scotlad
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Posts posted by scotlad
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1 hour ago, Dave78 said:
Yeah, i read that. But specifically which parts of the electorate?
The data seems to say Tories (who are unlikely to switch to the SNP (apart from in the Tartan-Tory heartland of the north east)).
Another factor though is who they'd be up against in an election. In 2011 most polling put Labour in front until quite late on, as the prospect of Iain Gray as FM began to sink in with people. The end result, as we know now, was an SNP majority victory with Salmond returned as FM.
At this point in time I feel confident either Forbes or Swinney would be preferred over the alternatives leading Labour or the Tories.
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6 minutes ago, StirlingEgg said:
With Forbes aged 34 with a young family, it can't be that tempting a job. The nonsense against her has already started; you'd think she had been preaching to everyone or protesting outside abortion clinics the way folk are talking. Instead she's been asked deliberately hot potato questions and answered them. As you've already pointed out, it'll be the same for anyone. This constant looking for a publicity weak spot in a person and exploiting it doesn't help with any of the 'getting on with the day job' that they're all het up about.
It is mad how a wee Christian young mammy fae the heilans is being painted as some kind of far-right fundamentalist monster. 🤣
I'd hope if - IF - she gets the job the stuff about religion would soon be forgotten. Unfortunately the media are capable of keeping slurs going for as long as necessary. The SNP's opponents sense that it's weakening and they don't want anyone strengthening it, regardless of the consequences.
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1 hour ago, Squirrelhumper said:
It's mental.
I said it in another post, but we really do get the country we deserve.
In any normal country, after a near-disastrous head of government was preparing to leave office, there would be a clamour to install the best person for the job. However, some of Scotland's prominent churnalists - Farquharson, Hassan, Hutcheon - have declared Forbes unsuitable to be FM for no other reason than her religious faith. I'd really hoped we'd moved past that, but, of course, for most of our press it isn't in the interests of those paying their wages for Scotland to have an effective government, especially one led by the SNP.
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30 minutes ago, DesiScotsman said:
Such a talented player on his day but just a pity his body breaks down as easily as snapping a poppadom in half
It really is. If he has a groin problem he probably needs an op.
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38 minutes ago, Hertsscot said:
Of all the injuries this is the most important in terms of how the team is set up and who will be in the squad. Others are like for like replacements but KTs role is quite distinctive.
And he's the biggest crock-waiting-to-happen of them all. 🤦♂️
I have a mental image of him breaking down about 25 minutes into the Germany game and that being his tournament - and Scotland's - fecked!
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1 hour ago, PapofGlencoe said:
Flynn has backed out who would have been my choice.
With all that's left, I'm probably okay with Swinney. He has more steel about him than he did 20 years ago.
This is all about keeping the government together and avoiding an election rather than anything to do with independence, though. I want a decent government but many vote SNP for independence, including me.
I find a lot of the discourse a bit over the top brought on by voracious opinonators on social media. The SNP are struggling because of splits in the party about gender reform, corruption allegations and Westminster calling their bluff on independence. Some of that is their own fault and some of it isn't. The same people moaning about the SNP also enjoy all the free-at-point of need things. Many would never be put forward by Tories or Labour tied to London Labour, fearful of a backlash. My own family have enjoyed free additional childcare which is much better than anything in England. Child payments, rent controls, free transport for kids, vast pay increases for public sector staff. A non-promoted Teacher can be on £60,000 a year. from £50k to £60k in 2 years. The median salary is £32kish, the gap between the two has widened substantially. For good or bad, the SNP have tried to cater to these "middle of the road" people. Yet despite this, a few miseries on less impactful polices are hitting support. They're now being abandoned by them.
I don't see independence happening under the SNP alone and I don't see a suitable vehicle without the SNP signing it off. They are going to get anywhere between 25-40% of the vote for the foreseeable but never 55-60% which is required. In other words, they have become a political party, riven by the same problems political parties always have, instead of a national movement. They should have started a non-party political convention years ago. This was always on the cards whether you like SNP or not. Parties become unpopular over time. Howver, I think many of the politicians in the party have become disillusioned and don't believe their countrymen and women want independence strongly enough. So they are as well hoovering up the 40% of independence supporters votes where they can, try to fight Scotland's corner but never really push the boat out. Can you blame them?
Absolutely; I am sure most of us know some of them personally too. They'd be in for a rude awakening if they lost their "free stuff" or had to pay for their little darlings to be tutored at university though.
It wouldn't be the end of the world if Swinney took the reigns for a while - I can't for the life of me see him being as disastrous as Humza - but he is far to managerial to "shift the dial" on independence, and the fact that the powers-that-be in the SNP seem desperate to install him as leader - possibly even more so than they were Humza - makes me suspicious. Why go all-out on a guy who a year ago made clear that his time on the frontline was behind him?
