Just below the surface
We got slightly distracted yesterday by documenting some eye-popping Unionist madness, and completely forgot to finish our investigation into the Guardian’s odd claims that the Scottish Government had “delayed”, “softened” and “compromised” its stance on the removal of Trident from Scotland after independence, and that such a move betrayed nervousness over the feasibility of its goal of NATO membership.
We examined one piece by Severin Carrell, but the paper actually ran two by the same author on the same subject, and the second was just as inaccurate and misleading.
The newer article, entitled “Alex Salmond targets 2016 Trident withdrawal date”, makes the same claims as its predecessor, and once again it loads them straight up front in the (near-identical) opening two paragraphs:
“Alex Salmond has suggested a final deal on removing Trident nuclear submarines from an independent Scotland would be delayed until 2016, as he urged his party to seize the hour and win next year’s referendum.
The first minister appeared to soften his stance on the immediate future of the Trident fleet, one of the most contentious issues in the independence debate, by suggesting its fate was conditional on the Scottish National party retaining power after independence was formally declared.”
But to establish whether that’s a delay or a softening of the SNP’s stance, we need to find out what the stance was before. And it turns out it’s not too hard to do.
The pro-independent Scottish National Party said if it won power in a break-away Scotland it would get rid of the weapons currently kept in Faslane on the Clyde.” (BBC News, 1 May 2013)
In those circumstances, the party would pursue a ‘soonest possible’ timetable for turning Scotland nuclear-free.” (STV News, 10 March 2012)
“We have accepted the fact that the Trident nuclear missile system should not be removed ahead of any safe time scale for doing so […] it is quite possible that it will be in Scotland for some time after we assume responsibility for defence forces, which will be in March 2016.“
(Keith Brown, SNP defence minister, giving evidence [para.97] to a House Of Commons defence select committee on 2 July 2013)
Our emphases in all cases.
What we can clearly see, then, is that the SNP has said for a long time (at least 18 months) that the removal of Trident (a) wouldn’t happen until after Scotland was actually independent in 2016, and (b) was conditional on the SNP winning power in that independent Scottish Parliament. Its position has been absolutely consistent, and it hasn’t delayed, conceded or compromised anything.
If we can find that out with two minutes of Googling, why can’t Severin Carrell?
I am a dyed in the wool Nationalist , I have been committed to the cause since the late 60s.
As this momentous day draws closer I have to admit all the negative lies ,smears and downright dishonesty of the No Campaign is taking its toll on me.
I can no longer be bothered reading a newspaper on line or otherwise, I rarely ever comment any more.
I avoid the news and current affairs programmes as they only anger and dismay me.
If this constant barrage of lies and scaremongering can do this to a die hard what affect is it having on those less committed to our cause?
“If we can find that out with two minutes of Googling, why can’t Severin Carrell?”
He can, he just doesn’t want to.
This is typical of this Scottish Government, forever dilly-dallying and putting things off until they have the actual power to implement their promised actions. Its pathetic so it is. We see it all the time, if its not failing to completely get rid of the Bedroom Tax, its failing to get rid of weapons of mass destruction from our lands\waters.
If we can find that out with two minutes of Googling, why can’t Severin Carrell?
He knows what he writes is dishonest but that’s because he has the interest of the British state at heart and he despises those who can see a different future.
Its called propaganda.
Rod Mac, turn it into anger and use it to Yes Scotlands advantage.
As for it’s effect on the less die hard, it’s making them switch them off correct, but it works both ways, if they ever actually come up with a respectable argument against indy, the people won’t listen. It’s why the first two arguments they pushed hard, out of the EU and not using the pound still resonates with the public, everything else doesn’t…..the EU argument and the pound can be easily debunked.
It’s akin to the boy crying wolf.
It’s wide open and ours for the taking, generations worth of hard work comes down to this. Don’t get dis-heartened, let it galvanise your resolve. Forza Scotland.
