Selective reporting of the day
From this morning’s Daily Record:
– Number of Scottish Lib Dems MPs who didn’t vote for an opposition motion: 11
– Number of Scottish Labour MPs who didn’t vote for their own motion: 10
– Number of UK Lib Dem MPs who didn’t vote for an opposition motion: 55
– Number of UK Labour MPs who didn’t vote for their own motion: 47
Where should we drop this delivery of stones for Torcuil Crichton’s glass house?
“SPINELESS Lib Dems last night refused to take a stand against the hated bedroom tax.
Seven of the party’s Scottish MPs voted against a Labour motion to scrap the spare room subsidy. The other four didn’t even bother to turn up.”
– Percentage of Scottish Lib Dem MPs who didn’t turn up for the vote: 36%
– Percentage of Scottish Labour MPs who didn’t turn up for their own vote: 24%
The Lib Dem numbers are all higher, but it’s not exactly chalk and cheese, is it?
Also, if you want to get your opposition motion passed, isn’t it a GOOD thing if the governing parties’ MPs don’t show up? Why would you be angry about that? After all, if they don’t show up, you win. Assuming your own MPs can be bothered to get off their fat, expenses-stuffed arses and vote, of course.
Funny old business, politics.
Any MP will any degree of decency should have been prepared to crawl through broken glass to vote and support the motion.
Funny old business, political journalism in Scotland.
Is there a list anywhere that shows who, if any, of these absent MPS paired up with? Be interesting to see if Sarwar even bothered to pair himself absent.
no mention of the labour wrong-doing in the Record – I’m sh… oh wait.
When I woke up this morning and found out about this, I was so angry. The anger is increasing the more the MSM ignore the story.
Labour in Scotland are worse than Thatcherism of the ’80’s. At least the Scottish media had a go at Thatcher. Labour are the media!
Crichton is too spineless to report the truth.
I wonder if he is on a pay per lie contract.
Looks to me like he had the whole report typed up to say “SNP BAD”, then news of the vote came through and he went’ “Dammit – Find & Replace with “LIB DEM”.
Little wonder ordinary people have lost interest and faith in politics.
Can you imagine a person in Glasgow who is behind on their bedroom tax being told that the reason their local MP did not vote to abolish the tax was because he/she had an informal deal with a southern Tory.
Westminster MPs invent quaint sounding customs and fancy words to justify them not doing the job they are paid for. Surely it is the role of the “free press” to hold them to account and to explain why they do not even bother to vote for their own proposed legislation.
Well it is now as obvious as the nose on your face that we are dealing with a corrupt media who choose which version of the events to report, which lens it will be distorted through and how their interpretation of events will best fit their own agenda. Are we seeing the birth of the “Media Party”?
So it is obvious that manipulation is being actively used. What is not so obvious is what we can do to counter it, how we can hold them to account and whether we can publicise and broadcast the truth to reveal the manipulation.
What about crowd sourcing a Wings Over Scotland live stream news roundup along the lines of Ustream/ livestream. Technical equipment set up costs shouldn’t be too high. Anybody have contacts with any on-line community T.V producers?
The Egyptian people managed live broadcasts from Tahrir Square under fire.
Perhaps parody news casts could be the answer!
It really is despicable.
Sorry for this being O/T but they’re at it again
Dear Jim,
Not content with taking £800,000 out of the Scottish Water budget and putting it into a propaganda warchest to help them fight the referendum, the nationalists are now actively trying to silence people who do not agree with them.
It’s reported today that SNP Minister Shona Robison phoned the Principal of Dundee University to complain that a Professor at the institution had spoken at a Better Together event.
That a private individual should have a Government Minister phone his employers to complain that he had expressed an opinion in the debate on our country’s future is the most appalling abuse of power..
The only way that we can put an end to this kind of behaviour is by winning the referendum. To do that, we need your help.
We need you to donate to the campaign so that we can continue to take our positive message to the people of Scotland.
We know that Alex Salmond and the nationalists have huge amounts of money to spend. We know that they are more than prepared to spend your money on propaganda. Now we know that they will do everything they can to silence people who don’t agree with them.
It is time to put a stop to it. With your help, we can.
As always, thanks for your support.
Rob
She phoned and asked a question, how very dare she!
Lanarkist asked, “”Are we seeing the birth of the “Media Party”?
