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Wings Over Scotland


Clutching at straws 94

Posted on December 04, 2013 by

Surely that must be Project Fear at the bottom of the barrel now?

brand1

The lead story in today’s Herald, folks. If “story” isn’t putting it much too strongly.

Partial freedom 147

Posted on December 03, 2013 by

We had to give the BBC a nudge before it replied to the last of our three Freedom Of Information requests, but at least this time we didn’t just get the standard fob-off.

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The talent pool 64

Posted on December 03, 2013 by

Well done to everyone who correctly guessed that our Mystery Guest last night was indeed Ruth Davidson. If you’d like to listen to Ruth’s 2009 demo reel for voiceover work which accompanied the letter, click the image below.

soundwave2

From that to the leader of a major Scottish political party in just two years. Hats off.

Who am I? 149

Posted on December 02, 2013 by

An alert reader sends in this letter received by their company in 2009:

“Hello,

[identifying paragraph removed]

I’ve now taken the plunge to set myself up as a freelancer and am looking for voiceover work in commercials, documentaries and corporate films as well as scripting and media training.

I’m [redacted] years old with a warm, rich voice which has both light and shade. A long history of factual programming means I can convey information with authority, combined with an openness and accessibility which encourages interest; the unexpected world of live broadcasting means I’ve learned to be equally adept at putting across humour. My accent is a neutral blend of central Scotland tones.

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One way of putting it 52

Posted on December 02, 2013 by

If we’re being honest, Irish Times, it’s not the phrase we’d have chosen:

charmoffensive

One of these statements must be wrong 101

Posted on December 02, 2013 by

From today’s Express:

osborneright

The economy’s transformed! Everything’s fine again!

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Quoted for truth #37 93

Posted on December 02, 2013 by

Professor James Mitchell of Edinburgh University, 2 December 2013:

“Under what circumstances would a UK Government (or Scottish for that matter) incline towards cooperation or conflict in its relations with its neighbour? The key is motivations.

Nobody should expect either Government to be motivated by good will. London will owe Scotland nothing and Edinburgh will owe London nothing.  Self-interest will dictate behaviour. Neither Government will act against its own self-interest but neither will act spitefully unless it wants to inflict harm on itself long-term.”

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Juxtaposed with EU 52

Posted on December 02, 2013 by

Two stories from the Express today.

euexpress1

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A thousand words painted 33

Posted on December 02, 2013 by

ballsosborne

A bad day’s night 101

Posted on December 01, 2013 by

Sorry, readers. Something horrible happened today. No cause for alarm, but you might have to be on your own tomorrow. Normal service will be resumed as soon as etc.

The most interesting election in history 179

Posted on December 01, 2013 by

Today’s Sunday Herald has a rather low-key piece (it’s just the 7th-placed story in their “Referendum News” section) on the ramifications for a Yes vote of the 2015 UK general election. It comes the day after several papers carried vitriolic attacks from Unionist politicians on the SNP’s Angus Robertson for suggesting that the UK government ought to consider delaying the vote for a year to enable independence negotiations to be completed.

ard

“This is yet another brazen stunt by the SNP to drive a wedge with Westminster”, raged the Scottish Conservatives’ Jackson Carlaw. “It is highly presumptuous of Angus Robertson, a man with clear delusions of grandeur, to be talking about postponing the next general election”, he continued, while Labour’s shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran bleated about an extra year of Tories.

But it’s rationally almost impossible to make any other argument.

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Standing room only 125

Posted on December 01, 2013 by

We’re going to enjoy this one while we can, because there’s a big barren fortnight across the last week of December and the first week of January when no politics happens at all, so we probably won’t see these sorts of numbers again for a while.

novstats2m

Crivvens.

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