Insulting Scotland’s intelligence
This is an extract from a mailshot being sent out by “Better Together” this week, featuring a letter allegedly penned by “Sophie”, a 19-year-old student who – like all of the No camp’s definitely authentic grassroots real Scots of all ages who’ve written such letters for it – speaks in a manner uncannily similar to that of Alistair Darling.
(It’s how all the cool teens talk these days, don’t you know?)
Wait a minute – “walking away from membership of the EU”? We just can’t keep up.
Here’s the Herald quoting an official BT spokesman just 11 days ago:
Um, your mailshot seems to be doing precisely that, chum. But wait.
That, of course, was way back in February. We expect a lot has changed since then, or something. But as they don’t reply to our emails, can someone ask “Better Together” what their official position on whether an independent Scotland would be allowed into the EU or not is today?
Actually, let’s make that “this morning”. Best to be realistic.
.
EDIT 10.12am: That was quick! In another Herald story this morning, in which the European Policy Centre poured scorn on the idea that Scotland would spend a single day outside the EU, another “Better Together spokesman” offered a response:
That sounds a lot like “We’d be admitted, but we can’t say for sure what some of the terms would be”. We await this afternoon’s position with barely-controllable anticipation.
(Our money’s on “The EU would bomb all our airports if we even THOUGHT about asking to become members”, but it’s the unpredictability that makes it so exciting.)
As with the financial side of things, with the EU issue we’ll end up voting according to beliefs rather than competing assertions.
Much the same was stated by one of the Sarah Smith interviewees – by the way the second programme was loads better than the first.
One thing the teenager got right “None of that makes any sense.” Because it isn’t true! More lies and deceit.
The best way to tackle BT/VNOB/MSM/BtBC lies and deceit is by viral debunking. I don’t know if others have drawn attention to this superb video debunk of VNOB ads.
Looks like over 13000 have seen it in the last couple of days. Everyone in Scotland needs to see it!
http://tinyurl.com/VNBTruth
“The BT Quadrille”
Just keep those waters as muddy as possible.
Here’s the original from Lewis Carrol, quite apt I think:
http://www.kingkong.demon.co.uk/gsr/lobster.htm
I got my letter from “Sophie” yesterday and because I was unable to shove it where I’d have liked to, I had to settle for attempting the world record in manual paper shredding… BT confetti anyone?
That precise and emotive language certainly sounds as if it could have been written by a politician or marketing / brand management executive. I don’t know any 19 year old students, so perhaps I’m just being daft.
Yes its very confusing just like the full page ads by Better Together in todays press ‘guaranteeing more decisions made here in Scotland on things like our NHS and schools’ -that’s good oh wait a minute we already have full control apart from the money to fund NHS and schools which they are going to cut if we vote no.
The British Establishment’s approach to the independence debate, through BT and its other agents, is to scare and confuse everybody, including, it would seem, its own supporters.
It is just one more bettertogether pickle. Check out how they’ve decided to not cover EU membership on their all new vote no or else 6 big issues coverage. Maybe they just forgot, must call unsaturated Kaye.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/16630456
Is that “no borders immigration scheme” or “No Borders immigration scheme”? I suspect the two are diametrically opposed.
Meanwhile , over at the london school of economics
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/archives/41962
Ladies and gentlemen of the supposed jury, NONE of that makes sense!
If Chewbacca is from Kashyyyk, you must aquit! Erm… I mean, vote No!
It just makes you wonder what exactly 19 year old students are actually studying these days. We would not be walking away from anything, Sophie, apart from the disgrace that is Westminster, but “walking back to happiness”, a little ditty you are far too young to remember, but not you, Darling.
Hang it. I’d take the euro if it meant we could control our own government.
I’m looking forward to Jean, 71, condensing all this contradictory and confusing information into a simple maxim for unpolished voters.
Something like, ‘being in/out of the EU would be like Mel Gibson running around chasing a haggis’..
The annoying thing is that none of us really want the MSM to be biased towards YES, we just want them to report in a manner that is perceived to be fair and equal to both sides of the argument.
There will be subjects like the economy, which yesterday amply illustrated, where both sides take the same starting point, throw in different variables and end up with vastly different results. We expect that both sides will skew the results to favour their position, but report them equally and let the voters decide who or what they believe, or which direction they want Scotland to take.
It’s the Scottish Electorates decision to decide between Yes and No in Sept, not the MSMs!
