In other news, Pope Catholic
Posted on
July 20, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
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20 07 14 09:08
In other news, Pope Catholic | Scottish Independence News
Well, well, well.
The BBC, who have legal responsibility for Mentorn must be sacked immediately.
However, I note that the BBC, having been deniably found out, react by trying to rebalance the audience.
So that’s all right then?
Carry on.
I wonder not what the Electoral Commission will say and do.
SFA, another acrony for an equally useless organisation.
They’re just so corrupt but its still a shock to read it in print. Are people like Sheena Lahive hard at work in the Electoral Commission and polling stations, is an even bigger worry.
BBC Bias Demo in Inveress Sunday 27th for those that can’t make it to Glasgow event. link to facebook.com
Only two hostile front pages this morning Times reports some think tank saying Scotland will be like Greece. Fathom Consulting obviously hasn’t worked out that, in the unlikelihood of another Banking crash any time soon, Scottish taxpayers would not be liable for all the global debts.
Also Sunday Post going on about Scottish government ministers having the audacity to stay in five star hotels…. just as Tory / Lib coalition UK ministers do.
The “bias” BBC caught lying and cheating in order to deflect a democratic process. There MUST be a day of reckoning for the BBC, a yes vote will put them in the frame big time, can’t wait to watch their squirming!
The Better Together should refuse to attend every event organised by Mentorn, pay for adverts in the Press to tell the electorate why, and so should all the Yes supporting political parties.
Time to go on the offensive.
Better idea, the Yes side accept and then walk out live on air, on every debate event organised by Mentorn and maybe, the BBC themselves?
It would have been interesting to listen to the conversation between their audience producer and that mad………I mean…..passionate Highlander.
Still asleep
The post at 8:52 should read the Yes group.
Postal votes and shenanigans at polling stations is the last post for NO. They will be thinking ahead, probably for the last year or so as to how they will effectively manipulate both these issues.
Their plans will be made,in case a YES vote looks likely they will mess with these issues. Monitors, a few, at each polling station who have a printed guideline with what to watch out for is a must.
Postal votes need the highest scrutiny. They will stop at nothing, nothing should surprise us. We need to be vigilant in the highest degree.
Les Wilson
I fear you are right and they have ACCURATE polls to back up jiggerry pokerry
BtP agree with you about walking off after saying why. Time they were put on the spot. Noticed, but came in too late that the BBC were defending themselves on RT this morning, maybe someone else caught it.
Couldn’t agree more @Les Wilson. 8.57 a.m.
Les, I shall put myself forward to monitor my own polling station, but will have to check how this will play, I am a member of the Scottish National Party. I agree with everyone regarding the jiggery pokery. Labour have a history and the Tories et al, whilst not wanting it to happen south of the border could not give a damn here.
This is out of order and someone needs to be sacked.
Better Together also need to comment on this.
BBC is in denial yet again, full ostrich mode.
As every day passes, more and more sordid details emerge. We are up against the full might of the establishment and they are doing everything to stop a Yes vote.
Time was when I smirked that superior smile at mention of conspiracy by UK Government and its agencies.
But I should have listened to my granny when she trotted out her favourite comment,”it is not paranoia when they really are out to get you”
I get the feeling that this is the quiet before the storm in this campaign but just as I now know that NO are behind their response will be so panicky they will make bigger mistakes. Be careful of pretended friends particularly on this site who emit vile comments in a pretence of support.I know not to feed trolls but if you spot it a simple “I smell sh@@@” cancels it for new readers.
Yes should have nothing further to do with the BBC. They should refuse the BBC access to any Yes events or indeed (if possible) the Scottish Parliament.
Its time for a mass non-payment campaign, see if 1 million people refusing to pay the TV tax because the BBC routinely breaks the terms of its charter makes an impact.
It could be bias but, it occurs to me, it could be a genuinely necessary measure to track down enough variety of genuine representation for the No camp. It does seem to be surprisingly elusive.
Rev Stuart Campbell
“The Sunday Herald” did you zero favours in today`s article and it might be illuminating for you to respond about the areas of the interview that were totally ignored by SH ?
The final paragraph ends as follows :- ” Campbell is an IT-literate troublemaker who has a long history of winding people up. A combination of the Referendum, the internet and an edgy electorate has given him the perfect canvas.” quote ends.
With an endorsement like this – you don`t need enemies.
Confirms ME as a big fan of Stu – and Wings over Scotland.
What good would walking out in a huff do? When we are independent we must install competent public services. In the meantime, everyone can see the BBC for what they are.
I no longer pay for BBC to lie to me.When they asked why I said that I would be praying for their immortal soul and their forgiveness ” in the name of Jesus”
I got my rebate almost by return post and that I would not be troubled again. I only watch delay TV so I am OK .BTW my father and ten brothers fought in the Great Imperial War.
G. P. Walrus
The don’t and can’t or at least a great many.
A boycott would at least raise the spectre of bias in a fair number of peoples’ psyche and then maybe a lot of pennies will drop.
