A creeping feeling
Posted on
May 17, 2017 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
No.11: Kathi, from Bernburg, Germany.
Please help make more of these brilliant films.
Previously:
(All clips via the always-excellent Phantom Power Films.)
Let’s hope every EU National gets the chance to vote and isn’t robbed of it by the Tories
I’ve enjoyed watching these videos, but have to admit that this episode makes me want to cry for those who have came here, made this there home, and are more Scottish than a certain shower of sectarian knuckle draggers who choose to celebrate some battle that took place on foreign shores over 300 years ago. This Is Simply Wrong!
Ironically I have more security in Germany as a British national married to a non-European, than Kathi does in Scotland. I hope the EU nationals in Scotland see this…
Yes, this is all about shared values, not ethnic origin. People who would choose to live in an independent Scotland honour us by their choice.
Haw! That’s no fair. I was welling up at that one. Not since September 2014 that I had that.
Oh wid some power the giftie gae us, tae see oorsels as ithers see us.
I would like to give them all a hug, especially the German lady & her family in No 11.
Thank you all!
It takes a lot of guts for them to come out for Yes in the present political climate of rabid Yoon intolerance and hate.
It is just unbelievable. How low can the Unionists crooks in Aberdeen go. They are just disgusting. Crookett is a disgrace. They ruined the City. The LibDems are an absolute disgrace, They could have formed a coalition with the SNP. They got a vote from SNP supporters before Labour and the Tories. The electoral system should be changed in Scotland. It is a total fix.
Now the LibDems say they support Home Rule again.
@Ken500 says: 17 May, 2017 at 6:10 pm:
“Now the LibDems say they support Home Rule again.”
Yes Ken500. but that was this morning – are they still supporting it this afternoon?
A real opportunity if these clips had a wider audience, real people real lives and not a hint of frothing at the mouth Nationalism the Tory party would have everyone believe,
It’s unfortunate that Tory person had to be included, kinda ruined a good clip .
Brendan Cox husband of Jo Cox is in Scotland promoting his idea of “The great get together” where we all forgive and forget and put divisiveness behind us
Mr Cox had tea with party leaders at Holyrood to discuss this
Ruth Davidson looked delighted in the BBC film clip as did Ken MacIntosh, Patrick Harvie smiled a rather polite smile, Nicola Sturgeon however looked far less than ecstatic at someone turning up with a rearranged version of
Better Together
OK Call me an old cynic but my face went the same as the FMs
I had to watch that twice. Like others, I was welling up a bit at that one. Really excellent.
It is very humbling to hear someone not born in Scotland come to understand how we are being held back and conned by the UK media.
Thank you Kathi for sharing your positive views of Scotland.
Dr Jim says:
17 May, 2017 at 6:59 pm
Brendan Cox husband of Jo Cox is in Scotland promoting his idea of “The great get together” where we all forgive and forget and put divisiveness behind us
Mr Cox had tea with party leaders at Holyrood to discuss this
Ruth Davidson looked delighted in the BBC film clip as did Ken MacIntosh, Patrick Harvie smiled a rather polite smile, Nicola Sturgeon however looked far less than ecstatic at someone turning up with a rearranged version of
Better Together
OK Call me an old cynic but my face went the same as the FMs
I can’t find words to describe that but it fking stinks to me another cynical cryptic attempt to smear the Indy movement with the divisive fratricidal brush,
No to another referendum lets put divisiveness behind us look what happened to my wife !
No wonder Davidson was beaming from ear to ear, as much as I sympathise with him for the sad loss of his wife we don’t need him coming up here making political pro union mileage from her death
Fucking disgusting
Graeme
You don’t have to be born in Scotland to be a Scot, and being born in Scotland doesn’t make you Scot.
That’s the difference. English nationalists cannot ever make the same claim.
Robert Graham says:
The Tories judge everyone by their own standards. They assume others are unpleasant blood and soil nationalists like themselves. They know of nothing different.
Ruthie says to have a fair referendum, the people of Scotland need to know what we’re voting for…we need to know what Brexit looks like.
So Better Together and Leave declined to tell us, these two last referendums because…?
People who voted Labour in Aberdeen council elections shouldn’t be surprised. Vote Labour, get Tory. It’s been happening for most of the last 50 years.
Welcome to democracy in Scotland, Kathi from Germany.
All of these films should be aired as part of the next referendum campaign.
Inspiring and a counterblast to the Yoon smears on our movement.
Dr Jim,
“Let’s hope every EU National gets the chance to vote and isn’t robbed of it by the Tories”
No vote for EU nationals, then no vote for the English.
Unfortunately big mouthed “sovereign” Scots won’t have the spine to tell Saint Theresa of England and Wales that the next independence referendum will be held when we like and on our terms.
Did any other colony give English settlers the right to vote in their independence from England referendum?
Both @Graeme says at 7:24 pm and @Dr Jim says at 6:59 pm
Brendan Cox husband of Jo Cox is prime ‘placeman’ material for the Union.
Run out of Oxfam under the shadow of sexual harassment and a supporter of the UK/US State Sponsored Daesh Propaganda machine the White Helmets.
He will use his wife’s murder at the hands of a British Nationalist Extremist to undermine Scottish self determination.
Future HoL intake for him in due course for work preserving his ‘wife’s legacy’
It was a rightwing extremist who murdered Jo Cox, along the scale from the ones Davidson is cultivating, no room for her to grin.
@Ken500
You’ve been calling for the electoral system to be changed in several comments recently. What would you change it into? I hope not the undemocratic FPTP system.
