Beating your wife
Yesterday we reported on a rather weird Scotland on Sunday poll that the newspaper reported last month, which pollster ICM seemed to want nothing to do with and whose results weren’t made public until weeks after they should have been, and only under sustained pressure from this website.
Here’s another extract from the paper’s coverage:
Now, that’s some pretty shabby and misleading editorialising right from the off by the paper’s super-Unionist political editor Tom Peterkin. The SNP had pledged to replace the tax in their 2007 manifesto, and attempted to do so as a minority administration, but were foiled by the combined opposition of the Unionist parties voting to block proposals for a local income tax. The Nats accepted defeat and the pledge wasn’t repeated in the 2011 or 2016 manifestos.
But the poll is even dodgier than that.
Because this, rather remarkably, is the question respondents were asked and the choice of just two answers they were offered:
That’s not even so much a leading question as a riddle. The options available have basically nothing to do with each other – respondents are being asked “Do you agree with this specific change to the system, or is the whole system garbage?”, two propositions which are in no way exclusive.
There’s no conflict whatsoever between wanting council tax replaced and thinking the rich should pay a slightly higher proportion of it, and asking people to choose which thing they agree with more is a bit like saying “Was Hitler bad or do you like apples?”
Frankly, readers, we’re starting to understand why ICM were reluctant to admit having anything to do with the poll. They just ask the questions people pay them to ask, but being associated with such an absurd, twisted and transparent mess can’t be good for anyone’s credibility or brand image.
I saw the title and for a moment thought we were to be treated to a new WOS publication – The Wee Black and Blue Book.
Any old tosh, has and, will be asked; to fabricate a SNP baaaad story.
Different day, same sh**e.
Just like the ratings agencies in the run up to the financial crisis, the polling agencies it seems will compromise standards for whoever is willing to pay.
Stu is right, ICM just lost a hell of a lot of respect. Reputation is everything for such entities.
Hopefully they’ll think twice before accepting a nonsense question like that.
And members of the public please note 11% gave the correct response of “don’t know”.
Whatever the SNP propose will be bad. The next election is the local elections and every SNP bad angle will be expoloited to the max. We ought to have a handy checklist of bad news stories to assist the press and BBC in the run-up:
burden of oil – too cheap /running out
Forth road bridges – not needed / vital but delayed
NHS failures – waiting lists too long / too many nurses
poor educational results – oh God, Swinney’s on the case now
potholes – too little spent on roads / too much wasted on wrong roads
payment of farmers’ subsidies – too late and always too little
child protection – too intrusive / not intrusive enough
and so on …
What a crap question. Are we to be subject to stories based on this dodgy poll?
Desperate stuff indeed.
Journalists…get your act together, we’re on to you!
… and the lieutenants and the guardians of the British Establishment, fearful of losing any status or wealth, took no respite in their task counselling and plotting against the good interests of the people of Scotland.
Grouse Beater,I left a post on Hawks and doves for you sir.
After the past several years especially of being fed the media’s shite, I’m beyond caring whether they survive at this point.
They know what they’re about and always have. It’s not shoddy journalism, or a lack of professionalism, or simple carelessness. Its creating a narrative to manipulate an opinion.
IMO, there is no excusing what they’ve done and are continuing to do. Keep your eyes on those ABC figures meeja. They’ll tell you all you need to know about how well regarded you are.
I suspect we will continue to see even more dodgy polls from the unionist media in the run up to the 2020 General election.
Meanwhile OT in her weekly column in the Dundee courier
Jenny Hjul has an article on the named person legislation titled “McStasi” is not working.
She uses the Liam Fee case as an example of the legislation not working.
what a despicable individual she is.
The folk in Argyll and Bute should be asking the question how long should a Labour member who switched to being an Independent candidate for election get to change his mind back to being a Labour member once elected
One day or Two?
Or is that a political lie so it’s OK
Maybe nobody noticed eh
Isn’t that sort of poll question known as “Push Polling”? (a common way of doing things in the US) – where the person being polled is more or less tricked into answering the way those who commissioned the poll want.
And don’t forget it wasn’t just the Holyrood Unionist MSPs who opposed the introduction of a local income tax in 2007 – Labour felt the need to run to their big brother in Westminster to get them to threaten the Scottish Government that if they brought it in, then the SG’s budget would be slashed.
New Forth Bridge completion held up due to weather. SNP baaastards!
Grouse Beater,Thank you for your kind reply,be assured I will make sure this work of your’s will be sent to everyone I think
of who will appreciate it.Many Thanks.
ronnie anderson says:
8 June, 2016 at 2:03 pm
New play being written for the Edinburgh Fringe
Murdo Fraser in the Bridge of Sighs + full supporting cast Libs / Lab ect ect,soz forgot tae mention Wee Ruthie as the Wild Wind. Noo who would you,s blame fur the delay ?.
fek it SNP Baad onnyhows.
(moved from previous thread)
“asking people to choose which thing they agree with more is a bit like saying “Was Hitler bad or do you like apples?””
Surely you mean “Are the SNP BAD or do you like apples?”
There was also a bizarre story in the media that the M74 hasn’t cut deaths on the roads of the east end of Glasgow. Except that the deaths have declined and what they are saying is they can’t find the link that proves it was the motorway wot done it. All of it is a drip drip of SNP baad hoping we will forget how catastrophic Labour’s tenure of the Scottish parliament was.
Did anybody else see Prof Curtis pop up as a representative of the polling organisations and not as spokesperson of the “respected” IFS on the news today? And is anybody else amazed as me how a huge throng of people have suddenly tried to register to vote at the very last minute now that the numbers are looking bad for the remain side. Expect a win for remain of ohh I dunno 55% to 45% sounds likely.
Thanks again for your vigilance. I don’t know how you do it. BBC News at lunchtime talked about SNP Government “admitting” the bridge is delayed. As if they had something to hide. Why not “announces”?
If not for you and the Dug et al I think I would go off my head.
However they’re relentless negativism is backfiring, I believe. Nobody believes a f****g word they say anymore. Just talking to each other.
Those of us who read the Sunday Herald will have seen on P2 the current readership figures for the SoS and Hootsmon and will know that they are passing into oblivion. Now I can’t think why!!!!
Auld Rock
ICM have gone very quiet!
We surely have to take these papers out, one by one. A dose of derision heaped with determination onto the weakest (the Daily Express?)to start would make me feel very good as I experience the public indignity of being seen daily buying one (for my next door neighbour) and if it went out of circulation I’d feel a lot better.
Great work Rev and shame on you ICM you should have told these rabid yoon loonies to get lost.
Maybe teach you a wee lesson,there is no hiding place from Wings 🙂
Rumbled.
The usual shite then from the ESS for Shite on Sunday.
OT
BBC Disreporting Jackie was pretty rabid today or so I thought.
I don’t much care if the New Forth Road Bridge is going to be a little late in opening. What I do care about is that it opens without the loss human life or workers getting maimed. But hey it is pretty obvious that the Yoons don’t give a fuck for human life. It pretty much confirmed what I always thought of them anyway.
BBC on attack again about the NP Policy.
When are SNP going to take the gloves off?
OT again
Oh and as for Falkirk’s potholes well the Cry Was No Surrender on that one eh! I suppose the citizens of Falkirk could fill them with sashes!
OT
So the Yoon Govt Register to Vote for EU referendum computers went down did they?
Aye Right!
The words RIGGED AND FIXED come immediately to mind when dealing with those treacherous canutes.
Dont think they need to fix it though as neither side of the Eton Bully Boys Club is going to accept the result whatever way it goes.
Dave McEwan Hill says:
“We surely have to take these papers out, one by one. A dose of derision heaped with determination onto the weakest (the Daily Express?)to start would make me feel very good as I experience the public indignity of being seen daily buying one (for my next door neighbour) and if it went out of circulation I’d feel a lot better.”
By doing that you’re supporting it.
You’d probably feel a lot better not buying it at all, and tell the fool to go buy their own comic.
I know, here we go again. Watching Politics Scotland. Only in Scotland do we see a bridge delayed by 5 months as a disaster. Really, isn’t it better it’s safe?
Now on the Named Person proposals. Labour, Tories and Lib Dems back pedalling like hell. They want it “reviewed”. What happened to reversing it? Oh the sad and brutal demise of a two year old.
Charlatans all.
The Nats accepted defeat and the pledge wasn’t repeated in the 2011 or 2016 manifestos.
You must have the redacted version of the 2011 manifesto. What it said on local government funding was that the SNP would “produce a fairer system based on ability to pay to replace the Council Tax”.
@ Iain More
Potholes Iain they are more like meteor strikes mate,but dont worry have you seen our new,took bloody months and god knows how much cash,WW1 war memorial outside the old disused falling to bits barr bru factory at Loch 16.
I love the way its made to look like it was built just after WW1 the rusty design is just brilliant,rolls eyes to the heavens.
Or what about our big pond down at the bog with very little parking and now they are trying to fix it by turning a two lane roundabout into three lanes,though i guess that means everybody still parking up on the grass verge and blocking the route to Gmouth.
I see that Murdo is fast overtaking Wee Wullie as head moaner of the SNP bad brigade. Mr Brown’s statement which seemed to be perfectly reasonable in the circumstances and assured Holyrood that the bridge will still be completed before the end of the June 2017 and still under budget is immediately trashed by his accusations.
Alec Rowley, the Eeyore, of the labour party is less damming and tries to welcome the bridge but implies the bridge might still be late and can Keith Brown….etc etc.
Lib Dems Alex Cole-Hamilton says a project in abject distress, without visible signs of a blush! 🙂
Alex Johnstone MSP demanding that Keith Brown won’t put pressure on the contractors in view of the death of a worker earlier in the year. Jeez!
All SNP bad from the same folk that said the bridge was a vanity project but now shout at the SNP for not meeting the December 2016 opening date. Par for the course.
O/T
‘The Wee Bleu Book’
http://www.scotlandineurope.eu/wee_bleu_book
Let britnats pay for britnat propaganda.
“Frankly, readers, we’re starting to understand why ICM were reluctant to admit having anything to do with the poll.”
It’s probably them wrote the exam papers for the Comp Sci higher.
@DerekM
Meteor strikes, I will have to remember that one. Queen Street in Lossiemouth I call pothole city, it kills the shock absorbers on my car. Meanwhile the RAF had an air display last Saturday which I don’t recall being advertised. I wonder how many millions that cost. Then on Monday I hear that the MoD has run out of Brit Pesos to get those Navy Ships built and to erm fulfil a Naw Bag promise. Oh well I am sure it is all the SNPs fault for not wanting Trident.
Phil Robertson: “The SNP will produce a fairer system based on ability to pay to replace the Council Tax”.
Wings will answer anon.
But first, explain to readers the system proposed by opposition parties that is acceptable to the SNP.
You do agree, don’t you, being in opposition means producing alternative schemes if you insist on protesting the current is not abolished, while overlooking your party voted abolition down?
@Iain More
But you have to remember Iain that people in Moray are, according to britnats there, supposed to come out of their hovels and wave a tear-stained butcher’s apron in grovelling gratitude whenever a bunch of noisy crabs fly overhead.
@ Dave McEwen Hill
I know you’ll be being helpful, but just tell them it goes against your conscience to buy the daily express.
I recall one time popping out of the office for lunch and as you do asking if anyone wanted anything while I was out.
One of my colleagues asked me to get them a packet of fags. I respectfully declined and made a light hearted joke about not assisting suicide.
Maybe I was a bit of a wanker, but I was never asked to get them again and we still got along like a house on fire.
