The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


The Straight Debates

Posted on March 15, 2012 by

The media and blogosphere is awash with anguished, hand-wringing pleas for the independence debate to be conducted in a mature, reasoned and intelligent way over the next couple of years, but which do very little to bring that situation about. Yet it's a vital goal, because the way we're going whoever wins the referendum will find themselves living in a bitterly divided Scotland torn apart by years of vicious fighting.

Looking to the mainstream media is hopeless, because it's simply not set up for adult discussion. Politicians are crammed into tiny amounts of airtime which encourage nothing but vacant point-scoring soundbites – prepared in advance, often repeated robotically, and on no account to be deflected by anything the interviewer might have actually asked. (Though in fairness, on his night the BBC's Gordon Brewer can be as tenacious an inquisitor as these islands have seen.)

The online arena is no better, overwhelmingly inhabited by partisan sites – including this one – many of which also censor large swathes of dissenting opinion behind cowardly moderation policies. (Which we don't – only a contributor's first comment is moderated, as an anti-spam measure.) It's almost unheard of for opposing sides to undertake any sort of above-the-line dialogue.

So we're going to have a go.

The Straight Debates is an idea we've been mulling for a while. It's a tightly-structured discussion format which attempts to get round the issues mentioned above and hopefully produce some light rather than just heat. It's a format that, within the constraints of linear time, we're happy to engage in with anyone – from any party or none – who has something to say that conflicts with our own views. (That doesn't necessarily exclude supporters of independence.) We encourage others to adopt the format too. It works like this:

1. You need two people at a time. More than that could theoretically work, but it'd probably get pretty messy and prohibitively long.

2. Participant A opens with a question. Participant B must give a direct answer to that question as their opening sentence – valid responses are "Yes", "No", "Don't know" and "Don't care". They can then expand on that answer to whatever degree they choose.

(The only exception to the rule is that the question may instead take the form of a list of options, of which Participant B must either select one or answer "None of the above", before continuing as previously.)

3. Participant A may now offer a follow-up, to which Participant B gets a second reply, which is the final word.

4. The positions now reverse, with Participant B putting a question to Participant A, and steps 2 and 3 are repeated.

5. The number of questions is up to the participants, but either two or three each seems like a sensible number, depending on the length of answers.

6. The completed debate must be reproduced in full, and not be edited in any way – except for formatting and to correct typos – unless both parties expressly agree in advance to any changes. (For example, if someone wants to slightly rephrase a passage for easier reading, without changing its meaning.)

And that's it. But it's easier to show than to tell, so later today we'll be airing our first, but hopefully not last, attempt. Stay tuned.

4 to “The Straight Debates”

  1. Bobby McPherson says:

    Genius! I lookforward to the debate perhaps if successful and I every reason to feel confident that it will be, it may catch on elsewhere…. Good luck

    Reply
  2. steven luby says:

    This sounds good,encouraging to see sense bouncing in at last !!

    Reply
  3. Janos says:

    What's sad is that whilst this makes perfect sense, the day 90% of Westminster politicians subscribe to such a logical and sensible model of debate is the day that planet earth becomes united in peace and prosperity.  As in not for another few thousand years at least …

    Reply
  4. Shodan says:

    It's a grand idea. Your opinions on most the alternatives out there are much the same as my own. It's like panning for gold at a played out source.

