Dumbing doon
Now, let’s get something straight right from the start: the headline on this feature ISN’T referring to the people pictured below. We’re sure they’re fine, lovely, good and honest Scottish folk you’d be happy having live next door to you, who just happen to disagree with us on a particular political issue. Nothing wrong with that.
But the “Better Together” campaign’s launch video appears to have gone out of its way to make them appear to be simple-witted idiots, in order to try to disguise the utter hollowness of its argument.
Around 25 of what the No camp describes as “real Scots” (as opposed to what? Are we saying that if you make a success of a career and become moderately well-known, you’re no longer a “real” Scot? Must Scots be either anonymous or failures?) appear in the four-minute clip, several of them more than once. But the remarkable thing is that even with such a wide cross-section of the Scottish populace, from Inverness to Dumfries, the film can’t manage to produce a single argument against independence.
Every single speaker recites a couple of sentences about how great Scotland is, but not a word about why the Union is either responsible or required for that. (A very few make vague assertions about it being good for Scotland, but none offer any reasons.) It’s an entirely content-free document that would only need about 10 seconds chopped out for it to be equally at home on the YesScotland site – were the YesScotland site adopting a tacky, emotional and vacuous approach to trying to sell its vision, that is.
Don’t listen to us, though – let us take you through the entire four minutes, transcribing every single word spoken by the participants and seeing how they can enlighten us as to the (no doubt positive) case for the Union.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER:
“I love loads of things about Scotland. I love the music, I love the culture, I love… the opportunities that you can have.”
As far as we’re aware, music, culture and opportunities will not be outlawed in an independent Scotland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER:
“I’m proud to be Scottish, it’s where I was born and it’s what I’ve been my whole life and it’s not going to change.”
Um, yes, that’s correct. If Scotland becomes independent, all current Scottish people will remain Scottish.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER:
“Alexander Graham Bell, Fleming who invented penicillin, John Logie Baird, Andy Murray.”
What about them?
JOHN, RETIRED BRIGADIER, OBAN:
No idea. We assume it’s Gaelic.
Gaelic will not be banned in an independent Scotland.
LISA, MEDIA WORKER, EDINBURGH:
“I love the scenery, I love how green it is, I like the people.”
We’re reasonably certain independence will not cause the scenery to change colour.
JOSEPH, RETIRED, INVERNESS
“There’s nothing really in any part of the world which is better than actually you can find in Scotland itself. We have it all.”
Um, okay.
ANNI, PRINCIPAL, INVERNESS:
“There’s space, there’s beauty of scenery, friendly people, lots of opportunities for business.”
Which for some reason will all vanish if we elect our own government?
RACHEL, TEACHER, FIFE:
“I would say I’m definitely proud to be Scottish AND proud to be British. In thinking, eh, Scotland would definitely have the best of both worlds.”
Well, you’ve certainly made a convincing case for the Union there, Rachel.
STEPHANIE, OSTEOPATH, WISHAW:
“I’m very patriotic, and it’s because I’m patriotic that I don’t want independence.”
Sorry? So independence is actually UN-patriotic, and therefore presumably anti-Scottish? (In fairness, Stephanie doesn’t actually say what country she’s patriotic about. Maybe it’s Latvia or something.)
REBECCA, HOSPITALITY, GLASGOW:
“I know Scottish poems, I know Scottish songs, I go to Burns suppers, I like tartan… you know, what makes me not patriotic just because I don’t want independence? You know, we’re not in Braveheart, you know, there’s a lot of other things going on.”
Scottish poems and songs, Burns suppers and tartan will continue to exist in an independent Scotland. We might even hazard a guess that there could be more of them. Braveheart was an American film, shot in Ireland, directed by and starring an Australian, and was released 17 years ago. Don’t get us wrong, we’re glad you’ve noticed “other things going on” since 1995, but we’re not quite sure how it constitutes an argument for the Union.
LYNSEY, MOTHER/PART-TIME WORKER, CLYDEBANK:
“We’ve got one of the best education systems in the world at the moment and I wouldn’t want that to change.”
Scotland’s education system is already independent, Lynsey. It always has been. We’re glad that you think having it entirely controlled in Scotland by the Scottish people is a good thing. Not so sure why you think having everything else in Scotland also controlled by the Scottish people would be bad.
TAMMY, MOTHER, DUMFRIES:
“We’re guaranteed our schools, we’re guaranteed our hospital care.”
