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Wings Over Scotland


The Wee Blue Book

Posted on August 11, 2014 by

The pocket guide to the independence referendum is here.

wbbcover

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DOWNLOAD FOR SMARTPHONES AND TABLETS

DOWNLOAD FOR DESKTOP AND LAPTOP COMPUTERS

EBOOK FORMATS (epub, Kindle etc)

READ THE WEE BLUE BOOK AS A WEBSITE

Printed copies are widely available from Yes shops, street stalls and campaigners.

AUDIO BOOK

GAELIC EDITION

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Campaigners: if you want to save time and produce your own copies in bulk, here’s the marked-up professional-print-ready version along with all the info you’ll need in order to just hand the PDF to a printing company and go.

DOWNLOAD PRINT-READY EDITION

SPECS:
A6 72 pages, self-cover, full colour CMYK
Saddle stitched (stapled)
3mm bleed
130gsm stock

We recommend StuPrint (no relation) who’ll do 6000 copies for a bargain £1,590 all in, or Glasgow’s own excellent William Anderson & Sons, who are actually the people running off nearly quarter of a million for us.

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If you just want one or two copies from your own printer, use this:

LOW-COLOUR INK-SAVER VERSION FOR HOME PRINTING

(Instructions here)

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Download mirror 1:

Smartphone/tablet edition

Desktop/laptop edition

Low-colour edition

Print-ready edition

Kindle edition (.mobi)

Ebook edition (.epub)

Ebook edition (.lrf)

Ebook edition (.pdb)

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Devereux

Now watch us fly!

Tony Little

Many thanks Rev. Hasve downloaded a copy and will now read with interest.

Keep it up mate, you are a Godsend to the campaign

purplebadger

Nice!

David Lee

Just a quick heads up, the download version could be blocked on a lot of work computers (it’s blocked at Scottish Govt) because the World of Stuart site the file is hosted on is designated “Games”.

Brotyboy

Wow. Just had a quick skek, and this all looks good and very comprehensive.

Thinking of sending a copy to my whole address book.

Mat

Reading it now – looking great, though only just getting started.

Something you might want to fix in a hurry – the reference link – link to wingsoverscotland.com – is 404ing.

Elaine Colliar

A copy on my laptop, one on my kindle and another on my phone …. bring on the questions!!

Off to share the link around social media

M’wah Rev Stu

john king

How can we get this as a book?

TYRAN

Would be great to see these distributed to households.

independiente

Ahhh ! The book of brilliant things at last !
(Excellent stuff)

Or

The canvassers guide to winning the argument on the doorstep.

Bugger (the Panda)

Received with thanks and already diffused to 6 more people.

Bugger (the Panda)

John King

Print it and put it on a wee spiral binder

Noel Chidwick

Excellent, lucid, and straight to the point. I shall be sending the questions to my MP ( A certain A. Darling).

galamcennalath

Everyone thinking of voting NO needs to read The Book. What is the strategy to get it seen widely, not by YES supporters like ourselves?

Glenn

This is superb.

Nancy Burge

Excellent resource, Stu, but then I would expect nothing less.
I will be printing this out and leaving it around places as soon as I get to a printer.

Alex Beveridge

Many thanks, Stuart. I know this is o/t but there is an article on newsnet scotland complaining about the contents of the booklet issued by the Electoral Commission, Scotland. It’s supposed to be a guide to voting in the referendum, but apparently contains statements from both the Yes and No campaigns. The complaint is the usual one, inasmuch that the No campaigns words are to put it mildly, misleading. That this should come as a surprise, is a surprise, as I previously pointed out months ago that the Electoral Commissioner for Scotland is one John McCormick, former Controller, B.B.C Scotland. Nuff said.

john king

Printers eh, Bugggered. 🙂

Ken500

An extremely welcome development.

You are a Star.

Greg Hendry

Amazing! I was wondering if this was going to be done on time the other day there. Thanks Rev!

heedtracker

Brilliant work! Incredible opportunities for the future of Scotland, with one cross in the YES box.

bunter

Already read a good bit and this looks great. Any hard copies gonna be avail.

Just one thing so far, the oil section & re oil fund. Is it Iraq that didny set up a fund?

Jim Bo

Just what I needed this Monday morning. Brilliant stuff as always Rev.

Ken500

The Scottish Gov can complain about the actions of the Electoral Commission, making political capital, by threatening legal action.

Brotyboy

Gamechanger, I think.

But it needs to be got out there to everyone, whether that’s challenging (for our target audience, not for us)or not.

AberdeenLoon

Downloaded and shared far and wide ?

Bugger (the Panda)

John King

Use somebody else’s or go to a Print Shop and they may even bind it for you. Not for handing out but keeping with you as a reference.

May be, could crowdfund a 20,000 run ourselves?

i.e. Somebody in Scotland gets it done after we have sent money to him. Somebody honest and trustworthy like Kendoonmacaroonbar?

heraldnomore

Monday morning. Cat pees on feather duvet. Torrents of rain coming through flat roof.

Wee Blue Book downloaded. Yee Hah.

Juteman

Nice work.

Nana Smith

Made a grey wet Monday morn so much brighter. Thank you

Doug Daniel

Some of the voters I’ve been speaking to over the past few days (three canvassing sessions in four days – go me!) are crying out for something like this. They want facts, and they want them hand-delivered in an easy-to-digest format. It’s very frustrating when we all know there’s so much out there if they could only be bothered to look, but anything that removes the “nobody’s giving me any facts” excuse is vital in these last few weeks.

I think this’ll fill the gap between easy-to-read-but-low-on-content leaflets and the high-on-content-but-difficult-to-read White Paper nicely.

Craig B

Ahh good man Rev, thank you.

Jim Marshall

Excellent Stuart, very useful reference when on the stomp canvassing.No doubt you will advise as to distribution of copies. Perfect for convincing the undecided.

Luigi

I know it’s hugely ambitious, but every household in Scotland should receive a copy.

Slaughterhouse

I know I’m probably being a bit silly here, but I think it would be better if it said ‘Please don’t vote…’. The way it reads at the moment looks too much like an order.

Midgehunter

This is what we’ve been waiting for. Great job done Rev.. 😉

After the SG “Scotland’s Future”, this is the second most important factual handbook for independence.

On the back cover it says, printed by Craig & Stewart, Glasgow. Does that mean there are printed copies available? Costs etc.

heedtracker

One of bettertogethers biggest cons

Page 42 (viii) (viii) Devolution
The UK parties promise that Scotland can have “the best of both worlds” – all the “strength” and “security” of the
UK, with a strong Scottish Parliament that they say will get
more powers if Scotland votes No.
But if you actually look closely at what they’re offering,
they’re not more “powers” at all. The Scottish Parliament
will NOT have power over anything that it doesn’t currently
have power over

Maybe “(viii) Devolution” header on top of page 43?

Bugger (the Panda)

@Slaughterhouse

Sorry, I don’t get that?
🙂

Bernard ByTheBurn

Thank you Stuart. You’re a one man national institution.

