To the editor of the Scotsman
Your defamatory lies really ought to stop.
In today’s edition, you allege in reference to me that:
This, as I’m sure your journalists are perfectly well aware, is absolutely untrue.
It can only refer to an incident in January in which we documented alleged “Better Together” events at train stations. However, what we actually said at that time was:
“Now let’s be absolutely crystal-clear about this, as if it needed saying: we DON’T want anyone harassed. Any photographs sent in will have the faces of the leafleters blurred out.”
In the subsequent articles, any faces of ordinary campaigners that were visible were indeed completely obscured. We had no interest whatsoever in “publicly identifying” opposing campaigners, and did not do so.
I expect these untrue lines to be removed from the online version of the newspaper immediately, and an unequivocal apology for this disgraceful – and clearly deliberate, since there’s no possible way of reading our comments or actions to mean the exact opposite of what they said – smear to appear in tomorrow’s print edition.
Further to this matter, your smear also includes the utterly untrue assertion that:
I have never said, and would never, say such an appalling thing. I have said, and stand by the view, that OTHER Liverpool fans were partly culpable for the deaths of the 96. I have always made abundantly and repeatedly plain that the VICTIMS themselves were completely innocent.
If you can provide a quote from me saying otherwise, please do so. If not, kindly lift your excrement-covered heads out of the sewer for a few brief moments and withdraw and apologise for those remarks too.
Such gutter journalism is the shame of Scotland’s media. I will be in touch with the Press Complaints Commission.
Yours,
Rev. Stuart Campbell
They are rattled and they are coming to get you.
In case anyone hasn’t noticed this from the bottom of the centre column.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they come to fight you, and then you win.” (M.K. Gandhi)
Get em tell’t Stu.
And the they come to fight you…..
“Nationalist’ campaigners?
What’s that all about then?
Wow. You must be really getting under their skin! You have been targeted. Congratulations.
Well done. These people need to be held to account for the lies and smears they make.
You would think that the morons in charge at the NOrthBritishMan would count their sales V your readership and think before they publish such libels but hey – they’re morons.
I should think their falling sales figures are in direct proportion to their lying headlines. As they seem unable to stop lying we can look forward to the demise of this miserable rag.
Just tell us know when the fighting fund for the defamation case begins.
Bang out of order. there are some decent Journos at the Scotsman, but some of them like to wallow around in the gutter
…then you have a big party to celebrate, and get happily drunk. Then you go to bed, then you wake up with a sair heed, then you have a full English whilst reading the Scottish press, then you laugh….
Well said Sir. Let’s not tolerate this.
This is truly shocking. The Scotsman must print an apology and retraction.
It’ll get worse. As Sillars said the other day (and I’m loath to quote him), MI5 and the CIA were in it up to their necks during the devolution referendum in 79, so to think that anything has changed since then is naive at best. I fully expect a story to appear soon of the Rev’s weird sex games, sex being the most effective flavour of smear. Or perhaps some alleged financial misdemeanour, nothing quite like a tax dodger to incite outrage.
No one, absolutely no one, expected this site to be as successful as it has been, and as such it represents a clear and present threat to the establishment.
It’s almost as if one of the hacks who wrote it used to work for the News of the World….
The MSM are suddenly discovering that online sites are where people csn resd the truth free from spin and they hate to think that we might have access to facts.
Just read this on-line,they never stop lying do they.
Hubby usually fills the copies at his local tescos with YES leaflets,although i question wether this will change the hard NO voters who are still reading this rag of a paper.
As someone who is living in Citalapram City at the moment, please take care off yourself Stu, I know you’re battle hardened anyway but still…
Careful Stu. And all. Jim is warning about agents provocateurs.link to 1001campaign.com
A straightforward lie.
The closer we get to the referendum vote the more the supporters of the British establishment are getting pro-Indy campaigners and activists wrapped up in non-referendum issues such as this one and others such as non-existent internet abuse.
They really hate the media exposure you are getting lately. I expect more of this type of nonsense to happen over the remaining period. Soon the Labour hatred of all things SNP will be eclipsed by their hatred of all things Wings.
Keep up the good work Stuart. It must be wearing but you have a ton of people supporting you and I am sure I speak for most when I say that we really appreciate what you do.
UKOK media’s dropped any pretence at professional journalism now, although the gits don’t use by-lines if their bettertogether propaganda is just too heavy, god knows why though.
link to archive.today
“Hillary Clinton intervenes in independence debate, declaring she would “hate” for Britain to “lose Scotland”.
And
“I would hate to have you lose Scotland,” Clinton told BBC 2’s Newsnight”
‘They’ are building a narrative around their own web of lies.
It’s like a delay pedal that’s on loop and growing chaotic.
The NO campaign are on the rack. Thankfully, the Scotsman won’t be on racks for much longer.
It has taken all the might and negativity of the MSM including BBC to let it be known that the Scottish branch of the British Labour Party held a meeting to declare their intention to vote NO.
I suspect all their huffing, puffing and faux outrage has given them high blood pressure and little else.
I also suspect that the Scotsman is perhaps doing its own clever placement marketing by mentioning a much larger news outlet like WoS to promote their own dinky, parochial gripe sheet. I hope they do not gain any clicks from any WoS. Thanks Stu, for reading through the trash so that we don’t have to.
Well said Reverend. Your grace and wit are an inspiration.
@Devorgilla I need a break – now I have pictures of Mr Sillars in an underwear catalogue!! Putting on my right specs now!
Notice the bit they didn’t mention that despite being challenged to find people and photograph them …….. we couldn’t find any. Empty stations were all we could find.
Tumbleweeds ……………………….
And that sort of thing is why I stopped buying the Scotsman.
I don’t mind an editorial stance in a newspaper, even if it is contrary to my views, but I do expect the reporting to be truthful.
If you know one thing they are reporting is a deliberate lie and distortion, then you have to wonder about everything else they publish.
So don’t drink from the poisoned chalice.
Given that Susan Dalgety has great enthusiasm for condescendingly explaining to people ‘how the media works in Scotland’, I’m sure she will be contacting the Scotsman to put them straight.
Oh sorry I’ve made a mistake, she knows how the media works in Scotland.
Project Fear has now been taken over by the UK Dirty Tricks squad comprised of ‘Scottish’ Labour, the BBC and shadowy figures and organisations charged with maintaining the ‘security’ of the Westminster establishment.
We must stay positive and aspirational if our country is to be free – do not let these people drag us into the gutter.
Do not hate them – pity them. We will be free so smile and carry on campaigning.
PS …. and don’t pay the licence fee
Its all getting personal so you know your doing well as theyre trying to play the player and not the game. Im sure if you have to crowd source a legal suit then he money will fly in
#McPetrocelli
So the attack is on for WOS and all of us contributers. As of 9.00am ths morning this Scotsman article had 286 comments.
As the actress said. “There is no bad publicity”
On radio, TV and the scotsman newspaper.
What’s not to like?
Seriously though.Take care.
Hope you have better luck with the press complaints commission rev. Though as part of the state apparatus I won’t be holding my breath.
Remember “the mad hatters tea party” think that’s what “our” democracy is based on.
Hope I haven’t frightened our bullied any quivering unionist with my beliefs.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Mahatma Gandhi.
This illustrates the expression “gutter press”. The lies mustn’t be tolerated. Well done on rattling their cage so effectively.
I’m surprised, as the Hootsmon is part of the fan club, it didn’t resort to the Rowling description of you as Death Eaterish which I see the BBC today hides away
link to bbc.co.uk
I’m just waiting for your report on the 19th September, headlined “It’s Wings wot won it”.
Scoop McCombover on the byline. Now there’s a surprise.
Who knew we were despised quite so much?
They are shitting themselves. Smears is all they have left.
We are going to win, and that victory will in no small part be due to the efforts of Stuart Campbell.
Why the PCC and not a libel lawyer?
Shameful and scandalous, an object lesson in atrocious, unprofessional journalism. Still, it confirms (if any confirmation were needed) that Wings – and more specifically, the Reverend Stuart Campbell – has truly ARRIVED, and the world is taking notice. Gang canny, Stuart – we know you will, and we’re right there with you! 🙂
Time to don the tin hat Stew, now that you have been ” visualised” on T.V. You are now a target for all the union press and their hacks!, trust none of em.
Well, the Scotsman will obviously understand that online sites/ blogs, are mostly responsible for their sales going through the floor. This is yet another attempt to vilify our “community”, in the hope that some mud sticks, which is familiar across the Bitter Together alliance.
Still, this time it is personal!
Even less sales will be the result. Give them enough rope etc…….They reap what they sow. Take them to the cleaners ref, it looks like you have the right to do so.
Power to you!
Johann Lamont in Parliament yesterday:
“Does the First Minister not realise that, if he does not sack Campbell Gunn, we can only conclude that all the bullying that goes on, wherever it comes from, is done by order, by design by him?”
That type of wild slur and accusation, which Ms Lamont regularly makes in the chamber (protected against prosecution for defamation by parliamentary privilege) is totally unacceptable, cheapens the debate and only encourages offensive comments in this debate, from all sides. “Leaders” should set an example and practice what they preach.
Rev, thanks for the edit, hope good intention was noted on my part.
So what have we learned from this; what does it prove –
The NO campaign coalition of LABOUR / Tories ? & the other ones – (FKA Formerly Better Together)really do work hand in hand with most of the newspapers sold in Scotland.
The Newspapers really are little more than a front for the NO campaign – (AKA UK STATE).
It also proves they are targetting WoS full on; perhaps for highlighting this fact again and again.
We all know how important the internet, social media websites, YouTube etc is, in getting free speech out to the general public vs what is sent out by various governmemt’s supported msm.
@Justin
Of course now we can wait on some paper reporting “And there have been suggestions…First Minister..blah blah.” on which every NO spokeperson can then start referencing “reports are out there….” as hard facts.
Classic spin tactic.
link to en.wikipedia.org
Defamation … is the communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of an individual, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation. Most jurisdictions allow legal action to deter various kinds of defamation and retaliate against groundless criticism. …. In Scots law, as in other jurisdictions that base themselves on the civil law tradition, there is no distinction between libel and slander, and all cases are simply defamation. The equivalent of the defense of justification is “veritas”.
Sue the shirts off their backs!
You tell them! Not that you should have to remind them of how to conduct themselves.
Is it any comfort that you must be doing something right, if they are lying about you?
I’m ready to help fund a court appearance. Surely we must have a lawyer on our side who can take this on free gratis. Maybe even the setting up of a very visible fund would make them think twice in future. Or maybe, as I’m typing I’m thinking, is this what they want, Rev distracted during the run up?
cath says: Why the PCC and not a libel lawyer?
…one thing at a time; there’s a process.
“Does the First Minister not realise that, if he does not sack Campbell Gunn, we can only conclude that all the bullying that goes on, wherever it comes from, is done by order, by design by him?”
I’m waiting for the retort that she obviously feels that being mistaken for Pat Lally’s daughter-in-law is a grave insult.
Where’s the defamation suit from Pat Lally’s daughter-in-law?
“I would hate to have you lose Scotland,” Clinton
Wow. She really “gets” Scotland, doesn’t she? I still hate that Britain “lost” the USA. Real shame that. They would have been much better still belonging to us. That’s
b us
Clinton, for the moment at least, Scotland as well.
I’m sure what Ms Dalgety meant to say may have been:
Let me tell you how we work the media in Scotland.
Then they come to fight you… and then you win.
They are bricking it.
