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The art of escalation

Posted on December 15, 2017 by

The Tories kicked off yesterday’s reaction to the budget with a straight-up lie.

No promise has been broken. The basic rate HAS been frozen, at 20p, and low and middle earners HAVE been protected. Nobody who’s on less than £33,000 – which is considerably higher than the average (£23K) or full-time median (£28K) wages – will pay a penny more tax, and the large majority of Scots will in fact see a small tax cut.

(The weasel-wording justification is of course that pretty much everyone who pays tax pays some of it at the basic rate, and are therefore in a sense “basic-rate taxpayers”. But “nobody will pay any more tax” wasn’t the promise. Indeed, the manifesto pledge is a pretty clear implication that better-off people WOULD be taxed a little more.)

But the numbering was interesting. In order to try to obscure that fact that most Scots would be paying LESS tax as a result of the budget, the Tories went with a nicely vague but high-sounding “hundreds of thousands” for the number of people who’d lose out a little. And then the Scottish media went to work.

First STV dutifully parroted the Tory line without adding any more information:

Then the Daily Mail firmed it up to three-quarters of a million (which for what it’s worth actually seems to be the correct number):

By the time it got to the Herald it was a million:

This, though, was a flat-out lie. In the tiny print it revealed that it meant “more tax than in England, not an actual increase in tax, and we already know what stupendously dishonest and disingenuous framing that is, because there’s more than one kind of tax and overall most Scots taxpayers do better than their southern counterparts AND get better services to boot (free tuition, free prescriptions, free personal care, free bridge tolls, free hospital parking, etc etc).

But the biscuit, as ever, went to the Scottish Daily Express:

The Express managed to combine inflating the Herald’s number by 60% with making it even more of a lie, eschewing the Herald’s cowardly ambiguous use of “more” (which can serve as both a relative and an absolute term) and turning it into an absolutely categorically untrue claim of “tax hikes”.

We’ve been unable to work out how the Express arrived at that 1.6m figure. Its own coverage says, in two separate articles, that “45% of the country’s 2.5m taxpayers will pay more from next April than if they lived south of the border”.

But 45% of 2.5m is 1.12m, not 1.6m. We can only hope that the 500,000 brand-new taxpayers the Express has just conjured out of thin air will be making a substantial unexpected contribution to the Scottish Government’s coffers, and that next year most people’s taxes will go down even more than they did yesterday.

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  1. 15 12 17 09:56

    The art of escalation | speymouth
    Ignored

86 to “The art of escalation”

  1. Highland Wifie
    Ignored
    says:

    Just more of the same lies, damned lies and then there’s statistics.

    Are they finally over reaching themselves? What percentage of the population believe this brown stuff?

  2. jimnarlene
    Ignored
    says:

    The “smash and grab”, is from the two parasites in the bottom right corner.

  3. Marcia
    Ignored
    says:

    The Express’s missing 500,000 are the postal voters in the 2014 referendum.

  4. Ken Rooney
    Ignored
    says:

    With sales of newspapers on the slide and the public well aware of the threat to the NHS, I don’t think anyone listens to these clowns any more. Which is nice:)

  5. James D
    Ignored
    says:

    Lol – Good one Marcia!

  6. Jim Watson
    Ignored
    says:

    This must be very taxing (see what I did there!) for their poor yoonyinist brains. More important than actual rates is the political point that if you want high quality public services then those with the deepest pockets should contribute a bit more.

    Job well done by Derek McKay…

  7. Col
    Ignored
    says:

    Just make it illegal for the media to lie. We have our own legal system in Scotland. Job done

  8. bobajock
    Ignored
    says:

    Again, we see that the rich are really the owners of ALL THE BASE.

    For the rest of us plebs, its just nuance free greed they spout.

  9. Northern Islander
    Ignored
    says:

    Compare and contrast the early and late evening versions of Reporting Scotland. At teatime Brian Taylor’s report ended with footage of the party leaders in their Christmas jumpoers. As his voiceover said ‘is it Santa or Scrooge?’ the camera moved from Nicola Sturgeon to Willie Rennie’s hat with the legend ‘Bah, Humbug!’ By 10.30 that had been edited so that it cut instead from Sarwar in a Santa hat to Sturgeon. There was no need to change this except SNP bad.

  10. Macart
    Ignored
    says:

    The usual suspects dialling up the SNP bad propaganda to eleven then.

    Is there actually anything left to the bottom of that barrel?

  11. Therapymum
    Ignored
    says:

    Aaarrrgghh! These Tory rags really do dreadful things to my blood pressure! It’s not just the lies, it’s the fact that they are front page headlines, and so many folk just read the headlines without researching the facts. It’s almost impossible to counter, especially as the unionist readers are already so groomed into SNP Bad that they will just agree with the headline and spout it at every opportunity. It’s very wearing. Although to be fair, I’m just as biased against the Tories, and always look for the lie in what they say.

  12. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    Well most of these ‘journalists’ are probably Conservative supporting high earners.

    Media hunting around for vox pops condemning the tax changes. Davidson magically appears on TV to make her statements, strange they normally can’t find her to ask any in depth questions.

