Untied with Labour
We’ve just endured Gordon Brown’s 45-minute “old man shouting out a series of random unconnected facts from Wikipedia” speech at Glasgow University. (You should be able to find it later on the iPlayer under the programme title “Briefings”, if you really want to.) It doesn’t bear a lot of analysis, being just the same old cobblers you’ve heard a thousand times before, but delivered in a more rambling manner.
There was one vaguely interesting thing about the event, though.
And that was the fact that it was done under the “Better Together” banner, rather than the “United With Labour” one that Brown has used previously. And it doesn’t seem to have been because Brown has kissed and made up with BT chairman Alistair Darling, who was the subject of an odd little barbed comment in the speech about Chancellors blaming their predecessors.
And in the light of the ongoing car-crash that is CBI Scotland this week, we found ourselves wondering what the real reason might be.
“United With Labour”, as we pointed out right back at its launch almost a year ago, is a phantom organisation. It has no website, no Twitter account, no phone number, no officers and no address. Which hasn’t mattered up until now, but becomes rather more pertinent as we approach the regulated period of the campaign, during which any participants spending over £10,000 must be registered with the Electoral Commission.
(We’ll very likely have to sign up ourselves, although the upside is that we get to have an official accredited Wings Over Scotland representative at every count to keep a close eye on the postal votes.)
So we can’t help wondering whether Gordon Brown’s transfer marks the beginning of the winding-up process for the fake front that is UWL. Is it soon to go the same way as Labour’s diligent and much-admired “2014 Truth Team”, last heard from in November 2013? Only time will tell.
But what’ll be intriguing as the campaign reaches its maximum intensity will be what happens to the reason UWL was invented in the first place – all the Labour activists who don’t want to be seen dead working with the Tories and their backers.
With a UK general election following just months after the referendum, it seems fair to suggest that such feelings will get stronger as September nears, rather than weaker. At exactly the time the No camp needs as many boots on the streets as it can get, those boots will have to be those on the unwilling feet of Labour dogsbodies doing the Tories’ dirty work for them, this time without the figleaf of UWL to hide behind.
(The only alternative would be for UWL to actually become a real thing, and to have its activities properly scrutinised by the authorities, and we all know how much Labour likes that sort of thing.)
We’ll be watching developments with interest.
Photie caption:
“I had this big bar of gold once. It was this size! Honest!”</i)
i shall volenteer for the count in stirling if required.
and even volunteer.
Looks like he’s holding a pane of glass and trying to lick it?
Brown doing that “I’d rather jack, than Fleetwood Mac” action with his hands again.
Just when they need to be “better together”, circumstance could tear them apart.
The perfect storm!?
A volunteer for any count in Aberdeen here!
Official Wings representatives will need official t-shirts, Stu. Something like “VILE CYBERNAT” above a picture of the Wings Emergency Kitten should do the trick.
Where would New Scottish Labour get +£10K?
Their OneNation masters would have to get a bigger loan facility at the Co-op bank. I’m not sure that they are in a position to continue their disastrous lending.
link to thisismoney.co.uk
“The Labour Party which has relied on the Co-op for cheap loans and political donations. It received a £1.2million loan at a rock bottom interest rate of 4 per cent last April.”
Dang, how did I miss that photo opperchancity!
…I had a caption for the photo but I don’t want to get banned!
Aw naw; you had to mention it – now ‘Useless with Labour’ will be launched for the ‘first time’ (again) as a vehicle for the ‘big beastie’ on Monday ?
Attention seeking Brown re-launches this guff every now and then.
Caption – ‘…and by that time, boys and girls, I had ripped the British economy a brand new arsehole.’
I’ve wondered in the past whether there was some financial benefit for the Labour Party in setting up UWL. Some way of channeling Westminster ‘party political expenses’ through it. Remember the computers scam a few years back?
Ha, maybe they don’t have a website or twitter account but at least they have a facebook page (although they maybe don’t know it) link to facebook.com
@ clootie – OOOOO you are awful 🙂
‘Snake’ is about as polite as I could be
(or probably you too Stu).
But I get your drift.
Doug Daniel – think I would need a beard and glasses (and lose some weight) to pull off such an indie look 🙂
I though that Alistair Darling’s standing ovation at the Scottish Tory party conference must have made Labour in Scotland voters wonder what on earth is going on at BetterTogether. They do the donkey work and Cameron’s Con/Dems triumph for the Lords, the mega rich, the City boys, the daily. Heill , the BBC and on and on it goes.