Do they actually know which direction they’re facing or do they have a face for every point on the compass?
We need to know!
If at first you don’t succeed – lie!
Filled in Sophie’s reply slip but unaccountably used the address and phone number of an Orange lodge in South Lanarkshire. I don’t envy the London based phone caller who contacts them.
@Busy-Bee: with unwanted campaign materials I find fire is quite satisfying 😉 Burn baby burn!
we just want them to report in a manner that is perceived to be fair and equal to both sides of the argument.
I disagree.
We want them to be analytical – we want them to seek out the facts and compare them with the fiction.
The trouble is, investigative journalism was tossed aeway years ago in favour of celebrity journalism. Our press indulges in armchair opinion columns or chases celebrities.
I got this letter from ‘Sophie’ and sent back a suitable response…that may have had the word ‘lies’ and the phrase ‘bloody hell’ in it.
When YES is victorious on 19th Sept, I will still be a member/citizen of the EU. Negotiations will take place after the 19th Sept regarding Scotland becoming a full member state in her own right.
Those negotiations will continue until we have a legitimate agreement. All this will be done while Scotland is still part of the UK.
So at NO point will I become a non-member of the EU.
Who are these friends and families in RUK I have “Sophie”? I have none. They are all in Scotland.
Will this RUK become a hermit state by not allowing contact to its citizens? That is what “Sophie” and BT are saying.
Best to leave than be part of a hermit state.
The rebate is miniscule for Scotland. The EU Grants CAP payments (Scotland) are raided by the UK Treasury, making Scotland pro rata worse off, than the rest of the UK. The fact Westminster will not pay the full EU contribution just shows the waste and abuse of public monies and people by Westminster. All so Westminster can tax evade. A smoke screen of corruption.
The EU, pound and Crown are irrelevant with, or without them, Scotland would be better off Independent. The crooks in Westminster are cooking th books as usual. A pathetic bunch of mud slingers, often against each others, just so they can tax evade and defraud from public monies for themselves and their associates. Along with their white, middle class, male and wealthy associates in the ‘Press’.
I think that this letter has definitely been written by someone else other than the writer. I am sure that I heard it virtually word for word in a Better together advert
I wonder if part of the BTog/No Borders etc stance is that, if Scotland were to opt out of the Union, the rUK’s rebates, and special deals would be re-evaluated to their disadvantage. Because let’s face it, the concern in BTog is not about the impact of the break up of the Union on Scotland in any reality (thus Project Fear) but the impact of the break up of the Union on rUK.
You mean like the rebate that Scotlands’ Farmers should have had that got sent south? That rebate
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24874125
My partner got one yesterday, that’s the third one she’s had (presumably GCHQ have told them not to bother with me as I’m registered as YES) and like the previous ones it’ll get filled in with YES to independence, NO to Trident, media and BT lies, asset stripping, etc. and in the name/address space I put ‘I don’t want to be on your mailing list’. I do it all politely, my partner was for putting in in the recycling, then send it back to their Freepost address.
In case their Freepost has changed and anyone wants to mail bomb them (don’t say who told you) their address on this one is
Better Together
Freepost RTAU-ZCRB-TELS
5 Blythswood Square
Glasgow
G2 4AD
It doesn’t really matter whether it’s lies or truth or half-truths. It doesn’t matter whether it was written by a politician, an advertising guy or a 19 year old student. Absolutely none of the detail matters, because what BT and co are engaged in is simply dumping a mass of information on voters; it doesn’t matter whether that information is correct or not, as long as there is a lot of it.
And of course helping them along, is a pliant media who will not question any of it, and will not report if any of it has been de-bunked.
I thought the BBC’s handling of Salmond yesterday was appalling. He can handle himself, but it was plain to see that the BBC had a very definite agenda. They were very very keen to skim over the fact that Alexander’s claims had been completely destroyed by the authors of the Treasury report that very morning. It’s a perfect example of how it just doesn’t matter whether BT produce bullshit or not, because no one in the media will challenge it.
Unscrupulous is the word that summarises the Better Together campaign for me.
And I do think that the EU is doing Scotland a disservice by, whether invited or not by the UK government, failing to state the obvious, that Scots are EU citizens and there exists no procedure to expel them from EU membership.
I’ve said so many times now when out canvassing, and here on Wings –
Continuing EU membership following a Yes for independence? Not much bothered.
