Careful What You Wish For

indexMoaning about celebrity culture has become a bit of an art form at Bella. We just about succeed in resisting the urge to write about the TOWIE star Mark Wright being paid five grand to flick a switch in Perth as the end of Western civilisation, but we thought we might actually be becoming a Daily Mail editorial, so we resisted (‘The only way is Perth’).

The game of which SLEBS are backing Yes and which are backing NO is pretty futile and runs counter to the whole idea of ‘us’ taking control. But the weekend interview with Texas front-woman Sharleen Spiteri IS really funny (‘A little more conversation’, Sunday Herald). She’s plugging her new album The Conversation and interviewer Alan Morrison quizzes her about her indy preferences …

“The thing is, I would be a hypocrite to say anything because I don’t get a frigging vote,” she says today, with visible frustration. “Even though I have a house in Scotland and pay my taxes, I have no vote. I have a home in Scotland, I spend a lot of time in Scotland, we have a studio in Scotland, we have offices in Scotland, everything is in Scotland. But I’m not allowed to vote.”

Er, no, cos you don’t live here. It’s not very complicated.

“I’ve always said there definitely has to be a Scottish Government, no doubt about that… It can always work better, but the level of education in Scotland is amazing in comparison to England.”

Er, there is a Scottish Government. Slightly confused at this point. Why would having a better education system be a reason to vote No?

“At this moment in time, especially when financially things are so tough, surely the UK should be coming together rather than pulling apart?”

Yeah, you’re not really paying attention are you?

Perhaps sensing maximum density the interviewer takes a different tack, asking: ‘Surely as a musician, however, she can sense that there’s a very distinctive Scottish artistic identity that separates it from the rest of the UK? And don’t the audiences abroad recognise that too?’

“Oh, yes,” she agrees. “You look out and the flags are there. The other night the wee tartan tammies with orange hair were being chucked up on stage.”

And there it is – Scottish cultural encapsulated in a tammie. Wha’s like us eh?

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  1. ronald alexander mcdonald says:

    Considering her logic, she’d be an appropriate replacement for Blair McDougall.

  2. The Jimmy Hats comment is priceless, but I also liked this bit from the article:

    “Yes, but that’s why the government within Scotland has got to be stronger and harder. It still doesn’t mean I think we should pull apart. There’s no point in being a Scottish Government unless they’re going to fight really hard for what Scotland needs and what Scotland wants … Because anything that can help people live a better life is worth fighting for. But I personally don’t think [independence] is the route to get there because, in the long term, it would be worse.”

    So the Scottish Government has to be “stronger and harder”, it has to “fight really hard for what Scotland needs and what Scotland wants” and “anything that can help people live a better life is worth fighting for”… but she rejects the one thing that would fulfil all the criteria, merely saying that it would be worse (really? Worse than Westminster? Is that even possible?), without actually explaining how.

    Usual unionist logic, then.

  3. DM says:

    Didn’t she do an interview for the Record earlier in the year which also turned out to be comedy gold? 🙂

  4. Abulhaq says:

    Thankfully many of the so-called celebs intending to vote no are nonresidents. Who really pays attention to the goss about voting intentions of ex doctor Whos, Euan MacGregor or Ms Spiteri? This is serious business not show business. Anyway, the ur-James Bond (can he vote?) is on our side, that’s more than adequate.

  5. From Wings over Scotland

    The article’s headline, “Texas singer Sharleen Spiteri: I wouldn’t vote for Scottish Independence”, is entirely accurate – the 1980s pop star lives in London and won’t be voting in the referendum. Her reasoning, though, is a touch unexpected.

    “The 45-year-old, who was rushed to hospital with concussion last month after she fell while filming a video, believes that Scotland would crumble if it decided to go it alone.

    She said: “As far as I’m concerned, I’m British. And, yeah, I’m Scottish but I feel I’m part of the UK. I think it’s very important to have a Scottish government who make decisions for Scotland but I can’t understand how Scotland would survive independently. We don’t have the resources – like oil and gas – we’d need to keep Scotland afloat.“

    Now, admittedly we’ve just got up and haven’t checked ALL the papers yet, but we’re reasonably sure Scotland is in fact still awash in enough oil to prop up the economy for several decades. If it had run out last night, we feel all but certain we’d have heard about it. And possibly Ms Spiteri’s opinion has been affected by her concussion injury. But the rest of the article is somewhat on the dubious side too.

    “The I Don’t Want a Lover singer joined the likes of Ewan McGregor, Billy Connolly, Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie and Sir Alex Ferguson who have nailed their colours to the No mast.”

    http://wingsoverscotland.com/low-information-voter-of-the-day/

  6. Didn’t she used to be a hairdresser? They can talk s***e all day barely pausing for breath.

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