The last stages of the Scottish independence referendum
campaign have been getting more than a little tasty, with Mil The Younger being
subjected to more than a little pushing and shoving in an Edinburgh shopping
centre yesterday. The thought that some, particularly on the Yes side, are in
perhaps too high spirits, has driven many of today’s front pages. One in
particular stands out.
That paper is the Daily
Mail, which has thrown
the proverbial kitchen sink at the story today, starting with “The Seriously Nasty Party: With one day to
go, damning evidence of the bullying intimidation of voters by Scots
nationalists ... Pro-union voters have endured stone-throwing and been called
traitors ... Many are now said to be too scared to show their support of a No
vote”.
The main attack wave has been supported by a hail of
pundits, led by the odious Quentin Letts (let’s not), who claimed
to have been in that shopping centre: “Organisers
of the 2015 Rugby World Cup put out a photograph yesterday purporting to show
the ‘world’s biggest scrum’. Pah! It looked a tame affair compared to what we
had in an Edinburgh shopping centre early teatime”.
Quent’s outriders in this particular pundit plethora
included Tom Bradby, intoning
with great seriousness “This bullying
and intimidation is worse than anything I saw in Ulster”, while Chris
Deerin told “As a Scot, I despair of
the Nats' nasty streak”. Added
to this was “Row breaks out over
allegations that Salmond 'tried to gag' leading Scots academic who questioned
independence”.
As Sir Sean [not present for tax reasons] nearly said, I
think we got the point. The Mail is
throwing everything at an attempt to preserve the Union: one need only look at Daily Mail Comment, the authentic voice
of the Vagina Monologue, and
its cringingly bad headline “To our
Scottish cousins we say sorry for England's inept political class and beg you
to stay in our great British family”.
All of which is routine and predictable; the Mail is a deeply conservative newspaper,
and nothing could be more conservative than retaining a Union first formalised
in 1707. However, and here we encounter a significantly sized however, this
rush to proclaim the virtue of a No vote is not a coincidence: Paul Dacre was
seen visiting 10 Downing Street at lunchtime yesterday.
But the Mail’s
legendarily foul mouthed editor would not be happy with mere recognition: there
was almost certainly some kind of quid
pro quo involved. The Mail’s
petulant attacks on the honours system should inform anyone wanting to know
what that might be. So has Cameron promised Dacre a gong? Will the New Year’s
honours list include the newly-created Baron Dacre of F***ing C***ery?
With that kind of recognition, Dacre might even contemplate retirement.
2 comments:
Could it have been the confirmation of his official appointment as ipso facto head of press (non) regulation?
Arrangements for Oliver Letwin to distribute all remaining Operation Motorman files not msde public throughout the litter bins of Westminster - after having been shredded of course.
I would hazard a guess that pizzas were not on the menu?
I think Dave would sell his Granny if it suited him.
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