Stories of the week, 9/3/2014
Posted on
March 09, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
The top five most-read stories on Wings Over Scotland in the last seven days. (Sorry, we’ve forgotten to do these for a couple of weeks. Things have been a little busy.)
1. The price of the BBC
A realistic analysis of how well off a Scottish state broadcaster would be.
2. Sticking to the script
Labour MSP Makes Idiot Of Self At FMQs Shock.
3. Damn that uncertainty
George Osborne has his eye on North Sea oil money, again.
4. What you didn’t read this week
Major story positive for Yes breaks, media studiously ignores it.
5. All your ducks in a row
…while not only repeating tired old scares, but amalgamating them.
This week’s theme: don’t believe anything you see or hear. Except here, natch.
.
A couple of weeks ago over a few nights watching Question time, Newsnight & catching news reports etc, witnessing such Pro No bias I began to get the feeling that the establishment are keeping a negative aspect on practically every angle of independence.
I consulted my oracle HP laptop, Googed up to WoS
Thanks for the debate & analysis, mainstream media in GB is not allowing it.
O/T
link to arcofprosperity.org
“Jens-Peter Bonde (a Danish writer and former member of the European Parliament) has written an article on the rights and relationships of an independent Scotland and Catalonia in the EU. The article was published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on March 5th (in Danish, registration required).
A number of Bonde’s points are very important in the context of the rumours emanating from the both the Spanish and British governments that both Catalonia and Scotland will be thrown out of the EU in the event of in depend ends.”
Continues..
Rev, as usual the storyies are 1st class journalism,concrats to
all contributiters, C Cairns ( danny Alexander ) was brill.
I have been busy all week papers ect,having a look on site
earlier, what do I find ( A mental exercise ) did ye miss me.
Read BBC trust charter and if you are a licence fee payer
“Have your say”
IMO the sooner we sort the misreporting practices of some of the media the better
link to bbc.co.uk
I have to admit that I’m a bit sceptical about the BBC price story (conjectural figures, as Rev Stu admitted) but the rest…
Where would Scotland be without WoS?
Finally something is growing big enough to challenge the BBC/MSM view. NNS, Bella, NC etc. all do good work and are important but WoS reaches the most people.
I bet that Bath rat-master didn’t count on this when he started the whole thing.
The EU pension law change cover up was a disgrace but from now on its clearly going to be project fear and only project stuff pouring out of Pacific Quay with all the rest of these ghastly outfits.
Rev, it seems that the most read story hit list mostly concerns the supported view of bias and broad coalition/coordination in the MSM.
Things are not what they seem. The press cannot report on the actual situation because it does not match their version of events, they report what they wish was real, what they wish was happening, what they want to happen!
If the press consistently fall back on reporting their falsities then things fall apart.
What we are seeing right now is the dissolution of truth as reported by traditional outlets and it’s flailing against the new media reality.
The question is, what happens next?
Will some realise where we are and change tack or are they so beholden to the state that they lose their audience, income and influence in Scotland as a price worth paying for their loyalty to their London paymasters.
The pressure of new media is building, more and more people are posting information that contradicts what is being broadcast through traditional outlets and this will fundamentally change the perception of people involved in this debate. They cannot reverse the flow of information and the more they try to stem it and fight the people the more evident their manipulation becomes.
Expect more outlandish claims, more extreme tactics and unbelievable lies, it is the only option left open to them, all or nothing.
Scotland will be put under extreme pressure from asset stripping, scorched earth policies and information denial whilst attempts are made to close down internet dissemination of information.
Then they fight you, then you win!
Stand tall, stand brave, keep on doing what we are doing!
Off topic. If you want to see the heads-up about Lockerbie and Heathrow airport, tune in to Al Jazeera at 8 o’clock on Tuesday evening.
@lanarkist
The question is, what happens next?
Will some realise where we are and change tack or are they so beholden to the state that they lose their audience, income and influence in Scotland as a price worth paying for their loyalty to their London paymasters.
