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Wings Over Scotland


Open to question

Posted on December 12, 2014 by

Whatever happened to that show, eh?

As alert readers may have noticed from social media, there’s very little going on in the world of Scottish politics right now so we’re having a wee Q&A session on Ask.FM to while away the time until we see who’s won Labour’s poisoned chalice tomorrow. If there’s anything you ever wanted to know about Wings, or me personally, why not pop over there and join us?

(Rude or boring questions will of course be deleted unanswered. “Rude” in this case includes asking questions that have already been answered. There’s currently a big backlog, but I’m working through it, and the link will stay live for the forseeable future.)

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[…] Open to question […]

Tîm Criced i Gymru

Nothing happening?!?!
SNP just gained 2 council seats with MASSIVE swings today!
Nothing happening?!?!
Methinks the Rev. has been snuggling up in his post-ref hibernating shack for the last 3 months 😉 😉 😉

heedtracker

1. Why did we lose?
2. Next referendum, devo max only?
3. Is Morag really Craig Murray?

Tîm Criced i Gymru

I think both Morag AND Craig Murray should stand in May – our dear little ‘Miss Katy’ should give Mundell a run for his millions!

fred blogger

favourite view, and form of art?

Wee folding bike

Star Trek TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT?

NewportDee

Iain Gray stood up in Holyrood and said that what Scotland is being given via the Smith Commission is more than the federal states of Germany or Australia get. Is this something Wings have investigated in the past.

Fred

How many of a staff does the Rev’ have to power this throbbing organ?
Cannae believe it’s a one-man-band!

ronnie anderson

Peter Robertson NI leader.David Cameron bribeing us with our own money, now where have I heard that before.

Camerons uniteing political opposits with stupid proposals.

jimnarlene

What’s the point of Slab, STories and SLibs?
Sorry, that’s rude.

Tîm Criced i Gymru

Elgin result stunning again – go SNP! Go ALBA!
link to moray.gov.uk

Tîm Criced i Gymru

ELGIN MARBLE-ous!

(will trip the latch on my way out…!)

heedtracker

BBC R4 news lunchtime currently down playing UKOK torture involvement like crazy. Is there any depths BBC will not plumb?

[…] Open to question […]

Clootie

Wee folding bike – you forgot phase 11

Macart

Moray and Argyll.

A wee foretaste of things to come. 🙂

cearc

heedtracker,

Tomorrow’s ‘call whoever’,

Should murder be allowed as a cheaper option than divorce?

Chic McGregor

Holyrood TV should do a phone/text in one every working lunchtime where government and opposition spokespersons answer live questions from the public for an hour.

Would need a moderating host and 15 sec, or thereabouts, delay.

heedtracker

@ cearc, the more plumbs BBC radio announcers have in their mouths the bigger the lie or the harder they’re grovelling to the royals.

Cag-does-thinking

Great to watch Cameron leaving in the huff from Northern Ireland while another self determining authority told him they won’t do his dirty work….

Lesley-Anne

If Dozee Me and Dozee Doh meet up one night and spend the night together does that mean they have created a Dozee Dohme? 😛

Don’t drop the latch Tim I’m right behind you! 😀

Hoss Mackintosh

Kintyre and Moray council elections – great results.

Transfer votes in moray are interesting – SNP picked up a fair share of votes from all the transfers apart from the Tories.

I thought the Unionists are supposed to be voting tactically?

Bodes well for the future…

Marcia

Nurse!

Lesley-Anne

With St. Mirren having sacked their manager and allegedly looking at the Alloa manager as a possible replacement and now the news that Ally Mcoist has offered his resignation to Rangers will we see a couple of new managers around the leagues.

Will Barry Smith now leave Alloa to join St. Mirren to be replaced at Alloa by Ally Mcoist? 😛

Coat grabbed … hawd the door Tim! 😛

tombee

@ Rev,

Are you Alic Salmond?.

Ericmac

To what extent does Barnett favour London and the SE? Including the aspects of spending that regularly fall outside of Barnett consequential. And taking into consideration any claims that Scotland benefits from London spending.

Lesley-Anne

tombee says:

@ Rev,

Are you Alic Salmond?.

Come on now Tombee get the spelling right his name is NOT Alic Salmond it is Alic Simmin. I thought everyone knew that by now! 😛

gerry parker

Did you ever play “Elite”?

What level did you get to?

Ok so that’s 2 questions…

bookie from hell

Have you had a xmas card from labour HQ Rev?

Are you sending Daily Record a special xmas card Rev?

Macsenex

How many MPs and MSPs pay their cleaners (if any) the living wage?

balaaargh

@Tombee

No, I’M ALEX SALMOND!

🙂

SquareHaggis

Craig is calling for a truce.

link to craigmurray.org.uk

muttley79

@NewportDee

Like many unionists in Scotland, Iain Gray does not really think Scotland is a proper nation imo. Whether it is because his British identity is as strong or greater than his Scottish identity I have no idea. I don’t think he is an opportunist, I think he is a decent guy. That said, if Gray did think Scotland was a proper nation, then he would presumably support independence, as that is kind of what genuine nations tend to do. I know that sounds simplistic, and to an extent it is, but that is how I see it.

