Feed Me More

Posted: June 3, 2013 in Politics
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The Yes Campaign: “Yes – Scotland could be independent. We can’t give you 100% detail because much of it rests on who the people of Scotland vote for in the first general election in an independent Scotland in 2016. But is the current UK political set-up the best we can strive for?”

The No Campaign: “Yes – Scotland could be independent. But they can’t give us 100% detail because we just don’t know what will happen in the future. The SNP haven’t told us. The UK is OK. We’re Better Together.”

Okay, there’s the two main arguments out of the way. No matter the amount of coverage in the media, this will be the jist of what you hear every time you encounter a politician for the Yes and No campaigns talking about Scottish independence.

There have, rightly, been a pile of complaints about this. Folk want more detail. Look:

A survey published this week by Edinburgh University concluded that 60% of young voters are against independence. If you include the undecided in that figure (which is what The Scotsman did on Monday’s front cover with no shame at all), it rises to 80%. Hey, undecided people! The media have already decided you’re a No. How do you feel about that?

The wide-ranging poll also found that “over two-thirds say they want more information on independence before making a final decision on whether to vote Yes or No“. Newsnet Scotland noted: ”Over two-thirds of the respondents – 67% – admitted that their current stance could change and that more information was needed before they would make a final decision.”

There are just under 16 months to go until the referendum. 16 months prior to today, I was wavering from a definite No to Don’t Know. I am now a Yes and unlikely to budge (and please, let us know if you are aware of anyone else who has gone from Yes to No).

You know how that happened? By doing something called reading. If I hadn’t picked an independence theme for my dissertation it might have taken longer to reach this point, but that’s okay. There’s still plenty of time for others to do the same.

One of the main threads of discussion that often crops up is exactly this. “Waaah, I want more detail, more information. I need to know the future 100% before I can even contemplate a decision. The politicians on the telly and on the radio are just point-scoring against each other. Please, shove that spoon in my mouth before I collapse!”

As said above, you will get the same merry-go-round from the big hitters each time they get a few minutes to television to spout their soundbites, catchphrases and attacks on the opposition. You only have to listen to Alistair Darling’s opening remarks at the launch of Better Together and realise he’s given the exact same speech, again and again, across the UK each week since. In April he used the same words at the Scottish Labour Party Conference, and this week he could (and will) use the majority of them when he visits his friends at the Conservative Party Conference. Now, that’s okay if there was no appetite for more detail from him on what a No vote means, but there is. Politicians don’t veer from the pre-determined lines. Yes Scotland often find themselves in a position of defence when in the media, having to beat away those who insist they are nothing more than SNP messengers with only the vague words of “vision”, “hope”, “fairness” and “equality” to back them up.

So, for those moaning about a lack of detail, here’s an idea. LOOK FOR IT YOURSELF!

The two campaigns might not be able to give you the answers you want in three-minute radio interviews, but you can find all you’ll need to answer the Yes/No question elsewhere if you actually search for it yourself. Even if you wait until the end of the year when the Scottish Government release their White Paper detailing their plans for independence, you will have plenty time to digest it (or ignore it) before the big vote. You can even wait until the official campaign period, when your door might be visited by campaigners on both sides if it hasn’t already. But a lot of the “detail” is out there already, especially the answers to some of the complaints put across in the news and on social media.

This is Indyref for Eejits, remember, so here we go again:

  • The referendum in 2014 does not decide any policy, from the SNP or any other political party. It decides who elects the government in Scotland.
  • Insisting the current Scottish government gives you all the answers to every policy in an independent Scotland is what you will hear demanded by the pro-Union representatives again and again, and it is there to instill uncertainty.
  • When it hits independence day, the current Scottish government could be a mere two months away from being ousted or losing its majority. So why do we need to hear all their plans now, well outside typical manifesto time frames, but not also those of the other parties?
  • Much of the fundamental work in shaping independence will take place in a negotiation phase with the UK government. The UK government refuses to negotiate before the vote, so how can the Scottish government possibly answer everything?

To get you started in your new quest for knowledge, here is a list of newspaper sites and blogs. See, I’m even helping you out here!

