Keep ’em coming
We didn’t do a stats post at the start of April (still just under 4m pageviews a month, if you’re curious) but when someone tweeted these figures this morning we thought they were worth a wee toot, because they’re more than just nice news for us.
They’re from the independent web-traffic analysis site Alexa.com, and they detail the relative rankings for the seven biggest dedicated Scottish politics sites on the web.
Firstly, of course, we’re super-chuffed to be at Number 1. The most-read politics site in Scotland, by some considerable distance. In second place is the official Yes Scotland site, pipping Newsnet Scotland by the narrowest of margins. And bottom of the lot, slipping below National Collective (which has been more focused on live events in recent months) is “Better Together”.
We mention this partly as an obvious brag, but more as an indicator of the climate. As Scots tune in more and more to the independence debate as a whole (all but one of the sites have higher rankings than they did six months ago), they’re looking for reliable, trustworthy sources of information, and that’s a list the official No campaign site is coming badly – and entirely justifiably – bottom of.
Since day one, Wings Over Scotland has followed a policy of backing up all of its factual assertions with links to external sources wherever possible so that readers can check them for themselves. Working that way is a time-consuming business, but we think the people of Scotland deserve no less, and it seems to be paying dividends.
(It’s an approach also taken by Business For Scotland, the site which has seen the second-highest growth in the chart, which we don’t think is a coincidence.)
Because we’ve always said that while we try to make this site clear, accessible and also entertaining to read, it’s the facts that do all the heavy lifting. Strangely enough, the more people we get the facts out to, the higher the Yes vote seems to climb.
(Which is presumably not entirely unrelated to the fact that we’re under more or less constant DoS attack and a neverending smear campaign.)
And that’s because YOU spread the word. By tweeting, sharing on Facebook and linking in comment threads, it’s the highly active Wings readership that helps us get the truth out there. Donating money is fantastic and enables the site to be a full-time concern, but that’s only any use if people are coming and reading it.
So thank you. But more to the point, keep it up. We need to reach a lot of people in the next five-and-a-bit months to turn a No into a Yes – but if we can get them reading, the facts will do the work for us. Tell everyone you know.
Let’s hear it for UKOK freekydeeky creep show that is the Daily Mail and special mention for gorgeous pouting old whatisname Cockers of the Daily Telegraph too.
Congratulations of the highest order to the Rev. Stu and 1st place is an indication of the many man hours that the Rev. has put in getting the news and stories to us. Well done also to fellow Wings Over Scotland contributors onwards and upwards.
So, the two official sites for the two campaigns – and five independent self-starting sites, all of which are on the Yes side.
Where are the independent, self-starting No sites? Who is enthused enough about a No vote to do what Wings and Bella and all the others have done? Nobody?
I realise there are a few contenders, but if they try to build it and nobody comes, that’s a fair old indictment as well.
Here’s the chart with the official campaigns taken out and a few other sites (including a couple of No ones) added just for reference.
link to wingsoverscotland.com
(Alexa only lets you compare a maximum of 10.)
It is fantastic news, I am not surprised at all.
WOS is the best political website!
Logarithmic scale, I see. Stu, you are a devious bastard.
Where are the independent, self-starting No sites? link to bbc.co.uk and link to bbc.co.uk and link to bbc.co.uk and link to bbc.co.uk so vote NO, for ever and ever, amen.
Somewhere you can find the truth, with the bonus of evidence will always appeal and keep people coming back in every increasing numbers. Well done you! If you want to see evidence of what happens if you do the opposite look no further than The Scotsman.
“Logarithmic scale, I see. Stu, you are a devious bastard.”
Hey, Alexa choose the graph parameters, not me.
So you are interpolating popularity of the pro and con arguments based on how many people click on a particular website?
And than you seem to be assuming undecided people might now vote yes because more people are clicking on pro yes sites?
Yikes that’s not really very scientific.
Maybe safer just keep reporting the facts and not the self-congratulatory conjecture.
Keep up the good work though.
“And than you seem to be assuming undecided people might now vote yes because more people are clicking on pro yes sites?”
No, I’m observing that people seem to be moving to Yes, because the Yes vote keeps going up in polls. And SOMETHING is making them do that, and it seems reasonable to posit that significantly increased traffic to pro-Yes websites may be a part of it.
OK I must be the thick one!
The left axis is low at the top so this just doesn’t make sense to me.
What am I missing?
I’m surprised to see the slight upturn in Labour Hame’s rankings this month, since they’ve not actually posted anything before since St Andrew’s Day. I wonder if people were looking to see if there was any conference-related activity.
And what can have happened to Bella between January and February?
sorry if i’m being thick, what is the Y axis referring to? Thanks in advance
Rev
You set em up and we’ll spread em around.
My FB last seven day insights This week Reach 49.2K
OK I’m the thick one.
The vertical axis value decreases as the graph rises. What am I missing? I cannot make sense of the graph at present.
“The vertical axis value decreases as the graph rises. What am I missing?”
The fact that it’s a chart of RANKINGS, not visitors.
What about the official “United With Labour” website?
Oh right… whoops. Err, never mind.
Guys, it’s a ranking. Low numbers are good (as in “first prize”) so they are at the top. And note the logarithmic scale. It would be way more gee-whiz for Wings with a linear scale.
Congratulations Rev,
I maybe a bit biased but originally I was a no voter but reading Wings and Bella and the intervention of the Project Fear you all convinced me it had to be Yes. So well done hope you have many more converts.
@Morag
I asked that genuine question on Twitter the other day, for people to recommend some convincing and popular No sites.
Although most of the people who follow me (not many, admittedly) are decidedly Yes, I know of a few who are very much in the No camp and there are probably some who are undecided.
What followed was…bizarre.
The expected No advocate jumped in with a tweet explaining that there aren’t really any No blogs because “people don’t care enough about keeping the status quo”. Que? I suggested the AV referendum wasn’t as one-sided…
And then I got another reply from him.
Then another.
Then another.
And they just kept coming, getting more and more vitriolic about the supposed injustice and abuse he was facing on what seems like a constant basis, simply for being against independence.
In total he sent over 25 replies, most just railing against “cybernats” and how the debated was being unfairly dominated by those against staying in the union.
I asked if I was a cybernat as I’ve never been that afraid to show where I stood on the matter, “Not that I’ve seen” was the reply.
