Rare Pokemon captured
Posted on
February 06, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
This sort of thing really shouldn’t be so startling and unusual that we feel we need to preserve it for posterity, but here’s someone on a BBC current-affairs programme giving a fair and balanced analysis of Scottish politics:
Based on the BBC’s track record this section will be missing when it goes out on the iPlayer, so we thought we better grab it while we could.
(PS The sound you can hear near the end is a microphone picking up the alert sound the producers send to Kirsty Wark’s earpiece telling her to cut this dangerous lunatic off immediately and move on to the next segment.)
I watched it. Bloody good. Especially the part about posh tory boy coming to Scotland. He just stopped short of saying posh tory boy spouting a load of shite!
Is this one of them spoof videos?
Blimey, Glad I was sitting down to watch that otherwise i would have fallen over.
Mr Little’s calm, reasoned delivery is a soothing voice amongst the shrill of BBC Scotland and it’s cronies, however, the line about Cameron not being involved up until now is a complete lie. For that alone this report should still be filed under C for crap.
When will they ever be able to get through two minutes of Independence reporting without having to come out with a blatant, demonstrably false claim.
Just this second finished watching on the BBC live stream- kept waiting for the “but Alex Salmonds’s a fat bastard, isn’t he?” or some similarly enlightened rebuttal from Wark but it never came…
Time for a wee lie down.
Another one puts the boot into Darling and the No Scotland campaign. McDougall and Darling will be looking to get their holidays this year in early.
No please don’t change Captain Darling he is one of the Yes campaigns best assets.
I am genuinely shocked by this, and the fact that I am is actually quite sad. A balanced and very informed analysis coming out of the mouth of a BBC journalist is something I am simply not used to. This is what we should be getting day in day out from the BBC, but unfortunately it’ll be back to fear mongering on behalf of BT asap.
Oooft, Allan Little for the high-jump now, after that. Clearly hasn’t read the BBC manual on bias.
tartanfever
I know what you mean but it’s a bit of a wake up call for down South and it’s from auntie. Twitter land will be singing tonight and the curtains drawn in all unionist bunkers.
Will the papers report it and will Noughtie have Blair McDougal in to calm us all down on GMS. Skids under Darling and Carmichael. Good end to the day.
o/t Stu don’t fall out with me on this one, I know we are only five posts in, but this is brilliant. Just record and watch SKY News Press Preview at 12.30 am. Truly breath taking!
Great strapline, btw Stu!
Holy moly, I am moved to post (I mainly lurk on your excellent site) this is shocking, its the first time I have seen an accurate report on the indyref debate (well nearly). A Little certainly knocks the socks off the usual twaddle the EBC produces.
Thank you, picked this up on Derek Bateman, couldn’t get it on iPlayer. Alan Little has a good record in reasoned intelligent reporting and, be fair, so has Kirsty Wark, never heard her call anyone a ‘fat bastard’! Perhaps the real journalists are taking over the asylum?
A beezer isn’t it?
They’re going to wake up with bruises after that one. Mind you much as Darling came in for the pelters on the BT campaign, how come the strategist McDougall wasn’t up for a public roasting? Isn’t he one of the reasons Darling is having such a bloody awful public slapping? Surely he deserves some of the credit for the car crash that is better together?
Boy he crammed in a few goodies in his 3 minute slot. It’s almost as if he was bursting to get the facts out to the general public.
I must admit hearing this on TV actually woke me from my comfort on the sofa.
You are almost asleep but you hear something. What? That can’t be right.
Ach well. That’s another real fair and impartial journalist at the BBC who will soon be getting his jotters.
Brilliant stuff though!
It is a sad day for journalism when we praise a solitary news report for a fair report. It should be common occurrence. Get ready for the Cameron non-road show (from London) tomorrow.
Maybe that guy has actually read the Edinburgh agreement, most obviously have not, and the BBC certainly have not!
Excerpt from that agreement
“Ensuring impartiality of broadcasters
21. The governments agree that it will be important to ensure that broadcast coverage of
the Referendum is impartial. Broadcasters, Ofcom and the Electoral Commission will discuss
the best way to achieve this.”
Pity they can’t have even looked at it. However there is something heading their way.
Is it just me or is anyone else starting to think that this vote is going to be a landslide.
