For the 45th consecutive time I have been invited, organised and then blocked at the last moment from a mainstream media appearance.
On Sunday I received this email from Channel 4:
Channel 4 have cleared their schedule for a live, hour long prime-time programme on Scottish Independence at 10pm on Wednesday 17th September in Edinburgh. I was wondering whether this is something you would consider being involved in?
With just hours to go before Scotland votes, the fate of the whole United Kingdom hangs in the balance. Jon Snow is hosting the debate live from Edinburgh, and will be joined by major politicians, voters, campaigners and well known faces from all across the United Kingdom to thrash it out one last time before the polls open.
We will have a panel of guests, and a front row of experts who will all join the discussion and we would love if he would consider coming along.
Do give me a call if you need more information or have any questions, we’d love to have you on the show if possible
On Monday I phoned them and agreed the details and they told me where to go. This afternoon they cancelled me because “the panel was full”. It was not full when they invited me or agreed everything.
Regular readers will know this happens again, and again, and again. I am invited to a programme, then shortly before the appearance am cancelled because some blocking mechanism steps in. The determination of the establishment to keep dangerous dissent off the airwaves is still implacable – even in Edinburgh tonight. By Friday they will look pretty forlorn.
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http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Scottish-Jewish-community-leader-Independence-would-not-be-favorable-for-policy-toward-Israel-375559
Just thought I’d throw in the Jerusalem Posts two Shekels worth !!
Here’s something else Intercept has dropped the ball on. NSA giving intel to Israel with prejudice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/opinion/israels-nsa-scandal.html?_r=0
Gutter’s last-ditch slogan “Divided We Fall” sounds like something that quintessential Brit Jimmy Savile would say to keep you from reporting the facefuck he gave you. Can’t deny that it’s appropriate – Scotland’s on the point of saying no more blowjobs for the royals.
Craig Murray,
I have a question regarding diplomatic stuff?
I would be somewhat interested in how the embassies and consulates will be divvied up.
Right now I can go to the UK Consulate in Osaka to register things like new kids and so can Scottish friends of mine. However, will we be able to do so in the event of independence?
Presumably it will be far too costly for Scotland to have anything like the representation world-wide that the UK does now. In fact, it is unlikely that the UK will be able to have the same representation it does now if it has to make cuts that come from the reduction in taxes and other revenues that come from Scotland.
So, what are Scotland’s plans here? Will they be permitted to continue using UK diplomatic premises following independence, or will they open their own or piggy-back another nation such as Norway or Ireland? Or will it be determined on a country-by-country basis? (For example, I think that Irish citizens in North Korea can get representation through the UK embassy there).
Also, will Scotland make Craig Murray an ambassador?
Maybe this is all covered somewhere in the White Paper. Anyone know?
Well, to all the people here deriding Scottish independence, we feel this is our last chance to save ourselves from the draconian neo-liberal Westminster monster. We can save our NHS,say no to fracking, stop killing our poor and sick people as well as people in foreign countries in illegal wars for plunder, keep our own money to spend on building the country up as we prefer and get rid of the weapons of mass destruction positioned near our biggest population centres. Vote YES for self determination and a decent fair and just democratic society. The British Empire ends tomorrow and good riddance!
“Anyone know?”
Of all the trivialities one could mention, this has to rate high on the Ben scale of supercilious. Independence will be a beginning, certainly not the pre-cast and instant paradise only a drunken sot would see, but it would be a new beginning and for that I applaud.
Having said that, they must prepare for the storm that will ensue.
Cheap Propaganda.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME-SgMny0ck
BEN: “Of all the trivialities one could mention, this has to rate high on the Ben scale of supercilious. ”
If you have no interest in the question then you need not answer it. But it is not a “triviality” for people who live and work abroad, and I presume it would not be considered a “triviality” for an ambassador. (Think about it!) I also think you use the word “supercilious” in a way that is unknown to mortal beings, so please be kind enough to use words the way that we would understand them.
“Independence will be a beginning, certainly not the pre-cast and instant paradise only a drunken sot would see, but it would be a new beginning and for that I applaud.”
Well, there’s no need for you to worry on that account. I certainly don’t expect an instant paradise in iScotland either and I’m glad you are keeping your expectations low. But are they low enough? 😉
AngrySoba
“I certainly don’t expect an instant paradise in iScotland either and I’m glad you are keeping your expectations low. But are they low enough? ;)”
Oh, how droll! Thank you for converting a few more people to YES.
Kathy: “Thank you for converting a few more people to YES.”
