Charles Bannerman

There is a contract to broadcast rugby on Medium Wave on Friday nights which, as I understand it, pre exists the SPL's introduction of Friday might football. That only leaves 92-95 FM since Radio nan Gaidheal use their frequency at this time as well. These are the facts - the rest is my personal opinion since I am not in a position to express one on behalf of the BBC. And that opinion is that whilst there is sufficient interest in the Highland derby in the Highland area, it is justifiable to fill the Highland Radio Scotland airwaves completely with sport, these is not sufficient interest in the game throughout the rest of Scotland (and please remmeber a lot of people don't even like sport) to broadcast it there to the exclusion of all else. (Remembering that the game is also online.) If you are concerned about only getting (south based?) news about the Highlands that is sensational or negative, you should try the BBC's local bulletins for the Highlands and Islands at 0654, 0750, 1254 and 1654 with shorter summaries at other times - Monday to Friday.

There will be full commentary of BBC Radio Scotland 92-95 FM within the Highlands and Islands and online from Rob MacLean with John Robertson, Billy Dodds and Jim Spence from 7:05pm tonight. Jim will also be doing updates into the 810 Medium Wave rugby programme.

Or at least that has suddenly become the case in nationalist circles since the Irish and Icelandic economies went bellyup!

I'll probably be buried, but not for all that long in relation to the length of time to which a yes vote would condemn my successors to spearation. So isn't that a highly immoral and irrepsonsible argument, inciting the current generation to vote yes on the basis of claims of a short term fix and giving no thought at all to the interests of the many generations to come who would have to live with the consequences of a yes vote in 2014? It's also interesting to see that SNP "thinking" really hasn't evolved at all from the bogstandard "it's Scotland's oil" sloganising of the 70s. Meanwhile from post 37, I see we are also being invited to vote yes on the basis of oil that bauhaus' nephew "thinks" might have been discovered.

So you want to be clones of Norway now rather than the previously much vaunted "arc of prosperity"? Which model will you want to follow next when the oil runs out?

Well if you don't even know how good it would be, why don't the SNP stop banging on about it, start concentrating on running the country which is what they were elected for, and leave us in peace?

Yes of course... it was a plain loaf... simple as that! And the heel toasted was indeed great although you would never fit it into a modern toaster nowadays. And on the subject of Websters, the desk from which I am typing this was delivered personally to me by the said Mr Crout 30 years ago!

Yes I know what you're saying 12th man, but the point I'm making is that, whatever the club and its location, I would like to think that for home matches its fans' first priority would be to support their football club directly by patronising its Social Club before other pubs. A Social Club also enhances corporate football club identity. But of course there will be far more pre match drinkers on a big occasion than any Social Club could accommodate and in that respect your suggestion is more than sensible. Other than that, I am not even going to respond to Dougal's latest offering which is as delusional as it is predictable.

Presumably as an ICT fan, the OP would want his cash to help the football club as far as possible so this would seem to be the option which allows him to do that. Apart from profits going back to ICT, the prices at the Social Club at any rate are absolutely rock bottom - unless, for instance, there's anywhere else you can get a spirit and a dash for less than £1.60. The most expensive pint in there is, I believe, £3.00. I did hear it said in conversation last night that there would be a bus to the stadium leaving the Social Club at 7:15. I think they charge something like £2. EDIT - The Sponge posted above while I was composing mine and I see that the fare is £3.

You mean like Salmond scrapping local police and fire authorities and replacing them with a single Scotland wide one? And briefly to address CC's question about Labour's lurch to the right - they are politicians like the rest of them and that is presumably what they think is most likely to get them elected. After all, this isn't Labour's first lurch to the right. In order to become electable after the bleak Michael Foot years they lurched to the right under Blair. In fact back in the 20s and 30s Ramsay MacDonald didn't take long to start hobnobbing with the establishment after he became PM and it could possibly be argued that the reality of the Atlee administration post 1945 was a good deal less left wing than had originally been the plan. The Labour Party does tend to be something of a political chameleon and most definitely abandoned socialism in the 90s in order to become electable.