OFFICIAL SITES
Better Together
Yes Scotland

GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
Scotland’s Referendum (timeline and roadmap to the referendum)
Scotland’s Future (access to all government papers on independence)

NEWSPAPERS. REMEMBER THOSE?
The Herald
The Scotsman
The Sun
The Daily Record
The Guardian
The Telegraph

NEWS/PERSONAL/GROUP BLOG SITES
Bella Caledonia
Business For Scotland
Alan Cochrane
Calum’s Blog
Conservative Friends of the Union
Effie Deans
Devolution Matters
Holyrood Magazine
Iain Macwhirter
Kevin McKenna
K the Unionist
Labour For Independence
Lallands Peat Worrier
Left Foot Forward
Lib Dems For Indy
Alex Massie
Michael Greenwell
Munguin’s Republic
Craig Murray
National Collective
Newsnet Scotland
New Statesman
OurKingdom
Peter A. Bell
Referendum 2014
Scot Goes Pop!
BBC Scotlandshire
Scotland Tonight
Scottish Review
STV
Ian S Smart
Subrosa
TA of Moridura
The Reid Foundation
Wings Over Scotland
Yes to the UK

Some of the blog sites listed above are completely not what I would recommend – some are even downright mental. But 1) there’s not many popular, professional blog sites on a particular side of the debate (I’ll let you guess which) and 2) I’m not here to shove one side down your throat. Yet. The newspapers are doing that for you.

The answers you desire are out there. Now go, be a good sport and DO something instead of sticking your fingers in your ears and whining about not knowing anything.

Indyref for Eejits #3: Sir Chris Hoy on Scotland

Posted: May 30, 2013 in Media, Politics, Sport
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Sir Chris Hoy is a British hero. He rode a bicycle round in circles really fast for our glorious nation.

The Scottish independence referendum in September 2014 will decide who elects our government. It won’t decide how much money will be spent on sport in Scotland.

In an interview Sir Chris raised concerns that sportsmen will find it harder to compete at a decent Olympic level if Team GB is broken up. He cited the fact that many Scottish sport stars have to use facilities in other areas of the UK, or even go abroad. Hoy wondered if resources would be lost after a Yes vote. It would be “a different challenge”.

He said he had probably made his mind up on Scottish independence, but wouldn’t reveal if it was a yes or no because he didn’t want to get involved in politics.

The media decided Sir Chris was going to vote No.

“Olympic champion in warning over impact of independence” (The Herald)

“Sir Chris Hoy voices Olympic concerns for independent Scotland” (BBC)

“Hoy: Olympic glory price of Scottish independence” (Yahoo Eurosport)

“Sir Chris Hoy: independence will make it harder for Scots athletes to reach their potential” (The Herald, again)

“Sir Chris Hoy: Separation would make it harder for Scottish athletes to win” (The Telegraph)

“Would it be harder for elite athletes to achieve under independence?” (STV)

Randoms on Twitter made comments about the media stories, upset that Hoy was apparently going to vote no. They wanted to point out that a) sportsmen and women travel all over the world to train anyway and b) perhaps the reason they leave Scotland is because other areas in the UK get preferential treatment when it comes to spending money on facilities. If people like Andy Murray go and train in Spain or in the United States or in England now, why would it be any different after 2014?

Because it was Twitter, these randoms sometimes used colourful language to describe Sir Chris such as “a traitor“, “detached from reality“, “bigoted anti-Scot“, “tosser”, “creep”, “soft sod”, and “imbecile“.

“I’m a sod?! Come on, man…”

The media decided these comments were equal to a sustained, planned, co-ordinated online attack campaign of vile, disgusting fascist abuse by an army of bitter CyberNats led by the SNP. The newspapers concluded that Hoy, a great and brave British hero, is probably crying in a corner a quivering shell of a man, fearing for his life after definitely reading some Tweets disagreeing with his words in an edited interview.

The media decided it was all Alex Salmond’s fault, because that’s what they do.

The same cycle (haha geddit?!) happened with comedian Susan Calman (yes, I know you’ve never heard of her), UKIP’s Nigel Farage (yes, I know you’ve never voted for him) and will continue to happen every time someone opens their mouth in such a way that they get a few Twitter replies with the word “dafty” or “eejit” in it. Mini-replies on Twitter now become official, full-on wars – well, “Twitter row” is the phrase the papers love to use to fill up a dozen pages each day.

This is unless, of course, you are someone who actually threatens someone with death, in which case you’re okay.

You’re welcome.

@UK_Together v @YesScotland – fight!

Posted: May 22, 2013 in Media, Politics
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Better Together’s “positive case for the Union” in full flow.
Remember, after independence Alex Salmond will be our dictator for all eternity, which is why we must attack and destroy him.
Dat’s da troof, innit.

Over the last couple of weeks I had a feeling, nothing more than that really, that the official campaign against Scottish independence had run out of steam a little bit. I see most of Better Together’s output on social media like Twitter and Facebook, alongside their representatives on the usual news shows on television and in newspaper articles. However, a couple of events have damaged their social media output in particular – those events being the emergence of a Labour-specific No campaign stamping all over their “Better Together” facade, and the much-ridiculed “500 Questions” document.

