Indyref – Page 2 – Slugger O'Toole

After IndyRef #3: Why Northern Ireland may be the very last bit to exit the United Kingdom…

Mick Fealty on September 23, 2014, 5:02 pm

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Alex Kane thinks it’s all over in Scotland for another generation. Well, maybe. The problem with that argument is that the political system may already be re-wiring itself in Scotland around the battle lines of the campaign and the result. Next time out the British Prime Minister may not be able to count Scottish Labour as a bulwark to keep the Scots and Picts from rebelling more completely next time. Britishness is in serious decline amongst those who came of …

Villiers: “Northern Ireland’s political leaders need to act now to grip the situation”

Soapbox on September 22, 2014, 5:00 pm

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In the aftermath of the Scottish referendum and the debate over welfare reform, the Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers MP, writes exclusively for Slugger O’Toole about how we move forward There is much to celebrate about modern Northern Ireland. Twenty years ago this small place carried the burden of a global reputation built on images of bitter conflict and violence. Today, Northern Ireland deserves admiration for its burgeoning creative industries sector, advanced infrastructure and outstanding cultural attractions, as well as …

So do you think we are mature enough for a Border Poll Gerry? Do you really?

Mick Fealty on September 19, 2014, 9:07 pm

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So… Gerry Kelly reckons there's the maturity here for border poll – is he right? – http://t.co/7QNUuyDX3V — Jonny Bell (@JB_utv) September 19, 2014 Well, yes. But hey, there’s the sense of humour problem. And then there’s Gerry’s own wee problem in his own back yard which he either cannot or will not fix. And how likely is it that any UK government will be lulled quite so easily as Mr Cameron was into giving all the goods away at …

IndyRef aftermath: First thoughts, and what we might learn in Northern Ireland?

Mick Fealty on September 19, 2014, 1:32 pm

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A prince can mak a belted knight, A marquis, duke, an’ a’ that; But an honest man’s abon his might, Gude faith, he maunna fa’ that! – Rabbie Burns So, the people have spoken. Followed by good speeches this morning from Alex Salmond (bullish as ever in defeat), and in particular from Johann Lamont, the leader of the Scottish Labour party this morning who took the time to pay homage to the man of the Scottish mountain, his career and …

IndyRef: A new dispensation

Phil Mac Giolla Bhain on September 19, 2014, 6:43 am

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The returning officer for Fife declared at 06.09am and he stated that 114,148 votes had been cast for YES, but 139,788 for NO. That put NO over the winning line. The Better Together campaign had triumphed by a margin of 55% to 45%. On a turnout of 86% that means that 1.6million people in Scotland voted for independence on September 18th 2014. Moreover the cities of Dundee and Glasgow voted YES. However, the rest of the country rejected the proposition …

#IndyRef: Two old ladies in Perth tell it like it really is…

Mick Fealty on September 18, 2014, 8:50 pm

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I love these two… There’s a lot of setting up at the beginning so you might want to start about 1.18 in. “I’m voting with my gut, I’m an emotional person and politics is an emotional thing…” says Irene, and “don’t tell me about Norway, the tax is about 50%, would you like to do that?” says Janet. Via Quinn Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and …

The Slugger has landed

Phil Mac Giolla Bhain on September 18, 2014, 8:43 pm

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I finally arrived at the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston. This is the National Count Collation Centre for the Scottish Independence Referendum. Media from around the planet are gathering in this hangar type building. Some places are reserved and the man from Slugger almost nicked a seat ‘belonging’ to the Chinese National News Agency. However I think I got away with it. I will be feeding the Sluggerati with a live updates throughout the night. Mick has said that he …

#IndyRef: “the debate on both sides has been inward looking, myopic and disconnected “

Mick Fealty on September 18, 2014, 4:20 pm

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I’m cribbing this post from a friend Chris Yapp on LinkedIn. It seems to me to contain most of the reasonable things that need to be said from a progressive British centric point of view and I think deserves a wider audience before the Scottish people make their historic decision today… The Vision Thing “The Stone Age did not end for lack of stone, and the Oil Age will end long before the world runs out of oil.” Sheikh Yamani …

Lessons from #Indyref?

John Ó Néill on September 18, 2014, 1:08 pm

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Ok, before the inevitable predictions poll, results debate and recriminations, what lessons can be taken from the totality of the Scottish independence referendum? Here’s a couple of suggestions. 1. The neverendum? A long campaign, or certainly what feels like a long campaign, has pros and cons. The emergence of what seemed to be widespread public engagement by polling day in voter registrations, but will be clearly measured by the actual turn out. Are we to indulge in a bit of …

The British Labour Party, Northern Ireland Labour and the Scottish Referendum

Chaminda Weerawardhana on September 18, 2014, 12:24 pm

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Since the countdown to the Scottish referendum began, a substantial corps of writing has been produced on the referendum and its impact. As far as the British Labour Party is concerned, it risks loosing some forty Westminster seats in the case of a ‘yes’ vote, which explains Labour’s strong activism on the ‘no’ side. In encouraging Scots to vote ‘no’ for autonomy and sovereignty over their affairs, Labour has come up with a range of intriguing arguments. The promise of …

