Character assassination
This article from yesterday hasn’t made it onto the Daily Record’s website. When people told us about it, we thought they were joking. When someone typed the text out by hand and emailed it to us, we thought they were making it up. We had to get someone to scan the page for us before we believed it was real.
To save you straining your eyes, here’s the text:
“10 Things You Never Knew About Salmond
Not many people get close enough to Alex Salmond to know his real character. But a revealing portrait of the man who leads Scotland emerged from a long GQ interview. Here are the ten things we learned about the first minister in the last week.
1. His nationalism trumps everything else. His admiration for Vladimir Putin’s muscular nationalism caused a stir because it revealed Salmond’s true beliefs. He trumpets civic nationalism but sometimes the force that drives all nationalism – political pride in an identity – breaks through.
‘He’s restored a substantial part of Russian pride and that must be a good thing’, said Salmond of Putin. He wasn’t talking about gay pride there.
2. Any deal is worth it for independence. Salmond thinks Rupert Murdoch is a ‘remarkable man’ and cannot see why their meetings cause such a fuss. I wonder what they talk about? Is it a deal to dismantle the remains of the BBC public service broadcasting in exchange for Murdoch’s newspapers supporting Scottish independence?
3. He remains thin-skinned. Salmond told GQ he is unaffected by media criticism. Then the Sunday Post was warned the First Minister was furious about his portrayal in a cartoon. All contact with the paper has been cut off.
4. Self-flattery takes time. The interview took four hours – two hours talking and two hours for lunch.
5. He’s losing his touch if he dismisses Scotland as a ‘nation of drunks’. The old Salmond didn’t commit unforced errors.
6. He looks in the mirror and sees Nigel Farage over his shoulder. Admitting a ‘sneaking regard’ for the little Englander exposed Salmond as a little Scotlander.
7. The Moscow love affair is not one-way. State controlled Russian TV frequently interviews SNP politicians about the break-up of Britain. The story is packaged for Russian viewers as the disintegration of the West.
8. He is a stone off target – having lost two, he wants to be 14st.
9. His foreign policy is a quagmire. The GQ interview previewed an ‘important’ foreign policy speech. But all that emerged was an empty threat to ban EU fishing vessels from Scottish waters as part of negotiations.
10. Secretly he’s ‘anyone but England’. He wished them well in the World Cup but couldn’t say he wants them to win. Mind you he’s a realist – except when it comes to his own chances of winning.”
While we sometimes criticise things in the Record, it’s by and large a respectable and honourable paper. Shamefully, we doubted people’s word because we simply couldn’t imagine that it would really run a page of abysmal, barrel-scraping sub-internet-troll drivel like this. We apologise to those people unreservedly.
We can’t begin to imagine what was going through the editor’s mind. It’s playground bleating only (maybe) saved from being defamatory by the fact that it’s not so much criticism as infantile name-calling. Point 4 in particular makes us physically wince.
We won’t go on. You’ve read it for yourself. But if this is really the level that Scotland’s former best-selling daily newspaper has sunk to, then things are a lot worse than we thought, and that’s saying something. God help Scottish journalism.
Shocking bit of journalism but no surprise.
Pathetic, but not unexpected consdering the source.
They have ran out of scare stories. Attacks on Alex Salmond are all they have left. They twist any fact or make them up to suit their agenda. The end of the British empire is in sight and they will use any means to counter it. Trust me,the dirty tricks haven’t even started yet.
Well I nominate Torcuil Crighton for a George Orwell Award. Richly deserved.
Torcuil has obviously booked himself a ticket on the last chopper out post September 19th.
Probably taking off from the roof of the Scotsman (do they have an “office” as opposed to a bedsit) along with Cochers, Madox and the entire BBC News team.
“We’ll need a bigger Chopper, Control. Hello Control. Come in Control.
The line has gone dead Mr Boothman”
The only journalism in Scotland is the internet. Newspapers, like football clubs, are toys for the wealthy.
I guess we’ve entered a phase of smears and character assassination! They must be really worried!
Torcuil is lower than a snake’s belly.
A reptilian upstart.
I can understand why you wouldn’t believe that was real! Utterly pathetic. The unionist media have no decent arguments so have stooped to personal insults.
I got the Record on Monday for my Dad and could scarcely believe what I was reading. I thought about sending it to Stuart but it was so pathetic I thought it hardly worth the bother. Point 4, as you say is cringeworthy, but what about point 10? He knows this how? A sad little man who is probably doing our job for us. Even the most glaikit Record reader can see through that garbage.
themadmurph is right. The descent to crude personal attack is because they have nothing else left.
Bloody hell. I’d like to say I don’t believe Wings on this one either, but it seems to be there in black and white.
Unbelievable.
Absolutely shocking, it says a lot more about the Paper and the quality of journalism it employs than it says about Alex Salmon.
It’s Hard to imagine if anyone actually has a low enough IQ to make this garbage believable, em actually, now I mention it….
The idiotic words of Chrichton are accompanied by a ready made excuse (more like an apology) for lack of ‘adult literacy’ in his writing within the comment on the death of Bob Hoskins, but there is a wee warning tucked in bottom left about Northern Ireland, almost like this imbecile would like more people to ‘talk up’ Northern Ireland as having the potential for a return to the troubles or being an unstable time bomb.
Where have we heard that sort of inventive sentiment reported recently?
Torquil/Torcuil – What a wassock! You really are!
Its pretty lame for Torcuil up there. I heard BBC in Scotland execs have something so big on Alex Salmond, they’ll make gorgeous pouting Torcuil here look like Walter Cronkite and end our evil and cruel seperashun from teamGB forever. “He looks in the mirror and sees Crichton Torcuil over his shoulder, the most handsome and clever UKOK journalist in Glasgow, with really nice shoes, £495 at Jenners”
If Scotland had no assets and no future, the Unionist Daily Record wouldn’t be printing this sewage.
It’s the nearest to a compliment the Record can get.
Yes to Independence
No to Unionism
If this is all they’ve got then they really are Donald Ducked. Still a few months to go too. 🙂
A sad, bitter wee man who lets his hatred of the SNP blind him to reality to such an extent that he’s incapable of doing his job.
There really is no difference between that article and a Better Together newsletter. If I didn’t already know what a spiteful arse Torcuil was, I’d have been convinced they’d written it for him.