25 minutes ago, Alibi said:If Swinney gets shoehorned in, I can't see him advancing the cause of independence any time soon. He's too bland and isn't going to inspire anyone. He has a role to play but it's not as leader.
Kelly Given was on Call Kaye this morning rooting for Jenny Gilruth. That would be a disaster unless you want even more wokeism.
The best person to be SNP leader, even after being away from the job for nearly ten years, is still Alex Salmond. He puts every other politician in Scotland, and indeed in the entire UK, in the shade. Nobody can put incisive points across like him. No wonder Sturgeon connived to have him assassinated politically. He's the benchmark that we really need to aim for in selecting a new leader, and currently I can't think of anyone who comes close to that level of political nous. Of the main contenders, I'd say Kate Forbes would probably be the best option as she comes across well. However, freeports? Hmm...
Cretin backs cretin for leader 🤣 Kelly Given was threatening (if that's the right word) to leave the party if Forbes becomes leader - if that's not a vote winner for Forbes I don't know what is!
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2 hours ago, AlfieMoon said:
I wanted Forbes to get it in the last leadership contest but I wouldn’t say that Swinney seems like any sort of bad call at this point.
Only in the same way Alex McLeish wasn't a bad call for Scotland manager in 2018, when the only other names in the frame were Gary Caldwell and John Hughes. 😕
2 hours ago, Northern Light said:It's going to be Honest John, isn't it. It's like a year ago all over again with the establishment trying to get unstoppable momentum behind the Sturgeon candidate. If that happens it's just another two years lost in the Independence wilderness. Nicola's fingerprints are all over this unfortunately.
I'm not sure Kate will even stand and maybe the clever long game is to let Swinney pick up the thumping the SNP will inevitably get in the WM GE and then put in a challenge ahead of the 2026 election as I struggle to see how someone like Swinney could remotely inspire the missing voters from 2024 to return to voting SNP in 2026
I'd still back him to beat Ross or Sarwar in a HR election. Ross leads a toxic party that's in the middle of its own self-destruct cycle and Sarwar is a gibbering moron that no one apart from completely intransigent tribal Labour supporters would see as FM. Swinney would still have his work cut out to avoid the drubbing that's appears to be on the cards at WM though.
If I was Swinney and I was serious about taking the job I'd be on the phone to Forbes offering her her old job back in exchange for a clear run at the leadership post. I'd also do what I could to scrap the daft, unnecessary rule preventing SNP MPs from sitting as MSPs (and vice versa). The SNP's current talent pool isn't deep enough for them to impose such restrictions on themselves.
51 minutes ago, Hertsscot said:Agreed. Put the egos behind them, start acting as grown ups. If she's elected it will be by party members and they need to respect that.
Absolutely, and if they can't accept that they should put their money where their mouths are and leave the party.
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6 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:
Looks like McTominay is out the euros and start of next season.
Where are you seeing that?
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38 minutes ago, syecosse said:
A little confused on this have just seen another thread on twitter on Callum Mcgregor a number of celtic fans discussing how Mcgregor has either just lost it or is still injured, now cannot say I have been watching him, but is this true? Obviously a concern with the amount of injurys we have and surprising considering was named team of the year.
Subbed off yesterday, which is unusual for a captain - unless he is injured.
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3 hours ago, hampden_loon2878 said:
Well those who voted humza in were warned, now hopefully they see the bin fire sturgeon has left, humza seems a ok lad just hadn’t it in him, never had or will.
best case scenario, KF elected, have a WM election first then onto a holyrodd election. Snp remain biggest party but will be a minority.
worst case, holyrood election called imminently
What those SNP members who voted to promote a man with a track record of fucking-up every job in government he's ever had expected by giving him a role with even more responsibilities and even more opportunities to fuck-up I do not know.
Even his resignation speech was painful.
2 hours ago, Ally Bongo said:Plenty London commentators being rolled out to tell everyone about Scottish Politics
Do none of them honestly know that the Scottish parliament has a PR system, meaning minority administrations are actually the norm?? They keep emphasising "minority government!" as if it's some kind of gotcha.
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3 hours ago, hampden_loon2878 said:
It would be a shame with Kate as I truely believe she is the one to steady the ship,, I would rather watch paint dry than listen to gray 🙈
He is appropriately named, if nothing else. Seriously, I think he could spend all day walking up and down Princes Street and no one would recognise him, unless he bumps into someone from work.
Apart from being in the wrong party Neil Gray is exactly the kind of person the British establishment had in mind for FM when they set up Holyrood: a bland, unassuming administrator. A Jack McConnell.