Common currency with rUK? Not much bothered.
We are a country with strong export performances, and with natural resources, much in demand, that cannot be manufactured. Our exports will sell, whether in or out of Europe, and in whatever currency Scotland choses to adopt.
Lets move this debate to ground where Better Together will slip and slide . Self esteem; decision making power; foreign policy, egalitarianism.
I think there has been a change from BT. Initially they simply tried to scare us, literally Project Fear.
BT’s attacks continue to spread the same fears, but added to this is are attempts to confuse us.
The NHS is the perfect example. A great many people were (surprisingly) already confused over its status in Scotland. I think it is perfectly obvious BT are purposely trying to maintain that confusion. Their logic must be – with confusion comes uncertainty.
It’s like BT are working hard dreaming up new ways to lie about the same things!
Fast forward a year or so…. In many ways, its not going to matter if we don’t get a YES. The UK is finished as a viable entity.
Imagine this…. After a NO vote… The UK holds a referendum for the EU (The South, Tories and UKIP pull us out)
In Scotland, 400,000 people in a new organisation called ‘Global Scotland’ apply directly to Brussels to remain EU citizens. A political master stroke and a paper work exercise that says to Westminster, ‘the old ways of control don’t work any longer’
This is a increasing a world that belongs to the people.
It may be an extreme vision above, but it demonstrates that the shackles are coming off and the power will belong to the people again.
o/t I see ‘the war’ is on the news24 channel again. Of course,it’s history,but for the modern world to keep harking back to it seems wrong.There always seems to be something about it on ‘news’ channels.
It won’t make a blind bit of difference. Their black ops “anonymous” spokesman division will be quoting Barosso until the referendum just to keep it in the public conscience in the hope it will cast doubt. Cos that wouldn’t really be lying would it?
I did not use the 18th Sept date on last post because we will not officially know until the 19th Sept of the YES victory.
Also, March 2016 is a date that the SNP want Scotland to be officially recognised as an Independent Country, but it doesn’t mean that that date cant be extended if negotiations are taking longer with the EU than anticipated.
I think No is running a People’s Friend type of leaflet campaign.
Empty rhetoric with massaged language and lies.
Sophie Sandor: Vice-President EUCUA, BT youth activist with quite a few miles under her belt – see her Twitter page (easily found), but if you must comment, please be nice and positive. Also features as a candidate at “One Young World”: http://www.oneyoungworld.com/our-network/candidates-and-delegates/community/Candidate/180189
Anyone know much about One Young World? Must find out more….
I have to say that her concerns over human rights, common justice, third world poverty, etc, seem to be rather at loggerheads with her political stance: “Dear Sophie, read Piketty, then read and look loads more. Your current ideology is not going to change the world for the better.”
Im reminded of that wee online “Pick a card” trick that was around years ago. You mentally chose a card, clicked on GO and magically your card was the one removed and you stared at the screen in wonder.
The trick was that ALL the card were changed, very subtley, ie King of Diamonds to King of Hearts etc. Just enough to be familiar but enough to make a change in ones mind.
Thats the BT game now. They cant show any errors so now the game is to fudge around the edges giving the impression nothings changed when in fact everything has.
Democracy is not ‘One person, one vote’
Democracy is not even ‘a system to provide fair representation of the wants and needs of the citizens.’
What is it?
Democracy is: Equality, Justice, Fairness, Fraternity and Freedom.
Which of these do we genuinely have across these small islands?
Which of these do we have in Scotland?
The point is, the political and establishment system is broken in the UK. People are beginning to realise it.
When a faux-grassroots campaign can be started in Scotland by a London PR company backed by Tory money… You know that this is the start of the end.
‘We didn’t start the fire. It was already burning’
Sorry for going O/T so early but I will try to link back to the topic. Re. the LSE link a2 posted at 10:22am. Even though I don’t think Dr Sasha Vereker has a fully firm grasp on the dynamics of the Scottish – EU interaction, nor the legal obligations of membership, I think she may have a point when she argues that evaluative concepts are phenomenal, i.e. the sort of concept, mastery of which requires undergoing a particular experience. See what I did there. 😉
http://www.academia.edu/5361248/Evaluative_Concepts_are_Phenomenal
The headline of the article sums it all up nicely. Many No voters seem to accept this position.