The power is in your hands to strike a small blow against the daily express.
@Grouse Beater
Hey come on now the Yoons aren’t interested in producing a fairer anything based on ability to pay.
Even if the SNP suddenly came out and said they were abolishing all local Council Taxes, the Yoons would still dance up and down with steam coming out of their ears and noses and going beetroot in the face with rage screaming SNP BAAAAAAHD.
Aye we can only hope the OO on their march are too busy singing about their hatred of catholics that they dont see the meteor strikes and fall in the holes and break their necks.
The Disworship of the Yoons:
Kegger of assholes
Wake of vultures
Shower of bastards
Mug of narcissists
Slant of journalists
Pratfall of clowns
A kegger mmm ?
O/T I was driving over the Forth Road Bridge yesterday the traffic was heavy and was stop start for a good bit. This gave me the chance to admire the new bridge standing tall in the sunshine. It truly is a magnificent thing.
It made me so proud thinking “We the people of Scotland did that” Despite them! If you get the chance go and see it. Just avoid the rush hour traffic.
While there is absolutely no doubt that the blame, or most of it, for the delays and obscene cost overruns with the Parliament Building and Labour’s Vanity Trams Farce was attributable to the actions of politicians I fail to see how today’s announcemnt of a delay without cost increase to the completion of The Queensferry Crossing can possibly be blamed on the actions of any politcian or political party.
@ The Man in the Jar
Aye its something else no wonder the yoons keep blubbing about it boohoo no fair,no doubt they will want to name it after the German bint with the huge giro.
What do these cretins propose? Open the bridge before it’s finished?
Perhaps a Yoon March (they like marching) across the unfinished bridge and plumment to their deaths in the Forth below all the while shouting the SNP done this!
I fail to be astonished* by the complete void of common sense and point scoring these 3rd rate lowlife politicians keep trying to make.
They keep trying but they keep failing. Keep up the good work.
* Copyright 2014 Johann Lamont.
@ Dave McEwan Hill: you have two options available to redeem you dignity.
1, Buy your neighbour the National, and fib that you couldn’t see a Daily Express on the stall, a minor fib. A few times of this your neighbour will either adapt to the National, or will huffily tell you not to get the paper for her/him.
2, Stick a National inside the Daily Express. you’ll be a little out of pocket for a day or two until your neighbour’s reaction kicks in. But then your neighbour might happily enjoy this additional free paper provided by the Daily Express!
The Herald’s interpretation of the indi ref 2 poll is no better. Indi is sitting at 44% with 8% don’t knows evenly split it’s 48% yes. That’s within the margin of error and up on the last ref.
What the Herald did was use another part of the poll using people as do not intend to vote 14%! So they must have disected that rather than just use if you have to vote! So in effect they have indi below 40% when you take away 14% altogether from each side evenly.
But if you don’t vote then the 14% don’t count towards the whole so you have to average out the missing voters to make 100%. Bingo you have indi back at 46-47%. The headline has indi lower than 2014!
But they can’t lie to the people who are actually going to vote,as it makes no difference to Yes voters. So the intention must be to salve the Yoons internal frustrations and worries.
Quite amazing. The bridge we didn’t need or want is late. This is a disaster.
The roads we didn’t upgrade ourselves may or may not be contributing to accidents . This is scandalous.
The named person act which we fought against as an invasion of parental rights.whilst marching through the House of Commons lobbies to impose a snoopers charter, is an affront, which we will kid on we agree with after a fashion because of the death of little Liam Fee,
Extra nurses are being employed to deliberately meet hospital treatment times, in spite of the fact they do cost money.
I , personally am sick of it
Phil Robertson says: 3:01
To be fair Phil, it must be soul destroying for the SNP, you can’t get a simple piece of intelligent well thought out legislation past without the deranged hordes of so called professional politicians and propagandist press, spinning every tragedy, even disgracefully the murder of a child to try and discredit the SNP.
I took a break from reading the Scottish press and found that most foreign press is devoid of the absolute shite masquerading as news we are abused with in Scotland.
I thought Ruth Davidson, came across as competent at least compared to the company she kept, prior to the May election. However she has proven to be a real disappointment, vacuous argument her forte. Even her electoral base, cannot support such poor performance for long, and soon I fear she will be gone riding some usually unrideable beast into the sunset, saying that I was surprised to find the Kezia is still branch manager? but then who would take her place, by that I mean who is stupid enough to drink from that poisoned chalice.
Unfortunately I find myself a citizen of a country whose state sponsored or supporting press has so prostituted themselves (no offence to prostitutes intended) to be world class embarrassments to their profession, print journalism in Scotland, once world renown is so debased and corrupt as to be unworthy of the name journalism, a new name should be found better suited to describe their activities. And abysmal yoon politicians that are a motley collection of self serving sycophants to a foreign crown, no depth they would not plummet, no subject too repulsive, no angle too corrupt to serve their revolting little union with its pathetic little flag.
Peterkin Schmeeterkin. If you were a nazi in the 30’s, you enjoyed Goebbels. Unionists in the present day will enjoy this self-defeating tosh. Nobody else cares.
@ Dave McEwan Hill
Third option Dave you could slip it inside a couple of adult special interest mags that would save the embarrasment of anybody seeing you buy it 😉 lol
Shetland pensioner fined over letters to MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh
https://archive.is/050dH
Dave surely not….the fine Liberals of the Northern Isles like Carmichael.
Yup, Peterkin’s a pathetic little creature. But, educated in the private, anglicised environs of Clifton Hall ‘prep’ school and Glenalmond he wouldn’t have had a chance of gaining a normal level of knowledge and understanding of Scotland and Scottish society. At Glenalmond, the opportunity to learn to play the pipes – as Peterkin does – is a token nod to the Scottish location. One renegade who escaped that indoctrination, Adam Ramsay of Open democracy, remembers that the ethos was to regard Scots as ‘other’ – the school and pupils were British. And prior to the Referendum, it hosted a debate about the issue: only two pupils in the entire school were in favour of independence.
“ICM just lost a hell of a lot of respect.”
It’s not their fault. They’re paid to ask whatever people want asked. It’s like someone blaming the chip shop owner for me being a fat bastard because they keep giving me chips when I ask. I’m the one responsible.
Rev.
Help- Having been watching the SP I noticed Ruthie and Tomkins using a mobile phone is this allowed
O/T but so delicious. The registration to vote system broke down when 525,000 people tried to register last night.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36480764
The atmosphere between the Remain and Leave camps is already combustible but if there’s a close result, the row may even explode into a formal challenge.
@ DerekM
You said regarding new Forth Bridge. “Aye its something else no wonder the yoons keep blubbing about it boohoo no fair,no doubt they will want to name it after the German bint with the huge giro.
Aye the Auld Wifey in the Magic Hat can f**k right off!
The only way to abolish council tax is to put it on income tax. The Scottish Gov has no power to do this. The council tax averages £20 a week for those on average earning. Those who can’t pay get a rebate or exemption. It collects 15% of council spending. It is going up for the most expensive properties £10 a week. The Gov could put in extra tiers. Most people don’t want to be filing incomes for a local council tax. They already have to do it for income tax
The councils should repair the potholes and improve the bus service. Instead of building grotesque, carbuncles no one wants, and putting the councils into £Million of debt. They claim there is no money for essential services.
There has been a wait of years for the Queensferry Bridge. A few months will not make much difference.
@katherine hamilton says: 8 June, 2016 at 2:59 pm:
“Now on the Named Person proposals. Labour, Tories and Lib Dems back pedalling like hell. They want it “reviewed”. What happened to reversing it? Oh the sad and brutal demise of a two year old.”
The truth is not so much that, Katherine, but the one the Children’s Commissioner made on the media that isn’t being well printed or broadcast.
His very valid point was that the wee bairn was long past the stage when the Named Person Act could have prevented his tragic death.
The Commissioner’s very clear reasoning highlighted the sheer idiocy of the Unionist parties and the SMSM and their evil propaganda.
The Children’s Commissioner’s logic was impeccable and right to the point.
It was this, (I paraphrase) – “The named person legislation is basically designed to bring those NOT YET KNOWN TO THE SYSTEM into the system and little Liam Fee had been in the system for quite some considerable time”.
It was thus long past time when a Named Person could have made any difference because Liam was already in the system but, “Had fallen through the net”. That excuse from the authorities is a clear admission of their fault. I’ll put it even more starkly for you – Liam could not, “fall through the net”, unless he was already in the net
There were several reports from several reliable sources that Liam was at risk. His case was already with the police and the Council Welfare Departments.
So just what could a Named Person do that was not already done? A named person has no powers to do other than alert the correct authorities of a child at risk and that had been done.
The people who let Liam down were already well informed but they did not take appropriate action to prevent his murder.
One can see just exactly why the political parties who opposed the Named Person’s legislation would want to deflect blame from the local authorities who are those who let Liam down for they are the parties running that local authority.
Well done on your doggedness pursuing ICM, and as usual the probing of the original Scotsman piece (and similar) was adroit.
The SNP record on such matters as the NHS has been very good in the constrained circumstances but reported with vicious misrepresentation (right up to today), however, lack of action on the Council Tax has in fact been a more serious concern. The Scottish Parliament has the power to introduce a fairer and more substantive replacement but even in majority the SNP government was over-cautious to the point of stagnation.
The ICM poll was pathetic, but the SNP Government has missed a great opportunity to radically reform local government and its finance. The Greens proposed a Land Value Tax but this was not entertained, despite its potential to make a significant shift in the entire structure of Scottish local government, taxation and indeed land reform. The SNP don’t even seem to argue against that idea in any meaningful way, but simply dumped its own Local Income Tax scheme and is now plumping for upper end reform of a system widely acknowledged as a poor compromise from its very inception.
The SNP has to endure a lot of crass and mischievious opposition, but lack of purpose on reforming local government finance is a weak spot for which they are due criticism. Not the crap served up by the Scotsman, obviously, but constructive proposals that deserve serious consideration that has not been forthcoming.
The Greens proposed a Land Value Tax but this was not entertained, despite its potential to make a significant shift in the entire structure of Scottish local government, taxation and indeed land reform.”
Dr Ew, stop be so vague. Who exactly was going to pay the Green’s Land Value Tax what was not entertained as council tax replacement?
Dont worry, an informing reply’s not expect.
@Scott
Alas yes. It was the very first of Ken Mac’s pronouncements that an MSP can use the phone, even communicate with punters outside during debates, but can’t play candy crush or similar which would be bad form.
I gave up watching the NP debate after Mundell ‘the younger’ calling out the SNP on neglecting the borders and watch us Tories go speech. 🙁
Enjoyed Jenny Gilruth SNP Fife & Mid Scotland tell it like it was in her speech, just an SNP bad stunt from the tories.
@ Bob Mack says at 4:32 pm …. ”…. The named person act which we fought against as an invasion of parental rights whilst marching through the House of Commons lobbies to impose a snoopers charter, is an affront, which we will kid on we agree with after a fashion because of the death of little Liam Fee….. I , personally am sick of it.”
I’m sick of Tory callousness and blatant hypocricy too Bob.
Seems that John Swinney’s also at the end of his tether with them. A snippet on STV tonight showed him REALLY getting into Tomkins ribs re. the Named Person policy. Good on you John. Did anyone watch this debate earlier today and if so how did it go?
The National is also reporting that ”Shameful Tory attempts to derail the Scottish Governments’s contentious named person scheme at Holyrood today look set to fail after Labour and the Greens accused Ruth Davidson’s party of playing politics with child protection…..