Scotland’s hospitals, like its schools, are already independent and under the control of the Scottish Parliament. (Whereas health and education in the rest of the UK are being increasingly privately financed, with disastrous consequences.) We’re glad you appreciate them, but again are rather confused as to why you think it would be bad for us to also handle the rest of our own affairs.
JIM, BALMORAL GROUP, ABERDEEN:
“Aberdeen will always be a very busy place, but only busy, continue being busy, doing well, if we’re part of the Union.”
So let’s get this straight – Aberdeen, hub city of the oil industry, would wither and die if Scotland controlled all of its own oil revenues? That’s a rather counter-intuitive proposition for a businessman to be advancing, wouldn’t you say?
JOHN, RETIRED BRIGADIER, OBAN (again):
“Four nations, we all pull together extremely well.”
In which specific ways?
JOHN, RETIRED/EX-ARMY, GLASGOW:
“English, Welsh, Irish, the Air Force and the Scottish regiments I was in, they were all one.”
The whole of England, Wales, Ireland and the Scottish regiments are in the Air Force? That’s one hell of a big air force. But churlish pedantry aside, what’s your point?
TANYA, SHIPYARD WORKER, DUMBARTON:
“I think together we’re much stronger, we’re a family unit, you can support each other a lot better.”
We see. Who are the parents and who are the children in the UK “family unit”, then?
CRAIG, SHIPYARD WORKER, DUMBARTON:
“See it as like a brother and sister, might not agree on a lot of things, might have fall-outs, but at the end of the day we still get back together and, eh, which makes United Kingdom as it is today.”
You look around 50, Craig. Should we assume you live with your sister, and let her control your finances and relationships?
KARAN, STUDENT, GLASGOW:
“Scotland’s the football banter that you get around here, it’s the rivalries of the Old Firm, the friendliness of everyone around here.”
Ah yes, that famous friendly Old Firm rivalry. We’ve got a little bit of bad news for you on that front. But as far as we know an independent Scotland would still have football, banter, rivalries and friendliness.
RORY, WEB DESIGNER, INVERNESS:
“As a Scottish rugby fan I like to see the English getting stuffed as much as the next Scotsman, but I think we have more a shared history and shared culture over the last few hundred years than separates us.”
It’s unlikely that the history of the British Isles will be wiped from the record books in the event of Scottish independence. As inhabitants of the same small group of islands, we will continue to share parts of our cultures whatever happens.
JENNIFER, STUDENT, WISHAW:
“I don’t want to feel like in a few years that if I go down to England that… I don’t want to feel like I shouldn’t really be there because I’m not part of the UK any more, so, I don’t want to feel isolated from the rest of the UK.”
You must have a terrible time whenever you go on holiday, Jenny. Do you feel “isolated from” Ibiza when you have a fortnight there in June? There would be no border posts between England and Scotland, just as there aren’t between the UK and Ireland now, and we’d still speak the same language and use the same currency. Independence isn’t isolation, it’s the opposite – it’s talking to the rest of the world in your own right, not having someone standing in between interpreting for you.
PATSY, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST, CRAIGNEUK:
“If you go separate, you’re on your own, right? There no way back fae that. Whereas if you’re together, you’ve got allies!”
Nationalists don’t want to “go separate”. They want to have allies in Europe and across the world. The allies we have now take us into illegal wars and make us a target for terrorist attack, and are bankrupting the nation.
LAUREN, TEACHER, ABERDEEN:
“I think we’ve, ah, we’ve been together for so long now that it would be kinda difficult for us to be apart, kinda like, um, a relationship or a marriage.”
Roughly half of marriages end up in divorce, and perhaps 90% of relationships. (How many does the average person have before getting married or settling down with their husband/wife/whatever?) It’s normal. When something isn’t working any more, you move on. Lots of people manage to do it and stay friends, and pretty much every country that’s split up in the last 60 years has good relations with its former partners.
REBECCA, HOSPITALITY, GLASGOW (again):
“I love Scotland, that’s one of the reasons that I’m not going to support independence, ‘cos I don’t think it’s good for the country.”
But why don’t you think so? Is it because of that pesky ban on poetry, tartan and Burns suppers that would be introduced in the event of independence and which you were worried about before? Because I’m sure we could negotiate something.
