end of the night, Malc. #ukelection #ge2010 07 May 2010 04:05:05 via web in reply to MalcH

# Looks like an absolute calamity for the Tories/Unionists in Northern Ireland. Well deserved... #ge2010 #ukelection 07 May 2010 03:01:32 via web

# SNP hold Perth and North Perthshire! Double yay! #ukelection #ge2010 07 May 2010 02:36:45 via web

# Yay! Angus hold! #ukelection #ge2010 07 May 2010 02:01:58 via web

# @scots_subrosa - The average SNP vote seems to be going up slightly anyway? #ukelection #ge2010 07 May 2010 01:58:26 via web in reply to scots_subrosa

# The 'average swing' figures on the BBC website are driving me mad - they can't possibly be accurate. #ge2010 #ukelection 07 May 2010 01:54:59 via web

# Pretty rubbish evening so far, but at least there's the Arfon result to celebrate. #ukelection #ge2010 07 May 2010 01:24:31 via web

# @niallcooper - What a ridiculously offensive thing to say! The SNP are civic nationalists who SUPPORT immigration! #ukelection #ukvote 06 May 2010 17:28:55 via web in reply to niallcooper

# @gmfus - I don't think so! #ukelection 06 May 2010 15:54:15 via web in reply to gmfus

# People queueing up to vote? In Scotland? New blog post - http://bit.ly/9zoOEA #votesnp #ukelection #ukvote 06 May 2010 15:47:21 via web

# @annehsutherland - No point in any other vote but SNP. McLetchie let cat out of bag - Tories will use Lab & LD votes for legitimacy. #ge2010 06 May 2010 14:30:42 via web in reply to annehsutherland

# A small piece of history for the SNP in today's #ukelection? New blog post - http://bit.ly/cxJIf8 #votesnp #ge2010 06 May 2010 06:00:16 via web

# @annehsutherland - I don't think it was anyone in the SNP who once said "unemployment is a price well worth paying"... #ukelection #votesnp 06 May 2010 05:52:58 via web in reply to annehsutherland

# @iansaj - Salmond's party is the one that doesn't vote on English matters at Westminster. It's Scottish Labour that do that. #ukelection 06 May 2010 00:33:35 via web in reply to iansaj

# @youdecide2010 - If only Labour had located its dislike of all things Murdoch in 1997, 2001 and 2005. #ukelection #ge2010 #votesnp 06 May 2010 00:21:50 via web in reply to youdecide2010

# New blog post : why Labour and Lib Dem votes in Scotland are 'enablers' for Tory rule - http://bit.ly/cfMm8f #ukelection #ge2010 #votesnp 05 May 2010 17:22:52 via web

# FMQs : Salmond exposes the Tories on their plans for prescription charges, and tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. #ge2010 #ukelection 05 May 2010 15:25:37 via web

# First Minister's Questions: Tories talk about opportunities for 16 year olds, but don't seem interested in giving them the vote. #ukelection 05 May 2010 15:22:49 via web

# Salmond driving home the point that Labour or Lib Dem votes will be used by the Tories to justify their rule in Scotland. #ukelection 05 May 2010 15:19:36 via web

# Iain Gray at First Minister's Questions - a referendum no-one wants? He should stop snarling and check the opinion polls. #ukelection 05 May 2010 15:18:06 via web

# Plaid Cymru's Adam Price the class act on the final Daily Politics debate. Inspiring call for a rainbow parliament. #ukelection #ge2010 05 May 2010 15:10:51 via web

# @jmothecat - Over the heads of Scots who have a different view, and who in many cases want the decisions to be made in Scotland. #ukelection 05 May 2010 15:07:18 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat Can't you see it's exactly that London-knows-best mindset that makes Scots want more devolved powers than Labour offers? #ge2010 05 May 2010 04:11:46 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat Is that a roundabout way of conceding Scots do not support spending £100 billion on renewing Britain's WMDs? #ge2010 #ukelection 05 May 2010 04:06:33 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat - So if it isn't key to their constitution, why are they so hellbent on ignoring the will of the Scottish people? #ukelection 05 May 2010 04:04:01 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat - Nothing in the Labour manifesto that rejects key Scottish opinions? Er...Trident? #ge2010 #ukelection 05 May 2010 03:57:31 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat - If you've seen the polls, you'll know that most Scots want to go further than Calman. Labour are failing to offer that. #ge2010 05 May 2010 03:51:58 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat 'Disagree' is the wrong word - it's just that most Scots want to go so much further. Why don't Labour? #ukelection #ge2010 05 May 2010 03:47:26 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat - But nowhere near the extent of the extra devolved powers most Scots say they actually want. #ukelection #ge2010 05 May 2010 03:40:07 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat - Then why don't Labour give Scots the powers they want? The SNP would, the LDs would, what's the barrier? #ge2010 #ukelection 05 May 2010 03:27:06 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat - It takes quite some logical contortions to suggest the SNP do not support increased devolved powers. #ukelection #ge2010 05 May 2010 03:21:02 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat Because, along with most Scots, they want to go further. Why should Labour's Brit nationalism thwart Scots' aspirations? #ge2010 05 May 2010 03:12:48 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat - Then why are they so scared of devolution max? They're certainly miles out of touch with most Scots on that one. #ukelection 05 May 2010 03:08:49 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat And my point is that British nationalism is unpopular with most people, making Labour's ideology out of touch with Scots. #ge2010 05 May 2010 03:03:47 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat - I'm pretty certain I didn't. Labour, Tories and Lib Dems are Brit Nat parties just as SNP are Scot Nats. #ukelection #'ge2010 05 May 2010 03:01:23 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat The point you made. A British nation state is as central to Labour's ideology as a Scottish nation state is to the SNP's. #ge2010 05 May 2010 02:54:32 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat - But British nationalism is absolutely the key to Scottish Labour's 'mandate' (???) - without it, they're nothing. #ukelection 05 May 2010 02:23:19 via web in reply to jmothecat

# Voting Lab or Lib Dem in Scotland will lead to a repeat of the Tory victory cry in '92. Blog post - http://bit.ly/bLOoMI #ge2010 #ukelection 05 May 2010 02:14:34 via web

# @jmothecat - Are you saying Labour don't really believe in devolution? And "separatism"? Who's using pejorative language now? #ukelection 05 May 2010 01:34:52 via web in reply to jmothecat

# UKIP's Lord Pearson : his absence speaks louder than words. New blog post - http://bit.ly/chRZhL #ukelection #ge2010 05 May 2010 01:06:24 via web

# Tom Bradby - "Lib Dems say they won't be IRRESPONSIBLE and ask for PR". Can he get any more blatant? #ukelection #ge2010 05 May 2010 00:45:01 via web

# @jmothecat Most Scots want far more powers for Holyrood than either Labour or Tory propose. Cuts both ways, doesn't it? #ukelection #ge2010 05 May 2010 00:41:00 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @jmothecat - As they are. #ukelection #ge2010 04 May 2010 19:00:35 via web in reply to jmothecat

# @RyanJL Funnily enough 'STFU' is what I was thinking during the debates - just how much bonus coverage did the other 3 parties need? #ge2010 04 May 2010 05:39:33 via web in reply to RyanJL

# @jmothecat - Xenophobia? It's simply logical shorthand for three parties based in London. SNP are based in Edinburgh. #ukelection #ge2010 04 May 2010 05:37:04 via web in reply to jmothecat

# A stunt by the SNP's opponents? New blog post - http://bit.ly/cWovJq #ukelection #ge2010 04 May 2010 01:24:59 via web

# Anyone would think people don't want the #worldsnooker to go on until 3am. 04 May 2010 00:24:57 via web

# @Jess1186 - To be fair, Jess, they're usually quite generous about Scottish snooker players! Just about the only sport they are... 04 May 2010 00:13:23 via web in reply to Jess1186

# @cresh182 Yes, but even on those polls the Lib Dems will be finishing a distant third in terms of seats. #ge2010 #ukelection #scotlandspeaks 03 May 2010 17:13:32 via web in reply to cresh182

# @cresh182 - Absolutely. Michael Crick admitted as much in his blog, and confirmed the reason was the exclusion of SNP and Plaid. #ukelection 03 May 2010 17:12:22 via web in reply to cresh182

# @cresh182 - Fine, 'true in theory' is all that we need to establish, as it's only 'in theory' that Clegg can become PM. #ukelection #ge2010 03 May 2010 17:10:55 via web in reply to cresh182

# @cresh182 - In any case, it's a parliamentary election. The 'PM debate' thing was dreamed up specifically to exclude SNP and Plaid. #ge2010 03 May 2010 17:08:12 via web in reply to cresh182

# @cresh182 Refresher course in the constitution might be in order. It's possible to become PM without standing in majority of seats. #ge2010 03 May 2010 17:06:50 via web in reply to cresh182

# @cresh182 - For 'potential PMs' only? Slight mystery as to what Nick Clegg was doing there, then. #ukelection #ge2010 #scotlandspeaks 03 May 2010 16:51:29 via web in reply to cresh182

# New blog post on the 'Richard Bacon meets Alex Salmond' programme - http://bit.ly/9kezrx #ukelection #ge2010 #scotlandspeaks 03 May 2010 16:10:30 via web

# The string on my yo-yo has snapped. That's not a political metaphor. 03 May 2010 15:07:24 via web

# BBC Scotland have just shown a 4-way debate in place of the 3-way one from London. Pity they didn't have that brainwave earlier. #ge2010 03 May 2010 15:05:04 via web

# New blog post : Salmond emerges as winner in the best of the TV debates - http://bit.ly/bQoYPm #ukelection #ge2010 #scotlandspeaks 03 May 2010 03:03:32 via web

# @mdtauk - Superb! You do realise that means no-one would have taken part? Even the Tories are only standing in 648 out of 650. #ukelection 03 May 2010 01:46:41 via web in reply to mdtauk

# @godwyns - So would you support a transparent threshold for inclusion in the debates in future? #ukelection #ge2010 03 May 2010 01:42:27 via web in reply to godwyns

# @godwyns My point is that all parties in this election are territorial, not 'UK national' - none are standing in all 650 seats. #ukelection 03 May 2010 01:36:47 via web in reply to godwyns

# @godwyns - Exactly. "Apart from Northern Ireland." When precisely did NI cease to be one of the four constituent parts of the UK? #ge2010 03 May 2010 01:28:44 via web in reply to godwyns

# @godwyns Regional party? Scottish National Party - clue's in the title. No party (certainly not Labour) is standing across the UK. #ge2010 03 May 2010 01:24:25 via web in reply to godwyns

# @woodchick52 - But all the parties have a 'nationalistic' agenda. The other three believe in a British nation state. Difference? #ge2010 03 May 2010 01:21:32 via web in reply to woodchick52

# @godwyns - You mean, did he meekly accept the London establishment's attempt to silence him? No. He made himself heard tonight. #ukelection 03 May 2010 01:19:12 via web

# Terrific stuff from Salmond on immigration. #scotlandspeaks #ukelection #ge2010 02 May 2010 21:29:25 via txt

# A few years ago, I went to a prayer session to cure my Tory demons. It worked a treat. #PhilippaStroud #ukelection #ge2010 02 May 2010 17:45:48 via web

