Holyrood Elections 2021

[Parklife]

Some great hilarity in this thread. 

Accusing a man who was cleared in court of sexual assault is quite the thing. Top work team SNP. 

[tartandon]

A poll with a difference....

https://www.machotrouts.com/2021/04/28/holyrude/

 

[phart]

19 minutes ago, tartandon said:

A poll with a difference....

https://www.machotrouts.com/2021/04/28/holyrude/

 

A few astute takes in there!

[kumnio]

22 minutes ago, tartandon said:

A poll with a difference....

https://www.machotrouts.com/2021/04/28/holyrude/

 

😂😂 a few decent replies. 
 

[hampden_loon2878]

47 minutes ago, Parklife said:

Some great hilarity in this thread. 

Accusing a man who was cleared in court of sexual assault is quite the thing. Top work team SNP. 

TBF i am team SNP, met alec last week, canvassed for snp and alba,, yes there are some roasters in the party just now, more than i would like but there are some really good folk still here,, they are just getting drowned out in the noise of late. 

[Archiesdad]

https://www.believeinscotland.org/exclusive-greens-and-alba-flying-high-on-list-but-snp-majority-in-danger/

[Lamia]

32 minutes ago, hampden_loon2878 said:

TBF i am team SNP, met alec last week, canvassed for snp and alba,, yes there are some roasters in the party just now, more than i would like but there are some really good folk still here,, they are just getting drowned out in the noise of late. 

Of late? From the very start!

[dipped flake]

11 hours ago, Dave78 said:

Nah... there's a reason that new administrations talk about their plans for their 'first 100 days'. That's when they have the most political capital, and can get things done.

For a new pro-indy parliament to not push ahead with indyref2 (and force Westminster to test the legality in court) would be another error (it should have been done years ago IMO).

I can guarantee that you will be disappointed, imo of course. 

[TDYER63]

13 hours ago, tartandon said:

A poll with a difference....

https://www.machotrouts.com/2021/04/28/holyrude/

 

😂😂

 

 

 

[Morrisandmoo]

On 4/30/2021 at 1:37 PM, Och Aye said:

You do realise the Tories have overseen one of the highest amount of Covid cases in Europe. Boris Johnson was advised a year ago to close the borders. He chose not to do so as the party donors were against it   - ££££££££ first and foremost over lives.

The world in fact. As has Nicola Sturgeon. 

[Morrisandmoo]

On 4/30/2021 at 12:49 PM, TDYER63 said:

Labours policies are broadly in line with SNP, infact they have nicked a few from the SNP so not really sure why, if you support independence,  you would vote for 2 unionist parties. If unionists get in independence is finished. I truly believe it will be too late if that happens  . I get your concern over the SNP’s performance in education, but I wouldn’t say they have performed particularly badly in healthcare. And I am not convinced SLAB would do any better given we have a Tory government in charge of the UKs finances. SLAB are not exactly packed with strong and effective politicians. 
Perhaps you are a Labour supporter who would not be bothered about independence if Labour were back running the UK? I am not criticising it if so, just that it may explain your voting strategy. 

Also, I understand your frustration with the slow reopening of things in relation to covid but do you really think the conservative party are the party to be holding the SG to account in this regard when they ultimately have BJ in charge ? I am not convinced he used the words ‘pile the bodies high’ , that would be too grotesque even for him, but i am pretty sure he is capable of using words that are similar but not quite so incendiary. We may be taking a cautious approach in Scotland but I would take that any day than the kamikaze approach that Johnson would have adopted given the chance. 

I agree with you on bit on bold as i just dont think there has been enough of a shift. I think I would rather that the SNP had lost support after 2014 than take us through 6 years of hope only for us to fail again.
I hope you are right on your longer term prediction 👍😊

I'm not really any party supporter in particular, I just vote for the party (or mix of parties) which I think best align with my interests and will, in the circumstances, deliver the best outcome for our community in the end.

That being said, I probably did feel less of an immediate drive for independence when Jeremy Corbyn was in his ascendancy. But given the opportunity to vote in a referendum my fundamental belief that decisions pertaining to Scotland are best made in Scotland, by people who care and are affected by those decisions, would not change. But maybes, as you say, it impacts how urgently I feel that constitutional change is at any given time. 