GEORGE, RETIRED, GREENOCK:
“I’m British, and I’ve been British for 71 year, and I’ll be British until I’m in a wooden box.”
Indeed you will, George. Britain is a geographical entity, not a political one. Scottish people will still be “British” after independence, just like they’ll continue to be Glaswegian, European and all manner of other things.
PAT, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST, INVERNESS:
“I’m a proud Scot, but I also consider myself a member of the United Kingdom, and I stress the word ‘united’.”
We hate to nitpick, but countries are “members” of the United Kingdom, not people. But if you want to remain a UK citizen, good for you. You haven’t told us why, though.
UN-NAMED PRE-SCHOOL DAUGHTERS OF LYNSEY, CLYDEBANK:
“Better together! Better together!”
Frankly, despite coming from toddlers who haven’t a clue what they’re saying and are being shamefully used for political purposes without their knowledge, that’s still about as good an argument as anyone else has made on this video so far.
EUAN, GHILLIE, DINNET BY ABOYNE:
“Saying no to becoming separate from the United Kingdom is not a bad thing, surely it’s a positive thing?”
Saying “No” is by definition not positive, Euan.
CEILIDH, NANNY INVERNESS (we assume there’s a missing comma, but that COULD be her title):
“I love the fact that I’m Scottish, I love Scotland, but I love that we’re a part of the UK.”
That’s nice. Any particular reason?
JOSEPH, RETIRED, INVERNESS (again):
“You must keep your head up, and must keep looking, looking upwards, and keep your horizons as broad as possible, and that’s what I say.”
We couldn’t agree more. Scotland should broaden its horizons by dealing with the entire world directly in her own right, not stopping at Westminster and letting them control everything from there on our behalf.
CRAIG, SHIPYARD WORKER, DUMBARTON (again):
“I’m voting No for the future, for my kids, and their kids.”
What, the kids and their kids who’ll still be paying for successive UK governments’ PFI schools and hospitals, and for Trident, and for illegal foreign wars, and for tax cuts for billionaires, and who’ll have to work until they’re 75? We’re sure they’ll thank you.
…
Out of idle curiosity and boredom, and in the wake of much media criticism of the Yes launch for being very white and male, we took a quick head count as we went along, excluding non-speaking parts or repeat appearances: 17 female, 10 male, 1 non-white (and to be honest, if he hadn’t had an Asian name we wouldn’t even have noticed the fact), and 0 LGBT, in so far as the viewer is made aware of the fact.
We’re surprised that “Better Together” didn’t make more of an effort at racial integration, especially in the light of the justified criticism aimed at the Yes launch on those grounds, but the most notable stat is the very heavy female bias – perhaps reflecting the fact that women are much less inclined to be independence supporters. But that’s no less strange than the Yes launch being male-dominated: doesn’t either side want to reach out and persuade its doubters?
(Although perhaps the overwhelmingly white line-up was more to do with Labour’s ugly recent shift on immigration, lining it up closely with the existing positions of the Tories and Lib Dems.)
Anyway, that’s the movie – we can only imagine that any undecided voters watching it and looking for reasons to back the Union will have finished it none the wiser than when they started. It seems we can all agree that Scotland is just smashing. As for intelligent debate as to why it shouldn’t run its own affairs like any normal country, though, it looks like the Unionists and their “real Scots” are going to keep us waiting for a while yet.
…and if Scotland ‘separates’, that nice Mr Churchill won’t be prime minister any more.
I entirely agree with your sentiments. I was sent the video in an email by a Yoon I know, with the subtext being “A-ha!” (I’ve become rather obsessed with this expression viz-a-viz Yoons) and a sort of wiggly-eyebrowed query of “what say you to THIS, then?”
I responded that it looked like a casting call for the Tartan Army (of which I am, incidentally, a proud member) far more than a political argument. I can’t fathom Yoon tactics on this, do they seriously think they can out-romantic the nationalists? Good luck with that, Darling.
If i know my workplaces, the teachers and the shipyard worker will be getting the pish ripped out of them .As for the rest I’m sure they’ll find a shoulder to cry on at their local Labour/Tory club after that display. Let’s be honest they come across as not particularly well informed and cannot be accused of scholarship
Well I’m convinced!!!