# New blog post about the John Higgins match-fixing allegations - http://bit.ly/9eM55m #snooker 02 May 2010 17:40:08 via web

# @weedunks - Whereas current Scottish Tory polls are comparable to the Liberals under Jo Grimond! #Justsayin. #ukelection #ge2010 02 May 2010 16:53:51 via web in reply to weedunks

# New blog post : SNP comfortably ahead of Liberal Democrats in TNS-BMRB poll - http://bit.ly/aUuzqW #ukelection #ge2010 02 May 2010 04:18:29 via web

# Scottish independence would reduce terror threat, says leading police expert - http://bit.ly/cp4gek #ukelection #ge2010 02 May 2010 02:25:05 via web

# Well done to Graeme Dott at the World #Snooker Championship - what a gritty performance. 02 May 2010 01:13:33 via web

# @weedunks - You've lost me, I'm afraid. You're on course to finish miles behind the SNP - where is the scope for gloating? #ukelection 02 May 2010 01:10:22 via web in reply to weedunks

# @Barrie14 - Don't be daft. If the "SNP will let in the Tories" lie is all you lot have got left, things really are desperate. #ukelection 02 May 2010 01:08:11 via web in reply to Barrie14

# @brucerisk - If you're worried about the Tories being right-wing, the left-of-centre SNP are a better bet than Tory-lite New Labour. #ge2010 01 May 2010 18:00:56 via web

# Fascinating that the SNP are ahead in YouGov Westminster voting intentions with the over-55s - and they're more likely to vote. #ukelection 01 May 2010 17:46:53 via web

# @dhothersall - Yah boo to you too! Vote SNP because Scotland needs champions! #ukelection #ge2010 01 May 2010 17:30:33 via web

# @dhothersall - Glad we agree on something, although it's a great pity your own party doesn't support PR for the Commons. #ukelection #ge2010 01 May 2010 17:23:51 via web

# @dhothersall - 'Projections' about Ochil have got nothing to do with Holyrood elections - the polls suggest on UNS Labour will lose. #ge2010 01 May 2010 17:22:53 via web

# @dhothersall Incidentally, I'm surprised you're so negative about a balanced parliament, as it's Labour's only chance of holding on! #ge2010 01 May 2010 17:17:11 via web

# @dhothersall - You're a brave man saying that when Ochil is so ultra-marginal to the SNP. Several other possibles as well. #ukelection 01 May 2010 17:16:17 via web

# @dhothersall - Voting SNP isn't a vote for either a Labour or Tory govt, it's a vote for SNP influence in a balanced parliament. #ukelection 01 May 2010 17:02:57 via web

# Memo to 'Jackanory' Jim Murphy : be careful what you wish for. New blog post - http://bit.ly/bvoKoF #ukelection #ge2010 #scotlandspeaks 01 May 2010 16:58:48 via web

# @dhothersall - So, be honest, does that mean you thought Jim Murphy was wrong when he demanded that Salmond take part? #ukelection 01 May 2010 16:51:47 via web

# @dhothersall - You're veering off-message, I'm afraid. Labour were supposed to be outraged that Salmond WASN'T taking part. #ukelection 01 May 2010 16:28:49 via web

# @RealMcP - Got a glossy bar-chart that 'proves' 2nd placed SNP are somehow less 'relevant' in Linlithgow than 3rd placed Lib Dem? #ge2010 01 May 2010 16:16:24 via web

# @weedunks - Whereas the Tories would be fainting with amazement if they were back up to the level of Thatcher at her most hated. #ukelection 01 May 2010 16:06:41 via web

# New blog post : The logic of the Guardian's stance is a vote for the SNP in many constituencies - http://bit.ly/aXsjou #ukelection #ge2010 01 May 2010 04:07:58 via web

# The Tories must be dismayed at tonight's YouGov given recent events - still looking good for a balanced parliament. #ge2010 #ukelection 01 May 2010 00:54:11 via web

# Finally caught up with last week's #DoctorWho on iplayer - what a fantastic episode. 01 May 2010 00:41:23 via web

# @JimGR - Agreed, Salmond was on top form last night. #ge2010 #leadersdebate #scotlandspeaks 30 April 2010 16:53:31 via web

# Were the instant polls on last night's #leadersdebate grossly misleading? New blog post - http://bit.ly/9cRbU3 #ukelection #ge2010 30 April 2010 16:42:44 via web

# New blog post on Brown's bizarre pride in boys being left behind in higher education - http://bit.ly/aBrefN #leadersdebate #ukelection 30 April 2010 03:04:47 via web

# @brucebroughton - Actually he just wanted fair representation in the debates. May be a tough concept, but he actually meant it. #ukelection 30 April 2010 01:42:19 via web

# New blog post : Labour shows itself to be on the wrong side of the true dividing line on voting reform - http://bit.ly/9h4nHc #ukelection 30 April 2010 01:30:15 via web

# Was Cameron sponsored by Mothercare in these debates? It's become a bit of an obsession. #leadersdebate #ukelection 30 April 2010 00:48:26 via web

# A masterclass from Salmond on Question Time tonight, showing just how much he'd have brought to the #leadersdebate . #scotlandspeaks #ge2010 30 April 2010 00:33:41 via web

# @tomgristwood - I'm glad you made the point that parties representing 35 seats from 646 weren't there. That's the injustice. #leadersdebate 30 April 2010 00:31:31 via web

# Cursory mention of SNP - is that the 'clear signposting' that magically makes this show 'fair and balanced'? #leadersdebate #scotlandspeaks 29 April 2010 21:22:03 via txt

# Renewables is a devolved matter - no clarification from Dimbleby. #scotlandspeaks #leadersdebate #ge2010 29 April 2010 21:17:32 via txt

# Let's hope 'The Final Debate' really is the final of these rigged debates - ever. #scotlandspeaks #leadersdebate #ukelection 29 April 2010 20:37:07 via txt

# YouGov shows the only 'Mrs. Duffy' effect is 3% switch from Lib Dem to others - SNP and Plaid reaping the benefit? #ge2010 #ukelection 29 April 2010 18:13:31 via web

# New blog post : Today is Bias Freedom Day, at least from 10pm - http://bit.ly/9flTyw #scotlandspeaks #ge2010 #leadersdebate #ukelection 29 April 2010 17:27:33 via web

# @tomgristwood - You might also want to consider that neither Labour or Liberal Democrats are 'national UK' parties - neither stand in NI. 29 April 2010 17:25:33 via web

# @tomgristwood - Incidentally, the SNP stand in 59 seats, not 40. In combination with Plaid and Mebyon Kernow, it's over 100. #leadersdebate 29 April 2010 17:24:26 via web

# @tomgristwood I feel for you mate, I know the London parties reckon us Jocks should be seen and not heard. Or preferably neither. #ge2010 29 April 2010 17:23:16 via web

# @tomgristwood - For the sake of democracy let's hope not, with so many political voices completely excluded. #leadersdebate #scotlandspeaks 29 April 2010 15:45:22 via web

# Not sure how a huge #leadersdebate backdrop of 'THE FINAL DEBATE' is going to assist the status of Sunday's Scottish debate. #scotlandspeaks 29 April 2010 14:34:10 via web

# Blog post : Could homophobic Tory candidate's suspension impact upon the national popular vote in Scotland? - http://bit.ly/aXt9GQ #ge2010 29 April 2010 01:18:52 via web

# I hear Coronation Street is going to be a real cracker tomorrow night. #scotlandspeaks #leadersdebate #ge2010 #ukelection 29 April 2010 01:09:38 via web

# John Curtice seems to think the Tories need even more than a 10-point lead for a majority because of the strength of the Lib Dems. #ge2010 29 April 2010 00:36:02 via web

# New blog post : Time to call the London establishment's bluff with a UK 'Free Alliance'? - http://bit.ly/9QWZEh #scotlandspeaks #ge2010 28 April 2010 15:59:56 via web

# With Lardner's demise, the Tories/Unionists are now standing in only 647 out of 650 seats. Less of a 'national UK' party by the day. #ge2010 28 April 2010 04:25:01 via web

# New blog post :Tories' wishful thinking that the SNP will give them an easier ride over electoral reform - http://bit.ly/b7veQx #ge2010 28 April 2010 01:32:14 via web

# Is Kirsty Wark ever going to learn to pronounce 'Plaid Cymru' correctly? Her efforts seem to be getting worse as the years go by. #ge2010 28 April 2010 00:23:09 via web

# Blog post : You know when you've been Paxoed, even if your name is Jeremy - http://bit.ly/bhyYFl #ge2010 #ukelection 27 April 2010 18:18:26 via web

# New blog post : Win or lose, the SNP's court action has had a galvanising effect on the party - http://bit.ly/bH23zC #ge2010 #ukelection 27 April 2010 16:44:56 via web

# Cameron : "I wrote the manifesto". Is that rather bold claim going to stand up to much scrutiny? #ge2010 #ukelection 27 April 2010 15:19:09 via web

# SNP's John Swinney handling the awkward questions with so much more authority than Clarke or Mandelson. #scotlandspeaks #ge2010 #ukelection 27 April 2010 14:46:31 via txt

# Blog post : ITN's Tom Bradby steps way over the mark with his biased musings on electoral reform - http://tiny.cc/p7ali #ge2010 #ukelection 27 April 2010 06:58:42 via web

# This 'Hung Parliament Party' broadcast is really all about that old Tory love that dare not speak its name : capital punishment. #ge2010 27 April 2010 06:30:21 via web

# @nickdonnelly - Jon Cruddas it the one decent option Labour have available, but I'm not sure they'd have the sense to go for him. #ge2010 27 April 2010 01:14:46 via web

# Tom Bradby's biased 'analysis' of the electoral reform issue was an absolute disgrace - what's he doing in that job? #ge2010 #ukelection 26 April 2010 18:46:07 via txt

# Latest ICM again points to hung parliament. Looks like @iaindale may have to get used to the distasteful realities of SNP influence. #ge2010 26 April 2010 18:03:55 via web

# @andrewjwalls - There's no such thing as a "national UK party" anyway, no party is standing in all 650 constituencies. #ge2010 #ukelection 26 April 2010 17:40:00 via web

# @andrewjwalls - So why were the SNP and Plaid given leaders' specials on a par with the "UK" Parties in 2001 and 2005? #ukelection #ge2010 26 April 2010 17:38:35 via web

# The weekly YouGov regional breaks show the Tories at just 14% (!) in Scotland. They really could be heading for calamity. #ukelection 26 April 2010 17:34:23 via web

# @eljmayes - It's a calculated insult, ie. "they're so insignificant I can't even remember what they've been called since 1989". #ge2010 26 April 2010 17:13:23 via web

# @davewibberley - Because there's no need to bother. We already have an elective dictatorship! #ge2010 #ukelection 26 April 2010 17:07:33 via web

# Amazing that the SNP have reached their £50,000 target to take legal action so quickly - shows how motivated the membership is. #ukelection 26 April 2010 17:03:52 via web

