@Rev_Stu

Rev. Stuart Campbell

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What was the reaction down south like to the referendum? Were yes voters portrayed as a bunch of English haters and do you think english people with think twice about moving to Scotland now?

I detected no malice whatsoever. People were curious, and then surprised when it became clear that it was going to be close (though I'd been telling them all along that it would be), but I never got the sense that they felt it was a hostile thing directed against them. Most people I encountered wished us good luck - a lot of them were jealous that we had some sort of alternative on offer to the current Westminster set-up.

Are there any big decisions you've made make you very thankful you did and/or ones you regret and wish you could have another go at?

I'm not really one for regret. There are decisions I'm *curious* about, in terms of what would have happened if I'd gone the other way - for example when I turned down a promotion at Future Publishing in the early 1990s for personal reasons - but offhand I can't think of anything where I *wish* I'd made a different choice.
When I play poker I'll always take the chance for a "rabbit" if it's offered - to see what the next card would have been in a hand where I've folded - because I always like to see what was in the mystery box, so to speak, but I never get upset if it turns out I called it wrong. I'm just fascinated by the whole "Sliding Doors" thing.

How much feedback on your work do you tend to receive from journalists in other media?

Not much. Many of my friends are gaming journalists, and they tend to be gobsmacked at the size of the audience we've built and amused at the MSM's reaction to it, but it's not something we generally talk about a lot, because it's Scotland and they don't really know anything about it.

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Why did Newsnight make an attempt to link Alex Salmond/the SNP and Sinn Féinn on last night's program? (That one came out of the blue.) Have they given up on the UKIP link now?

It was either a genuine attempt to highlight one of the many interesting possible outcomes of next year's election, or it was an attempt to smear him by linking him to an organisation that in many British people's eyes is still closely associated with IRA murders. As SF doesn't even attend Westminster, I'll leave it to you to decide which.

Wings tends to stick to analysis, and not call its readers to action except to fund things and that one time you had people photograph empty train stations. Do you ever see that changing?

We ask people to do stuff from time to time, like write to their MPs. I'm not sure what else you'd have in mind.

If the SNP do hold the balance of power after the next election, can you see them entering into a coalition with Labour or propping them up on an issue by issue basis?

The latter yes, the former no. The hatred within Labour is far too strong for a formal coalition, and it'd be suicidally unpopular in England.

How long do you personally think it will be until the next independence referendum?

I honestly don't know. It depends massively on events, most obviously the 2015 and 2016 elections. I think I'd be surprised if there wasn't another one within a decade, but anything is possible.

I realise that a daily, interesting post is a big ask but you have done it and Wings is a great addition to politics in Scotland but how do you manage to maintain the momentum?

Well, stuff keeps happening.

Can you step in the same river twice?

Clearly you can. That's a silly saying. I mean, we replace every cell in our body every six months (or something) but we're still the same person.

Where does the name Wings over Scotland come from?

My first ever website was called World Of Stuart, purely because it occurred to me that it'd be amusing to modify the old "World Of Sport" logo. We had a picture of Dickie Davies on the front page for years.
After that I changed the tagline from time to time, but always with the same initials, so at various points it was "Wired On Starbust", "Weird Or Standard?" and so on. Eventually it became Wings Over Sealand, because I've always been fascinated by Prince Roy's gun-platform micro-state. When I decided to branch off into politics, Wings Over Scotland was the obvious choice, because it also suited our "mission" - watching over something from a distance.

How much would you pay for curry Weirdoughs and Salt 'n' Vinegar whisky?

Curry and curry-flavoured stuff isn't my bag. Make pickled-onion flavour doughnuts and we're talking.

What was your take on Paul Hutcheon's Sunday Herald article about you?