Just scanned the first few pages. I know the quality of your research, and that you always check your facts, (as I do), so unlike so many other sources I feel confident in quoting your evidence without hours of second sourcing. A real time saver…

Respect

Bernard
ByTheBurn

Midgehunter

OOps, sorry – print run ongoing as we type. The comments come thick an fast, it’s hard to catch up.

Richard

Excellent publication with lots of easy to understand facts. Whats the plans for hard copies? Are you getting plenty made?

Sandy Brownlee

Well done Stu – this looks great. I’ll be forwarding this on as much as possible, and happy to contribute if there is a move to crowdfund a huge print run.

caz-m

Maybe Nicola will use it as a reference at tonight’s meeting in Irvine. Or better still, take copies of the Blue Book to the meeting with you.

Nicola Sturgeon,

Independence Debate for North Ayrshire – tonight 7.30pm.

Castlepark Community Centre, Irvine on Monday,

Please tell undecided voters in the area to get themselves down to Irvine tonight.

link to irvinetimes.com

Flower of Scotland

Thanks Stu! I’ve been waiting for this. Already put it on Facebook!

kendomacaroonbar

This is excellent Stuart.

Congratulations to you and your team of helpers for providing the tools to allow us to help ‘finish the job’.

I’m guessing that 20k print run will be swallowed up pretty quickly and wonder if you’d consider a final fundraiser to facilitate larger batch runs and distribution costs ? I’m ready to chip in and have an idea for a promo video to spread the word far and wide.

Nation Libre

Brilliant Stu, could we maybe have one more crowd fund to get as many of these printed as possible?

kendomacaroonbar

@Bugger the Panda

Thank you for that ! 🙂

tartanfever

Just sent a copy to A. Darling a minute a go, he’s been on the phone already saying he’s read it and it’s all rubbish.

Brilliant work Stu, just what we need.

Bugger (the Panda)

sorry Kendoon

🙂

kendomacaroonbar

I bet there are more copies of this read than the Scotsman’s sales this month.

Alistair D

Looking forward to reading this fully – appetite whetted by brief glance.

No no no...yes

What a great start to the week.I’ve had a quick scan through and like the coversational style of writing.
The inclusion of verifable links adds so much more credibility and allows the reader to do their own validating, rather than just being given a single version of events.Thanks to all involved,

This weebluebook will convert every undecided voter that reads it.

heedtracker

Just sent a copy to bettertogether Slovenia branch too

link to gla.ac.uk

john king

“@Bugger the Panda

Thank you for that ! :-)”

Snigger. 🙂

Macart

Oh, consider that bookmarked and downloaded.

Great Rev.

Graeme Doig

Just had a quick look. Excellent stuff Stu. Thank you.

I would be happy to donate to any distribution fund.

JLT

Seriously …well done Stuart. It’s well written, perfectly laid out, and very easy to read. It’s Sterling work (excuse the pun!)

Already posted the link on Facebook. We need to keep posting this link on a daily basis and hammer away at people to read it. There are no longer any excuses for ‘but, I don’t have enough information’

Well, you do now!

gerry parker

Well Done Stuart, downloaded and will look forward to hard copies to deliver.

This is it folks, the home stretch, remember what our athletes did at the games as they were heading for the finish line.

Let’s go for GOLD.

caz-m

Do you think YES Scotland will publicise the Blue Book?

Peter Macbeastie

Hah, excellent. I’ll download a copy to my tablet later.

Excellent work, Stuart.

We know how effective this site is already, but we can guage it’s effect even more by the amount of hatred aimed in your direction from unionists. More power to you. You have created one of the most valuable resources of the whole independence debate.

Bugger (the Panda)

Just had one feedback on a speculative copy I emailed.

He, I really didn’t have a clue what he was voting, is a 100% Yes as is his Danish wife (silly me for thinking otherwise), and will be sending a postal vote as he will out of the Country on R day.

I smell a Yes.

Bugger (the Panda)

@caz-m

Officially no, but many footsoldiers will use it and pass it on, openly too.

cearc

Excellent, readable precis of key topics. Well done Stu.

How much does the print run cost?

Ali

Have just started reading this its brilliant. Will have to stop now though as I’m at work and my teabreak is over. Thanks Stu

Andrew Morton

This will only be effective if we get it into very wavering household. The recent poll suggests that places like Central Fife and Edinburgh are places to target.

We need to be looking at a print run of 500,000 and paying Royal Mail to deliver.

Don’t know how much that would cost, but I’d be willing to chip in a significant sum to get it off the ground.

Jim Thomson

Thanks for the links Stu.

Now on this wee phone and will be a handy reference when trying to sway soft Nos and the less challenging undecideds.

Michael

Brilliant, a great resource for folk when they know there’s an answer to a specific question but aren’t sure exactly where to find it. Well done.

Andrew Morton

Doh! Not very, every.

James S

Dan Snow’s father-in-law has a lot of new tenants of leasehold properties which were built and probably paid for directly from the highland clearances.

His father-in-law is the Duke of Westminster and owns the land, these billionaires own the buildings on top of it and pay him ground rent.

DM article:

https://archive.today/AciUM

Is this how WM sees Scotland in the under control from London and the oil is the ground rent?

From p. 29 in the WBB we can see how they favour that.

David Halliday

Absolutely perfectly pitched at just the right level of detail that an undecided voter, or even an open-to-reason No, is likely to decide to read. I know printing costs will be high but the more hard copies we can get to deliver the better.

Fergus Green

Were the costs of printing and distributing this not included in the big Wings crowdfund appeal earlier this year?

Milady de Winter

I’m also happy to contribute to publication or printing funds to get wider distribution. This is great!

Mealer

Great work,Stu.This will be a big help.

bunter

Two family members, who were No’s, whom I met at the weekend, had moved to undecided. Have shared the wee book and am sure this will seal the deal.

Ron Burgundy

Stuart

I am off delivering YES newspapers this morning but would love to have 2,000+ of these to stick in the letterboxes with them in my 3 canvassing districts. Can you please advise.
All the best buddy, the book is truly superb.

Graeme S

Brilliant Work Stu. Is it feasible to get the Royal Mail to drop these through letter boxes, or would that exceed campaign spending limits? If not, I’m ready to put my hand in my pocket again.

IcySpark

Do you think it is possible to crowdfund £1 million (guesstimate) to get this printed and sent to every household in Scotland?

Indy_Scot

Has the allegedly neutral Electoral Commissions voting guide effectively given the referendum to the unionists.

Luigi

A big thank you to the Rev and his excellent Wee Blue Book team.

The challenge now is to get it out there, particularly to undecided and soft NO’s.

If people receive a copy, they will read it.

kendomacaroonbar

@John King

Oi, he called me trustworthy.. Although, to be fair, he hasn’t had the oppoprchancity of seeing me play monopoly with the kids. 🙂

Luigi

Do you think it is possible to crowdfund £1 million (guesstimate) to get this printed and sent to every household in Scotland?

In theory, yes, if we could get one or two big donors to help all of us wee funders.

CAUTION: Now that WoS is an official interest in the referendum campaigning period, there will be a strict limit as to what can be spent – unless there are ways around this?

