Scottish media rediscovers voice
Our ever-alert readers will almost certainly recall – for it was only four days ago – this piece, in which we noted the Scottish media’s curious reluctance to cover what looked like a pretty blockbusting story.
Professor Sir Donald Mackay of the pro-devolution think tank Reform Scotland, an extremely distinguished businessman and adviser to the UK government, wrote a stinging article for the Sunday Times rubbishing the Office for Budget Responsibility’s gloomy forecasts for North Sea oil revenue in the coming decades, and suggesting that the real figures were likely to be over £8 billion a year higher.
Despite the enormous effect such a sum would have on the economy of an independent Scotland – wiping out the highest estimate of its deficit at a stroke and leaving it with an annual surplus of hundreds of millions of pounds – the rest of the media uncharacteristically didn’t swipe the ST’s story for their Monday editions.
But then the OBR issued a new forecast.
This forecast revised the predictions that Professor Sir Donald had already dismissed as absurdly pessimistic downward even further – by a whopping 25%. Of course, we’d established last week that stories about OBR oil forecasts weren’t newsworthy, but we thought it’d be best to double-check just for safety.
MEDIA WHICH REPORTED POSITIVE STORY ABOUT OIL REVENUES
The Sunday Times
MEDIA WHICH REPORTED NEGATIVE STORY ABOUT OIL REVENUES
The Times
The Telegraph
The Scotsman
The Herald
The Independent
The Scottish Sun
The Daily Record
The Courier
The Guardian
The Press & Journal (syndicated copy)
The Daily Mail
The Financial Times
BBC
STV
We should note, in fairness, that the Scottish Sun’s piece was focused on the First Minister attacking the claims. But the oddest thing was that only TWO of the articles (the Herald’s and the Courier’s) thought to even passingly reference Professor Sir Donald Mackay’s comments about the OBR from just days ago.
You’d think, from the most elementary journalistic perspective, that such remarks would be highly pertinent in the context of a new OBR forecast. Sir Donald is nobody’s idea of a nationalist or a stooge of Alex Salmond, and with an oil-industry background is extremely well qualified to express a view. Yet 12 out of 14 news outlets ignored his opinion as comprehensively as they had done on Sunday.
(Indeed, it’s slightly worse than that. Several of the reports were taken from the same Press Association newswire piece, which DID include the reference to Sir Donald’s article made by SNP MSP Jamie Hepburn, but edited it out.)
Readers may, as ever, form their own conclusions.
Funny how the OBR spoiler came out so soon?
The Sunday Herald had better make mention of this otherwise I will save my £1.30 this week.
We had a Technical Director who was nicknamed Nipper.
He thought it was because he was incisive?
We are sitting on the top of one of the biggest energy mountains on this Earth.
Oil, gas, more oil, more gas, tidal electricity, hydro electricity, sub sea electricity and wood.
Plus the intellect and nous to harness this to our commonweel.
Time to scarper, and save ourselves, then save the World.
Maybe that is our destiny?
Harry McAye
An electronic subscription on PressReader, for Android, Windows or Mac OS works.
£0.69 per electronic edition.
I get the Sunday Herald only on pay per download every week-end.
It works, but nor on PC or Macbook.
Sorry
It works on tablets.
If there were any doubt that we are looking at across the board Pravda-esque levels of lying and propaganda, it’s pretty much vapourized now. What i honestly wonder is how so many of the MSM worker bees can do this, knowing as they must that they are participating in the what can only be described as promoting the opposite of the truth.
I can only assume that the old “I was only following orders” gambit is alive and well. And look how well that turned out.
There really is no element of surprise here.
The Scottish news media in particular is comic grade shite, written by fuckwits taking a paycheck for doing, well, basically fuck all.
Except when reprinting Unionist press releases & wires of stories from other media just so long as it can be crafted as a negative.
Of course, they can no longer be considered journalists by any serious measure because that would require making an effort to extract some facts & evidence or perhaps some truth.
But when the truth is handed to them on a plate & works against the status quo that is the corrupt, greedy, patronising & self serving British Establishment, you can guarantee that the half wits, fuck wits & brainless buffoons at The Herald, The Scotsman, The Daily Record and any other comic grade paper you care to mention will choose to completely ignore it or rewrite it in such a way that you, the reader, could be convinced that they snorted a bucket load of class B drugs before driving to work in the morning.
Anyone still buying copies of The Sunday Herald for example needs to find their cordless drill, recharge the battery & have a go at trepanning their forehead so that the demons, monsters & evil bogey men can get out.
Alternatively get a copy of Jackie. It’s got loads of advice for teenagers nervous about shagging on their first date.
To be fair to the FT their report was not written by Mure Dickie who is their man in Scotland for the Referendum so was written by staffers in the London bubble hence the “blow to Yes”.
It is also noticable that the UK’s soaraway debt due to UK ageing only gets 1 line at the bottom. Surely that should be headlined as a blow to those telling us we are Better Together. Could this be the reason they have given up on that as a slogan and gone for the sulky child No Thanks.
The FT is always very informative but you have to read right to the end.
Can’t put it any better than Garrion @ 5.24; without swearing!
Oil is a real bonus.
However getting rid of UK debt is worth twice as much. Why does the SNP never ever tell the “sovereign” people this?
The SNP plan to take on any UK debt is a sell out of the sovereign people – who have never been asked. There are no assets that we need. If we need a navy … then build one and put the country back to work.
The disgraceful SNP “constitution” is another sell out with NO right of the Sovereign people to coin their own money – forcing them to borrow from the “market” ie British Empire Banks and vulture funds.
Oh yes I forgot the SNP “constitution” protects all the monarchs aggressive tax avoidance privileges and all their benefit hand outs (no benefit cap for them).
And of course the SNP “constitution” allows the United states of Europe to BAIL IN any future support for the bankrupt British Empire banks. That means those with accounts (or as the EU are saying “unsecured investments”) or own bonds with that bank will pay – just look to the Cyprus practice case.
UK DEBT NO THANKS
The big black hole squirrel, all over again. As has been said above, the Sunday Herald must expose this lie and reference Sir Donald.
Actually GH Graham @5.26 nails it.
Totally agree about the Sunday Herald too.
There is SO much dynamite the SH could have been
using since their ‘declaration’ all I can think is that
the stable is hedging its bets.
Surely this tactic is just to soften up rUK for the loss of most of the oil because if it is an unmitigated disaster for for Scotland then the same holds true for UK. Maybe Sir Donald will be lauded in the event of a NO vote if project fear actually works
“Professor Sir Donald Mackay’s comments about the OBR from just days ago”
were very straight forward but they were never going to be reported much if at all. This is the biggest anti democracy propaganda campaign outside of wartime ever seen and all led by the BBC. We should be honoured that the whole of teamGB is lying so hard at us.
Neat example, progressive liberal Guardian today it’s usual vote no pack of malicious lies, with a tsunami of CiF ukok frighteners from Glasgow uni/Slovenia.
link to adamtomkins.net
Can someone clarify please, does the term above “Syndicated copy” against the Press and Journal mean that the newspaper published in Aberdeen did not allocate a journalist to this story – but just printed someone else’s version?
