Bear Toilet Update
In a SHOCKING REVELATION that NOBODY COULD HAVE PREDICTED, it turns out that the people of Britain think that putting criminals with penises into women’s prisons maybe isn’t the absolutely best idea.
Just 24% of respondents supported the idea of intact males who’d committed even non-violent and non-sexual crimes being housed alongside women, while a mere 15% – all of them red-flag danger cases in urgent need of having their hard drives checked – thought that rapists and sexual assaulters with their dingle-dangles still swinging in the wind had any business being incarcerated with the vulnerable and traumatised females who make up most of the female prison population.
Four times as many wanted them locked up with their fellow male offenders, while it would appear that approximately a quarter of Britons are whimpering custard-witted doughbrains who didn’t understand the question.
We’ll leave you to digest this startling and unexpected news, readers.
Well no surprise and thank goodnes for sense in the majority population.
Sturgeon et Al just resign please.
Who woulda thunk!
What is it about people? A man with no dick or balls is still a man and therefore has no place in women’s spaces. Sure he can’t rape, but he can still intimidate, assault and sexually assault women, who are generally smaller and weaker. Just as important is a woman’s right to dignity.
“What is it about people? A man with no dick or balls is still a man and therefore has no place in women’s spaces. Sure he can’t rape, but he can still intimidate, assault and sexually assault women, who are generally smaller and weaker. Just as important is a woman’s right to dignity.”
Yup. But the number of “transwomen” who actually have their junk removed is so tiny that we’re probably talking about one prisoner every 20 years here.
A bit of a boost for common sense. But click through to the YouGov results (from the link in the article) and note how it is younger respondents who think most fondly of letting dingle-dangle owners into women’s prisons. Common sense may have won this hill but unless the yoof, socialised via screens and virtue-signalling hashtags, grow up pretty sharpish, the war will not end just yet.
So the majority are against putting rapist ‘Chicks With Dicks’ into proper female prisons beside very vulnerable women? Now why isn’t that surprising? DOH!
__________
In other important news for Scotland and one in particularly for the Scottish Tory branch office:
‘Brexit is a complete disaster and total lies, says Tory business boss’
“The biggest issue about it, and you can take the Brexit bus as a good example, is the lies that Boris Johnson and the Conservative party told about the NHS. In fact what they did was throw the country and the NHS under the bus.” link to archive.is
How the Cult took over the Prison Service
link to twitter.com
I’m sorry that Craig Murray has not responded to my comments on the previous post in response to what he stated. By making several comments himself on that post, he has indicated that he is, after all, willing to enter into the debate, and I would appreciate him answering the points I have raised here on this site, as that is where the debate was started by Craig.
The Rev has done great work on this issue and he’s really got traction (as they say).
The choice, faced with woke, is simple though: it’s Tories or Alba. Even the Tories have wobblers on it but it was the Tory government of the UK that stopped this lunacy from being enacted and good that they did. We need more Suellas and Kemis, for sure.I don’t know if Alba has any woke wobblers, or if they are solid against woke. But them’s your choices. (I’m in England so mine is clear).
We have to assume that Sturgeon and Harvie know about all these stats.
The problem we have is that they don’t care a jot about stats or women’s concern,,,they will battle on regardless.
Sturgeon needs to be nailed in front of a camera to show her following just how fragile and dithering their mighty leader is.
More of what you posted yesterday Rev,,, you have Sturgeon on the ropes, now for the Knockout blow.
SusanAHF says on 31 January, 2023 at 12:59 pm:
“..Sure he can’t rape, but he can still intimidate, assault and sexually assault women, who are generally smaller and weaker.”
I’ve seen this mentioned a few times now on WOS, Susan, but i believe, technically, a good legal brain/prosecutor could argue differently. Is it a stipulation ‘in law’ that one needs a penis to rape? Can a lesbian rape another lesbian or hetero-female?
Students I’ve spoken to who are pro-trans say it’s because they’ve watched social media videos of the trauma and problems they have gone through, so sympathise with them because of that.
They say trans shouldn’t be in sports, though.
The 15 sound like Paul Kavanaghs subscribers. They think Nicola is still the best.
@Stoker,
A trans man ,recognised as such by the law, cannot be charged with rape,but sexual assault. This is exactly what his lawyer tried to argue in law.
What beat him was the offences occured before he declared himself to be a woman.
Legally in its purest sense ,it is a rapists charter.
The trans debate is hard to understand because “trans woman” is initially taken to mean a woman who is trans, ie a biological female who wants to become a man.
That’s what I initially thought it meant, and I know of others who thought the same. It’s a shock to discover “trans woman” means a biological male who is trans.
I wonder if this survey would be more ‘pro-reality’ if it was repeated with the confusing terms clearly defined?
In fact, Rev – if you’re looking to run a new poll:
ask people what they think “trans woman” and “trans man” mean
I’d love to see the results of that! I bet there’s a sizeable fraction that think “trans woman” means a biological female who wants to be a man!
Sorry if this is a repost. Stoker, a penis is required to rape. If anything else is used it’s sexual assault I believe.
SusanAHF: I take on board what the Rev is saying, that it is such a minute proportion of the male population who have surgery that we are not talking about many. However, your points are also valid in that you don’t require to have a penis in order to harm females. What I find extremely telling is the reaction to even these men to any suggestion that they should not access female spaces. They always protest that they nee to pee. Yes, they do, but, in over 60 years of accessing female toilets, nary a one has ever campaigned for third spaces.
Listen to the debate between Sarah Phillimore and Robin (Moira) White. All kinds of excuses are dredged up to allow some ‘trans women’ to access female spaces. Even this tiny number are probably autogynephiles (I’m not claiming RMW is because I do not know) who get their rocks off by being near women. Women campaigned for years to have their own spaces set up, no one asked women whether they wanted even these males in their spaces. They might not be dangerous predators, but they are woman facing and indulging their ‘lady feelz’, which is not okay with many of us. I would acknowledge that they are not a direct threat to us, but just the thought of being used like this in anyone’s fetish is uncomfortable.
As the Rev says, though, the chances of this group of ‘trans women’ offending is low. The minute that any of our spaces, rights, sex-specific services, jobs, etc. allow even one man access, they are no longer single-sex spaces, and that affects all females. We must campaign to have the 2004 GRA repealed on the grounds of obsolescence, and have the 2010 Equality Act strengthened to reflect biological sex and only biological sex. The GRC, if there is to be one, must be extremely limited in its application, original records kept and no legal status, simply courtesy status. Woman facing is on a par with black facing, and violent and degrading porn, viewed by younger and younger people, is the driver for much of what we are seeing today. If porn is harmless, why are we seeing its mirror images being played out in front of us? If porn, where women are routinely brutalised, is harmless, why is the ‘trans’ propaganda harmful because it reflects what males are viewing on-line?