And what of the article’s claims in relation to your views on Hillsborough?
I suppose a lesson has been learned in respect of the importance of checking your facts are correct before publishing something.
This whole incident has exemplified the way people in BT and their friends in the press are content to manufacture outrage as they continue to demonise supporters of independence. However, it hasn’t been a great week for this website.
I suppose on the plus side page views must be up and now you know the first ministers’s special adviser is an avid reader, perhaps even Alex himself.
Don’t let the buggers grind you down, Stu. You’re doing a marvellous job, and you have many supporters who are totally behind you.
We’re winning.
@Stu
The claim made, in the article, in the paragraph preceding the one you quoted above, is in my view, even more defamatory,
“The claim made, in the article, in the paragraph preceding the one you quoted above, is in my view, even more defamatory,”
The Hillsborough stuff? Yeah, I’ve since edited that in. I’d actually skimmed over it first time, assuming it was just the usual vague smear that I’d upset some people, which is perfectly true, but on closer inspection noticed that it was far worse than anything anyone’s said before in the press, and utterly fucking false. I’m not even waiting for a response this time, that’s going straight to the PCC.
Sorry to go OT so early.
Stopped the Scotsman ages ago, then the Herald likewise so have been getting the FT (I need a paper) – been pleased as its pretty much factual in content.
Today carries an opinion piece by Philip Stephens (no idea who he is) on the Referendum – its as bad as the guff in the other press..another paper loses sales.
I aint the best with words so someone smarter than I can email philip.stephens@ft.com.
Go get em Stu, more power to your elbow!
Rev,
Noticed last night that Tesco Express are doing Stella Raspberry Cidre ( not cider!) for £1.50
Take 3 quid out the kitty tonight and sit back and smile with a couple of cold ones. You deserve it.
They are really trying to shut the online debate down. They can’t control it and it’s ALL about control. You are doing sterling work Rev. It’s very much admired and appreciated. They must be really worried!
Rev Stu, get out now and obtain a paper copy of the Hootsmon on English soil. Document the purchase. Then you can sue them for libel in England both because you live there and because you can prove the material was published in England. They will retract, apologise and correct with alacrity. No way can they afford that.
Like all ‘porkies’ it will be grilled, put in a roll and eaten for breakfast ..just another meal for ‘yes’.
Sad to see Jim Sillars misreading and misrepresenting the truth …
Gutter Press absolutely.
I know you won’t let this go.
Bye, bye Scotsman.
Cath
That “lose” Scotland bit really stuck in my craw too. So Britain is to “lose” it’s “colony” of Scotland, just like it lost it’s American colonies in 1783?
I would have expected someone of Hilary Clinton’s experience to be a bit wiser and more careful in her choice of words. I guess it does show that many people furth of Scotland, regardless of their experience, just really don’t get what the independence campaign is actually all about.
I think we can all safely agree that the gloves are well and truly off, and the fight is getting dirtier. And we all know who’s side the referee is on.
Keep the heid folks, and mind your manners (not that the Wingmen need to be told that anyway) – even breathing the wrong way will now be taken as an evil smear attempt orchestrated by the First Minister.
That’s not to say we shouldn’t let lies and deceit go unchallenged, we just need to be really careful about how we word our comments. Don’t give them another inch, then they won’t be able to stretech out the mileage.
O/T
On a brighter note – some good news emerges from recent Survation Poll re / the North East & Glasgow
The latest survey by Survation showed that 43.5% of people in the NE region would vote Yes if the referendum was held tomorrow, while 38.3% said No.
Support for independence in Scotland’s biggest city was up six points to 44.5%, while the proportion of No voters was down about four points to 35.4%.
Now that is good news –
link to pressandjournal.co.uk
If anyone wants to crowdsource funds for the Rev. to take legal action, count me in too. You do a fantastic job Stuart, it’s just really depressing that the vast majority of the MSM seem unable or unwilling to search for the facts and the truth in every story too.
The Distraction Wars, to try and tie up your opponent in frivolous distraction to keep them away from analysing and deconstructing their opponents line of attack and outing their lies and deceit.
The Scotsman, now being a zombie title, is now nothing more that tool for the British State, it is being fed and kept on life support by the British State. Even if there’s a NO vote it won’t survive hence its own trashing of any credibility it has left as a journalistic tome. If you want to know what living death looks like, look at the Hootsman.
They can’t shut down the online debate. Look what it did for the Arab Spring, which the msm praised to high heaven for the freedom that it brought to many citizen’s of those countries.
The ‘informed’ demographic of Scotland is becoming polarised along two divergent paths. There are those who accept political and media spin, which has an obvious editorial bias and which thinks itself, beyond reproach.
These are the people who read the newspapers from whatever standpoint or hue they emanate. They believe the BBC is gospel and that clouds are made of fluffy cotton wool with kittens bouncing on it. They live in a bubble with an exaggerated surface tension which they don’t want to be burst. These people are not stupid! However, they are so wrapped-up in their own problems that they don’t even want to consider the alternative of what may actually be happening in the real world, if they lift their gaze from the print or the TV screen. In soviet terms, the mainstream media in the UK has become the opium of the masses.
Then, there are the inquiring minds, the ones less content to believe everything they see in print, or on the TV. Some decry them as cynics and conspiracy theorists. They are, in fact, skeptics. They can be found here and other on-line places, where skullduggery is exposed regardless of its origins. They make life in the clouds uncomfortable for those who stop to look beyond the rainbow-clad horizon.
Finally, there is a third demographic. The ill-informed glut who exist in the world of soap operas, celebrity culture and Playstation reality. They get their news from FaceBook and they can be vociferous in their condemnation of people/events via their keyboards. These are the people who suggest a mass burning of Harry Potter novels and post hateful messages to people who go public with opposing views. Sometimes, the views are not even opposing – they are just a band-waggon to jump onto, because somebody in their circle has started it rolling.
The problem is that it is all too easy for the mainstream media to lump the ‘informed skeptics’ in with the loony FaceBook fringe, since they share the same (Internet) platform. In essence, Internet becomes BAD, whilst print/TV is GOOD.
Here we have a publication which may once have appeared to be a noble broadsheet (The Scotsman) using gutter tactics to infer that Stuart/Wings is more akin to the FaceBook Fringe than anything else. We need to counter this in every way that we can, although I doubt if the PCC is the short-term answer. Wings has to be seen as a beacon of information and truth to those who might otherwise believe the mainstream media, not as a group of anarchists on a mission to suppress opposition through aggression.
Rise above it and keep-on doing what you are doing. The fact that the mainstream media are having to involve you during this past week, only shows that you are getting to them. Keep it up. 🙂
Is this not right up the ‘Peat worriers’ Street ?
A little O/T.
Ferguslie Park, Paisley. Often referred to as the most deprived area of Europe. It has been said they suffer the worst of the worst and have no reason to vote because nothing changes anyway. If you remember Stuart this was highlighted in an article , I believe , on the same John Beattie programme when you were interviewed. At the end of the article a man was interviewed who said he had a community hall which he could fill with 500 people and challenged that someone should come and convince those people why they should vote. In the current furor I had forgotten this but I now bring it to your attention. If you have access to Blair Jenkins, Nicola Sturgeon , Jim Sillars , Tommy Sheridan, etc. please encourage them to get there buts down there and talk to those folk, if they have not already done so. Accept the challenge. By the way I do not think they read The Scotsman!
I wonder how many undecideds or soft no voters read that article, then came to this site, then had one of those “light-bulb” moments, and decided they would never again buy that rag. Its very name is a joke: any Scotsman worth his salt would be ashamed to be associated with it. There is a plus, though: it could count as yet another unionist own-goal.
Riddicule has always been the weapon of choice for the unionists.
The Scotsman has been considered a crank organisation for some years now. It has turned off its readers who, rightly, dont consider LabServative spin as news.
Rev I rarely comment but often on. You guys are great ,witty, funny and a big reason Yes is on the move. But you are playing in to their hands by reacting. Truth – these spats deter undecideds from coming on – you are now the story. Pursue a legal recourse and or apology in private. Open letters will give their story oxygen. Ignore them . Give them the butterfly.
Rev …said it the last two days. I had an uneasy feeling when you were asked to appear on various programs. They’re definitely gunning for you.
Chin up, big man. Less than a 100 days to go. Once the 19th passes. We’ll either have won or lost …but I expect things to clam down, and common sense to prevail.
Just bear with it, Rev. You’re doing a great job in the face of insurmountable odds. David slew Goliath. There’s nothing to say that we can’t do the same here.
Stick to the higher ideal, and we will win.
SCENE: Somewhere deep in the bowels of Pacific Quay…
COMMANDER JAMES BOND (ret.): Come on now, Macquarrie! THe Scotsman are doing their bit but it’s not enough! We’ve got to do more to stop him and his damned Wings Over Scotland! Something, anything to poison the brand. Think now… evil… Wings…
KEN MACQUARRIE: Can we get Paul McCartney to sue him over the name?
JB: No! We need something really nasty, something that’ll stick. Think, think!
KM: Um…
JB: Evil… reverend… religion… beard…
KM & JB slowly turn to look at one another. They smile, then…
JB & KM (together): AL-QAIDA!!!
They laugh.
KM: I’ll get right on it, sir!
KM: Er… Jesus?
JB: Hardly.
that beard… the religious title…
He’s AL-QAal-Qaida!!!
Stu. I wondered why you missed the Hillsborough bit, the first time you posted. I couldn’t believe it when I cliccked on the Scotsman online.
Absolutely defamatory. You have every right to go to the PCC and complain.
@NODROG
Brilliant idea…I did spot this when it was first highlighted. Please keep pressing for a debate in that area
Yeh… buggered that up not deleting first go. Try again!
Dr Ew says:
13 June, 2014 at 10:22 am
SCENE: Somewhere deep in the bowels of Pacific Quay…
COMMANDER JAMES BOND (ret.): Come on now, Macquarrie! THe Scotsman are doing their bit but it’s not enough! We’ve got to do more to stop him and his damned Wings Over Scotland! Something, anything to poison the brand. Think now… evil… Wings…
KEN MACQUARRIE: Can we get Paul McCartney to sue him over the name?
JB: No! We need something really nasty, something that’ll stick. Think, think!
KM: Um…
JB: Evil… reverend… religion… beard…
KM & JB slowly turn to look at one another. They smile, then…
JB & KM (together): AL-QAIDA!!!
They laugh.
KM: I’ll get right on it, sir!
You can see where they’re going with this, give you a bit of profile on the media to identify you and WoS to the greater public then gradually drip feed these sorts of lies over the next few days. All within a certain timescale that even if the lies are corrected, it will be too late and certainly the correction will not receive the same coverage as the lies. Sadly what I think they don’t understand is that WoS has such a following, we can all see it happening and can point it out to friends and colleagues. It’s just more proof of media corruption. You can blow out a candle, but you can’t blow out a fire…
What I mean is we should be analysing Hilary Clintons comments so that when I go round the doors I can direct people to it . …not the obvious fact the hootsman is off its trolley.
It’s funny, in one of the recent interviews, Stu was pulled up for the remark about Lally lying about the NHS status, saying “you can say things like that on the internet but couldn’t get away with saying it on air or in print” (despite having just said it very clearly). But here’s a clear example of the press directly printing the sort of smears you see on Twitter from nutcase stalkers!
Tartan Tory
They believe the BBC is gospel and that clouds are made of fluffy cotton wool with kittens bouncing on it.
Ha ha ha …love it!
