exile

For decades, you see popular movements on the streets, in other countries, where 'the people' struggle to overcome the state apparatus in crumbling regimes. In most recent years, you see people using mobile phones and social media, to by-pass the bias of state channels. Just never imagined it would be here!

"Our coverage of the referendum story is fair, accurate and impartial, in line with our editorial guidelines." Perhaps their editorial guidelines are wrong. As Cosgrove says, maybe their method of assessing balance etc is wrong. They are utterly in denial. They don't seem to be accountable to anyone.

Yeah you would think it was a pretty normal election campaign with campaigners here and there, someone in a helicopter etc. You wouldn;t guess there were whole streets heavong with people, or was I just imagining that?

What about the Times? if you're a 'media mogul' with more than one paper, how to decide which strings to pull?

What if it's a narrow No? Change the rules for that?

Saw the BBC news earlier. No shots of Buchanan Street, looked more like a normal election campaign with Salmond in a helicopter, Davidson in front of a sign, Murphy and Reid walking down a street... plus the orange order... and more stories about banks and businesses

Scottish soldiers gave their lives for the cause of the British Empire. Doesn't mean the BE was worth preserving.

I thought they said they were carefully targeting areas with undecideds. So, if your area is lots os Yeses and Nos, then they may not bother...

If Scotland votes yes, and Edinburgh is so reluctant, maybe the capital should move to Glasgow

In the interests of balance, it is simply reported as: "Thousands of supporters of both sides in the Scottish referendum debate have taken to the streets on the final weekend before the vote." Presumably the biggest pro No presence was the oranges...

Here is another love letter to Scotland, this time from the Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/scottish-independence/scottish-independence-love-letters-to-scotland-from-writers-who-want-it-to-stay-9730335.html A bit pathetic. It is mainly "Some good things about Scotland, and so, why I'd rather they didn't leave" rather than why it would be better for Scotland to stay. There is a curious sense of possession going on here: when referring to 'our country'. This is as if being British entitles them to possess and retain Scotland, in a way that they wouldn't expect an EU citizen to possess Britain, just because it's part of the EU. One of the contributors is the deputy managing editor of the Independent. So, he wants Scotland to stay. So, helps turn the Indy into a BT propaganda sheet...

I saw a version of The Independent front page with a headline "Fear and loathing in the battle for Scotland" (with an extremely scary picture of Ian Paisley) http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/frontpages/ The main article starts "A nationalist leader has warned that an independent Scotland would take revenge on unionist businesses supporting a No vote as the campaign for independence turned vicious." Could the "A nationalist leader"be intended to deceive the unwary rUK reader into thinking it was a current SNP/Yes leader? The article goes on to claim that the campaign has turned "vicious" and refers to intimidation by Yes supporters on No supporters, with no evidence. This is not the Daily Mail, this is The Independent. Supposedly an independent minded, moderate, liberal newspaper. That stood against the Iraq war, while most other papers caved in. I used to buy the Independent sometimes, knowing that in this age of declining newspaper sales, it was helping to fund independent journalism, but this reads like something quite literally worse than a Better together press release. Not even Better Together would put out a front page like that.

Comments now enabled on BBC news pages? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-29186106

Wales 'yes' rally http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-29189446

The political class is doing what Hitler couldn’t – destroying Britain http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/scottish-independence-the-political-class-is-doing-what-hitler-couldnt--destroying-britain-9730260.html We're all doomed

"From Cornwall to Aberdeenshire, these islands are criss-crossed with more common interests, shared history and future prospects than can ever be divided by a line on a map." Exactly, so why so hung up about the line on the map?

BBC spelling it out now... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-29141474

It is now headline news on bbc website http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ The 'Peston leak' links page http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29185319 ...has comments enabled! (over 600 now...)

Imagine this not being a headline in the national news, if it was the other way around: SNP lose control of council as councillor backs union. It would be another 'Fresh blow for Salmond as..."

How about: because the politician is accountable to the voter, whereas the business person is accountable to the customer - or shareholder or the market in general - not the voter. So here's another question: Why should the voters trust a journalist of the BBC - that is in the CBI along with those business people - rather than a politician?

Momentum with Yes as Labour unionist solidarity crumbles... Will this make the big news or just 'the news where you are'?

In the last week I have seen a surge of comments in London press along the lines of - how did we get so close to losing Scotland? - it must never be allowed to happen again - why did we allow Scotland so much control over the election - why didn't we put in a threshold - if the result is close (like 51% Yes) can the result really be allowed to stand? - the Queen really must intervene to prevent this happening. In other words, we must do anything - suspend normal democracy - to make sure there isn't a chance I haven't seen 'rigging Holyrood so that the nationalists won't ever win an outright majority'... or have I heard that somewhere before?

How about this? (not to imply DaveinLondon is ordinary!)

The BBC think Alex Salmond didn't answer the question. Can anyone help answer it?