Public Eye's independent thinking

You'd think that a music and drama school trying to force government ministers to find £600,000 to save it from sacking teachers would want to get maximum publicity, particularly if its supporters include Hollywood favourites like James McAvoy and TV stars such as David Tennant, John Hannah and Tom Conti. Well apparently not so in the case of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Even though McAvoy trumpeted the exceptional skills of the RSAMD's teaching staff from the awards podium of the "Britain's Best 2008" ceremony in London on Sunday night and is backing the campaign with several BBC interviews, apparently this news cannot be shared with the nation. Oh no. The RSAMD has hired a London-based PR firm, Public Eye, which put out a press release yesterday with the following guidance note: For Scottish Media use ONLY. The independence bandwagon just jumped up a gear.