    It’s clear the media has been tasked to make Davidson the next First Minister, they are working tirelessly at their task to give them credit.

    Anyone else coming to the conclusion that certain Newsnight reports are merely Theresa May sycophants. There is one in particular who looks over excited every time he talks about her. Luckily we only get a head and shoulders shot.

  13. Helena Brown
    Ignored
    says:

    I agree with Col, charge them for lying, close the media for a month for doing so.
    These lies will only last for the time it takes for people to get their first pay after April, is there an election due?

  14. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    Cheer up folks. Yesterday’s budget had the usual unionist Internet loons tearing at each other with accusations of them being closet Nationalists because they did not think the budget was very bad.

    This is exactly what we need. We have to sow division in their ranks, and indeed it is happening already. Look at Scotland in Union. They are divided on policy and tactics to the extent they have split into two factions. Yesterday I saw that superloon Jill Stephenson aka Historywoman accuse of all people Kenny Farquarson of being a Nat because he did not think the budget went far enough.

    We are winning ,and our togetherness is causing them all sorts of frustration. Divide and conquer.

  15. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    Well, the easy way to get the Unionists propagandists to stop telling lies about Scotland’s taxation would be to get them telling lies about a Scottish Independence referendum.

  16. winifred mccartney
    Ignored
    says:

    We have all learned something from wings – don’t look at the headlines go instead to last paragraph there just might be a GRAIN of truth there to save them from a court case.

    And as for the tories we all know if there lips are moving they are lying. Getting to the stage it’s as true for labour.

  17. Thepnr
    Ignored
    says:

    Johann Lamont imfamously said it was time to end a “something for nothing” culture. Well nothing is for nothing it all has to be paid for.

    She had this to add “But if the devil’s greatest trick was to convince the world he didn’t exist, Salmond’s most cynical trick was to make people believe that more was free, when the poorest are paying for the tax breaks for the rich.”

    The budget yesterday done exactly the opposite of that in that the highest earners are having to pay a bit more tax so that the lowest earners, 55% of the workforce have a bit more in their wage packet, not just because of tax cuts but also by increasing the pay cap to 3% for public sector workers.

    The highest earners should pay even more in my opinion so that the homeless could be housed, foodbanks could be closed down, people receiving benefits given enough to live on and pensions raised to at least the EU average.

    There is no such thing as something for nothing and it’s only right that those with the deepest pockets chip a bit more into the kitty for the benefit of the many.

  18. Robert J. Sutherland
    Ignored
    says:

    Ooh, fake news. Who’d ha’ thunk it? Never mind you or me, newspaper editors just hate tax rises that will hit their very-well-filled pockets.

    But looking at the soor prunes of the Tories in Holyrood yesterday gave the game away – they’ve been comprehensively outwitted. Tax trap sprung once again.

    As for Labour, fake moaning about a squeeze on Labour-run local cooncils who won’t take their own advice and ask people to pay more “to protect public services”. Mitigation is only for the SNP, it seems.

    Hypocrites, the lot of them. Ably assisted by the most practiced set of paid-for Dead Tree Liars in the world.

  19. Conan the Librarian
    Ignored
    says:

    “Some arsehole” on the Wright show has just said that all the highly paid people in the oil industry will now move to England…

    The Telegraph was quoted of course.

  20. Iain Hamilton
    Ignored
    says:

    This is the flip flop from the argument against universal benefits. “Rich people don’t need free prescriptions / personal care… ad nauseum.

    Pin your ears back SNPbadders. Those who can afford to contribute more deserve all the same stuff as those who contribute less (and have less). Everyone pays in and everyone gets out. How simple do we need to make it for you.

  21. The Isolator
    Ignored
    says:

    They are losing and these rags know it.Even the most ardent unionistas I know are conceding eventual defeat.Out for a few beers last night with 2no last timers and one yes.All yes next time.No question one of them being yes shocked but delighted me.We’re winning this.

  22. Black Joan
    Ignored
    says:

    Lots of callers to Radio Shortbread’s phone-in this morning, actually getting on the air to welcome the budget.

    One spoke of her “civic duty”, a term which the presenter said we don’t hear very often. Well, it was mentioned several more times subsequently and those attempting to argue that the budget was “punishment” and that doctors, for example, would decide not to move to Sotland from England because of, say, £1000 extra tax, had a few basic statistics explained to them.

    There was a wee barrage of SNPBAD texts to provide “balance” towards the end of the hour, but civic duty prevailed.

    Some mistake?

  23. Onwards
    Ignored
    says:

    ..AND get better services to boot (free tuition, free prescriptions, free personal care, free bridge tolls, free hospital parking, etc etc).
    —-

    This will need to be hammered home non-stop to middle class voters. That it’s worth paying a little extra for improved services that would otherwise cost much more.

    Sure, it sounds good to counter that most Scots will pay less tax, but the savings at the lower bands are maximum £20 a year. A bottle of whisky at Christmas time. Huge vote winner ?

  24. heedtracker
    Ignored
    says:

    Wow. Just when you think the great UKOK lie machine can’t sink any lower.