# @rayallger - I'm not sure I'd call Brown or Cameron heavyweights either (especially Cameron). #ge2010 #ukelection 26 April 2010 16:51:38 via web

# "Clegg effect" harming the Scottish Tories rather than the SNP? New blog post - http://tiny.cc/k04e5 #ge2010 #ukelection 26 April 2010 16:32:53 via web

# Fascinating that YouGov are no longer finding a higher swing to the Tories in the marginals - huge blow to them if true. #ge2010 #ukelection 26 April 2010 06:51:34 via web

# How dare the SNP seek power and influence in this election? New blog post - http://tiny.cc/a0348 #ge2010 #ukelection #votesnp 26 April 2010 02:16:10 via web

# Perhaps on reflection what Sky mean is that it's the first Scottish debate to be broadcast UK-wide, but that's a different point. #ge2010 26 April 2010 00:41:31 via web

# And strictly speaking it wasn't even a leaders' debate - the three London parties didn't put up their official Scottish leaders. #ge2010 26 April 2010 00:37:49 via web

# What on earth are Sky prattling on about - the "first ever Scottish TV leaders' debate"? They've taken place regularly for years. #ge2010 26 April 2010 00:36:26 via web

# SNP's Stewart Hosie showing fantastic command of his brief on the BBC's economy debate. #scotlandspeaks #ge2010 25 April 2010 22:49:46 via txt

# New blog post about the SNP's legal challenge to their total exclusion from the TV election debates - http://tiny.cc/0ztn9 #ge2010 25 April 2010 20:48:37 via web

# If even Hamish Macdonell reckons Alex Salmond won the #leadersdebate, then it must be true. #ge2010 #ukelection #scotlandspeaks 25 April 2010 18:39:52 via web

# Latest YouGov points again to the likely SNP influence in a hung parliament that @iaindale is, if I may say, "bleating" about. #ge2010 25 April 2010 18:36:09 via web

# @iaindale - Just keep doing what you're doing, mate. Nothing helps the SNP cause like the latest bit of Tory Jock-bashing. #votesnp #ge2010 25 April 2010 18:33:51 via web

# The SNP campaign message is clearly breaking through rather well if it's got under the skin of @iaindale so much. Encouraging stuff. #ge2010 25 April 2010 18:32:27 via web

# Well done to Nicola Sturgeon for sneaking in the plug for the #leadersdebate fundraising drive on The Politics Show! #scotlandspeaks #ge2010 25 April 2010 14:57:17 via txt

# Glad Murphy has well and truly been rumbled this time - couldn't believe how many thought he edged the last debate. #scotlandspeaks #ge2010 25 April 2010 12:04:38 via web

# Great to hear that Salmond is going to court. Win or lose, right move. There's too much at stake not to test this matter. #ge2010 25 April 2010 12:00:08 via web

# No surprise to see a clear win for Salmond in the #leadersdebate - and no wonder the London parties banned him from the main ones. #ge2010 25 April 2010 11:56:31 via web

# Why Cameron's 'unelected PM' proposal is half-baked constitutional vandalism that would have to be revisited - http://tiny.cc/w13n4 #ge2010 25 April 2010 04:25:16 via web

# @GordonWright - Even if it was done strictly on past UK voting proportions, the SNP seemed to be short of their 3% share of the TV debates. 24 April 2010 23:21:23 via web

# @UK_SPECTRE - What an absolutely bizarre point! The SNP are completely committed to the ECHR. #ge2010 24 April 2010 23:12:02 via web

# @jboulton - Home didn't call an election, he waited until he was legally obliged to, a year after being appointed PM. #ge2010 #ukelection 24 April 2010 23:10:40 via web

# @LADollhouse - Good analogy, the British public always vote for the wrong song at Eurovision as well. #ge2010 #ukelection 24 April 2010 23:07:36 via web

# @UK_SPECTRE - Because the BNP are opposed to human rights? Bit of a no-brainer, taht one. #ge2010 #ukelection 24 April 2010 23:03:18 via web

# My 'couldn't-be-more-local' Labour candidate is 300 miles less local than the SNP candidate. New blog post - http://tiny.cc/7dbpp #ge2010 24 April 2010 22:15:12 via web

# Are we just two weeks from the day electoral reform ceases to be a 'chattering classes' issue? New blog post - http://tiny.cc/g9qvp #ge2010 24 April 2010 01:49:19 via web

# Post-debate opinion polls confirm the SNP and Plaid are still on course for a huge opportunity in a potential balanced parliament. #ge2010 24 April 2010 00:35:16 via web

# When the Fermanagh unionist candidate says he''ll follow the Tory whip when it suits him, does that include on the NI spending cuts? #ge2010 24 April 2010 00:31:57 via web

# Cameron's gaffe confirms the SNP were always spot on about the spending axe falling disproportionately in places like Scotland. #ge2010 24 April 2010 00:28:34 via web

# Huge Tory public spending cuts in the northeast and Northern Ireland - go on Dave, own up to going for the hat-trick with Scotland. #ge2010 24 April 2010 00:25:23 via web

# @conchdev YouGov is "widely recognised" as the most credible by who? Its methodology was being roundly rubbished by Tories a few weeks ago. 23 April 2010 04:05:32 via web

# A taste of how the SNP and Plaid could easily have been accommodated in the #leadershipdebate ? New blog post - http://tiny.cc/sl2vu #ge2010 23 April 2010 03:01:43 via web

# @conchdev In what sense is #YouGov the "benchmark"? I didn't notice Populus before, but put the four polls together and it's a tie. #ge2010 23 April 2010 00:50:00 via web

# @conchdev - Two out of three polls (ComRes and Angus Reid) show Cameron losing the debate, albeit narrowly. #ge2010 #leadersdebate 23 April 2010 00:28:50 via web

# #leadersdebate ratings - Salmond 10, Clegg 6, Brown 5, Cameron 4. You can't lose points if you're not allowed to speak. #ge2010 #ukelection 23 April 2010 00:18:02 via web

# Well done to former Labour spin-doctor Lorraine Davidson for saying that excluding SNP from the #leadersdebate is 'profoundly undemocratic'. 23 April 2010 00:15:37 via web

# Boulton failed to clarify that the care for elderly issue does not apply to Scotland. #leadersdebates #scotlandspeaks 22 April 2010 21:04:51 via txt

# 10.30am for the Scottish debate?! Is this equality of treatment? They're having a laugh. #scotlandspeaks #ge2010 22 April 2010 20:49:22 via txt

# Bogus argument between 3 men who all want to keep nuclear weapons- SNP banned from putting alternative view. #scotlandspeaks #leadersdebates 22 April 2010 20:24:23 via txt

# The Mail's obsession with Clegg's "Dutch mother" and "Russian grandparent" says more about the Mail than anyone else. #ge2010 #ukelection 22 April 2010 04:47:07 via web

# Well done to @iaindale for calling out the right-wing press on their disgraceful tactics. #ge2010 22 April 2010 04:34:15 via web

# New blog post about Labour's double-standards over its attitudes towards the SNP and SDLP - http://tiny.cc/sx2s2 #ge2010 #ukelection 22 April 2010 03:16:29 via web

# @A_C_McGregor - I know, but there's no point in not doing it either. It looks like she/he/it will carry on regardless! #ge2010 22 April 2010 01:27:39 via web

# @heatheryone - I so have some thoughts on that subject, but I have a feeling they might be the wrong gender for you... @ge2010 22 April 2010 01:25:00 via web

# @sara_sands - And it's not even true that Clegg wants to abandon nuclear weapons. The SNP and Plaid do, but not the Lib Dems. #ge2010 22 April 2010 01:20:14 via web

# @sara_sands - Come off it. I'm not a Lib Dem, but Clegg is not "in favour of an Iranian bomb". Not even George Galloway is! #ge2010 22 April 2010 01:17:09 via web

# Thought it was strange that, after all the contrivance, A. Stewart didn't bother uttering the words 'PM Debates'. #ge2010 #scotlandspeaks 21 April 2010 16:51:00 via web

# My response (as 'Vakava') to Crick's revelation that the logic for banning SNP from the debates is unravelling, http://tiny.cc/fz48i #ge2010 21 April 2010 16:48:46 via web

# You can't vote directly on May 6 for a balanced parliament and the opportunities it brings, but you can here - http://tiny.cc/jo4nf #ge2010 21 April 2010 16:20:43 via web

# SNP website is rated the third best out of ten UK parties. Not a bad effort! - http://tiny.cc/8rhx8 #ge2010 #ukelection 21 April 2010 16:10:20 via web

# One of the few inbuilt advantages the SNP have in TV coverage during this election - Jim Mather's parliamentary speech on BBC2 now! #ge2010 21 April 2010 15:21:42 via web

# Blog post reflecting on the Scottish election debate - http://tiny.cc/d2dwy #ge2010 #scotlandspeaks 21 April 2010 05:25:34 via web

# Curious that I can find very little sign on the Sun's website of their latest poll putting the Tories 3% behind. #ge2010 #ukelection 21 April 2010 05:19:43 via web

# @mikejulietbravo - I'm in deepest darkest Lanarkshire. 21 April 2010 00:52:32 via web

# @RichinWeston - The lesson of the SNP's win in 2007 is that arguments for the Union based solely on fear are now a busted flush. #ge2010 21 April 2010 00:47:59 via web

# @mikejulietbravo - Cheeky! Along with half the population of the west of Scotland I have an Irish surname! 21 April 2010 00:39:43 via web

# @pasm69 - Absolutely. The SNP in a position to extract concessions from a Lib Dem-led government is just about my dream outcome. #ge2010 21 April 2010 00:28:02 via web

# @mikejulietbravo If it's any comfort Mike, every bit of Jock-bashing helps the SNP cause along no end. You're not wasting your time! #ge2010 21 April 2010 00:26:15 via web

# Will tonight's outlier ComRes poll have a distorting impact on the campaign? Blog post - http://tiny.cc/kl7gz #ge2010 #ukelection 21 April 2010 00:12:45 via web

# @mikejulietbravo - You must be joking. If Brown had the beating of Salmond he'd never have run away from debating with him. #ge2010 21 April 2010 00:10:09 via web

# @Sneckster - hopefully the parties that believe in electoral reform (LDs, Nats) will do well enough to make the change themselves. #ge2010 20 April 2010 17:41:38 via web

# Comres promise 'humdinger of a poll' tonight - the Tories to fall behind? Or a three-way tie? #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 17:24:04 via web

# @dhothersall - We've come full circle. The SNP's clout depends on the balance of the arithmetic, NOT on the absolute number of LDs. #ge2010 20 April 2010 16:45:13 via web

# @dhothersall - The whole point about 74-79 is that the SNP had influence because the Liberals DIDN'T always side with the govt. #ge2010 20 April 2010 16:35:17 via web

# @dhothersall - Your entire argument has been based on the SNP winning only 7 seats, which is a complete assumption, and you know it. #ge2010 20 April 2010 16:28:28 via web