Robert Peffers

Sorry O/T:

The Parliament TV Channel(Ch81)has a debate at 11:55AM,
On the future of the BBC that just may have some interest.
I’ll record it anyway just in case.

Marcia

WoS can spend up to £150,000 on campaign material. That is why readers should spread it far and wide on the internet and if you can print off a hard copy, do so.

Bugger (the Panda)

Kendo, I have the habit of standing up without notice and upending the board, accidentally of course, if I am losing, which is too often.

YESGUY

Brilliant work Stu.

Got my copy and if your printing this we can deliver ourselves round areas we know are DK/NO folk. Once they have a read it’s a “gamechanger”

Superb

handclapping

@kendomacaroonbar
If the only way you can make money is playing monopoly with kids, its time to give up on the dream of being Andra Carnegie, Ken. 😉

Jim Thomson

Just a thought Stu, is there an audio book version? If not, you might be able to get someone like Brian Cox (not the physics bloke) to do it for you.

ianbeag

Our branch purchased 20K of the ‘Aye Right’ leaflet and this has proved to be one of the most useful pieces of literature for handing out at doors and from the various street stalls throughout Stirling constituency. We would love to have the new booklet for street work and for posting through letterboxes when distributing copies of the remaining issues of the YES newspaper. There would be a definite demand providing it can be made available quickly and take-up would be immediate.

Bugger (the Panda)

@ John King

Well I have to say that about Kendo, he gave me Wings badges free,

By the way, now I know where the Wings over Scotland originates.

????

YESGUY

O/T Daily Record

Has Mags Curren wandering around Easterhouse scaring folk about the pensions and currency. Total piece of shit typical No propaganda , And as usual the record giving plenty space for the lies.

Everyone should STOP BUYING all the papers.

Hit the liars where it hurts most – in their pockets.

TD

I also would be willing to contribute to the costs of distributing this. I will not go anywhere without it until Sep 18. It is exactly what is needed – a succinct, easily read summary of the facts – with references.

You and My Comb

My local Yes group is pricing 10k so it might be worth joining in there. @kendomacaroonbar has the contact details I think. It would be easy to get more done at same time

Bugger (the Panda)

???? was an emoji smiley face I imported from my Mac OS ????

It shows up as the chosen face in the dialog box but comes up in the blog as question marks???? That was a pair of eyes.

Colin

Is there not a limit on how much the Rev can spend on the campaign?

We need a lot more than 20,000 copies and we need them soon. Let’s get a friendly printer to print them cheap and get another donation thing going to pay for it. Distribution won’t be a problem.

pr1mate

Awesomes

caz-m

Most NO’s are soft and are just needing that little bit of information that will turn them to YES. It could be on pensions, Oil that is off the west coast, Trident.

Usually one or two facts can turn a NO voter round. Or it could at least plant the YES seed in their head. Let them think about it and go back a couple of days later.

Bingo! Another new YES voter. Give yourself a wee pat on the back and move on to the next NO voter.

Colin

Just another thought and I might be speaking guff but If the Rev isn’t able to spend more cash during the final stages of the campaign, why not get people to buy “The Blue Book” directly from the printer and we could crowd fund the individuals?

[…] « The Wee Blue Book […]

Luigi

What a week. After a ferocious MSM onslaught against a shared currency, increased demonization of the FM, and two very dodgy opinion poll results, the timely arrival of the Wee Blue Book is the perfect tonic for the troops. If this doesn’t give us a shot in the arm and energise us for the final sprint, then nothing will. Marvellous!

Time to spread the word!

cearc

If we print copies ourself to give away do we have to add our name as printer and payer for EC rules?

fred blogger

i haven’t as yet read it all but from my 1st skim, it’s comprehensive and hits all the right spots.
1st class work, a much needed guide. well done wings, yet again.
the poor person on “jo lamonts big day oot” on youtube, who said he continually had doors slammed in his face, ask what he should do,and had his question completely brushed aside, would definitely benefit from a copy!

barracouda

If the wee blue book does not sway the undecideds nothing will, best yet for YES, thank you wings.

john j

Fantastic rev, I’ll print it out and carry it with me for reference in the pub when the afternoon argument starts, as it usually does.

“facts are chiels that winna ding” as the Bard said, which is why we are fed a diet of lies and nonsense by the No campaign and its press.

pin

This is far better than I expected. Best indyref publication yet methinks

caz-m

If someone is a stubborn NO, then ask them to explain what is their biggest fear about becoming an Independent Nation.

That is when you whip out your Blue Book.

All their fears can be dealt with honestly and quickly.

benarmine

Gamechanger – for naysayerss that can read. Brilliant Rev.

desimond

Okay, so now how do we get loads of wee Wings USB sticks made up with this book preloaded 🙂

YESGUY

From Munguins pages.

The truth and evidence at last about the STV Debate

They fixed it for the NO voters to outnumber everyone else

Quote

“She said that all of the Yes voters and undecided persons that she had put through to attend the event were not contacted and instead STV had replaced them with their people, No people. This came from high up in STV.

Pop over to Munguins for the rest.

John

Many thanks

Initial impression is that it hits the mark – comprehensive but not weighty.

Now working my way through it in detail

Bugger (the Panda)

Colin

We as individuals can crowd fund it ourselves.

Rev Stu owns the copywrite which he has made open access, because we can download and print it out multiple copies and pass on pdf copies for diffusion.

If someone in the UK, not Rev Stu co-ordinates a private subbing of mnore copies and asks the printer to do a run-on, he will. It is possible we would a better deal per copy on a 20 or even 50,000 run?

It all depends on what the first run cost and how we can get the eckies together to do the run on.

Distribution, heavy, could be done by individuals taking multiple copies to various depots in Scotland for onwards distribution.

Starting in Glasgow, at the printers, bulk copies =to Edinburgh, Dumfries, Stiorling, Perth Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, Dunoon and maybe Oban.

After that local groups can pick up enough for them to use.

Lewis, Orkney and Shetland are a bit of a problem, at least as I write but, somebody out there has the solution.

We have a collective IQ of thousands, if we just work together.

You and My Comb

@rev stu

Can you let me know when the printer ready version is available. Thanks

caz-m

O/T

Does anyone know if the Rev is still planning his tour of Scotland. I remember him asking for suggestions on the best places to hold meetings in. But that is the last I have heard of it.

Or did they happen and I have missed them. Or maybe it was all a dream.

I was looking forward to those meetings and I do hope they are still being planned for.

Luigi

Many of us could, and I am sure we will, print off quite a few rough copies ourselves. It would be nice, however, to have access to really nice, professionally printed and bound, ready to read copies available for distribution. A service, offering batches at a reasonable price, is a good idea. Instead of donating to the print run, we could just, as individuals and/or small groups, buy batches for our own “use”?

Colin

Come on then Panda, between everyone on here we must know a printer that will print them cheaper for us, a haulage or delivery company(s) that could ship them around the country for us and I am sure it will be easy to find central distribution points.
I’m also sure someone will step up and take charge of the funding.

I’ve a spare space in my house and I have a car for distribution, I’ll do Aberdeen and South Aberdeenshire .

