An impressive feat
Posted on
February 02, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
It takes some doing to make even BBC News presenters look a little uncomfortable at the sheer depth of your ignorance when it comes to Scottish independence, so we probably ought to offer some sort of commendation to this guy:
It packs a lot of stupid into just 82 seconds, but our favourite bit is probably the odd assertion that your accent changes whenever you cross the border between Scotland and England. We did also enjoy “We have the same army!” (of course we do, you bonehead, we’re not independent yet), and the notion that speaking the same language meant it was “laughable” to be independent (so bad news for the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand).
We will, though, go along with the thought that voting Yes is “a cool thing to do”.
Does this make anyone else think of the content of ‘The Claim of Scotland’?
Another buffoon.
We are only doing this for a bit of a laugh?
It sounds like Mr Collins is suggesting Britain & England are one & the same thing ?
Sounds very fmiliar to me.
To get pontificating clowns like that off our TV screens telling us what to do would be reason enough to get shot of this London-centric control mechanism. Real democracy would be another; all for starters.
I don’t know. Whatsisname Barrowman’s accent changed when he crossed the border.
WTF?? Political commentator?? Who can’t analyse statistics that PROVE we have different attitudes??? Cretinous moron more like!
Superb. Another bunch of votes for YES.
been a long time since I considered myself cool dad-ee-oo! Rocking with the cools kids!
And how much did it cost for your soul? or are you really that stupid?
Scotland and England – it’s one place says he.
Wales and Northern Ireland, do they figure anywhere in his rhetoric?
Sharing a monarch and a language? – hello Canada, New Zealand and Australia, hope you are well.
They want independence because it’s “cool”
I want it because the UK is a cesspit of inequality and anti-democracy. I’m too old to care about what’s cool.
@gordoz, watching Marr this morning, a French Journalist talking about the France-England rugby said “the French were good and then the British were good”. I think if it had been anyone other then Marr, this would have gone uncorrected. He pointed out it was the English, he was Scottish and they play later today! That whole interchangeability between England/Britain/UK is just another one of the reasons I want independence. By no means the main one, but it’s on the list list of #weethings 😉
@themadmurph
Beat me to it dude.
I don’t think he’s a clown or a buffoon or a cretinous moron. Jeezo, take it easy
Imagine for a moment…
Someone knowledgable with a sympathetic view of the Claim of Scotland being on, able to tactfully debunk Carmichael’s article.
What a pleasant start to the day that would be.
I know, I know…
@gordoz
They do. I heard another instance of the old England, sorry I mean Great Britain on Radio 5 last night discussing the Davis Cup.
Have you ever in your life heard anyone saying Scotland, sorry I mean Great Britain?
@Calgacus – correct. Add in Richard Madeley’s tour de force on the Matthew Wright Show last year and Barrowman’s toe-curling Crash and Burns Night monologue and we have all the ammo we need.
Keep it coming chaps – keep it coming.
A masterclass in deliberate ignorance by Mr. Collins providing us with some insight into the thinking of the “Little Englander”
@gray, we were talking about the Davis Cup. How good would the Scotland team be now? Better then the rUK for sure!
They really don’t understand! Arrogant, ignorant, dismissive. To wee, stupid and poor!
THAT’LL BE THE POSITIVE CASE FOR THE UNION THEN!
sorry @conan, been a long time since I considered myself fast too!
Well, he disposed of Indy sharpish didn’t he? Stoned the bleed in’ crows! Strike a light and love a duck! And here’s me thinking it was all complicated!
Nothing beats a cartoon understanding wedded to crass caracature, that’s what I always say.
Awesome dude!
Wow, shocking ignorance 🙁
Yes!
A cool thing to do.
Couldn’t agree more with that statement.
It takes a lot to start from Alastair Carmichael is spot on and manage to get progressively sillier but he pulls it off. Well done Ian, you deserve a prize.
It’s all down to perception.I think Scotland is a country and countries are best governed by the people who live and work there.He doesn’t think Scotland is a country.
Glad he sorted that referendum thing out for us. So if any undecided voters are reading this page, you’ll be comforted by the idea that its apparently just cool to …
Control your own borders
Get rid of Trident
Establish a fit for purpose defence force
Invest in an oil fund
Maintain a free at the point of use NHS
Re-establish a universal postage system
Abolish the bedroom tax
Make >700 unelected Lords & English Bishops obsolete
Have 100 control over taxes (income, corporation, VAT, cap gains etc)
Prioritise spending to match your local needs
Establish a truly renewable energy supply
Ban construction of Nuclear power plants
and all you have to do is tick the YES box in September & continue speaking in a funny accent.
I was thinking about the NHS in Scotland yesterday, which remains thankfully very different from the under-demolition NHS in England.
A thought occurred to me:
Why would anyone who was employed by the NHS in Scotland not vote YES in September?
I couldn’t think of an answer …
“I’ve always thought when people argue for that [Independence] it’s not a philosophical, well thought-through, intellectual idea it’s just that it seems like a bit of a cool thing to do… it’s not borne out in any other reasoning than that” – looks like this guy is still at the ‘and then they make fun of you’ stage. Somebody should tell him that we’ve already moved onto the ‘and then they fight you’ stage.
I’m not really sure if I’d call what was said here either stupidity or ignorance on the part of Ian Collins as he is just reiterating a line which the British Establishment use fairly often to attack independence. If you were to call it anything it would be a failure to question what he is told.
I can remember this line of attack being deployed years ago to argue the point that Scottish independence is nonsense because there is no Scottish culture or identity and we’re all British, the nation is Britain and it’s always really been Britain.
In previous years on blogs, news articles and below the line comments, it used to be argued that Scotland as a separate country and identity was really just an invention of Sir Walter Scott but nowadays it is along the lines of denying that a distinctive Scottish culture exists at all.
In fact the good socialist Baron Robertson of Port Ellen deployed the same argument in a debate fairly recently.
Ian Collins is simply repeating what he believes is the truth and he has been told is the truth. Scotland is nothing more than a British region with another accent.
He seems to think that attitudes both side of the border are the same.
I certainly have less in common with this gentleman than I do with my neighbours whether they support Independence or not.
I think somebody ought to point out that the Limmy take “Fuck Aye, it’ll be a laugh” is comedy and not the official stance of the Scottish Government.
Part of me does agree with the statement though. Once we set down this road I think every will muck in and enjoy it including the Nay Sayers
Who is this guy? I have never heard of him.
From his own website:
Ian Collins is one of the UK’s top radio broadcasters. He also pops up on the telly.
So, up his own arse, then…allegedly.
Also:
He is a member of the Westminster Press Gallery…
Ah… right. Yes, it makes sense.
And:
… is soon to complete his second book, 87 People I’d Like to Slap.
Who knows, maybe he will look in the mirror 87 times and decide to self-flagellate and be done with it. Much, much more fun for many, many more than 87 people.
Just for the sake of my mental health…
We’re a country the size of a postage stamp
Out of 249 sovereign states, the UK is the 80th largest by land area, and 22nd largest by population. We’re hardly Kazakhstan or India, but that doesn’t make it a small country by any means.