However, like I said, independence isn't the all encompassing issue for me at this election. There are other pressing issues in play. Hence why i can justify to myself escaping the "I support independence therefore I must vote for a pro-independence party" feeling. 

It just comes down to - I can't vote for a party that I think have under-performed in Government and who I fundamentally disagree with when it comes to balancing covid restrictions and personal freedoms. It's like when your manager is shite, but you think you can't do anything about it because he's an ex-player (who you empathise with) and don't know whether you'll get anybody better to replace him. They still need punted out for the pish they are offering up. Otherwise what's the point of elections.

Regarding health, I disagree. For me, the SNP have not done nearly enough to improve health outcome in Scotland. I am particularly shocked (and embarrassed) at where we are on drug deaths and that is 100% on the SNP. 

When it comes to the Tories and Covid... do I think they are ideally placed to do what I want them to do? No. But ultimately I do want somebody influencing us away from the overly restrictive  approach that (imo) the SNP favour. And the Tories in Scotland, as far as I can tell, are the most liberal in this respect. So they have won my vote (or one of them).

[TDYER63]

20 minutes ago, Morrisandmoo said:

I'm not really any party supporter in particular, I just vote for the party (or mix of parties) which I think best align with my interests and will, in the circumstances, deliver the best outcome for our community in the end.

That being said, I probably did feel less of an immediate drive for independence when Jeremy Corbyn was in his ascendancy. But given the opportunity to vote in a referendum my fundamental belief that decisions pertaining to Scotland are best made in Scotland, by people who care and are affected by those decisions, would not change. But maybes, as you say, it impacts how urgently I feel that constitutional change is at any given time. 

However, like I said, independence isn't the all encompassing issue for me at this election. There are other pressing issues in play. Hence why i can justify to myself escaping the "I support independence therefore I must vote for a pro-independence party" feeling. 

It just comes down to - I can't vote for a party that I think have under-performed in Government and who I fundamentally disagree with when it comes to balancing covid restrictions and personal freedoms. It's like when your manager is shite, but you think you can't do anything about it because he's an ex-player (who you empathise with) and don't know whether you'll get anybody better to replace him. They still need punted out for the pish they are offering up. Otherwise what's the point of elections.

Regarding health, I disagree. For me, the SNP have not done nearly enough to improve health outcome in Scotland. I am particularly shocked (and embarrassed) at where we are on drug deaths and that is 100% on the SNP. 

When it comes to the Tories and Covid... do I think they are ideally placed to do what I want them to do? No. But ultimately I do want somebody influencing us away from the overly restrictive  approach that (imo) the SNP favour. And the Tories in Scotland, as far as I can tell, are the most liberal in this respect. So they have won my vote (or one of them).

Thats pretty fair, I think at the end of the day most decent people just want whats best for the community, they just have different ideas on how to achieve this.

I personally dont think we are going anywhere positive being part of the UK and the only hope we have of changing things is on our own, hence my strong desire for independence,  and so for now voting for pro independence parties is my priority.
 

You look differently at it which is absolutely fine. Before the referendum I was much like you and chose the parties whose policies I felt most aligned to at that time in my life and have voted for a few different parties over the years. I look forward to doing that again one day. I am proud to say I have never voted Tory right enough 😊 For ANY reason.  
I agree the performance on drugs has been bad, but we are restricted in implementing some measures as some areas around drugs are reserved and not devolved. That still doesn’t excuse the overall situation though. But we will agree to disagree on the general health performance as I think the SNP have generally performed Ok in that area. 

 

 

[Lamia]

2 hours ago, Morrisandmoo said:

 

That being said, I probably did feel less of an immediate drive for independence when Jeremy Corbyn was in his ascendancy. 

🤨😂

[Lamia]

2 hours ago, Morrisandmoo said:

 

When it comes to the Tories and Covid... do I think they are ideally placed to do what I want them to do? No. But ultimately I do want somebody influencing us away from the overly restrictive  approach that (imo) the SNP favour. And the Tories in Scotland, as far as I can tell, are the most liberal in this respect. So they have won my vote (or one of them).