I suppose it’s difficult to prove that Scotland is better off in the UK when there are no facts to back it up. I find it quite startling how many of these people are actually stating cases FOR independence, rather than against it, but they just can’t see it. The folk using health and education as reasons are particularly bizarre – our education system is good DESPITE the union, not because of it, and our health and education is only protected because they are devolved. Indeed, the woman clearly hasn’t followed her own logic very far, because for something to be “guaranteed”, it must be guaranteed AGAINST something. What is it guaranteed against? Oh, that’s right – WESTMINSTER!
These people are taking the few examples of Scotland running its own affairs well, and reaching the strange conclusion that this somehow means we can’t run everything else ourselves. Or at least that’s the logical way of looking at it. The simple truth is these people mutter nothing but empty platitudes, they are completely vacuous. The question we need to ask is: are these “real Scots” typical Scots? If so, then it’s clear that no amount of well-reasoned, factual-based arguments are going to sway them, because they’re not interested in intellectual debate. But then, why am I surprised? How could anyone POSSIBLY be a unionist for intellectual reasons?
My worst fear is that we may be giving the general public far more credit than they deserve, and that all the facts and figures will count for nothing against the “OMFG IT’S SO SCARY OUTSIDE!!!!!” argument peddled by the likes of Darling. I do hope this fear doesn’t become a reality, but if it does, we don’t deserve independence anyway.
So either way, Scotland will get what the result it deserves.
The No campaign are fighting the 1970s SNP.
The only demographic missing in the video are the chieftains of the clans McFwa-Fwa to balance out the ‘community activists’ (aka Labour members). Am I wrong to want more cartoon Tories involved?
If this is the sort of campaign that they are wanting to fight I’ll have to buy the collected works of Burns, the Tartan Spotters Guide and some sharp shortbread triangles in case it gets nasty.
FOUR women from Wishaw in there. Er, what? What with the village where I live now apparently being featured as the “typical Scottish village where they support the union” in the initial TV coverage, to the town I used to live in being over-represented in the “numpties for Labour” video, I’m beginning to feel a bit harried.
Do you think it’s some sort of anti-intellectualism? “Look, all these inarticulate people just KNOW they don’t want independence”, designed to appeal to the general inarticulate herd?
Good write-up, Rev. After watching this mince, glad I’m not one of these “Real” Scots and just Scots.
Here’s a whole load of videos Rev
link to youtube.com
(the sausage roll video is missing from the above)
@ Morag
If you’ve ever seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers I’d suggest that you get out of town now.
To be fair, a lot of people come over as inarticulate when a camera is pointed at them, but it does appear to be what the director was going for – this is what ‘real Scots’ sound like. As to the content, maybe the No campaign really believes this guff is what drives Scottish nationalism.
Love your breakdown of the video Stu.
Is it me or was the title “Too wee,Too poor, Too Stupid!” missing from the video 😆
I just don’t get it.
What is it meant to be saying?
Well I feel fully enlightened after that. What have I been doing all these years fighting for independence when it appears I should have been worrying about losing our scenery, losing our allies(?) and not being able to travel because i’d always be worried that wherever I am I shouldn’t be there. As a nationalist it seems I also should have spent more time in that bastion of Unionism, Inverness, trying to convince the good people of the highlands to see the error of their ways. It seems they were falling over themselves up there to get in on the ‘lets say naw and keep our scenery’ act. Of course it could be that the campaign bus run out of petrol? or in keeping with the patronising approach an attempt to show that even in the frozen northern wilds, the tartan clad hordes (beyond the wall) think we are bitter off together.
Joking apart, I am shocked at the content of this video. If the target audience was children then maybe allowances could be made but it shows that the Unionist tactics of patronise, blur the truth, scare, and plant seeds of misconception are alive and well and seemingly all they have in their locker. We have nothing to fear from this and I suspect the biggest hurdle for us to overcome will continue to be the media and their willingness to peddle the myths and scare stories. Big debates in every town and village, the length and breadth of Scotland is what is needed, with people from all walks of life asked to attend and hear the main arguments….not ‘community activists’ you understand…..Real Scots 😉
I think that is the question we are all asking Juteman.
If you ever find out do you think you can let us all in on their little secret? 😆
This is a perfect companion to the ‘Just Say No’ piece by Mike Small on Bella Caledonia.
As I said a couple of days back, if these “real Scots” get the NO outcome they want, then I don’t want to hear one single piece of moaning or bleating from them about the impacts of a UK Tory or Labour govt in Scotland.
Although in most cases, they seem variously too smug or too clueless to give a damn either way.