Rather than bombing airports,I’ll put my money on…
“EU to partition Scottish fishing grounds if splittists win.”
Followed by a threat to sue our renewables sector for stealing the wind as it passes over us.
What would happen to the opt out on the Euro?
Anyone got an email address for Better Together? Just wondering, because if they do Doug Daniel seems to have written just the article to clarify that point for them, several months ago now.
Funny how Better Together seem incapable of finding these things out for themselves….
I haven’t had the letter from dear, worried, surprisingly Darling-esque sounding Sophie (a more pretencious choice of aspiring upper middle class of name I have yet to see) but if it happens to have a freepost response address could we possibly do unto Better Together as was done to UKIP?
Unsolicited ridiculous shite through my letterbox offends me. I would like to send an appropriate response.
Peter Macbeastie
Do what bigGpolmont and a few of us decided to do yesterday.
Send it back to them on their freepost address,I’ve been adding the rest of my junk mail in the envelopes.
Not surprised in the least. I went through all this in 79′ and 97′, and the only thing that has changed is the intensity with which they, the establishment, attack us is because they can see their gravy train getting ready to depart. Treat all their propoganda with the contempt it deserves.
Sing a song of Scotland,
A country full of Lies.
Better Together and UKIP,
Baked in a propaganda pie.
When the pie was opened,
The MSM began to sing;
Wasn’t that a dainty dish,
To set before the Wings?
Wings were in the Counting House,
Where UK’s lies are funny,
Darling was in the parlour,
Lying over over money.
Lamont was in Parliament,
Smelling English Rose,
When down came Wings Bird
And pecked off her nose
The UK got a rebate from the EC, and we are told that we will not be able to benefit from it in iScotland.
But, as I understand it, this rebate was bought at the price of sacrificing the interests of the Scottish fishing fleet.
If I could go back in time I would willingly have given up the UK rebate in exchange for a strong Scottish voice in the fishing negotiations. Why should I now regard the potential loss of that rebate as a threat?
In fact, I would welcome negotiations with the EU which would concentrate on Scottish rights and benefits, our duties and responsibilities.
I suspect that the rUK fears such negotiations, precisely because this precious rebate would be on the table.
I have a friend in Generation Yes who has been invited to be on the panel for an upcoming School debate in Ayrshire
I saw an e-mail trail where Sophie was invited to join this panel and speak on behalf of BT
Her response was that she wasn’t allowed to personally give notice of attendance and that any requests for attendance at public debates had to be routed through the BT executive to give their approval or not….
I’ll leave you to make up your own minds on that…
@wingman 2020
Excellent.
Im now picturing,Granny Lamont at bedtime being asked:
“What did you do to help the referendum result Granny?”
“Nothing hen, nothing”
And thats regardless of the result.
Given we have SNP MPs, cant they formally ask the UK Government to request clarification from EU or is it better for both sides arguments to remain vague for now rather than chance an unwanted answer?
Peter at 11:06
Sophie’s letter does not have an email address on it but the response I’m about to pop in the post box gives the website as bettertogether.net there’s bound to be a contact email on the site somewhere.
See my 10:48 post for details of their Freepost address.
MSM in overdrive today. Never seen anything like it. In total panic following yesterdays huge cock-up. Herald dipping it toes into racist stuff in its front page headline.
The problem for the NO campaign is that they know they are losing the debate, after all they have the secret polling information to confirm that.They have so many disparate messengers of doom and gloom and fire and brimstone that they cannot remember who told the last lie or what was said yesterday. They are making it up as they go along, getting found out minute by minute, day by day. I don’t know if it was a deliberate tactic by YES to just let the NO campaign Blether Tosh and give them enough rope to hang themselves, but it is clearly working- just hope the new opinion polls reflect this.
I am curious at the lack of Tories in the Scottish media since the Euro elections, what are they up to? I suspect they are pouring over their DEVO minus report and wee Ruth will be getting a doing from Cameron to include more right wing nonsense to appeal to the Scottish UKIP voter.
The Tories do actually have an opportunity to put forward a credible right of centre political proposal which would stand them in good stead post referendum, but as always in politics, its all about the short term and to spite Scotland. Just to contradict myself, I cannot see a long term future for the Scottish Branch of the Tories anyway, given the lack of new blood:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/referendum-news/next-generation-nowhere-to-be-found-as-scots-tory-youth-conference-is-scrap.24189427
I must have missed the BBC’s coverage of announcement that qualified nurses and midwives and consultants are at record levels in Scotland.
