Crayons out again
Posted on
January 06, 2013 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Inspired by Iain Macwhirter’s words in the Herald today, we knocked something up.
Click for full-size high-resolution image. Kids/teetotallers version below.
(Ballot box by Graham Hughes.)
Also available: ned edition.
Clever Rev. Eye catching, simple. To the point. It’s a winner!
It is ashame that Ian McWhirter didn’t name that comedian! I’ sure it will emerge sometime soon.
Bruce Devlin, says someone on Twitter. (NOTE TO LORD McALPINE: I HAVE NOT VERIFIED THIS FACT.)
He seems hilarious.
Wish I could afford to put this on a few billboards.
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Saying that Scots are incapable of running their own country is racism, and a hate crime.
Is there a way to include images in a post? I tried dragging and dropping and it appeared in the draft but wasn’t posted to the blog.
I think the only way is to have the pic uploaded somewhere and use the <img> tag.
Here’s a test:
To do it, enter a line like this, except with the [] brackets replaced by <> ones.
[img src=”http://address.something.com/yespic.jpg”/]
Hmm, actually that doesn’t seem to work in the user comment box. I don’t really like embedded pics (or YouTube videos) anyway, as if they’re too big they screw up the formatting. Just post a link. If it really needs to be embedded for some reason, I can do it in admin.
Here’s a link, then:
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A few random thoughts, maybe slightly o/t, but I’ve often thought it’d be a good idea if we could print up some leaflets (say 10,000 for example), get them delivered and track the traffic coming into the specific webpages which would show if it was worth repeating the exercise over other postal code areas. Maybe use a 4-sided A5 booklet that’d contain some myth-busting stuff with addresses for the full articles, e.g. the stuff about the BBC funding on this site from the other week.
Maybe that should all be done under the Yes Scotland banner but I’m a bit frustrated with them and don’t really see where that’s going. Then again is it better that the public see that there’s more than just Yes Scotland involved?Â
I’d happily chip in for that.
“Here’s a link, then:”
Hmm. It didn’t like that when I tried, possibly due to the “s” in the “https” of the Dropbox address. Something like Twitpic or Tinypic is probably a better bet.
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@Dave
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I think YES Scotland are simply biding their time. There is still 20 months to go, they don’t need to ‘fire’ their bullets just yet. Without being too unkind, I think most people will have what trainers refer to as the ‘recency’ effect. that is, they will retain the idea that they last had, especially in such a long campaign. It will do none of us any good to have a major effort now, as the intervening 18 months would dilute the message and allow tonnes of misinformation by the MSM/BBC Scotland unionist mouthpieces.Â
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It can be frustrating, I know – I have expressed this myself – but I DO see the plan. Keep the faith!
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Hail Alba
Hi Stu,
A happynew year to you and all your readers.
Any chance of your thoughts or your ‘odds’ on a Labour MSP jumping ship before the end of this month. I know there must be a few. Who will be the brave one to make history and lead the way.Â
“Any chance of your thoughts or your ‘odds’ on a Labour MSP jumping ship before the end of this month.”
I’d say the odds on that at this particular stage were very long indeed. Perhaps when Lamont’s cuts commission has delivered its verdict things might get interesting, though.
I occasionally wonder if ‘Labour for Independence’ represents a genuine political opinion, or is just a ‘stay behind’ operation in case the Unionists lose the referendum.
@Aplinal
I too have been hoping the Yes Campaign is playing the long game but, you know, McWhirter’s piece did touch on a very important factor – confidence. I find it hard to believe a late push (a la SNP in 2011) can deliver such a momentous decision as ending the union. I think the foundations for that really do need to be laid now. If we’re confident in our arguments then we can’t plan a campaign around denying the No camp too much time to counter them. If the other mob really don’t have anything to offer – and they don’t – then let’s get in amongst them now – why wait? Is a person not more likely to vote yes having listened to the thick end of two year’s worth of positive, confident, assertive arguments for independence rather than just some effective campaigning in the previous few weeks?
The long game is the only one in town.Â
 Itc’s worth considering that people tend to gravitate towards information which supports rather than challenges their position. People read the newspaper which agrees with their beliefs and biases. Most of us probably spend more time reading pro-independence material rather than anti. This is a danger with the long game – once someone takes a position, they’ll tend to seek out and absorb the information to back up that position. Better to get people on board while they’re swaying than trying to move the entrenched at the last minute.
