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Any independent team travelling the world to monitor the safety, legality and fairness of elections would surely witness such an egregious imbalance and be on the first plane out of the country to raise the alarm. In Scotland hardly a soul is moved to bat so much as an eyelid. Much more of this and Scotland will be the sort of place the Foreign Office tells travellers to steer clear of. Is that the tinpot clang of a dictatorship? Do I detect the scent of bananas?
Bloody hell. This reads like a Daily Mail Oped. What has happened to The Times?
Stonehedge-
What has happened to The Times?
They have been like this for the last several years.
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It does a bit, but, to be fair, Neil Oliver is not a radical - he's an archaeologist / conservationist / author / TV presenter (and former President of the National Trust for Scotland) who just happens to not agree with Scottish nationalism.
When he was appointed to the National Trust position cybernats tried to chase him from the job in a pretty hateful way despite him being eminently well-qualified for it:
https://tfn.scot/news/charity-faces-fury-as-indy-bashing-historian-given-top-jobSo I can understand why he's angry. Unfortunately this isn't a one off - it's what happens in Scotland at the moment. I know a high profile unionist journalist who found it impossible to get a job in Scotland: he now lives and works in London (in Westminster, ironically) because he was effectively backlisted for being opposed to independence.
This is the context within which Sturgeon's ambition to continue her briefings within purdah should be viewed.
edscoble
Fox
Yes. Especially in Scotland I'd say, to be fair. It's a lot easier to take advice from someone who communicates well and has a certain level of competence than Boris.
I'd say advantage Sturgeon on this one too given Johnson's rambling nature and capacity for porkies.
Neil Oliver isn't very happy about it in the Times either:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/neil-oliver-scotland-is-making-me-sick-and-its-not-covid-to-blame-05vjqsf2w