I suspect the majority of No voters feel British in a political sense. The Yes campaign did its very best to assauge some of the fears, by saying that in a geographical sense an independent Scotland would still be British. Clearly that did not suceed, but I am not really sure what else can be done in that area.

Luigi

muttley79 says:

I suspect the majority of No voters feel British in a political sense. The Yes campaign did its very best to assauge some of the fears, by saying that in a geographical sense an independent Scotland would still be British. Clearly that did not suceed, but I am not really sure what else can be done in that area.

For those NO voters aged 55+, I agree. And let’s face it, it was them that swung it. The younger generations have far less attachment to Britishness. It will take 10 years to work it’s way through IMO, but it truly is a demographic timebomb of epic proportions.

Lesley-Anne

gerry parker says:

Did you ever play “Elite”?

What level did you get to?

Ok so that’s 2 questions…

Following on from Gerry’s question, have you bought the new version of Elite called Elite Dangerous?

Do you think it is value for money at £50?

Do you think it is value for money buying all the add ons?

muttley79

@Luigi

Yeah, I agree with that. However, even among those younger than 55 plus, there is still a significant attachment to the idea of Britain, in a political sense. This appears to be particularly the case in the middle class.

Robert Llewellyn Tyler

By election result Trelech, Carmarthenshire:

Jean Lewis (Plaid Cymru) 598

Hugh Phillips (Ind) 181

Selwyn Runnett (LibDem) 96

liz

Great results for SNP and Plaid, hopefully this will continue into the 2015 GE

Another Union Dividend

Waiting in vain for BBC / MSM to report on the two Scottish council by elections to-day …. and lets not forget that on average each council ward forms between a quarter and a third of a parliamentary seat.

The SNP is welcoming a double by-election victory today – as the party gained a seat from Labour in the Elgin City North ward, after winning in South Kintyre with a record 35 per cent swing as the Tory vote collapsed.

The Elgin by-election – called as a result of the resignation of the sitting Labour councillor – saw the SNP vote reach more than 55 per cent and the Labour vote halving since 2012.

The result in Elgin comes in the aftermath of the “overwhelming” by-election victory in South Kintyre – which saw a massive 35 per cent swing from the Tories to the SNP, a record in recent electoral history.

HandandShrimp

Muttley

I would agree that those that see themselves as British over Scottish are not going to shift easily. There is a limit to what we can do. In many respects it is Britain’s activity in things like rendition flights for torture victims that is slowly eroding the concept of Britishness more than our exhortations to reaffirm an older identity and opening the doorway to a better nation.

liz

According to that post indy poll from Lord Ashcroft, only 27% of No voters did so because of their attraction to the UK.

The majority voted No because they were worried about CU and other financial reasons

Luigi

muttley79 says:

12 December, 2014 at 3:46 pm

@Luigi

Yeah, I agree with that. However, even among those younger than 55 plus, there is still a significant attachment to the idea of Britain, in a political sense. This appears to be particularly the case in the middle class.

Aye, but they are no longer the majority – that’s the crucial difference.

Luigi

The SNP is welcoming a double by-election victory today – as the party gained a seat from Labour in the Elgin City North ward, after winning in South Kintyre with a record 35 per cent swing as the Tory vote collapsed.

The tory vote collapsed?

What happened to all those NO voters in NE Scotland that, were supposed to be natural tories, about to give the SNP a kicking? Oh Dear Ruth, what now!

YESGUY

Robert Llewellyn Tyle

Superb news from our Welsh cousins . The rise of the nationalists 🙂

We are scaring the shite out of them yippee.

muttley79

@HandandShrimp

Yes, I reckon time, and arguments for a better nation, rather than just to be a proper one, are the way to achieve independence. Saying that, the likes of Carol Craig and co are still hanging on to the British state for some reason. I personally do not understand this, given the events since the 1970s onwards, but there you go.

Lesley-Anne

Will Jackie Baillie EVER get the fact that it is NOT advisable to ask questions of the First Minister when her boss, Jackie Baillie’s boss that is, is widely publicised saying that he is going to wield the axe on Public Spending?

link to facebook.com

Wee folding bike

Clootie says:
12 December, 2014 at 1:48 pm
Wee folding bike – you forgot phase 11

True and I didn’t seperate out the movies. I think bits of Phase II were used for movies and early TNG… when TNG was still suffering under Roddenberry’s utopian concept and there was no conflict.

I only managed 1 1/2 episodes of ENT. The theme song did it for me. I think Mr Salmond is wrong on this. He likes Voyager best when it’s obviously DS9 season 4 onwards. Can’t have too much Klingon.

liz

@Lesley-Anne – just watched that on twitter.

The comments below on the FB page are all tearing Jackie Baillie apart.

Lab seem to have a huge number of people like her – they lack self-awareness and have no shame in lying constantly.

Have to say, I have never seen John Swinney shout out like that but that’s what types like her do, they make he most stable folk want to scream.