Well nobody with a brain reads the Scotsman anyway but I am certain that the worthless BBC will somehow manage to give the liars oxygen.
@Stu
As an aside, whether or not a retraction is forthcoming, you could use the spare shiny badges as perks to fund a case for defamation. (BTW when are they going to appear through our letterboxes?)
As well as defame Rev Stuart Campbell they are effectively defaming every participant on this site.
I am willing to contribute to whatever it takes to get the Scotsman to publicly and unreservedly apologise.
The more they indulge in this destructive behaviour, the clearer it becomes that we must vote Yes.
Scotland has been kept under mossy boards for decades by this negative outlook and now that the boards are being lifted, we can see a brighter future.
We must thank Mr McComb and Ms Dalgety for their views because they help to focus our minds on the prize that lies waiting for us.
Keep focused Rev and don’t let this distract you.
Get used to it Stu.
In my previous career, I whistle blew on a company in the USA that killed 14 of its employees and endured a multi million dollar war against me for several years.
Some puerile copy then in The Scotsman should be easy to deal with.
By the way, the more attention you get means the closer your knife is getting to cutting out their heart.
Keep stabbing away buddy. You have thousands of us on your side.
Rev., you are doing a great job.
The Brit media is an embarrassment, with 1/2 million people fleeing extremism in Iraq and storms wrecking parts of Northern Germany, they can only come out with the usual pash about CyberNats and poor Mrs Lally, it’s cheesing off the real ordinary people, and the average Scottish voter is not so dumb that they will take this onboard.
Behind this WoS attack by the Scotsman is the fact that the even more hideous Daily Mail did exactly what the Scotsman’s accusation is all about ” photograph their opponents so that they can be publicly identified.”
link to wingsoverscotland.com
The PPC isn’t going to do anything, they never do. There’s good youtube vids of Daily Mail photographers taking photos of people outside BetterTogether offices in Glasgow. They use men in parked cars taking photos as two other Mail hacks approach and photograph people on the pavement and they really do not appreciate being photographed themselves. Such is teamGB media.
No mention that you like Rats?…cant believe they missed that opporchancity!
Put my tuppence worth into the North Briton’s comments. Surprised it was accepted.
Sorry, the PCC isn’t going to do anything, they never do!
I’m quite sure WOS legal dept will be in action soon if no retraction is forthcoming….
Legal funding is assured by all on here.
Keep up your sterling efforts on our behalf, you ARE appreciated.
The Daily Record, online edition anyway, nice picture of a man looking harassed by a DR journo who, it is claimed, is a “cybernat” that tweeted something about putting Sarwar against the wall come indy.
From looking at the evidence, he’s a rubbish cybernat as his digital footprint is practically non existant.
However, his non obscured face is there for all to see.
@ desimond
“No mention that you like Rats?”
Professional courtesy…
Well epic fail fail for the Scotsman if they were trying to put people off WOS. Just put £10 in your donation box because of this. Have been lurking here for some time and have found WOS to be an invaluable source of unbiased info about the indyref issues. I am becoming more and more disillusioned with the main media reporting. Two years ago I would probably have instinctively voted no…being a risk averse woman ..ahem. Thankfully I realised a year ago that I needed to start engaging and researching properly and when I did..well let’s just say I am now YES and evangelical about it. I wish I could afford to donate more but am retired now so not able to do a JK Rowling but I hope that continuing to try and raise and discuss real facts with friends and family will be worth as much.
Euan McColm can’t be responsible for that article. It contains punctuation marks.
As an alumni of St Andrews University I received the Chronicle, the University magazine.
In it was an article by Brian Taylor; The Independence Debate, and one gem jumped out at me:
“I am playing my part in scrutinising and analysing the competing arguments in Scotland’s independence referendum”.
How I laughed, and laughed, and laughed.
@galamcennalath
“Sue the shirts off their backs!”
Aye Stu, have them sobbing as they sign the compensation cheque, it was not only you that was defamed, but every one of us.
And my feelings have been really badly hurt.
🙂
“I am willing to contribute to whatever it takes to get the Scotsman to publicly and unreservedly apologise.”
I’m with you on that one Murray!
Don’t think that Hillary Clinton quote will go down too well in Scotland.
It comes across like we are some kind of possession.
I will be delighted to help crowd fund legal action against the Scotsman. Losing a court case would hopefully be enough to finally finish of the rag.
“And my feelings have been really badly hurt.”
A feel the tears welling up right noo. 🙁
So who runs the noble and not corrupt Press Complaints Commission then? Vote No Guardian says it some one called
“Lord Black. He may not be a household name but the Conservative peer, director of the company behind the Daily Telegraph”
You really couldn’t invent a bigger teamGB farce. Dinnae waste your time Rev. They’ll have a good laugh and take as long as they possibly can and long after Scottish independence too.
Prof. Dumb Down
Where do you get the bad week for this website from?
Ive been away for a couple of days and have missed much of the furore regarding the Lally woman. However, I read the original WOS article and the Rev did not state that she was Pat Lally’s daughter in law. He may have thought out loud that this may have been the case but that was all.
In my humble opinion its not been a bad week for this website, there are hundreds of thousands more people who now know about the website, and there are tens of thousands if not more that saw the Rev on TV and would have concluded that he was a decent chap.
I would imagine that the page views are due for another spike.
O/T but we need a laugh.
Nana Smith,
It’s my honour to invite you to join my table at a Labour dinner and party hosted by Ed Miliband on 9 July in London.
Please make a suggested donation of £3 to help us win the next election, and you (and a friend) will be automatically entered into a draw to be my guests at Labour’s annual gala dinner next month.
You’ll have a chance to chat with Ed Miliband, and then you’ll join me at my table for dinner.
We want to give this opportunity to supporters from anywhere in the country, so Labour will cover travel to London and a night’s accommodation for you and your guest.
There will be many great and inspiring Labour supporters, campaigners and politicians there to celebrate — and I hope you’ll be there too.
Good luck, and I hope to see you on the night.
Doreen
Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon OBE
P.S. You can fill out this form to enter without donating, but we really do need more funds to beat the Tories next year, and even as little as £3 will help!
Steady now Stu. You knew this was going to happen, you’ve always known they’d come at you, and so have all of us on here. *Breathe*. Keep your think straight hat on. You know how to deal with this lot, you’re too smart, too upstanding and tell the truth way too much for their agenda. Don’t take the bait. All their lying and deceit will all come out in the wash anyway.
What a pity that Mrs Clinton couldn’t wait till the 4th of next month to advise us of the benefits of our union.
Stu Dont allow yourself to get bogged down in the smear game with another publication or you will forget your main purpose of exposure and news distribution. Whatever you do do not let the unionist media distract you from the exemplary work youre doing and all you have accomplished to date. Keep digging and keep showing the relevent articles that make this site the one they are all afraid of.
I’m sorry but in what way were “other” Liverpool fans culpable for the deaths at Hillsborough? This disaster was a result of a failure of policing, not “other” Liverpool fans. You’d do well to educate yourself on this subject before you talk rubbish.
“I’m sorry but in what way were “other” Liverpool fans culpable for the deaths at Hillsborough? This disaster was a result of a failure of policing, not “other” Liverpool fans. You’d do well to educate yourself on this subject before you talk rubbish.”
Go and read the article if you want to know what I think. I’m not having the debate here, and any attempt to do so will result in a rapid banning.
As I said yesterday, the power elite have no rational argument to retain Scotland so they must defame and bully to control.
According to wise sage Rowling, (as distinct from the unwashed masses who use the internet) Scotland is too intellectually poor and too weak to withstand life in the 21st century, so we should take the slings and arrows as they come for Westminster will give us a hug at bedtime.
Zap them in the badoolas, Stuart!
@Doug McgDregor
Theres a “Hilary, Come on!” joke to be a dress’d in there somewhere im sure!
Yes someone needs to take the Scotsman to court over the multiple lies they have been getting away with. Enough is enough they are now verging on insanity. The rot has to stop we will all help you take them down Stu.
Euan McColm and John McTernan pontificating on internet nastiness. RIP Irony. The funeral will be on Monday.
“OTHER Liverpool fans were partly culpable for the deaths of the 96”
Appalling statement.
I know what i would do to these people that lie to the public but the Revs TOO forgiven for that. I see the liberty tree we can deal with this SCUM with laws (witch are probably already their but the public funded police dont work for the public) after Victory Freedom. 😉
The Hootsman don’t realise it, do they? That they are dealing with People Power here. They will lose – big time.
I read that central Scotland is one big shale deposit , as fracking is now forbidden in the Home counties then it has to be somewhere , our aristocracy with its mineral rights still intact will be rubbing their hands in expectation. Just get this damn fool independence out of the way.
Rev get a lawyer lined up now. Let him deal with all the paperwork, correspondance ect. Please don’t play into thier hands and get distracted. I will contribute like many others.
Mr Martin said: “Some of the most vicious cybernats pump out material which feeds the First Minister’s office. The First Minister’s office doesn’t lead the abuse; they are led by it.”
But I thought that us evil cybernats were personally led by the FM in a batsuit. Come on NO thinks, which is it?
Don’t sue them Rev , they’re skint!
Project Fear know that whenever their scaremongering is challenged, it falls apart. These stories today and in the last few days are there to distract us from challenging their “too wee, too poor, too stupid” mantra and its variants. Lets not allow them to succeed.
I wonder if they will give us a few terrorist false flags or would that backfire on them? your only safe in the union these terrorists are just waiting to set up the Islamic State of Scotland lol wouldent put it past them.
Run a fund raiser to pay for any legal expenses and I will pitch in.
Wings over Scotland has MSM and mspoliticians rattled
your mentioned on TV and newspapers,at least it will take people to the site
REV in your dreams,I don’t think you thought you would be in this position
cmon trolls im putting down the onion and my selin is sooo bad.
If Hillary was against Irish Independece her run for the White House would be doomed
heedtracker says:
13 June, 2014 at 10:31 am
There’s good youtube vids of Daily Mail photographers taking photos of people outside BetterTogether offices in Glasgow. They use men in parked cars taking photos as two other Mail hacks approach and photograph people on the pavement
How do you know they work for the Daily Mail
Another one right behind you in this, sir. Don’t stand for it.
The Westminster establishment are clearly getting very worried about the way things are going for them in this campaign when they are using the flimsiest of excuses to attack and try to shut down what they see as their implacable enemies in the YES supporting social media.
All along they have been desperately creating smokescreens to try to divert voters attention away from any talk that gives light to the overwhelming case for independence but now that has turned to trying to shut down online opposition altogether.
Nicola Sturgeon was at Craiglockart the other evening and gave a brilliant speech and question and answer session on independence. Journalists were present but nothing has appeared in the media because they don’t want the case for independence to be given the oxygen of publicity.
Westminster and its acolytes please take note that this is an affront to democracy and most certainly not the kind of nation state most of us in Scotland want to live in.
Euan in a huff that you were the telly again?
It is also worth pointing out that the photos proved that in many instances there were no Better Together activists to be seen anywhere which was the point we were trying to make.
It is also worth pointing out that most activists are photographed in action by their own side and the pics put up on the Yes Scotland and Better Together Facebook pages. I know on the Yes side people are more than happy to be seen doing their bit. I would imagine the same is the same on the BT side…or is Unionism the love that dares not speak its name?
Rev, Reach out & touch somebody’s hand ( wie a Twase )
make this World a better place,withoot liers in the Land.