Anyway, later I got a single reply giving two blogs. One was a general politics blog that does seem to have a No stance, the other, Notes from North Britain, seems well considered and written and just the kind of thing I was hoping to discover.
That experiment, and the WoS figures in this post, show yet again that the Yes campaign is dominating the debate, but I rather suspect it’s not for the reasons my Twitter friend suspects.
“They’re from the SEPARATE web-traffic analysis site Alexa.com”
Fixed that for you. Bloody cybernats.
Excellent speech from the Deputy First Minister.
Stirring stuff which will no doubt be emblazoned over the BBBC and STV 6 o’clock news.
Aye ,right!
Sites such as WoS are essential for the DKs due to the amount of misinformation in the MSM.
In the guardian they are running with the currency issue.
‘A new survey released yesterday shows that Britons outside Scotland believe the country has no back-up plan if it is not allowed to keep the pound.’
I expect there will be lots of negative comments from UKOKers coming shortly.
They don’t seem to know the difference between us using the £ and a CU.
The level of ignorance is not surprising due to the mis-information dished out by the MSM.
BBC Scotland will no doubt be running with this.
Gordon: “Anyway, later I got a single reply giving two blogs. One was a general politics blog that does seem to have a No stance, the other, Notes from North Britain, seems well considered and written and just the kind of thing I was hoping to discover.”
Yikes! Professor Tomkins’ blog is well-considered? Whatever floats your boat I suppose
As a very rough rule of thumb, when you half Alexa ranking, you double the visitor numbers.
If Wings has ranking around 150000 and BT is around 600000, then Wings is getting about 4X visitors.
The total number of visitors to the the 6 Yes sites will be many times BT’s one site.
That’s the good news. The bad news is of course media sites like the BBC and Scotsman are effectively in the No camp and get a lot of traffic. Scotsman.com has a ranking of about 14000, however most people won’t visit these sites purely as part of the political debate.
Of course, it congratulations must go to the right wing elements of the MSM, who presumably would happily see you run up the nearest flagpole hoisted by your genitalia, for hugely publicising your website.
I know one person who only looked at this site to see if it was really as unhinged as the papers were saying and was a little disappointed to find it was mostly populated with at least semi intelligent, semi educated, tolerant types not prone to suggesting unionists should be strung up by their wotsits. The point, though, is that they’re still visiting the site.
It is highly informative; I’m still annoying unionists with the article on the Euro posted a couple of months back, and the transcript of Beattie’s show yesterday… I have a couple of Better Together mates on Facebook who I suggested should read it. They probably won’t, for all they are intelligent professional types, but it’s there if they ever want to shake themselves out of their cozy little delusions.
Well done Stuart, and keep up the good work, but please, try not overdo it, the work I mean.
liz
Re Ipsos Mori poll on CU you refer to, according to James Kelly’s superb site Scotland goes Pop
link to scotgoespop.blogspot.co.uk
The questions asked were –
If Scotland did become independent, would you support or oppose it continuing to use the pound as its currency?
Support 26% (n/c)
Oppose 53% (-2)
Suppose an independent Scotland is not able to use the pound as its currency. Do you think Scotland does or does not have a Plan B for a currency?
Does 18%
Does not 52%
As they cannot stop us using the pound the questions are like the answers are nonsense.
Well done Wings, and the other indy blogs.
Can you imagine how this campaign would turn out without the internet? The UK State is a powerful beast!
I took out the HTTP in the above link why has it reappeared?
The fundamental failure of the No campaign to run an intelligent strategy, e.g. to concede a few possible good things about independence while concentrating on working positively together, blah, blah … has contributed to this shift in behaviour.
The vast majority of people are not idiots. Everything about independence can’t be negative or result in disaster. However, we all have different tolerances within our personal views of the world.
As the No campaign and their supporters’ claims become more extreme then more people start to seek independent verification and are then more open to alternative views.
Did my little bit only today. Where I live isn’t particularly friendly country for independence but I was involved in a conversation today with an English person who has moved here to live and work but wanted information on the referendum. He wanted to vote in September but wasn’t sure that he knew enough to make an informed choice so I was able to direct him to this site and others. He seemed keen enough to do it.
I always try to direct people to WOS and others but I remember someone mention some time ago about printing out cards with the information so I think I’ll do that now that I’m encountering more people who want info.
John McTernan going Tonto on Twitter – apparently the SNP tried to kill Margo!
John McTernan @johnmcternan
@Theuniondivvie @holyroodmandy @meljomur @NaeFear Labour would never celebrate the career of someone they had expelled. + tried to kill
Mostly O/T
Anyone up for creating a table comparing child poverty figures in Europe with UK broken down into separate parts?
I think it might win some votes.
This is great Rev, congratulations
I wonder where BBC Scotland would be in all that? Certainly the main BBC website is amongst the world’s top 100 (#59 to be precise). They may well be the heaviest hitters of all.
Sorry to go OT so early in the thread, but I wonder if Stuart might consider alerting Panelbase to the latest mouth-foaming defamation from cooncillur Terry Kelly.
“Not only is this result a big blow to salmond and the snp crazies it is also a massive blow to the credibility of the (snp / ‘Wings over Scotland’s’) absurd pet polling company ‘panelbase’ who are so out of step with all the other pollsters that they could well have travelled here from the planet Zogg.”
Link here:
link to councillorterrykelly.blogspot.co.uk
So Labour would never let byegones be byegones, or kiss and make up, or anything like that? Figures….
@jingly jangly – thanks for that – just read the blog which makes more sense.
The guardian, laughingly under a statement which says ‘ facts are sacred’ are running with the complete scare story as less than 50% of folk in England said they would move their money to an English bank if an iScotland ‘loses’ the £ with –
‘This finding could indicate a threat to the Scottish financial sector which currently has more than £750bn of assets under management, according to the Scottish Financial Enterprise.’
Hi folks. I’ve been a bit of a lurker since the beginning of the year, and am now taking a deep breath and diving in to the comments section. I’ve always been pro indy but decided to research properly so that I could say my vote was from my head as well as my heart. First website I came across was Wings, which has led to my daily online browsing now including Wings, Newsnet, Bella, Derek Bateman, Wee Ginger Dug and Business for Scotland. Other sites you’ve led me to aren’t always checked daily but I now know I was right all along – we can and will do well as an Independent country. Massive thanks to all who write the articles and all who comment, I’ve laughed, giggled, cringed, shook my head and shouted at the computer (not all at the same time though) at various items and I’m proud to say that Wings started it all off for me. It’s no surprise you’re top dog – long may it continue.
