Scottish Independence: The Rules of the Game

Comments (4)

Join the Discussion

Your email address will not be published.

  1. Castle Rock says:

    Such a shame that we have to rely upon overseas television and press for balanced views and reporting on the independence debate – puts the BBC and the mainstream media in Scotland to shame.

    If it wasn’t for Bella and a few other news sites and blogs then we would really be up against it.

    Good to hear Patrick Harvie being unequivocal in his support for independence.

  2. Alex Buchan says:

    What the piece showed for me is the importance of standing out against cynicism. I felt that the Labour MSP exuded a kind of cynicism that used to be common place in political discourse in Scotland, and Curtice pointed out the cynicism of the unionist position; less about what is in Scotland’s interests and more about inflicting maximum damage on the SNP.

    This cynicism sheds light on the unionist parties underlying mentality which is to treat Scotland in the same way as they treated every other British colony, which is to feed it disinformation in the greater interests of Westminster – which is where ultimately all unionist politicians whether MPs or MSPs are most committed.

    For me the main battle ground in this referendum is in exposing this cynicism and countering it with honest rational arguments. This documentary was enlightening in showing this in action. Patrick Harvey, especially, contrasted well with the Labour MSP. If the referendum campaign is conducted in this way as a contest between unionist cynicism against a different way of doing politics, then I think that there is an outside chance that the Scottish public’s aspirations to something different and better could carry the day.

    Even if it failed to win the referendum it could still decidedly shift the centre of gravity of Scottish politics in the longer term. What is becoming more and more clear is just how old fashioned and out of tune Labour in particular, but all the unionist are.

  3. David McCann says:

    A balanced view. How unusual! We still have time to get across the message. Ill be posting this on my Facebook page for starters.

  4. JBS says:

    From the BBC website, 3 March 2012:

    ‘…Ms Lamont is about to call in aid two of the biggest beasts of all, Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown.

    This is for a campaign – which she will lead – to make the Labour case for preserving the Union.’

    Scottish independence is now inevitable.

Help keep our journalism independent

We don’t take any advertising, we don’t hide behind a pay wall and we don’t keep harassing you for crowd-funding. We’re entirely dependent on our readers to support us.

Subscribe to regular bella in your inbox

Don’t miss a single article. Enter your email address on our subscribe page by clicking the button below. It is completely free and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.