Gordon Brown rises above the kidults of Westminster to speak up for the United Kingdom

Mick Fealty on September 18, 2014, 12:03 pm

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So, again in case you haven’t seen this, here’s Gordon Brown putting a bit of last minute umph into the No campaign. It begs two thoughts. One, where on earth where they hiding him? This Gordon Brown should arguably have been striding like a bear round pumping up the No troops. And two, note the clarity of the messaging? There has been ZERO messaging from the No camp (other than “Big boys came..”) So, what’s that all about? Brown looked …

#IndyRef: “Each group is dreaming of this fresh new country (as clean as a white sheet)”

Mick Fealty on September 17, 2014, 1:18 pm

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The ‘my journey to Yes’ is becoming something of a subgenre in the Scottish journo/blogosphere. Tom Devine and Kevin McKenna come immediately to mind. But this one sticks not just because it goes in the opposite direction, but because Ewan Morrison’s journey began by moving to a Yes… It’s telling in the way that Carol Craig’s account was telling in the sense that we get an inside view of what happens when people ‘convert’ in this social media campaign to …

#IndyRef: And the betting market says it will be a No from Scotland, but…

Mick Fealty on September 17, 2014, 12:27 pm

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So here’s Betfair calling tomorrow’s real referendum poll for a No. At the time of recording a full 78% of the money was going there. It’s one of their biggest ever markets, so according there’s a lot money to be had for a courageous Yes bet. With so much money behind a No, it’s certainly worth a tenner on Yes, if only to make it interesting for wibbly wobbly No folk. Or as Mike reminds us… As any punter knows the key is not …

London’s problem is that Scotland is already de facto independent…

Mick Fealty on September 16, 2014, 10:18 pm

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When we tell you to apply updates we are not telling you to mend your ship. We are telling you to keep bailing before the water gets to your neck. Everything is broken, Quinn Norton Okay, so moving away from the detail of IndyRef, here’s an interesting four point blog from Mark Leonard at Reuters. He raises a number of key points that should not only be listened to London, but elsewhere …whatever the result of the vote, I think we must recognize that …

Journeys on the Scottish omnibus

Phil Mac Giolla Bhain on September 16, 2014, 3:44 pm

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If you’re into politics then this is the happening place this week. I arrived in my native city last night and it started for me almost immediately. On the shuttle in from Glasgow airport the chaos of the universe decided to put me in the seat in front of Brian Wilson. For the uninitiated Brian was elected to serve for the Cunninghame North constituency in 1987 for the Labour Party and he successfully defended the seat until he retired in …

“Introducing a new Scottish currency has always been the most sensible option….”

Mick Fealty on September 16, 2014, 1:22 pm

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Okay, so let’s for argument’s sake assume the premise of my previous blog is roughly true. Why is Alex Salmond want to mash up the media playing field between now and Thursday. It’s the conclusion from a short paper by Angus Armstrong and Monique Ebell of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), called simply, Is This Plan B: In 2016, Scotland is likely to face twin deficits in the year that it might become an independent nation. …

Whilst ‘No’ channels Æthelred, is ‘Yes’ filibustering the media up till polling day?

Mick Fealty on September 16, 2014, 12:13 pm

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Well, only two days to go. Mike Smithson wisely is throwing the polls off to one side: My reading is that Thursday could produce a YES victory or a NO win by up to a 10% lead. Hedging my bets? You bet. Yep. It could be squeaking it, and it might not. We don’t feckin know. We do know that the Yes campaign however has been an outstanding success having wrought from Westminster all manner of time sensitive promises for …

Ireland’s experience of Bankers: “Focused on profit the same way a starving dog focuses on a sausage”

Mick Fealty on September 15, 2014, 9:52 pm

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Brian Lucey with some advice of his own on the advice offered to Scotland by experts in banking… The bottom line is this. Exceptionally able as most of the bank economists, financial sector analysts and FX traders may be, they are not in the truthiness business. They are paid to help their companies sell product. They are not paid to ahve a moral, ethical, or social perspective except in so far as that aids in sales. That doesn’t make them …

Murdoch cooling on the idea of independence #indyref

David McCann on September 15, 2014, 1:56 pm

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Rupert Murdoch, he is famous for backing certain parties in electoral contests and has recently flirted with the idea of carrying forward his support for the SNP in 2011 by backing a Yes vote on Thursday. However this interesting report drawing on his recent Twitter comments show that he is cooling on the idea of independence; Using his global media empire’s private jet and making stops in Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Fife, News UK sources said Mr Murdoch wanted to judge …

On the verge of a Scottish Spring? Social sentiment says Yes will walk the #IndyRef.

Mick Fealty on September 15, 2014, 10:01 am

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B Kliban

“The best way to see the future is to observe the present…” – Carmin Medina I’ve an English friend who spent the last week of August on their regular family holiday in the highlands. He doesn’t have a vote but if he did he’d be a certain NO. One of things he found disturbing was having to decode the YES signs. At first he felt drawn towards it, only to feel a shudder of recognition when he thought about what it meant. There’s …