It’s called the State.
@Lanarkist
Good idea, there are events happening all over Scotland, typically only those that attended get to see them with the odd exception. We need something like an Independence youtube where people attending these events can upload the videos.
If all people have to help them decide how to vote is the likes of this article in the Record, the BBC or STV we are always fighting an uphill battle in getting our message across.
They want you to shut up. Email from BT accuses SNP of diverting £800,000 from Scottish Water into a warchest to fight the referendum.
@ Rev Stu – Have sent you copy of email
Also accused Shona Robinson MSP of using funds to make a complaint to the Principal of Dundee University. Perhaps we could recommend Lebara or GiffGaff to keeps costs down.
@Lanarkist
Trying to put something together now, online radio looks possible but if we want it live not just podcasts we need content anyone up for contributing.
Back to my O/T stuff, seems the gentleman actually chaired the Better Together meeting!
From todays Courier.
He added: “Ms Robison, as a Dundee MSP and participant in Five Million Questions events, simply inquired about Professor Whatley publicly identifying himself as a No campaign supporter by chairing the inaugural meeting of Better Together in Dundee, and how that could be compatible with the stated neutrality of the project.”
The media are in control. It’s a mediocracy.
Mind you, the comments on the Daily Record story were, the last time I looked anyway, pretty clearly asking where the Labour MPs were and maybe the story ought to have mentioned them.
We need some Independent body to monitor the MSM. We really do need to somehow get something like that in place.
The Record’s story is the purest piece of nasty selective biased propaganda I’ve seen for ages. Countered though by some good comments that inform readers about the real story, Labour’s no-show. Surprised they were allowed really as they ridicule the article.
The Record’s story is the purest piece of nasty selective biased propaganda I’ve seen for ages. Countered though by some good comments that inform readers about the real story, Labour’s no-show. Surprised they were allowed really as they ridicule the article.
I nearly spat my tea oot last night when I read this. I was livid!
It’s the most distorted piece of shite I have ever seen in a newspaper in my life. How this guy can call himself a journalist is beyond me. Does he work for a newspaper or the Stasi?
My comment (2nd from top) has been captured for posterity by the rev though!
It is hardly a surprise that Chris Whatley came out as a NO supporter. I know quite a few of the History staff at Dundee and there are a good few YES voters in there as well…He is a very decent chap and an excellent historian, and I can just about forgive him for coming down on the wrong side. What is wrong is however is how BT will twist a simple question and lie about about anything that perpetuates the fear and deep-seated hatred of the SNP. The only thing scarier than Project Fear is the fear they have of the YES camp. It must be a soulless miserable to be.
As of 1730 pm the Gruniad has dropped its article in the on-line edition trying to make last night’s own goal over the bedroom tax by Labour look good by headlining with two Libdem MP’s voting with Labour … no mention of the 6 SNP MP’s who voted with Labour though.
Clearly the Labour PR wonks like John Ruddy did not like what they were reading when their ‘pairing’ argument was blown, coupled with the general level of contempt being shown for Nu Labour apologists by other bloggers. Amongst my contacts in the South West there is as much disgust with Labour’s grandstanding last night as there is in Scotland (Keith Ordinary Guy)
It is interesting to note that amongst the ‘abstainers’ there are a number of high profile Blairites – (e.g. Balls, Murphy, Sanwar) and a few MP’s Ed has recently upset (e.g. Dianne Abbot) which suggests to me the Labour camp at Westminster is not exactly packed full with lots of ‘happy campers‘.
Surprised they were allowed really as they ridicule the article.
surprises me as well. would make sense not to allow.
@Lanarkist
Re Web TV look at URTV they are Helensburgh based and could set up a station relatively quickly, however the key point is…. that you need to have somebody running it … a video journalist and camera crew…oh aye, and a matter of funding them.
O/T
Oh, and here’s the Conservative party erasing all record of past speeches from the internet:
link to computerweekly.com
– you know, all those speeches about transparency, accountablity and the empowerment of the ordinary citizen via the internet.
All gone now.
I come back to that inspiring quote:
“Don’t hate the media. Become the media.”
We’re well on the way to doing that.
Need a quick reply – how did the 6 SNP MP’s vote ??