Stand up Scottish media, the time has come.
A few of Nick Clegg’s favourite things about his ‘country’.
“I love that a country capable of extraordinary pomp and ceremony can still retain a spiky irreverence towards its establishment. A country where we line the streets waving our Union Jacks wildly to welcome the arrival of Prince George, and the next moment we’re chuckling at Private Eye’s front page: ‘Woman Has Baby’.
“I love that we insist on queuing when we go abroad, even when the locals don’t.”
“I love that we insist on queuing when we go abroad, even when the locals don’t.
Then you’ll love queuing at the border post at Gretna pleading to get in.
Just listened to Jim Ratcliffe of INEOS on R4 being interviewed on the competitiveness of the EU chemical industry which supports 6m jobs, basically there are tough challenges ahead from the rest of the world regards raw materials and energy costs.
Of course the real important aspect of the interview, for the BBC, was the chance to get onto the subject of one particular plant, in the whole of the EU, of course Grangemouth. The desperation in the tone of the interviewer could be detected as time was running out when he tried to suggest that this particular Scottish plant may be at risk, to which Ratcliffe slapped down the BBC interviewer by reminding that he was on to talk about the EU industry, but in any case Grangemouth was fine because of the supply of U.S. frack gas.
Then our interpid interviewer still running out of time got in the ”what would be a YES vote mean for him”. Ratcliffe said his business would not be affected one way or another.
A blatant attempt by the BBC to start off the week with another uncertainty narrative? I am sure we can decide for ourselves , but Ratcliffe’s tone suggested he knew what they were up to.
Getting really obvious now!
Smell the fear:
link to bbc.co.uk
bunter says at 7.43
It is even worse as Sunday Times reported yesterday Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire owner of the Grangemouth oil refinery, said independence could deliver prosperity. “[Scotland] will work as an independent country in the same way that Switzerland works. ”
Why didn’t BBC ask him to amplify his thoughts as quoted in Sunday Times?
Smell the fear
Yeah; how many times will the NO side re-launch the discredited former ‘Chancer / financial advisor’ (and BBC report it as groundbreaking news of respected politician entering the fray … again); must be a gift to YES every time this failed Prime Minister utters some new guff thats old news.
Wish we had a decent broadcaster who could state the bleedin obvious about ‘The Man who had his chance (and blew it).
Gordon Brown:
link to youtu.be
The “devo max” thing is gaining legs and becoming dangerous.
It must be exposed as a conspiracy to allow London to keep our oil revenues
Kevin Pringle SNP –
If only Gordon Brown had become Prime Minister so that he could have implemented all these ideas!
Can it be put any clearer ?
Derek Bateman has more comments on BBC
link to newsnetscotland.com
Remember the last time a former Prime Minister intervened to promise “more powers” in a referendum?
Sir Alec Douglas Home promised that if we voted No in 1979 we would get a better Assembly. After 20 years we did.
The same will happen.
Ming Campbell upset that he is being interrupted by the Gary Robertson on GMS when he is trying to say there is a consensus on Devo Muddle.
O/t Charles Kennedy has been quiet for a while. Does anybody know his thoughts on the referendum?
link to thecourier.co.uk
His kind of constitutional arrangement could take decades to deliver; it is essentially Lib Dem federalism with a Labour rosette on it, a federalism / home rule solution that has been mooted by Labour and the Liberals for a hundred years yet still hasn’t been delivered. It’s a confidence trick, and very cynical one at that.
Brown’s constitution and new legislation will, I bet, contain references to Britain being one indivisible nation, as many constitutions do, thus making it near impossible for Scotland to legally become independent at any point in the future.