Couple of points here. Firstly IF Scotland were to vote for separation, the SNP would become completely redundant because they're only, to echo Billy Connolly's reference to the "wee pretendy parliament", a "wee pretendy political party" - inasmuch as they are in effect only really a single issue pressure group and simply don't give a toss about anything apart from separation and their referendum. Absolutely everything they do and think is governed hook, line and sinker by their sole objective of a yes vote. As a result in their book the best interests of the Scottish people in their every day lives are totally secondary to the SNP's sole raison d'etre. Which brings me on to what would happen after a yes vote. There would now be no need for an SNP so politics would revert to a contest among the "real" parties whose priorities, whether you agree or disagree with them, revolve round proper mainstream politics and not the SNP's single issue. So you are back where you started - so a yes vote would change absolutely nothing in that respect. Secondly, I would also endorse yngwie's point that it doesn't seem all that long since the separatist lobby was singing the praises of Ireland and Iceland from the "arc of prosperity" So... "you're not singing.. you're not singing... you're not singing any more" on that one because these countries have now become classic examples of small population bases finding it so easy to become financial basket cases when the going gets tough. Instead you quote Norway (finite oil reserves are just for Christmas... separation is for life) Denmark and Sweden. Right... so that'll be Norway where the standard rate of income tax is 28% (20% here), petrol is 25% dearer than it is here (see what having so much oil does for them!) and drink is so expensive that even if Salmond's EU challenged price hike were applied here, ours would still seem dirt cheap... etc etc.... Somebody also mentioned dictatorship. I really can't think of a more complete dictatorship than the SNP where all the party gofers and apparatchiks from Sturgeon downwards are all clones of Salmond (in mind if not in body )... right down to that silly patronising little giggle which he affects and which all the acolytes sycophantically copy.

I'm not entirely sure what you're getting at here but you're surely not dragging up that old chestnut of suggesting that people would be conned into voting "yes" in 2014 simply to get rid of the Tories or the Coalition which is clearly going to happen anyway at the next general election (if the Coalition doesn't actually fall apart before then)? That would be a wee bit like persuading somebody to undergo a dangerous course of radiotherapy when a couple of paracetamols would do. "Separation is for life - not just for Christmas!" "Vote 'yes' in haste - repent at leisure"

There was the "household pan" loaf and then the one with taller slices where the bread was a bit coarser that you bought wrapped in waxed paper. Burnetts used to do a particularly good one. Morrisons in the market had an upstairs cafe that did a really good pie and beans. Morrisons opposite the Heathmount was a favourite for Royal Academy pupils "joopeen off" for a pie. And didn't Morrisons also have a brown and yellow van that went round the streets. Whose bakery was it down Telford Road? Was that Morrisons as well? And remember "cream cookies" where you'd have to go and give your face a good wash after eating them. (It's actually so long since this thread started that most of what I've just said has probably been covered already!)

I'll just take this opportunity for a plug. If you are away from a radio or prefer another means of following events, the BBC online, including text, service has been upgraded this season in Scotland with a view to providing more information. This comes in the form of how the game is going and bits of colour from matches. All match reporters - Open All Mics and in particular the TV reporter - have a remit to feed into the text service and there is also a brief match report placed online.

Good God!! As we say in Inverness... yerjokeenmun! That's around a 100% profit. And people complain about being overcharged to get into football matches!

Is JD still "the Rangers shop" or is that a franchise it no longer runs but is keen to replace? Whatever the answer to that, why has it taken JJB/JD so long to become interested in local teams?

Remember to put the dubbin on them. It won't have been applied to them for a few years now.

At ICT v Aberdeen? Who on earth has got that idea? The BBC actually had a bigger on-air presence there than would be the norm for this season at a non commentary game. John Robertson did Open All Mics as usual and since I was at the shinty, Billy Dodds came up to do the TV report and post match interviews, but was also seconded as a second voice on Open All Mics. Dont shoot the messanger! Just repeating what they tweeted! Think they said that there was not proper reporter just 2 ex pros. Take it up with them I suppose Quite so OCG. The messenger remains totally unharmed and thank you for the information! I will make some discreet enquiries though.

At ICT v Aberdeen? Who on earth has got that idea? The BBC actually had a bigger on-air presence there than would be the norm for this season at a non commentary game. John Robertson did Open All Mics as usual and since I was at the shinty, Billy Dodds came up to do the TV report and post match interviews, but was also seconded as a second voice on Open All Mics.