  25. Snode1965
    Ignored
    says:

    Let’s face the facts here, what is really grating the Unionists is that Scotland now has a demonstrably different tax system than that of the UK.
    We are drifting away…and they know it.

  26. Ken500
    Ignored
    says:

    Just don’t buy the MSM. Job done. Save money. What a shower.

    No mention of the majority of people paying less.

  27. Brian
    Ignored
    says:

    See this why newspapers should be fined for any outright lies. They aren’t opinions just lies.

  28. galamcennalath
    Ignored
    says:

    Col says:

    Just make it illegal for the media to lie.

    Indeed. Politicians lie, it’s up to informed voters to pass judgement on them at the ballot box. However, the media plays a part in the democratic process by informing the public. That certainly should not mean repeating politicians’ lies posing as news!

    Apparently Canada has media laws which make it illegal to broadcast any false or misleading news. Clearly they don’t have a state broadcaster like the BBC which specialises in misleading its public!

    Not sure if it covers newspapers, I don’t think so. A good start would be to impliment all of the Leveson recommendations.

  29. Ken500
    Ignored
    says:

    There is no oil industry in England. Taxed at 40%. Fracking in England totally tax free.

    Quoting increased tax at £24,000. Not £33,000. Less for the majority under.

  30. Phronesis
    Ignored
    says:

    A progressive budget for a progressive society.
    This film is the perfect antidote to all the toxicity and venom that is directed at Scotland.
    Scotland is a wee country with a big heart- we should be very proud.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ZgFSzf2Fg?

  31. call me dave
    Ignored
    says:

    Aye Aileen from East Kilbride on your call re: Budget.

    Excellent comments more like her and we’ll be fine in Scotland. ‘civic duty’ I like that!

    Oh wait! A Dewarism? 🙂

  32. Ken500
    Ignored
    says:

    Scotland could implement Leveson? Murdoch selling off?

  33. Robert J. Sutherland
    Ignored
    says:

    Snode1965 @ 10:18,

    Yes, the taboo has finally been broken. Someone had to do it, and this SG has done it. And done it very adroitly, as you can tell from the volume of fake outrage today.

    Welcome to the grown-up world, Scots!

  34. Morgatron
    Ignored
    says:

    You could see this slant even before Derek McKay spoke yesterday. I think the yoons even know now there time is coming to am end . Like all empires and Ziggy Stardust there waits the fall. They are desperate chancers just hoping that a bit of their shit sticks, but we the plebiscite are getting far to smart for them.

  35. Scott
    Ignored
    says:

    Now that the Tory MSPs will have to pay a bit more Tax and they say that will make people leave Scotland well why don’t they follow their leader and the lot of them just leave and that is me being nice to them.

    What is Gary Robertson on when he interviews anyone from the SNP.

  36. Robert Graham
    Ignored
    says:

    When you own all the media this is what you get .

    Are there NO honest truthful journalists left in Scotland ? or are they all spineless , gutless ,cowards shredding their principals every day , what a depressing bloody existence.

    There will be tears before bedtime when all these Lies start to unravel , the union supporters here are in a manufactured mirage a day dream and the fools dont realise it ,

    This pretence cant be kept up for much longer , it will fall apart, even the stupidest unionists must realise something aint right something smells ,

    The unionist media always go over the top , always over egg it, they cant help themselves , maybe its panic .

  37. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    What about making it an offence against democracy to willfully mislead the electorate. Genuine mistakes happen. But these media outlets will have advance copies and explanatory notes. Journalists are supposed to check sources.

    Democracy depends on access to information. Luckily, we have WoS and The National. What about the poor benighted voters dependent on the BBC.
    Any news on Alex’s bid to chair The Scotsman?

  38. Graeme
    Ignored
    says:

    I am lucky enough to fall into the higher rate tax band (just) and I calculated I’ll be worse off to the tune of less than £20 a month. And that is a sum I am more than happy to pay to benefit those who aren’t as lucky as me. I feckin loathe the MSM.

  39. Corrado Mella
    Ignored
    says:

    Scottish Parliament, Scottish Government, Scottish Healthcare, Scots Law, Scottish Education, Scottish Policing, Scottish Fire services, Scottish Roads and Bridges, Scottish Transport, Scottish Supplies (Water, Electricity, Gas), more I’m sure I forgot, and now a Scottish Tax system.

    One more brick in the wall that separates a progressive Scotland from a regressive Toryland.

    When Independence comes, the border will be already built.

    #DayJob

  40. Greannach
    Ignored
    says:

    At least these media outlets do us one major service: they show us what life was like for millions of people living behind the Iron Curtain where the media were the enthusiastic mouthpieces of the state elite.

    The sheer boredom of reading or watching the trash that passed for “news” in Eastern Europe has been replicated par excellence in Scotland. Hopefully, as in Eastern Europe, only state enthusiasts in Scotland believe the drivel they read, see or hear.

  41. desimond
    Ignored
    says:

    re Onward
    Sure, it sounds good to counter that most Scots will pay less tax, but the savings at the lower bands are maximum £20 a year. A bottle of whisky at Christmas time. Huge vote winner ?