This man needs to be _______
Is Torcuil a a proper journalist ? Really ? If he was would he not be interviewing the FM?
Anyone who knows TC’s material would confirm its ‘Sweetie Wife’ stuff and always uncorroboratred hearsay.
This was the guy who defended Labours ‘No Show’ on bedroom tax as a YES smear and defended Labour MP’s stating they’d vote against independence, even if it meant their constituents would be better off ?
Have not read the Record for years, aside from when pieces like this are brought to my attention. This column Torchil’s Tripe, the fart of politics or whatever it is called, is this meant to be a kind of zany off the wall, sideways look at Politics? I’m guessing not so the one thing we do know is Crichton HATES Salmond.
Oh by the way, in regard to First Minister’s not supporting Engerland at the World Cup –
link to news.bbc.co.uk
And without the excuse of a straight-jacket.
Oh dear,they really have sunk to a new low. Still, as he has shown his true colours,and level of journalistic ability, I’m sure Torcuil will have no trouble finding employment in a london gutter press daily, after we vote yes, and the record goes bust.
recto cranial inversion?
Just reeks of BT!
This is the best that the walking anagram can come up with? He could have finished the article in style by saying 11- and my dad is bigger than his.
Here is something I don’t know about Torcuil Chrichton – Who the Feck is he?
There really is no difference between that article and a Better Together newsletter. If I didn’t already know what a spiteful arse Torcuil was, I’d have been convinced they’d written it for him.
It’s more like what BBC Scotlandshire would make out of the full article.
10. Secretly he’s ‘anyone but England’. He wished them well in the World Cup but couldn’t say he wants them to win. Mind you he’s a realist – except when it comes to his own chances of winning.”
Actually Torcuil may have point there. Having spent my life listening to UKOK media boast for ever and ever about England winning the World Cup in 1966, for the first time ever I really want England to win this year. Come on England. Cant wait to hear BetterTogetherBBC in Scotland etc spin their liar liar pants on fire way out of England in Brazil 2014. They probably wont even show it up here, due to technical difficulties.
Written with all the finesse of a particularly bitchy schoolgirl slagging off one of her class mates. The record should be shamefaced that this passes as journalism.
What a waste of the Gaelic.
The problem is that is working, Ive lost count of the number of people who have told me that their voting NO as they don’t like Salmon.
However as I said before once the pensioners find out that the UK is planning to increase their tax by 10% (Introducing NIC to pensioners) the kids figure out that if they want to go to Uni they will have to pay minimum 9k per year and the non uni youngsters find out that their being conscripted in the forces we will see a sea change…
Project Smear in full swing.
“This article from yesterday hasn’t made it onto the Daily Record’s website.”
It didn’t make it to the website because they knew there would be an uproar on line. This way they reach offline readers.
We should agree to an alternative piece on the online Record,… and to a person, go on there and register disgust at this gutter journalism.
The Unadmirable Crichton
I do not understand what he gets out of it? Is he getting a backhander from HMG?
And lets not let any facts get in the way, wasn’t the interview done 6 or so weeks before Bruges.
9. His foreign policy is a quagmire. The GQ interview previewed an ‘important’ foreign policy speech. But all that emerged was an empty threat to ban EU fishing vessels from Scottish waters as part of negotiations.
See me at 4:15 above
If he is lucky.
above to Wingman
“The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men”
“Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie,
O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi’ bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee,
Wi’ murd’ring pattle!”
Alex Salmond is not the subject of the referendum. He can be voted out. Scotland can elect a Tory government if it chooses. The referendum is about independence, NOT the aspirations of Alex Salmond.
Wow! This guy really is a total balloon knot. Which leads to the obvious question -what’s his connection to the Labour Party?
Torquil,
You really are just a silly wee boy.
It can’t really come as a surprise that Torcuil has plagerised another piece and put his own slant on it.
The “man” is a known scumbag, cut him open and he’d bleed blue.
Journalism of this type is what they turn to when they know they are losing the fight. The black war has only just started, brace yourselves comrades for what lies ahead in these coming months.
could Bath Stu write a rebuttal and submit it to the Daily R with a challenge to publish erstwhile it will submitted to a more powerful media?
shoosh W o S
What a downright nasty, nasty piece of work Crichton is. Despicable little man.
I don’t often call people very rude names but this wee shite needs a suing.
How this is acceptable to anyone as journalism is beyond me.
I add him to the list of those I will never read again.
Trash I will let you choose whether I mean his so called journalism or the “man” himself A real journalist would have been ashamed to put a piece of garbage like that out
A bit O/T, but speaks to the current MSM propaganda. I’ve been away from Scotland for a while now, so I don’t know exactly what the lie of the land is over by. My hope is that the grassroots web journalism phenomena (and it is phenomenal, I read Wings, Bella and Newsnet every day) is somehow getting to the traditional “low information voter group”, that the Bushes, Thatchers, Harpers and, closer to (my) home, Fords have been able to convince to vote definitively against their own best interests through the usual methods of lie, spin, smear, wedge etc.
I grew up in Motherwell, then Glasgow, so working class credentials aside, I know that there are a lot of under represented, under cared for and generationally alienated people (comprehensively failed by Labour) struggling to get by in places like Brigton, Calton, Possil etc. who, I believe, are the key to success.
Strikes me, from my 3000 mile perspective, that if that sleeping giant is awoken, there will be nothing to stop us.
Torcuil Crichton,
Glen Campbell,
Ian Carmicheal,
George Robertson
All of the above are from the Western Isles.
And there are plenty more you could name from the Highlands and Islands who are all rabid Unionists.
Why have these people got such a built-in hatred of anyone who supports Scottish Independence.
Didn’t they get told of the Highland Clearances that nearly wiped out their ancestors.
Carried out by the same British Establishment that they are now staunchly supporting.
Aye Torcuil–Salmond has lost two stone. You could do with finding two.
Trash! I will let you choose whether I mean his so called journalism or the “man” himself A real journalist would have been ashamed to put a piece of garbage like that out
That’s the record nailed it’s colours to the mast then. It’s not about Salmond, it’s about the Scottish people that matter in this. More better together propaganda. If anybody could tell me one thing that a union could be better please let me know. Westminster are spending 40 billion on its new underground crossroad 1 and planning crossroad 2. In Scotland we don’t even have a three lane motorway between our cities. Enough said. Kind regards
Just another silly hatchet piece of absolutely no substance. I have seen similar and actually better crafted hatchet jobs written by trolls on internet forums. In fact it looks like a crib of the gist of one I saw not so long ago with a few pieces of fluff, like diet target weight, added as padding.
