Labour’s super-fun happy day
Posted on
May 13, 2013 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Wings Over Scotland is a (mainly) Scottish political media digest and monitor, which also offers its own commentary. (More)
Fonz references always welcome 🙂 I wondered if it was that moment, but still have a fear they will be allowed to get away with it by the BBC et al.
Monday Tuesday Happy Days! I wonder what tLPiS will have us rocking and rolling OFL to tomorrow? More jive talk or will we be heaving over the sides of the boat?
Yes, jumping the shark.
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Sad thing is that the Glasgow faithful will most likely be duped by it.
Is that Gordo jumping Flipper … eech!
its the nuking of the fridge im looking forward to 😉
Brilliant. My second favourite to The Simpson’s appearance as customers in the Nighthawks diner.
Just finished watching Extended Newsnicht (recorded) but missed the intro so I don’t have a clue who on earth (or beyond) the wee guy from Labour was. Very much in the mould of Mr. Burns. Whoever he was he was utter crap and the “columnist” who I also haven’t got a clue about came over as your typical shrill Tory. Our guys did good!
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All in all a very positive Newsnicht I thought. Whatever next?
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I thought it was a good,well mannered debate.
Re Newsnicht
Who was the Labour guy?
He wasn’t even Scottish or at least he spoke with a Geordie accent was he the best that Labour could come up with? I reckon that all Scottish Labour were all at home trying to figure out if they are Better United or Together in Labour or Whatever?
Decent audience mix as well.
The Labour guy was Gordon Banks. ( link to gordonbanks.info ) Utterly ineffectual waffler.
Chas Booth & Humza Yousaf eclipsed the other two panelists. Add a very articulate and well informed audience and the result was a decent event.
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The Labour man was English because that was the point of the programme and yes, he was awful. They rather laboured the point about the aftermath of a No vote and the SNP bringing this back to the table a year later. Nothing about what the Unionists would do in the event of a Yes vote. I expect they’ll all be too busy applying for passports so as to leave the new Third-world Scotland.
Hail Alba!
A new study shows labour voters increasingly turning against the poor.
Its time to press home the absurdity of the idea that Labour will achieve Social Justice in Scotland after a NO vote in the referendum; if the past 100 years of Labour in Scotland were not enough to see that, this report looks forward to the next 100!
I wrote in a thread a few days ago that better together were in the process the jumping the shark, it just maybe wasn’t obvious. Didn’t expect it to become obvious so soon!
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Probably won’t make it to the BARD demo on Saturday, so just filled in the ‘No Licence Required’ declaration – the BBC will never receive another penny from me or anyone in my hoose. I-Player from now on. Feels good.Â
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If there’s anything even vaguely ‘political’ worth watching on the BBC it usually finds its way here eventually, and in an edited form – so much the better.
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Freedom!
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(Good luck to the BARD organisers for Sat – hope you get a fantastic turnout and that the weather relents for ye’s.)
Just watched Newsnight Scotland and thought the debate was good, but I thought the best part were the English voices championing the Scottish social democratic values that independence could preserve and or enhance, and clearly see a YES vote as a positive thing. I dont think these Scots are burdened with the inter  generational baggage of  West of Scotland Labour attitudes that others are and very refreshing. I also thought that Chas Banks, the Green, was excellent, better than Patrick Harvie, and YES would be well advised to use him much more in discussions such as these.
New Labour, Not-New Labour, Real Labour, Red Rose Labour, Scottish Labour, Better Together Labour, and finally, the best one yet: “Ditch the tories, not the union” Labour. The red-branding continues in vain. Another launch doomed to sink. That’s a lot of sharks jumped since 1990.
Gordon Bain says:
14 May, 2013 at 5:53 am
The Labour man was English…
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I’m not being funny, or having a pop at the English here, but seriously, I’m hoping the boy actually lives in Scotland. If he doesn’t then why are Labour bringing up a person who doesn’t live here to give us his viewpoint.
It’s bad enough when the Tories send up Osborne up here to ‘tell’ us ‘how it is going to be’; now Labour are doing the same thing!
If he doesn’t live here, then I don’t give a monkeys if the guy just lives 20 meters over the border. He should not be up here giving us his personal viewpoints on a referendum that he will not be voting in.
The only person from Westminster who we should be dealing with is Cameron.
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So will a bearded Cmdr Will Riker be joining Yes Scotland?
That might be worth 5 points too.
O/T
What the hell is wrong with that site Newsnet,Â
attempted to post a (short )one sentence comment and a box comes up advisingÂ
“you have no rights to comment maybe you need to login”
( already logged in ) waited the required amount of time (15 minutes) between posts and same message comes up, they are seriously getting on my goat with their policy and folk will desert them if they don’t loosen up.