I completely agree with you, @Marcia 12:10am it’s such a sad state of affairs that we get so excited about one fair, honest and balanced report. Me too @Indy_Scot 12:11am
I expect Paul Sinclair phoned in a complaint to the BBC that the correct script that should have been read out on Newsnight was ignored by Alan Little.
Maybe Bateman is right, too soon to say yet, small tectonic plate shift at the BBC surely no…
Did this Mr Little just wander in and do his thing without it being vetted against the Darling checklist. Something strange has happened. Anyhoo Mr Little you are now our hero in charge of BBC Scotland broadcasting until the high heid yins see it in the morning. 🙂
Watch and listen to Alan Little on Our Friends in the North, may still get it on iPlayer, there is still some quality on the BBC.
@Magret Brogan12.07, dont praise K Wark to much,she of the
wee bawbee quip,re the Selkirk debate,she,s Bbc.
You know that old thing about self-fulfilling prophecies?
It’s because enough of us are out there on the streets, on Twitter, commenting on the blogs – all with absolute conviction – that the huge oil tanker of ‘it will never happen’ is being turned around.
I’ve more or less stopped arguing about why independence should happen. I just say ‘it’s going to happen – why not join in?’
The entire better together campaign is a car crash they have nothing positive to say.
Of course. Kirsty Wark had Jack McConnel and his partner stay at her holiday home in Majorca, or somewhere, while covering Scottish politics, she with BBC Scotland, and Jack as First Minister.
The BBC appeared to decide that it was a conflict of interest and that she ought not to have did so.
I thought she was no longer allowed by the BBC to cover anything to do with Scottish politics (ho ho)
I used to greatly admire her and people like me put her where she is, or was.
She seems okay now, but blemished herself.
I believe there is now a badge in Glasgow that simply says
HOW NO?
Class as Navid would say
It’s a welcome voice but Alan Little is relatively rarely heard. Also this was for UK consumption on the “real” Newsnight, perhaps they forgot the Jocks were listening to this sensible account. We’ll have to put up with sweating, sneering Brewer and the rest for a while yet.
Bill C says:
“SKY News Press Preview at 12.30 am. Truly breath taking!”
You weren’t wrong there Bill. What and end to an interesting day.
Well the love in has started ! Newspapers on sky , some woman journalist retorts about Cameron asking English people to tell the Scots to stay that we need some more of Carney every day to scare the living daylights out of them . What a bitch ! Thats what they really think ! Ignore the love in and vote YES !
Pretty sure Alan Little has ‘previous’ for speaking as he sees it and giving Darling a hard time, literally, as I’m sure it was a Hard Talk on BBC24 around November last year when he had Flipper realy squirming. Anyone else remember it?
@ X_Sticks We aim to please! LoL
@Paul12.38 dont say car crash, I,ve to pay my car insurance this week, an a canny drive the fekin thing,ah dont want another increase.
I saw that on sky 🙁
Apologies for being thick n’all, but what does a 5% swing mean as an actual number of people converted since September ?
Is that a tsunami I see on the horizon?
It’s only the 7th February and I feel the times they are a changing.
Always liked Allan, from the same town as myself and still supports his local team despite being out in the far flung reaches of the world during his career. Allan, as far as I know, has always been non-political, a straight-up reporter with no baggage (but we’ll see). When I heard he’d been called in to the referendum team I was a bit surprised (in a good way). Anyway I’d say the lad done good here. 🙂
Wee bit of trivia, Allan was a high school friend with a certain Alan Clements, later to be Mr Kirsty Wark. They remain old friends (they are a few years older than myself so didn’t know them at school), but I knew Alan Clements’ father Jim as he used to work with my mum, old Jim Clements committed communist till this day!
Kirsty Wark’s body language gets more and more interesting as the report goes on!
Adopts JoLa’s posture of defiant defence as she asks about the Better Together campaign towards the end of the report and at the final scene, leading to the link, her arms form a crossed saltire shape, drooping body posture.
Totally despondent, drained of all energy.
Hhhmmm!
O/T
Excellent piece from Michael Fry on Newsnet introducing Wealthy Nation
Amazingly it’s all made it into the iplayer — minus the funny noise near the end. 🙂
I wonder if this report has come about because of internal BBC politics — after all wouldn’t it have been logical to interview one of the Newsnicht regulars about this?