Captain Haribo

A very good read and mostly entirely accurate. I take slight issue with the section on Orkney and Shetland though. It is far from certain that the isles are legally part of Scotland. I say that as a Yes voting Shetlander. I do not believe an independent Shetland to be a tenable proposition, but I think that the argument has been put forth by No campaigners has led to some disrepectful arguments from the Yes campaign. There is a strong case that Shetland and Orkney were part of a loan deal that was never formally concluded, and anybody engaging in arguments about the status of the isles should be aware of that. It is, however, entirely correct to say that support for Shetland independence is extremely limited.

David

For anybody that is getting it blocked, try rightclicking and ‘save target as’ to your computer.

heedtracker

“To be blunt, a great deal of what Scots have been told about independence in
the last few years by Unionist politicians and the media is a tissue of flat-out
lies, half-truths, deliberate omissions and misrepresentations.”

Or, the last king of Scotland

link to bbc.co.uk

Bugger (the Panda)

Colin,

Unfortunately I can only cover France, from here.

Morag

Caz-m, Stu said a while back he realised he didn’t have time for the tour, and the blog needed all his attention. Also, given the number of public meetings and performances already going on it was unlikely a few more would make a significant difference.

galamcennalath

We are up against it. A HMG A4 card came in the other day. Basically lies! Five main points including ‘better public services’ with UKOK because public spending is higher in Scotland. Yea, bur WE pay for these already and we will pay for them after independence. Although it doesn’t spell it out, the implication is that Scotland is subsidised, BLATANT LIE!

I can only assume this went out to every household in Scotland.

We need to print a lot of WeeBooks!

kendomacaroonbar

@Rev Stu,

Apologies if this has already been stated, but what size was the booklet designed to be ?

Stuart Black

So, now we’re fast approaching the “then you win” stage, and this marvellous resource will help things along nicely. Great work Rev, thank you.

Colin

You would be the perfect person to take charge of the money Panda, if anyone complained (BT or the like) you could just tell them to bog off.

cearc

Another handy printout to have are the maps of oil blocks put up for sale this year:

Northern North Sea:
link to gov.uk

West of Hebrides:
link to gov.uk

They say a picture tells a thousand words and these pictures are straight from the horses mouth.

David Martin

Fantastic. Points made eloquently and with references!

David Halliday

If we’re going to print and distribute copies we’d better coordinate that hadn’t we? Maybe organise into Council wards and arrange delivery locally?

EricF

Many, many thanks for this.

Luigi

If, as it seems, quite a large number of us are planning to distribute the WBB to doors, perhaps some coordination would help to avoid people doing the same streets and wasting valuable resources. It would also be really useful to monitor, even approximately, the spread throughout the country.

I’m not sure the best way of doing this, but if every town and city had, for example, a WBB group, we could inform each other how the distribution efforts are going. Personally, I am willing to collaborate with WoS people in the Aberdeen area in order to ensure we cover as many local streets and areas as possible.

Mrs Grimble

Stu, could you make it clear on the download link that the mobile version is the screenreader-friendly one? The layout of the desktop version will confuse blind users.
Somebody asked about an audio version. I listen to lots of audio books and I don’t think the format would work too well, given the huge number of references & footnotes.

WantonWampum.

Complaint to Rev Stuart Campbell on”Borders and Passports”.

So, in 2007, Brown and Darling did NOT shift Passport Processing from Glasgow to Belfast in Ulster on the 300th Anniversary of the Act OF union.?
187 x workers at Glasgow Passport Office were NEVER made redundant after SNP Won Minority Govt in May 2007.?

In 2011 this unelected ConDem Govt NEVER shifted UK Borders Agency HQ from Stranraer to Belfast in ULSTER.?

Despite the fact that these actions versus Scotland are a matter of Public Record and recorded in “Hansard”.

“The Wee Blue Book” mentions the border between Scotland and England is approx 100 miles long. When a border exists it might be welcome to know that it is being controlled by a far smaller foreign region – Ulster.

I am disappointed on this section.

Dave

Excellent stuff Stuart. I wonder if someone could pull together a reduced size layout PDF version of this for home printing i.e. 8 pages printed on single A4. It’s still legible enough as I have set my Acrobat to print reduced “4up”. Unfort the pages are not in the order that would allow double sided printing, but still, I got it in printed 10 pages which I can chop up. If you have the original Illustrator file, I’d be happy to give it a go, tho I aint no Illustrator pro!

caz-m

YESGUY- STV debate.

I also have proof from someone who was at the STV debate who also said 30-40 YES voters were replaced by bussed in NO voters. Will have link to that later on.

The NO voters were encourage to shout down and boo Alex Salmond at every opportunity.

STV/Ponsonby, Ipsos-Mori, in it up to their Unionist necks.

BBC Scotland and STV studios should have been built about a mile away from Pacific Quay, at the Shieldhall Sewage Works, considering the amount of shit that comes in and out of it.

Jennifer

Thank you for all the hard work you have dedicated to this cause…this must be your crowning glory

Morag

Looking at the MASSIVE logistical exercise it takes to get the Yes newspapers delivered, I’m at a loss to see how we can do more than scratch the surface. It’s come at the right time in the campaign to have the best impact, but only if it can be disributed and that’s the tricky bit.

There are two more Yes newspapers for us to get out before the Big Day. This involves furniture vans arriving at co-ordinators’ homes (garages), and then branches hiring vans to distribute further, and then local groups picking up their own quotas and getting on with it. It takes us over a week to do our wee area of 1000. Oh and there’s talk of another magazine-format thing for undecideds too. We’re just about at full stretch as there are meetings and other things to take care of too.

Wings can tap into some of that, but only piecemeal. I hope Stu has some concrete plans for getting this out, because it’s a great resource, but only if it can be got into people’s hands and that’s always been the biggie.

caz-m

Morag

Rev’s tour of Scotland.

“Stu said a while back he realised he didn’t have time for the tour, and the blog needed all his attention.”

Thanks for quick reply. That clears that one up.

We move on.

Nigel

Will Yes Scotland publish the Blue Book? Unlikely, but we should all email Yes and demand that they do make its availability widely known, including the download links. After all, most of us are campaigning on the doorstep under the Yes banner and this wee book is going to be a great tool…

Cod

Excellent, and timely too. This, sad to say, is far better than anything the Yes campaign have put out so far, in terms of quality of information, and the fact that many of the links are from independent sources or from Westminster itself is icing on the cake.

I’ve posted about it, along with links to both versions so far available, on Facebook, and publicly and to communities on Google+

My damned printer gave up a couple of days ago(and my reserve printer is buggered because I stupidly forgot to take out the ink cartridges when I stored it away, d’oh) which is a real pain,because I know a few people who are wavering and who wouldn’t read an e-pub, and this would be an excellent resource to give to them so they can answer their questions. Hopefully I can get a hold of some of the printed ones.

Maybe the Weirs will read this thread and finance a Scotland wide print and distribution! Even though they’ve already contributed more than could ever be asked.

Morag

I think it was a wise decision, as the number of undecideds reached would inevitably have been limited and Stuart can reach far more people on Wings. We’re not short of local meetings in any case. Bang for buck is the main objective.

