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Some sort of threat 159

Posted on May 18, 2014 by

The tweet below was posted earlier this morning by Conservative councillor for East Renfrewshire Gordon McCaskill. We’ve asked him to clarify what it means, but at the time of writing no response has been forthcoming.

gmcathreat

The comment was made in the context of the Sunday Herald reporting that Wings Over Scotland would be registering with the Electoral Commission as a “permitted participant” for the referendum campaign. Among other things, that will mean making our address public on the EC’s register and all campaign literature.

It’s somewhat disturbing that that fact has been the trigger for Cllr McCaskill issuing ominous-sounding warnings about being unable to “hide” from “sound and fury”.

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The others 163

Posted on May 18, 2014 by

Referendum polls now seem to be arriving on a daily basis, but this morning sees the appearance of two that offer some rather striking contrasts in more than one sense.

The less interesting, despite showing a remarkable swing of 5% to the No side, is an ICM one for Scotland on Sunday, which the paper gets predictably excited about and illustrates with an extreme close-up of a No activist with his face plastered in “Better Together” stickers (despite the man seeming to be in his 50s) and contorted into a provocative, mocking sneer.

btsneer

The more unsettling one, however, is in the Sunday Times.

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Set the dials to Maximum Cringe 205

Posted on May 17, 2014 by

This one, from today’s Scottish Daily Mail, might actually be beyond comment.

horriblehistory

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Fear of flying 218

Posted on May 17, 2014 by

We suppose we should at least commend the “Vote No Borders” campaign for a certain level of frankness. While their output is little different to the daily hysterical fearmongering of “Better Together”, at least they don’t try to pretend that it’s “positive”.

Sadly, when it comes to the relationship their assertions have with the truth, however, they’re singing very much from the same hymn sheet.

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This is not a spoof 180

Posted on May 16, 2014 by

We have not made this story up. It’s not the work of BBC Scotlandshire.

bbcoil5yrs

Just casually, there, beneath an unassuming, innocuous headline. No big deal.

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Another leaked poster 79

Posted on May 16, 2014 by

lifeexpectancy

(Story.)

Quoted for horror 113

Posted on May 16, 2014 by

An alert reader directed us to this document this morning:

“The reasons for the high Scottish mortality between 1950 and 1980 are unclear, but poverty and deprivation linked to particular industrial employment patterns, poor housing and unhealthy cultural and behavioural patterns seem the more likely explanations.

From 1980 onwards the mortality pattern changed and this seems most likely to be attributable to the changed political context, produced by neoliberal political attack, and the consequent hopelessness and community disruption experienced in Scotland and Glasgow.”

It’s a 2011 study by the non-political Glasgow Centre for Population Health, which attempts to discern why Scotland, and particularly Glasgow, has such appalling life expectancies compared to the rest of the UK. And its findings are startling.

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The Dishface Tapes 147

Posted on May 15, 2014 by

Watch (from 5m 50s) as David Cameron refuses to commit to having a bill for more powers for Holyrood in the first Queen’s Speech should he win the 2015 election.

Vote no, get nothing, and get it never.

Automatic pilot 74

Posted on May 15, 2014 by

Judging by the latest leak from our “Better Together” mole, we’re not sure anyone’s actually driving the No campaign any more. It seems to be set on an infinite loop.

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The invisible army 154

Posted on May 15, 2014 by

We’ve been wiping tears of laughter from our eyes most of this morning, after reading one of the most magnificently bare-faced and audacious pieces of black-is-white lying we think we might ever have seen printed with a straight face in a British newspaper.

It appears in the Telegraph, which seems to have positioned itself latterly as the Daily Sport for people with a reading age above seven, and makes the mindboggling claim that “Contrary to its media image, the campaign to save the United Kingdom says it has more boots on the ground than its nationalist opponents”.

boots

In fairness, it doesn’t actually say whether these boots have any feet in them.

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Apocalypse worsens 131

Posted on May 15, 2014 by

Monday:

“On the basis of independent analysis, the UK Government has estimated that an average annual mortgage payment in Scotland could increase by £1,700.”

(UK government “factsheet” issued by the Scotland Office.)

Wednesday:

“For the average mortgage in Scotland, there would be £5,400 more [in] mortgage payments a year.”

(George Osborne to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee.)

Yikes! What the hell happened on Tuesday?

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The dangers of the kneejerk 162

Posted on May 14, 2014 by

We’re so used to reading doom-and-gloom predictions about the apocalyptic future that would await an independent Scotland, readers, that to our shame we occasionally fall foul of a trap we never stop warning you about – reading the headline of a story and not paying attention to the words below.

eenystannit

The one above is a case in point.

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