It’s fair to say that the official campaign for independence, Yes Scotland, had a bit of a head-start in terms of social media use as the proponents of such a proposal have been around, and have waited for this opportunity, for a long time. There has never, until very recently, been a need for people to defend the current UK political system as it was never under threat. If something has always been around long before you, and you expected it to be around long after you leave, when exactly do you begin to build up the case for retaining it? How do you explain that it’s the best thing for us no matter what, when we’ve never experienced anything different?

The system is very old, we still use it, and so it must work (up to a point) – that is the positive case for the Union in a nutshell, and that is confirmed when Better Together and their campaigners use the terms “better, safer, stronger together” over and over again, with little substance around them. They have been challenged about this on many occasions, but they tend to just ignore those challenges.

Independence supporters have had the opposite problem that it’s because we’d never experienced another way, they couldn’t explain just why and how things could be better. We can criticise Better Together for over-using particular terms, but those who back Yes Scotland do it too (“fairer, progressive, change, more equal society”, etc). However, since 1999 there has been a different way – a Scottish parliament, albeit one with only a handful of powers. Holyrood has taken on control of health, education and other areas for Scotland at the same time as we see millions unimpressed and angry with the UK government’s handling of those same areas in England and Wales. Politicians in Scotland must sit back while other departments such as welfare, broadcasting, defence and foreign and monetary policy are run in London. These are also areas in which people have been unimpressed with country-wide in the time since Scotland has had a wee parliament to play around with.

We’ve been grudgingly been given a go on the swings recently, but the folks think we’re not quite ready for the climbing frame, slides or roundabouts yet.

So it must be difficult for groups like Better Together and Yes Scotland to put their case across. There is a lot of negativity in media – bad news and picking on individuals is what sells after all – so the pro-UK side have gone with the flow somewhat when it comes to promoting themselves. It certainly gets them more coverage, but that’s not hard when there’s not one newspaper in the UK currently in favour of independence. After this feeling I had that Better Together had lost momentum somewhat, I decided to have a look at their Twitter output over the last week. Not much of a sample, I know, but when I have more time I might take a look at a months’ worth for another view.

It must be said that I don’t often look directly at the Tweets of Yes Scotland. I don’t usually have to – the group has many smaller branches such as Yes Glasgow, Yes Aberdeen, and many individual supporters who “re-tweet” their words. Early on it was widely argued that Yes Scotland would promote a positive campaign, but as the debate becomes more complex they have come under fire for either being too negative against Westminster and the UK Government, or (by Yes supporters) not aggressive enough. So I also opted to look at the output of the official Yes Scotland account over the same period of time. The aim was simply to compare style and volume of Tweets. It was in no way scientific – I studied journalism, remember.

From Wednesday 15th May to Wednesday 22nd May, the simple stats are as follows.

—

Better Together (11,099 followers on 22/5/13)

16 tweets;

(8 promoting Better Together/a No vote, 8 attacking the SNP/Scottish government)

15 re-tweets;

(7 promoting Better Together/a No vote, 8 attacking the SNP/Scottish government)

Yes Scotland (17,199 followers on 22/5/13)

27 tweets;

(22 promoting Yes Scotland/a Yes vote, 5 attacking the UK Government)

7 re-tweets;

(7 promoting Yes Scotland/a Yes vote, 0 attacking the UK Government)

—

The numbers alone don’t show too much, especially nothing surprising. Yes Scotland produce much more original tweets, and focus on sharing links to articles on their own website or other pieces on the possibilities of independence.

A few tweets linked to articles criticising Westminster but they provide opinion on why they believe so. Both sides will often attach graphics with selective quotes or stats which try to back up their points.

Better Together’s tweets are littered with “Salmond”, “Sturgeon”, “nationalists” and “SNP”.

The group put out some positive tweets backing their youth representative Michael Low as he debated with Yes Scotland campaigner Ross Greer on BBC Scotland (well worth a watch here):

Strangely, neither the tweets or re-tweets from Better Together mentioned the Scotland Tonight heavyweight debate between Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and UK Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore (which can be seen here and is a must-watch). Yes Scotland did reference it, as did some of their re-tweets:

The seven re-tweets from others that Yes Scotland felt right to share were all from seven different people, including these two:

Out of 15 re-tweets by Better Together in the sample week, 9 of them were originally by either Blair McDougall or Gordon Aikman. McDougall is the campaign director for Better Together and Aikman is Better Together’s Director of Research.