Capella

Looks brilliant! Off to get a cup of coffee and read it. Then distribute far and wide.

Mrs Grimble

@kendomacaroonbar – the pages are A5, and on the desktop version they’re designed to be printed two to an A4 sheet.

Morag

Oh, if this was distributed through the Yes Scotland network that already exists, it would be ideal. But that’s not going to happen, is it, with Yes Scotland apparently falling for that stupid hatchet job painting Stuart as the baby-eating antichrist.

I finished distributing the “Your Choice” booklets here the day before yesterday, and even as I was doing it I wished it had been the Wee Blue Book we were putting out. But it wasn’t.

The Yes distribution network is extensive and well organised. It didn’t get like that in five minutes, it’s been built up gradually since last autumn. We can’t duplicate it. And I don’t think we can afford the postal service either.

D Keddie

rev

are you doing a gig in Denny

Nigel

Reading some of the comments about folk really wanting information. In the last week or two, I have noticed a change when out canvassing. My fellow Yessers have noticed the same. Suddenly, even self confessed No voters want to talk when previously, many did not. Being turned away on the door step without a word other than no thanks is not so prevalent, even in Nairn. I don’t know if others are finding the same in other areas – Nairn is a bit of a funny area to campaign in. Too many comfortable middle income and blue rinse.

That said, it seems that more and more folk WANT information now and I think it’s a sign of a sea change in attitudes. It’s taking longer to cover a straightforward canvassing run now. How to get this wee book distributed properly, to the right audience and widely and in enough time (with everything else) to make an impact is going to be a challenge.

link to nairnyes.wordpress.com

Gavin Bain

Oh well done Sir,

I have been getting involved with the Yes Stall in Aberdeen this last few weeks and you cover the main questions that come up time after time.

Very clever to use exclusively pro-Union sources and to ensure every point is backed up with a verifiable source. A lot of people are genuinely confused on who to believe. Without your approach, it would be too easy for the whole book to be dismissed on a he-said-she-said basis.

Not every voter will be reached by opening the book and reading it, but someone they know will. This will have an impact via many thousands of indirect and (thanks to the information provided) high quality discussions.

Very well done indeed.

caz-m

No word yet from Project Fear HQ at Blytheswood Sq in Glasgow.

You can bet Blair McD will be all over this book.

Jim Thomson

Folks, don’t get too carried away imagining that the wbb needs to be fired through every letterbox.

The local Yes groups will probably have been involved in canvassing and submitting results into Yesmo. They will be able to organise targeted drops which will significantly reduce the numbers needed.

If you are not already in touch with your local group, NOW is the time when they really need your help for doorstep campaigning and leafleting. That could include wbb deliveries!

TheGreatBaldo

OT

Don’t have The Sun online or buy a paper copy….

Can any confirm whether or not this tweet is true…

“The @ScottishSun’s editorial sets out why the paper supports a ‘No’ vote – link to ow.ly #indyref”

IcySpark

Don’t forget we can also use google adsense to promote this page for people looking for referendum / independence facts etc.

IcySpark

Sorry Google Ads, not Adsense

Democracy Reborn

Great work, Stu, collates everything you’ve covered.

O/T, an example of how there are no depths BT will sink. Jackie Baillie on Radio Clyde news this morning : foodbanks will be “worse” in an independent Scotland.

I had to turn the radio off for fear of vomiting.

Luigi

Morag:

Oh, if this was distributed through the Yes Scotland network that already exists, it would be ideal. But that’s not going to happen, is it, with Yes Scotland apparently falling for that stupid hatchet job painting Stuart as the baby-eating antichrist.

I finished distributing the “Your Choice” booklets here the day before yesterday, and even as I was doing it I wished it had been the Wee Blue Book we were putting out. But it wasn’t.

The Yes distribution network is extensive and well organised. It didn’t get like that in five minutes, it’s been built up gradually since last autumn. We can’t duplicate it. And I don’t think we can afford the postal service either.

Indeed, and furthermore, YES Scotland hold valuable information on the undecideds/soft NO’s that really need to receive a copy of the Wee Blue Book.

If we had some info on those target people, at say, 3 to 6 on the independence scale, we could endeavour to ensure that as many of them as possible receives a copy. Sadly, it wont happen as the MSM have effectively divided us in this respect. It pains me to send copies to hardline No’s who will either tear it up in disgust or put it straight in the recycle bin, but I don’t see any other way of ensyuring that a large number of undecideds/soft NO’s receive a copy.

Edulis

Crowdfunding a large (1 million copies) should be a serious consideration. I live in Drumnadrochit and 600 through the letterboxes would box it off and make us the best informed electorate in Scotland.

How about it?

Mary Bruce

Oh, it’s wonderful, Rev, well done, congratulations. Can’t wait to start taking it with me round the doorsteps!

Dave

Very cool – added link to link to republicofscotland.com

Alistair

Stu, you are truly a man possessed!
One piece of advice, from a scientist – always, always, cite the original source.

BT will poo-poo references to Wikipedia (rightly or wrongly) as unreliable. Not that many people will actually check- but it’s the impression that counts. Most Wikipedia articles do cite the original source at the bottom. If it is not too much work (and I’m feeling really bad for saying this given your superb effort) then the sources used by the Wikipedia articles should be cited – maybe as a bibliography at the end.

Anyway – whatever the outcome on the 18th – you can look your kids in the eyes and say you did everything in your power to get the right result. Well done.

Graham

About half way through now.

I’ve run it through calibre and created epub and mobi versions for android and kindle which I have stuck up on my wee corner of the internet here.

link to hubberts-arms.org

Luigi

Nigel
Will Yes Scotland publish the Blue Book? Unlikely, but we should all email Yes and demand that they do make its availability widely known, including the download links.

If they were brave enough, they would be attacked by the MSM. However, think of the enormous amount of publicity it would receive. Everyone would be after a copy.

Come on YES Scotland, people need to read the Wee Blue Book. It is time to be brave and get this out to the people.

Ewan MacKenzie

Is there a prize for first typo spotted?

Top of page 7, principals. 😉

(It’s IMPOSSIBLE to find all typos pre-print. I know this from experience.)

Brilliant so far, it’s the very best of Wings, condensed into as few pages as possible. You’re a genius.

heedtracker

Printed off a dozen for works coffee shops and CC to everyone I know and dont know, including my MP Anne Begg. She’ll no doubt get back with a cheery reposte, as per.

JWil

This is a link to an article in today’s Guardian saying that two of England’s nuclear power stations have been shut down because of faults.

Will the Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, still be threatening an independent Scotland that England won’t buy Scotland’s surplus power? It makes him look like a fool and a liar.

link to theguardian.com

jane castro

will be printing off some copies to distribute but can anyone tell me how i get this onto my Kindle please

Ian Sanderson

Well done that man.

Thank you….

Dave

Just what was needed! Added promo at PetsFurYes.org

Simon S

Rev Stu and all other contributors. You guys have done one hell of a job. Well done! 🙂

YESGUY

CAZ – STV Debate

Look forward to your links. Smelled a rat the moment the first questions were asked.