PS: My bet is that the increasingly union-jack bedecked Miss Inverness is bound for minor celebrity fame, probably be reading the STV weather in next to no time.
I fell about laughing at your analysis of their comments Stu.
I wonder if this was what these people actually thought, or if they were scripted comments written by someone from the Bitter campaign.
I’m voting NO because…erm… well, I just am, so erm, like yeah…
I’ve just realised that the video is in fact the warm up act for this!
link to dailymail.co.uk
You know, I think the Yes campaign should hit back by producing a video that makes these EXACT same arguments, except saying “…and that’s why I’ll be voting YES to an independent Scotland.”
Also, they should get as many scientists, engineers, writers and thinkers as they can on a video detailing intelligent, fully-reasoned arguments for independence. Just for the sake of highlighting the apparent gulf of intellect between people who support the union and people who support independence. Oh, and then at the end, have a token muppet saying “durrr, I’m voting no because I’m scared of change.”
Probably not that last bit, actually…
I’ve just been over on the Scottish Independence site and left a comment on this.
link to scottishindependence2014.co.uk
On the face of it it looked like the normal BBC tripe of using two unionists against one Independence supporter. HOWEVER, having watched the video I can honestly say that I was stunned and maybe even shocked! From what I saw B.T., a.k.a. Flubber, actually gave the unionists a harder ride than Kenny. More over, the interview Isabel Fraser had with everyone’s favourite…..John Curtice was just as balanced and again Curtice seemed to be coming down harder on the unionists.
Please someone tell me I was dreaming! 😆
Would it not be laugh if someone withe audio facilities did a spoof?
Shuggie, Pilton
Been on the bru aw ma puff no jepoardising that.
Denise, Arbroath
1320 it’s all part of British history
Tony, Tuscany
My school days in Edinburgh were happy as I was saying to Jackie Milburn the other day. And he’s English y’know. I saw him play. It’s all part of the Union. [er Alastair, aren’t we against unions?]
Elizabeth, Speyside
My son is so looking forward to being correctly numbered, but fuck him, Billy’ll gie’um hell. That’s what Britishness is all about. And that Mr McGuiness is so much more pleasant than that Mr Salmond
You need to include the wee dogs and sausage rolls one. It’s too good to miss.
Can it still be found anywhere?
@revstu
Enjoy
Here’s a very interesting deconstruction from an English point of view by a commenter called Gary Francis on the Open Democracy site:
How do you know that we’re stronger together than apart? Are you able to compare and contrast the ‘together’ and the ‘apart’ Of course you’re not, because that would mean being well over 300 years old. Now if you’d said ‘potentially stronger together than apart’, to which the reply, ‘we’re potentially stronger apart than together’ is equally valid, that would have been a more sensible comment. Is it ‘natural’ to support a ‘union’ which is purely political, rather than something the peoples of these islands asked for? Personally, I only care about England, because it is my country. The neighbouring countries are simply the neighbours, not family.
@Scott Minto,
Tell you what though, that link to Duncan Hamilton’s debate at the GUU is stonking:
I remember at a GU societies’ fair (1983?) speaking to someone at the Dialectic society stall and being told by some smart alec that not only would membership hone my oratory but might also improve my appalling dress-sense. I was that affronted I nearly joined the Sealed Knot.
THE Brigadier John (retired) says in Gaelic……….
“Better Together”
….i realize that many would have felt incomplete without knowing that.
On the ‘to wee, to poor, to stupid’ theme, I think this video’s intention is to subtly emphasise the ‘too stupid’ motif.
Excellent critique, Stu.
Duncan Hamilton was on excellent form at the GUU, in the video linked by sneakboy above.
Utterly demolished the absurdity of the way in which the unionists always sneer at the oil wealth.
Marvellous stuff.
JOHN, RETIRED BRIGADIER, OBAN:
@MajorBloodnok
“The best argument for the Unionn is that when the English get up to vote they cant vote in someone different”
Classic!!!
<object width=”560″ height=”315″><param name=”movie” value=”
name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”
” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”560″ height=”315″ allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true”></embed></object>
Right… I give up.
Anyone know how to embed the GUU video direct into the thread?
(Looking at you here arb)
Don’t embed video directly into threads, please, folks. It causes all sorts of bother. Links will do fine.
@revstu
I think you should just give the GUU Vid an airing on its own article just to highlight how a positive case is made.