For Westminster, having spent over a decade watching Salmond and pre-Idpol Sturgeon occupying one of their colonial institutions like a couple of hungry grizzlies prowling around some poor frightened Canadian family's back garden looking for breakfast, the prospect of a nice, compliant devolutionist with the charisma of cardboard must be a blessed relief.
1 hour ago, RanelaghScot said:Absolutely top twitter that one, Kate Forbes doesn't agree with current SNP policies and for Twitter this means she's essentially the Westboro Baptist Church.
For me we needed to go back to the tight ship that was Salmond's SNP, centrist, broad church, everything running to the tick as much as it could.
I wanted to call the journey from being in the position we were in around the brexit vote to letting the Greens do enough damage to make a Labour return likely a new definition of "glorious failure" but there's nothing glorious about it, it's a laughable travesty.
Humza's declared he's not resigning. I really don't know how he can go from being the cheerleader for the SNP-Green progressive front to the broad church centrist in a matter of days and pull it off.
The sad thing is, whatever throbber tweeted that Kate Forbes' views are right-wing, neo-conservative and ultra-Christian was probably being sincere. Clueless beyond belief! 🤣
I have some reservations of aspects of Forbes' politics, such as her apparent support for freeports, but - and I know this is a low bar - she is in my view one of the brightest MSPs presently sitting in HR. Anecdotally she is respected amongst the electorate, including amongst people who don't normally vote SNP, and based on her record as Finance Minister and with the right people in place I think she would run government more capably than we are seeing at present.
If she isn't planning on standing again either for family or personal health reasons then that is a shame, but understandable. If it is because of the dog's abuse she got last time, then that too is understandable, but it is also a sad reflection of the times we live in when some of the more capable amongst us are dissuaded from putting their heads above the parapet because of guttersnipe arseholes who have never done anything useful in their lives. We get the country we deserve, I suppose.
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2 hours ago, hampden_loon2878 said:
Is she pregnant I wonder?
Possibly so.
I also remember a couple of months ago she tweeted something about having to call an ambulance for her daughter, so maybe the wee soul has a problem and she wants to devote more time to her. Hopefully her daughter is okay though, and if she isn't standing it's for a nicer reason.
2 hours ago, hampden_loon2878 said:I would rather stick with humza 🤣
I think I would too 😟 I didn't think they'd be able to find someone with less charisma than Anas Sarwar but they might have! 😂
1 hour ago, Toepoke said:I wonder if she'll get her big thermometer now?
🤣
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The most exciting day in Scottish politics in ages and the board fecking crashes 😂
Humza rumoured to be on the verge of quitting with Neil Gray taking over.
Haud me back. 😕
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This is almost certainly the smartest move Humza has made since taking office. The situation is still slightly embarrassing for him though, since maintaining the BHA was part of his leadership bid and he was still in effect defending the agreement as recently as a couple of days ago, but in ending the agreement he's saved some face, for the time being at least.
It'll be interesting to see what happens next. Wings was suggesting the opposition would have the numbers now to force a VONC, and if I was in Sarwar's position I'd be tempted, going by current polling. Then again, I expect both Humza's personal polling as well as his party's will improve as a result of today's announcement. A general election victory would assure his position as FM for a while longer.
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Hopefully Humza's going to resign but it's most probably the Bute House agreement being junked.
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34 minutes ago, mariokempes said:
Humza is either truly the thickest kunt ever to "serve", or he's a plant. Cash on thickest at this stage...but let's see.
A plank, yes; a plant, no. That is my gut feeling.
There were a lot of people in the upper echelons of the party awfy keen to see him installed as leader last year though. 🤔
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On 4/21/2024 at 4:32 PM, Ally Bongo said:
I see how that worked when it came to Yousaf or Forbes .... not to mention being warned what was likely to happen
They binned support for Forbes because of her objection to the GRR
And that will be their priority when the next leadership election happens because they have surrounded themselves with a wokerati team base
During Corbyn's time in charge of Labour he encountered - and failed to deal with decisively - resistance not only from so-called moderate MPs, but also party apparatchiks who favoured them.
The membership and other affiliates were largely behind Corbyn and I think if he'd made a priority of it he could have turned the tables on the right-wing of the party, but for whatever reason he didn't.
There's a lesson from history there that anyone from outside the SNP in-crowd should pay attention to if they're going to go for the leadership.
12 hours ago, Malcolm said:The SNP have been badly damaged by the Greens. I was going to say irreversibly damaged, but politics is fickle, and a few years from now things might be different.
sadly they let the allure of an easy passsage for bills get ahead of principles and common sense.
the Greens really are crackpots on the edge of mainstream life and the majority of Scots now associate that with the SNP
Patrick Harvie a decade ago seemed like quite a reasonable guy. A wee bit radical compared to other more mainstream politicians, yes, but he always made his points soundly and logically. What a shame that he's chosen to spend his time in government this way.