The No side say that the Yes campaign is becoming increasingly negative, marking them down as hypocrites. The more Yes Scotland get involved, the more likely it is they’ll need to use the words “Westminster” and “London” to put their arguments across. Does that make them more negative? As columnist Ian Bell said in The Herald this week:

Alistair Darling, leading the Better Together campaign, complains the SNP paper (on Scotland’s economy) says too little about the future, only that “it’s all Westminster’s fault”. Why these tactics should be illegitimate is mysterious. Has Mr Darling decided the present Government is not at fault, directly, continuously, for the state of the British economy?

Westminster failed to establish the oil fund. Westminster – perhaps even a Labour Chancellor – cut capital spending, let banks, credit and inequality run wild, and adheres now to austerity despite a mountain of contrary evidence. None of this was made in Scotland. Westminster is blamed because – what’s the simple way to put this? – Westminster deserves blame.

But as the (small) sample shows, the No campaign on Twitter produces tweets with a negative tint, mainly attacking SNP figures, more than 50% of the time. Yes Scotland only references Westminster or the UK government in one out of seven tweets.

This could be one reason why many of the Yes Scotland tweets are re-tweeted, but often not replied to, whereas Better Together tweets can be the beginning of a conversation trail in which pro-independence supporters ask for more information or ask their own questions to the No campaign. Positive campaigning will see people share things on but believe the links or information will speak for itself. Negative social media campaigning will lead to ridicule, questions and demands for their positive side to shine through. Of course, it could be said that pro-indy folk are playing into the pro-UK camp’s hands with the constant promotion of Better Together’s words, whether people find them idiotic or not.

Taking this small sample, we can say in simple terms that Yes Scotland’s tweets mainly promote the group’s reasoning for wanting independence, along with promoting the ideas and thoughts of people in business, the arts, and other industries throughout Scotland. We can also say that Better Together’s tweets are mainly split down the middle; half promoting their events and reps across the country and promoting British unions like ASLEF who want the UK to remain as it is, but the other half ridiculing the SNP and the Scottish government and trying to pick holes in what politicians have said using photoshopped images and selective stats with questionable relevance and/or accuracy.

To simplify it even more – this is Indyref for Eejits after all – the Yes camp says: “Things could be better, for our children, grandchildren and beyond. No guarantees, but if we at least have a full parliament in Scotland we can do things our way, and also have nobody else to blame when things go wrong. Here’s what random Joe thinks.”

The No camp says: “These politicians, who won’t be around in a couple of decades, are useless, they’re even worse than the lot who rule us already! Here’s a re-tweet from a Labour man who has been programmed since birth to tribally defend Labour, and attack the SNP as soon as they became a threat to their power.”

It’ll be interesting to see how much, if any, this changes as we get closer to the referendum next September.

Farage in Scotland for Dummies

Posted: May 17, 2013 in Media, Politics
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Most people don’t give a toss about politics, right? Right.

So, for those who are utterly confused about the stuff over the news in the last day or so, here’s it condensed for your reading pleasure. Or rather, condensed because you may not like to read.

This may or may not become a regular feature, which I will codename IndyRef for Eejits.

UKIP if you want to…I’m not sleepy.

Nigel Farage is the leader of a British political party called UKIP (The UK Independence party). UKIP primarily want the UK to leave the European Union. UKIP have been doing great in local elections in England, in part because of the terrible state of Labour and the Coalition government and also because Farage has a personality entertaining enough for the media.

In Scotland currently, UKIP are nothing. They have no representation of any sort. Add to that the fact that UKIP has zero MPs out of 650 in the UK government, zero MSPs out of 130 in Scotland, and zero AMs out of 60 in the Welsh Assembly, and you may begin to wonder why they get so much attention compared to, say, the Green Party, who actually have representation across the UK. The previous paragraph answers that.

If you can name another member of UKIP, it will probably be because they are known for their ill-informed, offensive anti-Scottish rants.

Nigel Farage went to Scotland possibly thinking he’d get the same praise as he does in England. He likes ale, we like ale, it’s a given. A group of protesters who believe UKIP’s policies are racist decided to confront him outside his press conference in an Edinburgh pub. They even had the decency to tell us so beforehand.

The protesters called Nigel Farage mean things, like “a bawbag”. Students and others threw insults, like telling him to go home and instructing him to shove things up places. There were two arrests but no violence and certainly no vehicles being set on fire, and both Mr Farage and the protesters could be seen smiling as he escaped in a police van, never to carry out his press conference. Which is okay because he’s always all over the news anyway.

The next day Mr Farage, the media and anybody against independence decided the protest was a racist, anti-English, Yes Scotland, nationalist SNP-run scum-spreading fascist act against a poor old man who didn’t know any better. Comparisons to the Nazis were spewed out quicker than Farage could say “tally-ho, Jocks!” Oh, by the way, one of the protesters arrested was English.