To go with another BBC reporter must have been some kind of snub against Newsnicht which was foisted on Newsnight as a messy compromise because New Labour in 1999 baulked at having a stand-alone Scottish Six O’Clock news on BBC 1.
O/T
Recently Alex Neil quoted the Chief Medical Officer of Scotland Sir Harry Burns..
It was based on this –
link to scotland.gov.uk
“Mortality from alcoholic liver disease in Scotland became the highest in Western Europe in the 1990s. At the same time as relative health indicators have been deteriorating, problems with crime and educational attainment have been growing. These problems are significantly commoner in poor neighbourhoods, and are the basis of growing inequalities in health and wellbeing.
The location of areas with the poorest health in present day Scotland points to the loss of jobs in the traditional industries of shipbuilding, steel making, heavy engineering, and mills as the catalyst for decline1. The loss of self esteem and lack of a sense of control which has followed decades of unemployment, led many to take refuge in alcohol and drugs. The chaotic environments and the disruption to families and their security produced many children ill fitted for education and life in general. Inevitably, many tragedies have occurred. These outcomes are entirely explainable in terms of our modern understanding of stress biology and neuroscience. Young people brought up in such circumstances have reduced capacity to learn, increased risk of offending behaviour and increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer in later life. The evidence for these associations is extensive and comes from many hundreds of studies carried out internationally as well as in Scotland.”
Coincidently….
link to bbc.co.uk
“Prof Dame Sally Davies (England’s Chief Medical Officer) highlighted the rise in liver-disease deaths in the under-65s – up 20% in a decade – in her annual report.
Her study – the first volume of a two-part annual report – focused on a whole host of diseases from cancer to dementia.
But Dame Sally said it was the liver disease figures that most shocked her the most – and showed there needed to be investment in prevention, early diagnosis and effective treatment.
“I was struck by the data on liver disease particularly,” she said.
“This is the only major cause of preventative death that is on the increase in England that is generally falling in other comparable European nations.
“We must act to change this.”
The report comes after the government said earlier this year it would look to introduce a minimum price for alcohol. A consultation is expected to start soon.”
(A graph is provided which shows the rise began in the 80s)
Something has changed in a really big way. Even a number of my English friends are suddenly chattering about this on FB tonight. I think the realisation is dawning upon the south that the unthinkable is actually happening.
As the man said “This shit just got real!”
I think that the fact Cameron is having to make a speech about Scotland is a significant U-turn after saying that the referendum debate was for Scots and not him. We all know this was always rubbish, but he has had now to break cover and publicly join in.
This will lead to an even greater pressure on him to have a debate with Alex Salmond rather than just whinge from 400 miles away.
What’s the catch?
Not too far off topic, I’ve had a reply from the BBC Trust following my complaint to Lord Patten:
”
Dear Mr Morton
Thank you for your email to Lord Patten, Chairman of the BBC Trust. I am responding as a member of the BBC Trust Unit which supports the Chairman and Trustees.
I note your comments about the research published by Dr John Robertson of the University of the West of Scotland.
We are aware of the publication and I understand that the BBC management are responding to the claims made in the research.
I can assure you that the impartiality of the BBC is a key priority for the Trust; it is essential to its independence that the BBC retains the public’s trust as an impartial purveyor of news and programming. The BBC is required to deliver duly impartial news by the Royal Charter and Agreement and to treat controversial subjects with due impartiality. The Trust is committed to making sure that the BBC fulfils this obligation. The main tool for doing so is the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines, which set out the standards all BBC content should meet. You can read the guidelines online here: link to bbc.co.uk
As you may know, in recognition of the importance of the Referendum, the BBC has produced additional guidelines to apply to coverage of the Referendum. The Trust has consulted on these draft guidelines and expects to publish the final version in March this year.
In the meantime, if you feel that there have been specific instances where the BBC has not met expected standards of impartiality, you can raise a complaint using the BBC complaints process at link to bbc.co.uk. The Trust is the final arbiter for complaints made to the BBC.
Yours sincerely
John Hamer
BBC Trust Unit”
Sorry but though this generally looks like he was being positive, he does say, at about 1.36 mins, through, “but in Scotland, the risks are very clear”. I didnt quite get the context of that line, and his frequent repeated reference to the ‘Nationalists’? I presume he meant the SNP. That I found annoying. Other than that, he was trying to be balanced, I still don’t trust journalists, to be viewed with the utmost caution in my book.
