100,000 green bottles 167
There’s a remarkable piece in today’s Scotsman that we had to share with you:
And if you think that magnificent headline’s good, wait until you hear the rest.
There’s a remarkable piece in today’s Scotsman that we had to share with you:
And if you think that magnificent headline’s good, wait until you hear the rest.
Peter Arnott in The Global Dispatches, 29 January 2014:
And that, readers, is why it matters that I live in England.
We do hope none of these shock troops get caught up and hurt in the lovebombing.
Scottish independence: Cable warns of VAT on food
Caroline Flint warns that independence would mean £875 on energy bills
Warning of risk to transport links after Yes vote
No camp in grocery price rise claims (NB unrelated to VAT)
RBS would move to London if Scotland breaks away
That’s all just today. Anyone sound frightened to you?
It seems that today marked the official start of the much-vaunted “lovebombing” campaign aimed at persuading Scots to stay in the UK by showing them how much they’re loved by the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The opening salvo did some unfortunate and costly collateral damage, but luckily the Union had a white knight following close behind to smooth over any injured feelings.
Would you like to meet him, readers?
It’s mainly hilarious, if we’re being honest. Today’s hysterical “unmasking” of “cybernats” (in fact a collection of perfectly normal and varied people, using the internet under their real names and mainly with photographs of themselves) by the Scottish Daily Mail as part of its ongoing “Cybernat Watch” smear campaign is like a one-stop beginner’s guide to the paper’s lurid sub-tabloid modus operandi.
But much as we chuckle, there are deeply sinister undercurrents to the article.
Keen followers of the Scottish media may have noticed that since the start of the year there’s been little sight of the phrase “the positive case for the Union”. Perhaps buoyed by opinion polls showing little movement, the No camp has more or less abandoned even the pretence of positivity and concentrated on the tactic it’s most familiar and comfortable with – carpeting Scotland with fearbombs.
The last couple of days have been no exception. At the Scottish Tory conference David Cameron repeated the curiously vague threat that an independent Scotland might not be allowed to keep the pound, and yesterday in Westminster the Home Secretary dropped (implausible) hints that Scots might not be allowed to keep UK passports.
But wait a minute. Why so shy?
As veteran readers will know, there’s little this site enjoys more than investigating the Comical Ali-style claims made by the No campaign about the attendance figures at its events, which it typically likes to exaggerate by between 100% and 150%.
Disturbingly, though, the contagion which robs victims of basic counting powers seems to be infectious, and taking hold even beyond the bounds of “Better Together”.
Wings Over Scotland is a (mainly) Scottish political media digest and monitor, which also offers its own commentary. (More)