They are pathetic and transparent beyond words.
Not exactly subtle are they?
It’s a wonder the British establishment didn’t take to the tactic of pretending Salmond doesn’t exist, rather in the way Gordon Brown did – never once visiting the Scottish Parliament in all his tenure as Chancellor and then PM – showing his animosity as if a badge of honour.
Then there are all the late night calls to flaky leaders of other parties to enjoin in conspiracy to defeat the people’s will after a landslide election.
Rev,
I have been campaigning all day and a lot of people are still unsure about their pensions. Could we perhaps have more simplified articles on pensions please so we can either print the article(s) or direct people to this site?
Currency, oil and borders do not come up often on the doorstep!
Oil is a liability and a burden only in Scotland; it must be a different type of oil to the stuff in Norway or Saudi Arabia!
Susan try this a letter from DWP statating that pensions will be paid regardless of where pensioners live same as it as it is now. There’s hundreds of thousands of UK citizens abroad who get their pensions . How simple does it have to be for folk to understand they’ll be no effect on their pensions….talk slower? 😀 //wingsoverscotland.com/the-pensioner-jackpot/
Attempted robbery in progress and our worthless media is complicit.
OOps sorry about link, itchy finger try this Susan link to wingsoverscotland.com
That should read main stream media of course.
“However getting rid of UK debt is worth twice as much. Why does the SNP never ever tell the “sovereign” people this?”
Because it sounds like reneging on responsibilities and would make them seem unreliable. Whatever the the actual situation it would be a PR open goal.
The OBR is so thoroughly discredited now that only people without access to information could possibly be taken in. Of course, that is quite a few people. I hope there is some mention of this in the Wee Blue Book?
I’d say the MSM are worthy of North Korea but that would insult North Korea. Orwellian will do.
Damn it’s what’s his name again, sorry (makes mental note to read whole post before reply)
Media as the “Fourth Estate”
Access to information is essential to the health of democracy for at least two reasons. First, it ensures that citizens make responsible, informed choices rather than acting out of ignorance or misinformation. Second, information serves a “checking function” by ensuring that elected representatives uphold their oaths of office and carry out the wishes of those who elected them.
Our media are totally shit at doing this, and worse they are shit at it on purpose!
@A2
Duggie
How far will the OBR go?
Will we end up with negative oil.
Oil wells the we must pump oil down.
It’s just getting silly now. Most companies have a business plan for increased production in 2015/16
Did the Lancaster field production flow test get any coverage in the press?
Och they’ve lost the plot Clootie. Every piece of evidence available from company investment through to projected fields suggest a return to decent extended output and profitability. How on earth can they get away with these frankly stupid projections?
Easy, they have no one to challenge them from the press industry.
Truly pitiful.
It isn’t, of course, the ‘Scottish’ media, or ‘our’ media, it is, in the most etymologically appropriate term, ‘their’ media, functioning as it does as an appendage of the powerful, the avaricious and the corrupt, an elite intent on destroying Scottish democracy.
G H Graham sums it up admirably.
@Susan In Moray [or my part of Moray at least] a few weeks ago everyone received an official Yes newspaper highlighting pensions and the fact pensions will continue as normal in an independent Scotland. Of course many will have binned the paper without reading it but I’m equally sure many will have taken the positive news on pensions on board.
@yabadabadoo
Go and fetch a long stand please.
Susan,
Pension question is so simple to answer: DW&P has already issued to people who have asked, a written letter explaining that their pension will be paid or continue to be paid after independence.
And there is NO pension pot despite Gordon “End of boom & bust” Brown lying to the people that there is. Pensions are paid out of current tax receipts.
If someone has paid the British Government the correct total amount to qualify for a pension, they can live in Botswana or Bangladesh if they want. Or in an independent Scotland.
Regardless, they will receive their pension. Yes, at some point, Scotland will begin to pay pensions out of its own current tax receipts but as Stu pointed out only a few days ago, it is quite possible that Scotland will avoid paying any pensions for quite a few years, depending on how the negotiations are managed.
Com’on Daily Record. You know you can.
Danny Alexander increased Oil Tax revenues 11% (£2Billion) a year in 2011, up to 80%. Cut Scottish budget £1.3Billion a year since 2011. Danny Alexander is toast along with the rest of he LibDems. Good riddance.
The minute the media sniff a Yes win or the possibility of it they’ll start printing something closer to truth.
That way they can claim they were objective before but now feel able to be openly partisan because that’s how they always felt… and please buy our newspaper.
O/T I read this morning that Torcuil Crichton fell down the stairs when he lived in Lewis and sustained a head injury and was treated by Sam Galbraith in the Southern General.
The fall has obviously affected his brain to the extent that he writes rubbish in the daily Retard. God bless the less fortunate
I don’t think it’s even worth discussing “how much oil is left”. The OBR is not interested in that. They are only interested in securing a NO vote by any means necessary. I remember when the oil was first discovered. We were told in the 70’s that it would soon run out. That was 40 years ago. It is still just about to run out. If you believe that you’ll believe anything.
But, unfortunately, we can expect the deeply undemocratic British Government to produce propaganda. It’s the lying media and pseudo-journalists that are the real issue. Without reliable information, democracy is not possible. Not the kind of country I want to live in.
The more you look at it the more ridiculous Alexander/OBR gets with even the Westminster/Whitehall producing different estimates which are rather important, although the whole of the media picks the lowest anyway.
link to businessforscotland.co.uk
The OBR claims there will be £15.8 billion tax revenue from oil over three years. The Department for Energy and Climate Change predicts a higher oil price, and therefore £28.1 billion in tax receipts. This huge difference is between two departments within the same government.
I was dismayed, but not surprised to see the Times feature Junker’s comments about the alleged difficultly of iScotland being in the EU even though yesterday BBC on line had a more even handed report, to the effect that he respects the democratic process. The Guardian is the one that upsets me most though, as it previously promoted itself as a beacon of liberal and objective journalism
I wish folk would stop saying that journalists are thick.
They aren’t thick. They know what they are doing, and will either be well paid for doing what they are doing, or photos of them with 10 year old children will be kept hidden by their Britnat masters.
Wise up folks.
John Harris’s column in the Guardian, which has recently come online, is a refreshing change though…
Never, ever forget what OBR stands for, it’s the Office for BOLLOCKS and RUBBISH. Anyone tell me when was the last time that the OBR got a forecast correct? Save your time, the answer is NEVER.
Once again no mention of Clyde and Atlantic Margin Reserves plus the other Estuaries and On Shore Reserves.
If you have still not read William McLaughlin’s comprehensive report send me an email at:- asterix.says.yes@gmail.com and I’ll happily forward you a copy.
Auld Rock
OT: Livestream from Pollok.
link to tinyurl.com
The OBR supporters seem very forgiving of its historic (and self-acknowledged) poor record of forecasting.
Forecasts will always vary. A good analysis would at least include the most optimistic, pessimistic and consensus in an easy to understand graphic.
The story has not really run up the pecking order in the BBC web page which suggests they know it’s flawed.
The BBC story also follows the usual structure – UKOK claim followed a rebuttal down the page that is framed as a hasty reaction to an economic fact.