The Guardian runs a regular feature, 10 things learned, it is supposed to be a bit of light hearted diary journalism. By and large they make this look like Pulitzer Prize material.
do you think Torcuil could be in the ‘squeezed middle’ bracket referred to in this article and sees Scottish independence as another threat to his ordinary middle level lifestyle (or will his salary be higher?)
link to telegraph.co.uk
I’ve been keeping an eye on Torcuil Crichton, and David Clegg for a while now, and Mr Crichton’s anti independence diatribes have begun to move from,labour biased journalism, to nothing more than, personal rants against the SNP, Alex Salmond and of course the independence movement as a whole.
O/T I do apologise.
Even Labour MP’s are storming out of Westminster meetings due the sheer and utter, anti-independence rhetoric, during the committee meetings.
link to dailyrecord.co.uk
Pathetic. ‘Scotland’s Champion’ indeed. One of this budding Pilger’s points can be translated as ‘Salmond is still fat’.
One suspects that Pippa, Poppy and Prue, Pacific Quay’s referendum imports from the Home Counties, will have a similar wizard jape along these lines in the pipeline after their spiffing recent satirical animation on Scotland’s Defence.
His training at Brian Wilson’s West Highland Free Press is Skye has paid dividends. Old favours being called in?
Is this what proud NO Scots believe in. Crichton sick wee individual, Record a Sick rag, read by mentally challenged proud Scots.
How low can they get? Sure we’ll find out over the next 5 months.
“The heart of politics”? More like the black heart of smears and distortion. Its propaganda is so vile and crude it could have come from the pages of Der Sturmer. A sad day for the Record when it saw fit to publish that filth.
It shows the desperation of Better Together who have fallen out big time with each other. Cameron is “toxic”, Darling is “pathetic”, Carmichael is “a numptie”.
Project Smear will go the same way as Project Fear. I suppose the only thing left for the No Campaign is actual physical threats. Can’t be that far off now.
Truly cringeworthy.
Both content & the fact the Record published it.
Mind you I am sure Ecks Broad Fifteen stone shoulders can take that sort of garbage but if anyone says anything nasty about this vile,nasty, despicable, half wit the he and his collegues would slide out from the stone they hide under and cry Cybernat attack !
what a pitiful excuse for journalism ! its well seen he is paid by the word and not standards
Same Media faces on the merry go round. T.C. Is regularly on the Press Preview spouting the same dumbed down celeb posturing.
Today we had Susan Deacon on GMS pontificating on child poverty and educational achievement, she who was S. Labour Education Sec? And married to top dog at BBC. Scotland. No mention of any affiliations, unlike… Yes supporter!
The available pool of trusted people to prostitute themselves for the media shilling is decreasing rapidly and once people get to know their backgrounds and connections and networks they begin to understand the level of subterfuge and misinformation they are being fed!
Anyone got any experience in laying out map graphs of how all these media types are connected to various politicians and corporate shills?
The media have given up the pretence and are now shamelessly playing to their captive audience in the hope that they will not look elsewhere for alternative information!
Sell them what they think they want, T.C is a busted flush after 18/09/2014.
Wonder what he thinks he has been promised for his journalistic soul!
10 things you didn’t know about Alex Salmond translated as:
1. He’s a fascist
2. His pals are fascists
3. He can’t take a joke
4. He’s a narcissist
5. He’s nuts
6. He’s a fascist
7. The SNP are fascists
8. He’s fat
9. He’s a fascist dictator
10. He doesn’t want England to win the World Cup
Eleanor Roosevelt quote:
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.
Clearly this man’s mind is very small indeed.
Not the first time Torcuil has lied of course
link to wingsoverscotland.com
“Alex Smith says:
7 May, 2014 at 4:40 pm
Wow! This guy really is a total balloon knot. Which leads to the obvious question -what’s his connection to the Labour Party?”
Alex, he campaigned for his brother Donald Crichton, the Labour candidate in Na h Eileanan an Iar, for Holyrood 2011.
His brother was comprehensively defeated by the SNP’s Alasdair Allan (65.3% +18.7) Crichton (28.6% -13.0).
I expect the Crichtons are well known in the Western Isles-probably explains this crushing defeat-and Torcuil’s accelerating bitterness 🙂
Well, Torcuemada, if it’s time to play the man and not the ball…
Torkers, why do you look like a JoLa genetic experiment gone wrong, the proud offspring of an unnatural union between Jeremy Beadle and Dexy’s Midnight Runners singer, Kev Rowland?
P.S. Put on a tie, ya hippy. Really, journalists these days, tsk tsk.
The heading said Torcuil was The Heart of Politics but it was more like The Sphincter of Politics.
Sometimes I wonder if these folk have a terrible skeleton in their cupboard, and are doing what they are told by the establishment.
Quite a few of these proud Scotbuts look as if they might be hiding some dark sectrets.
One day soon the bottom of the barrel is going to be scraped clean away. I shudder to think about what the UKOK BT mob will be scrabbling in amongst after that happens. Desperate stuff indeed.
how to make enemies by a poor journalist.
Chic McGregor says:
7 May, 2014 at 4:26 pm
And without the excuse of a straight-jacket.
No, Chic, but he needs one!
Torchil Crichton is nothing but a “wee turd” trying to make his name on the back of the independence referendum.. As let’s face it he is nothing but a ‘dyed in the wool’ type. Which is plainly obvious to all who read anything he writes.. A nothing before the #indyref and a nothing after the #indyref #Yesvote…. More #yes votes for the #Yesmovement
10 Things You Never Knew About the Labour Party:-
1. Big Gordon Broon LOVED rich bankers when he was chancellor
2. They gave you boom, bust & recession
3. The gap between rich & poor grew between 1997-2010
4. They gave you the worst state pension in Europe
5. They gave you the Iraq War
6. They will continue the Tories’ austerity
7. They think the council tax freeze is BAD
8. They think free prescriptions & no university tuition fees are SOMETHING FOR NOTHING – they think you should PAY for them
9. They will continue to spend billions on nuclear weapons
10. They promise ordinary Scots one thing, & another to English voters
gutter journo and nothing else.
his weight, really, classy man, classy.
we are getting a yes vote, deal with it.