Does PQ have a helicopter landing circle on the roof?……I can hear the sound of busy shredding machines from here 😉
Sorry for going O/T so soon but this needs attention…
link to action.labour.org.uk
The BBC are NO LONGER an impartial organisation and should be removed and lose any money that the scottish licence payer makes as they cannot be neutral on the referendum post haste.
The BBC is Mentorn’s paymaster. Plain instinct for survival ensures continued preferment as an independent company.
Mentorn’s producer is bound to show an unthinking loyalty to the corporation’s outlook and ethos as the UK political broadcaster. You want to be part of the larger herd.
I note the BBC reward that reliability by not issuing an apology, only a reaffirmation that objectivity is always exercised.
It’s another example of the British establishment at work.
At least we now know where the Sunday Herald really stands.
A BBC Scotland spokesman said “The BBC is committed to ensuring balance in all aspects of the Referendum Debate programmes, including an audience with equal numbers of YES and NO voters. We have been meticulous and successful in this regard in the shows so far.
The fact that the NO side need an extra two weeks to find/bus people in for these debate programmes should be of no surprise to those on the YES side. They are really struggling with active support on the ground. The media a well aware of this and keeping things at a perceived 50-50 level debate is not reflected in much of Scotland were YES has positive regular ongoing canvassing
Its only the media that are keeping this perception going – many undecideds are starting to realise that for themselves and the longer that this continues the more it is likely to benefit YES.
‘Better Together-No Thanks’ tactics were always to use the media to their advantage, believing that amplifying their message rather than debating while YES was always aware that this was not an election and to move people from No to Don’t Know to YES was always going to need to be done on the ground in communities across Scotland using that old fashioned word of mouth technique that Westminster does not understand.
The days of media spin through the vortex of Wesminster policy wonks is fading fast, a new breed of local activist has been formed out of the need to do things differently, people that have not been involved in politics are looking to the future and making decisions for the good of the nation rather than of what might score them a few political points that might help enable a party into power.
The Conservatives, Labour and the Lib Dems will be found to have little if any relevance in this debate and Scotland will vote for possibilities and opportunities in September 2014.
Suggest Paul Hutcheon was told he had to interview Stuart and was not very enthusiastic about the task. Seem to remember him getting very upset when Newsnet called him out on something he wrote. He could have given an example of a MSM “story” you deconstructed.
@R-type Grunt
When filling in the labour party survey you may consider this latest problem For Ed:
link to snp.org
ED will be prime minister.
hmmm nice to see it in print but not really a surprise and i think we all suspected something like this was going on.
However i am not going to applaud the Times for this just yet as the entire piece is full of vagueness,if they(the Times) have read said emails then why omit the name of the BT regional campaign organiser who received said emails,i am not having a dig at the journalist here as i suspect this has been edited out.
So come on The Times name and shame dont you guys remember how to do this anymore?
Rory the Tory to a plug on Sunday Politics Scotland, this morning.
I agree that this looks bad, but it could in fact be good if they are doing it because they are having trouble balancing the debates with enough No voters. So they are having to resort to such tactics to get enough of them. If you read the BBC’s response with that in mind it all makes sense. Yes it is a conspiracy but not in the way we think.
If you put this together with the poll result which looked for ‘shy Noes’ but found ‘shy Yaes’ instead which would probably get found out in the screening process then finding No supporters keen to go on the box might be getting difficult.
That guy in the Inverness QT may be an indication that they are getting so desperate for No people they are admitting the crazies to make up the numbers.
the good news is that this is in the Sunday Times so some of the undecideds /persuadable No’s will see it and give it serious consideration.
Walking out in a huff at TV debates may be a dramatic gesture but self defeating surely . How will that secure more Yes votes? Surely preferable to stay and take advantage of the few opportunities available on mainstream media to get the Yes arguments across calmly and rationally whenever we can get exposure to a wider audience.
Surely thats going to help more ‘pennies to drop’
As usual, the BBC spokesman avoids addressing the charge. He doesn’t deny that this happened.
BBC are a disgrace.
Vote yes to get well shot of this discredited ‘news’ institution.
We all knew this stuff went on but the timing of when the story has actually hit the papers is interesting. A couple of weeks away from the live debates suggest maybe someone from the Scot Gov has fed the story to the Times as a shot across the bows of both BBC and STV and to alert voters.
Its unlikely that the appearance of investigative journalism has produced this article, as we know such a thing no longer exists in oor meeja.
Also you will never catch the BBC or Mentorn admit they are having trouble finding enough No supporters to go on the box. That would be tantamount to admitting Yes are ahead.
So this is the closest we will get to that admission.
We are ahead! Yay! but noses to the grindstone, we need as big a majority as we can get. Westminster cannot even be tempted to do a ’79 on us.
Don’t agree with the boycott (but understand the reasons). Any Yes folk on camera should wear T-shirts with the hashtag #BBCbias and examples of the many times the BBC have been caught out.
