Battle Of The Rejects
This is where Scottish politics is now.
And it’s a properly grim state of affairs, readers.
Though you wouldn’t know it from the Scottish media, there is in fact no by-election in Rutherglen And Hamilton West at all. The sitting MP, Margaret Ferrier (formerly SNP, now independent) has not resigned, is currently appealing her 30-day suspension from Parliament over a COVID conviction (a penalty more severe than any other MP who broke lockdown laws has suffered), and a recall petition has not yet been triggered, let alone reached the required threshold of 10% of constituents.
Nevertheless, all the parties are acting as though one is inevitable, and the seat is a Labour-SNP battleground that has changed hands at each of the last three elections.
(In 2010, Labour won it with a majority of 21,002 – more than their entire vote in the three subsequent elections.)
And yet despite the enormous significance a by-election would carry were it to happen – which we’re far from convinced about – and the plentiful amount of time available to prepare, neither Labour nor the SNP can get their acts together sufficiently to come up with a candidate without an enormous public dirty-linen session and a whole boatload of unsightly chicanery.
The candidate Labour have parachuted in – against the wishes of the local party – is a hapless three-time election loser and Twitter troll who actually quit the party over Jeremy Corbyn’s policy on Brexit (whatever that actually was), but has rejoined despite the fact that nobody can identify a way in which Keir Starmer’s policy (whatever that actually is) is different.
The SNP, meanwhile, has more than enough problems of its own to contend with in the area. Rutherglen And Hamilton West is part of South Lanarkshire, but the neighbouring North Lanarkshire council is in such an unholy mess that Humza Yousaf has been forced to intervene personally to try to sort it out.
And the party in Lanarkshire generally has been a totally dysfunctional nest of vipers for longer than anyone can remember, so we’re not the least bit surprised it’s having difficulty finding anyone it wouldn’t be embarrassed to present to voters as a potential MP. The story below is from more than seven years ago.
(So dried-up is its talent pool that even self-confessed sex pests like Patrick Grady fancy their chances of continuing to be selected for the yellow rosette.)
In recent years the SNP has purged from its ranks almost anyone possessed of any competence or integrity, seeing both qualities as a threat to the recently-resigned First Minister. Labour, meanwhile, has been scraping well below the bottom of the barrel since 2015, as anyone with any political ambition understandably deserted the party and threw their lot in with the Nats.
The outcome is no less tragic for its inevitability. Whoever ends up contesting a by-election, if there is one, the voters will be choosing between two useless diddies even their own parties have no confidence in.
It’s a rotten state of affairs, readers, and it isn’t just the unlucky voters of Rutherglen And Hamilton West who might find themselves stuck with a choice of idiots to represent them. Where they may lead, the rest of Scotland will soon follow.
Even more of the same from two dysfunctional parties in Scotland.Along with todays outrageous out burst from Cole Hamilton we are left with only Alba being membership driven and showing democracy in the political arena in Scotland.
The SNP’s sizeable payroll will be able to effectively canvass for a by-election. Not so much for a GE. Rutherglen is a Labour target seat and will likely fall at next year’s GE. No SNP “big hitter” is likely to interrupt their career for a 12 month gig at Westminster.
It’s only surprising that Humza hasn’t lined up one of his relatives or buddies for the possible contest. Or has he?
Get an Alba candidate in there asap!
@ JockMcT says:16 May, 2023 at 1:35 pm
Get an Alba candidate in there asap!
Seconded. And Thirded. And Fourthed.
I live in this constituency and Labour sent canvassers out over a month ago. They were all bussed in from elsewhere, I recognised Leah Francetti from the tv. Their leaflet was absolutely disgusting, calling Margaret Ferrier a criminal who put lives in danger. I wish I’d kept it to show you but I ripped it up and threw it at her when I questioned her about the leaflet. She lied that people have died from covid. I really hope the good people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West vote Margaret back in as an independent at the next election.
It is only in a field of mediocre specimens that the rare specimen is made visible.
Keep searching guys.
This article has been up for over an hour and I see no posts, as yet, about 300 year old guff that no more 10 people in Scotland are remotely interested in.
It’s a national disgrace.
I hope Margaret wins her appeal , then declares as an independent, or joins Alba. Screw the SNP and British Labour.
Time for smaller parties to step up and campaign. As a NL resident I will not be voting Labour or SNP. This us a golden opportunity for SSP and Alba, if the by election actually happens. The Scottish people are stuck between Holyrood and Westminster and neither are fit for purpose, someone could do a roaring trade in torches and pitchforks.
On the subject of «rejects» Mr Alexander Geoffrey Cole-Hamilton, whose links with Scotland seem to be a matter of chance, would extinguish it forever, the world having moved on beyond such ancient entities.
«We are a people trapped between flags, between politicians who mythologise and pine for ancient nations that can never and should never exist again in the global world in which we find ourselves» (is English the guy’s native tongue, I wonder)
Tell that to your buddy Volodymyr, the Stand up Comic.
Make sure his rather nasty mates are not within earshot.
Phew!
How funny would it be, if the Tories were to rescue both “Scottish” Labour and the SNP from the embarrassment of a Rutherglen by-election.
If they vote as a party to suspend Margaret Ferrier from Parliament, thereby opening the door to a by-electon, then they can hardly NOT vote to suspend Bo Jo for his Covid breaches. Then there is the current PM’s Covid misdeeds as well.
I don’t think the Tories are that daft that they would risk Bo Jo and Sunak being suspended and possibly facing by-elections. I suspect a wee deal will be done.
And if you opened your mouth and stood up to Sturgeon when she was FM you’d be in trouble.
The current SNP is a hollow shell of itself and in most part its unelectable, London Labour in Scotland serves a foreign master they too are unelectable, here’s hoping Alba, or the ISP stands a candidate.
A former Scottish minister has claimed SNP MSPs who spoke out against Government policy were threatened with de-selection.
“Alex Neil, who served under both Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon in the Scottish Government, was critical of Ms Sturgeon’s leadership, claiming she showed a “total intolerance” to different points of view and accusing the party and Government hierarchy seeking to “snuff out dissenting voices”.
But Mr Neil refused to say who had been threatened with the loss of their seat for opposing Government policy – claiming one MSP had said they would take legal action against the party as a result of the threats.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/rebel-snp-msps-threatened-with-de-selection-says-former-minister/ar-AA1bg1x6?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=f5746f0672a44a6bbd2cae0b6514ff9e&ei=12
Stu,
How did you expect MPs and Councellors to behave in a English legislated parliament sent to Scotland as a extension of the Westminster parliament.
Their behaviour is a Westminster legislated organisation.
Big Jock says:
16 May, 2023 at 2:06 pm
I hope Margaret wins her appeal , then declares as an independent, or joins Alba.
Aye, that would certainly hit the sweet spot lol.
I honestly don’t know where we go as a country from here. Politically, socially and culturally we’re in a rut where a class of people who’ve come in after 2016 now ensure they have driven Scotland into the hole it’s in now.
There’s no actual vision being presented, just different versions of how to manage things including making sure our expectations are set so painfully low that you actually have people celebrating it. See the recent news about Sturgeon letting down children which is a shocking indictment of her time in power but one celebrated by some as great because it’s the best in the UK. At what point are people going to stop saying being the least worst in the UK is something to be proud of?
So we’re in this horrendous post-Blair world where various blends of neoliberalism vie for power thanks to endless promises of an independence (which isn’t coming) or opposition to that independence (which isn’t coming). There’s no vision apart from perversely when it comes to Trans issues where we have a clear vision of what all the parties want to do.
