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Ah, the banter

Posted on January 28, 2014 by

Jim Murphy in the Daily Mail last week on the appalling “cybernats”:

“It’s time for the SNP and the First Minister to finally rein these people in. Washing their hands of them and pretending they don’t know who they are will no longer do.”

And this is a Labour spokesman in 2012 when a user of a Labour Facebook page had wished death on Alex Salmond’s 90-year-old father:

“This desperate smear campaign falls at the first hurdle because this Facebook page is not owned, managed, or operated by Scottish Labour, and it will not detract from the rantings and ravings of SNP candidates – sacked or otherwise – online.

Political parties are responsible for their candidates and officials, but members of the public must be responsible for their own behaviour.”

So, as far as we can follow: it’s nothing to do with Labour if its supporters – in a Facebook group subscribed to by all the party’s most prominent Scottish MPs, MSPs and activists – wish for Alex Salmond’s dad to die, but as soon as some random nat calls Jim Murphy a “w*****” (whatever one of those is), it’s no longer a private matter and the SNP and First Minister must take direct personal responsibility and action?

Have we got that about right?

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76 to “Ah, the banter”

  1. Adrian B
    Ignored
    says:

    poor wee lambs……

  2. Embradon
    Ignored
    says:

    It must be yon rhyming slang. Someone insulting him by implying he’s a banker.

  3. Paul
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T anyone know what has happened to the Daily Record on-line it isn’t coming up and I need a good rant at them.

  4. Fergus Green
    Ignored
    says:

    Jim Murphy is a thoroughly unpleasant man.! Can I say that?

  5. desimond
    Ignored
    says:

    Talking of banter, any co-incidence the Daily records reports –

    Trending Today

    Kim Jong-un
    Alex Salmond
    Mikaeel Kular
    Bill Roache
    Nicola Sturgeon

  6. Jimsie
    Ignored
    says:

    What Murphy and his ilk hate more than anything is their actions and words being put under close scrutiny. Sites like Wings, Bella and Newsnet are the bane of their lives and they would try anything to shut them up.

  7. Gillie
    Ignored
    says:

    The Daily Mail trades in prejudice, fear and hate.

    The Daily Mail’s has a long, long list of those it hates. You are bound to be on it, maybe more than once.

  8. Paul Martin
    Ignored
    says:

    Well Margaret Curran MP and Daniel Kelly are still friends despite Daniel wishing the grim reaper to come and vist Ecks dad one dark night. What kind of twisted sicko wishes anyone else’s *parent* dead FFS…

    https://twitter.com/PWMartin_Leith/status/330337007232512000/photo/1

  9. BBC Scotlandshire
    Ignored
    says:

    Sir. Sir. Is it a ‘wanker’, Sir? Is it?

  10. David McCann
    Ignored
    says:

    I wonder if Derek Bateman, became just another ‘cybernat’ when he left the BBC, to write his own blog?

    I think Spud Murphy should tell us.

  11. X_Sticks
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that the north british branch of the labour party don’t like us very much. Am I just being paranoid?

    I must write to Alex and Nicola and ask them what to do.

  12. Geoff Huijer
    Ignored
    says:

    Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

    Do as I say; not as I do.

  13. john king
    Ignored
    says:

    “Sir. Sir. Is it a ‘wanker’, Sir? Is it?”

    No Scotlandshire, sit down.

  14. Gillie
    Ignored
    says:

    I hear the Daily Mail have been door-stepping a house in Ayrshire said to contain a notorious cybernat.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BurnsCottage.jpg

  15. HandandShrimp
    Ignored
    says:

    Mr Murphy is either clueless as to what is actually going down on the interwebs or he is a rank hypocrite. Neither qualify him to speak on the matter.

  16. Murray McCallum
    Ignored
    says:

    C’mon Rev Stu, New OneNation Scottish Labour’s positions of principle don’t last a week let alone c1.5 years.

    People need to remember all this when it comes to promises of more powers for the Scottish Parliament.

    It is all empty rhetoric.

  17. velofello
    Ignored
    says:

    It is a remarkable political strategy.A Scottish Labour MP, Shadow Minister no less and then an MSP complaining to the rabid right wing Daily Mail that some of the electorate are politically active, but not supportive to them. I thought politics required the participants to smile shake hands, kiss babies, to all and sundry as core behaviour. But then we recently had the Secretary of State for Portsmouth asking a programme hostess to help him in debate against a political opponent. Maybe these politicos are just so accustomed to enjoying unconditional MSM support that they feel it is unfair that the horrid internet is now giving the electorate a means to express their views.

