Taking no prisoners
Posted on
February 07, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Just to tide you over while we pop out to the shops, readers:
Can you tell we just recently got some good video-capture software?
Anyone know Stus address?
Could do with a new laptop & telly!!! :- )
Gloves are off. About time, show them our determination. I’m very happy today for some reason.
PM: “Union is powerful and precious”
“Myy preshuuussssss!”
Thank God that we have got such a superb First Minister ! Feeling sympathy for the people in Somerset in his interview shows we are a mature Country , Scotland , with ties to the rUK , but never the less want Independece !
Pop out to the shops? But I thought the Daily Mail had told us that all cybernats spend their time in dark bedrooms, hiding from the daylight?
I’ve watched it a few times now. Not seen Camoron’s speech though.
Strangely not one of my English friends(and I have many all over the southern region of Britain) has been in touch to say vote no.
Does Cameron not know how much a phonecall to a foreign country costs?
That interviewer was awful. Sounded extremely defensive. Salmond spot on as usual.
Cameron is a coward and he’ll go down in “UK” history as the last Prime Minister of Scotland and a coward. Anyway how come head of UKOK, future Lord Alistair Darling has disappeared?
Full Time Score
Salmond – 1 : BBC – 0
And I know loads of people in the Midlands & South East of England but still waiting for the phone to ring off the hook.
Perhaps they are too busy making household budget compromises in preparation for the arrival of the next electric/gas/oil/food bill?
Not exactly O/T so perhaps Rev Stu will forgive me for posting this. The First Minister on Channel 4: link to channel4.com
Typical Rev Stu…out there enjoying his cheap English shopping knowing fine well us Scots will be scunnered with high food prices (The Lamont Lament) if we vote YES.
I duly declare this weeks ‘Flavoured Cidernat Sweepstake’ open. Place your bets.
Sorry, don’t know how to embed 🙁
@heedtracker
Its gonna take some make-up job for Forrest Whittaker to play “The last PM of Scotland” after his stint as Idi Amin. James McAvoys turn in drag in ‘Filth’ could pass for a decent Mags Curran.
The FM suggested Dave ought to be helping the people of Somerset
I see he is taking that advice. He is now on his way to Somerset
That arrogant Lord has not gone down very well
Salmond knocks it out of the park.
Once or twice the presenter stuck in a smart arsed comment and tried to move on to something else with the intention of not allowing the FM to to respond – Unfortunately for her, he didn’t let her get away with it.
” …sermon from Mount Olympus…”
canny beat it lol.
Limmy on form.
link to m.youtube.com
Stayed by the phone all afternoon. Not a cheep!
Perhaps I’m kidding myself that I have lots of English friends?
“Alex Salmond joining us from…eh..Scotland” Quality from the BBC as ever.
Good stuff from Alex though, definitely more of this required!
The BBC/BT No campaign is sinking under a deluge.
Great to see Alex Salmond on the attack here – exactly what’s needed at this time. Particularly liked the suggestion that Cameron represents a Westminster elite and not the people of Scotland, or indeed other parts of the UK, including England.
Cindie aka CR says:
Sorry, don’t know how to embed.
My usual line is “I say, would you care to view my etchings?”
(not 100% successful though)
Alex Salmond had more impact in five minutes than Cameron had with half an hour and the assembled UK press.
That’s what is known as a kick ass performance. 😀
Oh baby.
@msean
I think AS reference to Mount Olympus may have been inspired by this article. link to archive.is
Major, try chloroform. That’s got quite a high success rate
oh he is gid, cant believe how much respect i have for that guy.
For all those without a funny bone, that was a joke.
The shops!
Shouldn’t you be phoning us up telling us to vote no?
I thought Blair Jenkins was the leader of the YES Campaign, and not Dennis Cananvan, as Alex Salmond said there, in that interview. Putting that aside Alex was confident and on the ball.
Here’s Colin Welsh boss of bankers Simmons & Company, actually saying that the North Sea now is an unattractive place to invest in, and that North Sea oil is declining rapidly.
No prizes for guessing what side of the fence this guys on.
link to express.co.uk
O/t
Good link@ Cindie aka CR
Alex Salmond having to battle with Matt Frei . He did well !
Sorry to go totally O/T
Just watching the opening ceremony of the Sochi winter olympics and the introduction claims the Russians invented television… I think many Scots – even many Brits – would disagree 😀
Before the opening ceremony kicked off, YLE (Finnish state broadcaster) had a chatty panel: two hosts, one pro volleyball player who used to paly in Russia, one foreign policy expert and one documentary film-maker.