In Rutherglen it’s been well known for years that a certain SNP councillor had her eyes on Margaret Ferrier’s seat even before covid. The absolute hostile aggressiveness that the party personnel poured on Margaret was shocking. They would never show a fraction of that aggressiveness to anyone from any unionist party.
As JP444 @1.46pm says, many if not most of the canvassers are from outside the constituency. That goes for both SNP and Labour. There’s almost no activists left that are not councillors or party employees.
So very true what Stu says in this article, there is no quality in anyone involved these days. In fact anyone who does stand is going to be judged as a puppet from their party’s remote leadership, who have their own agendas. SNP agenda is ‘goodness knows what’, it’s certainly not independence. And Labour’s agenda is most certainly not for the Scottish working people.
Politician «plans to woo Catholics»…groom, grope, touch up and scrape over the bottom of the political barrel.
Ych a fi, as they may say in Plaid Cymru.
“In recent years the SNP has purged from its ranks almost anyone possessed of any competence or integrity,”
The same process, in which anyone who knows their arse from a hole in the ground is managed out of the system, occurs in the Labour Party, Lib-Dems and the Greens.
This mirrors the same managerialist process across every organisation and institution throughout the entire West – from the public and private sectors; the third/NGO sector; local goverfnment; national parliaments; the political and media classes; education; health etc etc – which has been taking place over the best part of almost half a century.
A process in which all experience, expertise and organisationmal knowledge is expunged from the system to produce a top to bottom hierarchy in which everyone in place at every level are yes men automatons made in the image of incompetent establishment elites running this shit show.
Which is why nothing works. Political party’s were never ever going to be an exception to this manufactured process which has emasculated the entire culture from productive manufacturing being replaced by unproductive rent seeking financialisation through to the woke infantilisation of entire countries and societies.
In the Kingdom of the woke the skilled man is toast.
O/T.
This is what we’re up against, it stinks to high heaven.
“Police Scotland waited two weeks for an arrest warrant to search Nicola Sturgeon’s home to be approved during the Scottish National Party leadership race, it has been alleged.
The Crown Office reportedly received the request on March 20 but it was not approved for another 14 days on April 3, according to The Scottish Sun.
A police response to a freedom of information request confirmed “that search warrant requests were made on March 20, 2023”.
It added that a sheriff granted them “on April 3, 2023”.
The Crown has rejected suggestions that there was any kind of delay and Police Scotland declined to comment.”
FOR THOSE UNAWARE: ARE YOU WATCHING, SKANKY STURGEON?
BBC Scotland online giving our host, Stuart Campbell, the credit he deserves. In an article it states that Campbell raised the issues back in October 2020. And encouraged others to ask questions etc. https://archive.is/jmGnd
Let that be a warning to all wannabe SNP “leaders” and Scottish First Ministers etc – WE WILL BE WATCHING.
“Humza Yousaf dismay over quality of candidates for by-election test”
He doesn’t do irony, does he? The most useless SNP candidate selected to lead the SNP and act as Scotland’s First Minister. What was that quote again? Something along the lines of “Oh to see us as others see us”? LOL!
In political parties there is a «hierarchy of values», many learn too late what those values are and their actual position in the political taxonomy.
Emptor, caveat!
And the award from excellent journalism?
Hold you’re head up high STU,
I am a founder member of Alba and should a by-election take place I EXPECT an Alba candidate to be standing. If we have no Alba candidate then my Party resignation will follow very quickly.
I do not want to hear any crap about dividing the vote. I will not vote SNP and if Alba don’t want to provide an alternative then they should get out of the way and stop pretending to be a political Party.
If Humza is bemoaning the standard of candidate then that is a pretty low bar.
Prepare to be represented in Westminster by “Sugar lips McDuff” she/them fresh from the SNP trans academy.
Decent honest genuine pro independence people don’t want to represent the SNP anymore? Maybe the question mark is superfluous.
Dave Hansell: you are absolutely right, it is right across the board. As they say up here: if ye ken mair’n the wee man, yer on yer wey oot. In other words, those who do the work are a nuisance and threat unless they also kow tow, being bright is a massive disadvantage and being a craven coward, a great advantage. No doubt that there are bright folk out there, but they know better than to stick their heads above the parapet right now. You are also right that this has been the result of decades of churning out middle management types whose officious interference and pointless financial cuts in all things has infected every institution. Money is not short; it is in the hands of the few. The few do not want Joe and Jean Bloggs to have anything. Better to have them fighting over non-jobs that cannot feed their families. When the ‘wokerati’ came along, they took over these middle management jobs, council positions and funding, completing the infection until it has become chronic and where only a massive and ruthless clear-out of deadwood is likely to be effective. We can forgive a lot, but we should not forgive the deliberate and totally unnecessary upheaval of our society for no good reason except to create chaos that, in turn, creates obedient slaves. At least, that is what the middle management, ‘wokerati’ types believe. They are so, so wrong.
@Geoff Anderson
My thoughts exactly
Humza Yousaf has rejected a slate of local candidates and entered into talks with alternative would-be MPs as tensions rise within the SNP about a key by-election.
Rejected because they were gender critical?
All these BritNat parties will have a very reduced number of candidates to choose from.
SNP, LAB & LibDem will require candidates to be pro-trans rights & pro self-id.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-65608795
BritNat Brainwashing Channel link…. apologies.
I bet the Amazon account was hammered during those two weeks. I wonder if their analytics noted a run on home paper shredders?
I wonder why MSPs of all parties never mentioned to us before that the Scottish parliament was dissolved from all legal liability of the treaty of union more than 300 years ago?
I wonder why they still do not mention it today in the independence parties, is party and pocket more important than than the people and Scottish independence?
After all the topic has more teeth to it than whom leads the party in a devolved branch office from Westminster begging for section 30s and referendums.
It appears the none of the independence political parties in Scotland are genuine, will they be discovered to have cloaks around them in the future like the Snp,?
Which ever political party takes up the baton of Scotlands dissolved parliament not being in the treaty of union will become a hero to all Scots, and go down in history around the world for uncovering the long standing deception placed upon Scots. Whom are not in a treaty of union with the Great British parliament either for they did not exist as a parliament holding a treaty with Scotland.
How many Humafs are in the independence parties, how many Nusnp’s are in the independence parties? How many old labour are in the independence parties for this would explain an awful lot.
As to why the discrepancy is never talked about.
Party politics and party pocket survival.
Who wants to be a hero, when you can have a steady wage, pension and perks?
Talking of poor quality, the unsurprising news today is that it would be cheaper to scrap one of the Ferguson ferries and build a new one. But the SNP Government reject that, and have the audacity to cite delay as reason, coupled with the need to preserve the 100 or so jobs. How much has each job cost already? What other companies get the same financial level of protection to produce out of date rubbish late at a grossly inflated price years behind schedule?
The SNP knows no shame in what it says and does. I reckon Alf Baird could point the way (he already has) but they won’t follow his expertise, they will do anything and say anything to justify their idiotic decisions, and we the tax payers have to pay the price.
Lorna Campbell.
A sound analyses of where we are today in Scoland and the world,
The propagation of perception by deception, that feather the beds of the few.
We get the politicians we deserve.
If we are content to be sidetracked into subjects such as transvestism, and avoid discussing topics such as the scamdemic, the man-made global warming fraud, and the collapsing banking system, then our politicians will happily address only that subject.
Margaret should stand as an independent, probably win it as well
If I have to be honest, what I find more disgusting in this whole saga is how people within the SNP are acting like hyenas and vultures trying to rip the seat off their own colleague. It is totally unpalatable and difficult to watch.
