Let’s all congregate in Edinburgh next week and do a public execution of Campbell Gunn, for those of you who might have avoided the news, he is the special advisor to First Minister Alex Salmond who sent an email.
Mr. Gunn pointed out that Clare Lally, a Better Together and Labour activist, who was portrayed as an ordinary Mum by both herself and Better Together at the No Thanks launch was not as ordinary as it appeared. His one mistake was to say she was the daughter in law of former Glasgow politician Pat Lally. Clare is a Carer’s Champion, launched Johann Lamont’s leadership bid for the Scottish branch of Labour and sits on the shadow cabinet, which is not ordinary in any shape or form. This is also not even about Clare Lally in the main, it’s about Better Together and Labour portraying her to be something she is not in the overall sense of the word and the main stream media being as compliant as they always are with activists on the unionist side.
Johan Lamont at First Minister Questions called this “a vile personal attack “which it was not and asked that he be sacked. Now talk about hypocrisy, MPs don’t resign for stealing public money, MPs don’t stand trial for illegal wars, MPs have no shame in consigning millions to poverty and desperation, then claiming we live in a something for nothing country. Lamont then goes onto imply that internet attacks are orchestrated by Alex Salmond, this woman has no shame.
Now I am just an ‘ordinary’ blogger, really I am. I don’t have any links to a political party or to any campaign. I express my opinion through my blog. What I can’t stand is the hypocrisy of politicians and in particular the Labour and unionist movements. Some of us will remember the front page headlines on the Weir family when they gave donations to the SNP and YES in the area of a couple of million pounds. The difference on this one would be that the Weirs never hid their desire for independence, they never allowed anyone to imply they were something they were not and the media, who are good because they back NO Thanks, are not held to account and the hypocrites on the front benches of the opposition in Holyrood should be ashamed of themselves.
There is now a fake debate going on about the so-called vicious abuse on social media around the independence debate. Now, we can all understand that there will always be some people who resort to graphic language and name calling on the internet, its life. People from all sides have received abuse, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon have received some of the worst and have even been compared to murderers by BBC presenters like Jeremy Paxman, no outcry from Lamont about that.
My own personal opinion is that there are two sets of rules in this debate, one set for YES and one set for No. I have made no secret of my support for a Yes vote in September and I don’t pretend anything different, I don’t dress it up as something it is not and would not allow anyone else to do so, I also would not get on my high horse if someone quoted my ‘ordinary’ blog as a pro Yes blog, because it is so really should Clare Lally be that surprised and hurt when someone points out that she is an activist for the union, I don’t think so but I guess other are maybe more sensitive than me.
grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com 
His worst crime was in not checking but then the Labour Party outed the wrong David Ferguson and five of his friends and never apologised, They pursued the real David Ferguson and called him terrible things for asking for a FOI on Wendy Alexander. Whole item can be read on Newsnet.
Pot Kettle and black, I would say. Most people were angry with Ms, Lally not for being a member of the Labour Shadow Cabinet, they were angry because she was misrepresenting herself. They were angry at the use of her disabled child and I am angry at the made up fuss. If you are in Politics and you put your head above the parapet then expect to be snipped at. Now it would appear that ALL of us on Wings are bad people, most are like you, not members of the SNP, I am and I do try to be good because of that.
Helena
There is def one rule for one and one rule for the other. However, following the debate this weekend they are starting to get worried. Iraq kicking off again is horrible but Blair calling for British armed intervention is a god send as it really shows people what the UK is all about.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
YES vote will mean you will decide the future government and first minister of Scotland in 2016.
Comment – We have had a government in Scotland under Alex Salmond for some what exactly has he achieved the yes vote is just another way for him to get publicity because he has been losing ground in Scotland
A NO vote means that the south east of england/london will decide who will be prime minister in 2015, David Cameron or Ed Miliband anyone.
Comment – If Scotland cannot be bothered to vote effectively for a UK election what makes you think Scotland will be any more effective in voting Yes
A YES vote will mean that the Scottish government, elected by you, will decide social security policy for Scotland.