I was disappointed in it - perhaps unfairly, because it's pretty much the approach he takes with everyone. I have no problem with that, but it seemed for several weeks that he was always sent to do attack pieces on Yes people, while someone else with a different style would be given the job of interviewing the No person, and give them a much softer ride. Adam Tomkins is at *least* as provocative as me, but was treated as a thoughtful, intelligent commentator whereas I was portrayed as some sort of shock-jock monster.
Mainly I'm just bored with that "controversial hate blogger blah blah" angle. Aside from one piece on Alex Johnstone I don't think we've had an article on the site that couldn't have appeared in a mainstream newspaper - the Telegraph and Mail and Express in particular regularly feature much more aggressive opinion pieces than anything we write.
The piece seemed to be based on an irrelevant premise - namely that Yes Scotland, Patrick Harvie and whoever didn't want to share a platform with us or work with us. Well, we never tried (or wanted) to work with them, so who cares? I think there are far more interesting things to say about Wings than that I've occasionally called someone a wanker on Twitter or written mildly controversial articles on unrelated subjects for different websites.
So yeah, I was sad rather than angry. I've had much worse in newspapers.

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Sturgeon was always the FM in waiting with Salmond at the helm. Who do you think is the next FM in waiting?

I'm not in the SNP, so I can't give you any inside insight on that one. As deputy Stewart Hosie obviously looks best-placed and I think he's one of their stars, but it'll probably be a few years before an obvious heir is clear.

If you could change the name of the SNP what would you call it?

I might change it to something like "the Scotland Party", just to avoid the misleading use of "nationalists" by lazy hacks.
What the SNP advocate isn't "nationalism" in any commonly-understood sense of the term. Indeed, it's basically the exact opposite. It's inclusive and outward-looking, and not based on any notion of race. All it seeks to do is say that the borders of Scotland are international borders, not regional ones, and that therefore the people of Scotland are entitled to a national democracy the same as anyone else.

Have you ever shagged a Tory?

If we're counting supporters/voters rather than party members or elected representatives, yes.

What do you think of the Labour abstention on the second reading of the Infrastructure Bill. My borehole has never felt so exposed to a fracking.

Abstention is more or less never defensible. It's so cowardly that I think MPs should have their pay docked when they do it, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

If, as you said earlier, Cameron is likely to be sitting in No.10 post GE2015, is it possible in any regard that voting SNP rather than Labour will have secured him that victory?

It's highly unlikely. A large number of SNP seats might mean that Cameron had more MPs than Labour, but he's still got to get majority backing (322) to form a government. If Scottish votes hold the balance in that regard and the SNP don't support him - and they've said unequivocally that they won't - then he still can't get in and someone else gets to try.
(And if Scottish votes DON'T hold the balance then obviously it doesn't matter if they're Labour or SNP.)
It IS just about mathematically possible, but the range of outcomes which could bring it about is incredibly narrow, to the extent where in practice it's zero.

Did you ever consider a career other than computer games and journalism?

I didn't really consider careers at all. It just sort of happened.

Will you ever finish answering all thede questions or will they be never ending?

It'll tail off after the first few days.

When Scotland finally becomes independent, what do you think will make us unique or special amongst the family of nations.

Salt'n'sauce.

Have you ever had a night out in Armadale, west Lothian? Where did you go on a Bathgate night out?

I had the odd evening in The Goth back in my youth. In Bathgate we tended to mainly drink in the Green Tree of a weekend (in the back room where hardly anyone went, with the pool table, fruit machine and old vinyl jukebox), but I've never been much of a clubber.

Space Invaders, Galaxians or Asteroids??

IT'S "GALAXIAN". SINGULAR. But that's a toughie. All three games are highly evocative, and I've recently been considering buying a replica Galaxian cabinet, but I think in pure terms Asteroids is the best game. My biggest remaining unfulfilled dream is to live in a house big enough for a few arcade cabs.

How can you possibly justify your support for Walkers when there's the vastly superior Golden Wonder? Thats intensity in all flavours including pickled onion. I know nowadays they aren't mainstream but get yourself down to a pub once in a while to enjoy that flavour explosion.

I buy GWs quite regularly - their HP Sauce flavour were really nice, seem to have disappeared now. Their pickled onion are fine, but Walkers are a little less acrid.

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