England is a different country from Scotland… it’s utter nonsense
Perhaps the obvious question is “if England and Scotland aren’t different countries, then why are they referred to as different countries by just about every definition there is?”
We’re very very small
What does that have to do with being different?
We speak the same language
So does the US, Canada, Australia…
Same head of state
… Again, so does Canada and Australia, technically speaking.
Same military
Then why are there distinct Scottish divisions?
Same money
Like how Germany, France, Spain, Italy and others have the same money? How are they “the same country” again?
We have more in common than we have differences
It’d be interesting if someone sat down and actually compiled all the similarities/differences between Scotland and England. While ignoring Wales and Northern Ireland, of course, because everybody ignores them for some reason.
And here we are, talking about a very expensive situation where we might divide the two
I can only assume Mr Collins was just as opposed to the “dividing” of Ireland from the UK. And India. And America…
Does anybody seriously think when you hop over to the border…
Anyone else think it’s hilarious that Scotland and England are apparently the same place, yet have a border? We’d be “dividing” a place that already HAS a division?
… that something substantially changes?
Well, again, you’re going into a place which has separate laws, education, health service…
Your accent changes, that’s about it.
Figures it’d boil down to accents, right?
I’ve always thought…
*Snort of derision*
… it’s not a philosophical, thoughtful, intellectual idea, it’s just that it seems “a bit of a cool thing to do.” That’s it really, it’s not borne out in any other reasoning than that, that people want it because they like the idea.
… Yeah, I really cannot counter that with anything short or snappy beyond saying that this isn’t like a music festival or a comic convention. This isn’t just some fun, daft little lark or caper: this is a movement that’s been going on for over a HUNDRED YEARS. This is the most important decision we as a country have ever faced. And to say there’s no intellectual reasoning behind it is asinine to the point of my brain packing its suitcase and leaving for a vacation in Sri Lanka, because it’s tired of this numpty.
Dal Riata says:
… is soon to complete his second book, 87 People I’d Like to Slap.
Is “Slap” the same as “Clout”?
This guy is a regular guest on the paper reviews on both Sky and the BBC, its incredible that he’s actually paid to share his opinions because believe me he’s pretty clueless about every subject not just Scottish independence.
Postage size ‘country’ – too small
Not thought through – too stupid
Expensive – too poor.
Change the record, someone, please…….
Hmm. He comes from Scunthorpe.
Just saying.
Glad he found the difference between Scots and English ” laughable “, just highlights the indifference of the majority of the population I know well in the South East of England. Huge boost for YES I would opine ! Have to say though his comment about understanding accents hit a chord.
He used to have a show on Talksport. I think it was the nightshift.
Michael says:
Change the record, someone, please…….
Here you go …
link to youtube.com
Who is he? A non entity who doesn’t have a vote.
The BBC is crap.
Andrew Neil
I think that the tables are turning.
WE are starting to laugh at THEM!
The Secretary of State for Portsmouth really needs Karl Pilkington’s bullshit man with him so as when he utters pish like this he jumps out, points and say’s BULLSHIT!
I’m voting a big fat YES for a big fat laugh!
I cannot believe that the two other presenters on the morning show were not seriously embarrassed by thon eejit.
Does he have a vote on the independence question? There is still time for him to move to Scotland and register to vote if he hasn’t.
Democracy,eh?
Mr Collins is a non-entity in his own job desription.
This guy’s comments remind me of a story an Irish mate told me. He works in finance in a company in Dublin which has a head office in London. An English manager was over visiting for the first time and commented on something about shops (can’t remember exactly) and said you didn’t seem to be able to get that particular something in Dublin but you could get it on the mainland (cue – puzzled looks between the Irish staff wondering which particular mainland he was referring to).
As for Carmichael’s comments, yet again the inconsistency comes out. If we’re talking about similarities between Scotland and England, then why does that stop at La Manche and the North sea? Drawing borders for political units and the most efficacious governance needs more depth than that
description ( memo to me must use the edid panel
oh, and re my last post, the ‘more depth’ I was thinking about was that independence would be cool.
O/T
“Scotland’s Smoking Gun”. The BBC ran this fascinating look at how we arrived on the edges of Independence.
Well worth a watch.
And in my opinion, will turn a lot of Don’t Knows to a YES.
As for this Ian Collins guy, I remember him from listening to Talk Sport at night. I remember about 2 years ago him laughing at the very thought that the Scots would “separate” from England.
He is still as ignorant now as he was then. He is very typical of your average Englishman/woman.
China – ‘Scotland land of discovery and invention’. ‘Britain,a small nation without Empire’
Russia – ‘Britain is irrelevant’ ‘Cameron trying to get help against Independence Referendum’
Obama – ‘Cameron is a lightweight’
Millions of Scottish diasporia all over the world.
BBC, “Scotland’s Smoking Gun” video.
link to youtu.be
Nice to see he’s getting pelters on his twitter account.
It’s quite funny being told we’ve not thought this through by someone who just rattles off a load of uninformed pish.
The fact that people in England mainly vote for right wing parties and the people of Scotland mainly vote for left wing parties appears to have escaped this clown.
Who is this guy?,to think he will probably get paid for uttering this pish.
Jeez, talk about ill informed. How ignorant can people be regarding Scottish independence. I cannot fathom how we are supposed to think the BBC is anything but blatantly biased against Scottish self rule. Time and time again, we have complete nobodies making false assertions regarding Scotland, the Scottish people and Scottish independence, with no presenter offering any corrections or even trying to present FACTS (remember them, BBC???).
Just another example of the drip-fed anti Scotland propaganda from BBC Pravda.
On the upside, sites such as these are making it clear to everybody just how the mainstream media and especially the BBC is being used to rubbish Scottish independence. As each day passes, and as readership of this site, NewsnetScotland, bella and others, a greater and greater percentage of the electorate are getting to know just how much they are being lied to. No matter what the vote, that hard fact will NEVER go away.
Scottish independence, is not just ‘cool’, it is about fundamental democracy, the right of Scots to elect a Government of their choosing, and not at the mercy of how England votes. The union has only ever benefited England. Scottish MP’s make up just 9% of Westminster MP’s, and their votes carry NO weight whatsoever. It is a wholly undemocratic situation, that can only ever be rectified with independence. I want a Government by Scots for Scots, free from London interference, and that is why I will be voting YES.
For as long as but a hundred of us remain cool, never will we …
Scunny?
Say no more…
Ian Collins is typical of the South East’s head-in-the-sand approach to Scottish independence… ‘lalalala and it will go away’. If he wasn’t asked to comment on that Carmichael piece then he wouldn’t have mentioned it at all. It’s typical of the attitude that I’ve encountered in London where people born and bred in the SE explain to me that Scotland is no different to England and in the same breath admit they know nothing about the place.
What they really mean is everything that they perceive to be Scotland was created by the union (England), it sits there with nice scenery and they don’t have to think about it. They truly believe that Scotland didn’t exist as a country with a history before 1707. But then they don’t want to know either. The only real Scottish history they know of is Macbeth (because of Shakespeare), Wallace (because of Braveheart), Bruce (because of the ever-moaning Jock), and Mary (because it’s part of Tudor education in schools).
