Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Is Sarah Smith auditioning (again) to become Scottish Tory press officer?

As you probably know by now, the Scottish Parliament voted at 5pm today to deny legislative consent for Westminster's EU Withdrawal Bill, and did so by a thumping 93 to 30 margin.  It would be an unprecedented breach of the Sewel Convention for the UK government to proceed without consent, but that is apparently what they are minded to do.  So we're now into uncharted waters twice over - not only are we heading towards the first clear breach of the Sewel Convention, but we're also awaiting a date in the Supreme Court as the UK government makes its first ever attempt to have legislation of the elected Scottish Parliament struck down by judges.

It's probably fair to say that you wouldn't quite have a full appreciation of the significance of these events if you've been relying on the "analysis" of the BBC's Scotland Editor Sarah Smith, which has been embedded into the main online BBC article on the subject.  According to her, this won't actually be the first overruling of the Scottish Parliament by Westminster - it supposedly happened last year when Theresa May said no to an independence referendum, and nobody cared then, and nobody will care now.

Just a few snags with that -

1) It's a fictionalised version of what happened last year.  Nobody has a clue whether Theresa May would have got away with saying "no" to an independence referendum, because she didn't say "no" to a request that was actually pressed.  She was given respite by Nicola Sturgeon's voluntary decision to put the request on hold for a year or so.  The day of reckoning is yet to come, but perhaps isn't too far off.

2) It's an utterly bogus and irrelevant comparison anyway.  It is not within the devolved competence of Holyrood to require Westminster to pass a Section 30 order, so the "now is not the time" schtick (as outrageous and undemocratic as it was) did not represent a breach of the Sewel Convention or of the devolution settlement.  The current plans to transfer powers from Edinburgh back to London without consent most certainly do.

3) How dare a BBC editor tell her viewers what they care about and what they don't care about?  That's pure propaganda, and is exactly the sort of thing a Tory spin doctor would say - "the people of Scotland don't care about this, they want Nicola Sturgeon to get on with the day job, etc, etc".  By contrast, and not unreasonably, the SNP line is that of course the people of Scotland care about protecting the devolution settlement they voted for so emphatically in the referendum of 1997.  What business is it of a BBC editor to adjudicate for herself, on the basis of no supporting evidence that I'm aware of, that the Tory spin is factual and the SNP perspective is not?  (Especially given that any alleged public apathy has been cultivated by the BBC burying its own coverage of the power-grab wherever humanly possible.)

It's particularly ironic to recall that Sarah Smith is the daughter of the late John Smith - the man who popularised the view that devolution is the "settled will" of the Scottish people.  I wonder what he would have made of his daughter's notion that people don't actually care about their own settled will.

58 comments:

  1. This is just a tactic from the remoaners who want Brussels to run Scotland. The Nat sis do not want powers returned from Brussels and yet they moan, big yawn.

    ReplyDelete
  2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_Ramsay,_Baroness_Ramsay_of_Cartvale

    Have a wee read at this and see Sarah"s pedigree.

    She is bomb and fireproof, no matter how bad she is, she just gets promoted

    The buggers are everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And she's a Labour (!) peer.
      Labour - managing plebs on behalf of the Conservatives since 1923.

      Delete
  3. BBC avoid reporting on the big issues facing Scotland's Parliament All The Time. It can be no wonder that she imagines folk don't care - the BBC are supposed to be telling in an Impartial way what goes on but never do, unless of course a negative spin can be put on it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The british nationalist bbc loves her because she's willing to say anything to do down Scotland.

    If you pay the licence fee you are subsidising her anti-Scottish propaganda.

    Don't pay the bbc tax.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are the knob that wants to do down Scotland by selling out to the EU. The BBC expose the Nat si hypocrisy.
      Strange how you Nat sis never put up an argument why you want to sell out Scotland to the EU. Do give it a try!

      Delete
    2. Simple: In the UK, we have no power of veto over laws from Westminster we don't want. In the EU, we would.