Croompenstein

Update from Our Generation (formally Generation Yes)..

Hello from Our Generation!
We are so excited to launch our new name, Our Generation. We love it because we represent just that, Our Generation.
Scotland’s young people are engaged in politics like never before. Our Generation will build on the legacy and goodwill of Generation Yes to build a new movement to engage, educate and encourage positive change for young people in Scotland and beyond.

Be part of providing a political education for the youth of Scotland! We are looking for you, our members & supporters, to subscribe to us with a monthly donation to help us become the primary source for political education for young people in Scotland.

We have a strong team ready to hit the ground running, adding our voice to huge campaigns such as Votes at 16, promoting the Living Wage as well as constant updates in the run up to the 2015 General Election.

Please follow the link below to subscribe to us for £3, £5 or £10 a month. Or if your are in the Christmas spirit we can accept one off donations. If you would like more information please contact us and request a donor pack. These donations will allow us to politically engage, educate and encourage young people in the run up to the 2015 General Election. Thank you.

Lesley-Anne

liz says:

@Lesley-Anne – just watched that on twitter.

The comments below on the FB page are all tearing Jackie Baillie apart.

Lab seem to have a huge number of people like her – they lack self-awareness and have no shame in lying constantly.

Have to say, I have never seen John Swinney shout out like that but that’s what types like her do, they make he most stable folk want to scream.

To be fair Liz it is not that difficult to tear Baillie apart or any other Labour M.S.P. for that matter. 😉 I think there must be something in the water that only they drink that makes them so incompetent. 😛

I agree, I have never seen John Swinney have an outburst like that before either. I guess like the rest of us he, and the rest of the S.N.P. M.S.P.’s, are reaching the point where they just can not keep stumph any more. I used to think that watching Lamont was cringeworthy but I’m afraid to say that Baillie has managed to LOWER the cringe bar at least another couple of notches. 😀

handclapping

O/T
@B(tP)
link to bbc.co.uk
It was bound to happen after Conan left 😉

ronnie anderson

O/T
link to heraldscotland.com

They gibber we pay,send in the Bailifs, leave them wey nae pot tae piss in.

Kininvie

That Elgin by-election:

When the UKIP candidate was eliminated in round 2, 16 (of 84) UKIP votes were transferred to the SNP, and just 19 to the Tory. A further 32 Kippers appeared to have expressed no further preference rather than vote Tory (or anyone else)

I find that strange.

link to moray.gov.uk

john king

Tîm Criced i Gymru says

ELGIN MARBLE-ous!

(will trip the latch on my way out…!)

Eh,
your coat? 🙂

X_Sticks

Live Independence broadcasting NOW latest from Catalan regarding independence with Barcelona resident and author Simon Harris. link to tinyurl.com

Lesley-Anne

Oh look peeps the Daily Express owner Richard Desmond has donated £300,000 to everyone’s favourite political party. 😉

link to archive.today

Lesley-Anne

john king says:

Tîm Criced i Gymru says

ELGIN MARBLE-ous!

(will trip the latch on my way out…!)

Eh,
your coat? 🙂

Don’t worry John, I grabbed Tim’s coat, as you know I was oot the door right behind him! 😛

Stoker

Lesley-Ann says:
“Ally Mcoist has offered his resignation to Rangers”

ffs, Whit? Again?

Sally McMoist has got as much credibility as yon butchers apron.

Hunbelievable!

Aberdeen and Dundee Utd have far superior managers and i’d be willing to bet they’re not paid half what that turd steals.

They’re also managers of far bigger and more successful clubs.

Who said crime doesn’t pay, eh!
😉

Robert Llewellyn Tyler

Just out of interest comrades, “Tîm Criced i Gymru” translates as “Cricket Team for Wales”, A noble aim.

Lesley-Anne

Stoker says:

Lesley-Ann says:
“Ally Mcoist has offered his resignation to Rangers”

ffs, Whit? Again?

Aye well there is just no pleasing some folks Stoker. I mean his pet Rangers played Alloa at Ibrox and … erm … drew 1 – 1. Around 10 days later they played … erm … Alloa in the Challenge Cup Semi Final at … erm … Alloa and … erm … LOST 3 – 2!

I’m beginning to think that he tendered his resignation due to the *ahem* Alloa effect! 😛

Apparently the Ranger’s board have turned down his resignation, must be something to do with not being able to afford his golden goodbye or something methinks! 😉

Lesley-Anne

Robert Llewellyn Tyler says:

Just out of interest comrades, “Tîm Criced i Gymru” translates as “Cricket Team for Wales”, A noble aim.

Well England has a cricket team Robert … allegedly! 😉

I agree with you a Welsh cricket team is a very noble idea indeed. 😀

john king

Eh Morag theres a man ootside askin fur ye!
link to craigmurray.org.uk

What’ll a tell him?

Lesley-Anne

john king says:

Eh Morag theres a man ootside askin fur ye!
link to craigmurray.org.uk

What’ll a tell him?

Do we still have a “no weapons inside the house” rule John or did we relax that rule after the 19th? 😛

Jamie Arriere

Say Alloa, wave goodbye

🙂

Ian Brotherhood

Big day for Jim Murphy tomorrow, eh?