Congratulations Stu on not only producing an excellent and extremely informative website but on also coming out as the “go to ” website for everyone. I look forward to your ‘numbers’ improving even more as we get closer to the BIG day itself.
Just as a wee aside can I just mention my thoughts are with Margo MacDonald’s family today at her funeral. I think it was a very poignant time at the S.N.P. conference today when the First Minister gave his wee speech about Margo, and I agree that a minute’s silence would not have gone down well with Margo.
Margo will be sadly missed in the YES campaign from here on in but our thoughts will continue to be with her and her family and she will undoubtedly be with us, in spirit if not in body, as we celebrate on 19th September.
“I took out the HTTP in the above link why has it reappeared?”
Just the freaky way things work. The http:// bit is only a problem with YouTube sites. If you leave it in, the video gets embedded in the page. If you leave it out the link appears as a link, but with the http:// part restored.
Welcome Eleanor – nice to see another woman joining as we keep hearing about the low support amongst our lot.
Hopefully it will change nearer the time.
Well done Stu! I pop into this site at various times during the day and always learn something and find a link to put on Facebook or bookmark for later reading . I now have a large library of bookmarked pieces that will answer anyone’s questions! I have not bought a newspaper since I started reading Wings , Newsnet , Bella , Derek Bateman etc. As for the BBC , it should face charges after a yes vote, of corrupting the population or trying to!
Can anyone remember if the other party conferences recently had TV coverage on the Friday? just a bit miffed that I missed Nicola’s speech
Stu, just looking through your Mega store items.
Would it not be sensible to put the web address under the graphic,or under the statement being made.
While many of course know wings and what it stands for, inevitably some will not. So you have an advertising space to use, people will be attracted by the logo which is eye catching. To have the web address there available to anyone who takes a good look, might make some sense and may increase some numbers. Just saying !
It has already been mentioned on here but Terry Kelly has let himself loose on the internet again. Remember this is an elected SLAB representative. Among the things he said were (I have added bold):
“Just in time to rain on alex salmond’s parade at this week’s Nuremberg Rally AKA the snp conference comes a poll released today showing the ‘No’ campaign with a 10 point lead which becomes a 12 point lead when the don’t knows are not included.”
Ooft!
Even for present day SLAB he is a PR disaster!
Welcome Eleanor, I have been a wings follower since the beginning. I seldom post but like yourself I use this site and others to maintain my sanity.
I have just finished reading that ‘blog’ by the demented Paisley councillor…link above. That man is unfit to hold public office.
Many congrats Stu. Your place in history is assured.
I’ve just had a look at the BBC UK website and there is nothing from the SNP Conference in the News section and it is the 7th article within the Politics section. They really are interested in what is happening in Scotland.
Never mind I noticed a video on the home page that Kate and William are having a ball in the Southern Hemisphere. Lucky them.
Re oor Terry.
I think he knows the game is up, and is aiming for the post of Diplomat to England.
Either that, or his chemist has got his usual dose wrong.
@Croompenstein. I was annoyed too about missing Nicola,s speech! I hunted everywhere and of coarse found a link here. Unfortunately it was too late! It would be nice to watch if someone had a link to Nicol,s speech, please!
O/t yes welcome Eleanor! Join the club!
Welcome, Eleanor, now don’t be a stranger.
What about doing an experiment and doing a thread for folk who haven’t commented before? There are many reasons why folk don’t comment, most times it’s just fear.
Like others here, I am not the least surprised at those no’s.
Nobody wants to be talked down to, depressed or lied to, do they? Because that’s why the No camp is unable to keep their readers. People are not fooled by constant negativity!
Wings is informed, funny and addictive. I am an addict.
Kelly has lost the plot, shameful stuff from a demented mind or maybe mad, period.
Advise some tranquilisers, or maybe a tie at the back yellow jacket.
@muttley79
I just went to take a wee nosey at Terry Kelly’s blog. He really doesn’t like the SNP, does he?!
On the first page alone we have references to –
Nuremberg Rally AKA SNP conference
SNP crazies x3
SNP attempts to deceive the people
SNP/separatist/cybernats
Trampled under the SNP jackboot
A paragraph about Arthur Donaldson’s Nazi sympathies.
There’s more in older posts about Flemish Nazis supporting the SNP. I could go on.
I’d probably find it really offensive and disturbing to know that an elected public official and member of the Labour Party is spewing out this stuff. Except it’s alright, see, because –
“What appears on this website are my personal views and opinions. Not those of the Labour Party, Renfrewshire Council or anyone else, mine only.”
@muttley79
You left out the best bits…
“When the snp/separatist/cybernats get beaten at the referendum as they surely will we can expect civil disorder and violent behaviour by this mob, we can only hope that the authorities are prepared for it. This is the true face of nationalism, not since the days of Moseley and the fascist blackshirts has British politics seen anything like these thugs save for their fellow nationalists in the BNP.”
I’m not going to put a smiley face, because it’s not funny.
I have just read Nicola Sturgeons Speech , that I found on Google. Read it! It’s absolutely inspiring! I don’t think many people feel proud of Politicians , but I feel proud of her today. It’s a rallying call to work towards the 18th Sept!
Forget about Terry Kelly! He,s SO not worth it!
NO have
far less need for webery betcause they have the entire mainstream media to get their message out.Well done,though,Stu.We still trail in the polls,but we’re catching up!
Anyone without a badge on is a shirker.Except for me,cos I’ve got a sticker on.
Suprize Suprize REV, we all knew WOS was no 1, fur a Man thats wallowed through the daily shit stream fur more than 2 years an still comes up smelling of roses takes some amount of wit an gile, an You have that aplenty, noo awe we need fae You is a wee Mills Bomb,or a wee Blue Book,Cmon finger oot fur the Chimes They Are Ah Changeing.
@Peter.
I name you Terry Kelly, and claim my £5.
OT.
I’ve seen that Tommy Sheridan is speaking at a Yes meeting in Dundee on Tuesday night.
Where is it being held?
Since I live in rural Aberdeenshire this Councillor Kelly is a mystery to me and Renfrew must be a very remote place! But he sounds typical of a certain kind or ill-educated left wing person who believes that Adolf Hitler holds the copyright on the word “Nationalist” (but not “Socialist”)and that the titles of political parties convey something about their political platform. Thus “Labour” indicates a party of the working person and “Conservative” is about conservation. Sadly deluded.
