While its prevalence is new, the actual line is a tired old straw man – neither the First Minister nor the wider Yes campaign has EVER pretended Scotland would suddenly enter a fairytale utopia where everything was perfect and cash flowed from taps.
But for the avoidance of doubt, as advocates of a Yes vote, let’s put something on the record in black and white: There Will Be Cuts.
Better late than never. But there’s still something not quite right in the image above, and you’ll have to be one of our extra-specially alert readers to spot it.
Readers will know that as a rule we don’t just pinch bits of other peoples’ work wholesale, but in this particular case, given that the entire UK media’s been going on about it misleadingly for a solid week and still shows no sign of stopping, it seemed only fair that everyone should be up to speed on the source.
It’s a Bank Holiday and frankly there’s absolutely bugger-all of any interest in the news today, so I hope you’ll forgive me a personal indulgence, readers. I’ve only used the personal pronoun for a couple of Wings articles out of over 2,300 in the site’s two and a half years of existence, because the independence debate isn’t about me. But a curious piece in today’s Herald by David Torrance merits such a response.
If you don’t see what it’s got to do with that video*, bear with me.
To cheer you up a bit, we thought you might like to see a couple of rather curious pieces from this weekend’s right-wing press. 300 years of the Union have infamously left Scotland with the lowest life expectancies in the UK, as illustrated in particularly stark fashion by some maps published a couple of years ago in the Guardian:
Respectable author Allan Massie (father of Spectator columnist Alex) rather shames himself in today’s Scottish Mail On Sunday, with a particularly grim piece of what we assume is supposed to be comical crystal ball-gazing, painting a melodramatic picture of an apocalyptic post-independence Scotland as seen by Project Fear.
Over 2500 words long, it ticks all the boxes – no currency union, a mass exodus of business, Spain vetoing Scotland’s EU membership, economic Armageddon forcing the return of tuition fees and prescription charges, Trident staying on the Clyde permanently, Orkney and Shetland voting to stay with the UK and somehow taking the oil with them in direct contravention of all international law, and so on.
Which would all be a super piece of knockabout fun, were it not for the fact that we’ve already almost lost count of the number of times the right-wing English media, and in particular the Mail itself, has already trotted out this same dystopian drivel.
Despite the strikingly unequivocal nature of David Trimble’s clarification yesterday of his comments about the independence referendum’s potential impact on Northern Irish politics, remarkably the media are today still trying to spin them into a dire warning about a Yes vote causing renewed violence in the province.
The picture below is a page from this morning’s Sunday Times.
It doesn’t seem to have had a great deal of coverage, perhaps because most of the answers were in the “bleeding obvious” category – business frets about change, and the more change there might be the less they like it.
We’ve quite frequently highlighted the ugly, irresponsible tone of the No campaign’s – and especially Labour’s – comments about “foreigners”in the independence debate. And the reason we do is because that sort of language feeds attitudes like these.
Whoops, eh? Oddly, while the original story is still on the BBC NI website, we can’t seem to find one reporting the correction anywhere, even though Lord Trimble spoke to GMS more than eight hours ago. We’re sure it’ll be along any minute now.
A reader this morning pointed us to an article by the arch-Unionist blogger and pundit Professor Adam Tomkins, who we must once again emphasise in the interests of clarity is almost definitely NOT the gentleman in this picture:
It was a piece from a few weeks ago about the currency debate, which the reader felt made a reasonable and “quite convincing” case, so we went and had a look.
