“Herald View”, the Sunday Herald, 12 Jan 2014:
“The Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, is to be commended for refusing to participate in the victimisation of the ‘undeserving poor’. She promises to scrap the bedroom tax, keep housing benefits and reject the forthcoming Universal Credit, which amalgamates a whole range of benefits into one payment. The Nationalists say they will increase social security benefits and the minimum wage annually by the rate of inflation.
However, they cannot secure these protections under the current constitutional arrangements.”
“We share the Deputy First Minister’s belief that Scottish voters want no part of this war on benefits.
Welfare is likely to become a central issue in the referendum campaign, if only because it highlights the difference in political culture between Scotland and the south-east of England. The SNP say that only with independence can Scotland be protected from Tory policies.
Can Better Together persuade Scots that if we stick with the UK we will not be subject to the benefit reforms that are being driven through Westminster, and that there can still be what the former Labour Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, yesterday called ‘a union for social justice’ in Britain?
Of course, Gordon Brown has no power to deliver the new powers he believes Scotland should have.
Nor are his proposals sufficient to ensure social justice in Scotland. The Unionists must come up with something more substantial if they want to prevent many Scots who aren’t nationalists voting yes to independence to ensure that Tory policies stop at the Border.”
Does Labour being even tougher on welfare than the Tories count, we wonder?
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All we need now is an editorial on the economics situation incl today’s announcement re debt and a serious view on market reaction if WM dared to reject Scotland’s CONTINUED participation in a currency Union
“The Unionists mus come up with something more substantial”, but they can’t.
Whatever they come up with it would need to survive the Two Party system in Westminster, and the House of Lords, and future Westminster Governments.
No matter how ‘enshrined’ the existence fo Holyrood becomes, without full control of resources it will be forever at the mercy of Westminster policies, and the need to pay for them, no matter if the requirement for the policies does not originate in Scotland.
I hope this eventually penetrates and voters really, really begin to understand this.
Well if thats the Sunday Herald view they are to be commended.
Interesting to note that the article is by an un-named journo .. is this the view of Ian Stewart, the editor?
That should be the final nail in Better Together’s coffin if the rest of the Scottish press didn’t act as the propaganda division of UK PLC.
Of course, Gordon Brown has no power to deliver the new powers he believes Scotland should have.
I know, right? If only we could’ve seen him as Prime Minister, even for only three years or so, then we could’ve seen what he would’ve done in power to grant Scotland the powers he says they should have.
*Paddington stare*
Ian Stewart’s at The Hootsmon, and these are not words I’d expect him tto allow into print.
O/T
If it is not Duck Houses and flat screen TVs, it is portaits of one and other.
The Court of Louis XIV had nothing on this lot.
link to telegraph.co.uk
The term “unionist” is usually linked to the Tory party. Should we not be replacing this term with “Labour party and partners.”
The continuing use of “unionist” disconnects the voter from the labour party.
@gordoz
There are only two comments on the article. Usually hundreds from anti-independence supports on other article which are less fact-based. It really says something about the position of many Herald readers.
I am still of the belief that nearer the time the Herald will come out as YES. (However, I am not prepared to bet my house on it!)
@BtP
Oh my Gawd, what an obscene waste of taxpayers hard earned cash.
Can’t understand what Blair is doing among that lot, he’s not even an MP!
Tony Little
As i viewed it, there are no comments on the article, although two on the casptured version.
Oh, wait a minute though, he’s a “Peace Envoy” to the Middle East – hahaha, so funny it’s sad 🙁
Congratulations … I see you’ve now popped up on Newsnow.
link to newsnow.co.uk
Here’s a portrait of Alistair Carmichael, painted just ten minutes after Nicola had finished with him:
link to galeri3.uludagsozluk.com
@Taranaich
Dont take offence but that was as sarcastic and cutting as a ‘Noel Gallagher’ retort. Clinical man – seriously made me laugh
@Tony Little
‘Who are you going to believe me or your own eyes ?’ (Boom, Boom)
We live in hope –
SquuareHaggis, Tony Blair is the EU peace Embassidor to the Middle east, if you had notice on that TV piece his left lapel , torn garment pinned , you,s are no tearing ma Armanni suit fur nae cunt, its a Jewish custom to tear clothing at a death.
Today while visiting my local, I had someone say to me that he is voting YES because of the Tories attack on welfare.
Before he was a fifty/fifty yes or no, but I assume that he’s had a shock in the post regarding his benefits.
Another YES in the bag.
Uk debt and the Scottish Independence referendum – from the Uk Treasury
link to gov.uk
ah forgot on my last post re T Blair he negotiated away £350mil to the EU , UK taxpayer,s money to help Spain, they built road,s with the money, ambassidor,s job secured.
Now what we need are similar sentiments to be expressed in a paper with a slightly higher circulation, but it’s a start.
