The charitable interpretation would be that Gillian Martin is saying here that the Highlands and the North East generate the majority of Scotland’s renewable electricity. But it sounds suspiciously like she is repeating Humza Yousaf’s famously false statement…

She’s been saying this for years - see quoted tweet. Kate Forbes actually believes that independence would somehow trap wealthy people in Scotland. And she is supposed to be the sensible, business savvy one.

Masterfully done by Charlie Stayt. Kate Forbes is taken to pieces this morning on #BBCBreakfast with devastatingly effective direct questions.

1/ Newly elected MP Graham Leadbitter MP gets off to a flying start at #SNP24 by reeling off two of the most notorious nationalist energy myths: that Scottish households pay higher rates for energy, and that Scotland produces the majority of the UK’s renewables. Both emphatically false…

(1.) Renewable resources are not scarce (2.) Renewables are a low return on capital business (3.) Resource nationalism with renewables doesn’t work If these points aren’t obvious to you, read this: these-islands.co.uk/publications/i…

Great explainer

"In the renewables era, everybody has a surfeit so nobody is going to get super rich.. the profitability of harnessing abundant resources is necessarily low" Such great sentences! I wish people would grasp this in other fields, like AI...

It’s a long read, so there’s loads more great sentences. Sunday morning the perfect time to read them… these-islands.co.uk/publications/i…

This is a beautiful explanation of the economics of energy (in Scotland but applies elsewhere).

John Swinney believes that because Scot Gov has set balanced budgets (which it legally cannot fail to do), no foolish decisions have ever been made. This is asinine stuff. It’s completely obvious that you can balance a budget today which stores up problems for tomorrow.

Groans at Holyrood as Shona Robisons says independence would have avoided fiscal constraints in Scotland. Which is preposterous.

it’s amazing the narratives that can be created by not monitoring stuff theguardian.com/environment/ar…

Shona Robison is asked by Murdo Fraser about her claim that independence would have delivered higher public spending in Scotland. Robison gives an improvised answer (usually she reads from a script) which is a torrent of nonsense, having nothing to do with the question.

John Swinney announces a hugely welcome strengthening of Scotland's ministerial code He says independent advisers will have the power to launch their own investigations - rather than relying on the FM's instruction Very significant improvement, which all MSPs should welcome

Kate Forbes is asked by Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP🔶🇺🇦 what plans Scot Gov has for plugging the funding gap it will leave in next year’s budget by spending all remaining ScotWind cash this year. Forbes’ response is a completely irrelevant rant. So: no plans, and no wonder they are in this mess.

This figure is almost completely meaningless - it’s just the direct costs of graphic design, printing papers etc. The true cost is the cumulative salaries - about £4 million - of the team of 20 odd civil servants who have been working exclusively on the papers since late 2021.

1/ Kate Forbes was challenged this morning by Gary Robertson to justify her claim that the SNP has lifted 100,000 children out of poverty, and she simply couldn’t do it. She initially gives an answer which is false. And when challenged again, reverts to parroting the line.

This week, the SNP claimed on Facebook that the Scottish child payment had already lifted more than 100,000 kids out of poverty. Ferret Fact Service looked at this claim and found it False❌ Find out more: bit.ly/47deqnH

Appallingly sloppy from Adam Robertson Compares the GB price cap for electricity and gas combined with an electricity only figure for Ireland. Fails to mention that factoring in electricity, gas, standing charges, and taxes, household energy prices are *higher* in Ireland.

Gillian Martin blames opposition MSPs for abandonment of 2030 emissions target. Which is odd, because SNP + Greens have outnumbered other parties since target set. The opposition has not blocked any Scot Gov legislation. (Martin was speaking to @petermacmahon for Representing Border)