  18. Atypical_Scot
    Ignored
    says:

    W***, I’* n** s******* a* a**.

  19. Tattie-bogle
    Ignored
    says:

    I await my visit from the FM to put me on the naughty step as my thoughts on Mr Murphy . Muds Spuds are Duds

  20. Andy-B
    Ignored
    says:

    Sorry to go off topic Rev.

    But I almost choked on my lovely slice of Genoa cake, when I heard this on the news. Jackson Carlaw Tory MSP has come out and said, Scotland must not use the Golden Eagle as a national symbol.

    Mr Carlaw went on to say the eagles was the symbol the Nazi’s used, and many people who died during World War two,did so whilst seeing the eagle symbol.

    The Golden eagle has flown over Scotland for thousands of years, and in my opinion the majestic bird is indeed a fitting symbol for Scotland. Mr Carlaws distasteful statement, seems to me no more than, a backhand jibe at the Nationalist movement.

    http://www.news.stv.tv/politics/261983-jackson-carlaw-msp-objects-to-proposed-eagle-symbol-over-nazi-link/

  21. Peter Macbeastie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ah, there’s nothing like a unionist politician indulging in double standards.

    It’s nothing unusual for the British press, either, to operate it on their behalf. Not a problem if they do it, inexcusable if it is anyone they don’t like.

    I expect the First Minister has a good laugh at most of the comments he hears about; he’s bound to know about some, anyway, but mostly he’ll be laughing at the Daily Mail assertion that his party has any control over what happens amongst individual online supporters. Regretable that our side does have at least a few intemperate souls floating about but that is to be expected. When the unionist press acknowledge that it’s far from one sided then perhaps we might address that; certainly not before.

    Or that’s what my SNP handler told me to say, at any rate…..

  22. Peter Macbeastie
    Ignored
    says:

    Just noted Andy-B’s post.

    I wonder if the humourous Mr Carlaw (humour because that’s surely a joke he’s been making) thinks the USA using the mighty Bald Eagle as a national emblem is also a problem? He could also cite the double headed eagle of the Russian Romanov dynasty, or the Albanian crest of the same type. Maybe even the regimental symbols used by Napoleonic armies; the Eagle being the direct equivalent of the British Army regimental Colours.

    He’s clearly missed a trick here.

  23. kininvie
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T
    I expect most of us here have had enough of intemperate bile. But anyone who needs a daily fix, there’s plenty on view here, with our own Doug Daniel fighting hard to keep his temper in the middle:

    http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2014/01/poll-shows-yes-camp-are-within-striking-distance-of-victory/

    Maybe we should be calling on Cameron and Farage to keep their supporters in check?

    Did you know we are all 5ft tall and ginger? Well, you do now.

  24. muttley79
    Ignored
    says:

    I will not be commenting much on here today because I am waiting for Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon to get in touch to tell me what to write on the internet @Daily Heil/MSM/Unionists-make-believe-land.

  25. Andy-B
    Ignored
    says:

    Back on topic Rev, I think you’ve summed it up perfectly, in that paragraph. The unionists want their cake, and to eat it as well. Jim Murphy is a hypocrite, who relies on the unionist newspapers, to back up his one sided claims, and they do.

  26. Gillie
    Ignored
    says:

    It looks like the spooks at GCHQ have targeting smart phones, Facebook, You Tube and Twitter.

    With regard Twitter a GCHQ operation dubbed Blackhole identified users and targeted them with propaganda.

  27. chalks
    Ignored
    says:

    Massively O/T

    however, noticed someone was speaking about the missing million coming forward to register…

    http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/electoral-stats/1-december-2012/tables-figures.html

    More registrations for Holyrood than Westminster….our population is about 5.5 million isn’t it? There cannot be 1.5 million children?

    I thought this missing million was just an urban myth…maybe not.

  28. The Man in the Jar
    Ignored
    says:

    On the subject of truly awful people I see that Longshanker is popping up on Derek Batemans blog defending Camerons response (or lack of it) regarding Cameron debating Salmond.

    Of course although trying to be all nicey nicey Longshanker can’t resist having a pop at Rev Stu.

  29. HandandShrimp
    Ignored
    says:

    The double headed eagle is an ancient royal emblem used by the Holy Roman Empire and a host of others (Albania springs to mind). The German two headed eagle was a symbol of the Empire not the Nazis. The Nazis just kept it as a means to rubber stamp (literally) the legitimacy of their rule. He really ought have spoken with somebody with even a passing knowledge of history before opening his mouth. Now he just looks like a pillock.

    I rather imagine the Scottish eagle crest will look like the US one rather than a royal double headed job to boot.