One question that came up was ticket sales and will there be packed houses? The foreign policy expert said that if there are going to be embarrassingly many empty seats, games volunteers and security staff/military will be drafted in to fill them, like they did in London.
Ouch! to Dave Cameron 😀
Putin has arrived, and his arrival wasn’t as cool as the Queen’s in 2012. 😀
Great to see the First Minister come out fighting. Totally pissed of with the sycophantic attitude towards Westminster while showing utter disrespect to anyone in favour of independence.
@Breastplate
You underestimate how boring my etching are – comatose in seconds. I usually pass out first, hence low success rate.
Brilliant stuff, Canavan got a promotion as well?
“Can you tell we just recently got some good video-capture software?”
Linux based?
@Andy-B
Sorry to say that dickhead sits on Aberdeen FC’s board. Along of course, with neo-liberal wigless nugget, Stewart Milne, who of course, David Cameron visited prior to the last general election.
Good that it’s in the express though….
Also, perhaps Simmons and Company are maybe pushing the wrong buttons, because companies tendering for fields as never been higher, as well as all the new offices springing up in Aberdeen.
@Breastplate Tried chloroform and I didn’t wake up for ages!
Re Cameron’s speech today from Stratford, East London, England – why did the tostrom have “Glasgow Caledonian University” on it?
Who is the presenter? I think I have a crush on her. She is lovely. Just as well it is Salmond and Sturgeon who are leading us…
* rostrum.
@MajorBloodnok @Macandroid @Breastplate lol!
Thing “tostrum” was very apt..
Think ya eejit
@chalks.
Does he really, I didn’t know that, though its funny how the oil executive etc are coming out and backing the UK, whilst intimating that gas and oil are dwindling, meanwhile North sea licences are being issued at a staggering rate.
Surely they wouldn’t lie to us would they?. (Tongue in cheek)
I don’t have any friends or family in England, Wales or N.I. but I’ve stayed by the phone just in case I received a call that turned out to be a wrong number. I have my response ready for the first wrong number to call, HONEST! 🙂
As always, I find Alex Salmond to be an extremely professional individual when he is being ‘interviewed’ by television news presenters.
I’ve watched both the BBC and Channel 4 interviews and as GHG says:
Alex Salmond 1
BBC News 0
Alex Salmond 1
Channel 4 News 0
Overall we have:
Alex Salmond 2
T.V. News 0
Something tells me that there is something in the air today and it has turned all the union supporting people of TV News, politicians and Better Together into quivering wrecks. Could we be on the verge, I know I’ve suggested this often before, of witnessing the sudden and final implosion of the ‘Save the union’ campaign? 🙂
Just had a call from an English person telling me that the Banks (under Westminster’s regulation) have been ripping us off for years and I may be entitled to compensation.
Is this the phone call you were talking about David?
Boy was she told what for. Mind you she did ask for it.
Andy B said – I thought Blair Jenkins was the leader of the YES Campaign, and not Dennis Cananvan, as Alex Salmond said there, in that interview.
Blair Jenkins is the Chief Executive and Dennis Canavan is the Chairman – which makes him Dennis equivalent to Darling. So I guess it depends on how you define ‘the leader’.
Blair Jenkins is the Chief Executive of the Yes Campaign appointed by the board of Yes Scotland which is led by Denis Canavan.
Another person taking no prisoners today is Gerry Hassan;
link to gerryhassan.com
Some guff on right now (Douglas Fraser, radio) about how Scots won’t get their pensions until they’re 103 or something…yawn…
It’s good to see the gloves are coming off.
Game on.
This is just the last in a long line of examples of Alex owning a BBC journalist who did not have the requisite knowledge for the interview and who clearly despite the prim and polite veneer was well and truly rattled.
He needs to come out fighting, Salmond is at his best when he is fighting for Scotland. This is what people need to see more of. Having said that the whole debate thing is a very clever distraction from Cameron’s overall message.
‘sermon from mount olympus’…I loved that!
O/t
They are wheeling in the NAW brigade on Radio Scotland . Douglas Fraser economy Editor , giving him his title ,
Wow Nessie hasn’t been seen for a while according to Radio Scotland . What does that mean , is that good or bad for Scotland ! Will we lose all the Tourists if no one sees her soon . Project Fear at it again . Surely not ,
Forget David Cameron, love bombing, Bob Dudley, Mark Carney or even the winter Olympics in Sochi. The Loch Ness Monster hasn’t been seen once, not once in 2013, has the Better Together camp done something to poor old Nessie, or is she just waiting for independence to show herself. I hope the latter prevails.
Apparently St Columba, encountered Nessie when she was just a wee lass in 565 AD
link to scotsman.com
@Andy-B not all of them are, there are a few who are pro-indy but choose to remain neutral.