# @dhothersall - So unless someone else is prepared to take the electorate for granted, 7 is the automatic default number? Bizarre. #ge2010 20 April 2010 16:23:51 via web

# @dhothersall - I picked you up on it simply because I don't think the electorate should be taken for granted. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 16:17:15 via web

# @dhothersall - I'm happy to let the voters decide, but on those figures several Labour seats are in play for the SNP. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 16:08:48 via web

# @dhothersall - Haven't you seen the Angus Reid sample putting the SNP just two points behind Labour? This election is wide open. #ge2010 20 April 2010 15:52:52 via web

# @dhothersall - And who has decreed the SNP will only be winning 7 seats? Surely not Labour taking the electorate for granted? #ge2010 20 April 2010 15:47:00 via web

# @CNDuk - "Kate Hudson backs SNP" is quite a coup for us by any standards! #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 15:38:53 via web

# @dhothersall - I'd also say it's something of an affront to the democratic process to dismiss ANY vote as a 'wasted' vote. #ge2010 20 April 2010 15:34:38 via web

# @dhothersall - Greens in Holyrood are the fifth party, with 2 seats, and have huge sway. SNP would have stronger position than that. #ge2010 20 April 2010 15:33:24 via web

# @dhothersall - If there is a minority government, absolutely the situation is like 74-79, and the SNP/Plaid will have similar sway. #ge2010 20 April 2010 15:11:45 via web

# @dhothersall - Your logic is awry, I fear. The SNP's influence depends on the balance of the arithmetic, not on number of Lib seats. #ge2010 20 April 2010 15:05:52 via web

# @dhothersall If you think Nats in a balanced parliament can't win concessions for their country, take a look at the 1974-79 period. #ge2010 20 April 2010 14:54:39 via web

# @iaindale - What chance do you think we'd have of getting Sky's Scottish leaders' debate shown live on the BBC? #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:43:36 via web

# @banditcountry - I agree, the Australian variant of STV (and of AV for that matter) seems pretty awful. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:33:33 via web

# @banditcountry - I agree, the Australian variant of STV (and of AV for that matter) seems pretty awful. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:33:33 via web

# @banditcountry - I agree, the Australian variant of STV (and of AV for that matter) seems pretty awful. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:33:33 via web

# @banditcountry - It was referring to STV (which is the Lib Dems' and SNP's favoured system), but not by name. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:27:34 via web

# @banditcountry - It was referring to STV (which is the Lib Dems' and SNP's favoured system), but not by name. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:27:34 via web

# @banditcountry - It was referring to STV (which is the Lib Dems' and SNP's favoured system), but not by name. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:27:34 via web

# @Altechy - John Curtice in SoS says SNP share was same before and after debate - http://tiny.cc/fx98d - Angus Reid subsample shows similar. 20 April 2010 14:24:25 via web

# @Altechy - John Curtice in SoS says SNP share was same before and after debate - http://tiny.cc/fx98d - Angus Reid subsample shows similar. 20 April 2010 14:24:25 via web

# @Altechy - John Curtice in SoS says SNP share was same before and after debate - http://tiny.cc/fx98d - Angus Reid subsample shows similar. 20 April 2010 14:24:25 via web

# @banditcountry - There was a poll just the other day that showed PR is overwhelmingly popular in the UK. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:20:22 via web

# @banditcountry - There was a poll just the other day that showed PR is overwhelmingly popular in the UK. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:20:22 via web

# @banditcountry - There was a poll just the other day that showed PR is overwhelmingly popular in the UK. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:20:22 via web

# @thekennel - You'll be disappointed when you see those polls - as of this moment the Tories are heading for defeat! #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:09:42 via web

# @thekennel - You'll be disappointed when you see those polls - as of this moment the Tories are heading for defeat! #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:09:42 via web

# @thekennel - You'll be disappointed when you see those polls - as of this moment the Tories are heading for defeat! #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:09:42 via web

# @Altechy The post debate polls in Scotland seem to suggest the Lib Dem surge is hurting Labour, not the SNP. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:07:08 via web

# @Altechy The post debate polls in Scotland seem to suggest the Lib Dem surge is hurting Labour, not the SNP. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:07:08 via web

# @Altechy The post debate polls in Scotland seem to suggest the Lib Dem surge is hurting Labour, not the SNP. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 14:07:08 via web

# Could hardly be a more propitious moment for the SNP manifesto launch, with a balanced parliament now looking so likely. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 13:56:32 via web

# Could hardly be a more propitious moment for the SNP manifesto launch, with a balanced parliament now looking so likely. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 13:56:32 via web

# Could hardly be a more propitious moment for the SNP manifesto launch, with a balanced parliament now looking so likely. #ge2010 #ukelection 20 April 2010 13:56:32 via web

# How is the STV debate tonight supposed to even begin to balance out last week's rigged one when it's only 2/3rds as long? #scotlandspeaks 20 April 2010 13:45:33 via web

# How is the STV debate tonight supposed to even begin to balance out last week's rigged one when it's only 2/3rds as long? #scotlandspeaks 20 April 2010 13:45:33 via web

# How is the STV debate tonight supposed to even begin to balance out last week's rigged one when it's only 2/3rds as long? #scotlandspeaks 20 April 2010 13:45:33 via web

# BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson on Nick Clegg - "meet the man who won't be PM". So what is he doing in the "Prime Ministerial" Debates? 09 April 2010 00:54:09 via web

# BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson on Nick Clegg - "meet the man who won't be PM". So what is he doing in the "Prime Ministerial" Debates? 09 April 2010 00:54:09 via web

# BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson on Nick Clegg - "meet the man who won't be PM". So what is he doing in the "Prime Ministerial" Debates? 09 April 2010 00:54:09 via web

# Blog post : Angus Robertson for Prime Minister! - http://tiny.cc/nBt7c 03 March 2010 05:18:55 via web

# Blog post : Angus Robertson for Prime Minister! - http://tiny.cc/nBt7c 03 March 2010 05:18:55 via web

# Does snow on the ground count as a White Christmas? Technically probably not, but it certainly feels like one... 25 December 2009 01:57:29 via web

# As per advice from @scots_subrosa I managed to see one meteor just when I was giving up hope. Amazing given the mist. 14 December 2009 00:38:45 via web

# Jonathan Pearce on World Cup draw - "who do we get?" Says it all, really. 04 December 2009 18:11:03 via web

# "Make MPs sit through August", says Hannan. As an alternative punishment, they could just be made to sit through one of Hannan's speeches. 26 November 2009 05:06:30 via web

# If the huge inbuilt advantage of his blog could only take him to third in an open primary, is Iain Dale fated never to enter parliament? 17 October 2009 23:53:57 via web

# Big Brother's Mikey to stand in Glasgow NE - at least he appears to have a reason for standing (and some policies of his own) unlike Smeato. 15 October 2009 17:37:35 via web

# "Nationalism an emotion" says Doctor Who fan Tom Harris. Better that than his own cold hard Cyber-logic of power-at-all-costs triangulation. 15 October 2009 16:38:46 via web

# Respected Labour poster on PoliticalBetting.com reckons Brown has only a 25% chance of leading the party into the GE. I'm a bit dubious... 15 October 2009 06:51:16 via web

# #foramilliondollars I'd canvass for the Labour party in Glasgow NE. With a grimace. 15 October 2009 06:44:00 via web

# C4 News - the UK Border Agency spokesman seemed to think the detention of children was all the fault of the Children's Society! 13 October 2009 23:43:23 via web

# Although I'm still trying to work out the exact nature of Murdoch's elaborate masterplan concerning the stance of the Scottish Sun... 13 October 2009 17:08:08 via web

# The Murdoch masterplan continues. The Times homepage gives pride of place to Libby Purves saying - "Content is not free. Writing is work." 13 October 2009 17:02:16 via web

# The most expensive photo of my life, I dropped my mobile phone into the sea as I took it! - http://tiny.cc/ZvDvG 12 October 2009 23:55:10 via web

# @linzaddy - Because there's a new series on the way. Well, apparently! 10 October 2009 16:10:23 via web

# Not surprised at the government selling Gary McKinnon down the river, but I'm saddened the courts are giving him no protection whatsoever. 10 October 2009 02:14:31 via web

# @RhianAlyssa - But there's a bigger picture as well. Better relations with Russia and Muslims could head off any number of conflicts. 10 October 2009 02:05:17 via web

# @jessepriest - I take you'd be keen for him to pull American troops out of Afghanistan, then? 10 October 2009 02:02:01 via web

# @embjackson - As much as anything, I'd see it as encouragement for him to make good on his goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons. 10 October 2009 01:39:06 via web

# @Steve__N - Now that's a very good reason for questioning the choice of Obama, certainly better than the others I've heard all day. 10 October 2009 01:35:11 via web

# @mzmeshad - He's the former UN chief. But according to Wikipedia I was wrong - Wangari Muta Maathai of Kenya won in 2004 (Annan was in 2001) 10 October 2009 01:24:41 via web

# Ah, a quick check of Wikipedia shows I was wrong! 10 October 2009 01:22:34 via web

# @mzmeshad - Probably Kofi Annan, I would have thought. 10 October 2009 01:18:20 via web

# @StormSearch - Odd use of the word 'widespread'. Try 'very mixed reaction' instead. On the opposite side of the fence - http://tiny.cc/23OVL 10 October 2009 01:12:22 via web

# @StormSearch - If it reduced the risk of a devastating war occurring in the first place, of course it would bolster peace. 09 October 2009 18:06:59 via web

# @StormSearch - I doubt the Republicans would want to 'address' that. He was criticising us for releasing Megrahi on compassionate grounds. 09 October 2009 18:05:54 via web

# @redsoxunixgeek - A USA-Russia conflict would be the greatest cataclysm. Anything that reduces tensions with Russia must reduce that risk. 09 October 2009 18:04:05 via web

# @StormSearch - If you hadn't noticed, Obama has been fairly scathing about Scotland in recent weeks. I'm being magnanimous in response! 09 October 2009 17:56:28 via web

# @redsoxunixgeek - If 'pandering' reduces the risk of a nuclear conflict, that's the sort of thing the Committee is supposed to recognise. 09 October 2009 17:51:48 via web

# @ryanpdixon - Perhaps you'd better 'educate' me then. The factual inaccuracy was where, exactly? 09 October 2009 17:49:36 via web

# @StormSearch - John Bolton was going on about his 'Scottish heritage' recently as well. Sounds like all the 'enlightened' ones stayed here! 09 October 2009 17:46:57 via web

# @ryanpdixon - I'm more of a social democrat than a liberal, actually, but I'll let it pass... 09 October 2009 17:40:36 via web

# @ryanpdixon - SCRAPPED MISSILE DEFENCE! That is the answer. (And committed himself to fewer nuclear weapons, and reached out to the Arabs.) 09 October 2009 17:35:39 via web

# @ryanpdixon - Bush didn't win because he wasn't exactly keeping the rest of the world 'safe'. It's a world prize. 09 October 2009 17:32:24 via web

# @StormSearch - An enlightened man for reflecting further on the matter and changing his view, then! 09 October 2009 17:23:46 via web