Jeremy Clarkson (yes I know) I think put it correctly about the attitude of the (mostly Tory southern) English towards the Scots: ‘It’s like having an old pet dog, it’s loyal, part of the family, but sometimes it gets grumpy and will bark at you, but you put up with it because you love it just enough not wanting to get rid of it.’
Yes folks, we’re a pet, a possession they like to have around but not like to think about it much. A bit like Paul Dacre and his huge Highland estate… or every other colony that since achieved independence before now. And how do we know of this for sure, listen to them moan in the Express, Telegraph or Mail at the fact that England wound be smaller and diminished in the world without their tartan appendage. They are frightened to face the world as ‘English’ with the St George’s Cross, facing up to the French, Germans, Spanish, Russians and Americans with a flag that mens nothing to them. With Scottish independence we’re taking away their clothes and leaving them naked for all the world to see without having the comfort of ‘British’ and the butcher’s apron to keep them cosy and protect anymore. The British illusion (see all the military telly programs we have now) will disappear overnight.
That attitude kind of sums up the Brit brigade.They want everyone to think and act as they do.In other words we are all British because we are telling you you are.Instead of being relaxed about national differences they get offended that another nation might have a different opinions or culture.That’s known as homogenization by acquiesce.They little Englanders don’t accept other nations they want to make them like them.Scotland at heart is a Celtic nation.Are they suggesting there is no difference between Gaelic culture and Anglo Saxon.Are they telling me that Scotland has voted the same way as England at the last election.What is our national costume,the Kilt.Who is our Bard not Shakespeare.The tartan army are welcomed abroad their fans feared.These are the differences they can’t see.
Years ago an English friend asked me how long I had lived in England. When I said I had always lived in Scotland, he got upset and said well it is the same thing. It took me a while to work out why he was upset with me!
As for Ian Collins being ill-informed and arrogant, this is because he believes he’s taking to an English audience and nobody else. A typical trait of a London-centric television boradcaster.
Hmmm, “some people want it because they like the idea” Hmmm
OK, I’ll go with that
O/T and there again Daily politic,s scotland, interuption,s
in John Swinney,s reply,when talking about finanance
O/T – Watched the Disney movie “Up” on Netflix last night.
Anybody who has been involved in the long march to Scottish independence should find time to watch it.
Also anybody who has joined the adventure more recently.
Very uplifting.
What’s the old saying.If you want to defeat a nation ignore its existence.Think Irish Republic…same propaganda used against them.They never gave up their Celtic heritage and that’s what has kept Scotland alive for 300 years of Anglicisation.While the majority accepted Britishness it was the few and now the many who kept the Celtic heart beating despite them.
look at Jhon SWinney,s mouth on the reply, there is no other part of the picture interuption other the Mr Swinney,s mouth
Calgacus,
As regards your question, you would be simply astonished at the number of Scots, including those within the NHS, who do not realise that the Scottish health service has been a separate organisation from the NHS in England, since the day it started.
The BBC and Westminster like to keep people in the dark, hence we hear of e.g ‘today in Westminster the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said….”. of course he is the health secretary for England, yet many times this is just not stated. Likewise with education, where you might easily believe if you watched the BBC, Michael Gove is the education secretary for the UK – he isn’t, his role is England only, as Wales, N.Ireland and Scotland all have their own.
This is just the continuation of the old attitude from our betters and masters in England. As the magazine PUNCH once put it “of course you’re English, you’re Scotch aren’t you?”
@calgacus
…ah, paradise falls
Dcanmore,
Many years ago, I had a discussion with some folks in England, who were intelligent, reasonable people, I had known for some time. In a discussion one night about Scottish independence, I kept putting forward rational reasons for Scottish independence, which they regarded as terribly offensive – the very notion, ugh!.
Finally, one of them said to me, yeah well you’ll never get independence anyway. I asked him why, and he said “because we own you”. I guess he meant the English when he said ‘we own you’.
Collins obviously has a pro-UK agenda, but still, the often-heard putdowns we hear from the likes of these within the English/London media is so breathtakingy insulting to the people of Scotland and so out of synch with the reality of what Scottish independence is about that one has to question the thinking and mindset of such people.
One can only conclude that they are woefully ignorant of the true situation and see the quest for Scottish independence as just some kind of a ‘lark’, where the stupid Scots are being led blindfolded to the referendum by Alex Salmond in disguise as the Pied Piper… But, hey-ho, they’re going to vote ‘No’ anyway ’cause we’re all one great big bunch of happy Brits!
… And it’s all about hatred of the English… and stuff. And they can’t have any oil… and stuff, even if they wanted it, because it’s the UK’s… innit! Ad nauseum.
The London-based media is doing its job in keeping the population as ignorant as it can, while also dangerously stirring up hatred and resentment. Many in England do not even question what the MSM delivers, take it as read and absorb it willingly.
Scots in general, and both ‘For’ and ‘Against’, are more enlightened about Scottish independence, and that is despite the mendacious behaviour of the smearing, sneering and fearing MSM. Note the Daily Mail and its vile agenda. The internet with its sites offering the truth, such as this one here, are becoming evermore ‘mainstream’, thus the attacks from the likes of the Mail trying – and failing – to kill the messenger.
I fear there will be many in England who wake up on the morning of the 19th of September, 2014 and with a howl of indignation find out that Scotland has voted for independence and ‘their’ UK is only six months away from being a thing of the past.
Should that then lead to those same people vehemently questioning what they have been told by a lying and corrupt Government through its MSM propaganda outlets, then, perhaps, it will lead to better governance throughout the island of Britain and not just in Scotland – which is something to be hoped for.
I suppose, in the interests of avoiding accusations of #bbcbias, they should have a Yes supporting journalist who is equally ignorant on the show next week… except there is no such creature. :-/ (at least, I hope there isn’t!)
Attitude like that, he’s a John not an Ian.
Robert Louis says:
As regards your question, you would be simply astonished at the number of Scots, including those within the NHS, who do not realise that the Scottish health service has been a separate organisation from the NHS in England, since the day it started.
I know about the ignorance. So my point is that a massive “quick win” (excuse management pish-speak) for the YES campaign would be to speedily get the message across via a grass-roots NHS-Scotland-for-YES movement, for example.
Or any other idea that anybody else has …
He actually nails it.
“Some people want it because they like the idea.”
And don’t we all, like the idea of it.
as I was saying.. link to youtube.com
@Cankert Callan –
Cheers.
Seems to me Alistair Carmichael is fast becoming the Johann Lamont of “Talking Scotland Down” politics. Maybe he too thinks Scotland is just a “wee thing”!
The ConDems cut Block Grant £1.3Billion a year and increased Oil tax 11% (£2Billion), a year now 60% to 80%, in the 2010 Budget. Over five years £16.6Billion.
Workers are being killed in the Oil industry because of UK Health and Safety rules not being enforced by WestminsterUnionists.
Labour/Unionists voted against the AWPR for thirty years. LibDems/Unionists in Aberdeen/shire blocked it for ten years.
Propaganda about Single Police/Fire Service.
I wonder if Mr Collins practices being a choob, or if he was born that way?
