Whenever there’s the slightest whiff of a scandal involving an SNP politician, the Scottish media is all over it like Gordie Broon at a doomsaying convention. The business dealings of the former Edinburgh West MP Michelle Thomson were constantly chewed over by a Scottish media that worried at her like a zombie dug with a bone for months. There were telly interviews with concerned faces who expressed how sad they were. Glenn Campbell was about to fly off to America to do a TV special about how appalled people across the Atlantic were by it all. Yet after months and months of constant snide implications and overt SNPbaddery, it turned out in the end that Michelle had done absolutely nothing wrong. There was a pipsqueak blink and you’d miss it acknowledgement buried away somewhere.
This week the Scottish media has worked itself into a lather over some unpleasant and nasty comments made by the SNP MSP Gillian Martin about trans people in a blog that she wrote many years ago before she was elected. Her promotion to the Scottish cabinet was overturned the moment that the comments came to light. It was quite right that Gillian’s promotion was overturned, but the point here is that she wasn’t even allowed to take up her position. No harm was therefore done, at least at the level of the Scottish Government. That hasn’t stopped the Scottish media ruminating on the entire episode at inordinate length, because, you know, SNPbad. Glenn Campbell might still be off to do a TV special across the Atlantic if he can secure an interview with Caitlyn Jenner.
This is not to excuse poor behaviour by individuals in the SNP. But that’s not the point. The point is that all poor behaviour by political parties should be investigated with equal rigour. Right now the entire Scottish Conservative party is enmeshed in a scandal which is systematic and which potentially goes to the very highest levels of the party. Naturally the bold and brave Scottish media is reacting to the Scottish Conservative dark money scandal with equal aclarity and zeal as they do when an individual SNP politician messes up. Ha! Suuuure it is. The only time that the British nationalist media in Scotland is interested in the Scottish Conservatives is when Ruth Davidson does a cheeky photo-op with a dead fish which mouths the words Scotland doesn’t want another referendum. That dead fish possesses more independence of thought.
Thanks to investigations carried out by the online newspaper The Ferret, we discovered that prior to the General Election, the Scottish Conservatives received some £319,000 in donations from a shady organisation calling itself the Scottish Unionist Association Trust, an organisation which has apparently been bankrolling the Conservatives in Scotland for years. The SUAT has not responded to requests to reveal the source of the donations, and the Scottish media isn’t exactly hounding them on the matter. After all, who really cares about the fact that the Scottish Tories might be using dark money to influence the results of Scottish elections when you can hound an SNP politician who’s already resigned for comments she made in a blog years and years ago.
Over the course of the past few years, election spending by the Scottish Conservatives has soared from the £275,000 that they spent in the 2011 election, to the £978,921 that they spent in 2016. According to Open Democracy, a large part of this money was funnelled through Conservative Central Office in London, much of the rest came through unincorporated organisations and obscure trusts. We don’t actually know who is behind the money, and the great majority of the Scottish media has no apparent interest in finding out.
It’s not coincidental that the electoral gains made by Ruth Davidson’s Scottish Conservatives™ came on the back of Scottish households being flooded by Tory propaganda which is being paid for by murky figures who have not been identified. Who are these people, and what influence are they exerting behind the scenes in Ruth’s party? What do they expect in return for their donations of large amounts of money? We cannot have any confidence that they expect nothing if they can’t or won’t be identified. This is an issue that strikes at the very heart of democracy in Scotland. Not that you’d know that from reading the papers or watching the TV.
The former Vice-Chair of SUAT, a certain Richard Cook, was the same individual who in his capacity as chair of the equally murky Constitutional Research Council, donated £435,000 to the DUP before the EU referendum. This money was used to take out a pro-Brexit advert in the Metro newspaper, a newspaper which isn’t published in Northern Ireland. This came to light thanks to an investigation by BBC Northern Ireland. BBC Scotland, not so much.
Today we discovered that the electoral commission has ruled that the Vote Leave campaign broke electoral rules during the EU referendum because it funnelled a large amount of money to another organisation called BeLeave. There is no transparency in electoral donations in the UK, and that’s a serious problem in a country where there is no written constitution and no effective constitutional separation between the various arms of government.
