She’s not really my kind of singer, but no one could deny, surely, that Susan Boyle has a wonderful voice.
Be that as it may, I've never thought of
her as a political or economic expert or intellectual giant, so I was a little surprised to see that
the Project Fear is trumpeting her support all over today’s Sun.
Subo, as she has been nicknamed, has questioned the economic
and political basis for independence.
“I strongly believe Scotland should remain part of Britain”
she is reported to have told the Scottish Sun.
“I am a proud, patriotic Scot, passionate about my heritage
and my country. But I am not a nationalist.
“We have still been able to retain our proud identity whilst
being a part of Britain.
“I share many of the same concerns that other folk do with
regards to independence.”
“Economically, the costs of change will be vast and money that should be directed into important areas like hospitals, schools and the vulnerable in society will be swallowed by bureaucracy.
“Economically, the costs of change will be vast and money that should be directed into important areas like hospitals, schools and the vulnerable in society will be swallowed by bureaucracy.
“Many people are struggling to make ends meet — how will
they cope if prices escalate because of this change?”
“Another concern is there is nothing in place with regards to the EU, plus there is the question of our currency.
“We should remain a part of Great Britain and instead of wasting money on this change; we should put it into the areas that need it the most.”
The Sun goes on to say: SuBo’s stance is a huge boost for the Better Together bid. No honestly...it does!
They quote a BT spokesman as saying: Scots have always had unlimited talent and being part of Britain helps unlock it. There is no better example of this than Susan Boyle.”
With respect, I doubt if there is one single person in Scotland who will be persuaded to take a particular political stance upon which their future and that of their kids and grandchildren, by what Susan Boyle thinks.
Most thinking people will probably doubt that she said any of these things at all.
It's kind of BT to say that Scots have always had unlimited talent, but I wonder if he or she would like to explain what that means in real terms.
Susan Boyle has learning difficulties, albeit mild ones. She was used by the tv company, laughed at when she first appeared looking dowdy, and then raised to the rafters by them when the public heard her voice... Cowell's look of astonishment when she started to sing was, of course, fake, as were those of Ant and Dec and the rest of the panel. They knew perfectly well that they had a star. But they used her appearance and naivety for "good television". They even let her go on stage looking like a middle aged frump with a hairstyle form the 50s, so that they could later transform her into a reasonably attractive middle aged woman.
Later, when she didn't win, and suffered some sort of mental breakdown, she was used again by Gordon Brown sending a public message of sympathy.
Now, Ms Boyle may very well be a British Nationalist. That is her right,which we all respect, But I fear BT has used her in the hopes that there are people who will be persuaded of the intellectual argument for dependence by a middle aged woman who sings beautifully and who appears to be able to learn the lines that BT have fed her.
Shameful.
Addition: I've just read Rev Stu Campbell's piece on this.
Along with him I'd beg anyone reading this not to tweet or FB any unpleasant comments. (I know most of you wouldn't think of if it, but there is a lot of traffic on here that I do know know.)
It almost undoubtedly wasn't Susan Boyle who said any of it. It would be the Sun, and of course BT are delighted that they did.
It would surely hurt Susan Boyle to find out that there was any bad reaction to her, and BT would simply use it as a publicity victory about how nasty cyber nats upset her...
...Without , of course considering just how unkind it is to use people like SuBo.
tris
ReplyDeleteMust admit the comments attributed to her do not to me sound as if
she said them.Not a linguist but from how she speaks as shown on TV to the alleged words and phrases she used do not fit to me that is,
How low can they go you ask a whole lot lower i would suggest.
seems to me the old Etonians are showing the pseudo working class Labourites just how to stick the boot in. fight dirty and generally lie cheat. steal and use assorted nefarious methods whist claiming to fair and honest people.
Why more people cant see straight through them is a mystery unto me.
Me too Niko...
DeleteI was just looking at what they are doing in England (and some of it here too)...
The Blood transfusion Service sold to venture capitalists
Vulnerable Children's care to be sold off... (remember what happened when they sold off care of the old... we all should because we are paying for it now.)
More cover ups about wrongdoing because it wouldn't be fair to the wrongdoing companies and might affect their profitability (commercial interests).
£1 billion spent on the NHS in England by the Condems, including £260 million to close down departments and re-open them under new names... (and Hunt says there will be another £1.5 billion administrative charges to come...)