I responded in similar (although not as detailed) terms yesterday. Lazy journalism or unionist propaganda? My money is on the latter.
That’s a trick question. 😀
RodMac, I can identify with you there, it angers and dismays me and I can become quite ill if I digest too much of these lies, propaganda and negativity. On the other hand the only chance we have is to keep positive and keep talking , one on one, trying to let others see the light.
I was down in Perth at the weekend and in Edinburgh in Sept, I need to be among my own to see the huge change that is taking place, I’ve been talking about this since the early seventies and I never really thought it would be in my lifetime, but there’s a good chance now.I encourage you to see it through to the end, we are nearly there now. If we don’t make it then we keep on going, there really is no other choice, there never was 🙂
The reason Severin Carrell didn’t do any googling is because he knew the answer already, and was just doing his job, as he sees it, of being a pro-Union spin doctor. He, like BBC Jockland journos, don’t seem to be bothered that his/their anti-Scottish-self-determination bias is blatant.
I’m guessing that he (and Pacific Quay guilty parties) have come to the conclusion that they have nothing to lose from being BT shills. If the result is a No they will be credited as having played a part in ‘saving’ the Union, and be kept on/promoted somewhere in their respective organisations. if a ‘Yes’ result, things for them will, at best, be very uncertain, with at least some of them (it would appear) wanting to leave Scotland. So most of them will be reckoning that as they are not currently being sanctioned for unprofessional behaviour/output they have nothing to lose from carrying on, and even from increasing their bias/spin.
As such, exposing/debunking their ‘reporting’/interviews doesn’t really bother them as individuals, as it would appear that they are being encouraged (or at least not discouraged) by their editors/managers to be as pro-Union/anti-Independence/anti-SNP as much as they can. In order to bring any pressure to bear on these individual journos, we have to go above and beyond them and their editors/managers – and go straight to their organisations’ global peers and international constituencies that regard them as being defenders of democracy and transparency (both BBC and The Guardian) and of being a left-of-centre champion of the underdog and self-determination (The Guardian). Luckily we have the tools to do that: the internet in general and social media in particular.
I reckon we should start putting more time and energy into contacting/alerting/giving examples of bias and misreporting to editors of newspapers around the world similar in political position to the Guardian and to the BBC’s global competitors (CNN, Al Jazeera, RT, France24, etc.).
Carrell needs to make a living, has to get those column inches filled, but his pet project (the SNP) doesn’t deliver the stories, scandals, lies, corruption and the dumbfoundary. So he has to make it up, he tries to create the news. Funny thing is he doesn’t report the stories, scandals, lies, corruption and the dumbfoundary that is prevalent with the other parties especially SLAB. It must be tough for him 🙂
Chin up Rod Mac, I see the Unionists moving from the smugness and condescension we’ve had to endure over the years to now blatant lies,distortions, and personalised attacks. Severin,Torchill, beardy Cochrane, I don’t read any of that tripe. In the past a Letter to the Editor was a useless means to protest, I recall the endless Labour supporting nonsense letters published in the Herald for Alex Gallagher,Largs cooncillor. Now we have the internet, WOS, Bella,Newsnet etc. and a very competent SNP government. The lies can now be publicly disproven, the personalised attacks answered.
Remember in the lead up to the 2007 election the large colour photos in the Herald of happy, smiling Murphy, and Curran and the postage stamp sized black and white unsmiling photos of Salmond and Sturgeon? Where are we now? The Herald is sinking, and Murphy and Curran are routinely exposed for their ineptness, by the internet public.
Rod Mac
“what affect is it having on those less committed to our cause?”
A lot less than it’s having on you. They’re not just less committed but less interested.
I’ve just sent the BBC clip from the preceding article (Another late entry) to friends, but only to those who will ‘get’ it – including my heading –
I remember when Eggs were Labour.
If somebody sent me an item about reality TV, I would be unlikely to get it.
As well to remember that we all live in assorted bubbles.