Everybody patted Mr Farage on the head and tried to calm him down. Everybody except David Miller, that is.

To conclude:

  • A peaceful protest was carried out. I don’t even think any eggs were thrown for God’s sake. How is that a proper protest?
  • Farage and the media decided to place the blame entirely on the SNP and Alex Salmond, because that’s what they do.
  • The Scottish independence referendum in 2014 is about who elects the government in Scotland. You can vote yes or no to independence. Issues on the currency, Europe, immigration, foreign policy and anything else are a matter for each political party to decide on prior to the first Scottish General Election in 2016. UKIP and our status in Europe (which is a complete uncertainty under the UK government as it is) are nothing more than distractions and an attempt to pile a load of steaming nonsense on top of what is a very simple question with a yes or no answer.

Hello again!

Posted: May 16, 2013 in Politics
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Look! The blog is doing that bloggy thing again!

Look! The blog is doing that bloggy thing again! Yeeeeeayyy!

About two years ago I wrote a blog post on this very site and, when reading it back, was quite surprised by one particular line. It went as follows:

“I think independence is currently the dumbest idea ever.”

Of course most of you will know I’m talking about Scottish independence, because I don’t seem to stop going on about it. I try to limit Facebook activities on the matter but I refer to it endlessly on Twitter. Anyone who knows my stance now will also be surprised by that line because now I’m in the Yes camp.

What happened was I did some reading. That’s all it takes.

I remained in the “undecided” camp for as long as possible, but by the start of this year I could take no more. I’d read enough to make up my mind.

The Scottish political and media-monitoring website Wings Over Scotland was kind enough to let me tell everyone the journey I had taken in moving from a stern No to a definite Yes in such a short time. The piece below is an edited version of what appeared on that website a few months ago. As I would like to update this blog more often, I felt it neccessary to re-post this here before I go on with anything else.

Thoughts are, of course, welcome in the comment section below.

Picking A Side

My first contribution to Wings Over Scotland appeared last May and gave an account of my then-current undecided stance on Scottish independence. Savaged mercilessly in the comments as “A bit of a long-winded ‘don’t know’”, in summary we learned three things from it: I’m crap at making decisions, the media coverage of the issue upsets me, and I wasn’t convinced of anything changing for the better after a Yes vote.

Nine months later, only one of those feelings has altered.

A lot has changed for me personally since then. I graduated from university, got married and in September I moved away. As noted in the last piece, I said I wouldn’t hesitate to leave Scotland if it meant a great experience or if it would benefit me and my wife.

So as I write this I am sitting at my desk in our apartment in Hamburg, Germany. I never thought I’d live somewhere colder than Aberdeen in winter but I’m not regretting it – Hamburg is a fabulous place.

For the last year of uni I’d been researching the media’s coverage of Scottish independence and had got a bit obsessed with it all, without actually coming out on one side or the other for the actual vote. I thought that the action of moving abroad would take my mind off the whole thing and I could occupy myself with other matters. The opposite has happened.

I’d lived in Scotland for all my 29 years so far. I’ve only been gone a few months and I might be back by the end of the year. Those factors weren’t going to stop me reading about the subject and getting more involved. And in trying to address my indecisive ways, I began to interact a lot more with websites, blogs and forums.

The problem with wanting more evidence or discussion with both sides is that the questioner can come across as a nuisance, only asking difficult questions to get under the skin of those who want to stick to the popular lines of debate. As has been referenced before on this site and elsewhere, most pages online are either for or against independence – there’s no middle ground. Push too hard and the admins of such pages will assume you’re just around to cause trouble and will take action.

So, despite having never used an offensive word or abused anyone, I’ve been banned from several places, and not because I’m rude or a troll. It’s because I’m a “don’t know” – an intelligent “don’t know” with questions, not somebody they can deal with using easily-challenged pre-chewed soundbites. The undecided are being shafted in this debate, and you only have to read the swarm of stories in the media about the latest polls, in which those who haven’t made up their mind are thrown to the wayside as the focus lies on the numbers of ‘definite Yes’ and ‘definite No’.

In most cases you have to have a side or you are ignored. I must stress, though, that in my experience this phenomenon only occurs on one side of the debate. For instance, in my previous article here I voiced my concerns, questioned things and I was welcomed with open arms. Some people criticised my piece, others understood my opinions and I took every comment on board. I learned a lot.

But those against independence, wherever I interact with them, immediately paint me as a “cybernat” and wipe me from their thoughts without even thinking about trying to win me round to their point of view. I simply don’t understand it. These people bombard their Facebook and Twitter feeds every day with crudely-photoshopped images, ridiculously irrelevant or made-up statistics and stupid catchphrases. Then they block anyone who counters their posts, no matter how politely.