    A bottle of whisky down!…Don’t say that…you will soon have the Diageo backed Scottish Drinks Forum punter on taking the Scots Govt to court over this budget!

    She was all about concern for the customer of course!
    🙂

  42. Auld Rock
    Ignored
    says:

    Couldn’t bear listening to Jardine preferring to watch our wonderful, friendly, dedicated, highly professional medics on EBC1 as it was the last episode. Like the whole country from Scilly Isles to our own Shetland Isles we have difficulty recruiting GP’s and hospital Docs but after this ten part series, our Health Board could never have afforded such an advertising campaign, hopefully we should now find ourselves being inundated with potential applicants. Just a pity it was shown at 09:15 and not on prime time TV.

    As for taxes Derek has done well from a very, very limited arsenal of tax levers. We have got to bring people round to the truth that if they want great public services then they must be prepared to pay their fair share of the cost. If we want the Nordic model then first we must have Independence and then first ditch the Thatcher model by taking gradual measures to turn our economy from a low wage low personal tax system to one of high earnings and high personal taxation and then we can have the Public and Health services we all want. That is except the Tories who want to keep all their money for themselves hidden off-shore!

  43. Doug_Bryce
    Ignored
    says:

    SNP have hit the sweet spot here.
    Tories still repeating highest taxed part of Scotland lie.
    Meanwhile Labour pretending the top band increase is not enough.

    Reality is actually that Westminster parties have lurched to the brexit right or corbyn-commie-left.

    Can you smell the fear ?

  44. Donald anderson
    Ignored
    says:

    I turned the sound aff and have nae idea wot the three same parties were shouting at Mr MacKay.

  45. Gregory Beekman
    Ignored
    says:

    Have any tax calculators been produced?

    Because if people use them and find they get a tax cut, it shows them the headlines are lies.

    And when it finally appears in their pay packets, those lies will be exposed by the extra cash in their wages.

    Let’s hope tax calculators and pay packets kill these lies off.

  46. starlaw
    Ignored
    says:

    Radio Shortbreads phone in this morning must have been very, very short of anti SNP callers. To many callers were happy or non plussed with the budget.

  47. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    Interesting video via Stu’s twitter. An Open Democracy interview with Thomas Herndon, the man who debunked austerity.
    No – me neither.
    Amazingly, this has been known for 4 years but nobody in our media universe seems to have heard of him. 8 mins

    In 2013 Thomas Herndon shot to fame when he found major errors in a widely cited academic paper by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff which had been used to justify austerity policies in Europe and North America.

    https://www.opendemocracy.net/neweconomics/video-man-debunked-austerity/

  48. Gerry Gribbons
    Ignored
    says:

    Encountered a few trolling britnats yesterday they were lost in there own arguments when challenged ..why do they waste their time

  49. Bobp
    Ignored
    says:

    With blatant lying b******s like these english owned “Scottish ” papers. Hoodwinking the gullible,and brainwashing the stupid to be even more stupid. It’s about time their lies were brought to book.

  50. Kat
    Ignored
    says:

    Sky News tried to create division by interviewing two blokes working for a lobster company in the borders. One bloke lives across the border in Englandshire so they played on the fact that although they do the same job for the same pay (supposedly) they would end up paying different amounts in tax and one poor bloke would be worse off for living in Scotland. His only solution was to move across the border with his girlfriend when they get married.

    If we are ever to convince the borders to vote Yes we need to counter this type of propoganda bullshit. Don’t see Sky News doing a follow-up interview in April to find out if he ends up any worse off for living in Scotland.

    FYI I’m moving to the Borders to pack lobsters for a living as they obviously earn a hell of a lot more than me if they are within the pay bracket being affected by these changes. 😉

  51. Andy-B
    Ignored
    says:

    We expect this kind of nonsesnse from the Tories and the often prevaricating press.

    However I didn’t expect the England vs Serbia football match and the Women’s FA cup final, Chelsea vs Arsenal to be classed as Scottish tv content.

    http://www.thenational.scot/news/15773953.Producers_raise_concerns_about_how_programmes_qualify_as__Scottish_/?ref=mr&lp=2

  52. David Caledonia
    Ignored
    says:

    Well that’s question time having its christmas break now, last night the people of Barnsley where told all about democracy from a panel that had one official comedienne on it, don’t ask me who he was, never heard of him either, anyway, it appears the UK voted to leave the european union, but its still in the hands of westminster whether we do or not, i wonder !, when the next general election comes around can we object to the result if we don’t like it, mmmmmm
    We had a Mr Winston on the panel, it appears he and his mates will have a big say on brexit and he is not so sure we will leave, oh and btw he sits in the house of lords, funny, i never voted to give him or his unelected cronies a say in anything

    Anyway have a nice christmas everyone Alba Gu snooker loopy!

  53. Chick McGregor
    Ignored
    says:

    @Conan the Librarian
    ““Some arsehole” on the Wright show has just said that all the highly paid people in the oil industry will now move to England…

    The Telegraph was quoted of course.”