I agree with Aplinal, its all about building momentum slowly but surely. Knock down the three pillars first and foremost – too wee, too poor, too stupid. Build peoples confidence in the competence of their government, show them the increasing realised potential of our resources, give them examples of Holyrood forged policies making a positive difference in the face of Westminster party objections. Last but by no means least, the finishing touch, a whitepaper blueprint of the future of an independent Scotland.
With only twelve months left by that point the opposition won’t know which way to turn. Do they attack the principle of independence set out by the YES campaign, attack the future government policy of the SNP Scottish government or actually form a positive future vision themselves? I’d be delighted if they tried to juggle all three, but the good money is on an all out dirty campaign aimed at the SG. Let’s face it the rainbow no alliance can’t stand to be in the same room together, far less agree on a future positive vision for Scotland. Arguing against the principle of independence? Good luck with that. That leaves continuing along their current chosen path of smear and scare, which even by this point already is boring the crap out of people and seriously pissing them off.
Nope, slow and steady, give them multiple targets and problems to deal with. Most importantly keep it clean, steady and reasonable from our perspective.
Tortoise not hare.Â
I don’t think a Labour MSP would resign at this stage. I reckon discontent usually begins at a lower level, particularly if it is with a leader, or a leadership. Remember when Thatcher was first challenged for the Conservative Party leadership a so-called ‘stalking horse’ was deployed to test the waters, and see how much opposition there was to the old cow…When she did not get enough support then everyone knew she was a goner. In the case of Scottish Labour I doubt if any of their present MSPs have the stomach to try and oust Lamont.  Therefore, a rebellion would most likely come from the grassroots members, and perhaps some councillors (although obviously not from the likes of Terry Kelly!). 😀  I always thought somebody like Malcolm Chisholm would have resigned by now. However, it looks like that is not going to happen. I would imagine he his privately horrified at Lamont’s leadership though.Â
@Freddie Threepwood
You make a really good point about the 2011 elections and the referendum. The SNP did come back in the 2011 elections to get a majority. The problem in citing this as an example of what could happen in the referendum is the completely different contexts involved. The 2011 elections were for a devolved admin or government, the referendum is about the nation’s poilitcal future. Assuming that the Yes campaign could achieve a similar turnabout in fortunes is potentially dangerous. The importance of the referendum on independence is well known and understood.
With Labour for Independence getting firmly established a Labour MSP doesn’t need to resign from the party to make their support for Independence clear, all they have to do is declare themselves in support of LfI from within the party. I would love to see the reaction from Ms Lamont and co. when this eventually happens-as surely it is bound to. The cat will be well and truly amongst the labour pigeons then and it will be fun to watch- do they withdraw the whip, expel from the party- the final stage of the meltdown of Labour will have begun
Good point Fiona.
@Fiona
Would a Labour MSP not just stay quiet if he/she supported independence? They would save themselves a lot of aggro…
“Would a Labour MSP not just stay quiet if he/she supported independence?”
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Maybe I’m unfairly cynical, but I think Labour MPs support only one thing: their own private best interests. If a point arrives when it seems that the most likely way of hanging on to the salary and the expense account is to jump to the SNP or declare support for independence then they will immediately do that, and assure us that that was their view all along. Remember how the ‘gang of four’ invented the Social Democrats, and how many Labour MPs jumped ship to them when it seemed inevitable that they would form the next government? An informative exception was George Robertson, as he apparently feared he would lose his Hamilton seat to the SNP. Principles? Wouldn’t know them if they found them in their soup. Do we really want more George Kerevans?
@Mutley
A lot of people will be staying quiet just now to stop aggro I’m quite sure. As the time ticks by to the referendum though folk will no longer be able to stay quiet as I’m sure that they will be expected by constituents, readers- in the case of the media to declare one way or another. In the case of those supporting independence they will feel that they have to speak out eventually.
The added complication for Labour representatives is the fight for the future of the party. People like Malcolm Chisholm, who surely do not feel comfortable with the direction the leadership are taking the party, and will feel more at home with the LfI ideas, may feel compelled to declare their support for LfI. If Ms Lamonts commission into universal benefits comes out with some fairly right of centre views- as I’m sure it will then some traditional Labour folk may feel the only option they have to remain true to their political values is to declare support for LfI. Once the first few do this then we may see a bit of a surge for a while, but I don’t expect any of this to happen before we are within a year of the referendum.