The more I get pushed away for asking questions from one particular side, the more I think they have something to hide or they simply cannot answer. The widespread insistence that Scottish nationalism is evil and British nationalism is brilliant (or doesn’t even actually exist) is probably the most dismaying thing.

To keep my interest in writing ticking away after university, I began going down the satire route. When headline-writers in the mainstream media started putting out the most pathetic scary headlines imaginable, I decided to try to top them. It wasn’t easy. A fake news story about a possible zombie invasion, seen on both National Collective and BBC Scotlandshire, was the most popular of my attempts. Surprisingly to me, for all their creative and colourful content, National Collective’s first mainstream glimpse of news exposure – on the BBC website – was because of this dumb zombie spoof.

Trying to concoct more insane headlines has been fun but all I do is copy in some real quotes, tweak them slightly and write around them. Because of the things coming out of the mouths of Lords, MPs and the Better Together campaign, it’s getting easier but at the same time far more predictable. They’ve taken the fun out of it.

I’ve been able to see things in a new perspective since living outside the country, even in such a short spell. Ironically I had to leave Aberdeen to get involved in the oil industry for the first time, but it has given me the chance to speak to non-Scots about independence. The English here are very sceptical, even though most I’ve interacted with are from the North-East of England and aren’t big fans of London either. They don’t see the advantages of a split and looked at things from a purely business/oil point of view, but when pressed on other areas they don’t really have an opinion.

The Germans I have spoken to have mostly been taxi drivers, but bloody hell do they all have an opinion. On several occasions, after I exhaust my German repertoire with the destination and then “Ooh, es ist sehr kalt! Ich komme aus Schottland so das ist OK”, they ask me about the referendum. They all know about it. Their main issue is that they don’t understand why the vote is so far away, but in general the discussion always comes around to Europe. Maybe the Germans have a bit of a chip on their shoulder about propping up other nations, but across the board they’ve said if Scotland gets the chance to leave the EU they should grab it with both hands.

As for the Scots I know over here, a couple are already Yes voters and the rest are just not engaged with it yet. I’m working on it. The funny thing is, when the media and the politicians demand hard facts and evidence on the issue, I’ve found you can make people think seriously without any of that. Without spending too much time in the pub dragging down the conversation, I try to ask indysceptics two things:

“Even in this world of more globalisation and more interaction, the amount of countries since World War 2 has doubled and most are poorer than Scotland. If they can do it, why can’t we?”

“That’s a fair point” is the only reply I get.

“If Scotland has been given the power to control education, the emergency services, health, justice and transport, and you’d be hard pushed to find anyone who says Westminster looks after these things more competently, why can’t Scotland also control foreign affairs, broadcasting, gun laws, gambling…?”

“That’s a fair point” is the only reply I get.

As someone who has stuck with the ‘don’t know’ tag for a good while, sites like Wings Over Scotland have been incredible. I could pick out loads of pieces that have helped me explain stories to those who are currently less informed.

This one is as simple, yet as important, as it gets. This one from last August punches you in the face with the fact that a No vote means – at best – the status quo in terms of powers for Scotland. No matter the combination of parties in power in Edinburgh and London after the next elections, the piece sets out exactly how future negotiation between governments will go. Not well, it turns out.

I’m disillusioned with politics, the UK voting system, the press and the scandals. In the past few years alone we’ve had phone-hacking, banker bonuses, MPs expenses, long-term police cover-ups, shushed-up celebrity paedophilia – does Scotland get unfairly tarred with the same brush to outsiders because we are part of the UK?

When Scots go abroad some say it’s ridiculous to suggest foreigners can’t tell the difference between Scotland and England, but in my experience it’s true. I had to draw a map of Britain on the whiteboard at work to show the difference to German colleagues who kept lumping me in with the English. Chinese people I met on honeymoon couldn’t fathom the difference – not even people from Hong Kong.

Colourful AND educational.

Colourful AND educational.

I’m lucky to get the chance to experience new things. Others aren’t so lucky. Those in poverty must watch a Scottish Government do what they can with the powers they have and watch the majority of powers that affect them be wielded by those in London. Regular readers here already know about the current coalition government’s appalling welfare “reforms”, about which Holyrood can do (almost) nothing.

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are vastly different in wants and needs. Westminster can’t look out for the best interests of all. And not only can’t it, it shouldn’t and it doesn’t have to.