    The following Aberdeen v London cost of living comparison is based on rented property but as rent follows property price/mortgage payments fairly closely it is still indicative of just how much more of a tax hike high earners would need to have before their disposable income started top reduce.

    It does not include free prescriptions, student fees etc. either.

    https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+Kingdom&city1=Aberdeen&country2=United+Kingdom&city2=London

  54. Doug
    Ignored
    says:

    So as it turns out I happen to be friends on a social level with a Tory MSP. (one of those things when your kids at the same age and are part of the same group). Over the years he’s normally not parroted the party line where I can see it.

    Until yesterday on facebook – which for the first time in a long time he made a political jibe. His opening line was

    “Welcome to Scotland, where if you are aspirational and want to do better in life, the SNP will hammer you with tax hikes.”

    I and others challenged him on his “hammer” hyperbole. 1% is not a hammering by any means. I did say I appreciated he was having to play the party line etc But pointed out that the amount wasn’t a hammering and there was plenty else that the Torys had done which had impacted my standard of living (Brexit inflation) and Scotland’s Funding (such as the VAT political weapon on The Police and Fire services).

    From there after the hammering didn’t seem to do the trick the next argument thrown in (supported by a few anti SNP folks) was “The SNP in their manifesto promised not to raise tax for individuals on low and medium salaries. The kept saying that this year as well. That has been broken and it’s to get the Greens to vote the budget through.”

    Because broken manifesto pledges are the worst thing ever in politics as we all know and only evil evil parties do that… Sorry I’m digressing there.

    Anyway I then challenged him 3 times to define what he considers to be Low Salary and Medium Salary.

    Finally I got this response “I think the average salary in Scotland is £24,000 so that would be a medium but I do not think the average nurse or teacher is well off and should be paying more tax. Low wages is defined by poverty alliance.”

    That folks is shifting the goal posts and it’s typical political crap. The first argument of Hammering was shown to be hyperbole, the second argument of the SNP lied to low and medium salary was shown to be inaccurate – and now we are on to the third line of attack that nurses and teachers aren’t well off and shouldn’t be paying more tax.

    I’ve pointed of that his original statement was nonsense, his second statement was factually incorrect and I’ve had to point out his third statement about Nurses and Teachers failed to mention that as public servants to pay Nurses and Teachers more we’d need to raise more tax…..

    Anyway moral of the story based on the comments on the thread – more and more politicians even ones I would have previously considered level headed are throwing out illogical, inaccurate, idiotic statements. There are some who believe no mater what is shown to be factually incorrect – that the SNP is bad and totally at fault.

    I am depressed that this is the state of political discussion now, facts, hell simple maths is ignored to make a political point scoring process. I accept I might be biased on this but I do see this mostly on the unionist party supporting side and particularly with the Tory party.

    Part of me wishes I hadn’t challenged him because by showing how stupid his statements were he’s probably going to go away and try harder.

  55. Robert Graham
    Ignored
    says:

    Now it appears we are indeed experiencing Orwells. 1984 , it wasn’t a book ,it was acutely a prediction of a future , a future that is not for our benefit , but control over everything we do .

    Three Yanks on a US committee the FCC have just signaled the end of internet freedom, any Website including this one can be denied access to the internet, and nothing can be done because large corporations appear to own the internet now.

    Oh really the Yanks and big business own something that wasn’t for sale in the first place, who sold it ? , and who owned it before it was sold, a bit like land, show me the original owners consent to the sale, of course it can’t be shown, just the same as the sky and water can’t be owned, all land in Scotland should be acquired with no monetary recompense, That’s unless the original bill of sale can be produced . Now that would make interesting reading .

  56. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    Never forget the words of Ghandi, who had his fair share of resistance from the Empire

    “First they laugh at you, then they ignore you, then they fight you, then you win”.

    They have tried ridicule and ignoring our representatives in Westminster, so effectively we have come through the first two stages. We are now at stage three and they are fighting with every dirty trick in the book including mass media.

    This is in effect part of the end game if you like. We remain defiant and they will lose.

  57. Jack Murphy
    Ignored
    says:

    VIDEO. The Scottish Budget proposals in less than 2 minutes.

    Facebook:

    https://en-gb.facebook.com/theSNP/

  58. heedtracker
    Ignored
    says:

    Three Yanks on a US committee the FCC have just signaled the end of internet freedom, any Website including this one can be denied access to the internet, and nothing can be done because large corporations appear to own the internet now.”

    It means that US internet providers like say BT, will now be legally able to block websites their customers look at and slow down data access, streaming etc.

    Only in our styles of USA all the way democracy, do we voters vote for all of this.

    But given just the insane level of UKOK tory propaganda farted out at us all today en mass, by thousands and thousands of professional liars, its probably quite easy to see why.

    The SNP bad stench from stinky olde Graun is rather high today, for example.

