The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


The stability of chaos

Posted on March 02, 2013 by

Not content with this morning’s Daily Mail masterclass in misinformation on pensions and embassies, eagle-eyed reader Andy Inglis also offers us this quite remarkable interpretation of the Eastleigh by-election result from the same source:

mailshit

There’s been a “seismic political upset” in England, so Scotland should stay in the Union to ensure “continuing political stability”, even though being in the Union has brought us “an unknown future at a time of global crisis and financial meltdown”. Eh?

In fact, reading between the lines the piece SEEMS to say “If Scotland doesn’t stay in the Union, the Tories won’t be able to win the next election”. We’re not absolutely sure that’s quite the No-campaign vote-winner the Mail appears to think it is.

18 to “The stability of chaos”

  1. Jiggsbro says:

    I thought perhaps it was trying to say “Look! The English are rejecting the Tories too, so it’s safe to stay in the union”

    Reply
  2. johnnypict says:

    I’m personal development trainer. On the last paragraph the phrase ‘That means’, I’m sure some already know is a complex equivalence. 

    Someone has been on an NLP or Ericksonian hypnosis course.

    Very telling and sticks out like a sore thumb to me. Even though the paragraph after, obviously does not equate to the section before, that fact may escape some people …unfortunately.
     

    Reply
  3. Baheid says:

    A right wing newspaper, reporting on a right wing party getting hammered by an extreme right wing party and referring to Italy’s answer to UKIP, (Beppe Grillo).
    What the hell does that have to do with Scotland!?
    We don’t do RW 

    Reply
  4. tartanfever says:

    There really has been some crazy reporting with this by-election. The media are having a laugh if they think that UKIP are going to break the tory vote in a general election.
    So they really think that a UKIP voter in 2015 will take the chance on not voting tory and having a labour government elected. Then they can kiss goodbye to an EU referendum.
     

    Reply
  5. AnneDon says:

    So if Scotland votes No, the English will vote Tory? That certainly turns all their earlier ‘Scots ensure Labour gets into power’ guff!
    And, as already mentioned, Vote Yes to destroy the Tories Forever isn’t a scary slogan!

    Reply
  6. frankieboy says:

    a “seismic political upset” They returned the same party!

    Reply
  7. Jimbo says:

    The only guaranteed political stability Scotland gets is that we always get the government England votes for.

    Reply
  8. TYRAN says:

    Eh? Read it a few times and I still don’t follow what the hell they are on about! What a lot of rubbish. Vote no due to something in Italy, which I have no knowledge of and don’t care about either. Might as well add the South African police stuff to the article.

    Reply
  9. Boorach says:

    Guaranteed political stability…… that must be an oxymoron and a half with elections held every 4 or 5 years depending on which government is due for replacement

    Reply
  10. JLT says:

    Rev,
    You live down south, and therefore, have your finger not only on the pulse of England, but also of how it views Scotland. This is the irony of it all. We, up here, grumble about how the English don’t care, yet for yourself, who lives in that nation, the people of England do not have a clue as to the actual mood in Scotland.
    This ‘misinformation’ is probably going 2 ways amongst the general population of the UK (note that I am not including the media in this, only the population of the UK).
    As I said in a previous entry (a minute ago on ‘ Our English correspondent writes‘ ) to Morag, we up here in Scotland, can’t relate to UKIP. It has no meaning for us. We just see it as an anti-EU party that wants to curb immigration. For you, however, you probably get a lot more coverage on them, and therefore, are ahead of the loop, in regards to the folk in Scotland.
    To the English, they see the SNP as some sort of ‘up-start’ party (even though it is an old party, and was voted in with a majority), where all they are interested in is being anti-english (which is nonsense). Therefore, they can’t relate to the real issues or feelings in Scotland.
     
    If Scotland does vote ‘Yes’, then I suspect England will go into shock, and be utterly baffled as to why Scotland has voted itself out of the UK. At the same time, if UKIP ever do come to power, I think the people in Scotland will wonder about English politics, and where it is really going.

    Reply
  11. Training Day says:

    Established politicians and parties have failed the public, so the solution is..to invest even more trust in those established politicians and parties.  Right.
    Even for the newspaper which supported Moseley’s Blackshirts this is a piece of cretinism which stands out (and in the Daily Heil it’s up against some pretty stiff competition, like the other article today by Struan Stevenson MEP claiming that wind farms will lead to another Darien).