I want to support them but they make it very difficult
I’m afraid that watching iplayer which is the BBC on a computer will require a licence.Â
Yesterday was a car crash day for both Labour and Better NO. Yet not one, not even one rag leads with a Better NO split headline. No major title the length and breadth of oor wee island is pointing out the bleedin’ obvious which is that better together has fallen into farce. The contorionist’s prize for most reversals of joints has to go to Anas Sarwar trying to convince the public that the sky is green and the grass is blue on both Labour and Independence. Meanwhile Broon is still beating his north British together drum. A man who helped destroy a country’s economy thinks he has something of value to say and nobody raises a flag today? Only the Rev came up with anything like an analysis of the utter drivel handed out as an excuse by Labour for wrecking Better T’s campaign.
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There are days when you just effing despair of our media. They’ve turned themselves into a bloody joke and yet wonder why people are jumping onto the net in their droves.
Broon as The Fonz doesn’t bear thinking about. So, are Better Together The Popular People’s Front of Scotland and United With Labour The Scottish Popular People’s Front or is it the other way round? I get confused.
@Caroline
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A TV licence is only required for viewing ‘live’ TV, ie watching it as it is broadcast on the network. Watching programmes after network broadcast does not require a licence.
link to moneysavingexpert.com
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@Macart
My quick scan of the Herald in the newsagent this morning reveals a lead on Broon having a go at the Tories (nothing about splits in the No Camp) and on its inside politics page North Sea oil as political football ‘threat’, reheated claptrap warnings about borrowing and defence, Cameron’s EU woes and, er … that’s it!
No analysis on Labour’s solo on ‘let’s stick together’.
Nothing – not a mention – of Sturgeon speech (after the Herald and the rest of the media have spent months in a disingenuous moan about the lack of policy detail for an independent Scotland).
My conclusion would be your final paragraph so I will simply point others to it once again.
Caroline.
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You don’t need a licence to watch iPlayer. Lots of misunderstanding about this – you need a licence if you have equipment capable of receiving TV broadcasts as they are broadcast. If you use the internet – you’re fine.
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I haven’t had, nor will ever have a TV licence. Even if you did though, since TV Licencing has been farmed out to a private company. The outstanding fees are now essentially collected on a civil, not criminal basis. So, if you know your rights they’re easy to feck off.
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Not that I would advise anyone to break the law in any way shape or form of course…
Anyone else find this cartoon of Anas and Johann United in labour truly frightening – link to bbc.scotlandshire.co.uk
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@Caroline-
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Boorach and pa_broon are right.
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The BBC is bricking it in case more people find out about this – it would be sweet if the Yes campaign found a way of promoting the use of ‘alternative’ viewing methods as a gentle reminder to the BBC that – if they don’t stop acting as a State mouthpiece in Scotland – they can be hurt where they feel it most.Â
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They’ve refused a FOI request to reveal how many households are no longer paying – the estimate is approx I million. It’s not something they’re ever going to discuss in detail, so it’s up to individuals to do their own online homework. Â
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‘Refuse to pay the licence fee‘ via Google raises instant info, and the relevant BBC online declaration is, I think, on the very first page of results and takes approx two minutes to complete. Easiest way I’ve ever saved £145.
@Freddie
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Yep, clocked that one and been doing some quick scanning of the usual suspects.
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Not a sausage so far.
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(sigh)
Boorach, Caroline, Ian:
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Why more people don’t ditch the tellies and watch exclusively on demand I don’t know. Saves c£150 a year and you get to watch programmes when it is convenient, rather than being stuck to a schedule.Â
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Pa_broon: you only need the license if you watch live TV as it is being broadcast. If you only use your TV to watch DVDs or play computer games then you don’t need a license.Â
Gordon Brown being discussed on Call Kaye, who has twice interrupted Dennis Canavan before he could get all his points over.
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I get the very strong feeling that the London media thinks independence has been seen off at the moment
I lounge here in my chair corrected. I did not know that. Thank you.
The lack of media headlines like, “No campaign in disarray”, “No Campaign split” or “Crisis in No Campaign”  is not amazing  because we live in a country where the media is definitely partial.
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But unlike the Yes campaign there is now definitely a split in the No campaign.
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Where was Alistair Darling at the United with Labour launch?  It should have been a launch where both leaders stood shoulder to shoulder and presented a united front. United with Labour is meant to be a sister campaign to Better Together but Gordon Brown hates Alistair Darling and it’s mutual.