Wait a minute, he must be a natural born choob …there’s no way anyone could find time to practice that much!
Here in Aberdeen there’s a lot of people in the oil industry exactly like this guy, with exact same voice and exact same opinion long and loud, Scotland is not a country.
@Faltdubh says:
He actually nails it.
“Some people want it because they like the idea.”
And don’t we all, like the idea of it.
What’s not to like.
Has any body recorded the Daily Politic,s Scotland today,
if so could they post it up as soon as possible,( cant wait on them putting it up on bbc iplayer)another BIAS
example of interfering in stoping the public being informed
SPEACH EDITING ON JOHN SWINNEY,S REPLY,ON FINANCES, WATCH jOHN,S MOUTH CLOSELY.
I seem to have joined disqus somewhere, somehow and this works on the Herald. I have made my very first post … although it may not get past the mods. I am still HandandShrimp, not sure if that is allowed.
Lets hope on the 18th sept our wee postage stamp gets stuck on the envelope of the Dear John letter which is addressed to rUK
I’m fed up with the use of NHS Scotland when people are referring to our health service. Why doesn’t our Government in Scotland just change the name to The Scottish Health Service?
That would surely get rid of a lot of the confusion.
Collins claims wanting independence is not a philosophical idea – his ignorance is so great i’m surprised he was able to pronounce the word.
@Rough Bounds says:
Why doesn’t our Government in Scotland just change the name to The Scottish Health Service?
That would surely get rid of a lot of the confusion.
Somebody tell Alex Neill … quick … best plan ever …
Hold the front page..BBC gets clueless fuc$%ker to discuss Scottish Independence! they would have been as weel getting thon guy from the Amazon wae the CD in his mooth that used tae hing aboot wae Sting!
I think may have been Ian Collins’ pitch to be the next BBC Political Editor.
He was ‘on message’.
@ Rough Bounds, it certainly would, but the NHS in Scotland has a proud tradition. If you read the likes of the Independent today where the Leader of the Quality Care Commission wants to see staggering changes to the English Health Service, maybe it is they who will be changing the name. I have to say though that this is one area we need to work on with the undecided, because as sure as shooting the English are going to lose their NHS and if we stay we will be unable to keep ours.
HandandShrimp Sorry, you comment won’t get passed the Herald regulators if you don’t use your proper name, or at least a proper-sounding name.
Sheer ignorance, this guy considers Scotland is part of england, like Northumberland say, it just goes to show how complacent they are when considering Scotland as a country at all, they think we have no rights, because they think they own us.Well, not too long now before we put that one to bed!However this thinking is rife across the UK and with some in Scotland,shamefully.
Carmichael is like an out of control train accelerating into a packed station. He is a train ready to go off the rails. He would be better off retiring now, and just go fishing !
yeah, its the idea that this has never happened before. Independence, currency union, trade and all the rest.
Banal unionism at its best…though I am not sure Colin Kidd who coined the term, really thought it would come to mean this.
Dan
Alas you are right. I really can’t be arsed making yet another account. Probably for the best. I have enough to be going on with and I do like the Guardian and having been there so long the mods do cut me a bit of slack.
Why is it when clowns like him or that other balloon Cochrane come out with such piffle there are no comments allowed? I would like him to make his we trip over the birder and have a wee chat with me and he will see how much of a laugh it is.
“We have more in common than we have differences”
Ian Collins is clearly oblivious to the main difference between the powers held by the Scottish and UK Governments. Pages 590 to 594 of the White Paper “Scotland’s Future” outline ONE page of Devolved powers to Scotland and THREE AND A HALF pages of Reserved powers held by Westminster which include Trade and Industry, Energy, Transport Social Security,Media and Culture etc.
Forget political parties and personalities, this is the crux of the referendum issue. Do the people of Scotland wish to exercise the full range of powers as an independent nation or are they happy to surrender them to others?
It is quite apparent that only in an independent Scotland will we “…have more in common”.
It used to drive me crazy but now I’m not too bothered when people, especially foreigners, get England and Britain mixed up. If you put croutons in onion soup, it’s still onion soup. Under the current set up, Scotland, Wales, NI are just garnish in someone else’s soup. I can’t wait, to push the metaphor to breaking point, to become a sandwich in our own right 🙂
Couldn’t get past 35 minutes of Scotland’s Smoking Gun… Thatcher was the fault of the SNP and while there is talk of gerrymandering of the referendum of 79, no explicit mention of Labour backstabbing the Scottish people with the 40% rule. Thank you BBC.
O/T – see Tom Hunter has a new site running to inform people about the vote according to the Northbriton. I wonder if he’d have more success getting Canavan and Darling together since the latter was too sh*t scared when Wings tried it?
@pin
I don’t think he’s a clown or a buffoon or a cretinous moron. Jeezo, take it easy
No, he is apparently reasonably well-educated, but nevertheless talks utter pish
Regarding renaming the NHS in Scotland I thoroughly agree with Rough Bounds and have E-mailed Alex Neil about this. Got a rather non committal reply that it was in the plans but not now. Perhaps we need to raise this in his sights. Could more of us please contact him?
You know, those drastically different independent nations like Austria and Germany, Norway and Sweden, Australia and New Zealand, Republic of Ireland and the UK, Latvia and Lithuania, Canada and the USA, Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, Costa Rica and Panama…
@pin
If one talks shite one should not be surprised if others think your mouth is an arse.
@Robert Louis hits the nail on the head: this Collins fellow is an ignorant opinionated fool. But the real issue here is: why is he allowed on a prominent, widely viewed BBC news programme to spout his ill-informed, and quite insulting opinions, without any challenge being made by the presenters?
They are unprofessional and frankly useless, are they actually journalists? Is he a cretin? The BBC is a corrupt and bloated organisation fit only as a propaganda tool for the BS (British State) and for pumping out soporific pap for the masses.
So a politically sussed sovereign people, the Scots, are only wanting independence because it’s ‘cool’?…We all know there is a concerted black ops going on by the British State via the msm and in particular the BBC, but this is yet another crass blunder by them, that by having this idiot on with his bullshit blethers will add another couple of thousand Yes votes from the DKs.
As for the Collins boy, they say that opinions are like a**eholes, everyone has one we just aren’t always pleased to hear them because it usually means a bit of a stink
O/T
It is strange but although the rise in the polls has us averaging on 39% according Prof Curtice, so we still have to make up ground, it seems that the No side are distinctly edgy about these last six polls. They seem torn between saying we are still ahead and these polls are crap. I think there is fear in the eyes, a genuine worry that Yes will creep up and overtake in the last furlong as the SNP did in 2011. I have even seen the rumblings of discontent over Cameron placing the Electoral Commission under Hollyrood, suggesting that Yes will somehow pockle the figures.
We live in interesting times.
i dont think this chap is significant enough to warrant a comment, therefore i shall not be commenting.
i like the polls tho.
Longing for the day that Scotland has its own independent broadcasting media.
Sick tae the back teeth of this British Propaganda Machine fae Pacific Quay, and further afield, looking for any reason to conjure up Anti-Scottish sentiment.