@Murray McCallum
The TUC, including many individual TUs, the LibDems and Labour all banked with the Co-op.
I wonder if we will ever see the dirty stuff here. Now that the bank is effectively owned by a Hedge Fund, presumably stuffed with Tory donors, I suspect leaks eventually, probably to Boris.
Does BT not realise that Scotland only voted tactically for Gordon Brown in 2010, in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the tories out?
Pensioners never forget, and this guy screwed them big time.
THE CONSERVATIVE & UNIONIST PARTY.United with SLAB & LIBDEMS.
ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL! Better together!
Right chaps where’s the trough again, biggest spoon first, that’ll be the tollies, then SLAB (officers first), anybody else.
I avoided the Broon rant last night. This morning a Yes-voting colleague asked me if I’d seen it (he meant the clips on the BBC I imagine). I confessed I hadn’t, because I pays Wings to do that sort of dirty work for me.
He laughed and said, it was awful, complete stammering mess, he made an absolute fool of himself.
So that’s comforting anyway.
So United with Labour, which doesn’t exist, can’t register with the Electoral Commission because Scottish Labour, which doesn’t exist, can’t lay its hands on 10k (it doesn’t exist).
These are the defenders of the Union, people.
Man he’s a belter. Looking tired and dottled.
How does anyone come to the conclusion he is a big hitter?
Caption;
Mr Bean frightens pensioners
Photo caption:-
“Give us a kiss”
Strength, Security, Stability
Vorsprung durch Technik
Is Broon not a son of the Manse? He wouldn’t mislead people would he? Oh wait a minute, is wee Doogie not one as well?
Good piece Rev.
Joan McAlpine pens a good piece on the CBI Scotland,the head of the CBI Scotland Iain McMillan not only opposes independence but he’s was dead set against devolution.
Apparently CBI Scotland have a majority of members who’s head offices are in London, and at the same time CBI Scotland don’t represent the majority of businesses in Scotland. When you read into that, it becomes patently clear that CBI Scotland aren’t neutral, but biased in favour of the union.
Business for Scotland has about 1800 members’ far more than CBI Scotland, and I’d imagine it will keep growning, whilst, CBI Scotland may struggle in future to gain respect.
link to dailyrecord.co.uk
Interesting revelation about United With Labour’s ghost background.
Keep us up-to-date when the day arrives for registration, Stuart.
Honest i am this big a dick
There was a Edinburgh “lady” on EBC phone in this AM who is voting NO because the streets in Emburgh have never been cleaned properly since the SNP got into Holyrood. Well f*** me! I think even Kirsty was lost for words.
How about if Brown fancies himself as BT’s messiah?
Could it be that he thinks that saving of the Union is his way of finally getting the approval he so desperately seeks from Westminster’s elite?
And the rather juicy bonus for Gordon, is he gets revenge for what he has always seen as darlings backstabbing, as GB pushes AD of his podium and saves the day, destroying AD’s reputation, and showing that he GB was always misunderstood, by Westminster.
Is GB trying for the yoof vote with that Miley Cyrus tongue-pokey thing?
On a serious note, I’m also up for attending the West Lothian count on the night of 18 – 19 September.
Looking ( against my better judgment ) at the Gordon Brown photo, I just thought that look and tongue hanging out is just what he would look like being taken away in a straight jacket!
Off topic
I”m not into flag waving but being a gardener I could not help but be impressed with this. Taken by me on Mon 21/04/2014. The situation is Barrhead on the Irvine Rd.
link to flickr.com
Buffoon comes to mind every time I hear or see Gordon Brown.A rude or vulgar fool,a person who amuses others with ridiculous behavior.
I had been wondering if Wings would have to register, not being an organisation as such but having campaign money to spend.
If so I nominate our vigilant, windae, polling observer, Archie (not Erchie) for Aberdeen!
Give a shout out for counting volunteers at the time. will do Inverness. If we can cover all the railway stations with a few hours notice, we could have a winger on every ballot box given enough notice.
Any behavioural bods out there? I watched broons speech/stomp roond the stage. Anybody got any body language analysis of this. It was weird.
Jimsie,
That is great.
“I used to be prime Minister, you know?”