Yes, the SNP support is now at a level that they would’ve won overall control in many councils, but changing an electoral system to suit your own party while it’s in power (Holyrood) is short-term opportunism and gerrymandering.
It was not that long ago that FPTP denied the SNP their fair share of representatives – indeed, before 2015 the SNP only had 6 (six!) MPs in Westminster. The more proportional representation used for Holyrood and local elections have made it possible for the SNP to make a breakthrough since devolution. The 2007 SNP minority government was only possible because of list MSPs (of which Nicola Sturgeon was one).
FPTP is the British way, the political culture people in the UK have been indoctrinated in. It produces strong and stable (heh) one-party administrations – which many UK people seem to think are ideal – with as little as 35% of the popular vote.
Most of Europe, and indeed, the democratic world, use various forms of proportional representation. A party with 35% of popular vote will have roughly 35% of the seats. In a multi-party PR system few parties ever get such high percentages, 25% would be considered a very good result in my country that has about 8-10 parties in Parliament. (Admittedly, in local elections, also PR, some municipalities are one-party fiefdoms because the dominant party polls 60% of the popular vote.) The main difference is that the voters in these countries don’t expect one party to gain overall control. Coalitions are seen as NORMAL and a GOOD thing – denying any one party despotic rule, make the administrations heed voters of all parties. The biggest party gets first dibs and can usually find enough like-minded coalition partners among the many other parties.
The problem in Scotland, as I see it, is twofold. Firstly, there isn’t a PR political culture. It’s understandable, PR is fairly new and the electorate haven’t been informed and educated about it. Also, the MSM is full of FPTP Westminster politics, so it’s really, really difficult to change how people think about politics.
Secondly, and this is related to the first point, Scotland has never had a proper multi-party system. Labour and tories have dominated, with “third parties” SNP and LibDems scraping some Westminster seats, and after the first devolved parliament (that had quite a few parties), Holyrood has also reverted back to the British mindset of thinking FPTP way in a PR system: just 3 or 4 strong parties, coalitions bad, single-party governments somehow better than consensual coalitions. It’s evident in the language WoS commenters use. “Backroom deals”, “horse-trading”, “unelected list MSPs” and the like.
In mature PR democracies, coalition talks (“backroom deals”) are expected. Voters want the biggest party to form the administration (local or national) with partners who share the broad strokes though maybe not the details. It’s always a compromise and we expect it. It’s normal. UK voters seem to think any compromise is somehow bad. It’s a difference in political culture.
The problem in Scotland is that is has become so polarised. Indy/union. That’s why we get councils where tories and labs join together to deny the biggest party, the SNP, control of the council. Basically there are three parties: the SNP, the Greens (who are negligble in most council areas) and the unionists (LabLibCon). A PR system does not work with so few parties.
Finally, Ken500, I feel your pain and understand your rage about what happened in Aberdeen. The SNP is the biggest party (19 councillors), tory and lab put together have 19… Apparently some opportunist Lib jumped ship and joined the tory-lab anti-SNP alliance as an “independent” and now Kez has “suspended” all the lab councillors – that won’t change anything, those people are still elected councillors, just not subject to a lab “whip”, so they can cosy up to the tories even more now! Yes, it’s horrible, but it’s what people voted for… Well, some lab voters probably didn’t envision lab propping up a tory administration.
If a political culture, political thinking encouraged by proportional representation had had more time to take root, there might’ve been more other parties, also indy-supporting, and the SNP might’ve found a coalition partner to form the administration. But this is pointless whataboutery.
One final point. The good burghers of Aberdeen voted 16.9% (lab) + 25.0% (con) + 15.4% (lib) for unionist parties (that’s 57.3% put together), 32.6% for the SNP, 7.5% “independent” and 2.3% Green. So if anti-indepence is the only defining point, Aberdeen voted for it. I’m not sure some lab voters envisaged propping up the tories but there you go.
lumilumi,
“You’ve been calling for the electoral system to be changed in several comments recently. What would you change it into? I hope not the undemocratic FPTP system.”
Undemocratic? Some posters believe it is fair.
heedtracker,
“Like it or not FPTP is fair.”
@lumilumi at 8.34pm
Wholeheartily concur.
Good to have you with us Kathi x
*************
Ah dinna ken if this video has been posted up yet..
FAO: Generation X
Ye seen this?
Hey Kids: Voting’s Fun!
link to youtube.com
Register to vote in this GE by the 22nd May b4 midnight.
Wicked.
@ Rock above.
FPTP is only fair if you think it’s fair that slightly over a third, 35%-37% of the popular vote, gives a mandate for one-party majority government. The British way, the UK way.
Scotland should turn away from such a travesty of democracy, embrace full PR and true democracy. It won’t be easy, people are so indoctrinated, and right now FPTP might work in the SNP’s favour, so they’re less keen on changing the Westminster system.
Holyrood and local elections, of course, aren’t FPTP anymore, but the Scots electorate haven’t quite grasped/understood what it means, so we’re left with much confusion – probably what unionist parties wanted. 4 different electoral systems for 4 different elections, keep the electorate confused so they’ll nice and quiet vote as their betters in the lab/lib/tory party tell them.
@lumilumi says: 17 May, 2017 at 8:34 pm:
“You’ve been calling for the electoral system to be changed in several comments recently. What would you change it into? I hope not the undemocratic FPTP system.”
Unfortunately, lumilumi, FPTP is exactly what Ken500 wants to wish upon us. You make many good points but I believe this Aberdeen City result will have taught enough of the electorate of Aberdeen City a salutary lesson that many other voters in Scotland really needed to learn as well. Tactical voting is a rather chancy way to vote and so often backfires.