      Delete
    3. Oh Illy, that answer is much to complicated and beyond comprehension for somebody like GWC2

      Delete
  5. Man,and his parliament,cannot live by conventions alone.
    The Westminster establishment and it's state owned broadcaster view a Scottish parliament,no longer under their control,as a rebellious faction who can be ignored when it suits them.
    Because Westminster is a political establishment whose history and traditions derive power from the monarch,they think it is OK to ignore the democratically elected parliament of Scotland.
    The impossible union between two states who have diametrically opposed views about where sovereignty lies is now coming to the fore despite the best efforts of the London based media to suppress it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. There is an obvious solution. Here is the link for cancelling:

    https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/cs/no-licence-needed/about.app

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should give the link for Pravda/RTA Herr Tomlin and get some truthful news.

      Delete
    2. Is Pravda now owned by the Germans? Inquiring minds want to know.

      Delete
  7. Although I usually find the BBC to be impartial, I agree with this article.

    A constitutional crisis is brewing, and concessions on both sides will have to be made and agreement made (like in Wales).

    The Scottish govt will have to accept it was a UK vote to leave the EU, and one part of the UK shouldn’t try to veto that.

    The UK govt will have to soften its Brexit vision and pay more respect to the Scottish Parliament. Yes we live in a unitary state and therefore yes the UK is supreme, but now is not the time to ‘test’ if the Scots care about this situation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Union2 You should try to see this from a Scottish point of view.
      Using the UK vote angle is just a cover for England outvoting everybody else.
      They don't want to give up the de facto veto they feel is their entitlement.
      It's 2018. Nae mair tugging the forelock. These powers are ours.
      The UK is not supreme.
      An English supreme Court has no authority over Scots law.
      Treaty of Union 1707.

      Delete
    2. I do, I just mean the referendum was a UK one, not a Scottish or English or Welsh or Northern Irish one.

      Presumably the UK Supreme Court will find against the UK govt then? Is that what we’re expecting here?

      Delete
    3. I highly doubt the UK supreme court will find against the UK government. If the UK government has any sense at all it will have made sure the letter of the rules support it before taking action.

      9 wolves and a sheep vote on who's for dinner. What should the sheep do?

      Delete
    4. It’s very obvious from many of the remarks on here that there is very little respect from the unionist for the Scottish Govermant, the Scottish people or the promises that were made by Westminster and the Better Together team during the 2014 referendum. Just lie after lie from them, that’s wht they are so aftaid of another referendum to soon, it will be difficult to spin the same lies. However another referundum is coming, in fact we will have as many referendums as we need, because we only have to win once. So, Neverendums oh ha ha you might just have to live with it until Yes wins.


      Delete
    5. How about a best of 3 if yes wins?

      Delete
    6. Are you the full shilling? Nat si Tow ree tossa!

      Delete
    7. How about a best of 3 if yes wins?

      Of course, if parties committed to a referendum on rejoining the UK were to win a majority in parliament.

      Delete
    8. Well at that stage it would be 1-1 with all to play for!

      Better yet - (and seeing how most Scots don’t want another referendum) how about a referendum on whether there should be another referendum?

      Delete
    9. If you want to stand on that platform, be my guest.

      Delete
  8. I noticed the shoddy article myself. This paragraph stands out:

    "This prime minister has ignored the will of the Scottish Parliament before. This time last year it voted in favour of a second indyref and the PM said no. There was no noticeable uprising of popular outrage then. And there is unlikely to be so now."

    The article links a former article to where the PM said no (12th March 2017) which actually predates the second on the Scottish parliament's vote by a full two weeks (28th March)! So in fact, it was the Scottish parliament defying the PM, and not the PM ignoring the Scottish parliament. No wonder there was little popular outrage.

    This is errant and incompetent reporting at its worst.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very good spot there, although the link currently has 16th March as the big fat ‘no’ date.
      How many of us can remember that sequence, given the overwhelming narrative that UK said ‘no’ to a referendum request?
      She should be taken aside and told to try and be a proper journalist. Fat chance though.

      Delete
    2. Oooooooh! Errant. Sperrant. Merrant and Jerrant.

      Jocko tit

      Delete
  9. Many 'scottish' Tories oppose the Brexit 2 year transition period, but think denying Scotland it's rightful powers for 7 years is fine.
    Never forget they fought tooth and nail against the Scottish Parliament in 1979 and 1997.
    Theresa May cannot impose the Brexit bill on Scotland. We are the people and we say No.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We ara English Coos. Scottish Coos are rubbish meat.

