Sam Taylor

1/🚨Well, this is awkward. Very awkward. If Scotland had voted yes in 2014, the SNP’s triple lock commitment applied only for the first term of an independent parliament. Nicola Sturgeon was unambiguous about this in the Scottish Parliament (clip is from 26th November 2013).

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3/ This blows apart John Swinney’s rhetoric on the triple lock. If Scotland had voted yes, the SNP was committed to retaining the triple lock until 2021. But because Scotland voted no, Scottish pensioners will continue to benefit from the triple lock until 2030.

dailyrecord.co.ukSNP dossier reveals pensions could be cut to plug £28bn oil black hole in independent ScotlandSECRET file blows apart Nationalists' claims that we would be better off if we break away from the UK and warns that defence and welfare could suffer.

4/ In practice, fiscal realities would have forced an independent Scotland to abandon the triple lock long before 2021. John Swinney admitted as much in a notorious cabinet memo, which was leaked to the media in 2013. www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politic...

2/ The time-limited nature of the SNP’s triple lock commitment was not spelled out in “Scotland’s Future” (the “White Paper”) but it was explained in a separate, stand-alone publication on pensions. Which has now mysteriously disappeared from the Scot Gov website. (I wonder why?)

6 Sept

Uncanny.

21 June

Three pages of MMT in the Herald on Sunday. The central argument is that mainstream economists believe governments are like households, and MMTers are the only people who know they are not. Which is nonsense. Mainstream economists do not believe governments are like households.

The bill should call for an independent “Expert Commission on the Holyrood Voting System” to recommend the most robust & truly proportional system. That recommendation would then be put to voters in a referendum, for ratification. Would be enormous fun to see the SNP oppose that.

Sam Taylor@staylorish.bsky.social

An MSP should introduce a Member’s Bill during this parliament to reform the voting system for Holyrood elections. Of course the SNP and Greens would shoot it down. But they should be made to stand up and explain why 57% of the seats with 41% of the votes is a good system.

“We’re in a proportional system that is designed to be able to best reflect the way that the people of Scotland have voted.” It doesn’t matter that the voting system fails to deliver proportional results, says Màiri McAllan. As ever, intentions are more important than outcomes.

1/ “We have 110% of our energy needs already met by renewables.” “Scotland has the highest sources of renewable energies in Europe.” No surprise to discover that two newly elected Scottish Green MSPs fully believe in debunked myths about energy in Scotland.

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these-islands.co.ukWrong With The WindScotland has substantial renewable energy resources, and that’s a very good thing. But hugely exaggerating the size of the potential resource for political purposes is not a good thing. This is the st...

5/ Or she can read the These Islands report here:

these-islands.co.ukAn Inconvenient FactFor more than a decade, the SNP rarely missed an opportunity to shout about Scotland having 25% of Europe’s offshore wind potential. But it wasn’t true. After spending nearly a year coming up with an ...

6/ And the story of the chicanery around updating the bogus statistic is here:

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3/ The >100% myth is still a myth if it’s about electricity only. Over most recent 12-month period for which data is available (October 2024 - September 2025) 67% of Scotland’s electricity consumption was from renewable sources. Source: Scottish Government Energy Statistics Hub

4/ @lornaslater.bsky.social can probably help @katenevens.bsky.social out with the backstory to the Europe myth.

2/ @qmanivannan.bsky.social may be interested to learn that Scotland actually meets just under 30% of its energy needs from renewables. The Scottish Government’s own target is to reach 50% by 2030. Source: Scottish Government Energy Statistics Hub

1 May

1/ John Swinney panders to the widely believed fallacy that independence would transfer the energy sector into public ownership. It would not. The SNP wants *lower* taxes on oil & gas companies. And it wants the owners of wind farms to pay *lower* transmission charges.

1 May

2/ The former is perfectly sensible, but would have a negligible impact on bills. The latter would mean households paying *higher* transmission charges. Someone has to pay for the grid - it doesn’t build and maintain itself.

1 May

3/ If this is John Swinney’s strongest argument for independence, no wonder he’s only going through the motions on wanting another referendum. These arguments would not survive contact with proper scrutiny.

28 Apr

John Swinney’s pledge on energy bills at this election is simply fraudulent. He knows that it won’t be properly scrutinised. And he doesn’t care that it’s undeliverable. But voters should care about a candidate for First Minister who doesn’t tell the truth.

🚨 John Swinney unveils his secret plan to achieve an independence referendum: same as the old plan.

“That’s a junk answer” Tom Gordon has had enough of John Swinney’s evasive formulations.

