tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post6609686691012304782..comments2024-01-18T10:54:54.459+00:00Comments on Iain Macwhirter Now and Then: SNP are back. Bad day for monkeys.iain macwhirterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486911281896217461noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-57047603622799497312011-02-20T12:34:07.042+00:002011-02-20T12:34:07.042+00:00I do hope that more truthful and unbiased reportin...I do hope that more truthful and unbiased reporting like this piece are forthcoming. I have not read the Scotsman or the Herald in ages as the content is too negative. Thus sites like this give me information on politics that make sense to me and my familyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-51530174036577182352011-02-18T16:05:40.918+00:002011-02-18T16:05:40.918+00:00I have to agree with many others, I have read and ...I have to agree with many others, I have read and watched Iains analysis over the years on various Scottish political stories and he is by far the best bar none in terms of calling it how it is.<br /><br />I don't believe there is any journalist or media correspondent in Scotand who could tie his shoelaces.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-33506080402178962782011-02-18T10:20:53.345+00:002011-02-18T10:20:53.345+00:00My oh my oh my are we now seeing the media finally...My oh my oh my are we now seeing the media finally getting to grips of how bad it will be for Scotland if Ian Gray becomes first minister ? I hope so however until the BBC stops being a Labour mouth piece ,the SNP will have to fight for every vote.Like many who want to see Scotland become a better place I also have given up on The Scotsman and The Herald which only seem to print negative stories about Scotland and now get my news online via Newsnet Scotland ,your blog Iain,Go lassie go,Bella Caledonia,Syniadau etc ...NConwayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03221619304790182655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-66449154636429628652011-02-18T01:09:11.459+00:002011-02-18T01:09:11.459+00:00A very good article Iain. As a Scot living abroad...A very good article Iain. As a Scot living abroad I now rely (like so many others) on Newsnet Scotland, blogs like your own and to a lesser extent the Caledonian Mercury for my Scottish news. I cancelled my online subscription to the Scotsman a long time ago. As for the BBC Scotland website, well the least said the better.<br /><br />I think more and more folk are waking up to the idea that the real news is out there, they just have to look for it. <br /><br />For Scotland's sake I hope the SNP win again in May.Brian - Hong Kongnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-74747844823625788362011-02-17T22:17:14.790+00:002011-02-17T22:17:14.790+00:00Here, forget about the politics for a second - tha...Here, forget about the politics for a second - that guy can get me Kenny Chesney tickets! I love Kenny Chesney!Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-33138287037562291722011-02-17T20:04:53.176+00:002011-02-17T20:04:53.176+00:00Very nice article.
I am mystified just what Iain ...Very nice article.<br /><br />I am mystified just what Iain Gray stands for. I think he must be playing it safe, pushing the traditional Labour brand in Scotland (anti-Tory/SNP, welfarism, apprenticeships etc) and with no new appreciation for the new context we find ourselves in 10 years into devolution. Otherwise he is just a straw-backed politician with nothing really to say for himself. Whereas Salmond has really gone for it in his four years, and most importantly for me, earmarked where Scotland's economy must go towards (new energy technologies)in order to carve out a place for us in the new world economy (cf Iain's blog post before). It is disheartening either way, and even as someone who is inclined to vote for the SNP and who thinks it has helped them prosper as late, I don't think it has served politics as a whole in this country well. The chance to bring about a devolution of ideas, as well as the formal political departments, seems to have been lost.<br /><br />NeilAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-89916776513496892962011-02-17T16:54:11.724+00:002011-02-17T16:54:11.724+00:00Great post except "Labour has a largely anony...Great post except "Labour has a largely anonymous front bench, apart from Andy Kerr and Wendy Alexander"<br /><br />Andy Kerr?? Really? <br />I wouldn't let Kerr run the local youth club finances let alone be in charge of Scotland's purse strings.<br /><br />John Swinney is an absolute financial wizard!<br /><br />Wendy's gone, so if the SNP only have Kerr to worry about then I think they'll still be in power come May.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-37549569503492069732011-02-17T16:17:23.188+00:002011-02-17T16:17:23.188+00:00Very good article and said what needed to be said....Very good article and said what needed to be said.<br /><br />As to your comment: ""As far as policy is concerned, I am mystified as to what Labour's programme actually is.""<br /><br />As afar as labour policy is concerned it can be summed up as: 'Whatever the SNP has done we [Labour] will do more of it - more police, more council houses etc. And as far as our own policies are concere.ned we will wait for the SNP to produce their policy proposals then we will be agin' them!"<br /><br />As for the council tax, I think Ian Gray has announced at least 4 policies on that from stopping the freeze, through capping any rises, then abolishing it altogether then not abolishing it at all. The last two all in the space of one week.<br /><br />One quibble, reducing class sizes was also Labour policy at the last election and they reneged on it completely once they lost and did nothing but ridicule the policy and deride the SNP's attempt to implement it. Now if they [Labour] had worked with the SNP on a policy they both espoused maybe we would have been further along the road of implementation.<br /><br />As to Mr Gray as a leader, hius complete invisibility at times such as during the recewnt Megrahi affair is hardly the mark of a leader unless you are a graduate of the Gordon Brown School of Leadership (Dean of Faculty: McCavity)cwhnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-79606596894855639932011-02-17T14:01:36.203+00:002011-02-17T14:01:36.203+00:00Thank you, Iain, for a fair, well-pitched view of ...Thank you, Iain, for a fair, well-pitched view of the political picture in Scotland at the moment. It is difficult finding your kind of fairness in the mainstream Scottish media (MSM). I've given up on The Scotsman - and on The Herald (yes, I know/suppose your piece appeared there today but I was unable to register with the online edition in order to read what you'd written). I've also dropped all interest in BBC Scotland (and that Brian chappie and his stifling blog and so-called Big Debate ... if the BBC wants to give Scots a debate, let it include our First Minister in a televised national debate). <br />In fact, the MSM in both paper and online form are becoming less and less interesting, more and more predictable, pushing more and more a Labour agenda. It is becoming easier and easier to ignore them and reach for something more fulfilling - like Newsnet Scotland, Bella Caledonia, Scottish Review and a string of well-written, breath-of-fresh-air blogs. Like yours. Thank you, Iain.Europeanhttp://charles100@mailsystem.dknoreply@blogger.com