What did we expect from the unionist press and tv channels, “A fair crack of the whip”, I think not, If we’re to spread the news it will have to be online, and by word of mouth.
You may get the odd even handed story in the press, but that’s about it, their agenda is the unionist one, fear and uncertainty sells newspapers. As for the OBR, well this may shed some light on just how close they are to the HM Treasury.
link to budgetresponsibility.org.uk
The best way to deal with the muppets masquerading as Scottish ”journalists” is to make them unemployed. Never buy their rags, never link to their rags, never comment in their rags. if you come across them on social media, treat them politely, but as though you have stood on something rather smelly.
They think they are important, they are not, and matter less and less in the debate as it gets closer to the day.
Will be important that we never forget their role in the biggest story in Scotland’s history.
@ cynicalHighlander
There doesn’t seem to be any video streaming from Pollok?
It’s very straight forward. Donald Mackay is merely a Scotch economist, while the OBR is a respected, independent London organisation who report to the Westminster government. If you are editing a Scotch “newspaper”, the first named is of no significance, while the second has an authority second only to that of HM government itself. Deference to London is the default position of the Scotch establishment, and editors are establishment figures.
Anybody correct me if I am wrong, but some weeks ago, while hanging out on Wings, I picked up what seemed to be the practical answer on UK debt and iScotland.
iScotland takes no debt share.
iScotland agrees to take no assets either.
So iScotland starts debt-free, and gets to invest in a more modern and fit-for-purpose State apparatus ( for the bits not currently devolved ).
@Harry McAye
The Sunday Herald had better make mention of this otherwise I will save my £1.30 this week.
Listened to the editor of the Sunday Herald on Bateman Broadcasting, he sounds a bit wishy-washy to me, Stu Campbell he aint.
Sir Ian Wood on BBC Radio Scotland today basically said – 12bn barrels definite at today’s technology and tax regimes, 18bn a skoosh with new tech,sensible tax and resulting investment, 24bn possible but more of a push.
Well that’s what wee simple me heard in the interview today.
So given that Sir Ian is no mug, and his report of Nov 2013 that says that implementation of the correct strategy on current known reserves could return 20+bn barrels, met with Ed Davey’s approval,(Of course only with the UK Governments good stewardship ??), I am confused, who’s a bloke to believe?
Having worked at Wood Group for 20 years and seen Sir Ian take it from trawling, boat repairs and fish selling to what it now is, I guess I’ll have to go with Danny A and the OBR
@CyberNiall
It’s a bit hit and miss lately but it might come on later.
The OBR.
Here is what Captain Darling said about this independent(sic) body/group in 2010.
Although four days later he qualified that answer by saying NuLabour would keep the OBR.
My conclusion is that Scotland must have the most intentionally suppressed media in the world.
Of course looking further into the OBR FSR the Scottish press could have mentioned that the rUK student debt that will not be repaid will reach 5.4% of GDP in 2018. Nothing to do with Scotland and 50 times bigger than the trickle of oil revenue that they predict.
Thats another few billion we can knock off our share of the debt.
The big question either way but particularly in the case of a YES vote is what will happen to the obviously UK biassed press core & TV media on Scotlands doorstep after the 19th September.
The voters and general public are a different matter as everyone has a right over which way to vote, but can’t see there being anything other than problems for a profession so obviously operating in conjunction and often in tandem with the British state.
Is there an honorable way out in all of this ?, (I can’t see it myself).
I just listened again to the interview the editor of the Sunday Herald had with Derek Bateman.
link to batemanbroadcasting.com
Does this sound like someone who is on our side? He seems to stick up for the main stream media and is quite patronising towards pro-independence blogs and websites, saying that they are just reactionary rather than being ‘proper journalism’.
Anne says:
11 July, 2014 at 6:33 pm
“John Harris’s column in the Guardian, which has recently come online, is a refreshing change though…”
Yes, that IS a good piece. I think that more and more people are coming to recognise that the oil/economy issue is not the be-all and end-all. That said, I do agree that the Yes side need to somehow counter the MSM’s ready acceptance to spout whatever nonsense the Westminter Establishment comes out with on theeconomic arguements. Hopefully the AS/AD debate on the 5th will help in that respect.
@ iain wares says:
11 July, 2014 at 7:07 pm
Sir Ian Wood on BBC Radio Scotland today basically said – 12bn barrels definite at today’s technology and tax regimes, 18bn a skoosh with new tech,sensible tax and resulting investment, 24bn possible but more of a push
Whats the barrel prices Ian that’s made you choose the OBR? Also can you tell me who’ll win the world cup, in 2022? Cheers bud
@ Pentland Firth . A Whisky economist?? A Whisky newspaper?? Learn to speak English.
Unless it was in jest…
“look Scotland nothing to see here go about your business we know best there is no oil and whats left will run out honest
see all your papers tell you so”
“great do you think they fell for it magic we can now pay off our 1.5 trillion debt and borrow shit loads of money on the back of the oil we are going to steal from them ha ha good show old boy those stupid jocks will never figure it out”
oh do you bloody think so ya bams your rumbled!!!
@James123 Intriguing that he thinks another paper will break for Yes though. Record??? Am sceptical that it was not good business sense to fill the gap in the market with a pro-independence slant and that this did not come from management. However, I do believe him when he says he is personally a Yes and find it interesting that he said his staff were also broadly pro-yes. Is this reflected in other journos not involved in opinion pieces and political stories?
Calgacus MacAndrews says:
iScotland takes no debt share.
iScotland agrees to take no assets either.
So iScotland starts debt-free, and gets to invest in a more modern and fit-for-purpose State apparatus
I reckon it is beyond the comprehension of Westminster to negotiate fairly. I just cannot see them willing to hand out our share of assets. If Scotland takes debt and pension liabilities for existing retired people, neither of which we need to do, what do we get in return? Is monetary union all that valuable when we could simple used the pound anyway? Then Trident – I find it difficult to imagine any future Scottish government letting it state for more than a reasonable removal time, say a few years. What do we gain by keeping it longer, what trade off?
Ease of EU or NATO might be a bargaining chip from rUK. Or, is their cooperation really required?
On balance I have always said the end result of the negotiations will be simple. Few assets, little debt.
None of it matters….
You cannot cage an idea, although the establishment have and will try.
A ‘NO’ result will be a pyrrhic victory.
Firstly, the referendum campaign will have been a dirty propaganda game by the establishment that fooled only the sheep and the goats.
Secondly, even the sheep and goats will come to realise that a ‘NO’ will not deliver change or improvement. Sheep and goats may be slow to the charge, but they will come.
Thirdly, the young smart people who know the difference between the stink of Westminster and the sweet smell of equality and fairness connected to a new Scotland, will never return to Labour or yearn for southern military-centric politics or London worship.
The big snarling Independence cat is out of the bag and it’s not going back in any time soon. It will get stronger as more people in Scotland leave Labour behind.
And I for one will throw my effort behind any new cross party organisation the other side of 18th Sept that looks as though it will rally huge numbers of people, through common understanding of equality, fairness, justice and progressive society.