LOL I though SLab had taken the internets off Kelly because he was not safe for work or life.
Now if a Green or an SNP politician had referred to the Labour Party conference as a Nazi rally then the press would have gone into shit storm mode.
On the other hand it is only Kelly, the intellectually challenged version of Boris without the sense of humour.
The African NATIONAL Congress are a bunch of fascists.
I hope Labour voters listened to what Nicola Sturgeon was saying to them today.
A yes vote is not an SNP vote. We can sort out party differences on the other side of the referendum.
The priority must be to free ourselves from Westminster rule.
O/T Terry Kelly is from the old Scots/Irish/Celtic way of thinking, yet he seems drawn to unionism like a magnet.
If you asked him to wrap himself in the Union Jack he would run a mile. But he is telling us to embrace it.
Just to confuse the issue, the screaming skull you see in “that Rangers video” where the supporter tells us about how much the Queen is worth, well that is one of Terry Kelly’s constituents.
That is the crazy world of Ferguslie Park politics that Terry Kelly lives in.
@clochoderic: “Sorry to go OT so early in the thread, but I wonder if Stuart might consider alerting Panelbase to the latest mouth-foaming defamation from cooncillur Terry Kelly”..
I have hearing problems so often used BBC subtitles. All Terry Kelly proves is that SLAB supporters cannot read or understand basic English. The BBC transcription of the Salmond/Neil interview that SLAB base their claim upon clearly states : –
NEIL: “Have you sought advice from your own Scottish law officers in this matter?”.
Now just how does Terry Kelly, and the entire Labour Party, transcribe a question of advice from the Scottish Governments OWN LAW OFFICERS into getting legal advice from the EU? Looks like the entire London Labour in Scotland party need remedial English language lessons.
@Juteman
Hope over Fear – The Socialist Case for Independence – Tuesday 15th April 7pm – Chambers East, Panmure Street, Dundee
speakers – Tommy Sheridan and John McInally
Great post Eleanor, ’twas the same for me.
In my humble opinion women know the truth when they see it; honesty and trust are values most women espouse and that is to be found in bucket-loads here on Wings.
…And congrats on the stats, Stu. We have put out 30,000 pro-indy website cards out in our corner of Edinburgh. Good to see that the cost of boot leather is paying off!
@Thepnr.
Cheers, but where is that? I’m a Dundonian, but have never heard of ‘Chambers East’.
Peter is of course a troll if not Terry Kelly himself. Kelly is extremely useful on a number of levels. Looking at the SNP audience I did not see a single person frothing at the mouth but I could hear Kelly frothing like the old coffee advert.
He is worth a thousand votes … For YES
7/4/2014
link to archive.is
11/4/14
link to archive.is
Can anyone please point me in the direction of a video of Nicola Sturgeons speech…
ah canny fun it onywhere? Mibbeys ahm no lookin hard i’nuff?
OK, I think it’s the city chambers building right on the corner of meadowside across the road from the museum Down from the Saltire pub). You go up the stairs to a hall went there for a Do once. That’s my guess, but I think it’s right.
Well done to all the Sites. This is fantastic news!
We are going to win! We are most certainly going to win.
Believe.
I don’t usualy watch Reporting Scotland, but was surprised to hear that most Glasgow MSP’s are against the Red Road flats nonsense, and it’s all Nicola Sturgeons fault.
Was she giving a speech today?
dont think there can be any doubt that terry kelly was bullied at school by a young s.n.p schoolkid, prob took his dinner money.
Juteman,
It is the Chamber of Commerce building. Entrance has East above the door. This where the Business for Scotland hold their meetings on the last Wednesday of the month. The owner of the building is a supporter.
Cheers Thepnr.
And Marcia.
Fess up! Who is the Wings windae flasher on Holburn Road, Aberdeen?
I was having a chat today with a chap about online pro-independence websites and of course mentioned WOS. I could see the lightbulb in his brain switch on as he said ‘Oh I have seen that on a window on Holburn, what does it mean?’
I smiled inwardly with an unspoken scream of YES, YES, YES!
After a good chat I gave him the copy of the Metro paper which had the WOS advert. I kept it for posterity but was happy to pass it on.
Well done to the Wings supporter on Holburn Rd.
I think there’s plenty enough from in around Dundee for a meet up and a good night out. Saltire pub mentioned earlier might be appropriate!
Anyone fancy it then stick a post in Off Topic and maybe we could get something organised.
@ Alba4 Eva
Nicola Sturgeon speech in full
link to yesscotland.net
Previous post ‘New Society’ not accepting comment and not living up to it’s name.
All the same – vote Yes
Beer always sounds good, Thepnr.
Ill wear my ‘Eh’m voting eh!’ shirt to the meeting, if any Wingers want to say hello.
Don’t let the tats and the skinhead put you off!
Many thanks Nana Smith
Ah… thought that was a video Nana… what is happening with the SNP / Yes Scotland. Sloopy as feck to be honest not having the video available anywhere. Get it bloody sorted official csmpaigns!!!
Ah… thought that was a video Nana… what is happening with the SNP / Yes Scotland. Sloppy as feck to be honest not having the video available anywhere. Get it bloody sorted official csmpaigns!!!
@Juteman
I thought you might be up for it
Any others please visit Off Topic and leave your name so as we don’t clog up the threads.
O/T (sorry, Rev):
Sprinted out of work a nanosecond past five, leapt the barriers at the train station, and paused only briefly on the cycle home to buy a wee bottle of scotch – looking forward to settling in and watching today’s SNP conference!
WHERE IS IT?? I know SLAB had a BBC feed (because I sat through it trying not to laugh), the Lib Dems had a BBC feed (because I DID sit through it laughing), and the Tories had a feed because I watched tumbleweed blowing through the EICC Pentland Suite online.
But all I get from the BBC is “this content doesn’t seem to be working”.
WTF? I want a refund on my license fee
Has anybody got a link for John Swinney’s and Nicola’s speeches?
@ Alba4Eva
quite agree. There was a video on the beeb site but suddenly no longer available!
Re Nicolas speech, I think it will be along later. The same thing happened this afternoon with Brian Taylors interview with John Swinney though that is up now.
link to bbc.co.uk
Here is link to STV for Nicola’s speech. The one near the bottom of the page gives you the whole speech. Adverts first though. link to news.stv.tv
@Thepnr,
They just can’t help themselves can they?
