We weren’t taking a position on this, Mairi …

Comment posted For the record: the 2012 Olympic Flame in Argyll by newsroom.

We weren’t taking a position on this, Mairi – and if we did it wouldn;t be far from yours.
we were looking at the evidence around the identity and function of the ‘grey runners’ and coming to a possible conclusion – which seems to have been spot on.
This too has been very cleverly handled – they really are ‘greyed out’ and attract no attention but do put protection exactly where it may be needed.

Recent comments by newsroom

• Iain McCallum: the human bridge between Campbeltown and Heroes Challenge UK
  Alan – we’ll try to get a message to the team for you – and will pass on your email to them for dir3ect contact.
  The communications side of things is a weak link – not just with wifi and mobile signal problems but with accurate information on ETAs and even destinations.
  We spent the afternoon today chasing around unsuccessfully to find them at their stated destination in Campbeltown – confirmed before we set off to drive – when in fact they finished at The Putechan Hotel, which is on the west coast of Kintyre and well short of Campbeltown. Very frustrating.
  We did see the team doing the hard stuff though – passing them on the way south. They were cycling in two clusters, impressively easily and very disciplined in the way they were dealing with traffic streams behind them.
  You should know that we now understand that they will row tomorrow from Campbeltown to Glenarm and not to Ballycastle; and that it looks as if they will row back not form Newcastle but from Bangor to Portpatrick.
  They’ll be delighted to see you mi-channel. Great idea.
• Argyll and Bute Council: Where are we now?
  The difference is that the new ferry to Campbeltown had an arrival time and actually arrived.
  A major part of what we work to do is to support initiatives at all levels that are focused on regeneration and are driven by positive, creative energies that make things happen.
  Campbeltown wins hands down over Kilmory any minute of any day on these criteria – and we never spare ourselves travelling and hard work on a cause that has some hope of going somewhere.
  And just in case you are implying that this was a jolly – which we never do: I myself drove to Campbeltown – 1 hr 30m – did the work and drove back again immediately.
• Argyll and Bute Council: Where are we now?
  This amusing spin disguises the fact that there was no political ‘speculation’.
  There was formally recorded political realignment and manoeuvering by all councillors – which was done in some urgency before the council meeting, yet appears to have stalled – for some reason and for the time time being at least.
  Councillors do not seem to realise that this adds to the alienation of voters rather than assuage concerns.
• Big welcome at Campbeltown for new Ardrossan ferry
  We understand she carried about 60 passengers and although, flying around to catch as much as possible, we didn’t have time to count the cars coming off, we did look out for this and there were a respectable number of them.
• Argyll and Bute Council: Councillor McCuish leads again
  We appreciate that it is inconvenient for a light to be shone on doings your party would prefer to keep hidden in shady places from those it asks to vote for it.
  That is a dishonourable contract.
  As the former Alliance of Independent Councillors [which had nothing at all do with Michael Russell ] knows very well, when it was damaging Argyll and Bute by its conduct during the 2010-11 schools closure wars, we were even more vigilant in keeping them under scrutiny and publishing on their manoeuvres.
  We had to be even more vigilant because they were skilled at keeping things under wraps – where the SNP has conducted its acts of political genocide en plein air. All anyone has had to do is draw up a chair.
  It should be obvious from our stance in recent weeks that we have no ‘vendetta’ against Councillor Dick Walsh, whom we dealt with arguably more harshly than we have done with Mr Russell.
  A central function of our role is to contribute to the holding to account of those elected to serve the people. We do our best to fulfil this fairly – and hard. But we have no vendetta against anyone.
  In Mr Russell’s case we simply feel he is a hot air balloon who has imploded over Argyll and done a great deal of harm – profoundly so to his own party, which we used to support. The evidence for our view is in the public domain.

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