Here’s a wee reminder of his first public appearance after he declared he was standing for the leadership.

Never mind – once he’s been crowned folk will calm down and we won’t see any repeat of such scenes.

Good luck Jim!

link to youtube.com

HandandShrimp

The ask.fm thing is a laugh. I see Stu answered my question on Christmas songs…in my defence I was writing Christmas cards and felt compelled to share the pain.

YESGUY

Lesley Anne. 5.00pm

That clip showing Nichola blowing Jackie Ballie out the water was magic. Showing the people of Scotland that labour are a party of hypocrites and liars. Again. 🙂

Regarding Star Trek, it has Voyager for me. 7 of 9 . 😉 including the Borg parts.

Ian Brotherhood

Anyone know how to cut out a wee bit of this link? – it’s Murphy in Carnoustie. Check it out at around the 50sec – 1 min mark, you’ll see what I’m on about.

link to youtube.com

StevieMcB
mumsyhugs

O/t chilling interview of Craig Murray over on Derek Bateman.

Croompenstein

latest edition of Scottish News…

Where is Nana??

link to youtube.com

YESGUY

Ian B

Unbelievable video. Never saw that one , to be honest sitting listening to him dribbling away make me want to throw up. But the driver calling him a pr**k had me splattering my screen with hot tea again. Oh boy was it worth it. Thanks Ian 🙂

SquareHaggis

The crate leader has arrived

link to tinyurl.com

Thanks Ninja

Stoker

The BBC Is Killing Democracy
link to youtube.com

Stuart Cosgrove exposes BBC referendum bias
link to youtube.com

Lesley-Anne

Jamie Arriere says:

Say Alloa, wave goodbye

🙂

I think you’ll find that the correct saying Jamie is Allo Allo … AH … Cheerie Cheerie … OH! 😉

You’re right YESGUY. Nicola has stepped straight into Alex’s shoes, so to speak, with regards blowing Labour out the water. Hell she doesn’t even break sweat when does it. 😛

Paula Rose

I’ve just read all the question and answer thingies on Ask The Rev – I think I’m in love!!!

X_Sticks

LIVE 423 FOOD BANKS & MUSIC 7:30 Start
Friday, December 12th,

Independence Live

We are delighted to announce ‘423’ – a night of poetry and music to raise money for Glasgow’s food banks.

link to tinyurl.com

john king

Lesly Anne says
“I agree with you a Welsh cricket team is a very noble idea indeed. ”

weeelll, there’s noble and then there’s just plain wasting your time!
link to youtube.com

Capella

@Ian brotherhood
Do you mean the drive by hecklers?
I think you need the software to edit video. Windows Moviemaker does edit and is free but whether it will import a youtube video I don’t know. I used to use Pinnacle. Adobe is very pricey. You might get online free software. Free Video Dub may be OK but check for safety with AVG or similar.

liz

@mumsyhugs – I remember reading that at the time and the fall out of his whistleblowing.

Jock McDonnell

Liz is right, my experience is most no voters were either frightened or selfish, the UK matters less to them than their own self interest. They calculated only whether Scotland or UK would give them ‘more’, the fact that the sum was based on much false belief is key.

mumsyhugs

Stuart’s q and a thing is “ask.fm” – do you think he fancies a wee shot at being First Minister some time in the future? 🙂

Lesley-Anne

There is only ONE response to that video clip John ….

GO JAMICA! 😛

John

Foo fighters or biffy clyro that is the question?

Richard Bruce

@Ian Brotherhood

Ian, I’ve edited the part of the clip you want. Anywhere you want it uploaded to in particular?

Tîm Criced i Gymru

Robert Llewellyn Tyler says:
12 December, 2014 at 6:47 pm
Just out of interest comrades, “Tîm Criced i Gymru” translates as “Cricket Team for Wales”

Diolch / thanks Robert. Haven’t been called Tim since primary school!

Clootie

For wee folding bike

link to klingonska.org

Tîm Criced i Gymru

STOP PRESS….

this just in on BBCNews WEBSITE…
Re: UK FLIGHTS HIT BY COMPUTER FAILURE…

“Transport Secretary – “Disruption on this scale is simply unacceptable and I have asked Nats for a full explanation”

!!!! As we all feared – we’re getting the blame for everything now!

cearc

Tîm Criced i Gymru,

Hope you succeed.

If you trashed the England team, they would probably throw you out of the UK. Save a lot of bothering about with the democratic process!

Ian Brotherhood

@Richard Bruce –

Soo-perb!

As a wee experiment, would it be possible to stick it on Youtube and we could try to make it go viral overnight, just in time for his coronation? A wee sort of ‘present’ from the WOS regulars?

(Aw man, I’m looking forward to this…)

Richard Bruce

@Ian Brotherhood

Uploading to youtube now. Is it okay to post the link here?

Should be available in about 5 mins.

