Stories of the week, 15/6/2014
Posted on
June 15, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
The top five most-read stories on Wings Over Scotland in the last seven days.
1. Voters less ordinary
Housewife turns out to be activist. What could go wrong?
2. Inaudible mumble amplified
A good week to bury someone calling a million Scots racists.
3. Becoming the story
Smearing the messenger.
4. To the editor of the Scotsman
Standing by for developments.
5. The unacceptable face of politics
Grumpy-Looking Man confronts Not Quite All There Woman.
This week’s theme: CYBERNATS! (Again.)
So use this one instead: “The UK – A Voluntary Union or Capture by…
Number 1 is a surprise
Rev,
Do you happen to know the average number of comments per post since WOS started? Just wondering if WordPress allows you to see that.
This past week must have seen a record high number of comments, or very close to it – every post seems to be getting well into the two, three hundreds, and O/T has gone mental since you revamped it.
“Not Quite All There Woman.”
Nicely put….as always.
Great to see WOS raising awareness for the plight of ordinary Scottish Labour politicians posing as extraordinary members of the public. I’m sure they’ll appreciate all the free publicity they’ve been getting this week from one of Scotland’s most popular sources of news and analysis.
Tony Blair is scary!!!
I guess he is America’s mouthpiece this week. I doubt anyone is going to listen to him. I hope not.
Its 5. for me. How you were able to sit there and not tell STV where to stick their “head to head” with that idiot is rather incredible.
Even worse was both Dalgety and the interviewer blatantly lying about Alistair Darling and his “yes voters are blood and soil nazi’s” slander at the end. Darling’s head of UKOK campaign but imagine BBC/STV/Daily Sewer etc reacting to Blair Jenkins doing a Flipper?
Not a good week for bettertogether at all:D
This doesn’t happen by accident.
link to youtube.com
My father has extraordinary difficulties comprehending and interpreting, do to a progressive degenerative disorder. Saying that, he was truly shocked when I went over some the above issues with him. He might have a pronounced aphasia, but it looks like he still has his sense of smell.
One of the ‘stories of the week’ not listed is the WOS campaign material being sent out (possibly one of the reasons the Forces of Darkness decided to launch another futile attack) – I’ve got my boxes of leaflets, so if anyone wants some, thus saving postage costs for WOS, please come to the Wallace Tower on Ayr’s Main St tomorrow about 12.30 – 1.30.
It’ll also be a chance to talk to Richie Venton, who’s the SSP Regional Organiser – that man has been known to persuade dogs and cats to deliver leaflets, put up posters and get otherwise politically active, so please, if you’re intending to ‘GOYA!’ (get off your arse) anytime between now and Sep 18th, why not make it tomorrow?
G Campbell
Agreed – how could they not find 3 English England supporters. The minute I saw that alarm bells started ringing.
@Clootie
“Tony Blair is scary!!!”
Understated post of the week there Clootie.
Well this week has seen wings in the papers, on the radio and the tv, #wingsEverywhere.
Is there really such a thing as bad publicity? I would bet the visitors and page view stats will have taken off again. You are quickly becoming enemy no1 for the British state, be careful man.
Better Together needing a new diversion away from sliding support and missing case for the union:
link to archive.today
But Better Together has submitted what it claims is evidence of collusion, including an online message from Blair Jenkins, Yes Scotland’s chief executive, urging people to donate to the pro-separation Business for Scotland group.
He is also accused of promoting fundraising for another registered pro-independence group representing students called Generation Yes.
Ian, sweetheart, is there any way you could post me a handful of these leaflets? Enough to put on the table for the punters at our Yes public meeting on 23rd June?
I’ve tried to order them twice, but my PayPal is broken. It won’t let me pay for anything. And I really, really want those leaflets for the 23rd. Even a couple of dozen would be better than nothing.
If there’s any way you can, remind me of your email address and I’ll email you my postal address.
My German guests all left this morning after a week of music-making and sight-seeing. This was the second leg of a choir exchange visit.
They were all pro-Yes. They can’t believe the lies we’re being told. I told them about Barroso and one said “who was paying him?” and another said “but we want you to vote Yes because you will be better Europeans than England.”