I’d imagine it now just exists so that a greater sum can be spent on the campaign legitimately. winding it up would be counter productive (not that that’s been a consideration before)
Photo caption: Then Sarah said, “Wow!”.
ps it’s not the count that worries me, it’s the journey from polling station to count.
I was wondering about the Wings having to register thingy. As far as *ahem* official Wingsters at the various counts might I suggest T shirts with the advert on them. You know the advert folks…THAT advert. The advert paid for by Stu, put up on the Clockwork Orange on the Monday, taken down on the Tuesday and appeared in the Metro on the Wednesday! 😛
I have a T shirt with THAT advert on it which I intend wearing tonight at Carlisle Cathedral where the First Minister is having a wee fireside chat with a few business folks from Carlisle. 😉
Someone just told me that Brown eats 10 bananas a day. If that’s true, it make explain the uncomfortable pacing back and fore on stage.
heedtracker
Sugar rush
Kinda O/T, but since we’re speaking about discredited former stars of the Scottish political scene, it’s worth mentioning – Tommy Sheridan Dead. link to youtube.com
Hes trying to play the insanity plea no chance liebour boy HANG HIM HIGH 😉
Given the change in OneNation Labour membership funding isn’t there a massive gamble being undertaken by Ed Miliband?
Will individual trades union members pay a direct subscription and will unions make good any shortfall? What if Labour do not have an adequate 2015 campaign fund (to add to their other key shortages, e.g. having some non-Tory policies)?
I can see why they would want to avoid using ANY of their own funds that they haven’t yet got.
West Lothian count covered here if needed.
@a2 I’m not worried about journey to count. It’s easily checked. I’ve officiated at a few elections. All boxes are checked in sealed.
OT seen this? link to m.bbc.co.uk
And 94% of it is ours, Cameron!
Not a fan of Guido Fawkes but his articles on Gordon Brown’s charity make interestin reading.
link to order-order.com
I can do anywhere in Bannockburn/Stirling area! Would love to be a part of this.
Someone just told me that Brown eats 10 bananas a day. If that’s true, it make explain the uncomfortable pacing back and fore on stage.
It could also explain why the big ape always seems to be slipping about all over the place, usually falling flat on his face. He really should be more careful with those old skins.
@fairefromtheearth
You are a damaging troll sneaking in to make comments which would discredit this site.Be off and dinnae return.Ye’ve been tellt twice already.
If WoS is registered with the Electoral Commission ‘it’ will be entitled to spend £150,000 during the official campaign period which I believe starts on 30 May.
Marcia – opens purse and sits back waiting for the next WOS crowdfunder. 🙂
bit o/T
I asked my bank Nationwide if they were members of the CBI and where did they stand on Scottish Independence. Here is their reply:-
Dear Mr Lessells,
Thank you for your message.
I am sorry to learn of the concerns you have.
Due to the current uncertainty regarding the possibility of an independent Scottish state and the circumstances surrounding the monetary union between the two hypothetical nations, we would be unable to confirm what economic policy would be taken into effect. With this in mind, we would not be able to confirm what effect a Scottish Independency would have on the monetary policy of the UK at this present time. When the policy becomes more concrete in nature, we would notify the members who could be affected by any changes.
I would like to thank you for contacting us. If you need anything else, please reply to this message.
Regards,
Andrew Sofroniou
Customer Consultant
E-Cont@cts
Customer Service and Operations
I have repeated the original question.
I had to attend a Broon Fan Club meeting about 9 months ago – local charity do.
His body language & general demeanour was odd back then. I suspected an illness. Jet lag or somesuch.
Best bit was … I wore my Yes badge, and after the plonk & nibbles took a seat by myself in the top/back row for his lecture. That way if I nodded off, only Broon could see & be offended.
One of his bodyguards walked quite a long way to come and sit almost next to me.
best I could get, same smile though
link to tinyurl.com
Labour Hame seems to be having a specially long hibernation.
link to labourhame.com
Support from an unlikely source? Interesting slant from Billy Bragg:
People of Scotland – vote yes, and set us English free
Instead of condemning us to perpetual Tory rule, independence may reinvigorate Labour and bring us the devolution we crave
Billy Bragg
theguardian.com, Wednesday 23 April 2014 15.45 BST
As the debate over Scottish independence hots up, it is becoming clear that some voters in Scotland are worried that a yes vote in September will condemn the English to never-ending rule by the Tories. While I appreciate their concern, especially on St George’s Day, the argument that Scots must vote no in order to save the English from neoliberalism simply doesn’t add up.
