I used to teach research methods to reluctant journalism students but, despite their lack of enthusiasm for quantitative vs qualitative methods, they seemed quite bright and knew a bit of history.
I’ve often thought that Mark Smith is not so bright and further hampered by what I think was an education in England but that headline is a cracker.
Leaving aside his juvenile wee nationalIST reference, anyone with a sense of history is going to think: ‘Mark! Do you know nothing?’
I forced my self to read on. He has found a Sinn Fein MP for North Belfast saying that if they emerged as the biggest party in the Assembly Elections, it wouldn’t be a mandate for a border poll and that they’d need this to stretch over a lot more than one single election.
Well yes, but in 2017, Sinn Fein won 27 out of 90 seats, coming second to the DUP on 28. DUP support is falling fast in polls but SF support is flat at around 25% of the electorate. Because the DUP will lose seats to the UUP and moderate groups, that will allow the SF to be the biggest but nowhere near a majority.
Smith’s comparison between the SNP and SF is just daft. The SNP is currently polling at around 50%, twice that of SF and has been in power, the largest party (64 out of 129), with nearly half of the MSPs for 14 years. Now that’s a mandate for a border poll.
Talking-up Scotland 
Poor Markie–in the same party as “Private Education” millionaire Starwars, and “Brexit Opportunities” Starmer–he cannot know if he is a right-wing Red Tory or a left-wing Red Tory.
Living not so far from Keir Hardies old stomping ground of Cumnock, Mark seems to have missed the entirety of Hardies pledges on Home Rule (Dominion status), equality for women (ask Glasgow Labour council/ trades unions about that), and abolition of the House of Lords (is that a whole regiment of “Scottish” Labour Peers spluttering I hear)
His history lessons don’t seem to have included Ireland, Home Rule, Black and Tans–or if they did, he was sleeping through them.
Ireland has had a civil war for a century,( only ending with the GFA cease-fire), which included England but has also impacted on Scotland. Northern Ireland has also been used as a training ground for military intelligence, security forces and other spook groups.
Other British nationalists creeps and Loopy Dupes have also tried to slew our independence debate to “Ulsterisation”, but we do not want their cheap guns-n-bombs nationalism here in Scotland.
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The problem for Mark Smith is that his articles are trite and uninsightful, but his solipsism leads him to believe that he thinks he is saying something authoritative and irresistibly persuasive. It is all banal and makes me wonder why the Herald has persisted with him for so long. Undoubtedly, the Herald is pretty mediocre nowadays, compared to ten years ago, but, from time to time, someone will draw my attention to something that is worth reading.
I gave up on the Herald around the time of the referendum in 2014, when it actually gave fairly balanced coverage, with some good commentators on either side. But, after the result, it swung sharply rightwards and became ultra British nationalist. It gave up all pretensions to being a ‘paper of record’ as it once had been. However, even in these not-quite-halcyon days, Mark Smith’s pieces were still dire.
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Pretty dumb but I suppose they have to couch their product at a level which will appeal to their customers.
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Just heard on BBC News at One a report that petrol and diesel prices reach had reached a new record high.
Not so good for drivers.
On the other hand..
As a result of the news of the record price, I had a quick look at the Live Brent Oil Dollar Price and it is around $95 a barrel!
So good news for the UK’s balance of payments
I reckon Reporting Scotland will wait for the price to break the $100 barrier before burying the news in another report…
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Boris the Snake slithers into Scotland and sibilates:—-
“Trust in me,
just in me,
Close your eyes
And trust in me”.
Then—
Dross and Glen are spotted,
Goggle-eyed and agog,
Brains squigerly knotted.
I.Q of a sprog.
Hang now with his gang,
Like craws on a log.
If we’re to have hope
They’ll dance, hop and jog.
Together………………..!
at the end of a rope!
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The Nationalist in Ireland could not vote. The Illegal Partition was imposed by Westminster unionists. 1923. Ireland can now be reunited once they vote for it.
In Scotland people can vote for Independence with another IndyRef.
Mark Smith needs to read a few history books. Or do more research on the internet.
The Oil & Gas, petrol tax take will go up massively. People paying over the odds. Price of goods will go up. Transport costs etc. Scotland pays more for fuel and energy despite being in surplus and nearer the source. Scotland should pay less for parity. Another London S/E subsidy. Scotland’s renewables energy.
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Universal Suffrage. 1928
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