£12 billion of sales to arms to companies accused of human rights...against English/uk law.
Not to mention hundreds of people being taken off their benefits wrongly; more people getting the wrong benefits; people being thrown out of their houses although there is no where else for them to go;
And the Brits just sit there and take it...even in a heatwave (where you'd be expecting trouble to kick off because people are short tempered and things tend to work even less well than normal).
Maybe they just like being walked over.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/britain-exports-12billion-weapons-kit-2058706
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-reforms-bill-passes-1bn-2063112
Still that's the way the toffs like it. Obedient and submissive plebeians... tip your cap to the nice gentleman what might throw you a few coins...
Niko: I notice that the police wouldn't be able to handle a riot now in England...
Deletehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/10187337/Police-could-not-handle-more-riots-after-budget-cuts.html
So it's just well that Brits like Tories to ride roughshod all over them...
Ew er... that sounded a bit erm... naughty.
Tris,
ReplyDeleteI'll be stunned if anyone Nationalist vents their anger at Ms Boyle. Everyone knows that she does have learning difficulties, and needs someone nearby to help her all the time.
When you read the drivel that Ms Boyle is supposed to have said, you just know that it's fabricated.
If anything, the next time you get a hold of someone who is an official within the BT campaign, ask them how they can justify the reasoning behind this decision of using Ms Boyle ...and watch them squirm in shame!
Hi James... Absolutely ... I'd love to ask someone from BT just what they were thinking of when they endorsed that.
DeleteRev Stu has quoted some of SB's Wikipedia page and it appears she's not allowed by her family/management team to do much on her own.
It could be that some of her advisors are BT supporters and have given her a script. Perhaps even a statement, rather than an interview... prepared by her people.
No... I hope no one would say anything nasty about her... but there are idiots on both sides of the argument and it would be silly of us to think that all the bad guys were unionists. (I personally knew a YES supporter...now dead... who was one of the nastiest most disagreeable men I'd ever met). So I thought it didn't do any harm to add that bit at the bottom...
As I say, I know a lot of the people who comment here and have done for a long time... but you never know.
It only takes one.
Tris,
DeleteI think quite a few folk who are thinking of voting 'No' will be shocked by this tactic by the BT team if it ever gets to an 'awareness' level amongst the Scottish population. I think a few folk in the 'No' camp may be turned off, and even angry themselves at what they see their own side doing. This supposed statement by Ms Boyle could come back to bite if it ever gained legs.
What I wouldn't want to happen is for Ms Boyle to confirm as to whether she said this. I think that too would be a PR disaster in its own making.
I hope instead, that the culprit can be found, and then asked to prove that such an interview took place. If it could be proved that no such interview did take place, then I think it would a huge PR disaster for the BT team.
Overall though, it's disgraceful, and shameful in a way to Scotland, that it has reached this level. It makes you wonder how much lower this can get.
I hope that it goes no further really JLT.
DeleteSB is a pretty unstable character and I'd hate it to be Scottish independence that put her into hospital again.
She's been used shamelessly already.
I'd love to know where it came from, but you are right, any thinking person will know that it wasn't her that thought all of these scenarios up. I frankly doubt that she's ever given most of that any thought at all.
I saw over on FB that some people are being rather unkind about her... presumably people who don't like her work...(" why would I care what some karaoke singer thinks?") but I wish they wouldn't. They are walking into a BT trap.
Tris,
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I wouldn't worry about Facebook. Even though I have an account on it, I rarely use it, since it really is garbage. For what it was meant to be used for, that had been forgotten. Now, it is just silly. As a couple of examples, 'Bob has just has a packet of crisps and like it' or 'Davie thinks X Factor has been poor tonight'
A case of 'Who Cares!!!!'
Facebook was meant to be the successor to Friends Reunited. A way of catching up with friends and acquaintances from the past. Now, personally, it sits in the gutter. If something about SB is said on Facebook, it will pass over very quickly, since there are about 10 new targets a day on it.
I think we just have to wait and see if this quietens down. One thought is though, if BT do decide to push the poster of what Ms Boyle said, and they do get a negative reaction (much to their delight), it will raise the ethics of what the BT campaign are doing also. But then again, are they doing this to sicken folk in such a way, that people will walk away from the referendum in disgust because the gutter level the argument has fallen too, not vote, and thus keep Scotland in the UK.