Thank you Stuart, and to all you keyboard truth warriors, without which where would we be today?
This is the future…ENGLAND 2030
England is celebrating the 5th anniversary of becoming the 51st state of the Union. President Chelsea Clinton has ordered Governor Boris Johnson to mark the occasion by reducing the lowest tax band to 75%.
U.S.Mail ( inc.Royal Mail )has announced the price of a first class stamp is increased to $18 and will only deliver on Wednesdays.
Global cooling is blamed for flooding in London.
Average weight of an English man drops to 120 kilos.
After a 4 year study costing $13.5 billion,scientists conclude that diet and exercise may lead to weight loss.
Fidel Castro has died aged 104 and governor Johnson has lifted the embargo on importing Havana cigars,however President Clinton has banned smoking everywhere.
Haggis is being imported from Scotland as eels have become extinct and the Scots have advised it has a similar taste.
Fracking is banned by state law even although gas is priced at $136 a litre and gas stations are only open on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Trade deficit has reached $3.4 trillion. Governor Johnson predicts return to surplus in 250 years.
Dungeness is closed off 3 years after core meltdown. Scientists have stated it will be radioactive for 250,000 years.
New federal law states that nail clippers, fly swatters and rolled up newspapers must be registered as lethal weapons.
Accrington Stanley have won the Premier league. Tamworth finished runners up.
Supreme Court has ruled that punishing offenders breaches their human rights.Victims are to be held responsible for crimes.
Gay marriages now account for 55% of all weddings in England.
The ex Royal Family now exiled in Saudi Arabia were thrilled when ex King William was made an honorary Sheik.He is now known in Scotland affectionately as Sheik Willie.
Given the BBC’s choice of ‘expert’ here I look forward to
Peyton Manning (American Football) being invited to comment
on all England’s next World Cup games along with Britney Spears…
I find it totally insulting that a foreigner in a foreign country who arrogantly belittles my country and people. If that’s what he thinks that’s his business however for the ENGLISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION to transmit this propaganda and diatribe into my country and my house shows utter contempt and arrogance against the Scots.
Apologies if this has already been posted, but it is a terrific article by Robin McAlpine, and well worth a read.
link to opendemocracy.net
I used to enjoy Ian Collin’s late night talk show on Talksport. People used to phone in for an argument and it was all good fun. He hadn’t a clue about Scottish independence though, and obviously nothing’s changed there.
What a shock he and folk like him are in for in September. By the way, what’s wrong with being called John.
Hear me out. Imagine the Union had actually been different over the past 300 years. Imagine each nation (and even region) had shared equally in successes, supported each other in difficult times, shared wealth and opportunity fairly and had fair representation.
That never happened. Not even close. But people like this guy think it did, because their life is all cosy. Hence they cannot understand why we will vote Yes in September.
ronnie anderson says
I have noticed this happen before with Alex Salmond AND Nicola Sturgeon. Another exercise for Dr Johnstone and his team.
Reminds me of the time one Sunday morning in a village store in the highlands
A braying donkey demanded to know from the back of the queue when the national papers would be in as there were only provincial ones available
Talking of BBC News presenters, a question to Derek Bateman on his ‘BBC: Balance of the Bias’ blog asked “At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, do you care to comment on the performance of James Naughtie since he has appeared on GMS?…”
Derek’s reply was fascinating.
“All journalism has an inbuilt problem and that is the perception held by those who consume it. We all have a bias of some kind and it’s very difficult especially in a heated debate to acknowledge to ourselves that we have such views and to allow another voice to contradict them. We hear things that aren’t necessarily implied. However the difficulty faced by journalists who are themselves political, as in myself, and Naughtie, is finding ammunition to put to those with whom we broadly agree. I used to imagine myself a Labour politician (not easy!) when doing a robust interview with a Nat. I would imagine what sorts of questions and attitudes they would adopt and would use them as part of my attack. The easily identified problem with Jim is that he is a proud product of the British Establishment and craves its acceptance to validate him. He carries the typical burden of the London Scot, a slightly superior approach to those he thinks have usurped his Scotland. His tone says: How dare you… It’s as if he is comfortable with things as they are and will have been subject to all the pressures of the Anglo Scot in being or feeling required to integrate by pushing away anything too nationalistic because it causes offence, as Andy Murray has had to learn. You will be accepted in London circles so long as you play the game their way and accept your country’s subsidiary role. Much easier to laugh off questions about independence than face ridicule. It is noticeable to a professional ear how Jim regards it as his duty to trip up the Nats but how emollient he sounds with anyone on the “respectable side” of the debate. His recent interview with Salmond was one of the worst I’ve heard on GMS which is saying something. He was beside himself with impatience as he tried to jump in and you could hear him squeaking like a piglet in the background as Salmond spoke – very distracting – and he should have had the studio producer in his ear to instruct him to shut up so the listeners could concentrate. In one answer Salmond – unnecessarily – pointed out that a “Scotsman founded the Bank of England “. It was a nothing remake but because Jim had a parlour game reply ready he couldn’t wait to burst in and kept trying to state what every Scots knows – that William Paterson headed up the Darien Scheme and “ended his life a convinced Unionist” as Jim trumpeted. This was gratuitous and irrelevant and disrupted the interview which his not designed to show off the knowledge of the presenter – just imagine! – but to INFORM THE LISTENER. My approach to the Paterson remark by Salmond would have been to log it in my mind and at the very end of the interview politely say to Salmond: The Scot who invented the Bank of England…was that the same man responsible for true Darien Disaster? In other words, take the frippery out of the meat of the interview and use it as a humorous tease at the end. Jim seemed to regard the interview as a platform for his own erudition…very Radio Four. Jim has no real ammunition for a Unionist big hitter because he is instinctively on their side and frankly I agree with you – it shows. Interviewing old farts like Lang and Forsyth he utterly fails to convey the mistrust and historical contempt these people are held in by modern Scots.Why on earth would anybody in a modern European state seeking their own democracy pay one jot of attention to an unelected place man from the last bastion of privilege and preferment in the western world? That might have been a reasonable question. Or: since there is no one to disagree with you in the Lords how do you define the word Debate? Is it acceptable to you that the Palace of Westminster now has only 4 per cent representation for Scots? In what way do you think the House of Lords speaks for Scotland? When did you last hold a public meting to gauge opinion?
Lords should be ridiculed for the corrupt system they represent and that should be the price they pay for being allowed on the airwaves at all. Here’s a last point about journalists. When you hear or read them ask yourself: Would he/she be the kind of person to accept an Honour? I don’t think any serving current affairs journalist should feel able to be rewarded by the state when his job is to challenge it and rattle the bars. Some guys you just know as dedicated to screwing the establishment through their journalism. How do you suppose Jim would react to a letter from the Palace?..”
link to derekbateman1.wordpress.com
Can’t decide whether BT have turned to satire, or not.
link to vidd.me
just fired off yet another complaint to the BBC. This one is about Westminster Ministers and Departments for areas devolved to Scotland being referred to as ‘The Minister’ on UKwide news thereby implying that his or her writ runs throughout the UK. Today we have had that story about Michael Gove and the head of Ofsted and nothing to say that the story is about a public body with responsibilities in England only.