One asked to see the news one evening and I turned on the BBC just after ten. By ten past ten they were begging me to turn it off. They wanted international news, and news from and about Scotland. Instead they were treated to an interminable piece about Moslems taking over English schools – which they didn’t actually see as “news” as they understood it. They were incredulous that broadcasting wasn’t devolved and said they didn’t know how we put up with it.
At the riotous ceilidh we put on last night, I heard one of our own members talking to a German guest. He was saying something about a big decision and having to wait for the verdict and “we can only hope the decision is positive.” I thought he was talking about something in his own personal life, and asked what the decision was. He looked at my prominent Yes badge as if I was mad and replied, the referendum of course.
I just grinned and nodded. I should mention that this chap is a “New Scot”, originally from Sri Lanka, a highly intelligent and cultured gentleman of some means.
@Morag –
No probs ‘sweetheart’ (!) :
ian@stevenston4.fsnet.co.uk
How many do you want, for that event and beyond? Seriously – I’ve got 5,000 here.
Once the Germans had departed, I got going with leafleting the village for our big open meeting on the 23rd. We got a team together and had the whole place done and dusted in well under two hours. Now I have to sort the posters on the lamp-posts, and an ad in the local paper.
We have Ivan McKee, Carol Fox and Derek Bateman, and it’s going to be great.
Then. I have a retired colleague in the village, of English extraction. He does some work for my department when we’re very busy. He’s also active in the parish church. He’s said some stuff that had me pegging him as a convinced No.
While we were divvying out the leafleting routes he happened to pass by and approached me. He wanted to know if I would be able to take some stuff he’d been working on at home in to work in the morning. I said sure, bring it round later, and he went on his way.
After the leafleting was done, various people were reporting new Yessers they’d encountered. Calum, who had done my colleague’s street, said he’d been speaking to a woman who couldn’t make the meeting but would really have liked to go. He’d got her email and was going to keep her in the loop. Well, what do you know. My colleague’s wife.
Then my colleague came round with the stuff he wanted me to ferry back to base. He mentioned Calum’s visit and asked if we’re related (because of the surname but we’re not). He said his wife was leaning to Yes, but she knew that his vote would cancel hers. I asked why he was a No.
I’m not sure I got an answer but by the time we’d run through the McCrone report and the NHS it was revealed that he was persuadable, and I sent him off with an Aye Right leaflet.
Pigs have taken Wing(s), I tell you.
Ivan is really good – I saw him in Galashiels a couple of weeks ago. Sharp as a button and unwavering he is a great asset. I would love to see Derek Batman live. Going to miss all this after 18th September.
Even if we do win in September does anyone expect the poison to desist? Labour placemen throughout Scotland will be natural saboteurs.
Ruth Davidson and the previous Dover House, London, England, Office boy/lapdog, said he would work for the best deal for Scotland, but Labour Spokespersons were always incapable of answering the question put to them by soft TV interviewers, who might as well have sat on their laps..
Kevin McKenna
Apologies for any unkind remarks. Please keep it up and don’t forget “blood and soil”.
link to theguardian.com
Rev- when are you going to do another sensible soccer? I used to love that game.
Re the Scottish football fans supporting England, it may send a message that we are not all anglophobes
“This week’s theme: CYBERNATS! (Again.)”
Naw Stu,this weeks story is Cameron going to Orkney today to try and divide our country into smaller parts without a mandate.
Not one of the parties representing the islands stood on this ticket.
Divide and conquer,the Romano/German way.
ronald russell says:
Re the Scottish football fans supporting England, it may send a message that we are not all anglophobes
This is exactly what I was thinking Ronald. And of course most Scots aren’t Anglophobes, but it can come across as that if you only look at people’s views on the England football team.
Personally I’d be perfectly happy for England to win the World Cup again after we’re independent – with our own broadcasting service we wouldn’t have to listen to them go on and on about it for 60 years.
If England felt the heat and humidity in Manaus they can look forward to real pollution in Sao Paulo. I Have been there.
They suffer for their art.
I’m in two minds as to whether it is better for them to fail or not.
Well done La Belle France!
Rev Stu,
O/T
For some comedy relief I had a browse at your Zany links.