In Roman times, the Emperor Tiberius, and he was one of many, was a monstrous example of sexual harm. Pre pubescent and older slaves, captives and felons, both male and female, were violated, sexually-tortured and murdered on Capri for the benefit of the Emperor and his equally debauched guests. Mountains of illustrated pornography was consumed at these debaucheries. It was dangerous then to those with no power and it is dangerous now to those with no power. Women and children, especially those trafficked, those in prostitution, ordinary people in the street today have little real power, and it is mostly men that the porn industry has in mind as consumers of its products. Just a thought.
Joanna Cherry has said in a tweet that under Scots Law Rape can only be committed with a Penis.
Susan AHF.
Money and funding for the same project world wide in every Country. Not just Scotland.
Like climate Change,
Blm
New laws on free speech,
New laws on protests.
New energy Crises.
Gender dysphoria,
ID cards
Mass influx of people migrations
Leading to restricted information with Only one media eventually.
Food produce, eat bugs and green leaves only.
Direct debiting of bank accounts or closing them down if you do not do as you ordered or behave as required by the establishment.
These policies were not invented in Scotland. By some dumb political party like the snp.
They are only trialed out and payed for in some countries before others. It will one day appear across the board.
However If researched hard enough you will find the threads to all funded think tanks may lead in the same direction to the roots of government policies that are paid for.
Wether its big pharma or Big tech.
The people in Scotland are relatively slow on the uptake of worldly politics and implemented policies for one and all.
The whole world is under going these new challenges to their citizens, and protests are going on around the world as we comment.
But the people in every Country thinks it is just themselves.because of media control.
Sturgeon the Judas and her SNP MSPs don’t give a toss what the public thinks, pushing this warped and twisted agenda is her baby, and along with the Greens and the rest of the MSPs at Holyrood who voted for it, they put the welfare of rapists and paedo ahead of women and children.
Here’s the list of those degenerate MSPs who voted for the unamended GRRB, every single one of them needs removed from office, and they must be.
Sturgeon the Judas has no morals or credibility left, the majority of the people of Scotland want her out of office, but she’ll cling on to the bitter end, doing as must damage to Scotland as she possibly can before we she the back of her, she’s been an absolute disaster as FM of Scotland.
link to wingsoverscotland.com
@Gregory Beekman what you say makes some sense.
I saw a reporter on a TV news show calling a TW a trans man.
That is why many of us are now called TW TIM, which means trans identifying male.
Tbh we should just cut to the chase and call them men but we’d no doubt get done for a hate crime.
Rev- Yep fully agree with your previous comment. A man will always be a man. It’s the DNA and chromosomes that determine this when they split in the womb. Before the bundle of cells form a fetus.
It’s why trans are banned from most female only sports. Because in simple terms. Men are faster and stronger than women in sport. No man will ever be called her by me.
I created a Twitter poll but I doubt I’ll get that many hits.
link to twitter.com
Ted says:
31 January, 2023 at 1:24 pm
“but it was the Tory government of the UK that stopped this lunacy from being enacted and good that they did.”
I believe it was also a Tory Govt who introduced the original Gender Recognition Act in 2004 Their hands aren’t exactly squeaky clean in this affair.
I am surprised the numbers are even that high in favour of putting men in womens’ jails.
It would be interesting to know what the trend is, which would need repeated polls.
Something noticeable is how the terms used cause a bias in favour of the trans lobby. Reading the YouGov material, you constantly see ‘transwomen’ and you consciously need to translate that over and over to read it as ‘men’ instead of accepting it means ‘women’. Same idea with words ‘assigned’ and ‘affirming’. Younger people have been brought up to accept these terms while older people are not so easy to fool.
95% of these so-called transwomen are not interested in getting their tadger cut off because they have no intension of doing so. If you gave the free surgery on NHS they 95% would still reject it.
Simple facts are they’re deviants and want to still have the same satisfaction of a male orgasms’ which means they’re not women at all even if they think, live as transwomen. The want access to where females are end of.
Women don’t have penises and don’t get prostrate cancer.
Men don’t have a womb and can’t conceive children- only father them -simples
Why certain women and men in our society today cannot see these glaring obvious facts is fecking mindblowing.
It’s a sham
I’s like to be able to identify as Scottish when I fill in forms
I’m shocked, shocked, I tell you.
That anyone would think it’s acceptable to put any man into the women’s estate. Given the abysmally low conviction rate for rape, (and I’d assume it’s at a similar level for sexual assault) blocking just the men that have convictions on their record is really not going to keep incarcerated women safe.
Whimpering, custard-witted doughbrains indeed.
The Tories have been the main party in Westminster for a long time.
How is the energy crises going for Britain?
How have they dealt with the grooming gangs in Britain?
How much and for how long have they instigated and propagandered the war with Ruskies, before the disappearing skirples? Its been a long time coming anyway.
How did the tories deal with the Grenfell fire investigation,?
How have the tories dealt with the right to self determination of Scotlands people?
How did the tories deal with Brexit and trade?
How have the tories dealt with the Irish border?
How did the tories deal with PPI?
How have the tories dealt with the NHS?
The list is endless.
Don’t try sell the tories to me as the go to saviour of Scotland never mind britain.
The introduction of funded think tanks in our governments contracts is a disaster,.
The private contracts which MPs invest in is also a disaster for our Country.
Lobbyists allowed to fund parties to sway politics is also a disaster to the good governance of any Country is also a disaster.
Decentralisation of those that should be held accountable, from police, county councils, NHS, etc is the collapse of Scotland and Britain as Countries.
The right way to go wrong.
Is there not to be a clarification statement in Holyrood today re trans? Just heard this news.
What’s wrong with identifying transwomen by their original name, transvestites?
Noun. transvestite (plural transvestites) A person who sometimes wears clothes traditionally worn by and associated with the opposite sex; typically a male who cross-dresses occasionally by habit or personal choice.
A fetish or kink, at best, now elevated to lifestyle we all have to go along with. Like all kinks, be it rubber, S&M, leather or furries, whatever floats your boat, keep it behind closed doors where it’s always been.
@Liz
Yes, TIM is a more accurate description and far less confusing.
Trans – Transition – Transaction
To complete a action, to move from one action to another.
Can we say that trans-women are still men until the transition has been completed into a transaction?