    “Minimum alcohol price will raise cost by up to 90% in Scotland – study

    Institute for Fiscal Studies says 50p minimum unit price will have dramatic impact with cider and lager prices soaring

    Cider is expected to rise by up to 90% per unit, with lager increasing by 44%.
    Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent
    Friday 15 December 2017 00.01 GMT”

    Vote tory people, keeps our tory imperial master baiters and their liggers happy at the very least.

  59. Blair Paterson
    Ignored
    says:

    The media are given free reign in Scotland to print whatever lies they like with virtually no comeback why ? Surely this is fraud and can be easily proved in court so why are they being allowed to do it I am an SNP supporter but I am at slosh to understand why they allow it

  60. Janet
    Ignored
    says:

    That lovely, impartial paper, Metro, led with the tax hike headline this morning.

    Why oh why does Lothian Buses distribute it?

    (Could that be the same Lothian Buses that used to help the Labour Party?)

  61. HandandShrimp
    Ignored
    says:

    To be fair the Express isn’t really a newspaper, it is just “above the line” trolling.

    A National Enquirer without the humour.

  62. Martin
    Ignored
    says:

    I will be paying more tax as a result of this. My wife will be paying more tax as a result of this. Probably (haven’t fully worked it out yet as I’m swlf employed) about 200 quid between us. Which, frankly, is very affordable for us and I can’t really pretend that I’ll notice it.

    The staff on living wage in my business will be 90-100 quid a year better off in tax, which is a return flight to London to see their son for one of them, extra Christmas dinner money for the others. And we’re getting to prevent service cuts?

    I’m surely not the only person who can’t see a problem with the budget.

  63. Grant
    Ignored
    says:

    The problem … the average Scot reads the daily rag watches state owned tv … takes this pish as gospel.

    Of course .. they are open to change .. listen to other sides .. but their tribal beliefs do not them to.

  64. HandandShrimp
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m surely not the only person who can’t see a problem with the budget.

    Martin you are looking at it rationally and fairly, there are those that would have the sugar out of the NHS’s tea and would rage at 1p a year more taxation. They were never going to be happy with these proposals.

  65. velofello
    Ignored
    says:

    Aye the SNP slipped the Unionist tax noose very neatly. Torn coupons? The look on Col Ruthie’s coupon following the budget presentation was a sight to behold. And then the unelected figure of ridicule, Murdo Fraser rises to blether and demonstrate his failure to grasp the detail of the budget.

    And I think Dick Leonard has but a short term assignment as Slab leader. That he condoned Kez Dugdale to sit in isolation, and witnessed by the viewing public, is not leadership. And poor James Kelly, Shadow Finance Secretary for a day!

  66. Robert J. Sutherland
    Ignored
    says:

    heedtracker @ 12:15

    Cider is expected to rise by up to 90% per unit, with lager increasing by 44%.

    Errm, price rises for dirt-cheap alcohol was exactly the basic intention, was it not?

    But the Graun (even more so than all the rest of the concernitariat) is just so very, very concerned with the humble lot of the lumpen proletariat, isn’t it…?

  67. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    HandandShrimp
    Some dispositions just don’t play nice. Add to this that some folk simply don’t understand the implications of their beliefs. Ultimately though, Yoons be crazy.

    Theory in Action: Realism
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnKEFSVAiNQ

    Theory in Action: Constructivism
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYU9UfkV_XI

    Part 3 Theorising and researching welfare
    Chapter 10 Ideology, the state and welfare in Britain

    http://catalogue.pearsoned.co.uk/assets/hip/gb/hip_gb_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/Alcock_10.pdf

  68. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    @Yoonstream
    You need to do some Structural Equation Modeling. Trust me, I’m a vile sep.

    Understanding Ideological Change in Britain
    Corbyn, BREXIT, and the BES Expert Surveys

    5.2. What happened beneath the surface: stability and change in the covariance of ideological dimensions

    ….We have run identical structural equation models for each expert survey, so that we can directly compare effect sizes and thereby identify changes in the meaning components of our two dependent constructs. The most important changes that we observe are a certain devaluation of the importance of the economic left-right dimension for global left-right position taking. And what economic left-right placements lose in importance is gained by the libertarian-authoritarian dimension. These linear trends in effect sizes over time show themselves most clearly in the total effects panel of Table 2. Even more impressive than this are the changes which we observe in the determination of communitarian-cosmopolitan positions. The effect of economic left-right party placements on communitarian-cosmopolitan positions almost completely disappears over the course of our three surveys while the impact of libertarian-authoritarian positions increases to an impressive size (from -.228 in 2014 to -.645 in 2017; see Table 2).

    The direct effect of communitarian-cosmopolitan positions on party placements on the global left-right dimension is somewhat more erratic; it reaches a climax in 2015 (some time ahead of the Westminster election of that year) in order to shrink to shear irrelevance in 2017 (less than a year after the Brexit referendum).