@ Rod Mac
The good thing is that hardly anyone reads these so called ”quality” papers. Folk like me though, share pro indy articles daily through the new media, straight onto folks timelines. I reach dozens of folk every day with articles on bias, lies and misinformation, and direct them to sites such as this. Oh and I am just one! Old media is going down the pan and we will win by redirecting folks looking for info to sites such as here.
Make your own mind up on this guy! I have some (a lot) of reservations on his claims.
Severin Carrell’s Skills & Expertise
Journalism News Writing Media Relations Newspaper Editorial Politics Copy Editing Online Journalism Copywriting Magazines Feature Articles Breaking News Editing Blogging New Media Storytelling Current Affairs Crisis Communications Strategic Communications Press Releases Corporate Communications Public Relations Digital Media Social Media Publications Web Content Newspapers Speech Writing Investigative Reporting
I can remember when The Guardian was a good newspaper.
Ref “Rod Mac says…I am a dyed in the wool Nationalist , I have been committed to the cause since the late 60s…”
I fully sympathise with how you are feeling but if you had been at the SNP conference last week you would have heard speaker after speaker giving the most uplifting reasons why Scotland should vote YES, and like me you would have come away from the conference even more determined than ever to set Scotland free from Westminster rule.
Don’t waste your time reading or listening to the Project Fear rubbish for that is what it is, but instead become an avid reader of the pro-independence websites for which you can pick up addresses to via WoS etc.
As someone else has said here, turn your despair into indignation (and maybe even anger) and join the fight to free Scotland from this truly awful parliamentary union that Scotland has the great misfortune to be a part of.
@Rod Mac – Iknow how you feel and some days it does become overwhelming but I think that is the point.
The Nay sayers do this as it is the only weapon they have because they have no positive reasons for us remaining in a disfunctional union
I regularly come on these sites to be encouraged and cheered up – we just have to support each other as much as we can.
I have stopped buying the Guardian now because of the crap that Carrell and the others write.
They think Scotland is unimportant and therefore it doesn’t matter to them how many lies they tell.
However I do still comment on some Guardian articles and the one way you can annoy them is to point out that they are trashing their own reputation abroad – they think no-one is listening outside of the UK – I had someone back track from condescending and ignorant attitudes when it was proven how many foreign consultants were present at the SNP conference by him pretending he was only gently pulling my chain.
The other way is through humour like MadJockMcMad – who cracks me up every time.
As others have said keep the chin up and don’t read or listen to all the negativity – they can’t fool all of the people all of the time.
Rod,
Don’t get mad but rather resolve to get even!
First they ignore you
Then they laugh at you
Then they fight you
Then you win
M K Gandhi
We are presently at stage three in this process and “they ” are confused. Don’t expect them to fight according to any rules.
Is Severin on a Labour string? What has he been promised?
“If this constant barrage of lies and scaremongering can do this to a die hard what affect is it having on those less committed to our cause?”
Well, I was a no vote up until 6 months ago. The constant, obvious lies made me suspicious and prompted me find out for myself. I think I googled “Scottish independence obvious bbc bias” and ended up at Newsnet Scotland and here.
It’s really weird for me to be on the other end of a Guardian attack. I had long regarded it as one of “my” papers (It had Charlie Brooker in it!). The Steve Bell “Should Scotland Go and Fuck Itself” cartoon was the last straw for me. It didn’t say Salmond should or the SNP should, it said Scotland. Not very nice and I don’t buy it anymore.
This is a version of it in response, please feel free to share it far and wide – link to 2.bp.blogspot.com
This whole kerfuffle looks like another attempt to waste the energies of the Yes side. Unlike almost any other issue in Scotland there is no question about the mind of the nation – Get rid of nuclear weapons as soon as possible. Whether Yes or No or undecided people want to have these obscene things removed from their country. Other issues with more “discussion potential” need to be addressed and distracting the natives is an old colonialist technique. Maybe the next Wings survey could ask several absolutely direct – understandable-even-to-idots- type questions about this so time can be spent winning over the really undecided. Anyone strongly in favour of keeping ostensibly British but really American, inadequately maintained and incompetently transported nuclear missiles next door to Sotland’s biggest urban area is probably a hopeless case anyways.
