Wings Over Scotland

I can imagine my no voting parents laughing along uncomfortably to that – got to have a sense of humour, you know? 

It was a “stupid” remark, but what was interesting is that behind ‘humour’ there is usually a bit of real feeling.  The latent idea in the man and the audience reaction was:  “It’s ONLY Scotland, we can do what WE want”.  I am sure the speaker would claim it was a joke and that Scots should “lighten up”  But behind the ‘joke’ is the REAL issue.
 
It just confirms even more of what we already knew.  Sad, really.

The guy should have said to put the waste below Westminster, certainly mein host should have, that woud have got a bigger laugh. Lighten up, satire is OK. And I laugh at incorrect stuff sometimes too.
I am sure the NO cmapaign shuddered at it. It would make a good 15 second ad in the campaign. Called who’s laughing now?

Check this out – a Scottish LGBT magazine setting out the case for staying in the UK. Anyone who has read the Better No Dae That leaflets will recognise the arguments.

link to mosaicscotland.com

Pathetic stuff. 

Give them independence was the worst part of his comment, as if it was theirs to give!

Naw, the pompous anus piece meant it, “if you say you think it”. The rest of the audience nearly orgasmed on the statement. As yesterday ‘socialist newspaper’ leaning guardian cartoon and the PM expliciitley stated this portray’s the general view of our good neighbours down south quite clear. So f**k them and their radioactive material, we will have our Independence without their overcrowded polluted shit from cumbria or westminster.

@doug daniel

Elegant deconstruction of that poor guys better together brainwashing over on that Mosaic site 🙂

@Boorach
 
A member of the audience re. storage of radioactive waste, said ‘Can’t we export it to Scotland and then give them their independence?’
Cue gales of laughter.
 

You just have to have read the comments sections in the London based newspapers over the past year or so to see real deep seated hate against Scots and Scotland from a sizeable number of  respondents.

This hatred has its origins in Labour’s crass attempts to kill the independence movement by claiming that Scotland was being subsidised by England. It was further developed by unscupulous unionist politicians on both sides of the border exploiting the RBS collapse to further their agenda claim that Scotland is too poor, too stupid, and too wee, to go it alone.

The recent Section 30 hatefest at Westminster demonstrates just how far these people have plunged in their desperate attempts to paint Scotland and its elected government as something to be hated and despised.

Question Time has form when it comes to discussions on anything pertaining to Scotland. The arch unionist Dimbelby abuses his position by frequently showing his contempt for anyone espousing the independence cause on the programme and allowing comments to be made against Scotland that would be headline news if they were made by Scots against England.

Complaining to the BBC is a waste of time as most of us have found out and so the only way left open for us to protest is to stop paying the licence fee.

I’m from the Galloway area and for years throughout the 1980s (when we got Ian Lang as an MP) there was the threat of nuclear dumping among the Galloway Hills, I wouldn’t be surprised if that report is lying in the vaults somewhere ready to be put back on the agenda.
They can’t help the Victorian imperialistic mindset of the “Give them their independence” attitude. This is exactly what this Tory government wants to achieve, the re-establishment of New Jerusalem in this green and pleasant land, and a gratitude/servitude society where the generosity of the rich at their whim elevates their pompous egos. Hence the sustained attacks on benefits, welfare and universalism, not only financially but psychologically too. This why there will never be House of Lords reform because they all aspire to be there and exploit that position for all its worth.
Scotland after a NO vote will be a very grim place and these Unionists at Westminster will rubber stamp it.

To be fair on the mosaic website, there is another piece putting forward the case for Independence, plus the vote mentioned above… Which Better Together are losing.

I would’ve read the Yes article but none of it would load.

The split in the LBGT community re. independence v. Union seems to me to match wider society.

The numptie who was spouting anti-Scottish diatribes on QT last night is a well known hater of all things Scottish from the inbred bandit land of cumbria, he is well named.
Talks a lot of Gash dont you Stephen.

Thank goodness QT is produced in Glasgow, eh!

@highlander

Indeed the poll seems to have stopped accepting new votes.  YES: 46 NO: 6 and total meltdown! 🙂  

Can’t believe I’m about to defend the Question Time crowd here, but Dom Joly made an identical joke a few minutes earlier about Weston Super Mare. I think we need to dial down the outrage at every little slight, lest we lend any credence to the stereotype of snarling, humourless Cybernats.

“He seemed to be doing the latter last night, judging by the audience reaction.”
I’d guess at about half the audience clapping, and the roving mic exaggerates the laughter coming from those closest to him perhaps?

@ Adam,
We realise he was “joking”, and that his views are not representative of English people generally.  What he said doesn’t really bother me – what bothers me is that Nirex planned to do exactly that (dump the entirety of the UK’s nuclear waste in Scotland, under an island near Barra).

link to robedwards.com

In Scotland there is the possibility of hearing anti-English sentiment expressed in the pub, or the street, the schoolyard, the factory.  You’ll rarely hear it from “educated” people though.  In England, unfortunately, anti-Scottish sentiment seems to go right to the top – you will hear it in the Commons, the Lords, the boardroom of some non-taxpaying mega-corporation, the newspaper office (and in the newspaper’s pages, and on TV).  It’s quite worrying.   From Paxman talking about a “Scottish Raj” controlling England, to Peter Cruddas and other top Tories’ calling Alex Salmond “the mad Scotsman” in private, I’m not sure what it’s all about.  What are they afraid of?   

In response to an earlier comment highlighting the fact that a similar joke had been made about weston super mare, compare the audience response and you will hear sharp intakes of breath and people cringing all through the audience, nowhere near as much overwhelmingly rapturous and simultaneous agreement as when the scottish joke had been made.

The joke itself shouldn’t be considered offensive, and although its delivery was a little blunt, the guy was only trying to drum up interest ahead of next weeks programme in Stirling, and, I appreciate the respect from one guy you can see in the background sitting with his arms folded refusing to join in.

@DavidLee