@Hetty
Listen again. He means that the risks are very clear for David Cameron.
Andrew Morton
says whats the catch? my thoughts too…
An attempt to counter allegations of BBC bias?
A contender for the inaugural Isabel Fraser award?
funny Alistair Darling didnt speak in the commons debate today, is he gone?
I suspect foreign correspondents have a bit more operational freedom while on assignment, are relatively detached from the central London diktat while working – and they are generally the best reporters in the BBC when you think about John Simpson, Jeremy Bowen etc.
Alan Little is one of these, has not spent too much time in the Westminster bubble, and is calling it as he sees it.
I expect he’ll removed tout de suite and we’ll next see him in Beirut or Moscow
I just woke up at quarter past 4 in the morning… at least I thought I did. Must be dreaming. I’ll wake up at half 7’ish i’m sure and everything will be back to normal.
It’s great to see this but how bad must things have got when we are over the moon not for a voice of support in the media but simply a reasonable and balanced voice attempting an objective overview of things? This should be the norm, not some rare gem to treasure.
Labour, Tories and co.’s mudslinging and dragging everything down into the dirt really should have been stopped so people can actually learn and think about the issues.
BBC this morning, the presenter saying ‘I wonder to what degree NORMAL scots are swayed by the comments by Dudley and carney’ After the commons debacle yesterday and Cameron’s team GB speech today I see a tidal wave coming?
Rare Pokemon Capture
Yet another low blow from the ‘Bath Bruiser’, as he cynically pedals misleading click-bait, aimed at luring millions of unsuspecting Japanese children to boost his flagging site readership. 🙂
When is the next school hustings Better Together have agreed to attend and where?
Guaranteed Paul Sinclair will call Boothman in for a carpeting over this
You could have titled this “A Little Goes a Long Way”.
Cameron is going to give a speech from the heart, begging us to stay. And he’s giving it in the all powerful, supernatural power giving Velodrome!
We’re doomed!
How this article could have been more balanced:
– Yes campaign comment at the end
– Photo of Cameron in background shown with Union Jack instead of saltire.
– As noted above, Cameron is already well-involved behind the scenes, let’s stop pretending that hasn’t been the case and put the lie to bed.
Some other problems here:
– Little reinforced Cameron’s argument that the problem with him coming to Scotland to debate is his ‘voice’ (an illogical objection to Cameron) when in fact it is his ideology (a perfectly logical objection to Cameron).
– Little asserted that Darling is well-respected across the political spectrum. No evidence provided.
– Little implied that Darling not having the charisma to put forward the No cause was the problem (a problem of style) when it could be argued that the No causes problem is the lack of a positive case (a problem of substance).
Cameron’s people haven’t really thought this one through have they? He weighs in to the Independence debate from the safety of Olympic Park when he should be seen wading in Somerset.
Not clever.
Nicola Sturgeon due to be on GMS at approx 8.30.
EU to come up with an opinion on Scotland.
link to archive.is
Rare that anything like this gets throuugh the Beeb.
I listend to the important message from Mark Carney, live on BBC Radio Scotland, when he got to the part that Scotland will have the £, they shut it down immediately and put on a boring play.
We have a lot to do to circumvent the London run media in Scotland.
Excellent. Enjoyed that!
Sun Tzu in The Art of War – “when the enemy attacks; retreat and when the enemy retreats; attack.
Time to put on the pressure…!
I salute Alla Little’s one night stand for decent and objective journalism
BBC Radio Muckle Flugga beckons.
call me dave
Re. EU opinion. Should I keep my tinfoil bunnet on, or is there nothing fishy about the EU responding to Silvio Berlusconi’s PdL?
link to en.wikipedia.org
@MD I took it that by “strident westminster voice” he didn’t literally mean Cameron’s accent, but it’s hard to deny that plays a factor.
“Can’t quite make out what you’re saying Dave. Your too far away, you need to come closer, about 400 miles closer”.
And I hope our very own Games Referee is going to get involved here.
Wee “Union Jack McConnell” has clearly stated in his rule book that major sporting events should not be used to politicise the referendum debate.