@Ted
Thought Penny Mordant summed up our national humiliation perfectly in the speech Pete Wishart copied on twitter.
Meanwhile Alyn Smith follows up the opening ceremony for the European ice skating championships with comments about the tranny shite being all about respect but I dont remember ANY respect shown to people concerned about the scientific vacuum behind the coughid scam.
This!
link to 4w.pub
@Gregory I would say even TIM is not clear enough because Trans Identifying Male is too easily read as a trans person who identifies as male. It needs to be very clear that the person is male without having to pause and parse.
I was thinking MIAF Male Identifying As Female but I understand TIM is simpler to pronounce than MIAF.
@Gregory Beekman 1:41pm
I sympathise with those that develop a drug addiction. I feel for the parents who have to face that.
However if the Junkie or his parents tried to convince me that we should let the kids or the parents change Laws or get other kids hooked to make them feel less like outsiders I would say get lost.
Feeling sympathy does not mean changing the rules and language of society.
I will donate money to a charity to help those with and addiction. I will not allow the addicts into schools to tell kids where to buy a hit and preach about how wonderful you feel.
Every time I see a photograph of a young girl showing her scars where her breasts had been. cheered on by MEN who simply change their Pronoun, I am outraged.
Sturgeon has got this badly wrong. They have promoted the sympathy picture or video of the young teenager. The have hidden the images of the Predators and deranged.
Barelybare
Why not just use Man and Woman. It has worked for many, many Centuries.
The 0.3% can call themselves sports cars if they want but I do not have to accept forced speech.
James Che @2.16. Very interesting points and very worrying. I would also include the constant trying to inculcate “white guilt” in people as part of the plan.
First day back in parliament has certainly been interesting. So after Audrey Nicols got burnt alive last week, and the news of another violent trans going to a womans prison, absolutely nobody is wanting to front this. Keith Brown is absolutely exasperated and he was well and truly thrown under a bus. The mood has turned to anger as MSPs feel absolutely shafted by Sturgeon amd they are all acutely aware that Sturgeon will wreck their career to save her own. Apparantly Angus Roberston is in a mess over this, so he is only talking about independence to distance himself from the GRR. His chances of succeeding Sturgeon had ‘collapsed faster than an IKEA bookcase’ so he is desperately trying to win back the base. However he is a bit boring and once you have lost an audience, it is very hard to get back.
The Regan briefing campaign I previously mentioned is now underway. So yet again they have used Enema Roddick to attack Regan in the piss poor Steamie Podcast, where she implies she is a transphobe and a bigot. It is so bad that even Roddick has not put it on twitter. Anyway, Roddick previously worked for Regan as a parliamentary assistant, but got sacked within weeks being a complete binfire. Roddock is determinded to get revenge on Regan and stupidly she uses this lost cause to attack her. She has been a complete pain in the hole for the whips and the parly staff. She says she has a physical disability and some days walks around with a walking stick, and on other days she prances about without it. She will not tell anyone what her physical disability is, despite telling the public all of her life traumas (mostly fabricated) and she now has her own specific office for her ‘needs’. She is the only MSP with her own allocated seat with a sign saying ‘Reserved for Emma Roodick’. She has had ambulances called out after having collapsing episodes and she even had one during the GRR debate. All made up of course, and a tactic she employs when everything is not about her. Anyway there is zero chance of her getting back in again as the gerrymandered system backfired so badly. Even if Fergus Ewing stands down, she will not be considered a candidate as the Inverness members cannot stand her after her years of backstabbing.
Then Alyn Smith came out today to attack Regan and asking her to leave the party. This line came directly from Nicola and which he dutifully delivered in an agreement where she ignores much of his dubious behaviour.
So the spads are now seeing the end is coming and are unsure who will be the next FM, so they are trying to be more neutral so they can hopefully keep their jobs. Regan is bring talked up more and more, which is causing more fear as she may take an axe to them all. Nobody knows whether it is something she would want, but she certainly is being considered as an alternative.
It is not only SNP who is in a mess but some Labour MSPs are really pissed off and there is talk of a leadership challenge. They feel Sarwar was following Starmers lead, however Starmer had never truly laid out his position, so he went with what he thought it would be. Cole-Hamilton also realises he has fucked up too with the other 3 MSPs not wanting to vote for this but he insisted they did. His fawning over that wee trans scrote last week has caused uproar amongst their members and there are also calls for him to be replaced. He was in that much of a mess, he did not even turn up to party last week.
What a mess!
A long but worthwhile and easy read about men and women, the real ones of course..!
link to thehallofeinar.com
All is not going well in the bunker.
A wee bird just told me Nicola’s next target is.
Inshore fishermen (the ones that support indy) are facing rule changes that will destroy them.
Edinburgh to become a green city and all schools and care homes will be required to eat vegetarian regardless if their beliefs.
It looks like she knows the game is up to time to crash the bus and cash in on Westminster promises of a good job elsewhere.
I see Robertson says a vote for indy means we will join the eu. No democracy here then.
A plebisitary election to ask for permission for a referendum from Westminster that has already said jog on.
The only thing that can stop this car crash now is for the MPs and msps to dump her and quick
They will all be out a job otherwise
Thanks for the update Smitty.
Delighted to hear Angus MacBeth is in trouble. Couldn’t happen to a nicer piece of shit.
I see Alyn ‘Daddy Coward’ is throwing the transcult under the bus. And being laughed at in the process.
Not long now until they start shooting each other.
@Smitty loving this.
Never thought about Alyn Smith and his comment re Ash Regan
This was actually a question gifted to him by Gary Robertson, after Smith walked away from a similar televised question, with a no comment.
So did the BBC get orders to hand him this question, interesting.
Emma Roddick uses typical behaviour for this type of narcissist attention, it could be classed as Munchausen or something similar
History will prove us right
@Shug 3:51pm
Can we add in the Expert Advisory Group recommendations to end conversion therapy, the next phase of HCB and further social engineering, the centralisation of Care provision, the DRS recycling scheme, Anti drink marketing rules. And finally the pulling of funding for the Ferries. Scorched Earth, Scotland style.
Thanks Smitty for the peek behind the curtain keep it up, but don’t get caught, as we all know a change of leadership is well overdue, hopefully its someone who isn’t toxic and actually wants independence.
See the letter we have received today from
@ScotGovJustice
@KeithBrownSNP
on the review of
@scottishprisons
policy on transgender prisoners: link to ow.ly
link to parliament.scot
SusanAHF.