Really? I did all that by myself? Who are these people?
Anyway folks, I am sure you will be pleased to know that I looked it up myself. Apparently Scottish citizens will be able to get assistance in any EU embassy or consulate or any Commonwealth one.
““supercilious” in a way that is unknown to mortal beings, so please be kind enough to use words the way that we would understand them.”
I write words as I see them and hear them, so that’s not gonna change.
As to your one-issue voting, that’s your privilege and right.
AngrySoba: Good to see you’re still going! 🙂
Last I read on the point of Embassies, they would double-up with their British counterparts, where they don’t have offices of their own. My understanding is that civil servants will treat this whole business without rancour, and accommodate one another as well as possible.
I _think_ this was in the Saturday Independent a couple of weeks ago, on a special about the implications of an independent Scotland.
Hi Glenn,
Cheers for the answer. Yes, I looked in the Wee Blue Book and it seems that EU countries would be obliged to give Scottish citizens assistance, as would Commonwealth countries. I also expect there would be plenty of co-operation between the rest of the UK and Scotland on diplomatic issues, but I don’t suppose that can be a given.
The Wee Blue Book was in fact partly compiled, according to the acknowledgments, by Morag Kerr who was very active on the JREF forums.
Personally I hope for a “no” vote as I want the UK to stay together, but I expect whatever happens there will be some changes. Interesting times.
Cheers again!
Angrysoba
Well, you just sing from the same song-sheet as all the other thousands of online posters taking the piss out of everything Scottish. So you as a clone.
Also, will Scotland make Craig Murray an ambassador?
I should Hope so.
Ishmael @ 1;22
Cheap Propaganda
Fish has been making political statments for decades, some of his Musical Messages Very powerful stuff….Em Cheap shot
“Well, you just sing from the same song-sheet as all the other thousands of online posters taking the piss out of everything Scottish.”
I do not take the piss out of everything Scottish. Name one thing I have taken the piss out of, on the basis of it being Scottish?
And who are these people I turned into YES voters?
Are you just making things up?
Tony M:
Something might just be salvageable from the wreckage of the Labour Party, but failing that, there’s other options. Yes or No tonight, one encouraging thing we can take away from all this is the knowledge that grassroots campaigning works in the modern world. Such a shame you have been duped into campaigning for regressive nationalistic division rather than progressive class unity.
Vote ‘No’.
Node:
Your passion shines through. I envy you your optimism. But sadly it isn’t that easy.
Your endeavour to construct a kind, fair and prosperous society will attract ruthless, devious, well-organised and well funded subversion, from unexpected places.
As a wise man once said that “the most violent, mean and malignant passions of the human breast are the Furies of private interest”.
But I think you are overly cynical when you say that Westminster is irretrievably neo-con. It is the big parties that are infested with corrupt, lying neo-cons, not the Westminster system itself. Parliament is the sum of the people we elect to it, and there’s nothing stopping us electing good people, as they did in 1945. The presence on the benches today of Caroline Lucas and George Galloway (both from English constituencies, note), plus a fair sprinkling of sound old-Labour MPs, is evidence of that.
Vote ‘No’
Maybe they found better guests than you? Or maybe they know you can destroy the Union with one carefully modulated sentence?
Some events change everything for everyone. A quarter-century ago I uprooted my life to be in the thick of Die Wende, when the peoples euthanized a rotten regime. The Eastern Bloc is long gone but my life, like everyone’s, is still reverberating with cataclysmic salutary changes. Now it might happen again.
The British ruling class is on trial. The people of Scotland are the jury.
Britain’s anointed elites and the powers they rely on for preferment, the City of London, NATO, the US, they stand accused of failing the Scottish people. The penalty is not death or prison. They stand to lose some of the blood they would shed in illegal wars, and some of the assets they’d strip for their predatory banks. But this is only the beginning.
Whatever happens, you’ve shaken the Western Bloc. Nothing in the world is more important.
Jurors, thank you for your service.
Pete:
“He is especially dangerous because he has gazed deeply and from very close range into the inner workings of this country’s “permanent government.””
And then chosen not to be a Charles Crawford clone who obey the Ozymandias dictat ” Look On My Works Ye Mighty And Despair “.
Thanks Craig.
O/T That clever Mr Abbott in the Antipodes has moved so fast after the Hollande summit. He has found himself some terrrrists in his terrrrr raids. Give the man a gong Your Maj.
If it’s a close call, then it will be a ‘NO’ call.