This is part of the reason why I stopped reading the Guardian, its like everything the paper is supposed to stand for doesnt extend to Scotland. Here for example its almost as if they support Nuclear weapons but only in an Independent Scotland.
They support free education, but not in Scotland.
Renewable energy is great, except in Scotland.
You get the picture.
Rod Mac
“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept” – Lt Gen. D Morrison Australian Forces
Since reading this quote some time ago when I was getting down about the continual negativity and dirty tricks of the NO campaign and following it up on a site that has recorded many of his short and inspiring speeches, I have become even more determined not to allow NO case unionistas to go unchallenged even in my own small way. Tedious, trying, stressful, even upsetting to keep going but never ever hopeless nor a danger to losing my own self-belief and self-respect. I admit it means being involved in some truly daft conversations etc. at times but my resolve is intact and I know I have made a difference to the way some now consider the vital issue of Scottish Independence – in a good way!
This whole kerfuffle looks like another attempt to waste the energies of the Yes side.
I think there has to come a time, soon, when we just forget arguing with the merchants of doom, when we leave them to spout their venom to an ever decreasing audience, and focuss on our positive vision for a new Scotland. The people are tiring of the same old naegative arguments. They are now hungry for something new, something positive.
I think a simple approach is sometimes the best, Carrell you are a lying bastard.
As for his paper the “Guardian” the name means ‘custodian’, well if that means being a custodian of honesty, truth & fairness to its readers, that ship has long sailed.
Treat these people and organisations with the same distain as they treat us and ignore them.
Vote YES – Vote Scotland.
When you read the name Severin Carrell, it is pointless reading any further. He’s just a cloned version of the Telegraph’s Alan Cochrane. You know whenever you see his (Carrell’s) name beneath the headline you’re about to fed a load of rank mince.
I agree with Ken MacColl we are definitely at stage 3 in Ghandi’s model – we are entering the fight phase for sure.
SLAB’s tactics in Dunfermline demonstrate clearly they will stop at nothing to win. Outright LIES in their leaflets ? Who cares as long as they win is their obvious strategy. It can be very disheartening when it all goes almost un remarked and unchallanged by the MSM.
We on the other hand have the new media -we can direct people to the truth behind the scares. I’ve had success in turning no’s to don’t knows to YES asssited greatly by pointing them to these outlets.
That said – I would LOVE an overseas TV network to take a hard long look the BBC’s performance in this great debate.
@Rod Mac:
Either you are full of shit or you need to grow a pair. If you are letting the likes of Severin Carrell and his ilk undermine your “dyed in the wool nationalism” then unfortunately you have the problem.
We are all being subject to this onslaught daily but you/we should be tough and determined enough to ignore most of the shite and continue with our goals and aspirations.
Never give up.
I sympathise with Rod Mac. Even at conference, I was sitting there simultaneously being inspired and half-despairing. As Nicola said, we’ve got a killer secret weapon – we’re right. Everybody that stood up on that podium had clear, fact-based and unassailable arguments for independence. I knew that if only these people were given the oxygen of publicity, were given a fair hearing in newspapers and the TV, were reported on factually and not with sneering spin and lies, we’d have an unassailable lead in the polls.
But I also knew that fair reporting was not going to happen. That the Scottish media is as one in its determination to ensure that the Scottish public will not hear these truths. I was sitting in that hall, and it was a bubble, and nothing was going to be allowed to emerge. It is depressing sometimes.
I have little sympathy for anyone who has doubt in their mind at this stage of the game. We are now at the end game and there is no room for wobbling, it’s all or nothing for Independence now.
Let’s keep the comments to Rod positive can we ?