“What a waste of the Gaelic.”
Not a very admirable usage of a surname either.
And to think BT’s David Torrance was complaining about the level of debate. Playground name-calling is all they have left, pathetic.
To be fair to Torcuil, it’s pretty much the standard expected of him. This probably ranks as one of his more intellectual pieces.
This isn’t journalism, it isn’t even playground stuff.
While I’m sure this appeals to the small number of rabid Alicsammon-haters out there, given the popularity ratings of SG and FM in particular, it really is spectacularly stupid.
I wouldn’t line a cat litter tray with it.
@ caz-m says: 4:15
and all the Labour apparatchiks of Irish extraction?
I haven’t a bamboo?
Two words explain this appalling crap. Torcuil Crichton. Talking of appalling crap…
I propose some therapy for Wingers as revenge… Who can get the best anagram from Torcuil Crichton It’s screaming out with some well deserved beauties!!
The best answer is the one he will be forever known as!
O/T but there is something not quite right about this: Article about the chief counting officer, a Mary Pitcaitley who says the referendum polling cards will be sent out on 14th and 15th August…..thought registration did not close till 2nd sept?
link to bbc.co.uk
there has been comment that this lady has been involved in some skulduggery. link to snp-falkirk.org…/falkirk-council-now. thoughts?
Anyway Torcuil must know that polls show his get Salmond, crush independence stuff is a waste of time. WoS PanelBase poll said even just 40% No voters actually trust dudes like Torcuil. They must think that monstering Salmond will put just enough people off Scottish democracy completely, but they can never let up though
link to wingsoverscotland.com
@ heedtracker 4:22 pm
“I heard BBC in Scotland execs have something so big on Alex Salmond”
I remember reading either here or on another site sometime in the last couple of months along the lines that they knew of a female that was with some BBC types at a West End pub/restaurant and they discussed that they had “something big ” on Alex Salmond. They were discussing the timing to release it, so as to deliver a severe blow to the YES campaign. The female left the group before the end of the discussion.
Anyone else recall this?
“What I did during the May Day holiday”
by Torcuil Crichton age 13 and a half
Toilet Christnaw wants to be a journalist when he grows up. This wont be any time soon.
The joke is on whoever actually employs Torcuil Crichton. Are his father and mother brother and sister by any chance? 🙂
@ Wingman 2020</b?
Anagrams – Coconut is in there. As is Chronic. As is Uncool.
The feeble brains who actually pay to read this rubbish are guilty by association.
@No no no…Yes, that’s probably where I got it. Just how bad can a BBC in Scotland exec get though, considering how they covered up even just the Saville horror for so long too.
link to telegraph.co.uk
For how long did this go on for, before even just this one BBC head honcho went to work for uncle Rupert in NY. NY?
OT, does anyone have a high resolution image of the sunday herald cover. Doing some decoration/stuff for RIC conference in Inverness this weekend and would be nice to have a decent image to work with.
And while we’re at it; Grow a proper beard, that looks like a Merkin on your face.— Oh wait.
Serious question – is ANYONE voting Yes because they like Salmond? It’s like they just can’t imagine a politics of principle instead of one of personalities.
By the way, my answer to “but I don’t like Alicsammin” is always “so you prefer Cameron, Clegg and Milliband? (I never mention Rennie and Lamont. I don’t want to embarrass the poor souls.)
@ No no no…Yes says:
7 May, 2014 at 5:25 pm
@ heedtracker 4:22 pm
“I heard BBC in Scotland execs have something so big on Alex Salmond”
If the Daily Mail had that, and they had a team on him for 6 weeks post the minority Government in 2007, they would have splashed a long time ago.
Unless it is a Zinovieff Letter.
@west_lothian_questioner says:
You will have discovered the SLAB/BT hideout and some other rodents. Fumigate, fumigate!
journalism.org/resources/principles-of-journalism/
Perhaps Torcuil Crichton, should have a read at the above.
Torcuil phone call to David Clegg. (DR political Ed).
“David, that Rev Stu has made me look a right idiot. Everyone on Wings is laughing at me, and they’ll tell everybody on the internet that am an utter tit”.
“Help me David!”
All CyberNats and Honest Brokers must boycott “Daily Record” and “Sunday Mail” immediately and forever!
Ruin them and their Daily Rag!
How is someones weight relevant to the independence debate?
I have said it before a.s.or the yes side will have to take these people to court and sue them for slander they keep on doing these smears and lies because they get of with it for goodness sake do something do not just stand and take from them no more mr.,nice guy fight back do not just wring your hands and complain deeds not words legal deeds of course vote ye
I don’t doubt that the intended audience lapped it up and will ask for seconds.
@ Bugger (the Panda) Just because I’m not paranoid doesn’t mean Crichton Torcuil/Torcuil Crichton hasn’t got really snazzy shoes.
Also check out what the wilting lilly that runs SKY says about ex BBC top dog, heart attack recovery Lord Patin of BBC coverup/lie/smear to get Salmond and save teamGB.
The author of a controversial inquiry into the handling of the Jimmy Savile scandal at the BBC has suggested that a former director-general lied when giving evidence, according to a tape recording.
Nick Pollard was asked by a journalist during a taped conversation if Mr Thompson’s “instinct” was to “lie” during questioning when he appeared before the inquiry. Mr Pollard replied: “Yes. Well… yeah, yeah.”
Earlier this week Lord Patten, the chairman of the BBC trust, warned Rob Wilson, the Tory MP who obtained the recording, that he risked legal action if he made it public. Mr Wilson instead passed the full recording to The Telegraph, which has today published it in full.
Mr Wilson, who described Lord Patten’s warning as “Soviet era” behaviour and a “chilling” threat, said: “This episode paints a worrying picture of the culture at the BBC. The corporation ignored the evidence and I received a letter from Lord Patten warning me of the legal consequences.
A Murdoch henchman scared of BBC power players? Strange days in teamGB
Don’t here it much said these day’s, but ‘gutter press’ comes to mind.
Blair paterson says
Blair, I would also LOVE to see that happen. However, can you imagine the field day the UK media inc BBC would have, with it? I can, but I do not want to!
Maybe after September, they could do it though, I would greatly hope it would hit them right in the pocket.