Swinney pointed to the support the legislation has received from Children 1st, Barnardos, Aberlour Child Care Trust, Save the Children, Children in Scotland and the NSPCC.”
I suppose Rooth the Mooth and side-kick Tomkins reckon they’re more knowledgeable than the MANY experts. Then again we have to remember that we’re talking about the Tory party proven to be not too child friendly. Seem to prefer farmyard animals to children and covering up paedophile activity.
They must have some checks Rev they cant just ask whatever can they?
Dont know much about how these pollsters operate as a business but i guess if it comes down to filthy lucra they arnt going to knock much back since thats how they make their business work.
Its was the ahem nothing to see here,what poll oh that one well….. that they should have red faces over,not very professional chaps must try harder next time but we will let you off this time,and anyway they must love us what with all that money the yoons are spending on duff polls it must be like hitting a jackpot.
Why am i now thinking about an investment in poll companies lol
It’s all here, heedtracker: http://www.andywightman.com/docs/LVTREPORT.pdf
Don’t worry, not expecting you to actually read it. Just keep up with the bellyaching.
Not the crap served up by the Scotsman, obviously, but constructive proposals that deserve serious consideration that has not been forthcoming.
Dr Ew, who pays land value tax? tory BBC give it all nice puffery here but they dont say who pays. Maybe they dont know either, or maybe they are leaving some details out, or were they there to start with?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11461293
This is all a case of shout it loud enough for long enough and it becomes truth because folk will forget what was said in the first place
The Effing bridge has not been delayed by one day
The Effing bridge was never meant to be completed till June 2017
The Effing December 2016 date was a hopeful optimism because it was going so well
The Effing Parliament building and Edinburgh trams have sod all to do with the SNP
The Effing bridge is still coming in under budget
None of the opposition parties wanted the Effing bridge in the first place and all opposed the building of it
The Scottish Effing press in some countries would be taken out and shot against a wall for incitement and outright lies and I’m really starting to feel it wouldn’t be a bad idea in Scotland
A nice new law:
If somebody turned up at your door claimed to be a plumber for the council and then lied to you to get your money they’d get banged up
Maybe it’s time to bang up the Press (BBC) for the same thing, taking money under false pretences
NP:
You can watch it all here or zip thru the good bits.
The vote(s) are at about 2hrs 24mins in.
It’s a long url!
http://www.scottishparliament.tv/Archive/Index/5b670a27-2b3a-43f9-a978-0f2bb193116d?categoryId=0e09056e-d8c6-486f-b90e-76fa8c758214&parentCategoryClicked=False&pageNumber=1&orderByField=ScheduledStart&queryOrder=DESC
Thanks for that Call me Dave. On the other hand I can’t watch it as ‘the Adobe plugin has crashed.’ Dammit!
Presiding Officer permits the use of mobile phones.
Jings, now Kez can get direct instructions on what to say, how to respond at First Minister’s Question Time. “Kez, Blair Mcdougall on mobile phone 3”.Just think, if Johann had had that facility, what with her scowling face, she’d have been poor(?) dead brilliant serving out the one-liners wired down the line to her. Jack Benny, for anyone old enough.
And Ruthie, avec visage serieoux, “I have just spoken to the Prime Minister directly, and he instructs me, I believe, that the paper in my hand shows the SNP to be baad”.
Wee Willie Rennie, a cute wee Duracell.
I could go on.
Dr Ew says:
8 June, 2016 at 7:18 pm
It’s all here, heedtracker:
Thanks for the link. Or, in other words, you’ve no idea who would pay this magic tax bullet either.
Quell surprise Dr EW.
Call me dave, I’ve tinyfied your url for the NP debate:
http://tinyurl.com/zcwdjcp
Best bit is John Swinney handing Prof Smirky his arse..
http://tinyurl.com/jtpxb5a
The sun always shines on the righteous 🙂
OT – but I’m aware of the interest in the fracking issue on this site.
If its true our establishment likes to follow in the USA’s footsteps, then here maybe a glimpse of our dodgy future.
http://archive.is/iIdgV
Hi there, heedtracker. All the information you need is here:
http://www.andywightman.com/docs/LVTREPORT.pdf
Don’t worry, I’m not really expecting you to read it. Just post some more bellyaching whenever you’re ready.
These new Tory MSPs are absolutely useless, aren’t they? As for Tomkins, even Ruth Davidson was looking mortified as he screeched and slavered his way through his supposedly superior legal insights.
If this was the great hope for the Tories then they are in serious trouble. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say about the OBFA. It also shows that an academic is not always that good at putting over an argument. He really cannot think on his feet. Joanna Cherry would have made mince out of him.
I was impressed by Mark McDonald and ( whispers) I actually thought Ross Greer made an OK contribution.
I’ve posted this link to a video explaining Land Value Tax before. But obviously, not everyone has seen it so here it is again. The Taxing Question of Land, 30 mins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pYSsME_h7E
The tragic thing with the way the media treated the named person bill. Is that they want to try and pin blame for the actions of the monsters onto the SG. No government is responsible for the actions of crazy individuals.
It doesn’t matter a jot that murder is illegal and punishable. If someone wants to kill me they will.
The wee boys death was the act of evil individuals. And it happened under the present system without named person. There is not one country in the world not even Sweden. That has a fullproof social care system.
The media jump to condemn the SG rather than condemn the monsters involved.
Society has a part to play in protecting children. Doctors, policemen, teachers,nurses,neighbours,brothers, sisters. It’s not fair that the system is fallible. But life doesn’t ever offer guarantees.
Nutters and maniacs have existed since the dawn of time. Communities are formed to protect the vulnerable from these people. But we are all responsible. The named person is a point of contact for anyone with concerns, not a one stop solution.
as not one single opposition party has a f/n clue as to how or what to replace it with even having been asked for some sort of input they resort to the tried and tested position of blame them them over there them thats been running the joint since the dawn of time oh god please dont ever let these jokers near the till we can’t afford them .
The Rev has just become more influential.
Before voting in the EU referendum read the SNPs,
Wee Bleu Book.
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/alynsmith/pages/2336/attachments/original/1464942911/WBB-download.pdf
@ call me dave 4.43 Karma PMSL, grassed up by Carmichaels office,ah wunner if he,ll be voting LibDems after that lol.
Haha see liz cringe when she gets the snooper charter right in the coupon at 8 mins good stuff from Stewart,she always was hopeless,i dont know about anyone else but i kind of trained out to what she was saying,somethings never change.
Rev. Stuart Campbell,
“It’s not their fault. They’re paid to ask whatever people want asked. It’s like someone blaming the chip shop owner for me being a fat bastard because they keep giving me chips when I ask. I’m the one responsible.”
Can they not refuse to carry out such devious polls?
Looking at the latest pictures of the Queensferry Crossing taking shape on Flickr, it looks on course to me to be completed by the end of the year..
The announcement of a delay, on the same day as u-turns by Scottish Labour and Scottish Tories on their policies on the Named Person Scheme, as well as a very big defeat for the Scottish Tories on the Named Person Scheme, will be a welcome distraction from today’s proceeding in Holyrood..
I just watched some of that debate, near the end where Tomkins’ ego bursts into full blown mania. I was quite taken aback with the absurd level of drama that he was emitting. Does he think he’s in a play on the telly? Cause that’s a man playing to an audience in his heid.
It’s the first I’ve really had a chance to ‘see’ him in full flow having only previously seen his emissions on the Rev’s twitter feed and comments on here about him. I’ve never read any articles that he has written but to see the guy ‘in action’ was a sight to behold, does this guy think he’s come to storm the parliament with his stunning rhetoric?
Aw he did wis make a c*** o’ himself’ for aw the world tae see. He’s a loud mouth and arrogant…it was embarrassing watching Davidson’s reaction in the background, I would put money on it that she was suffering the cringe during that. But the real embarrassment was the wee tory guy to the left of him (as your watching) soaking up his pish, watching him and looking for the reaction from the SNP seats every time Tomkins opened his mouth. Like a wee lapdog.
They’re a weird bunch them Tory things urnt they…aye and I have to give it to Ross Greer too, the boy did okay.
Mr white, middle class, wealthy male, the Tories great hope, coming across like a beached whale. Exceeding the EU working hours directive. The 2nd rate rejects and it shows.
Here’s a link to the debate in parliament about the Named Person. Scroll to 2.02 mins where Mark MacDonald sums up for the Government. Then the Great Profesor Tomkins froths at the mouth for about 10 mins. Well worth listening to.
http://tinyurl.com/grwrtez
Bizarre scenes at Holyrood- they want the named person pushed back because they think its no ready yet they are furious the date on the bridge is being pushed back because its no ready.
For my own part I am happy that the bridge will be completed when it is completed. It is not something that you simply throw hunners of extra bodies on and just beast it. What is so hard to understand?
Will the NP policy be perfect immediatly after implementation? I doubt it- my guess is they tweak it over the next decade. Politically motivated media hysteria is a bad reason to put the breaks on a sensible, well intentioned and potentially life-saving policy.
Labour blame Labour newsflash SNP must take responsibilty and NP will be great if we run,please let us run it,its dark over here and the tory slime smells.
And subway stop stealing my material ya wee naff lol
It doesnt seem very professional to me for a polling company to put out a question, albeit at their client’s request, that doesn’t make sense or in terms of that poll actualy having any meaning.
I still can’t get on to see the NP debate! Could someone tell me how the SNP performed?
Amazed ICM didn’t tell the Hootsmon to beat it and go tell their own lies and not implicate a reputable company.
ICM took their 30 pieces of silver it would seem.
I can confirm, by the sound of hammering, that at least one wee man was still working on the new bridge at 9pm tonight.
Murdo, why don’t you and your pals get out of the cocktail bar and go and gie him a hand?
The Tories are prime specimens. It would be hilarious if they weren’t dangerous. They are totally out of touch. Extraordinary.
Marra voted with the Tories.
NP:
Nothing to be easily found in Herald or Hootsman but found this tucked away on Auntie’s site.
A summary of what happened:
https://archive.is/9bqPc
PS:
Hark the Herald: New breakthrough.
https://archive.is/eqvlL
Just seen the clip of John Swinney rounding on the Tory Adam Tomkins,
you can see why Tory Tomkins tries to teach Law instead of practising Law in the field,
he looked like a puppy that had just been told off for peeing in the house,
if the Ruthfuhrer thought that Tory Tomkins was after her job, after waching his display today she can rest easy,
Scotland seems to be full of English folk coming up here thinking they can rule and abuse the barbarian Scots.
Jings Kez has got herself a wee clone aww bless.
Aye fluffy boy something we should put under the microscope is you and your fluffy dad just to see if you used the tory party calculater.
It is 21.45. The NP debate was at 3.15. Has it finished yet? On BBC Scotland online they are Leading with the delay on the new Forth Bridge and Farm Payments. No sign of the result on the NP debate.
To be fair to the news on radio shortbread, they did make it clear that the bridge is not late and that the contract was for delivery in summer 2017. They also made it clear that there was no cost to the Scottish taxpayer because the bridge would not complete early as hoped.
One of their more balanced reports…which made Murdo sound a bit daft really.
Particularly ironic that a bridge they all said was unnecessary is now the cause of the potential end of the universe because it will only be delivered on time.
It is a mad, mad world.
I did predict before the election that Labour would support the Named Person bill after the vote was by. 🙂
The Ruthinator is a toom tabard.
Finally the editor at the Herald has a story NP:
https://archive.is/Bja6Y
Hootsman still nothing!
