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Every kind of illiterate 112

Posted on November 21, 2013 by

There’s pretty much nothing about Labour’s latest fearmongering anti-independence leaflet (revealed exclusively by us on Tuesday night) that doesn’t make us facepalm.

uwlcorp1

The only difficult thing is deciding which aspect is the most idiotic.

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Quoted for interest 95

Posted on November 21, 2013 by

Here’s the Labour First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, one year ago:

“Asked if he could see Barnett reformed without touching the current generous allocation of funds to Scotland, Mr Jones said:

‘It would be difficult to envisage a situation where there would be widespread Barnett reform with an independence referendum pending in Scotland, and with a Scottish Chief Secretary to the Treasury I think that’s unlikely. The problem has been in years gone by that you can’t address the Barnett Formula unless you address the whole of it.’

The First Minister said it was difficult to predict a timescale because there was no timetable for the first step – Barnett reform. Asked whether he got a sense from Danny Alexander that he had an appetite for reform, Mr Jones said:

‘No, I don’t – and I can understand why. He’s a Scottish Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Reforming a system that wouldn’t help Scotland is not something that would be high on his agenda. I certainly can’t see it happening before 2014 and the Scottish referendum.‘”

Jones is all over the papers today with his bizarre delusions-of-influence assertion that he would have some sort of veto over a Sterling currency union between the rUK and an independent Scotland (“Wales could block efforts by an independent Scotland to join a pound-sharing pact”, reports the Scotsman).

For perspective, imagine Alex Salmond being given a veto over the result of a UK referendum to leave the EU. Stop laughing, the article’s not finished yet.

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The ghost of devo past 71

Posted on November 20, 2013 by

We’ve already had a message from the future today. Here’s one from 101 years ago.

punchthumb

Click to see the full story, and heed the tale well, jam-tomorrow fans.

A narrow escape 80

Posted on November 20, 2013 by

We’re busy watching the mostly-inspiring equal marriage debate at the moment (Ruth Davidson’s speech was especially good), so in the absence of a more substantial post here’s our Unionist Of The Day – the failed Labour candidate, and still a Labour councillor, for Aberdeen Donside, Willie Young.

willieyoung

Looks like you dodged a bullet there, Aberdeen. The rest of you we’re not even going to talk to any further, because you’re plainly not real.

The Holey Bible 104

Posted on November 20, 2013 by

Keen media watchers could have been forgiven for stifling a yawn this week as the Scottish press leapt eagerly on a think-tank report which bravely professed itself able to see no less than half a century into the future of the Scottish economy.

bhole1

The Scotsman’s take was fairly typical. But it had a certain ring of deja vu.

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SNP wins 2016 Holyrood election 104

Posted on November 20, 2013 by

We realise that while all the polls still have Alex Salmond’s party a long way in front, and the First Minister himself still enjoys record approval ratings for a leader midway through his second term of office, it’s a little early to be calling the result of the 2016 Scottish Parliament vote at this stage.

salmondwin

But then, we’re not the ones doing it. (And it’s not the SNP either.)

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The privilege of stupid 122

Posted on November 20, 2013 by

Even as a supporter of independence with little interest in their wellbeing, sometimes you just can’t help slumping face-first onto your desk in sheer helpless despair at the spectacular idiocy of the Scottish Parliament’s clownish, dim-witted opposition parties. Scotland, to coin a phrase, deserves better.

headdesk2

Today’s demonstration appears, as it so often does, in the Telegraph.

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Bungalow Bill 101

Posted on November 19, 2013 by

Earlier today, “Better Together” put out this bizarre graphic, before hastily deleting it.

dundeeuni

At the time of writing it hasn’t reappeared on their Facebook page. We’re not sure why it was pulled – perhaps they were just embarrassed by the sheer absurdity of this latest “too wee, too poor, too stupid effort”, or the ease with which Yes supporters could mock it as a claim that an independent Scotland wouldn’t be able to afford buildings more than two storeys high.

Or maybe it was something a little more fundamental.

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Do not adjust your sets 121

Posted on November 19, 2013 by

There is no technical fault. This is really happening.

sarwartweets

Anas Sarwar, there, raging about people not voting to abolish the bedroom tax.

Yes, THAT Anas Sarwar.

Don’t pinch yourself. You’re not dreaming. He’s actually doing it.  Go and see.

The mask slips, part 476 139

Posted on November 19, 2013 by

Remember how the No camp is conducting a positive campaign, and definitely NOT saying that Scotland is too wee, too poor and too stupid to thrive as an independent country, and that only evil cybernats ever suggest that they’re saying that?

gingerrodent

Here’s Danny Alexander on Sky News this morning. We’re not sure he got the memo.

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Contractual obligation 102

Posted on November 19, 2013 by

We weren’t going to bother even tackling the Institute for Fiscal Studies report from yesterday on the economics of an independent Scotland, because, y’know, our readers aren’t idiots and it’s all a bit “file under B for Bleeding Obvious”.

economics

But we suppose we ought to at least outline a quick one-stop list of bullet points.

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The positive face of the Union 265

Posted on November 18, 2013 by

Sadly we don’t have the ability to capture video here. Or rather, we don’t have the technical knowhow, or the time to acquire it. That’s not usually a problem, because we can capture audio and often other people more savvy than us will archive video clips before they vanish into the inaccessible vaults of broadcasting forever.

darling1

Sometimes, though, sound alone just doesn’t properly convey the tone of something. And since we suspect the seven-minute interview Alistair Darling gave BBC News this lunchtime will never be seen in full again [EDIT: Yes it will!], as rolling news doesn’t usually appear on iPlayer, we thought we had to capture it some other way.

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    • TURABDIN on The quality of mercy: “someone opined that the Scots will be free when the last minister is strangled with the last copy of the…Apr 3, 17:53
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