Guess which party?

BBC NE, Orkney & Shetland clearly feel we don’t need to know which party this offender represented.

It’ll be in the text below?

Let’s see:

An Aberdeenshire councillor who admitted shouting and swearing at another man during an altercation has been given an absolute discharge.

Robbie Withey, who represents Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford, became involved in the incident during a social gathering in Alford.

The 42-year-old admitted acting in a threatening or abusive manner last April.

A plea of not guilty to a charge of assault was accepted by prosecutors.

The court heard Mr Withey shouted and swore at a man who had earlier been told to leave the party.

Defence lawyer Gregor Kelly said his client had acted with “the best of motives”.

He told Aberdeen Justice of the Peace court that Mr Withey, who has no previous convictions, had been “reputationally damaged” by the case and that any conviction would lead to the termination of his employment.

Justice Jacqueline Mann told Mr Withey the repercussions of any conviction would be a disproportionate punishment.

Mr Withey, who currently sits as an independent councillor, was suspended by the Scottish Conservatives following the incident.

A Scottish Conservatives‘ spokesperson said: “Councillor Withey’s membership was suspended last year, and remains so until the conclusion of the party disciplinary process.”

There it is, down at the bottom.

That’s normal isn’t it?

Well..

Are the examples where the Conservative Party is in the headline? Well…

Nope. Both Tories.

The Blue Rosette is a giveaway?

Maybe the Herald is more balanced?

Maybe they’re more open about Labour?

Nope. Transparency only for the SNP.

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11 thoughts on “Guess which party?”

  1. Propaganda openly displayed by the BBC , they hate Scotland because they know that when Scotland is independent they will lose their jobs
    Will anyone employ them ?
    England or Scotland ?
    Unlikely
    Sad trustworthy people with no moral compass I would hate to be where they are

    Liked by 2 people

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  3. Ha, first thing I did was to scroll down to see!
    This was before I fired off the following response to the latest guardian editorial re the SNP, feel a bit better now

    “Sadly your editorial commenting on the SNP leadership campaign and its implications for the wider UK is shallow and lacks any serious analysis. Given your coverage of world wide events I am astonished at your perspective on Scottish politics and your reliance on lazy assertions which show no awareness of the complexity of Scotland’s reliance on Westminster decisions

    You say “Yet Ms Sturgeon’s success concealed divisions within the party that have burst into view during the leadership race to replace her. If these are not bridged, then Scottish support for independence may fade from the mainstream and dramatically reshape British politics”
    These divisions were not concealed to us in Scotland but, like most other large UK parties, are part of the tensions all political leaders have to grapple with. The broader aim of independence unites a range of political views just as the Conservatives unite under a loose low tax small state agenda, and Labour contains new labourists alongside those with a far more radical agenda. No-one suggested their agendas would “fade from the mainstream” or significantly change the political landscape

    You say” Without a clear path to independence, the party’s leading lights don’t seem to agree on much. Their recent clashes have taken place at a time when constitutional issues have been eclipsed by concerns about the economy and the cost of living. Despite this, at times, the contest appeared consumed by social, moral and ethical issues” Setting aside the fact that leadership contests would be remarkable if they lacked disagreement, the debate agendas were set on one side by the ordinary party members at hustings events and then by the wider media for tv debates. An LBC debate where the candidates were given more space to exchange views and set out their pitches showed a broader content including the economy and cost of living crisis, although the lack of time in these events obviously makes it hard to go into much depth

    You say ” The party’s electoral dominance has been built on foregrounding the issue of independence, often without answering trickier questions about what a new nation would look like”
    In fact the SNP published several papers setting out their ideas of how a new nation could look but these were generally ignored by a media overwhelmingly hostile to the very idea of Scottish independence. And, if you listen at all to Scottish political debates you would often have heard SNP mp/msps explaining what they felt Scotland could do better if they had full powers, it’s a pity no-one demanded the same for the Brexit referendum

    you say “Historically, Scotland has suffered from poor economic growth, deep pockets of poverty and high inequality”. to which I would add as part of the union and thanks to UK policies
    you go on “Despite promising public service improvement, SNP policies failed to deliver in many key areas” and later mention health service queues and drug deaths. No-one is claiming that Scotland is perfect or that as independent Scotland would be a utopia. But, drill down into these “facts” and you might just discover that with limited powers Scotland has been able to mitigate against the impact of UK policies with new benefits to support families in poverty, set in place measures such as free prescriptions and more rigorous infection control measures which may be a factor in lower covid deaths and intensive care treatment than is the case elsewhere in the uk. Drug deaths and how to tackle these are complex issues often going back generations and exacerbated by poverty and despair, then made worse by being turned into a political stick to beat the SNP with while the highest knife crime statistics in England go virtually unremarked. It feels like Scotland can only be seen through the prism of independence, no other health or education secretary or political leader faces the same hostile scrutiny or resignation calls so it is logical to presume it is our desire (and to you the threat) of independence which provokes a knee jerk hostile response

    Finally I would like to point out that your UK subdivisions mention Scotland, Wales and N Ireland with no separate section for England. The devolved administrations have to submit financial audits and run legislation past the UK government, but where is the scrutiny of what is happening in England? Our budgets which which comprise money raised in our nations which is then doled back to us minus a contribution towards “UK” projects such as HS2, missiles stored uncomfortably near our biggest city, a Scottish office which works to undermine devolution and countless more we get no say in, is based on English policy decisions – if a majority English Tory government sets up private/public health partnerships this then affects the funding we get allocated for our NHS. By all means oppose the SNP and the idea of Scottish Independence but at least have the integrity to delve a little deeper into why support is still growing especially among younger voters and a bit more scrutiny of what is happening in England. One last point – the polls do indeed show a fairly consistent 50/50 split between indy supporters and unionists but until we have a referendum we will never know for sure if support for either is growing or dwindling, maybe that is why they are so keen to stop one happening?

    Liked by 6 people

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    1. I had just read the Guardian’s editorial befor I came on to this site and like you thought it shallow and ill-informed. They had not done even the most basic research but just parroted the usual Unionist tropes. It does make you wonder though how much confidence you can have in their analysis of international situations, and even domestic issues within other parts of the UK, when you see how poorly they handle something on their doorstep which we do know something about. How easily, and with apparent lack of awareness, they trash their own supposed reputation as a quality newspaper.

      Liked by 3 people

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      1. As John Pilger said about the Guardian, it’s a ‘pretendy lefty’ rag. I trust J. Pilger to have the measure of things. The Graun is anti Scottis and totally anti SNP. It’s another Brit state propaganda outfit.

        Liked by 2 people

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    2. The ‘ new nation ‘ handle is without doubt the most insidious and dangerous assertion and the sooner we get a grip on this issue the better. The intention behind the legal ( stop laughing at the back ) opinion commissioned by Cameron before the 2014 referendum was to try and establish acceptance, at least amongst the legal and political fraternities that England under the guise of ruk, would be the successor/ continuing state.
      Gallagher and Boyle, apparently reputable legal eagles, duly obliged and in their responses to questions raised by the HOL gave the game away. As a new state Scotland’s territorial integrity could be subverted by England( ruk) by annexing Faslane and Coulport, bare in mind here that security of that base would require annexing, Arran, Ayrshire and half of Argyle, which just happen to be undeveloped oil fields. Also up for grabs would Orkney and Shetland and any area termed EX Regio ( the oil and gas fields ).

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      1. Sorry, for clarity should have included that it’s the waters around Arran, Ayrshire and Argyle that contain the oil.

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