Lesley Riddoch wrote an interesting article in the National today.
The article is mainly about how crap the BBC is at news, especially Scottish news and the YES movement, but we already know that to the extent that many of us just don’t watch the BBC anymore, even though forced to pay for it by force of law, or buy newspapers in the main.
Now something that I have commented on previously, and is part of what Lesley is saying in some ways , is about the use of the word independence. Ruth Davidson in particular, but also Willie ‘ resign ‘ Rennie and Richard ‘ promises ‘ Leonard accuse the SNP of not getting on with the day job and how they should stop banging on about independence.
Now this gets right on my tits, independence is all the unionists ever talk about, esp yesterday when the GERS figures came out that show how utterly shite Westminster is at managing an economy, esp ours. The unionists bang on and on and on about decisive independence all the time, they never stop.
However, and where I totally agree with Lesley, the SNP don’t talk about independence near enough. They should be banging on about it all the time like the unionists imply, they can’t win either way, are the Independence Party so when the opportunity arises, and it’s appropriate, then independence should be the automatic word all the way whether the BBC report it or not.
grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com 
Couldn’t agree more Bruce. I have had this argument with my MSP and my MP several times. And where is Fact check maestro, Keith Brown on the lastest MSM / GERS debacle?
Meekly accepting the hammering we get in the MSM has to stop, otherwise, they win, and always will.
Brian
The article is interesting as it’s something that I have thought for a long time. The yoons go on about independence all the time, the yes movement to a lesser degree and the SNP rarely do so maybe now is the time to just get it in there at every opportunity.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
The problem is, proving that GERS is a heap of nonsense requires a heap of real, hard data. The UK does not collect/record this data on a regional basis, it only collects data on an UK-wide basis and hence GERS is used to divide up certain expenditures on a per population-share basis.
The power to collect this data is, conveniently, reserved. And in any case, there are difficulties separating the figures for businesses which operate in various regions. Tesco, as an example, is headquartered a bit north of London and does not have to file separate accounts with Scotland or Wales’ Treasuries, the same way they have to file separately in Ireland, etc.. It just files one UK set and then GERS assumes ~9% of this came from Scotland.
I am sure the SNP would love to kill GERS off as a propaganda weapon. It’s just impossible to collect the required data without the cooperation of the UK government – which has an interest in ensuring this never happens.
The only way to do it before independence would be a hung UK parliament in which the SNP were the only party able to grant a working Commons majority to either Tory or Labour and then negotiated for significant fiscal powers(say, 80-100% of taxes) to be devolved. Sick to think that if Scotland hadn’t elected 12 more Tory MPs last year, this could have been within reach.
Alan
I don’t doubt the UK don’t request specific data as it would not serve their purposes but stores do collect an incredible amount of data. I know some people who work at tesco and each store can tell how much profit they make, how much tax they pay, where goods come from etc etc. Local authorities also gather a lot of data also but we will never know the truth and therefore GERS will only continue to demonstrate how crap the UK manages an economy as they are only interested in the south eat and London. Your idea of a hung parliament I hadn’t really thought about and that could be a way of forcing indy2 if that comes about. It’s all a shambles but I would still like to see the SNP talk more about the I word.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Can I add,.. you can bang on about independence all the time, 24/7, in the Indy supporting online media (and the National). What difference will that make?
Brian
I’m thinking that we should not shy away from the debate and always only when appropriate as it will become tiresome. The BBC however are saying that the reason AUOB is rarely covered on the mainstream is because they only cover large events involving political parties and statements from political parties, if that is in fact true we then need the SNP and the Greens to take every opportunity presented and lets see if the BBC report it fairly and with balance.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Very interesting article. Give me a shout when you post an article on Alex Salmond taking the SG to court will you. Good lad.
SNP Sleazefest
I’m not planning on doing that as haven’t followed the story but there is an article here if you would like to read it https://weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2018/08/23/some-observations-on-thursday-nights-events/
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Thanks for the reply Bruce. Another terrible day for the SNP so understandably you are indeed “grumpy”. Let’s see how Alex get’s on and review the situation on a regular basis. Will Tasmina be representing him? I assume she is still allowed to practice law after her “incident”.