  30. kalmar
    Ignored
    says:

    An eagle is a fine thing to use as a symbol. As long as you don’t accidentally make your logo strongly reminiscent of the Nazi eagle or something!

  31. MajorBloodnok
    Ignored
    says:

    Aye kalmar, swastikas and saltires can be easily confused (by Scotland on Sunday, especially).

  32. jingly jangly
    Ignored
    says:

    Maybe we should make it Eagle of the 9th!!!

  33. muttley79
    Ignored
    says:

    I was looking at the Spectator comments and the poster ‘David Kay’ is comparing Salmond to Hitler. His style is very similar, suspiciously so, to Fred from Craig Murray’s blog. He/she is raging.

  34. Oneironaut
    Ignored
    says:

    @kalmar
    “An eagle is a fine thing to use as a symbol.”

    Well there have been a few eagles used as symbols. America uses one, and the Romans had their Aquila…
    I suppose it’s better than the thistle at least (“Welcome to Scotland, home of flowers that sting you!”), or pipers on shortbread tins, or “wee heiland coos”, or any of the other stuff meant “for the unwary and bewildered tourist” as Billy Connolly once put it.

    Maybe we should use the Wings symbol, since we’re apparently a country infested with vicious evil Cybernats who attack perfectly innocent people trying to go about their perfectly innocent harmless business of posting death-wish messages on social networks… 😉

  35. Bubbles
    Ignored
    says:

    Rev – permission to proclaim on the 19th of September “The Eagle has Landed”?

  36. Papa docs
    Ignored
    says:

    I think the unionist politicians have lost the plot. Or are they just playing to “the proud Scots (wish we were Engerlish) followers. When you believe the Engerlish media are telling the truth then you really are out on a limb. What are these clowns all about. What is more worrying is the tubes who believe it. NONE ARE SO BLIND etc.

  37. Ivan McKee
    Ignored
    says:

    @chalks

    Total population (2011 census) = 5,295,000
    Under 15s (2011 census) = 854,000

    So estimate of under 16s = about 915,000

    The data I saw on electoral registrations link you posted was 4,063,000, but I think this will be for 18s and over.

    So if calculate under 18’s at around 1,025,000 (based on just pro-rata the u15s number) then that would mean there are about 200,000 unregistered voters (5,295,000 – 4,063,000 – 1,025,000).

    Someone else might have more accurate data and can comment, but it does look anything like the 1m number.

  38. Ivan McKee
    Ignored
    says:

    Correction …..

    it doesn’t look anything like the 1m number

  39. Andy-B
    Ignored
    says:

    Re: my last post YouGoV Poll.

    The Glasgow Evening Time leads with a large header of the story 36% of Scots believe yes vote may hit shipbuilding.

    However if you delve deeper into the story 18% feel shipbuilding would have a more secure outlook in an independent Scotland. 29% think they’d be no difference either way, and 5% said shipbuilding in an independent Scotland would have a much brighter future.

    Thats 52% of Scots who feel shipbuilding would still be around after independence, yet the huge header stated 36% said yes would hit shipbuilding, can you see what they did there, I certainly can.

  40. G H Graham
    Ignored
    says:

    What was the point of Jim Murphy serving as Shadow Defence Secretary when he already agreed with the Coalition Government’s intention to fund a replacement for Trident?

    Aren’t you supposed to childishly object to everything that the government proposes?

    Is this pointless role the reason he was moved to the shadow Department for International Development? Is this in preparation for dealing with an independent Scotland? You know, the country that, according to Labour will suddenly be full of ‘foreigners’.

  41. The Flamster
    Ignored
    says:

    Been a while since I posted and going O/T but this has been brought to my attention on FB.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/faulty-independence-plan-should-be-recalled-says-carmichael

  42. Bubbles
    Ignored
    says:

    Yup, that Spectator articles’ comments are fabulous. Calling “ginger junkies” racists lol. Brilliant.

  43. K Mackay
    Ignored
    says:

    muttley79, just been over there to see doug’s good work. Don’t usually see Spectator comments, hadn’t seen that David Kay before, he’s a charming chappy. He’s also decided that all Scots are 5ft and ginger and couldn’t be anything like our Nordic neighbours because we’re not all 6ft and blonde.

    I enjoyed letting him know that I’ve ruined his stereotype, I’m 6ft1, blonde with a ginger beard for good measure 🙂

  44. Doug
    Ignored
    says:

    The Scots are becoming much more engaged in, and as a result of, the independence debate and the UK politicians are terrified. They’ve managed to keep the public increasingly disengaged for years through just being as boring and long-winded as possible, causing most folk to just switch off and leave them to it. Now the public are starting to sit up and say “Hey, wait a minute…” and sites like Wings, Newsnet etc are providing news that’s being suppressed by the mainstream media. The referendum has finally caused people to wake up to what’s actually going on, not just in Scotland but down south as well.

