The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


Before they’re hatched

Posted on January 25, 2013 by

We love when people send us amusing things. Here’s a beauty, featuring fun-loving “Better Together” campaign chief (and former “director of David Miliband’s shadow activist base”, which sounds very exciting) Blair McDougall, speaking way back on the 24th of March 2011 – just six action-packed weeks before the Holyrood election:

“Deprived of government power after our longest period in office, there is something almost therapeutic about finding new ways to make change happen. Unless you are lucky enough to be a Welsh minister, Labour council leader or (after May’s elections) a Scottish Labour minister, you are unlikely to wield executive power any time soon.”

This week, Mr McDougall’s been making similar proclamations about the result of the independence referendum, except rather further out from the event. We hope he’s as good at predicting (and as baselessly complacent) now as he was two years ago, and every bit as successful in achieving his aims.

19 to “Before they’re hatched”

  1. Rev. Stuart Campbell says:

    A big tip o’the topper to our very own Doug Daniel for that one, btw.

    Reply
  2. Angus McLellan says:

    SpAD for James Purnell. Ran David Miliband’s leadership campaign. Sure, two data points don’t make a trend, but you do have to wonder.

    Reply
  3. Christian Wright says:

    Blair McDougall has an article in the Gruniad wherein he bemoans SNP/Nationalist (we all look alike to him) negativity. The boy has a chip on his shoulder. He certainly seems to in touch with his inner child. Threw his rattle clear out the pram.

    He did not, offer a definitive prediction on indyref.
     
     http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/25/scottish-nationalists-no-monopoly-on-scottishness?fb=native&commentpage=1

    Reply
  4. Doug Daniel says:

    His article in the Grauniad today is simply insulting. 

    link to guardian.co.uk

    Can anyone imagine Blair Jenkins writing that sort of offensive crap about the No campaign, or the Grauniad printing it?

    Edit: damn you for getting there first Christian!

    Reply
  5. muttley79 says:

    I have just been commenting on that piece.  They really have got political heavyweights involved in the No campaign.

    Reply
  6. Scott Minto (Aka) Sneekyboy says:

    Been on and left a few choice words. Its a really bad article!

    Reply
  7. Dave McEwan Hill says:

    As it was snowing today and our YES centre was quiet I got round to thinking about opinion polls and how easy it is to manipulate them. They will be a dangerous weapon used against us to form opnion rather than to find it.

    So I got thinking about doing my own . I asked 16 people a couple of questions on a matter of general interest
    Here they are.

    1) Would you like to eat your own excrement
    or
    2) Would you prefer  to have a red hot poker thrust up your back passage (in the field I used the word “arse” but “back passage” sounds more professional for the purposes of reporting the results)

    In the final analysis ten respondents opted for the first option, four thrilled to option 2 and two didn’t know or didn’t care.

    So I have established that 63% of Scots would like to eat their own excrement .
    No doubt the Scotsman will headline this tomorrow.

    Reply
  8. Matt says:

    OT, just saw a friend post this on facebook and thought it was class

    Scots, wha hae wi’ Wallace bled,
    Scots, wham Bruce has often led,
    Now canna afford a loaf ae bread
    Since Cameron’s had his day.

    Happy Burns Night folks!

    Reply
  9. @
    Dave McEwan Hill
     
    link to en.wikipedia.org
     
    “The unique musculature of the cecum allows the intestinal tract of the rabbit to separate fibrous material from more digestible material; the fibrous material is passed as feces, while the more nutritious material is encased in a mucous lining as a cecotrope. Cecotropes, sometimes called “night feces”, are high in minerals, vitamins and proteins that are necessary to the rabbit’s health. Rabbits eat these to meet their nutritional requirements;”
     
    Direct those 63% to their nearest vet! Prescriptions aren’t free though.

    Reply
  10. Tattie-boggle says:

    any unionist propaganda should recieve one comment “ISS”
    “I SMELL SHITE”

    Reply
  11. redcliffe62 says:

    If we have 35% wanting indy and about 30% wanting the status quo then the issue is all about the devomaxers.
    Targetting them is the key to success, many are now in the don’t know camp.

    They need to be asked; if you vote NO will you have more money in your pocket under another 5 years of Tory government cuts, or will you have more if Scots look after all their own financial decisions and money goes toward helping Scotland as a priority? 
     
    That is the choice. 5 years of Scottish growth or 5 years of Tory cuts and money heading south to pay for London sewers London rail links, London sporting grounds…. you get the picture! 

    We know for the 3 weeks before the vote the media will be toxic; it would not surprise me if MG has written the Herald headers already in advance.
     