I do hear that the BBC has relocated production of the drama "Lark Rise to Candleford" to Scotland. It will be re-titled "Larkhall to Wallyford" - a tale of simple rural folk on a peaceful summer Saturday walk .....on July 12th :laugh:

Maybe Friday 4th October is the biggest and most important Highland derby to you Dougal, and perhaps you are genuinely concerned about the ticket allocation on that day. But when the real Highland Derby comes along on Friday 5th October, I am sure all will be well! What you seem to be fussing about is your understanding that Ross County may be allocated the 2500ish seats in the South Stand, around 300 in the south wing of the Main Stand and about 200 in the uncovered West Stand. If this is so, that would be a total of about 3000 seats for Ross County fans, leaving something like 4500 for ICT. Now of course we can expect an enhanced interest from ICT fans and indeed from both sides for this unprecedented occasion. But you also have to take into account the fact that, for the two home games so far, ICT fans haven't actually been flocking to the TCS so it might be unwise to allocate too many tickets to home supporters, especially when there may be a more reliable alternative market. Because whether you (or your persona) like it or not, Ross County have got 2800 season ticket holders alone so it might be worth suggesting that the ICT board are actually being quite prudent and responsible by trying to maximise income (and cash flow since these are all one off sales) by allocating tickets in such a way as to ensure that the ground is as full as possible. Now if it irritates you that one way of doing this is to give a generous allocation to Ross County, then that's just too bad but this is the way the world has been working in recent months. However I do of course also realise that you may simply be fishing for a reaction here. But the reality is that there can be no complaint from ICT fans if this is the way that tickets are going to be allocated. Because firstly, on recent form, they may well not have bought up a more generous allocation. So as long as season ticket holders are accommodated (which they will be) Caley Thistle should feel under no obligation to hold back theoretical seats for glory hunters, or those who have stayed away for other reasons, (which DON'T include disaffection with the merger nearly 20 years ago ) who have been conspicuous by their absence even against Celtic but who may decide to grace the club with their presence on this very special occasion - and then disappear again. I have to say that I was not aware that tickets were available yet for the "ICT end" although there is a general awareness that they are on sale to County fans in Dingwall because Ross County issued a widely used press release to tell us this a couple of weeks ago.

The Tory Government is easily changeable at the next election... or indeed could be out of office tomorrow if the coalition collapses, which is eminently possible. Separation is for ever - a painful bed to have to lie in indefinitely if you end up being fooled by one man's ego trip.

This is simply cut and pasted straight out of "The SNP tartan book of stories and myths to make feel Scottish people feel disgruntled at the English." One of the main events in the immediate run up to the Treaty of Union was the abysmal failure of the Scots to start an empire at Darien in Central America. It was only after they sent two fleets in an attempt to sell woolly bunnets and Bibles to the Central American indians that they realised that they had committed the biggest act of collective incompetence since James IV tried to invade England and got a right kicking at the Battle of Flodden for his trouble. Darien bankrupted the country which then needed financially baled out by the big boys next door. And the arrangement, now known as the Barnet Consequentials, has worked more than well ever since!

Interestingly one of the undertones since the referendum was announced has been a fair bit of " well maybe not this" and "oh perhaps not that either?" and "well we'll maybe tell you about that in a wee while" - which seems a bit of a paradox in the face of Salmond's multi decibel bluster since the days of "Free By 93" and beyond. These people have simplisctically trumpeted, without qualification, about "independence" for decades. But now, under the scrutiny of actually having to make a case for it, they are being found seriously wanting. Remebering Billy Connolly's comments on the Scottish Parliament, it seems more and more that the Forces of Separation are retreating towards creating "A Wee Pretendy Country" as they discover that one apsect, then another either, isn't viable in a separate Scotland, or at least won't be as effective as it would be Together. At this rate, all that will be left to vote for will be SNP dogma, with all the substance, such as the BBC and the Pound and a lot more to come, conceded as "Better Together". And in the event of a vote for separation, I also think that the English, the Welsh and the Northern Irish would be more than entitled to tell the Scots, after all their vacuous bluster, simply to p*ss off and provide their own services and not become parasites on the remaining large majority elsewhere in these islands.

Yes, it's when you get interference and aggravation from the Central Belt, which peaked around the mid 18th century, that the problems begin to arise. As long as you ignore the kilty cringe, which is just a 19th century imagined reinvention anyway, we're fine up here. What wouldn't appeal to me is getting my affairs dictated exclusively to me by the central belt - which is happening to a greater and greater extent already under this SNP administration which has centralised Police and Fire services and frozen council tax which has reduced the effectiveness of my local council. Salmond seems very keen to have as much power as he can devolved from Westminster to him, whilst at the same time operating reverse devolution (and hence concentrating even more power on himself) in the direction of local communities - such as this one for which I have a lot of enthusiasm. So if the SNP want to break up the United Kingdom on the basis of splitting off the bit with the oil money, then make it independence for the Highlands where we can get all the oil revenue but won't have the burden and baggage of the central belt.