    In order to make sense of the causes and consequences of these ‘underground’ developments we start out tentative interpretation by observing that Corbyn and Brexit – perhaps Brexit more than Corbyn – have transformed the salience of issues and divisions in British politics quite profoundly in this period. Our results seem to indicate that political competition in Britain is no longer as dominated by the economy and classic questions of class conflict as it was. Cultural matters that belong to the libertarian-authoritarian category of issues have clearly gained in importance. It is in that regard that we plan to substantiate the content (and its evolution) of the libertarian-authoritarian dimension in a follow up analysis.

    https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/conference/fac-socsci/epop-2017/documents/conference-papers/understanding-ideological-change-in-britain-final-7.3.pdf

  69. Les Wilson
    Ignored
    says:

    The BBC as ever deal with things like this in a very underhand way. However they have all jumped on the bandwagon.

    I am talking about ” What the papers say”, they can read aloud headlines they want to push and it is the papers who actually say these things.
    The BBC and others like Sky can say ” well we did not report it we were showing and discussing the views of the newspapers to keep views up to date with headlines and views. They then make it worse by discussing the issues with total numpties.

    So fake news can reign and the BBC et al, have no case to answer.
    A neat propaganda con.

  70. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Right-wing, ‘British’ xenophobia is here to stay folks, it’s part of the BritNat culture of blood and soil nationalism. The gas has just been turned up a bit recently (see Brexit).

    Measuring left-right and libertarian-authoritarian values in the British electorate

    Abstract

    Butler and Stokes’ authoritative analysis of the British electorate concluded that in general voters’ political attitudes were poorly formed and, in consequence, unstable and inconsistent. This paper re-examines this question by developing and evaluating multiple-item scales of two core dimensions of mass political beliefs: left-right and libertarian-authoritarian values. The scales are shown to have respectable levels of internal consistency, high levels of stability over a one-year period, and to be useful predictors of support for political parties. In these respects they compare favourably with other commonly used indicators of political attitudes, values and ideology (left-right self-placement, postmaterialism and attitudes to nationalization). This superiority applies across different levels of political involvement. Contrary to the conclusions of earlier research into mass political ideology in Britain, therefore, it is contended that in general the electorate has meaningful political beliefs. Moreover, as the scales developed in this research form part of the British and Northern Irish Social Attitudes Series and recent British Election Studies, they provide an important resource for further studies of political culture in the UK.

    EXAMINING THE PREDICIIVE POWER OF THE SCALES

    The correlations between these attitudes towards the Labour and Conservative parties and the various measures of political beliefs are shown in Table I.

    It can be seen that the left-right Likert scale is clearly a better predictor of support for the Conservative and Labour parties than either the visual self-placement scale or the nationalization policy question. The libertarian-authoritarian scale is also a far stronger predictor of support than is the Inglehart measure, which has no significant association with support for either party. We also regressed support for the Conservatives and support for the Labour Party on respondents’ position on left-right and libertarian-authoritarian value scales simultaneously. The addition of the libertarian-authoritarian scale to the model containinjust the left-right scale increased the R2 for support for the Conservatives from 0.35 to 0.41. For Labour, R2 rose from 0.28 to 0.33. These increases in variance explained were significant although not very large, indicating that the libertarian- authoritarian scale makes a modest additional contribution to the variance explained by the left-right scale….

    CONCLUSIONS

    It has often been claimed that mass electorates do not have consistent and stable political belief systems.15 This view rests in the main, however, upon evidence obtained using relatively weak measures of political attitudes. In this paper we have shown that when examined in a more appropriate fashion the British electorate does have consistent and stable views on underlying value principles, which in turn would seem to be useful for explaining support for the main political parties both during and between elections….

    ….We conclude that contrary to the claims of earlier research into political behaviour in Britain, the electorate’s political attitudes are not random and unstable, neither are they constrained along a single left-right dimension, instead they are structured within a value framework involving dimensions of both left-right and libertarian-authoritarian beliefs – and form consistent, stable and consequential elements of British political culture.

    http://www.catherinedevries.eu/stats/Evans.pdf

  71. Rock
    Ignored
    says:

    Did the “independence supporting” The National put the record straight?

    Or did it lie as much as its elder sister, The Herald?

  72. geeo
    Ignored
    says:

    Average house price Scotland £145,000 (ish)

    Average house price England £240,000 (ish).

    Now think what the difference in Council Tax and Stamp duty/LBTT is here and down there.

    On that one aspect alone, the “higher taxed” argument is utterly destroyed beforexylu throw in Prescriptions/uni fees/childcare/social care etc…

  73. crazycat
    Ignored
    says:

    Of course, The National is the honourable exception to the above list of “imaginative” newspapers.

    Its front page declares:

    SCOTLAND LEAVES UK BEHIND WITH PROGRESSIVE TAX SHAKE-UP

    What does our new fairer system mean for you? Eight pages of Budget reaction and analysis from our top experts inside

    and on pages 2-3:

    Tax cuts for the poor, rises for the rich

    (Oops, sorry Rock – didn’t see your knee-jerk whinge until I was about to press “submit” [aye right ;)])

  74. K1
    Ignored
    says:

    You’re really a bit of an arse Rock. Why don’t you just go on to their site and read the bloody headlines and find our for yourself? Of course they reported the factual reality of what the budget is and means.

    Are you so thick that you believe we on Wings are too thick to know your game?