    Reply
  12. Dave McEwan Hill says:

    I am of the opinion that we will have to hit organs of the media very hard to destroy their credibility.They have certainly given us plenty of demonstable lies recently.
    It costs very little to produce a four page tabloid.
    You could get about 200,000 of these for about £5000

    Reply
  13. peter says:

    I had my own poll, Yes 66.66666 %,Unsure 33.3333  Ok I only asked myself, my neighbour angd his wife but it’s a poll.  Will the BBC report it?

    Reply
  14. dadsarmy says:

    Blair McDougall’s article.

    If that convinces one single voter in Scotland to vote “NO” I’ll eat my hat.

    Reply
  15. Keef says:

     
    Re: Blair McDougall’s disreputable dribble in the Gruniad. I had to stop for well over twenty minutes and reflect how one man could write an article full of lies, smears and misinformation, whilst simultaneously proclaiming the Yes campaign to be an SNP front for negativity.
     
    After much thought, the only conclusion I came up with is that this ‘propaganda’ piece was co-written by several authors.
     
    I mean, could one man be so nefarious?
     

    Reply
  16. macdoc says:

    Its really nonsense that we should only target the the devo-maxers or the unsures. Many people are a default definite No because of friends, family and the biased media etc. In fact many are NO because they are following the majority and have no real opinion on the matter. The vast majority of people have very low political IQ and we are falling into the trap that just because we are 10-0 up in the blogosphere battle that we are winning the real war. Don’t underestimate the general ignorance of the average punter on the street who has never even entertained the idea of going on online political blogs and trying to find out information other than what is spoonfed my the MSM.

    The Unionist arguments are very poor, its really summed up by saying we shouldn’t fix potholes in the ground because it will cause temporary traffic disruption. Voting No can only really be justified by the rich who may feel they will be unable to tax avoid to the same extent(is this a moral choice) or genuine British Nationalist feelings.

    I think the YES campaign and the SNP have been very poor so far, to be fair there voice isn’t being expressed by the media. Its time to up the ante.

    Reply
  17. Dal Riata says:

    If ever future historians in a prosperous and independent Scotland compile a list of articles by those that sought to undermine Scotland and unduly influence the result of the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, but in fact worked the opposite way in which their authors intended by showing them up as being totally untrustworthy, that Blair McDougall article in the Guardian really should be high up there. 

    That the leader of the Better Together campaign could create such an incompetent article laden with smears, misinformation and lies and claim credit for it in a national media outlet’s online presence is staggering. To not assert one positive reason for staying in the Union merely added to its nefariousness.

    Christ almighty, if that’s all Better Together’s got….

    Then again, it’s so bad that it’s pure comedy gold! 

    Reply
  18. Training Day says:

    @macdoc

    “In fact many are NO because they are following the majority and have no real opinion on the matter”

    Spot on.  Which is why the media think their ludicrous spin on ‘polls’ like the one during the week can keep those who have no opinion with the putative ‘majority’ of No.  It takes courage to break ranks with what ‘everyone’ – of course it is far from everyone –  around you seems to be telling you.  When I have told some people I am voting Yes, their initial reaction is of surprise, but then with only one exception so far they have asked why..which is what we want..

    The certain truth of the default ‘I’ll go with the majority’ position of course, is that once momentum steams in the other way, as in 2011, it becomes unstoppable..

    Reply
    • Dave McEwan Hill says:

      Exactly, Training Day.

      For this to happen we have only to establish two things.

      1. That Scotland is comfortably self-supporting

      and

      2. The unionists have been lying to frighten the timid and the stupid  When we establish these things -and at the right timing, which is important – unstoppable momentum starts running the other way.

      But we will have to do this by hand using our volunteer army direct into communities

      Reply


Comment - please read this page for comment rules. HTML tags like <i> and <b> are permitted. Use paragraph breaks in long comments. DO NOT SIGN YOUR COMMENTS, either with a name or a slogan. If your comment does not appear immediately, DO NOT REPOST IT. Ignore these rules and I WILL KILL YOU WITH HAMMERS.