Hullo, Ah’m Jeremy Clarkson’s dug. Ah’ve been clawin the paint aff his doors fur months, and if he disnae let me oot, he’s gonna hiv tae mind whaur he pits his feet – an his Top Gear salary will be goin on new carpets
Freedom fur dugs! Fuckin woof!!
I have spent the majority of my adult life studying ‘culture’. Around 15 years ago, I settled on a model which for me, has stood the test of time.
Unfortunately, it is too long to go into here. But to summarize conclusions from it:
Different cultural perspectives do exist.
Every cultural perspective has the right to exist and evolve.
Cultural perspective has no basis in genetic ethnicity.
Diversity of cultural perspective is a good thing.
Evolution of cultural perspective can be by external ‘learnings’ as well as internal ones.
Some of the institutions which enshrine a cultural perspective and which facilitate its evolution require administration, therefore political/constitutional alignment should reflect that.
There are at least three distinctly identifiable layers in the formation of a particular cultural perspective, all with different scopes. The various components of each layer have varying degrees of effect in defining the composition of the cultural benchmark set which members of the culture use as reference.
Finally, at risk of stating the obvious, if there is no difference in cultural benchmark sets between regions then a call for constitutional realignment simply would never come about.
KillieBoab
That can’t be a real BT video surely? If so they have completely lost the plot.
KillieBoab
A spoof but a very good one
I am using a Mac, Rev, and after switching on italics or bold (HTML tags whatever) they can not be switched off.
@ KillieBoab, what a weird video! Murdoch’s pit-bull Kelvin Mackenzie’s anger at “giving” to Scotland is worth a million YES votes alone. If people here could see how fantastically rich London and the South East really is, there wouldn’t even be a debate.
@Elizabeth –
Thanks for that.
So much going on right now, it’s easy to miss the tasty bits. Powerful stuff from Bateman, who is now well and truly off James Naughtie’s christmas card list.
The trouble with changing to “NHS Scotland” or worse “The Scottish Health Service” is that it implies only England is a unique nation that can have THE “National” health service. It’s a bit like how the UK Navy is officially called the Royal Navy. Because it’s obvious which of the world’s many monarchies it belongs to, there’s no need to state it. Poor Yanks have to call theirs the US Navy so we know it belongs to a foreign country.
It’s like the NT, in England they have “The National Trust” but in Scotland it’s qualified, “The National Trust of Scotland”.
Once I was travelling through a small town in SE Ireland and I saw a “Tesco Ireland” branded shop. Just to remind the punters they are abroad, I suppose.
Over on MSN, apparently England is on track to win the Davis cup for the first time since 1935.
link to archive.is
Ian Collins and the Creatures of the Night on Talk Sport (mid ’90s) was frequently terrific and the guy back then seemed like a genuinely nice left-leaning bloke. Sadly, this wasn’t to last and he would later morph into a right-wing arsebag for career reasons.
and The Scottish Premier League, which preceded The PREMIER LEAGUE
Its the odd flashes of great wealth in London that really stick. I was at uni in London and one time was in a cash machine q near Marble Arch behind two guy’s in front, Londoners, maybe late 20’s and one had £350,000 in his current account. He wasn’t like a “rich toff” and to be fair his mate had a lot less and he said wow and the other dude just said, bonus.
From Wiki – “During his final show, Collins loosely suggested he would be involved in political debate in some capacity”
Shouldn’t that be “Collins suggested he would be loosely involved in political debate”?
Changing the name of Scotlands NHS to give it a distinct name is great in theory, but would cost millions.
Doing it at this time would be a gift to the unionists who would scream blue murder about Alex Salmond wasting NHS funds to make a political point.
I’m sure that the NHS in Scotland will be one of the Yes campaigns ‘target areas’
when the right time comes we will see a big push to let people in Scotland know (both staff and service users) just what awaits Scotlands health service if we vote No.
The unionists will have to make a commitment to continuing financial supporting of our NHS (something that the English would react to very very angrily) so it aint going to happen.
Be patient folks, the NHS is going to be one of our strongest arguments for independence, when the real war of words begins.
We all know it, nothing new.
Try living abroad – Scotland is part of England/Britain.
Vote yes and end this for good.
I like this guy…. he’s just confirmed my coolness.
I usually like to indulge in a little well thought out commentary but sometimes it isn’t worth the effort. This is one of those times. What a ****ing idiot.
RSVP.
link to archive.is
“The Scottish Premier League, which preceded The PREMIER LEAGUE”
Yes, that was particularly amusing watching ‘The Premier League’ evolve into ‘The Scottish Premier’ while ‘The English Premier’ simultaneously evolved into ‘The Premiership’. Only took about a year.
The ubiquitous excuse given in all such instances is the difference in population size. The ludicrous proposition being that the rights of one human being over another depend on the completely arbitrary and random nature of the population size you were born into.
This is of course, a principle England has always rigorously applied. Witness how, at the height of Empire, the imperial Capital and seat of monarchy was New Delhi – not.
I actually find is hard to believe that someone could be so ignorant. I wonder sometimes if statements like that aren’t deliberate mischief making.
“Once I was travelling through a small town in SE Ireland and I saw a “Tesco Ireland” branded shop. Just to remind the punters they are abroad, I suppose.”
Think I mentioned before that in Germany, ALDI shops are either ‘ALDI nord’ or ‘ALDI sud’ because the two founder brothers divvied up the country between them.
Also ALDI sud, which own the shops in the UK and Ireland do seem to distinguish between Scotland and England. For example, the ‘Gie it ALDI’ ad in Scotland and the fact that ALDIO allows the use of credit cards in Scotland but not in England.
Chic
I remember when the English RU tried to sell the rights to the 6 or 7 Nations championship without any reference to the Welsh, Irish or Scottish R Us.
The quotation was that it was not in the gift to do so.
I am surprised that they haven’t made a landgrab for the R & A, being as it is, beside an English University?
@call me dave
The Herald article that you provided a link to reveals that the UK cabinet will be meeting in the north east of Scotland on the 24th of February.
Can anyone explain why?
@TMITJ
regional cabinet meetings were introduced by GB when he was PM in 2008, I cannot find a timetable for those coming up tho
@TMITJ
I presume that was a rhetorical question 🙂
@BTP
Don’t follow RU, obviously. Used to play for Perth High but never got much out of watching it and the refs seem to have far too much influence on outcome nowadays.
Prefer RL as a spectator.
The R&A? Will England still have golf after independence? 🙂
@Patrick Roden says:
Changing the name of Scotlands NHS to give it a distinct name is great in theory, but would cost millions.
Doing it at this time would be a gift to the unionists who would scream blue murder about Alex Salmond wasting NHS funds to make a political point.
The name-change is going to have to happen in any case after we vote YES in Septemenber. I have emailed Alex Neil a few moments ago suggesting that that the announcement of the name-change happen pre-Referendum, to allow, for example, the pro-Union campaign the opportunity to enlighten the people of Scotland regarding their ideas for improving healthcare provision in Scotland post-Referendum.