You mean like this Scott? 😀
link to youtube.com
@Arb
The Rev is goin to be pissed…
Best give him a kiss and say sorry.
(Ta BTW 8) )
I don’t know why it comes up like it does Scott, after all I’ve just copied the link over to my last post.
Anyways, sorry Rev.
Kissie Kissie. 😀
To avoid embedding the video, remove the “http://” when posting the link. The comments plugin will reinstate it, but without embedding the clip.
Oops sorry about that.
Will try to do better in future. 😀
Just a wild thought;
Is the Better Together camp, in their own incompetent way, trying to appeal to nationalists with this video?
@Scott Minto said: I think you should just give the GUU Vid an airing on its own article just to highlight how a positive case is made.
Actually that’s a good point. I think that there may well be some interesting and eloquent debates going on out there, particularly in our universities, that the MSM hasn’t pick up on (why would they?) but perhaps give a much better indication of what the country is thinking. Certainly in that video of Duncan Hamilton you could tell what side the GUU was on (and Charlie Kennedy looked a bit scunnered, I thought).
Sausage rolls video has been removed from Youtube. A complaint from No campaign? Anyone have a copy?
TYRAN says:
“Sausage rolls video has been removed from Youtube. A complaint from No campaign? Anyone have a copy?”
The last I saw was that they were getting hassle from the no campaign on the grounds of copyright.
It would appear they have actually managed to purge Ryan, his wee dogs and sausage rolls from the net.
If you go to better together the video is set to private and all other sources of the vid have been removed.
This is more than a single persons work and I think I smell the professional American Campaign company being behind this one.
Its not incompetent so its not a Labour, Lib Dem or Tory activist doing it.
I’m so glad I watched it while it was still available. It was a Thing Of Beauty And A Joy Forever.
They may have been competent at taking it down (quick enough for the Wayback Machine http://www.archive.org I wonder?), but what does it say about the competence of the person why thought it was a good idea to upload it in the first place?
I had a bit of a wobble recently, but after watching the No campaign launch, and seeing that Dennis Canavan will be playing a major part, my spirits have lifted.
I’m more convinced than ever that it will be YES!
Just watched the Big Debate, or as I called it “The Margaret “stairheid rammy” Curran foot n mouth show!
I have never known that woman to grab so much air time, speak for so long and end up saying nothing! She is an embarrassment to not only the NO campaign but to politics in general.
The “winner” of the debate was, in my view, Margo MacDonald who was admirably backed up by Fiona Huslop. Poor old Annabelle Goldie had to defend the “Bitter Together” campaign on her own while stairheid rammie rabbited on about gawd knows what!
Agree with you Arbroath. Margo was the star because she spoke from the heart. Same as Canavan.
I get the feeling that the SNP are being told not to offend folk by being too adversarial.
We need pro-independence folk to get stuck in! I think the SNP were elected BECAUSE they were different, and not simply party mouthpieces. If the new tactic is to not rock the boat, then it’s a bad tactic.
The Scots like a good fight against a ‘baddy’.
BTW, i’ve never been a SNP member.
I think that not just the S.N.P. but the whole YES campaign need to step it up a gear.. We need to really get in the face of the Bitter campaign crowd and really push them for answers on the “jam tomorrow” promises from Cameron etc. We also need to really start pushing them hard on why we are better withing the U.K.
So far we have had no answers from the Bitter Together camp. The longer they fail to give answers the harder we should be pushing them for answers I believe that sooner or later they will splinter and then we can really go town on the Bitter Together campaign!
Yes, we know there is work and an uphill battle against public misinformation and the media, so apathy and quiet, laid-back mutterings won’t win the day. There needs to be a clear fight back to go with the clear positive case for independence, all broadcast and spread as far as it can be to counter the negativity of the FUD supporters (Federalists, Unionists & Devolutionists/fear, uncertainty & doubt).
I doubt that the SNP or any other independence campaigners and supporters really wants to give their opposition an easy time of it or believes that sitting back and relaxing for the next two years will win it. What we really need is to work our way into getting a fair representation in the media. No more softball questions for the unionists and hardball or outright frothing hatred for us and no more three unionists on a debate and one SNP or Green representitive left on his or her own with a hostile host.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_8DsYMJWiY&feature=plcp
For any of you after the wee dugs and sausage rolls guy. Great analysis by the way.