Shurley schome mishtake it was headline stuff this morning! 🙂
It is very important when contemplating the implications of the NP policy for all children in Scotland to understand that general practice and education are universal services.
Someone appeared to be confused in today’s debate about the universal service for children under 5 years-primary care and the NP (the health visitor)and for children over 5 years who spend most of their time in that other universal child service- education- the NP would be the head teacher.
Most NP will not spend their time forensically gathering evidence to use against parents to catapult them into the child protection system- they will do what they mostly do at present- supportive work with families and children with the consent and knowledge of the parents and children(which is age dependent).
Complex legislation that encompasses a broad child’s rights based agenda and has the well being of children at its core requires a pragmatic interpretation by everyone who works with and supports children and their families particularly when they become vulnerable or have unmet needs.
Scotland’s child welfare legislation has evolved over 3 centuries since the reform of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1868 and the 1889 Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act from a punitive agenda to a holistic, supportive approach. The new legislation is a progression of thinking and should be supported by sensible debate not hyperbolic theatrics in our seat of democracy.
Tomkins is a pathetic disgrace. And someone said he taught. Our young people are doomed if that is the calibre of university teaching staff these days.
Another day of union with the UKOK. Sigh.
O/T , however I note that the electoral commission has advised returning officers to expect an 80 percent turnout for the EU referendum. ” Really” ,I would have thought that 60 – 70 pc would have been a reasonable estimate ? I do not see the required level of ” grassroots” engagement , as with our own 2014 vote . Or is it perhaps another ” record ” postal vote which is going to produce this 80 percent? especially now that the polls are converging to 50/50. I don’t suppose that ” remain” could possibly “win” 55/45 now ??
Re: Named Person.
I propose we all become unnamed persons keeping a friendly eye
on all children and reporting anything untoward,even anonymously to the proper authorities.
It takes a village to raise a child.
On the BBC online site it says “Live – Named Person debate”
When you scroll into it you are met with “Queensferry crossing delayed”
Pretty sure the Tories will be lurking in the pig shit somewhere behind the scenes.
“THE TORIES” that sums it up.
Had a wee laugh at Murdo “Max Headroom” Fraser on Rep Shortbread, what a TWAT.
galamcennalath says:
8 June, 2016 at 10:03 pm
Tomkins is a pathetic disgrace.
Hey! That’s my Slovene girlfriend youre making acurate observations of.
One of the on freaky deeky opponents behind it all is two Christian groups but its not at all clear why they are so determined to block NP.
You cant tell from their web sites what’s got them so wound up, except its intrusive in to family life. Intrusion into families by the state could be a big deal but what’s Jesus Christ got to do with it?
Good grief – that turgid windbag Liz Smith, chatting shit on NP, backed up by the even more vacuous Tompkins.
Swinney was as angry as I’ve ever seen him, still angry about the Tory misinformation being run via the Press and election.
It really is a disgusting spectacle.
On the same day, that the Tories, abetted by Labour have voted through the Snoopers charter, it really is rich. A few of the alternative media are bellowing that Labour has betrayed people.
Well, we know how that feels.
SNP really do need to ramp up their kickings. Everyone will appreciate seeing Tories getting a kicking.
I have thought about the Indy Ref 2 scenario,following England Brexit and Scotland stay.
I think we have nothing to lose. If we do get another ref after voting differently from England. Then if Scotland does not vote for independence while getting dragged out of the Eu and getting it’s democracy shat all over. Then Scotland does not deserve to be a nation and I will give up.
That will in effect be the last chance for the rest of Scotland to wake up. For us 45, we will have to accept we are effectively migrants in Scotland. It will never feel like our nation. Similar to how most of us felt after the no vote.
To live in Scotland after such a decision. We will have to think of ourselves as Poles, Irish or Italians. In other words living here but not belonging here in the naturalised sense of being. More like outsiders looking into anothers culture. We will be like nobody’s children. Our no voting relatives and friends will feel like another nationality to us. Sport will become an emotional vacuum devoid of any real interest to us. To be honest how many of us feel like that already watching Scotland. It’s the meaningless version of nationhood the Proud Scots but,love.
Having said all that I think the real politic of Post Brexit will change Scotland. I think we would vote yes. But if not then it’s over we will never be a nation, and don’t deserve it.
As I thought.. Scotland 2016 only covered today’s Holyrood debate on the NP Scheme briefly at the end of the programme.
Their headline top topic was the Queensferry Crossing..
Two predictions..
The Queensferry Crossing will open to traffic before the end of the year, and the NP scheme will not be raised again by the Tories or Labour till August, when it is implemented..
I,ve always wanted the SNP MSPs to Bite Back at there opponent’s so well done Mr Swinney but about time the Press & Media got the full blast at FMQs , that people will be able to see how they are mislead.
I went away to make a cuppa tea before the News Where We Are came on and missed a couple of minutes.
Did I miss it leading with the powerful opposition getting tanked on the NP legislation?
heedtracker says:
8 June, 2016 at 10:47 pm
galamcennalath says:
8 June, 2016
“”One of the on freaky deeky opponents behind it all is two Christian groups but its not at all clear why they are so determined to block NP””
I think some of the people involved in NO2NP are avid supporters of ‘home schooling’
Tomkins triumph today is magnificent. He really showed us all why Tories are toxic.
All the little Tories in the debate snivelled the same sad sordid view of humanity.They drivelled about snooping while their Westminster colleagues blew away the last remnant of personal privacy in the snoopers charter.
Tomkins rants expose the Tories right wing agenda.The Toxic Tories
have gone a bridge too far.
The Ruth Davidson Party is a disgrace.
heedtracker
Auld squint-puss must have been working himself up into a lather for ages to put in such a performance today. He cranks it up to maximum outrage- nowhere to go when the SNP begin recording everyone’s emails and internet searches and tapping phones. Wait a minute- thats HIS party’s policy!
Obviously knowing my search history and my wife’s search history and some day my bairns’ search history, listening to our conversations and being able to interfere in those conversations in principle is fine but Named Person is an absolutely unacceptable intrusion into family life.
While we are at it- lets outlaw intrusive visits by health visitors in the early months of an infant’s life. That surely is the logical conclusion.
Risible stuff- it will indeed be interesting to watch the implementation (and Tomkins) when in a few years time the positive results are clear (as they appear to be in the Highlands) and down at the death star the tories quietly implement the same policy.
By the way- did you catch Tavish Scott confuse who would actually be Named Persons- he seemed to think it would be regular classroom teachers rather than guidance staff and senior management (my understanding)? Also a blue tory this time ask if there would be circumstances where a single child would end up with several Named People?
It seems to be not just the general public who need to gain an understanding of the policy but the opposition MSPs.
Regarding the NP debate, watch if you can Ruth Davidson to the right of Tomkins while he is speaking as the debate winds up. Other posters have included the link.
Her enthusiasm is overpowering.. what a surly looking individual.
That is a lady who expected a “show down” of Unionist co-ordinated opposition to the SNP and just had to suffer as indeed did the BBC as her unionist pals deserted her.
re Tomkins –
Does anyone have a handy link to the Lords Committee hearings which Grouse Beater first flagged up last week?
Sorry, but I didn’t save it…
It’s instructive for anyone who isn’t familiar with the guy and wants to get a handle on where his loyalties lie.
Watching Tomkins again with my son, we are in hysterics at the state of him. He really is bonkers. The tone of his performance is so out of kilter with rest of the debate.
At one point it cuts to Nicola Sturgeon and I could swear she is eating popcorn and enjoying the spectacle.
Earlier tonight.. DrJim… he is Effing right.
Don’t concern yourselves about Tomkins. His uncontrolled vanity will catch him out sooner than later. The man craves status … and will grab it no matter the risk.
By the way- did you catch Tavish Scott confuse who would actually be Named Persons- he seemed to think it would be regular classroom teachers rather than guidance staff and senior management (my understanding)? Also a blue tory this time ask if there would be circumstances where a single child would end up with several Named People?”
That’s the ongoing line of attacks taken by Prof T today, maybe. Its a civil liberty thing and the NP’s are not professional enough, like what medics are, m’lud.
Tory dudes like Prof T are now under a lot more pressure to go after the SNP as second party and its clearly going to be a lot harder than they thought.
Its one thing to go UKOK nuts CiF on the Herald and Guardian at shclubs like me, or even sit in a swanky Pacific Quay studio in front of a simpering Sarah Smith clone, where you chunter on SNP bad, pick up your cheque and get a BBC car home after a pleasant yet commanding UKOK tv appearance. Having to get up and face in government ministers like Swinney is clearly going to test our toryboy masters and baiters.
@GB –
The Feisty Leader Of Her Majesty’s Opposition In Scotland, Ruth The Davidson (for it is she) may have to flick her swagger-stick at someone sometime soon…
A mere professor of something-or-other trying to upstage her? She won’t stand for that…
Tomkins! Yes, you! Prepare thyself to be straddled laddie…
The problem with tying municipal contribution to pay scale is simply this.
The council areas with a high average income and therefore those areas with least actual council resource need, are the ones which would have the biggest spend capability.
It is fundamentally regressive. The rich getting richer – again.
I am more than fed-up having to defend the Named Person legislation.
Every teacher in Scotland has had to look out for the children/ young people in their care since the 1880s. As a retired teacher we were in ‘loco parentis’ that is in place of parents when the child/young person was at school.
I used it on several occasions when there was a possibility of threat to a pupil.
Most of the Teacher being involved was around family illness, death or bereavement.
To answer some others here who identify the ones most against it as ‘home-schoolers’: they are also Fundamentalist Christians.
The public are being deliberately misinformed by the Tories through the press with regards NP bill. This is ‘happening’ because it is an attempt to undermine the SNP government by ‘deliberately’ skewing the ‘meaning’ of the bill, so that the public lose trust in the SNP. The whole intent of all this has been utterly intentional. It is to promulgate a myth in Scotland that has being gaining traction since the referendum and that is that we are a ‘divided’ nation.
Tomkins revealed this today at the end of the debate. He couldn’t adjust his pre written garbage to integrate and acknowledge that the point of Smith’s amendment had been well and truly scuppered during the debate. All the main points raised where addressed, in an intelligent, thoughtful and considered way by many who spoke during that debate. Even Ian Gray had a right go at them for ‘stealing’ their amendment, Tavish Scott cited Tomkins ‘spectator’ or whatever article from today as complete ‘nonsense’.
I rather suspect they thought they had Labour and Libdems on side, but they fucked it because Labour and Libdems obviously knew all the evidence was pointing to a great success so far, in those parts of Scotland where it has been rolled out. So they couldn’t ‘seriously’ continue the ‘political point scoring’ in the parliament because it would be ‘too’ obvious then that it would be a completely ‘unfounded’ attack on the SNP by all the parties in the parliament. Over an issue that has the support of all the major third sector bodies who are/will be involved in rolling it out nationally.
The Tories have access to this evidence too. That’s why they didn’t go for a ‘ban’ which is what all their rhetoric has been since becoming the opposition. Because absolutely no one who has any serious interest in the welfare of our children has not scrupulously poured over this legislation and in fact has been party to it’s inception from the start.
The consultation process is a matter of public record. The SNP didn’t just put any old legislation together and get it passed because they had a ‘majority’, the legislation gets passed by parliament. By it’s nature there has to be consensual politics at play. That involves all the committee stages and consultations with all invested and interested sections of society who will be directly affected by said legislation.
I’m not saying that there are ‘not’ and will ‘not’ be teething problems as with all new legislation of any significance passed by the parliament. What I am saying is that if there had been some ‘sinister’ underlying motivation for this legislation this would have been flagged years ago?