Kininvie
I am planning on having Wings car stickers within the coming weeks…prompted by your ‘plea’ some weeks back. I dont plan to charge for them, but won’t argue about anyone making a contribution towards postage and packing.
If you ping me an e-mail address I’ll forward the artwork (JUST TO YOU ):-) by way of a thank you for getting me to erm, digitalis extracus, and do something.
kenmcdonald1@btopenworld.com
If we vote NO, then that scene from Trainspotting is so true.
When are we going to get some good news? When will we see a glimmer of decency or justice? We’re not all like Rev, or the real political heavyweights who’ve been around the block, know all the tricks, and are thinking three, four moves ahead – we’re not privy to Yes and SNP’s innermost thoughts and strategies.
Ordinary punters, or grass-roots members of pressure groups and political parties need something to cling onto – right now, we’ve got ‘glass half-full’ analyses of various polls, anecdotal evidence from streetwork that things are going our way, the occasional encouraging voice joining us (e.g. Bateman) and the relentless, grinding negativity of BT. All of these things are cheering, positive in their own way, but we need a big breakthrough.
Remember when the Daily Mirror came out hard against the Iraq invasion? John Pilger was the brains behind that, and the Mirror sales took off. For a while it was seriously threatening to reclaim its campaigning reputation. Then what happened? There was the stramash over photies of fake squaddies urinating on captured prisoners, the whole thing blew up, the Mirror was ‘exposed’ and ridiculed, sank back into being a soft-porn/Bingo rag. (Curiously, it all happened on Piers Morgan’s watch – he did not bad after all that, eh?)
If only one Scottish newspaper would get behind Yes, that publication would take off overnight, guaranteed. There’s no end of beefy stories, day after day – i.e the ones we read here – and it wouldn’t take long for a chorus-line of political commentators, popular pundits and psephologists to work out where their next paycheck could be coming from.
Are they all so hopelessly compromised that they daren’t even consider taking the chance? What are they all so afraid of?
In order to stop the English and Welsh long bowmen from plying their trade, if captured the French soldiers would have the two fingers of their drawing hand CUT OFF. This is where we get the “Two finger salute”.
Can we not give those journalists who lie and distort the truth the fingers and “CUT OFF” their means of producing their bile? Not suggesting for a minute that the angered of Scotland should take to the streets and media houses of Scotland and start demanding fingers!…..but then again the media in Scotland would have to take their fingers out of their ears in order to hear the people. Mind you when you got to Pacific Quay all you would get would be the “fingers”!
I delved into Twitland and wondered what these damn hashtags did and hey ho it opened up another world:
ShopaSeparatist – Now where do I start?
@ DonDeefLugs for waving his sausage at Oktoberfest in Edinburgh while wearing
YES underpants. REPORTED TO BT
@ lumilumi for being a Finnish activist bent on destabilising the current Scottish chaos and trying to make us happy. REPORTED TO BT
@ Morag for being sweet and kind and always supportive. REPORTED TO BT
Oh many others but hey ho WTF…..its time to SHOP A SEPARATIST
The whole system from the head of state to local government, the press and media are all part of this cesspool and a con trick. I think it is so tainted & putrid it is beyond redemption.
you cannot believe a word they say! It is pure evil & it’s meant to be like that it’s the way it was planned.
@Juteman
When I woke up this morning and found out about this, I was so angry. The anger is increasing the more the MSM ignore the story.
Labour in Scotland are worse than Thatcherism of the ’80?s. At least the Scottish media had a go at Thatcher. Labour are the media!
I am watching Reporting Scotland at the moment (stopped watching it ages ago cos it is basically London’s view of Scotland, but thought I would see if SLAB’s actions were mentioned yesterday), and surprise surprise there is nothing, zilch about it. It is a disgrace. They did mention Carmichael’s demanding more answers from the SNP and Yes though zzzzzzzzzzzz….
The papers aren’t compromised, Ian. They are doing their job for the British State.
Would you have expected Pravda in ’70’s Russia to have taken a pro West line?
There should be an award for the must misleading article written by a Journo
They might even turn up for the prize they are so brass necked
Archie [not Erchie] “… its time to SHOP A SEPARATIST”
I’ve see evidence of a certain Archie giving out practical IT tips on a certain separatist web site. Moreover, he seems to be doing it on purpose. He needs to be shopped.