    Reply
  12. Dcanmore says:

    There is something very obvious about the Eastleigh by-election result which the MSM has either ignored (which is likely) or there too stupid to notice. There was a massive protest vote against the parties in government … but they didn’t go to Labour, the official Party of Opposition, despite vigorous campaigning by Labour big-guns. Make no mistake, Labour went into this campaign looking to win or vastly improve their vote share considering the circumstances of the by-election. But the Labour vote stagnated and they were ignored. That to me that indicates a real danger for Labour in SE English seats because the Tories can do a deal with UKIP (they are after all Tory voters with a gripe). So, Labour are not picking up the Tory votes they need to win the next election. Milliband and Balls are becoming invisible. Come the Euro Elections in 2014 UKIP will probably do really well but I can see the Conservative vote (Tory and UKIP) galvanising for the GE 2015. There is no reason to suggest that Labour are going to win in 2015 as SE England moves more to the right aided by a rabid Press with their anti-Europe anti-benefit stories. Scotland will see this developing and watch how the Labour leadership becomes more hapless. Eastleigh by-election does not see Labour in the ascendancy, far from it. 

    Reply
  13. kininvie says:

    The Mail’s appeal is very simple: ‘Everyone else is rocking the boat, so Scotland has a patriotic duty to contribute to the UK’s stability by not breaking it up.’ For those Scots who see themselves as British first and Scottish second (many of whom may be Mail readers) this is an attractive proposition – bonkers though it may seem to the rest of us. I forsee something along these lines as being the next tactic for Better Together as they run out of scare stories. ‘We need you to save us from ourselves. Would you want your English grannie to be assaulted by Bulgarian immigrants/UKIP blackshirts/(whatever group happens to be DM hate-of-the-day)….’

    Reply
  14. kininvie says:

    ….And while I’m on the subject, the same argument is already being used on the left, where the appeal is for solidarity with the English victims of the evil Tories (i.e. We need you, Scotland, to make sure the Tories don’t get in in 2015). If you haven’t read this Better Nation post, it’s worth visiting, not only for its demolition of this argument, but for the BTL discussion of Bedroom tax. link to betternation.org

    Reply
  15. muttley79 says:

    I reckon UKIP will continue to do well in England up to the 2015 General Election.  Before that the Tories will make impossible demands on the EU, and they will be told these are unacceptable.  When this happens the Tories will probably have to give a commitment before the next election that they will be campaigning for a withdrawal from the EU in the referendum.  This will probably ensure that UKIP supporters vote for the Tories at the  2015 General election, and there will be a referendum on the EU in the UK in a few years, possibly 2016 and 2017.   

    Reply
  16. orkers says:

    We should all be rooting for the Tories and UKIP in England.
    If a right wing Government looks likely in 2015 it will provide a massive boost to the ‘Yes’ campaign.
     

    Reply
  17. Albert Herring says:

    @orkers 
    Maybe we should all threaten to vote Tory if there’s a No vote 😉

    Reply
  18. Alastair Wright says:

    Could Eastleigh be England’s version of the ’62 west Lothian bi election? I see and hear a lot of similar comments about this being a protest vote etc. it seems to me circumstances are very similar to what occurred in Scotland 50 years ago and seem to following a parallel path, just that it’s on on the other side of the political fence and consequently more right wing. Just to be clear I am NOT comparing UKIP and SNP, just the historical circumstances we find (re?) occurring.

    Reply


Comment - please read this page for comment rules. HTML tags like <i> and <b> are permitted. Use paragraph breaks in long comments. DO NOT SIGN YOUR COMMENTS, either with a name or a slogan. If your comment does not appear immediately, DO NOT REPOST IT. Ignore these rules and I WILL KILL YOU WITH HAMMERS.