Lesley-Anne

Tîm Criced i Gymru says:

STOP PRESS….

this just in on BBCNews WEBSITE…
Re: UK FLIGHTS HIT BY COMPUTER FAILURE…

“Transport Secretary – “Disruption on this scale is simply unacceptable and I have asked Nats for a full explanation”

!!!! As we all feared – we’re getting the blame for everything now!

Even when the problem lies over 400 miles OUTSIDE Scotland we Nats STILL get the blame! Diusgusting that’s what it is DISBLOODYGUSTING I say! 😀

Richard Bruce

Ian,

What’s your twitter handle? I’ll send you the link, does not seem to be accepted here.

Ian Brotherhood

@Richard Bruce –

Try stripping away everything before the www in the link, then it should post, after what’s become the normal delay, which could be up to 15 mins 🙁 If not, please send it to me and I’ll make sure it goes up here:

ian@stevenston4.fsnet.co.uk

StevieMcB

@Richard Bruce

Try removing the h t t p at the start of the link after pasting
You tube links usually need this, hope it works.

john king

Ian Brotherhood says
“Check it out at around the 50sec – 1 min mark, you’ll see what I’m on about.”

Alex, is that you? 🙂

Richard Bruce

Ian,

Okay here it is without the http bit:

youtu.be/ODNlFyzbxnQ

Hope this works

fred blogger
fred blogger
StevieMcB

Richard, paste link again,cut h t t p :// and leave www. and the rest, instructions are above the comment box, best of luck dying to see this 🙂

muttley79

I have just been having a wee read on the new edition of the Scottish Left Review. There is an article by Neil Findlay, and he comes across in it as fervently anti-SNP as Murphy is. Reading his article it is clear he hates the SNP with a passion. Seriously the guy is a left wing equivalent of Murphy on the right.

Findlay talks absolute nonsense, he says “constitutional change is not social change”, but how the hell can you achieve social change if your national parliament does not have all of the taxation and welfare powers at its disposal?…He rants on and on about the SNP, saying they are not a social democratic party?

If Findlay gets elected he will get hammered by Sturgeon in debates. It will be worse than her debate with Carmichael. He will be completely out of his depth. I used to think Murphy being elected SLAB leader would be a disaster for them, reading that article I now think it would be equally disastrous if they elected Neil Findlay.

PictAtRandom

“Robert Llewellyn Tyler says:
12 December, 2014 at 6:47 pm

Just out of interest comrades, “Tîm Criced i Gymru” translates as “Cricket Team for Wales”, A noble aim.”

If you’re in danger of thinking that cricket is rational then just remember that Glamorgan is a Major County and Wales is a Minor County.
Now stick a couple of pencils up your nose and recite the last UKIP manifesto.

Ian Brotherhood

@Richard Bruce & a’body else –

Yes!!

Let’s go to it then.

42 views at 9.00 p.m.

Anyone opening a book on how long we’ll take to hit 100/500/1000 etc?

I’ll stick me heid on the proverbial and say, erm, 852 on the stroke of midnight.

Anyone have a suitable title for the clip?

link to youtube.com

Another Union Dividend

BBC Scotland TV news leading with resignation of a lower league football manager and will ignore the two sensational council by election results announced to-day.

StevieMcB

Anyone have a suitable title for the clip?
I genuinely don’t pay these people. i steal from them 🙂

Ian Brotherhood

Off to a flyer – counter was at 77 two minutes ago, so that’s 35 more views in the first 13 mins.

This is gonny be a biggy!

Suggestion for title –

‘The Murphy Salute’

handclapping

Anyone have a suitable title for the clip?
An unpaid compliment
Murphy’s unpaid compliment

ronnie anderson

As Graig Murrays blog doesent recognise my loggin im posting on here.

Graig I have held my weesht till now if this is your way of declaring a truce with Dr Morag Kerr . Morag discontinued her comments on you several times by you puting this on your own blog,inviting all in sundry to comment on a very respected Winger whom they dont know & keeping this argument going does you no credit.I have been asked by many Wingers over the months about the disagreement of Yourself & Morag my advice to them not to comment to prolong the argument,my advice for what its worth is for You to take down this blog & remove the comments.Morag Kerr will still be respected on Wings over Scotland, any respect I have for You is demminishing agree to disagree & end the hostility.

muttley79

@Another Union Dividend

Well BBC Scotland News are all about murders, football, and the weather after all.

For anyone that is interesting here is the link to the Scottish Left Review:

link to scottishleftreview.org

Bob Mack

Murphy invents drive thru politics?

Paula Rose

Is anyone seriously suggesting that that idiot who rented a couple of crates is the new branch manager

Ian Brotherhood

107 views at 10.30

liz

@ronnie anderson – BTW I met you at the Counting House WoS meet when you gave all the ‘ladies’ a blue flower – thank you.

You have had your request answered, Craig Murray has taken his article down.

You and I will have to disagree on a certain poster here, I have said all I have to say on that subject and will never comment on it again.

I hope the person concerned can be as magnanimous but I wont be holding my breath.

fred blogger

caption; brass neck sparkles in sun.