Liz, isn’t Emma Roddick supposed to have Borderline Personality Disorder or some such? Would explain her behaviour and why I’ve always said she’s not fit for politics
crazy that 41% of those people would even consider sending a rapist with functioning dick into to a womens prison.
though ngl, lol @ that number
@’So the spads are now seeing the end is coming and are unsure who will be the next FM, ‘
John Swinney will be seen as the elder statesman, safe pair of hands to steady the ship… the same MSP with a top table seat when £600,000 got misappropriated, Alex got stitched up, millions of tax payers money spent on Ferries’, but oops, no-one can find the legal contracts, never mind the official minutes of which MSP signed off on it, and Oh so helpfully went from being the Financial minister to Education in 2015 just when Stonewall and Mermaids started applying for all that taxpayers grants in order to facilitate access to schools.
Thanks goodness the SNP will be safe under his leadership and moral compass… all those decades of front bench experience. Ehhhr not.
@ SusanAHF, Bob Mack & Lenny
Thank you all for the responses.
__________
Perhaps the light at the end of this very long and dark sewer?
link to albaparty.org
Smitty @ 3.45.
You are Pete Wishart and I claim my £5.00.
@Stoker 4:42pm
I have been a member of Alba for a couple of weeks. This EFTA proposal shows pragmatism and maturity. We need to rebuild the country thorough consensus and that won’t happen under the SNP.
“Greens and SNP describe Brexit as unmitigated disaster for Scotland”
Then why have you all been focussed on gender issues, as Scotland’s political priority, since England voted for Brexit 7-years ago?
SusanAHF.
Thanks for the addition, I forgot that one, much appreciated.
I had also forgot the world wide attempt at re-writing history by tearing down statues, burning down and slapping paint over priceless object of art.
We need to waken up to observe how the snp are taken the policies of America, France, Germany/Brussels and Canada into its open arms at the detriment to people populations,
We need to ask where does the Scottish think tanks get there funding from,
If it is solely Scottish taxes then we have a say,
If it is from outside Scottish politics, through lobbying then we also have to ask under what legislation is it permitted and allowed.
The dream long ago of Scottish independence was to become a more democratic society, not to make the same errors and mistakes that the rest of Britain was making,
Not to send ships of war, but to send ships that were traveling abulances to countries that werewar torn, starving or in need of medical help.
It was to eliminate nuclear weapons of mass destruction,
It was to ensure that the people of Scotland had the choice for a regular vote on matters that effected their Country and their lives, (Like the gender bad bill)
The dream to have control of our energy resources.
It was to bring the establishment to account for their behaviour.
Somewhere along the line we have lost site of the purpose of independence and what it meant for people, and got perhaps been deliberately quagmired into smaller agendas, to keep us occupied.
The dream is still there in Scotland, but the thinking people are disappearing. The people whom can do research for themselves are disappearing,
The old notion of becoming independent free thinkers, planning the future for our children and grandchildren is fading fast,
Now it is about changing the manager but not the boss or the company.
We have shrunken our dreams and downgraded our ambitions to trade it for a snp party.
Has any one wondered how the the bank of England was a private corporation until it became a national bank a long time after the “Ahmm” treaty and still under the name of the bank of England by the way, not Great Britain,, has a impact on the so called national debt since 1707
SusanAHF.
Sorry for missing commentary, it seems to have disappeared into the ether, even although the first part came through.
@Peter A. Bell
great article, thanks for sharing
@Peter A Bell says:31 January, 2023 at 3:07 pm
A thousand upticks for that link!
@Smitty at 3:45
Very interesting read, thanks
And what do the responses to the Scot Gov “violence against women and girls funding review” clearly want as stated in the qualitative analysis section? –
“Single-sex spaces and services
The most frequent cross-cutting theme concerned the need for single-sex services and female-only staff. Respondents highlighted that single-sex services should be made into law, widely available, clearly advertised and co-exist with non-single-sex options. Responses suggested that single-sex spaces are vital to ensuring victims of VAWG feel safe and protected, otherwise women might self-exclude due to religious or cultural reasons.”
link to gov.scot
Not going well for the gender warriors is it…
Times London carries an article by the odious degenerate Alyn Smith on why he thinks Ash Regan and the eight others should leave the SNP and stand as independents. He opines that the manifesto is not A La Carte.
“Do I agree with every single item of SNP policy? No, I don’t, I’ve got my doubts about some, but I stand on an SNP ticket, therefore I am obliged to defend the SNP proposition and defend the SNP position because the collective is more important than the individual.
Yes that would be independence which this shifty Strasbourg trougher never believed in for one minute.
@Jontoscots21 5:33pm
The collective is more important than the individual. Sounds like a Spock quote. But has that been a feature since 2015?. The individual has superceded the collective. The individual being Nicola Sturgeon. How many times has she thrown somebody else under a bus to protect herself? I am saying 20 times without research. Feel free to comment.
George Ferguson says on 31 January 2023 at 4:55 pm:
“I have been a member of Alba for a couple of weeks. This EFTA proposal shows pragmatism and maturity. We need to rebuild the country thorough consensus and that won’t happen under the SNP.”
I think we can all safely predict *nothing* will happen under the SNP, George. Sturgeon & Murrell have made sure of that. In 8-years they have failed to advance us one inch. And that’s with the perfect storm of opportunities gifted to them on a silver platter. Circumstances all previous SNP leaders would have bitten your hand off for. They must *never* be forgotten nor forgiven for what they’ve done. I know i won’t. EVER!
link to albaparty.org
UK Government urged to accept Brexit’s economic impact in light of IMF warning
“These benefits of Brexit seem to be like a toddler’s imaginary friend. Ministers keep talking about them, but only they can see them.” link to archive.is
Susan AHF , wee chid , lorncal Ruby and others, I recd notification from WM petitions committee that the petition to repeal the 2004 GRA is not being considered , the government (the tories) are happy that the current rules of the 2004 GRA aligned with the 2010 EA is addressing any and all problems , so they have NO intention of changing ANYTHING
I repeated often enough that the scumbag tories were in favour of this perverted deviance but they held their fire because of the blue rinse brigade and their desire to attack indy through sturgeon
But they will back this shite when they move it forward same as LIEBOUR
O/T.
Homelessness in Scotland at an all time high, Housing Minister Shona Robison says its unacceptable, and Westminster must do more.
The SNP under Sturgeon the Judas don’t give a monkey’s about Scots.
Get them out before they do irreparable damage to Scotland.
Vote Alba, Join Alba.
Oh how we cheered her at Conferences.
We were pretty stupid then. The mask has slipped to reveal a Gorgon, and we all fell for the muse.
We live ,learn and move on.