The temptation to nudge the outcome on the most important vote in the UK’s democratic history is just too strong. Expect reports of voting irregularities.
But a close ‘NO’ will also be a defeat for your PM and Westminster. Possibly a case of LOSE-LOSE is in the offing.
Following on from Mary’s “O/T” news brief —
According to the leaders of the US, UK and Australia, “Islam is a religion of peace”. Even UK PM Cameron said so, shortly after one of his compatriots was beheaded by an adherant to this peaceable ideology. And not long after another adherent flipped out, presumably over a quarrel with a satanic feline, and cut off the head of his neighbour. And not really that long after Lee Rigby was murdered in an attempt to cut his head off.
There seems to be a problem here.
Establishment goons, liberal extremists and brain-dead parrots of popular slogans insist that “Islam is a religion of peace”. But nobody, absolutely *nobody*, can explain what that statement actually means. Even a “religion of violence” remains undefined by these cultural white ants.
Let’s just hope that Scotland self-innoculates against this cultural virus that is sweeping the Western world.
New Head-Lopping sports craze ‘be-headed’ for downunder :
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/09/17/isis-plot-to-behead-citizen-behind-sydney-anti-terror-raids-australian-pm/
A sensible (politically dissonant) view of things :
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/sleepwalking-toward-armageddon
[ALTERED DUE TO “AWAITING MODERATION” BLOCK]
Following on from M@ry’s “O/T” news brief —
According to the leaders of the US, UK and Australia, “Islam is a religion of peace”. Even UK PM Cameron said so, shortly after one of his compatriots was beheaded by an adherant to this peaceable ideology. And not long after another adherent flipped out, presumably over a quarrel with a satanic feline, and cut off the head of his neighbour. And not really that long after Lee Rigby was murdered in an attempt to cut his head off.
There seems to be a problem here.
Establishment goons, liberal extremists and brain-dead parrots of popular slogans insist that “Islam is a religion of peace”. But nobody, absolutely *nobody*, can explain what that statement actually means. Even a “religion of violence” remains undefined by these cultural white ants.
Let’s just hope that Scotland self-innoculates against this cultural virus that is sweeping the Western world.
New Head-Lopping sports craze ‘be-headed’ for downunder :
xttp://news.nationalpost.com/2014/09/17/isis-plot-to-behead-citizen-behind-sydney-anti-terror-raids-australian-pm/
A sensible (politically dissonant) view of things :
xttp://www.samharris.org/blog/item/sleepwalking-toward-armageddon
“Your comment is awaiting moderation.”
Funny that.
as a tennis fan, and a Murray fan – Andy and Craig – i hope this is for real!
‘No campaign negativity has totally swayed my view’: Andy Murray comes off the fence to let his 2.7m followers know his feelings just hours before independence vote
‘Yes’ supporters in Twitter were delighted with the reigning Sports Personality Of The Year’s tweet.
One said: ‘Bless you Andy. Fellow Scots going for the ace!’ while another said: ‘All power to @andy_murray – finally out for YES! It’s true!’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2760229/Has-Andy-Murray-come-favour-Scottish-independence-Tennis-star-tweets-No-campaign-negativity-totally-swayed-view.html
YES!
This is The Day Scotland.
A chance to make history,our history.
A chance to say no to Bullingdon Boy Eton Mafias,illegal wars,NATO,NeoCon madness,Westmonster corruption,rampant inequality,foodbanks,financial fixes and privatisatiion of key sectors for the benefit of the obscenely greedy psychopathic ‘elite’.
YES!
@ Mary. As you may know, I live in Australia. And I agree, it’s totally pathetic. I even got emails in work regarding the terror alert, there is increased policing, and broadcasts in public transport. It transpires that – wow – there was a beheading plot in Sydney CBD. Just like in The Middle East!
Everyone in my work has just been laughing at the obviousness of it all. We may laugh, but it’s deadly serious: a sitting Prime Minister has, with the collusion of the security services, manipulated the terror alerts in order to further his foreign policy. That should be a prison offence. And I don’t buy any of it for an instant. As usual it was probably some knuckleheads being manipulated by the security services, then ‘caught’ at the last minute. Happens all the time in the US.
Even in the unlikely event there was something to it, well our middle east ventures are to blame anyway. Abbott is a vile human being.
“Even in the unlikely event there was something to it, well our middle east ventures are to blame anyway. ”
Ah yes, it’s always a conspiracy. And if it’s not, it’s our fault anyway. We forced these poor jihadis to go around beheading and crucifying innocent people.