Sinky

Brian Wilson’s weekly bile still getting printed in Hootsman

link to archive.today

who have got rid of Indy supporting journalists like George Kerevan and Martin Hannah from Edinburgh Evening News. So no pretence of balance now.

And BBC paper review at 10.30 has an ignominious claiming that oil price will be disastrous for Scotland. Do they not know that Scotland gets no oil revenues as it all goes to London.

YESGUY

Title for the video. Ian .

“I’m listening to what the people want from me as a prospective Northern Branch manager”

🙂 🙂 🙂

Taranaich

@muttley79: I suspect the majority of No voters feel British in a political sense.

I think it’s a red herring. The 2011 census shows nowhere near enough “Brits” for that to account for the No votes:

62% identified as “Scottish only” (71% of 10-14 year olds, 57% of 30-34)
18% identified as “Scottish and British only” (even the highest age group, 65-74, was only 25%)
8% identified as “British only (highest age group, 50-64, a mere 10%)

No doubt there was a significant surge in Britishness following the Olympics and the establishment’s machinations, but I note that the Lord Ashcroft poll recorded only 27% voted no out of attachment to the UK – that corresponds very neatly to the 26% who responded as “Scottish and British only”/”British only” in the census.

Unless there’s been a truly unprecedented explosion of “Scottish and British”/”British only” in 3 years, “Britishness” cannot account for even the majority of Nos, let alone majority of Scots. It all boiled down to fear and ignorance, regardless of what Gerry Hassan says – and, again, that’s borne out by the Ashcroft poll, where the greatest worries were about currency, NHS and the economy – i.e. the few things they didn’t need to worry about.

The Yes campaign did its very best to assauge some of the fears, by saying that in a geographical sense an independent Scotland would still be British.

Not to mention it’s been stated several times that they would still remain British citizens, as would their children and grandchildren, in the event of a Yes vote.

Clearly that did not suceed, but I am not really sure what else can be done in that area.

Keep doing what we’ve been doing. It’s clearly working: even after the referendum, which should surely have defeated the independence movement for generations, the Establishment is scared to death of it, because none of the basic arguments have changed. Even the oil price fiasco, simply because look who’s in charge of the oil – and you wonder how we could possibly do a worse job. To the Britnats, we really are like the Terminators – we just won’t die!

We didn’t succeed in persuading everyone in time for the referendum because we didn’t have enough time. In the context of a campaign, the referendum was a long one: in the context of fighting centuries of ingrained cringe and political suppression, it’s practically the blink of an eye. It’s a wonder we did as well as we did, frankly.

ronnie anderson

@ Liz I like you have not intention on making any further comment & I would hope to see no more of this argument on this WOS & we can get back to what who we are collectivly WINGERS.

Ian Brotherhood

177 @ 11.00 pm

Keep it going folks, before it gets pulled!

SquareHaggis

Doffs cap Ronnie 😉

liz

@ronnie anderson – my intention also

Sinky

Daily Express owner has given £300,000 to UKIP.

In Elgin by election yesterday UKIP polled 81 votes out of 1938.

ronnie anderson

link to youtube.com

no need of my input the words say it all.

muttley79

@Taranaich

I think there is a danger at picking out the British only feeling in Scotland in isolation. There is also the dual Scottish/British identity category (you have mentioned that). The No campaign were clearly tapping into this dual identify element, knowing that they already had the support of the British only section of the electorate here. I think independence supporters generally underestimate the extent that a large number of voters feel allegiance towards British or dual Scottish/British identity. I feel it is one of our blind spots. There is no doubt that many voters feel an intense feeling of British political identity. Unfortunately we are inclined to dismiss it too readily. I suspect that there maybe a ‘shy’ British identity factor in Scotland.

I agree with a lot of your other points though.

Lesley-Anne

Watching the media “lose it” over the NATS closure of London’s airports due to its *ahem* wee computer problem earlier on Friday leads to me think that this sort of failure surely should lead to calls for MORE direct flights from Scotland rather than folks having to fly to London for a connecting Long Haul flight! 😉

Lollysmum

Ian B
237 views @ 11.40pm

fred blogger

cat boyd RIC conference speech; link to youtube.com enjoy

Lesley-Anne

Oops!

It would appear that the inter brother fight-in we all witnessed, we DID all witness it didn’t we 😉 , a few years ago might be about to resume. RED Ed thought that by stabbing his brother face to face would result in no more brotherly in fighting for the top job. Well apparently RED Ed’s brother might be having second thoughts! 😛

link to archive.today

StevieMcB

YouGov
Yes 48%
No 14%

fred blogger

Taranaich
well Z, spot on!

StevieMcB
StevieMcB

Phat fingers No 45% 🙂

liz

Dave Milliband is up to his neck in Blairite policies, support of what happened in Iraq.

Lab are beyond parody and don’t know which face to use.

Hopefully on their way into political oblivian

Taranaich

I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one, muttley. I don’t doubt that the UK establishment wanted to tap into that sense of “Britishness” and attachment to the UK, and vastly over-represent the “Proud Scots and Brits” whenever they could. I just don’t see it being anywhere close to the majority of No votes compared to the scaremongering.