I’ve a feeling that might change soon though.
Ian Wood for instance has been on record as saying that the time for indy was in the 70’s….we all know what happened then….the new CEO of Wood Group has said indy doesn’t bother him.
It’ll come, the thing that bothers me, is that this argument is about so much more than oil.
Our right to sovereignty, that is the biggest prize any nation can ever get and when you ask them about this, their true feelings come out.
It’s what Scottish Skier has alluded to in the past….it IS a question of nationality for Scottish people.
So, this talk of them all being up Aberdeen way in a couple of weeks – is AS planning to doorstep Cameron?
Soapboxes at dawn…
Well done Alex. In future interviews continue to talk over the BBC line and get your points over (Nicola too).
I don’t imagine there was a huge audience to watch the interview from “er Scotland” but I bet a good proportion agreed with Alex about Cameron neglecting the unhappy people of SW England to make a political speech in London— SE England being Cameron’s natural territory.
What Cameron is going to say in Dyce/Aberdeen will be interesting. I hope that YES Scotland are planning a massive demonstration to show how much he is detested outsude his comfort zone.
And the utterly hilarious thing about all this is that it completely wrong-foots all the U-KOK numpties who have been sneering at Stu for living in England and yet having the temerity to be involved in the referendum campaign.
I mean, surely they can’t imagine that it’s perfectly fine and dandy for No-leaning ex-pat Scots in England to phone a friend and talk them into a No vote, but at the same time a Yes-leaning ex-pat Scot in England should keep his cheeky face out of it?
Ian Brotherhood says:
So, this talk of them all being up Aberdeen way in a couple of weeks – is AS planning to doorstep Cameron?
I’ve just had the most fantastic image Ian.
After Cameron and his government meet in Aberdeen he holds the usual press conference and when he asks if anyone has a question up pops none other than Alex Salmond with his “When are you going to come to the debate?” question. 🙂
Just heard newsreader on Sky News announce “the black hole in Scotland’s finances is now spiralling out of control”!!!!!!!!!!
Couldn’t be bothered to listen to any more.
It look like Alex Salmond has embarrassed David Cameron into visiting the Somerset Levels.
Blair Jenkins’ opposite number is Blair McDougal I think.
And to be fair, those two have debated, at least on some local radio station to my knowledge.
Darling Canavan (whom I’ve not seen any speech from so far)
Cameron Salmond.
Great to see Cameron finally “wading in”, we’ve all been waiting for that I’m sure 🙂
BOSH!!!! Take that BBC!
@Marcia
Bloody ‘ell, excellent article from Gerry Hassan. He might be coming off the fence (at last). I tell you, it’s been an interesting week!
ronald alexander mcdonald
There’s a lot of us expecting that kind of call 😉
Where is AD lots of comments from Carlaw in Scotland.
Labour lying low and keeping stumph like Nessie!
Meanwhile the NO has set the pensions scare running again. This will be demolished by this time tomorrow no doubt.
Well I haven’t heard from my brother or cousins, nieces and nephews, quite a few mates or some friendly business acquaintances south of the border.
Clearly they weren’t paying attention. 😉
Alex Salmond is within striking distance,of victory, according to the Spectators, Alex Massie, and Matthew Parris.
link to spectator.co.uk
Here’s the Washington Post’s take on David Cameron’s speech.
I urge you to read the one and only comment at the bottom of the page.
link to washingtonpost.com
@ Andy-B, 4.48pm
Don’t dismiss the winter olympics in Sochi. Imagine what it’ll feel like in 2018 when Scotland has her own team. The curlers (all Scottish, now Team GB) and some skiers and snowboarders (now Team GB). Perhaps more Scottish athletes having the chance to go to the winter olympics.
As to national sports teams… FIFA is not happy with the UK fielding four teams in Euro/World Cup. They want Team GB in football. Tell die-hard Tartan Army fitba fans that voting NO jeapardizes Scotland’s national team and you may have many more YES voters.
I hope I’m not on the phone to the Solar Panels salesgirl (who calls me every evening at 6pm) when my first ‘we love you, don’t leave’ caller tries to ‘reach out’ to me …
Terrific performance from Alex Salmond.
Interviewer as per MSM usual trying to be condescending – but didn’t get away with it this time!
It’s amazing how much more powerful truth, positivity and aspiration come across when spoken with meaning (Alex Salmond), rather than lies, negativity and purposelessness spoken without feeling (David Cameron).
My phone hasn’t stopped ringing. It’s been a constant barrage of London bankers weeping down the phone at me. Wailing out “Nooooooo!” between heavy sobs.
