A Force For Good Letter to Sunday Herald
Our fantastic activism at the ScotNat march on Saturday 5 May continues to influence the Scottish political scene, even into a third week!
For example, yesterday's "Sunday Politics Scotland" BBC programme (20-5-18) reported on the continuing fall-out between the Sunday Herald and its separation-supporting readership; a fall-out which seriously threatens the paper's continuing financial viability.
This is all because the newspaper published an excellent photograph of our activists waving Union Flags on Union Street as the march passed us.
As a result, a huge element of their readership went ballistic.
In addition, the STV programme, "Scotland Tonight" had an earnest discussion on the 14 May about the fall-out. It was a debate between a nationalist who said the Sunday Herald picture was terrible, and a journalist defending it (but not from a unionist position).
In other words, the unionist position – which is basically that there is a unionist position in the first place – was excluded entirely.
Indeed, the idea that the unionists had a point, and that it was important to represent both sides of the discussion, did not even figure in the "debate", and has yet to do so!
Also, not on the table were the blatant lies which the Nats have been telling about the turnout.
Nobody in the Scottish media dare challenge the Nats absurd "90,000" lie.
Among other points, we've shown how simple arithmetic reveals their lie.
35,000 in 1 hour is 583 people passing every single minute! These figures are beyond the bounds of physics, clearly disproven by video evidence, and a stupid lie to dishearten unionists.
The truth? Around 8-10K max!
And as we reported last week, the Sunday Herald also ran an unprecedented 3-page "explanation" basically trying to explain to its readership how a free press is meant to work in a democratic society, and why the newspaper shouldn't suffer for behaving like a normal newspaper! (Best of luck with that, by the way!)
Three pages to justify using a picture of the British flag in a national newspaper!
It was truly bizarre...and alarming.
It also chose to avoid mentioning our group by name, even though we are indirectly responsible for its predicament.
So we sent it the following letter on the morning of Wednesday 16th by email, in plenty of time for the Sunday 20th May edition.
We were encouraged to do so by the editor's statement in his 3-page explanation that the Sunday Herald was trying "to change" the "perception"that it was not a "home" for unionists.
As it happens, despite the newspaper's claimed new openness to unionists, our letter wasn't published.
Perhaps they realised that a letter from us would send their remaining readers into orbit!
Here it is:
Dear Sir
I am the organiser of A Force For Good, the pro-UK group which held a counter-presence to the Scottish nationalist march on Union Street, and whose Union Flags so enraged many readers when your colourful and dramatic photograph appeared on your front page (May 6). Looking on from our unionist perspective, we find it remarkable that you are being called upon to justify yourself for simply behaving like a normal newspaper. It tells us a lot about the state of Scottish politics, none of which is good. For example, what does this shocking reaction to your attractive and appropriate photograph tell us about the state of a significant number of people in Scotland who seem unable to relate to mainstream media without having a conniption fit every time they are exposed to something that doesn't mirror their prejudices?
Remember their anti-BBC march prior to the referendum? Is it because they are intolerant of other points of view? Is it because they don't like to be reminded that there even is another point of view? Worryingly, what does their overt hatred of the Union Flag tell us about their feeling towards their fellow Scots who identify as British also? In this destructive and divisive antipathy towards the symbols of British identity, they are taking their lead from the top.
We know the SNP is restricting flying the Union Flag, on buildings which they control, to 1 day a year! As I said to the marchers through our megaphone, us British have plenty of room for Scottish nationalists, but Scottish nationalists have no room for us British; and that is their abiding shame. Their hysterical response to your photograph is just another sorry example of this disorder. Yours faithfully Alistair McConnachie Director, aForceForGood.UK
A Force For Good is not going away. Instead, we're getting louder!
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