For some reason, they have been trying to take that seat from her for years. I find watching how they are making castles in the air and planning even before there has been confirmation the seat is going to come up for grabs, sickening, quite frankly.
Makes one wonder if this has been pr-arranged by the powers that be long ago and if she was advised to go home on purpose so they could fabricate an excuse to chuck her out of the seat.
One has to wonder if the establishment has already decided what tool they will be parachuting onto that seat, just as they appear to have done with Robertson in the absolutely disgusting and profoundly undemocratic way they pushed Ms Cherry away so the useless Robertson could be catapulted to the seat.
So much for loyalty to your colleagues, huh?. But this disloyalty is the legacy of the useless Sturgeon: to always respect, to always listen and always endeavour to help your unionist opponents to gain seats to stop independence. Meanwhile, always demoralise, frustrate, enfuriate, viciously attack and even tear to shreds those on your own side unless, of course, the have valuable “talents” for the unionist side: like being a sex pests, holding some kind of brown stuff in the closet making them manipulable, being morally corrupt, being accomplished liars or experienced crooks in some speciality or another, allergic to independence, incompetent or simply with a sweet tooth for gravy and bribes.
It’s most appropriate that the Corbyn despising but Starmer admiring Labour candidate is called Shanks.
At the gowf, a shank is the term for when the ball is hit off the base of the shaft instead of by the centre of the club face. This makes the ball – for right handed players – veer off hopelessly to the right.
P.S. Please don’t anyone post that overused quip about a good walk spoiled.
You have to wonder what would motivate the SNP hierarchy to put themselves in such a weak position in the first place.
If an MP has earned her place on those green benches through the dedication and sheer hard work not only of herself but of local grassroots campaigners in making the case for independence, why on earth would the party just let her go?
Why not stand by a colleague who after all was not alone in breaking lockdown rules? Especially when other, arguably much worse, misdemeanours seem to be so easily overlooked.
But then you have to wonder about many other baffling decisions.
To an onlooker, this is really daft. A hard-working, dedicated, genuine nationalist can be sacrificed in order to create a scenario where the seat could be lost altogether?
Why? Especially now.
One of the best things about BTL here, imo, is that it is not an echo chamber of confirmation bias, it is a broad church of views and opinions. One thing we do all agree on though is that something in our gut tells us that things have gone terribly wrong in Scottish politics. Scottish Labour were a disgrace and the post Alex Salmond SNP have been Scottish Labour Mark 2.
Scottish Labour, the SNP, the Greens and the Lib Dems do not appear to have much difference between them, they all look, sound and act alike. I do not really pay much attention to the Scottish Tories as they have never really been relevant to me, I am old enough to have grown up with the Forsyths and Rifkinds etc.
Scottish politics are rotten and I mean that in the sense of corrupted. Alba have serious potential but will be kept in a box by a media which is also corrupted.
Re some comments upthread, look up Luxury Communism, this is a term being used by people who read and actually believe the Guardian. It is going to be a fully automated world in which no one will need to work, everyone will be in receipt of a BUI (Basic Universal Income) and everything will be delivered to them. Seeing as we are already creeping into Social Credit status, people accused of wrongthink having their bank accounts and means to purchase online closed down, I watch stuff like this with an uneasy interest.
So – according to Shanks, the best way to help “the poorest people across the UK” is to ensure more unskilled workers have freedom of movement to get here and compete with them on the labour market?
OK.
I agree, they way Mgt F has been treated is appalling.
But it’s par for the course now with those vultures in SNP.
I also agree re splitting the vote, I will never vote SNP againg unless Joanna C or Ash R is FM or leader.
So if no Alba candidate, or ISP, is standing, I’ll spoil my ballot paper.
Patrick Grady
Derek Mackay
Jordan Linden
Apart from being in the SNP, and being described as “sex pests” -what is it these people all have in common…? What is it, again..?
@Beauvais.
I just walk farther than most. On one occasion I nearly crossed three fairways.
Vote ’til you boak will require a judicious amount of sawdust on hand at the polling booths I’ll warrant – I hope the jannies have wellies.
As for the race to idiocracy; well it’s not purely a Scottish phenomenon, it’s global.
They only rut amongst themselves, only promote amongst themselves -congenital fuckwittery is the only, and unsurprising outcome.
If you have ever had the misfortune to work within either North, or South Lanarkshire Council, you’ll probably see that effect nepotising before your eyes in real time – “They’re aw aff yin anither!”
It was a congealing gene pool even back in the day I gingerly trod through it in my bareies – what it’s like now I hate to think – probably a dead cat floating in it.
This is quite hard to get the auld heid around – a Wings post from…wait for it…just over 12 years ago.
Read it (and the very few comments, only a dozen or so) to get a flavour of the optimism that was in the air following the SNP securing an outright majority.
Then compare with now.
12 years ago?!
And think of all the posts and btl comments since then, and all the rallies and marches and debates and arguments and sackings and tears and failures and the sheer amount of time and expense we’ve all gone to. Not to even mention the passing of relatives, friends and colleagues.
And then ask yourself if you can tolerate another dozen years of this shit.
I know that I can’t.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-new-flag-of-the-united-kingdom/#more-9263
Dorothy Bain. Delaying the police investigation. Sturgeon’s appointed Lord Advocate.
Corrupt to the core. Look at the picture of Bain. She can’t face the cameras. She’s a disgrace.
Bain Out. Corruption out.
Merganiser
Six years late and at least £300 million quid over budget the SNP building of these ferries is an utter scandal, yet not one, I repeat not one SNP MSP has taken responsibility for this debacle nor has anyone been reprimanded let alone sacked.
Where has all the money gone?
Hull 802 is the second giant lump of metal sitting at Ferguson’s shipyard.
We need to get the SNP out.
Vote Alba, Join Alba do it for Scotland.
“The head of Scotland’s prosecution service has refused to say whether a search warrant for Nicola’s Sturgeon’s home was “deliberately delayed” until after the SNP leadership contest ended.
Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, who leads the Crown Office, was questioned by Sky News after it emerged her organisation was made aware of a police request to raid the former first minister’s home two weeks before it was given the green light.”
https://news.sky.com/story/nicola-sturgeon-top-prosecutor-refuses-to-say-if-search-of-former-first-ministers-home-was-deliberately-delayed-until-after-she-left-office-12882168
Hands to the camera. Dashing for the car.
Interfering with the massive scale fraud police investigation. She’s standing in the way of justice.
Acting on who’s instructions? We all know who. Sturgeon that is. She was protecting Nicola.
The clown chief in the clown office. Blatant corruption.
Corrupt to core. Dorthay Bain. Corrupt to the core. The protector of corruption. Sturgeon’s appointed protecter of corruption. Disgraceful. Look at her face in the picture.
Really sadly, back in the heady days immediately after the referendum, there were some really good people that could have been chosen for elected offices.
By 2015 there were heads appearing above the parapets, people realising they could “out” themselves as independence supporters without damaging careers.
However the candidates selected by the SNP seemed to have been chosen like one of those bingo cards. Candidates chosen to tick some boxes. As time went on it became obvious that very few of the new intakes had any useful qualities.
Now with hindsight, and with the proof of the pudding, so many of those new SNP people are shown as toom tabards. Lacking in any charisma. No ability to motivate good people. The vast majority utterly abysmal in front of TV cameras or microphones. No independent thoughts.
Test yourself – how many SNP MSPs or MPs can you name without googling? How many councillors?
Tell me lies. Tell me sweet little lies. Tell me lies. Tell me tell me lies.
Bob Mack @5:38 pm
Three fairways Bob? That’s quite a shank.
