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The ultimate weapon 204

Posted on February 04, 2014 by

It seems that today marked the official start of the much-vaunted “lovebombing” campaign aimed at persuading Scots to stay in the UK by showing them how much they’re loved by the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The opening salvo did some unfortunate and costly collateral damage, but luckily the Union had a white knight following close behind to smooth over any injured feelings.

Would you like to meet him, readers?

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Lovebombing on the cheap 98

Posted on February 04, 2014 by

The Sun’s editions on both sides of the border today go in heavy with the results of a YouGov poll showing a dramatic turnaround in the percentage of English (and Welsh) people who want Scotland to leave the UK.

sunpolleng

Or at least, SOME of the results.

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In Sealand today 84

Posted on February 03, 2014 by

From this morning’s Independent:

‘Poll tax mark II’ pushes Britain’s poorest into debt

Up to 70,000 low earners, single parents, and disabled people are being pursued by bailiffs over their failure to pay the ‘new poll tax’, according to figures revealed for the first time.

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Unleashing a firestorm 394

Posted on February 03, 2014 by

It’s not as if the Financial Times doesn’t have history with dropping great big payloads of high explosive into the middle of the independence debate late on a Sunday night. But a piece coming up in Monday’s edition (and online tonight) is going to choke a few breakfasts in London tomorrow morning.

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An impressive feat 218

Posted on February 02, 2014 by

It takes some doing to make even BBC News presenters look a little uncomfortable at the sheer depth of your ignorance when it comes to Scottish independence, so we probably ought to offer some sort of commendation to this guy:

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Cybernat of the week 137

Posted on February 01, 2014 by

Poor Anas Sarwar. He just can’t get anything right.

cybernatoftheday

Doing his best to join in with the Daily Mail’s month-long witch-hunt, Labour’s “deputy” leader in Scotland leaps on an abusive and disturbingly racist-looking comment aimed at him. It’s nasty all right. It could well qualify as “hate”. But who’s it from?

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A hot tip 84

Posted on January 30, 2014 by

So we’ll just leave this here:

ladbrokessterling

And then we’re off to bed.

[EDIT: Story confirmed with Jessica Bridges at Ladbrokes press office.]

Quoted for sense 161

Posted on January 29, 2014 by

The media is positively jumping with analyses of Mark Carney’s much-anticipated speech about currency unions, with thousands of words being expended to discuss something we’ve already summed up accurately in eleven. It’s almost comical to watch the amount of anti- (and very occasionally pro-) independence spin being put on a text which went pathologically out of its way not to make any kind of judgement whatsoever on the subject.

(Something Carney continued to do at the post-speech Q&A with journalists, at which he frequently looked bemused as a series of political hacks asked him massively leading questions along the lines of “So, you said X…” which he then had to wearily but firmly point out he hadn’t actually said at all. If you click the image below you can listen to an audio recording of the session.)

carneyconf

However much of an awful grump he is, the best, most sensible and balanced analysis (okay, the second-best after ours) is probably David Torrance’s.

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Carney speech: definitive analysis 148

Posted on January 29, 2014 by

“Yeah, whatever you guys arrange between yourselves, we’ll make it work.

Future tense 87

Posted on January 28, 2014 by

Yesterday’s Telegraph contained another example of something we’ve noticed becoming increasingly common in newspapers recently where Scottish independence is concerned – the incredible vanishing story. Check out these first two paragraphs from a piece about investment in the oil industry:

“UK Energy Minister Michael Fallon warned on Monday that uncertainty over the outcome of the referendum on Scottish independence was already hitting investment in the North Sea.

‘There is a risk that investment we’re trying to encourage will now be paused,’ he told an audience of oil and gas executives at an event at Chatham House. ‘My fear is that it will pause investment.'”

Just hold on a second, there, tiger. In the first sentence we’re apparently talking quite explicitly about something that IS ALREADY happening, but by the second sentence it’s immediately been downgraded to a “risk” and a “fear” that it “will be” happening in the future. We’re used to drastic and frequent revisions of UK government forecasts, but they usually take more than a single breath to collapse.

We’re endlessly told that the oil business is “volatile”, but that’s ridiculous.