The function of the smearing – now into its second week – is to depress the SNP vote at the Euro elections. Exactly the same tactic that was used pre 2012 cooncil elections. Not sure how long they can keep this up mind because it must be boring the arses of their readers. Maybe it would easier and cheaper just to headline every article on the ‘politics’ bit of their paper with the slogan, ‘Alex Salmond is the devil’. In the meantime how about helping a local Yes team deliver a positive message about independence? We know you’re generous, Wings readers, and we would be grateful for your support.
link to indiegogo.com
Thanks, JPJ2 – that puts the attack in perspective. He’s just a spiteful wee Foley with a long memory.
Grr..autocorrect….TOLEY!!!!
I’m not by nature a violent person but if he’d said that about any of my family then he’d be partaking of the ‘discipline of the baseball bat’. What a deeply unpleasant little nonentity he is. I only hope that if there’s anyone with any integrity left in the Daily Record that they have a ‘few quiet words in his ear’
@Wingman 2020- The best I can do so far is ‘torch rich oil cunt’.
Crotch Lint Curio
Tin Chlorotic Cur
Rich Ruction Clot
Lurch Onto Critic
Rich Clonic Tutor
etc
etc
That’s using non sweary words.
After I had had a rant about that idiot Creighton, my daughter asked me “what if the is a yes vote”
I said he’ll be heading south in a fast car ,
she said “what if there is a no vote”
I said he had better get himself a faster car.
Point 4 is even more idiotic considering Campbell flew up to Aberdeen for the interview, and there probably wasn’t a flight back down south for at least that amount of time – and at least they both enjoyed each other’s company.
(It’s probably really because nobody can stand more than 10 minutes in Crichton’s company – see, we can be juvenile and nasty if we really wanted to)
Anagram : Cirrhotic Ol’ C*nt
Can’t help thinking he was one of the unpopular kids at school.
Anyway here’s my torcuilogram:
Color It Rich C**t.
I’ll let you fill in the blanks
It has all the look and feel of a schoolboy attempt at being a ‘proper’ journalist. It makes Hello’s style of Ten Things look high brow. Utter rubbish.
Its that word “secretly” that Crichton probably sees as his way to defeating Salmond, in that you can tack it to anything and not be sued for libel.
11. “Secretly, Torcuil wonder why he does look a lot like Peter Sutcliffe”
BtP says
“The Unadmirable Crichton”
Respec 😉
Hello Daily Record – HELLO – you talk about Salmond in ("Tractor" - Ed) language but then you go on to say you fear for the future of journalism. Do you really believe your character assassination of Salmond as “journalism”. No no what you have achieved is to show the people you are like the other clones that claim to be “newspapers”. Isn’t there a difference between the newspaper/journalists views and the right of the public to be informed. The article reads as if it was written by David Cameron himself. How can the Daily Record become a propaganda machine for Cameron and the Tories. The paper of my childhood has gone – it has traded its values and reputation on dealing propaganda for the Tories – having in mind what they will do to Journalism if they get back in you are backing the wrong horse.
More lame journalism – it’s bound to get worse as we get nearer to 18 September. Be prepared for the smear campaign – it’s a dead cert!
Messr Robertson, Carmichael etc all “being from the western isles”.
Feel, as someone who actually lives there, the need to point out that the above fact is not the western isles’ fault..
The article you refer to does appear to set an entirely new benchmark for Scottish journalism, though,,
Is torquil not at all bothered by the very wide exposure that the actual GQ piece has had, and the consequent and inevitable result of his record piece on his own credibility? I’m not a record reader, so am no judge of his work.
I don’t get it, though, this AS obsession. Honest. Unless it’s that old traditional/tribal thing that flares up too often in the Hoose. Seems such a waste of energy and time. Meanwhile, in the actual western isles, there’s a referendum coming up that we find quite a bit more interesting to discuss.
Separated at birth?
link to pml-nematode.org.uk
John King…. like your answer….
So after this character assassination of the First Minister by Crichton I guess this means every thing and every one is now fair game. So any *ahem* attack on anyone from the Bitter side can no longer be considered an attack by cybernats. 😉
On a wee O’T it would appear that NOBs have been complaining to the Hootsmon.
But it added in a statement: “There was also a huge burst of negative reaction from some section of the ‘Yes’ support. Perhaps we were being naive, but we did not expect such a virulent and nasty attack. In particular, there has been unfounded criticism levelled at us, whipped up by Nationalist websites.”
The poor wee darlings, I guess their mommy didn’t warn them that there were those nasty cybernats around. 😛
link to tinyurl.com
a good anagram for his name is (please forgive the language but it was the best I could do for him).
Cirrhotic Lo Cunt
Mainstream political journalists like Mr Crichton are angry because they see their “expertise” being challenged by internet commentators, most of whom are pro-independence, hence the mainstream media using any excuse to attack Mr Salmond and the Yes campaign.
“It’s journalism captain. But not as we know it.”
FFS, what age is this Torcuil clown? 12?
As for this business about supporting England, could somebody explain to me, why the First Minister is under an obligation to support the football team of another country?? Seriously, would Angela Merkel of Germany be told she MUST support France, or would the Dutch Prime Minister be told he MUST support Germany?? Of course not.
What is it with this apparently desperate need that English people have for Scots to support their sporting teams? Bit pathetic really. I have genuinely never understood it.
It’s a shame he doesn’t have a Freepost address
To be honest, I’m not in the least bit worried about personal attacks on Salmond or anyone else. And I doubt he is either. It’s a waste of a page in a newspaper that could be better filled even from a No campaign point of view.
God help Scottish journalism indeed, Rev.
Daily diet of lies, sloppy reporting, wilful falsehoods, propaganda, smears, unfair and imbalanced journalism – and that’s just the BBC!
No matter what happens after 18 September the relationship between the media and the people of Scotland has been battered harder than a fish supper.
We need to mend this relationship but with the MSM willing to sow such lies and harvest wilful disregard for the facts and UTTER contempt for the people of Scotland, we’ve got our work cut out.
@ wingman 2020 5:23 pm
Torcuil Crichton anagrams:
RICIN CULT COHORT
HRT UNCOOL CRITIC
(VNB) – It adds: “We know that the levels of abuse targeted at our site initially discouraged people from signing up. This is hardly democratic.”