Alan Cochrane’s link was really funny. Initially I thought it was some kind of BBC Scotlandshire spoof – but No – it was the Telegraph.
Here are his headlines on Gordon Brown…
Quips at the ready, the former premier is a man transformed facing a fight that he can win
Gordon Brown launches the Labour Party’s No campaign with an air of optimism
(3rd June 2014)
Who knew: Great Broon could be key in defence of the Union
Former prime minister’s crowd-pulling enthusiasm may also rehabilitate reputation
(4th June 2014)
Scottish independence: If Gordon Brown wants to save the Union, he should avoid cheap attacks on his enemies
David Cameron has not pitched Scotland against England in the referendum debate, as Gordon Brown claims, argues Alan Cochrane.
(9th June 2014)
For goodness’ sake Gordon, this is not all about you
Former prime minister attacks Cameron and sidelines Darling instead of focusing on Better Together campaign
(9th June 2014)
Oops. Pretty well sums up Better Together – No thanks Campaign.
Cochrane – What a complete numpty.
Robert Kerr
I’m in the,further England go in the world cup the better for us,camp.
Saying that,after watching Italy not even coming out of first gear to beat them,I don’t fancy their chances against Uruguay and especially Costa Rica.
brilliant cartoon–Blair–Iraq
link to mobile.twitter.com
Its interesting watching millions of England supporters with England flag, strips and the Cross of Saint George face paint but vote no Guardian very weird Gordon Brown front page new book review says “Behind the crisis of the union lies the shattered postwar consensus. Woad-daubed Bravehearts are a symptom, not its cause.”
Another United with Labour, Bettertogether, No Thanks, week kicks off.
link to archive.today
Lord Reid of Cardowan presents the No case
in a full page advert
full page!
He has a golden opportunity
to promote the No arguments.
This is his big pitch –
We can have our own unique identity
a-a-aaand
benefit from the security
that comes from being part of something bigger.
Identity ? This is shooting fish in a barrel.
“We can have our unique identity”
So we can keep on calling the country Scotland.
That’s very kind of Lord John and Westminster
for allowing us the privilege
and the benefit -would you believe –
of continuing with our own name, our own unique identity.
This is the first fruit and benefit of voting No.
Hand over to England’s super-rich Tory ruling classes
£4 Trillion worth of oil and gas and in exchange
we get to keep the name ‘Scotland.’
Have you ever heard such fuddle-muddle?
Such contempt for Scots.
A Labour Lord sending a message to the Labour rank and file whom he treats like imbeciles and idiots with this claptrap.
Presented with this, my dog would walk away.
Lord Reid of Cardowan himself seems a little confused about his own identity – he uses his old identity viz. John Reid
for this full page advert.
Addressing the punters, he’s John Reid, proud Scot, Celtic man, went to St Pat’s, C’brig, good Catholic school and Labour all his days.
But in Westminster, among the important people of the English Establishment, and on the BBC, he’s Lord Reid.
Enough said on the subject of identity.
Next comes the other trade. Give us your 4 trillion pounds worth of oil and we’ll let you continue to live within 30 miles of the biggest nuclear weapons storage facility outside the US.
We’ll let you remain as THE No 1 TARGET in the event of a nuclear confrontation with unfriendly nations.
That’s “the security that comes from being part of something bigger”.
And all Scotland has to do is sign over every last ounce of our massive wealth of oil & gas resources which are so great it will take 200 yrs to extract and that’s before you get to the limitless wealth attached to hydro, wind and tidal energy.
And so much more – the finest whisky in the world made from the purest water in the world, and on and on.
Lord Reid, is this really your best shot ?
You would take everything and in exchange
You offer us ‘identity’
and what you call ‘security’?
I’ll tell you something – were Scotland to vote No
we would get a new identity –
The world’s most stupid and most gullible nation.
In this advert
you have achieved something
I’ll give you that.
You’ve made yourself an object of ridicule.
With a Yes in September
Scotland will avoid doing the same.
I had a quick look at polling on footie. Yougov 2010 compared to MORI 2014.
As Scotland moves towards independence, the level of support for the English football team is unchanged at ~20-24%, with ‘anyone but England’ reaching an all time low of 5% for this world cup, down from 24% in 2010.