He’s one of us, he’s been doing this for years and he’s feeling downhearted now – which one of us hasn’t felt like that over the past few years?
Rod, keep your chin up, ignore the media if that helps – but you can keep putting the positive message out in your local community. If you feeling in need of support, and I think many of us do, then why not get involved with your local Yes group. At least then you’ll have the support of like minded people.
The journey is only going to get tougher over the coming months, so maybe it’s time for us all to have a wee think about what we need personally to keep our spirits up and not give in.
The No campaign are only going to get more bitter, tell more lies and use dirty tactics. They want us to either give up or to get angry and start shouting so they can call us racists or fascists.
Remember, we have to be self aware – you may think your fighting for the cause, but sometimes shouting the odds doesn’t work and only turns people off to your message.
Come on people, group hug, feel the love. 🙂
Balgayboy – remember that we are all different. I can sympathize with how Rod Mac feels as I often feel despondent when I see and hear all the negative junk from the unionist media. They, however, will never change my mind about what I KNOW is right for the future of Scotland. I do what I can to spread the word honestly and whatever the result I will be able to look myself in the face – Carrell and others of his ilk will have to live with their dishonesty for the rest of their miserable lives!
@tartanfever
I was told only the other week on this very site that we don’t do group hugs, only manly handshakes and grunts.
Manly handshakes all round then. 🙂
“I reckon we should start putting more time and energy into contacting/alerting/giving examples of bias and misreporting to editors of newspapers around the world similar in political position to the Guardian and to the BBC’s global competitors (CNN, Al Jazeera, RT, France24, etc.).”
Sounds like an idea. If they see their little cloak and dagger routine suddenly exposed on a more global stage then it might make them panic, for fear of being labelled everywhere as the propaganda stations they’ve become.
Bottom line is, they’re in this to make money, and if it looks like they’ll lose money from openly backing the wrong horse here they might just change their tune and abandon the political puppet masters behind their lies.
Not suggesting they’ll all suddenly become pro-Yes or anything. But at the least they might tone down the bias a bit.
OK Balgayboy – i’m with you and all our other sisters and brothers who want the best for our wee country and manage to maintain a level of integrity at the same time. BT, as the next post makes plain, can get away with any dishonesty they feel the need to pursue. Not us – we have the high moral ground and can win the referendum from it! I was at the SNP donor’s conference, with my English wife, and both of us are proud of Alex, NIcola and our other politicians. They stand like giants among political midgets!
@Rod Mac, and anyone else,
Right from the outset the Westminster policy makers, along with the media,(newspapers,& the
B.B.C.) made the decision that the best way to counter the urge for Independace, would be to
undermine Scottish confidence!, and that is what all this talk of negativity is about, negativity
masks the real reason, that of undermining confidence ,
after all it worked post Culloden, also for the ” highland clearances, this time it is much more
subtle, but just as brutal in it’s execution.
Bill McLean says:
Hi Bill, Like yourself I’ve been on this journey for a long time and have read and listened to all the anti-Scottish BS and cliche’s, none of them has deterred me from believing that we the people of Scotland can be an successful Independent Nation.
After 300 years this is the first chance for the common people of our country to decide their future. What an opportunity and example to the rest of world it will be when a educated nation decides that self determination is the way ahead.
I seem to spend most of my day patrolling the Scotsman, Herald, Guardian, Telegraph, etc. and countering the lies and idiocies of the unionistas. I make a rule of never losing my temper and I don’t trade insults or name call. For example Johann Lamont is always Johann Lamont, never Rosa Klebb or whatever. Occasionally I might ‘accidentally’ mis-spell their handle, UKIPpers really don’t like this as they tend to be pompous bastards(oops, sorry there).
Hard, properly sourced facts delivered with good humour is the best approach, it really doesn’t give them room for a come back.
He’s trying to undermine the authority & honesty of The First Minister of Scotland by making claims that he thinks Scottish readers in particular will believe. It matters not that what he writes is rubbish. Sovereign Caramel is simply following the easy Unionist path which requires him to write anything that he and his bosses think will work to Salmond’s disadvantage & thus negatively affect the YES vote at referendum time.
