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Convergence keeps converging 150

Posted on February 23, 2014 by

(An update on this post.)

polls23feb

If the next Ipsos MORI poll shows a significant drop in the No lead, we can probably call that definitive. The days of the No camp being 30+ points ahead seem to be well and truly over. Five out of the seven British Polling Council members polling on the independence referendum now put the required swing for Yes at just 5-6%. Looks like Wings pollsters Panelbase were at the cutting edge again after all.

Here we go again 114

Posted on February 23, 2014 by

To save time, just take everything we said last week and repeat.

Perhaps the most telling thing, though, about this week’s edition of what now appears to be the BBC’s official late-night No-campaign propaganda slot is that Iain Martin used to be the editor of the Scotsman. Readers can draw their own conclusions.

The Sunday papers 79

Posted on February 23, 2014 by

sundaypapers

Nation speaking tunes unto nation 161

Posted on February 22, 2014 by

SATIRE:

masheurovision

REALITY:

maileurovision

At least, we THINK we’ve got those the right way round.

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A casual grenade 121

Posted on February 22, 2014 by

The Scotpulse poll we mentioned last night in a frankly shameful outbreak of tooting our own horn actually released two sets of data, accompanied by an odd email apologising that the survey had featured an overly wide range of questions. We don’t know if we’re going to see the others at any point, but the second one released yesterday was intriguing.

scotpulse2

And we’re not talking about the somewhat leading preamble.

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The lovebombs keep coming 135

Posted on February 21, 2014 by

Here’s we’re-not-actually-sure-what-he-is Bob Mills earlier this evening on Radio 4’s News Quiz, hosted by Sandi Toksvig with a very quiet Fred MacAuley twisting his tartan bunnet in the corner and hoping for a pat on the head.

soundwave2

Whatever will they do for laughs without us?

In the clouds 238

Posted on February 21, 2014 by

Someone just forwarded us the results of a survey by STV’s polling arm Scotpulse. It’s a “wordcloud” of the sort we have on this very site (it’s over on the right hand side and down a bit, marked “Tags”), where the more significant something is the bigger its name gets printed. It pretty much speaks for itself.

sourcesbig

You’re the ones who put the word out there, readers. It’s working. Thank you.

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Preparing for Project Blue 115

Posted on February 21, 2014 by

A reader comment this morning caused us to go back and double-check the facts in an old post (which turned out to be entirely correct, so that was fine). But for reasons which will shortly become clear, Wings Over Scotland is on a constant mission to distill aspects of the independence debate down to the clearest, most concise summaries possible, and the act of checking spurred us to lay something out.

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Expressway To Fear 193

Posted on February 21, 2014 by

DOOM!

“Blair Stewart, head of the company’s Edinburgh Residential Department, said: ‘Going by the current movement in property market, I should think there will be a three to five per cent growth in the £300,000 to £800,000 bracket and the £1million-plus will remain static.

I am expecting a slowdown as we near the referendum with buyers adopting a ‘wait and see’ attitude.'”

GLOOM!

“Delaying introduction of average speed cameras on the A9 until after the referendum has been branded a ploy to avoid an anti-independence backlash.”

We’re not sure we can take many more blows like this.

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Who’s your fave Dave? 192

Posted on February 20, 2014 by

So we’ve now had David Cameron, David Mitchell and David Bowie all “lovebombing” Scotland with pleas to stay in the Union (as assorted Tory ministers and their Labour and Lib Dem hangers-on lurk in the shadows a few feet away tapping knuckle-dusters into their palms and making throat-slitting gestures in our direction).

ravedaves

But the big question is, which David would you like to see try it next?

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Including Carwyn Jones 158

Posted on February 20, 2014 by

We must admit, we’re perplexed by Scottish Labour’s apparent and oft-expressed belief that the Welsh (Labour) First Minister is the ultimate authority on currency unions. We’re not aware of any financial expertise on his CV, and as he’s not even a Westminster MP his opinion will carry no weight in any negotiations on the matter.

So we’re not sure why his view is singled out, from the entire population of the UK, as having special relevance. Still, Johann Lamont seems pretty worked up about it.

Taming the savages 65

Posted on February 20, 2014 by

It takes a startling amount of arrogance to try and impose your morality on someone else. We no longer send our privileged white men to the dusty, dirty parts of the globe to educate the natives, to show them how to speak and eat and dress and worship. British toffs don’t hack their way through jungles any more, subduing spear-wielding tribes with Browning machine-guns and renaming their rivers after tubby queens.

barbarism

The map is no longer Empire pink, and the British zeal for moral crusades has largely faded with it. But in the Telegraph yesterday, the charming David Cameron took us on a nostalgic trip back to glorious, Union-Jack-fluttering Victoriana.

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    • sam on A Stitch In Timing: “https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203788332/internal-colonialism-michael-hechter “…Hechter examines the unexpected persistence of ethnicity in the politics of industrial societies by focusing on the British Isles.…Feb 7, 22:10
    • Lorna Campbell on A Stitch In Timing: “James: the very fact that he was filmed lifting the sledgehammer and bringing it down on the back of the…Feb 7, 21:52
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    • Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: “Language theory, and common sense, tells us that colonial and post colonial are different things. A science and engineering background…Feb 7, 21:03
    • DaveL on A Stitch In Timing: “Ask the Rev, his machine chose to protect you from having to answer to it.Feb 7, 20:56
    • Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: “What would a Yank like Hechter know of the Celtic Periphery? To many of the bulk of Scots residing in…Feb 7, 20:54
    • Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: “Were they about goose stepping by any chance? Relax. You’ve already covered that to the best of your ability.Feb 7, 20:42
    • Alf Baird on A Stitch In Timing: ““not sure what your point is” Postcolonial theory tells us that the more culturally assimilated native bourgeoisie, being “the most…Feb 7, 20:41
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    • David Holden on A Stitch In Timing: “@ Alf Baird 6.31 pm . I remember it well Alf also supporters of a certain football club that were…Feb 7, 19:21
    • Alf Baird on A Stitch In Timing: “Interesting, but lets not confuse colonialism with the class struggle. This from Professor Michael Hechter’s study of ‘The UK Internal…Feb 7, 18:41
    • Alf Baird on A Stitch In Timing: “You maybe don’t remember ‘Rugby Legends for No’, reflecting the more privileged culturally assimilated native groups greater propensity to oppose…Feb 7, 18:31
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    • Marie on A Stitch In Timing: “Well said. Agree with every word.Feb 7, 16:31
    • Andy Wiltshire on A Stitch In Timing: “The long arm of colonialism can even reach as far as Italy.Feb 7, 16:24
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