This is exactly what you’d expect, i.e. any ‘Oh no, England on the telly all the time again’ feeling reaching an all time low as the referendum approaches. How could it be any other way? England is going from being ‘That’s not my country – why do I have to hear about it all the time’ to being ‘All the best to the neighbours’ or ‘I’m not fussed’.
I imagine this is annoying for unionists; doesn’t fit with the narrative, but it’s only natural in such situations. After all, England is becoming ‘Our new neighbour’ rather than the ‘Auld enemy’.
If you have two groups of people with different views (in this case political) forced to live together in the same home (UK), they’ll argue. Give them their own homes and that will stop. It’s not rocket science.
The auld rivalry the union created is dying as Scotland becomes its own country again.
He added that it was essential for economic and social reasons, and that the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta was an ideal time to restate British freedoms – and make it clear everyone had to respect them.
Mr Cameron will also be holding a ‘one year to go’ Magna Carta reception at Downing Street
Tony Hancock: “Does Magna Carta mean nothing to you? Did she die in vain?”
Lol
For the record.
John Reid advert in the Scottish Catholic Herald
link to tinypic.com
Just had a look through our Monday Dundee Courier. On page 17 they have a picture of a bloke standing in front of a couple of Yes posters. He is wearing a hoodie and is drawing on a fag (it gives sunken cheeks). He is unshaven and, to be frank, looks like an unkempt down and out.
Of course he may be none of those things; he may be a very nice fellow and may just be a passer by pulled in to make a ‘shot’, or he may have been brought along specifically to make the shot.
I have my own opinions. Make up your own mind folks.
how’s the Magna Carter British values,if the union wasn’t formed till 1707
so for PM,British means England
Re the England team, I’m offshore at the moment and have going from my usual couldn’t care less attitude towards England to a more positive supporting role, mainly because they haven’t had the sickening hype this year and they are almost the underdogs in their group and have some bright, young talent.
The problem is, any encouraging noises I make towards the team is met with disapproval from England supporters on board as they think that I am taking the piss!
You just can’t win
going = gone
PS The missus is from Engerlund.
Scottish Skier – it’s funny you should say that. I’m surprised at how non-fussed I am this time re England’s performance in the World Cup. I feel rather detached from it. I even doubt that will change if they get further and the jingoism of the commentary team increases! It’s another country.
I
Interesting as always, Skier.
I agree. I think through devolution, I certainly have become more confident and matured in wanting England to lose. I just don’t really care about them and if being honest, they were unlucky on Saturday to not get a draw.
If anything, I’m spurned on a little especially the A.B.E crew who will vote no in September yet have the audicity to go back to Hampden and sing F.O.S.
@scottish_skier
This, of course, is the nub of the Grit Nat establishment’s fight. Scotland leaves and they have one less option for the ‘divide and conquer’ strategy.
link to bbc.co.uk Start the ukok week with one of the bigger BBC frauds on Scotland in action. The whole bettertogetherBBC vote no thing’s like watching con artists trying to bilk suckers day after day.
Tony Hancock: “Does Magna Carta mean nothing to you? Did she die in vain?”
ha ha ha ha ha
Re the football thing, I’m not sure I approve of the presenters asking politicians if they’re supporting England or not in the World Cup. When Blair Jenkins was asked I just got a flashback to my school days when you were asked if you liked rangers or celtic, and then had to answer correctly just to appease the person you were speaking to for fear of getting a doing. It grates with me that if a Scot says they’re not supporting England then they’re racist or anti-English. If I say I support England does that make me racist or anti-every other country in the tournament? I have no real affiliations with England so whats the trouble in supporting Brazil, Argentina or Germany instead, based on the fact that I like to watch great players in action and doing well? Just because I don’t agree with how unionists believe I should think, I (or anyone else) should not have to curb perfectly acceptable and reasonable opinions in order to seem supportive to others. Whatever happened to freedom of speech… Apologies if anyone sees this as an attack, it was not intended as such.