Well, yeah. Facebook is in many cases a load of junk...updating status to say that you're enjoying a packet of crisps LOL That's even dafter than I've seen.
DeleteI'm pretty sure you've been right and it will blow over without much comment.
Tris
ReplyDeleteI must admit I try to respect everyone's opinions in this debate but I must admit I would think that people like Susan Boyle would be better staying out of it, she has never shown any interest in politics so may have been hijacked on this one. Some so called celebs are political and that is fine but most are not and to be honest given the nature of their job tend to really not care in the main about politics at this level they tend to be the Clooneys of the world.
BT will grasp onto anything that they feel will aid their argument, but I suspect so would the YES campaign but I doubt they would have taken advantage of any comment of Susan Boyle in quiet the same way as they would have been slated across the MSM.
It's people like the Moone woman who basically threaten the jobs of their employees by implying that a YES vote will result in them moving their business to England etc that annoy me, for me that is truly shameful. I find her to be really really annoying, success which we can all applaud most of the time is good, but when it is abused as she has been sucked into the circle of Camerons wife etc where the establishment let her have their crumbs is more scary.
I suspect Susan Boyle probably doesn't really think about it in the way it has been implied, she may be a firm believer in the Union which is fine but I just don't think she will be thinking in the way that has been attributed to her, I just don't see her as that political on her record to date.
Bruce
Hi Bruce
DeleteI wouldn't worry too much about the moaning one threatening jobs since the majority of them are in China. The benefit to her fellow Scot is minimal to say the least, although I appreciate the loss of one job in Scotland is one too many
Blackmail springs to mind and that is not a very good advertisement for an employer
Bruce. I've always thought that it was a bit naff to use show business figures very much... and that includes good old SIR Sean. I don't give a stuff what they think. If they are in any way successful they don't live in the same world as the rest of us... so the opinions whether they are informed or not, are likely to be coloured by the fact that they are incredibly rich, or expecting an OBE or something... it things that aren't on our radar. In some cases they are incredibly ill-informed, like some stupid woman the other day who said that we wouldn't be able to afford to be independent because we didn't have anything like oil... but because she was "a celebrity" her ill informed view was carried in an interview.
DeleteBut there are always the folk who will vote a particular way because some "celebrity" is going to vote that way.
I don't like the way that SB appears to be used here. As I said, I doubt if she actually expressed any of these opinions, although she may well hold them.
I suspect vis a vis the Moone character that she won't leave Scotland. All the business indicators suggest that Scotland would be a great place to do business.
I seem to remember threats from people like Paul Daniels that they would leave Britain if Labour got in... and they didn't.
"Stars" should be careful about expressing political opinions. They are often seen as self serving. Like Michael Cain and his "I will leave if the 50p tax doesn't come down" statement, which made me think ... Bugger off.
Fairfor... You're right. Every job counts, but as I say, I doubt she will go and if she does someone will come in to replace her.
Disgraceful article Tris. I am genuinely shocked at you for thinking it okay to seek to downplay her importance in civic Scots life on the basis she isn't smart enough for you intellectual SNP types.
ReplyDelete'She has learning disabilities'
Doesn't mean she can't make educated opinions as a functioning adult.
Honestly, to point this out, in some shoddy attempt to basically say 'hey guys, we can't take simple susie seriously' is the height of disgusting politics.
I'm genuinely disgusted by the tone of all of this.
Good on Ms Boyle for standing up against nationalism, now we see its truer, uglier, elitist face.
Dean,
DeleteI think you've put the cart before the horse. I think the whole purpose behind the "shoddy attempt", and this surely was a shoddy attempt, was to try to influence this lady's fans. Why one earth would she, out of the blue, identify herself as backing the Better together campaign without being prompted?
Expressions such as "prices escalate" and "swallowed by bureaucracy" do not ring true to anyone who has seen this lady being interviewed on television? She will only have one vote the same as anyone else so why were her opinions sought - other than to try and boost a flagging No campaign.
Your interpretation of Tris's comments as referring to "simple susie" is,infinitely more offensive than anything I've seen in previous comments. His comments were to show that she was being manipulated and anyone with any sense can see that.