Figures published yesterday by ISD Scotland show that the number of whole-time-equivalent (WTE) qualified nursing and midwife staff has increased by 1,654.4 since September 2006 – an increase of 4 per cent. There are now 42,680.6 WTE qualified nurses and midwives working in NHS Scotland, making it the largest group of staff.
Numbers of consultants is also at a record level. There are now 4,769.7 WTE medical and dental consultants in the NHS – a 31.2 per cent increase of 1,133.2 since September 2006.
Total NHS workforce (excluding GPs and GDS) has increased by 2,420.4 WTE posts since last March to a total of 135,625.7 posts – an increase of 1.8 per cent.
Total NHS staff numbers have increased by 8,563.9 WTE since September 2006 – a rise of 6.7 per cent. Nursing and midwifery staff numbers have increased 2.4 per cent over the same period.
http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/in-brief/9253-nurses-and-midwives-and-consultants-at-record-high
There’s definitely something wrong with this 19-year-old: she uses the word “like” only once in three sentences, and she uses it correctly. Could have been Flipper on helium, wearing one of Eddie Izzard’s wigs. Just sayin, like.
Can we look forward to “Sophie” taking part in debates to express her concerns to a live audience?
Reminder of today’s FMQs if you want to see Lamont, Davidson, Rennie et al getting filleted – it’s at 12:00 on UKBC Parliament channel (81?) and online at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/newsandmediacentre/3168.aspx
James Kay
Not only Scottish fishing sacrificed for the UK Rebate, Monies set aside for Scottish farmers was bargained against the UK rebate, that’s why they qualified for additional assistance, which the UK Govt, split between all the farmers in the UK althought it was specifically intended for Scottish Farmers
Doesn’t she realise that the bottom half of the UK just voted in a large number of anti-EU membership MEP’s compared to the sneaked in by a whisker one up here? Which part of the UK wants to leave the EU?
Scotland will be in the EU. As to opt-outs …well they can be formalised through discussions. The point is, just having those discussions means we’re in.
Blair, Danny, Alistair must be bricking it as each day goes by…
@GrahamB
I half expect Johann to stand up, put her thumbs up and say “Keysees okay…” to try and make her immune from a total wipeout
My Granny was very analytical on the subject of lying. She warned me against it, not because it was necessarily always bad, but because it was actually very difficult to get away with. You have to be very consistent in your lying. Same lies to everyone, and all lies must fit consistently together. Or else you will be found out and once branded a liar, always a liar. The potential lasting consequences outweigh and perceived short term gains.
Here’s the twist. Suppose you find yourself in a state of panic and desperation where all that seems to matter to you are those ‘perceived short term gains’, and you don’t care if you are perceived as a liar and deceiver for ever more!?
You lose the plot and lie and lie and lie ….
Never in our lifetimes will any of us again see this widespread scale and level of attempted deceit. I still go with my Granny, there will be lasting consequences for BT/BtBC/MSM/VNOB.
Does anyone remember the lavish celebrations commemorating 300 years of the Union in 2007?
No, me neither.
You have to be very consistent in your lying.
Some lying is justified.
If a fox ran by me followed by hunters, and they wanted to know which way it went, I’d point the opposite direction. Is that not what many a good person did for a Jew hiding from the Nazis?
The issue with Westminster power elite is, they lie to retain subordination from Scotland.
With all this excitement, better get in a stock of Ovaltine or Horlicks, to help you sleep.
Anyone else reckon all those references to ‘walking away’ are a wee dog-whistle to Loyalist sorts, some of whom may recall the slogan ‘we don’t do walking away’ ?
I’m sure we’ll be allowed into the EU on Sundays but not Mondays unless it is a bank holiday.
Friday and Saturday are out because those days are far too busy to be dealing with Scotland.
Wednesday is good but Tuesday and Thursday are up for negotiation.
A quote from an article on Alyn Smiths EU page states.
“The analysis paper concludes “Scotland in future is likely to remain in the EU, either as an independent country or as part of the UK. But the Scottish vote could affect whether the rest of the UK stays in the EU”.
The analysis also unpacks the realpolitik in Brussels of a Yes vote in September, concluding that “from a practical point of view, no member state has a material interest in Scotland remaining outside the EU, even for a short time” indeed that “Scotland outside the EU, and not applying EU rules, would be a legal nightmare for EU member states, whose citizens and enterprises would lose their rights in Scotland”.