Hatey McHateface on Seven Days Too Long: ““sharpie in large letters across the ballot “end the Union”” Good God! Does it really fall to me to have…” May 1, 19:57
Hatey McHateface on Seven Days Too Long: ““You might want to remember” You might want to address the arguments presented. In case it’s you that can’t remember:…” May 1, 19:47
JCD on Seven Days Too Long: “Ok End The Union it is. The reason I’m unsure about voting ATLS is that left wing organizations in particular…” May 1, 19:42
Hatey McHateface on Seven Days Too Long: ““SCOTLAND does not need more WASPS on mobility scooters” Maybe you should visit Scotland, TURABDIN. For every WASP on a…” May 1, 19:38
Alf Baird on Seven Days Too Long: “You might want to remember that “the current Scottish Government” is merely a colonial administration, and what that usually means…” May 1, 19:25
100%Yes on Seven Days Too Long: “Tangerines are marching again in Aberdeen after a spell off. For god sake who are these brainless morons.” May 1, 19:07
TURABDIN on Seven Days Too Long: “That picture speaks volumes… SNP…young, vibrant & relevant, the sexiest choice in politics.” May 1, 18:59
100%Yes on Seven Days Too Long: “You can only imagine what the next 5 yrs will bring under the SNP and Green government and it’ll be…” May 1, 18:59
100%Yes on Seven Days Too Long: “You can only amigine what the next 5 yrs will bring under the SNP and Green government and it’ll be…” May 1, 18:59
Hatey McHateface on Seven Days Too Long: ““the sinking uk TITanic” Freudian slip or spending too much time studying Polanski’s pre-political gibberish?” May 1, 18:39
Captain Caveman on Seven Days Too Long: “Ah, touché! Made me laugh. Good lad. 🙂” May 1, 18:34
Hatey McHateface on Seven Days Too Long: ““tax cuts for the rich” Shame you have no useful talents and lack the capacity to hold down a job.…” May 1, 18:34
twathater on Seven Days Too Long: “YL , how dare you question the suggestions put forward by AyDan & his top cheerleader and MaaaaTe , they…” May 1, 18:23
Dan on Seven Days Too Long: “Aye Y Lochnivar. Aidan trying to distract, disrupt and divert. For all the AI generated pish it posts it doesn’t…” May 1, 18:18
Hatey McHateface on Seven Days Too Long: ““us liberation seeking Scots” One day, Northy, everybody who remembers the weeks and months you devoted on here to self-identifying…” May 1, 18:16
ALANM on Seven Days Too Long: “Desperate times call for desperate measures. A vote for anyone other than reform is a vote for the status quo.…” May 1, 18:13
Hatey McHateface on Seven Days Too Long: ““a colony might reasonably expect some population change post independence” No shit, Sherlock! Remind us again. Just how many third-world…” May 1, 18:12
Northcode on Seven Days Too Long: ““He’s always come across as an exceedingly bitter, verbose troll to me…do you get the sense that Northcode is moving…” May 1, 18:08
Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “AI Dun @ 5.23 But you suggested disenfranchised SNP voters voting elsewhere would tip the balance in the constituency you…” May 1, 17:49
Northcode on Seven Days Too Long: “… your life must be pretty dull…you must reminisce frequently upon your halcyon days back in the “Roaring Twenties”… Almost…” May 1, 17:46
Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “Fat Slag Wilma Flintstone @ 5.01 Were you crying as you typed that? Oh dear..” May 1, 17:44
Bilbo on Seven Days Too Long: “The individual in article is an economic migrant who sees better opportunities here in Scotland that is financially beneficial to…” May 1, 17:33
Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “Because Alliance are not a threat to the SNP at the levels their support is at at the moment! Nobody…” May 1, 17:23
Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “AI Dun @ 4.44 How so? Account for that.. I’d imagine those who vote alliance on the constituency ballot would…” May 1, 17:10
Captain Caveman on Seven Days Too Long: “He’s always come across as an exceedingly bitter, verbose troll to me. Granted, he’s not as bad as “Geri”, YL…” May 1, 17:01
Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “Nope – but then of course the status quo would prevail and Scotland would be further and further away from…” May 1, 16:44
Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “@CC – do you get the sense that Northcode is moving from charming simpleton to banal troll? I used to…” May 1, 16:43
Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “JCD If you can’t bring yourself to vote for Tommy then just sharpie in large letters across the ballot “end…” May 1, 16:25
Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “AI Dun @ 4.09 They wouldn’t have to hold their nose if they voted for the alliance and similar and…” May 1, 16:20
Captain Caveman on Seven Days Too Long: “Yes, your life must be pretty dull indeed, Northcode. I imagine you must reminisce frequently upon your halcyon days back…” May 1, 16:16