It’s even worse in a country like Scotland where the overwhelming bulk of the media is not prepared or willing to investigate suspicious goings on within the British establishment in Scotland for fear of stirring up support for independence. The role of the Scottish media isn’t to speak truth unto power, it’s to keep a lid on the independence movement.
I’ve said this before but it bears repeating, even on their own terms pro-British institutions are failing Scotland. They will not defend Scotland’s interests within the UK because they are more concerned about not giving succour to the independence movement. Their failure only underlines the need for Scotland to get out of this dysfunctional state. There’s a lot of discussion about the best time to have another independence referendum, perhaps instead we ought to be talking about the necessary time.
There is serious and credible evidence that the Tories may be buying Scottish elections, but with a few honourable exceptions the overwhelmingly anti-independence Scottish media doesn’t care. The Herald is far more interested in telling us what Jim Sillars thinks about Nicola Sturgeon’s judgement. Which is what it did last week, and the week before, and the week before that. It splashed a story on the front page of its website about an independent councillor from the Western Isles who was reprimanded for failing to declare he held a stake in a family company. Thank the gods he wasn’t an SNP councillor, or it would have been the lead story and would also have occupied most of Reporting Scotland’s time and energy for the next few months. The actual amount of broadcasting time that BBC Scotland has devoted to the Scottish Conservative dark money scandal is approximately the same that they’ve devoted to publicising this blog.
Meanwhile over at the Scotsman, the truly pressing issue of the day is that the SNP forced the Commons to a vote during the England v Colombia fitba match. Boo, and indeed, hoo. Aware that public sympathy for the entertainment opportunities of Conservative MPs is likely to be limited to people who have no functioning conscience, so other Conservative MPs then, the Scotsman mewed that it was really concerned about the staff in the House of Commons who missed the game. Which is the first time in history that anyone has said that they wanted Black Rod to erupt when the guys stuck one in but now he’s been rubbed up the wrong way, at least outside a gay porn movie.
Apparently Tory MPs missing the fitba is far more important than the fate of Scottish democracy. If you wanted an illustration of the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the British nationalist media in Scotland, there you have it. They don’t shoot. They fail to score. It’s all of Scotland which loses.
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Everything true in your sentiments Paul. But it will come to nothing as the electoral commission has no teeth. A fine for £20,000 maybe, so only a profit of £299,000, worth the wheeze. Was it St. Theresa who said “you can trust us” had a Tory conference a couple of years ago.
Even worse the Brit Nat press will bury it.
One big point to make, which you probably know, and were using for impact:
Interviewing Caitlyn Jenner about trans* issues is more-or-less equivalent to interviewing Tony Blair about Socialist Issues.
Yeah. I know that.
[…] Wee Ginger Dug Dark money and double standards Whenever there’s the slightest whiff of a scandal involving an SNP politician, the […]
Between the 109F temperatures here in Ontario and the content of this excellent post, my blood is boiling to the point where my brain may well fry! It is beyond iniquitous that “Scotland’s media” [and I use that phrase VERY loosely] are unwilling to even QUESTION this finding. I need a lie down or my blood pressure monitor will explode!
You mentioned the Hootsmon’s famous impartiality. According to their figures only 8,000 attended the annual Bannockburn rally. The EBC says 12,000. The chief polis telt me it was over, 20,000 according to their helicopter, people were still joining the rally, plus crowds were already in the Bannockburn field. See mainstream meejah? See effin liars?
Oh, and the Ginger Dug selt a’ his Gaelic maps.
The media in Scotland is a sick joke. Don’y buy britnat newspapers. Thank god for the internet.
And the National, the iScot Magazine and the Scots Independent newspaper!!
Can’t agree with the Gillian Martin conclusion, to me it was over reaction. The blog was about how institution use minorities to garner finance and that they aren’t really that interested in the minorities but the exploiting of them for funding. I thought the examples at the end were satirical to exemplify just how far they may go.
We are setting the bar unbelievably high if everyone has to have an unblemished record for their entire lives. Everybody has some intolerance in their make-up, it’s pretty much impossible not to if you have opinions on anything.
You can be UK PM no matter what your previous views and voting record is on LGBT issues, but not a junior minister in Scotland if you have written challenging blog.