Brown and his buddies in Scottish Labour, scurrying around to find a way to protect their jobs and their lavish lifestyle, have hit on a proposal that first sounds magnanimous, but upon closer inspection is actually a thinly veiled trap: the one thing that would have prevented independence from happening is a constitution…… now they want to have one. Toytown stuff from Labour, and they’re fooling no one
Ming stating that three ‘democratic’ parties in Britain must have time to reach co census about the detail of ‘devolution’.
Last time I was aware there were at least six democratic parties in Scotland and more in England.
Did he mean the three BT parties?
Did not like being pushed on a timescale for devolution, whether it contained details or not.
Independence is not for Christmas, yes, we know that already.
When are BBC going to push the point that Devo is not on the ballot paper, far too little, too late.
Sir ALEX DOUGLAS ~BROWN ?
Ming Campbell interview on GMS this morning must have swung another few thousand voters over to Yes.
He can’t tell exactly what new powers we will get and can’t
tell us exactly when we will get them.
He really has his finger on the pulse of the nation.
I think it’s called “Jam Tomorrow”.
OK
Prior to the 1979 referendum Sir Alex Douglas-Home (Tory) promised jam tomorrow if we voted NO. We got Maggie Thatcher. Gordon Brown worships her memory and tried to emulate her style but did not have the same testosterone .
Listened to Ming Campbell being interviewed on GMS this morning. All the while I had this vision of pre-revolutionary France Aristocrat talking down to some menial.
All he kept saying to Gary Robertson was, ‘don’t interrupt me’. Classic was when Gary Robertson was going to ask him about Nicola Sturgeon, Campbell jumped in with ‘well she would say that wouldn’t she’, which was strange as Gary hadn’t actually stated what Nicola Sturgeon stated!
Campbell, complete with powdered wig and fine silk coat, just waffled on giving his pointless views
Niall,
Chas Ken has kept his head down for about a decade. He couldn’t even be arsed to vote on fuel tax. He must have thought it an issue on which his constituents would not be worried either way.
He is for the union. The gravy train that keeps giving. Oh, and that ermine is so close…
It was interesting that when GMS were taking about Gordon Brown, they didn’t interview him, probably because Brown doesn’t talk to riff raff and BBC had to get Taylor to spout what Brown would have said – pathetic
After reading on Newsnet Scotland that Brown has been claiming £215,000 additional to his parliamentary salary, yet not actually turning up!
So Brown has to be seen as fair game and questioned at every opportunity and pull him off his high horse.
For some weird reason this morning I keep thinking the French revolution when listening to Ming Campbell and Brown’s flunky, the party ‘grandee’s’ according to the BBC
Got up this morning, opened the curtains to a beautiful sunlit day full of bird chatter – lovely.
Turned on the radio to be told by John Humphrys that ‘ now the weather, eeughh – it’s going to be cloudier and wetter than yesterday.’
It seems that only the home counties has weather anymore.
Niall says
Who cares is the short answer – another sell-out ScotBrit
Fits into the Scottish football star category perfectly; (lots of talent initially but nae brains ultimately – in short !) sadly with a propensity to self implode at times.
Good point Lanarkist,
UKIP should be included because they could end up with more of the vote in England than the Lib/Dems. And then you have the Greens, and Welsh and Northern Ireland parties.
Also don’t forget all the regions in England are watching this debate like hawks. They don’t want Scotland to get one more penny nor any more “powers”. They actually want money and powers reduced to Scotland.
The NO campaign are all over the place regarding any new powers and the only way for Scotland to have the economic and democratic powers it deserves is to vote YES.
Another clue that Scotland will get absolutely NO new powers from Westminster is the deadly silence coming from Cameron, Clegg and Milliband.
Ming Campbell described the Yes camapign as ‘totalitarian’ in between exhorting Gary Robertson not to interrupt so we plebs ‘could follow his train of thought’, as if he was dissecting Kant’s critique of pure reason rather than mumbling some platitudes about unspecified powers maybe appearing at some unspecified time. All conducted with an air of exasperation at having to engage with the hoi-polloi.
Time Ming Campbell was moved to the big window so he can watch the ducks all day..