Instead of pushing the movement for Independence into a corner, Westminster* would have done better to understand it. There are always consequences in browbeating the populace.
*Westminster… a dirty place, bereft of common sense, integrity, honesty and statesmen.
I’ve been away for a few days, over posting in Jordi MacArthur’s fb YesPanda and Moira Williams fb BBC Bias Protest3, supporting their campaign.
They are the 2 people organising next BBC PQ3 demo.
Today Jordi MacArthur’s posting and posts all gone. He used to post every nano second! Yesterday morning there was a strange post of a TShirt showing a gvn and I immediately posted him to get rid of it. That was my last contact.
Today on Moira Williams fb BBC Bias Peaceful Protest III “The People’s Voice” posts seem frozen, no post earlier than 7hours ago and no posts later than 12hours ago. I was posting there all yesterday evening with gusto. All gone nothing. Very strange.
Never say no to a “YES Panda” link to facebook.com
BBC Bias Peaceful Protest III “The People’s Voice”
link to facebook.com
I keep seeing postings, rumblings from worried Unionists, they appear to believe a narrow Yes win might be ignored. After all this? Nae chance, 50% plus enough to prevent recounts, that all we need!
Exciting times for carpetbaggers. Very tasty http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
Money for nothing but fear mongering sectarian violence in Scotland. Well no, loads a money on stilts.
Wingman 2020 @ 7:41
Indeed. I paraphrased arch Unionist Churchill the other day, I still think it’s true. The genie is out and about.
Yes means, this is the beginning of the end.
No means, this is just the end of the beginning.
Good points already made by everyone.
The regurgitation of the OBR press release is simply another example of what is now known as ‘churnalism’. It is repeated & propagated as objective fact by the MSM. There is no critical analysis. Look at the track record of OBR forecasts since 2010, particularly re the oil industry : they have little to no credibility or reliability. Anyone spending 20 minutes on Google could find that out, is anyone seriously suggesting that a professional journalist can’t do so? It is beyond question – we know because the historical figures are real(!) – that subject to the usual periodic fluctuations, the long term trend for oil prices is for them to rise!
I listened to Bateman’s interview with the editor of the Sunday Herald. It was fine, but I did key in to a passage where he said, in effect, that if say Cameron or Osborne make a ‘pronouncement’ on Indy, the MSM have a duty to report it. That’s fine as far as it goes. But at least test the claims made & report how credible they are. And don’t make the headline a tendentious snapshot of the press release or speech.
In the US, the slogan of Fox News is “Fair and Balanced” (stop guffawing a the back…). Do you think we should apply it to the Scottish MSM?
link to huffingtonpost.co.uk BBC biggest payer of MP’s for journo work but no mention of George and his vote naw tour which is even odder considering how hard Huff post hits Scottish democracy. It can’t all have been back handlers George.
Heard speech by editor of Sunday Herald at the Arches Common Weal Fest last sunday. Said much as he did on Bateman interview plus castigated demonstrators at Pacific Quay for being out of order.
If he fails to encourage his staff to address the OBR oil nonsense this weekend then one might be forgiven for doubting his credibility re independence.
anybody know about a Yes debate in Motherwell tonite
Horseboy I’m sure I saw something somewhere on fb that said fb were getting funny with pages that had their logo in their banner picture on the profile. Maybe they’ve run foul of that?
@Devereux
He barely sounds like a Yes man to me. In the interview he said this:
When asked if most of the MSM were actively campaigning for a No vote he said “that’s a very difficult question to answer”. No it isn’t, they most definitely are.
He insisted that the MSM were conducting proper journalism whereas websites like this were just reactionary. That’s bullshit of the highest order.
He said that MSM journalist’s shouldn’t be demonised for just doing their job. Who’s doing that? Journalists are being criticised because they are not doing their job, especially those at the BBC who are funded by the tax payer.
Bateman’s reaction at the end was interesting, he said “ok, thanks”, in very hushed tones as if to say “what the fuck was that”.
@gallamcennalath
Really? Standing the terms of the Edinburgh Agreement, on what basis are they suggesting a narrow Yes win could be ignored?
O/T
Last few days on indiegogo for Blue-on-white ceramic WoS badges and white-on-blue trolley tokens.
link to indiegogo.com
NB ++ There is no plan to profit from this exercise, surplus is being used to fund additional new badges, ambassador woven badges, and pretty cool poker card guards/paper weights…release date TBA in the coming weeks. ++
Please forgive my directness, however if anyone is aware of friend(s)who could use a badge or token but are ‘brassic lint’ then drop me a note with an address and I’ll ping off a badge free of charge. I’m keeping back 25 badges from the first batch for such a purpose.
kenmcdonald1(at)btopenworld(dot)com
replace the (at) and the (dot) with the appropriate characters.
@heedtracker 7.31pm
Sorry I can’t do big sums but fortunately I don’t have to.
Dave C, Nick C, Ed Davey all agree that the hunners of billions ‘extra’? are there for the UK to enjoy as long as we stay. So we’d better do that then.
I may be better help with world cup 2022 though cos I’m £400
up on this one.
Only a gullible idiot would by the Sunday Herald. It’s editor is a spineless re-broadcaster of Unionist lies & the recent announcement that it was supporting a YES was just a scam to test the water and see if it could milk some money from gullible readers with only one purpose; prop up the entire Herald enterprise which is dying on its Unionist feet.
Sure, it has to report press releases from Westminster but pretending to be journalists while lazily just regurgitating comic standard shite fools no one. Except themselves.
The sooner these people are filling out their P45s the better. Scotland and her people deserve honest, robust, accurate & investigative journalism.
If it takes the collapse of almost the entire Scottish print news media to achieve that, then tough shit.
I despair of the “Scottish” media.
Whatever happened to searching for the truth and exposing government lies? The free press? (The tenous tenent the bilgeful UK press use to justify their despicaple practices like phone hacking etc.)
Wake up. There IS NO SCOTTISH PRESS. Sunday Herald is an anomaly, all others are toeing the British establishment party line.
World Press Freedom Index as compiled by Reporters Without Borders.
link to rsf.org
I can’t help but to feel a bit smug that my country is no.1 for how manyeth year running.
All the Nordic countries are in the top 10.
The UK is at 33, behind such “insignificant basket-case countries” (from the British pov) as Suriname, Uruguay, Cape Verde, Namibia, Costa Rica (who did rather better than England in the World Cup), Slovakia, Poland, Jamaica…
Thank you, the British press and the BBC for lowering your tone and pandering to big money and the lowest common denominator punter to reach unprecedented lows in the world’s press comparison. Down four places. You must be proud. Proud to be British.
Ken, just wanted to say thank you for all your efforts re badges, they are lovely, and I will treasure mine (and of course auction it thirty years hence…when the limited edition is worth a fortune!!…) 🙂
James123
Derek is a journalist to trade and perhaps he may be over-protective of his profession but his blogs are well written and he is a vocal and passionate advocate for Yes, and at times and exceptionally funny advocate for Yes.
So Yes he is a Yes supporter. You may not agree with him on journalism but that is just one side issue. I don’t agree with the SNP on joining NATO but I am still voting Yes.
As others have said there is no mainstream Scottish media, there is only MSM in Scotland.