Comment – Even if Scotland votes yes there will be no separate Social Security, Inland Revenue, VAT, Pensions, Child Support Agency, Work and Pensions Agency to do what you say. If these systems are to be separated from the UK this will take years and cost the Scottish tax payers £1.2billion to have them set up in Scotland all data transferred and operated. So your comments of socialist policy making will in effect make Scotland poor
A NO vote means the bedroom tax, the end of tax credits, the end of the winter allowance, tax breaks for millionaires all decided in Westminster by MPs you did not elect.
Comment- every government has and will make decisions that have significant upside or regret costs Scotland will be no different, and as for your point on “you did not elect” perhaps the key here is to get people in Scotland to vote in the first place
A YES vote will bring an end to nuclear weapons being based in Scotland against your will.
Comment – Sure if Scotland actually goes ahead with making itself weak in the eyes of the world
A NO vote will mean nuclear weapons and the renewal of trident at a cost of £150 BILLION POUNDS approx. being based in Scotland against your will.
Comment – isn’t is strange that we know how much things cost under the common wealth of the UK but have no idea under the Yes vote, could it be because Alex is avoiding telling Scotland the real bad news until after he has basked in his own glory
A YES vote will mean that the Scottish government controls the levers of the economy where possible, deciding what is best for Scotland in Scotland.
Comment – “where possible” this is all innuendo. We will have no economy out economy is co-existent within the UK we would have to create an economy create a unit of currency create a credit rating in the market place de-risk buying and selling our products and who will pay for all this change and unrest and general fear in the global markets. The answer is small and medium sized businesses. The big businesses will not take that risk they don’t have to they will leave – they can afford to run their businesses without having to be in a place where no economy exists
A NO vote means that Westminster (George Osbourne), not elected by you in a parliament you did not vote for controlling the economy where possible based on what is in the best interests of the south east of england and london bankers.
Comment – this is not exactly true, Alex has had control on much of Scotland’s purse strings and what did he do, provide free prescriptions and banish the tolls that is the sum of this work in 4 years hardly a vote of confidence
Funny your key word is economy. So let’s see how economy works –
Production – means being be able to self-sustain and that means across all aspects of industry so you don’t have to buy it in at extra cost and hopefully over produce so you cans ell in the open market. However even if we could over produce everything mankind needs then when would have to build that open market and this will not happen overnight
Distribution- means being able to distribute and that means building the network internally to do so and investing in the mechanisms of foreign exchanges – I wonder who will pay for that, oh let me see the Scottish people of course
Consumption – this means internal consumption markets and external so if we cannot produce everything we need and we cannot distribute we will have to buy in what we consume and having a smaller seat at any table means we will have less economy of scale so whatever the price is today we will have to negotiate a best price tomorrow and given we have a smaller market share that price will not be cheaper than it is in a bigger common economy. Who will pay for that; oh let me see the Scottish people of course
A YES vote will mean that you elect parties in Scotland who will have to work in the best interests of and for Scotland.
Comment – sure but what have they done for us since devolution – answer very little
A NO vote will mean people in the south east elect parties only interested in the middle england vote and who will represent the south east of england and london. We will retain the likes of Davidson, Rennie and Lamont working for and on behalf of the government you did not elect.
Comment – Scotland is not a poor country under what you call “the south east vote” take a look at countries that broke away from the USSR. Russia is wealthy and continues to grow, those countries like Ukraine are what poor war torn and full of refugees who cannot feed and clothe themselves great advert for independent economic growth. The ones who survive and have wealth today such as Kazakhstan have their policies and economy set by a council which is controlled via Russia. In other words some of the countries got smart and went home, releasing they had no economy no product, distribution on consumption market without Russia
A YES vote will mean a Scottish Broadcasting Corporation reporting Scottish news and politics.
Comment – only if such a company can be set up and run independently and who will fund this oh let me see the Scottish people
A NO vote will mean a British Broadcasting Corporation reporting only what they want you to know and mis-representing Scotland at every turn.
Comment – they you obviously do not live in Scotland or have no TV
A YES vote will mean that health and social policy are decided in Scotland based on the needs of Scotland decided by a Scottish parliament.
Comment – we already have a separate health care and policy the Scottish Health Service has been and always will be run and managed from Edinburgh, please stop confusing the NHS with SHS they are two separate organizations and always have been
A NO vote will mean that the privatisation of the NHS in england results in less pocket money for health funding in Scotland.