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From beyond the grave 45

Posted on January 27, 2014 by

Switch the phrase “a Scottish Assembly” in the speech below for “an independent Scotland” and Alistair Darling could pretty much have made it word-for-word yesterday.

clawgrave

But can you tell which leader of the opposition actually did?

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Leopard remains spotted 58

Posted on January 26, 2014 by

There was much hilarity on BBC Radio Scotland’s “Headlines” this morning (from 39m), as the studio guests discussed right-wing Scottish Labour MP Jim Murphy’s Daily Mail-assisted attempts this week to silence dastardly so-called “cybernats” by preventing them from attending debates or appearing on TV.

soundwave2

But an alert Wings reader had already noticed that Mr Murphy isn’t exactly new to the notion of attempting to muzzle those whose opinions are not at one with his own.

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    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Scottish Social Attitudes Study 2025 “18% of respondents said that they trusted the UK Government to work in Scotland’s best…Jul 23, 10:20
    • Alf Baird on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Aye Hatey, up tae yer wee mischievous tricks agin: ‘divide and rule’, the colonizer’s tool.Jul 23, 10:14
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sarwar’s degree in dentristy and his role as Scottish Labour Leader where he led the party to its latest debacle…Jul 23, 10:13
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Trial first?Jul 23, 09:58
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sure, Xaracen. But you’ll be long deid. 🙂 Me too. And, whilst no doubt Scotland will leave the UK as…Jul 23, 09:31
    • Aidan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “What made Scotland “much better” before 1707 Xaracen? I doubt there is a single objective metric that could be used…Jul 23, 09:31
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “With the departure of Sarwar, once again, we see that Scotland’s loss is England’s gain. And, as the pool of…Jul 23, 09:18
    • Xaracen on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Hatey said; “Scotland was a much better place when it was a monarchy.” Scotland was a much better place when…Jul 23, 08:55
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““buses; but I haven’t been on one for 30 years, and you’d have to get the gun out to get…Jul 23, 07:55
    • Hatey McHateface on Progressing To Oblivion: “His phone too, so there will go his language translation app. Come to think on it, taking his phone away…Jul 23, 07:44
    • Aidan on Progressing To Oblivion: “I think James’ clothes will need to be buried in concrete on Gruinard Island.Jul 23, 07:11
    • Aidan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Culpable homicide isn’t an offence in England (it’s manslaughter) and Donald Findlay isn’t a member of the bar in England…Jul 23, 07:08
    • Captain Caveman on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Well, it certainly looks like someone hit you on the head a fair few times, reading that. 🙂Jul 23, 05:51
    • Cynicus on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sarwar senior went to become Governor of Punjab. However Punjabophiles can relax since the office is not hereditary.Jul 23, 00:49
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    • Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “AX Tut tut.. I don’t think anyone has seriously given that moniker to Glasgow for quite some considerable time and…Jul 22, 23:06
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    • Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “HMcH That bad? Really? Made you reply though didn’t it? Validation an’ that eh? Enjoy lock down through the night…Jul 22, 22:29
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sorry, Auld Lochnagar, but as a wind up that’s a piss poor effort. Try again around 2 AM. Your output…Jul 22, 22:22
    • Dick Wall on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Well now. Let’s have a wee bit of nuance. Most places have a way of appointing ministers who are not…Jul 22, 21:16
    • Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Chas Why do you lay that responsibility at Alfs door? Is it so you can blame him if things don’t…Jul 22, 21:10
    • Potace on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Maybe he’s going to help Ruth change the HoL from the inside?Jul 22, 20:50
    • Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “HMcH Aaaaah! In other words ie Yoda-speak; “Rampant Cringe leads to unhappiness, unhappiness leads to non conformance, non conformance leads…Jul 22, 20:48
    • Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “SF In fairness; “sins of the father” and that.. Not that I’m a fan!Jul 22, 20:39
    • Scot Finlayson on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “His dad, Chaudhry Sarwar, was knocked back for a Lordship, `His nomination by outgoing Prime Minister, Gordon Brown for a…Jul 22, 20:28
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““This I must say for Scotland, and I may truly vaunt it; here I sit, and govern it with my…Jul 22, 20:08
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    • Lorncal on The Wheels Of Industry: “Alf: I have ever been the contrarian, but I have never considered our situation to be ‘colonial’ in the accepted…Jul 22, 19:57
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