The wee Blue Book will be a huge hit and can see oor bairns looking at the first copy in a museum for independence in the future. Your efforts will never be forgotten Stu and all at Wings.

Alistair

If Yes won’t back it because they aren’t linking themselves to Wings then it’s not too hard to rebrand it, make some changes so that it’s not a verbatim copy, and get them to circulate it without attributing it directly to Wings.

I’m sure BT don’t hesitate to obfuscate the origin of some of their propaganda.

WantonWampum.

Before the Commons split for summer recess, the Slab MP Brian Donohoe asked the Home Office Minister WHY his Ayrshire constituents will need to travel to Durham or across to Belfast to get their Passport.

Donohoe pleaded with Theresa May to re-open the Glasgow Passport Office – only weeks ago.

Donohoe conveniently forgets HE was a SLAB MP in 2007 when Brown Shifted Passport Processing for Scots only – to BELFAST IN ULSTER.

2007 = 300TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ACT OF UNION OF 1707.

Silverytay

Well done Stu , it’s great to have the wee blue book to read at last .

I am more than willing to contribute to another fundraiser to ensure that the book is distributed far and wide and I would be willing to take 600 to stick through local letter boxes .

Dave

Also happy to contribute £ for printing.

Bugger (the Panda)

Wanton Wumpum

That is one service for Scotland which will not be outsourced.

Chris

I’ll gladly donate to get this out there. It is priceless!

Pat

Thanks.

Ian He-Kensken

The Wee Blue Book – a weapon of mass conversion

Morag

I was told at a Yes meeting that there’s something else in the works, some sort of fairly substantial magazine-type circulation intended for undecideds, and that somehow we have to get that out as well. I imagine it’s something like the Wee Blue Book but I have some doubts that it will be as good.

Our problem is that there are vast tracts of the Borders uncanvassed. We don’t have the manpower. So how do we target this thing, or indeed how would we target the WBB if we could source copies.

Oh, give me a thousand and I’ll get them out, indiscriminately, probably with the Yes newspapers, but I’m just a wee teensy square on a very big map.

Ian He-Kensken

Agreed. This needs to be published and posted out. I’ll also donate.

Dave

rowantree633 – Could you maybe add twitter/facebook buttons to link to nairnyes.wordpress.com to allow us to tweet yer stuff?

Feartiefifer

Oh you’re a wee rascal. Since WW2 Scotland got the government it voted for 2 out of 3 times. Use the popular vote – same as the Referendum. You’ve been informed of this many times. Also Tories in Scotland received only 80,000 less votes than SNP in last Westminster election in 2010.
It would seem that your 1st point is completely discredited.

Clootie

Too busy forwarding to have read it – I am confident that it will be good

edward robinson

I am happy to buy some to give away to undecideds. If we all do this we could cover a lot of those who need a final push to YES.

K1

Comprehensive, succint and exquisitely clear. Great work Stu and Scott, Morag, Doug, Lindsay. Andrew and Stewart. Jusr brilliant!

IcySpark

Shared with all the Yes pages and groups that I could on FaceBook.

Black Douglas

@Feartiefifer

Please back up your mis-information with links to facts, otherwise I will just have to put you in the category marked 👿

IcySpark

Everyone has to do their best to share this, as far and wide as possible. Email your friends, tweet, Facebook. Even share it on friends Facebook timelines. Don’t be shy. A concerted effort is needed by everyone to get this to as many people as possible.

Nation Libre

Rev, can you give a rough idea on the unit cost of the printed WBB and then set something up where we might get an idea how many people might want printed, 50 here, 1000 there etc to see roughly how many we’re talking about getting printed to get an idea of unit cost for a bulk print.

The printer could then hopefully do one large print run then organise delivery of smaller batches to individuals. I’m more than happy to carry out or help with the admin

Dosser fae The Shire

Guid stuff. I’m looking forward to reading this Stu.

Morag

Unfortunately I can’t get that file to print as a booklet. I know it’s my printer, because I can print booklets in a similar format at work. But basically, bugger.

Edward

Not sure if this has been suggested, if it has, then please forgive.

But what about giving out USB sticks with the Wings Logo etc on and containing the wee Blue book, plus if there is space jpegs for window posters.

That way the recipient can download into pc or laptop and can pass on or keep the USB stick 😀

IcySpark

Not forgetting forums, blogs and newspapers comments. Do your bit everyone.

TD

Feartififer

The thing is (and I know this might come as a shock to you) that in a democracy, a country gets the government it votes for ALL of the time, not just 2 out of 3.

Think about it. Oh no, I forgot, people on your side of this debate don’t do thinking. Sorry.

john king

Kendomacaroonbar says
“@John King

Oi, he called me trustworthy.. Although, to be fair, he hasn’t had the oppoprchancity of seeing me play monopoly with the kids.”

I was sniggering at him volunteering you for the job of producing the book, but all joking apart if the possiblilty of reproducing this in hundreds of thousands of copies without exeeding spending limits is on the cards count me in to support it financially!

Nation Libre

BtP

I’m also in France but have been speaking to family (now foreigners apparently) and mates via Facebook and phone constantly for the last couple of years. I intend to be over in Scotland campaigning for the last week to 10 days to ensure I get round as many people as I can and then make sure the get to the polling station. My circumstances allow me to do that

Perhaps if you can’t get over there you could maybe fund some WBBs for others to distribute. Where abouts in France are you BTW, I’m in Aude

Stephen Brown

Just fired of a list of questions to Sir Robert Smith, MP for West Aberdeenshire

I won’t hold my breath though

Onwards

I think a lot of YES Scotland campaigners will help in delivery to undecideds, regardless of Wings not being an ‘official’ part of the campaign.

The referendum is too important to lose, and the ‘nicely nicely’ approach won’t work when you have the entire unionist media scaring people to vote NO.

We are all on the same side, and the book looks to be high quality.

The Morgatron

Thanks Stu. Excellent document and we all shall raise a glass to you on the 19th Sept for you endevours .

IcySpark

If you use twitter you will notice the Keep Lunacy at Bay spam. Chris Darroch has posted who runs it etc. If it’s good enough for them why not us?

Individuals can run google ads too, which is perfect as you can target Scotland and keywords like independence, facts, etc.

We need to use every weapon in our armoury to get this out to as many as possible.

caz-m

As for The Sun newspaper coming out as a NO. I always thought that they were part of the NO campaign anyway.

Westminster must have offered them some kind of sweetner.

Remember our old Wings motto:-

“If you see a Sun, bin it”.

I think that’s how it went.

IcySpark

The UK government use google ads for people searching for information. If you’re an undecided your typical first port of call is Google. Lets use all the powers of social media and the internet that we can.

Onwards

@Feartiefifer

There is a video on facebook in which some guy makes a good point on democracy.

If the ENTIRE population of Scotland had voted Green, we would still have a Tory Government.

That includes a 100% turnout – and every single person that couldn’t even vote or even make it to the polling station.. kids, babies, pensioners, prisoners ..

With independence, we get the government the majority vote for – EVERY TIME.