Agreed
It’s called “Any dirt we can find, we are scared shitless of them!”
Nicola had no option but to withdraw the appointment as once the story broke and the mass legion of hypocrites both political and media embarked on their feeding frenzy it was obvious that the appointment would be voted down due to the lack of an SNP overall majority.
I agree they probably would have voted it down but it creates the precedent for the future. The Tories (bit unlikely they will ever be in power) and Labour could have greater difficulty in the future filling their cabinet given the record of some of their politicians.
Of course maybe Gillian Martin didn’t want to be part of this feeding frenzy, I could understand that.
I think you’re right. OTT, imho, and the same standards are not applied to our masters at Wastemonster!
Exactly. I’m really fed up that the SNP have to be seen to be whiter than white while other parties can say what the hell they like and nobody bats an eyelid.
I think it’s a good thing that the SNP should be like Caesar’s wife as they and everyone else knows, it’s a standard the others will never attain.
Agreed – I read the blogs in full carefully after becoming aware of the media coverage – they were intended to be satirical, albeit IMHO not great writing.
The use of overly colourful language to illustrate the points being raised was a gift to those wishing to take selective quotes out of context for malign reasons.
To misquote someone:
Think not what we can do for the minorities but what the minorities can do for us.
Agree completely re Gillian Martin.
agree.
The media in Scotland aren’t failing the public. Failure implies that they’ve at least made an attempt to serve the public interest.They are both politically compromised and corporately motivated in equal measure. Their job is the protection of the political orthodoxy, which in turn protects the establishment.
Serving the interests of the public? Not so much.
The public interest, our lives and life chances are collateral damage in what they laughably call a game. They are utterly and willingly complicit in the practice of UK politics, of manipulating public opinion. Creating rather than reporting news and selling a narrative against the interests of the readerships, viewers and listeners of the UK in general and Scotland in particular.
Something they might want to consider though. As and when Brexit and all the attendant UK devolution, border and economic agreements meet that immovable object? There’s going to be an inevitable and unavoidable outcome for politics and media practices in the UK.
I’d reckon the UK’s populations are going to miss out the whole asking pointed questions part and go straight to looking for the causes of their woes.
On that day, I wouldn’t be a politician or mainstream journo for all the gold in … etc. I’d also prefer we had some distance from the fallout by that point.
I don’t know what Gillian Martin said in a satirical blog years ago, nor do I care, that’s history and she has apologised and that’s good enough for me!
Unfortunately people don’t understand satire – I came across this problem time and again during the Indy Ref when I used to post articles by BBCScotlandshire – angry responses proved that folk believed what was written and took it seriously!
Anything can be twisted when taken out of context, and I’m assuming her response that it “didn’t reflect her views then”, means exactly that!
What I get totally pissed off about us the fact that any SNP elected member has to be whiter than white, more saintly than Mother Theresa and as pure as Jesus Christ himself!
It just scunners me that the SNP appear to capitulate to the screaming media hyenas, when nothing is said about all the scandals, the dark money, the paedophiles , the fraudsters, the out and out liars, the racists etc in the Tory government. They never seem to be held to account regarding any of their appalling acts, yet the SNP are vilified on the least little thing, and expected to be purer than the driven snow!
None of us are perfect, we are human, we make mistakes and as an educator, I endorse the idea that making mistakes is a vital part of how we learn and grow in knowledge and as a human being!
What makes me angrier still is that “politicians” like Trump can do and say anything they like, no matter how vile, racist and nasty with complete impunity and no one is prepared to do anything about it. In fact, he is virtually deified as a “saviour” by fundamentalist Christians in America!
Our media conveniently and deliberately ignores the paedophile politicians and the scandalous behaviour and racist views and comments of Tory politicians in our own country, whilst pouncing on the slightest misdemeanour of anyone vaguely connected with the SNP!
Scunnered of the whole attitude of the media to be honest and I really do think that the SNP ought to be more on the offensive rather than continually apologising because of every minor transgression any of their people may have made way back in time!