@Graham Purves
Which makes it true and it makes the protestations about making an effort to have balanced audiences in the debates more than boilerplate. That is why they have resorted to these tactics. It’s an admission that the effort is all on recruiting enough No people.
It will be like the meetings where Yes supporters are asked to leave so more Undecideds can get into the hall.
T-Type Grunt
Filled in the Labour survey, I say filled in the sense I could only fill in about 3 of the questions which allowed my to say I a Yesser, despite that being an early question.
So, even if you are a Yes voter you must answer questions about why Labour and the UK are so great.
Waste of time and anyway the result is already tabulated; say 99% for UK.
BBC polls and opinions R US
So, are we to infer from this article that, as is the case with the debates, it’s a struggle to find people to speak up for the No side and they need a head start to strong-arm people into doing so?
It is obvious why Better Together WOULD need a ‘heads up’ to organise their support; they have very little grass-roots.
It is important for Better Together and the BBC to get about at least a third No, third Yes, third Undecided in their audience to have the appearance of impartiality.
The fact that Better Together need a ‘heads up’ to fill their third speaks volumes.
Worse for Better Together is that – evidently with the frothing Unionist on about ‘spilling blood’ to protect the Union ‘in the name of Jesus’ on Question Time a couple of weeks ago – even with the ‘heads up’ they take what they can get!
Expect to see the same Unionist grass-root plants turning up with each debate!
BBC Scotland Sunday Politics show using our License Fee to promote a Better Together project of building a Cairn at the border.
Rory failed to get it up and running, so turned to old faithful to give it a publicity boost. Bias BBC Scotland at it’s best.
As customers and Funders of the BBC – in Scotland ( who may form a majority) we nust have access to a legal challenge versus the explicit bias of the beeb when e-mails confirm bias.
The Electoral Commission have zero powers to force legal redress versus this biased arm of current ConDem govt.
Be warned, BT and SLAB are just in the early process Tai Chi exercise of “stretching the Rigging”.
When they get to Olympic training levels …….? In Sept??
Who, on WoS has been trained to spot vote rigging, cctv interference,postal ballot verification etc ?
I don`t see SLAB or BT – welding GPS tags on ballot boxes to track their movement or whereabouts.
Or ballot boxes weighed at the Polling station and re-weighed on arrival at the Count – to ensure zero jiggery pokery ?
The same Electoral Commission, in charge in Sept, were in charge at Glenrothes. D`oh.
Are we entitled to invite International Invigilators to ensure a level playing field.?
3rd attempt:
@r-type Grunt
I meant to type “ED will never be prime minister”
BtP 8:29
Unfortunately the Electoral Commission are not overseeing broadcast media, it is OfCom and the BBC Trust who are supposed to check up on them. In other words live with the bias or lump it (or turn up at PQ3 on the 27th).
Will Blair Jenkins now finally accept that there IS in fact bias against independence built into the very foundations of the BBC? Astonishingly, up until now he has not recognised this!
These BBC debates are clearly unionist set-ups, and have been for some time. Mentorn Media is simply doing the BBC’s bidding by carrying out dirty tactics.
@GrahamB
The Beeb would have a perfect defence with OfCom: look at the end result. The audiences have been evenly split, 1/3 each for No, Yes and DK.
It’s the end result that actually matters, not how it is achieved.
I was in the audience when QT came to Dundee. I said I was a No voter.
Bussing paid student activists up from Engerland to tramp the streets of Scotland on behalf of Project Fear tells it’s own sorry tale…….
While we’re on the subject of BBC Scotland bias. can I make wee appeal to everyone who can make it in to Glasgow while the Commonwealth Games are on.
Get in their and start telling the story of our Independence Campaign to other fellow members of the Commonwealth who are from all over the globe.
Tell them of the media bias, especially BBC Scotland.
Also take some YES material with you to hand out to them. It will be a great way to highlight our Campaign.
Don’t forget PQ3 next Sunday outside the BBC Scotland buildings in Glasgow and also now in Inverness.
Get the message out to the whole world.
I think it’s just as could be suspected. The real problem they are having with “balance” is that they can’t find enough people to put a case for No Thanks just like they can’t find enough people to wave flags at their battle bus or ordinary mums. You can see it on the ground too. There isn’t a grass roots that are prepared to argue and engage, hence the weird astroturf groups. The No campaign are hanging on by a thread using the main stream media to the best effect they can but it really is a lost argument when you can’t bring anything but the same cliches, there need to be new threads of argument and they just aren’t there. Although it is pretty shameful that they are tipping them off, those organising balanced debates have also had much the same problem.
I had that problem too this Morning BtP.
Awoke, saw to the wee dog at around 05:00 and had a cup of strong coffee then sat down in the big chair.
I woke again about five minutes ago at 10:16.
So much for strong coffee keeping you awake.
There is a debate on BBC about women Bishops, (“Sunday morning live”). My sleepy brain just wondered – as male bishops wear frock like cassocks, will the female ones wear very tight breeches?
