These Islands is a forum for debate standing unabashedly for the view that more unites the people of the United Kingdom than divides them.
United Kingdom
Joined April 2017
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These Islands retweeted
McCrone is doing the rounds again. So, a reminder of what really happened in the 1970s.
These Islands retweeted
Seeing more ill-informed commentary on a 1974 paper by Gavin McCrone from back then. It was not 'suppressed' but simply a contribution for internal discussion along with many others. When first distributed it was a 'starting point for any assessment' not definitive. 1/4
These Islands retweeted
Indeed. Very extensively debated both in public and in Whitehall.
These Islands retweeted
1/ Lots of nationalists crying “but Sir Ian Wood definitely did tell us the oil was running out”.
North Sea oil *was* running out in 2014, just as it is running out today. The question has always been about the quantity of economically recoverable reserves left to extract.
These Islands retweeted
Read some history! The idea of an oil fund was extensively debated in the 1970s and 80s. It’s all in Hansard. Criticising the decision not to establish one is perfectly legitimate. But pretending the possibility was denied until yesterday is just idiotic.
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1/ Tim Rideout, speaking at last weekend’s @SSRG2021 conference, shakily acknowledges that a Scottish currency might well depreciate against sterling. But he then makes a purely fantastical claim: that half of Scotland’s exports go to the EU, and not to rUK.
These Islands retweeted
Reminder: whatever he might claim today, this is what John Swinney said in February 2025. He welcomed the court’s decision to block Jackdaw, calling it “the only sustainable judgment you can arrive at in considering these questions”.
These Islands retweeted
1/ Nationalists often claim the No campaign in 2014 told them oil & gas would run out within 5 years, and this BBC article is always the evidence. Slight problem. The article simply describes a report produced by some environmentalists. And the UK government called it “nonsense”.
UK's oil, coal and gas will run out in 5 years, researchers warn bbc.in/1qHoUo1
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Reminder: Kate Forbes, allegedly the pro-business, pro-growth, voice of reason in the last SNP government, refused to support consenting Jackdaw when asked a straightforward question about it in February 2025.
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“it doesn’t matter”
Like a rabbit in headlights, Tim Rideout is flummoxed by basic questions on his currency plan.
These Islands retweeted
… and substantially devalue against sterling. This is because there would be no huge stampede of people rushing to convert their savings into the new currency. But there *would* be a huge stampede of borrowers rushing to convert their mortgages into the new currency.
These Islands retweeted
Tim Rideout is again pushing his plan as a pain-free solution to the SNP’s currency problem. So… watch how he deals with someone pointing out the obvious flaws. He has no answers. An independent Scotland would require its own currency, but that new currency would immediately…
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Jaw-dropping stuff. So many people in key roles in Scotland have been stupefied by nationalist politics.
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If you wanted to demonstrate the SNP’s lack of thinking on currency, you could hardly do any better than this. Asked a specific question on currency, Jenny Gilruth’s response: “we won the election”
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John Swinney’s fibbing, not for the first time, has attracted the attention of @BBCMoreOrLess. This time, his lies about pensions are dismantled.
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His first conference speech after a big election victory, but with years of difficult fiscal decisions ahead. The perfect moment for John Swinney to tell his party some uncomfortable truths. Did he seize it? No. Of course he didn’t. Nothing but platitudes and pipe dreams.
These Islands retweeted
Ivan McKee is clearly not up to the job he has been given. This is just embarrassing.
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Perhaps one day the SNP will find a rising star brave enough to say that independence is not inevitable. That difficult problems must be solved to make it happen. But today, the rising stars are all incredibly lazy thinkers, if you can call them thinkers at all.
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When @mmgeissler asked John Swinney yesterday about Jack Middleton blaming the SNP government for slow consenting of renewables projects, Swinney found it impossible to believe that Middleton would have said such a thing. Well he did, and here it is.