The good news is that he is doing exactly what we expect of him; behaving like a puerile child who thinks he’ sufficiently mature to hold an adult conversation.
Rod Mac (first post) –
I understand how you feel: I’m in much the same frame of mind. But this is what might be called ‘groundhog year’: after 300 years, there is no hiding place in mere ‘pride’ for those with a provincial, unionist attitude to Scotland. And with the barrage of propaganda, falsehoods and biased journalism, a large – and, I think, slowly increasing – proportion of the electorate is now utterly alienated from the Union, from the parties which support it, and – quite crucially – from the mainstream media. Even if the referendum were lost, it wouldn’t be by much and, either way, things will never be the same again. Nurse your wrath, and keep it warm.
We are all in agreement here – no matter what the lousy unionist say or write we will still be YES voters. I do agree with Andrew Morton about name-calling and trading insults. Why when we have the high moral ground should we get into the gutter with unionists. Keep it polite and honest – they hate that because they can’t understand it. They are like bullies in the school yard – stand up to them, quote the facts then watch them back off. Bullies are nearly always cowards as well. Severin Carrell is a nonentity except in his own mind – don’t read his articles if they create despondency. Remember the prize is a free Scotland! Free to treat our old, young, sick and poor decently – something else many unionists cannot understand!
Totally off topic here, but I’ve been musing . . . am I being paranoid, or is it not more than a little strange that Prestwick goes tits up one month and Grangemouth is threatened with closure the next? And coincidentally it’s around the time of the final SNP conference before the referendum!
The Largs poll seems to have been removed now.
I have been involved with pro-democracy stuff for a while and have never seen a shitstorm like this one. Anyway while we are on the subject I might as well say…
We are on the receiving end of a concerted and brutal propaganda war. There is no need for any conspiracy here, it is born out of the common interest of the protagonists, we know who they are.
We are as much the target (and in some cases the main target) as other social/demographic sections of the Scottish populace. T E Lawrence said something like – Defeat happens in the mind of the enemy not on the battlefield.
To defend ourselves and ensure that we don’t suffer “activist burnout” and remain effective we need to:
– Not directly emotionally engage with the propaganda.
– Instead detach analyse break it down and understand what is happening within the context of a framework.
– Then come back at it and use proven counterpropaganda methods to defeat it.
Links I found useful…
link to zerohedge.com
link to washingtonsblog.com
Also Wikipedia the Propaganda Counterpropaganda articles.
Chin up folks, remember the darkest hour comes before the dawn!
@ RodMac
Rod, if you’re feeling depressed by all the lies and negativity…just think how THEY must be feeling. They don’t just have to read it, they have to live it.
I find schadenfreude, in small doses, can be so…uplifting.
@Daughter of Evil Reindeer
“I have been involved with pro-democracy stuff for a while and have never seen a shitstorm like this one.”
Yup, I agree. I have lived and worked in many countries with state supported media suppression and propaganda and I reckon that what I am seeing here is the worst in terms of volume, ‘quality’, and blatantness (if that’s a word?).
That’s why I think we should try to expose to the wider world (especially of pro-democracy/human-rights media organisations) what is going on here (especially re the BBC) as much as possible. There is definitely enough going on (and enough evidence) for international media organisations and human rights monitors to take notice and make a noise! If there is one thing that the UK/London establishment is highly sensitive/allergic to, it is its ‘international reputation’ as a model of good governance and tolerance (sic) being challenged and criticised…
@ beachthistle
I saw your earlier post and liked it, my thinking is along similar lines. This is an undemocratic attack on civil society and we need to demonstrate this to the international community. I will have a think about how this could best be put into practice.