” I’d hate to have you lose Scotland” oh dear,does she mean like a person loses a thing they own? We are not owned,but some seem to feel that Scotland is a possession of England as they see it. We,the people of Scotland,own Scotland,it has our name on it.
Count me in for a fighting fund too.
Talk to Tommy Sheridan re defamation lawyers.
Good luck
First they ignore you,
then they laugh at you,
then they come to fight you,
and then you win. (M.K. Gandhi)
Well that is the first three stages complete, just one to go.
When you consider the depths of abuse on the Scotsman site they really do need to shut up.
Im just wondering could i print a load of lies about liebour polititions and put them through every letterbox in Scotland and nothing would be done about it, or how about the poor wee lassie Lally could i print the truth about her and post it round her area you know exposing the FACT that she dosent look after her weans 24/7 like jalo said, no shes got plenty of time for the liebour party and you know what happens to GOOD people once they start hanging around the liebour party.
PCC’s even got gorgeous pouting Trevor Kavanagh, Sun political editor, the Murdoch UKOK bootboy that makes Kelvin MacKenzie look like Snow White. There’s also a vote no Guardian ligger in there, for the good old teamGB balance n shit.
@Rev Stu
As someone said the other day, I hope you have swept your place for bugs since you were out at studios all day the other day.
Personally, I’d be thinking of replacing all my IT equipment as well. I’m sure nobody would mind you spending the crowdsourcing money on keeping yourself safe.
Rev: In case you haven’t seen this –
Its worth a read too.
link to newsnetscotland.com
Happy to contribute to taking the Scotsman to the cleaners.
Someone wrote that there are good journalists on the Scotsman – care to name them?
“Evil cybernats destroy much loved institution The Scotsman.”
Janet MacBeath says
“Sad to see Jim Sillars misreading and misrepresenting the truth …”
Your restraint does you credit Janet I on the other hand saw red when I read that idiotic open letter by Sillers, what by all that is holy is that man playing at?
I had post this on the last thread.
What in Gods name is Jim Sillars playing at?
link to 1001campaign.com
Is he for real?
its akin to berating the guy run over by a bus for being run over by a bus,
all he’s doing here is playing in the unionists brass band,
no scrub that he’s put down the Tuba and taken the conductors stick,
Shut yer face Jim your only adding to their faux anger!
for every one knuckle dragger from the yes side you can see a hundred on the no side protected by the complicity of the msm (yawn) but going off on one like that only feeds the trolls,
Maybe you would have been better advised to look at Robin McAlpines post on Bella before you started painting us all with the pot of tar and the brush they gave you!
Kalmar – YES please!
LOL the way BT are going on you would THINK they are behind in the pools. That we have the numbers advantage why else are they scared of repucutions(ye ye i cant spell) after the vote?
If it comes to a court case I have to wonder if Johnstone Press can even afford a lawyer, never mind damages!
who knows – if it happens & you win Rev, they might just have to give you the keys to the building as compensation! 😉
repercussions?
It seems you’ve got them rattled Rev. You’ve clearly gotten too big for your boots and they don’t like it one bit.
Keep up the excellent work Though Stuart, this website has been of great help to me and I’m sure thousands of others. I’ve used the info on this site to sway the minds quite a of a few doubters, any hopefully many more before the referendum.
Stuart, if Johnston Press have to hand over the Scotsman titles as compensation, would you mind keeping the crossword?
@ Bawheid Bragg
As far as I know JP is selling it to a computer games company.
Chaos in Iraq ,B-52’s back at Fairford,I hope the uk aren’t getting involved again,even as a base for bombing missions.
I too will contribute to any fighting fund you set up Stu. It’s high time someone in the MSM or BT was legally held to account for spouting completely untrue rubbish ‘pour encourager les autres’. As someone else said they can’t fight fairly because they know they’ll lose.
The naysayers are well and truly rattled now. I was concerned when the Rev appeared on telly; a modicum of publicity, then the smears and knock down.
Well all i mean is if no wins are they expecting a civil war or mobs of angry yes supporters lynching no supporters? cause thats what they are implying.
@ Clydebuilt, the YouTube vid I watched is titled Daily Mail journalists taking photos of people in Blytheswood Square, Glasgow, outside BetterTogether office, with the vid showing youngish female, a man and another man in a car nearby with camera taking all their pictures too.
“Sad to see Jim Sillars misreading and misrepresenting the truth ”
I don’t think he is. My feeling is that post is a warning to yes supporters. It’s absolutely obvious what they’re trying to do, and that is rile Yes supporters, generate anger, try and get a reaction. Then they’ll use that reaction. But it may not be as clear-cut as just pasting it on the front of the Daily Record. At some point the “online abuse” narrative will need to shift to the well worn “real life” one.
That’s what happened in the 1970s when independence was nowhere near close – there was only devolution proposals then. To shift it from online to real life, will obviously mean real people within the grassroots doing that same kind of riling up, then trying to make that anger spill over.
He’s just saying careful out there and don’t be that one eejit, I think.
@Tony
“OTHER Liverpool fans were partly culpable for the deaths of the 96?
Appalling statement.
Why is stating the obvious truth an appalling statement? People were being crushed by other people pushing on when there was no where to go. Did they STOP and refuse to go on further? No they didn’t. Are they SOLEY culpable – NO, and that’s not what Rev Stu was suggesting. Are the Police culpable? Yes to a larger degree. But it is not acceptable for people who refused to stop moving,. despite pleading by others close to the front, to abdicate ALL responsibility and place it elsewhere.
A lot went wrong at Hillsborough. the ONLY people completely blameless are the victims.
Now that your a face on TV they will do everything in their power to tar you as a Cyber-natzi Stu.
Your doing an incredible job and have the support of all your Wings readers. I know it must take its toll and we are all human but know this, WE ARE RIGHT BEHIND YOU STU.
90 odd days to go and the whole State against you now will have been blown away . Keep up the great work you do , you are not alone.
As for the hootsmon…… does anyone take that rag seriously. I doubt it. Talk about cyber bullies. That rag has the very worst of them. I never go near it because of comments pages. They are Scotlands shame.
We’re with you Stu.
Doug Mcgregor
Those central frackers!
link to frackoffscotland.org.uk
I will be pleased to contribute to a defamation lawsuit.
Tony (and Tony)
Focus!
Tony (and Tony)
Focus!
Oh, and be wary of anyone who appears a bit too passionate and shouty.
Read all about it, read all about it.
Hands knees whoops ah daisy
Hootsman slips in ah shit puddle
of their own making.
Any WOS activists with legal degree’s ( lawyers)
want to be be put on a retainer,jist in case the Rev
decides to use the Wit of the Writ, crowdfunded of course.
[…] « To the editor of the Scotsman […]
I’d like tae thank you Rev, you are gien me the strength tae take on my bully of a landlord.
I’ve been, and still am bein bullied rotten, but nae mer.
On Monday I am seeing a lawyer
Cheers again.
Remember Remember the 4th of July WOS nite oot in Emburgh
its Ronnie rantin no rhymin.
Cath do you think we are too stupid to Nationalise the oil? cause Jim Silly dose too stupid for that are the Scots out his own mouth.
Any fighting fund to wipe any sort of smile of these peoples faces will be duly supported by our household. It is time someone took them and their lying to task, they have got away with just about murder and what worries me is that this might be their next move. Time to stop it now.
O/T I have a wee smile on my face at the picture of cybernats people must have, and Wings seems to be the target. Well we will fight them with oor zimmers, etc.
Anyone under the age of 50 is excused.
@ Tony Little,
I think that if the comment that you are replying to had an smily face then the contact may not have been misconstrued. 😉
@ Cath thats me telt then.
sorry context. Bl**dy auto correct.
Stu. Any further funding required, I with this 100%. Let us know what you need and I will contribute.
We shall not take this lying (no pun intended) down.
I’m sorry, but the Liverpool supporters were culpable of nothing more than wanting to see a football match.
The problems with Hillsborough started long before that day.
Thatcher’s cages, the FA’s decision to use a ground that LFC had already expressed concerns over, the decision to put the Liverpool fans in the wrong end, the truly awful policing of the fans who were treated like cattle. These were the reasons for the deaths.
As for the MSM, we are now seeing the real bitterness at the heart of the No campaign and the Scotsman has just sunk to new levels. However, I fear it won’t be as low as it’s going to get.
“I’m sorry, but the Liverpool supporters were culpable of nothing more than wanting to see a football match.
The problems with Hillsborough started long before that day.”
They certainly did, and all the other stuff you say is absolutely unquestionably true. I’m fine with people disagreeing with what I say about Hillsborough, but I will NOT have some lying smearing cunts saying that I blamed the VICTIMS. I’m in the process of legal action now.
Hilary Clinton is well aware of the irony of regretting that “Britain” will lose Scotland. Apparently, during her election campaign, she used to write under the moniker “Paula Revere” in honour of the great American patriot who rode through the night to warn the rebels about the approach of the British troops.
link to tinyurl.com
The Clintons also paid the obligatory visits to Ireland as no American President can afford to ignore the Irish vote back home.
She will be responding, like Obama, to appeals from DC to stick up for the UK in return for our support in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Jings! Wit a stoochie, things are gettin’ fair het up!
BT politicians losing the plot, MSM slurs, probable false flag activity, foreign interventions … it can only mean one thing … they realise they are losing!
The question is, just how far are they willing to go to preserve their Union?
Their problem is, of course, when they get caught out not playing with a straight bat it turns even more opinion against them!
I’m beginning to wonder if the best tactic for BT would have been to never have moved beyond the ignore stage! Hate to suggest it, but BT and followers might be generating just as much Yes support, than Yes campaigning has.
However, BT et al have progressed to the fight stage. What they don’t appreciate is that it cannot degenerate into ‘no hold barred’ because that will be their certain downfall.
@Adrian
Ah! Maybe. I am just fed up with the “blindness” some people possess over that tragedy.
And, yes @desimond, you are right – our focus needs to be on the prize.
Jim Sillers eh ok time to take the gloves off Margo is spinning in her grave you STUPID old man
I really doubt that. I suspect Sillars knows Margo somewhat better than any of us do, and they would be in agreement about what’s needed to win. As I say, I read his piece as a warning to yes supporters. The gloves are certainly off now. But in terms of the media, we’re fighting an opponent we can’t possibly win against – we can’t even compete.
We CAN win the referendum despite this but not by fighting them on the turf the choose.
Scotsman is a hateful rag. It’s demise can’t come soon enough for me. Stay strong Stu you’ve got loads of people supporting you. Remember how quickly you raised your fundraising target.
I’m afraid you can expect more abuse and lies targeted at you,Stu. Don’t forget your supporters are with you 100%. The number of WOS followers continues to grow whilst readers of rags like The “Scotsman” continue to decrease. That says it all.
Bypass the media.Take our message straight to the people.
The worse thing about this weeks events has been no coverage of William Hague out and about with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Shame as that could have had all the groups in Tartan Torys listing logging onto Wings at the same time!
In support of Stu and all Wingers, my first post under my real name. From now on, only my real name will be used to counter the lies from the MSM that Cybernats are below human. I’m still a Proud Cybernat, Winger and very much normal (well, as much as normal exists) and definitely human (I hope) LOL 😉
“former journalist”, to my mind is the most sinister bit as it suggests they don’t understand what journalism actually entails.
IE finding out stuff and reporting it accurately. Oh!
As vile as this general smear campaign is, I am afraid its showing some effect. Was out canvassing yesterday and had some remarks made about “Alex Salmond bullying that poor woman”. So the general strategy is clear….turn the independence debate into something that feels unpleasant for the general voter and most of all….keep them away from the internet.