@ Muscleguy, the thing is Question Time audience participation is not jury duty. The only remotely acceptable excuse for this level of secretive audience rigging BBC corruption is that tv is show business, they can do what ever they like with their BBC and its not against the law. Polling station electoral fraud is.
Bussing paid student activists up from Engerland to tramp the streets of Scotland on behalf of Project Fear tells it’s own sorry tale…
***Sheds tear and sniffs***
Re The Sunday Herald, on the comments the OBE twat is taking the 9/11 comment out of context again. Anyone who can still sign on there put him right would you?
PQ3 protest – Anything planned for Edinburgh & Aberdeen ??
Robert Peffers
old David Frost joke.
Should Priests marry?
answer
Well, if they love each other, why not.
I am all up for Lady bishops, miniters, rabbis, imams etc clad in scanty clothes as in nearer thy god to me etc.
On Newsnet Scotland an article saying the EU would see Scotland as a special case, UK Gov and Together, reply, “No no, not listening, can’t be, we won’t we won’t”.
So the question is, not IF the BBC and probably STV will try stitch things up in the live debates, its more in what way. The Naws cannot afford a win for Salmond versus Flipper, it would almost certainly show in a rise for YES and game over. So they WILL manipulate something. The attitude of the broadcasters suggest that only Salmond has questions to answer, so they will put him on the defence at all times and try to portray him as shifty.
I don’t go along with those that say Salmond will crush Flipper. It wont be allowed to happen.
O/T = Pensions Dynamite here. Excellent facts for YES.
Did anyone hear Crossfire radio programme this morning ?
Fears over pensions soundly proposed as totally UK gov control issues. Underfunding emerged via Labour Brown Balls reign as is still the major issue.
UK case totally undermined by experts and sounded pretty clear that Indy Scotland is the only way to get out of this mess. Dynamite for elderly vote.
Andrew Wilson was excellent (as were 2 the experts)
Have a listen get the facts to hand and get it out their to the grey vote !!!
Conan
On an earlier thread OBE was apparently unmasked but I do not know who they are. There was some suggestion that they are staff members, OBE and another one or two.
@Bunter
I concur – smell a trap being set for FM.
Where is Cameron in all this (media chasing him / taunting him?)
PMSL – BBC vetting process??? Don’t make me larf. You fill in an online questionnaire (hint – tell them you are undecided) and they send you an e-ticket – FFS “vetting” my erse!
@Conan.
It’s no use trying to put him right, he has been put right so many times, but keeps on posting the same shoite every time.
He’s trolling for attention.
BBC Scotland lose out no matter what the vote is on 18th September.
A YES vote means that our License Fee will be used to fund our own SBC.
A NO vote means that a mass non-payment of the License Fee would be started, due to their bias input during the Referendum Campaign.
It will of course be a YES victory. I just added the NO vote for balance.
@G. P. Walrus says: 20 July, 2014 at 9:34 am:
“What good would walking out in a huff do?”
I’m with you on that, P Walrus, but for a different reason. I’m fairly much housebound with disablements and thus must either stick around my home area and only get further if I use my adapted small motor-home.
I’ve had good success converting hard NO supporters over time by doing no more than, usually as an aside, drawing attention to the BBCs methods of propaganda. Usually I just explain one such trick and move on to something else.
Quite a few hard NOs have said, weeks or months later. You were right and The BBC are telling lies. What follows then is questions of what the truth is and I have the answers or know a guy who does. Used correctly the BEEB are a good YES tool.
Mentorn is a London generated company that has an office in Glasgow as well as Cardiff, making it nice and safe and comfortable for BBC Scotland to commission them.
It’s not a Scottish affairs and culture only company.
At around 10.30am this morning, I posted the following on the Sunday Herald’s comments section beneath Paul Hutcheon’s piece on the Rev.WoS:
Reading this, I don’t think there was much personal chemistry between Paul Hutcheon and the Rev.
I regularly visit WoS, some of the comments posted worry me, but, the actual stories used by the Rev are informative and touch issues which the MSM, even the Sunday Herald, seem loath to go near.
In this way, WoS is helping balance-up the overwhelmingly pro-Union stance of the MSM, and, as such must be tolerated, excesses and all.
One wee complaint – Keynsham must always be spelled-out: K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M.
Just ask any baby Boomer former Radio Luxembourg listener, they’ll tell you why.
Immediately it was flagged-up as “awaiting moderation”. Last time I looked, it had vanished.
If it was because I mentioned Radio Luxembourg, another media organisation, then their rules are draconian. Other than that, I can only think, nobody on the Herald got the Keynsham joke.
Anent OBE-wank from Woking, I have repeatedly complained about this prat to the Herald – he is allowed to post repetetive pish: “Alex Slamond’s Vanity Project”, he has an obsession with Wee Eck’s “Tax-payer-funded tartan trews”, he repeatedly posts the same lies and evasions, but, is never pulled up for it.