It’s all irrelevant now. The genie is well and truly out of the bottle. Our government YES our government have been exposed as liars and corrupters.
They have no conscience, even worse is the part the media have chosen to play in this farce of a democratic society. Government lackeys on hire to the highest bidder.
They have been exposed for all to see, the Rev is the wee boy at the parade who shouts ” but he hasn’t got anything on.”
Anyone who fails to see this is blinded by their own ideology. we won’t be fooled so easily though. Bring it on.
So off went the Emperor in procession under his splendid canopy. Everyone in the streets and the windows said, “Oh, how fine are the Emperor’s new clothes! Don’t they fit him to perfection? And see his long train!” Nobody would confess that he couldn’t see anything, for that would prove him either unfit for his position, or a fool. No costume the Emperor had worn before was ever such a complete success.
“But he hasn’t got anything on,” a little child said.
“Did you ever hear such innocent prattle?” said its father. And one person whispered to another what the child had said, “He hasn’t anything on. A child says he hasn’t anything on.”
“But he hasn’t got anything on!” the whole town cried out at last.
The Emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, “This procession has got to go on.” So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn’t there at all.
@K1
Truthfully, I wish I could have afforded to bottle a batch of friends of WoS Indy rebranded Macallan 18 y o.
A bridge too far I fear
Dimbleby on R4 two carefully selected indy questions, both where Sturgeon has to be on defensive and then lets have a laugh at the Brigadoon Commonwealth games uniform.
Make no mistake, when the Salmond indy debates come along, this is how it will be.
There will be no discussion as to what a NO vote means and the audience will be ”carefully selected”.
Democracy Reborn says:
@gallamcennalath
Really? Standing the terms of the Edinburgh Agreement, on what basis are they suggesting a narrow Yes win could be ignored?
I suppose they perhaps believe that the world revolves around London. And, as the most important people to have ever walked the Earth, they can do whatever they choose. The mind of the BritNat is a mystery to me.
A sweet sentiment Ken, kindred spirits who have all found one another at just the right moment in time…priceless, thanks again. Smile.
@kendomacaroonbar
Sorry, I forgot about the badges – I’ve ordered a couple 🙂
@kendomacaroonbar, Im looking to get Proud Cybernat badges was it you or Roddy MacDonald that was doing them, getting geared up for PQ protest & to help Thepnr at the Seafest.
Lumilumi
Will you have my cubs?
BtP
big thanks for that post.
@Ronnie A
Send me your post address and I’ll send you off a few ambassador badges (cool eh ?) and handful of Wings badges and Trolley/keyrings on Monday.
Sorry, if off piste, report on Friends of Scotland Inc from USA
link to guidestar.org
handclapping ,
Do you think there is a demand for WoS car stickers ?
Go get ’em Floyd!
G H Graham
I buy the Sunday Herald and I am certainly not a gullible idiot, neither are some of my friends who buy it.
Its the only paper I buy these days, apart from the Monthly Scots Independent.
Just because you don’t agree with something does not mean you are right and everybody else is wrong.
You seem to be suggesting that nobody read the Sunday Herald before its conversion to YES. I have been buying it most weeks since it started and if you don’t mind, I will continue to buy it.
Yes, BigRik, I was writing in jest. Long day. Should have made myself clearer.
A Yes vote will see not only the Westminster establishment booted out but the “Scotch” establishment as well. They are shiting themselves. Good. I loath them as much as I do those they defer to in the heart of the Evil Empire
I have to say that the badges thing has gone right over my head. There seems to a fair variety being discussed.
Was it you Kendo that gave me the cracking Wings badge in the Counting House? I had quaffed a few at a works do before I arrived and was vertical to the world but the senses were a little dulled.
@X Sticks
Thanks, will try and get them out tomorrow.
well g.h.Graham i laughed out loud yep my friend you’re a Graham i wish there was more like us ha ha keep it up and a special hello to all other grahams out there as we say “never forget” ha ha onwards and upwards
@lumilumi
Go get em.
Great post lumi. 🙂
Robert
Do you mismatch a striped long sleeved shirt and a hunting gilet?
Just wondering?
BtP
Thepnr says:
“It’s all irrelevant now. The genie is well and truly out of the bottle. Our government YES our government have been exposed as liars and corrupters.”
You could say that about so many countries right now. Only we have a chance to wipe the slate clean, without a bullet fired.
I wonder if Tim Berners-Lee realises just what he has made possible. Bypass the MSM, and you take away the power of the established elite’s.
@HandandShrimp
Yes, I was there dishing out complimentary WoS ceramic badges to guests and for the raffle.
Cybernat or Yes Scotland badges I don’t do.
tanx
MCCart
Cheers Kendo, it is a beauty. A keeper whatever happens.
@ Kendomacaroonbar Thanks Ken I saw your E mail addy in off topic I think, was it Roddy that did the Cybernat badges, ther e good to give to the wains wie the Wee Midgie on it, there was a lot of wains at the last PQ demo but we had no badges to give out, we need to get Alert badges they go like hot cakes ( I had to ask Jock Scot for his Alert badge to give to a guy at the Newsroom in Edinburgh.
@Ronnie
The ambassador badge (as I call it) is a sew on woven badge. If you can thread a needle and sit close to a swear box, you could fire it on to an old t shirt or polo shirt and look the biz ! If you are hooking up with Ian D and thepnr you can pass a badge onto them please ?
aah, my Scottish panda BtP…
I don’t know about cubs, I might be a Finnish brown bear, and aren’t pandas notoriously bad at breeding, anyway?
Yeah, right, that’s why the Chinese sent two pandas to Scotland on a sex holiday, the country that is famous for it’s steamy sexual honeymoon atmosphere.
That said, Tian Tian might be pregnant. The cub(s) would be born in August – just in time for the indy ref! 😀
Kendo
I can send you a €50 note, if you give me your address.
A bank transfer from here is too expensive to cover, badge and postage.
Hjelp!
lunulimi
I am always up for it especially with nordic bearesses.
Genetic soup R US.
Nightol
@Bugger the Panda
Send me your address using my contact details above…we can work out something next time we hook up.
@BTP
Its a hobby. 😀
Kendomacaroonbar
The Wings car stickers were the first things to go at YES in the Park .
You graciously sent me what you had left and I still had a few from the first batch you sent me and we literally could have given hundreds away if we had them .
There was only one lady all day who when her husband gave her a wings badge refused it due to it looking to militaristic .
The Friends of George Galloway Appreciation Society getting ready to burn a YES banner in Belfast –
link to facebook.com
=============================
a2 says:
11 July, 2014 at 5:47 pm
“However getting rid of UK debt is worth twice as much. Why does the SNP never ever tell the “sovereign” people this?”
Because it sounds like reneging on responsibilities and would make them seem unreliable. Whatever the the actual situation it would be a PR open goal.
===========================
There we have it then:
The SNP are misleading the “sovereign people” by omission – in primary school we used to call that lying.
How on earth can the Scottish people be liable for another countries debt? To suggest otherwise is a lie.
The Scottish people are not liable for the debt of the UK.
Under the UN charter the new sate of Scotland can not have any debt attached to it.