# The final YouGov conference tracker Scottish subsample - Others (inc. SNP) 35%, Conservatives 26%, Labour 24%, Liberal Democrats 15%. 09 October 2009 17:20:50 via web

# Mark Mardell thinks the only two British winners of the Nobel Peace Prize were Henderson and Chamberlain. Hope Trimble doesn't read that... 09 October 2009 17:13:47 via web

# @StormSearch - I'm Scottish so SNL is not exactly required viewing. But there's the scrapping of the missile defence programme for starters. 09 October 2009 16:59:19 via web

# @StormSearch - Doesn't matter when he was nominated, the Committee can take into account what he's done since then. 09 October 2009 16:56:38 via web

# ConHome talks of an 'eclectic', 'mixed' set of local by-election results yesterday. Translation - the Tory vote down in three out of four! 09 October 2009 16:03:16 via web

# David Freud's 'confession' - "I've always been a Conservative". The real question, after *that* report, is how could anyone have doubted it? 09 October 2009 01:48:15 via web

# Why does Cameron keep pointing to imaginary objects in the middle distance as if he's a male model? Oh right, I was forgetting. 08 October 2009 15:37:27 via web

# Cameron - "you should not live off the hard work of others". But isn't that the very essence of massive inherited wealth? 08 October 2009 15:12:15 via web

# Well done PASOK in Greece - refreshing to see the left can still win somewhere in Europe! The right's success was getting a bit uncanny. 05 October 2009 06:05:06 via web

# Slightly getting the impression the Irish yes side are choreographing their celebrations in Dublin Castle to mimic the No side last year. 03 October 2009 16:46:47 via web

# I woke up this morning with the theme tune to Rentaghost going round in my head. I haven't thought about Rentaghost for...a while. Weird. 01 October 2009 15:44:42 via web

# Brilliant from Gordon Brewer to Iain Gray - "will it come to you in the bath?" The wider question is, will it come to him in Portuguese? 01 October 2009 04:34:42 via web

# Odd that the Telegraph cited Lockerbie as a reason for Alex Salmond slipping in their top left-wingers' list. Haven't they seen the polls? 28 September 2009 16:35:48 via web

# John Smeaton to stand in Glasgow NE? Hard to guess the effect, but quite honestly he wouldn't get my vote, even if I wasn't an SNP backer. 25 September 2009 02:10:54 via web

# Aaaaaargh! Just watching ABC News - "the leaders of Germany, France and England say..." The ignorance is ... http://lnk.ms/0d90N 25 September 2009 01:47:46 via MySpace

# Chris Huhne claims the Lib Dems control Edinburgh "outright" - ahem. 25 September 2009 00:08:49 via web

# Fraser Nelson looked utterly devastated that his fame hasn't yet spread as far as...people actually knowing which way round his name goes. 24 September 2009 23:41:59 via web

# Never thought I'd find myself cheering on an Orange Booker so much on #bbcqt - Heseltine 2, Laws 3 I scored it. 24 September 2009 23:36:15 via web

# Will the Tories become keener on Bercow now that he's made a joke about Peter Mandelson? Mind you, they didn't become keener on Prescott. 24 September 2009 18:05:31 via web

# And it's getting to the point where it would almost be refreshing to see a leader's speech delivered from behind a lectern, with an autocue. 24 September 2009 02:51:36 via web

# At one stage during Clegg's speech, I was sure I saw Paddy Ashdown mutter "that's a good point, actually". Talk about faint praise... 24 September 2009 02:23:21 via web

# So Jim Murphy has challenged Alex Salmond to a 'head-to-head' debate? I think we've just found a new definition of the term 'no-brainer'. 22 September 2009 01:32:27 via web

# "Ray Winstone meets frontline troops" - has he usurped Gordon Brown while I was sleeping or something? 17 September 2009 17:39:16 via web

# Missile defence - when John Bolton thinks something is an "unambiguously bad decision", we can all sleep a little more soundly in our beds. 17 September 2009 16:24:13 via web

# Staring at a real, live polo mint for the first time in years. Oh, the memories...actually, it's making me shudder. 16 September 2009 14:28:28 via web

# Bit bemused to spot myself on a delightful list by @TonyAllegreedy. Think he might have slightly misconstrued my tweet about Joe Wilson? 16 September 2009 03:04:43 via web

# Just heard about an American who sent an angry e-mail to Kenny MacAskill, and got a response saying "thankyou for your support". Not bad! 16 September 2009 02:42:09 via web

# Can't understand the outrage over the holiday sickness proposal. I've been on holiday and I've been sick and the two weren't very similar. 15 September 2009 16:06:34 via web

# The end of Derren Brown's lottery "explanation" - genuinely brlliant. 11 September 2009 22:03:05 via web

# It seems a certain Joe Wilson has helpfully proved the point I made in my last blog post - by apologising. How rude! 11 September 2009 03:14:12 via web

# That Telegraph article also implies John Swinney is a 'fundamentalist'...ahem. 09 September 2009 17:12:26 via web

# That Telegraph article also implies John Swinney is a 'fundamentalist'...ahem. 09 September 2009 17:12:26 via web

# If Alex Salmond said "my name is Alex", the Telegraph headline would be "SNP leader's humiliating U-turn on name". 09 September 2009 17:11:44 via web

# If Alex Salmond said "my name is Alex", the Telegraph headline would be "SNP leader's humiliating U-turn on name". 09 September 2009 17:11:44 via web

# 'The truth shall set you free', says the home page of Conservapedia. In other words, 'what are you doing here?' 05 September 2009 18:10:23 via web

# 'The truth shall set you free', says the home page of Conservapedia. In other words, 'what are you doing here?' 05 September 2009 18:10:23 via web

# I would ask why Eric Joyce has resigned, but on past form his response would be "I'm not going to answer any questions about my family". 03 September 2009 19:50:20 via web

# I would ask why Eric Joyce has resigned, but on past form his response would be "I'm not going to answer any questions about my family". 03 September 2009 19:50:20 via web

# Just 24 hours on, and David Maddox's claim of a "historic" vote in Holyrood on Megrahi is already looking like...fish-and-chip paper. 03 September 2009 19:47:46 via web

# Just 24 hours on, and David Maddox's claim of a "historic" vote in Holyrood on Megrahi is already looking like...fish-and-chip paper. 03 September 2009 19:47:46 via web

# James Murdoch criticises a 'chilling media monopoly' - you're having a laugh, ain't ya? 30 August 2009 03:24:49 via web

# James Murdoch criticises a 'chilling media monopoly' - you're having a laugh, ain't ya? 30 August 2009 03:24:49 via web

# Well done, Annabel - 'our excellent NHS'... 24 August 2009 14:58:31 via web

# Well done, Annabel - 'our excellent NHS'... 24 August 2009 14:58:31 via web

# Let's see. MacAskill now has two-and-a-half years' ministerial experience, as does Salmond. Whereas Menzies Campbell...remind me again? 22 August 2009 01:37:15 via web

# Let's see. MacAskill now has two-and-a-half years' ministerial experience, as does Salmond. Whereas Menzies Campbell...remind me again? 22 August 2009 01:37:15 via web

# So Menzies Campbell again makes a pompous twit of himself by borrowing Gordon Brown's phrase "no time for a novice" for a second time. 22 August 2009 01:36:59 via web

# So Menzies Campbell again makes a pompous twit of himself by borrowing Gordon Brown's phrase "no time for a novice" for a second time. 22 August 2009 01:36:59 via web

# Is he even aware of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review findings? If it was a serious question, Iain, that might be the place to start. 21 August 2009 00:05:03 via web

# Is he even aware of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review findings? If it was a serious question, Iain, that might be the place to start. 21 August 2009 00:05:03 via web

# Iain, by contrast, is sure Megrahi is guilty. Does he actually have a clue why he thinks that? 21 August 2009 00:02:52 via web

# Iain, by contrast, is sure Megrahi is guilty. Does he actually have a clue why he thinks that? 21 August 2009 00:02:52 via web

# Incredible. Iain Dale is appalled that people are convinced Megrahi is innocent 'without knowing why'. 21 August 2009 00:01:49 via web

# Incredible. Iain Dale is appalled that people are convinced Megrahi is innocent 'without knowing why'. 21 August 2009 00:01:49 via web

# Good grief. The new Cold War is between the US and...Scotland. Seems I've been a veritable pioneer for the last few months. 20 August 2009 23:59:24 via web

# Good grief. The new Cold War is between the US and...Scotland. Seems I've been a veritable pioneer for the last few months. 20 August 2009 23:59:24 via web

# They say all's fair in love and war, but at least war has a Geneva Convention. 20 August 2009 05:04:10 via web

# They say all's fair in love and war, but at least war has a Geneva Convention. 20 August 2009 05:04:10 via web

# We're closing in on a clean sweep of 'Scottish sports' in the Olympics - golf, curling, rugby sevens...shinty for 2020? 13 August 2009 22:59:46 via web

# We're closing in on a clean sweep of 'Scottish sports' in the Olympics - golf, curling, rugby sevens...shinty for 2020? 13 August 2009 22:59:46 via web

# Amusing that Ceefax listed the headline 'Alan Duncan will not be sacked' under the subject-matter 'RATIONS'. 13 August 2009 22:56:28 via web

# Amusing that Ceefax listed the headline 'Alan Duncan will not be sacked' under the subject-matter 'RATIONS'. 13 August 2009 22:56:28 via web

# #welovetheNHS Of course the NHS in Scotland is truer to the founding principles, but even NHS England is100 times better than the US system. 13 August 2009 16:13:23 via web

# #welovetheNHS Of course the NHS in Scotland is truer to the founding principles, but even NHS England is100 times better than the US system. 13 August 2009 16:13:23 via web

# Yahoo Answers could be more accurately titled 'Yahoo Come And Be Randomly Insulted By Cretins'. 28 July 2009 04:44:36 via txt

# "Woman jailed for embezzling money from Tories." Surely a commemorative medal would have been more in order? 09 July 2009 00:40:13 via web

# Bizarrely, I saw Kerr in a play at my local church hall last year, and I kept thinking "that guy looks familiar from somewhere..." 04 July 2009 00:24:26 via web

# Oh please let the story about David Kerr be true, it's hard to think of a better candidate. 04 July 2009 00:22:25 via web

# Alan Cochrane, Iain Gray, Magnus Linklater, Annabel Goldie, Ross Finnie, Gordon Brown, Jim Murphy. An 'insightful' line-up (says AM2). 02 July 2009 00:21:37 via web

# Can't believe the amount of empty seats on Centre Court for the start of Murray's match. 01 July 2009 15:25:21 via web

# Murray through, Milburn out. Not a bad day, all in all. And Murray gets to be British for a couple more days at least. 28 June 2009 01:54:46 via web

# Actually, what Dale is really saying is that Bercow is unworthy to be elected because he's arrogant enough to stand. He can't win, can he! 20 June 2009 00:45:24 via web

# Can't believe Iain Dale is still pompously saying John Bercow should pull out. 'Shouldn't win' is one thing, but 'shouldn't stand'? 20 June 2009 00:34:40 via web

