Campaign - I want my £145 back!

It may be a little late in the day but thought I should do this anyway, if for some reason it is unsuccessful, I will be instigating a small claims against the Beeb.

To: the BBC Complaints Department, Glasgow.

Complaint:

That the leaders debates should not have been broadcast in Scotland with out a representative from the SNP and/or Green Party. This is in clear breach of your own stated values viz; "Trust is the foundation of the BBC: we are independent, impartial and honest." And as such is a clear breach of contract therfore I request that I am reimbursed the £145 License Fee.

Scottish Politics is not a three horse race, the SNP and Greens play a significant role, including regional government as well as presenting an alternative offering to all three main UK parties. Excluding them from the same platform and timeslots available to the main three parties and the ensuing media focus on the debates as the 'election campaign' effectively neutered their ability to fight on equal terms.

Thank you, please send the cheque and apology to:

Andrew Boner,
etc..

rise above politics by descending to their level

As 'descending' is a little pejorative so lets instead say meeting them eye to eye. Who? Well primarily traditional Labour supporters, but in effect those who can be swayed. There are two main threads of argument for/against independence.

First; we are better off in the Union/independent. In this context better off is generally regarded in an economic sense. This can only be proved on both sides by statistics which are generally either unavailable, unreliable, unfounded OR outright lies. In any case people will generally self select the data they want to fit their established viewpoint. Arguing on this basis tends to entrench views as people dig in to defend their beliefs; see next

Second; union/independence is a moral issue. I believe/have faith that the union/independence is the right thing to do. Without shifting this position all the logic, reason and facts are just going to be bashing away at the rocky shores of intransigence, true the sea will eventually turn them to sand but I for one do not want to wait x million years.

What to do?

Electorate + Ignorance = Democratic Deficit

Once upon a time it was the Fourth Estates job to inform the masses, but post Sky/Fox/Murdoch we are now bombarded by meaningless infotainment (please don't tell me you watch GMTV).

Increasingly over the past 20 years the media has relied on press statements and spin doctors to feed them the news. No where has this been highlighted more than the recent headless chicken act over the lack of 'leaks' from the cross party coalition talks. This has lead to an increase in one of my all time pet peeves, journalists interviewing other journalists. Sky, of course, is the past master at this. It took me quite a while to discover who Adam Boulton was as he was always given the respect of an impartial political commentator, ^hangs head in shame^. But now all we see in the so called 24/7 media world is twin head shots of two people guessing what's going on, as I sit Reeta is telling us what she is not saying. Huh? “I'm not saying this means that but ...” Result? An ignorant electorate unaware of the real issues affecting their lives. The media deliberately muddle the difference between a constitution and a popularity contest, personalities and policies, presidential and parliamentary politics.

Our cause has no national media backing and it is difficult to see that changing prior to independence – so what's to be done? Direct marketing, i.e. door to door, face to face, one voter at a time.

See also 'Rise of the Benighters'