Glad to be a reactionary.
I can not get a word out of the initials in his name but he is a fuckwit
OMG – the First Minister still carries some weight!
This just shows him to be entirely on message with the Red Tory Britnat patriots. This has been their tactic of late, having lost the arguments on currency, EU, Trident, pensions etc. Monster Salmond.
Mind you, in the fetid pond that is Scottish journalism, Crichton has always been a bottom feeder.
I simply refuse to join in with the abuse of this “journalist”
Not because it is not due to him, but because it feels like sinking to his level.
Personally i prefer the moral high ground
How many believed my last post for a second ?
PS…When i made my anagram name for him, i got this….unemployed on the 19th of september.
I have to say that a few of the posts here are a bit unworthy of the independence cause – the sort of abuse which we see from Crichton. Come on guys, maintain the moral high ground!
Crichton’s life has not turned out to be the success he through likely thirty years ago. He grew up with Brian Wilson’s and the West Highland Free Press’s excited anticipation of a socialist revolution (a British one,of course) in the Highlands and Islands, but that bandwagon never got rolling, and he never made it as a tyro politician. After a spell as a producer at BBC Scotland, it’s been one undistinguished hack job after another. Now in his fifties, he’s a disappointed man.
So far as England and the World Cup is concerned I am not in the slightest bit ashamed to say I am an ABE. I hope they get kicked out in the first round. Although there is a devil in me which suggests that the better they perform (fine chance)and the more that BBC and Scotsman puff them the more votes for YES will accrue.
Kind of thing fourth formers write on the toilet walls, isn’t it? “Sammund is a twerp as any fule kno.”
What a puerile little article. The writing’s pretty pathetic, too.
Agree about the ABE standpoint.
They are our biggest international rivals, why on earth would i want them to win ?
How many england fans support Scotland publicly
Disgraceful stuff! However, what will the net effect be? It’s disgusting journalism and surely even a lot of DAily Record reading No supporters will see how infantile it is. Is this their best sales pitch for their Union?
Net effect … More don’t knows and Nos converted to Yes!
Crichton on Radio 4 now!
Torcuil, you have greatly shamed you heritage. Where can you hide?
Re ‘something big on AS’ – even if they haven’t, I expect they will release some torrid tale a week or so before the referendum since there wouldn’t be enough time to refute it.
AS learned his trade at WM, so he will have no illusions about how corrupt they are.
I presume he will have a contingency plan in place if anything is said.
My brother is a Yes voter but does not bother reading up on much – he gets the DR and he said if AS stepped down the Yes vote would go up.
I told him that was rubbish, they are scared of AS and would love him to step down – that’s the sort of crap that seeps into DR readers without them even realising it.
I’m afraid nothing should surprise, in this article. Torquil Crichton learnt his journalism at the West Highland Free Press, a former champion of land rights,now a bitter Labour-supporting rag once run by Brian “Rabid and Frothing” Wilson. His brother was a failed Labour candidate for the Western Isles and he spent at least part of the day of the opening of the Scottish Parliament in Deacon Brodie’s with Alasdair Morrison, the then Labour MSP. He’s a plastic lefty and plastic Labour through and through.
Surely that’s a Daily Mail piece, no?
9. is a belter – in Torcuil’s world the only thing to be picked out of that hour in Bruges was an ’empty threat’ on banning eu fishing boats from Scotland’s Territorial waters. Alex Salmond said more of substance in that speech than I would expect Torcuil Crichton has managed in his life if this piece is anything to go by.
I saw no harm in our First Minister stating the bleedin obvious, following the kind of pro-European speech no other politician in the UK would be able to make, to remind Europe that Scotland being excluded from the EU would have consequences. It seemed self evident to me, but well worth stating.
As for comment on the First Minister’s weight, truly pathetic. I mean, if you have to resort to schoolboy insults you might as well give up and just troll on Scotsman comments. There is something sad about this level of gutter journalism – I feel embarrassed for him.
Torpid Shiteon?
They’re desperate. Based on canvassing in a pretty strongly unionist area, even most No voters have already moved well beyond the “i dinnae like alicsammin” argument and want to talk about the issues. Sad little piece, this.
Jeez, that’s grim and that’s saying something in today’s tabloid market.
Bottom feeder journalism.
BBC Scotlandshire keeping us right on that fckn Alicshammin
link to bbc.scotlandshire.co.uk
The Record was a fine newspaper in ’78, but it’s still playing them, a bit scratchy by now though, and the dog has lost its bark.
Woof.
No surprise then that DR sales are ever dwindling and most Scots now consider it something of a comic. That any serious editor can allow the publication of such a piece is an affront to democracy and basic human decency.
@ a supporter – I’ve still got my Trinidad and Tobago T-shirt, which team do we support this time?
Interesting number 2, in view of the Sunday Herald’s stance I wonder if the Record journos know something we don’t about the Sun’s intentions?
Torcuil did a ‘Social Science’ Degree at Glasgow (probably because the ‘Domestic Science’ course was full.) His Bioraphy, unlike the Vast Majority of ‘Journalists’ who are only to keen to sell themselves, is hidden inside a ‘Linkedin’ Account, but I was able to garner this much:
‘Writing Co-writer, with Mairi Kidd: 2005 – “One Night in Heaven”, one-act Gaelic play for Edinburgh Festival. 2008 – “Eilbhis/Elvis, “one hour tv drama for BBC Alba launch, Bafta nominated 2008 – “Broadford or Bust”- 30 min sitcom pilot for BBC Alba. 2010 – “Fo-Bhruid” – Gaelic teenage novel, RL Stevenson’s Kidnapped rewritten for the Age of Terror.’
So, Ludlum and David Baldacci are safe!
I mean really, why are we bothering? This Guy got his Politics from some ‘Wee Free Meenister’ in one of the Far Flung Islands where you need a special dispensation to Breathe on a Sunday, his writing is the Childish Mewling of a Children’s Playground argument and is deserving of as much notice. He has also Written for the Sunday Herald??? Well that’s one Gig gone, and the Record did not print this Piece of Rubbish on it’s Website, meaning only the Few left who buy the Hard Copy, actually read it!
However, by Publishing it at all, The Record has done itself great Harm! Most of it’s readers will wonder what on Earth is going on, and his Tatty wee Sidebar trying to Link Mr. Salmond to the continuing Troubles in Northern Ireland, betrays only where this man’s raison de etre really derives. He is a died in the Wool Unionist lost in the religion of Hatred he supped with his Mother’s Milk!