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So now we have two campaigns. The Labour one fronted by Gordon Brown which appears to be the main campaign as Labour are providing all the foot soldiers in the referendum battle and the Better Together campaign which is fronted by Labour’s Aistair Darling but funded by Tory money.
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Now Gordon’s in charge of Labour’s campaign is Alistair going to have money but no foot soldiers and Gordon foot soldiers but no money?
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Is this Gordon’s and Alistair’s feud being played out on the referendum stage?Â
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These questions – and many others – will be answered in the next episode of…Soap… sorry United with Labour…sorry Better Together…whatever the hell they’re calling it now.
@Craig P.
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I was reading the link on moneysavingexpert, the legislation isn’t clear on the point, I don’t think they’re technically correct. It depends on where the onus of proof lies and what constitutes ‘installed’ TV equipment – plugged in? With an antenna? What about a laptop with a TV card?
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There’s The Communications (Television Licensing) Reg 2004 which defines meanings within The Communications Act 2003, specifically section 4, para 363 Section 3 (sorry for the legal pish.) Its all about ‘intended use’ – you might find yourself in court anyway with it being your word against that of TV Licensing.Â
This is all a bit moot mind, if someone from Capita turn up on your doorstep you can just tell them to piss off.
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😉
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PS: Sorry for the off-topic.
JLT – Gordon Banks is MP for Ochil & South Perthshire.
@ JLT
Yes he’s English but lives Scotland in and represents people in Scotland.
@ Everyone eelse as much as I’d like to watch all media via the interweb I’m afraid out here in the sticks that is but a distant dream. One respect in which Scotland most certainly is in the third-world!
Hail Alba!
Broon is the natural choice for the Bitter Alone camp. Perfect casting for an isolated and entrenched message. A sociopath heading up a negative campaign, and his hands are covered in fiscal keech which won’t wash off. I actually felt sorry for him in a Thatcher sort of way. He looks like he’s been in a dark place for a long time, and couldn’t chuck a phone or kick a table if he tried.
Humza did well last night. Pinning Banks down and reminding him of his previous statements that an independent Scotland would be better off keeping the pound, and that independence would result in a reformed Scottish Labour Party.
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Cancelled TV license 6 months ago, donated the rebate to wingsover, haven’t missed the tv at all and haven’t regretted the decision for one second. We have had 1 e-mail and 1 letter saying that we won’t here from them for 2 years. Feel quite smug that we are no longer funding the pish that the BBC puts out.
Desimond- I had to clean my keyboard after looking at that cartoon, brillant  yet…disturbing.
I feel UWL will go the way of the tooth team – missing in action somewhere over partick 🙂
Yes. The Labour man was Gordon Banks- unfortunately my MP, who was hopelessly outgunned by a very competent Humza Yousaf, who managed to dominate the discussion. He once commented that if ever the SNP came to power, people would leave Scotland in droves. A very bitter unionist indeed. Katie Grant was only marginally better. I liked the contributions from Chas Booth, who sounded grounded and sincere. As for the audience, I could not have picked a better sample myself!
john king says:14 May, 2013 at 7:50 am
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Newsnet
I dumped them a few weeks ago because they DID publish my comment but a few hours later when I went back to the site, the comment had been removed. I asked for an explanation, threatening to diss the site if none was forthcoming. None came forth!
It is trying to make itself into a ‘proper’ newspaper. And I would fully support that. But the dopey article vav ‘the good English’ was the last straw on top of all the other restrictions.
@a supporter
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Yes, that “good English” thing was odd. I have a “Good English” dad, so there is no anti-Englishness in me, but I have grown to despise the Westminster political circus, and almost ALL the MPs who attend there who have no actual desire to represent their constituents, or to hold the government properly to account. [Just disagreeing doesn’t count]
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Of course I have similar feelings about most of the opposition party members in Holyrood! Especially the ‘opposition’ part.Â
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Newsnet is still a site I visit, but I have not posted regularly there from year or more. the moderation policy and the frustration of not being able to have a running ‘conversation’ because of the time factor really put me off. Still, it does most often have interesting articles, either ‘home grown’ or from other contributors, so it remains on my reading list.
I did notice that Katie Grant said that if Scotland votes for Independence she would be for trying to make it work. Didn’t even preface it with ‘of course it will never happen’. Interesting. And also that Mr Banks said 51% Yes would lead to Independence. And both said that No would lead to another referendum. Hence by implication the stable solution is Yes. Also interesting.  Â
Fantastic audience. The audience selector must have been on holiday or somefink
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