That means NO liabilities or debt can be attached to an iScotland- uk debt, pensions, david camerons credit card, cleggs car loan or ANYTHING else.
All the 1000s of word on these pages go around in circles: A new iScotland under the UN charter will have NO DEBT whatsoever…
Unless of course the “sovereign people” get sold out by the SNP who are actively promoting taking on UK debt. Not only that but taking on UK debt so that we can give away sovereignty to the Bank of England- you could not make this stuff up.
When did the sovereign people vote to take on other peoples debt and become debt slaves to the British Empire casino banks? Never.
But that is okay because the sovereign people (under the brand new shiny SNP constitution) can hold the scottish government to account via their MSP.
So if there is any of the Sovereign people out there who do not want foreign debt, try going to your SNP MSP clone and ask them to hold the scottish government to account- good luck… but I will not hold my breath.
The SNP constitution is one of the most imbecilic documents I have ever read: stating the people are sovereign, then every line after taking sovereignty away from the people.
Right on cue Ian Bell has realised the same:
link to heraldscotland.com
Know this that the SNP constitution is specifically designed to:
1/ Get rid of the Westminster political class
2/ Establish and maintain an Edinburgh political class
3/ Maintain the tax avoidance and benefits paid to the Monarchy
4/ Maintain and support a European unelected political class within a United States of Europe project where scotland will be another region.
5/ Keep the people under debt serfdom to the British Empire Casino banks.
6/ keep the people in there place by NOT allowing the people to hold the scottish government to account but only through clone career MSPs that have never worked in the real world.
The YES vote is only the start.
UK DEBT – NO THANKS
@Silvertay
Will see if I can get some reprints in time. As for the military comment ? each to their own, my neighbour thought I worked for the fashion designer Armani 🙂
I love walking around as God intended – yum, I’ve got a better suit than any emperor.
@Paula Rose
Does it need ironing though ? Just asking 🙂
Oh Gosh T in the Park crowd
‘Vote Yes to Independence’
Live on the BBC
Ace
Paula
What are you smoking?
By my reckoning that Yes banner is more than 50% + 1 pallet up that bonfire.
It’s a sign!
How much longer are we going to tolerate this shite. Watching the live BBC coverage of Biffy Clyro and they can’t help focussing the camera on that fucking Butchers Apron.
Sorry for the swearies in the last post but sometimes I just get so wound up.
@Bugger (the Panda)
Woodbine au natural
Ken 500
I saw that, the beeboid interviewer looked totally panicked as the lassies declared their love for Biffy Clyro and independence. I expect that footage will not be repeated on the i-player.
joe kane says:
Joe, it ain’t there now!
Les Wilson
You have to log in to Facebook to see it. It’s there.
@yabadabadoo
The YES vote is only the start
Well said. But I take issue with almost everything else there. I joined the SNP because they were the only party fully committed to Independence for our country.
They have performed well in government and are sticking by their manifesto pledges, most important of which is the referendum just round the corner.
You denigrate all the efforts, the commitment and focus of their members, MPs and MSPs.
Point 3 5 and 6 above are pure mince. 4 is a kind of jaded reading of their position but fair play to you – I a Euro baby. 2 is strange – having an Edinburgh political class is a bi product of Devo and Indy will make it more so but what we going to do? Give me your alternative?
1 I agree with to my core.
You are, I think going to struggle to find a party that truly represents your entire world view but I don’t really see anyone else pushing the issues that matter for me.
Whole point is: we get control with a Yes then if the elected party don’t do the business we kick them out and get someone else in. Democracy – finally.
Anyone seen this yet? Sorry if it has been posted, but it is excellent. 🙂
link to youtube.com
BtP, sorry to inform you but if I was a holoarctic species of mammal, I wouldn’t actually be a bear.
I’d be a forest hare – you call them mountain hares in Scotland – white in winter, dun in summer, shy, alert, quick.
I like comparing northern European and North American species. The beavers are different species but the reindeer – caribou in North America – are the same species, as are elk/moose. Brown and grizzly bears are also the same species.
Scottish “specialities” like red squirrels, pine martens and the famous grouse are quite common in Finland.
A few years ago I took Finnish friends for a hillwalking tour in Scotland and they were amused by a road sign warning about squirrels. They laughed and imagined godzilla-proportioned dangerous squirrels.
The point of the sign was, of course, to alert drivers that red squirrels lived in the area and might jump on the road.
Red squirrels are so abundant even in urban Helsinki that Finns can’t get their head around to them being a rare and protected species. I see about 4-12 red squirrels every day. I think some of them have made a nest in my roofspace. I see small/young squirrels who aren’t as agile as bigger (older) squirrels.
I must be JoLa’s and all BT’s dream come true. I see squirrels all the time! 😀
yabadabadoo says: Quite enough !
Only an imbecile, or someone who has another agenda, would think we would be stuck in a one party state after independence.
Who knows where we will be 10 years from now, but I for one want to see an end to party politics, where party takes precedence, over the personal views of those we elect to represent ours.
Take a look at Slab, and despair. The best you can say about them, is that they are the epitome of all that is wrong with our ‘democracy’.
A branch office, of a party who formulate policy to suit the whims of the establishment, and key southern marginal seats.
How’s Wilma btw. Say hi to Barney.
There were a couple of YES Saltires visible on Chvrches clip on BBC 3 from T in the Park too. 1 clearly visible at the start, and 2 at the end. Loved the vote Yes lassie before Biffy Clyro too. 🙂
Bbc 3 – why do you like biffy clyeo ?
Cos they’re voting yes for Scottish independence
well done that girl in the crowd !
Re. oil, when out chapping, I ask punters who are undecided if they believe this keech about ‘diminishing resources’…usually yes.
So I use BT’s figures of 40 billion barrels up until now and 24 billion remaining after Indy.
I then point out that rough rule of thumb and being very generous, that Scotland got 10% of the 40 billion= 4 billion barrels,….but after 19th of Sept, due to International boundary law we get 90% 0f 24 billion barrels= 22.6 billion barrels!
Hey presto: how to turn Brit shit into gold! I then add in that the Press/MSM are liars and point out the West Coast reserves remain untapped and the licences being issued at a rate of knots. You can see the disbelief turn to agreement..(’cause subconsciously most people know its true) and then the anger shows at being duped.
I’ve turned a few DKs on the doors in the last couple of days alone on this one.
Re. BBC lies: QT. was a classic illustration of the total disdain, indeed hatred that the ruling elite at the BBC hold for Scotland. Abusing a mentally ill man in order to diminish and ridicule the debate was straight out of the sewer.
Even Dimblebore had his head down at some point. The importation of English well heeled sneering No’s plants along with the Monty Pythonesque duo of ‘very’ Savage and proud Scot-butt Hastings was added deliberately to incite every shade of ‘cybernat’. And it failed!
This was a deliberate attempt to invite online abuse. The Director of the show couldn’t control his venal glee at the circus they’d created by posting on twitter.
One last point: Sir Paul Nurse (quick close the curtains!) and his cronies at the Royal Society claimed a few days ago that Scotland would turn into a pariah for scientific funding if Indy occurred.