27% of No votes translates to 540,000 voters voting out of a sense of attachment to the UK; 27% of votes altogether (or just under half of all No votes) raises that to 972,000. I can see it being somewhere in between those two numbers, since it’s pretty obvious not all “Scottish only” voted Yes, while it’s entirely likely not every “British only/Scot&Brit only” voted No.

Faltdubh

And bang!

A full YouGov/Sun poll has

SNP 47%
Labour 27%
Tories 16%
Libs 3%

On Smith Commission

51% say the end result from Smith is not good enough
23% it’s alricht
14% we’re getting too much from Smith, (ha ha ha)

And BANG BANG!

Yes 48% No 45%

We’ll be back in those booths in 5 years and we’ll have a 10% lead in the polls by then too.

Faltdubh

PS A wee link to those numbers.

From Kevin Pringle’s Twitter

comment image

liz

@Faltdubh – still too close for my liking. needs to be 60% Yes before we try again

Faltdubh

Agree Liz.

We won’t be trying again for a wee whiley. So we work away and govern well – keep bumping up that tally and by the time we are in there it’ll be a 10% lead.

We’ll get there.

Keep on battling on.

And we go again.

Lots to be positive about.

Stoker

Time for a rant, i need to get this off my chest and its too early in the morning to go out into the street and let rip.

I’ve just done a wee recce on last nights Reporting Scotland.
What a fricken load of utter sh!te BBC Scotland are.
A bunch of ficken subservient amateurs making Scotland look BAD.

I mean, out of all the stories doing the rounds these sphincters lead with a “sports” story of a 3rd rate pile of cr@p who masquerades as the manager of some 3rd rate tribute act masquerading as a football team.

They gave that story top billing over and above a piece on human trafficking – WTF!

And ahead of any mention of 2 recent Scottish by-elections which, had it been Slabber who won them the BBC would have been creaming themselves.

No wonder our country is so fucked-up when that pile of shite passes as the national broadcaster.

Almost Xmas and there are children starving in this country and these sphincters lead the prime time news slot with Sevco Sally Seeks The Limelight Once Again.

btw, 2-0, GIRFUY BBC

Rant over – Am away tae ma bed before ah git any mad mental ideas.

Goodnight all.

Lesley-Anne

Gawn yersel Stoker. 😀

Whatever you do Stoker do NOT hold back get it all out there for all of us to see! 😉

Bigdrone

Stoker, answer me this before you go to sleep (and this might keep you awake for a wee while longer) – How in the name of God did we lose the referendum?

There are now ‘3/4 newish’ local councillors in Argyll and now in Aberdeen!

It’s the hanging shards I tell you!

‘Night Stoker, I’ll check up with you in the morning

Bigdrone

Oooops, apologies to all those in Moray!!

Hoss Mackintosh

Latest Batman broadcasting with Craig Murray…

link to batemanbroadcasting.com

Very informative with it links to New Labour’s part in this disgraceful episode in our recent history.

We really need to get away from this corrupt UK country run by its utterly corrupt Westminster politicians.

Democracy Reborn

@muttley79

Re the Findlay article in Scottish Left Review

It is truly beyond me to understand how any genuine, objective left-winger can view the current Labour Party as a vehicle for meaningful social and economic change.

It’s going to take SLAB receiving a hammering in the 2015 GE before they wake up & smell the coffee.

I watched Iain Gray on BBC, Thursday, almost revelling in the apparent computer difficulties Revenue Scotland are having preparing for Landfill Tax, etc. Predictably, he used it as an excuse to attack the SNP, his point being that they are always ‘whining’ about extra tax powers, but can’t even organise for the limited powers devolved under Calman. Setting aside the fact that Labour & Tory governments have had several monumental IT fuck-ups costing the taxpayer billions of pounds, his comments struck me as an amazing example of the cringe. In what other nation of the world would any self-respecting politician say, in effect, ‘we’re too stupid to run our own tax affairs’?

Barontorc

Looks like Derek Bateman has really set the heather on fire over at NNS with Craig Murray telling it as it was.

What an utterly tarnished profile the UK now has worldwide and the BBC’s reputation is going down the drain on a daily basis.

For goodness sake all NO people, look at what you’ve signed up for, we’ll have another chance to get rid of these shysters soon, don’t be bullied or conned again.

graham simpson

In the last referendum the odds were stacked against the Yes vote by the approximately 11% of the resident (for one year) population who are English born or temporary migrant workers being allowed to vote. Since the majority of these voters are predisposed too vote against independence they should be excluded from voting in the next referendum since Independence, being a vital constitutional issue concerning the future of our country… should be decided by only qualified Scots. This is not simply an issue of taxpayers inherent right to choose the government of the day.

Obviously this formula would not not receive Westminster consent so the referendum should be posed as an non-binding Scottish only project to show all and sundry that Scots want and will have Independence. The discussion of independence even if UDI might be taken to an international court.

john king

BBC news 7.0clock
Laura Bicker says
“Labour’s fortunes in Scotland are critical to its general election chances next year”
Is that BBC speak for vote SNP get Tory?

