Better late than never. But there’s still something not quite right in the image above, and you’ll have to be one of our extra-specially alert readers to spot it.
Readers will know that as a rule we don’t just pinch bits of other peoples’ work wholesale, but in this particular case, given that the entire UK media’s been going on about it misleadingly for a solid week and still shows no sign of stopping, it seemed only fair that everyone should be up to speed on the source.
It’s a Bank Holiday and frankly there’s absolutely bugger-all of any interest in the news today, so I hope you’ll forgive me a personal indulgence, readers. I’ve only used the personal pronoun for a couple of Wings articles out of over 2,300 in the site’s two and a half years of existence, because the independence debate isn’t about me. But a curious piece in today’s Herald by David Torrance merits such a response.
If you don’t see what it’s got to do with that video*, bear with me.
To cheer you up a bit, we thought you might like to see a couple of rather curious pieces from this weekend’s right-wing press. 300 years of the Union have infamously left Scotland with the lowest life expectancies in the UK, as illustrated in particularly stark fashion by some maps published a couple of years ago in the Guardian:
Respectable author Allan Massie (father of Spectator columnist Alex) rather shames himself in today’s Scottish Mail On Sunday, with a particularly grim piece of what we assume is supposed to be comical crystal ball-gazing, painting a melodramatic picture of an apocalyptic post-independence Scotland as seen by Project Fear.
Over 2500 words long, it ticks all the boxes – no currency union, a mass exodus of business, Spain vetoing Scotland’s EU membership, economic Armageddon forcing the return of tuition fees and prescription charges, Trident staying on the Clyde permanently, Orkney and Shetland voting to stay with the UK and somehow taking the oil with them in direct contravention of all international law, and so on.
Which would all be a super piece of knockabout fun, were it not for the fact that we’ve already almost lost count of the number of times the right-wing English media, and in particular the Mail itself, has already trotted out this same dystopian drivel.
Despite the strikingly unequivocal nature of David Trimble’s clarification yesterday of his comments about the independence referendum’s potential impact on Northern Irish politics, remarkably the media are today still trying to spin them into a dire warning about a Yes vote causing renewed violence in the province.
The picture below is a page from this morning’s Sunday Times.
It doesn’t seem to have had a great deal of coverage, perhaps because most of the answers were in the “bleeding obvious” category – business frets about change, and the more change there might be the less they like it.
We’ve quite frequently highlighted the ugly, irresponsible tone of the No campaign’s – and especially Labour’s – comments about “foreigners”in the independence debate. And the reason we do is because that sort of language feeds attitudes like these.
Whoops, eh? Oddly, while the original story is still on the BBC NI website, we can’t seem to find one reporting the correction anywhere, even though Lord Trimble spoke to GMS more than eight hours ago. We’re sure it’ll be along any minute now.
A reader this morning pointed us to an article by the arch-Unionist blogger and pundit Professor Adam Tomkins, who we must once again emphasise in the interests of clarity is almost definitely NOT the gentleman in this picture:
It was a piece from a few weeks ago about the currency debate, which the reader felt made a reasonable and “quite convincing” case, so we went and had a look.