But, if you slag him back, or take him to task – red card.
I suggested yesterday, whenever he posts – we simply reply saying: “Karen Dunbar – methane alert. That one got red-carded.
The Herald group is clearly anti-independence, but, hasn’t the balls to admit as much.
no journalists with honour at the bbc or stv
link to thedrum.com
one question to Rory
fine built your wee stone wall,but why do we need a aircraft carrier?
Obviously these programmes are being fixed in favour of Better Together and have been for sometime. We have a lot of anecdotal evidence that the audiences for these debate have been deliberately selected to skew the debate in favour of unionists. How many have been chosen on the basis “I hate Alex Salmond”?
No doubt the audience might be balanced along the lines of a pre-determined Yes/No/DK balance but that’s not the only way it might be manipulated.
As an example it’s possible to have applicants miss representing themselves either as the opposite of what they believe or as DK’s in order that any snap poll at the end show a swing in the direction the producers want.
As another the heads up will allow a more further vetting of the No element of the audience and thus removal of the more extreme elements. It might also allow a greater representation of nutterdom on the Yes side.
The bias in the BBC is real and won’t change between now and September. In this particular case it may not be bias, but difficulty in getting sufficient No supporters willing to participate. Whether this is bias or not, it doesn’t effect the established and proven pattern.
The way to deal with the bias is to keep shouting! Keep highlighting it! Only the most hard line do-or-die Unionist believes the means justifies the end – the vast majority of the population surely must still see bias as unfair, unreasonable and unacceptable. I would like to believe that fear of being seen as biased by everyone will moderate the BBC behaviour to some degree. Why else would the continually pretend not to be biased?
We won’t stop the bias, but by continually attacking it we could prevent excesses.
2011 Voting pattern
SNP 45.4% of the vote
Labour 31.7%
Tory 7.9%
Lib 13.9%
Total of No parties 53.5%
These figures are common with recent opinion polls.
Recent figures also show 28% of Labour supporters have moved to yes, this changes things dramatically. With a possible Yes vote of 57%.
Granted this does not included the over sixteen’s, Lib and Tory swingers or a possible higher turnout but demographics don’t normally change that much and as it appears the over sixteen’s appear to be favouring yes. The vote for yes could be 10-20% higher.Even excluding Lab to SNP Swing in 2011.
Could this be the demographics the BBC and NO is trying to hide?
BBC, radio and television, has yet to produce a single programme itemising the democratic omission Scotland labours under, or to show how the nation is hamstrung by those decisions all governed by Westminster.
So far, all we are given is self-opinionated panelists a good propotion without a vote in the Referendum, celebrity walkabouts, Marr interviews – a journalist tarnished by his public expressions against Scottish autonomy, and news reports giving air time to businessmen fearful of change.
So someone else has recognised the EBC are bias.
Bound to happen and the usual excuses will cover all the lies.
Don’t worry about Salmond/Darling debate. Wee Eck has been on a hammering since early days and has a few tricks up his sleeve. he has pointed out in too many interviews that the C.Games are first on the list. He will keep his powder dry until after and then we will see why the NT team are shitting themselves about him.
Our First Minister is a clever guy , give him time folks.
As for the SH article on Stu. What a surprise (feign deep intake of breath) I warned you these buggers have their own agenda. Stop buying and watch them all do a Hootsmon. (share price down to a few pence. ho ho)
We are winning. You have to look carefully at what they are saying. If they say Stu and his “small ” band of followers , read Stu and his LARGE FOLLOWING.
Roll on the 18th and we can FINALLY get rid of the whole shower.
Am i the only one who thinks the name of the BT regional campaign organiser is the real story here ?
Stu can you get a copy of these emails the Sunday Times claim to have and can we get conformation from the yes campaign that they did not receive the same information?
Have completed the Labour Party survey as much as was possible, I would suggest that they take it down or being stupid, and they definitely seem to be they surely are being inundated by folk just like me, I have never been or ever will be a Labour Party member. I do hope they like the answers that I gave where it was possible to give them. Their leading questions are a joke. This survey is just like Labour, do as you are told therefore only fill in questions we like the answer, not a survey folks.
I did not finish the survey: it was impossibly leading and I could not see the point of it even from their position. It is a joke
With reference to the Herald both Daily and Sunday. We said when the Sunday came out for YES that this was like the Jacobites of old who had one son in each army to ensure the family would be safe regardless of who won. Bought the first tow editions, not sure I liked their articles so went back to the normal position of not taking any. I want fairness in the press, I do not want to look at newspapers or listen to the BBC tell me things which is perfectly obvious to anyone that are not true.
In case any one has missed the love bombing, and I am sure Grouse Beater will have a wee laugh, we are being wooed with TV programmes this week coming.
Fiona, that I would agree with, I did not complete half, couldn’t for the life of me.