I have also confirmed to Alex that there are cost savings to be made in procurements of equipment for the NHS in Scotland by removing the misunderstanding (which hampers suppliers based in the rest of the UK) regarding the separate nature of public healthcare provision in Scotland.
Reposted here:
link to youtu.be
with comments and voting allowed.
re artists/performers not being allowed to wear ‘Yes’ badges, a wee suggestion which may be of interest.
Have a look at the Yes logo. I don’t have the tecchie skills to do this, but what if you took the free-floating shapes between the ‘e’ and ‘s’ – it’s like the FedEx logo, where some folk can’t ‘see’ the arrow until you point it out to them.
It’s an unusual shape, and certainly not a ‘word’, so how could anyone ‘ban’ that?
Can someone do the thing I’m on about please? Just to see how it looks?
link to rlv.zcache.co.uk
Bruvv
Where is the arrow in the FedEx logo?
What a tool that guy was.
Though I agree with his assessment: It’s cool to support Scots indy. Thank you for the endorsement 😀
People in the London bubble really don’t get Scotland, do they?
They have no idea why the uppity natives might not love the Empire… er… well, you know what I mean, dear chap.
@BTP –
Just for a change, here’s the Arabic one…
link to imjustcreative.com
I had a closer look at the YES logo.
Bugger, you’ve had a penis in your mouth all this time…
TMITJ.
After 300+ years it is time to visit us. Charm offensive stuff as they pretend to be listening to what the people say. Anyone would think there is a referendum coming up. Oh!…
Surely it’s time to see AS for some Earl Grey and scones liberally smeared in unionist jam. Or maybe AS will have had his tea that day.
OT My quote of the week goes to Brian Kelly on FB for:
“The problem with the No campaign is they have no campaign!”
@ Patrick Roden 2.47
With that reasoning Patrick we should still be talking about the Scottish Executive. Signage has to be changed all the time due to vandalism, weathering. wear and tear. Headed note paper has to be ordered and changed when posts change or simply when supplies run out so the cost to change the name would be minimal and if done over a period scarcely noticeable. As to the opposition squealing well let them. It’s not as if Elanor Bradford and Baillie the Blimp give us a good press. Nail our colours to the mast. Full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes.
Conan
Eh?
Ian
Clever old Fedex,
Don’t see how to get the same on Yes, but how about my avatar on some sites? Similarish idea. Animated version below:
link to i51.photobucket.com
@Bugger
Look at the bottom half of the e and s in the YES logo.
@Mosstrooper says:
Nail our colours to the mast. Full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes.
They don’t have any torpedoes. No planes on the aircraft carriers either. Just the wee nuke things on oor bunker at Faslane.
Just watching the rugby and the studio pundit was plugging the Tennis Davis Cup between GB & USA and actualky said; “If Murray wins, then England will win (in however long – I didn’t quite hear, cos I was shouting WTF at the TV.)
Rugby : Inverdale – “professional” sports journalist…
“England can win Davis cup if Murray wins tonight” – words to that effect…
BBC bias? That was not a slip but quite deliberate and the Scottish guy said not a word.
No way I can keep buying new TVs.
Yup Dave… I wasn’t mistaken then.
I think I might be going terribly O/T here but pronouncements like the one above on the clip… It makes me think about democracy.
The thing is, countries like the UK and the US are not very democratic by modern standards. They might’ve been in the 18th century or so but time has overtaken them.
Finland was the first country in the world that granted universal suffrage in 1906. New Zealand gave women the vote before us but that didn’t apply to the Maori.
Now it’s all about international competiveness. The global economy scam that allows rich people/companies to treat intelligent workers as serfs.
This global right-wingism is easily explained if you think of the scared middle-classes. They don’t want to fall down, they’ll do anything to stop that, even vote Tory and hope they’re among saved.
They won’t be. Only the truly rich, establishment will be. Too-de-loo, sorry.
Did you notice this in the Express:
link to express.co.uk
Sorry if it’s a repost.
Re my post at 3:30pm, I got a prompt and encouraging reply from Alex Neil.
Bugger (the Panda) says:
” am using a Mac, Rev, and after switching on italics or bold (HTML tags whatever) they can not be switched off.”
Have you tried writing your whole comment first and then going back to put in the HTML tags at the part that you wish to highlight – same with BOLD etc?
Just get one of the Yes badges for that well known prog rock band of the same name. Any complaints, just state it is recognition of their artistic influence.
Since some are on about images & logos etc.
Somebody mentioned the possibility of the BT lot morphing into a version of the ‘Teaparty’ on a previous thread
Does their logo not look like tea being jettisoned off a pier/wharf etc and the tea in question resembling a package such as Scotland ?
Pretty suspect imagery if you think about it!
Cankert Callan, at half time in the Ireland/Scotland match, John Inverdale mentioned that if Andy Murray wins his rubber against Sam Querry, then that will mean ENGLAND will win the Davis Cup …! So there you are, it’s official, we are just a province of England it seems.
Mrs Calgacus says “where can I buy (dangly) YES earings?”
My suggestion that she put one of the YES lapel badges in each ear fell on deaf ears …
@Cankert Callan
dry boak,..Boak
He says “Some people want it because they like the idea.” Of course we like the idea, that’s the whole point of independence, we like the idea of making our own decisions, and a million other things as well.
@Elizabeth
Thanks for that. Bateman telling it like it is – and good on him.
James Naughtie: Establishment Man. How funny it would be if he was the one who had to make the BBC Scotland announcement on the morning of September the 19th… “Ermm… and…ehh… Good morning from the newly independent Scotland, where, in yesterday’s referendum, the vote was an overwhelming ‘Yes’…” Please let it be him!… Please let it be him!…
@Chic McGregor
“The problem with the No campaign is they have no campaign.”
That’s very good, if not brilliant, indeed, from Brian Kelly!
Cankert Callan
They don’t know, they don’t know any better.
It really is shocking to us in Scotland but the press down South don’t see it. What referendum!
Conan, you need therapy if you found that out on your own.
I’d never heard of Ian Collins before seeing this post and I’m quite sure I’ll never hear of him again. He’s an idiot, but not a useful one. Rev, go after the useful idiots – the Foulkes, the Sarwars, the Lamonts – almost anyone in the ‘New Labour’ cult. Prick them, and they’ll reveal themselves. And then you quote them, and everyone rolls about laughing (or gasps in horror) – and votes Yes in hope of being rid of them.
Calgacus McAndrews
Are you sure she is going to keep these for the Referendum?
Aye he’s getting pelters on the tweeter. I actually feel a bit sorry fore him, he didn’t come across as a bigot to me just someone who is woefully ill-informed about the referendum debate, and given that he probably rarely thinks about the world beyond London, and doesn’t have a vote in it, there’s no real reason for him to be well-informed. The problem here is that the BBC will ask literally anyone to comment on the referendum as long as they’re not a Yesser. He represents the kind of opinion held by English people who have no experience of Scotland – they think nationalists are eccentric troublemakers, with woad make up and haggis sandwiches. They have no idea that the debate is about the NHS, Trident, childcare and the democratic deficit. On Referendum day (even if it’s a No) they wre going to get a shock.