So we know this is political on the part of the Tories. Tomkins voice grew louder and louder in his closing statement to mask the fact that his only purpose in this debate was to insinuate that this bill signifies some ill intent on the part of the SNP, that Labour are a shower of cowards for not going along with the Toires and that the Toires are the new Lbdems.
He want’s this bill ‘buried’. Which at the end confirmed the lie of Liz Smith’s ‘amendment’ to ‘pause’ the rollout nationally. They don’t want it buried because it is ‘bad’ legislation, they want it buried because it is ‘good’ legislation.
But if they hand in glove with the press can skew this enough in the mind’s of the public they can keep Scotland divided (false as it may be, it’s remarkable how it works). That is the point of Tomkins. He has no redeeming features…his is there to keep stirring the shit.
Their Scotland region is integrating and they can’t stand it. They need the division to stoke the conquer.
Pete Wishart MP wants the police to investigate Tory election fraud. More details here: http://wp.me/p4fd9j-6W1
To Big Jock,Britain will vote to remain just to thwart Scotland and it’s superior intellectuals from ruining Britain, and bow to Eton education and Bullydom.
Well I watched that (NP) and it was clear that the Tories were livid that they weren’t getting any backing from their Unionist pals following months of attempting to manipulate the public with their lying and scaremongering. They’ll be raging because the corrupt media have been supporting them and now have to report that they, the real opposition, have been booted up the bahookie. Not a great start for them.
Tomkins made a right fool of himself, stuttering and stammering and doing something strange with his mouth (trying to keep his false teeth in?) Rarely answering questions either such as John Swinney questioning him about Highland Council’s positive results. Seems to read from his script and gets thrown easily. Didn’t like the Tory Snooper Act (access to medical records etc) getting mentioned either. At one point he reminded me of John Wayne in the ancient film High Noon (Rennie jumping up ready to draw his gun) with a mealy-mouthed Buffalo Bill sitting behind him.
Young Ross gave a great speech and brought up the valid point of the damage the Tories may have done already that is putting youngsters off speaking to their named person at all now.
At the other end of the debating spectrum Dizzy Lizzy actually mentioned the selective ‘Call Kaye’ programme as being proof of the NP scheme being unpopular. Very strange example to use especially when SO many experts / child-centred associations support the scheme.
What I can’t figure out, more than anything, is why any of these individuals would want to associate themselves with the Tory party at all. Narcissistic as we know but additionally seemingly masochistic.
@ Tam at 11:40pm ….. “Would there be circumstances where a single child would end up with several named persons.”
Tam. I think through his mumbo jumbo he was referring to two problematic individuals, say 17 year olds, each having a named person going on to getting married / living together and having a problematic child. Three, two or one? Who cares about the numbers? It’s the individuals that count. Just another example of them trying to muddy the waters.
To Dr Jim get an effing rapper to effing do an effing Indyref 2 effing rap tune with effing Jack and Victor from Still game.
Eff it
A bonnie a.m. to you all Scotland. The EU Ref. If not suggested already, here’s an original idea for billboards, leaflets etc (add your own folks!) 🙂
««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««
Vote to ‘Aros’ in the EU
Vote to ‘Bleiben’ in the EU
Vote to ‘Blijven’ in the EU
Vote to ‘Fanacht’ in the EU
Vote to ‘Permanecer’ in the EU
Vote to ‘Pozostawa?’ in the EU
Vote to ‘Rimanere’ in the EU
Vote to ‘Remaneo’ in the EU
Vote to ‘Rester’ in the EU
Vote to ‘Remain’ in the EU.. Scotland.
««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««
(cause it doesn’t really work or make sense the opposite way around)
EU estb 20th Century on into the 21st.. twit-two weeks to go.. be wise 😉
How nothing at all (the perception of a delay in the completion of the Queensferry Crossing) has kept the Tory and Labour u-turn on the Named Person Scheme off today’s BBC and STV, tv and radio news programmes and off today’s front pages..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin#Alfred_Hitchcock
“Hitchcock explained the term “MacGuffin” in a 1939 lecture at Columbia University:
It might be a Scottish name, taken from a story about two men on a train.
One man says, “What’s that package up there in the baggage rack?”
And the other answers, “Oh, that’s a MacGuffin”.
The first one asks, “What’s a MacGuffin?”
“Well,” the other man says, “it’s an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands.”
The first man says, “But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands,”
and the other one answers, “Well then, that’s no MacGuffin!”
So you see that a MacGuffin is actually nothing at all.”
Another non-story bites the dust.. EU fines for missing CAPS deadline
The EU has extended the 30th June deadline for CAPS to the 15th October 2016..
http://www.farminguk.com/news/Commissioner-Hogan-announces-exceptional-measure-flexibility-on-direct-payment-deadline_42050.html
Meanwhile..
http://scottishgovernment.presscentre.com/News/SAF-deadline-one-week-to-go-2550.aspx
“As of 6 June, 2016 a total of 16,787 SAFs have been submitted, 12,458 (74%) online and 4,329 (26%) on paper.
The Scottish Government received a total of 20,711 SAFs between 15 March, 2015 and 15 June, 2015. Of those, 65% were online and 35% were on paper.”
The britnat media will still wail about NP. The more they do the more ludicrous they appear. The BBC will still love Ruthie and her antiScottish cronies. Britnats need their own NPs. I won’t volunteer; I hope the britnat media dies.
Just woke up and needed a laugh, so checked the BBC Scotland webpage to find a headline of “Drop in university students from most-deprived areas”
Apparently, students getting a place dropped from 1305 to 1215 in 2015… a whole 90 less!!!
I love the bit “A spokesman” for the Tory’s… a spokesman???
What are they… incognito torys or something?
With regard to BBC Scotland’s story of a “Drop in university students from most-deprived areas”
This article is about a similar subject..
https://adventuresinevidence.com/2015/09/04/ucas-figures-comparing-figures-for-disadvantaged-students-from-scotland-and-the-rest-of-the-uk/
“UCAS figures – comparing figures for disadvantaged students from Scotland and the rest of the UK”
it continues
“Opposition politicians have been using differences in these figures to beat up Scottish administrations since well before 2007 and the government line in response has been in use for as long. It is technically right, but deserves some unpicking.”
Mr thms… the story, from the Tory tea lady apparently, also goes on to say the Tory’s want a £6000 graduate tax.
The whole BBC manufactured piece is too funny for words. Pure comedy.
Just read the tweet on the Revs twitter feed about NP from ‘The Times’.
– Named person plan ‘will break trust in GPs’
GPs will be under pressure to divulge confidential information about Scots once the controversial “named person” scheme comes into force, in a move critics have told ‘The Times’ will jeopardise patient trust. –
For some reason I felt compelled to smack my face repeatedly on the keyboard.
I believe in West Lothian that Social Workers already have the power to request your medical records from your Doctor. I also believe that your Doctor will willing pass those records to the Social Worker. I even believe that your Doctor will personally phone you to tell you that he is going to give the Social worker your medical records, and I also believe that no matter how much you tell your Doctor that you are not happy for them to do that, they will still do it.
And finally, I believe that anyone who currently believes that any information that they give their Doctor is somehow private and confidential, is living in a world that has long gone.
Watching Tomkins summing up for the Tories on the NP debate in Holyrood last night. This guy is a light weight joke, a windbag of absolutely no substance. He got his place in the Tory line up because of who he knows certainly not what he knows.
Watching Ruth babies facial expression during his summing up was seeing the realisation that whoever picked Tomkins is a waste of space, and more to the point whoever picked Ruthy baby has a lot to answer for. We nationalists will just enjoy the spectre.
@ Papadox Tomkins set up to fail,any thoughts of leadership material vanished & didnt Ruthie baby enjoy it.
Bit on the effects of people NOT voting SNPx2
http://www.democraticauditscotland.com/to-what-extent-was-there-split-voting-in-the-scottish-parliament-election-and-did-it-matter/
“SNP really do need to ramp up their kickings. Everyone will appreciate seeing Tories getting a kicking.” I couldn’t agree more, Valerie. I know some people think their Gentleman Jim strategy will gradually work but I prefer to see blood on the floor. The strange thing is Honest John Swinney is surprisingly good at dishing out the whacks when he puts his mind to it.
“Tomkins! Yes, you! Prepare thyself to be straddled laddie…”
Ian Brotherhood: you’ve taken that too far. Pure put me off my organic muesli with spelt sprinkles.
😯
Nice to see Tomkins falling at the first hurdle. What a frother! Screens, nurse, screens!
Are the 20%? of mature students from deprived backgrounds? included in the figures. 11% + 20% = 31% more than 29% from wealthy backgrounds. There are still 20%? of wealthy students from elsewhere getting a subsidised education. Scottish highers should be the taken first, not other qualifications. .
Scottish students are now getting a full loan they are entitled to. The figures have not come through yet.
The primary tests should be abolished. Children develop at different rates. The figures are meaningless and the tests stressful. 10/20% of pupils have additional needs. Some people will never read with comprehension but they have other talents and skills which can be developed. Everything that was invented in the world was of those on the spectrum. Teachers should have training in additional needs. Keep class sizes down and increase part-time college places. It helps the vulnerable. If necessary cut Uni places for the wealthy from elsewhere.
92% of pupils in Scotland go on to FE or an apprenticeship. People with a trade make a comfortable living. More is spent on pupils in Scotland pro rata, per pupil, than the rest of the UK. Westminster cut £6Billion a year from Education spending.
Scotland has one of the best education system in the world. Scottish invention shaped the modern world. TV – tele communications – Internet.
China – ‘Scotland the Land of Invention’.
OT A good review of the problems of being a female presidential candidate in a backward country like the USA.
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/americas/us-elections/what-i-dread-most-about-trump-v-clinton-is-the-ugly-blatant-sexism-34785103.html
The Rev thinks Trump could win. He could be right.
Then we really don’t want to be shackled to UKOK.
@Tinto Chiel & @Valerie
Re kicking Tories. Yes. I hadn’t thought about it but it does give the SNP an excuse to appear more aggressive. Most Scots enjoy Tory bashing.
Bashing Labour, the self professed people’s party, had risks.
Getting stuck into the Tories seems to offer only advantages!
The regurgitated ‘Press’.
‘Osbourne to warn Brexit to cut £4.5Billion off the Scottish economy’.
Osbourne has cut £4Billion a year off the Scottish economy. (£24Billion) Losing thousands of jobs in Scotland. Taxing the Oil sector at 60/80% when prices had fallen 75%. The tax is now 40%. More Oil & Gas has to be imported (with no alternative) putting up the balance of trade deficit and the debt.
Osbourne is spending £20Billion a year (for 10 years) on Hinkley Point a disaster waiting to happen and HS2 with no business case. A total waste of public money. £205Billion on Trident. The Tories are sanctioning and starving vulnerable people.
Labour were agreeing with the SNP and trying to say they weren’t. Marra represents the NE. How or why is a mystery. No one voted for her.
On yesterday’s shenanigans on NP.
Revs Twitter had a few folk saying how much they had enjoyed Swinney getting tore in.
Andy Wightman said, it’s a bit scary when you are sitting just a few yards away.
I’m sure Swinney will judge when to release his Hulk persona. It’s not his default, so it’s all the more effective when it appears.
Been said many times, but what a gifted politician.
That’s a couple of times now Big Bad John has gone on the offensive and isn’t it good to see. Like others I am getting a little fed up of the softly softly approach and the reasoned argument being dismissed. I thought now it is time to ‘Unleash Hell’ and john (Russell Crowe) Swinney is your man to do it.