Helena
Did the survey and struggled to answer more than two questions although i enjoyed the question “how would you feel if A.Samond won …… My answer “absolutely overjoyed for the wee guy ”
Don’t think they will want me back but it shows how desperate they are. Playing the man again and not the ball.
P.S. I’ve change my nom de plume and e-mail address and tried politely to comment on OBE but not one single commentn NOT ONE has been printed. Even when i write ” agreed ” to someone elses comment.
Herald ,Sunday Herald two cheeks on the same fat shitty arse.
@alexicon says: 20 July, 2014 at 10:37 am:
Let’s get this right, guys.
OBE is a real person. You can check him out as his OBE was, (don’t laugh!), given for services to waste disposal.
However, there is no doubt that the Herald gives him free reign to say whatever he/they want him to say. Not only that but many former Herald readers and commenters have either been MODDED off or just plainly had posts ignored.
They also kept harping for paid for on-line subscriptions. Now why, if you bought the paper, would you pay more to comment? Then they got desparate and hid behind the pay wall.
So those, like myself, who actually bought the paper stopped buying and were no longer able to comment unless daft enough to pay. The Herald lost customers and that’s why the Sunday Herald went out for YES, (or kidded us on they have).
In an independent Scotland, keep politicians out of broadcasting,it should be independent of politics as much as possible.
Alex Neil on now tearing the BBC up for bum paper over the NHS funding.
When BT and the Unionists CANNOT be trusted to treat the ballot (any ballot) with honesty and propriety – WHY would anybody want to vote for “THEM” to rule ?
We’ll see behaviour from the BBC in the last days of this campaign that we – even those of us who’ve routinely loathed the institution for years – wouldn’t have thought possible a couple of years ago.
And not just in the likes of their very sus Hydro debate. The few remaining nods to impartiality will be cast off throughout their output in the final days, leaving BBC programming resembling something like Bulgarian TV coverage of the Communist Party conference in the 1970’s.
Listening to Rory The Tory prattling on about ‘why create a border where none exists‘, I couldn’t help wondering why Blair and Co. moved the (non existent) maritime border further north?
Rather than whinge on the comments of a website, take action. Anyone still paying for this shower should really question their commitment to the cause.
link to tvlicensing.co.uk
o/t but please share
todayinscotland | The Referendum Blues
link to todayinscotland.wordpress.com
I’ve got news for Rory the Tory. He’s on now about the over 300 years, loving cordial history of our two kingdoms. The truth, Tory Rory, is your side of the border cheated, threatened and bribed their way into this bipartite union. That Treaty was forced upon Scotland 19 years into a 57 year war, (Jacobite Uprisings), between Scotland & England over the kingdom of England deposing the English monarchy, (the Glorious Revolution, 1688) and then insisting that the still independent kingdom of Scotland’s parliament, and sovereign people, had no other option than to accept the English choice of foreign monarchy.
Did you imagine that loving history did not include, “The Battle of Branxton Moor”, a.k.a. “The Battle of Flodden Field”? Did you think the English propaganda had confused Scots? That’s the real history of the Treaty of Union. The English spies like Danial Defoe, the English undercover operatives like William Paterson, the bribed Scottish landowners, The English Navigational Acts and the ship and troops ranged along Scottish/English borders.
Things have not changed much since then, Rory: Have they? Now you are getting ready a pile of stones to throw at us if we dare to tell you and your love bombers to go – Err! Throw stones at yourselves.
YESGUY
“Herald ,Sunday Herald two cheeks on the same fat shitty arse.”
So who or what is the boil in between?
MacDougall?
Broadcasting in Scotland is microscopic. Search for jobs in Scotland and you will find zero versus hundreds elsewhere in UK (mostly London). I should know.
Look at the Scandinavians. What Scotland has is embarrassing in comparison.
The news gathered in Scotland can easily be put on a dedicated rolling news channel; chuck in world news and there you go. As can all that Holyrood stuff on its own channel.
There’s also numerous channels ran out of London that aren’t even aimed for UK audiences. With the proper vision, some of those can be brought here.
Humble pie eatig time – the Sunday Herald has put-up my post on the Rev interview thread.
Better late than never.
However, they are still allowing OBE-wank to spout his rubbish – let’s hope it’s a case of giving him enough rope and he’ll hang himself. But, as far as I can see, he’s already had enough to provide a hand-rail all the way u Mount Everest.
OBE is a retired senior civil servant once of DEFRA. As someone pointed out he got his gong for keeping the drains sparkling under Westminster or something. No doubt he is enjoying his gold-plated pension that we all paid for of course. He has commented on this site a couple of years ago when he first popped up and while defensive he seemed quite measured. However, since then he has morphed into an anti-Salmond industry posting almost daily on The Herald website ranting against (mostly) Alex Salmond. He dosn’t seem to get out much to enjoy his retirement though which I find a bit sad really.
Maybe his daily rants gets him out of bed in the morning, or maybe he is covertly encourged. Nevertheless he is an extremely repetative BritNat fanatic with alot of time on his hands. No doubt he keeps the journalists at The Herald entertained.