I’d wager if there was an instant rerun of the election in Aberdeen City next week there would be a very different result.
Some people, though, need to learn the hard way. Furthermore, such strange bedfellows attempting to run a council is usually fraught with problems and I can see that it will not be too long before there will be by-elections and the situation could then change overnight.
We shall see.
Another powerful film. What a brilliant series. Well done Kathi.
Two Tory councillors suspended in Stirling… watch this space. Sincerely hope there’ll be another election as one of the two is being investigated by the police.
If anyone has any spare cash could they possibly support Steven Paterson’s re-election crowdfunder. On 62% but only 6 days left and total rising slowly. Thankyou.
link to crowdfunder.co.uk
The SNP would have broken through earlier with FPTP.. They would also had a higher majority no of councillors. The majority support FPTP. No wonder. STV is beyond nonsense..Vote for candidates and parties people can’t stand. Then get collusion between unionists Parties who are supposed to be opposed to each other. Or have no policies except no IndyRef. People seeing their Cities ruined and put into debt by a bunch of useless hypocrites. Whom voters can’t get rid off. Regurgitated 3rd rate rejects.
At least FPTP gives a clear majority. With a supposed credible opposition, if they do oppose. Not go through the Lobbies at Westminster, together. Illegal wars, financial fraud and tax evasion.
It might be alright in Finland but not in the UK. There are no illegal warmongers, or non Dom tax evaders controlling the Press, or tax evaders in Finland, Finland is not controlled by it’s neighbour. It’s wealth and resources being taken
In Aberdeen City the LinbDems could have supported the SNP to form an administration. They got 3rd votes fro SNP supporters. Before the Labour/Unionists ruined the City. The SNP supported the LibDem administration. Crookett who enjoys journeys at taxpayers expense, leader of the Council. After getting rid of Willy Young. They are having a laugh.
@ Robert Peffers above
With all due respect, you also seem “tainted” by the UK political culture. In true PR systems, there is no tactical voting. You vote for the candidate/party you like, and they get seats as per their popular vote. There’s no meaningful way to tactically vote against somebody/some party.
The problem is, the Scottish elections (Holyrood and council) aren’t fully-fledged PR, so they give PR a bad name, and lead some to think good old FPTP would be better. (excuse me while my head connects with desk several times)
lumilumi says:
17 May, 2017 at 9:45 pm
‘In true PR systems, there is no tactical voting. You vote for the candidate/party you like, and they get seats as per their popular vote. ‘
absolutely right. FPTP is an abomination. Its destroying the UK. I can still remember the almost intoxicating feeling in 1999? voting for the first time ever in a proportional system in the first Scottish Parliament elections, knowing my vote (my regional vote at least) actually counted.
Before that I was pissing in the wind against majorities of 30000, and even worse, there was the tactical voting nonsense – vote for someone you despise so the one you hate doesnt get in, so the party you really believe in never takes off.
@ Ken500
I’m sorry, Ken, but that is flat out untrue
Here is what happened in the council elections in 2003 (FPTP), 2007 (STV) and 2012 (STV)
2003
Lab 509 seats (32.6%)
SNP 181 seats (24.1%)
Con 122 seats (15.1%)
LD 175 seats (14.5%)
2007
Lab 348 seats (28.1%)
SNP 363 seats (27.9%)
Con 143 seats (15.6%)
LD 166 seats (12.7%)
2012
Lab 394 seats
SNP 425 seats
Con 115 seats
LD 71 seats
(Wikipedia has changed the way it reports these results, so I have not included percentages for 2012)
You will notice that the breakthrough happened after the change from FPTP to STV. In 2007, the SNP got more councillors than Labour, on a slightly smaller vote share.
In 2003, despite the difference in vote share being only 8.5%, Labour got 2.8 times as many seats.
You are of course entitled to like and argue for FPTP – it is not without good points – but it doesn’t help your argument to be utterly wrong about the consequences!
Give the Proclaimers Song “Scotland’s Story” a listen. It’s basically what is being said. People have come from all over and made Scotland their home and we wouldn’t be who we are without them.
@ Ken500 above
I disagree, FPTP has prevented SNP fair representation for decades, the various semi-PR systems used in Scotland since devolution have enabled the party to gain representation close to their popular support. The irony is that after a certain tipping point, the UK system, FPTP, returned 56 SNP MPs out of the 59 Scottish MPs – 95% of the Scottish seats with 50% popular vote – but I don’t see that replicated.
The SNP will still be the largest party in Scotland by Westminster seats, but they will lose seats, mostly to tories because the anti-independence vote will coalesce with the tories. Labour is fucked, and they’ve been architects of their own demise, so I have no pity for them.
The SNP would have broken through. In any case. They would have the most MSP’s in Holyrood and councillors. The only thing the figures confirm is the SNP vote increased which it would have under any system.
The STV is just plain ridiculous. To even compare it is impossible because people are voting for or against often 6 or more candidates. So it is not even possible to make comparisons. Even on 1st preference votes as there can be one or two candidates per Party splitting the vote. So Parties even have to limit candidates. Not standing enough to get a majority. It is beyond ridiculous. The electorate do not even understand it.
For nine Labour councillors to join with Tories to be the Head and Deputy of the Council is so ignorant and arrogant. After getting rid of Willy Young for that to happen is beyond belief. The LibDem are just as culpable. Not to go into collision or support the SNP. The largest group.
No wonder some people can be put off bothering to vote.
Alan Little on BBC One National News at 10.30pm dismisses left v right difference between Yes and No supporters.