@ Returnofthemac says at 10:16 am …. ”That’s a couple of times now Big Bad John has gone on the offensive and isn’t it good to see. Like others I am getting a little fed up of the softly softly approach and the reasoned argument being dismissed. I thought now it is time to ‘Unleash Hell’ and john (Russell Crowe) Swinney is your man to do it.”
I don’t know returnofthemac. John Swinney is known as being an extremely competent politician, honest and trustworthy …. a real ‘gentleman’ and when you see him getting angry (not often) like that you know that it isn’t an act. You know he’s incensed with the out and out lying, manipulation and injustice. If he had to behave like that every day he’d just become, be seen to be, another Tomkins …. actor, conman and liar.
@Big Jock says: 8 June, 2016 at 8:17 pm:
” … The wee boys death was the act of evil individuals. And it happened under the present system without named person. There is not one country in the world not even Sweden. That has a fullproof social care system … “
No, Big Jock, that is not quite a correct assessment of the Liam Fee case. The Children’s Commissioner, who impressed me greatly, hit the nail and put the matter into correct perspective.
He pointed out that little Liam Fee’s case was way beyond the point where a named person’s influence could have made the slightest bit of difference. His absolutely impeccable logic was that as the Local Authorities, Police Scotland and the Child Cruelty Charities all had Little Liam on, “Their RADAR”, a named person’s job had already been done.
This is quite clear from their admission in the media that, “Liam Fee had slipped through the net”. The logic is that you have to already be in the net to slip through the net.
This is clearly an admission, by the authorities, that they, and not the Named Person’s Act, failed the wee mite.
I’ll put that another way. It didn’t matter if there was, or was not, a named person involved in the case for the Local Council’s Social Works Department, Fife Police and the Child Cruelty Charities already had the wee boy listed as at risk.
That is all a named person could legally have done. The Named Person’s Act is designed as a contact point for those not already known to the authorities and the authorities already knew Liam was at risk.
Clearly this campaign against the NP Act is nothing short of an attempt to shift the blame away from those who actually have let the child down.
The people guilty of murdering Liam are already dealt with by the courts but those guilty of neglect of their legal duty of protecting Liam have not yet faced their collective failure to protect a child they were alerted to being at risk.
Liam could not have slipped through the net unless he had already been in the net.
Being in that net means. “The Net”, had a clear statutory duty of care – and they collectively failed in that duty of care. Heads must not only roll but be seen to roll.
That, BTW, is no fault of those at, “The Coal Face”, of the Social Work or Police Force. It is aimed squarely at both the heads of departments and the elected to office holders who all make a very good living from, “The System”, while the care system is starved of resources by the Westminster Establishment aided in full by the Scottish Unionist parties who have all endorsed the fake Austerity measures of Westminster.
The very idea that, “We are all in this together”, is clearly totally lies. There are ample statistics to prove this to be lies. First of all the financial mess was created by the Establishment, carried out by the Financial sector and imposed upon the electorate by them.
When the excrement hit the ventilation equipment and spread throughout the UK it was the Establishment who decided the poorest should pay the price of the failure and the rich get tax cuts.
The stats show that throughout the Austerity Measures the poor have become poorer but the richest 20% have more than doubled their personal fortunes. If you can increase your fortune you are not suffering austerity.
Another great article from Wee Ginger Dug: ‘Closing the Tory book of nightmares.’
”Our current Prime Minister, who’s current in the same way as a rivulet in a desert, dried up and going nowhere, has once again been using Scotland as a threat in order to scare Middle England into voting how he wants. If the rest of the UK votes to leave the European Union, it could lead to Scottish independence, said Davie, only he said it like that was a bad thing.
Davie spent the last General Election campaign putting the wind up Middle England by scaring it with the prospect that Scotland might have an influence on the government of the United Kingdom which we’re supposed to be a valued part of. Now he’s scaring Middle England with the prospect that Scotland might not have any influence in British government at all …..
Scotland only exists in the UK as a scare story in the Big Tory Book of Nightmares, and once the scare stories have been told and we’ve fulfilled our purpose of frightening the little voters of Middle England, the book is closed on Scotland and we’re put back on the shelf to be ignored until the next time that Davie or one of his pals needs a bogeycaledonian to threaten the English with…..
What Davie’s latest scare story does mean however, is that the British establishment acknowledges that Scotland will have another independence referendum if it’s taken out of the EU against its will…..
Sooner or later, something’s going to give. My money’s on sooner. And then we can finally close the Tory book of nightmares and put it away on the history shelf.
https://weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2016/06/08/closing-the-tory-book-of-nightmares/
@Petra
“John Swinney is known as being…”
I think that’s the point in this case Petra. Its rare to see any SNP parliamentarian get angry. When they do, its because the opposition have gone beyond their usual white noise bullshit and have bulldozed their way into truly offensive or dangerous behaviour.
On the whole they are the best behaved parliamentarians on both sides of the border in chambers. It truly takes some effort to make them act emotively.
Lots of folk wonder why they don’t cut loose, lose the kid gloves or otherwise get in the faces of the opposition or the press more often? I’d reckon mainly because then they wouldn’t be the competent, professional government we’ve come to expect. The rest look like demented, pooh chucking chimps on crack by comparison and the loss face to the public is reflected in their poor showing at the ballot. Hell, the only thing propping them up and their lost cause of a system, is the media, which is now also on the wain.
No, I its good to see just once in a while and believe its more effective for its rarity and is used appropriately to underscore the gravity of a subject when it occurs.
@ Robert Peffers says at 10:34 am
”I’ll put that another way. It didn’t matter if there was, or was not, a named person involved in the case for the Local Council’s Social Works Department, Fife Police and the Child Cruelty Charities already had the wee boy listed as at risk.”
Great post Robert but I’d just like to point out that it was (seemingly) mentioned in Court that Liam wasn’t on the ‘at Risk Register’ at all which if true just beggars belief taking into account the number of people who reported their concerns about him over a fairly lengthy period of time (1 year).
re Tomkins- at some point during his NP summing up rant, the whole chamber apart from the Tories erupts into laughter and in the background you can just see Swinney falling over the back of his chair and Stewart Macdonald? banging his head off the desk. Hilarious!
And watch Ruth’s face while Tomkins is speaking… Parliament TV is great for watching body language! Holyrood might be quite good entertainment over the next few years 🙂
@ Macart says at 10:45 am …. John Swinney …. ”No, I its good to see just once in a while and believe its more effective for its rarity and is used appropriately to underscore the gravity of a subject when it occurs.”
Totally agree with you Macart.
Unionist politicians and the BUM have proved time and time again how incompetent and dishonest they are. Many in Scotland have caught on and more are catching on daily. Spread the word – neither unionist politicians nor the BUM are to be trusted!
Ah! So the latest champions of the yoon media: Ruth the mooth and crackpot Prof Tomkins, have now been shown up to be political lightweights: way out of their depth and already peddling furiously to stay afloat.
That didn’t take long. 🙂
Petra says:
9 June, 2016 at 10:56 am
@ Macart says at 10:45 am …. John Swinney …. ”No, I its good to see just once in a while and believe its more effective for its rarity and is used appropriately to underscore the gravity of a subject when it occurs.”
Totally agree with you Macart.
Me too. Anger is far more effective when managed properly. If you want to see the autodestruct effects of relentless faux outrage and over-egging the pudding, just watch the yoon politicians in action (any day of the week).
Yoon newspapers must be de-fanged before Indyref2 or they will pump venom into political debate and strangle facts, like Voldemort’s python, again.
But how? We must answer that before Indyref2.
A fighting fund must be set up, to pay for notices in Yoon papers during Indyref2, which act like cigarette warnings.
These would inform who owns newspapers, their political allegiance, their past donations to parties and campaigns, and how editors & hacks are only hired help, propagating employers’ political beliefs and aims.
Further, an SNP Indyref2 fund must be available, during Indyref2, to sue newspapers for lies.
The SNP must distribute leaflets highlighting the media bias and vested interests. The media cannot be the elephant in the room which no-one talks about during Indyref2. The media’s role must be mentioned and challenged by YES at each and every opportunity. On Question Time teh Greens and SNP must attack the media and BBC at every opportunity.
The SNP policy of ‘positive campaigning’ by nursing the media serpent to its bosum failed utterly during Indyref1. This policy never works on snakes. Ask Cleopatra.
During Indyref2 the Yoon media and their owners must be outed at every debate, the Yoom media must become the debate, not remain hidden in the grass to strike at leisure. the tables must be turned on the MSM to get the message out there to No voters.
You should only avoid ‘grievance’ politics if you don’t have a grievance.
But, by God, Scotland has grievances aplenty with the Yoon newspaper moguls & tv. We need to take the fight to them next time.
A copy of how the BBC stole the Referendum should be printed and posted through every door in SCotland during Indyref2. There is an army of volunteers out there who will do it for free. Get printing!
@galamcennalath says: 8 June, 2016 at 10:03 pm:
“Tomkins is a pathetic disgrace.”
It is always good to see these numpties eventually get into the general public’s sights. It makes it easier for the general public to shoot them down.
The old saying goes, “Those who can do, those who cannot teach”. The thing is that while teaching they are not like real dedicated teachers. They tend to become overblown with a sense of their own importance and feel overly superior due to dealing so much with, as yet, immature students.
Then they either get promoted, within the education system, until they reach a level above their own competence or they attempt to show their self-evaluated brilliance upon the public stage in either the entertainment industry or in the political arena, ( sometimes in both).
It is then that they find themselves, in both the real and symbolic spotlight, and are exposed as the total numpties they really are. Tompkins has just arrived at that point in his, “Meteoric rise”, to stardom. Like the real meteor the rise is brief, spectacular and leaves a very dark background in the sky behind itself.
The Good Prof will probably go one of two ways – total obscurity or, in the manner of such as Baron FFoulks, will bumble on forever as a laughing stock clowning his way to the HOL. Either way we will see him for what he has always been – a clown in academics clothing.
@Cuilean
Your ideas about a fund to counter the lies peddled by the UK media and to sue newspapers telling lies sounds great.
But I don’t think they will work, how many people read the leaflets put through their doors exposing the lies peddled
by the unionist parties during elections?
From my experience of campaigning, people just put leaflets straight into the bin unread, nor do I see many ordinary people reading the adverts highlighting the lies peddled by the unionist media they would probably just skip past it.
As for suing the media, that could be very long and expensive affair and probably would have no impact on the outcome of any second independence referendum.
The concept that tory BBC and toryboy’s like Prof Tomkins give a flying fudge about falling no’s of uni places going to the poorest is madasfcuk.
At Glasgow uni, there are two types of students that will sit at the knee of law Prof’s like Tomkinski.; They’ll be either expensive English private school educated or Scottish comprehensive school educated. Its one of the great socio educational divides between Scots and English Higher education.
We need to be extremely wary over issues like Scots HE funding. And we really are being lied to on an industrial scale by BBC Scotland on fees.
Comparing Scotland and England university admission seems sensible but the fact is that English uni education has been rapidly expanding, especially under Labour. So today they now have appear greater uni intakes from deprived backgrounds than Scotland.
But at the same time, the top 10 English uni’s in particular admit far fewer students deprived backgrounds than they have ever done before and far far less than Scottish uni’s.
Tory led BBC propaganda knows what to leave out in all of its UKOK attack on Scottish democracy
eg.
