These Islands
@theseislands.bsky.social
These Islands is a forum for debate standing unabashedly for the view that more unites the people of the United Kingdom than divides them.
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Rare moment of genuine drama at FMQs as Anas Sarwar produces evidence which undermines John Swinney’s evasions on the QEUH scandal.
January 29, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Rare moment of genuine drama at FMQs as Anas Sarwar produces evidence which undermines John Swinney’s evasions on the QEUH scandal.
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1/🚨The Scottish Government *paid* for the credit ratings obtained last year from Moody’s and S&P.
But we are not allowed to know how much it paid, because “disclosure may affect the commercial interests of Moody's and S&P”.
But we are not allowed to know how much it paid, because “disclosure may affect the commercial interests of Moody's and S&P”.
January 29, 2026 at 7:25 AM
1/🚨The Scottish Government *paid* for the credit ratings obtained last year from Moody’s and S&P.
But we are not allowed to know how much it paid, because “disclosure may affect the commercial interests of Moody's and S&P”.
But we are not allowed to know how much it paid, because “disclosure may affect the commercial interests of Moody's and S&P”.
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🚨 This is scandalous. £7 million of public money to pay bankers and lawyers for a bond sale which is simply a nationalist publicity stunt. The Scottish Government could borrow at a lower interest rate from the UK Government, and avoid these fees altogether. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
January 28, 2026 at 5:11 PM
🚨 This is scandalous. £7 million of public money to pay bankers and lawyers for a bond sale which is simply a nationalist publicity stunt. The Scottish Government could borrow at a lower interest rate from the UK Government, and avoid these fees altogether. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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This. And it would do the pro-Indy lobby good if they were to make the effort to understand these issues properly and to stop misleading the public on the issue. ("Ewwww, Taylor, he's a yoooooon" is not a good reason for not trying to understand renewables.)
Glib assertions about Scotland having won the energy lottery twice over - first with oil and now with renewables - are not just false. They are actively harmful.
January 26, 2026 at 11:26 AM
This. And it would do the pro-Indy lobby good if they were to make the effort to understand these issues properly and to stop misleading the public on the issue. ("Ewwww, Taylor, he's a yoooooon" is not a good reason for not trying to understand renewables.)
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This is the sort of thing that can happen when any party spends too long in power: the boundary between party and government (never 100% sharp, I suspect) becomes far too blurred.
1/ Short 🧵 on how the civil service in Scotland has been corrupted by Scottish nationalism. Last August, Scot Gov published a news release alongside the GERS figures which was so misleading, the Director of @fraserofallander.org called it “egregious” and “out of order”.
January 25, 2026 at 12:22 PM
This is the sort of thing that can happen when any party spends too long in power: the boundary between party and government (never 100% sharp, I suspect) becomes far too blurred.
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Glib assertions about Scotland having won the energy lottery twice over - first with oil and now with renewables - are not just false. They are actively harmful.
January 26, 2026 at 11:20 AM
Glib assertions about Scotland having won the energy lottery twice over - first with oil and now with renewables - are not just false. They are actively harmful.
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1/ Short 🧵 on how the civil service in Scotland has been corrupted by Scottish nationalism. Last August, Scot Gov published a news release alongside the GERS figures which was so misleading, the Director of @fraserofallander.org called it “egregious” and “out of order”.
January 25, 2026 at 12:02 PM
1/ Short 🧵 on how the civil service in Scotland has been corrupted by Scottish nationalism. Last August, Scot Gov published a news release alongside the GERS figures which was so misleading, the Director of @fraserofallander.org called it “egregious” and “out of order”.
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The SNP will activate the usual grievances here, but they need to explain this: someone has to pay for the additional grid necessary to make wind farms in Scotland viable. If the SNP want generators to pay less, who do they want to pay more?
Plans for huge wind farm paused over 'unfair' grid charges - BBC News
A developer warns that a development will not be built unless "unfair" transmission charges are overhauled.
www.bbc.com
January 21, 2026 at 10:39 AM
The SNP will activate the usual grievances here, but they need to explain this: someone has to pay for the additional grid necessary to make wind farms in Scotland viable. If the SNP want generators to pay less, who do they want to pay more?
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The civil servants in the Constitutional Futures Division spent three years working on independence papers, and never made any attempt to estimate the impact of independence on energy bills in Scotland. The reason is obvious: they knew the answer would be inconvenient.