# So David Maddox has outed himself as an FPTP dinosaur. He and Tom Harris should form their own wee party (with Harris as leader, naturally). 09 June 2009 15:39:48 via web

# Dennis MacShane talking gibberish on the #eu09 results programme as usual - the Lib Dems 'doubled their seats' in 2005. No, they didn't! 08 June 2009 00:27:05 via web

# Greek exit polls for #eu09 - at last, a victory of sorts for the left! 07 June 2009 18:11:09 via web

# At first I thought Alan Sugar was a uniquely awful appointment, but then I remembered Digby Jones. 06 June 2009 02:18:26 via web

# James Purnell is a difficult man to love. Admittedly, I've yet to attempt it. 05 June 2009 14:47:44 via web

# The BBC keep saying "a small consolation for Labour in Glasgow". Evidently they've yet to notice the 9.5% swing from Labour to SNP! 05 June 2009 04:34:25 via web

# 2:16 am. UKIP if you want to. The blogger's not for kipping. 05 June 2009 02:17:06 via web

# Ice cream van tunes are irritating at the best of times, but...'The Star Spangled Banner'? 28 May 2009 22:23:50 via web

# David Starkey reckons the new Speaker will have a 'slightly better accent'. So he's firmly ruled himself out of the running, then. 20 May 2009 05:57:12 via web

# Why did Lloyd-Webber keep looking away from the camera? Slightly defeated the purpose. #eurovision #esc 16 May 2009 22:02:15 via txt

# I'm starting to think I should have had Ireland on my #eurovision prediction list - the second best performance so far. 14 May 2009 20:37:43 via txt

# #eurovision - Oooh, now I don't know whether to vote for Portugal or Bosnia. Think Portugal may have the edge. 12 May 2009 21:19:14 via web

# #eurovision - Malta. the song is average, but Chiara is the best singer of the evening by some way. 12 May 2009 21:14:56 via web

# #eurovision - Portugal. Even better than I was expecting. The stage looked absolutely gorgeous. 12 May 2009 21:13:41 via web

# #eurovision - Finland. Pah, they've dispensed with the woolly hats from the video. Wasted opportunity. 12 May 2009 21:05:23 via web

# @kohlcass - I almost said dolphin as well but I wasn't sure! 12 May 2009 20:58:17 via web

# #eurovision - Iceland. Brilliant, deserves to win the whole thing. I even liked the random whale. 12 May 2009 20:55:44 via web

# #eurovision - Bulgaria. Phew, the stilts are out at last. 12 May 2009 20:50:40 via web

# #eurovision - Turkey. Still not the greatest story of all times. 12 May 2009 20:41:29 via web

# #eurovision - Andorra. Not a perfect performance by Susanne Georgi but hopefully it'll be enough. 12 May 2009 20:36:12 via web

# #eurovision - Armenia. No sarcasm this time - genuinely deserves to go through! 12 May 2009 20:30:16 via web

# Perhaps I have a blind spot about that song, though - everyone else seems to think it will qualify. 12 May 2009 20:26:08 via web

# #eurovision - Sweden. The wink really wasn't a good idea. Still a better idea than the song itself, though. 12 May 2009 20:24:21 via web

# #eurovision - Belarus. OK, now we're into the quality (he said with an almost straight face). 12 May 2009 20:20:49 via web

# #eurovision - Czech Republic, I somehow didn't recognise the full awfulness when I was only watching it on the internet. 12 May 2009 20:13:18 via web

# #eurovision - Montenegro, terrible song, but with the choreography that would have won the contest for Kate Ryan! 12 May 2009 20:10:48 via web

# Interesting there's now provision for a tied televote in the #eurovision rules. In the past I had the impression no-one had thought of that! 12 May 2009 16:28:22 via web

# Is it just me or has the David Maddox rant from yesterday mysteriously disappeared? 12 May 2009 16:22:45 via web

# Having now seen the interview, I have to ask - is Carrie Gracie the one person on the planet who can make George Foulkes sound reasonable? 12 May 2009 16:00:41 via web

# Surely the whip has got to be withdrawn from Lord Tebbit after what happened to Stuart Wheeler? 12 May 2009 15:31:42 via web

# OK, Iain Dale has gone back up in my estimation. He's just called George Foulkes 'oleaginous'. Just wish I knew what it meant... 12 May 2009 14:35:59 via web

# Iain Dale reckons Michael Gove is "completely in the clear" because Fraser Nelson says so. Oh well, say no more! 11 May 2009 01:18:34 via web

# Keith Mills reckons having Lloyd-Webber on stage will influence the juries but not the public vote. Other way round surely? 10 May 2009 15:18:15 via web

# Second rehearsal for Andorra sounds much better. My two favourites might both make it through yet! 08 May 2009 02:06:01 via web

# I just wish he'd say it's "clearly the worst song in the contest" and then on last year's form it would be guaranteed to sail through! 08 May 2009 00:51:36 via web

# Keith Mills now says Iceland have no chance of qualifying via the public vote, and will be relying on the juries. Hmmm, we'll see. 08 May 2009 00:50:34 via web

# I'm still trying to work out how Nadine Dorries reckons Trident isn't a weapon of mass destruction. 08 May 2009 00:47:09 via web

# A golden chance to voluntarily pay £60 to have your details stored on a government database. Tempting. 06 May 2009 15:10:45 via web

# But Keith's customary blind spots are showing with Iceland - he's got them as 'marginal' qualifiers even though the rehearsal was excellent. 05 May 2009 01:05:22 via web

# Keith Mills has written off Andorra (my second favourite), and for once he may have a point - the live performance is distinctly ropey. 05 May 2009 00:58:28 via web

# Ouch, David Butler is convinced the computer prediction is wrong on the 1979 replay. But in fact it's right and he's wrong. 04 May 2009 17:48:52 via web

# David Maddox seems to think that Margo MacDonald "lost her seat" in the 1979 election. Just five years out... 04 May 2009 17:41:20 via web

# I've just watched 'The Sky at Night' for the first time in years. Not intentionally, but it was weirdly absorbing! 04 May 2009 02:16:56 via web

# System 3 : big SNP leads for Holyrood, small deficit for the Westminster poll. Roughly in line with the last YouGov poll. Roll on June 4th! 03 May 2009 17:57:39 via web

# A potential expenses scandal involving James Purnell. They're the best sort. 03 May 2009 17:52:49 via web

# Just listened to Dale v Galloway, and to my surprise can only conclude the slanging-match was largely Dale's fault. 03 May 2009 01:43:24 via web

# Blears - Labour are "communicating badly". Alternatively, it could be they've been communicating what they've been doing only too clearly. 03 May 2009 01:25:29 via web

# Andrew Neil - scientists "cried wolf" over BSE. Hmmm. Does he mean when they told us for over a decade it wasn't transmissible to humans? 01 May 2009 00:27:25 via web

# Iain Dale is delighted to be no. 2 on a 'Flawed Top 50 UK Blogs List' - that confused me until I realised it's not a list of 'flawed blogs'! 30 April 2009 17:41:12 via web

# Sion Simon is now coming across as the old 'Only An Excuse' version of Dougie Vipond - "I do apologise..." 30 April 2009 16:09:16 via web

# Does anyone repect her more now for that? Thought not. 26 April 2009 19:55:29 via txt

# So 'bra tycoon' Michelle Mone has finally had it with New Labour - but only because they're daring to tax her wealth. 26 April 2009 19:53:56 via txt

# Mysteriously still no mention from AM2 of the "game on" YouGov poll. Perhaps he was looking the other way, we all have these lapses. 25 April 2009 15:25:32 via web

# I thought the BBC had discarded Clive Everton? I must have missed his glorious reinstatement. Good to see, anyway. 24 April 2009 15:02:06 via web

# @unionist Re: YouGov poll. Is the "game" still over? If not, are you still the referee? 24 April 2009 00:32:41 via web

# In a (probably futile) attempt to head off a convenient period of radio silence, I'm about to go to the horse's mouth. Wish me luck... 24 April 2009 00:29:49 via web

# Stunning figures for the SNP in the latest YouGov poll. Would it be terribly ungallant of me to dredge up the words "game over"? 24 April 2009 00:23:23 via web

# Relieved to see from the ICM poll that James Purnell is even more unpopular with the public than he is inside my head. 23 April 2009 16:25:41 via web

# I was wondering why the snooker commentators kept talking about Bulgaria - then I realised it was the "baulk area". 22 April 2009 00:40:28 via web

# Two Scots for the Lions - didn't think it would be quite that bad. It's not as if we can blame a prejudiced selector! 21 April 2009 15:16:50 via web

# Nicholas Witchell - Prince Philip's directness "can perhaps be seen as rather refreshing". Can perhaps be seen as, but generally isn't. 20 April 2009 00:24:13 via web

# Just revisited the Estonian song - think that might be my third favourite after Iceland and Andorra. And refreshingly not sung in English! 16 April 2009 01:26:54 via web

# Actually, that would be a good name for an album - 'Now That's What I Call Reasoned Discourse vol. 43'. I'd buy it... 15 April 2009 14:46:19 via web

# Still, I suppose personal attack articles are so much quicker to write than those logic-bending 'indisputable statistical proof' articles. 15 April 2009 14:42:26 via web

# Oooh, I wonder what it could all mean? (As if I don't know.) 15 April 2009 14:39:34 via web

# I see lots of people are being referred to my blog by articles entitled 'Wow', 'Piling On' and 'Now THIS is Reasoned Discourse'. 15 April 2009 14:38:46 via web

# I hope I'm not the only person to think Gordon Brown's plans for 'National Service Lite' are completely outrageous. 13 April 2009 15:48:48 via web

# And David Murdoch actually managed the third win! Can't quite believe it... 13 April 2009 15:48:06 via web

# The priest last night told us Christianity isn't a religion. I kept waiting for the explanation but it never really came. 12 April 2009 19:14:40 via web

# Superb by David Murdoch and co - beating Canada twice in two days! Seems harsh that if they fail to do it a third time it's all in vain... 11 April 2009 03:39:30 via web

# Michelle Mone, Trevor Nelson and Carole Malone all on the same programme. Has someone been delving into my nightmares again? 09 April 2009 06:53:55 via web

# That Portuguese Eurovision song is really growing on me. Doesn't have a prayer, sadly, but it deserves to have! 07 April 2009 17:49:53 via web

# The US president wants to scrap nuclear weapons, and accepts the moral implications of being the only country to have used them. Pinch me! 05 April 2009 12:02:16 via web

# Lewis Hamilton says he's not a liar. He just hasn't always told the truth. Still (as ever) the fallout is more exciting than the race was. 03 April 2009 14:06:48 via web

# Just a random post from the middle of a wood. Some very noisy birds are scaring the life out of me. 02 April 2009 18:54:08 via txt

# Can George Burley afford (ie. can we afford) to do without his best player for the sake of a principle? 01 April 2009 14:25:31 via web

# Linda Fabiani's reasons for defecting to the Lib Dems are obscure to say the least - what exactly is a green firefighting strategy? 01 April 2009 08:22:27 via txt