You see where toodle-oo-the-noo is sitting, well if he wasn’t there you’d be able to see the Yes hut down there in the car park
Thanks fot the lovely lidl red label tea Rab and the very excellent Cybernat poem.
@Thepnr @sneddon
Much obliged, folks!
Still, I think we should get in touch with the BBC and remind them of their responsibilities!
I see the Tory Party has issued a, “voluntary directive”, to all its MPs. It states they should not, “bully, abuse or harass”, their employees.
Seems though that its all right if they reserve such bullying, abuses and harassments for the disabled, elderly pensioners, ill, poor, homeless and jobless members of society.
You couldn’t make it up – but they have.
Er, great speech, but…
…it’s last year’s
To be honest… I don’t know who I am more angry at just now… we all know the shite to expect from the MSM, but so do the SNP and Yes Campaign.
There is no excuses… the Internet is the new media… Use it, feed it FFS.
GET NICOLA’S SPEECH UP… AND DO IT PRONTO.
Thepnr mate… my last post says it all I think. Why are the SNP relying on the BBC to cover it and put it up.
I could do it myself… its not rocket science.
If Thistle can STREAM LIVE a bunch of Wingers drinking beer in Glasgow on a friday night to the whole world and then have edited highlights up within hours, then the SNP can certainy do better. Simple.
@Alba4eva,
Could you do it? Could you get here by Alex Salmonds’ speech tomorrow?
From todays’ shameful no coverage, folk would think nothing even happened here today.
You’d be very welcome indeed.
It’s funny how people keep bringing up SNP-Nazi comparisons when they never actually bring up points of comparison – outside of debunked allegations made towards Donaldson et al, of course.
link to the-universality-of-cheese.blogspot.co.uk
A lot of trolls on Wings’ twitter tonight, but we’ll keep the rallying call in mind.
Brain Taylor fae Claverhoose tae Cloven mooth,bloody
disgrace,& again John Swinney lets these things go by without getting a dig in.
Squarehaggis… I cant believe that there is no-one in at the whole conference with a decent smartphone, that could not only stream it live… but save the video and upload it to Youtube via the AECC’s tip top Broadband facilities. It would take about an hour to upload from the end of the speech… how long has it been now from Nicolas speech?
O/T but First time poster, long time lurker. Kinda reminds me of the people that phone radio stations, but anyway I’m making a short post longer.
I am a first time poster and its not fear that stops me, its thinking that I wont put my point across properly, “Not talking the talk” as it were.
I love coming on to this site, about twice a day, and post relevant links to my Facebook page, as a few of my family members want Independence, but still fall in to the doom lane being peddled by the MSM, “we cannie afford it”, “its too big a step”, or as my brother put it “Better the Devil you know.” and they also want me to tell them, how Independence will affect them personally.
I direct them to various websites with the info they are looking for, but they still seem to think that because its from a pro-independence page, some how the information is less trust worthy.
They see through the Union line being pushed by the media, but something in their brain tells them they must listen to what’s being told to them by the BBC/STV, mental conditioning you could call it I guess or maybe even institutionalised in to thinking that way.
Anyway I shall shrink back into the shadows and pop out when I feel confident to add to the conversion.
(Hopefully I haven’t used anyone elses ID, I am willing to change. The one I chose comes in part like my last name, which is Scottish but rare enough that people think that it isn’t. I’m rambling now so I’ll pop off for now :o))
@ronnie
That “interview” was bloody amazing. In a whole half hour of questions every single one was loaded and an attempt to trip up or trap John Swinney.
Not one single quaestion appeared to come from a Yes supporter. I demand to know why the Labour Finance spokesman was not giving a similar grilling at the Labour conference.
Under the circumstances I think John Swinney done very well indeed. Brian looked really subdued on Reporting Scotland tonight, now I know why.
Alba4Eva
I have to agree, there are many supporters as well as the curious, don’t knows, who would like to see the whole speech in context without interruption and before it is spliced and diced by the media.
I was not working today so I got to see it live. So come on SNP spend some campaign funding and get a live stream going, don’t rely on the BBC.
OT.
YES meeting in Falkirk last night, in Westfield community centre (housing scheme) with Dennis Canavan, Alex Neil & Shona McAlpine.
Here is a quote from the YES Falkirk Facebook page.
“Yes Falkirk Have just done a quick analysis of the straw poll from last night.
At the end of the evening 15.5% of the whole audience changed from undecided to Yes.
However if you take away the folks who were Yes to start with 58% changed from undecided to Yes.
It is just a straw poll and not scientific in any way but it shows continued movement to Yes, and proves it is well worth while having public meetings!”
Good to see YES are making time to get down into housing estates.
Who’s looking after the feed for the SNP conference, is it Andrew Marr?
link to youtube.com
Are the BBC experiencing “technical difficulties”, or is simply that they don’t want Scots to hear the truth?
@Alba4eva,
Lets hope there’s someone reading who has a pass for tomorrow and a decent recording device.
As for the broadcasters? Tumbleweed.
Just shows the depths to which they have plummeted.
@sneddon – Just watched Nicola’s speech awesome. thanks for the link. Can’t wait to listen to the FM tomorrow I wonder what nuggets he has up his sleeve.
@Syd Paterson.
Welcome to wings and welcome to YES
This cartoon says it all!
link to twitter.com
Ok Croompenstein and Sneddon… it has finally appeared on STV… but doesnt take away that the SNP should not be relying solely on the MSM to cover and should also be recording and broadcasting in tandem.
I am away to enjoy the next hour of my life now
link to news.stv.tv
@Thepnr,at the start of the interview Taylor asking the question from Mr Simms then added( give up the Referendum John you know you want to, thats what gets ma goat with John Swinney,Andrew Marr tried it on with Alex Salmond look
what happened to Marr ( sink )I jist wish Swinney would grab them by the baws,he has the inteligence to do that,& put Taylors gas at a peep.
@ Andrew Morton
Andrew, Cant see any cartoon ?
@ronnie
You have a point. I know you would grab Taylor by the baws and maybe shove them somewhere, but John is a wee bit shyer than you
His baws though in my opinion are getting bigger, comparing him with 6 months ago he’s now an animal!
