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Morning, my absent friends, where you all at?
So. The other day growth figures for the Scottish economy were published. Scotland grew 0.4% compared to the same month last year, compared with 0.2% for the UK as a whole. Over the year, however, the figures were 1.3% vs 1.2%. On tge morning BBC breakfast show, Scottish news gets about a 2 minute slot every half hour, and in this brief window the inestimable Jackie Bird said that Scottish growth was "roughly the same" as for the UK. Now to me it is obvious that she is alluding to the more meaningful annual figure, and that she us correct.
This has unleashed a storm of protest from the Scottish Independence camp, screams of outrage that the institutiobally biased BBC Scotlznd are suppressing the real truth, that Scottish growth is double the UK's, because the BBC's sole role in life is to attack the very idea of Scottish independence in general, and the SNP in particular. This notwithstanding the fact that the figures were quoted in full in the lunchtine bulletin and in some detail on the BBC News website. This has become something of a pattern among my more rabid acquaintances in the indy movement, and is becoming tiresome. As you kniw, I am broadly in favour of their goals, but am becoming weray of their tactics.
This happens everywhere though. People with a narrow political agenda always believe the media, and especually the BBC, are buased against them because the Beeb does not stick to the same constrained world view. The Indy crowd see every report unfavourable to Scotland as bias and conspiracy, every favourable report as reluctant acknowledgement of inescapable truth.
Frankly, if these are the people who will be running an independent Scotland, I want no part of it. Fortunately, they are mostly just blowhards with too much time, electrons and probably semen on their hands.
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The Great World Debate
