Our Heroes in Action

The most interesting thing about this video of Nigel Farage in the Canons' Gait is not the Havering High Heidyin of the Little Englanders himself, it's seeing our heroes of the Scottish Press Corps in action. Particularly, front and centre, our favourite Tom Peterkin of The Hootsmon (in the khaki jacket) looking like some nonplussed, overgrown-schoolboy version of General Melchett.

The Political Editor of the formerly august Scotsman in a pub taking shorthand at the feet of of a proto-nazi demagogue? It wouldn't have happened in Magnus Linklater's day.  However, the intrepid General (or should it be Pipe Major?) Melchett of the Scottish Press Corps had pole position in the melee. Did he press his advantage to cross examine Mr Farage?  Your bum in a tin can he did.  All through the video he can be seen religeously note-taking and gaping. Och Nigel, you're meant to send Tom a press release to churn, not expose him to the braying mob and press pack!  Top money-saving tips for the impecunious Johnston Press: Next time send a tea boy and a tape recorder.

Fortunately for the churnalist in Melchett, he could return to normal for today as the UK Treasury had the decency to send a press release for him to churn for the Scarestory on Sunday. Another of those "Next week the Government will ..." stories.  As Wings Over Scotland points out: Not only will we be at risk of a bank crash in an independent Scotland, our Financial industry will pack up and head South over the border, but even after that, for reasons utterly unfathomable, the independent Scottish Government would have to bail out these (now English) institutions if they fail.  Work that scary triple whammy out if you can?

As I observed yesterday, it took the youngsters of the Radical Independence Campaign to challenge Farage and provoke UKIP into exposing themselves for what they really are.  The video above is taken from UKIP's own YouTube channel and the comments and literacy levels of the commenters below it are instructive.

Passing over the contributions of such UKIP luminaries such as 888Valkyrie (definitely no Nazi sympathy there then), The Hootsmon treated us to our own special collection of letters from Disgusted of Tunbridge-Wells types resident in Gifford, Craiglea and other doucer parts of the Lothians.

In terms of real commentary, we how have a live recording of the Premiere at the very same Canons' Gait pub of Steve Byrne's Lament on the predicament of the Member of the European Parliament for South East England.

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