I’m not saying what Gillian said was in any way a “minor transgression”, because I don’t actually know what was said, but I don’t need to know because as far as I’m concerned she is a dedicated, hardworking, conscientious lady, whom I’m proud to know and who is dedicated to making the country of my birth a better place to live and ultimately an independent place to live.
Well said. I wholeheartedly agree.
Hear! Hear! Well said, Heather.
true
There’s a lot of discussion about the best time to have another independence referendum, perhaps instead we ought to be talking about the necessary time. That is so true and it is becoming more and more necessary. We need out.
It’s always been about the necessary time Movy. From the day Cameron announced an EU ref, process dictated eventual outcomes and actions.
Its not about when ‘the polls are right’. It’s way beyond that now. It’s about taking necessary and legal action at the right time to avoid the greatest amount of hardship for those in your care.
The only journalist who ever challenged any Tory recently is leaving the BBC. How they all must be ‘shaking’ in their shoes when considering the batch of wishy washy limp questioning by media so-called reporters.
This government is corrupt, incompetent and don’t appear to like each other very much, but they basically can do or say what they want with no challenge, so a little money glad handled in secret to help out a ‘chum’ is unlikely to bother them overly.
We also sorely need to have confidance in voting and at the moment I am really not sure that we can say that…
I have some concerns about voting too. The postal vote envelopes must not be opened until after the polling station vote is complete. Yes this may delay the count but who cares. Better accuracy. Perhaps we need international observers at the count.
I believe the SNP has just made a WM MP responsible for a blockchain voting system for postal votes, so this safeguards the vote and rooth the mooth will not get to know the result in advance
Great, thanks
I cannot stress enough just how IMPORTANT this is.
http://www.thenational.scot/news/16333441.read-ian-blackfords-full-speech-on-scottish-sovereignty-in-heated-commons-debate/
Spread it far and wide folks.
Also? Commit it to memory.
We, the people of Scotland, has a great ring to it, Sam.
Blackford played a blinder.
There can be no argument about our Claim of Right now.
I see Davidson and Carlaw refused to appear on BBC Radio GMS today to discuss the Saudi Arabia/DUP Dark Money.
Cat caught their tongues?
Last night’s debate takes us half way there. Westminster recognizes the CoR. No hiding place for Ms May and come the end result of the SC continuity bill case and final shape of the Brexit deal, it’ll be time to put all hands on deck.
Two more dominoes Jack. When they go, I’d be stunned if the FM’s first action wasn’t to call a referendum.
They’ll all have scurried of to their wee holiday but’n’bens in Spain Portugal and Italy for 10 weeks soon.
England is facing its biggest crisis since WWII and WM will fold its tent up and go on holiday for the summer.
I still favour October, when WM has run out of rope to hang itself.
They are meeting at Chequers tomorrow to formulate ‘cherry picking’ proposals to put to the EU27 which they know in advance will be rejected.
Then it will be the Froggies and the Krauts, the Spicks, and the Dagoes who are to blame for England’s unceremonious crash out of Europe.
It is going to end very badly indeed.
Airbus Jaguar Land Rover and many others have more or less given up on the Darling Duds of May.
They are moving their operations back into the EU.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs are at risk. 3 million EU citizens will be forced out of the UK.
More than a million Brits in Europe will be hung out to dry by their Parliament Back Home.
England’s economy will implode.
Ireland will start to bubble up.
All this will be known to the general public by the autumn.
We must make sure that Scotland remains within the EU when this happens.
Not long now.
Whoops there goes another kilowatt dam.
I have High Hopes that our time is nigh.
I wasn’t sure about Ian Blackford when he first became leader but WOW hasn’t he got into his stride in recent days? Powerful stuff!
The important bit last night? He has on Hansard record that the parliament of Scotland was reconvened. Not a devolved legislature, but a reconvened parliament. Worth thinking about given that next year marks Holyrood’s 20th birthday. 😉
Sam do you know if anything took place after this speech by Ian Blackford? A vote etc?
Here it is. Westminster had to consent that the Scottish people are sovereign. Taken from the Independent Newspapers Blog.
Westminster forced to admit the Scottish people are Sovereign
July 5, 2018Craig Sheridan 11 Comments
What happened?
