The last few days have not been proud ones for the Scottish media. Following the Daily Record’s humiliation at the hands of the independent press standards body over the Smith Commission, we don’t see this letter from the chair of the Scottish Prison Officers Association in today’s Scotsman (and the article in question doesn’t appear to have been corrected), so it looks like we’re going to have to print it here.
Robert James McNeill is the vice chairman of the East Lothian Constituency Labour Party and chair of the Tranent Local Labour Party. He’s also a member of the Scottish Labour Party Policy Forum, which develops the Scottish Labour manifesto.
Alert readers should by now have spotted our story about the findings of the Independent Press Standards Organisation with regard to the Daily Record’s “The Vow Delivered” front page from last November. The paper was found by IPSO to have been guilty of “significantly misrepresent[ing] the fiscal consequences of the Smith Commission’s recommendations”, and ordered to publish a correction.
IPSO also noted in its judgement that the Record had amended the online version of the article accordingly. But that’s only partly true.
The Independent Press Standards Organisation has delivered its verdict on the Daily Record’s coverage of the Smith Commission recommendations on 27 November 2014, after we lodged a complaint with the watchdog body.
We were going to bring you a report on the Scottish Conservatives conference in Edinburgh today (half the length of last year’s, and bereft of its glamorous sprinkling of Cabinet ministers), but we watched all of it and absolutely nothing happened.
They won the referendum and tax is bad. The end. See you next year!
We got fooled like big old chumps earlier this afternoon. Scottish Labour apparatchik and former “Better Together” director Blair McDougall posted a series of tweets about whether the party who wins the most seats in a Westminster election gets to form the government, which sounded exactly like the ones Scottish Labour have been posting for the last few weeks before they were exposed as being nonsense.
The big comedy reveal was that they turned out to have been said by Alex Salmond in 2007, talking about the Holyrood election of that year which the SNP won.
It was a bona fide zinger. So what point did the cunning prank prove?
Remember before the referendum, readers, when the £30bn cost of decommissioning oil platforms was a nightmarish unaffordable millstone around a future Scotland’s neck that proved it couldn’t be independent?
It turns out it wouldn’t have been so bad after all.
This week Scottish Labour quietly abandoned their “biggest party forms the government” election campaign after it was comprehensively debunked by this site and, belatedly, the mainstream media. An alert reader reminded us this evening of how the party wasn’t always so attached to the rules.
Because back in 2007, when Labour was neither the biggest party nor the incumbent administration, it had a damn good try at forming the government anyway.
All this year we’ve been noticing a curious re-writing of history in the Scottish and UK media. It’s spanned left-wing and right-wing press, and even Yes-friendly voices like Iain Macwhirter and the estimable Lallands Peat Worrier have been sucked in.
Yet it’s such a fundamentally bizarre misunderstanding of a political system that’s now been running in Scotland for 16 years that we’re bewildered at the way everyone’s suddenly decided that it happened.
The latest occurrence of this odd phenomenon was in yesterday’s Daily Record, and the subject is the newly-alleged “informal deal” between the minority SNP government of 2007-11 and the Scottish Conservatives.
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “AgentX Hm, You ARE a conundrum, I like you, So, you never feel differently on the day? But why on…” Feb 2, 20:54
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “Oh my gawd, Ian, listen to yourself. Mind you, thanks for the laughs 🙂 And you’ve fair made my day,…” Feb 2, 20:47
Insider on The Marshalling Plan: “That tool for predicting the number of seats is addictive! Just a few more points lost by the SNP and…” Feb 2, 20:40
100%Yes on The Marshalling Plan: “Doug, If this man would betray his own country then why would he resign? Make no mistakes about the people…” Feb 2, 20:37
Cherrybank on The Marshalling Plan: “I think Craig Houston the You- tuber has a good chance of getting elected on the Glasgow List vote.” Feb 2, 20:29
Scot Finlayson on The Marshalling Plan: “WHY WOULD ANYONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND VOTE GREEN nobody in their right mind votes green. As Churchill said ish,…” Feb 2, 20:13
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “I DON’t KNOW, ANDREW SCOTT, WHY WOULD THEY?” Feb 2, 20:03
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “Skip, “there will be only seven pro-independence MSPs, ie, from Alba alone.” Negate this from your mind. And focus. NOMINALLY…” Feb 2, 19:45
Aidan on The Marshalling Plan: “@RevStu I think you’re being unfair, all you need to do is vote SNP a wee bit more and then…” Feb 2, 19:42
100%Yes on The Marshalling Plan: “For every vote you don’t give to the SNP and give to someone else the SNP has to find two…” Feb 2, 19:33
Rev. Stuart Campbell on The Marshalling Plan: “”I’m no fan of the SNP and didnt vote for them in 2021, but anyone who supports independence and votes…” Feb 2, 19:26
agentx on The Marshalling Plan: “No I never feel differently on the day – why on Earth should I?” Feb 2, 19:21
Andrew scott on The Marshalling Plan: “WHY WOULD ANYONE IN THEiIR RIGHT MIND VOTE GREEN” Feb 2, 19:10
Skip_NC on The Marshalling Plan: “100% Yes, I should have thought it was obvious that I do not see the SNP (or Greens, for that…” Feb 2, 19:09
Young Lochinvar on Shield Of The Phantom: “Indeed James Bauge is slated for mention, not least as heir apparent Chooky Clarence getting the chop there started the…” Feb 2, 19:08
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “One of the things I find interesting about this: Unionists (with insight) recognise the ‘placeholder value’ of the masquerading SNP…” Feb 2, 19:07
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “Sorry, but can I just say as an afterthought – Doug, whether Swinney resigns or not is almost a moot…” Feb 2, 19:01
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “So you say, you may feel differently on the day.” Feb 2, 18:50
Nae Need on The Marshalling Plan: ““Maybe an anglo-centric Reform-led government installed on a very low tournout will shock politically complacent Scots into realising the necessity…” Feb 2, 18:48
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “Andrew: “I’m no fan of the SNP and didnt vote for them in 2021, but anyone who supports independence and…” Feb 2, 18:43
agentx on The Marshalling Plan: “I vote after taking into account the policies of each party – opinion polls do not influence me at all.” Feb 2, 18:42
Doug on The Marshalling Plan: “It won’t surprise me if it’s a very low turnout in May. Will Swinney resign as SNP leader if the…” Feb 2, 18:41
Andrew on The Marshalling Plan: “I’m no fan of the SNP and didnt vote for them in 2021, but anyone who supports independence and votes…” Feb 2, 18:14
Al-Stuart on The Marshalling Plan: “. Psycho Pop Goes Stalk just imploded. James The Janitor Kelly has proof that NO ONE other than a pitiful…” Feb 2, 18:14
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “Agreed, Willie, but we now have to the play the game as its rules are presented to us, forced on…” Feb 2, 17:56
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: ““Just 7% of voters switching from Labour to Reform, and 5% switching from Tory to Reform, actually WINS Reform the…” Feb 2, 17:43
Frank Gillougley on The Marshalling Plan: “cue joni mitchell music – ‘And the seasons they go round and round And the painted ponies go up and…” Feb 2, 17:04
100%Yes on The Marshalling Plan: “He’s a sad individual who only knows three things Wings BAD Alba party BAD and give both votes to the…” Feb 2, 17:03
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “Sorry, Skip, I disagree. This election is decisively NOT about voting IN pro-indy parties, it’s about getting rid of the…” Feb 2, 17:02
100%Yes on The Marshalling Plan: “Skip_NC, I wished I could make you realise that the SNP leadership isn’t genuine about Independence, I don’t even believe…” Feb 2, 17:00