Amy Callaghan MP (SNP) for East Dunbartonshire since the 2019 has only a majority of just 149 over the LibDems !
Willie Rennie has been out and about in G66 chapping doors !
Snap GE in the offing ?
Will Amy’s support for Patrick Brady and GRR will not help her minimal majority ?
Scotland the best wee country in the world . A weakened gutted country, totally corrupted by political parties operating in Scotland on behalf of a foreign entity/ England. Thanks tory labour libdems SNP.
And for all yous getting your hopes up about Alba get a grip.They are the same old same old, they will soon come round to telling you what you can or can’t have, at the same time awarding themselves gigantic pensions and huge salaries. I watched their reactions at party conferences a membership driven party my arse, aye right only if you are a member of the NEC
Waken up politicians are and aways have been the problem.
It is beyond INSULTING that the inept and constant failure Humza Useless has the brass neck and hubris to even consider commenting on the barrel scraping leftovers of his party
There obviously isn’t a mirror in the Useless household
——————————————
The FACT that the crown office are complacent and resigned to the situation that it took over 2 weeks to process an application for a search warrant for the murrell homes and the organisational headquarters he and she heads is UNBELIEVABLE, IF this is TRULY the case it HIGHLIGHTS the level of incompetence that our highly paid supposed legal professionals are expecting us to accept and approve
I for one find it incomprehensible that it took 2 weeks YES 2 WEEKS to find someone capable of writing their own name or reading an application for a search warrant to INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE criminality,
WTAF
Is there no one within the justice system that is SICK of this ongoing corruption, WHERE are the whistle blowers who are OUTRAGED that their PROFESSION and the integrity of they and their colleagues are being ridiculed and destroyed by the despicable actions carried out to protect a reviled deviant and her diciples
Protect your ain with Dorothy Bain!
Wullie.
Fair enough, but having a dictator running Scotland didn’t work either.
Ian Brotherhood at 6:07 pm
“And think of all the posts and btl comments since then, and all the rallies and marches and debates and arguments and sackings and tears and failures and the sheer amount of time and expense we’ve all gone to. Not to even mention the passing of relatives, friends and colleagues.
And then ask yourself if you can tolerate another dozen years of this shit.”
Even if I was lucky (?!) enough to get another 12 years much more of this shit would finish me off anyway.
We’ve lost some guid folk along the way. Their memory keeps me going, just.
@David Hansell and Lorna Campbell: your analyses of workplaces and their hierarchies explains why I found them pretty unbearable for most of my working life. Thought it was just me being a malcontent 🙂 .
@Beauvais: re “Shanks”, I always associate the name with the famous vitreous china, but then I am somewhat of a cloacal frame of mind where politicians are concerned.
As proof is Ian B @6.07: “And then ask yourself if you can tolerate another dozen years of this shit.
I know that I can’t.”
I think this is why The Grateful Dead were formed…..
Stupid. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Scottish National Party. It’s nine-year mission: to explore strange new perversions; to seek out new levels of fuckwittery and new forms of corruption. To boldly go where no political party has gone before.
*Waves to X_Sticks*
Waves back to Tinto Chiel
While all these baffling stories such as the one in Rutherglen are being played out, you can’t help feeling thankful for journalists such as Revd. Stu and Craig Murray for really helping to sift the wheat from the chaff. There is so much online waffle, you barely know where to start sometimes.
Craig’s blog today, “Trial By Jury” – well, to his credit he is a Gilbert & Sullivan enthusiast – is about the Criminal Justice Bill and includes a link to a recent Legal News Scotland article by Roderick Macdonald, Lord Uist.
Lord Uist voices his concern over two aspects of the Bill:
1. the first time that one judge will have the power to dismiss another judge from office and
2. a pilot of single judge rape trials (without a jury) which he points out “amounts to politicians treating the courts as forensic laboratories in which to experiment with their policies”.
His short article, as well as Craig’s blog, are very much worth a read.
Lord Uist does not pull his punches. He concludes that these two provisions “are constitutionally repugnant and constitute a serious attack upon the independence of the judiciary. It is shocking that they were ever included in the bill. Consideration should now be given to removing them from the bill. Otherwise they are likely to be held in due course to be incompatible with Article 6 of the ECHR and so to be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament”.
The hapless Holyrood policy makers might like to have a listen to the advice of Gilbert & Sullivan’s usher:
“From bias free of every kind, This trial must be tried”.
Big waves to all the ‘normal’ btl commenters.
Dismissed.
Regarding the SNP’s juryless trials.
In Switzerland they have referenda quite regularly on all manner of questions.
Whereas in Scotland here we have a major change proposed for the judicial branch of government, which wasn’t in the governing party’s election manifesto, and it’s not going to be put to the people in a referendum.
The Scottish legal profession weren’t even consulted about it.
SteepBrae
Rape conviction rates and highly protected marine areas are simply two items on Nicola’s “I’m a virtuous politician, make me an offer I can’t refuse” checklist. Sadly, Yousless and the rest are simply too clueless to shake off these albatrosses before it’s too late. That is of course if their puppet-master would ever let them.
@Northcode The series you’re looking for is Space 2023 where the SNP is blown off course by a massive narcissistic explosion and are know careering across the galaxy encountering all manner of strange creatures wanting to indulge their predilections on the unsuspecting humans.
“It’s a rotten state of affairs”
Fanon’s postcolonial take rather confirms that a compromised national party elite is a part of the colonial ‘racket’. It ‘behaves like a gang’ and ‘becomes an instrument of coercion’. Much as we now see, when the colonial system ‘becomes imperilled’ it reaches for its roots – ‘fascism’.
Independence and its ‘decisive moment’ may be closer than we think.
Stuart MacKay @8:45pm
Ha! Nice one, Stuart. 🙂
Mhairi Black is being praised by The National and Pension Pete for using the word “pished” in a Commons debate. Oh wow!
Is that what amounts to political bravery now in the SNP? Are these people encumbered with a mental age of 10.
All these useless SNP MP troughers, in a party that can’t even produce proper accounts any more, and the best they can do is utter a swearie word and then expect plaudits for it.
Ian B @ 6.07
Aye , it might as well be 100 years ago : ” changed utterly ” .
What’s been most shocking is the precipitous fall of the SNP ; it’s rapid decline into – not only – the betrayal of it’s historic mission , but it’s degradation into a hideous clown parade .
In this they reflect the abysmal calibre of this generation of Western politicians .
Together with the death-grip of MSM on the provision of genuine , accurate n fair information and the increasing political power of Big Tech ( eg see Twitter Files ) we could be forgiven for believing we’re totally fucked .
We’re not though . The socio/political system is fucked , beyond repair/redemption .
We need to abandon it . Create something new . Something better
Mhairi Black today validating the point succinctly
OT-ish.
Go on ChatGPT and ask it ‘what is a woman? ’.
For a ‘a real system capable of multi-step logical acumen’ it sure runs into the logic buffer pretty damn quick.
Stuart Mackay “ Rape conviction rates…”
Getting rid of Not Proven in rape trials would make juries step up to the choice facing them, I suspect.
“a penalty more severe than any other MP who broke lockdown laws has suffered”
The sitting MP, Margaret Ferrier (formerly SNP, now independent) should use her parliamentary immunity to expose as much corruption and criminality as she can.
So should the ALBA MPs.
They are achieving ZERO for Scotland at Westminster so at least they should contribute towards draining the swamp in the rotten to the core State of Scotland.
Craig Murray’s latest on the SNP’s juryless trials racket that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2023/05/trial-by-jury/
Maybe a good time to remember that Mr I-gleefully-sook-on-Beth’s-cock-Cole-Hamilton was a massive team player with the SNP during the Linda-Fab-Farce smearing the f**k out an innocent man.