Sturgeon the Judas, lambasted for being a craven coward at heart.
“Nicola Sturgeon has come under fire over her “refusal” to come to Holyrood and answer questions over the management of transgender offenders in Scotland’s jails.
Scottish Conservatives had been demanding that the First Minister make a statement to clarify government policy on transgender prisoners.
Instead, her Justice Secretary Keith Brown was in the Scottish Parliament to update MSPs on the issue.
Conservative community safety spokesman, Russell Findlay, made clear his “disappointment at Nicola Sturgeon’s refusal to be here today”.”
link to msn.com
Just seen oor Professor Alf Baird on telly re the Ferries. Well done Alf. My information is they don’t have the financial latitude to keep funding them. It’s looking over 400 million without guarantee. Lots of safety critical systems and snagging. Scot Gov response an appointment of a non engineer to manage the handover. That’s sure to work.
Personally, I think there must be an independent public inquiry over this aberration.
The amount of taxpayers’ funds and resources wasted to impose this toxic and dangerous ideology on the population of Scotland cannot possibly be justified by the tiny numbers of transsexuals among the population of Scotland. They on their own cannot put the amount of pressure needed for this. So who/what is behind them? Who/What is manipulating our executive and legislative powers?
The danger children and women have been deliberately exposed to because of the greed, arrogance, ignorance and negligence of those who call themselves MSPs can never be justified as political expediency and can never be credibly claimed to be done in the name of “equality”.
Equality by foot. There is nothing “equal” in stealing from females the right to their own unisex spaces only to hand that directly to males who already have a right to their own spaces.
This ideology is forcing inequality and actively discriminating women.
The negligent idiots sitting in HOlyrood and the male prostitutes they clapped at have absolutely no moral right to force an elderly lady or a disabled woman against their will to accept having a male to look after them intimately.
Denying vulnerable people of their right to self-respect and to have control over who touches them or not is not only unnecessary humiliation. It is abhorrent. I would say that is the most disgusting kind of abuse. What were those idiots in HOlyrood thinking?
Mr Salmond was accused of sexually harassing and adult female because of the simple action of touching a lock of head hair. The crown prosecution service considered this “a crime” worthy of being brought to a criminal court. Shouldn’t therefore forcing by law a vulnerable/disabled woman to experience a male touching them intimately against their will during their washing/changing a crime of sexual abuse too?
If elderly/disabled females are not going to be able to demand a female to wash them/change them, aren’t we before a situation of legally enforced sexual abuse/harassment?
When exactly did we women lost our right to decide who the hell we let land their hands on our own effing bodies? How could those self-entitled arseholes sitting in HOlryood have ever thought it was appropriate and acceptable for them to decide who touches us?
The amount of time and resources used by this useless government to infest our public services, universities, etc with this toxic ideology cannot possibly be justified by the ridiculously low number of people who is going to benefit from this. Because who is going to benefit from this?
Opening the possibility for perverts, rapists, murderers, paedophiles and violent males to get a blank card to enter women’s prisons from where those women cannot escape, or to disguise rape as “sexual assault” because the male perpetrator claims to be a woman, is madness if not recklessness, criminal negligence or willful blindness. Surely this is not something a rational person would vote for. So a public inquiry needs to take place to establish what moved those idiots in HOlyrood to pass this garbage.
I want to know why the MSPs who should be representing us were acting instead as the useful idiots of some male prostitute or another. I want to know, what those male prostitutes can possibly have on our MSPS to have them embarrassing us all by clapping like idiots to some freaks sitting in the gallery and who clearly do not have mirrors at home to see what the rest of us see.
I want to know what benefit our MSPs are getting from opening the door to perverts, rapists and paedophiles to enter women’s prisons and women’s safe spaces.
I want to know who is pulling the strings of these useless MSPs and why. Those MSPs have now proven beyond any reasonable doubt they are a danger to Scotland’s women and children and therefore can no longer be trusted with decisions for Scotland and even less with our legislative body.
If there is an external entity seeking to use this gender crap as a trojan horse to stop independence or to gain access to children and vulnerable women for the sake of satisfying the sexual or financial desires of perverts and unscrupulous capitalists, the people of Scotland needs to know. And needs to know now.
The people of Scotland needs to know who is controlling our useless MSPs. The people of Scotland needs to know who is abusing our taxpayers’ purse and infesting our public services with ideological nonsense for their own questionable interests.
The people of Scotland needs to know who wants to deliberately harm the Scottish population by transforming Scotland into a paradise for perverts, rapists and paedophiles.
How can we demand a public inquiry on this and how can we start the process of deselecting our useless MSP?
Hi twathater
I got that email. The Tories believe the GRA is perfect that transwomen are women, that folk can be born in the wrong body, and that people can change sex, that men should be allowed in women’s spaces & all the rest.
Yes I received it too twathater. Disappointing.
James Che @ 5:02 pm
“Somewhere along the line we have lost site of the purpose of independence and what it meant for people”
Aye James, and there you set out the key question, the answer to which is decolonisation and liberation from oppression. The national parties really need to inform the people of this reality.
link to bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com
Judging by the stories on Holyrood (Insider) Magazine the trans rapist hill is where the SNP has decided to die:
Blanket ban on trans prisoners in female prisons not possible, MPs told, link to archive.ph
Keith Brown: Scottish Government did not know Isla Bryson was being sent to women’s jail, link to archive.ph
Since all the rainbow-coloured, birds-of-a-feather flock together and as each one reinforces / affirms the opinions of the others it’s quite likely they simply cannot get out of this. Instead they are hoping to wait this one out. however, judging by the level of anger, no, rage, in the article Peter Bell posted, that’s likely to seal their doom.
Interesting comments earlier about Patrick Harvie who is very pro trans and all the other issues.
Might be more helpful if our Green Manalishie took more to do with the green issues he says he supports.
In his home area the West Dunbartonshire Landfill site operator has just been backcharged for £99 million avoided in landfill tax.
Seems that the tip operator was using grey bin household waste for the walls between landfill cells and as material under site roads.
What toxins this might release into the environment, or what structural impact on site stability is a question.
But for Patrick, had he seen the huge landslip that had recently occurred to the side of the landfill site. Its an environmental disaster in the National Park and just half a mile from Loch Lomond.
But not a sniffle from our Green man and his woke chums despite the tax issue having been through the courts ( Lord Erlicht judgement – August 2022)
O/T but I shall be candid. I am a lesbian and I’m not attracted to TW because they are men. Nevermind the fact that they strike me as high maintenance, misogynist humans. A big no-no on both counts 🙁
Oops I posted that because I read a tweet on WoS twitter saying that lesbians who weren’t SEXUALLY AVAILABLE to TW were transmisogynist and should be called out on it. The sheer entitlement of it.
