Wings Over Scotland

I make videos. The written word is not my weapon of choice. But “Better Together” have left me with no alternative. Let me explain.

I’m a recently-retired video producer. Another recently-retired video producer (aka ‘the wife’) and I decided to make a series of films about how the grassroots of the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ campaigns were bringing their respective messages to the people of Scotland.

We kicked off by covering Yes Garnock Valley and West Kilbride’s public meeting in Kilbirnie. We contacted the local organisers who were very happy to have us come along, even providing us with a private side room where we could get ‘sound bites’ from the speakers, Dennis Canavan, Shona McAlpine and Alex Bell. Everybody was most welcoming, and frankly they couldn’t have been more helpful.

We’ve released the speeches and the Q&A in their entirety, warts and all, so that anybody interested can listen to the arguments and make up their own mind.

Our next foray into citizen video journalism was to have been the Better Together East Ayrshire launch event on November 1st at the Burns Monument Centre in Kilmarnock. That was where things started to go pear-shaped.

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This is why you’ve had no posts today.

Meet Skye, Islay, Rona, Shuna, Cara and Jura. They’ll be staying.

So I guess now we know why Ed Miliband isn’t too bothered about whether energy companies whack their prices up before and after his 16-month “price freeze” or not.

Because we’re paying his bill either way.

Ed Miliband’s parliamentary salary is approximately £140,000. Plus expenses.

When you’re a full time carer, managing to get out for an hour or so to the local branch of Morrisons to get the weekly shopping counts as ‘quality me time’. It allows me to stock up on favourite munchies and comfort food. I like a wee slice of Kirriemuir gingerbread, slathered with butter. The other half enjoys a thick slab of it in a bowl, covered in Devon custard with a dollop of double cream. Bugger the cholesterol.

But the other day there was none in the usual aisle, just a pile of Christmas cakes.

I asked a guy stocking shelves where they’d moved it to. He apologised, and told me there wasn’t any in stock. All the ordering is done by Head Office down in England he said, and they’d sent instructions that no more would be ordered until the New Year in order to make space for piles of Christmas cake. In October.

Who eats Christmas cake in October anyway?

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(Story.)

“There’ll be nae books or pencils fur Our Lady’s High School if the SNP gets in here.”

I heard those words first-hand at a door in Motherwell some years ago. But let me give you some context first. Lots of people reading this in parts of Scotland will have no idea about what I’m about to describe here so I’d better establish my credentials and provide some background.

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Tune in at 8am tomorrow for more.

It’s the 1st of November and we almost forgot to do a stats post. Tch, eh?

We’re calling one of those numbers another landmark.

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We’re really, really sorry about that headline, on several levels.

But wait until you see what this one’s about.

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Blair McDougall, director of “Better Together”, Dundee University, 30 October 2013:

“UK ministers are not going to fall into the trap of acting against Scotland until Scotland decides to leave the United Kingdom”

You heard it straight from the horse’s – well, let’s be kind and say “mouth”, folks.

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Oh, I was irritating when I was 15.

On our way to school, my friends would stop at Ian’s Newsagents and scatter their pocket money on the counter to work out how many fizzy cola bottles and packets of Space Raiders they could get. I’d do the same, but mine would have a copy of The New Statesman thrown in too.

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Hello, I’m Andrew. Rather than follow my desires and mingle with the true believers at the Yes Scotland meeting in Penicuik last night, I decided to expand my horizons and instead attended the launch of Better Together Musselburgh at the Brunton Hall.

My first surprise was to discover that the meeting was being chaired by a neighbour of mine. I sloped off to the back of the hall to keep a low profile.

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