The NO campaign obviously does not give a Shit about the long term divisions they create.
Let’s get the debate away from this and focus on the positive future an independent Scotland will offer.
Future Prez Clinton’s rewarding Westminster for all their support in Iraq, Afghanistan, spending hundreds of billions on US arms and above all else, marching off to the next UK/USA war and the next and the next. Note how she stayed out of England leaving the EU.
We need to ask ourselves questions like is it worth sticking with the giant ukok war machine (4th largest on the planet) and a neocon US/Westminster foreign policy of attack and war.
fairiefromtheearth
rev, please ban this insulting troll
@Tony Little,
Yes I agree. Good to see you back commenting on Wings.
Stu,
I am up for making a donation to a legal fighting fund to hit these guys where it hurts most…their pockets.
Latest email updates from that nice wee wummin frae Irvine…
Yesterday’s poll in the Daily Record shows us nearly neck-and-neck with No – and it reveals that if Scots believe David Cameron will win the next general election, we’re in a clear majority.
Those moving to Yes this week include the Head of Muslim Friends of Labour in Scotland, Anum Qaisar, senior Labour Party official Jamie Kerr, and Taggart star Alex Norton.
More positive news – Yes Scotland research shows that undecided voters are now moving to Yes at a rate of two to one.
I have to say, I’ve lost a bit of my humour over the last couple of days. FMQs yesterday was the last straw for me, I cannot and will not have any time for people who share the views of their 3 unionist party leaders from now on. These (alledged) heads of their party are in minority Scottish government, the only way to gain ground is to gain voters and I am sick fed up listening to them call me vile, a virus, a nazi, a racist is no way to win a popular vote. And to call straight up justified opinion as an attack on people?
There are an idiotic few who will post rubbish but to tar all with the same brush?? Should I from now on suggest that all labour voters supported the Iraq invasion? I am vexed that they believe all Yes supporters opinions come directly from Alex Salmond himself, I assume it’s just because that’s how the No campaign do it, they can’t possibly fathom the true meaning of a grassroots movement. And to top it all, MSM chrun it out no questions asked, which shows bias or shows the reporters to be incompetent, either way they should not be let near the opening of a supermarket let alone the biggest decision in Scotlands political history for generations. Sorry for the venting, and apologies if I’m offending anyone with my post (no attacks intended)
@ronnie anderson
Note the date ! – take it Obama & Hilary are comin’ ??
(Phphphph!)
aye, keep the head, keep plugging and let them run about daft until they run out of puff.
Adrian B, I don’t need a smiley face on a post. I meant what I said.
Tony Little. It’s widely accepted that the police were primarily responsible for the tragedy, not to mention the fact that dozens would have still been alive today if they had got swift medical attention.
In case you missed it, the Hillsborough Independence Panel found that NO Liverpool fans were responsible for the tragedy. Not partly responsible.
It’s pretty embarrassing that you’ve ignored this in order to defend the initial appalling statement. Quite frankly beggars belief given what we know of Hillsborough and the shameful cover up.
Sinclar Macleod is correct in what he has said in his post.
There was a discussion on the radio yesterday morning about news and social media. The chap on talking said that over 50% now got their news from social media and most hits to newspaper sites are via social media links where comment on it has already been passed.
The media are not the power they used to be. Social Media is close to supplanting it as the fourth estate if it hasn’t already. It is fast becoming a love hate relationship because the newspapers are relying on hits from sites like ours. They need us more than we need them.
It”s not the Rev Stuart Campbell vs The Scotsman, it”s the People vs The Scotsman. You will have the support of all of us Stuart as we have had enough of the media lies.
im new to wings but in the short time ive been here you guys have raised my spirit you all do a great job ,but i would like to offer some words of caution ,dont be dragged into a court battle with this lot you will lose even if you are right and they are wrong plus there is nothing more they would like than to tie us up in distraction, just continue to do what you do best and expose them for what they are and keep enlightening the people of Scotland to the lies being spun,rise above the gutter press shrug your shoulders and laugh in their faces ,let them lie deceive spin nonsense and trust in the people of Scotland to see through it all we are not as thick as they think we are.
ps let’s not let them make us angry and make any irrational mistakes,like becoming mr sweary, that’s what they want.
deep breaths everyone.
:):) 🙂
If you need a fund raiser for legal fees count me in. It’s time we took one of these newspapers to court.
Hit them early because it is just going to get worse.
SUPPORT THE BATH 1!!
Lets all send a rubber duck to the Scotsmans offices!
We have to concede that a number of YES campaigners and bloggers have made silly mistakes. A few clangers. These have usually been quickly rectified. Certainly worth a few slaps on the wrists, but nothing more.
Compared with the deluge of blatant lies and deliberate misinformation spewed everyday by BT (and never retracted), the YES errors are but a drop in the ocean.
You would never know that though, if you depended entirely on the Daily Record and BBC for your information.
Today
link to bbc.co.uk
“Oil prices have risen to a nine-month high amid concerns that developments in Iraq may affect global supplies.
Brent crude futures rose 3% to $113.27 per barrel, while US crude gained more than 2% to $106.71, the highest reading for both since September.”
March 2013
link to express.co.uk
“Even with a cautious estimate of prices remaining at $113 a barrel, it is clear that Scottish oil and gas could generate more revenues than has previously been assumed.”
Gawn yersel Stu, take them to the cleaners if you have to, they are a sinking ship as it is so any substantial payout will likely finish them off with any luck, and if not, a Yes vote certainly will.
The press in this country and I mean every national newspaper (with the exception of the Sunday Herald), are no better than guttersnipes. They are the lowest form of life crawling on this planet. They could not sink any lower. Total and utter scumbags, and I would rate the so-called ‘Scotsman’ at the bottom of the pile. Scumbags of the lowest order. Sue the arse off them for every penny you can get.
Derek M
I would agree that a court battle would be pointless. It would tie up Stu’s energy whereas they would just leave their legal people to do the heavy lifting.
However, that doesn’t mean that we cannot call them liars and take them to task….actually we do that already 🙂
any one got a link to the p&j poll?
paywall blocking me
There’s something deeply ironic about someone publishing a lying smear about a comment on Hillsborough on THE SAME DAY all three Westminster anti-independence party leaders are pictured smiling and holding up a copy of the Sun.
Cath
That isnt irony, its totally planned ..”Look…everyones on board the same shitty ship on way or another!”
@revstu
Don’t comment much but wanted to express my support. Get them telt, and take care of yourself.
It saddens me to read some of the vitriolic comments about Jim Sillars. Having read his piece I’m in full agreement. Rational argument is much more effective than mindless a buse. This is where BT and Westminster establishment have gone wrong – they constantly talk Scotland down and abuse and ridicule the SNP and Yes, often abusing Salmond at the same time in terms that amount to character assassination and then go on to peddle outright lies and untruths.
I heard D Alexander on GMS yesterday saying Scotland’s finances are going to get worse and worse. Well, if that’s the case (which it isn’t) then what’s his plan for getting Scotland to stand on her own two feet, or does he think we’ll just sink into the “subsidy junkie” state of Establishment mythology? Then this morning the Treasury called Salmond’s plan to revitalise Scotland’s manufacturing economy as “pie in the sky”. What’s their plan?
There’s no point in mindless abuse, it deflects us from the real issues and hands the opposition a rod to beat us with. But it’s worse than that, for they then exaggerate for all it’s worth, working hand-in-glove with an ever obliging MSM.
We mustn’t joint them in the gutter.
so lets get this right im for independance against wars of agression, im for the law being applied equally so aye ban me because im a little bit mentally ill 24849837 thats my army number. Gulf Medal 1990-1991 Gulf Clasp 16jan-28feb91 and thats the medals i got for Killing dozens of Iraqis but hey im a wee bit mentally ill so ban me.
“so lets get this right im for independance against wars of agression, im for the law being applied equally so aye ban me because im a little bit mentally ill 24849837 thats my army number. Gulf Medal 1990-1991 Gulf Clasp 16jan-28feb91 and thats the medals i got for Killing dozens of Iraqis but hey im a wee bit mentally ill so ban me.”
You’re on moderation, not banned, for continuing to call for violence against people after having been warned several times. Reasonable posts will still be approved. Tirades of abuse and demands for people to be executed won’t. The comment rules are pretty clear, and they apply to you the same as everyone else.
@ Desimond
“Lets all send a rubber duck to the Scotsmans offices!”
Do they have free post address?
I don’t like to see lawyers making money, it would be much better if the readership themselves caused the demise of the paper. Would you be happy reading a “Newspaper” that peddled lies. Even if it is a low circulation regional one.
link to pressandjournal.co.uk
this is the real news today
glasgow is the key
This of course is also following a plan of action for NO MORE Scotland campaign.
They realise what they are doing with personal smear activities and that Rev Stu will be distracted with having to fight this fire.
All very clever having looked at it. Sure this is some kind of plan.
‘Wings’ scrutiny / analysis of Media machine will now be disrupted.
All very establishment in a way –
“Get this dreadful ‘peoples’ oik roadblock out of the way’ – get Project fear back on the road” … “this conversation never happened; you do understand”
rev stuart campbell-” you sir, have insulted me for the last time” (slap across dish with soggy glove). i challenge you to a duel.
euan mcColm- “erm no, please someone call the police.
i would love to donate to a libel case against mcColm, he is a smug, cowardly little man who hides behind the system when issuing personal insults to his victims.
Wee thought. Could there be a concerted effort to deflect online anger away from the BT campaign and politicians and onto the MSM?
The MSM can’t be held to account, unless they break the law. Politicians can be held to public account for misrepresentation.
Yes, the Scotsman needs to be dealt with, but let’s not get deflected away from the activities of Darling, Lamont, Broon, Reid, etc etc..
The more they lie and the more they try to muddy the waters, the more i’m going to try to convince the undecided that I know to vote yes….Their dirty tricks campaign is working in making the undecided sit down and look at the facts.
Now is the time to point out all the lies and hinted at untruths…..Just keep on spreading the word…My old school motto was “The truth will set you free” I never realised that it could be so apt in these turbulent days….
@Schrodingers Cat
Yeah posted at 10.13am about P&J significant poll news about Glasgow, but as I say we are perfectly distracted by Media smears at the moment.
Deflecetion I think they call it ?
I am sick fed up listening to them call me vile, a virus, a nazi, a racist
Yup
is no way to win a popular vote.
And yup again.
I’ve kind of stopped being angry after realising they managed to smear my Mum as an oppressive, evil NAT yesterday. That should not be possible. She’s a fairly recent yes convert from one of the groups that are almost solidly no. One of the reasons she converted was realising the smears that were being perpetrated against well respected friends who were yessers.
So however angry we might feel, we should stay relentlessly, irritatingly polite and focus on that second statement: it’s no way to win a popular vote. Once they’ve smeared and offended over 50% of the population we’ll have out tipping point 🙂
Rev. I totally agree that you should pursue the case against such flagrant lies. I wish you well with it.
From the BBC Website:
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she would “hate” for Britain to “lose Scotland”.
So why did the BBC feel the need to break up her quote in such a manner. Because what you she actually said was “I would hate for you to lose Scotland”
Oh and by the way Britain wouldn’t lose Scotland because Britain is an island not a country.
And actually, smearing everyone who’s yes or swaying towards yes is probably now already smearing more than 51% of the population.
