Art imitates life 98
Posted on
April 01, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
This is not an April Fool 108
Posted on
April 01, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Thinking about leaving the house 80
Posted on
March 31, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Quoted for truth #48 49
Posted on
March 31, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
David Mitchell in the Guardian, 30 March 2014:
People only vote for change if they think there’ll actually be some.
Project Fear By Numbers #2 119
Posted on
March 31, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Building into a thrilling partwork!
(When we’ve done all 12 of these we’ll be compiling them into a single massive post for easy reference, but it might have been a bit much to handle in one sudden burst.)
Not even trying any more 113
Posted on
March 31, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
From a tired and desperate-sounding Alistair Darling, interviewed in today’s Guardian:
So according to the ex-Chancellor, sharing a currency (like the Euro) requires “a single government”? Um, can anyone spot the somewhat glaring flaw in this argument?
They who will not hear 136
Posted on
March 31, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
As we launch our exciting 12-part beginner’s guide to debunking the No campaign’s scaremongering strategy with a piece on the currency issue, a document sent in this morning by an alert reader couldn’t have come at a more timely moment.
It’s a letter written five weeks ago by Bill Munro, the elderly owner of holiday firm Barrhead Travel, which calls itself “the UK’s Number 1 Online Travel Agent”.
As you can see, it outlines a quite extraordinary apocalyptic scenario in the event of a Yes vote (“we would not be able to trade outwith Scotland for at least 3 years”), as part of a thinly-veiled diatribe aimed at frightening the company’s almost 500 employees into a No vote on pain of losing their jobs.
And even leaving aside the fact that it’s barking mad, the letter illustrates one of the greatest obstacles in the way of the Yes campaign – for all that people clamour and plead for “more information” about independence, information is only any good if people actually listen to it.
Project Fear By Numbers 55
Posted on
March 31, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
With less than six months to go until the referendum, Scots are turning more of their attention to the debate. Until now it’s largely been the province of politics nerds such as ourselves, but with the vote beginning to loom on the horizon normal people are starting to study the issues more closely.
So we thought it’d be useful to put up a handy reference guide to the core strategy of the No campaign, illuminatingly dubbed “Project Fear” by its own staff. Lacking any positive case for a No vote as Britain suffers through austerity with no end in sight, “Better Together” has by its own admission dedicated itself to terrorising the people of Scotland into sticking with the Union:
The relentless bombardment of scare stories is so frenetic it can seem overwhelming, but it’s a lot more manageable when you realise that almost everything the No camp says is a variation on one of just 12 basic themes.
So we’ve compiled a catalogue/manual of every fearbomb in their armoury, and alongside each one is the truth that defuses it. Don’t have nightmares.
A deal to be done 84
Posted on
March 31, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
A pretty unequivocal view from Janan Ganesh of the Financial Times, a man who knows a thing or two about how George Osborne’s mind works:
(From yesterday’s Sunday Politics.)
Stories of the week, 30/3/2014 20
Posted on
March 30, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
The top five most-read stories on Wings Over Scotland in the last seven days.
1. Going (on the) underground
The tangled tale of our first advertising campaign.
2. The ad SPT don’t want you to see
The graphics of our first advertising campaign.
3. Ironic timing
A juxtaposition to our first advertising campaign.
4. The Devo Nano Policy Explosion
A post not related to our first advertising campaign!
5. The Tumbleweed Files
Crowdjournalisming.
This week’s theme: it definitely pays to advertise.
The chieftain o’ the puddin’ race 132
Posted on
March 30, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
We appreciate that you’re busy people, readers, so through the miracles of modern technology we’ve actually managed to compress the entire five-minute interview between Andrew Neil and Alistair Carmichael, the Secretary of State for Portsmouth, on this morning’s Sunday Politics Scotland down to just 19 seconds without in any way compromising the accuracy or completeness of its content.
If you watch the whole thing we think you’ll agree we’ve captured the essence.
To win or lose it all 110
Posted on
March 30, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
It’s Alex Salmond who’s supposed to be the betting man. With regard to his lifelong pursuit of independence he often recites an old verse penned by the Earl Of Montrose:
“He either fears his fate too much, or his deserts are small,
Who dare not put it to the touch, to win or lose it all.”
But as the bookies’ odds continue to tighten on the referendum, the surprise revelation of this week has been that it’s dour, staid, grey old Alistair Darling who’s gambled everything on a needless, reckless punt.