  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,781 Posts, 1,220,692 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • PhilM on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “I’m thinking of retiring to France soon and when I do I’m going to be welcomed by universal acclaim as…Jun 25, 21:14
    • Hatey McHateface on Holiday Relief: “I’m disappointed, NC, I expected your dog to bark in Scots.Jun 25, 20:48
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Holiday Relief: “Northcode, a peace-token, with respect and paragraphs… About a year ago I picked up for £4 in a second hand…Jun 25, 20:25
    • Northcode on Holiday Relief: “woof woof woofJun 25, 20:11
    • AndrewR on Anatomy Of A Lunatic: “Hatey – “BTW. You seem to have an inaccurate picture of what I support and don’t support.” Sorry, huge apologies,…Jun 25, 20:05
    • Hatey McHateface on Holiday Relief: “Too bad, Fearghas. You’ve failed Northcode’s ideological purity tests and now you must be reclassified yoon. You too Sven. You…Jun 25, 19:52
    • Chas on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “794th time. Inching forward to the big 1000. Gaun yersel Alfie boy.Jun 25, 19:32
    • Hatey McHateface on Anatomy Of A Lunatic: ““I find myself looking for Hatey’s reactions” Then you must be on the wrong forum. Because of the lack of…Jun 25, 19:31
    • Northcode on Holiday Relief: “I don’t detect much in the way of respect emanating from your comment… so let’s not bother with that particular…Jun 25, 19:21
    • Hatey McHateface on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “Isn’t NI hoaching with yoons? In the event that demographic change forces unification of the island of Eire, won’t many…Jun 25, 19:15
    • Anthem on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “I agree totally. Even though the tools are there to dismantle this disgusting, corrupt organisation, the streets and voices are…Jun 25, 19:04
    • Hatey McHateface on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “Shame. We’ll never know just how good it was. Anyhoo, Xaracen already has today’s Stellar Post Award, although Confused has…Jun 25, 19:03
    • Ian McCubbin on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “Northern Ireland has no resources do England wants rid of it and it’s people too costly to keep. Contrast that…Jun 25, 18:51
    • 100%Yes on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “I have no doubt in my mind that Swinney is happy for the Holyrood MSP’s to be sacrificed the same…Jun 25, 18:17
    • James Jones on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “NI would be looking for reunification, not independence. Eire would have to be willing. Would they? Perhaps, but it’s complicated.…Jun 25, 18:11
    • AndrewR on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “not for publication I think I was just modded, for my email about Hatey. Thankyou! Again. He can look after…Jun 25, 17:55
    • Callum on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “GTF Seamus GTF Scotland 1 & 2 for me in 2026 for any party that backs national elections as de…Jun 25, 17:46
    • Alf Baird on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “This fits well with what postcolonial theory tells us about the decolonization process: https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2024/05/25/the-three-phases-of-decolonization-lessons-for-scotland/Jun 25, 17:26
    • Frank Waring on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “Why not organise to have a true independence referendum in, say, 18 months, and raise the money to pay for…Jun 25, 16:50
    • Doug on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “Logan is more Wishart than Wishart.Jun 25, 16:42
    • Mark Beggan on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “And people talked about MI5 conspiracy. Who needs to conspire when you’ve got Scotlands very own guide to Failure. An…Jun 25, 16:29
    • Insider on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “A “soupsong ” ??? Minny, minny, minny, minestrone…. We are the alphabetties…happy girls and boys… Cock-a-leekie (favourite of many MSPs)…Jun 25, 16:22
    • Aidan on A different school: “@Xaracen – you aren’t making any recognised form of legal argument that can be engaged with though. You seem to…Jun 25, 16:15
    • James on A different school: “Don’t waste your time engaging, James C, these are paid trolls.Jun 25, 16:07
    • duncanio on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “After saying “challenging the Westminster parties to concede the principle of consent in letting Scotland determine its own democratic future…Jun 25, 15:59
    • Athanasius on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “Of course, there is also the fact that Westminster would like nothing more than to actually get rid of Northern…Jun 25, 15:51
    • Aidan on A different school: “Without going into too much detail, essentially it gives the Scottish people the ability to act as a check on…Jun 25, 15:50
    • AndrewR on Anatomy Of A Lunatic: “Confused: do you know any English people? Or any Muslims for that matter. I find myself looking for Hatey’s reactions…Jun 25, 15:41
    • Xaracen on A different school: “But you still haven’t addressed any of my actual arguments, Aidan. You never pay the slightest attention to them, and…Jun 25, 15:35
    • robertkknight on But Don’t Give Yourself Away: “Ever get the feeling you’re being gaslit? Independence for Scotland! SNP Out!Jun 25, 15:34
  • A tall tale



↑ Top