It's ironic too that he is supposedly part of a movement that urges people to listen to scientists and experts when it comes to climate change, but encourages the opposite when it comes to gender ideology!
The coalition with the Greens was always unnecessary. The SNP could have run government just as easily as a minority administration - a large minority administration - and saved themselves a lot of face in the process.
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On 4/19/2024 at 4:32 PM, StirlingEgg said:
😁 Even his policies back then would fit in well with current B'stards! Wonder who could play him now...It would be hard to write ridiculous material that outdid the last 14+ years (think that's why Armando Iannucci stopped writing the likes of Veep/The Thick of It).
Apparently he was once accused of buying drugs for a teenage male escort. A few years later the Tories made Menzies a trade envoy to Colombia and Peru. I guess it was his aptitude for trade that impressed them!
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5 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:
We have proven on our day we can win against top notch sides in the last two years or so. For evidence of that look to our wins against Spain, Denmark and Ukraine. However, that was with us with a full strength side and everyone on form.
Aye, at full strength I'd feel a lot more confident about our chances but sadly we won't be, and the drop-off in quality in some positions is alarming.
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4 hours ago, The Black Bra said:
I was a lot more optimistic 6 months ago. I was happy with Germany as pot 1 team as they were in the worst state they’d been in in my lifetime and I’d rather have them than England, France or Portugal. Not so sure about that now….
Looking for positives, I think our recent record in competitive games is ‘won 15 of last 21’, if you take into account the last 2 were dead rubbers, you could say ‘15 wins in last 19 meaningful games’ which is incredible for us. We’ve always been pish in friendlies and they were mostly against top teams so maybe they’re meaningless? The way we played against Netherlands for an hour was great apart from the finishing.As usual with us I’m hopeful, but if I was going to put my house on it I think there’s a very good chance we’ll lose to Germany and Hungary. A win against Switzerland might be enough for 3rd, don’t know much about them.
The Swiss are better than they're given credit for. Tournament regulars who often reach the knockout stages, they're not a 'big name' side but at this point I don't fancy our chances against them.
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6 hours ago, ProudScot said:
Same passing out the back goals you see every week in the fantastic EPL.
Gauld should have been tried out and capped long ago and since we wasted the last friendlies hopefully he is one of a few who get a chance in the next ones
Agreed. Clarke would have had nothing to lose by playing him in a couple of friendlies. If he played well, then he'd have had another option to pick; if he didn't cut the mustard then that's the whole 'Ryan Gauld for Scotland' issue put to bed.
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58 minutes ago, Dave78 said:
I didnae see it, but i'm guessing she wasn't asked about them?
If i'm wrong, forgive me. It's just i see so many complaints about politicians not 'talking enough about'/'talking too much about' any given subject, all while they don't realise that what they hear is completely filtered by the media and their agenda.
She wasn't, no. Strangely it was like there were other issues that were a higher priority for people.
I understand what you're saying and I have seen the media playing that game in the past, but I pay attention to politics in this country, where the Greens are partners in government with the SNP, and save for a botched deposit return scheme (which, incidentally, I am in favour of, in principle) and some stuff to do with insulation in homes, I'm struggling to think of many distinctly green policies that they've brought to the table.
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9 hours ago, Alibi said:
Bit of a clusterfuck. Would be quite funny if it turned out that Murrell was in the pay of the British state all along.
I know all governing parties come up with some daft policies, but it seems to me that the Sturgeon version of the SNP have brought forward almost nothing but unpopular policies - even the recent 30% increase in minimum alcohol prices during a cost of living crisis could have been thought up specifically to lose votes. I'm becoming more and more convinced that it's deliberate - malice rather than incompetence. Those promoting these daft policies know exactly what they are doing.
It does make you wonder, doesn't it? Support for independence has remained firm for the past decade and demographics suggest it's likely to increase, and now we're seeing the main political vehicle towards achieving independence potentially on the verge of going bust (I don't think that's too much of an exaggeration).
3 hours ago, Hertsscot said:Rainbow Greens petitioning their leaders to end Bute House agreement. The fact that they want to do this on the basis of pausing puberty blockers rather than on the abandonment of some key net zero targets (which you'd think was a priority for environmentalists) says a lot about the priorities of some in the Green party.
There was a lassie from the English Green party on Question Time last night and she didn't mention puberty blockers, pronouns, or sex change operations on the NHS once. Instead she spoke eloquently and insightfully about policies to help the environment. It was very refreshing! 😄
New SNP leader
in Anything Goes - Other topics not covered elsewhere
Posted
Confirmed by Forbes's "people", seemingly.
I wonder if HJ has potentially offered her her old job back as a sweetener for not standing. 🤔