# I'm hoping The Apprentice might distract me from national humiliation against Iceland tonight - I haven't checked the schedules yet. 01 April 2009 07:01:25 via web

# Brown reckons Jacqui Smith should be judged solely on how good she is as a minister. For the first time I'm starting to see her problem. 30 March 2009 16:42:50 via web

# How did Mike Smith go from presenting the greatest show on earth (Live Aid) to being a 'helicopter reporter' for the university boat race? 29 March 2009 15:40:54 via web

# Well done to China on their win after their epic misfortunes last year. A new era in curling? 29 March 2009 11:49:01 via web

# Joy unbounded - Formula 1 is back to clog up the BBC schedules. However did we bear the long years without it? 28 March 2009 14:47:35 via web

# Just listened to the new version of the Iceland song. It's a bigger sound and more elaborate now. I fear they may have overdone it slightly. 27 March 2009 14:40:56 via web

# Is this conservative blogger inching towards the scary conclusion that Mrs Thatcher should never have privatised BT? - http://tiny.cc/dOuFT 27 March 2009 13:58:32 via web

# Brown wants equal rights for women in the line of succession. How does he square 'equal rights' with any sort of hereditary monarchy? 27 March 2009 08:41:03 via txt

# So it wasn't to be, but well done to Eve Muirhead all the same. Far more experienced Scottish skips have done far worse at the worlds! 26 March 2009 13:43:12 via web

# Just to prolong the agony, Scotland have beaten the USA and still have an outside chance...if Norway beat Sweden. Not holding my breath. 26 March 2009 04:38:32 via web

# In the light of what happened to Sir Fred Goodwin, will the government now seek to prosecute themselves for incitement to financial hatred? 25 March 2009 15:09:32 via web

# Oh, I can't believe what I've just seen. How did we manage to lose that game against Germany? 25 March 2009 14:06:06 via web

# And Eve Muirhead surrenders a lead of two going into the last end against China. Looks like one of those weeks at the moment! 25 March 2009 05:27:21 via web

# Just listened to the new version of 'My Time'. Sounds good, although I'm not sure about the way she sings the bit after the key change. 25 March 2009 02:43:23 via web

# Very frustrating end to the game against Russia. Why are Scotland teams always so inconsistent at the women's worlds? 24 March 2009 15:26:40 via web

# I had a sneaky feeling Jackie Lockhart would get a game at some point - she's rarely taken along just to sit on her hands! 24 March 2009 08:10:19 via txt

# At the end of an interview with Nick Clegg, Huw Edwards reminds viewers that he's "the Liberal Democrat leader". They still need reminding! 23 March 2009 17:26:17 via web

# Quite right, Brian Donohoe, reversing devolution is "a victory for common sense". Universal suffrage is a waste of taxpayers' money too. 23 March 2009 16:59:56 via web

# As I feared, it's not going so well against Canada. Steal of three in the first end. 23 March 2009 07:00:23 via web

# Very promising start for Eve Muirhead and Scotland at the world curling championships, but most of the tougher games are still to come. 23 March 2009 04:20:56 via web

# Independence is now more urgent than ever - it looks like the only way we'll ever get music videos back on YouTube! 22 March 2009 09:19:09 via txt

# SNP still two points ahead in latest ComRes sub-sample - http://tiny.cc/NGqpX 22 March 2009 05:08:43 via web

# Farewell to the Calcutta Cup, then. When will we see its like again? (Visualisation technique - I'm getting the despair in early). 21 March 2009 02:45:04 via web

# Alex Salmond - Romanov is "a kind of Baltic States Wallace Mercer". Bit harsh on the Baltic States! 19 March 2009 17:01:46 via web

# The England rugby team want to give us a lesson on "how to win gracefully". I'm quite sure they'll win, but "gracefully"? This I must see! 18 March 2009 06:32:46 via web

# I think the problem is the bits that have been switched from Catalan to English have lost their 'bite' somehow - they sound softer. 17 March 2009 23:53:26 via web

# Can't get used to the new version of the Andorran song. At least they've left some bits in Catalan. 17 March 2009 18:03:19 via web

# Now some girls are coming on wearing tables. I think I might call it a day... 16 March 2009 15:47:53 via web

# And I've been desperately trying to avoid saying anything about the musak in the background. Russian TV must be quite something. 16 March 2009 15:45:27 via web

# If I thought Dima looked bored before... Bosnia twenty-fourth. Riveting. At least the host has now confirmed this is for the voting order. 16 March 2009 15:44:04 via web

# When did our name change from United Kingdom to Great Britain? 16 March 2009 15:42:47 via web

# They're still going, and I'm still clueless. It doesn't seem very important, whatever it is. 16 March 2009 15:41:29 via web

# Spain first, Belgium second. But for what? Announcing votes? I've completely lost the plot here. 16 March 2009 15:39:59 via web

# Well, I thought it was over. What are they doing now? 16 March 2009 15:38:45 via web

# And finally France - 3rd. Awful draw. And that's it! They kept up a decent pace, if nothing else. 16 March 2009 15:38:04 via web

# Seventeenth for Germany - another good draw. 16 March 2009 15:36:15 via web

# Have we got a sniff of a chance now? Maybe of top five. Germany next. 16 March 2009 15:35:51 via web

# 23rd - great draw! 16 March 2009 15:35:22 via web

# Dima has picked two envelopes - now they're getting the UK delegation to choose between them! 16 March 2009 15:35:10 via web

# UK up next - bad feeling about this... 16 March 2009 15:34:31 via web

# Russia get tenth - not great, but could be worse. 16 March 2009 15:33:55 via web

# Russia about to learn their fate. 16 March 2009 15:32:41 via web

# After an eternity, Spain predictably picks twenty-fifth (last) position. 16 March 2009 15:31:30 via web

# Spain get the wild card. First blow for UK! 16 March 2009 15:30:01 via web

# Onto the draw for the final - but only for the 'big four' and Russia. Oh no, there's one wild card! 16 March 2009 15:29:34 via web

# And Moldova and Albania get lucky at the end. 16 March 2009 15:28:49 via web

# Good draw for Azerbaijan. And an even better one for Greece - they're not going to win, but definite qualifier now. Lithuania fourteenth. 16 March 2009 15:27:50 via web

# Decent draw for Denmark and Slovenia in the middle of the running-order. Hungary eleventh. 16 March 2009 15:26:32 via web

# Slovakia eighth, host points out they're back after ten-year absence. 16 March 2009 15:25:46 via web

# Cyprus seventh, Dima looks totally bored now. 16 March 2009 15:25:18 via web

# Serbia fourth, Poland fifth. Who was third? Can't keep up. Norway sixth. 16 March 2009 15:24:45 via web

# Terrible draw for Ireland. Cue prolonged declarations of despair from Keith Mills! 16 March 2009 15:24:06 via web

# Croatia draw the short straw of first in the second semi-final. 16 March 2009 15:23:11 via web

# Estonia third wild card. Eighteenth? Yep! Why did Ukraine turn down the chance? 16 March 2009 15:22:36 via web

# Ukraine pick seventeenth - I don't think that's quite second last. Slightly odd again. 16 March 2009 15:21:54 via web

# Now the hosts are trying to explain why the wild cards always pick the late positions. They're helping with the tactics! 16 March 2009 15:20:50 via web

# And they do. 16 March 2009 15:20:04 via web

# First wild card for second semi - Netherlands. They'll pick last place, surely. 16 March 2009 15:19:47 via web

# Now onto second semi-final, back to the thrill of the wild cards, or 'as we call them, jokers, wild ones...' 16 March 2009 15:18:53 via web

# Great late draw for Finland - should make it through now. 16 March 2009 15:18:02 via web

# Obviously both Andorra and Switzerland couldn't have been seventh - I think Switzerland must have been eighth. 16 March 2009 15:17:33 via web

# Iceland twelfth - excellent draw, certain qualifier (that's what I thought about Kate Ryan). 16 March 2009 15:16:38 via web

# Israel tenth - I'm losing the thread here. 16 March 2009 15:16:09 via web

# Switzerland seventh - now the host is making lame joke about strength of the Swiss franc. 16 March 2009 15:15:45 via web

# Andorra seventh - I think they'll qualify anyway (i've lost all objectivity about that song, though). 16 March 2009 15:15:16 via web

# Terrible draw for Sweden - fifth I think. 16 March 2009 15:14:30 via web

# Belarus fourth. Host makes a bizarre comment about European travel restrictions on Belarussian government officials! 16 March 2009 15:14:06 via web

# Montenegro draw the short story of being first in first semi-final. 16 March 2009 15:11:49 via web

# Third one is Portugal. The host wants them to choose first. But they choose sixteenth. 16 March 2009 15:10:53 via web

# Eleventh. Why? 16 March 2009 15:09:51 via web

# Bulgaria second wild card. Surely sixteenth? 16 March 2009 15:09:40 via web

# Seventeenth. Wise choice. 16 March 2009 15:09:06 via web

# Malta has first wild card. Now be sensible... 16 March 2009 15:08:42 via web

# Forgot about the wild card system! But, first of all, Dima wants to say hello... 16 March 2009 15:07:37 via web

# About to (attempt to) watch the Eurovision Song Contest draw. Hope Alex Fergusson isn't in the building. 16 March 2009 15:01:22 via web

# Congratulations to Eve Muirhead and her Scotland team on winning the world junior curling championships. A repeat at the main event, please! 16 March 2009 00:44:05 via web

# Vince Cable thinks the Scottish Lib Dems will gain four seats next year. Substitute 'gain' with 'lose' and he's suddenly getting very warm. 15 March 2009 05:46:34 via web

# A refreshing change to see a Pope make an open admission of fallibility! 12 March 2009 08:52:48 via txt

# OK, I've now officially lost all faith in the Esctoday poll. Two weeks ago Norway, last week Spain, and now Lithuania? Barmy. 10 March 2009 05:06:21 via web

# Hope the media and politicians stop and think how a male victim of domestic violence will have felt tonight - like he doesn't exist? 10 March 2009 01:48:38 via web

# Labour PPB : "Inspiring, engaging." Who could she be talking about? IAIN GRAY? Now I know the true definition of a 'tough sell'. 06 March 2009 19:03:43 via txt

# Why did Tom Harris actually join the Labour party? I mean it genuinely still was the Labour party when he joined, wasn't it? 06 March 2009 00:46:06 via web

# "It's not for government to act. That's tough for a politician to say". No, Mr Alexander, that's the easiest thing for a politician to say! 06 March 2009 00:24:19 via web

# Hope the European Court will outlaw discrimination against over-65s, but I've no great confidence. After all, it would also affect France! 05 March 2009 06:14:30 via web

# When Obama talked of the 'special relationship' it sounded rather like Brown was the twenty-seventh client he'd seen today. 03 March 2009 20:14:50 via txt

# Just caught up with the Icelandic entry - now that's more like it. Simple song, but absolutely lovely. STILL prefer Andorra, though! 03 March 2009 06:35:16 via web

# So the new favourite on the Esctoday poll is Spain. An improvement on Norway, but I'm still not convinced. 03 March 2009 06:24:37 via web

