Wakey Wakey

The relentlessly negative Labour campaign continues backed by a relentlessly negative Unionist media pack doing its bidding (see the Records best shot - nae booze if you back independence! - right). But people aren't stupid and know when they're being lied to.

It's amazing also watching the UK & London media wake up to what's going on. Melanie Reid in the Times writes yesterday on the SNP and the gender gap. There's the usual casual barrage of lazy stereotypes, racism and sloppy writing, though she does grudgingly admit that, despite being intriniscally thuggist and macho ("nationalism is invariably a dark and macho business. Change on a scale that alters boundaries is rarely the work of women...") the SNP manifesto 'devoted considerable weight to childcare, nursery education and primary school class sizes.'

Her argument is patronising to women and hugely ignorant of the input in self-determination struggles of women round the world. She writes: "We can play at armchair psychology all day, but it seems indisputable that most women don’t start wars of independence, however benign, because they’re too busy trying to run a peaceful home and bring up children in a stable environment. Continuity, stability, freedom from conflict: these are feminine urges and always have been. Women prefer correspondingly calm, sensible politics. "

Tell that to Rose Gentle.

The picture painted of the calm benevolence of the British State posed against the SNP's modest social democratic policies is surreal. "One does not have to recall much of the Yugoslavian conflicts, Chechnya or even Northern Ireland to understand that the rhetoric of deunification is clothed in black leather jackets and spoken in a deep voice" she writes. Has she met Roseanne Cunningham or Rose Kane or Margo MacDonald or Rosemary Byrne?

Weird stuff.

It's not just the English press that's publishing mince. Alex Bell has a good piece in allmedia here, wher we writes: "Why does every newspaper want to alienate nationalist readers? I struggle to find a rag in the morning which won’t accuse me of being a reckless threat to the stability of Scotland. Not only is this alienating to me and, presumably, a lot of other potential customers, but it seems like bad
business.

Let me tell you what it is like for readers such as me. Ahead of the elections to the Scottish Parliament next month, polls which show an SNP lead are accompanied by copy which suggests this is a bad thing.

When The Times ran a survey putting the main nationalist party ahead of Labour, the editorial fretted about the “far-left policies” of the SNP, while Tony Blair was ‘blamed’ for bringing this about. Any copy on what an opportunity this might be for Scotland? None - which is kind of odd, as that implied there was nothing positive to report about the policy which was winning the most popular support."