willie on The Pit Of Vipers: “I suspect the names are more widely known that folks realise. The hidden emerge, are exposed. That is inevitably appears…” Apr 19, 23:09
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Pit Of Vipers: “To refresh memories… short article by Gordon Dangerfield about Craig Murray’s imprisonment by Lady Dorrian: THE CROWN CAME FOR CRAIG…” Apr 19, 23:05
Jerry Carroll on The Pit Of Vipers: “I didn’t think I could be any more sickened by the SNP but here we are” Apr 19, 23:02
Mark Beggan on The Pit Of Vipers: “Baby Trump says. When was the last time you said to yourself: I’m going to be Better, Bigger than ever…” Apr 19, 22:54
Anne Gorman on The Pit Of Vipers: “Couldn’t agree more. She’s a nasty piece of work and you cross her at your peril. I remember reading an…” Apr 19, 22:26
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Pit Of Vipers: “Best wishes to Craig Murray who is incapacitated abroad: « It was not my intention to run for election to…” Apr 19, 22:15
Mark Beggan on The Pit Of Vipers: “Amen. Wake up time folks.” Apr 19, 22:11
Gav on The Pit Of Vipers: “I never thought I could hate a politician like I hated Thatcher. Then along came non stick Nicky” Apr 19, 21:48
Debatablelands on The Pit Of Vipers: “Yet a third will still turn out and vote for them. If it’s depressing what this story says about the…” Apr 19, 21:46
Young Lochinvar on The Pit Of Vipers: “Lorncal Of course she was behind it, individually or as a fully embedded major part of their own little Lord…” Apr 19, 21:46
Lorncal on The Pit Of Vipers: “Because that’s not how evidence works, tw. Lady Dorrian considered them extraneous to the actual charges. That they are coming…” Apr 19, 21:45
100%Yes on The Pit Of Vipers: “NS was front and right dead center of it all she was in total control of the SNP, just ask…” Apr 19, 21:34
Lorncal on The Pit Of Vipers: “Everything she touches fall to bits, so good news. Not before she pockets wodges of lolly, of course. Should have…” Apr 19, 21:29
Alf Baird on The Pit Of Vipers: “Aye Dan, still too many Scots in denial of our colonial status, which is of course part of the ‘condition’:…” Apr 19, 21:25
Lorncal on The Pit Of Vipers: “You know, I don’t actually believe that NS was behind it all, but she must have okayed it. She did…” Apr 19, 21:21
MaryB on The Pit Of Vipers: “The revolving door keeps revolving… Remember too, that Kez is Jenny Gilruth’s partner.” Apr 19, 21:13
Mark Beggan on The Pit Of Vipers: “So how you good folks gonna vote now?” Apr 19, 20:58
Lorncal on The Pit Of Vipers: “Joan: Joanna Cherry’s book has blown the lid off a great deal. That is why they have released it now.…” Apr 19, 20:54
George Ferguson on The Pit Of Vipers: “@100%Yes I have always voted too but there comes a time when not voting is a victory. If less than…” Apr 19, 20:41
Alf Baird on The Pit Of Vipers: ““the poisonous, posing human trash on our quangoes, running our councils, topping our public bodies” Indeed, and according to Albert…” Apr 19, 20:31
Sally Hughes on The Pit Of Vipers: “Aye Alf, and timing is everything. Swinney has promised a second referendum if they get an SNP majority. Polls indicate…” Apr 19, 20:17
100%Yes on The Pit Of Vipers: “Kezia Dugdale appointed new chair of LGBT+ charity Stonewall.” Apr 19, 20:01
George Ferguson on The Pit Of Vipers: “@Dan Well my only regret on the betting front is not backing Reform UK to get 20 MSPs at 8…” Apr 19, 19:53
holymacmoses on The Pit Of Vipers: “What saddens me most of all is that it was shiver of grubby-minded, meaningless mediocrity which created a stagnant pool…” Apr 19, 19:51
Dan on The Pit Of Vipers: “Well George, they do say Caveat Emptor and that fools and their money are easily parted… Plus you regularly state…” Apr 19, 19:37
George Ferguson on The Pit Of Vipers: “@Sarah Your positively optimistic I will give you that. Tommy Sheridan was found guilty of 5 out of 6 Perjury…” Apr 19, 19:37
sarah on The Pit Of Vipers: “@ George Ferguson: Congratulations on the grandchild – something cheerful to think about! As for not voting, in my constituency…” Apr 19, 19:21
100%Yes on The Pit Of Vipers: “George Ferguson, I too constantly give donations to SNP and then the Alba Party and for what??? When Salvo started…” Apr 19, 19:20
Young Lochinvar on The Pit Of Vipers: “Dorian Grey One of the coven. Look after each other they do..” Apr 19, 19:04
Young Lochinvar on The Pit Of Vipers: “T I’m not sure if it’s exactly what you were referring to but it’s worth listening to the lyrics of…” Apr 19, 18:57