I’ve been reluctant to come out with a firm position up to now because I feel if I did so, I’ll find it harder to get through to people when in conversation because I’m “biased”. It doesn’t happen online but in person I feel people ponder my thoughts a lot more, not just because I’ve done my research but because I’m willing to listen to both sides and take everything on board. If I say I’m not fully convinced but I can show I’m engaged, people will listen because they do want to learn more as we approach 2014.

But I think now I’ve just been delaying the inevitable. Right up to the day I write this, I’ve described myself as ‘undecided’. I’m pretty sure I’ve been in denial, because I can’t imagine voting No anymore. I can’t imagine waking up the day after having voted No and being happy with my decision, whatever the result.

One of my original feelings has altered, then. I’m still crap at making decisions. The media is actually getting worse in some ways in covering the referendum, but it’s hardly at Chinese or North Korean levels yet. We’re not in a dictatorship, as much as actual sitting MPs and Lords want us to believe we are. We should be thankful for that.

But can a Yes vote deliver a better Scotland for the people who live there? Could it transform Scotland into a more confident and equal place than it is now, to those from the outside looking in? I believe it’s a strong possibility.

Scotland needs to be grown-up. Scotland needs to start taking responsibility for all its own actions. As we get closer to the referendum, it’s becoming more and more obvious how little the UK political class (and the commentators from across the spectrum) give a damn about Scotland. The UK general election in 2015, the possibility of an EU referendum in 2017 and the supposed rise of UKIP are more important to these folk and I can’t decide if it’s arrogant or ignorant of them to completely dismiss the possibility of the dissolution of the UK. Just days ago analysis by Warwick University’s Michael Gardiner showed to what extent these classes just can’t – or won’t – comprehend Scottish debate.

As I said, I can’t imagine voting No. What I can imagine, though, are lots of people I know doing so, and if I asked them their reasons afterwards I’m pretty sure I could challenge many of them fairly successfully. It will be too late then. This is what worries me now, and this is what spurs me on to keep involved, and to discuss at every opportunity with those who aren’t engaged.

Over the past few months I’ve seen friends at home begin to read into it, people who don’t care for politics. I’ve never talked to my family in my entire life about politics but I will now. If voters have solid reasons for voting no, then I will accept it. But we must all talk to as many people as possible about it in the first place. We must not forget the undecided. With the correct, positive strategy they are there for the taking.

To show that this had weighed on my mind a little bit, last night I watched the final episode of the American TV show Fringe. One of the characters patted the other on the shoulder just before the big climax to the show, and said: “It’s not about fate. Yours or mine. It’s about changing fate, and protecting our children.” I immediately thought of my currently non-existent children, and my upcoming Yes vote in the Scottish independence referendum of 2014.

So it’s a long-winded Yes, but it’s a Yes. It feels good to type that.

Exclusive!

Posted: October 28, 2012 in Entertainment, News, Politics
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

I am reliably informed that the following news story will appear in Monday’s Scotsman, and no doubt plastered over the rest of the national press online shortly afterwards. But you read it here first!

The Scottish Armed Forces will comprise of a terrified Robert Carlyle in a boat.

Scotland ‘more susceptible’ to zombie invasion under independence, expert warns

Alex Salmond was yesterday accused of trying to lead Scotland into “the darkest day of horror known to man” after a report suggested being eaten alive by the undead would be more likely in an independent Scotland.

Unionist ministers leapt on the findings, snarling and foaming at the mouth, before ripping into the First Minister, demanding he reveal the SNP’s zombie policy and outline any other catastrophes he was hiding from the Scottish public.

The findings of the report, commissioned by the Better Together campaign in conjunction with the coalition UK government, were discussed at a Scottish affairs committee in which several experts on disaster prevention were interrogated by Westminster MPs.

Professor Bub Romero, who was questioned for over 34 hours without a break, was asked to name any unique and potential scenarios that could more likely occur in the event of a ‘yes’ vote in the 2014 referendum. Looking very drowsy and slightly peckish, Professor Romero answered by lifting his arms, rolling his eyes back and growling: “Braaaaaaaaaains.”

The evidence was quickly spread across the Twittersphere and first revealed by Labour MP Jim Murphy who tweeted: “Just confirmed in Scottish affairs committee – an indy Scotland would be overrun by the undead. Disgraceful. #BetterTogether #Zombishambles”

Stephen Fry, who has an opinion on everything according to lazy journalists, tweeted: “As long as we ban pufferfish and triggerfish, which contain Tetrodotoxin – the toxin which produces zombies – from the UK we’ll be fine.”

Rio Ferdinand, who also has an opinion on everything according to lazy journalists, tweeted: “Bloody jocks. See, this is why hand-shaking is a dodgy business. You don’t know what somebody’s been eating.”