    OK, this means that there will obviously be a few idiots on either side who enter the fray as well but that’s just life. It’s just interesting to see how the politicians are whining in the face of a bit more rough and tumble than they’ve been used to in the past. A bunch of cry-babies who couldn’t run a burger stand, let alone a country. It’s gonna be fun watching most of them fade into obscurity after the Yes vote.

  45. ronnie anderson
    Ignored
    says:

    @david McCann 1.26, noo thats no fair ( Spud Murphy )

    spud,s hey eye,s,that grow and seek the Light,

    Murph,sin the JoLo,s bunker wie awe the ither Mushroom,s

    feeding on shite.

  46. Seanair
    Ignored
    says:

    The Man in the Jar
    Can you provide a link please—not finding it on DB1 or 2. Thanks.
    By the way why does DB have 2 blogsites? I can’t see any difference between them.

  47. Onwards
    Ignored
    says:

    Scotland already has a pretty cool national animal – the unicorn 🙂

    If there is a campaign to change that, surely we should wait until after the referendum?

    The eagle or the mouse ?

  48. Richard Lucas
    Ignored
    says:

    The Labour motto “Do as we say, not do as we do”

    I think that the Golden Eagle would make a fine national symbol, accompanied, I would hope, by new and rigourously enforced laws protecting raptors from poisoning and trapping by the land-owning classes and their employees. A Duke or an Earl or two in Saughton Jail wold make a fine example ‘pour encourager les autres’.

  49. ronnie anderson
    Ignored
    says:

    Eagle,s ma erse, Capercaillie noo hiz any ither country

    goat thaim,noo there,s a big burd ( Macavoy fek aff )

  50. chalks
    Ignored
    says:

    Thanks Ivan, well I guess 200,000 is nothing to sniffed at.

    As well as the near 50% who never voted in the last Scottish Parliament election….60% for the last Westminster…so that is at least 40% disenfranchised with the political machine in the UK/Scotland……

    http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Electionresults/2011%20election/5_Turnout_Region.pdf

  51. Tinyzeitgeist
    Ignored
    says:

    Onwards says: “The eagle or the mouse?”

    How about the eagle or the dodo?
    What future will have Scotland have after a no vote?

  52. kininvie
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T
    Dunno if anyone’s picked this up from Twitter, but Yes Scotland have produced a map showing just how strong the grassroots campaign has become. Fairly amazing. Typically, I can’t find it on the Yes Scotland site, so am relaying it from Biz4Scotland.

    https://twitter.com/BizforScotland/status/428158133169422337/photo/1

  53. Andy-B
    Ignored
    says:

    Talking of banter Rev, and cybernats, just read an article which included Alex Salmond in the online Daily Record. First comment posted said he thought Salmond was Kim Jong-Un, lets just say the cyberbrits, have their moments as well.

    http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/scottish-independence-alex-salmond-claims-3068592

  54. ronnie anderson
    Ignored
    says:

    @bubble,s3.08 an the Piper,s will no be playing the

    star spanggled banner

  55. Macart
    Ignored
    says:

    I don’t think its that Labour parliamentarians are hypocritical or two faced (cough).

    Its just that they can turn 180 on their own axis faster than the human eye can follow. 😉

  56. Morag
    Ignored
    says:

    Richard, I was thinking the same thing. This happened near where I live, about five years ago. Poor golden eagle.

    http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/borders-eagle.html

  57. scottish_skier
    Ignored
    says:

    Re the Tesco Value (Yougov) poll.

    Note that in every poll there’s always ~1/3 who foresee doom and gloom for an independent Scotland.

    This is the ~1/3 who feel completely or strongly ‘British’.

    Many of these will say things will be bad even if they don’t actually believe that.

    Note this lot pop up in the ICM poll as definitely voting No (34%).

    Yes, that’s right, 66% are open to independence. It’s the same lot that opted for devo max in the ICM poll (64% for vs 28% against).

  58. Bubbles
    Ignored
    says:

    @ Richard Lucas

    There won’t be any Dukes or Earls in an independent Scotland.

    @ Andy-B

    I don’t see any comments.