January 19, 2026 at 6:54 PM
The civil servants in the Constitutional Futures Division spent three years working on independence papers, and never made any attempt to estimate the impact of independence on energy bills in Scotland. The reason is obvious: they knew the answer would be inconvenient.
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2/ For about the millionth time: renewables are a low return on capital business. The energy transition, and Scotland’s opportunity on that journey, cannot be understood without fully grasping the significance of this point.
Infinite and Everywhere
The journey to net zero means leaving behind the fossil fuel era, and moving towards a world which will power itself by capturing energy from super-abundant resources. This has profoundly important co...
www.these-islands.co.uk
January 16, 2026 at 10:10 AM
2/ For about the millionth time: renewables are a low return on capital business. The energy transition, and Scotland’s opportunity on that journey, cannot be understood without fully grasping the significance of this point.
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1/ RWE was the big winner in the AR7 auction, but what did it win? The right to build assets yielding an (unlevered) return on capital of 8.2%. By funding 80% of the projects with debt costing 6.5%, RWE should be able to squeeze out an equity IRR of 12.5%.
January 16, 2026 at 10:10 AM
1/ RWE was the big winner in the AR7 auction, but what did it win? The right to build assets yielding an (unlevered) return on capital of 8.2%. By funding 80% of the projects with debt costing 6.5%, RWE should be able to squeeze out an equity IRR of 12.5%.
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This thread is full of useful details, not least that Dan, a member of Scot Gov’s own Tax Advisory Group, has joined the chorus of significant voices who judge the notorious taxpayers claim to have been false in recent years.
It's likely the purpose is to enable the Scottish Government to say that everyone earning the median income of £31,136 (or less) will pay less tax in Scotland than in the rest of the UK.
That had always been the aim, but it ceased to be true in 2023/24 and probably 2024/25.
That had always been the aim, but it ceased to be true in 2023/24 and probably 2024/25.
January 15, 2026 at 6:30 PM
This thread is full of useful details, not least that Dan, a member of Scot Gov’s own Tax Advisory Group, has joined the chorus of significant voices who judge the notorious taxpayers claim to have been false in recent years.
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Good piece on yesterday’s AR7 auction.
NEW: Britain's latest CfD auction secured a record 8.4GW of wind capacity.
New projects will be awarded 20-year fixed-price contracts at £91 per MWh. The highest price 2015.
Why has wind power got more expensive and what will it mean for bills?
www.samdumitriu.com/p/britains-l...
New projects will be awarded 20-year fixed-price contracts at £91 per MWh. The highest price 2015.
Why has wind power got more expensive and what will it mean for bills?
www.samdumitriu.com/p/britains-l...
Britain’s latest renewables auction locks in higher prices.
Britain just bought 8.4GW of wind power. Expect bills to go up.
www.samdumitriu.com
January 15, 2026 at 8:44 AM
Good piece on yesterday’s AR7 auction.
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In the context of yesterday’s AR7 auction result, in which both Scottish projects cleared at prices above the current wholesale price of electricity, this is blatantly untruthful. But nothing will be done about these repeated misleading statements in parliament.
January 15, 2026 at 12:51 PM
In the context of yesterday’s AR7 auction result, in which both Scottish projects cleared at prices above the current wholesale price of electricity, this is blatantly untruthful. But nothing will be done about these repeated misleading statements in parliament.
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Listen to Gillian Martin’s response when asked to explain how the SNP’s “third off electricity bills with independence” claim is consistent with the actual costs of Scottish offshore wind.
“That’s a dissertation question. I’ll need to get back to you on that.”
“That’s a dissertation question. I’ll need to get back to you on that.”
January 14, 2026 at 9:07 PM
Listen to Gillian Martin’s response when asked to explain how the SNP’s “third off electricity bills with independence” claim is consistent with the actual costs of Scottish offshore wind.
“That’s a dissertation question. I’ll need to get back to you on that.”
“That’s a dissertation question. I’ll need to get back to you on that.”
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Sam Taylor clearly explaining how the SNP is misleading Scottish voters on income tax. Important, necessary work in the age of populists👇
Ahead of the budget tomorrow, the full story of the SNP’s statistical chicanery on income tax.
The Tipping Point
Last week, the Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute made a significant intervention on a notorious claim about income tax in Scotland. Has the SNP’s statistical chicanery finally run out of ro...
www.these-islands.co.uk
January 12, 2026 at 4:51 PM
Sam Taylor clearly explaining how the SNP is misleading Scottish voters on income tax. Important, necessary work in the age of populists👇
Reposted by These Islands
Ahead of the budget tomorrow, the full story of the SNP’s statistical chicanery on income tax.