I find it unbelievable, that 42% either don’t know or agree that a male rapist should be housed in a female prison.
link to 4w.pub
A quality rant.
“Greens and SNP describe Brexit as unmitigated disaster for Scotland”
Greens and Sturgeon’s SNP are as much to blame for brexit as tories, libdems and labour are. SNP and Greens enabled brexit and helped the British establishment to force brexit on us so they could steal our EU citizens rights and control over our assets and market.
Sturgeon was commanding an absolute majority of anti-union MPs since 2015. From the Holyrood election in 2016 there was a pro-indy majority of MSPs and a mandate for a referendum should there be a change in circumnstances of which brexit was given as an example.
It was the decision of the SNP and Greens to do fuck all with that mandate, let it expire instead and then swap it for a watered down version.
It was Sturgeon’decision to do fuck all with our absolute majority of anti-union MPs. She decided this even before the brexit vote took place by claiming in 2015 that a vote for the SNP was not a vote for independence, nor even a referendum.
It was her decision to ignore time and time again the violation of our claim of Right and the violations of the treaty of union due to brexit, which should have instead triggered that treaty being declared null and void.
It has been her decision to continue to take us for fools by dangling carrots while continuously handing vetoes on our sovereignty to the British establishment.
So yes. Brexit is an unmitigated disaster for Scotland. But the SNP and Greens are as much to blame for this unnecessary disaster and extent of damage as are labour, libdems and tories. Because all of them have directly or indirectly colluded to have it forced on Scotland. All of them are working on the same side, for the same entity and directly against the interests of the people of Scotland.
They may have different flags, different rosettes and different names. But in practice all those “parties” are the exact same thing: political arms of the British establishment riding roughshod over our rights and legislative body for the self-preservation of that British establishment. The Scottish people’s rights and assets are just acceptable collateral for these people.
Let’s chuck them all out.
If you read this
link to gov.uk
Question: What will happen as a result of these new changes?
As a result of the new policy, transgender women who are in future sentenced to custody and
have male genitalia
OR
who have been convicted of sexual offences
will not serve their sentences in the general women’s estate unless there are exceptional circumstances.
No person with a penis will be sent to a women’s prison
nor will a transwomen without a penis who has been convicted of sexual offences.
This is just for England & Wales.
FM Sturgeon has/had not the courage to stand up to Westminster over Brexit.
She couldn’t even face up to the Scottish parliament today and clarify government policy on her flagship policy and transgender prisoners.
link to standard.co.uk
“Rebels” going nowhere.
link to twitter.com
Seeing many blogs and news aggregation sites that normally never have any Scotland specific content now linking to a lot of videos and stories ripping the absolute pish out Nicola Sturgeon (and sadly Scotland by extension).
First real crisis for her and she is proving she is more flappable than a humming birds wing tugging one off. These car crash clips of her unable to answer basic questions look unbelievably bad with the backdrop being transferring convicted rapists into women jails. She just looks like a raving arsehole, which I suppose is pretty accurate.
Sturgeon has had the cushiest of rides for eight years but at the first real proper high pressure threat she is crumbling like a sand castle. She was never up to the job. I always knew she was rubbish but even I can’t believe how quickly this might actually take her down.
At the end of the day she sent convicted rapists into a woman’s prison. She is an idiot, a useful one, but still a idiot.
On an aside, is there any news on what the Police are doing in relation to the protestor carry a decapitate TERFs banner.
Or is hate crime, incitement to violence OK when it’s supported by SNP MPs.
Rotten and corrupt Police Scotland on view once again.
Vanessa McCulloch seems to be letting the Tories off the hook.
Tories are being seen as the good guys, the saviours of women’s rights.
This is a big problem for Alba & for Independence.
Which it was during the last Holyrood election which wasn’t helped by Craig Murray & his very public spat with gender critical women & his support of trans rights.
I don’t think it’s been appreciated just how angry women are.
Our anger didn’t just start when Adam Isla Bryson hit the headlines and men started to pay attention.
I’ll add to
‘A Message to Those Recently Opining on a Risk to Women Prisoners’
Fuck the Tory Party and their belief that the GRA 2004 is perfect, that transwomen are women, that folk can be born in the wrong body, that humans can change sex and all you have to do to be a woman is put on a dress and some lipstick.
As someone already mentioned, I bet half of those asked in this survey are confused by the terminology and think a transwoman is a woman who wants to be a man.
If the term transwoman was not explained in the survey, I suspect that this survey is useless because a lot of the respondents thought they were being asked about women who want to be men (‘transmen’) rather than about TIMs.
SusanAHF
transmisogny and transmisandry have their very own wikipedia pages. I quote:,
trans- +? misogyny. Coined by Julia Serano in her 2007 book Whipping Girl, who defined it as the intersection of traditional sexism (belief in women’s inferiority) with oppositional sexism (belief in a rigid gender binary).
No, I couldn’t extract a word of sense out of that either.
I signed the petition to revoke the Gender Recognition Act. I received this reply from the Cabinet Office today. Note the last two paragraphs.
Response to Petition to repeal the Gender Recognition Act.
The Government has responded to the petition you signed – “Repeal the Gender Recognition Act 2004”.
Government responded:
As announced in 2020, we believe the Gender Recognition Act 2004 is effective, strikes the right balance and allows for those who wish to legally change their sex. We have no plans to change it.
We are committed to upholding Britain’s long-standing record of protecting the rights of individuals against unlawful discrimination. Government is also clear that we want people who are transgender to be able to live their lives as they wish.
The previous Government launched a consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) 2004. As part of the consultation process, we received over 100,000 responses and since it closed, considerable work has gone into meeting with a range of relevant stakeholders.
As announced in September 2020, we believe the current provisions in the GRA are effective and allow for those who wish to change their legal sex. The process has the right checks and balances. We believe that the process of legally changing one’s legal sex is a serious and legally meaningful undertaking which requires appropriate checks and a level of formality. We believe this strikes the right balance and have no plans to change it.
The Government is also committed to maintaining the safeguards that allow organisations to provide single-sex services, provided for separately via the Equality Act 2010. It is important that the principle of being able to operate spaces reserved for women and girls is maintained, in line with the Equality Act. Government is committed to tackling harassment and abusive behaviours by all individuals, and ensuring single-sex spaces are safe for those using them.
The Equality Act makes it clear that providers have the right to restrict use of spaces on the basis of sex and gender reassignment, whether or not someone has a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), where this is justified.
