We thought you’d enjoy this clip from this morning’s Andrew Marr Show, readers. It came after a very sensible interview, in which Salmond had calmly and reasonably laid out the SNP’s view on events should there be a hung parliament this May with the former First Minister’s party holding the balance of power.
Tory minister Anna Soubry seems to be experiencing a degree of regret about having begged Scots to stay in the UK. The body language says as much as the words.
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?
If we’re honest, readers, we almost never bother with BBC Scotland’s televised political coverage any more. We suspect the viewing figures for Scotland 2015 are down to fingers-and-toes territory now, and if last night’s edition – which we gritted our teeth and watched after noting the incredulous response on social media – is anything to go by, the state broadcaster is now using it to try out work-experience kids.
But we can cut fresh-faced new boy David Henderson (who suffered the indignity of being billed as Sarah Smith) a bit of slack for being outmanoeuvred by an experienced operator like Jim Murphy, who at one point in the show was actually interrogating the presenter rather than the other way round.
Kirsty Wark, regular anchor on the Corporation’s current-affairs flagship Newsnight, on the other hand, has no such excuses whatsoever.
A lot of people this week quoted a line supposedly from the former Labour cabinet minister Roy Jenkins, which runs “a statement is only interesting if a sane man could say the opposite”. We haven’t been able to verify if he ever really said that or not, but it doesn’t really matter, because it’s true either way.
If you ask them on social media, Labour MPs and activists will all hotly deny that the party signed up to the Conservatives’ plan for £30bn of austerity cuts in the next five years. It’ll be interesting to see whether they try to continue doing so in the light of Ed Balls’ appearance on the Andrew Marr Show this morning.
Alert readers will have noticed that this week we’ve been fascinated by the differences between the mostly-identical Scottish and English editions of The Sun. For example, the editorial below from today’s English edition doesn’t make it across the border.
Here’s a clip from last night’s Question Time from Leeds, in which Anna Soubry MP for the Conservatives, Lucy Powell MP for Labour, Charles Kennedy MP for the Lib Dems, ardent Unionist Ian Hislop from Private Eye and various audience members spent 20 minutes attacking the SNP, with no SNP representative present.
(The closest thing was Natalie Bennett, leader of the Greens in England and Wales, who was relentlessly mocked, derided and harangued from all sides for most of the programme’s duration, including by the “anti-establishment” Hislop.)
It seems to us that the solution to the problem is simple.
Northcode on Looking up at the stars: “I like it, Sam. Here’s one of Brian’s that sums up my attempts at humour in this place: “I saw…” Mar 18, 19:24
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “The UN is struggling to exist as it is running out of money and relevance. The Titanic of gravy boats…” Mar 18, 19:15
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “Are you pals with Starmer the wanker. That’s the same pish he talks.” Mar 18, 19:02
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “@Geri You take an assisted dying bill (defeated) and turn it into the toilet habits of the rich. The genocide…” Mar 18, 18:50
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “That’s last months flag. Do keep up.” Mar 18, 18:38
sam on Looking up at the stars: “A wry sense of humour indeed. “The gross and net result of it is that people who spent most of…” Mar 18, 18:35
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “They’re not left. The billionaires are shitting themselves there’ll not be enough resources left in the world for them cause…” Mar 18, 18:11
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “America, Oops! I mean it’s proxy Iraq invaded Iran in 1980. A war lasting 9 years or so. Everything from…” Mar 18, 17:51
100%Yes on Looking up at the stars: “Welcome on board James, sorry about Alba but some how I believe it was deliberate because Alba was making progress…” Mar 18, 17:48
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “That’s because the Elite Left think people like you are scum.” Mar 18, 17:33
Lorncal on Looking up at the stars: “In Switzerland, it is mandatory, at both local (regional) and national level for referendums to be held on all major…” Mar 18, 17:05
Lorncal on Looking up at the stars: “Mark: I recall listening to a programme about Iran after the Shah was deposed, when Khomeini (1979, I think) had…” Mar 18, 15:56
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: ““big tent party” I guess the tent is implied by the flag. Still though, in the original meaning of “big…” Mar 18, 15:35
Jamie on Looking up at the stars: “Good article Rev. Talking about elections, as someone who was briefly politically homeless after the death of Alba, after some…” Mar 18, 15:19
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “Tis true about the drugs. It even dispenses itself through a driver if swallowing starts to become difficult & even…” Mar 18, 13:59
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “A braw n grand sunlit day Oan ma bike n faraway Er the Clyde an alang the Kelvin Up Maryhill…” Mar 18, 13:36
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “God told me your a pain in the celestial arse.” Mar 18, 13:28
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Good to know God doesn’t go in for that Scots speaking bollox. Get Alf on the phone and tell him.” Mar 18, 13:21
Northcode on Looking up at the stars: “I spoke with God in a dream last night. “What of Trump?” I asked Him. “fucked,” said God, His voice…” Mar 18, 13:01
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Shame you missed out on your ScotGov contract, Confused, but let’s not pretend your mobile gas chambers idea was ever…” Mar 18, 12:27
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Any flexibility creeping in with the tenth, Northy? What with us being culturally colonised by the Yanks and all, plenty…” Mar 18, 12:18
Confused on Looking up at the stars: “assisted dying failed – what do I do with the mobile gas van now? spent 100s fixing it up, getting…” Mar 18, 12:09
Northcode on Looking up at the stars: ““Thou shalt not kill” In more modern versions of the Bible “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13) is the more…” Mar 18, 11:55
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “” I came down from the misty mountain I got lost on the human highway take my head refreshing fountain…” Mar 18, 09:49
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “Calm down to a riot. Omniscient, omnipotent omnipresent. It’s all I need to know. Shalom.” Mar 18, 09:41
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “The “Keeping Faith With The Declaration Of Arbroath” bill. A selective variant of the assisted dying bill. Alert readers will…” Mar 18, 08:40
Sven on Looking up at the stars: “Northcode @ 08.25. You may be bored, Northy, however you succeeded in giving me a smile this morning at those…” Mar 18, 08:39
Northcode on Looking up at the stars: “The “Compassionate Killing” bill. The “Merciful Murder” bill. The “Bonnie Butcher” bill. What do these ‘better’ alternative names for the…” Mar 18, 08:25