Programme editing then shows Tories on the stumps and two supporting Tories while only one SNP supporter, albeit far more articulate, and no footage of SNP campaigning.
Is it just me? Am I getting paranoid?
Listening to the 10 o clock news on BBC R4.
Last 10 minutes:
Interesting report from North east Fife – mostly Scottish voters interviewed and mostly all voting SNP or a few LibDem.
Just when we got to the summing up section – guess what?
The BBC lost the connection to Scotland and had to cut to the studio where Sarah Smith was on standby to talk about SNP baad, going to lose seats. You couldn’t make it up!
Now got the connection back and talking to a panel in Edinburgh- everyone agreeing that Scottish politics are binary, Labour finished; all about giving SNP a bloody nose!
Is there a Tory revival? Tories now the second party in Scotland relying on constitutional position. People may vote tory for local election but not so sure for WM election.
Brexit position the mirror image of down south;
Andy Mc Ivor, Ruth Wishart and Mandy Rhodes quite a balanced discussion – redeemed themselves a bit!
@lumilumi
Good posts, every Scot has a vote and every vote should count. If the support for your preferred party is say 30% then you get roughly 30% of the seats.
That’s as it should be, all votes count even those that are against “us”. I would have it no other way, everyone should have a voice.
Put it this way if we had PR for the GE then there would likely be no majority government and alliances would have to be formed.
While Scotland is still a part of the UK I think that the SNP would play a big role in such a setup. Scotland’s voice would be heard which would make a change.
FPTP suits only the Tories and Labour now, no one else.
link to caltonjock.com
‘The political culture of a country crystallises around its constitution. Each national culture develops a distinctive interpretation of those constitutional principles that are equally embodied in other republican constitutions – such as popular sovereignty and human rights- in light of its own national history. A ‘constitutional patriotism’ based on these interpretations can take the place originally occupied by nationalism’ (Habermas,The Inclusion of the Other)
The influential philosopher provides a definition of nationalism which marks him as a committed Enlightenment Rationalist whose project is to provide a coherent and rational basis for a pluralistic democratic society- like Scotland. A patriotism of demos not ethnos, inclusive and emancipatory embodied in the YES movement but most definitely not in British Nationalism.
Sapere aude !
Good to see this film. Yes indeed, quite something that EU nationals were denied the vote last year, when the result affects them hugely.
Horrible to see that awful vicious Davidson spouting her lies there. Dreadful.
The state run BBC, and even STV, have a heck of a lot to answer for, they lied outright, stifled debate, and frequently silenced the SNP. The BBC edited out Alex Salmonds ‘answer’ to a question by the biased anti SNP interviewer, saying he ‘didn’t answer’, when Alex Salmond had clearly answered the question! All of this propaganda and manipulation paid for by the voters. Absolute disgraceful anti democratic tactics, still being used now. Do people feel obliged to have the lies piped into their living rooms, because they are told it is compulsory to pay the licence fee, ie tv tax?
Let’s hope that more and more people have already seen through the lies. Unionist tactics, whether
via the media, or by gathering their red tory pals in the councils to join them in keeping the elected SNP councillors out, is absolutely no surprise. Possibly even all conjured up at the yoon war room/bunkers.
Let’s see how they fare at the GE shall we, they will be plotting and planning in their dirty little war room as we speak. No thanks to a rigid, rabidly right wing regime attempting to destroy Scotland and take her back 100s of years, while blaming the EU27 for the UKGov total mess up of the economy and even dare we say, compromising the stability of the four nations that make up the so called UK.
What planet are the tories on?
Just reading the content of their manifesto;
it is expected to include means testing for winter fuel payments for elderly people.
But dinna worry auld yins no family should see their assets depleted below £100,000, (an increase on the current £23,250 figure) before having to fund elderly care so that’ll be alright then.
The employer of a non-EU migrant worker will have to pay £2,000 to employ them and that person will have to pay to use the NHS.
So no more nurses from the Phillipines then or Indian Doctors.
Totally off topic.
Dons win – SNP BAD!
Aberdeen Labour Councillors whore themselves with the Tories – SNP BAD!
There that is the Brit Nat News round up!
re Council Elections and Labour – Tory mutual arse sniffing and licking.
Concluded with a mate in the pub tonight that if they didn’t scratch each others backs on those Councils where they form Yoon coalitions then quite a few of them would be going to jail on Corruption/Fraud charges. There are places they don’t want the SNP inviting in Police Scotland to scrutinise the last 5 years?
@artyhetty
Yes, get in there and well said.
There are lots of ways to fight back against the biased media, not paying the tv tax is one and so too is the publicising and spreading on social media of great little videos like these No to Yes videos from Phantom Power. We should support them if you can.
link to indiegogo.com
Remember too, we can no longer afford to be shy. If giving the opportunity in discussion then state your position. There is no shame in supporting Independence only in ignoring it’s possibilities.
We have a great battle ahead of us and are just starting out. Be proud to be a supporter of an Independent Scotland and make your voice heard. Wear your Yes badges with pride 🙂
Sinky
I don’t think it is just you. Media including the BBC pushing the Tories like anything in England, Wales and Scotland. This has to be one of the most one sided media coverage elections I have ever seen. The SNP have done incredibly well to maintain the strong lead they have in the face of relentless negativity.
The only saving grace is that the Tory election campaign has to be one of the worst I have seen in a long time. It is incredibly easy to lampoon on social media and the fox hunting thing was a major misstep. No wonder they want to keep May away from ordinary people and debates.