Prof. Brian MacGregor of Aberdeen Univ. gave a great reposte to Nurse Paul. I heard it on GMS and at first thought it a bit perfunctory. Later I saw the interview on Not Reporting Scotland..and realised that an important part of his speech regarding savings on trident etc had been skilfully edited from the morning rush hour broadcast!
Thus a great deal of the power of his rebuttal was defused.
We must not let the momentum drop with this cradle of pimps and placemen. Demonstrate outside the BBC at Pacific Quay at the end of the month..make the scum acknowledge their criminal culpability in lying deliberately and consistently to our people!
Don’t feed the trolls
They just suck up your time and increase your blood pressure.
G H Graham,
“Only a gullible idiot would b(u)y the Sunday Herald.”
Anyone buying it for its ‘Yes support’ is certainly gullible.
It is simply opportunistic token support and its editor has been heard sneering at and criticising Yes supporters.
The same will apply if either the Record and / or Sun ‘come out’ for Yes.
They are doing it for themselves, not for Scotland.
Absolutely no need for us to buy these papers.
Let them do it their own expense, not ours. For once, let us take advantage without being fooled and paying for it.
Abusing a mentally ill man in order to diminish and ridicule the debate was straight out of the sewer.
Andrew Neil can take it:D
@yabadabadoo
By the way, dismissing 3 of your 6 points as mince seems rude but I’m in the tavern and I just don’t have time or inclination to go into it too deeply.
Don’t be offended – I don’t read terms and conditions when I buy something and I can’t wade through documents but I go by intuition, by experience and by evidence from my own reading, listening and watching.
Even if the SNP endorsed all of the points you mention which they do not, I would still back them.
This thing transcends politics. For me it unfortunately seems to transcend work, family and friends right now. Let’s just fucking do this thing and hold firm – the SNP have brought us to this position and I am proud of that.
The real enemy is westminster and their stooges in the press.
I have set myself a goal. In a company of 10 employees I reckon 6 are Yes, 3 undecided, and 1 no.
I am going to return 9 of those 10 at least. The last one is going to be tricky but the lairds have just given me aplenty ammo.
Anyway – we both heading same way so probably a pointless post. Tam x
People come on here moaning about the biased, lazy journalism in Scotland then go out and buy a copy of the Sunday Herald.
Know this; you are funding & financially supporting the continuance of a Unionist media determined to crush the spirit by frightening, if not you, your colleagues, neighbours & friends with mindless, comical pish.
Just don’t piss and moan if there’s a NO vote in September. You will have helped make that happen.
RogueCoder
I didn’t think he was one. Maybe you ken different – I don’t want to get into thinking everyone who posts controversial stuff is full of shit. I thought my comments were guid anyway – wouldn’t have written it without a prompt.
Mibbe getting the wrong end of the stick. Am pretty hammered.
“Vote YES for Scottish Independence” the young girl roared over & over to the British Brainwashing corporation backed by her pals straight into every living room in the land. Pure magic! Well done girls. They dont like it up them even for 30 seconds yet we’re on the receiving end of their propaganda daily. The EBC bigwigs must be raging cue more camera shots to the Union flag. Performance of the night goes to the girls at T in the Park lol.
I loved watching T in the Park all through the years with lots of Saltires flying ! For some reason I knew that they wouldn’t be flying them this year! It probably said on the website, like the Bannockburn Live one, that no flags or political stuff allowed! OK! So all our young folk are NOs!!
Bob Sinclair
T in the park has two Union Jacks in the crowd and the BBC cameraman cant take his lens off them.
The Big black and white UJ is his centre point.
They cant let us watch anything without some kind of dig.
BBC, GTF, you are spoiling it.
Heard the two girls shouting about voting YES, ya bute.
Kind of ironic that the camera is only capable of panning to the right and focussing on that flag.
Who are trolls anyway? I think Duggie is one. And that nothing Dick Whittington. What does it matter. Trolls – COME TO ME – I got a hug for each of you. They are mischief making sons of bitches but I think this site is so robust it can take a few dissenting voices, troublemakers even.
The fact that Yes is not engaged in this kind of shit on unionist websites, and the fact that it is inconcievable that Yes would carry out the kind of False Flag operations that we all expect from the UK government means we are on the right track.
They try but it is a futile trying. They ain’t derailing this express. And to anyone coming on here thinking they can close down the debate or dispirit us – guid luck with that one!
RogueCoder – raising a pint to you right now.
Re T in the park. Auntie is doing her best to pretend it isn’t happening. Glasto is still highlighted on the music page though.
Some poor flag waving souls are going to get hurt by neds of the opposite persuasion this weekend though. Guess what flag the aggressors will be rallying under ?
Someone with poor taste, could do a casualty count sweepstakes !
@ Tam Jardine
Pattern is obvious. Comes on here pretending to be a Yes supporter, and immediately lays into the SNP calling them liars, pretending to be an expert on economics, policy etc. Classic divide and conquer tactics.
I recognise Yes is broad church and there will be folks here who are not SNP voters – but we’re all clear on what the end goal is, and that the SNP brought us to this place where we have the opportunity to create a new nation that far better reflects the desires and needs of Scotland.
Be very wary of folk being vitriolic about one element of the Yes movement, be it Green, SNP, or socialists. Don’t allow unionists to poison the well.
A girl in the T in the Park crowd
link to vine.co
“VOTE YES TO INDEPENDENCE”
why does the audio never work on Vine?
Just watching Biffy C at T in the Park just now and agree that every shot does it’s best to get the UJ in full view but – then the lone piper ( PQ to cameraman ” the piper – we forgot about the bloody piper ” )
the volume is set to off.. move the cursor to the top left hand corner of the image and click
Jesus that’s well hidden – thanks Mr Thms…
RogueCoder
You are right of course. Nothing I say will make any difference apart from encourage. I good at not rising to the bait usually. My point was and is that they serve an important function for the site in stimulating debate. When it derails an important issue it’s a problem.
I love the idea of them being useful to us, and telling them so. They are useful – they keep us sharp.
They are the sharpening block this site whets it’s blade on
@ G H Graham, 11.11pm
Thanks for your amazingly, or should I say astonishingly ((c) JoLa) positive message.
So if it’s NO, it’s all down to YES supporters buying the Sunday Herald and thereby funding the weekday Herald.
Yep. Countries’ independence stuggles are as simple as that.
Get a grip, man!
(I’m assuming you’re a man, you might be a woman for all I know)
Yay! Simon Neil holds up Yes Saltire at T in the Park.
@ Kendomacaroonbar. I cant find your E mail addy Ken,I will be seeing Thepnr who,s Ian D.
yabadabadoo is a Kipper troll
@Ronnie
kenmcdonald1(at) btopenworld (dot) com
Biffy with “YES” Saltire at the end of his gig at T in the park.
What a way to end the night, Brilliant.
Get it right up ye BBC Scotland and all who sail on you.
Always liked Biffy.Hope Paulo Nutini does the same!
It was probably James Naughtie with the union flag!
TITP
It’s on the live replay 17.40ish
Returns to main studio… Talking head- “some successful vox popping there” Look on coupon that says ‘Prime directive breached, hit no.1’
I hope it goes viral, it might start something silly big.