It also debunks the oft repeated scaremongering over Spanish attitudes quoting verbatim the Spanish Foreign Minister, ex MEP Mr Garcia Margallo “the attitude of the UK would be the determining factor in deciding our vote”. Given the UK has consented to the agreed constitutional process, it is inconceivable that Spain will object.”
Full article at http://www.alynsmith.eu/snp_hail_european_policy_centre_analysis_on_independence?recruiter_id=1810
Unfortunately the download link for the paper leads to a webmail login for the EU.
Here’s something I’ve noticed; sometimes when it’s pro-independence speakers being interviewed on the TV the lighting, to me at least, seem somewhat brighter.
It’s barely noticeable, but the problem is that the stronger that lighting is then the hotter the studio becomes, and because of that it makes the interviewee sweat just a teeny weeny bit more on the brow and the top lip.
It makes the person being interviewed look nervous and uneasy. Spotting beads of sweat on the top lip of people going through customs is one of the ways that customs officers can identify possible drugs traffickers and terrorists. It’s also how we in the general public can judge whether a car salesman, for instance, is selling us a lemon.
Perhaps it’s just me and my suspicious mind, but I’m 50 years older than the ‘Sophie’ mentioned above, and have half a century of experience more than her. Sneaky tricks?
I wouldn’t put anything past those British unionists.
Anyway, Alex and Nicola, keep your eye on them. Don’t trust them. Don’t let them turn the lights up too much. It may be a ploy.
galamcennalath at 10.51am says,
It’s like BT are working hard dreaming up new ways to lie about the same things!
They are most likely employing psychologists/spin drs to attempt to mind control the people of Scotland. It wouldn’t be unknown.
I see Scotland as an occupied country, economically, psychologically and in part at least, physically. I suspect this has been the case for many years, well 300 plus, to be exact.
It is time to take control ourselves, in fact long overdue. Westminster ie uk government, are a disgrace in attempting to obstruct what should be a democratic process. Their immoral ways know no bounds, history shows that.
FMQs
RUTH DAVIDSON—roasted
Grouse Beater says:
Some lying is justified.
Agreed. Sometimes it is morally right to tell lies.
My points are, firstly, in a state of absolute panic you can let lies fly in all directions, and this is what seems to be happening with the NaeSayers right now. This is a world of difference from a carefully considered moral ‘white lie’, which need not be small, it might be a whopper like hiding Jews from Nazis!
The second point, is all lying has potential consequences.
My Granny never said, don’t lie. She ensured I understood what went with it.
Goodness help BT. It would be laughable, if it wasn’t so tragic.
FMQ’s and Ruth Davidson:
Delighted at her stupidity and a pure gift of a question to the First Minister which allowed him to destroy her. What a woman, what a man!
Britian’s EU rebate is all about farming subsidies which countries like France get due to the amount of farm land that they have compared to UK so the EU/UK rebate tries to balance this out.
Scotland on the other hand has large amounts of farm land (3rd of the UK land mass) so would we need the rebate to receive a fair payout from Europe or would our farmers just get a fair subsidy from Europe?
My favored option is to join Europe in the same way as Norway but not full membership!
It stands to reason that iScotland must negotiate terms for entry to the EU.
Here’s the knub though: So will rUK have to. Why? Because they will have lost a third of the land, eight percent of the population, ten percent of the economy and over two thirds of the marine area. On top of that they will have at least six fewer MEPs to sign into a treaty amendment.
Maybe that’s what David Cameron means when he says he’ll renegotiate Britain’s terms of membership to the EU! 🙂
In any case, if they think they’ll keep the same terms with the EU on Scotland gaining independence, they are deluded!
I see the Herald is still running with the ‘AS says Scotland needs and additional 24000 immigrants a year’ lie.
FFS – how difficult is it to watch a recording of his interview where HE CLEARLY STATES about 2000 extra a year. Once again the MSM multiplying numbers by 1200%.
@No No No, @bookie from hell
I liked this tweet shown on BBC coverage
12:22: Pete Wishart, SNP MP tweets: Willie Rennie then picks up the gun. Looks at the bottom of his leg. Finds foot. Thinks about it. Fires. #fmqs
Here’s a suggestion. Can we get small stickers printed with something along the lines of:
‘Warning – This publication may contain Lies and Distortions’.
