Exclusive: the latest image of the Sturgeon 

 

There was only one newsworthy item for our MSM’s news editors this morning: the Sturgeon has gone. Of course, everybody knew this already because she announced her resignation yesterday, but like in the good old days before ‘24/7 news’ and social media, the print media needed to make their products look as if they’re still relevant, ‘for the record’.

Sadly, the ‘staff’ at Auntie B saw fit to add two Scottish papers to the usual compilation, dropping the Sun and my favourite, the Star (link). The grauniad screams on their printed front page: “Sturgeon quits citing brutality in politics” – clearly, the Sturgeon was a tender, female snowflake crushed by horrible, probably male, oppressors. English ones, of course. Funnily enough, there’s no trace of that in their online front page. It’s not the first time that those exceptional guardian ‘journalists’ have shown that the printed front page, for them, is already yesterday’s news. 

From the acres of pixels about this ‘event’ littering the online MSM, I’ve picked three to entertain us. One is a report in the DM, headlined: “Sturgeon quits: Hundreds of unionists take to streets in Glasgow and celebrate with bottles of champagne shouting ‘conga conga conga, Nicola’s no longer” (link). There are photos …

Next, an opinion piece by Allister Heath for the DT. The headline is spot on: “Woke extremism destroyed Nicola Sturgeon, and Scottish independence”, but the sub-headline … well, it’s an opinion piece and we’re all entitled to our own opinion: “The First Minister’s failures should have seen her gone long ago, but it was Sunak who precipitated her downfall” (paywalled link). Mr Heath explains eloquently why he sees Sunak as Sturgeon-slayer while painting a harsh picture of weak-kneed Tories (this and other emphases are mine):

“[…] her ousting was triggered by none other than Rishi Sunak, in his first truly conservative – and cleverest – decision since entering No 10. By vetoing Sturgeon’s gambit, he took what the centrist wimps in his party thought was a major risk: weren’t Conservative prime ministers merely meant to kow-tow to the nationalists, to avoid upsetting them at all cost? Wasn’t it the case that nobody in Scotland wanted to hear from “Tory toffs” in London, and that intervention would backfire and strengthen Sturgeon’s hand? And going so hard on a woke issue – wasn’t that ludicrous, a case of swimming against the supposed tide of history twice over?”  (paywalled link)

Mr Heath defends this opinion in the following paragraph which I think does deserve to be kept ‘for the record’:

“The sceptics were wrong. A supposedly “Right-wing” stance (in reality, mainstream majoritarian cultural conservatism) turned out not just to be popular on its own merits but also political dynamite, exploding a fragile Scottish consensus. Support for Sturgeon and Scottish independence slumped. It suddenly became obvious that it is possible to confront nationalists and woke extremists – and win. Opinion is not immutable, or guaranteed to drift ever more Left-wards: a leader can galvanise and radicalise a population’s latent opposition to woke social engineering.” (paywalled link)

I part ways with him where he insinuates that Sunak is such a ‘leader’. I suggest that the Surgeon-felling ‘trans storm’ was due to an increasing ground swell against this issue, across the nation, not just in Scotland. I suggest that the Sturgeon did what many politicians before her have done: she didn’t read correctly the mood of the electorate but thought she could bully her way through this because, like other top politicians of a certain persuasion, she was convinced that she knew best and that the peasants just needed to be told.

Lastly, the cartoon in The Times this morning is giggle-worthy, serving as a suitable full stop on this issue. And so, because Scotland used to be allied with France in ye very olden days, I found it mildly intriguing that both the DT and The Times also had articles on France this morning. Both papers managed to drag in yon war into this. The DT gloatingly reports:

“Emmanuel Macron invited Volodymyr Zelensky to Paris only after seeing his speech in Westminster – and originally planned to go to the theatre with his wife that evening. When the Ukrainian president left his country to visit Western leaders last week, Paris did not issue a formal invitation. It was only when aides saw footage of his address at Westminster Hall – in which he made a solemn request for “wings for freedom” – that presidential officials rushed out an invitation and arranged for the late evening visit to Paris, according to an Elysee Palace official cited by Politico. Up until the last minute, his agenda had him going to the theatre with Brigitte, his wife.” (paywalled link)

Tee-hee-hee: Macron was gonna diss Zelensky! Perhaps this juicy gossip is meant to be as tit-for-tat, after yesterday’s French accusation that “we” had given away too much military stuff to the Ukraine?

Meanwhile, the leading article in The Times’ online edition claims “France outguns UK military despite spending less on defence” (link, paywalled) – the shame! Here’s a delicious snippet:

“France has more combat aircraft, more frigates and more troops than Britain despite spending significantly less on defence, according to the military balance, an annual comparison of the strengths of armed forces around the world by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).” (link, paywalled)

Why are other NATO countries harassing Macron to hand over his combat aircraft? Are they all mouth and no trousers, as the Germans have found out, having been bullied into sending German tanks to the Ukraine while their vociferous allies have weaselled out? 

Was Mr Tobias Elwood MP aware of this report when he penned his ‘demand’ for DT readers, to give all the Apache helicopters and A10Thunderbolts to the Ukraine because they only gather dust in our hangars and the Ukraine ‘has more pilots than planes’ (paywalled link)?

In reality, this issue is another item in The Times’ ongoing Labour campaign. It’s about money, about Hunt not doing enough, and never mind that screeching for taxes to be lowered on the one hand while demanding ‘moar money’ for the MoD and the NHS doesn’t really compute. See this:

“President Macron has unveiled a multi-year plan to boost defence spending by a third to protect France from the increased threat of Russian aggression. Rishi Sunak is reluctant to sanction a similar increase in British defence spending. The Treasury has pointed to the Ministry of Defence’s recent history of wasteful procurement as it resists pressure to spend more on the armed forces. Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, has promised to increase defence spending once the government publishes its integrated review of foreign policy next month. However, in its annual assessment of the world’s militaries, the IISS said it was likely there would be a real-terms cut in British defence spending due to high inflation.” (link, paywalled)

Are we being shuffled into in an ‘Arms Race’ with the Frogs, where we must out-donate them, giving away our stockpiled arms, while aiming to outspend them on defence issues? Inflation, the economy, the Sacred Cow, public services: no matter! The taxpaying plebs can handle this.

That’s all I have for today. It’s too much to hope that the jingoists in the HoC and the MSM will look at the fall of the Sturgeon and learn that they cannot ride roughshod over our opinion forever. Perhaps they ought to recall Enoch Powell ‘s wise words, saying that all political careers end in failure. Have a good day.



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