If there’s this much difficulty in filling one nomination, it’s going to be even worse at the next GE in around 28 months, when 59 Scottish seats are up for grabs.
I’m equally disparaging of all parties with their back bench MPs. There’s not a single back bencher in Westminster, of any party, that seems to have a future as a national leader.
I think that it’s even worse in Holyrood. There isn’t a single MSP who I’d trust to run a bath, let alone a government of an independent nation.
Typo. 18 months. Not 28 months.
Dorothy Bain at it again? I believe her husband Alan Turnbull was the lead prosecutor in the Luke Mitchell case
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/9846975/cops-destroyed-evidence-jodi-jones-luke-mitchell/amp/
Meanwhile, the by election for the Bellshill ward recently vacated by disgraced and admitted Sex offender Jordan Linden is definitely happening and the Bellshill branch have selected their candidate. Joe Budd has been chosen over the very capable Clare Montgomery. Joe Budd stood as an independent in the council elections against the SNP candidates, in a neighbouring ward of Thorniewood. According to SNP rules, he shouldn’t be allowed to rejoin the party yet never mind be selected, over an excellent local candidate who actually resides within the ward. This is the same SNP branch of Dick Lyle infamy. He is gone now but doesn’t look like his lack of adherence to party rules has gone with him. This is also the same branch who has recently written to SNP HQ and the FM because the North Lanarkshire SNP group haven’t followed party rules! You couldn’t make this shit up.
Kenny MacKaskill on the front foot on “ Scotland tonight” demanding a judge led enquiry into the delay in granting of a search warrant for the Murrell’s house until after the election of Humza Yousaf as SNP “ leader” and FM . He said a judge from outwith Scotland could be an option . He questions “ what is going on “ in the Crown Office with malicious prosecutions ( he quoted the Rangers FC case) and the millions of pounds of Scottish taxpayers money having to be paid in compensation.
Was David Harvie alleged MI5 agent still within the Crown Office during this period and as he has now apparently left ( job done ?) , who has replaced him ??
Dave Hansell says:
16 May, 2023 at 3:23 pm
“In recent years the SNP has purged from its ranks almost anyone possessed of any competence or integrity,”
The same process, in which anyone who knows their arse from a hole in the ground is managed out of the system, occurs in the Labour Party, Lib-Dems and the Greens.
This mirrors the same managerialist process across every organisation and institution throughout the entire West – from the public and private sectors; the third/NGO sector; local goverfnment; national parliaments; the political and media classes; education; health etc etc – which has been taking place over the best part of almost half a century.
A process in which all experience, expertise and organisationmal knowledge is expunged from the system to produce a top to bottom hierarchy in which everyone in place at every level are yes men automatons made in the image of incompetent establishment elites running this shit show.”
So you’ve spent time in further education then?
It is getting grim, Stuart. You’re writing about useless candidates for a by-election which doesn’t exist. How about the theft of real Irn Bru, or ferries, that’s always good. There’s stuff to be found out and you are good at that sort of thing.
I said I would post any reply I got from my MP… Pete Wishart. I sent an email off to him on the 10th May and was actually a bit surprised to receive a reply today. Here is his response…
Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding Julian Assange.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) profoundly believes in the rule of law and we have an obligation to uphold the rule of law in this high-profile case, like in any other. Despite this, no one individual is ever above the law and Mr Assange now has to face charges of contempt of court for evading UK authorities. It is now for the courts to independently decide what happens next.
Julian Assange must be able to expect a full, open, and fair trial. In relation to the procedures for processing his extradition: a UK court ruled that he should not be extradited to the US at this time and we do of course respect that ruling. A commitment to this due process is an expectation that we must have for all allies, particularly those with whom we have an extradition treaty, so any extradition to the US must absolutely meet those rigorous standards.
While Julian Assange is in UK custody, all possible steps should be taken to ensure that he has access to the legal and healthcare support that he requires. Like all citizens, Julian Assange’s treatment must be fair, humane and consistent with the promotion of free expression. Reports that he has been subject to mistreatment while in custody are worrying and it must be established that his treatment is in line with the guidelines for protecting all those in custody. Within this, he ought to be entitled to the same rights to receive visitors within the rules set by prison authorities.
I fully appreciate that this is contentious issue, but the rule of law is paramount. We have seen what happens when the UK Government has had a flexible relationship with the rule of law. It undermines the principles of our society.
The SNP will continue to be pragmatic about its position on Mr Assange’s case, but we are clear that the rule of law must be followed, no matter how high profile the case may be.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me about this important issue.
Yours sincerely,
Pete Wishart MP
Perth and North Perthshire
@Alf Baird @8:48pm
Prof. Alf Baird’s academic paper, “The Socio-Political Determinants of Scottish Independence”, is a must read for every Scot, whether they support independence for Scotland or not.
Because Scotland is in a serious predicament. And if we don’t do something about it soon, the only place Scotland will be found is in history books- maybe.
You certainly won’t find Scotland on a map, that’s for sure. (Check out Alex Cole Hamilton’s recent speech)
Alf’s paper describes the true nature of Scotland’s Union with England. (if you’re a Star Trek fan a Borg analogy seems appropriate here).
Read it for yourself and make up your own mind.
It’s a pdf and you can read it here:
The Socio-Political Determinants of Scottish Independence
Alf has also written a book on the subject titled “Doun-Hauden” which I haven’t read yet, but will do soon.
Bain was shmooching with Sturgeon at her last last cabinet meeting.
Now we know that she had delayed the dawn raid on her home for the burner phones and the caravan.
The twin roles of the lord Advocate and SNP cabinet minister. Political operative in the legal system.
Corruption if I’ve seen it.
Msdidi,
That’s Pete Wishart telling us he is happy with the USA’s position on Assange, he’s happy with the UK’s position on Assange with added reverence, (which is a bit telling of where the SNP are on the importance of independence) even though he admits that the UK’s position on certain matters is idealistically malleable.
And, ah yes, a long way of saying we should all go fuck ourselves when it comes to Assange.
@msdidi (12.28) –
Wishart’s letter is, in parts, identical to the one I received from Pat Gibson via e-mail yesterday. They’re working with a template letter.
You can check – I posted Gibson’s message (complete with grammatical howlers) yesterday at 11.06am. It’s on the previous thread.
Geoff Anderson says on 16 May 2023 at 3:56 pm:
“I am a founder member of Alba and should a by-election take place I EXPECT an Alba candidate to be standing. If we have no Alba candidate then my Party resignation will follow very quickly.”
“I do not want to hear any crap about dividing the vote. I will not vote SNP and if Alba don’t want to provide an alternative then they should get out of the way and stop pretending to be a political Party.”
Couldn’t have put it better myself. I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently. ALBA need to start standing candidates or my new found suspicions are only going to grow. I’ll *NEVER* vote for the current SNP and there are many more like me. Start standing candidates and give us somewhere decent to put our votes.
No ALBA candidate = spoiled ballot paper as far as i’m concerned. Or is it their intention to only try and get on the Westminster gravy train too? If that’s the case they’ll *NEVER* get a vote from me. I’m *NEVER* voting in a Westminster election again. We don’t need representatives in Westminster in order to take back our right of self-determination.
Rule of Law say Wishart is sacrosanct. No doubt that’ll be the UK rule of law he’s talking about. The treatment of Julian Assange at the hands of the authorities has Ben fair and impartial then Pete?