All that I know of Ms Boyle is what I have read or heard her say during interviews
DeleteI do admire how she has managed to realise her dream against all the odds, which brings us to the question did she exploit her difficulties which she herself made public, to help promote her career, or is she being exploited to help promote the careers of others
As a lady who appears to hold strong Christian beliefs I have no reason to think it would be the former
In answer to questions when interviewed she never used language or phraseology such as attributed to her in this article Were the previous interviewers guilty of asking trite questions that only required trite answers?
Since her career took off I doubt that she has had much time to devote to politics her energies have obviously been required to be directed elsewhere
Her opinion and vote are just as valid as the next persons, but until I can judge otherwise I will continue to believe she has been used in the most cynical and unscrupulous way imaginable, which I find both bad and sad
Dean: I meant no offense to SB. I certainly didn't refer to her as "simple".
DeleteI pointed out, as John has in his answer to you, that it seemed very unlikely to me that Susan Boyle would have used these words, and that they had been provided for her, whether by journos at the Sun, or by someone in her management team who wants to make a point but is not "celebrity" enough in themselves for anything they say to be listened to.
SB' Wiki page points out that she has learning difficulties as a result of being starved of oxygen at her birth. It's no secret that she has people to do everything for her. It is not offensive to take into consideration someone's health if it is widely known.
I find it offensive that she appears to be being used this way.
I can assure you that if the YES campaign had done it, I would have been every bit as scathing.
As I said earlier, I don't really care what "stars" think and that goes for people like Brian Cox (Labour) and Sean Connery (SNP) who are pro independence. They have different priorities to you and me because they live in a different world.
Fairfor...
DeleteI agree with you. I admire her for what she can do and what she has done.
You don't get too may worse starts in life than Susan did, and she has taken the talent she has and made it work for her.
Mind you, as I said in the article the whole introduction of Susan Boyle was a cynical manipulation of the public for what passes as "good television" or, put another way, the betterment of Mr Cowell's fortune.
Her turning up on the first show looking like a little old lady with an un becoming frock and a ridiculous hairstyle, then opening her mouth and sounding like an angel was pretty low. But that is what these tv shows do... and you have to accept it.
Boyle's view is, of course, as valid as anyone else's and I don't imagine that they have twisted her sentiments. She is happy being British and Scottish. That's fine. But they wrote the script for her and as you say, it is sad and it is bad.
I'm disgusted at your reaction Dean.
ReplyDeleteThere are none so blind.........
sorry Juteman but Dean's comments are EXACTLY the type of reaction I knew we would get from unionists.
DeleteI'm happy to believe that Susan Boyle is a no voter and that is her right. I'm happy to believe she's worried about the army etc. What I'm not happy to believe is that she stated her reasons for No in language attributed to her. It's been ghost written and that's what's wrong. It's more coherent than Johann Lamont and she's a graduate!
Dean says "Doesn't mean she can't make educated opinions as a functioning adult."
I've known a fair number of people with general learning disabilities and yes they have valid and legitimate opinions but not one of them talks like a journalism/English graduate.
And it's so unnecessary - make your own minds up. Don't vote the way a celebrity tells you to.
I think Dean's reaction was knee jerk, Jutie.
DeleteI don't think it is wrong to point out that, as now most people have done, Susan Boyle didn't say these things.
PP has it on the head of the nail. She may very well be anti independence. That is her right. But she didn't lay out that argument in these terms.
As PP said, that is more articulate than Lamont and she is an English graduate. Susan Boyle doesn't talk like that.
In my turn, I am disappointed that Dean didn't look at my comment more openly and see what I was saying.
I would be equally appalled if the Yes campaign did this.
ReplyDeleteThe woman has already had two nervous breakdowns FFS!
It's telling that the NO camp had their poster out only an hour after this 'interview' was published. This is nothing more than a cynical fishing exercise, hoping to catch a few nasty cynernat fish. Disgusting.
I didn't realise that the poster came out so soon after the Sun's article. I seems to have been prepared in advance then... a collaboration between the Sun, BT and Ms Boyle's management.
DeleteCheap. I hope Dean will condemn this.
If you hover over the picture on Wings, it mentions the hour difference.
ReplyDeleteI always forget Stu's hover. Thanks :)
Delete