Early ref 2 Project Fearing from rancid The Graun. Why does the UK have fiscal deficit, yet their scotland region’s got “a black hole”?
http://archive.is/qlSBQ
Sturgeon bad
“But she also knows the economics of Scottish independence are the worst in decades: the global oil crash has left a putative Scottish chancellor with a £15bn black hole in the country’s day-to-day finances. Scotland’s unemployment figures are above the UK’s and its GDP is far weaker, with a £15bn trade deficit with the rest of the UK.”
In July, nearly £100bn more UK.gov infrastructure investments kick off, Heathrow runway 3, HS2, Hinkley nuke power station. All massive GDP boosts, Scotland will pay its share but see none of the boost.
@ mr thms says at 7:59 am …. ”With regard to BBC Scotland’s story of a “Drop in university students from most-deprived areas.” This article is about a similar subject..
“UCAS figures – comparing figures for disadvantaged students from Scotland and the rest of the UK.”
It continues “Opposition politicians have been using differences in these figures to beat up Scottish administrations since well before 2007 and the government line in response has been in use for as long. It is technically right, but deserves some unpicking.”
https://adventuresinevidence.com/2015/09/04/ucas-figures-comparing-figures-for-disadvantaged-students-from-scotland-and-the-rest-of-the-uk/
Another example of different educational systems north / south of the border being measured in such a way as to make the results invalid or at least be questioned / reexamined. Professor John Robertson (Newsnet) has produced an article relating to this subject.
Has anyone else noticed that when a report comes out praising the Scots ‘they’ then look for something detrimental to say?
In this case it’s only 2 years (June 2014) since the ONS reported that Scotland is the best educated country in Europe in terms of the proportion of population going into higher and tertiary education. Scotland actually has just about the highest level of best educated adults in the World (Joe Grice ONS Chief Economic Advisor).
Also worth a mention …. ”A unique insight into Scottish lifestyles is unveiled by the figures. In 2012 an estimated 9 per cent of Scots had drunk alcohol on five or more days in the last week – compared with 12 per cent in England.” Kind of dismisses the drunken Scot myth.
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/ebf/news/article/41/scotland_is_best-educated_country_in_europe
What should be getting monitored and mentioned is the number of highly educated Scots that leave Scotland every year, never to return, and the reasons why. To my mind Scotland keeps its end of the bargain (bargain?) by educating its inhabitants to a high standard (against all odds) and Westminster breaches its side by ensuring that we don’t benefit from this by holding onto control of the economic levers required to bolster our economy / provide half-decent jobs. All part of the plan of course.
Other examples include awards given to Scots, business innovation and medical breakthroughs.
Why are they rarely mentioned? These are a number of examples I’ve come across in The National in the last couple of weeks or so alone.
1. New £1.7 million development at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University is the first of its type in the UK. Forecast to bring £900 million into the Scottish economy by 2025….. Industrial biotechnology is a young and growing sector within Scotland and Scottish Enterprise report last year said Global estimates of its value by 2025 ranged from 150 billion to £360 billion.
2. Microalgae grown in Scotland. Mars is working with a Scottish firm on a sustainable new way to replace the sugar in their sweet treats … The Oban firm is the first in the World to work out a way to develop the material produced by marine microalgae prasinoccus capsulatus to create an organic product using no chemical treatments or additives.
3. A Scottish student (Fraser Hunter) has created a unique range of footwear made from old car tyres and plastic bottles that could help prevent a debilitating and extremely painful disease that traps African communities in poverty….. Hunter is seeking funding to take his footwear range to Africa. (where’s JKR now?)
4. Four of Aldi’s Scottish products secured top prizes (two gold and two silver) at the recent Grocer Own Label Awards UK.
5. Professor Iain McInnes has been awarded a prestigious medical medal (Sir James Black Prize Medal) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the field of immunology. McInnes is a leading figure in global research into rheumatoid arthritits.
6. From Call me Dave …. ”A NEW cure for leukaemia has been developed by scientists in Scotland who hope it will free thousands more patients of the disease. The breakthrough led by Glasgow University is the result of six years of pioneering research using advanced technology and tackling cancer cells in new ways. At the moment patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) have little chance of cure unless they undergo a bone marrow transplant – which itself can be life threatening. However, mice who were given the new drug combination to tackle CML experienced an 88 per cent reduction in the leukaemia stem cells perpetuating the disease in just four weeks.”
https://archive.is/eqvlL
Sad to think that SO many Scots are still living in the dark (ages), still think that we’re too wee, poor and stupid; suffering from low self-esteem / self-worth, thanks to the corrupt media. Many of them Scots.
There is a point that is continually overlooked in most discussion. Liam McPhee was killed in 2014.
Yesterday’s proceedings and some recent events have been very informative.
The notion that the Labour would routinely support the Tories in the Scottish Parliament has been sunk. They may be at a low ebb but they recognise that suicide doesn’t lead to renewal.
Ruth Davidson’s deplorable tweeting after Liam’s death has done her serious damage and exposed her significantly. The gloss has already worn off. Tompkins is a pratt – but we knew that already.
Kezia Dugdale’s low profile suggests she does not enjoy significant support among what remains of the Labour Party in Scotland or, more significantly, who pulls the strings down sarf and the compliant unionist media.
A significant and growing section of the Scottish voting public no longer believe what they read in the newspapers. Now is the time to devise a full frontal attack on the biased media. “How” is the question
@Valerie says: 8 June, 2016 at 10:48 pm:
” … SNP really do need to ramp up their kickings. Everyone will appreciate seeing Tories getting a kicking.”
I’m not so sure that the SNP are right to, “Up their kickings”, as you put it.
I contend that to do so will only enhance a vital section of the public’s mistaken belief that, as far as politicians are concerned, “They’re all the same”, (usually said with a goodly measure of distaste in the voice).
I’m sure, like every other person who has ever had raw knuckles chapping doors, that there is a fairly large sector of the public who think that way.
Now let me apply a little homespun psychology here. If I tell someone that they are not all the same and the SNP/YES movement are different then I’m not going to convince any of that section of the public as they will only class me as being, “all the same”, too.
However, if I adopt a more subtle approach and just point out that as the SNP/YES movement are NOT financially backed by anyone else, other than people like the doubting Thomas or Thomasina themselves, then perhaps they are not all the same.
Then, of course, the party/movement must show themselves to NOT be the same by not adopting the same blame tactics as the rest of them.
Thus Doubting Thomas/Thomasina thinks they, by themselves, have made the discovery that they are NOT all the same and we have not only another follower but one who would probably not have voted anyway.
Just watched the NP debate.
Basically a SNP rant from the Tories. Throughout Ruth the Mooth, had a face like a slapped arse.
Tompkins, a thoroughly unlike able person, who looks like it takes very little to having foaming at the mouth,thus showing his true self. I think the SNP will think up many ways to make that happen.
John Swinney professional as usual, a very astute and dependable
politician.
Dave McEwan Hill
Agree entirely with a campaign to take on the biased media.
My first thought would be taking inspiration from the successful 10000 flags as a starting point. Something visual and direct to put it on the streets. Not sure of a number but getting 50000 anti media bias t-shirts crowd funded in the same way? Get one of our artists like Stewart Bremner to put something glorious together.
If it is cool enough and not overly pricy it can be a campaign tool for indyref 2 and bring people together.
How many folk signed the anti bias petition? Sitting at 89,000.
Just an idea – come up with something better. Best adverts are the human kind- just ask addidas or nike
Dave McEwan Hill
… unless I am reading your call for a full frontal assault all wrong in which case I will see I have in my shed and get back to you
FMQ’s Either the EBC is totally incompetent or trying to sabotage the SG, having some scary Engerlish female voiceover at the start of the questions.
Absolutely amateurish, incompetent or just pure ignorance and propaganda. ANTI SCOTTISH WHICHEVER WAY YOU CALL IT.
heedtracker
Not many other countries in the Europe have this amazing option we have (Wales and Northern Ireland being the others I can think of) to boost the economy.
on independence all the non-ID expenditure on the Gers report for UK wide expenditure switches to expenditure in Scotland. Kevverage doesn’t seem to factor the enormous benefit to revenues that spending the same amount of money but spending it all within our borders would hhave a massive boost every year to tax revenues.
We wouldn’t do it but imagine spending £3billion a year on defence solely in Scotland and on conventional forces. I don’t get the impression unionists get the implications of that.
Shifting, what, £11 billion non specific Scotland spending into £11 billion spent here has a positive or negative effect on tax revenues- discuss.
I am also amazed by the idea that we won’t be allowed a currency union but will also take on a share of the UK debt- the yoons can’t have it both ways in their arguments though they try.
Of course our Gers figures are crap- you remove three large amounts of money that has almost no tax revenue benefit to Scotland (trident, debt and spending in England on shared programmes) and we start looking like a normal European country.
Nicola twice ppcalled out Labour false figuresl at PMQs but dont expect BBC / MSM to broadcast retractions of their erroneous reports based on Lsbour press releases
@ronnie anderson says: 8 June, 2016 at 11:09 pm:
“I,ve always wanted the SNP MSPs to Bite Back at there opponent’s so well done Mr Swinney but about time the Press & Media got the full blast at FMQs , that people will be able to see how they are mislead.”
The thing is, Ronnie, that the people who watch FMQ’s are already followers of politics and have already chosen which side they are following.
It is the ones who swap channels, or turn off their radio or TV, when there are political things being reported that we need to win over.
If you show me a person who has just began to get interested in politics and is open minded then I’ll show you a potential Scottish Independence voter.
The arguments for and against are so much biased in favour of independence that no open minded person could believe Scotland should be better run from London by a massively larger English body of voters.
The problem is that FMQ’s doesn’t reach those we need to get to. These people are the ones who do not engage in politics and we have all heard them saying, “They are all the same”, when either speaking of individual elected people, political parties or elected governments.
In other words these people cannot see any difference because they have switched off to politics in their minds as well as on their receivers.
If the, (Cough! Cough!), news sources these people use do not report the news properly then they will never know that the independence movement is indeed different but instead will believe the propaganda in the only politics that ever gets through their self-imposed mental firewall.
That little information is just the headlines in such as the Daily Record that they see on their way to the Horse Racing results, football results or the ‘Celeb scandal pages.
Thus they get what the Rev Stu has always told us. You cannot believe the headlines even if the story underneath is factual and true.
Has anyone seen the front page of the Scottish Daily Mail today? UNBELIEVABLE!
‘SNP Forced to Back Down over the Named Person’ …. in big, black, bold letters.
Sorry folks, but you’re just not seeing it.
Mr Swinney gives the Tories a bloody nose did he? That’s not what I see. Not for the first time, I see our knights, bishops, and rooks, -our best defence, fully stretched to counter a rather ordinary offensive strategy led by opportunist pawns. Their objective isn’t victory, its disruption. The didn’t get victory, but plently disruption and hogging of publicity.
The Tories have simply picked up from where Labour left off. Their agenda is not the betterment of Scotland, but the disruption and frustration of the nationalist (small ‘n’) agenda, and they can play the SNP like a fiddle.
We scratch our heads in bewilderment that we lost our referendum to such a rag tag sleazy bunch of liars, yet here we are, with our SNP minister losing his rag because the parliamentary agenda isn’t focussed on striding forward making Scotland a better place to live. Instead, progress can’t get out the starting gate because the pipes are choked with artless subversive interventions from the Unionists.
That’s what happened all they way through the YES referendum, and its why we lost. Every one of us was both bored and enraged with Project Fear, and waiting for the pro-Indy narrative to show up. We were all blind to the fact that the Unionists weren’t playing to win, their objective was to steer us away from our agenda, and stall our momentum by keeping us up to our knees in theirs. Their campaign didn’t have to be good, engaging, or persuasive. All it had to do was leave no space on the agenda for our campaign, and the media did the rest.