    Change the fucking record.

    http://www.thenational.scot/news/15773911.Scottish_Budget_2017__Tax_cuts_for_the_poorest__tax_rises_for_the_richest/?ref=mrb&lp=7

  75. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Mind the Gap Between Perception and Reality | Sean Tiffee | TEDxLSCTomball
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BL9uRJpTqY

  76. Pacman
    Ignored
    says:

    I am no economics expert but it is plain to see that the budget was required to protect services immediately and the medium term with investment in the economy which should stabilise growth.

    To argue otherwise is to argue for cuts in services. They need to stop pussy footing about, be honest and suggest what services should be cut.

  77. gus1940
    Ignored
    says:

    The UK media are totally out of control and it is high time legislation was brought in to remedy the situation.

    Surely it is not unreasonable to make it a legal requirement that they publish/broadcast the truth at all times with the possible exception of times of war.

    In saying that I would not exclude Opinion pieces but they would have to be in a section identifying them as such but there would still be a requirement for the truth.

    If it is an offence to lie (perjury) in a law court why should it not be an offence to lie to a whole nation?

    I would suggest laws to regulate the media along the lines of those pertaining to perjury.

    Publications alleged to be printing lies should be charged and face trial.

    If guilty they should face substantial fines and in serious cases face suspension from publication for a period decided by the court.

    In no way am I suggesting censorship – all I want is the truth.

  78. gus1940
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T

    I see that the latest anti-Russian scare story is that they may cut us off from the internet by cutting the subsea communication cables.

    WOW – that is the first thing that is done at time of war commencing – The UK cut all the German cables at the start of WW1 and WW2.

    The next scare will be that they will cut all the North Sea pipelines.

  79. Highland Wifie
    Ignored
    says:

    @Capella 11.26
    Very interesting interview. I love this guy Thomas Herndon.
    Explains really well the way in which austerity is a political choice made in order to preserve power in the hands of business and prevents a role for the state in providing employment and social justice.

    Hopefully be more widely shared if on Twitter.

  80. Pacman
    Ignored
    says:

    When I think about it, are the organisations mentioned in the article, reporting news or are they reporting opinion as news?

    It’s obvious it is the latter and it is in effect fake news.

  81. Linds
    Ignored
    says:

    But Harry and Megan tho…?

    Thank fuck you’re doing this.
    Why the SNP don’t have a dedicated PR or social media department to deal with these lies really pisses me off.
    Labour, Tory, Greens, U**P, MSM have carte blanche to flat out lie, and get away with it with no comeback.
    They need to get on the offensive.
    Shut the shit down as soon as possible.
    Full scale social media onslought as soon as the lie is propogated.
    Independence has to be fought for. (peacefully, of course)

    Top work as always

    Lindsay

    PS Aberdeen are shit, there a said it! Mon The Hoops!

  82. McBoxheid
    Ignored
    says:

    Bob Mack says: We have to sow division in their ranks,

    Isn’t that a British unionist policy?

    Its curious that British unionists seek to divide and rule, while the Scottish nationalists are trying to unite support for independence?

    Who are the real unionists? To me, it certainly isn’t the Britnats, who have always used differences in our society as a means to divide and rule.

    I understand what you are saying Bob Mack, get the unionists to fight each other, but wouldn’t it be better to win them over slowly with sound ideas and actual deeds and policies rather than the lies, empty promises and vows we get from the unionists? Encouraging soft unionists or fence sitters to our inclusive way of thinking, rather than stoop to their level would prove beyond doubt that independence seeking Scots are positive and inclusive, a refreshing difference from that of the lying divide and rule Britnatia lot. Indeed, it is working already, as evidenced by the video thead that shows the converts to the independence cause.

    Independence is not about the SNP, although they are the main political party supporting it. It is a grass roots campaign that they promote as the number one priority, sometimes they get too involved with the politics to see the bigger question. Do you still want to be ruled by another Nation? Simple as that.

  83. Stookie
    Ignored
    says:

    Agreed Linds. Scot Gov should report them to press commission every time

  84. Dorothy Devine
    Ignored
    says:

    Gus1940, call me cynical but it is more likely that Westminster will cut the connections and blame it on the Russians.
    Would be a ‘neat ‘ little plan to stop the truth!

  85. gus1940
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T

    Yesterday I read a priceless example of anti-Russian FAKE NEWS in one of the on-line metropolitan lie sheets.

    The story went as follows:-

    US fighters in Syria fire warning flares at Russian fighters.

    The purveyors of that rubbish lie obviously think that we are so stupid as not to know that such flares are defensive NOT offensive whose purpose is to ward off attacks on the plane launching/firing said flares by heat seeking missiles.

    However, we poor ignoramuses were supposed to believe that the Brave US pilots were warding off the Russians.

    One has to laugh at but question why this relentless propaganda offensive is being waged against Russia.

    What possible advantage would accrue to Russia by attacking Western Europe which is their largest customer for Oil & Gas?

  86. Hamish100
    Ignored
    says:

    Rock must have changed shifts . usually is guf is normally in the wee sma hours supporting the telegraph etc. Maybe he is a spanner in the works.



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