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@Vronsky
Do you think that all Labour elected representatives are only interested in their own private interests? Is that not a very difficult thing to say, as you would have to know all of them? Also, what have you against George Kerevan? I don’t know much about him, only that he writes for the Scotsman and supports the SNP.
@Fiona
Yes, that is very possible. I honestly can’t imagine many liking this very obvious shift to the right. I am still not convinced that the likes of Malcolm Chisholm supports, or would support, independence. On the other hand, only the likes of Murphy, Curran, Baillie, McMahon, Alexander etc will support come what may the line from Millibank and John Smith House.Â
@Mutley
I suppose it depends on how deeply they support a more socially just society. If that is what they want above all else then I don’t see they have any option but to support Independence as a means of securing this. If not then they are happy to see these ideals lost in the Westminster dust forever as the Tories and Labour chase themselves in ever decreasing circles to the right- it is downward spiral that only Independence can save us from- we know it and I’m sure in their hearts they must know it too.
Hey Rev, think about a couple of senior Scottish MPs,  who have no Ernine in sight,  and who could portray  crossing the floor as  “taking the high road” for Scotland and voting  YES FOR SCOTLAND in the referendum !   I would nominate M. Moore, our rather powerless Secretary of State, and  C. Kennedy,  the most northernly sited and likable, non-conformist in the U.K. Parliament.  Think of the money we will save every day by not having to pay out £300 a day for them to just turn up at the “House of Lords” and all these Labour and the few LibDems MPs who have to collect their P45s – thats’ a few million more, eh ?   Plus the 20 billion a year on the Nuclear Submarines and WMD that they are forcing us to help pay for. Â
Any other nominations, guys ?
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I think the whole point of Labour For Indy is that they are still IN the Labour Party – they’re staying there to fight. The fact that Johann Lamont is dragging the party rightward is making their job easier, but it wasn’t necessary for them to exist.
However, I don’t think, in the event of independence, Labour MSPs can suddenly emerge to ‘lead’ Labour for Indy activists and expect them to follow – like ‘non-Thatcher’ Tories did in the 1990s – pretending they were fighting behind the scenes. Â
I have time for Malcolm Chisholm – the worst thing I know about him is that he’s in the Labour Party! And people have many different motivations for staying in a political party – not all of them are ideological.  Â
O/T Newsnet have an interesting item on Nicola setting up a committee to look at how the social injustices being perpetrated by the tories can be corrected on achieving independence. It’s this sort of perpetration, given some publicity, which will drive tha YES movement forward and  help sway a lot of undecideds!
If you read Ian Smart’s first entry in his blog it is a list of the ten reasons Labour lost the last Scottish election. It is a sane and balanced analysis and at point ten he lets it be known that with the Labour Party, the party comes before the country. Â
I doubt any Labour politician in Scotland will cross the floor to join the SNP. However, I do think a lifeline has been thrown in the form of the new ‘independent’ group – the Greens and the ex SNP.
Posters – I like them. But the Irn Bru is more appropriate for jakeys (a sugar rush). Youngsters, school and university, in my experience are more vodka and cheap cider. For teetotallers and older fogeys like me, perhaps just a bottle of milk and a tea-cup!
YesScotland.net – I’ve criticised it, but on reflection I have to hope it’s just for the phase of the campaign where they’re concentrating on already decided voters, to join the campaign, buy a teashirt, twibbon (yeeuch but no have one too), and donate. They WILL have to change their website almost completely in the last 12 months of the campaign. Their logo’s rubbish, sorry to be so negative. It’s not clear, and it’s nothing special either. I’m not sure about “Yes Scotland” either as a slogan.
MSPs jumping ship. It won’t be just one, it’ll be 2 or more to keep each other company. I also doubt it’ll happen this year, unless therer’s a mass desertion to Lab for Indy, or SLab decides to back Independence, making a YES certain, and therefore allowing them to claim credit for it – and hope for re-election in 2016. They’ll be watching polls closely and the background trends.
Rev,
Your giant blue ‘Yes’.
That’s all you need on a Giant Billboard. Plaster this one word, and nothing else, and place it on Billboards around the nation.
Subconciously, the message will seep in to folks minds.