John Swinneys’ reply re answers made me smile though.
Change to UK Energy Bill is “cause for serious concern”
link to bbc.co.uk
Mr Ewing said: “The recent UK Government amendment to its Energy Bill, debated in the Lords last week, will remove the Scottish Parliament’s powers and discretion over the Renewables Obligation (RO) in Scotland.”
@ Murray – 😉
Norrie at 5.42
Keep us informed on the online radio idea
How many Tories voted/abstained/absented?
@ Twenty14 ~all voted~ against the bedroom tax
So in the run up to the referendum do Yes Scotland have to be paired with BT?
I can’t say that I’m all that surprised that Broon the Loon didn’t vote yesterday, after all he is an EX politician. Well that is what he claimed recently whilst giving a presentation in the Middle East recently! Sorry I can’t remember which country it was.
O/t sorry.
Followed a link on @WingsOverScotland? Twitter Account.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in today’s independence debate, don’t forget to #shopaseparatist
I followed the link to the BT Site.
On the main menu there is another menu option ‘the +ve case’ this link takes you to
link to bettertogether.net
Even the positive page title is all negative!
I have been well and truly shopped Archie. I confess I was waving my sausage around at the Oktoberfest. In my defence, it was a subtle Yes recruitment drive because I was sporting my shiny wings badge. No expenses were claimed though 🙂
@ Arbroath 1320
Somewhere where they have lots of oil and a sovereign fund.
So he wasn’t in Scotland, then.
In response to Twenty 14 here I believe ALL 6 SNP MPs turned up and voted for the motion!
Why did Torquil Creighton NOT REPORT THIS FACT!!????
Additionally-The Plaid Cymru and SNP tried to bring a similar motion before wastemonster before-and Labour refused to back it so with no hope of winning it was withdrawn! I for one would have continued with it to make the unscrupolous bastards show their hand!!!
Also Anarse Sanwar challenged Nicola Sturgeon to back repeal of the bedroom tax on T.V. DEBATE -He held up a false document claiming it was labour policy to repeal the bedroom tax. NO PARTY not the Tories LIB Dums or Labour had this as an election manifesto policy:> so why do the Lib Dumbs and Labour find it impossible to vote it down? No mention on BBC Radio Scotland news tonight =sickening bias!! VOTE YES!
As we’ve all noted many times over, if it wasn’t for a more than compliant media both Labour and Better Together would have been lost without trace some time back. Our fight seems not to be with the policy and principle free zones like Nu/New/Noo Labour and Better Together, but with the ethics free zone that is the media. Just wondering now when they’re going to come out and declare themselves? They seem to make all our other choices for us.
@ DonDeefLugs – Knew you would shoulder your sausage.
However on a more serious note for yourself and others. Whether its just a blip on my posting skills or something else I have tried to post a picture on 3 separate occasions on my FB account today. In question it was the 10 Labour plonkers who failed to turn up at the vote last night. On 3 separate occasions the photo and my comments have been removed and not by me.
I have reposted with a warning to FB that I will not countenance another removal so watch this space. Furthermore if any asshole from FB moderation reads this forum you can be assured I have taken screenshots/timelines and your popups as evidence. If you value company reputation then do not interfere with the social freedom of a people who want Independence.
Their behaviour is absolutely repulsive!! What I don’t understand is, why didn’t the D.R make a bigger issue out of The Labour party’s inadequacy? It was after all, them who brought about the vote!! Sarwar needs to do the decent thing, and SOD OFF!
Can we not crowdfund the Cuttysark Bridge on the M8 ( both sides ) must be viewed by 10’s of thousands everyday. Advertise Wings or something that sticks in the mind of the Scottish people over the next period – a saying, a logo, a statement.
We have some of the cleverest people on the Planet on our shores – get thinking
Well, having read the Rev’s Twitter feed, I took myself over to the Shop a Separatist section of the BT site, I had a wee notion to bubble a surgeon for operating on Siamese twins, only to find the page wouldn’t load, it couldn’t be sagging under the weight of all you wingsters tossing your tuppence worth in, a la 500 questions, could it? 😉
A female relative, who remembers the days that mild SNP rallies attracted Special branch hanging around, keeps telling me
“What the hell did you expect from the British Establishment, that they would play fair? Every petty trick they have, they will do. We just have to be better, keep our noses clean and fight hard!”
arbroath1320 – broon was in Abu Dabhi , he was asked if he was enjoying his trip when he replied ” well I have to do something now I am no longer involved in politics ” his personal assistant hastily jumped to his side to remind him he was still getting paid to be a Westminster MP
I have it on good authority that Labour are considering putting dead people up as candidates in certain elections.Keir Hardie in Dunfermline,John Smith in Glasgow Central,John Maclean in Govan.Since they don’t need to vote on anything there is no problem with this strategy.
