Wings Over Scotland

We’ve just had a listen to our dear old pal Duncan Hothersall, who gamely appeared on Aye Right Radio this week to attempt to explain/defend Labour’s stillborn “Devo Nano” proposals. He wasn’t able to shed a lot of light on them, but in fairness we suspect that’s more down to the tangled, incoherent, illogical state of the proposals themselves rather than any shortfall of ability, so we’ll move on.

Indeed, the discussion raised more questions than it provided answers, and we’ve made a short list of some of them which Scotland’s journalists might want to crib from the next time they’ve got Johann Lamont or Anas Sarwar in front of a microphone.

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Earlier this week we noticed the curious lack of media coverage of the “Devo Nano” report. As the document spelling out Labour’s “more powers” offer to Scotland in the event of a No vote, its release was ostensibly the most important milestone so far in the independence debate, so we found it very strange to see it get such a muted reception, particularly from the Daily Record.

Two days later the explanation arrived, in the form of the so-called “Red Paper”. Described by some journalists as a “mini-manifesto”, it was a 64-page uncosted wishlist of vague feelgood notions like reducing child poverty. (A brave, daring and controversial step there to be sure.) And this time the papers were all over it.

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…to normal service since yesterday afternoon, which was the result of Unionist sabotage from a fifth columnist lurking in the ranks of the Separats. We now have a new ADSL cable (PC World didn’t open until 11am) and we’ll be with you very shortly.

The traitor has been harshly dealt with.

We think this picture makes further comment unnecessary.

Alert readers will know that one of this site’s key themes for the last several months has been examining the true meaning of Labour’s pledge to “pool and share resources” within the UK if Scotland votes No – pointing out that as Scotland is one of the wealthiest parts of the UK due to its oil resources, “pooling and sharing” means diverting more Scottish money to poor parts of England and Wales.

(Northern Ireland already gets the biggest share of UK spending.)

And those same readers will also have noted our ongoing puzzlement at the continued failure of any Scottish reporters or broadcasters to question Labour on that point. But is it possible to solve this unfathomable mystery?

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We’ve been taking the mickey out of Labour a lot in the last couple of days, which has been thoroughly merited and done with serious intent, but we thought it’d be nice to finish the week with something a bit more positive. Those of you who follow our Twitter account may have seen it already, but if not it’s well worth taking some time out for.

It’s a speech made at a Yes Scotland meeting in Lockerbie by Mark Frankland, who alert readers will recall from his appearance on this site last year, and it pretty much speaks for itself. Get this man on more stages.

The last 40 years of UK politics accurately summarised in 30 seconds.

(From episode 3 of Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle, still on iPlayer at time of writing.)

Rob Shorthouse is the Head of Communications for “Better Together”. This week he took part in a debate in Dunoon. The paper’s account of the event, published today, is fascinating and unusually candid, but this bit stood out for us in particular.

We think that’s his coded way of saying he’ll be voting Yes. Would explain a lot.

We’ve just endured two soul-withering hours of Labour’s 2014 Scottish conference. We thought you might like to meet someone who enjoyed it almost as much as we did.

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An extraordinary front-page headline in today’s Herald blares “Miliband pledges positive case for Union as No inject love into debate”. (We apologise to any readers we may have just inadvertently upset with the thought of Ed Miliband “injecting love” into them while they’re still digesting their breakfast.)

The article’s rather shy on details of Ed’s positive case, but luckily the Guardian has it.

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For those who missed it, Labour’s official explanation of the “40%” figure.

You’re right. She CAN’T have really said that. Watch it again.

The SNP has made hay with the damning appraisal of Scottish Labour’s “Devo Nano” plans which was delivered this week by charity think-tank Reform Scotland, and in particular its rejection of Labour’s claims that the proposals would mean Holyrood raising 40% of its own budget.

(As we’ve noted before, we’re not very sure why anyone’s meant to find that exciting anyway. You don’t make a difference to society by changing the address of the tax office, you make it by changing what you spend your money on.)

Because it looks, not for the first time, as if Labour’s got its sums wildly wrong.

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