Time to pick a fight

There's a chap who goes by the name of Scottish Tory Boy (it's not his fault - he's ginger). I'd like to pick a fight with him (he's smaller than me).

On Thursday of last week the wee nyaff posted a tale alleging that Christina McKelvie MSP had been heckled in the chamber by Lord George Foulkes. Much as I'm prepared to believe that Lord Foulkes can be an oaf (mainly because I'm biased), this allegation surprised me because I watched FMQs and hadn't seen it.

Not willing to decry Scottish Tory Boy without checking, I looked at the Official Report - nothing there. Still holding out the benefit of the doubt, I watched it again on Holyrood TV – you’ll find it beginning at 24 minutes and 55 seconds.

It just didn’t happen. I do hope that Scottish Tory Boy and those who commented on his post without bothering to check the facts will apologise. While George Foulkes is a political opponent, I don’t think he should be accused of oafish behaviour when he is innocent.

While I’m picking a fight, though, on Friday of last week the matinee idle of Toryism in Scotland alleged that John Wilson MSP had referred to grey squirrels as 'English squirrels'.

On a whim (and a computer), I checked this as well. It is, I am most troubled to report, another fabrication. Are things not bad enough with Labour's leaders lying to us all the time? Do we need a Tory Boy to do it too?

Let's take another lovely wander through the Official Report for the debate.

John Wilson's comment wasn't that greys are English, he said:

The red squirrel is under serious attack, especially as a result of the arrival
of pox-carrying grey squirrels from England.

Which was presumably why the sponsor of the debate, Deputy Leader of the Conservatives Murdo Fraser MSP wanted to establish border posts, patrols, tank traps, barbed wire, spotlights and immigration control between Scotland and England:

The plan is to create a border, as such, to stop the spread of squirrel pox into
Scotland, the idea being that anything north of that border will be free of
squirrel pox

So no-one said English squirrels then? Well, someone did:

the grey squirrel is the English squirrel

I have, of course, deliberately taken that quote out of context because I'm like that.

Who said it? You might well ask! It was that fine highland gentleman, doyen of the Conservatives, Jamie McGrigor.

I do hope, again, that an apology will be forthcoming from STB and from those who commented.


Meanwhile, news reaches me of alcohol-induced shenanigans in the Scottish Youth Parliament. There's a Conservative debate on alcohol tomorrow ...