The problem with the strategy is that none of the people quoted would agree to stand under the banner of the Labour party as it is now. 🙂
Though, of course, being dead they wouldn’t have a say, hell yes, that might work.
Yes,and they could get dead people to vote for them of course.
@Stuart Black
Though, of course, being dead they wouldn’t have a say, hell yes, that might work.
That is a slight drawback right enough… 😀 😀
BeamMeUpScotty says:
“Yes,and they could get dead people to vote for them of course.”
I thought they did that already?
When I got into work, I told everyone I could find about this obscenity. Everyone was disgusted. More and more of my work colleagues are planning to vote Yes next year. This is how we beat the media. By talking to people. They cannot stop us doing that. We hardly need to do any persuasion. The nutter unionists are doing most of the leg work for us. All we need to do is talk to those around us. They will pay for their lies and duplicity. They will reap the whirlwind. Apres eux le deluge.
“I was bullied by that bad Nicola Sturgeon. She made me look stupid on TV, although I shouted at her a lot and I felt a bit better. I even got to wave my little pretendy document. But the experience left me shaken up. I was so frightened that I even forgot to vote against the bedroom tax yesterday!”
Guess who? #shopaseparatist
Don’t put up with chaff-free wheat #shopaseparatist
Every production platform in the North Sea houses three-phase separators, we can’t allow this to go on #shopaseparatist
A lot of people on threads today talking about our wonderful media (ironic face). It reminded me of this from March? Remember the widespread coverage of the UK Parliament breaking a fundamental rule of law and how much coverage it got? Remember Civitas article and how it changed in a few hours?
link to i40.tinypic.com
Full article available for any historians out there.
i think these labour creeps should be named, shamed and oh aye, can anyone photo shop a cone onto their heads, preferably a blue one with YES written on it
I really dont think we should allow this to drop guys
“labour cone wearing bedroom tax deniers”
lets get rid of the labour mps and keep the cones
Worth 30mins of your time as it is relevant.
link to youtube.com
David’s blog
http://www.golemxiv.co.uk
There is an Occupy march this Saturday against the MSM all across the globe, there will be one at Pacific Quay at 1p.m details here:
link to facebook.com
And a day after we hear nothing from the MSM on the HUGE story of 47 Labour MP’s failing to turn up to vote on their own motion on THE MOST divisive policy of the moment, they instead choose to make a “story” out of the new Scotland football top… the media have truly dropped from the gutter into the sewer:
link to uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
Erchie at 8.18
Your female relative is exactly right. They will be trawling right now for scandal in the YES camp. The YES campaign will already be infiltrated in places as is the case with the SNP and has always been the case.
We are no longer facing a political enemy. We’ve beaten them. We are facing an establishment plot being lead through the media and operated by people we will never see. It would not surpise me if Derek McKay’s recent announcement was not made to prevent damaging revelation through the media.
The media of course know who most of the closet gay people in politics are. It gives them great power over them and Derek did exactly the right thing.
I have long held the opinion that we should have been taking some of our tabloids out by printing spoof versions of them It is comparitively easy to make laughing stock of the Express and the Mail. Rather less so with Record which is a little less bonkers and the Sun gives us good and bad in about equal measure. I confess to being a newspaper addict and regularly buy four or five a day. It’s the bloody headlines which are sometimes very tempting as spin goes. I buy the Mirror (which is sold across Scotland) from time to time. Scotland and our referendum do not figure in it at all.
Maggie was very proud of her New Labour MPs.
MP’s are elected and paid to represent their constituency.
It saddens me that so many Scottish MP’s – whose constituents, I believe, predominantly oppose this tax – put their coalition colleagues or some flimsy ‘pairing’ arrangement before the will of those they represent.
