By definition a celebrity won't have much of an idea about life in the real world, thus the celebrity endorsement of political parties tends to make me simmer ever so slightly, but presumably the politicians must think that it impresses the average member of the public, since otherwise they wouldn't be so keen to associate themselves with such people.This time round the celebs seem to be queuing up to lend support to the SNP, with Mark Millar - yes, him! - being the latest in a long line to join the Nationalist-supporting bandwagon, along with such luminaries as Michelin chef Andrew Fairlie and award-winning cook and food writer Lady Claire MacDonald, which will of course encourage me to think about the independence cause when next tucking into my venison, beans and chips.
But at least these people actually live here, whereas a fair proportion of the others don't, and the irony is that these others tend to support the Nationalists.
And the Scottish Sun predictably wheeled out the daddy of them all this week in the shape of tax exile and knight bachelor Sir Sean Connery.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with moving abroad to work or study, or whatever - in an earlier life I lived in a foreign country called England for over six years - and indeed still having an opinion on how Scotland should be run, but depending on the circumstances there must come a time when the ex-pat's opinion becomes of less relevance, and at some point becomes an irritant to some of us actually still living here.
Sir Seanny has lived far away for quite some time now, with no obvious intention of ever returning*. But there's no obvious professional reason why he shouldn't return here now, and with his wealth he could of course live a very comfortable life in Scotland as compared to current residents forced to live on a run-down housing scheme, say.
So all that pash about him "sharing a dream" with Alex Salmond and his "Scotland forever" tattoo just feels like another kick in the teeth from someone who basically doesn't have a clue and should keep his opinions on Scotland to himself. End of.
*Of course, Sir Seanny claims he'll return to Scotland following independence, thus a good reason not to vote SNP next month.
(An interesting byline for the Sun's Sir Sean piece - Joan McAlpine. Not Joan McAlpine, journalist and SNP Holyrood candidate, surely? Talk about a newspaper nailing its colours to the mast!)
2 comments:
I suppose the McAlpine by-line is no worse than that of former Labour ex-spin doctor Lorraine Davidson in the Times who also happens to be married to Labour MEP David Martin.
Yes exiles opinions can grate. How many unionist ex-pats gripe at Scotland. Andrew Neil? the late John Junor? Even Billy Connolly a few years back spent his time ranting against devolution (before and after implementation). Works both sides of the fence you know!
"And you something, I'm glad it "£$4in closed, because the less parliaments, the less patriots, the less politicians there are!"
Connolly dancing outside Parliament House in the mid 90s.
Apart from his politics (which ironically embraces Irish nationalsim) I think he is great by the way.
Fair points Aberdonian, but I'm not trying to make a selective point about the partisanship of newspapers - there's certainly none so brazen as the Daily Record, for example - it was more a follow on from my recent post trying to rationalise the Damascene conversion of the Sun since 2007, which seems difficult to rationalise other than on grounds other than substantive politics and policy. But what's surely self-evident is that the Sun got it horribly wrong in 2007, and the likes of recruiting Ms McAlpine certainly reads like a statement of intent, if indeed yet another was needed!
As regards your concept of ex-pats then to an extent I would disagree, because Neil et al are unionists, thus there's nothing inconsistent about them living elsewhere within the union and criticising a constituent part of it, whereas with Connery et al there's a certain hypocrisy about being a Nationalist yet living abroad; indeed that would be the case even if they were living in England (Midge Ure?), at least to a greater extent than the likes of Andrew Neil.
I mean, if a Scots Westminster MP makes a point about Holyrood and Scotland's governance generally then they're often shouted down, yet Sean Connery?!?!
Post a Comment