Scotland face England in a game of Rugby today in Edinburgh.
I am sure many will be looking forward to the spectacle.Such is the historical rivalry between the two Nations that they could play each other at tiddlywinks and draw a crowd.
Nowadays there is much good humour associated with these clashes, and a fair bit of winding up goes on.
Today will be no different, win lose or draw you will find supporters from both sides having a laugh,a lot of banter and plenty drinks after the game in Edinburgh.
The winners will have the bragging rights for another year, the losers will take it in good grace, and they will dissect in minute detail the events of the game.
It is with this background, and in this setting, that the days event will take place.
The result will have no effect on peoples lives, nor will it change their political views.
Supporters of Independence will not suddenly ditch the idea, if England should win. Those against Scotlands departure from the Union will not become rabid Scots Nationalists if Scotland thrash England, and those who are undecided will not suddenly make up their mind.
It is a game of Rugby. It will have flags of St Andrew and St George in abundance, and God Save the Queen will be sung alongside Flower of Scotland. It is not a life altering event.
Alex Salmond was invited to be a guest panellist alongside former Scotland scrum-half Andy Nicol and ex-England star Jeremy Guscott on the programme hosted by John Inverdale on BBC1 and Radio 5 Live.
However, suddenly Alex Salmond was barred from appearing.
SNP MP Angus Robertson blasted the Beeb’s chief political adviser Ric Bailey in London, who sanctioned the decision.
He said: “It seems that he has gone bonkers, or he’s acting under direct orders from Downing Street.
“He’s overruled his own editors and journalists in the manner you’d expect in a banana republic.
“The BBC is babbling about tensions in the current climate as his excuse for this state control of broadcasting.
“The only heightened tension is between the BBC and their long suffering licence payers in Scotland — who are now being told their First Minister can’t appear on the BBC in a light-hearted sports programme on the first day of the Six Nations.”
Alex was due to appear at around 1.45pm today before the game’s 5pm kick-off, in a broadcast beamed to millions across the UK from the car park at the stadium in Edinburgh.
But he was axed after the Beeb’s political bigwigs in London got wind of his planned appearance and decided it was too “politically sensitive”.
Last night the BBC said it had an “obligation to ensure impartiality”.
“Given the nature of political debate around Scotland’s future and the proximity of local government elections, it was decided that it would be inappropriate to give undue prominence at the moment to any single political leader in the context of the Scotland-England game.”
Ahh The famous BBC impartiality, which allows four Unionists to one Nationalist in their political programmes. The BBC impartiality which will have Unionists on programmes without any Nationalist presence.
The BBC impartiality which will not allow the Deputy First Minister to comment about a Scottish issue on Question time in Glasgow because it is irrelevant to a British audience.Yet will allow Boris Johnson to ramble on about London traffic measures.
The BBC impartiality which allows political and economic blogs all over the UK to be commented on by anyone, but will not allow any comments whatsoever on Scottish ones, unless they deem it allowable. on a very rare occasion.
Had David Cameron, Ed Balls or Johann Lamont been invited to be a panellist for the game today, would they have said no? Would they hell!
Alex Salmond commenting on a Rugby match in early February is going to somehow interfere with the Scottish Council elections in May?
Go on pull the other one!
BBC does not stand for British Broadcasting Corporation, it stands for British Bullshitting Censorship.
C’mon Scotland get stuck right intae them today.
But win lose or draw, we will still be proud of you. And I will still be voting Aye4Scotland in 2014 no matter whatever happens.
As for the Council Elections, I will vote for who I think best to represent my ward come May.
Auld Acquaintance 
Obviously the BBC and their bodyguards, MI5, have unearthed a cunning SNP plan to subvert the upcoming local elections by pretending to discuss rugby while all the time they will be subliminally converting the true-blue Britnats over to the horrid SNP’s chief purpose which is to make the UK government look like a set of puerile, incompetent, war-mongering lackeys under the control of international bankers. Instead of castigating the BBC for uncovering this plot we should celebrate the fact that they have saved us from the ravages of voting for a democratic party that would bring down our loving Westminster. We, the Scots peoples, have been exposed, for far too long, to the temptation of living in a country that cares for its sick, its unemployed and the uneducated.
We think that this match is just a sport played by men with odd shaped balls but in reality it is the essence of English middle-class culture and, therefore, it should not be spoiled by the likes of Alex Salmond whom everyone knows is a kilt wearing, deep fried Mars bar eating, subsidy junkie hell-bent on world domination.
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I was there in 1990 when David Soles team stuck it right up England, I pray for a repeat performance today. Is it a matter of life or death? No it is much more serious than that. With thanks to Bill Shankley.
‘Obligation to ensure impartiality’ – One has to laugh at that one.
Wile I like the author’s descrption, “British Broadcasting Corporation”, of Old Auntie Beeb, I would submit my own for consideration. It is a little more, shall we say, refined?
The BIASED BROADCASTING CLIQUE.
I loved so much your: “BBC does not stand for British Broadcasting Corporation, it stands for British Bullshitting Censorship” I reproduced it on a comment in Newsnet Scotland, after the appropiate link here.
Hope you don’t mind AA.
Happy you liked, Vincent…My first effort had to be binned, as it was X Rated language 🙂
Well said. Although impartiality in the media is impossible. It’s too human.