You do realise it is easy to say in opposition. If you look at the Tories response in England I think you might find that overall in some areas in the north of England they were even more restrictive than the SNP and they still ended up with a higher death rate.

[weekevie04]

I voted for SNP/Greens NE constituency. 

Was slightly tempted to vote for Alba, but have stuck with the Greens. Alba cranks put me off constantly going on about the trans issue and Wings being an absolute roaster. Greens hold is holding up between 8-12% in the polls so that will do.

I do think Alba will get at least one seat e.g Eck ; but it'll be touch and go if they get 4-5 MSPs and their share of the vote which I think will be between maybe 4-7% 

Who knows though, I'm just a gobshite with a keyboard and an internet connection. 

 Overall - think the SNP will end up on about 62 seats or something possibly lose 1-3 seats ; Tories on about 25 (-5) ; Labour 22 or so ; Greens anywhere between 7-12 ; Lib Dems 4-5 and Alba 1-5. 

 

[Morrisandmoo]

22 minutes ago, Lamia said:

You do realise it is easy to say in opposition. If you look at the Tories response in England I think you might find that overall in some areas in the north of England they were even more restrictive than the SNP and they still ended up with a higher death rate.

And in all likelihood they will still be in opposition after this election.

I'm not really interested in making comparisons with England to be honest. Both countries have shocking death rates and have largely taken the same approach. 

But I think it's fair to say the Tories are espousing a more liberal approach. They have signaled an intention to remove all legal restrictions as soon as possible, with indicative dates. SNP have not set out plans to remove restrictions, with level 0 still being highly restricted. You can argue the toss on what is the better approach, but I favour the former and will vote for it. 

[Orraloon]

27 minutes ago, weekevie04 said:

I voted for SNP/Greens NE constituency. 

Was slightly tempted to vote for Alba, but have stuck with the Greens. Alba cranks put me off constantly going on about the trans issue and Wings being an absolute roaster. Greens hold is holding up between 8-12% in the polls so that will do.

I do think Alba will get at least one seat e.g Eck ; but it'll be touch and go if they get 4-5 MSPs and their share of the vote which I think will be between maybe 4-7% 

Who knows though, I'm just a gobshite with a keyboard and an internet connection. 

 Overall - think the SNP will end up on about 62 seats or something possibly lose 1-3 seats ; Tories on about 25 (-5) ; Labour 22 or so ; Greens anywhere between 7-12 ; Lib Dems 4-5 and Alba 1-5. 

 

I can't see the Greens getting over 8%, unless turkeys have started voting for xmas.

I decided to stick with Alba for my regional vote just to try to make sure AS gets in. Even if he is the only one he will be a better opposition than the three unionist parties put together.

I swithered a wee bit, thinking that AS would easily get enough votes for one seat but probably not enough for two. So maybe my Alba vote would be wasted. But then I realised that I may be overthinking things. 

[TDYER63]

14 minutes ago, Morrisandmoo said:

And in all likelihood they will still be in opposition after this election.

I'm not really interested in making comparisons with England to be honest. Both countries have shocking death rates and have largely taken the same approach. 

But I think it's fair to say the Tories are espousing a more liberal approach. They have signaled an intention to remove all legal restrictions as soon as possible, with indicative dates. SNP have not set out plans to remove restrictions, with level 0 still being highly restricted. You can argue the toss on what is the better approach, but I favour the former and will vote for it. 

Indicative dates mean absolutely nothing, its what they do that’s important. They have back tracked through this pandemic constantly. And they are not providing dates for liberal reasons,  they are doing it for cash. 

[Morrisandmoo]

6 minutes ago, TDYER63 said:

Indicative dates mean absolutely nothing, its what they do that’s important. They have back tracked through this pandemic constantly. And they are not providing dates for liberal reasons,  they are doing it for cash. 

Cash is important too. The more debt we get into now, the lower living standards get in the future. Which means young people today living shorter, poorer and less healthy lives. 

[TDYER63]

38 minutes ago, Morrisandmoo said:

Cash is important too. The more debt we get into now, the lower living standards get in the future. Which means young people today living shorter, poorer and less healthy lives. 