The SNP have played an ace card when using their allocated Opposition Day debate. Standing order number 36 that was agreed and resolved without contention late last night in the House of Commons. This was a motion proposed for debate by Ian Blackford the SNP MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber and leader of the SNP group at Westminster.
What was the motion?
“That this House endorses the principles of the Claim of Right for Scotland, agreed by the Scottish Constitutional Convention in 1989 and by the Scottish Parliament in 2012, and therefore acknowledges the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs.”
In a nutshell, the SNP were looking for unambiguous admission from Westminster that Scotland has the absolute right to determine its own political future based on the will of the Scottish people.
Why is this important?
There has been a lot of talk since September 2014 (including from Unionist politicians) that Westminster holds a constitutional overlordship when it comes to Scotland. Meaning for example, Scotland can only have a meaningful and legal independence referendum if its agreed through a Section 30 order with the UK government as happened in 2014. It means that all of the ‘once in a generation and once in a lifetime’ bleating from unionists means absolutely nothing and that Scotland has the right to determine its future unilaterally based on the will of the people.
What’s the history?
1320 – The Scottish right to self determination based on the people being sovereign is an ancient political principle in Scotland and was first officially document in the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320.
1689 – Aspects of The ‘Claim of Right’ act of 1689 were written into Scottish constitutional law effectively ensuring no royal prerogative would sit above the Scottish Parliament. Especially interesting as Scotland is part of a UK that where all legislation gains royal assent, the exact opposite of our constitutional traditions. It’s worth noting though that the claim of right is not so much a legal standpoint as an accepted constitutional position in Scotland.
1989 – On the journey towards devolution and a Scottish Parliament the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly crafted a new version which was signed by the vast majority of Scottish politicians from all parties as well as churches, trade unions and other civic bodies, which read:
“We, gathered as the Scottish Constitutional Convention, do hereby acknowledge the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of Government best suited to their needs, and do hereby declare and pledge that in all our actions and deliberations their interests shall be paramount.
We further declare and pledge that our actions and deliberations shall be directed to the following ends:
To agree a scheme for an Assembly or Parliament for Scotland;
To mobilise Scottish opinion and ensure the approval of the Scottish people for that scheme; and
To assert the right of the Scottish people to secure implementation of that scheme.”
2012 – The Claim of Right was debated in the Scottish Parliament to allow MSPs to re-endorse the claims of the sovereignty of the Scottish people. At the time the then Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called on all parties to “recommit” to its principles.
2018 – Westminster debates Scotland’s Claim of Right and the motion is resolved unopposed. The full debate can be found at Hansard and is an interesting and highly entertaining read if you have a little (ok, a lot) time.
Let us commend the efforts of the SNP MPs at Westminster for maintaining a high momentum following the walkout and subsequent disruption tactics coincidentally during some football match. This clears the way for the next independence referendum. Its a political masterstroke and removes all debate around who calls the shots when it comes to Scotland’s political future – it’s the Scottish people.
Sorry not from Independent Newpaper but a blog in support of independence.
That’s pretty much the blow by blow Andy. 🙂
The British nationalist media’s consistent approach to independence (since 2007) has been one of tactical cleverness but strategic stupidity. They have burnt so many bridges for short-term advantage. Yes, they have won a few battles along the way but they are losing the war badly. All they have achieved in the long term is the hardening and toughening up of their indy opponents and the softening up of their own side. The British nationalist politicians have been treated with kid gloves for so long, they are soft as putty and fall to pieces on those occasions when challenged and even the msm can’t spin their bad news. How do you think the SG has produced two fantastic, detailed documents on indy, whilst the clueless tory government got away with a BREXIT plan which barely fills one side of a scrap of paper. People notice these disparities and the unfair coverage for one side. They really do notice.
It is frustrating at times because of the apparent static nature of opinion polls, with all the mayhem happening around us. However, we must be patient because we are challenging people’s belief systems, and people can be remarkably stubborn and irrational concerning their personal beliefs. Belief systems can be broken down, but it often takes repeated challenges. Now, people are currently being challenged like never before (even including 2014 when the last big seismic change occurred). Tipping points are being reached, and people are flipping their views on indy every day (mostly in our direction). It’s a trickle at the moment but these things always start this way. Another seismic shift is definitely on the way – it’s bubbling beneath the surface at the moment. Have faith – the flood is coming. 🙂
“And here comes Hurst! He’s got… (Wolstenholme is distracted by some of the crowd spilling onto the pitch)Some people are on the pitch! They think it’s all over! (Geoff Hurst scores to put England two goals ahead)It is now, it’s four!