Re the Jim Sillars intervention, I think it is a bit over the top, but he does make some valid points. OTT because certainly in respect of Lally, the comments were fairly mild. Rowling got a bit more of a doing, but certainly no worse than many Yes supporters (the Weirs spring to mind) received.
Where I agree with Jim is that we need to remember that we are trying to persuade large numbers of people with varying perspectives. We aren’t going to convince all the DKs, so we need to get some people currently in the No camp to vote Yes on September 18. We are not going to achieve that if we are abusive to, or even just unnecessarily unpleasant about the people that those No voters currently support. They will just entrench. Remember that the vote of someone who is easily offended is just as valuable a vote as yours or mine.
We cannot expect even-handed coverage from the media, so we need to be squeaky-clean. The moral high ground is where we are. Let’s not surrender it.
Think about a couple:
The woman realises she doesn’t love him anymore and tells him she is leaving.
He warns her she will never survive without him but, she says ‘I will be fine, just you look after yourself’
He gets mad and starts to threaten her.
She becomes terrified, and turns to others for help, police, family etc, but they don’t help her’
As he issues threats, he also promises her hat he will give her more freedom and treat her better, but only if she stays.
She becomes so scared by what he has threatened, she thinks again, and she also hopes that he will indeed give her more freedom and treat her better.
She decides to stay.
How does she feel, the same?
No deep down inside she despises him.
This is what’s being played out in this referendum.
This Union is finished, it can never ever be the same again.
We have all experienced the corrupt stinking dishonest society that we didn’t know existed, and we have saw first hand how people who are involved in politics/media are quite prepared to deceive Scots, to keep themselves on the gravy train.
IT’S OVER!
“seeing as I can’t comment on Jim Sillars article re hiscastigating the ‘so-called cybernats. Ill post here in the hope he might see it.
Dear Jim
please reflect on your own words.
“Are you so naive, that you never think that perhaps MI5 and special branch are taking a role in this campaign?”
If there has indeed been foul abuse of JK and Ms Lally, lets see it, and lets lay blame for it where it belongs.
Do not however take the presses word as gospel that it:-
A. Exists
B.emenates from those of us who are currently being demonised for it.
The media do not require licence from us to pontificate or take the moral high ground.
sorry Jim but it is you that is “playing the game that suits only the No side.” by buying into the “vile cybernat” fiction that the media is punting. Please look into the actual facts.
thanks
The Bruce exercised a policy of denying the enemy a stronghold.
Reducing the Scotsman to financial ruin would be a good start.
Please another article Rev? On the independence debate ASAP – the real reason for the Obama hug for Cameron maybe ? Or the jump in polls or….
Stuart, get a lawyer. Fast.
Don’t waste time getting sucked into the PCC.
The editor of the Scotsman can be contacted at istewart@scotsman.com.
I recently contacted him re the anti-Salmond spin they put on the Putin interview in the New Statesman. Got a denial that they had done anything wrong.
If you contact him please keep it cool and factual as they will love to report on any abuse.
Meanwhile I also will support any legal costs incurred in suing the rag.
It used to be such a good paper too. (Sigh)
Do not however take the presses word as gospel that it:-
A. Exists
B.emenates from those of us who are currently being demonised for it.
I’m quite sure he isn’t. He’s among the people being demonised, after all. It’s all of us in the Yes camp.
Surely this must be a case for the courts, they not only have stopped reporting news they have now come to the stage of being libellous, go Stuart the the bastards to court. Mind you I’m no longer surprised at how low this lot will stoop. The Scotsman…what a misnomer.
I’m with deveraux. Time to get some basic factual articles up, rather than wrestling with pigs.
You – and we – are being deflected.
Happy to donate to a fund for a lawyer.
Go get em!
Meanwhile in the real world whilst canvassing in a working class area of Alloa, not a single person of the 82 houses canvassed, mentioned this spat.
Results as follows 25 Yes. 9 No, 48 DKs.
All to play for folks.
Get out there and get the REAL message across.
Now we know that the Scotsman also allows junior members of staff lacking proper authority to write their articles!
Count us in for the legal fund, Rev.
so aye ban me because im a little bit mentally ill 24849837 thats my army number. Gulf Medal 1990-1991 Gulf Clasp 16jan-28feb91 and thats the medals i got for Killing dozens of Iraqis but hey im a wee bit mentally ill so ban me.
mle no 172924 thats my army number
this is my decoration from the gulf war
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croix_de_guerre_des_th%C3%A9%C3%A2tres_d’op%C3%A9rations_ext%C3%A9rieures
people who make claims about killing millions, espectially in the GW1 are usually REMF’s
it gives you no right to insult sillars
do one
Haven’t commented for a very long time as being on the other side of the planet I won’t be able to vote.
However I try to keep up with Wings ,Newsnet, etc.
This is a bit o/t I know but sitting quietly watching news in Oz my jaw nearly hit the floor to see on the news ticker on Skynews the headline @ J K Rowling donating £million to Better Together. So that got my attention.
On BBC world it was also mentioned but SBS had a whole article about with interviews with JKR and some Scottish reporter whose name I didn’t notice. In it she claimed to have supported devolution but when it came to independence too many problems etc, the usual scare stories.
Btw BSB is government funded and are in line to get that funding cut in the round of austerity measures on the go here.
I’m wondering if UK PM has been having a word in the ear of our PM whom I didn’t vote for as he is so reactionary in spite of belonging to the so-called Liberal Party! I know he would have met him over at the D Day events over in Europe as he is on a world tour at the moment and has come out in favour of a possible association with US if troops are to be sent to Iraq. This was after a rather belated audience in the Oval Office with Obama, who was keeping PM Abbott in his place!
Ain’t international politics grand!
When Rev Stu gave the interviews on TV and radio this week, pointing out Claire Lally’s links with SLAB, the SLAB smearing machine has obviously decided to get revenge. They accuse other people of what they do themselves, safe in the knowledge that they will be backed to the hilt by their MSM buddies. The Scotsman is a rotten rag of a newspaper. In its good old days, the likes of Euan McColm would not have got near the place.
Once an important national newspaper reduced to being a lying rag of little consequence.
In the absence of a retraction and apology they should be sued.
I will willingly contribute towards a legal fees fund
Don’t get mad. Get even.
The earlier press attacks on Cybernats at the beginning of the year only drove the curious to have a look online, to the advantage of YES.
The same will happen again this time, only on steroids.
Just remember, if you call-in and get on the radio, to always say two things (as more and more people are now doing):-
1) The mainstream media is biased against YES, and is acting as an arm of the NO campaign.
2) The true facts to help make up your mind can be found on the Internet (at Wings, Bella, Newsnet etc.)
Eddie,
My school motto was ” where’s yer bloody homework ?”
Aberdeen is the key.
Rev
Any noticeable spikes in reader numbers over the past few days?
Misdirection this is westminster at its best.There is no positive case for the union,so keep our eyes on what is really going on,independence is all we want.
Laugh, you know you want to
link to youtube.com
NODROG above 10:19am. Ferguslie Park,Paisley.
James Naughtie BBC ran a piece yesterday on the ‘Today’ programme Radio 4.
At the end of the piece the offer of the hall was made to the “disillusioned” and forgotten” people there.
BBCiPlayer:-begins at 2hrs 38 mins and lasts approximately 6 minutes.
Well worth listening– link to bbc.co.uk
Fear is the key!
Devorgilla
“Careful Stu. And all. Jim is warning about agents provocateurs”
I think Jim is a plus for the Yes campaign but I have a couple of issues with this rant.
First suggesting Brit intelligence will act as agent provocateurs but then assuming the ‘vile comments’ were genuine is inconsistent. I am sure there will be false flag comments out there even if they are not all directly state sponsored but the efforts of ‘clever’ amateurs.
Second, it is a little bit rich for Jim to criticise others for making personal comments about other people which damage the indy cause.
But he is right to issue the warning re the past M.O. of the British state. In particular, whether they confine their behaviour to lies and smears with bogus terrorist organisations or whether are prepared to go further than they have done previously.
@Nation Libre 10.24 (cant blow out a fire) Oh Yes you can can
do you no watch bbc science programme’s ( withoot a licence )
their doing experiments on Sound Waves to kill the fire,
jist anither piece of information ah come across,an it works.
We maybee be deef if they caw oot the sound troopers to blaw
oot oor fire lol.
TD, I would have to dispute what you and it seems Jim Sillars is saying. there is more rude comment emanating from the BT side than has from the YES. The trouble is when they control the press how do you prove it. They lie, they take people’s names in vain, our democratically elected First Minister, Stuart here, even very ordinary people have had their faces splashed across the papers and scurrilous things said about them. I have yet to hear an apology. We get J.K. Rowling making a donation whilst she makes a political speeche. The Weirs gave money but made no political speech but they got all the abuse the newspapers could make, never one apology.
#cIberaq
I haven’t read any of the previous comments yet, so i don’t know if this has already been suggested.
How about a crowd funded defamation suit against the Scotsman?
@gordoz 11.50, whit 2 of them whit wans usin the heid.
I hear on the streets that the publication in question is to change the fancy heading on their front page to read : –
“THE PATRIOTIC SCOTSMAN … BUT”.
John McTernan labour
daily politics–IRAQ
keep using drones
troops back into Iraq
said british people would accept this
hes in serious denial
digging a hole
#ciberaq
Well Stu you should ask the Scotsman for a right to reply.
Helena Brown
Not sure which bit of what I said you are disagreeing with.
Rev, £50 will be with you shortly, (marked Legal Fund)
not accountable to the Electoral Commission rules.
Anybody else donateing mind specify Legal Fund,
Cmon Lads n Lasses we’re awe in it Thegither.
Heh…they’re after you Rev. You must be doing something right.
OT Brent crude is nearly at $115 pb. Carney is signalling interest rises.
Having voluntarily got into the same kind of situation where people are pushing from behind (pike block and boar snout in re-enactments) let me assure you that when resistance goes there’s no way you at the front are going to be able to stop going forward. In the case of a pike block you’re going down.
If anything might I suggest that you inadvertently echoed the same attitude that allowed the authorities to convince themselves that penning people in was a good idea. Despite recent, at the time, events showing it was a recipe for disaster. Never mind the fact that Hillsborough didn’t have all, if any, of the safety certificates it needed to hold the game in the first place.
The majority of the blame for it goes to commercial interests on the part of the FA including the obvious not wanting to replay games and the less obvious not wanting to pay for the number of police they actually needed to maintain order. In the case of Hillsborough it was insisting on keeping to a TV schedule rather than delaying the kick off to allow all those who’d bought tickets to get in.
If you believe there’s a grain of truth in the police reports then the fans trying to get in were pushing at the gates when the police in fear that they’d break them down decided to open them, they were’t actually pushed open. So in effect you’ve got the loss of resistance I was talking about and the surge forward that was unstoppable when they met the back of the crowd.
End of the day it was commercial interests that outweighed concerns for safety. A simple thing like regular bars across the stands and on the stairs would have slowed and stopped the kind of pile up seen then. The main trouble is that that would have reduced the capacity and thus the take at the gate.
@ronnie
Thanks for the tip ref “legal fund” donation.
The word of mouth that I’m hearing is that anti-yes hysteria in the media is helping the yes cause and is only turning people off the media, not the debate. It’s a bit like listening to a neighbour slagging off a friend all day long. It is the neighbour that you start to despise, not your friend.
Everyone knows a yes voter, we are pretty much a bunch of good, honest folks who want the best future for our families and friends. I have only ever met two Better Together people who have tried to convert me, most folk would deep down prefer to vote yes, but are scared. With a bit of reassurance and evidence they are almost relieved to move to yes.
