Freeedom

Of course not, but if you were first minister and had power, how would you convince people about the merits of independence? There are a group of people who are wary and need that push to get them over the line. What policies and reassurances would you try and give those people to bring them on board? I agree with you 100% that there needs to be more focus on getting people on board as a big part of our strategy.

And how would you go about it, what would your case be? No plan after trying to convince people?

I'm curious to know what people's own broad prospectus is on how we are going to get independence. What is it we should be doing in the short term and possibly longer term to get there? Everything else is just a distraction. Give me your vision

Come on... Why are you always so bad faith?

This thread is as much of a shithole as the last one. The level of discussion is of a primary school age

Shock, horror. The fossil fuel industry and it's figureheads have never been friendly to Scottish independence, and as McCaughey said the north east overwhelmingly voted against the cause in 2014. When we get independence the fossil fuel industry will bend to our will, not the other way around.

That's because the SNP haven't given us anything to be positive about, there is no fighting spirit about them. It's just a case of "ah well our hands are tied... there's nothing we can do about it". We need a party that is going to lead the independence movement, not suck the life out of all its supporters.

1) the SNP have been in government for 16 years and people continually vote for them. Despite my criticisms they have more than proven they can govern the country, that is not an issue at all at this point. 2) The very most basic thing the SNP could have been doing is arguing the case for independence and building support amongst the general population. They have done bugger all on this front and take for granted the fact that if you support independence you should vote for them. They are a party comfortable in government, happy with the status quo. 3) The only way to make them move on the issue is to STOP voting for them or vote for another independence party instead. As a voter my only leverage is my vote and I will not vote for a party that has perpetually failed to push us closer to independence, it's not good enough. 4) once support has been pushed above that magical 60% on a consistent basis then we go ahead and hold a referendum regardless of what Westminster does or does not have to say about it. If we have the backing of the people no fascist law is going to stop us.

If we continue on the SNPs trajectory it will be a generation before we have any chance of independence. They have wasted so much time refusing to even make the most basic of arguments to the general public about the benefits of independence. They have no plan, no clue and independence is nowhere near the top of their priority list. The SNP have done more damage with their inaction dampening people's enthusiasm with talk of process rather than the positivity that filled the 2014 campaign

I don't get this obsession that women have with certain male celebrities. It would piss me off no end if my partner did something like that.

Yeah, but not real

He's always been an arsehole, even back in 2012 when the whole indy movement was kissing his backside. There are a lot of slimey grifters out there who have co-opted the independence movement to make careers for themselves. We need to keep our eyes open for the Nathalie McGarrys and Vonnie Moyes/leclercs or whatever her name was if this world who are in it for nothing more than raising their profile and making money.

Not impressed with the bigotry, people deserve respect however they identify.

Have they even thought it through? What happens if less than 50% of people vote for Yes parties, is that our "referendum" for another generation? The concept is bollocks. If it is over 50% then what is the plan? What are the British state going to do to stop us if we decide we are having a referendum? If the people vote yes off the back of it and they tell us we can't negotiate our independence then support is only going to increase. It is a win win for us to hold a referendum anyway (as long as we can push support towards 60%) which we need a campaign for to happen

It was the SNP that promised the Scottish people an independence referendum. Maybe they should stop making promises that they can't guarantee? It's in my view that they should go ahead and hold a referendum anyway (if there was an actual campaign for it)

I think it's pretty safe to say at this point that I was correct to predict there wouldn't be an independence referendum

I wonder where the SNP found the money to agree to the nurses 7% pay increase 🤔. Perhaps there is more money floating around that could be used to help people

Square what circle? Your point is that two different people may or may not have different opinions on tax policy? wow what amazing insight. And for what it's worth, no I don't support raising taxes on middle income earners in a cost of living crisis.

Can you elaborate on what your point is, I don't follow?

You need to try harder if you want to troll me. I don't bite as easily as some others.

News flash! Dealing with the cost of living crisis and stopping people freezing to death is unionist politics. I understand the party have become a lot more moderate and middle class in recent years but letting people freeze to death seems a little bit Tory to me.

Right, so since the SNP have failed at getting us out of this union they have to make policy decisions that are constrained by still being a member of the UK. I didn't realise that the onus had shifted from the Scottish government to me personally to make budgetary decisions about how to stop people from freezing to death in their own homes but I can tell you I would be doing a lot more to stop that from happening.

How many people need to die unnecessarily this winter because the SNP can't allocate their budget priorities correctly?

You know you don't need to operate as the SNP PR defence attorney? Just look at most of the responses in this thread, or on twitter, it's not good. The implication of her tweet is that she is in the same boat as everyone else which is clearly untrue. Financially I'm doing alright and I would never want to suggest that I was suffering in the same way that a lot of people in this country currently are. As I said, vulnerable people are going to die because they cannot afford to heat their homes and the solution to that is not to throw on a onesie, take a selfie and post it on twitter for "woe is me" points. If the SNP aren't vigorously campaigning for independence then you are damn right it is their job to mitigate the disasters of the Tory government. People will freeze to death in their homes and it is their job to stop that happening by taking action. What are they doing to help people since they clearly don't have any serious plans to get independence?

It's a little out of touch to suggest that she struggles to or can't afford to have her heating on when we know she has the money. There are genuinely people out there in Scotland who are going to die in their homes a consequence of not being able to afford to put the heating on this winter so I think it is in poor taste. The cost of living crisis is a serious problem with real world consequences and perhaps if the SNP were doing more to address that then her photo wouldn't be a problem