I cannot believe the SNP can be so intuitive about our route to Independence,yet so easily bushwacked off the path and down some pointless humdrum cul-de-sac. I don’t know if its hubris, complacency, or a fundamental lack of perspective. Initiative is there to be seized. The clue is in the title.
It seems to me the SNP cannot draw the necessary distinction between domestic politics and national sovereignty. There never seems any time left for the good stuff because it’s taken so long to trudge through all the drudgery. Don’t you see? There never will be time for the good stuff. As fast as we are working our way down the Unionists agenda, they are adding more crap on the bottom. There never will be any point to it, there never will be any end to it, and they don’t even have to be good at it.
The SNP, and whatever shape YES2 takes MUST get off this Unionist agenda and ensure due priority, and indeed ascendency, is given to the pro independence narrative. The cycle has to be broken or we will never get the chance to encourage others to see the world like we do.
My problem, is I cannot reconcile the likelihood of that happening while there is such formal tolerance for our rotten and dysfuntional media. This places me firmly at odds with people who don’t want to rock the boat or provoke the wrath of the media. My frustration isn’t with you, but merely how it will take before you see the light.
I noticed the front page of the SDMail whilst out shopping. Apologies but I just had to check it online and now notice the following (can’t access the whole newspaper).
‘Swinney caves in after explosive Holyrood debate’ …. ‘New guidelines to be set over ‘illiberal law” …. ‘Government will NOW listen to Social workers concerns’.
Blatant bl**dy liars / truth twisters
@Petra 12:47 am
A the great Engerlish press Corp at its VERY BEST. God bless the Establishment and the Queen. Engerlish fairness and democracy in action.
Just in from a wander along the beach at Leven but caught the first 30mins of FMQs on the car radio.
Sturgeon in good form, easily batting Ruthless and Deputy deadwood into retreat.
She knows her figures does Sturgeon a little oasis of truth bubbling up in a desert of inexactitudes and hypocrisy to refresh us all from the likes of the Daily Mail.
Good on you FM 🙂
OT
I always read what Gerry Hassan writes. It’s thoughtful. However, I always am left with the feeling he is intelligent, and thick as mince at the same time. Or, maybe it’s me who’s just thick!
http://www.gerryhassan.com/blog/the-snp-centre-left-politics-and-the-state-of-social-democracy/
“SNP have to come up with some answers … what sort of future Scotland is being offered, beyond the principle of independence? … Scotland is centre-left and the SNP centre-leftish. This being the case is it not possible to start thinking, pushing and creating an actual, real, detailed politics of the centre-left?”
It’s a bit like the cries to the SNP to be ‘bold’. I read ‘bold’ to be reckless!
I read somewhere else that the SNP have the highest percentage vote of any ruling party in Europe. Clearly they achieve this by being a party with Indy as a main policy, and being a safe pair hands for devolved government and against a WM which is increasingly hostile to Scotland.
It has to be as broad a church as possible. Hassan himself points out there is no immediate Indy on the cards. If the SNP were to begin to spend too much time on THEIR vision for Indy (which is currently in the never never) with detailed policies, they would lose support. Simple.
Scotland’s future will be the one chosen by the Scottish people. The SNP’s primary role is to facilitate that.
It boils down to one question, ‘how much do you want Indy?’
Well Breeks you can say what you like about the SNP but they’ve gone from being some funny wee unpopular political organisation to achieving three terms in office (Nicola Sturgeon has the highest electoral vote of any European leader), gaining 56 MPs at Westminster, having over 115,000 members, nearly two million supporters and forging links with countries abroad, the UN and EU.
I reckon they have been / are doing an absolutely amazing job under the circumstances … battling against (united) Unionist politicians at Holyrood, Unionist run Scottish Councils, the corrupt media and Westminster try to decimate Scotland rule.
”My problem, is I cannot reconcile the likelihood of that happening while there is such formal tolerance for our rotten and dysfuntional media. This places me firmly at odds with people who don’t want to rock the boat or provoke the wrath of the media. My frustration isn’t with you, but merely how it will take before you see the light.”
I think we can see the light Breeks and all know that the key to getting our Independence is getting others to see the light too but how do we do that when we’re dealing with the ”rotten and dysfunctional media”? How do we ”rock the boat” or ”provoke their wrath”? And even if we did who’s going to report it?
And as Robert’s has pointed out the very people we need to get on board don’t watch FMQ’s, don’t watch political programmes and don’t even visit sites like this.
Somehow or another we are getting there. Have faith.
@Petra,
Don’t look at the papers page on the BBC site then. The front of the Mail juxtaposes perfectly with the front of the Express.
Worst. Toilet Roll. Ever.
‘The Tories are playing the SNP like a fiddle’. What planets are some folk on. The Tories would be hilarious, if they were not so dangerous.
Prescriptions, increased NHS spending, social care, no ‘bedroom tax’, no tuition fees, welfare cuts mitigated, increased no of apprenticeships, building affordable houses, bridges, roads, railways.
It’s the people who voted NO who are responsible for Tory austerity. Support for Independence is rising.
alex rowley looked and sounded like a parish councillor who has been promoted beyond his pay grade, the powers that be in slab were only giving him enough rope to hang himself.
tomkins is an attack dog, however much folks here dislike him, ruthie was sitting behind him looking very pale watching a professional at work, she was watching her successor. the new face of unionism in scotland.
well done the snp 1&2 brigade for making sure he was elected
suck it up folks.
btw, the lib dems got their new face of unionism elected too
here he is, front page with willie rennie and timmy farron, front page news
http://www.scotlibdems.org.uk/
notice any similarities?
bear in mind that Alex Cole-Hamilton was given a front role in a pre election leaders debate when he was just a …um… candidate?
while you are whinging about these gruesome twosome, know this. they are there because london has made sure of it. they are not parish councillors. they are professional attack dogs.
@Petra says: 9 June, 2016 at 10:52 am:
” … I’d just like to point out that it was (seemingly) mentioned in Court that Liam wasn’t on the ‘at Risk Register’ at all which if true just beggars belief taking into account the number of people who reported their concerns about him over a fairly lengthy period of time (1 year).”
While in may well have been mentioned in court it most certainly is not true. First of all There was a report that the Social Worker assigned to Liam’s case had gone long term sick-leave and no one else been assigned to his case. His case was thus in a Social Workers records.
If no one was appointed to take on that worker’s caseload then more than wee Liam had, “Slipped through the net”, and, “Were off the RADAR”. Both phrases are Fife Social Works choice of phrase. Factually you cannot slip through a net unless in the net to begin with. Nor can you go OFF the RADAR unless you were already on it.
The point whether Liam was, or was not, assigned an Named Person is indeed moot for in neither case can a flagged up person at risk come under the NP legislation as the idea is to provide a contact point for those not already recognised as at risk.
There are a great deal of blethers being spouted about this issue and the plain facts are the NP legislation is NOT for those already flagged as at risk and the NP has no powers to investigate cases. The NP can only alert the proper authorities and, if necessary, assure the right ones deal with the case involved.
There are no NP right to any personal information other than that offered by the person who seeks their help. In other words no right to become involved in personal family affairs.
A driving force behind all this was the several scandals that came to light of vulnerable people not being believed by the authorities in such cases as institutional physical and sexual abuse. Not forgetting the Jimmy Savile case. The Channel Islands Children’s Home abuses or the Organised abuses of Midlands Teen Girls.
In these instances victims had alerted the authorities and had been totally ignored. Police, Crown Prosecutor’s, Local Authorities and Procurators Fiscal dismissed the complaints.
Yet since then we have seen successful prosecutions brought and scandals exposed. That is the point of Named Persons. These will assure that the authorities can no longer slope shoulders as it now seems those involved in the Liam Fee case are attempting to do.
However, it does not actually apply in that case for the authorities undoubtedly knew of the problem and no Named Person’s act could have changed that fact. In spite of knowing the wee laddie was at risk his case was ignored.
We have dealt with his killers – now let us deal with those who, for whatever reasons, allowed them to kill the bairn in spite of his plight being known to them.
I’ll put that plainer – they didn’t kill him but they didn’t attempt to prevent his murder while knowing he was at risk. In other words they did not do their job.
@ Robert Peffers says at 2:17 pm
”While in may well have been mentioned in court (at risk register) it most certainly is not true. First of all There was a report that the Social Worker assigned to Liam’s case had gone long term sick-leave and no one else been assigned to his case. His case was thus in a Social Workers records.”
It was reported in newspapers that it had been ‘reported in Court’ that Liam wasn’t on the ‘at risk register’. We’ll have to wait and see if that’s correct or not.
However as far as I’m aware not all children visited by a Social Worker are automatically put on the ‘at risk register’ or ‘child protection register’ at all. Whatever the case …. on or off the register… Social Services were very well aware that Liam was at risk for quite some time before he died and something should have been done about it such as removing him from his (hell) home. Quite damning too to hear that the Manager of Social Services when asked about the key Social Worker being off sick and no-one covering her case (/s) said ”It’s something we’ll consider in future.”
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/child-protection-system/scotland/
My point is…
Who put Named Person policy on the agenda? It seems an innocuous Wee piece of legislation to provoke such outrage.
Who put the Offensive Behavior Act at the top of the agenda? It’s popular with the vast majority, but monstered by a vocal minority as a sledge hammer to crack a nut. But dragged up before us by whom?
I’ve lost count of the number of times our NHS has been defended from misguided facts and wayward reporting, yet count to ten and there’s another disaster looming with the NHS about to run out of sticking plasters or aspirin tablets. It isn’t the story that matters. Who keeps putting it back on the agenda?
Yes, yes, yes, our SNP government is stoic in defence of its record, and the truth is good news for patients, but why is it forever the Unionists left setting the agenda, and the SNP obliged to react?
Who is keeping the YES cauldron on simmer while we are arguing about the Forth Road Bridge being open, or closed, or having cracks engineers are worried about, or cracks engineers aren’t worried about?
Don’t you see? It isn’t the lies, it isn’t the liars, we can rebuff those, condemn them to ridicule. It is the agenda. Wherever they go, we dutifully follow as if it’s the only thing we can do.
Forgive me for asking, but do we actually have a currently active campaign to encourage a YES vote? The YES Registry is at least making a commendable effort, but with the best will in the world, I fear they are doomed to be less newsworthy to our intrepid Unionist journalists than Eleanor Broadford counting how many rivets still need painted on the Forth Rail Bridge.
I think by now we can take it as read that the SNP is competent in Government, and the ultility player for the opposition is just an irksome drone, and Westminster hypocrisy beggars belief, but it’s all getting a bit stale now, and the Unionists are taking heart that for now their incurable YES fever is at least in remission.
I ache to see signs that the SNP has a strategy for the media I can rally behind, but I see nothing.
I am desperate to see a glint in the Pro-Indy eye that patience is about to pay off, and we are about to seize the initiative…but it fizzles out.
You ask me to have faith Petra. I try, I really do, but faith in the SNP means faith in certain weak individuals for whom I have little but outright contempt, and a political party which seems a little too happy to wear a shock collar provided by the media just in case it steps out of line and provokes a fierce backlash. Heaven forbid. Tell me Petra, Where does the weak and rotten SNP stop, and the righteous bold and brave SNP take over? Did I ask where? Perhaps I meant when…
To quote Shirley Manson, “Send me an angel to love, I need to feel a little piece of heaven”.