@desimond
“This is typical of this Scottish Government, forever dilly-dallying and putting things off until they have the actual power to implement their promised actions. Its pathetic so it is. We see it all the time, if its not failing to completely get rid of the Bedroom Tax, its failing to get rid of weapons of mass destruction from our lands\waters.”
You oan crack ???
“You oan crack ???”
Naw, jist looking after it for a pal, honest.
@Clancheif
Im beginning to believe my attempts at humour are extremely misguided.
Rodmac – i know i know BUT…we’re almost there, and once we are over that winning line, the naysayers guns will fall silent. Now how good will that feel! I always feel when the Unionists ramp up their propaganda to current epic levels then i know for sure they’re panicked and fear stricken. Good God you can almost taste their fear. Its served me well as a barometer to where we are up til now. I just wouldnt feel comfortable if there was no noise or fuss from them, in fact it would worry me somewhat as it would suggest they are certain of victory, Hold the line and stand with us no matter.
When I started reading The Guardian in the 1970s, James Cameron was writing for it. A bit different now! I now doubt everything I read there, and have reduced the amount of time I spend on their pages. I was quite glad to discover Twitter, and meet some of the contributors there, and on these pages. I must admit I’ve been on commenting on this article of Sev’s because it annoyed me so much!
@RodMac I haven’t been involved in the movement as long as you, but I know how you feel! The thing that keeps me going is that, once you’re out speaking to people and canvassing, they are much more positive than the media would suggest. We all get up and down at times, though. It’s only natural in such a long campaign – but that’s too our advantage!
@oneironaut The idea of raising this with other papers is a good one. The Guardian proudly shares its stuff with leading broadsheets round the world – can we think of a way to progress this?
@Grutsfortea – thank you for posting this. I used to spend loads of time on The Guardian pages because I was worried that “don’t knows” would believe the bilge they were reading! At least I know time spent going there wasn’t wasted – maybe it’s encouraged someone to seek out the truth the way you did!
We can win this.
Just look at this site and look at the way people talk, cooperate, relate and share. Then go on to any unionist site and compare.
😉
And don’t forget to visit BBC Scotlandshire for the full scare story.
Today:
Chairchoob wounded by CyberNat character assassination
link to bbc.scotlandshire.co.uk
Rod Mac
Like yourself, I cringe at some of the coverage on our media and press and extremely seldom watch or read it. Its almost like not living in a democracy such is the prejudice against the Yes campaign.
However, that makes it all the more important to get out in the streets, to campaign, and to get leaflets through doors etc. I dont doubt that you are doing that, but it is the only way and all of us must do it.
Maybe one or a few of us should try to go to the World Forum for Democracy in Strasbourg (27-29 November)?
link to coe.int
And/or try to contact one of the main speakers, Mary Kaldor, Professor of Global Governance at the London School of Economics?
link to coe.int
If we can’t get the message out directly through the media, what about this?
Hiring mobile billboards with provocative questions on them about independence and driving them around Scotland’s town centres on Saturday mornings for instance.
You could have such gems as; “If Scotland is such an economic basket case, why is Westminster so keen to hang on to it?”
I’m sure there are plenty more that we can brew up. It might make people stop and think – just as we all did at some point.
The No campaign was key in changing my vote from don’t know to yes. Their campaign is so unrelentingly negative, patronising and down-right rude that it led me to do some online research.
Through that research I found Wings, Bella and Business for Scotland amongst others. I know more about my adopted country than I ever did before and now feel that I can confidently counter much of the rubbish that people come out with, both online and in general conversation.
The subtle drip, drip, drip of propaganda that the Yes Campaign has had to suffer was much easier to overlook than the blatent nasty rubbish that we’re now being bombarded with. It was insidious, because people didn’t always really notice it The No campaign has now become far more blatent and so much of what it spouts is contrary to the experience of so many people that it can’t help but create dissonance. It doesn’t ring true, and anyone with questions and access to Google can find out the truth as there is now so much good quality, well written and positive information available.
I think the current frenzy of negativity, reeks of desperation.
They need a new sub editor.