The Tipping Point
Last week, the Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute made a significant intervention on a notorious claim about income tax in Scotland. Has the SNP’s statistical chicanery finally run out of ro...
www.these-islands.co.uk
January 12, 2026 at 9:46 AM
Ahead of the budget tomorrow, the full story of the SNP’s statistical chicanery on income tax.
Last week, the Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute made a significant intervention on a notorious claim about income tax in Scotland. Has the SNP’s statistical chicanery finally run out of road?
The Tipping Point
Last week, the Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute made a significant intervention on a notorious claim about income tax in Scotland. Has the SNP’s statistical chicanery finally run out of ro...
www.these-islands.co.uk
January 12, 2026 at 9:50 AM
Last week, the Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute made a significant intervention on a notorious claim about income tax in Scotland. Has the SNP’s statistical chicanery finally run out of road?
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1/ To understand why John Swinney is so reluctant to admit the notorious taxpayers claim has been false for the last two years, you have to go back to its inception. Watch how delirious the SNP benches were about a boast worth just £20 a year to those who benefited.
January 9, 2026 at 5:06 PM
1/ To understand why John Swinney is so reluctant to admit the notorious taxpayers claim has been false for the last two years, you have to go back to its inception. Watch how delirious the SNP benches were about a boast worth just £20 a year to those who benefited.
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Having submitted numerous FOIs asking Scot Gov for information which substantiates claims made in a political context, I have never before received such an emphatic “nothing to do with us” response. But the energy bills claim is unusually dishonest, even by SNP standards.
January 9, 2026 at 10:48 AM
Having submitted numerous FOIs asking Scot Gov for information which substantiates claims made in a political context, I have never before received such an emphatic “nothing to do with us” response. But the energy bills claim is unusually dishonest, even by SNP standards.
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John Swinney clings to the dodgy taxpayers claim at FMQs by citing forecasts for 2025-26. He ignores the inconvenient fact that the forecasts have a track record of being wrong - the claim turned out to be false in the last two financial years.
January 8, 2026 at 1:06 PM
John Swinney clings to the dodgy taxpayers claim at FMQs by citing forecasts for 2025-26. He ignores the inconvenient fact that the forecasts have a track record of being wrong - the claim turned out to be false in the last two financial years.
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Yesterday in parliament @michaeljmarra.bsky.social quoted Mairi Spowage of @fraserofallander.org on the notorious taxpayers claim. No intervention from the SNP benches disputing the point. They are knowingly misleading parliament and the public when repeating the claim.
January 8, 2026 at 11:22 AM
Yesterday in parliament @michaeljmarra.bsky.social quoted Mairi Spowage of @fraserofallander.org on the notorious taxpayers claim. No intervention from the SNP benches disputing the point. They are knowingly misleading parliament and the public when repeating the claim.
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Longer clip here. Perhaps now this story will get the attention it deserves? John Swinney and Shona Robison have repeatedly misled parliament on this issue, and have refused to correct the Official Report. A familiar story, of course.
January 7, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Longer clip here. Perhaps now this story will get the attention it deserves? John Swinney and Shona Robison have repeatedly misled parliament on this issue, and have refused to correct the Official Report. A familiar story, of course.
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Jamie Hepburn today repeated the false claim that more than half of taxpayers in Scotland pay less income tax than if they lived elsewhere in the UK. Douglas Ross used a Point of Order to highlight what @fraserofallander.org has said about this, but Hepburn declined to make a correction.
January 7, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Jamie Hepburn today repeated the false claim that more than half of taxpayers in Scotland pay less income tax than if they lived elsewhere in the UK. Douglas Ross used a Point of Order to highlight what @fraserofallander.org has said about this, but Hepburn declined to make a correction.
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This is significant. Mairi Spowage of @fraserofallander.org has spoken to BBC More Or Less about Scot Gov’s “more than half of taxpayers in Scotland pay less income tax than if they lived elsewhere in UK” claim. Mairi is quite clear: the claim has been false for the last two financial years.
January 7, 2026 at 10:02 AM
This is significant. Mairi Spowage of @fraserofallander.org has spoken to BBC More Or Less about Scot Gov’s “more than half of taxpayers in Scotland pay less income tax than if they lived elsewhere in UK” claim. Mairi is quite clear: the claim has been false for the last two financial years.