I really feel for Youth Employment minister Angela Constance. While every other politician in Scotland was living it up in luxury at the posh Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh for the Scottish Politician of the Year awards, she was doing the rounds of the tv studios with Hugh Henry, defending the indefensible - Alex Salmond not just getting the figures on FE funding wrong, but in such smug, pugnacious style.
Sending Angela out there is a sign that not all has gone to seed at SNP Towers. There are still brain cells in there capable of having the odd good idea. It is actually impossible to dislike Angela. She combines intelligence with a genuinely pleasant manner. If they'd sent Mike Russell out there, or Kenny MacAskill, there would have been a very unedifying, massive row. Angela just got on with her impossible task.
Now, Hugh Henry by rights should have wiped the floor with her. He didn't, though. I've never met him so I don't know what he's like in real life, but his manner came across as an unappealing hybrid of dour and smug, sour, perhaps?
Angela took a bit of a novel line on the Scotland Tonight sofa that she didn't dare repeat to Gordon Brewer on Newsnight. She said it was comforting that we had a First Minister who was willing to admit when he was wrong and apologise genuinely for it. Oh, Angela. Comforting is a steaming plate of buttery mashed potato, comforting is chicken soup, or a lovely bar of dark chocolate, or a lambswol shawl or a puppy. Comforting is NOT Alex Salmond in that pin striped suit that makes him look especially shifty being pulled up for getting his facts wrong. Again.
At best, it was a score draw, but I think Angela actually had the edge, despite one major blooper. She said that Salmond's error was in fact tiny considering that the FE budget was £500 billion. Err, no, the entire Scottish budget is £34 billion. She meant million.But I guess it's only a zero, and that's nothing, really... I'm surprised Brewer didn't call her on it
Hugh Henry was doing his damnedest to have a row with Angela, but not getting anywhere because she was not having any of it. He was the one who actually looked defensive as she calmly made her points. I would probably have gone at her with the Kirk Ramsay stuff sooner. I don't have a heart of stone. I can forgive an error with figures, quickly recognised. I have a much bigger problem with Mike Russell's ridiculous over-reaction and abuse of power over the Stow College chairman. There's an argument that he should have made people aware he was recording the proceeedings, but he had a good reason for doing so and he didn't use the information inappropriately. He did not deserve to be put in a position by the Cabinet Secretary from which he had no option but to resign. Had Angela been the Education Secretary, I cannot imagine that she would have done something so ill-judged over one mistake. I'm sure she would have had the good sense to realise that forcing one of your biggest critics out of office is simply not a good look.
There was quite a lot being said on Twitter last night about how if this was Westminster, there would have been a real crisis. Yes, when Gove got his school numbers wrong, there was a huge stooshie but he kept his job after the story rumbled on for a few days. The thing is, mistakes happen in everyday life and as long as you acknowledge them and put things right quickly, that should be an end of it. He got a figure wrong. Nobody died. Move on.
The bigger problem is the culture of this administration which is becoming increasingly out of touch, arrogant and sleekit. Spending thousands of pounds of our hard earned taxes on covering up that you haven't got legal advice you created the impression you had does not show any respect for the people who elected you. What people see is not the debates on late night telly only watched by political geeks. They see that there have been a series of events where the SNP has been seen to say one thing and do another, or get things wrong, or behave with arrogance. They might get away with sending the nicest person they can find out to defend them for a little while, but it won't work indefinitely.
You can watch Newsnight here and Scotland Tonight here. Newsnight is particularly worth watching for its extended coverage of Salmond and Russell's gloatathon on the way from the Chamber after FMQs to the lift where they said, variously, that Labour were silly and that Johann Lamont had failed in what she had tried to do. Ouch!
Showing posts with label Scotland Tonight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scotland Tonight. Show all posts
Friday, November 16, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
#nomorepage3's Lucy Anne Holmes interviewed on Scotland Tonight
Do you know, I feel a bit like Cilla Black? You can hardly have failed to know, courtesy of the big box in the sidebar, that I'm supporting a new grassroots campaign which aims to get the editor of the Sun to pull the Page 3 feature. As I was writing this round up post yesterday, 2000 signatures were added. That made 6,000 in 24 hours and there have been more since. We're now just over 2000 away from 20,000.
Anyway, yesterday afternoon, I sent a tweet to the excellent Scotland Tonight (which whips the backside of Newsnight Scotland by a long way) asking if they were planning on covering the No to Page 3 campaign. The rest, as they say, is history. A great match facilitated by me.
Lucy Anne Holmes, who started the petition off, was interviewed alongside Martel Maxwell,a writer and journalist who worked for the Sun for 10 years. You can see the whole thing here from about 20 minutes in.
Lucy played an absolute blinder. Yes, she was a bit nervous, but she was passionate and articulate and generally awesome. These are just a few of the things she had to say.
"We're appealing for the Sun editor to represent women with respect, like he represents men."
"These papers aren't bought under the counter. They are everywhere in our society. Page 3 makes the blatant objectification of women ok and a bit funny."
"There are plenty of places men can see breasts. I don't think that this sort of imagery should be in a family paper. The paper has men dressed going about their business, running the world and doing all sorts of good things and they see this massive image of a woman in her pants doing nothing. That's really powerful. It puts women in a limited place in society."