IcySpark

Maybe someone could start a crowd fund for google ads for the Wee Blue Book?

donnywho

How many wingers are out there … 10,000 20,000 30,000 if we all print one copy a day and distribute to our neighbours then 30 x 10,000 is a third of a million. If any are put through our doors pick it up and leave it in thepub/hairdressers/dentists/work etc. We can and will win!

Dave

desimond: Int idea re the mem sticks, but can see problems with some non-pc savy folks who might think it will plant a ‘yes’ virus on their machines. Maybe best to stick to dead trees 🙁

Feartiefifer

Try reading:
House of Commons Library, Research Paper 03/59, entitled UK Elections Statistics 1945-2003, published 1 July 2003 at pages 13 & 11.
Statistics for 2005 & 2010 are also in House of Commons Library.

Hood

Excellent, I will print out a few but will also put some on CD’s tonight and have them in my workshop ready for anyone who wants one 🙂

desimond

All we need now is the McSiri version..

“Wings, debunk lies about Pensions from Project Fear”
…..
“Pensions will be more affordable in an Independent Scotland because….”

Even better if said in a Brian Cox, Peter Mullen, Alan Cumming, Kevin Kidd voice…

WantonWampum.

The Scottish Passport Issue is a GAME CHANGER for SLAB activists who are buried in SHOCK when they realise that their Scottish Prime Minister (Krash Gordon), their Scottish Chancellor (Flipper) and all their SLAB MP`s allowed this Removal of our Ancient Scottish Right in 2007.

Ardent SLAB Activists are shocked and ASHAMED when this fundamental fact batters their brains.

The IndyRef is taking place on the 800th Anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn – and the MSM, TV,Radio,and SLAB Politicians etc all derided the date.

Until they all realised that 2007 and the Pasport Issue revealed Brown`s University degree in History was being deployed to Humiliate his fellow Scots for having the temerity to elect an SNP Minority Govt.

So in another fit of Spite, Krash shifted Passport Processing from Glasgow to Belfast on the 300th Anniversary of the Act of Union of 1707.

In 1970 I voted SNP and voted SNP ever since.
I wrote occasional letters to MSM.
In 2007, because of this Pasport Issue, I became an avid and fervent activist versus SLAB. Traitors.

G. P. Walrus

On a first quick glance through, this is excellent.

Nigel

Onward – I agree with you – too much at stake for any indy group to be precious about things. It’s about communication and getting the facts out there. It matters not how you do it as long as it is done.

crisiscult

very exciting. Woo hoo

Mary Bruce

Icyspark: Please don’t suggest something like the lunacy at bay spam, this has been really damaging to the no campaign with porn spam accounts tweeting the message.

This means that if you search the #indyref tag you could see x-rated images on your screen. I have a screenshot to prove it.

Please don’t go down this route.

Brian Doonthetoon

A fine piece of work!

Just working out whether to print a copy for myself in mono on my laser printer, or colour on my inkjet – and which web pages to post it on…

Black Douglas

@Feartiefifer

Have done thanks, still can’t find your stats in it. Can please direct me to the exact part which states your version of the facts please. 😀

Dave

Just ran this thru an online printer I’ve used in past (I’ve no personal connection whatsoever!) See link to cheapleaflets.co.uk. Rough costing based on A6, quite a bit of colour came out as
Quantity / Cost of the Product
250 £1280.04
500 £1354.23
1250 £1576.81
2500 £1947.76
5000 £2689.69
10000 £4173.52

Prob could get a discount on this as they run various offers.

So, not cheap, tho would be a lot cheaper if only done in b&w (Wee Black Book:). Any printers amongst us who could do better?

Lesley-Anne

Laptop version downloaded. Once I’ve paid the coalman I’ll power up my phone and download the phone version. I’ll need to heat up the steam that powers it first though. 😛

gavin lessells

Have just e mailed SNP HQ suggesting that they help with distribution of The WEE Blue Book. Not holding out too much hope. It might help if all SNP Members were to e mail them with same suggestion.

Also asked if the intended a formal protest re Elecoral Commission voting guide

gavin lessells

Have just e mailed SNP HQ suggesting that they help with distribution of The WEE Blue Book. Not holding out too much hope. It might help if all SNP Members were to e mail them with same suggestion.

Also asked if the intended a formal protest re Elecoral Commission voting guide

Silverytay

I have now printed out a copy of the w.b.b which is in a folder in my car so that if an undecided ask me questions I can reference the book or even let the undecided read it .

Doug Daniel

Luigi: “If, as it seems, quite a large number of us are planning to distribute the WBB to doors, perhaps some coordination would help to avoid people doing the same streets and wasting valuable resources. It would also be really useful to monitor, even approximately, the spread throughout the country.

I’m not sure the best way of doing this, but if every town and city had, for example, a WBB group, we could inform each other how the distribution efforts are going. Personally, I am willing to collaborate with WoS people in the Aberdeen area in order to ensure we cover as many local streets and areas as possible.”

Good points, worth highlighting.

As Morag says further up, we’re not going to get everyone with this. There are four million voters, and there just isn’t enough money or manpower to do it. But we don’t need to do it, because we only need to reach undecided/soft no voters, so that helps.

The best way I can think of is for folk to do canvassing for your local campaign, and take a bunch of WBBs with you. Bear in mind that campaigns aren’t supposed to coordinate with each other, or else the spending is counted as being for both of them, so you’d have to do this off your own back, as individuals.

If someone complains that no one’s giving them information, then thrust a WBB in their hand. If someone says “Salmond won’t give me the numbers”, say “well I will, then”.

Yesterday, for example, both me and Scott turned up for canvassing. We could have been getting the WBB to folk, and as we were going to different doors, there would have been no duplication. And as long as no one decides to just randomly shove WBBs through letterboxes in areas that local Yes groups are canvassing, then there won’t be a problem there either.

Really, anyone who would be thinking of distributing WBBs should be out canvassing already. I like the idea of us having a note of which general areas are being WBBed anyway, though.

Cumoangerraff

Brilliant piece of work, I just wonder how many people would sit down and read the whole book if it clattered through their letterbox. I find a lot of folk prefer to read things online, on laptops, tablets or other electronic devices rather than in hard copy. Rather than try to distribute USB sticks (expensive) or hard copies of the WBB, it would be a lot cheaper to produce a flier, giving the link to the web download page. It could include a QR code to lead direct to the smartphone edition. This would also be easier to distribute along with Yes newspapers and other campaign materials. Just a thought.

Dan Huil

Brilliant idea from the Rev. Sorry to be finicky but will the printed edition be available in large print? For my aged relatives, you see. If not I’ll make a copy of the desktop edition in large print.

Derek M

Damn fine work guys im going to say it again damn fine work 🙂

Now the rest of the yes campaign if you are reading this then help our Rev out and get the wee blue book distributed to every corner of Scotland.

Croompenstein

Stu and everyone involved well done this is a superb resource to use in the final push

tartanfever

gavinlessells says (1.53pm)

‘Have just e mailed SNP HQ suggesting that they help with distribution of The WEE Blue Book. Not holding out too much hope. It might help if all SNP Members were to e mail them with same suggestion.’

