Westminster’s offer 183
Posted on
August 07, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Because you know he’s coming. Do you feel lucky, Labour voters?
Tough love 366
Posted on
August 07, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
We can’t really avoid mentioning the big list of “celebrities” for No assembled today by the cuddly, fluffy, funded-by-Tory-donor-oil-tycoon-linked-to-genocidal-murderers “Let’s Stay Together” campaign to lovebomb Scottish voters, summed up perfectly by an alert reader on Twitter as “a veritable Who’s That? of the British establishment”.
One of the people we HAD heard of on the list was the, er, noted historian Dr David Starkey. Dr Starkey was keen to lend his name to the letter telling Scots that “we want to let you know how very much we value our bonds of citizenship with you”.
He didn’t always feel quite so warmly towards Scotland, though.
Jamaican for the occasion 125
Posted on
August 07, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Private Eye editor Ian Hislop hasn’t made much of a secret of his opposition to Scottish independence. The satirical and investigative magazine, which is normally so razor-sharp on all the failings and hypocrisies of politicians and the media, has been remarkably silent on the subject of the referendum for the past few years, which one might have thought would have given it enough material to go weekly.
So in that context of that self-imposed censorship, the BBC’s coverage of last month’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow must have been really quite something.
Another mystery explained 135
Posted on
August 07, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
It turns out that Jackie Baillie heard this and thought it was a referendum broadcast.
Silly old Jackie, eh readers?
New frontiers in lying 140
Posted on
August 07, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Alert readers will be aware that even in a campaign characterised by dishonesty, the ever-smirking Labour MSP Jackie Baillie has carved a reputation for especially notable creativity with the truth. With our hands on our hearts, we don’t think we’ve ever heard her say anything that wasn’t a lie. However, on last night’s The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4, we believe she reached a spectacular personal best. Have a listen.
If you can’t quite believe your ears, we’ll transcribe that for you.
In all your newspapers tomorrow 208
Posted on
August 06, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
We’re sure, right?
And it’ll be accompanied, we haven’t even the slightest shred of doubt, by a veritable procession of outraged columnists demanding that Alistair Darling must take personal responsibility for the actions of these people.
Between friends 146
Posted on
August 06, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Phoebe Arnold on BuzzFeed Politics, 6 August 2014:
(Source fullfact.org. Our emphasis.)
£222bn divided by 33 years is £6.73bn a year. No biggie. Don’t mention it.
The only stat that matters 391
Posted on
August 05, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
As so insightfully predicted by Lallands Peat Worrier yesterday, the media has raced to proclaim victory for Alistair Darling in tonight’s STV debate. For our money, the only winners were the people who watched something else.
The debate was a mess – not quite as shambolic as Nicola Sturgeon and Johann Lamont’s effort on the same channel a few months back, but none of the lessons from that trainwreck were learned. Darling was angry and personal from the start, while Salmond was off-form and the strategy he adopted for dealing with the only subject Darling wanted to talk about – currency – was absolutely dreadful.
We warned back in February that Yes couldn’t just keep flatly saying “There will be a currency union” for seven months, even if it’s true, and the studio audience was deeply and audibly unimpressed with Salmond’s evasion of Darling’s repeated question, even if the tactic got old and tired when the No man was still using it an hour later.
But we’re not going to get into too much spin, because our view is partisan. The main evidence used for the hasty declarations of a “triumph” for Darling was a snap poll conducted immediately afterwards by ICM for the Guardian. But on even a cursory examination, the poll actually found the opposite of what the media said it did.
The secret Society 605
Posted on
August 05, 2014 by
Scott Minto
We encourage readers to keep an eye out for the soon-to-be-released work of the Scottish Research Society. You won’t have heard of them before – they’re only three months old, with just 48 “likes” on Facebook – but they’ve already amassed some serious funds and have registered as campaigners for No in the referendum debate.
The society’s website notes that it “was formed on May 6th, under the Act of 1854, permitting Scientific and Literary Societies to be set up to inform and educate the public on social, economic and scientific matters.”
It goes on to add that “the material contained in the Society’s works, is used to provide accurate and informed commentary on aspects of the issues relevant to the question of Scottish independence. The Society is not a campaign group, but an organisation seeking to inform and provide balance.”
So that’s an interesting start.
Nick Clegg signs a pledge 265
Posted on
August 05, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Betting on a sure thing 173
Posted on
August 04, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Ralph Topping, CEO of William Hill, in the Financial Times, 4 August 2014:
Those voices of common sense just keep mounting up, don’t they?