Since the second world war, the votes of the Scottish electorate have only been decisive on three occasions – the general elections of 1964, 1974 and 2010 – each time preventing the Tories from winning a tiny majority. Scottish votes would not have stopped Margaret Thatcher, nor denied Tony Blair his three election wins.
In fact, there is an argument to be made that the Scottish electorate played an important part in entrenching the neoliberal agenda at Westminster. Safe in the knowledge that the majority of Scots would always vote Labour, Tony Blair felt confident enough to move his party to the centre ground and embrace the free market. New Labour was built on the back of the Scottish electorate.
The shock of losing its Scottish MPs might encourage Labour to rediscover its traditional supporters in England. South of the border, the majority would welcome the renationalisation of the railways and utilities, and there is overwhelming support for rebalancing the housing market.
And support for the union is not as strong as it once was. A 2013 survey by the IPPR thinktank found that 60% felt Englishness was more important to them than Britishness, with only 16% feeling the opposite. This sea change in English consciousness is topped off by a poll this week showing a real appetite for devolution in England: it found that 65% of voters agreed with the proposition, “Too much of England is run from London”, the view being strongest among Labour voters (78%).
The fact is that far from fearing the breakup of the UK, the English are looking at the benefits that devolution has brought the Scots and asking why they are not able to enjoy the same. Students in England struggling to pay their tuition fees are wondering how it is that their Scottish peers, living in the same country, don’t pay anything at all; those in England forced to sell their houses to pay for personal care for elderly relatives are asking why British citizens in Scotland get those services for free; and patients and nursing staff who have to deal with the harsh reality of the free market intruding into the English NHS look in envy towards Scotland, where privatisation has been minimal.
Devolution has delivered real benefits to the people of Scotland, allowing them to vary their services and taxes in a manner that reflects a different polity to that emanating from Westminster. Is there a reason why the English can’t be trusted to run more of their own affairs?
It’s not just the Scots who are pulling at the threads of the British state. The ambiguous results of the last general election have put the Westminster system under great stress. It was designed to function best with a two-party system, but the electorate no longer seem wedded to that model. The disaffection that casts a pall over parliament has many sources, but the underlying sense that our votes no longer make a difference has the ability to do the most damage.
An English parliament would seem to be the simple answer to this problem, but I would worry that such a body would be too big, too distant and too centralised to really deliver devolved power to local communities. A series of regional assemblies, each with the same powers Holyrood now enjoys, would go some way to overcoming voters’ concerns that the big decisions are being made elsewhere by corporate players who have no interest in the welfare of our society.
England would benefit greatly from devolution, but if the Scots vote for the status quo in September all this talk of decentralisation will be put to one side, just as the notion of a fair voting system was dismissed after the failure of the AV referendum.
If the Scots want to show some solidarity with the people in England who feel trapped in a centralised state where cheap credit, privatisation and deregulation are the only solutions offered, they should vote yes to independence and set us all free.
Bugger!
That link didn’t work, sorry.
The figures in the Mercury link are somewhat outdated. While Scottish Labour membership continues to slide, March 2013 saw SNP membership pass the 25,000 mark.
If the Reverend’s Wee Blue Book is out and in our hands by 30 May, he will have a problem spending more than £10,000. Most of his activities are doing what he does normally, e.g. running the site, WoS polls, deconstructing MSM garbage output, and will continue after Sep 18 so would not be referendum related, however the grand tour of Fife would be but shouldn’t cost much as there is nothing to see and nobody to meet.
/* Ducks */
@ cearc 3:44pm – Thankyou for that nomination and will be honoured to serve.
I have been guided by our own Ronnie A. when it comes to advertising. The good news about this area of Woodside – the polling station, a new Health Centre [opening June], an undertaker and a church within 3minutes walk.
All of the above will be so important on September 19th when there will be lots of ‘very sick NO people’ 🙂
He’s licking the envelope on another invisible donation to a good cause from his ‘Charity’.
“Useless with Labour”
Now I know which ones useless, but its the acually Labour part that has me stumped!
If growing public support for independence in Scotland is an iceberg and the UK Union is Titanic, then Gordon Brown is a deck chair attendant.
It is wonderfully ironic that the Nae-Sayers, many of them anyway, simply can’t work together. Such a wonderful anti-advert for an organisation trying to promote a better together message. If Labour are seen to be too close to Tories they get damaged. If they can’t cooperate then where is this mythical ‘ together’?