Does anyone know the date of the “Scottish” Daily Express article that indicated nationalist are more likely to be abused than unionists in the ratio 21:8. That dishonest Alexander McKay was in the Express on Friday with the lie that abuse is only from nationalists – today he is stirring the religion pot! My wife would like to drop the Express a line but wants the date of the abuse article. Unlikely they will print a letter as McKay is becoming their poster boy and less and less pro indy letters are appearing in that rag. I don’t read it anymore but buy it for my English wife. She is also a YESser – drew her own conclusions after living here for a while!
What’s the Magan Carta got to do with the price of fish? As the British Library are keen to point out “Magna Carta never applied in Scotland, and the writ of habeas corpus, which was standardised in England under the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, has no meaning in Scotland”
So invoking the Magna Carta in the Scottish Referendum debate is just silly and only serves to (deliberately) muddy waters.
Talking of fish, a certain charter produced in Arbroath in 1320 might be more relevant to this debate…
link to bbc.co.uk How to monster the Scottish YES vote by using only an email from a SPAD that got a Labour activist’s dad wrong, BBC style.
Or, How to attack Scottish democracy using the third person, BBC style and ending attack with
“Mr Salmond believes it was a blunder which has led to a manufactured spat.”
For that good old BBC balance n shit.
@Bill McLean
I believe this is the article re abuse published 9th March
This quote taken from the article:
“In a worrying development for the Better Together campaign, 21 per cent of those planning to vote Yes have received abuse or threats compared to just eight per cent of those planning to vote No”
link to express.co.uk
Bill McLean
I archived it here
link to archive.today
link to thesaint-online.com
Quick right click google of Professor Colin Kidd and his extraordinary Guardian puff for How I saved the world from Scotlandshire by Gordon Brown. Oh my god. If dudes like this are in uni’s marking actual essays, we’re all fcuked.
O/T but uplifting.
The scene from my window this morning:
link to scottcreighton.co.uk
@Nana Smith and Hood
Goodness. That was quick. What a fountain of retained knowledge we have on Wings.
ICM tables are out.
Martin Boon has been fiddling the M/F figures again to boost No:
45(-3)% Men
55(+3)% Women
If you correct, it’s actually 46%Y / 54%N / gap = 8 / 4% swing needed for parity rather than 45/55/10/5%
4.4% to many people from England again too with not enough Scots (-3.5%), which would narrow things even further by a point or two.
Interestingly, we know that Martin Boon of ICM was hunting for his mysterious shy No voters which he’s just sure must exist as he sits in his London office – someone who did the poll sent Scotgoespop screenshots.
They asked the ‘uncomfortable/comfortable with giving VI’ again, this time right at the end where it could do no harm in theory and could be tied back to Y/N.
Not in the tables. Maybe Boon didn’t like what he found? His last clanger of an attempt suggested a big shy Yes…
Proud Cybernat
Thats beautiful.
A sure sign of what the future holds
Nana Smith and Hood – many thanks for your help. This site terrific as usual – it’s contributors, the information they provide and of course our blessed Rev! Wifie will be writing to the “Scottish” Daily Express although I doubt they will print as they have less concern for democracy than they do for Scotland. Thanks again!
I’m a bit worried this morning, it’s 11:00am and I’m still waiting for the first daily scare story.
Has project fear gone in to hibernation, run out of guff or have they all been up late watching the football?
@Colin
Never fear the BBC is here.
link to bbc.co.uk
steveasaneilean
Interesting though on Habeas Corpus, in 1834, Sir Archibald Alison, lawyer and historian wrote:
“it is the glory of England that the Habeas Corpus Act, passed in the reign of Charles II., first established an effectual barrier against the evils of arbitrary imprisonment in the southern part of the island. Admirable,however, as the provisions of that justly celebrated statues are, they must yield the palm to the Scottish Act, which, a hundred and thirty years ago, provided an absolute security against the continuance of imprisonment, by any possible contrivance, beyond 140 days; whereas the English Act only gives the prisoner the right to insist that his trial shall be brought on at the next assizes, an event which may often be five or six months from the period of committal, and even then allows the prisoners to be remanded to the next assizes, if the prosecutor’s witnesses are not ready to attend.”
He was writing about what was lost when the old Scottish Parliament was no more and we no longer had the powers to manage our own affairs.
@ IcySpark
That’s better, thanks.
Another load of guff though.