@Major
Gerry Hassan has supported independence for at least a few years. I think he was/is involved in one of the independence groups (Independence Convention maybe?).
is it true nessie is orf to lake windermere if scotland goes independent?
@muttley79
It doesn’t usually come over in his articles that strongly though…
Findlay Farquaharson says:
is it true nessie is orf to lake windermere if scotland goes independent?
Nah Findlay, I think you’ve listening to the Nay sayers a wee bit too much! 🙂
wee aside. I’ve just seen Jamaica enter the Sochi arena. That’s right folks Jamaican Bobslegh is BACK! 🙂
Mr Bateman, a bit like Blondie, hanging on the telephone on his latest.
Where’s A. Darling gone, never spoke in the HoC and been posted mossing for nearly 48 hours. Has he done an Elvis?
Maybe of course he’s working in that call centre.
To be fair, Nessie isn’t mentioned anywhere in the White Paper, maybe she took the hump?
mossing OH! But that’s OK. It means chilling out honest.
@Major
Yes, I think it is because Gerry Hassan hates the tribalism between the SNP and SLAB. He does support a Yes vote though.
@Andy-B
That’s some report in the Washington Post and ” the comment” !
USA do not want Scottish Independence ! They have the finger of the button on Trident and they would lose a diminished ally as rUK on the world stage .
David Cameron does not love Scotland ! He,s only worried about his stance in the world and also losing revenue from Scotland !
@ call me dave & Charles Docherty – Indeed my tostrum is mossing to. 🙂
After today I think the 3% swing to YES was achieved if not exceeded. A good bit of steel in AS with the halpless presenter.
What, no Stevie Wonder jokes yet? Let’s dedicate one for Dave.
Scott Wood Chicken Rock
link to youtube.com
Just purely musing on the extraordinary events of the day, and I’m not putting any bets on it, but I haven’t seen anybody suggest it so far.
My feeling is that Cameron still has one card left to play. I think he’s kept it back while he was sure he was winning but the panic is creeping in.
Why did he make that ridiculous speech today?
Leaving aside sheer vanity which might have made irresistable the temptation to do a complete about turn and make a direct intervention in the debate (“exclusively a matter for the Scottish people”) his speech today makes it impossible for him to avoid for much longer a head-on televised debate with Alex Salmond. He has little credibility left but even one so dense must have been aware that he would lose what little he has by intervening while insisting he was not going to intervene.
Were I in his position, I would agree to debate with Alex only if I had up my sleeve some huge game-changer which would be a knockout. The only thing which seems to me to fit the bill is that, in the course of the debate, he plays the trump card of announcing an absolute guarantee that “DevoMax” is on the table if we vote “No”.
Yes, it’s been done before – shades of ’79 for those of us old enough to remember – but his advisors will have studied that and figured out they won’t get away with hints and weak promises a second time so will have something more concrete to offer this time. The effect of that would be to split and fragment the “Yes” vote.
I have no doubt that Alex and his team are smart enough to have figured out that Cameron might try to pull that one. I hope so.
On the other hand, Cameron might just be the numptie he appears to be.
The presenter is rather tasty. Shame she had to get her arse kicked by the FM.
Everybody get themselves a premium-rate number quick, and fill yer boots …
“if you are calling about David Cameron’s speech, press One”
“if are worried about those nukes you loaned us, press Two”
etc., etc. …
@Dick Gaughan says: Yes, it’s been done before – shades of ’79 for those of us old enough to remember – but his advisors will have studied that and figured out they won’t get away with hints and weak promises a second time so will have something more concrete to offer this time. The effect of that would be to split and fragment the “Yes” vote.
I don’t think that’s going to happen, for one reason alone: the Middle-Englanders the WM parties have been chasing ALREADY think Scotland has a cushy deal. They already think “English taxpayer’s money” goes to Scotland, that they “get” free prescriptions/bus fares/elderly care/tuition because of the good grace of their hard earned cash.
So even if the Tories try more of the Scotland Act ploy (grant more responsibilities in the guise of powers), that would STILL incur the wrath of their primary voting base, and indicate capitulation to the “Nationalists.” Not to mention the House of Lords have already stated their feelings on the matter, and more devolution doesn’t seem to be in their interests at all.
It’s hard to imagine what Cameron’s trump card could possibly be, but I just have to keep coming back to this:
We were never meant to have a Parliament. It is outright statement of fact that devolution was to be hindered for as long as possible, by Westminster civil servants. But we got Holyrood.
We were never meant to vote in any party other than Labour or the Conservatives, and in fact measures were put in place specifically to stop the people of Scotland from voting in another party (specifically the SNP). But we voted in the SNP – twice.
