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Wings Over Scotland


The “foreigner” vote 57

Posted on August 03, 2013 by

Last year’s argument over the referendum franchise saw the Scottish Government’s view win the day – that the matter should be decided according to a civic definition of nationality, rather than along the ethnic lines proposed by some in the No camp.

multiscots

But what of the people of non-Scottish ethnic origin who’ve been thus enfranchised and entrusted with the future of the nation they’ve chosen to make their home?

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Quieter little voices 33

Posted on August 03, 2013 by

It’s been an interesting week for the Scottish media. First the Sun’s website vanished behind the clouds of a paywall, and today the Daily Record unveiled a new version of its tablet app which no longer gives readers the weekday paper for free.

recordipad

(Both papers, naturally, presented these new restrictions as enhancements.)

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The spokesman who won’t speak 236

Posted on August 02, 2013 by

So, slightly to our surprise, we actually just got a reply from Blair McDougall to our email offering to put on a debate between Alistair Darling and Dennis Canavan at a mutually-convenient time and location and with a neutral host.

blairmcdougall24

You can read it below.

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Please do not leave a message 44

Posted on August 02, 2013 by

Obviously we tried ringing “Better Together” ourselves again this morning, just before 10am, but once again Blair McDougall was unavailable, and the person we spoke to couldn’t tell us when would be a good time to catch him as he’d be “in and out” of the office throughout the day.

We took that to mean that he was currently out, so we called him on his mobile.

soundwave2

(We’ve blanked the bit where he gives out another “Better Together” mobile number, as we don’t know if that one was publicly accessible like Mr McDougall’s was.)

We’ve sent an email to the specified address. We’ll try a text after that.

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Dial-a-debate 28

Posted on August 02, 2013 by

As alert readers will be aware, we’re having an inexplicably hard time getting hold of “Better Together” campaign chief Blair McDougall at the moment. Although the No camp constantly claims to want “debate” and we’ve already got the Yes side’s agreement, for some reason Mr McDougall still hasn’t accepted our invitation to have BT’s official spokesman, Alistair Darling, go up against his Yes counterpart Dennis Canavan in a public head-to-head at a mutually convenient time and location.

btcontact

Despite our trying to get in touch with Mr McDougall every day for the last week, he always seems to be out or “in meetings”, even if we call 60 seconds after he’s just posted a tweet. And when we leave messages with BT staff, he never gets back to us.

Obviously we’re pretty busy and can’t just sit here redialling every two minutes, so if any of you get a spare moment to call the BT office today, can you ask them – very politely, please – if he’s in, and if so whether he’s got an answer for us yet? Ta.

That number again: 0141 225 6288.

Losing a tenner and finding a quid 55

Posted on August 01, 2013 by

rebate

(Link.)

Behind enemy lines 71

Posted on August 01, 2013 by

Michael Moore is the Secretary of State for Scotland.

michaelmooreedinburgh

Keep that in mind when you read the next line.

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The squirrel parade 40

Posted on August 01, 2013 by

Some of the more cynical independence supporters among our readership may today be asking themselves “What is it that Labour are trying to bury today with all this ludicrously farcical ‘Labour For Independence’ business?” 

skwirl

Allow us to suggest a few possibilities.

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Take your pick 74

Posted on August 01, 2013 by

We’re just going to leave these here, okay?

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Running scared 108

Posted on August 01, 2013 by

Labour voters are going to be key in deciding the outcome of the independence referendum. Even if everyone who voted SNP, Green or SSP in the last Holyrood election voted Yes in 2014, it wouldn’t be quite enough to secure a 50%+1 result.

infiltrator

But with polls consistently showing 15-20% of Labour voters are already in favour of independence, and also that a huge majority are dissatisfied with the status quo, it can be no surprise that the Unionist parties and media are extremely nervous of any growth in the Labour Yes faction.

But while nerves are one thing, blind panic is another.

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Is this a trick question? 81

Posted on July 31, 2013 by

For some reason which escapes our understanding, the operator of the misleadingly-named “Scottish Labour” Twitter account chose to tweet this message this afternoon.

trickq

We know the answer, but we’re jiggered if we get the point.

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The curse of volatility 32

Posted on July 31, 2013 by

volatoil

(Link.)

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