The papers and telly screaming hysterically isn’t pushing ndecided folk to No, no way. Let them carry on with this kind of behaviour, it is why their readership is tanking.
Remember and use the archive function for sharing pages, folks, so that the papers don’t benefit from the clicks, they don’t deserve them.
Here’s the archive page: link to archive.today Just drag the button to your tool bar, it is really easy. Then when you are on any page you can just click your permanent archive button and there you have it. It is so simple. DON’T GIVE THE MSM MEDIA ANY EXTRA CLICKS!!!! It just encourages them.
Keep reminding folk about this.
There’s another way to look at this.
Every single ‘No’ or ‘Undecided’ out there knows someone who is voting ‘Yes’. Chances are, they know quite a few!
When the media start this nonsense about ‘Yes’ supporters are vile Nazi, racist, soan-soas, I’ll bet quite a few of these ‘No’s or ‘Undecided’s are looking at their ‘Yes’ friends and going …’what! They think he’s a racist and Nazi? No! That’s a good guy! And so is such and such’.
Many of them will smell a rat. They know that the media are at it. They know their friends are no racist or Nazis. If the vast majority of ‘Yes’ folk have kept the head, and spoken in calm voices, explaining what a ‘Yes’ means, then great doubt will fall on what the media are saying.
Just keep plugging away folks. Keep calm. Stick to the plan. Keep the higher ideal. Do this, and we’ll win.
If Stuart needs a fund raised to help him battle The Scotsman, then he will let us know. He knows we’ll back him to the hilt on this. The last thing The Scotsman needs is for a battle cry to go up with half of Scotland declaring war on that newspaper.
O/t re Hilary Clinton intervention, here’s Jim Naughtie this morning interviewing Dr Philippa Malmgren(?) a former adviser to the Bush Administration. I think even he was a bit surprised at how crass she was. Someone mentioned to Stuart (on twitter this morning) that he should listen to it. He said he suspected he would prefer banging his head of a cheese grater:) The interview starts at 2:36.
link to bbc.co.uk
On a more current note there’s always the Elephant in the Room in all this. Think of Sarah Smith, Hilary Clinton, Anas Sawar and if you like the Attenbouroughs , Dimbelbeys and Kenedys. Probably moreso in the case of the women but it explains why Labour are so offended but so reluctant to admit why because in a hell of a lot of cases you’d be right. In mistakenly claiming Clare Lally was related to a prior local high heed yin of Labour they assumed what was being said was that she only got her current post though the nepotism rife in Labour. It’s the only way that might be construed as a smear.
Rev,Ah wiz £50 mad fur the Legal Fund at 1.08, bit ah wiz
madder than that, so I upgraded it to £100 , go git the
BsTwerds.
Bloody disgraceful Rev, there seem to be a sustained attack, not only on yourself but the nationalists as a whole this week by the press.
Take this for example although I deplore any trolling, this only elaborates the one side of the debate, and the anti-independence, and ultra unionist London owned, Daily Record knows this. That’s why this story is on their front page.
link to dailyrecord.co.uk
No mention of the death threats to Alex Salmond or Nicola Sturgeon,in the Daily Record,just the unionist point of view.
link to heraldscotland.com
link to express.co.uk
Don’t let the No camp followers divert us from the real goal. Expect more diversion attacks up to the day of the vote. It is meant to waste your time. The majority of the population do not breathe sleep and eat politics as we do. Get out to the general public and speak to them rather than getting angry here about the media manipulation I mention the biased media to all when I can in a subtle way. Ask your friends to start noticing what is being broadcast or printed.
I’m afraid that you lose credibility by following up this lament about the Scotsman’s hatchet job on you by another of the same on John McTernan (We need to talk about John).
You should also heed Jim Sillar’s advice about sticking to policies. It seems a long time since anything appeared on this website that was about policy rather than personal attacks.
I’m afraid that you lose credibility by following up this lament about the Scotsman’s hatchet job on you by another of the same on John McTernan (We need to talk about John).
You should also heed Jim Sillars’ advice about sticking to policies. It seems a long time since anything appeared on this website that was about policy rather than personal attacks.
Bookie from Hell: Even the mention of the name John McTernan gives me the heebie jeebies.
Remember this article he wrote for the Torygraph a couple of years back? In it he is accusing us of being a bunch of beggars: Scotland is a “mendicant nation” who needs to start putting something back. It is an argument for a “needs based” arrangement where Scotland gets the same block grant as the rest of the UK. He is arguing for a massive cut from Scotland’s funding.
People, if you have Labour friends who think that funding for our devolved services are safe please show them this article from Mr McTernan.
link to archive.today
@Phil Robertson 1.29, put simply & in Biblical Terms
People on this WOS site adorn themselves in COATS OF MANY
COLOURS thats what bonds people of this site Respect for
each other & our Country.
Phil Robertson
I cannot agree with your comments. It is absolutely appropriate to expose the lies told by the other side. If we can demonstrate that they are lying about one thing, then that raises doubts about their integrity overall and at least sows the seed of doubt in people’s minds about what other lies the No side are telling.
Lets be realistic – the variouse media outlets ARE embarrassed when they are shown to be lying. They know this destroys their credibility. And if we don’t challenge them, then some people will just accept what they say at face value. So if for example one of them says “All Yes voters are Nazi scum” and we don’t challenge this, then it will become an established “truth” in the minds of ordinary people. This is the media manipulation that we are up against. To an extent, they have been successful which is why we are having to fight hard to take the lead, despite having by far the more powerful arguments.
Just plugging away on policy will not be enough – we have to expose the lies. We should always do so in a calm, rational manner to avoid giving them the slightest excuse to obscure the arguments. Look at Stu on Scotland Tonight the other day – calm, unexcited, making the important points, exposing the lies versus bullying, strident, illogical and ill-informed assertion. That’s the way to do it.
@Phil Robertson
I don’t agree Phil – Stu is responding to lies being written about him in newspapers – im sure you would react in a similair way if it happened to you, I know I certainly would. And remember, all this publicity amounts to free advertising for this site which is no bad thing.
The unionists won’t like to be remembered of this Survation poll which shows if you’re an independence supporter you’re 3 times more likely to be bullied than if you’re a unionist, but the unionist owned press and tv hide the torrent of abuse directed towards independence supporters.
link to express.co.uk
Speaking as someone who has donated willingly to previous crowd-funding efforts you have launched on this site, I like other posters on here will once again willingly donate to a “fighting fund” for the purpose of suing the Scotsman over the issue of these lies against you. Go for it RevStu!
Additional comment, I saw your TV appearance where you were giving your very measured and articulate views on the politically generated Clare Lally claims. You did well and quite effectively filleted and rebutted the weak assertions of the Labour activist woman they trotted out to support the Lally assertions. Keep it up RevStu the YES Campaign needs you.
I was in the shop earlier when an elderly chap came in for his Scotsman. As he picked it up I said OH so your the one !
“One he asked “? “That buys the Scotsman I wondered who it was.”
The Shop owner started to lecture me for trying to stop his customers purchasing newspapers. “far from it” I told them both “but as long as you buy that rag the longer they will carry on printing Lies and making up stories.” We had a wee discussion about the garbage in the papers especially the last few months. I asked” You must have noticed a drop off in sales” The shop owner said “yes from a 120 two years ago less than 50 this time last year and now we dont even sell two dozen”. “Speaks for itself” said the old boy “Pass me a Herald its for my wife. I’ll tell her there weren’t any left its not as bad as that other one ” “You can tell her from me that she may have to change permanently because if the sales dont pick up soon I wont be stocking them a waste of time!” The old boy paid for his Herald and morning Rolls. I bought my pack of mints and left Job done! isn’t it great when the day starts off well !
If you are thinking of developing a legal fighting fund, I’ll chip in a few bob Stu.
@Kev says:
I don’t agree Phil – Stu is responding to lies being written about him in newspapers – im sure you would react in a similair way if it happened to you, I know I certainly would.
That’s fair enough. But my point was that it was probably not the best ideas to follow it up with a personal attack on someone else.
@TD says
“So if for example one of them says “All Yes voters are Nazi scum” and we don’t challenge this …”. Again no problem with this but the way you challenge is to refute the argument, it is not to malign the messenger.
The “no” campaign repeatedly claim that they are well ahead in the polls. So why are they behaving as if they’re losing hand over fist?
What do they know, or fear?
I Did not want to say anything about hillsboro, however, since some seem to want to use it to smear the good rev, i shall come from a different angle.
Back then, newspapers were the main source of information, if the papers printed lies it was not challenged.
Papers could control opinions of its readership by the unchallenged editorial content since they were unlikely to buy the “rival” paper and vet a different viewpoint, which didn’t matter as it was a polar opposite view anyway.
All sound familiar ?
The Sun newspaper is a pretty poor excuse for a newspaper, swaps sides to whichever political viewpoint seems to winning near election time (“it woz the Sun wot won it”)
springs to mind.
My point here though, is that while the sun paper did not cover itself in glory, it was not them who participated in a carefully arranged cover up for over 2 decades.
Governments did that. The hillsboro report even now is reported about what liverpool fans (not the victims) did or did not do, when it should be focussed on bringing to book those responsible for the cover up, politicians included.
Would the cover up have been possible with the internet as it is now, back then ?
Not a hope.
Same as the cover up of the McCrone report.
The internet has it’s zoomers, so to speak..but it is a welcome tool worldwide to enlighten people, especially oppressed people, to the truth or at least to a different version of the truth they would otherwise never know about.
Keep up the good work folks, victory is in sight.
Rev. Stuart Campbell says:
13 June, 2014 at 11:47 am
but I will NOT have some lying smearing ***** saying that I blamed the VICTIMS.
_______________________________________________________
Stu, I support and promote ‘Wings’ and your own good name
every day and everywhere.
But in the above post I believe you had an ’emotional’ moment which let you and the Yes Campaign down just a little. I refer of course to the use of the word which rhymes with ‘blunts’.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but IMHO, if that word is introduced to the Yes campaign as common currency then we will not win the argument and may well lose the vote.
Assuring you of unconditional support, as I with others on here, convey my heartfelt sympathy to you for having to take the abuse the Scotsman dished out today. You will feel it most, but there must be thousands who bear it with you and for you. As I do.
Sorry Stu I haven’t read all of the posts on here yet but just wanted to add my voice of support for you. You have been doing and continue to do a fantastic job on behalf of everyone who is fighting for Scottish independence and more power to your elbow for doing so. 😛
I hope that you are able to take this sorry excuse of a newspaper to the cleaners over their utterly disgusting comments. They think because they are writing about someone not living in Scotland they can say what they like and get away with it. Well Bubba you are WRONG!
I am certain everyone here would be more than happy to chip in a quid or two to help fund any law suit that you raise against this odious excuse of a newspaper. It is nearing the brink of extinction and a law suit might just be the final straw that breaks this pathetic camel’s back! 😉
The knives are out and they are setting traps to smear us and this site. On any comments thread, play the point, not the man/woman.
Agents provocateur is a really old dirty trick, don’t fall for it.
@Phil Robertson
‘no problem with this but the way you challenge is to refute the argument, it is not to malign the messenger.‘
We must have read a different article, pointing to examples of their past assertions/ articles/ deeds, is not maligning anyone, they malign themselves, by their own words and actions.