The Provisional wing of the Aberdeen Scottish Peoples Labour party have said they still love Kezia even though she suspendered them, Yes I said that right
Autonomous Kezia put her footsies right down on this one with a loud Clique, Yes I said that right too
How very dare they defy Meee! the Leader she said, looking very very serious about the whole sordid affair as she turned away to ask her advisers if they thought the public will buy this shit
The Tories in Aberdeen you’ll notice have’nt changed their name to the Popular Peoples Sectarian Party or anything, they’re going to keep right on calling themselves The Ruth Davidson for a strong opposition to anything the SNP votes for party
And that now begs the question how do the Liberal Democrats counter all this new branding to get themselves more coverage, Oooh! I know The Liberal Marijuana Party, that’s cool and they’ll get down wif the young folk
The SNP must now feel totally left out of things now, after all they’re the only actual Scottish party being kept out of power in their own country even after they’ve won by British anti Scottish parties
It looks like even if the SNP win the General Election somebody’ll think up a new rule to prevent them going to Westminster Mibbees like they’re no British enough?
I wonder how long it’ll take for folk to notice what’s happening in other council areas as well
Don’t fall asleep coz that’s when they come for you, and watch out for trucks with big pods on the back
I thought they were just going to kill us or deport us or one of the things they used to do to us Scots but it seems they’ve come up with a brand new wheeze
Tell us all we’re imagining it!
Sorry folks, i could not resist it, i phoned up to complain about the mocking of the Corbyn/Labour manifesto on BBC TV and
Said they were being very unfair, as most of his policies were actually working in practice in Scotland
> publicly owned water
> extending childcare
> greater investment in the NHS resulting in avoiding the crises in England with A/E, ambulance services, social services
> publicly owned investment bank
> no 3rd level tuition fees resulting in 55% going to college rather than 45% in England
> much smaller class sizes inn school at primary and secondary level
> reversing social welfare cuts
> keeping the private sector out of social welfare
And so on . . . . .feel free to add
West Dunbartonshire Council will have a minority SNP administration, an SNP Provost and a female SNP Deputy Provost (which may be a first in the area).
The Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council are also gender-balanced. They have made one of the Independents a ‘Baillie’ – unusual outside of a city, but it will keep him on board, (He was a previous Provost) – smart move.
The other Independent or Community Party, not sure which, has been a Councillor for many years and is a socialist.
So well pleased, it’s looking good for WDC.
@Dr Jim says
The Provisional wing of the Aberdeen Scottish Peoples Labour party
That’s a keeper.
A great read on liberal consensus.
link to newsnet.scot
heedtracker,
“Like it or not FPTP is fair.”
I think it is, for the grand old UK. It keeps English politics focused on the centre ground, and when they go too far right in particular, they get pulled back.
Even Mayhem knows that.
The Graun,
Social care
Tory manifesto: more elderly people will have to pay for own social care
Theresa May unveils ‘difficult but necessary’ measure to pay for elderly care and is expected to retain promise of limiting immigration to ‘tens of thousands’
Rowena Mason, Heather Stewart and Denis Campbell
Wednesday 17 May 2017 22.14 BST
“The policy will be a flagship measure in the Tories’ election manifesto, which the prime minister will pitch as a programme for solving some of the challenges facing Britain. It means wealthier people with more than £100,000 in assets will have to pay for their own elderly care out of the value of their homes, rather than relying on the council to cover the costs of visits by care workers.
The Conservatives will attempt to soften the blow by promising that pensioners will not have to sell their homes to pay for their care costs while they or a surviving partner are alive.”
Why would a Mayhem tory gov suddenly turn on their base? FPTP.
Graun’s Rowena has often skelped the back of SNP legs in too. She’ll be back
It’s really awful to hear people who call Scotland home say out loud, “I hope I can stay but…”
Re;Cadogan Enright@11.58pm
You know whats to bet that they won’t honour even one of those policies stolen from the SNP, who they so freaking love to hate and demonise at every opportunity. I have friends in NE eng, would argue to the moon n back that the Labour party, is really their saviour who will protect them from the evils of the blue tories. They cannot for one moment see that the labour branch in Scotland are actually a reflection of how their masters operate in england.
If you mention that Labour are in fact in bed with the tories on most things, it does not go down well at all. I guess folks have to have some ‘hope’.
It’s just that hope never really works, when lies and backtracking on political promises is the name of the day. :-/
Yoons, load of conmen and conwomen. Do anything to retain their extravagant lifestyles at the expense of the voters.
So much for this respecting democracy malarkey which has been much abused to justify Brexit vote ….council elections highlight so many wasted votes all round….power to the people…..or perhaps not.
Noted newly elected Aberdeen Independent Lord Provost, i.e. the former soft Tory with capital ‘T’, when interviewed on Scotland Tonight could not bring himself to look into the camera…….once ……not through shame I am sure….beyond shame….more trying to appeal to all of the Labour voters he has let down…..with his ‘ big boy made me do it’ expression…as if a victim.
I await the spin to be spun and the blame being heaped upon the SNP for this coalition of chaos….sure scripts are being written as I myself type this post.
The ball is now well and truly in the voters court come forthcoming GE.
I hope voters take the blinkers off and see how they are being well and truly played by these career politicians who have shown scant respect to them or their votes.
Dignity is very much at stake.
Testing.
Phronesis
Thank you for reminding me of books what I’ve read and mostly forgotten. The problem with ethos is it provides little space for the respect of difference. Ideological nationalism e.g. British nationalism, is not flexible or open enough to support love, empathy or inclusion of the other. It does not even allow for the respect of universal human rights.