Ken500

Labour are finished in Scotland.

Just vote out the Unionists. 7/5/15

Don’t be fooled again. Westminster liars.

heedtracker

BBC R4 news countering/trying to get a labour in Scotand right to reign over them/back in, with Dougie Alexander and ligger desperately avoiding real,world stuff like why Labour in Scotland’s going to be wiped out. Another teamGB day, SNP bad, separatists evil, vote Labour get Tory boys. Apparently all across Europe, “mainstream parties” are having problems, sez Dougie and not much else.

heedtrackers

Also in teamGB Tory boy world day and its rancid Graun/Libby Carrell? So from this actual journalism yesterday in WoS-

“The impact of removing Scottish MPs from the records of historic Commons divisions is also estimated. Of approximately 3,600 divisions to occur between 26th June 2001 and 26 September 2014, 22 (0.6%) would have concluded differently had the votes of Scottish MPs not been counted.

To this classic slice of Westminster/UKOK rancid Graun, thanks Libby Carrell, why let stuff like the 0.6% actual vote rate get into your bleh?

“The Conservatives will next week float the idea of banning Scottish MPs from voting on legislation that only affects English voters in a new policy paper.

The controversial proposals put together by William Hague, the leader of the House, contain four options, three suggested by the Conservatives and one by the Liberal Democrats.

Hague is leading talks on the question of ‘English votes for English laws’ in the wake of the Scottish referendum, which led the Westminster parties to promise more devolution to Holyrood. The constitutional consequences of this enraged a number of English MPs who demanded the right to stop Scottish MPs voting on matters that did not affect Scotland.

In the paper, which has been seen by the Financial Times,, one of the options is banning Scottish MPs from voting on any English-only legislation. Two of the other options involve allowing English MPs to have a greater say on the laws at earlier stages before bringing in all MPs for the final vote.”

The idea of ‘English votes for English laws’ has put Labour in a tricky position as the party is anxious for its Scottish MPs not to be excluded from important legislation.

However, Hilary Benn, the shadow communities secretary, and Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, revealed on Friday that they backed the proposals of the McKay commission. This report suggested a grand committee of English MPs to scrutinise legislation before it ends up in the chamber.

They said: “Done in the right way, this would be a sensible reform which would strengthen England’s voice without ending up creating two classes of MP, and it must now be considered as part of the constitutional convention process. What we must not do is inadvertently undermine the union of nations that is the United Kingdom. Hasty proposals, drawn up in a secret Whitehall committee chaired by a former Tory leader, as David Cameron is doing, is not the right way to go about it. It just won’t wash with the British public.”

Famous15

Professor Francis Boyle,an American jurist, has made a formal complaint to the International Criminal Court on torture by the CIA and those politicians who were complicit.

The effect of this? It makes international travel by Blair ,Brown,Reid,Straw,Murphy,
Darling and later politicians,makes them liable to arrest. It would be like the arrest of South American dictators for torture and disappearance of opposition.

Oh dear ,making tour lecture millions is not without risk. The Iraq insanity may have a slightly better conclusion.

Stoker

@ Lesley-Anne.
🙂
When i first seen you mention it on here i thought it was just another case of Sevco Sally attention seeking, again. I had no idea that pathetic excuse for a broadcaster was running with it as a lead story – words utterly fail me. Maybe in the sports section but to prioritise it way over and above important real news just beggars belief.
______________

@ Bigdrone.
Went straight to my pit so didn’t see your post until now.

To answer your question – I have no doubt we lost the referendum mainly due to the constant cranked-up negative campaign of fear, smear, lies and bribery by the Unionists and their corrupt media.

I also have a very strong niggling feeling that something extremely dodgy went on which helped them obtain their result but as i have no concrete evidence to put forward i’m afraid that’s all it will ever be – a strong niggly feeling.

It could, of course, just be my utter refusal, deep within my psyche, to accept the result but who knows?

I’ll try and remain sane and keep my focus on the corrupt media, especially the BBC because they have a legal responsibility to be honest and balanced, newspapers don’t.

We just need to keep plugging away to the next one and get that support for Independence up over the 60% mark.

A good marker along the way will be the GE in May next year.
Lets focus on trying to send a very strong message to London.
😉

Brian Doonthetoon

Re: posting YouTube links.

All you need for posting links on WOS (or indeed anywhere) is the content of the URL from “www” onwards.

A YouTube URL will sometimes have a string of extraneous characters after the actual string that identifies the video.

Take the example from further up the thread (I’ve replaced the . with – for clarity):
www-youtube-com/watch?v=ODNlFyzbxnQ&feature=youtu.be

You obviously need everything from the “www” to the forward slash – that provides your web browser with the web site address.

After the forward slash, you only need the video identification string, ie “watch?v=ODNlFyzbxnQ”.

The “&” and everything after it, is unnecessary – just makes for a longer URL. So, a YouTube link should look similar to this pared down example:-

link to youtube.com

Brian Doonthetoon

BTW:

WordPress automatically adds the “h-t-t-p://” at the start of the url – wizznae me!


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