We can draw hope from the BBC’s declared obligation to ensure impartiality amongst rugby panellists and keep an eye open for evidence of this admirable quality of impartiality popping up from time to time on Reporting Scotland.
I don’t think their main fear is that Salmond would try to influence the result in May (I honestly don’t think he would attempt any politicing anyway) they simply do no want him to have any platform where he can be shown to a UK wide audience that he is, essentially, just a normal guy.
They prefer Salmond to be portrayed as swivel eyed megalomaniac and try their best to do this at all times.
He is an assured media performer and displays a good sense of humour whenever he is in front of a camera. Him been seen having a good craic with some English guys is not how Beeb wish to portray Salmond, basically they wish to misrepresent his character.
When he appears on UK wide telly and is treated normally he shines and he impresses, here he is over 10 years ago on ‘Have I Got news For You”:
His appearance on Question Time from Liverpool a few months ago was a disaster for unionists. Salmond displayed natural empathy towards the ordinary English people in the audience who’s NHS is being shafted, he picked up the three biggest applauses of the night. The image was of a social democrat who’s lofty political position had not compromised his values unlike the other panelists, add in the fact that the English audience liked him (yes the same people who they infer Salmond hates) and you can see why they want to neutralize him.
Keep up the good work on your blog Auld Acquaintance you have a fair bit of style! – loved your back arts post a couple of days ago.
We’ve just all had our fill recently of the blithering idiot who goes by the name of Alec Salmond. He’s so dysfunctionally nationalistic I’m sure he admires what even emanates from the rear of a Scottish Terrier…
Blithering Idiot,Alex Salmond is not. He certainly has the Best Westminster has to offer running around like headless chickens and bursting out in hot and cold pre menopausal sweats, at the mere mention of his name.
Dysfunctionally nationalistic would be the words associated with those jingoistic warmongering swill troughing hooray henry’s known as Brit Nats, which Scottish Nationalists are assuredly not,so neither is he.
And he would only admire what came out of Scottish terriers posterior if it happened to land perfectly placed on the shoes of those who spout such drivel, as you have just produced. Now that is what I call a first grade sample of prime proportion.
If it weren’t the BBC, I’d have disbelieved this.
It’s a game. The FM likes the game. He’ll be there radio and tv cameras or none.
If Cameron were at the game, would they say that he was there to stir up votes 3 months down the line for the Tories?
I’m surprised that the BBC hasn’t banned him from going to the match.
Oh well. They don’t seem to have anyone at the BBC or in the London government who has any notion of the psychology of the “hard working, decent, ordinary families, up and down the country” who will find this offensive, and who would never have connected Mr Salmond’s appearance for maybe a maximum of a few minutes, along with some sports people, to talk about sport, with a Party Political Broadcast…
The idea that the First Minister will turn this slight to Scotland into an amusing anecdote to be slipped into an answer at FMQ, or elsewhere, highlighting the BBC’s anti-Scottish paranoia probably hasn’t occurred to them.
Why do we pay this £145 a year, remind me? If we didn’t on pain of criminal prosecution, I doubt there would be many takers for their services in Scotland.
Just found your blog to a link in the Telegraph of all places. Good stuff.
Thanks Conan, I am a huge admirer of your excellent blog too.
In fact, your comment has just reminded me that I don’t have a link to it here.
I will immediately rectify that unfortunate oversight.
The BBC is simply layer upon layer of SCUM. You only have to look at the way in wich they advertise the T.V licence and pay Crapita to try and collect the damn thing(through threat and intimidation).I stopped watching television long ago,the rare time i need to watch somthing…i can always catch on the FREE i players(thanks bbc) lol This brings to mind an article on the bbc news the other day reporting about a march by SDL(Scottish defense league….much like their racist English counterparts no doubt) Was there a need to report this?Has anyone ever knew that an SDL existed before this article?……….i cant help but think it got a nice article to istself,at a time when there is much in the news about the SNP,as if to almost subliminaly equate SDL-Ethnic nationalism,with SNP-civic nationalism. Can the BBC stoop this low?….or has paranoia got the best of me ? 🙂
Yup, the SDL are the same as English scum of like name.
Of course people who don’t think for themselves may equate them with the SNP, when they are two polar extremes, just for having the name Scottish in their title.
Fact is, they are Brit Nats of the extreme variety! possibly even to the right of the BNP.
Mass non payment may not be an easy option – after all its almost technically impossible these days to avoid BBC on cable TV packages and the Internet. But what about with-holding say a pound from the license fee payment ? If 25,000 punters held back £25K, BBC Scotland would have to spend millions to chase folk down for 1 measly quid. Gets all the publicity without people being painted as fee-dodgers.
I wish that the game Scotland England game was an oasis of good natured banter and fun as you describe. Unfortunately Edinburgh, already a very intimidating place for anyone with an English accent, becomes even worse whenever the Calcutta Cup is played at Murrayfield. Horrible place to be English – especially on a 6 Nations weekend.
Well I am sorry to hear you feel that way Martin.
I can only go on my own experience of it, and partying well into the night with a bunch of English rugby supporters in Edinburgh, and there was no ill feeling on either side.
I have not been there this year, so I don’t know if it has suddenly become different?
Certainly at the time of the Festival, it wasn’t the case, and there were many English in attendance at that,as there are every year.
It is an extraordinarily intimidating city if you are English. You learn to keep your mouth shut very quickly. Never again.
Sorry – that was mean to be a reply – not a restatement.