Te PM is not only snubbing her Brexit nose at Scotland, she is underming the global effort to secure human rights for all. It is our moral responsibility to ensure she does not get her way.
link to un.org
Testing 2.
Labour Councillors in Scotland get on with the day job of supporting Tory austerity.
Phronesis
Just so we are clear, I’ve mostly forgotten it as I read it over two decades ago. I wouldn’t want you to think I was dismissing it. 😉
one Scotland .. many people .. all welcome ..Independence in a European family !!
Superb film by Phantom Power.
You can see why the Tories want to delay a referendum till after Brexit negotiations are concluded. A potential 190k people just like Kathi living in Scotland.
Think about that.
The State of Aberdeen. The STV vote. Vote ‘until you boak’. 3rd ranked LibDems getting increased support – now supporting the Tories. Parties don’t even put up enough candidates to win an overall majority. In case they split their own vote. Parties not having enough candidates. Still colluding with Parties whose policies they are supposed to be opposed. 34,000 votes went in the bin because they were marked with an X. Labour now have similar policies to the SNP but are getting into coalition with the Tories. 9 Labour councillors still trying to rule the roost at Aberdeen. Now suspended,
The Tories now coming for the pensioners.
Links
link to indyref2.scot
link to itisintruthnotforglory.wordpress.com
link to commonspace.scot
Scotland Will Never Get What It Wants Unless It’s Independent link to archive.is
link to grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com
link to scotgoespop.blogspot.co.uk
link to randompublicjournal.com
Tory voters think their party is now more right-wing than Ukip, poll finds
link to archive.is
link to uk.businessinsider.com
link to evolvepolitics.com
link to politicshome.com
link to thecanary.co
link to opendemocracy.net
Archiving does not save the entire article.
link to independent.co.uk
link to thelondoneconomic.com
link to ianfraser.org
Normal service will be resumed once they destroy the SNP.
I’m sure that’s what is in the minds of the former Labour members now supporting the Tories in Aberdeen. However they are so blinkered they can’t see that the Tory plan is to destroy Labour not the SNP.
Corbyn is being used down south to kill off Labour, the union is the lever up here.
Dugdale will lose her job, no one will want it.
Job done, Labour in Scotland are imploding and will be destroyed. Tories get to do what they want for the next 20 years and Scotland is expendable in the bigger picture.
It won’t work of course, the SNP will win the majority of seats, In a years time when Brexit outcomes are known, people will be horrified. Independence in inevitable.
@Nana
Brekkie and a good selection of reading matter.
Ta Nana. 🙂
link to aberdeenlegacyreport.co.uk
link to commonspace.scot
Tory manifesto: more elderly people will have to pay for own social care
link to archive.is
The Daily 202: Trump’s inexperience contributed to Comey interactions that now cloud his presidency
link to archive.is
@Macart
Keep you busy for a wee while. Hopefully from that pick’n’mix, there’s something for everyone.
Missing Smallaxe this morning, he is not too well at the moment.
The Tories want to bring back the glory days of Churchill apparently, I do hope our schools and Universities educate Scotlands young people immediately on who and what Churchill really stood for as regards Scotland, and in case anyone doesn’t know, like Ruth Davidson he stood for tanks rolling into Glasgow to enforce the will of the English parliament on Scottish workers who wanted a forty hour week rather than work to death
Are there really still some folk who don’t know what the Tories are just because they don’t wear uniforms
Get a tight grip Scotland It’s history time again
Liam Fox tipped to be the new Chancellor of the Exchequer
I don’t think I have to say anything else!
@Dr Jim
I wonder if he will give his pal Werrity a job.
link to craigmurray.org.uk
O/T Willie Rennie on GMS complaining about being asked the wrong question and in answer to anotherquestion he thinks the SNP Government getsVAT money. Sure libdems we need you to legalise cannabis to accept your nonsense!
I am so worried for my country. I see Scotland being subsumed by England and the world will know the British Isles as England.
Our culture ,largely ignored by the BBBC in Scotland other than the shortbread tin variety they love to display while sneering , will vanish under the yoke of Westminster / Washington.
I have no desire to be English or American.
I loathe and detest those who denigrate us and wish them many plagues but I want a very special ,all consuming plague to be visited on the media of Scotland – I believe they deserve nothing less , for promoting the manipulators , the liars ,the bigots and the sneerers.
Neither will I forgive the Lib/Lab/Con Party for its ignoring of democracy and its idiotic hatred of the SNP.
I reserve a special place in my thoughts for the Ruth Davidson Party and I wish it a very public comeuppance.
Churchill was your typical English colonial racist. With regards the Palestine, he felt the indigenous inhabitants had forfeited their possession of their land as they had not followed western pasterns of social development. This led to the creation of Israel as a defensive block protecting the Suez Canal and direct passage to India and beyond. Churchill had no love for Zionist, though he though he could use them to advance British interests. I’m not sure if that turned out particularly well. His answer to civilian populations who objected to British policy in Iran, was to send the RAF to bomb their settlements with poison gas.
Churchill was the epitome of imperial racism and not a suitable role-model for the 21st century. Unless you admire old-school colonial racism, of course.
Rennie defending the Smith Commission and steamrolling over an ineffectual Hayley Millar throughout that interview.
He ‘Trumphed’ her by just blethering SNP bad and no referendum for Scotland.
PS
Tory trip!e lock on pension to go and winter fuel allowance too just as I predicted to my ‘anyone but the SNP’ unionist parents in-law in Oban.
It will be all over the Daily Mail and the Express this morning.