    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: 6,785 Posts, 1,221,504 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • Young Lochinvar on Too Tight To Mention: “Sorry Andrew Meant to address your last point. As a resident of unfashionable former industrial Lanarkshire with family links over…Jul 7, 04:12
    • Young Lochinvar on Too Tight To Mention: “Andrew R @ 12.53 Bit partial in your reading of history there Andrew, somewhat post ‘45 influenced.. Prior to that…Jul 7, 03:57
    • Young Lochinvar on Too Tight To Mention: “Interesting post. Incidentally the “Lowland” clearances took place over 100 years earlier, those on the border even earlier. Just didn’t…Jul 7, 03:35
    • AndrewR on Too Tight To Mention: “The Southern Scots were a part of the oppression of the Northern Scots, the destruction of the northern culture, language,…Jul 7, 00:53
    • Alf Baird on Too Tight To Mention: ““We can’t prevent poverty being imposed upon us.” Yes sam, the ‘objective of colonialism is to widen inequality’; which is…Jul 6, 22:21
    • Alf Baird on Too Tight To Mention: “Yes Sarah, the Liberate Scotland strategy offering a single unity candidate per constituency and a single policy (i.e. an independence…Jul 6, 22:07
    • Andy Ellis on Too Tight To Mention: “We can’t prevent poverty being imposed upon us. Actually, we could if “we” as a people chose to do so…Jul 6, 22:01
    • sam on Too Tight To Mention: ““Sufficient self-government refers to a level of autonomy where a territory can effectively manage its own affairs without external control,…Jul 6, 21:35
    • sam on Too Tight To Mention: “Iain MacKinnon’s work explores the concept of domestic colonization in Scotland, particularly focusing on the Highland Clearances and the cultural…Jul 6, 21:22
    • Andy Ellis on Too Tight To Mention: “Or alternatively if more people in the movement who were disgusted with the milquetoast devolutionists in the SNP had gotten…Jul 6, 21:13
    • sarah on Too Tight To Mention: “I hope that spines are shivering in SNP leadership’s clique today. May Kenny Macaskill win a seat in 2026 so…Jul 6, 20:46
    • Andy Ellis on The Con Merchant: “@Alf 6.26 pm Your analysis of the language issue is – as the comments from many people more knowledgeable and…Jul 6, 20:15
    • sarah on Too Tight To Mention: “Thank you, auld highlander!Jul 6, 18:28
    • Alf Baird on The Con Merchant: “Andy, depriving ‘a people’ of their language (and resources, history, culture etc) is a violation of human rights. It is…Jul 6, 18:26
    • auld highlander on Too Tight To Mention: “Here you go. Plus the call for a public enquiry. https://web.archive.org/web/20250706164457/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/25290257.albas-kenny-macaskill-says-will-never-forgive-sturgeon/ https://web.archive.org/web/20250706165351/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/25292667.albas-kenny-macaskill-calls-alex-salmond-public-inquiry/Jul 6, 18:02
    • sarah on Too Tight To Mention: “O/T Could someone please post an archived link to the Sunday Herald interview with Kenny MacAskill “I will not forgive…Jul 6, 17:29
    • agent x on Too Tight To Mention: “Northcode says: “I even have the S530 DNA marker to prove it.” ————————————————– Did the Police take your DNA for…Jul 6, 17:04
    • Sven on Too Tight To Mention: “Gosh, woe (& confuddlement) is me. First broad Scots. Then Brythonic. Now P-Celtic trace language. How on earth is a…Jul 6, 16:59
    • Northcode on Too Tight To Mention: “You might be on to something there, Confused.Jul 6, 16:57
    • Northcode on Too Tight To Mention: ““St Columba (originally from Ireland) could not communicate with the Picts” I didn’t know that, Young Lochinvar, but it makes…Jul 6, 16:42
    • Young Lochinvar on Too Tight To Mention: “The farce of the creation of the Church of England is that Henry Tudor 8 reaffirmed his Catholic beliefs on…Jul 6, 16:40
    • Northcode on Too Tight To Mention: ““I am descended of the Danaans.” I hadn’t noticed my misspelling of ‘Danann’ so the opportunity to rectify my error…Jul 6, 16:36
    • Andy Ellis on Too Tight To Mention: “I always thought the usual suspects were a bunch of space cadets. From the mouths of babes….Jul 6, 16:28
    • sarah on Too Tight To Mention: “The SNP should be adopting the Manifesto for Independence and then we wouldn’t need to be signing it! The SNP…Jul 6, 16:21
    • Young Lochinvar on Too Tight To Mention: “Interesting post NC. In line with what you have said, St Columba (originally from Ireland) could not communicate with the…Jul 6, 16:21
    • sarah on Too Tight To Mention: “I am sorry that the Free zones and ports petition “can’t be found”. It’s almost as if someone doesn’t want…Jul 6, 16:17
    • Aidan on Too Tight To Mention: “@Captain Caveman – yes, I would say “officially” is probably putting it too strongly, it’s likely one of the admin…Jul 6, 16:15
    • agent x on Too Tight To Mention: “” Northcode says: 2 July, 2025 at 12:24 pm I am descended of the Danaans. When we first arrived here…Jul 6, 15:53
    • Hatey McHateface on Too Tight To Mention: “Great stuff, NC. Looking forwards already to your first post in Brittonic. Be sure to make it a belter. This…Jul 6, 15:13
    • Andy Ellis on Too Tight To Mention: “….even if this genetic heritage is invisible and rarely acknowledged. Surely given recent scientific advances in DNA sampling and technology…Jul 6, 14:35
  • A tall tale



↑ Top