Scotland July 2018.
Britannia waives the rules.
There is dark money available for any Fifth Columnist in Scotland prepared to sell his country down the river to maintain Scotland the colony, Scotland’s oil gas timberer fishes agriculture and rich lands for their English Masters.
Tories who enter politics are driven by a single ideology: undermine and destroy public services, sell them off to their pals and relatives, and make sure the wealth of Scotland is channelled into the pockets of the Few,the already wealthy, privileged Hierarchy who have held the Scottish People in their merciless grip for 300 years now.
You will never convince me that Jackson Carlaw and Adam Tomkins actually CARE about Scotland and the Scottish People.
This wee we heart of Tory Councillors tweeting intolerable ‘schoolboy’ craic, using language from the nasty weee Alt right Goebell’s phrase book..I’ll not repeat here.
They are evil little men.
Yet Glenn Campbell, Toodle Oo The Noo, and ‘Sevvie’ Carrell wouldn’t risk their jobs, look what happened to Isobel Fraser, by criticising the Establishment.
There is no way that Herald Scotland, sorry, Gerrard Scotland, and the Scotsman can sustain their existence with a readership 0f 20,000, yet they keep going.
They must me bleeding money, yet they keep going.
Where is the ‘dark money’ coming to bankroll our Fourth Estate Fifth Column?
I note that the Gerrard Scotland is reduced to advertising Trump’s Golf Holidays and M&S.
I commented on John Swinney refusing to appear on Brewer’s Sunday politics at the week end.
I suggested that we have nothing to do with the Scottish MSM from now until Independence Day.
Let the Brit Nats all meet and SNP BAD among themselves.
They thought it was all over in September 2014.
It is all over now, Baby Blue.
‘This week we hear..’ even.
My rage barometer.. my typos.
Keep the heid Jack we need you
The media’s behaviour does puzzle me and not in a good way. They are losing money , readership and credibility yet still they plough on in a manner which suggests a death wish attitude.
Somewhere there must be an angry wee journalist , frustrated by editorial demands , greetin’ as he or she writes ‘acceptable’ drivel just to earn a living.
Come oot ! Come oot wherever you are – Scotland needs some honest reporting , some digging and delving worthy of the name ‘ investigative journalism’ and not some Hello fanzine of the Lib/Lab/Con Party nor carpet sweeping of dirty doings of said amalgam.
Not sure if this mentioned already but here’s a link to all SUAT funding of “Scottish” Tories from 31 July 2001 to 22 December 2014. Quite substantial. 77 entries.
http://www.partyfunding.uk/index.php?task=funder&Donor_name=Scottish+Unionist+Association+Trust&Donor_type=Trust&Company_reg_no=&Postcode=&Status=
More on SUAT:
“I would like to especially thank the Trustees of the Scottish Unionist Association Trust for the Trust’s considerable financial support in 2017, particularly with support at the General Election.”
– Financial Report by The Treasurer, Scottish Conservatives
“Scottish” Conservatives Conference in Aberdeen – 1- 3 March 2018
FRINGE AGENDA – Thursday 1st March 2018
18.30 CONFERENCE CONVENOR’S RECEPTION Hosted by Mr Richard Wilkinson, Conference Convenor. Refreshments and wine, all representatives welcome. Kindly sponsored by The Scottish Unionist Association Trust.
21:30 SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATES’ RECEPTION Private function, invitation only. Kindly sponsored by The Scottish Unionist Association Trust.
http://www.scottishconservatives.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/handbook.pdf
That’s all for now …
“The role of the Scottish media isn’t to speak truth unto power, it’s to keep a lid on the independence movement.”
That is a well put and very significant observation.
Some plain speaking.
The media in Scotland is owned and produced by a foreign country with the sole aim of disseminating propaganda throughout Scotland. Do not buy these papers.
The TV license fee is a protection racket.