It wouldn’t be too difficult to attach the sticker to any newspapers lying around, in particular i’m thinking the ‘Metro’, because it’s left lying around all over the place.
@Roughbounds
I recall there was some stushie about the lighting in a Reagan-Mondale televised presidential debate in the 80s, which made Mondale look shifty or ill. This after a resounding Mondale win in the previous debate. The rest as they say, is history.
Hi Sophie, thank you for your letter outlining your position. I sympathise, really do.
You probably are unaware of just how the UK’s desperate unemployment came about, when things were once much more humane.
Sadly though, voting to remain subservient to the very system that brought us into the land of petty unemployment and zero hours of hope for tomorrow – more and still more of this will only worsen your position, first dampen then extinguish your legitimate aspirations. Those of your social superiors will not have to share your diminishing opportunities, of course – silvers spoons, etc.
Please reconsider, while you still have time. Best wishes.
Don’t rip it up and stick it in the recycle bin! Send it back to them with a few choice comments!
Thats what I did with the one I got on Saturday from ” Joanne Percy – the working mum”
It costs them money to get the replies. I posted photos of my replies on my Facebook pag.
I’ll reply with more of the same to the student one!
My advice is, if you get any of their stuff through your door – send it back!
Second go. Helpful? Funny?
http://www.reddit.com/r/photoshopbattles/comments/26p252/scottish_first_minister_alex_salmond_kicking_a/
“wee folding bike” that’s brilliant I’m in, I usually send back takeaway menues
o/t
So the wife fills in that silly Better Together nosy bastard questionnaire
and writes
“So we’ll be walking away from friends and family in the rest of the UK?
sounds like you will be turning us into a pariah state, North Korea perhaps?
Doesn’t sound very “Better Together” to me,
sounds more like naked threats,
I’ll take my chances and vote yes,
ps couldn’t afford the stamp since P.O. was privatized sorry.” 🙂
Cameron B says
” I don’t know any 19 year old students, so perhaps I’m just being daft.”
Going to the wrong pubs chief. 😉
Dear Sophie,
I note what you have written but I would like to take the time to clarify a few things for you.
More opportunities in the UK for young people like yourself? Sad to say Sophie but that is increasingly turning out to be tragedy in the making. A whole generation of young people are going to be left behind, just like they were in the 80s. so bad is it, that a recent Princes trust report on the issue said that a 1/4 million young people, feel they have nothing to live for. That is happening right now in the UK. Young people are being squeezed as never before, worse even that my generation went through during the 80s. You now face the prospect post NO vote, of paying mortgage levels of debt to get a decent education in the UK. English students already pay this. There is no way that any future UK government would tolerate the forward thinking policies so far enacted by the Scottish government. Indeed, Johann Lamont is on record as stating she would want to see the introduction of full fees, as part of her attack on “something for nothing” culture.
Leaving your family and friends? You may find yourself one day doing just that to pursue your dreams. Indeed many people have done exactly that. I myself have family living in England, Germany, Australia and Canada. Your friends and family will always be with you. Leaving the UK would not make strangers or foreigners of them.
Leaving Europe and leaving the pound. Currency is not marker of identity – it simply a means to secure goods and services. Scotland is a wealthy nation and could easily run its own currency pegged to the value of the pound. It is not as George Osborne stated, a 300 year old act of charity that Scotland hasn’t contributed to. There is nothing to be proud of in being dependent on the charity of others.
As for Europe – Who told you Scotland would leave it? The UK government? The very same UK government who, having been bullied by UKIP, will be voting to leave itself.
So Sophie in closing. How are you going to feel being part of a UK that took away opportunity and gave you workfare instead? How are you going to feel when the UK leaves Europe. How are you going to feel living in a UK that increasingly is fearful of foreigners?
Voting no, doesn’t make sense to me.
ps
To the grass roots campaign posing as a young person. You should be ashamed to be peddling this pish under a banner called “Bettertogether”.
“If Scotland walks away from the UK, it walks away from the pound.”
