Things we haven’t made up 115
Posted on
November 02, 2015 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Archive for the ‘media’
A difference of recollection 60
Posted on
November 01, 2015 by
Gordon Macintyre-Kemp
Dear Wings Over Scotland,
It’s been brought to my attention that you recently shared a quote attributed to the TV presenter and Westminster political commentator Andrew Neil, and that in response Mr Neil has strongly denied making the statement in the quote, namely:
“Devolution, the Calman Commission, the Scotland Bill, the Edinburgh Agreement – all of this and more you have is because Westminster parties are scared of the SNP. If you vote ‘No’ you massively change the balance of power and they will not only give you nothing, but will probably take powers away from the Scottish Parliament”.
I find it very strange that he denies making that statement.
The missing paragraph 136
Posted on
October 30, 2015 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
There’s an extraordinary article in the Daily Record today. Here’s a bit of it:
Alert readers might feel that a few lines have gone missing somewhere between paragraphs four and five. And the fact that they have has nothing to do with dead football clubs, and everything to do with the dying Scottish media.
A question for Andrew Neil 175
Posted on
October 25, 2015 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Alert readers who follow our Twitter account, like all sensible people do, may have noticed we’ve had a few exchanges with the BBC presenter Andrew Neil since we published a couple of articles about his interview with the SNP’s Angus Robertson on The Sunday Politics last week.
The debate centred around a claim Neil put to Robertson:
“You go on and on, your party, about ‘austerity, austerity’ – how much has the Scottish Government budget been cut in the past five or six years? […] In real terms there’s been no cut.“
It seems fair to say the matter’s been in some dispute since then.
A poverty of imagination 185
Posted on
October 24, 2015 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
We don’t follow many Unionists on social media, because you end up wasting your day arguing pointlessly with a lot of people who are never going to change their minds and getting in a bad mood. But we’re told they were all very excited about an article in yesterday’s Daily Record.
Penned by the paper’s political editor Davie Clegg, it’s a long diatribe about how the fall in oil revenues has created a black hole which now means Scotland is – stand by for a surprise! – too wee and too poor to be independent.
So far so meh – it’s not like it’s the first time we’ve heard that record played, after all. But as you can see from the image above, there’s also quite an interesting challenge printed in giant capitals at the foot of the page. We’re not in the Scottish Government, but it’s a rainy Saturday so we thought we might have a go.
Vile abuse and harmless banter 299
Posted on
October 22, 2015 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
In that order, we presume.
Two kinds of lies 203
Posted on
October 22, 2015 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
The reaction of the Scottish media and political opposition to Audit Scotland’s annual report on the NHS today has been nothing if not predictable. But we thought you might like an instructive and enlightening look at the two very different types of approach they’ve taken to trying to mislead the Scottish people about it.
First up is the non-specific Scottish Labour apparatchik (as far as we’re aware he has no official role in the party since Jim Murphy quit – indeed we don’t know what he does for a living at all any more) Blair McDougall:
This is what we in the writing trade call a “flat-out lie”.
Pieces fall into place 133
Posted on
October 22, 2015 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
This month we’ve been noting a sudden avalanche of factually-questionable articles in the media attacking the SNP’s record in government. At the weekend and yesterday we also picked apart a highly misleading and disingenuous claim by Andrew Neil on the BBC’s Sunday Politics that there had been no cuts to the Scottish Government budget since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.
And today we can see why.
Tiny Correction Watch 144
Posted on
October 21, 2015 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
The SNP MP for Dumfries and Galloway, Richard Arkless, made a post on Facebook last night in relation to this article in the Scottish Sunday Express three days ago.
You can read it below.
Person swears on internet 425
Posted on
October 19, 2015 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
A failure of briefing 346
Posted on
October 18, 2015 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Angus Robertson won’t enjoy watching today’s Sunday Politics Scotland again:
But neither should Andrew Neil, because Andrew Neil was lying.