Smashing stuff, great blog. See you soon Bruce.
SNP Sleazefest
Not grumpy, its Friday and work is over for the week. I really haven’t followed the story at all but will try and catch up with it. I don’t know if it’s been a bad week for the SNP as you would never know the difference as far as the media is concerned as every week is an SNP bad week. I wouldn’t imagine the Salmond thing is anything but fun for anyone but apart from the Greens I think every party has had similar stories about them, some worse than others. Not a fan of Tasmina Sheik, nothing to do with anything she may have done in the past but everything to do with the fact that I don’t think she was every really SNP, I think she is what anyone wants her to be to get elected, that was all she ever wanted I suspect. But I am not a member of any party so can’t complain all that much on that side of things.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Thanks for the reply Bruce. Nice that you show some balance. Have a good weekend and let’s catch up next week once you catch up with the Alex Salmond story. And please don’t get me wrong, I am not pre-judging him.
Catch up next week.
What’s new Bruce? Have you had a chance to catch up on the Sturgeon Vs Salmond thing? How about P1 changes due to parent & teacher pressure? How about The British Transport Police rethink? How about the Ferries that are 18 months delayed at Fergusons Yard? How about the almost daily rapes/murders in the news? The SNP are doing great eh? Ambulance times now double what hey used to be. SNHS waiting lists getting longer AGAIN. Remind me why you think the SNP are doing a god job please,
Catch you later Bruce.
SNP sleazefest
I have only seen what everyone else has on the news. I do believe in innocent until proven guilty and I think a lot of journalists and unionists will be in a sticky spot if it turns out to be crap. As far as I know the code is covered by confidentiality so no one could comment from the Scottish Government so there is no real story yet but if you know different please post your opinion.
I work in education and I am not sure what the p1 testing is set to achieve but I haven’t heard any teacher say that children are stressed out by them and certainly at the P1 to P7 level I have never came across anyone stressed out by them personally.
The ferries are being built to new twin engine design to meet environmental standards that make them the most advanced in the U.K. I don’t really have an issue with it and it won’t cost more so I’m not sure what the issue is. The islands still receive a service and other than opposition politicians complaining I haven’t seen much.
From what I did read today 80% of ambulances reach patients within 20 minutes and the changes made by the ambulance service prioritise strokes etc. Are you saying they should not prioritise based on medical need. They also said they have the most efficient service in the U.K. and the only ones who meet most targets so again no story there.
Violent crime I believe has risen for the first time in 10 years in Scotland and rising across the U.K. Are you saying that is the fault of the Scottish Government and not the people committing the crime.
Not really up on the Transport Police issue and while I do think that Police Scotland has had its problems the simple fact is there is only so much money. Not something that bothers me all that much to be honest.
So yes if the choice is an SNP Government over a Tory, Liberal or Labour one then yes I will take an SNP one every time. I remember the 80s, the 90,s and 00,s. I remember the last unionist coalition at Holyrood that handed back 700 million pounds to Westminster while complaining that the SNP put aside 200 million for delayed spending. If you have proof and a better alternative I’m all ears. That’s the problem in Scotland, an awful lot of people shout SNP bad without putting forward one single alternative that will make things better. I am not a member of the SNP but you show me one politician better than Sturgeon in Scotland , one that doesn’t hide from bad News like Davidson or as thick as Rennie or as ill informed than Leonard. Please show me who they are and I’ll look into it.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce.
Thanks for taking the time to respond Bruce. You make some fair points and again you are polite and balanced.
On the Salmond issue, I agree with you. Innocent until proven guilty. I do question the process that Sturgeon signed off however. The man can’t access details about the complaint and it’s gone public. How is that a fair process? Sturgeon might have to resign if this blows up and he is found innocent as she signed off the complaints procedure which is clearly flawed.
Struggling for time Bruce but here is the latest on the ferries – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-45340128
Catch you soon and take care for now.
SNP Sleazefest
Ill check out the link, I had a look on the Ferguson site and the maritime site to try and find out what was going on as the BBC rarely tell the whole story and they have a lot of form for that on all fronts. The civil service code seems unfair and ridiculous to be kind, how can anyone get a faire hearing with that code.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce