BALANCING ACT ?..

This is, of course, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown doing a passable impression of Tommy Cooper whilst taking a leading role in the `No` campaign against Scotland leaving the United Kingdom and going it alone.   The referendum is just a few short weeks away and the momentum, the arguments, the threats and promises are gathering pace.

And yesterday saw an interesting development with a letter being sent by the `Let`s Stay Together` group urging Scots to vote `No` which was signed by 200 so-called `celebrities.`  The signatories include the predictably usual suspects, of course, such as Jo Brand whose claim to fame is based on crudity and loudness; Esther Rantzen, who is incapable of allowing a bandwagon to pass by without climbing aboard;  the improbable `Sir` Mick Jagger; Griff Rhys Jones, renowned as the one actor in the recent BBC version of Under Milk Wood to unforgivably mispronounce Butcher Beynon; the Turner Prize entry that is Tracey Emin and, inevitably, the caricature that goes by the name of Sting.

The Scots, it seems, are less than impressed and a wave of indignation has hit the social media airwaves.  One Jason Henderson observed that, "If I was a `No` voter I think this would embarrass me into voting Yes" and Historian Stephen Fleming called the line-up of celebrities "a real horror show" saying that, "If this doesn`t make Scotland vote for independence, I don`t know what will."

But what was perhaps most disconcerting was the BBC New 24 item that reported on the letter.   It did so with obvious enthusiasm for the cause of Scotland staying in the UK and totally ignored those other celebrities who are urging the Scots to vote Yes - among them Sir Sean Connery, Brian Cox, Robbie Coltrane, Billy Bragg, Iain Rankin, Ken Loach, Kevin Bridges and Jack Vettriano. 

But I guess we`ve come to expect nothing less from the BBC than leaning towards the party line of the establishment and so we should not be surprised that their stance towards the Scottish referendum is now clearly in step with the BBC view on things like the EU, climate change, global warming and all the other issues where those who dare to express dissent are viewed as bordering on the criminal or the insane.

Thank goodness I don`t pay the licence fee any more or I would really say what I think.