Dont think so and neither do many many others. But as a Judge outrageously said about the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four who were wrongly jailed to satisfy public political expediency, we should have just hung them and that would’ve been the end of it
What a load of tosh. And now in Scotland we want to abolish juries so as to secure more convictions to satisfy political pressure.
And let us make no mistake a hanging Sheriff is what Yousaf wants. Hang em high on a tree for all to see was common in many of the colonies of old. And Julian Assange certainly fits the bill of a metaphorical hanging. And Pishfart talks of a rule of law.
No doubt this proto fascist thinks Salmond is guilty, that the police and prosecution were scrupulously fair and that the jury got it wrong.
No doubt Wishart would have thought 1930s Nacht und Nabel laws were the Rule of Law ,,, and they were.
But I maybe say what we all know. The transcript of this creeps response @11.22 just reinforces it.
And for a contemporary British equivalent of the night and fog degree, consider the NI Diplock Courts and political internment. And no jury needed there.
@ Ian McCubbin says:
Oi the ISP was there long before Alba and we are still here. We noticed that when the S35 was done Alba’s first response was to bemoan WM interference in Scotland. It was only later on that it remembered there might be a women’s rights aspect to it.
Any claim Alba had to being a women’s rights focussed party crashed on the rocks that day. Colette Walker’s response however was perfect. The only party leader to get it right that day. A sad state of affairs.
Interesting word:
‘Autophagy – the natural, conserved degradation of the cell that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components through a lysosome-dependent regulated mechanism…’
Make yer ain metaphors.
😉
Margaret Ferrier was a hard worker for her constituents.
It was a stupid thing to travel with Covid so now the U.K. media will ensure that its
all they will say about her tainted for life.
She must be around retirement age now so I expect that after the next election.
It would be a risk for Alba to take Margaret on as it’s an easy attack.
Strange that Boris being filmed, photographed and had multiple statements from those fined for being at the same illegal Covid parties is still an MP.
Is there an imminent by election on Bojo’s turf?
The Rule of Law as applied in the case of Julian Assange bear similarities to other historic cases. Most compelling to me and with relevence to Scotland is that of John Maclean, the centenary of who’s death is at the end of this year. Towards the end of his life Maclean was in contact with Erskine of Mar and i think that influence can be credited with his conversion towards a more republican stance. This is my first attempt to contribute to the debate, but I owe a debt of gratitude to Stu and the contributors who keep me informed of the true situation. I may not survive to see the birth of a Scottish Republic, but am certain that day is not too far off.
https://archive.ph/IHPqP
Nicola Sturgeon is at liberty to answer questions on her husband’s arrest in connection with an investigation into the SNP’s finances, the former Scottish Police Federation chief has said.
I am trying to get my head around the crown office being implicated in the conspiracy to get Salmond and supporting Nicola, and their involvement in the search warrants.
There is something not sitting right with it all given the BBC is now bigging up the story of them protecting the continuity candidate.
I start with them supporting the UK committee instruction to get Salmond but now they are getting hung out to dry by the BBC.
What’s going on what am I missing
The SNP are still selling “merch” that says YES. The SNP are currently fundraising for the SNP using the YES logo.
But, Sturgeon killed off the indyref option via her application to the Supreme Court and Humza’s SNP have no plans for a plebiscite election on indy.
https://grousebeater.wordpress.com/2023/05/16/crown-office-shenanigans/
https://caltonjock.com/2023/05/16/a-dead-fish-rots-from-the-head-down-lets-have-look-at-the-legacy-of-sir-iain-livingstone-more-to-be-added/
Re the comments on Alba needing to stand candidates against the SNP in FPTP elections, I made a speech from the conference floor on Saturday against the sweetness and light “lets all cooperate” motion, saying just that. The SNP will never agree to stand down for Neil and Kenny anyway.
The applause in the hall was very strong, though everyone voted for the motion. I think Alba has to be seen first to hold out the hand of cooperation, and that is what Alex is doing. He is a brilliant tactician. It will get refused by the SNP soon enough, and then we can get down to brass tacks.
There are some SNP MPs I don’t think Alba should stand against – Joanna, Doug and Angus Brendan being obvious examples.
Colin Alexander…
Let me correct that for you:
“Humza’s SNP have no plans for indy”.
You’re welcome.
The BBC is hanging the SNP out to dry *now* pretty much because the Tories in England are now electorally up the creek facedown in the water.
Shug @8.22am
Probably, with a GE likely due in 2024, London wants rid of as many SNP MPs as possible and are trying to create chaos in the party.
The SNP is useless at present but if they did get their act together and start pushing for Independence again then it could be a nightmare for London.
I think that a lot of London fear is based around having nowhere to keep their bombs post-Indy,
a loss of prestige and maybe their place as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
@Craig Murray or anyone else
Did you see the response Ian Brotherhood received from his MP about Julian Assange – it’s a matter for the courts / can’t interfere.
Can you tell us: is the place and conditions of Julian’s detention decided by the court? Or did the court just decide he’s to be held in administrative detention and the Home Office / Prison Service decide he’s held in solitary in Belmarsh etc?
ALBA, ISP, an opportunity beckons, should a by-election actually occur.
Craig Murray…
“There are some SNP MPs I don’t think Alba should stand against – Joanna, Doug and Angus Brendan being obvious examples.”
I personally take the black or white view on this, as opposed to your shades of grey.
There are no “good guys” left in the SNP. They all quit and formed ALBA, the ISP, or left political life in Scotland completely.
If you’re part of the SNP, you’re part of the problem – in no way can you ever be seen to be part of the solution.
If, after everything we’ve seen and continue to see, people persist with being members, supporters or elected representatives of the SNP, then hell mend them, for it is they, not Unionism, which is not only holding the cause of Indy back, but actively dragging it down.
I sincerely hope every single SNP MP and MSP lose their seat, and I say that as a former member, CA Office Bearer, two-time local election candidate and supporter of Indy for 4+ decades. Furthermore, if it means voting Tory next time go get Alyn Smith out I’ll not hesitate to do so. At least with a Unionist candidate you know you’re getting someone who honestly and openly doesn’t give a shit, as opposed to an SNP candidate who pretends to simply in order to keep their nose in the trough.
So Alyn Smith had better pray that an ALBA candidate stands in Stirling, for it’ll be the only thing to stop me using my vote tactically to get him out.
The word «useless» is thrown around regarding the SNP and its officials, it might so easily be applied to the contemporary Scottish nationalist movement per se, a brilliant idea suffering from serious under-rehearsal.
This is not a snide remark but one based on my observations, coming from a part of the planet where under-rehearsal of «good ideas» is responsible for the continuing mess politicians make of them and the people they are supposed to benefit.
Passive democracy is sham democracy.
Systems of all kinds prefer it that way.
robertkknight @10:01am has the right idea. If you refloat the SNP with a few good men and women then you’re refloating the ship with the rest of the crew as well. We already know how that is going to turn out. It’s much better to force the hand of the good guys and gals make them take a stand and jump ship – even if they jump to a ship the build themselves.
What you really want is to reincarnate the SNP from pre-2014 – at least in spirit. The party today is so hopeless compromised with people of marginal competence that it’s not really fit for purpose any more. Alas that goes for the available talent pool at councillor level as well. It’s definitely time for something completely different.
From The Herald today: INDEPENDENCE supporters can trust the SNP with their cash, Humza Yousaf has insisted.
Deep down, everyone knows it’s over. The only thing left to do is bury the corpse.
Geoff Anderson @3:56
Bit twee for anyone looking for retribution for the common cold nonsense but an easy way back to Scotland reunited might be for Margaret to stand for Alba and SNP to refuse to run against her by way of apology.