Here we go.
link to theguardian.com
That’ll leave a mark. 🙂
Alex Salmond on Good Morning Scotland 02:37
link to bbc.co.uk
For the fist time in many years I bought a sunday paper YESterday – the sundayherald . Happy to give business and support to the one Scottish paper that seems to making an effort at balance.
Also hoping that the Putin #indyrefski Front Cover will be a great historical artefact and rise in value from £1.30 in years to come 🙂
Exactly, Horace. The circulation of the Scottish Daily Mail is more than twice the Herald’s. The Record and Scottish Sun have more than ten times as many readers. More people read the Dundee Courier than read the Herald. Quality is all very well, but when it comes to voting only quantity counts.
O/T
For sheer short sighted idiocy this one by Chris Deerin takes the biscuit.
link to theguardian.com
Two tablets and a lie down in the darkened room required.
Deerin’s article is amazing. More amazing that the Guardian reprints shite originally published in the Daily Mail! Shows you how much they ‘get it’!
“Flat screen TV” klaxon, Bugger the panda 🙂
@Alex Grant
BTL is entertaining. Even some of the unionist support are somewhat agog.
No bloody wonder. The Grauniad and a blatantly right wing article?
RE Icm poll Gruard, SNP at 4% as we only have 8.3% of UK Population does that mean that the SNP have nearly 50% in Scotland?
The Herald hasn’t ceased being a unionist paper. This is part of a managed retreat. Sort of – ‘OK then, we might concede you some powers on welfare but we know you’re not really interested in defence or oil revenues’.
OT – Gordon McIntyre-Kemp on STV Scotland Tonight this evening in response to the latest developments…. Should be good!
Macart, ma heart,s bledin on the piece , the world,s fawin apart,FFs a load of valium, fur that pish lol.
@Macart:
that’s not the only very interesting piece in the Guardian just now. How’s about this CiF piece?
link to theguardian.com
Brown came up with next to bugger all when he was Prime Minister never mind now.
The Chris Deerin piece in the Guardian is a shocker. It is a lift from a Daily Hell piece. I feel dirty having just read it. I may have been slightly intemperate.
@ronnie
Know whit ye mean fella. Know whit ye mean.
@Tamson
Oh jeez after the weekend the opposition have just had, that’s the capper. 😀
@HandandShrimp
I thought you were perfectly well behaved. 🙂
Macart
I confess to be mildly shocked at being told in the Groaniard that staying British is a “moral” imperative. I’m not entirely pleased if truth be told.
o/t – My wife is currently filling in a YouGov survey which is asking about the referendum and in particular media outlets and how much you trust them to cover Scottish issues including the referendum. It’ll be interesting to watch out for the results.
@HandandShrimp
Definitely a click baiting exercise, but I never thought to see a beaut like that in the Groan. Darling was right y’know. it did get worse. 😉
Macart
True but I didn’t think he meant the next day. The gloves are off.
Robin McAlpine explains how the Labour method of attacking and destroying the welfare state differs from their Better Together Tory mates’ preferred method –
The campaign against the welfare state is now in full-flow in Scotland: Your guide to unmasking and destroying it ~ Jimmy Reid Foundation
link to blacktrianglecampaign.org
I am still of the belief that nearer the time the Herald will come out as YES. (However, I am not prepared to bet my house on it!)
If they do, I will joyfully renew my regular order. As well as paying Stu.
Rachel Reeves, the true face of the Labour party. When anyone tells you that labour are the party of the working class, the downtrodden, the poor, just point them at Ms Reeves and what she says out loud. I hadn’t realised until I read the attached article she is marked as future leadership material, and that is so scary. She appears to be to the right of Tony Blair and she doesn’t even feel the need to hide it.
More people read the Dundee Courier than read the Herald. Quality is all very well, but when it comes to voting only quantity counts.
I don’t care. It will bring joy to me personally to have my Herald back, and that ain’t gonna happen without a big, brash, indy-colours-to-the-mast coming-out.
“I don’t care. It will bring joy to me personally to have my Herald back”
Newspapers are good things. I enjoy reading them, in most ways more than I like using websites for news. I wish there was one I felt I could bear to give money to in good conscience at the moment (other than the Sunday Herald, which I buy most weeks).
Ah, that’s a refreshing piece of writing to find in a newspaper. But it’s the Sunday Herald, so it’s not a total surprise.
You can argue that the Sunday Herald doesn’t have a big readership, but when was the last time a Dundee Courier front page got shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter? How many times has a previous day’s release of an image boosted their hardcopy sales?
I’m betting never.
The days have long gone when the copy you get from the newsagent is the only way you’d see the paper. The Sunday Herald is doubtless well aware of this and the release of that particular front page was not just for breaking a big story that no other paper seemed to have decided to pay any attention to (because seriously, they couldn’t have missed it) it was also a very cheap, very effective advertising campaign. I wonder how many extra sales they got because of it?