Who’s manner would you rather have presented to the undecided? Mr Swinney, Ms Curran, Mr Sarwar or Ms Lamont? LOL
@Croompenstein @sneddon
Aye, thank you again for the link, @sneddon – very much appreciated!
And thank you STV for stepping up when our “national broadcaster” failed.
Thumping speech by Nicola. Can’t wait for Alec tomorrow!
Here’s the link again, in case anybody missed it: link to news.stv.tv
@Kendo acaroonbar
Can’t understand why not. Try this
link to facebook.com
HIGNFY,
Farage getting more exposure, all part of the establishment normalisation of the Tories next partner in Coalition.
BBC Scotland staff, I hope one of you lot are reading this tonight. Because your time is nearly up.
Tick Tock, Tick Tock.
You will not be welcome in an Independent Scotland.
You sold your soul and trashed your country for your own personal gain.
We will NEVER forget what you lot of scumbags have done.
So F*ck Off down to your paymasters in London and take those incompetent new starts with you.
Have to stick the neck out here.
Had a busy day, scant chances to check what was going on here, but did catch some of Radio Scotland Newsdrive, and a package (from one of their new reporters – a very young-sounding woman) on Nicola’s speech: chunky excerpts, good clear crowd reaction, and a mention that she’d received a standing ovation.
Haven’t yet seen the speech, but that wee report created impressive mental pictures, especially with the vocal audience. Not a bad effort altogether – I’m guessing it was broadcast approx five o’clock.
@Andrew Morton
Thanks ! VG Cartoon
The first link said your tweets were protected and could not be seen for some reason.
@ Ian Brotherhood
Contrast and compare to todays Daily Mail on line puff piece that Alex Salmond has to make the speech of his life to prevent the Yes vote from disintegrating further…
Somebodies pissed off. Posts not appearing, this is the third attempt, first two on Off Topic. This is just a test.
Can somebody else post on Off Topic and let me know how it goes please?
Juteman says;
The African NATIONAL Congress are a bunch of fascists.
Mind now, here in the northern province of imperial British empire lah, lah land, up is down and benefit fraud dwarfs corporate tax evasion. ;(
Oh, almost forgot…..free Nelson Mandela, a.k.a. end British imperialism.
@Paula Rose
You’ve broken Off Topic? Put the plug back in!
Thepnr – I’ve just posted a comment on OT – seems OK.
TJenny’s posted in the play room – all will be well.
I have a feeling that Alex will offer to stand down after independence is delivered.
(any way the Rev’s probably out playing poker so we might as well all go to O/T and have a party)
T Jenny
Yes saw it thanks, but I just posted a reply giveing you train times and it’s not been posted. In one minute I will post a reply to Cactus lets see if that appears??
“Wings take the high road, NO take the low road and we’ll save our Scotland a-from ye..”
Message received and understood Thepnr, cheers!
Dang, I thought I had circumvented the moderation trap with my good advice, but no such luck. You may have to wait till the boss comes home with his ill-gotten gains before you can access my pearls of wisdom.
That didn’t work either. It’s possible I may not understand this caper as well as I thought I did.
Hello, drawing board.
Thepnr – yes, thanks for info, I saw your reply but not before posting mine!
Does WOS have its own space/time continuum when the Rev’s away?
Juteman -Chambers East is the new name for the Chambers of Commerce Building in Meadowside opposite the McManus Galleries!
If you decide to go along to the Tommy Sheridan talk please introduce yourself- im intending to go so say hello if you see me! ????
OK, the magic words were in the plain text twice. This is going to look awfully silly if Stu approves all these posts. Hey, it’s Friday, it’s been a long week.
Fourth shot, carefully checked this time.
It’s the precautionary cacheing. It’s never gone away. That’s why people’s names aren’t being retained in the comment form. Once the name goes, the p-a-g-e r-e-f-r-e-s-hes from the cache for a while. However the delay is a lot shorter than it was at the height of the troubles, so after a wee while a p-a-g-e r-e-f-r-e-s-h works.
If you’re not getting the newest posts, do that “p-a-g-e r-e-f-r-e-s-h” thing again and it will work.
I suspect the DDoS is still going on although Stu hasn’t said anything about it recently that I noticed.
Obviously, it you type these words in a post without any breaks, the post goes into moderation. You get all the new posts by doing that, and Stu can delete the post without it cluttering up the thread.
“I suspect the DDoS is still going on although Stu hasn’t said anything about it recently that I noticed.”
Yes. We’re in the middle of a serious hardware upgrade, though.
Margaret Curran reply to Nicola Sturgeon speech.
Labour’s shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran ridiculed the idea of the SNP supporting social justice.
She said: “The truth is, the SNP can’t deliver social justice and they can’t get to grips with the cost-of-living crisis.
“We’ve been told by experts that every major household cost could be higher in an independent Scotland – shopping, energy and our mortgage rates up, hitting ordinary Scots in the wallet.
“And when it comes to social justice, you can’t trust a party who won’t commit to reversing the Tories’ tax cut for millionaires and whose first priority isn’t help for Scots, but a tax cut for big business.”
Thepnr
I posted about six hours ago on the previous thread, but nothing has shown yet. I’ve spoken with the Rev. who insists these delays are none of his or the spam filter’s doing, so…..
Is it possible communications are being tampered with and who could do that?
I agree that the Scotsman and the Better Together facebook page have become the top online sites of the NO campaign.
The Scotsman comments used to provide some balance to the biased stories, but now show a big leaning towards the NO side.
(Although I suspect that they have been taken over by a few obsessive posters with multiple identities – with the same sneering arrogant tone throughout.)
I understand many YES minded posters boycott that site, but I don’t know if that is a good idea over the next few months – as it is still a major source of Scottish news attracting neutral and undecided voters – who then go on to see a pretty one-sided political viewpoint.
Please ignore terry kelly! Replying to his rabid blogs only gives him the oxygen of publicity.
The infamous Aberdeen google streeview character has coughed up 100notes each to my favourite “YES” crusaders. To Wings for their Polling scrutiny, Bella for their Art Poster campaign and NewsNet for their BBC scrutiny. Come on people. We must all push the car together right now, to get up speed to fire the engine.
A positive story from today.
Sturgeon: Yes has got the mo…and we’re unstoppable
link to heraldscotland.com
Since it’s quiet tonight have a wee vote on this it always puts a smile on my face..
link to channel4.com
@CameronB
I found out my problem on the Off Topic thread, trying to link to youtube without removing http. No doubt that the site acts strangely though.