At so many levels to shows exactly why we should collectively ditch the Union and all the baggage which goes with it.
Every few days I have a mild panic attack that BT might pull something out of the hat which damages the Yes campaign and reverses the swing towards backing Independence. Then on other days, not just relief but positive feelings, as BT show incompetence or even score yet another own goal!
More ‘bad’ news about Scotland’s dwindling oil industry today – supply chain ‘only’ worth 35 billion per year.
Summary jpeg here:
link to oilandgasuk.co.uk
Reports from ‘UK’ oil and gas here:
link to oilandgasuk.co.uk
(scroll down the page ands click ‘I agree’ to downlaod.)
From the info:
’13 billion is due to be invested in the Scottish continental shelf, during 2014, following a record 14.4 billion in 2013′
AND, it gets worse:
‘The Scottish offshore oil and gas industry, remains the UK’s biggest industrial investor, paying more tax into the London exchequer than any other industrial sector’
I’m sure somebody will be along from ‘Better together’ shortly to lie once again to the people of Scotland, that our Scottish oil assets are awful, not really worth having, and it’s much better that we keep giving all the oil and supply chain revenue to London for free. 🙂
Latest Standard & Poor’s report that the MSM have been banging on about today – because none of the newspapers actually linked to the document, so I had to find myself.
link to twitdoc.com
Got to admit I gave Brown’s big entrance a miss. He had his chance as both chancellor and PM. Made a complete arse of it, left the job in a huff and has been awol for his own constituency ever since. Why on earth would I give him even the time of day?
@Archie ( not Erchie ) An your your a Yes voter,have you no shame, the British welfare system on your doorstep,health centre,church,undertaker,delivered under a Labour gov hiv you nay shame man,remember the saying from the Cradle tae the Grave. An by the fek is it no Grave LoL.
We can do Dunfermline, any in the Duloch Area. Would be honoured. I am also not worried about the count just what is being counted. Too close to Glenrothes here.
Macart
I wholly agree regarding Gordon Brown. As for his expenses and earnings, well let’s just say, you need to get used to reading the phrase:
“I am not receiving any money from this role personally. It is being held by the Office of Gordon and Sarah Brown to support my ongoing involvement in public life.”
Living the socialist high life. Next stop the house of Lords – no wonder he opposes Scottish independence.
Source: link to theyworkforyou.com
Talking about non-existent unionist initiatives, a quick look at Rory the Tory’s “Hands across the Border” campaign on Facebook is quite revealing.
The page was created on 5/02/14 to publicise:
“A campaign to build a human chain along the Scotland-England border on the evening of Saturday 19th July, to show our support for preserving the Union.”
The latest update is from 13/02/14 and since then – tumbleweed! Maybe a local journalist could ask Rory how the recruitment numbers are looking because there is no information on the website either.
Good idea about count observing. Happy to volunteer for that – Central or North East Fife.
@Robert Louis
Cheers for the link RL. My God its a different life for some folk isn’t it? I dare say his old age is well catered for.
I remember when my firm flung my final salary scheme on the fire in the wake of Gordo’s raid. It effectively ensured that many of us on that workfloor don’t really get to retire. We work till they carry us out in a box and that was just the start of it. We’re on six years of frozen wages now and no end in sight.
For all that, I count myself lucky.
I still have a job, many do not.
What a journey it’s been for ‘Crash Gordon’ (respect to the wingsperson for that one), CG’s political timeline doesn’t read too well, considering his two main jobs had a direct and negative impact on all of us in this present UK system. Scotland can do so much better.
You could compare these ‘Westminster celebrity stars in THEIR eyes’ wheel-outs to a computer shoot-em-up game, where they try to manipulate the minority of the impressionable Scottish people.. by entering cover first (Right Bumper), then they come out firing (Right Trigger), release, then run back to base. Unfortunately for them, the bullets they fire are ALL blanks. No debates, no accountability and to use their own words accordingly on their negative campaign, no thanks.
CG’s political report-card.. you know what you got, F+, click!
Doesn’t he look tired
Archie (not Erchie),
Ah, the amenities. I always thought it was perhaps a tad tactless (although quite convenient) to build those flats next door to the undertaker.
I hope you won’t be a customer for a long time!
Yeah David, I think it’s taken its toll on many a former UK prime minister, maybe the strain of deceit? Quite different in perspective to a beaming First Minister and positive YES campaign.