“Charles Kennedy has been quiet for a while. Does anybody know his thoughts on the referendum?”
Interesting question Niall, I seem to recall that when the campaign kicked off, Kennedy was touted as being one of the leaders, alongside ‘Blinker’ Darling. He has, of course, been conspicuous by his absence, though I do recall seeing him scowling in the background during Duncan Hamilton’s speech at the Glasgow University debate, link below.
Lest we forget it was Jimmy Brown that would not even return the £200m pounds of Landfill tax money to North Britain whilst he was in power.
We had to wait until 2012 and the ConDems gave us half of it back along with the Green Investment Bank an institution that they hoped would help kill off Independence.
@ Skier; @ Colzium.
Left a comment over on the James Naughtie thread on your calculations wrt Survation poll.
O/T
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O/T Can’t believe Channel 5 have invited Richard Madeley back on as guest host for The Wright Stuff . Switching off now!
If Charles Kennedy was forced to make a choice it would be:
1. Do you want a whisky now?
2. Or would you prefer to wait until elevenses?
Dounreay radio active leek.
As Phil Hammond Secretary of State for Defence.
All the relevant people and departments were informed at the time.
Since it took them “8 months” to inform the SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT & people I presume that means they/we are IRRELEVANT. Better together.
O/T,
Many many thanks Kendomacaroonbar sir!
WOS window/car stickers arrived this morning. Expected only one, your generosity is exceeded only by your sense of humour.
I will distribute as far and wide as possible.
Many thanks again.
@ Stuart Black
Could you please provide a text link to that Duncan Hamilton piece… can’t pick links from embedded video on ipad. Many thanks
Ronnie, lets write a wee Wingers anthem.
I propose yaisin the BigYins Wellie Boot soang as a theme;
Ah’ll start
If it wisnae fer the Wingers
Whar wid we be
Strappit tae wir airmcheers
Sookin doon the B B C
Wid be sittin therr in disbelief
Believin ivray wurd
Aw! Wherr wid we be athoot the Wingers
If it wisnae fer the Wingers
Fou wid ye ken?
Fit the Scoatsmin or the Herald or the Guardian wis sayin
Ye’d be sookit as a chookit
Ye’d be dimmer thin the switch
Ye’d be scatter-shot athoot the Wingers
If it wisnae fer the Wingers
How wid ye spik
The media wid hae us luikin thicker than a brick
We’d be scunner-heids an dunner-heids
An bend’it tae thir will
A-thoot Rev Stu and the Wingers
Jine in folks
That Labour bloke McCann made a fair bit of sense actually…..the bt campaign are ripping themselves apart by this pooling our resources together then you saying we’ll get more powers….comes down to the fact the scottish parliament was created to protect education and health principally….why do we have devolution if we are better together?
I don’t think the devo max thing will work, it’s utter nonsense.
At the start of this I’d be fairly confident that maybe half of the now Yes vote, wanted Devo Max as things have progressed though and more become educated on the history of Scottish politics that has changed.
There is only one option now. Devolved power is retained power.
Time Ming Campbell was moved to the big window so he can watch the ducks all day..
Aye, the Merciless one was utterly, utterly useless on GMS today. A strong reinforcement for the vast majority of voters who consider the LibDems a waste of space. Quite offensive to yes supporters, and no questions at all answered, except for a blaring admission at the end that no devo jam proposals will be agreed by the parties before the referendum (ooops! that was not meant to happen!). Full marks to Gary Robertson though, for ignoring his “don’t interrupt me!” knocks and persisting, causing the Minging one to slip up at the end.
What a complete buffoon Ming Campbell is – utterly useless. I am glad he is on the other side.
Poll on Gordon Brown’s devo proposals, open now for votes in today’s Courier:
link to thecourier.co.uk
Training Days
Time Ming Campbell was moved to the big window so he can watch the ducks all day..
I loved that – couldn’t aggree more