In likelihood that a by election wont happen regardless, a similar arrangement can be made for the defacto referendum/GE in event yet more sanity is allowed to prevail..
As to the disturbing approach from SNP re Julian Assange (as betrayed by allegations of a stock response to questions about the man which projects as much), I’d have thought that Scots’ law (& certainly Scots’ law pre 1707) was cognisant of the concept that contempt of court was a discretionary power to be used at a judge’s discretion in order to maintain order during a trial and that, whatever else the evasion of an arrest (particularly one substantiated by fake or ARBITRARY accusations) can be described as, it cannot ever be considered a contempt of court under common law and can only constitute contempt of a court order under contract in event any such order is agreed by the suspect in advance (and without coercion, deception, entrapment, etc) as being fully consistent with articles 1-30 of the declaration of human rights!
Have you read this:
https://tinyurl.com/4a9se9xz
The idea that Scotland doesn’t exist was first introduced by Crawford & Boyle in 2013.
It came up again with the Supreme Court ruling.
I guess they followed the legal advice by Crawford & Boyle.
I don’t suppose they could do anything else.
Cole Hamilton just picked up on it.
What Derek Bateman said about this idea way back in 2013 was if there is no Scotland then there is no Union.
Maybe someone should ask Cole Hamilton what he believes in.
I haven’t listened to Cole Hamilton’s speech. QFMD
I don’t read academic papers.
I believe Scotland is a colony and all Scotland’s ills are down to us being a colony.
I came to that conclusion just through life experience.
I agree with everything Alf says except on a couple of things which have nothing to do with Scotland being a colony.
If you’re thinking of donating to the SNP then why not just cut out the middleman and pour your money down the nearest drain. It’ll save time.
@Robert Knight/Stuart McKay –
Used to get annoyed, hearing stories about by-elections or townships abroad where someone put a donkey or a cabbage or something up for election and then it won.
Now, I understand.
I would happily vote for a lump of dried shit before voting for anyone in this SNP.
The decent ones have left it too late. They had plenty of time to decipher the writing on the proverbial, so no exceptions – they’ve got to go.
What are ISP saying re women’s rights?
I believe a ‘Let Women Speak Party’ would do very well in any election in Scotland.
Although I would prefer it to be called the ‘Let Everyone Speak Party’ because everyone is affected by gender madness, the denial of freedom of speech & all the rest.
Is Craig Murray from Alba still strongly in favour of trans rights?
Not just abroad it happened here in Scotland. Remember Helena Torry?
https://archive.is/j2XJ5
Although she got arrested when it was discovered she wasn’t an adult human female. 🙂
Where is Renee Slater now?
Any notion that Westminster genuinely fears Scottish independence, is on par with any fear of nuclear war. It’s subliminal. Both considered as unlikely.
Whitehall takes care of defensive business, on both fronts, as a matter of course.
Meanwhile, we’ve got SNP in charge. How’s that going? (Like a damp squib!)
18th September 2014, the doomsday clock stopped ticking, as far as independence goes. The fallout since, strictly rhetorical.
Has the phoney war, peaked? The UK, Home Guard, can rest easy.
Correction:
I believe Scotland is a colony and all Scotland’s ills are down to us being a colony.
I came to that conclusion through life experience and reading romance novels.
Re Assange, I am not in the least surprised that the SNP is taking the position of the British state. That is completely indicative of what the SNP has become.
When it was a democratic political party, members could have taken it to conference.
Re the potential by-election. I also think Alba need to stand a candidate if it happens. I already have a monthly SO to Alba but once announced that it’s happening they should start a fund raiser specifically for the by-election (à la the SNP referendum fund) and throw everything at it.
Although unable to campaign due to the distances involved I will chip in generously. At conference on Saturday it was said that recent polls have Alba at 6% in Glasgow. Let’s prove it.
Another motion at conference was whether we should stand candidates at the next GE. I think it was voted that the NEC would make the decision later in the year. The result here could help decide.
I seem to recall Pingu the Penguin (was it?) beat the Lib Dem into 4th place in an Edinburgh election result some years ago. So funny!
You have been made aware of the way out, it is up to us.
It is not Scotland that does not exist.
It is the treaty of union that does not exist.
There is no Scottish parliament in the treaty since it was officially dissolved from the treaty in 1707.
Some do not grasp the implications, other do not wish to,
Fear of facing the truth after being Colonised for so long is the established deterrent apparently.
Westminster cannot politically or legal challenge a Scottish government they dissolved and extinguished from the treaty over 300 years ago.
“The ISP believes that trans people, like all other groups in society should be free to dress, live and love how they please. However, we oppose self ID on the grounds that it does not add anything to the rights that trans people currently enjoy and the legislation, as it stands will severely affect sex based women’s rights. We will oppose Self ID on that principle.”
Got to admit that for some time I’d been pissed-off with SNP; great at soundbites but crap at carry thru, except when it was the most mind boggingly stupid piece of shit that no one, in their right mind, would ever expect from their government. The GRR was the straw that broke my back.
The ISP was actually like a breath of fresh air and went along way to restoring my faith in people, not just politics.
Ruby @ 10:57am
Thanks for the link, Ruby. I wasn’t aware of this document. I’ll give it a read later when I get a chance.
Ruby @ 11:42am
Is this one of them? </P
Alyssa Cole: An Extraordinary Union
It is our call to walk away from The British parliament of Westminster, that holds no treaty of union with a extinguished Scottish parliament since 1707. And never did.
As it was the old Westminster parliament of England that extinguished and dissolved the Scottish parliament.
The british and later renamed parliament of UK has no renewed treaty of union with the Scottish parliament of 1707.
Scotland is not in a treaty of union with England.
It is a deception.
Does anyone else, like me, think if the house of Murrell was raided by fraud cops before the end election contest, continuity candidate Yousaf would not have won?
We know Unionist party spin Doctor Murray Foote lied about the party membership numbers.
And that MI5 voice had facilities in which to add to membership ballots.
We also know that the party has refused access to the cooked books.
We also know the party allowed Yousaf to check his way through the fake hustings full of councillors, by having one to one interviews.
We know the party allowed yousaf to cheat his way through the election when MSP Emma Harper was given access to the email list.
With the demented smears and innuendos against Christian Kate Forbes. And their condensed election process, for GRR bill.
Why would anyone not believe the political operative, chief clown Bain of the clown office. Would not deliberately hinder a police investigation to allow the rigged election to conclude?
Just listening to Yousaf there. Nothing unusual he says. Nothing to see here. Let’s sweep it under the carpet. Like the north Lanarkshire council cover up. Fabiani Whitewash 2.0.
I smell corruption. A rotting stench.
Alf Baird, Eva MacKay that recognised Scotland was a Colony may yet wake up like Saffron Robe and a few others here have, that Westminster cannot legally challenge the Scottish 1707 parliament for breaching the treaty of union, as it was extinguished.
The devolved parliament government in Scotland at the moment is a westminster devolved government through legislation.
Will they sue themselves?
James Che @ 12:08pm
“Fear of facing the truth after being Colonised for so long is the established deterrent apparently”
Good point, James.
O/T
I see Herald reporting (albeit using different words to say nothing of the sort) that Alba got a policy development grant of £145,000 for being a party with 2 or more MPs.
If true, my short term* policy development plan following a loss of funding pursuant to the auditor shenanigans would be to split the westminster indy trough into 24 separate compartments and recover the missing £660K to the tune of £3.5m per year.
*Its total pants as long term strategy since it’d be such a trivial bribe to impoverish Scots – but could dovetail well with Nicola’s named date for indyref/GE defacto ref strategy in event her continuity candidate is forced to carry it through in one form or another.