"I actually think it's very interesting how people say "look at the tits on that." She become a that, a object dehumanised. When we start dehumaising people, that's when bad things happen, from the leering to the feeling entitled to the body because it's dehumanised."
"Men don't need to see nipples to read the news."
She cited the example one signatory gave. You might not buy the Sun, in the same way you'd never dream of owning a slave in those days - but that doesn't stop you campaigning against the idea of slavery.
It made me a bit sad for Martel Maxwell to be building up how the Page 3 models are adored by men when they go out to clubs. Hmmm. Do I want to be adored and given presents and patronised and bought drinks by men in clubs, or be seen as some sort of trophy, or do I want to be treated like an equal and taken seriously and have genuine power and influence? Tough question, not.
While I've been writing this post there have been 1300 signatures on the petition. Add yours here. Follow @nomorepage3 on Twitter and keep in touch with them on Facebook.
Anyway, yesterday afternoon, I sent a tweet to the excellent Scotland Tonight (which whips the backside of Newsnight Scotland by a long way) asking if they were planning on covering the No to Page 3 campaign. The rest, as they say, is history. A great match facilitated by me.
Lucy Anne Holmes, who started the petition off, was interviewed alongside Martel Maxwell,a writer and journalist who worked for the Sun for 10 years. You can see the whole thing here from about 20 minutes in.
Lucy played an absolute blinder. Yes, she was a bit nervous, but she was passionate and articulate and generally awesome. These are just a few of the things she had to say.
"We're appealing for the Sun editor to represent women with respect, like he represents men."
"These papers aren't bought under the counter. They are everywhere in our society. Page 3 makes the blatant objectification of women ok and a bit funny."
"There are plenty of places men can see breasts. I don't think that this sort of imagery should be in a family paper. The paper has men dressed going about their business, running the world and doing all sorts of good things and they see this massive image of a woman in her pants doing nothing. That's really powerful. It puts women in a limited place in society."
"I actually think it's very interesting how people say "look at the tits on that." She become a that, a object dehumanised. When we start dehumaising people, that's when bad things happen, from the leering to the feeling entitled to the body because it's dehumanised."
"Men don't need to see nipples to read the news."
She cited the example one signatory gave. You might not buy the Sun, in the same way you'd never dream of owning a slave in those days - but that doesn't stop you campaigning against the idea of slavery.
It made me a bit sad for Martel Maxwell to be building up how the Page 3 models are adored by men when they go out to clubs. Hmmm. Do I want to be adored and given presents and patronised and bought drinks by men in clubs, or be seen as some sort of trophy, or do I want to be treated like an equal and taken seriously and have genuine power and influence? Tough question, not.
While I've been writing this post there have been 1300 signatures on the petition. Add yours here. Follow @nomorepage3 on Twitter and keep in touch with them on Facebook.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Why I always stay in the cinema till the very last credit has rolled....
Last night Scotland Tonight was looking at the best Scottish movie of the Queen's reign and came up with the harrowing and gripping Trainspotting. I watched that on video on a Sunday afternoon and was traumatised by it. It always tops these sorts of polls and it deserves to, having been nominated for an Oscar.
It's hard to argue with that choice - although for me, first love never dies and Gregory's Girl (and that penguin).
But if you're looking for Scots born input into movies, may I introduce you to a man called Peter Lindsay who's worked on the sound on some pretty iconic films of the last couple of decades? From The Wings of the Dove to Brassed Off to Batman Begins to Miss Potter to the Queen to Mrs Henderson Presents to Salmon Fishing in Yemen and Sherlock Holmes, he's amassed quite a CV which you can see here on IMDB.
And, if you're wondering, yes, he is a relation - my uncle. He's lived in Northern Ireland for a long time now, but he was brought up in Inverness. When I was a little girl I used to love it when he and my Auntie Barbara used to come over for visits and take me out. He's also a massive F1 fan and I really enjoyed chatting about this very exciting season at my sister's wedding last month.
Anyway, you now know the reason I never, ever leave a cinema until I've read every single credit. There's a huge crew behind a movie but often it's only the lead actors we acknowledge. There's a crew of hundreds behind them and I feel that if they've put the work in, then the least I can do is see who they are.
It's hard to argue with that choice - although for me, first love never dies and Gregory's Girl (and that penguin).
But if you're looking for Scots born input into movies, may I introduce you to a man called Peter Lindsay who's worked on the sound on some pretty iconic films of the last couple of decades? From The Wings of the Dove to Brassed Off to Batman Begins to Miss Potter to the Queen to Mrs Henderson Presents to Salmon Fishing in Yemen and Sherlock Holmes, he's amassed quite a CV which you can see here on IMDB.
And, if you're wondering, yes, he is a relation - my uncle. He's lived in Northern Ireland for a long time now, but he was brought up in Inverness. When I was a little girl I used to love it when he and my Auntie Barbara used to come over for visits and take me out. He's also a massive F1 fan and I really enjoyed chatting about this very exciting season at my sister's wedding last month.
Anyway, you now know the reason I never, ever leave a cinema until I've read every single credit. There's a huge crew behind a movie but often it's only the lead actors we acknowledge. There's a crew of hundreds behind them and I feel that if they've put the work in, then the least I can do is see who they are.
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