# ComRes sub-sample puts the SNP back in front - http://tinyurl.com/cgvfg8 03 March 2009 01:30:41 via web

# Someone needs to remind that pompous Manchester University Challenge captain that his opponents have been disqualified, not executed! 02 March 2009 22:34:44 via txt

# I don't think the SNP government could have dreamed of the positive UK-wide coverage they've received tonight. Very rare of course! 02 March 2009 22:16:25 via txt

# Calman warns Lib Dems their views may not be 'fully considered'. Tell us something we don't know! 28 February 2009 06:05:47 via txt

# Nick Mullins - 'every Six Nations game has significance for the Lions tour'. What, France v Italy? I know, I'm a pedant. 28 February 2009 00:20:15 via web

# My view in advance was that Lindsay Duncan is too softly-spoken to play Margaret Thatcher. Did she end up over-compensating? 27 February 2009 01:17:33 via web

# Conservapedia alert - did Obama just pronounce the word Pakistan in "the Muslim way" again? The 'evidence' just continues to mount! 25 February 2009 03:00:15 via web

# An American on a message-board informed me I was lying about being from the UK because I "didn't sound like a Brit". Insult, or compliment? 25 February 2009 02:55:22 via web

# Just seen Esctoday's latest poll, and sure enough Norway have stormed to the top. Turkey is polling well also. Baffling. So what's new? 23 February 2009 23:35:52 via web

# Working through some of the other Eurovision songs I've missed - I usually like the big French ballads but this one doesn't do it for me. 23 February 2009 17:27:46 via web

# And a message on Facebook invites me to choose between the 'favourites' Norway and Greece. WHAT??? Greece, naturally, but what a choice! 23 February 2009 06:04:34 via web

# Finally got round to listening to the Irish Eurovision song - not my cup of tea. Weirdly, Andorra is still my favourite! 23 February 2009 05:53:05 via web

# BBC - Brown "demands return of Prudence". Admirable sentiment, but at a time like this can we really afford the ransom? 22 February 2009 00:44:59 via web

# Rita Chakrabarti says the unpromising Bush-Blair relationship went on to produce "pretty dramatic results". That's one way of putting it... 22 February 2009 00:32:32 via web

# Is it just me or did Newsnight's Alex Ritson not seem to know that the Baltic states are all members of the EU? 21 February 2009 00:12:32 via web

# Odd that the country with the 'purest' PR system relies on its president to appoint the PM - why not hold an election in the Knesset? 20 February 2009 17:42:21 via web

# A Tory makes a rational defence of a European institution on Question Time. Didn't realise it was 'taste of the 70s' week on the BBC. 19 February 2009 23:12:00 via web

# I watched the Greek Eurovision selection last night (yes, I know). A post-midnight televote on a Wednesday evening is a bit odd, isn't it? 19 February 2009 05:01:30 via web

# Tories planning more directly elected mayors in England - retrograde step. They'd be better following our example and introducing STV. 18 February 2009 06:04:28 via web

# Will Britain follow the fine example of the island of Sark and finally embrace the radical concept of democracy? - http://tinyurl.com/c8gxy7 16 February 2009 23:48:40 via web

# Chavez wins referendum! Cue sanctimonious articles in the Times and Telegraph - but where was the term limit blocking Thatcher and Blair? 16 February 2009 06:33:28 via web

# Very strong statement on ID cards from Fergus Ewing. No question who's on the right side of history here - ID cards aren't going to happen. 15 February 2009 06:35:56 via web

# David Freud has found his spiritual home at last. If only fellow Tory James Purnell could be persuaded to follow suit. 15 February 2009 02:20:15 via web

# Brian Moore still seems to be nursing the chip on his shoulder John Jeffrey talked about years ago! "I don't care, because I'm right." 15 February 2009 00:31:21 via web

# When Brian Wilson was doing his 'punditry' on Politics Now last night, I had this sudden, unaccountable urge to see what was on Tavish TV. 13 February 2009 15:39:41 via web

# Newsnight - John Curtice was even more confident about the SNP's prospects of seeing out their full term than I was in my recent blog post. 13 February 2009 01:30:36 via web

# Another thought on Geert Wilders - history shows that when all the parties line up together on a controversial issue, they're usually wrong. 13 February 2009 01:18:14 via web

# There must be cheaper ways to make a prince more 'equal' than to send him on an equality course. Ways that could even save money, perhaps... 12 February 2009 08:28:02 via txt

# The Dutch MP barred from Britain - it makes a bit of a mockery of freedom of movement within Europe if it can be circumvented this easily. 12 February 2009 06:25:03 via web

# The Tories aren't the 'do nothing' party anyway - they do lots of useful things, like...er...vandalise Wikipedia! 11 February 2009 22:54:46 via txt

# Of course, it would be preferable if Clegg differentiated himself from the Tories by means of policy, not by Mandelson-authored soundbites! 11 February 2009 21:31:55 via web

# Clegg is taking a lot of flak for going after the Tories today - but unlike Cameron he needs to differentiate himself from two parties. 11 February 2009 21:30:28 via web

# This Israeli election seems to be one of those ones where the results don't tell you a lot about the outcome. Looks like Netanyahu, sadly. 11 February 2009 06:01:41 via web

# Fascinating exit poll from Israel - still a fighting chance of a Kadima-led coalition? Hope so, but it's the lesser of two evils of course. 10 February 2009 22:27:09 via txt

# SNP gain 2% in latest 'northern' sub-sample from ICM - http://tinyurl.com/d3m338 10 February 2009 15:39:51 via web

# Congratulations to Roseanna Cunningham on her appointment as a minister - long overdue. 10 February 2009 15:18:53 via web

# Touching that Mike O'Brien is fretting about the jobs of nuclear workers in 20 years time - but what about job losses in the here and now? 10 February 2009 08:08:37 via txt

# Holyrood committee looks at alternatives to prison for female offenders - how about alternatives regardless of gender? 10 February 2009 07:16:39 via txt

# 'Others' are up 3% in the latest UK-wide Populus poll, in line with the ICM poll at the weekend - http://tinyurl.com/d7hd5t 10 February 2009 01:48:15 via web

# I said on my blog yesterday this might be the worst recession since the Great Depression - now Ed Balls says it's even worse than that! 09 February 2009 22:18:54 via txt

# Having Sammy Wilson as NI Environment Minister seems roughly analogous to appointing Nick Griffin as Social Cohesion Minister. 09 February 2009 19:56:40 via txt

# C4 News - obscenely ironic that it takes a US military lawyer to pressure the UK government to come clean on its complicity in torture. 09 February 2009 19:43:53 via txt

# C4 News - if you asked Yvette Cooper "when will it be Thursday?" she'd say "as soon as we can possibly get there". 09 February 2009 19:26:29 via txt

# New Labour politician calls for the Electoral Commission to be more 'accountable' - isn't that sentence the wrong way round? 09 February 2009 18:42:49 via txt

# Can't make much sense of the Lib Dems' direction of travel, but at least they're still against tuition fees - I think. 09 February 2009 07:25:15 via txt

# Real winter wonderland outside tonight - but there was a downside. Might do a blog post about it later. 08 February 2009 23:04:08 via txt

# Surprised to hear Todd Carty got kicked off Dancing on Ice - does that mean John Sergeant would have come a cropper if he hadn't walked? 08 February 2009 22:14:53 via txt

# So the Swiss have chosen not to move away from their relative integration with EU countries - good news. 08 February 2009 18:50:00 via txt

# Why is it that every time Jonathan Davies randomly shouts 'numbers!' nothing ever happens? 08 February 2009 15:17:24 via web

# Of course 'banning' is the wrong word - it would be the scrapping of the free movement of labour. Still a very serious step. 08 February 2009 07:42:30 via txt

# Hadn't heard about the Swiss vote on banning EU workers until now - as Iceland moves one way the Swiss move the other? Hope not. 08 February 2009 07:30:29 via txt

# Really pleased that Chiara will sing for Malta for a third time. Not sure about the song, though - it's good, but not as good as 'Angel'. 08 February 2009 04:10:01 via web

# Harry Hill and Keith Mills. They look similar, their surnames are similar and they both hate 'It's My Time'. I wonder... 07 February 2009 20:02:37 via txt

# Eddie Butler and Phillip Matthews for Ireland v France - progress. 07 February 2009 17:18:14 via web

# 'Others' appear to be up 2% in new ICM poll - http://tinyurl.com/bnw8cu 07 February 2009 15:57:11 via web

# England are thrashing Italy and Nick Mullins/Brian Moore are the commentators, Such bliss. 07 February 2009 15:51:54 via web

# More pertinently, is it really essential for it to be Hazel Blears expressing that view? 07 February 2009 07:28:17 via txt

# Is it really essential for there to be an official government stance on the Carol Thatcher sacking? 07 February 2009 07:23:58 via txt

# Alex Salmond describes Bashir Ahmad as the kindest man he had ever met - I suspect that's not hyperbole. 07 February 2009 06:46:11 via web

# On a more positive note, it's the Maltese Song for Europe tonight. Haven't heard the songs, but Borg/Vella have three different entries! 07 February 2009 05:44:51 via web

# And so the annual torture begins (the Six Nations, I mean). A twenty point home defeat for Scotland? 07 February 2009 05:42:29 via web

# Finally caught up with the Danish Eurovision song. Not my cup of tea, and I've a feeling it'll get a little lost. 07 February 2009 02:39:18 via web

# Did I spot Damien as a backing singer for Tom Jones on the Jonathan Ross show? If so, nice to see! Confession - I voted for him in week 1! 07 February 2009 01:48:18 via web

# Very sad news about Bashir Ahmad. 07 February 2009 00:41:07 via web

# Saw some random fireworks when I was out tonight - not a special day, is it? Must have been a birthday or anniversary or some such. 07 February 2009 00:10:54 via web

# Just had another listen to the Andorran song, and it's grown on me some more. Still not a winner but might make the final. Deserves to. 06 February 2009 21:46:58 via txt

# When is a damning criticism apparently not even a criticism at all? When it's Sarkozy lambasting Brown. 06 February 2009 19:17:38 via txt

# If blanket CCTV is so "essential", why not go for 100% coverage? People's bedrooms? Their showers? The top of Ben Nevis? 06 February 2009 13:43:13 via txt

# Miliband's "threat to national security" - more like a threat to our national reputation for not torturing? 06 February 2009 08:47:34 via txt

# Still no sign of my dress from Andorra. 06 February 2009 07:44:25 via txt

# Just heard about what Jeremy Clarkson called Gordon Brown - looks like my last blog post was well-timed! 7:36 AM Feb 6th, 2009 via web

# What is it about rocking chairs? 5:03 AM Feb 6th, 2009 via web

# Made it back. In the end it wasn't so much slush that was the problem - it was random dogs running at me from all directions! 1:37 AM Feb 6th, 2009 via web

# Getting ready to brave the slush again...why are my soles so slippery? 9:25 PM Feb 5th, 2009 via txt

# Just making a start. 7:00 PM Feb 5th, 2009 via web
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