O/T
No mention on BBC Scotland and GMS this morning of the BAE Systems announcement that it is going to invest £200 on the Clyde, securing the long term future of shipbuilding there. Where’s Ian Davidson when you need him. Can’t wait to see what his reaction is.
BBC Scotland response , “nothing to see here, move along”.
They all knew they were wrong when they said the type 26 frigates would not be built on the Clyde and we will not let them forget it.
Andrew Morton says:
“I’ve had a reply from the BBC Trust”
Beat me to it Andrew, I got exactly the same reply.
Clutie – you are spot on. This is surely the time for YES, SG et al to really step up the pace.
Just saw Gavin Hastings being interviewed on Sky about BT because he played with the Lions. Incredible to hear such people totally ignore the real issues and only reflect on a selfish non-issue. Minus points for Sky giving such a one sided and frankly meaningless view. The did introduce him as a YES man.
Cameron’s speech will be another good day for YES!
CameronB
Fish will have part to play no doubt as will oil and energy. We have many assets and are a democracy, they will let us in.
Fishy as in something stinks maybe’s aye maybe’s no we shall see there are agendas… say no more.
Listening to Morning Call on radio (I know..) Going well so far.
I hope No Better Together UKOK weren’t watching this otherwise they might change tack and get rid of Flipper.
I see Cameron will be getting a helping hand from the compliant media who will be broadcasting his “rallying cry” at 11 a.m.
I wonder if Salmond were so crass as to use the opening day of the Commonwealth games to try and promote a Yes vote, if he would receive similair treatment, or instead be accused of “politicising” the event..
Lots of good sensible level headed calls on ‘Morning Call’ all seems to well versed in the main themes. Still waiting on the NO side to get somebody to articulate their case.
Jackson Carlaw trying hard to keep all the plates spinning but seems to have little support and running out of bamboo canes. 🙂
Oh change of topic, Jackson on the ropes and needs the steak on his black eye…end of round one. Gone onto the winter olympics.
I’ve heard enough.
You’re not up to it, you can’t do it, get back in your box.
Never thought I’d hear the BBC reporting that the No campaign amounts to telling us that we’re Too Wee, Too Poor & Too Stupid. Excellent obviously, but astonishing nontheless.
This is indeed a shiny pokemon, well done on the trainer who used their master ball to capture it!
However, I think even considering this is one of the fairest, most even-handed appraisals of the political situation, I’m extremely uncomfortable with the inferrable anti-English dimension: if any Scottish journalist or commentator spoke about Cameron’s “strident English voice” he’d be excoriated.
In addition, the emphasis he puts on “intervening” suggests a support of the idea of rUK citizens influencing the debate. “Intervention” is (to quote Wikipedia) “an orchestrated attempt by one or many people – usually family and friends – to get someone to seek professional help with an addiction or some kind of traumatic event or crisis, or other serious problem.”
Allow “How I Met Your Mother” to explain:
link to youtube.com
Clearly, Mr Little was announcing that “This Is An Intervention.” That’s probably why he was allowed to talk for so long, because he started out on such a strong note by suggesting this Independence thing is a “problem” that needed “intervention.”
What would you call those alarm things anyways to warn people to cut to the next segment?
This is indeed a shiny pokemon, well done on the trainer who used their master ball to capture it!
However, I think even considering this is one of the fairest, most even-handed appraisals of the political situation, I’m extremely uncomfortable with the inferrable anti-English dimension: if any Scottish journalist or commentator spoke about Cameron’s “strident English Conservative voice” he’d be excoriated. Heck, even Stu got flak on Twitter – by fellow Scots – for using the term “English journalists” in an entirely neutral and non-derogatory fashion.
There’s a lot of subtext in this short piece. The explanation of only 1 Conservative MP out of 59 is for the benefit of the rUK: how many people in Scotland DON’T know the Panda-Tory equation? Saying Cameron “stayed out of it”: wait till your father gets home! OOOoooOOOooh. Cameron “risks” being called a coward – just to let us know we don’t already think that, apparently. And the attempt at saving Better Together by saying it only SOUNDS negative, that it’s the “overall impression,” as opposed to BEING aggressive, belligerent, and fearmongering, suggest that those fabled “merits of their case” just need to be heard – alleging that they exist at all.