      Delete
    2. Herman the GermanMay 16, 2018 at 1:50 AM

      EU coos are ra best and subsidised.

      Delete
  10. Sarah Smith may be from an illustrious Labour family, but they had nothing to do with plebs socially.
    "I've never even talked to a council house tenant," chortled Ms Smith at a meeting of the Dowanhill Ratepayers Association.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Four attended and three were in arrears.

      Delete
    2. But who paid for their lobster pate blinis? Maybe Mummy, because poor Ms Smith's not even on House of Lords expenses yet.

      Delete
    3. Lobster pate sounds revolting. Chips and gravy for me.

      Delete
    4. My mother was a lobster pate blini.

      Delete
    5. If my mother had lived long enough to see Eck she would have seen a very fat RT traitor Lobster.
      That Sarah Smith seems like very nice person who is unbiased.

      Delete
  11. My mother knows Sarah Smith's mother. She cleans the Smith mansion on Mon Wed and Fri then washes out Baron Foulkes's bottles on Tue, Thu, Say.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My mother knew the man that run the steamie.

      Delete
    2. She does that for No pay because she supports British ideals lyke Labour Ladies and Gentlemen's solidarity with plebs and Labour Barons and Baronesses and getting £300 a day for farting in fancy dress in London.
      Knickerless nat sis too thick to get the money.
      Jocko twats.

      Delete
    3. This sort of thing after a busy man. Oh yeah. Right, knickerless

      Delete
    4. That wis ma granda. He wis humpin the wummin fur a free washin ticket.

      Delete
    5. He was getting humped by Reggie so I hear. The old gut thumper. But I'm still having to get the money in florins.

      Delete
  12. Duke of SutherlandMay 16, 2018 at 8:10 PM

    I exported the inbred Scots and their cattle to Canada and the USA. Look at them now!

    ReplyDelete
  13. We hate English coos mair than the JPF.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DUP Moderate MemberMay 16, 2018 at 11:20 PM

      We hate Scottish coos because they are contaminated by Coatbridge Irish coos.

      Delete
    2. I am a freelance gospel singer and after long sermons I like getting massages from well-built young men in hotels in Belfast.
      My name is not Iris or Arlene or Michelle.

      Delete
    3. JPF = Jeremiah Plugs Fuds

      Delete
  14. Your 1) is laughable. There was nothing 'voluntary' about Sturgeon's retreat. She secured a vote to seek a Section 30 order. She had a big press conference about it in Bute House. She was told not to bother by May. She backed down.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Boris the Bold Great British BlokeMay 16, 2018 at 10:08 PM

      Sturgeon just wants the EU to administer Scotland. She will try anything for that goal. She should resign. She is an EU beaurocractic fanatic.

      Delete
    2. My mother is a wooden bureau used by Senior Jacques Le Froggo in Brussels.

      Delete
    3. I'll see your 1 and double your 30, Glynis.

      Delete
    4. Are you the real Doitchmark, Mark? Hahahahaha.

      Delete
  15. Grateful to BBC News for reminding us that this is an important anniversary of the Dambusters. BBC showing the 1955 film tomorrow then a pair of gogglebox mini celebs doing a Royal Wedding at the weekend.

    Looking forward to living in 1947.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Iain Taylor Klien Corporal Shoten Waffen SSMay 17, 2018 at 10:16 AM

    Looking forward to a 1933 English and Juden Frei Schottland.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ach well aff tae London on the Sleeper tonight for the big event on Saturday. Good to see the Protestant Ascendency will continue for at least another century. The Scottish Nationalist Irish Coatbrig mob will be scunnered but at least they will win another cup to compensate. GSTQ.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bet ye dinnae ken whit the inside o a kirk leuks like ya radge bigot.
      Scotland's secret shame, that's you.

      Delete
    2. Us Billy Boys go to the Ludge not the Kirk. And we do not Wodger children like the Scotlands real shame the Papist church.

      Delete
  18. Holy Willie says Yeah right, Bonnie Prince Charlie!

    ReplyDelete