Hmm, BBC tipping off the Better Thanks/NO Together/Project Fear, or whatever. Well who’d have thunk it. A well known Unionist broadcaster tipping off the unionist supporters. I’ll bet they are thinking that they, BBC, are doing their *ahem* bit to save the union here. Only one wee itsy bitsy problem with that line of thought… they are NOT saving the union at all. From every (dis)Reporting Scotland/Scotland 2104 programme there comes nothing but bile against Scottish independence and the people of Scotland can see this so guess what BBC, you are screwed! Never again will the people of Scotland TRUST you and your unionist ideals!
I got banned (again) from the Herald for pointing the facts about one of JMOBE’s many lies about the evil Salmond.
When a disgusting bigot enjoys protected status on a newspaper website despite breaking every single one of their rules multiple times every day then there is corruption involved.
Elections, or referenda that are free and fair are what defines a democracy. I’d like to live in one someday.
The BBC has NEVER been impartial. But it has rarely in modern times been so open with its blatant bias & BritNat propaganda.
Take that oddball concert broadcast by the BBC held at Edinburgh Castle at the weekend. I’m hardly a news crawler but had not a hint that it was even planned let alone scheduled.
And what did we get? A Saltire free confection of a strange assortment of performers from almost anywhere except Scotland hosted by the predictable roll call of worthies mostly from London.
And barely a week after the festival at Balado from which linger many anecdotal reports that YES Saltires were banned from the festival grounds.
Meanwhile its contracted program makers collude with Better Together to guarantee a Unionist audience on current affair programs.
Anyone who watched this shite on the telly & still thinks that the BBC is a trustworthy source of broadcasting needs to pour their psychotropic drugs down the toilet.
As I said yesterday, the British State is at risk o losing 1/3rd of its landmass, about 9% of its populations, at least 10% of its tax revenues & its beloved nuclear deterrent.
Expect the British with the willing help of the BBC to say & do just about anything to maintain the status quo.
If any unionists read this, just ask yourself if you are delighted to remain in a union that treats you as if you are as thick as pig shit?
John OBE appears to be a deeply narcissistic individual, possibly suffering from a mental illness. Yet, he enjoys free, mod free copy at will on the pages of the comical Herald.
Frequently, when his invective is argued with fact, those folk’s comments are heavily edited, deleted or the person gets banned.
I’m mystified why anyone then, would continue to want to fund a Unionist megaphone for the BritNat/Labour party that consistently refuses publication of two reasonable sides of an argument?
Buying hard copy or clicking on their pages simply enables them to continue publishing more extremist propaganda. Wake up people!
I have had a postal vote for years. My birthday is in May, I frequently holiday upon the day, and elections are usually held that month. I am asked regularly to re register to vote.
It is my current intention to not send my ballot by post in September. I want it counted. I also want to be there on the day at a polling booth to “cast my vote”. I believe I can deliver my postal vote to the polling station on the day. remember the turnout is predicted to be very high. Its much harder to stuff a full ballot box than one where only 15% of registered electors turn out.
As to the BBC. I long ago gave up watching, listening to or logging on to any of its news output. I treat absolutely everything it says with the utmost suspicion. If they told me the sun shone during the day I would google it before believing them. I suggest you just go out and spread your message and just forget the constant tirade of bullshit which is broadcast to the lazy. People seem to care about this vote. More than anything I can recall. We should be glad that at least the government here isn’t shooting at us.
I know I am selecting a kind of Yes support group by coming here regularly. In the real world, I keep my cards close, not promoting my views unless directly asked. However many of those who broach the matter – mostly business community types – seem to be No. I don’t know if mostly people are not keen to spout off about the subject, or if ( as I do ) fear its not in one’s commercial interest to be seen as in either camp. However I keep reading here that Yes canvassers are getting sometimes 3 to one favourable returns. Is that really true? Are there solid No wards which are being avoided? Are people merely reporting from Nationalist strongholds?
Are we actually going to win this?
The BBC should be looked upon as a hostile entity, until such a time,that we can change it in an independent Scotland, to benefit its people instead of belittling them.
This is quite a good read from the NY Times.
link to nytimes.com
As someone who worked for the BBC for over twenty years, I feel I have to inject a note here. There is perhaps more to this story than meets the eye.
Mentorn’s contract obliges it to take account of Producer’s Guidelines in respect of two things. The first is to create balance among panelists. The second is to create similar balance in the audience. This fuss appears to relate to the second of these obligations.
Its audiences must represent a cross section of the UK as defined by a long standing formula: the same one used weekly from Perth to Penzance. It includes variables which take account of both who is on the invited panel and the programme’s location that week. Some parts of the country are more interested in some issues than others and the aim is to make space for audience members who might have a particular interest in raising these issues.