I volunteer for Counting anywhere in Edinburgh/Lothians area.
(Will everybody in Glasgow meet at the “Counting House” first?)
I took on the role of foot soldier at Glenrothes – but the good people there deigned to elected a dry old stick of a school teacher – Roy – whose contributions to the House and committees since lie somewhere of the order of a dust mite and a breeze of tumbleweed.
The point of this comment is to remind folk that there was an inordinate amount of postal votes at the count no one predicted or could account for … and when a check was demanded the electorial register was discovered to be “lost” when it “fell” off the back of a courier bike.
What I can`t get my head round is the unanimous glossing over the fact that there was no interaction whatsoever. No question & answer with the “audience”, no questions from the myriad journos present, not even a one-to-one interview with a “chosen” hack. This has been given wall-to-wall coverage but at no point was any of the claims or assertions made in his speech challenged by anyone. If a case is as strong as it was hyped up to be in all the press & media yesterday, then it should surely withstand the kind of rigorous scrutiny it`s importance merits. Or is that scrutiny only to be applied to one side of this debate ?
If Helena above is volunteering for Dunfermline, I`d like to put my name forward for Kirkcaldy.
It`d be an honour.(and, I suspect, a hoot!)
Perhaps now that organisations have to register it’s become impossible for fronts such as UUL to do so because they might then be seen as an attempt to flout the rules limiting their spending.
@derrick
Those flying interventions by westminster MPs without questions or public scrutiny are only designed to give sound bites and so called “factual” numbers for the MSM etall to spread far and wide.
Contrast that with what the current scottish government are doing with public meetings and q&a sessions and i know who i am inclined to believe.
Taysideterrier is absolutely right. The aim is not to debate. All they need to do is keep saying things and the MSM will keep reporting what they said. Scrutiny is not relevant. All that matters is “‘Pensions under threat’ warns Brown.” After that, it’s just he said/she said. You’ll note, for example, that while Grey was wheeled out on Newsnight to promote Brown’s argument, the “journalists” involved didn’t actually pick holes in the argument themselves. They just asked Eilidh Whiteford what her response was. That is what counts as “balance.” The cumulative effect is enormous though.
The most obvious example of how the technique works is the Cybernat Smear. As any of us knows, Yes campaigners in BTL comments are almost always polite, articulate and know their facts. Frothing at the mouth unionists are incredibly common, though. But what’s the story we keep hearing? “Cybernat scourge ruining the debate.” It’s utterly counter-factual, but you only need one or two examples and you can keep running with the story forever because most people in Scotland never look at comments on the Telegraph website to learn the truth. When one of these stories pops up, journalists should be looking at a handful of stories in their newspapers and making an honest assessment of what the comments reveal. But this is churnalism. Take the story you’re given, get response from the other side for “balance” and publish. Investigation and challenging authority is just too expensive and time-consuming.
The only effective way to deal with the problem is to CONSTANTLY challenge the media. Don’t waste time writing BTL commments in papers that are resolutely pushing the unionist line in editorials. You can’t win that. But letters to the editor and the PCC about abuse from unionists and factual errors in articles will eventually wear them down. On the Cybernat front, I’d also start making regular reports to the police about abusive Tweets. Anything where violence is threatened or implied or uses racist, sexist or sectarian language warrants at least a minimal investigation. If Police Scotland gets flooded with complaints about things that are being said online and those cases start feeding through the courts over the next six months, it becomes a news story that’s hard to avoid.
bagsy the western isles accreditation 🙂
I have been monitoring the office of Gordon and sarah Brown for two years. I passed all relevant info to Guido Fawkes. I even had to register with companies house to get some of the info.I also made the Rev aware and he carried an article. In my opinion it is a tax scam
O/T
Now here’s a strange one. I’m trying to build up a series of, “Better Together Lies”, videos on YouTube and chose that title so that Google or YouTube searches for, “Better Together”, by British Nationalists would get them show up in their searches,(sneaky or what)? But I digress.
I was attempting to do a new one on Johann Lamont & Jackie Baillie’s more obvious lies. So the obvious first step was to get video clips to edit. So I tried all combinations of, “Something for Nothing”, “Johann”. and, “Lamont”. Nothing could be found except the bare faced lies used to deny Lamont had ever said it.