Always makes you think the worst, that was my first thoughts though unfounded.
BBC Radio 5 live have a live prog now from Aberdeen.
For those that are interested. Continuing from 11pm, they are rounding up on other news at the moment.
@HorseHead,
Hello, still trying to decipher your cryptic message re: a WoS and the Duthie Park, care to elaborate?
@Thepnr and CameronB – I have had few of problems over the last couple of days.
I thought it was the continuing DOS attack but I see the Rev has said he is upgrading.
@caz-m –
So Curran’s slipped her handlers again?
If genuine (i.e. pre-Blair) Labour supporters in Scotland are serious about building a new party anytime in the next decade, they have to jettison people like Curran. And they have to do it soon.
She is a liability – Nicola Sturgeon’s speech today wasn’t directed at Curran, Lamont, Baillie etc, and that’s why she managed to sound so positive. Those within the Labour movement in Scotland who retain and value genuine socialist principles will have taken more heart from what NS said today than anything they heard from SLab’s own conference.
In the next few months, as Lamont’s slow, painful demise signals the final paroxysms of an unelectable rabble, we’ll see the birth of a new form of ‘Scottish’ Labour Party. No-one can be sure what that party will look like, or who’ll figure prominently, but we can be sure of one thing – it won’t involve Ms Curran.
“I suspect the DDoS is still going on although Stu hasn’t said anything about it recently that I noticed.”
Yes. We’re in the middle of a serious hardware upgrade, though.
This has long since stopped being a joke. None of the other independence blogs is being attacked in this way. Someone really, really wants to stop Wings. But it hasn’t worked at all. It was going on all through the fundraiser and we made £100,000 to keep the blog going.
The fact that they’re still trying is really quite scary. Who are they and what do they want?
Ah wish you,s lot wid let me know when your leaveing the
romper room, it gits lonely in there on yer oonyO.
@Ian Brotherhood
I totally agree, I can never vote for Labour again in its current guise. In fact it’s worse than that, I actually hate them for their betrayal.
I just hope more people like me realise it before September. So far according to our poll, 27% of Labour voters will be voting Yes. This can only increase, what the fuck is Lamont on about when going on and on about the Rhyder Cup visit to the US bt the Scottish government?
If that’s the most important thing Labour in Scotland can come up with at this monumental time, well words fail me. They are a burst flush with no ideas, vision or hope!
I hope they all just disappear, fade away and let Scottish people decide what’s best for them. We are not programmed?
AYE RIGHT!!
Nicola’s speech moving and inspiring. Think it brought a wee lump of pride to many throats. Not an empty seat to be seen and a good mix of age groups in audience as well as Nicola’s mum and dad whom she thanked. That would have brought a wee tear to many eyes. No shouting, no finger jabbing, just a well delivered speech from the heart that must have tugged at the hearts of others.
Standing ovation with people springing from their seats and clapping, big grins on their faces. Smiles everywhere. Atmosphere must be terrific.
Here’s a Friday soir song by the man from Maryhill (G20)
Donovan ~ Atlantis (Genre: Power Ballad)
link to youtube.com
Have a bonny evening one and all.. and to the lassies X
HorseHead says:
“Come on people”
Aye, Horsehead. How about a wee push from Wings to get “Women For Independence Our Voices Fundraiser” over the line.They’re at £17,048 of £20,140. How long will it take us to get tehm over the line. Any bets?
link to indiegogo.com
@EddieMunster, Syd Paterson and Eleanor – welcome aboard! Good to see more posters coming out and joining in. Come on folks it doesn’t hurt!
Willy Young frae Aberdeen representing ‘better together’ on at the moment. Only said two sentences but promising jam tomorrow.
ronnie anderson says:
“it gits lonely in there on yer oonyO.”
So, fold some bloody papers then!
YES woman cannie get a word in edgewise for being interrupted
Morag
It was mentioned the last time that these attacks can be “ordered” on the Internet relatively cheaply. So it could be anybody with a couple of quid to spare, not worth bothering about, if anything it will get worse, get used to it
Glad STV got Nicola’s speech on line… although they only managed one channel of the sound… left speaker working only. Sheesh!!!
Rev
Is there a direct link to the Off Topic thread? Obviously I don’t see one so use the search box to find it. Not easy for new visitors to suss.
Who: establishment (privy council) via its agents: security services: via their ” contractors”, mercenary operators, EBC, MSM, GCHQ. Et al.
@Morag 11:00 pm
WHAT DO THEY WANT:? They want to keep Scotland under the boot so they can use and abuse us as they have done for the past 307 years. They want the serfs to get back to doing as they are told, on the plantation!
Retribution is coming unless we get out of this yoke.
The EBC & MSM will explain to us how the truth and honesty of the BT & unionist win through as it overcame the lies and smears of the SNP & Alex Salmond, a treacherous person and the weak and delusional peasants in the colonies who believed his lies. The only good scot is either in HOL or on his knees!
Thepnr
Second bottom link in Zany Comedy relief, on front page.
link to wingsoverscotland.com
It would appear only some posts are delayed.
Cheers CameronB fist time I’ve saw that.
@Xsticks, ave nae bloody papers tae fold awe the papers delivered, waiting on the next print run .
@Thepnr, Ian
Tony Blair was the man that really kicked all this betrayal off. He conned the whole country.
People were desperate for the Tories to get kicked out, along came Blair with his “Things can Only Get Better” anthem and the “New Labour Project”
We all fell for it, hook, line and sinker.
Blair was the biggest conman in British political history and I think, to this day, Labour voters feel as if they have been used by this shower of cowboys.
Folks! All the posts of Nicola Sturgeons speech only show the bit about the Labour Party , NOT the whole speech. I’ve read the speech from Google but it would have been nice to have seen it. It’s absolutely disgusting that our national broadcaster,BBC, can’t or won’t produce a video of the deputy First Minister of the Scottish Gov.,s Spring party conference speech! Let’s get rid of this national broadcaster when we get Independence! Vote YES!
We’ve all watched it on STV. I cried a wee bit near the end. I’m ordering the hankies for tomorrow.
These guys can do emotional appeals. They won’t run them out for general consumption till late summer, but then we’ll see.
@Thepnr –
Thanks for the supporting comment, and please, please, believe me mister, when I say that I do feel for you and the many thousands like you who have been betrayed by this shower.