What are the mechanisms for cutting electricity bills in Scotland, either with the devolution of energy powers, or with independence? John Swinney cannot answer. His response is vacuous and evasive. (@severincarrell.bsky.social asking the question.)

John Swinney says that on day one of a new SNP government, he will request a Section 30 order transferring powers over energy to the Scottish Parliament. If this was a serious idea, you’d expect the civil service to have done some preparatory work. So… have they? Of course not.

John Swinney speaking this morning in Glasgow:

“Don’t lie to us Angus.” Edinburgh Central constituents react angrily to Angus Robertson’s claim that he took his surgery responsibilities seriously. (During the last parliament, Angus Robertson’s website offered very occasional slots where you could speak to him by Zoom only.)

Clip is from an Edinburgh Central hustings which took place on 9th April 2026.

Berwick Bank will produce electricity costing substantially more than the wholesale price we are paying in today’s Ofgem price cap. Can Angus Robertson explain how this is consistent with the SNP’s election pledge on energy bills? No. Of course he can’t. An embarrassing answer.

Clip is from an Edinburgh Central hustings which took place on 9th April 2026.

22 Apr

Yesterday, on the same day the SNP was making its usual ignorant complaints about transmission charges, the UK Gov published its Reformed National Pricing delivery plan. Here, Chris Stark, speaking last month, outlines the general shape of planned transmission charging reforms.

gov.ukReformed National Pricing (RNP): delivery planThe reforms and their delivery that make up the Reformed National Pricing (RNP) programme, which will replace the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA).

22 Apr

Has anyone in the SNP bothered to read this? Do they even want to understand the issues? I very much doubt it.

Sam Taylor reposted

The performative stupidity of the SNP transmission charging grievance. Yes 5.5 GW of ScotWind projects have been paused or cancelled (those lease options were *not* sold off on the cheap). But that’s because there is a massive grid bottleneck between Scotland and England.

Sam Taylor reposted

Replying to @staylorish.bsky.social

Of course the transmission charging regime is going to disincentivise generators from locating behind a grid bottleneck, and incentivise them to locate in front of that bottleneck, close to demand. It’s not exactly rocket science. And it’s not “unfair”.

Important detail in Miliband plan: the new WCfDs will be quite different to regular CfDs. They will (presumably) have a shorter contract length. But they will also, in effect, have two fixed prices. Early years: WCfD strike price + ROC value. Later years: WCfD strike price only.

gov.ukDecisive action to break influence of gas on electricity pricesFamilies across the country will be better protected from energy crises, as government moves to break link between gas and electricity prices.

Source:

There is no energy related challenge or opportunity that becomes easier with Scottish independence. The challenges and opportunities all become *harder* with independence. It’s pretty obvious that more can be achieved when all parts of our small island work together.

17 Apr

If you don’t like what I’ve written about the costs of renewables, because of my unforgivable politics, here is the FT making the same points. These are not political points. They are points about economic realities. And an independent Scotland cannot abolish economic realities.

16 Apr

Decent effort by @severincarrell.bsky.social. But Swinney’s answer is his standard bullshit. To ask this question effectively he *must* be pressed on the fact (and it is a fact) that costs of the latest generation of Scottish renewables are *higher* than the price of electricity set by gas.

these-islands.co.ukHow to interrogate SNP energy bills claimHow to demonstrate that the SNP is not telling the truth about energy bills and Scotland’s “low-cost” renewables. A step-by-step guide.

16 Apr

Details here:

16 Apr

Here is what the SNP manifesto promises on energy bills. No details on how this would be achieved, of course. This is not a policy. It’s a fantasy.

John Swinney says one of the things he’s most proud of the SNP government for having delivered is something it had almost no role in delivering. (Energy is reserved. Scot Gov’s minor role is limited to planning applications.)

John Swinney’s inability to give a straight answer on the SNP’s position on new drilling for oil & gas, painfully exposed this morning by Nick Robinson on the Today Programme. (Part 1/2)

“But you are allowed an opinion.” (Part 2/2)

Nick Robinson skewers John Swinney’s fatuous argument that national security concerns are a smoke screen for an “anti-Scottish” conspiracy by the UK government to block a Chinese wind turbine factory in Scotland.

Sam Taylor reposted

12 Apr

Replying to @staylorish.bsky.social

And again. He loves this line. And it’s wholly false.

Sam Taylor reposted

12 Apr

1/ This line, that because a Chinese company has a minority stake in Hinkley Point C, the UK Labour government must be “anti-Scottish” to have blocked the Ming Yang wind turbine factory, on national security grounds, is very easily debunked.

Sam Taylor reposted