Comment- for the NHS to be privatized this would need to include Wales Ireland and other members of the commonwealth who have the NHS in place such as Gibraltar. If your view is that the NHS is failing then then your view is the SHS is failing so how do you propose that self-funding would be any better than the per capita funding Scotland spends on the SHS today – oh let me see the Scottish people would have to pay more in
A YES vote will mean we will represent ourselves within europe and the united nations.
Comment- there is no guarantee we would get entry in the EU or that the Scottish people would vote for that
A NO vote will mean our coming out of europe, decided by voters in england, and only representing ourselves when we are allowed to.
Comment – this would only be decide by England Wales and NI if Scotland chose to not vote; you seem to forget about the rest of the UK in all your so called arguments. You also assume that Scotland would vote yes to stay in the EU rather naive don’t you think
A YES vote will mean our armed forces are based in Scotland representing Scottish interests decided by a Scottish Parliament.
Comment – then why does Alex Salmond say that Scotland would not need armed forces because we are a peaceful nation nobody would go to war with? In fact he advocates downsizing our military
A NO vote means our armed forces are based everywhere but Scotland taking part in wars based on lies decided by a parliament that you did not vote for.
Comment- Alex Salmond under the power of Scottish devolution did nothing to keep RAF Leuchars open. All wars are lies are you advocating that Scotland sit back do nothing and just watch people die
A YES vote will mean no more house of lords filled with unelected failed politicians.
Comment – what do you think will happen to our Lords you think they will just sit back and say thank you for getting rid of us. You are assuming that Scotland after a YES vote would retire the Lords in this country from having any say and thus you would be shutting off great wealth in this country
A NO vote means more unelected failed politicians making decisions on Scotland against your will and that you have no control over.
Comment – political failure whether voted for or not means failing to do what is asked of them. I would say Alex Salmond falls into that category given how little he has done for this country since devolution, so by your definition the people in Scotland did elect a failed politician and you think this will get better after a Yes vote
A YES vote will mean we can have a discussion about the head of state and a vote if we desire.
Comment- Voting YES means it is too late for discussion the job is done the issues will start to grow the cracks will appear and if Alex and his team are voted out no policies. He has made it clear the white paper all 700 pages of it go in the bin if he gets binned.
A NO vote will mean that the Windsor family will remain your head of state, that their children will rule over you and your children and you will have never voted for any of them.
Comment- the white paper says that the Queen will remain in state. The monarchy in this country dates back to King James of Scotland so you want to wipe that out too. You say the Royals rule over us but in actual fact they are figureheads of state who actually bring a lot of money. Many people care neither for or against the royalty but if you do this Edinburgh castle will no longer be Scottish as it is the property of the Queen, so you may choose to get rid of her but you cannot confiscate her property even under Scottish Law
A YES vote will mean that we are responsibly for our affairs, our successes and failures and our own futures.
Comment – I agree a yes vote will allow us to be responsible for success or failure
A NO vote will mean that others will decide our future, when we can have success and will revel in our failures i.e Willie Rennie, Johan Lamont, Michael Moore, Ruth Davidson.
Comment – A NO vote means Scotland stays part of a huge community that stretches from Jamaica to Australia. A No vote means staying with a stable economy one where you know how much tax you pay, what the VAT is on your good, how much pension you will get. A child services agency that that hunts down errant fathers and makes them pay, benefits and credits that help people, free child care to get back into work. Passport service and authority, DVLA. Customs and Policing services that stop the bad guys and because it is all funded per capita( which means by how people there are) , Scotland pay less per headcount to get access to all of these services
A YES vote means we will have a chance to make positive change for our country , ourselves and our children for generations to come.
Comment – or a Yes vote could put a burden our children and grandchildren they will never recover from making them the poorest youths this country has ever seen
A NO vote means that we don’t care enough about ourselves, our country, our children’s futures and are happy to let others make all the decisions for us.
Comment – A NO vote means we recognize that we have the best of both worlds. Devolution giving us the rights of choice and access to the UK so we have a strong support system stable currency, world respect services that span the whole of the UK and a future that is based on an economy that does know how to manage production/distribution and consumption in a way that keeps us far removed from the catastrophes of other countries such as France, Greece, Italy or those impoverished nations still living in the shadow of barely surviving without Russia to support them. If that is not good reason then consider to a NO vote means we would not have alienated our families who are living in other parts of the UK