  59. ronnie anderson
    Ignored
    says:

    @The Flamster,3.24, remind me why do politicions excist

    Manufacture,s Product Re-Call (reason)

    Thought processes/fucked

    Inability to see/stumble bums

    Injury,s to self/shooting themselves in the feet

    Awe ah hiv tae gie up , i,ll be here awe night

  60. HandandShrimp
    Ignored
    says:

    I am always surprised when a Ruth or Murphy or Kezia do the evil cyernats thing when anybody can go onto any story in the UK press about Scottish independence and see a string of vitriol thrown the way of Salmond, independence supporters and Scots generally. Nationalists are compared to Nazis, we are called Scot Natzis all the time yet these worthies never see anything (possibly in Kezia’s case because she is too busy writing this stuff).

    Capturing, keeping and producing it en mass as Stu did with the Clutha comments is going to prove entertaining down the line.

    Obviously stalking is out of order and while the odd “beat it” with a capital F (where appropriate) is OK in my book, chasing someone around the interwebs to shout abuse at them is a waste of time and energy. We need to be persistent and remorselessly logical whilst holding the feet of those who post untruths to the flames. This can all be done and the moral high ground kept dry and safe.

  61. Martin Donnelly
    Ignored
    says:

    There’s a word you don’t hear too often now but it fits what Jim Murphy is saying to a T. The word is cant.

  62. Andy-B
    Ignored
    says:

    @Bubbles. The comments are posted at the bottom of the page, the Kim Jung-Un comment was posted by a Tom Pritchard at 1.00am,on the 28th, Jan, now as I check the comments, Mr Pritchards comment has mysteriously vanished. Do you think the Daily Record could be monitoring wings comments.?

  63. liz
    Ignored
    says:

    @Flamster – now that is scary – they must know Yes are miles ahead in the polls.

    Could this pass – with the corrupt HoL and the unionist parties having a massive majority?

  64. HandandShrimp
    Ignored
    says:

    Andy B

    It may be that others do monitor Wings (I’m sure BT dip in here *waves across the ocean*) and went to the Record and hit the report button. Mind you it might be too late as someone may already have it on a screen capture. Probably an idea for those with the knowledge to screen capture the Spectator comments before they get weeded too.

  65. robert urquhart
    Ignored
    says:

    As an Inverness Caledonian Thistle supporter I’m grossly offended by golden eagle Nazi remarks. There’s one on our club crest. Maybe Carlaw would like to discuss it with our fans.

  66. Ronnie
    Ignored
    says:

    No doubt Jackson Carlaw will be calling for a ban on all the RAF’s badges, lest they be confused with those of the Luftwaffe!

  67. liz
    Ignored
    says:

    @Flamster – sorry that was a joke right?

    I am super niave but it did give me a shock.

  68. Jamie Arriere
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m most inclined to subscribe to the comments of Robert Salmond – if we can survive wars (which Jim Murphy doesn’t seem to have a problem with us getting involved in), we can all survive the comments of a few nyaffs on the internet.

    Amen

  69. Andy-B
    Ignored
    says:

    @handshrimp. I agree about the monitoring, and I took a screen shot of the comment, but I’ve not yet worked out how to upload it, as I’m a bit of a Luddite.

  70. Ken500
    Ignored
    says:

    Keiza, hen, you’re being groomed by some very ugly men.

  71. The Flamster
    Ignored
    says:

    Liz, I have double checked but, it is on Gov UK website under the Scotland office.

  72. David MacGille-Mhuire
    Ignored
    says:

    Maybe Carlaw would prefer a budgie rather than an eagle? Or an ass over a unicorn?

  73. lumilumi
    Ignored
    says:

    Jackson Carlaw’s just being silly. It so happens that the public voted the Golden Eagle to be their favourite wild animal. Is Mr Carlaw saying the public voted wrong?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24772605

    The choice of national animal/bird/tree/flower/etc. isn’t an exact science, neither is their role as symbols. Some countries use their heraldry animals (that’s why lions are quite popular), some have had public votes to raise awareness of national wildlife. For instance, Finland’s national animal is the brown bear – the public vote had a rule that the animal had to be native to Finland – we have a lion rampant on our coat of arms 🙂

    Last year the public also voted the Scots pine to be Scotland’s national tree. Has Mr Carlaw any objections to that?

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24975451

    I had a look at a list of national animals, and lions, eagles, lions, stags etc. are quite popular. I liked Monacos: hedgehog, rabbit and wood mouse! 😀

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_animals

  74. lumilumi
    Ignored
    says:

    @ ronnie anderson, 28.1.2014, 3.46pm

    Eagle,s ma erse, Capercaillie noo hiz any ither country goat thaim,noo there,s a big burd

    Finland has a breeding population of capercaillie of about 150,000 to 250,000 pairs. 🙂 Norway, Sweden and Russia also have big populations. It’s the boreal forests, you see, their favourite habitat.



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