Cabinet Office
Below are the SNP MSPs that Daddy Bear (Alyn Smith) wants to resign from the SNP and stand as independents because they came out against the unamended GRRB. No doubt Sturgeon the Judas wants them out as well.
MSP Majority Constituency Former ministerial posts
Ash Regan 10,117 Edinburgh Eastern Community Safety
Fergus Ewing 9,114 Inverness and Nairn Rural Economy; Business; Community Safety
John Mason 8,025 Glasgow Shettleston
Ruth Maguire 7,952 Cunninghame South
Kenneth Gibson 7,776 Cunninghame North
Michelle Thomson 7,585 Falkirk East
Annabelle Ewing 6,013 Cowdenbeath Community Safety; Youth and Women’s Employment
Stephanie Callaghan 5,306 Uddingston and Bellshill
Jim Fairlie 1,948 Perthshire South and Kinross-shire
“Smith was asked on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland if he regretted speaking out against colleagues who oppose gender recognition reforms in light of recent events.
He replied: “No, not in the slightest.”
Hopefully this SNP can of worms is about to burst wide open from the inside.
Vote Alba, Join Alba.
Can anyone provide an example of a tangible ‘benefit’ to ‘trans women’ or more accurately’ men who think they are women’ from declaring themselves as women that does NOT involve an invasion of woman only spaces of some description?
I can’t think of any. The whole thing is about legitimising invading their spaces.
I reject it all now going back to 2004. That should be repealed as well. Men are not women. And if you accept that nonsense it just opens the gates of logical hell.
Geoff Anderson says:
31 January, 2023 at 7:16 pm
“Rebels” going nowhere.
link to twitter.com
I think Sturgeon is likely to try and tough this one out and it’s not clear how she can be forced out.
Having said that, IF she does go, and Robertson is seen as too toxic, then an interesting scenario exists because of JC being full square behind HR rebels: is there not a precedence whereby the leader is NOT an MSP?
I seem to remember that for a period AS was leader as an MP with Sturgeon taking the reigns at HR as his deputy?
That could open the door to, say, JC being an MP and leader with Regan running things at HR as deputy.
I’m sure if it was in her nature, JC would relish putting one over on Robertson, particularly after having been shafted wrt the Edinburgh seat.
Alyn Smith. Now pedalling lies about what was in the SNP manifesto and calling for people to quit if they don’t support the SNP’s stance on trans issues.
Jo Cherry has pointed out that self ID was not in the manifesto and was not even debated at conference never mind being voted on.
What a slimeball Smith is for saying what he has – no doubt put up to it by his equally repugnant idiot of a boss. They know no shame. Another nail in the coffin of independence by this senseless, unjustified attack on people who are on the right side in this debate.
Further to my last post, can someone in Alyn Smith’s constituency ask him to show them where they find self ID in the SNP manifesto, when it was debated, and when it was voted on.
If you want to take the political manifesto to it’s conclusion. As an Independence party everybody in the SNP should resign. They failed to deliver anything close to another Independence vote. “I standby Nicola” has infested public services. And worse, real people are frightened to speak out. Nicola promoted getting positions based on support of her. Result a deterioration of public service performance indicators. Of course Nicola will change the parameters of measurement. But it’s clear to anybody that wants to research it, we have a failed Government.
Still only January and already the year is turning out more crazy than I imagined it could.
Just been on to WGD and found an article I can agree with.
It’s about the insanity of saying that a future Indy ref will also start an automatic EU application process if Scots vote Yes.
My my. Even WGD is starting to question the faith.
I’d send them all to the male jail. I couldn’t care less about the feelings of trans sex offenders. They deserve to rot in Barlinnie. Prison shouldn’t be an appealing place to affirm their feelings.
These violent henious beasts deserve to be mentally tortured, and locked away for as long as it takes for them to feel the terror and pain they inflicted on their victims. They are nothing, they deserve nothing.
They better not drop the soap in Barlinnie, some of the male violent inmates haven’t seen a woman in loooooong time.
link to twitter.com
The SNP constantly mouth off about their tax payer funded puppet entities as consultation. Rape Crisis Scotland women’s aid, want you to apologise to Petunia, they have no credibility left.
@Towbar Sullivan who mentioned people being “confused by the terminology”
I think confusing the lexicon played a big part in bamboozling people. And that’s something that’s been going on for a while.
Take terms like CIS and TERF. Most people don’t know what they mean except they are something bad.
Just consider the pronoun shake-up. If you read an article jumping about from “he” to “she” and “they” or “them” , all the while referring to one individual, the ordinary reader either won’t understand much or give up in exasperation. Same if you are listening to a speech or podcast
It’s like when politicans started using “business speak” and it took a while for the general public to realise they were just spouting hot air
@Ben linguistic confusion is a Hallmark – and tactic – of postmodernism. That and ‘deconstruction’ of language to make terms incoherent.
Wow. Just when you thought they couldn’t sink any lower. Reading twitter. The wife of Justice Minister tweets about supporting the furry nappy fetishists at the weekend.
As someone comments – when the videos come in on Sunday of assorted thugs and furry perverts doing what they do best, we can all say a Minister in the Scottish Government helped promote this counter protest.
@David
I’m not sure about that – all the videos will show is lovely cuddly cartoon character types in their funny furry costumes. It’ll look like the sort of thing you’d want to bring the kids to. You can be sure they won’t have their shitty nappies on display… it’ll just look like a fun day out.
Noticeable that all the SNP wasters who have put their head above the parapet thus far are narrowing the discussion to prisoners only ,rather that the wider rights of women in general.
They still don’t understand or believe what’s happening do they? They actually think they can ride this out.
David Hannah says:
31 January, 2023 at 10:04 pm
Wow. Just when you thought they couldn’t sink any lower. Reading twitter. The wife of Justice Minister tweets about supporting the furry nappy fetishists at the weekend.
link to youtube.com
Furries… What are they, and do Predators use them to gain access to children?
@Bob Mack 10:30pm.
They can’t ride it out. Because ordinary people don’t sign on to it. So let’s get real we have 650 armed police including nuclear police. Source Alex Salmond FM Scottish Parliament. 10000 ex combat Scottish service veterans that can run 5k in under 30 minutes in Scotland. The basics many times more than 3 to 1. If only we had a democratic Scot Gov that understood what real power is. They killed lots of people with their Covid decisions The truth will out.
Has anyone looked the the files of the two prisoners in question to determine if there is a link between their dates of conversion to female, Scottish legislation, legal fees paid or remuneration received.