To ensure the audience is a genuine cross section, the production staff have regard to age, gender, ethnicity and the like, and ask generic questions of prospective audience members to elicit whether they hold strong views on any of the possible issues which might arise. Then audience members are sorted into representative sub-groups and invited to attend on a first come-first served basis. Attendees are asked to prepare questions.
The point people are missing is why did the researchers feel the need to reach out to Better Together? Is it because the Referendum is the big issue, they are obliged to include audience members ready to promote the case for No, but have been finding it hard to find any among the audience who had already applied to be in the studio?
Not all stories are bad news stories folks.
Davidb, I believe “postal” votes are still kept separately and counted separately even if the voter shows up at the polling station with his postal ballot. At least you know it’s been delivered though.
Also, it’s true that there are solid No areas. They’re not being avoided, it’s just that people don’t go online and boast about the results they’re getting there.
The opinion polls suggest we need about a 5% swing and that’s probably about right. It’s doable.
I think [optimistically], it may be the case, that, they are having trouble locating No audience members!
There is bias in everything the BBC do. It is hugely unfair to those pro-independence.
Sheena Lahive did the Portree referendum debate and I think this could possibly be to do with lack of No Voters applying for audiences, very few applied for Portree and she also told me it was similar for other areas so maybe this is to try and bolsterer some other areas , instead of being accused of shipping in No Voters like what happened in Skye a couple of weeks ago
As for the final paragraph, this must be false due to the Indy Ref Debate program being filmed for local issues yet three of the people pulled aside to be questioned were from Southern Scotland and not Skye and Lochalsh and all three were confirmed no voters, I was chosen but due to lack of time didnt get to ask a questiopn but I had stated I was a dont know,now the process I went through was different to others who applied in some ways ,also they re advertised due to lack of Nos and apparently filming was almost pulled due to lack of Nos
@Sinky
Yes idiots on the Scotsman comments section keep talking about Salmond staying in a five star hotel (I really should stop reading such nonsense, its becoming like the Daily Mail!)
Whilst I think no taxpayer actually LIKES the idea that our ministers stay in fancy hotels when on official business (because we have to pay for it), I think we would prefer that they did, to show some dignity to their position or representing our country. No one seriously expects our First Minister, or the Prime Minister for that fact, to stay in a Travel Lodge, do they?
But when considering MPs expenses – we sort of do expect MPs with salaries nearly 3 times the natiomal average to pay for their own £39 breakfast!!
Senior people stay in abodes befitting their station in lift. Full stop. You wouldn’t get an MP in Westminster lowering himself to base rate accommodation.
I did hear they had problems getting enough NO supporters to balance the audience. Sign of the times? Let’s hope!!!
Selectively dropping programs due to a lack of No support or boosting it is miss representation.
The first come first served also allows the manipulation of snap-polls, if there should be any. It also allows audience members to be seeded with questions more suited to the campaign put together by those asked first. Doesn’t matter if they’re purportedly from a No, Yes or DK perspective.
Make no mistake allowing one side in any competition advanced preparation time might not break the actual rules but is definitely unsporting.
Wouldn’t surprise me to find that really senior figures arrange to have their bed taken with them. It’s why you get tour coaches after all. I can’t quite recall who but there’s was a performer who always stays in the same class of room in a particular hotel chain due to the guarantee that no matter where he was it’d be identical down to the room layout, bedding and food.
What this means is that they will put up equal numbers for the audience regardless of the polls. They would claim balance and put up fifty from each side even if fifty intended to vote no and fifty thousand yes. Balance BBC style you see. Same with panels, you put up one from each party and claim balance even if three out of the four are for NO.
A BBC Spokesman said: “Blah, blah, blah, not listening, blah, blah, don’t care anyway, blah, blah, blah, what are you going to do about it, blah, blah, blah, we ARE the establishment, repaet to infinity…”
Mentorn are an unpleasant company. I work in the industry and know them of old.
They operate from London, having closed their proper office in Glasgow years ago. But they have opened a tiny satellite office from a managed building in the last couple of years.
I had minor dealings with them and all attempts to contact them always seemed to be with the receptionist at the building they were renting a room in – there was nobody actually working from the address they gave when I called, (and I called often, I was chasing to be paid for months.)
I do find it irritating that the BBC are giving the production work for this sort of material, to a London based company, rather than a Scottish one – especially one that really isn’t properly running an operation here.
I just want to ask one question – how could Sheena have been giving Better Together a ‘heads up’ when the dates for the show were all ready publically available? If you dig a little deeper you will realise this article is not news all.
“I just want to ask one question – how could Sheena have been giving Better Together a ‘heads up’ when the dates for the show were all ready publically available?”
Dunno. Take it up with her and the Times, because she clearly THOUGHT she was.
As far as I can recall you can’t appear on Question Time wearing political logos, so how come Nigel got on festooned in UKOK ones?
David643 I agree with you as I also heard that they were struggling for No supporters and hence why that email was sent…plenty of yes supporters around!
link to facebook.com two who were shipped into Portree Indy Ref debate audience are pictured in this Better Together Dundees pictures