He outright says “you can’t do it, get back in your box, etc” – emphasis on that, indirectly reinforcing those sentiments – talks about Alistair Darling not “now” being the man to lead BT while still talking up his credentials and competence (HAH). His use of “hope” here is not the definition used by the Yes campaign, he’s using it in a more blase “optimistic” manner – as well as suggesting Hope and Fear are equal in some way, when the fact of the matter is the Yes and No campaigns are FAR from equal. A saddle-up call to the Unionists.
He only mentions September in the polls, and does not show the full extent of the swing. He also goes with “Nationalist” to describe the SNP AGAIN, and the idea of UKIP getting 7% even in the EU elections is optimistic at best. No distinction between Civic Nationalism and Ethnic Nationalism, and it suggests that the “bloc” of people who are not “nationalists, don’t like nationalism, and don’t follow Alex Salmond” are “normal,” and infers that those who do ARE “nationalists, who like nationalism, and follow Alex Salmond” – the implication being that “normal people are starting to get infected by this crazy independence notion.”
Emphasis on words is also telling. “That is very CONCERNING… (in Whitehall.” “ENGAGING people in the rUK in debate” – this is a call, a notice.
Most startling to me was the emphasis he puts on “intervening”: it suggests a support of the idea of rUK citizens influencing the debate. “Intervention” is (to quote Wikipedia) “an orchestrated attempt by one or many people – usually family and friends – to get someone to seek professional help with an addiction or some kind of traumatic event or crisis, or other serious problem.”
Allow “How I Met Your Mother” to explain:
link to youtube.com
Clearly, Mr Little was announcing that “This Is An Intervention.” That’s probably why he was allowed to talk for so long, because he started out on such a strong note by suggesting this Independence thing is a “problem” that needed “intervention.” That “bloc” of people who aren’t “nationalists” are in need of an “intervention” is what I took from this report.
It was very well done, because it SOUNDS like a fair analysis if you only consider the substance of the words being spoken – but the inflection, emphasis and choice of vocabulary, it starts to look rather different.
He tunes in to different ages, too, with certain phrases “Who are the real separatists – not us” – anyone remember that advert with Katy Perry for Proactiv which ended up being pulled in the UK?
link to youtube.com
“Who needs pimples? Not you!” Ties into it. People don’t consciously remember it, but it sticks. And “you can’t do it, get back in your box” – that’s also going to stick, even when it’s being cited in a negative fashion.
Propaganda.
(Argh, something happened, can King Cybernat delete the first, incomplete comment?)
@Taranaich
But he doesn’t have the right Pokemon to do that! He can’t learn Cut!
Taranaich, this page clearly needs some form of like/ approve/ thumbs up function.
Brilliant appraisal.
X Sticks and Andrew Morton.
I too had exactly the same reply from the BBC Trust!
Seems balanced but careful analysis & review of this interview reveals a subtle attempt to recalibrate the viewer.
He is reassuring the English audience that the restless natives in Scotland will soon be contained by a concerned British Government who have decided to mitigate the unrelenting negativity by adjusting the language & actions so that they sound more conciliatory.
Stay calm then. The British know what they are doing & all the Nationalist noises will soon be quiet. Now go back to watching Eastenders or reading the Daily Mail.
Clearly a rougue impartial journo voice from Mr little –
BLEEEEP !!! Not the right stuff for BBC (way off message)
Kirsts …. Get this nutter off !!!!!!!
Wilco !!
I trust the good folk of EWNI will see through C A Moron’s “love-bomb” plea as nothing more than a cynical attempt to save his worhless hide!!
“Thou’ll get thy fairing, in hell they’ll roast ye like a herring!”
A good Stranraer man, getting them telt!
I too am from that wee toon although now residing in nearly tram city…………there you go, I’ve just lowered the tone of this thread, a grand counterpoint to Allan’s valuable remarks.
@Extreme: But he doesn’t have the right Pokemon to do that! He can’t learn Cut!
OOFT!
@Peter MacBeastie:
Taranaich, this page clearly needs some form of like/ approve/ thumbs up function.
Brilliant appraisal.
Thanks, Peter. It could be that Little was, in fact, trying to be balanced – but a lifetime of habit can be hard to shake off. I do admire Little a lot and think he could be very valuable in the debate, but whether unconsciously or not, I still think there’s a bit of the BBC Glamour about him.