Doesn’t matter what ‘party’ any of us belong to. If Ruth Davidson turned up tomorrow with a specifically ‘Scottish’ Tory set of policies which slammed the Bedroom Tax and called for raising tax-levels? Unimaginable as that may be, I’d listen to her carefully.
As things stand, it’s about as likely as hearing similar announcements from ‘Scottish’ Labour, and that’s why it’s all become so tragic. There is no effective ‘opposition’ to the SNP right now, and that’s muddying the waters for folk who can’t tell the difference between a referendum and an election. NS spelled it out today, and we can only hope that people of good faith (of all/any/no party-affiliation) will take her comments in the spirit with with they were offered.
I hope my remarks don’t appear to belittle or disrespect Scots who happen to vote Labour as a matter of principle. If so, I apologise, but the bare fact remains – there is no-one on the Labour benches in Holyrood today who represents the values you and many of my friends and family supported for decades.
They let us all down, and continued to let us down in pursuance of London-centric fantasies which no-one with a socialist bone in their body should ever have countenanced.
No reasonable citizen can mourn the loss of people like Curran, Lamont, Gray, Baillie and all the rest of them – real ‘Labour’ supporters should do all they can to accelerate the departure of these careerist balloons, and give the Labour movement back some of the respect it deservedly earned – the hard way – a century ago.
(P.S. If I can make it to Dundee, I will.)
bbc contrabution from Aberdeer today ( typhoid epademic in
the 50s,their feking Tea’s oot an its no Typhoo an there’s nae chance their gitting Scottish Blend, there’s a Tsunami
heading up the Clyde an wash they fekers oot of Pacific Quad.
@ian
I’ve never voted Labour in my life – but I would endorse every word you say, because Scotland needs (desperately) a strong, principled Labour Party – as it once maybe was. Look around the Labour councils and look around the MPs and MSPs, and you have to ask – where did it all go wrong? Only with a Yes vote can Labour start building something to be proud of again.
Flower of Scotland… the video of Nicolas speech is there (only one channel sound and the ovation at thend cut), but if you are on Android or iPhone maybe, then you need to select ‘desktop site’ (at bottom of STV page… and be patient for the page to load fully… then the vid is about half way down in the body of text.
They are certainly not making it easy to find eh? We wonder why!
I should have said that it is after the first video… ie, there are 2 videos, and it is the second one.
Hope thats clear?
Dreams of an independent Scotland beckon. Looking forward to a day on the YesMobile link to twitter.com
tomorrow in the AECC car park.
If any of you are around drop by and say hello. I believe there are beverages and biscuits and all things Yes.
I thought Nicola’s speech was excellent and inspirational.
I would like to add though that if any yes campaigner feels like they cannot use this forum and is struggling please do let me know. We’re not all part of some political borg and we’re not all involved in Facebook and Twitter etc.
The big thing for me is having people to bounce ideas off and to exchange ideas with. It is not easy when you are sitting in the background listening to other people’s views all the time.
YES tamjardine@gmail.com
Margaret Curran: “The truth is, the SNP can’t deliver social justice and they can’t get to grips with the cost-of-living crisis.
“We’ve been told by experts that every major household cost could be higher in an independent Scotland – shopping, energy and our mortgage rates up, hitting ordinary Scots in the wallet.
“And when it comes to social justice, you can’t trust a party who won’t commit to reversing the Tories’ tax cut for millionaires and whose first priority isn’t help for Scots, but a tax cut for big business.”
Ms Curran, you voted in favour of the Conservative’s £119.5 billion limit for spending on welfare – a cap which Save the Children estimate will push 345,000 children into poverty over the course of four years.
What in God’s name do you think gives you the right to dare criticize anyone on social justice?
God give me strength.
@Taranaich:
was just about to say the same thing. The best piece of social justice would be to see serial liars like Curran in jail for their disservices to the poor.
The woman is an utter hypocrite, preaching from her villa in Newlands (in the south side of Glasgow, not the east end, of course).
@Tamson: was just about to say the same thing. The best piece of social justice would be to see serial liars like Curran in jail for their disservices to the poor.
And of course Curran’s constituency has 35% of its children living in poverty. Third poorest in all of Scotland.
True champion of social justice, she is.
her speech was really ,really good – I was disappointed with the only part broadcast by SNP ,the appeal to Labour voters, but it’s cheering to hear that the full speech is on STVs website. The BBBC will be hoisted by it’s own petard!
Ronnie , you just took me down memory lane , the typhoid epidemic , I scrubbed our house with Dettol and my brothers made a huge mess as soon as they came in ,snorting with derision at my efforts . I got quite upset . We had a lugubrious Dr MacQueen come on the telly every night to give the score ” Typhoid 2 Aberdeen 0″
He was quite a terrifying sight!
Can I just say Ian Brotherhood, that I endorse every word you have said. Scotland doesn’t want or need to be a one party state, they are making it so.
I am going to comment on the post by Peter, if that is the standard of posting by those who think the Union is a good idea, and he has no idea who he is talking to. There are as many people who come here who are as yet undecided and if you Peter think that standard of language will convince them of staying in the Union, you are sadly mistaken.
This seems to be the only way that Unionists can argue, being rude to what they see as the opposition.
Well I posted the link on the NHS (Neither national nor collective) to a female friend who works in the NHS.
She replied later that she was a definate ‘don’t know’ but
now 100% Yes and that to her shame has never voted before but is certain to at the Referendum.
As Stu says, the facts work for themselves, but it is to his credit that we are given this information here to spread.
Thanks Stu; and to Wings readers who also post relevant links.
@Dorothy Devine,it s a memory that Bbc wanted to convey to
the people of Scotland, Disease = SNP.an it put Scots people aff Stovies fur a long time,if I walked over a flair ma mither or siter wiz scrubbing, Wallop a cloot roon the ankles,no doupt you did the same LoL.
note to self,read the feking Edit.
No Ronnie my brothers were much bigger than me !I would have had a nasty retaliation had I skited them with a wet tea towel.
I do remember a great uncle in Canada sending us press cuttings and photographs of deserted Aberdeen streets with one tramp raiding a bin and that had caused major panic for him.
I remember we still went to school and worried about our summer jobs in my case a hotel in Newtonmore and whether they would want my pal and me to be waitresses. Needn’t have worried!