Not a serious Person!!!
You would have to be thick as shite to believe any part of that article, its just a cheap piece of dross produced by a cheap piece of dross for a cheap piece of dross.
How anybody could call the Daily Record a newspaper is beyond me, more like something to put cheap-ink on your erse.
@Charles Kearney
But apart from all that Torcuil is OK?
Aren’t the Crichtons Wee Frees?
That’s all they’ve got.. pathetic.
Any columnist who has to fill page real estate with a full length picture of themselves really has sod all to say really.
Thankfully I’ve never seen anyone read a DR from cover to cover.Most buy it turn to the sport pages and then when they’re finished them use it to light the fire or bin it.
This is probably the largest amount of readers Crichtons had,and they’re all on here.
Says more about Tortured Crichton than anything else, supposed to be the DR man in Westminster, doesn’t look like it anymore. His beloved Labour are failing everywhere as a result of poor leadership north and south of the border. Left to write filler rubbish that would struggle to make the pages of a comic. Taxi for Crichton!
Simple solution, don’t buy the crap, buy the Herald and let them know. Sunday herald’s circulation went up by 30% after backing yes.
dadsarmy
Nipper has a biography. Not a bad achievement for a dog that died in the 19th century. I wonder if the memory of TC will be as enduring? 🙂
Luke 6.31 “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.
No 5 he has quotes are a ‘nation of drunks’. Who is he quoting? The Independent?
Lesley-Anne says:
On a wee O’T it would appear that NOBs have been complaining to the Hootsmon.
Did you see further down the page – the piece by Leanne Wood from Plaid Cymrie – good stuff and relevant;
BUT did you see the comments below it – holy crap do these people hate us and anybody who is not in spitting distance from the Thames
Reminds me why I don’t bother buying a newspaper anymore!
Well we have had quite a few Labour drunks over the years.
Lord Foulkes, Lord Watson, Eric Joyce, Alistair Darling, etc
He’s just a non-event. A puppet who’s indicative of a terrified British state. The punters who buy The Record do so for the football.
I remember this shoite that CT wrote over two years ago on Labour Hame.
He had a fixation on AS then. He acts almost like some deranged psycho, definitely a fruit loop.
Mebee he can’t help it, after all he does a lot of talking to himself. No comments.
Sorry mispell… TC
Given that the Brit tabloid press and no doubt MI5 too will have been trying to get ‘dirt’ on Salmond for a decade or more, this sorry list actually seems to show that Salmond is the one of the cleanest politicians around.
Torcuil is one lonely guy.
English might call him Billy No Mates.
1) He admitted to admiring SOME things about Vladimir Putin. He also QUALIFIED the statement by pointing out that he had been severely underestimated by the West and the MSM…total fact. Remember that Pres. Putin inherited what can only be called a MESS. After the fall of the USSR, for several years, the country was in ruins. Government employees didn’t get paid for weeks at a time, and there was much unrest. The former KGB boss managed to get that under control. Let’s be honest here; you don’t do that by playing “nicey, nicey”, but he got things done. (Yes, I know there is still a lot of unrest, but he has managed to get a degree of order back, and the Russian Federation’s economy isn’t in the sewer any more.) Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want to come up against him, but unlike “Dave” I haven’t been coorying up to him and asking him for help in INTERNAL matters…funny how nobody ever mentions that.
2)Love him or loathe him, you cannot describe Rupert Murdcoh as “unremarkable”. He is good at what he does. BTW, he also EMPLOYS a lot of people, and his companies pay a lot of tax. It is the First Minister’s JOB to attract these people to Scotland and get them to invest. Investment creates more jobs, and gets money moving in the economy, as people spend.
Oh yeah…BBC..national institution and all that. How about IMPARTIAL for starters instead of just the state mouthpiece of the Westminster Government? They continually underplay the level of support for independence, including quoting only about a quarter of the numbers at last year’s march and rally, even when corrected, and even showing obviously faked up footage. (Anyone remember the “natural looking” BT “march of the public” to collect their BT leaflets on the day of the big march and rally?)
3) Alex Salmond is THIN SKINNED???!?!?!? FFS!!! BT and Westminster have focussed almost their entire energies (those not devoted to Project Fear) on demonising our First Minister, and trying to make the debate about him and the SNP. He has been likened to Hitler, Mugabe, Pol Pot, and Kim Jong Il. He has not risen to the bait. He has had people making really nasty comments about his father, and STILL he has not risen…
4) Well, I didn’t know THAT about “Salmond”; he takes two hour lunch breaks. By crackey, who cares about MPs expenses when we have charlatans like this taking two hour lunch breaks?!?!? That’s it; I am voting “NO”!!!
5) He claimed Scotland was “a nation of drunks”??? News to me. I see it as repeating an international stereotype most often promulgated on English media of the drunken tight fisted Scotsman. Maybe, just maybe, he was being facetious, but his comment was a bit too subtle for the MSM morons of the red tops??
6) One could say that it is admirable the way Farage continually effuses belief in himself and his party, and even when he came to Scotland still maintains that his party has the right way forward, and in theory at least, he has the best interests of the country at heart. He is also a balloon, and parties are more fun with balloons…
7) If you watch international news programs and read the papers, they almost all report the indy debate totally differently from the British MSM, and neutral, “respected” BBC. Russia is not alone in this. Maybe they report it differently as they do not have a vested interest, or maybe it’s just that Alex is a commie? (With a name like ALex?? HMMMMM)
8) Really…this is the best you can do with “TEN things you didn’t know about Salmond” – He likes long lunches and is overweight??? This is relevant HOW???
9) In what way is the foreign policy a quagmire? He wishes to remain on good terms with other countries and build trade links. The fisheries “threat” was raised as a point about the EU not wanting to reject a “new” country with the largest fisheries.
10) “Secretly he’s ‘anyone but England'”…well GASP!!! WHO CARES IF THE SCOTTISH PREMIER DOESN’T SUPPORT THE ENGLISH FOOTBALL TEAM????!?!?!?!
Things you didn’t know about Torcuil Crichton:
1. His brother stood for Labour in the Western Isles. Torcuil on his turgidly boring whitehall1212 blog eulogised about what a great MP he will make when he’s elected. Shame the SNP got there first and took 65% of the vote.