George Osborne back in February. Is George’s middle name Sophie?
john king
The only time I drink is when I go down the road with my dad, where the average age usually hovers around the 60+ mark. Still, they do a Karachi at the weekend and I’m sure they even played a Bob Dylan tune the last time I was in. 🙂
Well said David Agnew. Sophie, you weren’t around in the ’80s, but it looks very much like the Tories fully intend finishing what they started back then. Unless you are already independently wealthy, you will have very little prospect of becoming socially mobile, if you chose to vote No. You might also have trouble accessing adequate health services, ect. and have you really considered the moral implications, not to mention cost, of Trident and Trident 2?
karaoke 😉
writes Sasha Vereker of the London School of Economics.
About Eu entry.
“However, continuity arguments only go this far, and an easy entry for Scotland will set a precedent for want-away regions like Catalonia”
Even these clever clogs think Scotland is a want-away REGION! No allowance that Scotland is a Country currently in a failing Union. If they cannot see that this make Scotland very different from the ” want-away regions ”
Then how smart are they at all. It is hardly rocket science.
It just shows how the London set think of us as one of their regions, not the country, which we certainly are.
MJ says:
“My favored option is to join Europe in the same way as Norway but not full membership!
That will be EFTA you are thinking of, my preference too!
Wasting your time sending your letters to young Sophie. As @Gaavster indicates earlier everything will probably go to BT HQ to be censored.
Additionally as her twitter feed says she’s off to Beijing to do some international legal work, courtesy of University of Edinburgh’s “investment in my scholarship”. Back middle of July, fine work if you can get it. 🙂
The Herald had a pro-union advert – mostly NobOrders, but one full page BT one as well – one virtually every page today. It screamed desperation.
I still haven’t had this letter though! Every SNP woman I know seems to have had it, even ones who are elected councillors or MSPs. WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG??? Is my testosterone level too high or something?
Jim mcintosh
Sorry but returning the freepost letters to Young Sophie 19 is far from a waste of time. Of course she will never read them, even if she was capable of reading but every one of them costs BETTER TOGETHER 33P Since there are 7500 photcopied letters all bearing the freepost address winging their way to Blythswood square from a FK postcode that takes care of £2500 of their budget.There is more than one way of skinning a cat!
Its a pity that Sophie had’nt been around in the thatcher era, when you did’nt walk away from your job..thatcher took them from you and shipped them to England, and while she’s at it could she call in at Spain on the way to Hong Kong or wherever and tell the Spanish fishermen they wont be allowed into Scottish territorial waters as we are no longer members of the EU..
PS The first assignment of junk mail now on its way to BT HQ..second going tomorrow…xxx
Cath
You poor wee soul never got a letter from sophie?
Perhaps I can help.I think I have about an extra
5 0r 6 thousand kicking about somewhere. or you could just write and ask her to send you one her freepost address is
Better together,
FREEPOST RTAU-ZCRB-TELS
5 BLYTHSWOOD SQUARE, GLASGOW G2 4AD
I dont think she will mind
Have you seen the BBC Scottish referendum poll tracker?
“Opinion polls are already playing a significant role in the referendum and it seems likely that this will continue as the campaign intensifies.
As each side tries to create momentum, the polls are used to batter their opponents. But where does that warfare leave individual electors as they seek to discover possible outcomes?”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-27585557
Read the piece about the BBC poll tracker and went immediately to my favourite Dissect the poll site
http://scotgoespop.blogspot.co.uk/
Item entitled
Problems with the BBC referendum poll tracker
New day, old tricks.
I wrote an article on my blog a couple of months ago which partly talked about a BetterTogether letter sent to my partner from ‘Joanne Piercy'(c/o Blair McDougall). The line:
‘If we leave the UK there will be no going back… That is a pretty daunting prospect.’
is lifted directly from Joanne’s letter.
Funny that.
http://mjaei.wordpress.com/2014/04/01/the-independence-merry-go-round/
‘I wrote an article on my blog a couple of months ago which partly talked about a BetterTogether letter sent to my partner from ‘Joanne Piercy’”
JOANNE PIERCY! Thank you! I’ve been going nuts trying to find that letter all day, but I was searching for “Judith Pierce” for some reason. Got it now.
Is Joanne Piercy a real person, or just the name of a character in the crime novel “Catch the Fallen Sparrow” by Priscilla Masters?
No worries, Rev.
Got a text from an undecided friend yesterday to tell me she’d received a letter from “some 19 year old lass” that was full of ill-informed rubbish. She seemed unhappy being told what to think by a thick sounding 19 year old.
I STILL HAVEN’T HAD ONE!