Oh here are the Tories are on shortbread extolling their referendum.
Oh Henry Hill for Tories says May so far in front in the polls that the grey vote can go and get knotted. There you go 😉
Workers rights stuff is an inspiration and problematic and won’t get implemented. They’ve got balls the Tories you know where you are with them.
@lumilumi says: 17 May, 2017 at 9:45 pm:
“With all due respect, you also seem “tainted” by the UK political culture. In true PR systems, there is no tactical voting. You vote for the candidate/party you like, and they get seats as per their popular vote. There’s no meaningful way to tactically vote against somebody/some party.”
Sorry, lumilumi if I did not make myself quite clear when I said, “Tactical voting is a rather chancy way to vote and so often backfires”.”
It was, perhaps, an unclear way of agreeing with your point. I was saying that in a PR system those attempting to tactical vote are more than likely to NOT achieve their aim.
Dorothy Devine
Boils on their boils, for starters. 😉
CameronB Brodie, he was one of England’s greatest ever PR men though. Long before modern PR was invented, Churchill created some extremely enduring Great British fact myths. WW2 for example and how “we” won the war. From Dunkirk to D-day, “we” were not winning anything. After WW2, “we” lost a global Empire. But how many Brits do hear explaining to people how “we” won the war today? That’s Churchill.
English ruling elite understand this clearly. Which is why one of the first things the lotto money bought was Churchill’s history of Britain, or something like that, for £12 million.
Never forget who owns these islands, and you:D
link to independent.co.uk
The GE in Scotland needs to be about coalescing the anti-Tory vote around the SNP.
The Tory objective is clearly to gather in the anti-Indy vote. However, moderate NOs need to accept that price will be too high. With the Tories comes too many bad things!
Personally, I think the Tories’ brash campaigning of ‘our Theresa is amazing’ and ‘Brexit will be such jolly fun’ is just transparent and doesn’t cover up the reality of their plans. Enough Scots are seeing this and they won’t make the gains they think in Scotland.
If Davidson was doing her usual smirk when meeting Jo Cox’s widower then it either shows an alarming lack of self awareness or something far more sinister.
The kind of nationalism that resulted in her death was the very extreme of the kind that Davidson wants to use for her own political advantage.
Yes our own nationalism can get a bit mouthy and boisterous at times but, despite the ridiculous claims of Farage, it’s only British nationalism that’s seen shots fired so far. OK so in Ireland that’s not the whole story but in Scotland we’ve had no need for an uprising recently.
To be perfectly clear, whilst Davidson might delude herself that his intervention was meant as a warning against Scottish Nationalism in our context, and perhaps it was his intent, all it really does is highlight the dark forces she’s playing with.
heedtracker
The British state may control the means of my physical survival, at present, whilst denying my innate humanity. It will never convince me I’m a second-class human.
Well done to the lady from East Germany (which became part of the EU in the twinkle of an eye when the wall came down.)
Compared to some visitors from other parts of the U.K. she is so much more positive about Scotland than they are. Pity she isn’t a Councillor in Aberdeen.
The neo right wing are on the move. O/t why are Tory Councillors being entertained by the Israel Embassy this week? What benefit to Scotland are our Tory Councillors bringing. My contacts tell me Quite a number are from Ayrshire. Does this extend further?
I remember WoS showed pictures of wine guzzling Tory MSP’s like Greene and some Glasgow uni prof enjoying a wee tipple in Israel.
Are they visiting Palestine any time soon for balance?
Weird behaviour. Anyone got anymore news on this?
CameronB Brodie says:
18 May, 2017 at 8:57 am
heedtracker
Think of all the generations of canon fodder, great British cannon fodder. I’m always puzzled by SLabbers in particular who worship and sustain this great structure of elitist wealth and power, shored up by a tiny elite.
Even the way they destroyed the banking system, looted it all really, nearly ruined the world economy, hundreds of billions thrown at them, still doesnt mean a thing to SLabbers dudes out here, all desperately savaging any kind of real change in Scotland. Sure a lot get well rewarded, Lord Darling for example, but its the Slabour activists on the ground, what makes no sense to little me. We must have nukes, we cannot change the UK, we must not touch unearned wealth, we must have a giant war machine, the Lords are great… Its not exactly the Labour that won after WW2, but then look at your average red tory in Scotland today, focused primarily in Pacific Quay.
Rev Stu’s a naughty boy, he got through to call Kaye and I want to ask
How the blazes did they let you on to discombobulate poor Willie Rennies silly politics
Wonder who the cowardly, wee, self serving Lib Dem rat was that jumped ship in Aberdeen to whore him/herself to the filthy Tories. To be fair if they listened to the shit spouted by Willie Shitforbrains on Radio Shortbread the morning who wouldn’t ?
Today at FMQs Kezia Dugdale will attack the FM on SNP record
Ah jist cannae wait for this
Here comes the train!
Willie Rennie says Scotland’s Teetering and Plummeting and Nosediving and everybody’s asking the wrong questions
Willie Rennie the Maximum effort Ultimate force in Diddyism!
Headtracker 8.46
I remember at the time thinking they sometimes don’t even bother to hide their contempt for ordinary people.
Pure coincidence, of course, that a Tory government would make such a decision that financially benefited a sitting Tory MP, Winston Churchill jr.
Oh, and the purchase did not include the copyright!
Hence the lucrative digitalisation of the archive.
link to bloomsbury.com
Feel free to subscribe here if you want to read something you thought the country already paid through the nose for.
link to churchillarchive.com
heedtracker
It all starts at school mate, where our social values are largely formed for us, so that we fit the needs and expectations of the prevailing cultural norms and habitus.
link to link.springer.com
Our understanding of the human condition has advanced far beyond the social boundaries defended by the medievalist British state.