  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,778 Posts, 1,220,394 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • twathater on Holiday Relief: “One of the reasons I vehemently support direct democracy is the inclusion of a formation of a citizens assembly group…Jun 22, 03:22
    • twathater on Holiday Relief: “Re “Nothing Going On In Scotland”exposed by ISP I find it eye watering the amount of money given to private…Jun 22, 02:58
    • Hatey McHateface on Holiday Relief: “Knuckle draggers is my insult, Bips. If you intend to try to gatecrash the smart set on Wings BTL, put…Jun 22, 00:36
    • Hatey McHateface on Holiday Relief: “Breaking new ground there, Xaracen, big respect. We are fully entitled to bring the Union to an end and we…Jun 22, 00:31
    • Breastplate on Holiday Relief: “Agent x, It does not follow that Turabdin is talking nonsense because you don’t understand what he is saying. You’ve…Jun 21, 23:28
    • Xaracen on Holiday Relief: “The point, Hatey, is the one that I made perfectly clearly, but which you and others relentlessly overlook and never…Jun 21, 21:54
    • Neil Singleton on Holiday Relief: “Ar what cost (millions) to pander to the less than 1% Gaelic speakers. More speak Klingon than Gaelic in Scotland.Jun 21, 20:50
    • Neil Singleton on Holiday Relief: “Plea deal for Murrell done and dusted (all to keep Saint Nic out of jail). He will pleaded guilty and…Jun 21, 20:26
    • Hatey McHateface on Holiday Relief: “So what does it mean, Xaracen, every time you conform with a law fraudulently and criminally passed by WM? Or…Jun 21, 20:17
    • Xaracen on Holiday Relief: “What do you mean “so what”? It’s an ongoing constitutional and democratic crime, Andy, that’s what; an illegal exertion of…Jun 21, 19:54
    • Hatey McHateface on Holiday Relief: “True democracies are only possible with a mono cultural demos. It is only with a shared outlook that all citizens…Jun 21, 19:54
    • TURABDIN on Holiday Relief: “The world is divided between those who live and those who think about living. «Systems» much prefer the latter, so…Jun 21, 19:22
    • Hatey McHateface on Holiday Relief: “Evidence, perhaps, of the fallacy of UDI. It’s a big unfriendly world out there! Discuss 🙂Jun 21, 19:00
    • TURABDIN on Holiday Relief: “Oh for god’s sake «None of the Above»….okay?Jun 21, 18:39
    • agent x on Holiday Relief: “So basically you have no idea what you are talking about and no answer to my simple questions. Who will…Jun 21, 18:00
    • James Cheyne on Holiday Relief: “It is questionable which country at the moment will break out first, It may not be Scotland, the people have…Jun 21, 17:46
    • James Cheyne on Holiday Relief: “And who will in charge of Ireland or Wales and come to think of it, who will be in charge…Jun 21, 17:40
    • TURABDIN on Holiday Relief: “@ agent x Being less «conventional», one might endeavour to think outside the strictures of the westminster/parliamentary box. Democracy, which…Jun 21, 17:33
    • agent x on Holiday Relief: “I have no idea what your reply means. Who will be the President of the Democratic Republic of Scotland (DROS)?…Jun 21, 17:03
    • Andy Ellis on Holiday Relief: “So what? The actions of people who fashioned the Treaties 300 years ago have SFA to do with our proximate…Jun 21, 17:02
    • TURABDIN on Holiday Relief: “SUCH a scenario would be a critical test of how democratic a Scottish state would be. Democracy MAX, would be…Jun 21, 16:45
    • Chas on Holiday Relief: “Link posted for the 792nd time. Only 208 to go before the magic number. This will probably be achieved in…Jun 21, 16:28
    • Chas on Holiday Relief: “I wonder how long it took you to write that drivel? On the plus side, Alfie boy will be pleased.…Jun 21, 16:21
    • Xaracen on Holiday Relief: “It’s called sovereignty, Andy, and neither party to the Treaty gave their sovereignty up, or agreed to subordinate their sovereignty…Jun 21, 16:07
    • agent x on Holiday Relief: “Once the UN declare that Scotland should be Independent and UDI is declared, who will form the Scottish Government?Jun 21, 16:00
    • Captain Caveman on Holiday Relief: “Indeed Andy. It’s like they’re all trying to outdo each other in the stupidity stakes; one ever more idiotic claim…Jun 21, 15:56
    • TURABDIN on Holiday Relief: “ANY system which creates a psychological dependency might be termed a species of «slavery». In the contemporary world whips and…Jun 21, 15:40
    • Insider on Holiday Relief: “Codeman! Perhaps you and “puir auld alf ” should get a cave together somewhere ! Just think ! You could…Jun 21, 14:47
    • Andy Ellis on Holiday Relief: “@xaracen Where does it say in the Treaties of Union that Scots MPs could overturn the decisions of the whole…Jun 21, 14:43
    • Andy Ellis on Holiday Relief: “I’m afraid for the hard of thinking such hyperbole is de rigeur. See also Ms Goldberg and her recent false…Jun 21, 14:31
  • A tall tale



↑ Top