Stu,
The thought occurs to me that if you do set in motion a proper defamation case against the Scotsman you may shut down their anti-Wings articles which would become sub judice during the period your plea would be before the courts. And I believe that if you don’t do anything there will be many more anti-Wings pieces based on Hillsborough and other things you have written in the past, whether true or false
Any lawyers here know any flaws in what I have written?
Meanwhile I will willingly contribute to Wings to enable you to take the Scotsman to court.
Phil Robertson
But if you refute the argument, you demonstrate that they are liars. Also, if you can show that the individual has a track record of lying, then that helps to build the case that they are lying now.
If people are prepared to enter into the fray, then I think they are legitimate targets. If we don’t attack them, we will lose the battle. But the attack must always be based on reason, it shoud be calm and we should avoid gratuitous insults. As far as I can see, that is exactly what Stu is doing.
Greetings from Raleigh, North Carolina. For all those attacking Stu’s views on Hillsborough, have you ever been to Leppings Lane? The first time I passed there, in the early 90’s on a Sunday morning at 8:30, I was surprised at how narrow it is. It is a two lane street just big enough for two cars to pass each other. Private residences line the other side of the street. It is well documented that a large number of Liverpool supporters turned up without tickets. People could easily have been crushed against the massive iron gates.
From the above, I suggest that any reasonable person could conclude that Stu’s views are reasonably held, without actually agreeing with him.
If the opposition can’t find a smoking gun….they will make it up
Take them to task then ignore them
Keep up the good work
@Marcia says:“I mention the biased media to all when I can in a subtle way. Ask your friends to start noticing what is being broadcast or printed”.
Very true. I often speak with a lady NO supporter while we are both walking our respective dogs. I was making no progress in converting her until I said in passing that she listened none too carefully to the BBC. After her requesting an explanation I pointed out how the BBC manipulated the news. Her reply was only, “Oh! They wouldn’t do that”.
A week later and she said, “I paid more attention to the news – have you anything for me to read that tells the whole story”?
She may not yet want to vote YES but she sure as hell has become a DK. She has more questions now than an ITV big money quiz show.
It would be useful to know the command structures of the No Campaign from top (Cameron) to bottom (Scotsman).
Also the precise involvement of Saatchi personnel.
May I also suggest that rather than be like a trout to a bait cast by an angler,
we ought to swim lower down, ignore the bait and focus on the angler and what his tactics and methods are,
the better to avoid the emotional stress of being caught up in the smears and lies,
but also to maintain a clear head and sharp focus for the formulation of our own positive promotion of the Yes Campaign.
Can we sue the Scotsman?
Thanks Jack Murphy that was the same article that was broadcast by John Beattie on Radio Scotland, I think, on Tuesday. But I was surprised that today’s Big Debate came from Ferguslie Park hosted by John Beattie. Suppose I could have checked, anyway I listened to it and was pleasantly surprised at the audience reaction. My own analysis would say they favoured yes. So sooner we get something organised down there the better. By the way Hilary does not have a vote but with her democratic background I believe she would vote yes if she was acquainted with the facts.
@Phil Robertson
“That’s fair enough. But my point was that it was probably not the best ideas to follow it up with a personal attack on someone else.”
I completely see where you are coming from Phil – many folk are perfectly entitled to see it as an attack – but I think that in this campaign it is entirely right and proper to point out to the public(using factual evidence ofcourse ie past quotes as Stu does) of the views and policies of the poeple involved in the campaign so as to provide an insight into the background of figures such as McTiernan, who are plonked on the telly without many folk knowing too much about them.
I think we shouldn’t go overboard on it and agree we should focus more on critiquing the actual arguments put forward by each side rather than just the people involved and their general views and background.
The beggars do seem to be coming out all guns blazing for independence campaigners and voters this week.
We stay calm, focussed and polite, we’ll come out on top. They don’t have the arguments hence they’ve reverted to playground name calling, smear and intimidation. They’re losing grip on the campaign and they know it.
Rev Stu please note that Brian Monteith is also indulging in Wings bashing in his regular opinion piece in tonights Evening News stablemate of the Scotsman:-
“For an example of the language used I offer this discourse about the Labour MSP Jackie Baillie – particular hate figure of Nationalists – between Stuart Campbell, the editor of the cybernat website Wings Over Scotland, and a follower.
Stuart Campbell: “It’s up against stiff competition, but Baillie’s permanent and gigantically unwarranted smirk is perhaps her least attractive feature as a human being.”
Ianbrotherhood: “and that begs the question – which is her most attractive feature?””
Sorry I forgot to add Monteith’s punchline:-
Stuart Campbell: “The fact that she’ll die one day.”
The Attack begins just like i and JLT stated next up campbell poohed his nappie as a baby story
lets crowd fund some libel action
The thing wings has done for me is allowed me to articulate my feelings about the referendum in a way I never thought I would be able to.
Today one or Mrs Rabs friends called in. Not very savvy or interested in politics but said to me ‘I’ll not tell you how I’m voting it’ll just upset you.
Thanks to wings I was able to give her a breif but detailed run down of the issues from currency, Europe, Trident, SNHS, Media spin etc. I said to her that it was not for me to try and convert her, that’s something only the truth can do, but before she commits that ‘X’ to the ballot paper she should acquaint herself with the alternative sources of info and question what is being reported on the MSM, handed her a few Aye Right cards and she promised to look at the sites.
What was abundantly clear was that she gets her referendum info from the tabloids and tabloid news channels, isn’t happy with the coverage and resents being taken for a fool. I think we have another heading our way – i’ll keep politely pushing.
I really want to thank you Stu for the gift you have given all of us here – the confidence to discuss difficult issues and the information to accompany these discussions.
The “No Thankers” have certainly been revelling in the “policy lite” nature of the debate that’s come to the fore (with the help of a compliant media) lately.
Why do you think this is?
At one end of the spectrum you could postulate that they are so invested in their negative campaigning that this is a natural extension of their game, their rules: play the man, not the ball. At the other end, you might think that they’d be delighted for someone (from either side of the debate) to go right over the score so that they could take the moral high ground. You can imagine the Press & Broadcast Media the morning after the first stabbing or serious assault. This would play right into the Unionists’ hands: divisive referendum; keep society together; scare-scare-scare. If this sounds a bit far fetched then park your scepticism and think about how much “persuasion” a Buckie-soaked Ned would need to take up arms.
Or am I just getting really paranoid. ..?
To be honest, I think the best way to deal with the Scotsman, is to directly link to anti-independence articles and let the readers here loose on their comments sections.
If we are all treated as ‘cybernats’, then let’s act like cybernats and spread the word everywhere instead of boycotting sites.
The Scotsman site has become one of the main BT hubs in Scotland, outside the BBC.
It used to have fairly balanced comments, but has been taken over by a bunch of union drones.
It would be nice to see some more balance as it still reaches a lot of undecided voters.
Unfortunately it might temporarily put up their ad revenue.
But getting a pro-Scottish viewpoint across is maybe more important at this time.
In light of the media going over the top with so called ‘cybernats’ and all this online abuse. One has to ask the question, why is there no reporting of the abuse that can be found here ?
link to twitter.com
In response to rab- the-doubter’s post above: When canvassing and meeting a No or DK, I simply say that “I’m not trying to persuade to vote Yes, I’m trying to persuade to find out the facts and inform yourself, not via the BBC or MSM, but from folks like you and me who have offered their knowledge on the internet”. And hand over an Aye Write card.
Have a look at Paul Kavanagh’s blog on the events of this week, folks, and take heart. They’re losing and they know it which is why they’re running the smear stories. link to weegingerdug.wordpress.com
Hello dears – just in after my Friday night sherry (Angus show early doors tomorrow – Yes gazebo to erect) lots of people asking me ‘who’s that guy from that site you tell us to read?’
Let me know when you need money for the legal fund. I will be happy to offer support against Euan Mc5th Column.
Is Hilary Clinton getting an invite to the 4th July bash? If not, maybe Monica Lewinsky would like to attend.
Like I said before, WoS is doing such a good job in debunking the lies, that the union supporters needed to find an excuse to try to damage it.
What WoS is finding out is invaluable to others who are involved in arguing the case for independence and the drawbacks of staying in the union.
‘The Scotsman’ defames millions of Scots everyday by using that title for publishing the most disgraceful lies about Scotland.
But as Derek M and others have said, do not expect to get justice. The purpose of the ‘justice’ system is to protect the Establishment, not the plebs.
What hurts them most is your daily exposure of their lies without mincing your words. Remain focused on that job – you are performing brilliantly – don’t get distracted.
Remember that you are now the 2nd biggest threat to the Establishment and they will do everything in their power to get you. My advice to you would be to move to Iceland – NOW – and carry on your work from there.
“The Scotsman’ defames millions of Scots everyday by using that title for publishing the most disgraceful lies about Scotland.”
Maybe they will avoid that by renaming themselves “The ProudScotsbut’
@Fairliered
“Euan Mc5th Column.”
Quite clever really, create a storm of unfair treatment, abuse, threats, foul launguage, and victimisation. Make it a big story consuming the independence debate, then employ unfair treatment, lies, and abuse in order to mire and dirty the reputution of the main (i would argue) YES vote converting site.
This is a deliberate manipulation of the topic of covnersation, designed to sully and weaken hte YES campaigns strong points, online research, blogs, news, online activism. I hope we win through.
The article seems to have been taken down, I wonder if venimous cybernat threats were involved? 😉
[…] published a story about Stuart Campbell, founder, editor and principal contributor to the Wings Over Scotland website. So far so what, but […]
On the lighter side
I lived in Kirk Yetholm for a week researching the name Clifton for a book of mine. The story went around the fire in the bar one convivial evening that William Blythe Clifton sometime president of the US was a descendant of the brother of the king of the gypsies who wintered every year in Kirk Yetholm in a house donated to the clan by local folk. Bill was invited to visit, but did not reply to the invitation. Don’t know how true the story.
SLAB smears are a wonderful source for amusement and our side, the YES side must treat these snide threats with the irony it deserves.
For instance, I`ve begun to wonder if “Equality for Women” is an IRONY that ensures superiority by women over men, where only women get to choose where and when to attack?
The reverse is not allowed?
Not Equality – is it?
Ironically.
I cannot recall the last time a man invited tv camera crews into his home to have a wee weep on national tv despite the fact that the perpetrator was in fact a fully fledged member of a SLAB Cabinet – and has never disputed that fact.
When she cannot stand the heat in the political kitchen – Lally must stay out of the kitchen.
No-one can serve in a SLAB Cabinet without voicing opinion on many and varied subjects, but somehow we are being asked to believe Lally only ever spoke on Disabled children.
Never hesitated when traducing a man`s 47 years as a journalist?
According to Lamont and roofie Davidson – Campbell Gunn was deserving of high praise from them last year – but that became anathema only AFTER Mr.Gunn accepted work from SNP.?
Let`s use weeping women to ruin a good man because that will somehow serve Equality?
Maya Angelou will be spinning in her grave.
What excuse does holy willie rennie have – unless he is a closet tory. OOPS too late, he is already there.
Condemned as a ConDem muppet puppet
@Better Together are now tweeting about it only being a matter of time before someone is killed! Their proof is that “Orlando was jostled in Morningside”.
Jostled! FFS.
Solidarity, Rev Stuart. We stand ready to make a donation to legal fees.
Black Triangle Anti-Defamation Campaign in Defence of Disability Rights
Scotland
http://blacktrianglecampaign.org
I’m just glad that my blog is too small for them to notice and not bother me. Keep it going guys, people need to know that “Better Together” are playing dirty.