Yes I agree cash is important but not as important as ensuring we are in a position to return to normal. I really do think things are looking much better now and that there is an end to this in sight  but I dont see why it is so  important to put specific dates on things . 
The UK was already in outrageous debt before Covid,  it will take many generations to repay it , if ever. This push to reopen quickly is being driven by profits, or lack of, by big business . Not for concern about young people being stuffed in the future. And  I am not entirely sure that a guy who spends circa £100k of other peoples money refurbishing a flat has any concept of being poor . 
 

 

[phart]

I was driving along the M8 this afternoon and the bridges across it from Junction 4 onwards were interesting. One person with an alba flag standing at the first one, just holding it up, just too note, however the rest of them till the junction to East Kilbride A725 ( I think) quite a few folk on each one holding half Union flag half saltire SNP out flags. Then on the way back saw a SNP bus with both votes SNP on it.

 

[hampden_loon2878]

2 hours ago, weekevie04 said:

I voted for SNP/Greens NE constituency. 

Was slightly tempted to vote for Alba, but have stuck with the Greens. Alba cranks put me off constantly going on about the trans issue and Wings being an absolute roaster. Greens hold is holding up between 8-12% in the polls so that will do.

I do think Alba will get at least one seat e.g Eck ; but it'll be touch and go if they get 4-5 MSPs and their share of the vote which I think will be between maybe 4-7% 

Who knows though, I'm just a gobshite with a keyboard and an internet connection. 

 Overall - think the SNP will end up on about 62 seats or something possibly lose 1-3 seats ; Tories on about 25 (-5) ; Labour 22 or so ; Greens anywhere between 7-12 ; Lib Dems 4-5 and Alba 1-5. 

 

Oh man for the northeast The greens are the worst possible party, between trying to prematurely ending the oil industry, to stopping inshore fishing with MPA’s and going after farmers they really would be terrible for our economy.. Alba’s renewable policies are really good and is probably the best out of the lot 

[weekevie04]

3 hours ago, Orraloon said:

I can't see the Greens getting over 8%, unless turkeys have started voting for xmas.

I decided to stick with Alba for my regional vote just to try to make sure AS gets in. Even if he is the only one he will be a better opposition than the three unionist parties put together.

I swithered a wee bit, thinking that AS would easily get enough votes for one seat but probably not enough for two. So maybe my Alba vote would be wasted. But then I realised that I may be overthinking things. 

I was swithering bigtime too, and closer to doing the X it was almost a toss of a coin, or 51-49 Green. 

If we get at least a Alba and Green list MSP, I'll be happy. 

I know of two others who went SNP/Green ; two SNP/SNP and one has gone SNP/Alba. These people all voted SNP in 15 and 16 ; didn't vote at all in 17 and voted SNP in December 2019. 

The SNP x2 voters were close to voting for Alba, but they heard from a neighbour who's and older activist inside the SNP who said the SNP were on course to lose 3 seats in the North East (probably shite, scare mongering TBH) so I think they felt a bit worried. I believe you can change your vote?! Up to polling day?! 

Loon, I'm not fully sold on the Greens, but a lot of their stuff is excellent - land reform ; workers rights ; four day week ; cannabis legislation ; ending plastic use by 2025 ; prison reform but there's also things I know wouldn't work either. 

My fear is the Greens and Alba both end up about 500 votes short of a list seat each, if that happens and lets in a Tory and Lib on the list, I'll greet but I'm quietly optimistic we can get both in. 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by weekevie04

[weekevie04]

double post

Edited May 1, 2021 by weekevie04
duplicate

[Lamia]

4 hours ago, Morrisandmoo said:

And in all likelihood they will still be in opposition after this election.

I'm not really interested in making comparisons with England to be honest. Both countries have shocking death rates and have largely taken the same approach. 

But I think it's fair to say the Tories are espousing a more liberal approach. They have signaled an intention to remove all legal restrictions as soon as possible, with indicative dates. SNP have not set out plans to remove restrictions, with level 0 still being highly restricted. You can argue the toss on what is the better approach, but I favour the former and will vote for it. 

I wasn't comparing with England I was highlighting what the Tories did when in actual power which was more draconian in many areas. You are being conned by their rhetoric.