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, in another of her unfunny monologues, said: “Not content with wowing us by impersonating Nixon, Clinton and Del Boy Trotter all at once, we can add another moniker – the First Minister is Salm of the Dead.

“I wonder if Alex Salmond can tell us how he plans on removing this inevitable zombie disease from our shores. Well I can provide the answer for him. Everybody but the SNP knows that the only way to defeat a million zombies is to tie them up over a long period of time and let them all starve.

“And there you have it – another example of how the First Minister is turning this country into North Korea.”

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon leapt to the defence of the SNP’s policy, insisting it would be exactly the same as that of any other independent nation.

Ms Sturgeon told Gordon Brewer on Newsnat Scotland: “As you are well aware, any apocalypse scenario policy is a matter reserved to Westminster.

“However, I find it laughable that the Tory-led government and the Better Together campaign can spend a great deal of time telling everyone who will listen that an independent Scotland would be cut off from the world, physically and emotionally, yet be the first nation to fall from a zombie attack.

“If the Better Together campaign is to be believed, nobody will be able to just shuffle into Scotland from the rest of the British Isles and eat somebody. And the infected will certainly not get through the supposed stricter border controls on the ground and in the air.

“They can’t have it both ways. Longer queues at the airport, or zombies. Pick one.

“And by the way, ‘Salm of the Dead’ doesn’t work.”

When asked for clarification on the findings in regards to an undead invasion, Professor Romero confirmed after a nice long nap that at no point in the report is a zombie apocalypse mentioned, and at no point during the Scottish affairs committee meeting was the subject actually raised.

Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont was unavailable for comment, but deputy leader Anas Sarwar was. For some reason, he was equipped with a lie detector machine at the time of interview.

Mr Sarwar said: “Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.”

Alex Salmond Fan Club

Posted: October 15, 2012 in Uncategorized
21
  1. Telegraph
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 15:04:24

  2. Not even an hour’s worth of Tweets. Just read this (very small) extract and see what idiotic nonsense the normal people of these islands have to compete with to get their fair and well-informed views across.
  3. AndrewMPorter96
    I want to smash Alex Salmond’s head to mush with a sledgehammer

    AndrewMacNishPorter
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:45:43

  4. Scotty_SL
    Alex salmond is a bell end, plain and simple #ProtectTheUnion

    SadistScotty
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:41:57

  5. EwenFraser96
    To be honest with you Alex Salmond, we would be fucked as an independent nation!!

    Ewen Fraser
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:41:17

  6. RossMoir
    An independent Scotland with Alex Salmond in charge? I’d rather live in Iraq.

    Ross Moir
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:42:08

  7. JSC_Martin
    Alex Salmond is a gigantic cock. What an egotistical penis

    James Martin
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:40:49

  8. ellisstobo
    Alex Salmond is a fat wank.

    stobes
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:40:01

  9. IainScottF1
    does anyone else think Alex Salmond is a baw faced tosser? #notoindependence

    Iain Scott
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:40:07

  10. anaxithea
    Becoming independent will ruin Scotland. The SNP and Alex Salmond (especially him) are fucking plebs

    Kris
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:40:16

  11. PaulShearer91
    fat alex salmond infuriates me! hes going to hijack the ryder cup/ commonwealth games and use the aniversary of bannockburn for his campaign

    Paul Shearer
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:37:22

  12. StevenGreig85
    Alex Salmond is a fucking cunt

    Steven Greig
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:37:13

  13. GregAngus95
    Alex salmond is a wanker. Scotland wouldn’t cope with independence.

    Greg Angus
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:35:27

  14. D93J
    Alex Salmond is a dirty wee fat fuck.

    DJ
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:34:55

  15. timeforheroes12
    Alex Salmond your a fat pigeon arsehole go smash your face off a kerb.

    Danielle Charnley
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:30:55

  16. beth182_
    Alex Salmond looks like hitler, fukn lil cunt

    Holden Caulfield ☺
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:33:06

  17. BatmanDisco
    Alex Salmond is genuinely the biggest wanker on the planet.

    Joanna Harrold
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:29:57

  18. EwanMckenzie
    A fuckin hate Alex salmond the cunt is a fuckin mile think he’s been with Cammy Allan n his pals watching to much braveheart

    EwanMckenzie
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:09:39

  19. Jamin2g
    Footage of Alex Salmond reading to children was horrific, a future Jimmy Savile moment? #skynews

    Ben
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:19:07

  20. JamieBatho
    Alex Salmond said he’s not scared of Scottish independence. He should be, because I’m going to murder him.

    Jamie Batho
    Mon, Oct 15 2012 14:08:24

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