David Cameron made an impassioned defence of the United Kingdom today as he began campaigning for a ‘No’ vote in next Thursday’s Scottish independence referendum. However the phrase making all the headlines is “effing Tories.” Has the Prime Minister scored a spectacular own goal? Cameron said “Because it’s an election, because it’s a ballot, I think people can feel a bit like it’s a general election. That you make a decision and five years later you can make another decision. If …
After a convincing victory in the first game of the three match ODI series against Scotland, Ireland’s cricketers are chasing a total of 222 in the second game for a series win at Malahide. Scotland were put in to bat and made 221 all out from 49.5 overs. Live coverage via CricketIrelandTV on YouTube. Update Ireland win by 3 wickets. 225 for 7 from 44.2 overs. Pete Baker
So this morning I joined an Irish Times Inside Politics panel to talk about the implications of a decision next week in favour of Scottish independence for Ireland and Northern Ireland… Some of the highlights include… – ‘Neo unionist’ silence of Dublin and the unspoken fear of unintended consequences, particularly within Europe… – The dream versus Ireland’s lived reality of a currency union in the first fifty years of the state’s history… – No show of Ireland as an exemplary …
The truth is that most of the commentary around the Scottish referendum is purely speculative, and built on passion and subjective personal belief. Polls merely tell us that the argument is real and has critical resonances in the wider population. They don’t tell us who’s going to win. One of the most interesting individual ‘takes’ I’ve seen so far comes from Carol Craig who, after much agonising, is planning to vote No. And interestingly she hits what seems to me …
Scotland Yet: a film about independence (FULL MOVIE) from Scotland Yet on Vimeo. So this is about two weeks old. It’s an hour and a half long argument for Yes, crowd funded amongst people who are campaigning for yes in Scotland. This is what’s possible when the campaign is long enough for ordinary people to brigade their own resources. In part it’s a documentary, with stories explaining where a disparate group of individuals are coming from on the matter. A …
So, on currency, the Governor of the Bank of England has said that currency union is incompatible with sovereignty. By which he means that any prospective rUK’s sovereignty as much as iScotland’s. This short discussion above from the FT lays out some of the political complications that are likely to arise… Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and …
So here’s another Elephant trap from last week. This one appears overtly to have far less public valence than the George Robertson faux pas. But then again Steve McQueen’s not quite jumped the fence and into Swiss freedom yet! In part that’s because the Yes campaign has signally failed to make policy an issue. So, to the trap. It’s the moment in last weeks debate when the deployment of actress Elaine C Smith a celebrity ringer for Yes was put …
And an analysis of the detail of that deadly poll at the weekend by YouGov principlal Peter Kellner.. Only Conservative voters have resisted Alex Salmond’s advances: 93% of them still plan to vote No. All other sections of Scottish society are on the move, most notably among four key groups: Labour voters, up from 18% saying Yes four weeks ago, to 35% today Voters under 40, up from 39% to 60% Working class voters, up from 41% to 56% Women, …
I’ve a couple of instances which show some of the weaknesses in the way the debate over Scottish independence is configured for each side/ This one shows the psychology of adopting a Yes position rather than a No to the the referendum question. As a former Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (which the SNP has promised Scotland will join after independence) George Robertson is well placed to argue why Scotland could be a stronger actor within the …
I recently spent ten days in Glasgow. My intention was to pick up the vibe on the YES side in my native city with particular emphasis on the Fifth Estate and the unofficial YES campaign. I found that there was plenty of it and on day one of my trip I was pulled into a voter registration stall in Buchanan Street in the city centre. It had been set up by some university students and they were all YES voters. …
Just to finish the week on Scotland (aye, there’s more next week with the start of a mini series we’re calling #IndyRef’s Elephant Traps), with this from Chris Blackhurst in the London Evening Standard… …the City has finally woken up to the Scottish referendum and the serious possibility of a Yes victory. We know that if the Scots opt for independence there will be a rush by investors to exit companies with a heavy presence north of the border. Many …
In my experience Unionists tend to be the quiet men and women of the internet. Those unwise enough to put their heads above the parapet tend to be, erm, let’s just say, those of more incautious personality type. In that silence lots of non unionists end up speaking on their behalf. So, I come to a question. And it’s a fairly open one, but I’m going to put a rigid caveat on who can answer it. That is, no non …
Mike Small runs one of the best known and most respected of the Yes campaign sites online, Bella Caledonia. His piece for the Guardian gives an useful overview of where the momentum for the Yes campaign has come from… 1. It is a movement, not a campaign: On a purely practical level yes is just better organised. As the New Statesman
Ian Parsley as part of the Stratagem series of guest blogs, lays out why the No campaign arrived at currency as its king card in the #IndyRef debate… Why is the focus on the currency? Throughout the campaign, polls have shown around 45-50% of people certain to vote No, and 35-40% certain to vote Yes. The “undecideds” are therefore crucial to the outcome and, if they are telling the truth to pollsters, they will decide which way to vote based …
Last Sunday, The Irish Voice hosted a debate in Malone’s Irish bar meant to focus some attention on issues of relevance to Scots of Catholic Irish heritage. In the event just 30 people turned up and at least 3 of those were journalists, including Mark Hennessy, UK correspondent of the Irish times. I was one of the speakers for Better Together. Rather optimistically, I assumed that providing an Irish dimension to what has often been a doggedly inward-looking debate, might …
As we get closer to the crunch moment for the #IndyRef sides, it’s clear where the confidence is. Last night after a scrappy three a side encounter on STV, the two Blairs (Jenkins and McDougall) were both claiming victory. Jenkins for the Yes keen to emphasise the emotional connection of their ringer, the actress Elaine C Smith with the audience, whilst McDougall pointed to Labour’s Kezia Dugdale for bringing home the policy beef. This, in shorthand, is the difference between …
Nice piece of analysis from John Curtice at What Scotland Thinks in which he notes the strong pro Yes dynamic in the polls of the last week, in contrast to the general stasis of much of the campaign heretofore. Their poll of polls processes the latest ‘gains’ for yes, and (excluding Don’t Knows) set the current rate at the tightest margin yet… He offers four key points… …the issue that above all seems capable of persuading people to vote Yes or …
I was going to call it a night and go to bed when I picked this up from a reader though the Slugger Facebook page (give us a ‘Like’ if you don’t want to miss any of the good stuff here on Slugger). I think its worth sharing before the weekend properly kicks in and long before we can realistically figure whether it’s likely to go viral… Fascinating stuff, not least because it tells us more about the nature of politics …
I must admit that I struggle to see the dynamic middle ground in the debate over Scotland’s independence. There’s little doubt which campaign is the more dynamic. Just go to Pinterest and put in Scottish Referendum as a search term and you are dedazzled with a sea of Blue Saltired Yes graphics (try searching getty images too?), some of it highly creative. #136945596 / gettyimages.com Nicola Sturgeon has been preaching to large audience from Dumfries and Galloway up to Orkney …
The last major debate happened between Alex Salmond and Alastair Darling last night and commentators where flying with debates about who won (yes, some poor buggars thought Darling did win). Yet, very few people seem to know just what exactly the process for the count will be and providing the public service that we do here on Slugger, I thought I would put up the guide as published by the Electoral Commission for the how the count will take place. …