Midehunter
Trying now and then we will see.
nope
“Just get one of the Yes badges for that well known prog rock band of the same name. Any complaints, just state it is recognition of their artistic influence.”
Certainly an easier sell than some dependence fan trying to convince the boss they had a lifelong interest in Japanese theatre. 🙂
Absolutely fuming! I bought a copy of the Observer today as the article’s author was out with a few of us handing out Yes newspapers in Dennistoun last week.
He followed us round for over an hour asking plenty of questions on how the night was going, why we were doing this and so on, and asking questions to some folk at their doors. He filled plenty of pages with feedback.
The night was very successful – we must have delivered nearly a thousand papers and not once were denied entry to a close. I was at the very least expecting one or two comments from us in his article today, but instead just a picture of myself and girlfriend below one of fat, ugly Carmichael, in an anti-indy rant of a piece about “values”. They even got the day wrong as it was Thursday night not Friday!
They managed to include comments from a random big issue seller up in Sauchiehall Street who complained that “we’ve maybe got too much to lose” by voting Yes, but nothing at all from those at the doors on the Parade who openly admitted that they were pro-Yes.
Maybe I was expecting too much from a so-called Centre-left paper, but it shows just how much this debate has been hijacked by journos obsessed with parroting opinions from pro-union politicians and show a complete lack of interest in the real story of the campaigns.
“They managed to include comments from a random big issue seller up in Sauchiehall Street who complained that “we’ve maybe got too much to lose””
A Big Issue seller has too much to lose? Fuck me, they really have done a number on our national confidence, haven’t they?
This is nice:
link to nme.com
@Bugger (the Panda) says:
Are you sure she is going to keep these for the Referendum?
I think she was thinking Everyday Earrings …
@Kev
I feel your hurt! We can’t afford to do them any favours, the media will twist your words and distort the stories to suit the Unionist agenda.
It’s very sad but a fact, tell them nothing. they are but a waste of breath.
@Ian Brotherhood
Very Top of The Pops 1970’s style reminds me of the Bay City Rollers 🙂
Ian
Hmmmm. the ‘e’ looks a wee bit like it’s sad and greetin’.
Mr Inverdale has just apologised 🙂
Calgacus
I was thinking more Anytime, Anywhere ones
@Kev – I do feel sorry for the Big Issue seller because he really hasn’t a clue, and that’s hardly surprising. Fact is that Thatcher built more social housing than Blair/Brown. New Labour built an average of 562 new council houses a year in the UK whilst Thatcher’s annual average was 41,343. Labour built 6 council houses in Scotland between 2003 and 2007, all in Shetland.
Precisely Stu, it was fucking baltic on Thurs night too, the only reason the guy turned up was to see the whole thing fall on its arse (he would have happily reported that) but when it clearly didn’t he ignored it completely.
Bugger (the panda) says
Midehunter
“Trying now and then we will see.
nope.”
Strange, I had exactly the same problem. Started off with italics then later put something in BOLD and voila I only had Bold 🙁
Tested it out while watching the preview underneath and it seems to work
Did you buy your Mac at a BT car boot sale…? 😉
Seasick Dave, I didn’t catch the Inverdale apology you memtion. I’m afraid I was so disappointed at the largely inept Scotland performance – lots of endeavour but no end result to show for it – I had switched over to another channel. Maybe Andy Nicol had corrected him and perhaps even pointed out that if GB win the Davis Cup, it will be largely down to a SCOT (i.e. from North Britain, according to Gordon Brown) called Andy Murray.
Re the Ian Collins person, who needs uninformed idiots like him, when we have our own homegrown peddlers of misinformation like Carmichael, Darling, McDougall, etc.!
Did you buy your Mac at a BT car boot sale…? 😉
see?
got aff the back o a lorry
“Mr Inverdale has just apologised :)”
Thought he might, he always does 😉
@Bugger (the Panda) says:
I was thinking more Anytime, Anywhere ones
Friends, Cyberscots, Countrywimmin’, lend me your YES earrings …
I’m worried.
They would only put people like this on to discuss politics if it was a cunning trap designed to mislead us into thinking they were all idiots and when our defences were down – spring the trap!
Very cunning! Very difficult to get someone to play such an idiot.
@Bugger (the Panda)
It works perfectly well. Are you perhaps missing out the / in the closing tag? (this done on a Mac).
Calgacus MacAndrews says:
“Why would anyone who was employed by the NHS in Scotland not vote YES in September?”
I can’t see a page ‘NHS workers for Independence’, is it there under another name?
I remember Ian Collins reviewing the papers at the time of Megrahi’s release. His comment “It is outrageous that a glorified county council(the Scottish Government) has the power to release such a dangerous terrorist.”
,i>@CUtommy says:
Calgacus MacAndrews says:
“Why would anyone who was employed by the NHS in Scotland not vote YES in September?”
I can’t see a page ‘NHS workers for Independence’, is it there under another name?
I don’t think there is a ‘NHS workers for Independence’, but my point earlier was that it seems to me they are probably the biggest group of workers in Scotland who have most to gain (or safeguard) by voting YES.
From the email I got from Alex Neil earlier, I think the SNP understand the significance.
However the YES campaign is multi-party and is working really well at grass roots level, so I’d hope NHS workers in Scotland are doing it (or will do it) for themselves …
It is outrageous that any country could screw up such a high-profile investigation so as to convict someone who was more than a thousand miles away when the crime was committed.
It would be even more outrageous if this was done because of either pressure or misdirection coming from the USA.
@Calgacus
there is “Yes-NHS in Scotland”
@halftracknat says:
@Calgacus
there is “Yes-NHS in Scotland”
And it is excellent …
link to en-gb.facebook.com
Everybody go there and “Like” them please.
Thanks!
My jaw dropped too at that Stu. A big issue seller with too much to lose.
My goodness!
@Calgacus – just liked and shared some photos. excellent
FFS the big issue seller has Stockholm syndrome.. was he by chance dressed like the gimp oot of Pulp Fiction!
Collins is a fathead. Why were they “interviewing” him?
What would folk like Ian Collins know about Scotland’s plight, our reasons for seeking independence.
I at 43, to my shame, have only recently (about 3 years ago) after stumbling across the McCrone report, got to know a little more of and appreciated why those much older than myself have been campaigning for Scotland’s independence.
Ian Collins, like many others who chip in their unqualified tuppence worth, have had no reason or incentive to learn or appreciate our struggle here in Scotland. Sadly many here in Scotland share his ignorance, his lack of understanding of Scotland, our issues, so until from a young age we are taught our own country’s history both social and political, we lose so much worth of who we are and where we come from.
@Calcagus – you’re welcome 🙂
@ mosstrooper,
I agree with you, that’s why I said it was great in theory.
My only objection is the timing and how doing it at this time would be such a gift to the no campaign.
Just to add to my last post, I was involved in a name change in a Mental Health Trust in England…it cost a fortune.
Our chosen slogan…’Better Together’ :-0
…”Some people like it because they tbink it’s a good idea”
Got it in one shot nobhead.
I’ve never heard of the character before, but he doesn’t seem to be the brightest.
As my grannies used to say, “There’s wiser eating grass”.