The National:

THE author of a report criticising the Growth Commission has launched a defence of his work – tweeting out the same screenshot an incredible 48 times in two days in a bizarre attempt to dismiss criticisms.

Kevin Hague, chairman of pro-Union think tank These Islands, has been under fire after labelling the Growth Commission's findings misleading and unrealistic.

Now, we don’t have a problem with people genuinely offering considered criticism of the SNP’s independence blueprint. In fact, The National has probably published more articles criticising its recommendations than any other newspaper in Scotland.

But we suspect that Kevin isn’t really interested in anything other than using his These Islands ‘think-tank’ for cynical attempts to undermine the case for independence. His response didn’t even take the impact of the UK’s current Brexit shambles into account!

Don’t believe us? Here’s Chris Deerin director of an actual Scottish think-tank, Reform Scotland, with a subtle dig at Hague’s social media posts.

Unfortunately, Kevin doesn’t seem to take criticism very well.

Rather than address concerns over the economic credibility of his ‘think-tank’ directly, he's prepared a screenshot quoting a selection of five reviewers to hand – and he really, really, really wants the world to see it.

Let’s take a look at these economists.

We have:

  • Professor Brian Ashcroft – appeared in YouTube videos for Better Together in front of a wall of "No Thanks" signs
  • Professor Ronald MacDonald – appeared in YouTube videos for Better Together in front of a wall of "No Thanks" signs
  • Sir Andrew Large – said Scotland were "in danger of selling themselves short" with a Yes vote ... "please stay with us"
  • Brian Quinn CBE – former executive director of the Bank of England who backed Better Together's position on currency
  • Professor Jim Gallagher – director of research for Better Together

Not exactly neutral in the independence debate, are they...

But this is not even the funniest part – what's even better is that he has tweeted out this screenshot FORTY-EIGHT times in the past two days.

Just to give you a sense of scale as to how desperate this is, we've embedded all the replies below. Congratulations to anyone who makes it to the bottom!

Oh dear ... someone needs to take a step back from the computer.