In the EU elections, UKIP have come first in England with 29% of the vote. This, apparently, is a stunning victory for Nigel Farage and his mob.
In Scotland, the SNP have come first, with 29% of the vote. This, apparently, is a hammer blow to Alex Salmond.
Comprendes? Me neither.
However, none of this changes the fact that Scotland woke up this morning to discover that it now has a UKIP MEP -- the first time that loathsome party has won any kind of representation in this country. By taking slightly more than 10% of the vote, they took the Liberal Democrats' sole seat and narrowly prevented the SNP from securing a third. This is a dark day in Scottish politics. We used to be able to claim that UKIP weren't a serious problem here. Those days are over. We must now work doubly hard to expose their hatred and bigotry for what it is.
Where does the "blame" lie for this state of affairs?
Is it with the BBC, who rammed UKIP down our throats for months on end, giving a party with no elected representatives in this country four times as much coverage as the party that forms our democratically elected government? Perhaps.
Is it with the Liberal Democrats, for rendering themselves unelectable by being such arse-wipes in cosying up to the Tories and allowing them to inflict untold misery on these islands? They played their part, for sure.
Is it with the Green Party, for claiming that only a vote for them could stop UKIP, despite the fact that they were never serious contenders? Splitting the progressive vote between the SNP and the Greens certainly didn't help matters, but there's little to be gained from encouraging bad blood between people who are on the same side.
Is it with certain people opposed to independence who are today crowing about this state of affairs as if it is some glorious victory for the union? Probably not, though these people need to take a good hard look at themselves in the mirror and ponder what precisely they're fighting to retain.
Is it with the approximately two-thirds of the population who shrugged their shoulders and didn't bother to vote? They certainly didn't help, and I hope they're happy with the outcome.
But no, ultimately the blame lies with the roughly 140,000 who, when presented with their ballot paper, decided that the best option was to place a cross next to a far-right, racist, homophobic, misogynist, anti-NHS, anti-workers' rights party. Every single one of them deserves nothing but contempt.
EDITED TO ADD: A rather more upbeat (and amusing) take on the election results, courtesy of the Wee Ginger Dug.
EDITED TO ADD #2: Wings Over Scotland makes the important point that, despite having been the incumbent government for seven years, and despite being the only party in the UK actively campaigning for MORE immigration, not less, the SNP not only held on to their two seats but "suffered" a mere loss of 0.07% of their proportion of the vote. In fact, due to an increased turnout compared to the last round of EU elections, they actually secured tens of thousands MORE votes. And yet the meedja and more than a few of their political opponents are busy trying to paint this as some sort of a crushing defeat.