Jute Man, let”s de- construct that idea and re -construct the relationship. We now have , it seems for now, the Internet. Lets use it to undermine the media that they have already learned to manipulate.
The pnr, the idea of live broadcasting, ( sorry Kendo) is dead, it needs archived responses to certain events, like diary that can be lookebackpack at, a sort of cross between YouTube and it will be alright on the night mixed with TWTWTW.
Norrie, sounds great , cannot wait. I see ithe other complementary visual media fecord as archived responses to certain statements or events that need a response but also the opportunity to be reviewed. IMO I think the whole BT argument needs lanced by lampooning.
Major, it’s a mediumocracy!
Kendo, Funding is the problem always, if only for continuity. Systems, tech and individual creativity mean that camera crew, lighting, continuity, scripts etc no longer need to be part of the project. The equipment can be mounted on a Hard hat linked /attached to a phone, ( some have great spec), it just needs the idea turned around, so that we are filming the dialogue rather than the action or lack of it.
regards all posters and commentators , power warning, over and out.
All good input, lets keep poking the icon.
Lanarkist.
Oh what a surprise, Newsnight totally ignoring the bedroom tax vote and showing Carmichael making a huge meal about being called a so-called Scot by an SNP councillor and trying to say Salmond sanctions this from the top…
And a day after we hear nothing from the MSM on the HUGE story of 47 Labour MP’s failing to turn up to vote on their own motion on THE MOST divisive policy of the moment, they instead choose to make a “story” out of the new Scotland football top… the media have truly dropped from the gutter into the sewer:
link to uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
My God, now I’ve seen it all. Bruce’s spider, the personification of “try, try and try again” held up as such to all children, is now “anti-English”?
Someone needs re-educating with extreme prejudice.
torcuil is a Brian Wilson glove puppet
Quote me – the Daily Record are implicit state supporting sell outs. David Clegg wants a safe easy Labour seat 3yrs from now – remember this.
Torquil Chriton – your ancestors – sons of Somerled await you (turncoat) rather you than me !
Mentioned the voting to folk in my work yesterday. Explained what happened, and who didn’t turn up. However, very pleased when eyebrows were raised when I mentioned Brown, Murphy, and Sarwar. The good news to me is that even folk who don’t follow politics, knew who Anas was! Excellent!
The more folk know who Anas is, the more they will begin to actually listen to his lies, and condemn him for it.
I wish people would stop spelling Anus wrong, Please guys its simples really second A should be a U.
added benefit of not breaking the trades description act as they’re both arseholes
Smudge
It’s not Anus, it’s Arswar. Maybe it’s both.
Guys, Stu specifically and explicitly asked people not to do that, “think of the undecideds reading this” and all that. I think he has a point, tempting though it obviously is.
OT – oh dear more good news. What ever will we do?
The Scottish Government has identified deep geothermal energy as an important emerging renewable energy technology that could have the potential to play a significant role in Scotland’s future energy provision. The aim of this study is to identify the steps necessary to take forward the commercialisation of deep geothermal energy in Scotland.
link to scotland.gov.uk
Well, well, well. See today’s Daily Record: Scots Labour MPs slammed after almost a quarter fail to vote against bedroom tax policy in motion put forward by their own party
link to archive.is
Deservedly chastised, Morag
Fabulous piece by macwhirter in today’s Herald,whichalso covers the 46 Labour MPs who didn’t turn up.
referring to Andy’s comment about deep geothermal, this is good news. I raised this with the SG a few years ago after reading a paper by I think Ed Stephens at St. Andrews Uni. My company had supplied equipment to the Cooper Basin development in Australia and it appeared from Dr Stephen’s paper that there was significant potential in Scotland. However they were not interested. Maybe time to push on this one again!
faolie- thanks for posting that, and glad it’s archived. I think I stupidly gave the DR extra hits yesterday by visiting the real site. I read that article today. It reads like a press release, along the lines of: we know that people have discovered how hypocritical we were yesterday, so we’d just like to set the record straight to say that it’s true many Labour MP’s didn’t vote, but there was a good reason, and it’s only criticism coming from a rival political party trying to score points. No difference would have been made to the vote. Move along now folks. Nothing to see here.
I stopped buying the Record 12 years ago. It was rubbish then and it is even more so now.t hey should stick to football and soft porn? that’s what their good at.