Scottish politics, music (mostly electronic), sport & general observations as I circuit the globe...
Motherwell, Scotland
Joined January 2012
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Here is @andyburnham unknowingly referencing @The_Proclaimers - the PM could do with checking out all of the lyrics of Cap In Hand and he might get a sense of the true imbalance and failure of the UK system. The national restrictions are a bigger scandal than the 🏴 regional ones
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And of course, the song is always worth a listen.
I just can’t understand why we’d let someone else rule our land, cap in hand…
youtu.be/SdXeM4bHBhk?is=CAys…
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Oh oh, I am Stuart M Darling... I had never considered that could make some people uncomfortable before 🤔🤯
Illuminating exchange with a 19 year old voter in Detroit, worried about @AbdulElSayed’s name. @AJEnglish #Midterms2026 #Michigan
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Dear Glasgow / Scotland, the traffic cones on the Duke of Wellington are fine - feels like an appropriate mockery of a guy that was Prime Minister during the Highland Clearances (he was no friend of Scotland!).
Please stop putting cones on the good guys ✌️
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It is bizarre to see Scottish people so blinded by their opposition to independence, that they are doggedly arguing for a massive cut on Scottish pensions. In some cases, they may welcome a clarification that explains why the Scottish government are highlighting the issue👇
Reducing UK state pensions to fund social care in 🏴 shines a light on how ridiculous the UK arrangement is for 🏴. It is UK gov analysis that forecasts a £4bn cut for 🏴 pensioners & there’s no guarantee we’ll get any of it back. I explain why here:
darlingblogs.wordpress.com/2…
Reducing UK state pensions to fund social care in 🏴 shines a light on how ridiculous the UK arrangement is for 🏴. It is UK gov analysis that forecasts a £4bn cut for 🏴 pensioners & there’s no guarantee we’ll get any of it back. I explain why here:
darlingblogs.wordpress.com/2…
Delighted to see a big performance from McGinn tonight. And all round, all good. Looking forward to Tuesday 🏴❤️
A fine performance from a fine player!
Big night for John McGinn as well as Andy Robertson, moved to be Scotland's third most capped men's player of all time outright.
Penalty scored, created the most chances out of anyone on the pitch, 90% of duels won...not a bad night's work
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If UK pensioners are asked to fund an English National Care Service, will Scotland actually get its fair share back? Many assume the Barnett Formula guarantees that outcome but it doesn't.
My latest blog explains why:
darlingblogs.wordpress.com/2…
I have received the first official estimate of the cost to Scotland's pensioners of the Prime Minister's attack on the triple lock.
It will take up to £4bn from Scotland's pensioners. And the Prime Minister plans to use it to pay for social care in England.
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
The £4bn is a Scottish Government projection for lower state pension payments in Scotland by 2049-50 vs the current triple lock. The state pension is UK-wide. Increased English social care spending would bring additional Barnett formula funding to Scotland. gov.scot/publications/d… heraldscotland.com/news/26595468.… instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/explai…
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Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. #1984
First Secretary of State Louise Haigh says the UK will 'no longer stand by while innocent children are killed in Gaza' in a speech at the Trades Union Congress
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Scotland's outlook within the UK looks very grim! These failed promises from the UK government hit Scots the hardest, & yet Burnham and the Labour Party think they can hold us hostage. The game is almost up for them & the brighter future with independence is clearer by the day.
Markets looking quite grim.
Seem to have given up on normalisation of energy supplies before mid terms, and more general jitters, after President’s words last night.
Oil up to $105.
UK therm gas price at highest level since 2022 over £2 a therm - feeds into domestic energy bills for January. European gas storage levels still very low, fingers crossed for a warm winter.
10y gilt yields at new 19y high, 30Y US too. 30y UK a whisker away from 6%.
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Of course, England wouldn’t have topped their group had Ghana got the penalty that the whole football world knows that they should have got… a few other highly questionable decisions have led to this scenario. There is no trust in FIFA whilst Infantino is in charge.
The top four teams in the world rankings have made the World Cup semi-finals for the first time.
Fifa introduced a new draw format for this tournament to ensure the four top seeds wouldn't meet until this stage, if they all won their groups.
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Apparently it’s hard to play in a sauna against a team from the frozen north. Imagine playing a team from the tropics in such conditions…!? Miami shouldn’t have been a host for this tournament imo.
"Maybe he doesn't know what it's like to play in those conditions."😳
Jude Bellingham spoke openly about Thomas Tuchel being critical of England's performance against Norway.
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It’s crazy how many Scots were oblivious to the fact that we only didn’t progress because of a freak FIFA decision to allow Ilgiz Tantashev to referee our game vs Morocco.
His ridiculous performance in the France game (higher profile) will surely mean we don’t see him again…
Morocco could easily have had 4 in regular time against the Dutch (who had looked amazing in the group stage). Decent team 🫤
Scotland really were soooooo unlucky with our group, but most pundits and fans seem oblivious 🤷♂️
youtu.be/He2Fm2LCB0U?is=Cyty…
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Scotland will hopefully join Paraguay on this both desperately wanted and somewhat unwanted record in 2030… 🙏🙃
‼️ ALL-TIME RECORD ‼️
Paraguay 🇵🇾 are the team who needed the most World Cup matches to score their first ever knockout goal:
31 - PARAGUAY 🇵🇾
21 - Mexico 🇲🇽
21 - Morocco 🇲🇦
21 - Japan 🇯🇵
20 - Bulgaria 🇧🇬
20 - Australia 🇦🇺
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