Why on earth did you send it to SNP ? The SNP are responsible for putting out their own promotional material as the Scottish Government, not anyone elses.

if you want to send it to anyone, send it to the ‘yes’ campaign or any of the dozens of grass roots organisations around the country.

Please everyone, don’t e-mail the SNP as suggested, quite rightly they will ignore your request and the whole thing will just waste someone’s precious time.

Morag

As DD said, the campaigns are not allowed to co-ordinate. Even if the SNP and/or Yes Scotland wanted to help distribute this, they couldn’t or it would come off their spending allowance. And Yes Scotland has apparently fallen for the “Stu as antichrist” stuff being peddled by the Unitrolls and the wetnats.

Unless there are plans in place for private distribution, we’re on our own here.

David Halliday

I’m not wanting to tread on any toes or any future plans but I’ve put together a spreadsheet of every local government ward by authority. If people wanted to email me their names and what ward they’d be able to deliver in I could collate things and put people in touch with each other so they could meet and see what they could do locally in time for Stu to have the printable version he’s talking about.

Maybe this has been done before in which case sorry. If anyone has a better way of getting things coordinated then great. meantime, my email address is davidhalliday21 {at} hotmail.com

Croompenstein

@Feartiefifer – I’ll put a link on for you

link to parliament.uk

I still don’t know what you are going on about though. Another wee statistic you may notice is that the number of Scottish MPs was at 72, that number is soon going down to 50 do you still think we’re better together?

Democracy Reborn

@Feartififer

Westminster elections are won, & have always been won, on first past the post.

Go to the Wiki artlicle “Elections in Scotland”. The stats are simple, transparent & easy to understand.

There have been 14 elections between 1959 & 2010, inclusive. In all of them, Labour has won a plurality of seats in Scotland. Despite those results, the Tories have gained power at WM in the following elections:-

1959
1970
1979
1983
1987
1992
2010

In other words, since 1959 Scotland only gets the government it elects 50% of the time at WM elections. That figure would actually be less due to the fact there were 2 quick elections in 1974.

So you can use whatever sophistry you like to say otherwise, but the simple facts speak for themselves.

Dougie Douglas

Read and shared, absolutely fantastic stuff.

HandandShrimp

I think Yes shops would stock the book though. Wings is listed on the more information cards they hand out.

Dave

Just downloaded the tablet version which is a PDF and is harder to read than a ePub version. Issuing an ePub version would also make it readable in eReaders. Very slick document nonetheless.

IcySpark

@Mary Bruce

Good point on twitter spam.

Though what I was getting at is using the full power of the internet to get this spread as far and wide as possible.

The google ads crowd fund is a no brainer. The undecideds are using google to search for information and the UK government comes up first due to advertising on google. We need a counter to that.

Printing off the Wee Blue Book and getting it through mailboxes is incredibly important, but getting it top for google searches is just as important. It can be targeted to undecideds, it’s cheaper and gets the info to more people quicker.

Faltdubh

Finished the Wee Blue Book.

Terrific read and forwarded on to 4 people (2 No, 1 very soft, the other hard) and 2 undecided.

One reply already from a DK saying he’s put it on his tablet.
We need to do our best even if it’s forwarding the PDF version to people we know.

No chance of an indiegogo/starter thing to get more of these printed? I know there’s a been a bit of apathy towards fundraising projects recently, but I certainly think that this would work.

This wee book is EXACTLY what Yes need. As inspirational (at times) the White Paper is – this is better as it’s shorter, offers opinion, and although it’s pro-independence it covers lots of firm detail.

Morag

How can we actually source the books though. I said I could get 1000 out (that’s the west bit of Tweeddale West David), but how do I lay my hands on these? They’ll be heavy. Heavier than “Your Choice” and that wasn’t light.

Mark Coburn

There is a way of distributing these: target all registered unknowns thus far on YesMo.

fred blogger

it is clear from their rhetoric that the no camp already see scotland as a region and not as a country. a no vote will add weight to that argument, and to the federalization argument.

Papadox

Does anybody and I mean anybody advocate or accept that every third government is decided by a foreign country which imposes their policies on the people who did not vote for them?

Very strange concept of democracy.

Les Wilson

Rev
Just wondering if it can be tampered with ie someone could change the content? I assume it will be protected but just asking, if it was not then, well I guess you would know.

Les Wilson

PDF version of course.

Scott Williams

Fantastic read, very well put together, if these salient points don’t make people really question why we cannot be a successful Independent country, then nothing will!

barracouda

firtiefifer, the uk in not a country, lol.

Nana Smith

O/T but think its a wee boost for us all

link to ross-shirejournal.co.uk

desimond

Im smiling at the irony of “The Wee BLUE book” and how welcome it would be amongst some around Ibrox.

Robert Peffers

caz-m says: 11 August, 2014 at 11:57 am:

“The NO voters were encourage to shout down and boo Alex Salmond at every opportunity.”

That’s what I spotted right away and have been trying to edit up a YouTube video of a recording ever since but I’ve got lots of problems. The pal who recorded it on my machine in his house, (I’ve no TV licence), had changed the recording to Hi-Def thinking he was doing good. Trying to change it back to a decent YouTube format takes forever.

Then there are so many lies and tricks involved it’s hard to fit the subtitles to highlight them as there’s no room between the errors. Next thing my adapted camper-van broke down and I needed to renew my prescriptions and without my medications even typing is difficult and painful. Way it’s going the vote will be here before I’m done.

Ah! At least here comes my helper with my pain killers. Etc. Game back on. I’ll probably need to re-mortgage for the van repairs – it sounded expensive.

Brotyboy

O/T

Anyone have or point me to a website where I can get an image of a saltire at 300 DPI for printing onto a T-shirt?

Albert Herring

o/t Email sent to Electoral Commission:

I have read your booklet link to electoralcommission.org.uk

The statement from Better Together on page 9 contains several blatant lies.

No-one can stop Scotland keeping the pound. If Scotland decides to retain the pound, as is clearly Scottish Government policy, interest rates will continue to be set by the BoE and will be the same as they are in England so mortgages, credit cards and loans will be unaffected.

The UK Government has guaranteed the pensions of those who have paid into the system and has undertaken to continue paying pensions just as they do for people who emigrate to Spain, for example.

No-one can “force” big companies to move south”, nor is it obvious why any would want to incur the wholly unnecessary costs of doing so.

Why are you promulgating these lies?

Rosa Alba Macdonald

The press of all UK is not for me
I want for my part,
only the Wee Blue Book of Stu-art
That reads so clear, and states the facts.

TJenny

Re distribution of hard copies of the WBB, maybe Stu intends to get them lorried (is that a word?) up to his Rose Street, Edinburgh address, where those with transport could pick them up for distribution to their areas. Just a thought, but I’m sure Stu’s got this distribution thingy covered. 🙂

(In the Rev, we trust).

Lesley-Anne

I have a local YES South Annandale group meeting on Wednesday night and will be making a suggestion there that this wee blue book is given serious consideration for a print run. Obviously costs are going to be a major consideration but I hope we can. Let’s face it, anyone who reads this will definitively be a Don’t Know at the very least and a YES at best. Job Done! 😛