A false First Minister Humza Yousless.
No SNP Independence conference. Nothing on the agenda. Jumped up ned Mhairi Black enjoying herself today in London. It’s her time to shine.
The Tories are even laughing at her. So much for ‘building a new Scotland’ in 13 years of power.
They are timid. They are terrified of Independence. They are hiding. And running scared. It’s squeeky bum time for Pete Wishart. Partick Grady and the rest.
@north chiel, 11.08
David Harvie was Crown Agent from 2016 to 2022. John Logue, his deputy, took over as interim Crown Agent. Both worked on the prosecution team at the Lockerbie Trial at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands (that trial seems to have been an early example of malicious prosecution).
Ruby
Sorry, I don’t know what QFMD means.
And you probably know this already. But just in case you don’t, and are wondering, the “</P" in my comment @ 12:21 is an unclosed HTML tag for a new paragraph. A typo in other words.
I probably don’t need to add it. It’s just habit.
You have made one or two comments recently on the treaty of union that disappeared in 1707. Which displays your intelligence and ability to process logic and legal matters, this is not meant to be derogative in any way but high praise to you’re self
Lovely to see that many are beginning to understand that the Extinguished, dissolved 1707 Scottish parliament cannot be held liable legally today, for a non existent treaty,
We can walk away.
They ( Westminster) is unable to Challenge a Scottish 1707 parliament that does not exist on the treaty of the union for the past 300 years or more as it was dissolved by themselves on and from entry.
I know I repeat myself many times, but hopefully many others will eventually understand the ramifications of the Scottish parliament being dissolved out of the treaty of union, and no renewed treaty being made with the British or later UK parliament with the Scottish extinguished parliament.
Scotland exists ” more so than ever” since it regained its independence from the treaty of union in 1707,
What does not exist,
Is Westminsters treaty of parliamentary union with Scotland. And therefore the agreement on Monarchy.
The Scotland Act, legislation.
The Irish being messed with for Joining the UK and the good Friday agreements that Westminster reneges on while causing divisions over Irish borders.
Nuclear arsenal so close to two major Scottish cities.
Scottish energy.
Scottish water.
Crown estates control over Land and sea and treasury.
The list is endless and indeed complicated, however mostly in favour of Scotland and all the other Colonies which the Old British empire still holds under the renamed Colonies to Commonwealth.
It is not only Scotland that it would be beneficial too.
There were any number of thumbs on the scale to help Useless’s election.
The capture of the process by the executive rather than the NEC allowed them to ensure maximum opacity of the internal workings and shaping of the process to their advantage.
The shortened campaign period reduced the chance of bad news coming out, or any that did would be after most members cast their vote.
It also blocked lower profile candidates the time to build a support and a campaign agenda.
The spending limits did the same, even worse when the party machine was clearly still working on behalf of one candidate. Remember politicians value their own time at £10K a day.
The media clearly decided one candidate could be ignored for not being currently on the front bench or one of their self anointed favourites, learning nothing from Corbyn having come through a pack in the very recent past. No doubt they wanted to keep their hard won insider connections.
That is all before the possibility of fraud is concerned such as selective informing of early voting or outright ballot stuffing from phantom membership.
Ruby @ 11:09 am
“I don’t read academic papers”
Here is the short ‘non-academic’ version of my theoretical framework on what Scottish independence means and why it is necessary, in a pamphlet printed with the kind support of SIF – Scottish Independence Foundation.
https://salvo-cor.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/THEORETICAL+CASE+FOR+SCOTTISH+INDEPENDENCE.pdf
Boxes of the pamphlet has been sent to quite a few Yes groups, and I still have some left if any other groups want them.
Twice in the last month I’ve commented on this forum and it’s gone into moderation then disappeared. I’d be interested to know why.
It’s just short for ‘Quite frankly my dear I don’t give a damn’
(that was re Alex Cole Hamilton’s speech)
I don’t know if the p tag works on Wings.
blockquote,b,i & strike through do.
Probably best to keep using it along with whatever other way you do paragraph breaks.
Not getting the paragraph breaks right can be very dangerous.
It could result in ‘death by hammer’.
I’m already a convert Alf.
Nice pamplet. You are doing a great job.
Only problem is Scots isnae ma mither tongue.
I have brochan for breakfast. 🙂
@Ian Smith 17th May 2.07pm
What pisses me off royally about this is that they did it in broad daylight, the arrogant fkrs…
This is our democracy that sturgeon, murrell and their handlers are playing with, like they are Gods and we are fools…
So far so good for them, and they will be protected as long as it suits. The fall from grace is long and slow, yet the ground awaits and gravity dictates, wait for it.
Ruby @ 5:12pm
Thanks for the HTML advice. I’d rather not suffer ‘death by hammer’. And thanks for clearing up the meaning of QFMD, very useful shorthand.
@Ruby
as far as your unclosed P tag goes, > to the future 🙂
Well my last comment was deleted as well. That’s fine, it’s your blog, your decision. Just to let you know I’ve cancelled my monthly contribution to WoS.
I didn’t do it!
When I said the p tag doesn’t work on Wings I meant posters couldn’t write the p tag in the same way as you can write the b tag. Get it?
I could be totally wrong about that.
Obviously the p tag works otherwise there would be a lot of deaths by hammer.
The p tag is automatically written for you when you press the return key. It’s wysiwyg or something
wysiwyg pronounced wissywig.
The following is a p tag test
The p tag is automatically written for you when you press the return key.
The p tag test failed. 🙂
@Ruby
Sorry, Ruby. Seems I’ve opened a can of worms with my unclosed p tag error. I am, however, finding the whole business strangely amusing 🙂
Ruby @ 5:21 pm
“Only problem is Scots isnae ma mither tongue.”
Mebbe no yours but hits mine an 1.6 million ither Scots speakers, an oor langage is whit tells us wha we are an gaes us oor identity – baith Scots an Gaels.
Thons nae ony prablem tho, Ruby – Scotlan haes twa braw indigenous langages – Gaelic an Scots. Baith shuid bi respectit as oor naitional langages, but anely ane haes an Act o Pairlament an siller an mair gaed tae hit an the ither disnae. Thons discreemination.
Meantime aw Scots are aye telt that ‘English’ is oor naitional langage, whit it isnae. Hence oor ‘colonial bilingualism’ with languages ‘in conflict’, and Scots language especially made ‘invalid’ and inferior, as are those who speak it. Which explains why all peoples in self-determination conflict are ‘linguistically divided’.
an siller an mair gaed tae hit an the ither disnae.
Translation required please Alf.
Now you know about the p tag.
You can write your p tag until cows come home but nothing will happen.
You do not have p tag privileges. 🙂
It’s another denial of freedom of language.
‘The Let Everyone Speak Party’ might have to look into this.
Ruby @8:54am
The sooner the “Let Everyone Speak Party” gets up and running the better.
Because, and I’ll be honest with you here, Ruby. I’m beginning to feel like a second class citizen on WoS.
P tags should be a fundamental right for everyone, and it should be a policy high on the list of the party’s policy priorities.
There, I’ve said it out loud, do with it what you will.
And please, don’t do a ‘Nicola’ on me and deny me the right to join the party just because I’ve spoken truth to power about something I feel very strongly about. 🙂
“Well my last comment was deleted as well. That’s fine, it’s your blog, your decision. Just to let you know I’ve cancelled my monthly contribution to WoS.’
I haven’t deleted anything. For some reason your comments are going into moderation and I’ve barely been in today to manually approve stuff. (Dentist then car breakdown.)