Oops.
link to bbc.co.uk
Ronnie Anderson
Not long now Ronnie until we meet again Ronnie.
I will be paying Govan a wee visit this weekend as well. Need to find out a couple of things, nudge nudge wink wink.
Won’t it be great in a couple of years time when we broadcast our own events rather shipping up the EBC to do it for us. End of the month we can look forward to the opening of Commonwealth Games hosted by Clare Balding and Gary Linekar, great.
Not sure if anyone caught ‘Boulton & Co’ on Sky News earlier today (Friday 11/07)
Interestingly talked about the Oil figures. More interestingly stated that UK Oil & Gas had stated that there were 28 Billion barrels of oil left in the North Sea and Aberdeen University Geology Department had stated that there were 30 billion barrels of oil left in the North Sea.
Now strike me down with a wet sock, but for anyone’s money these two bodies ARE experts and would say they know what their talking about.
Boulton added that the OBR had stated that only 10 to 12 billion barrels remained in the North Sea
Now why on earth should we except the word of a bunch of shysters set up by king shyster Osborne over the word of
not one but TWO expert bodies
Meanwhile you may notice that everyone just focuses on the ‘North Sea’ like some deft magician’s avoiding any mention of oil located around Scotland outside the North Sea
@Defo –
Cheers for the Biffy link – nice one.
Here’s hoping we see a lot more Yes flags over the rest of the weekend – MSM chances like this are few and far between. (Mind you, we’re probably more likely to see them on unionist bonfires than TITP tentpoles – see the WOS Twitter feed…)
Yon flag waver couldn’t have been James N. The wave rate was way beyond what that pompous old bitch could muster. Unremitting, metronomical in its regularity, and just in the right place for the camera boom at rear centre.
Anyone there ? Get it right up them, by moving next to their pitch. It’s not fucking there by accident.
The Yes flag is at 1.54 ish. He had it waiting to hand.
‘moan the biffy indeed.
link to bbc.co.uk
Is anyone in TITP right now able to tell us what the vibe is re Indyref, flags, general chit-chat etc?
Must be someone who could do a ‘From Our Own Correspondent’ type bulletin.
Ian Brotherhood, Gail Lythgoe of the Yes Scotland campaign has sent a few epic tweets on here own account from TITP –
link to twitter.com
I’ve often wondered…. Do Scottish reporters and news executives take lessons in avoiding reporting on reality in Pyeongyang?
That’s the only place I can think of with a more sycophantic media, and the only reason for that is because their families will get sent to prison if they deviate from the state line!
That really says a lot about the state of the Scottish Media.
@joe kane –
Cheers mister – great stuff.
Thanks Ian.
Here’s an actual image of Biffy Clyro waving their YES flag –
link to twitter.com
And another –
link to twitter.com
Let us accept the OBR’s figures. BUT, insist that any cash raised above the figures they claim goes directly to the Scottish Govt in the event of a no vote..
I worked with Richard Walker, the Sunday Herald Editor, when he was on the way up.
He does not come across as a great leader, but, this guy has principles, and if he believes in something – as he does about INdependence – then he will back it with everything.
Personally, I think he’s a better Second-in-Command than he is a Leader; he is terrific at the boring, nuts and bolts bits which the great leaders sometimes overlook.
But, until such times as the Honcho at the Record or the Sun (not necessarily the Editor)decides: “FFS, Yes are going to win this, we’d better get on board that band wagon”, Richard is the best, the only friend, Yes has got on the decision-making floors in the MSM.
Re the OBR estimates of oil.
They just rushed that out at the bidding of Cameron to cover and out publish Prof McDonald’s article and calculation.
It is a concocted spoiler.
Re: the Sunday Herald – it doesn’t really matter to me if it is a genuine YES position by the editor, or an attempt to fill a gap in the market, or a bit of both.
They are currently the only mainstream newspaper supporting a YES vote, and they deserve our support. If they do see a big sales boost, then other papers might take note..
Last posts on this subject…
People who buy The Sunday Herald are indirectly FUNDING THE NO CAMPAIGN! That edition is owned by the very same people who own The Herald.
A few measly half arsed attempts at balance on a Sunday is a trickle compared to the comic level propaganda you’ll find on all the other editions which sells many more copies than it does on a Sunday.
Which part of YOU ARE INDIRECTLY FUNDING THE NO CAMPAIGN don’t you get?
If everyone who was intending to vote YES stopped clicking on their website or stopped buying their print editions or both, they will contribute to the premature closure of the The Herald Group & eliminate a local persistent source of anti independence propaganda.
You really do have the power to change the media folks. But if you just carry on doing what you have always done, you can’t expect anything to change. And you certainly have no grounds for complaint if there is a NO vote.
The News where we are is from Border TV, will they broadcast the AS v AD debate?
The lack of STV, in my opinion is one of the contributing factors to D&G returning the only Tory mp in Scotland.
GH Graham.
Of course the Herald group isn’t perfect; no section of the media is perfect. However, the Herald (MOn-Sat editions) does give space to pro-Yes writers such as Iain McWhirter and Ian Bell; they use the Blessed Harry Reid, who is always worth reading.
For sure, they also use David Torrance, but, the Herald is more-balanced than any other Daily paper.
The Scotsman’s pro-Unionist stance disgusts me, as for the “kilted” editions of the London papers – beneath contempt – Kevin McKenna apart.
The Herald is a far cry form the great paper I first wrote for 45-years ago. It is American-owned, its owners are pro-Union.
But, when it comes to the daily sector of the MSM, the Herald is fairer to the Independence campaign than anyone else. That said, sadly, it is still skewed towards a No vote.
We can only re-double our efforts to prove their management wrong. Freedom never comes cheaply.
The irony is that oil is just the bonus that independence will bring. The rest will be business as usual.
As far as the OBR is concerned it is obvious that they have a dual function.
They have to be as accurate as possible with their economic forecasts when they are advising Osborne, but they have no need to be accurate when they are instructed by Osborne to dish up propaganda in support of the NO vote.
To call them an independent group is a fallacy.
Socrates ruminates: pro-Yes writers such as Iain McWhirter
Macwhirter (lower case ‘w’) is a Yes voter only in the task of gaining greater democratic powers for Scotland.
He knows we are severely hamstrung meantime, but he’s an avowed federalist. Federalism always strikes me as a weak compromise, full of flaws, certain to demote Scotland to a region of merry England. Worse, Macwhirter dismisses a Yes win. “Too big a gap to bridge in the time left.”
Still, I’ll take his honesty and directness anytime and happily junk the offal of dissemblers and the ignorant, Bell’s often too lengthy preambles excluded.
Stuart the way you are exposing the “Scottish Media” is terrific but how do we get this message out to the Scottish, and indeed British public about how our media are treating us? I have no idea how many people view this website but your analysis of this behavior needs to be spread far and wide. In my opinion our “Scottish Media” deserve to be exposed and embarrassed for their part in this.
Kind of funny, the prime ministers reaction to BA dropping it’s Aberdeen to London City service….
Bit of a contradiction…
link to pressandjournal.co.uk