Bonus extra:
Torcuil never publishes reader comments on his blog, except on the very rare occasion they are complimentary and or sycophantic.
@George Bowie
“Sunday Herald’s circulation up by 30% after backing YES”.
Great news about Sunday Herald sales increase. Keeps them keen.
I’ve registered with Sunday Herald online.
If Sunday Herald continues fair balanced reporting,
I’ll stay with them!
Its a personal thing but I always think brown shoes and a suit are spivvy.Never trust a man in brown shoes who’s is Torquil! This guy hates Salmond and I mean really hates him.He knows though that his party is pro nuclear and the SNP are anti nuclear,Lamont wants an end to free benefits and education,the SNP are the opposite,SNP want more immigrants from Europe and elsewhere.Does this sound like UKIP? The point about supporting England is frankly ridiculous.We don’t have a British football team,Salmond isn’t English so why would he care about how they do.Torquil might flip between nationalities at the drop of a hat but others actually think Scotland is a real nationality.Its not bigoted to not support England if you are Scottish!Its bigoted to force someone to think as you do or expect someone to invent interest in a country playing a game which is not your nation.He might just as well call anyone narrow minded who doesn’t support Eire.Be interesting to see how many Brit Bats in Scotland would support Eire if they were the only local country who qualified!
So, either no-one got the literary reference or you’re just politely ignoring it. 🙂 I hope, the latter.
ob Torcuil Crichton anag.
No to critic churl
Really Disgusting how low these so called journalists can go.
Are there any with balls who will stand up for Scotland or have they all been emasculated by the Hootsmon, the HateMail and the daily retard?
PS
or, cheating by adding a hyphen
Truth – colonic it
Mmm, “Croc Toilit churn”.
I had a very interesting chat today with a young lady who is doing polling for Ipsos Mori and is presently engaged in a detailed one door to door on the referendum. She is being surprised by the volume of YES responses she is getting in areas where she expected poor YES returns.
Interestingly on Mull she found the English residents in higher proportion for YES than the Scottish ones. She is a pains to point out however that these are only local spot canvasses however and not comprehensive of the communities she has visited.
There was an earlier comment about the Gaels,which is hopefully not true or representative of most,however being of Gaelic descendants on both side of my family.I have to say there is sometimes Nowt as queer as folk,(Yorkshire quotation )Flora McDonald ended up fighting for the Brittish oppressors in the Americas where she received sanctuary.Strange! And sad.
10 things you probably already know about Torquil Crighton..
1. He is a piss poor excuse for a journalist.
2. He works for a newspaper that supports a reactionary right-wing party.
3. He is an acolyte of Brian Wilson, a failed journalist and politician.
4. He pretends to be a Gael, but has a middle class Morningside tory name.
5. He will be on the losing side on September 19th.
6. He’s an arse.
7. He tells lies.
8. He thinks principles are heid bummers in posh schools.
9. He will be unemployed in an Independent Scotland.
10. He is not fit to be used to wipe Stuart Campbell’s arse.
Just in from work, hope I’m not to late with my anagram entry:
Citron crutch oil.
Stings a bit, I’ll bet… 😉
Chrichton said some very unpleasant things about the SNP, a few years ago on a blog he ran then. They would have put the worst commentator to shame. I am sorry I didn’t hang onto them for evidence.
Why has he taken to posing in the ‘paper he writes for? It looks like narcissism.
Well gosh.
I’m surprised he didn’t accuse Salmond of smelling of wee.
I’m going to coin a new phrase (or word anyway.)
I think Torcuil was aiming for satire but achieved ‘shatire’.
Basically, the article was ‘shat’ out and its full of (undisguised infantile) ire. Its like satire, but it just totally missed the mark, so to speak.
My Facebook/get a room concatenation* didn’t take on, I don’t expect this will either. One day though… One day…
* When people are flirting on facebook, they’re told to get a ‘froom’. HA HA HA ha ummm… Maybe not.
I’m amused at Chrichton’s ‘The Heart of Politics’, actualy Chrichton is more like the sphincter of politics
Sad to read that this piece of muck wasn’t written by a petulant six year old but by a man in his 50s whose glittering media career has brought him to… The Daily Record. It’s not exactly the David Aaronovitch route to Canonbury or Hampstead dinner parties with the dear and lovely of London Labour. More likely a bag of chips with Mags Curran and Johan Lamont just off Argyle Street. That’s glittering.
what the f* did I just read?
My attempt at answering the Daily Record’s points:
1. This has nothing to do with nationalism. It’s a simple
fact of international politics: don’t insult other
leaders or you risk escalating tensions.
2. Any deal is NOT worth it. No Murdoch paper has come
out in favour of independence, so how can he claim this?
3. Just googled and the Sunday Post is still running
stories about Salmond, even including his picture!
4. He was aksed for an interview. GQ make money from his
interview. It was only right they at least take him to
lunch
5.Admittedly, that could have been phrased better! But we
do have a problem with alcohol and, as Salmond also
stated, our problem is the worst in Europe. Not the best
phrase to use but maybe the shock will sober people up.
6. Comparison with Nigel Farage is silly. Farage wants to
stop the world and take the UK off it. Salmond wants
Scotland to join the world. A big difference.
7. I don’t know about that but Salmond has no control
over any television station anywhere on the planet. Given
the other points are mostly nonsense, I guess this one is
too.
8. What is his weight got to do with anything? Not his
fault if he was asked that question in the interview. And
good that he sees being overweight a health issue and is
actively trying to do something about it.
9. More nonsense. If an Independent Scotland is denied
entry to the EU, then all EU treaties that currently
apply to Scotland (via the UK membership of EU) become
“null and void.” Thus, EU vessels will not have any right
to fish in an independent Scotland’s waters. That’s not a
threat, simply pointing out all contracts are broken if
Scotland is kicked out the EU!
10. What has sport got to do with it? Plus, why should he
wish another country to win? Why not wish Wales to win or
Northern Ireland to win? Why is England always pushed in
there as if it’s the only country that matters? Why
should Salmond be punished for not having an
English-centric view of the world?
No other country’s leaders are so punished.
Going down in flames.
Desperately writing poison like this, while Alex Salmond is now being cheered in the streets.
Tick tock, tick tock for 15 more days.