Now I had the thing recorded at the time on my PVR and know exactly what Lamont did say. So just who has enough pull to remove every recording on YouTube and Google of the clip? Now here’s the strangest one – it used to be on the SNP’s own website but THAT one is gone too? Yet the player that says it contains the clip won’t play anything but ads and rubbish.
Crash Brown is saying the one that got away was this big!!
Gordon Brown is provided with an effective cordon by the phalanx of journalists and broadcasters and his ‘handlers’. I suppose after the incident with that racist lady down in Rochdale everyone is scared he will implode. And no journalist is allowed to ask him probing questions, even if they wanted to
He is like the golden calf (well, bull maybe) of biblical fable created by the no camp in the absence of a leader to worship and follow. He is venerated and idolised, cosseted and indulged simply because they need some figure of HOPE!
BT are that bereft of talent with an appetite for this contest. And when he fails, who will be the new idol? Tony? John Reid?? No. They cling to him. They need him. And everyone keeps telling us how respected this ‘big beast’ is. They need to believe in someone.
Now, I’m just a working Scotsman with no great job, skill or calling but I turn up at my work and do the best job I can. The fact this charlatan rakes in a huge wage for doing the sum total of Fuck All is an indictment of this golden bullshitter they’ve raised up on their shoulders and all those who not just protect him but fail in their duty as journalists to take him to task.
Tam Jardine – Can you imagine how soul destroying it must be to have Gordon Brown as your great leader of hope. 🙁
@Robert Louis says:
23 April, 2014 at 5:51 pmMore ‘bad’ news about Scotland’s dwindling oil industry today – supply chain ‘only’ worth 35 billion per year.
Good collation of true facts. I work in the oil industry and have worked in Norway and know full well why our neighbour across the N Sea is one of the richest countries in the world and our oil wealth has been squandered by Westminster to our detriment.
T Jenny
It’s a terrifying thought! Some dude Nick Ferrari on reporting Scotland has just said “I can’t think of a worse cheerleader than Gordon Brown” who then went on to suggest he will salvage the BT campaign somehow.
GB as a cheerleader… there’s an strange and deviant picture to contemplate
Tam Jardine – I heard Nick Ferrari say that as well. Do all unionist have some sort of twisted logic gene?
TJenny
I had to rewind Ferrari three or four times. Still no idea how he made that connection. I suppose he is simply wrong.
Its strange listening to no ‘observers’ from down south who have looked into all this 1000x less than you or I.
My 2 rules of observing BT and their “logic” – 1) always assume the opposite to what they state as fact is the reality. And 2) WHENEVER they mention the word “billion” they are lying to us.
If you saw that guy you’ll have also seen Gail Lithgoe winning comfortably on behalf of Yes Scotland. She was a great example to all and argued with logic, passion, down to earth commonsense and great confidence. Guid stuff.
link to news.stv.tv
Released from the vaults perhaps. Top link from a search on google for “johan lamont something for nothing”. You need to watch a short ad first.
STV reporting the facts as some form of retaliation perhaps?
Tam Jardine – I agree about Gail Lythgoe. Stated the Yes side highly articulately, but again, the BT rep, Anya (?) said that indy would mean having a controlled border between Scotland and England. When this was rebutted by Gail Lythgoe, Anya replied that it wasn’t BT that were saying this, it was Yes!
Do you think BT training consists of telling their activists to just say anything then deny it in the next breath and repeat until interview is over?
Surely any of these doom and gloom figures can be reversed to show the state of EWNI’s pensions?
If Scotland is around 10% of UK then these figures being banded around will be (9?) 10 times worse for ruk?
Especially more so maybe, since scotland has a lower overall deficit than uk and with regards to pensions am i right in saying because of our lower overall life expectancy our pensions deficit is also lower, ie more affordable?
TJenny
Anya suffered from being wrong which is a huge disadvantage in any argument. As you say, BT training kicked in when Gail stated the fact that only BT are talking about borders by lamely going back on herself despite raising the issue. Straight out of the BT play book!
Maybe a wee black op is the only way to find out what their conditioning involves?
United with Labour’s Facebook page has 68 likes and was last updated on 28 March. If El Gordo has jumped overboard and on to No Better Together UKOK’s liferaft, I’m wondering what trajectory Flipper’s career will find itself on.
[…] of it we found suggested that the audience comprised “local community activists” and showed “United With Labour” branding, and as we can’t find a single advance reference to the venue we think that may be a […]