We were never meant to have this referendum at all, just as we were never meant to get a parliament, or vote in the SNP. That’s a lot of things the people of Scotland have achieved despite Westminster actively putting measures in place to stop us achieving those goals.
We were never meant to vote Yes. What do you think’s going to happen?
Alex has been preparing for this for a long time, I am confident he knows what he is doing he is an astute politician and statesman
I agree. No way will there be any offer of greater devolution, other than the vague “jam tomorrow” hints we’ve got used to. They might get a bit more sophisticated, possibly even slightly more credible, but candyfloss they will remain.
@ Taranaich
“What do you think’s going to happen?”
…a resounding victory for Yes.
Rev. what sofware did you use? expensive?
“Rev. what sofware did you use? expensive?”
Replay Capture Suite. It’s normally £50 for a whole bunch of capturing and editing progs, but a kindly reader was buying it for themselves and if you buy one copy you can get another half price, so they gave me a shout and I jumped on.
For those wondering about the where about of A Darling, he’s just shown up with a pretty nasty smear job including an attack on a Civil Servant who can not respond.
What a classy guy huh?
link to theguardian.com
Well done, Alex! You gave it to them with both barrels – boom – boom.
Alex’s diet ain’t half working. He’s looking younger, and I can see the Alex of 20 years ago looking back at me.
I rather like this from the article in the Washington Post
“By population, Scotland is only a small part of a union that also includes Wales, Northern Ireland and England — just 5 million people out of a total population of 63 million. But economically, militarily and culturally, it plays an outsize role”
Finally we are recognised, and that is just the start.
Taranaich says:
It’s hard to imagine what Cameron’s trump card could possibly be, but I just have to keep coming back to this:
So my second scenario is likely right – he really IS just a numptie 🙂
We were never meant to vote Yes. What do you think’s going to happen?
We’re going to win, of course!
I’m really just looking for hidden landmines. I’ve been invited to take part in a debate on Independence by the Scottish Society at Cambridge University; don’t know who I’m going to be up against but I want to make sure I’ve covered as many angles as I can.
Flipper really is losing it big time and the good thing is I don’t think they are going to replace him, his whole shitty campaign is crumbling around him the ermine worrying fucker
Pedant alert. Should that not be Mustela worrier. 🙂
The accomplished statesman,if men like him had run the UK then there would have been a fair and prosperous Union and we would have felt included and part of something, but alas it didnt work out like that, so off we must go.
We’re not winning until opinion polls repeatedly and reliably show Yes ahead of No. But there’s something in the air, there’s no doubt at all about it.
Watched the C4News interview with Matt Frei, who asked
‘Aren’t you trying to have your haggis and eat it?”
He also asked whether Salmond wanted independence “just to have PM after his name”.
Yes, the SNP was founded 20 years before Salmond was born, all so that particular combination of gametes could get to be PM of something. And such was his ambition that as an undergraduate he joined this party with only one MP and no mathematical chance of ever forming a government, rather than join Labour or the Tories. He was SO ambitious that when they threw him out he still didn’t move to a party that actually had elected members in double figures, but patiently applied to be readmitted.
He sat in Westminster leading a party of three, taking dog’s abuse, for ten years. All because he was so desperately ambitious to be PM. While his old mucker Brown actually got to be PM.
You have to admire the degree of planning and foresight though.
Scotsman headline MPs call for decision on currency union now.
hmmm might want to delete that, sorry.
link to cdn.thegloss.com
Good for the BBC that was not well I will leave that to the imagination, needless to say our dear leader took no prisoners.
I loved this Scottish Women on Channel 4 News that told David Cameron to piss off on a comments on David Cameron’s speech today, It was priceless. 3:00min in to video starts with comments from people down south why Scotland should stay in the Union with usual ignorance and plain nonsense, The Scottish Women is lasted interviewed.
link to channel4.com
right thats it im voting fucking yes
twice i!ve missed out i was born in 1960 missed out on free love then
now 2014 nobody is phoning with any free love what have i got to do if anybody is looking for me im going down blythswood square with a bunch of crisp £20 notes just look for the bald eagle and if you dont like what you see i will up the price to £20.50p
by the way anybody got any spare freeee love i mean it this is your last chance some free love or yes gets it
dick gaughan @6:19pm
davyboy has got no trick cards up his sleaves he has only got his armies up his sleavies
Could we not just offer Cameron an ‘Honorary” vote on 18th September. That will deal with his objection to coming to Scotland to debate face to face with Alex.
Letter to David Cameron from an English resident about his heartfelt plea for Scotland to stay.
He has even included his address on ted copy
link to dorseteye.com