We referenced this a few days ago because we definitely remembered it happening, but we’d been unable to actually locate the evidence, and at Wings Over Scotland that sort of thing bothers us. After a very considerable amount of effort we’ve now tracked it down, so we’re bunging it up here to preserve it for the record.
(At that point host Frank Skinner gave up and moved on.)
It’s from one month after the indyref, and the interesting thing is that Robinson is twice given the opportunity to respond to Skinner’s question about whether he thought that the pro-Yes supporters had any sort of fair point about his alleged bias, and both times – rather than, say, just dismissing it with a quick “Of course not” – he ducks it.
Readers can, as always, make their own judgements.
Amid the horror of events in Catalonia yesterday, the Prime Minister of the UK – quite unintentionally – said something during an interview on the Andrew Marr Show which was highly pertinent not only to the Catalan referendum but to British domestic politics too. We thought it needed saving for the record.
This site can’t claim to know enough about Spanish and Catalan politics to have an opinion about whether independence for Catalonia is a good idea or not. All we can say is that democracy is a good idea, and the draconian and extreme attempts of the Spanish government to suppress the referendum – ludicrously under-reported in the UK media, particularly broadcast media – are a terrifying throwback to its fascist past. We very much hope they don’t succeed.
As readers who were once children will probably recall, papier-mache is a substance in which incredibly flimsy material – such as tissue paper or newspaper – is turned into something rather more hard and durable by dint of combining multiple layers of it with a simple flour-and-water solution.
What’s less well-known is that the process also happens IN newspapers.
For a case study, let’s look at this article in today’s Times.
The Scottish Daily Mail almost explodes with fury over new crime statistics today:
Which is weird. Because there’s less crime in Scotland than there’s ever been at any time in modern history. How do we know that? Because the Mail tells us so.
We stuck this short clip up on YouTube yesterday as a throwaway while watching the Labour conference in slack-jawed astonishment (a visitor from an alien planet would have concluded it was the gathering of a party that had just won a landslide victory, not lost its third general election in a row), but on reflection it deserves a proper post.
If you know anything at all about the story of how female Glasgow City Council employees have fought for equal pay, you’ll probably be as outraged as we are at Baxter’s bulletproof brass neck. But the video actually demonstrates what appears to be Scottish Labour’s master strategy for winning back Scotland.
Labour will start their autumn conference in Brighton properly today, but the comrades have already been at the seaside over the weekend. We thought we’d see how the UK’s official alternative to the Tories was getting along.
twathater on Irony you can’t buy: “Geri, Joanna is another one who sat on her arse and said fuck all about what was going on under…” Mar 22, 03:30
twathater on Irony you can’t buy: ““Thatcher was a necessary evil, presumably you didnt live in pre-Thatcher times” There speaks a good old tory with his…” Mar 22, 03:18
Mark Beggan on Irony you can’t buy: “That comment. Or was it a rant. No one knows. I never read it but it proves that AI is…” Mar 21, 23:16
robertkknight on Irony you can’t buy: “Truth is to Sturgeon what intelligence is to Trump.” Mar 21, 22:55
William G Walker on Irony you can’t buy: “Does Nicola Sturgeon Tell “Frankly” Fibs About Three Political “Casualties”? I have now read Nicola Sturgeon’s Memoir, “Frankly”, and am…” Mar 21, 22:45
willie on Irony you can’t buy: “Bad management got bad unions. Two cheeks of the same arse. A bit like saying free enterprise good, state ownership…” Mar 21, 21:56
Mark Beggan on Irony you can’t buy: “Baby Mark says I love life. Thankyou IDF.” Mar 21, 21:22
Mark Beggan on Irony you can’t buy: “No. whoever you are. I’m on Freedom.” Mar 21, 21:19
Young Lochinvar on Irony you can’t buy: “Angus Yes that just seems to have been forgotten about in the unearthing of sneaky Pete (allegedly) getting his hand…” Mar 21, 20:56
Young Lochinvar on Irony you can’t buy: “Beggars You’ve been on Baby Trump again haven’t you? 🙂” Mar 21, 20:43
Mark Beggan on Irony you can’t buy: “The story so far….. Big beautiful Lefty meltdown. I knew they would. Everybody knows this. They tried to play poker…” Mar 21, 20:36
Young Lochinvar on Looking up at the stars: “Asian Superspreader. I will be honest, if not Canterbury, but at least Kent was originally said a bit tongue in…” Mar 21, 20:04
Angus on Irony you can’t buy: “Has the £600,000 stolen by high ranking SNP officials when Sturgeon was SNP leader been found and recovered? Have the…” Mar 21, 20:02
sarah on Irony you can’t buy: “But don’t forget, 100%Yes, that the Claim of Right DOES still exist and is legally enforceable. We just need to…” Mar 21, 19:50
Young Lochinvar on Irony you can’t buy: “Happy anniversary tomorrow of the 1421 Battle of Bauge. Called to assist their French allies reeling under English occupation and…” Mar 21, 19:47
viscount ennui on Irony you can’t buy: “Politicians from across the gender spectrum came together to defeat a law aimed to legitimise the killing of terminally-ill policies.…” Mar 21, 19:37
Aidan on Looking up at the stars: “I’m just not supporting a wartime crisis that will be close to a national lockdown to prevent the spread of…” Mar 21, 19:22
Mark Beggan on Irony you can’t buy: “Did I forget to mention the Tranny’s. Well shame on me.” Mar 21, 19:10
Mark Beggan on Irony you can’t buy: “The Iranian regime has spent 47 years perfecting the art of lies. It’s what they do. Remember Baghdad Bob? During…” Mar 21, 18:54
Mark Beggan on Irony you can’t buy: “Edinburgh today. The only people waving saltires these days are the ‘Right wing’ the Left have abandoned the Scottish flag…” Mar 21, 18:42
Young Lochinvar on Looking up at the stars: “Asian Well you are just determined to be a superspreader aren’t you? Doing something about it? – “noooo, it’s just…” Mar 21, 18:36
DWARDMAC on Irony you can’t buy: “Yes well I was there as well so let’s not ignore the hundreds and hundreds of billions of pounds siphoned…” Mar 21, 17:30
100%Yes on Irony you can’t buy: “I was looking at YouTube today and came across a video from The Independence Forum, here is the video link…” Mar 21, 17:13
Geri on Irony you can’t buy: “Craig should follow Brian Berletic. YouTube: The New Atlas. He’s been banging on for years about US foreign policy “continuity…” Mar 21, 16:57
Knuckle Heid on Irony you can’t buy: “**First time post** Scotland definitely better off without her. If only Alex hadn’t been quite so swift to step down…” Mar 21, 16:53
Geri on Irony you can’t buy: “Sounds like a false flag to me. If Iran was going to hit anything that far I’d have thought navy…” Mar 21, 16:03
Aidan on Irony you can’t buy: “Does that sound like a plausible set of events?” Mar 21, 15:52
Alf Baird on Irony you can’t buy: “Scotland is ‘free of Scots’, if the oppressor ships oot 3-4 million (as they did between 1707-1970) and makes those…” Mar 21, 15:38
sarah on Irony you can’t buy: “From one midget [comparatively] horror to a vast, global one. Read Craig Murray’s blog today “Seeing Trump Clearly”. Having read…” Mar 21, 15:18
