This is quite something. It took 15 hours into “MemoGate” before anyone got a Scottish Government representative on air – even though they’d found time to get quotes from Willie Rennie, who isn’t the leader of a Westminster party and whose party isn’t even involved in the story. When they did, here’s what happened.
Readers can form their own opinions about the interview. But at the very end of the piece the BBC’s James Cook says “this memo does exist”. It may do, but we’re not sure what his current grounds for that statement are.
To the best of our knowledge nobody is claiming to have seen it personally except the Telegraph. The Foreign Office have denied all knowledge of any memo, the Scotland Office apparently refuses to comment, and we have no idea who allegedly wrote it.
Cook has already made, then rowed back on, some rather questionable statements in the last 24 hours. Viewers may feel it might be better if he just stuck to the facts.
That clip (from just past midnight on the BBC News channel) isn’t a bad starting-point summary of last night’s extraordinary story, except by our count the Telegraph’s piece was fourth-hand rather than third-hand.
(First-hand would have been Nicola Sturgeon. Second-hand would have been the ambassador. Third-hand would have been the consul-general. The civil servant – who doubted the story him/herself – is fourth-hand.)
This is also a pretty good primer. Now let’s get to the fun stuff.
Sheesh. We pop out for a couple of hours to feed the Wings Emergency Kitten and we get back to find that it’s the UK press that’s barfed up hairballs all over its front pages.
And the contradictory cross-vortex coverlines aren’t even the mad bit.
Here’s Ed Miliband, giving a speech this morning to literally at least 20 Labour MPs, Labour MSPs, journalists and possibly a stray member of the public who accidentally walked through the wrong door in Clydebank, a place where Labour leaders used to address gatherings of thousands.
Unusually, Miliband took a few questions from the hacks, all of whom promptly wasted the opportunity by lobbing completely pointless softballs about coalitions and deals, all of which (a) have been asked a hundred times already, (b) were rendered moot by Alex Salmond on the Marr show yesterday, and (c) were only ever going to be batted away non-committally.
So here’s an actually worthwhile one they can ask instead next time.
The Daily Record, still smarting from the humiliation of being forced to very quietly admit it told its readers a £20 billion lie about the Smith Commission late last year, has been in a demented overdrive trying to provoke Yes/SNP supporters this week.
It started on Tuesday with an echo of the paper’s infamous “Vow” cover, clearly aimed at winding up its detractors but which passed without much comment as social media users merely raised a brief weary eyebrow and got on with their day. But then the Record started turning up the volume.
Sometimes the UK media is so soul-crushingly moronic, readers, that it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning. Nevertheless, we’re pretty sure we haven’t nodded off and woken up in 2017, so today’s papers must be even more idiotic than usual.
The Scottish Sun is around 80% the same newspaper as the English edition (with the bulk of the difference being accounted for by football coverage) so presumably the south-of-the-border version has a broadly similar view, right?
Young Lochinvar on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “I write this at around 1am on the 24th of June, the anniversary of the second day of the Battle…” Jun 24, 01:43
Young Lochinvar on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “What exactly is that human rights lawyer ( apols can’t be bothered looking up his name), champion of the underdog…” Jun 24, 00:42
Young Lochinvar on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Yes Apparently during all these years “Honest John” was a nobody.. Really?? Hmmmm 7th level of hell Johnny boy..” Jun 23, 23:47
Young Lochinvar on The End Of Law: “Wilma Flintstone That sounds like a compliment wrapped up in an insult covered in a biscuit.. Eff aff ya nobody..” Jun 23, 23:39
Angus on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: ““But the former is absolutely black with her sticky fingerprints, plainly visible to anyone. She was the leader of the…” Jun 23, 23:39
Angus on Job Half Done: ““Be assured, readers, that Wings won’t rest until it is.” Amen to that.” Jun 23, 23:22
Angus on Job Half Done: “I agree with C Mac Kay that he will be out within six months. They will find a way to…” Jun 23, 23:20
agentx on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “No confusion – if someone has dangly bits they go to a male prison – if they don’t then they…” Jun 23, 23:09
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Search assistant info: « Glenn Campbell’s Brain Tumour Diagnosis Glenn Campbell, the political editor for BBC Scotland, was diagnosed with…” Jun 23, 20:26
Confused on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “people wondering why she wasn’t investigated/charged properly by people whoses bosses bosses boss – WORKS FOR HER and/or got their…” Jun 23, 20:24
Southernbystander on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “I wonder what ‘beyond outrageous’ really looks like? These things tend to be circular so actually it may simply be,…” Jun 23, 20:09
MaryB on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “I see that Nicola’s got two Herald headlines this evening. Still protesting her innocence. Funny that. If she was innocent,…” Jun 23, 20:04
Glenn Boyd on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: ““Full interview with the police on what it took to prosecute Peter Murrell” is available on YOUTUBE in which the…” Jun 23, 19:58
Louise Hogg on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Agree. Probably a deliberate ‘oversight’, so Holyrood and particularly the Institutions mentioned, could be populated and controlled by UK State…” Jun 23, 19:36
Derek on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “I’m not a lawyer, but is it entirely wise to keep issuing statements basically saying “Fuck you, copper, you’ve got…” Jun 23, 19:29
Louise Hogg on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Because, at heart, many criminals eventually WANT to be caught, accused, and held accountable. Once the constant threat of unpredictable…” Jun 23, 19:24
Bilbo on The End Of Law: “Been watching clips on YouTube and the Tartan armies stay in Boston has been a breath of fresh air but…” Jun 23, 18:55
Bilbo on The End Of Law: “@ Sam Main, Aidan, Caveman et all are absolute roasters but that doesn’t mean you have to be contrarian to…” Jun 23, 18:49
Bilbo on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “This is where the house of cards that is Trans ideology starts to fall down. If a Trans woman is…” Jun 23, 18:46
Wally Jumblatt on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Reporters & journalists (mainstream that is) The print press in Scotland has been kept on life support by the Scottish…” Jun 23, 18:37
Captain Caveman on The End Of Law: “Yep, I’ll give you your dues, YL. Even flipping burgers – whether for King and Country, or even Ronald McDonald…” Jun 23, 18:31
Young Lochinvar on The End Of Law: “Wilma Flintstone @ 10.21 Nope, not the Army Catering Corps – an unfairly underappreciated field of service – but who…” Jun 23, 17:51
agentx on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: ““Transgender prisoners are being moved to jails according to their biological sex, after the Scottish government confirmed it would not…” Jun 23, 17:35
100%Yes on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Is this the real reason Salmond was chucked out of the party and trumped up charges where brought.” Jun 23, 17:33
Young Lochinvar on The End Of Law: “I’mnogay McI’mnogayface Go on numpty, keep writing it out, don’t stop short now like the mendacious one that you are..…” Jun 23, 17:27
100%Yes on Hey Lord Don’t Ask Me Questions: “Its funny Mrs Sturgeon was saying the books are alright don’t look here and the husband was sending out letters…” Jun 23, 17:22