Just a wee reminder to the, “Patriotic”, British/United Kingdom/English Nationalists who keep harping on about the divisiveness of the Scottish National Party.
There cannot be, “division”, unless there are at least two parts to the that divide. When all those claiming the SNP are divisive stand together as one then they are, collectively, divisive.
However, there is a great difference between the two sides in this perceived divisiveness. One side of the division are an open and inclusive group who are also outward looking and welcoming to all others.
The other side are intent upon dividing the United Kingdom from the European Union and all of their, separate, political parties are not only supposedly in opposition to each other but all are very much anti-immigrant and anti-immigration.
Far as I can see their only actual inclusiveness is their desire to include all of Scotland’s natural resources into the United Kingdom Treasury while retaining their right to decide what United Kingdom resources that treasury will grant to return to Scotland as a Block Grant.
A Block Grant they have made a necessity by dividing the United Kingdom up as four, unequal, countries and continually telling us it is all only English tax payer’s money as a subsidy to Scotland. Conveniently forgetting that only England has no, elected as such, parliament of its own but everyone in the United Kingdom pays tax to the United Kingdom Treasury.
To enable them to do so they run the United Kingdom Parliament as the de facto parliament of England and enforce English wishes upon all others by imposing EVEL upon all Non-English parts of the United Kingdom even although there is no such thing as a Parliament of England.
Now that really is divisive if ever I saw it.
Am I wrong?
P.S. Without “critical social theory”, there would be no feminism, post-colonial theory or much of the contemporary social sciences. Some may bemoan such ‘psychobabble’, bur the world would be far more authoritarian and totalitarian place without such post-modern thought.
I genuinely scratch my head.
The Unionists right across the colour spectrum are all chuntering on about NOT having a second referendum, and investing so much energy and resource into an issue that has already been decided.
The Scottish government did respect the 2014 result. They did not throw their toys out the pram despite having every just cause to do so, but secured themselves a written mandate to hold another referendum if there was a material change of circumstances, which promptly followed on, (and how), with the Brexit result. Upon Brexit however, the SNP’s mandate to hold another referendum was augmented by a further mandate from the Brexit vote for Scotland to remain in Europe. The SNP has pledged to honour their mandated commitment to hold a second referendum once the terms were met, honour their mandated commitment to keep Scotland in Europe, and have scheduled a flexible ScotRef referendum to suit the chronology of Brexit negotiations whereby it is assumed Scotland will know what Brexit formally involves in thorough detail. That mandate to hold that referendum has secured parliamentary approval from Holyrood.
The ScotRef IS going to happen. The Council elections revealed no collapse in SNP support, nor prompted any rethink or change of policy, but it would not have mattered if it did.
Theresa May’s electoral Coronation cannot touch the Scottish Government’s right or capacity to hold the ScotRef referendum, and that assertion cites the UN’s disposition towards a people’s right of self expression and determination. It doesn’t even hold a candle to the older issues of Auld Scots Law and Auld Scots Sovereignty which enshrine sovereignty upon the Scottish people forever and for all time.
A massive burning meteor from the firmament could career into Scotland tomorrow, wiping out the lot of us, but so long as two of us survived, they two could climb up on top of that meteor and hold a referendum.
This Unionist rhetoric about NOT holding a referendum is fundamentally dishonest. The Unionists cannot stop it, and they know they cannot stop it.
Their whole campaign is a smokescreen; a diversionary tactic to draw attention away from the gaping great weakness of Unionism, and that is having to articulate cohesive joined up arguments to convince the people of the Scotland that this decrepit dysfunctional poor excuse of a Union is actually worth keeping.
It is ALL bluster. It is the same AstroTurf campaigning as 2014.
It doesn’t matter a jot who wins Theresa May’s Election, nor does the size of any majority secured. The New PM will come into office with two burning issues in their In tray which require IMMEDIATE attention. The first is Brexit, and the second is the ScotRef, and both momentous conundrums carry the further delicious complexity that you cannot solve the one without first solving the other.
But beware Scotland, beware and be ready, because a new PM freshly emboldened by an angry populist landslide majority from England might just throw our carefully structured game to Hell, and quick release itself from Europe with a hard and dirty Brexit. A desperate act of reckless desperation, but which creates a constitutional dog’s breakfast which might mire Scotland’s future in decades of constitutional debate and legal challenge.
Keep plenty popcorn handy. It is after the distraction of this pointless General Election that things will start to get really interesting…
Thought you would like to watch
NicolaSturgeon talks about her upbringing, politics and sexism on
video here
link to twitter.com
@Nana
Thanks for all the links Nana. Nicola Sturgeon is a class above most politicians is she not 🙂
You are welcome Alex and yes Nicola is a class act.
lumilumi,
“@ Rock above.
FPTP is only fair if you think it’s fair that slightly over a third, 35%-37% of the popular vote, gives a mandate for one-party majority government. The British way, the UK way.”
As I had posted previously:
Rock,
“With all due respect Ken500, Scotland does not want an undemocratic Westminster like system which gives landslide dictatorships to the likes of Thatcher and Blair, and soon to Saint Theresa of England and Wales, with less than 40% support.
32% of the vote giving roughly 32% of seats is democratic and fair, in my view.”
Perhaps you could convince heedtracker, who on principle, has the opposite view as me on any topic being discussed here:
heedtracker,
“Like it or not FPTP is fair.”