Is it a coincidence that with a total prison population of 8000 and only 5/7 trans cases in total there appear to be two at once and of the worst sort appearing just as the SG produce their legislation.
That sounds like a very big coincidence.
Should I keep my tinfoil hat on??
Whilst women have been warning of the dangers of the trans gender agenda as it has accelerated from lobbyists via policy makers, social media and introduction to children; women have been the targets of all the abuse.
Though slower to speak up initially, the gay community are now becoming vocal opponents of the Trans gender ideology and in this country the violence coming from the lanky shock troops the LGB Alliance have the same concerns for the same safeguarding women and children, and loss of single sex spaces. and because the T+ brigade have attached themselves to LGB organisations like limpets to borrow undeserved credibility.
Another article…look behind you more billionaires and medical and pharma giants…when will the lobby for the introduction for private childrens gender clinics be here?
Discredited though they are.
We should ask our politicians what their connections are given that the Scottish Governt refuses to spend a single penny on clinics for people suffering from severe medical health problems as a result of contracting Covid 19 and the wider folk with Long Covid debilitating issues. Where are the endocrinologist for them.
There is not a single Long Covid clinic.
and here are barely any Menopause specialists services in Scotland, these would not be expensive, GPs are told not to refer Covid damaged with multiple health problems to ANY hospital consultants if possible nor refer women to Menopause experts (all 4 of them)in fact to play down that any such services exist.
Yet Scottish Trans has had £850,000 over the last 4 years!
When most people couldn’t even get oxygen to prevent death or brain damage.
Even Cornton Vale could have had that money for making the building more an open instituton and supportive to treat the addicted inmates and give them some sort of hope for release.
The best way to have no trans identifying prisoners anywhere near women in prison institutions in Scotland is to abolish prison for women. Then only the rare violent female offender can be housed in a special unit.
The low risk women could be at a rehab and education unit.
link to thefederalist.com
Mac @7:36
What if there’s no such thing as bad publicity..
Current reality is that, rather than the FM, it is a judge that appears to have misgendered an accused rapist (possibly with intent to convict and cause political scandal) resulting in her (instead of his) conviction.
Easy way to turn it around, now that focus is on trans in ladies prisons, might be to seize on strong and loudly proclaimed conservative support for the fundamental rights of female prisoners to steer the transparency debate onto the matter of prison pregnancies and hospitalisations across the UK – ie with the view to providing publicly accessible oversight demonstrating beyond all reasonable doubt that (eg) guards are neither knocking prisoners up or about whilst in their care.
link to nuffieldtrust.org.uk
Universally challenged’
“Asking the questions,” bamber gasbag”
dumdiddledo diddlleedumdadoo diddiddeedo dumdiddledo boing,,,
Tonghts teams
Snp government
V’s
Bash street infant’s primary 1
“Your starter for 10”,
“What is the difference between a snow man and a snow woman”?
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
“Sturgeon Snp”!
“Flimflamflopflubbleflake”…”No difference”!
“No”!
“Bash street” “can you take it”!
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
“willie winkie” Bash Street”!
“Snowballs”!
“I’ll take that”!
“10 points to Bash Street”
Alf Baird.
I know, I know, but I am so exasperated at the lack of recognition that scotland is in this position of Colonialised servitude without being aware of it as individual people.
But most of the exasperation I feel also has its roots in the lack of research done by Wingers over the ” Ahemm” treaty of the union, which The Westminster parliament base’s this “Colonialism” over Scotland on,
I do not find it easy to keep repeating the obvious over and over, month after month until someone eventually gets it.
The commissioner’s acting for the two parliaments of Scotland and england in1707 agreed to (out ) the participation of the Scottish parliament from entering the parliamentary union between the two Countries, by agreeing to the treaty, ie, not by joining in fact,
Nobody gets it yet,
Except Westminster, whom has it on the UK parliament site in 2023.
To quote them, “The Scottish parliament extinguished itself by agreeing to the treaty of the union”,
No offence meant Alf, but I am not sure you understand the good implications of Westminster UK parliaments statement in magnitude of the ramifications.
Simple this,
The Scottish parliament never entered into a treaty of union with the English parliament due to the pre–nupt agreement made by the commissioner’s which extinguished the Scottish parliament beforehand/prior to any union taken place in England with their parliament.
The mistake the parliament of England made was not to read between the lines, and to go into Colonial mode.
{ A prior EXTINGUISHED 1707 Scottish parliament }, due to pre-nupt agreement by the Commissioners acting on behalf of what was once two parliaments, and Queen Anne , cannot take part, nor enter into a parliamentary union with Englands 1707 parliament.
The Treaty of the Union ( prenupt ) self cancels the treaty of union between two parliaments. The union itself never continued without a Scottish parliament continuing in 1707,
It cannot be a subsumed parliament either, because it has not existed since 1707.
Reality of being treated like a Colony, acting like a Colonised people because of a faux treaty, may take a long time for Scots to adjust to.
I have to be patient, keep repeating it until the penny drops,
I’m conflicted about the scotgov PR electoral system. The absolute trash getting elected via the list upsets me as they are not voted for personally and if they stood in person they wouldn’t get a sniff at election. Is there any way to improve things? Is the council PR system better? Or should we just revert to FPTP?
SusanAHF says:
1 February, 2023 at 3:30 am
… Or should we just revert to FPTP?
Scotland’s PR system would be ok I think, but they need to tweak the numbers.
The theory is PR gives voice to minority Parties, so that even without numbers, their opinion can be heard. But Holyrood affords too many List Seats, and rather than giving minority’s representation, it gives them a virtual veto on even the strongest most dominant Government.
PR should not be able to nullify the dominance of a single party, but that is precisely what Holyrood is set up to do.
That means defeating the Government would require government rebels, but that’s not inappropriate for a strong government. It’s all about balance. Currently there are too many list seats and the tipping point is not in the right place. Give them a voice yes, but they lost. Don’t give them power so easily.
Problem 2 is the definition of a list seat being a list by choice, as in a Party can put it’s favourites for getting list seats. That’s probably a better idea than a bad one, but it means we see the same faces turning up like bad pennies because you can’t vote them out. I would bring in a rule that your list candidates either cannot stand as constituency candidates, or else they win a seat votes, not the prerogative of the Party.
Holyrood’s system isn’t bad, it’s just tweaked to neutralise the possibility of a majority government happening rather than reigning one in but allowing it a degree of dominance. It’s designed to produce a perpetually weak Government which allows democracy to be manipulated.
Just my opinion… I’m not an expert. Holyrood stinks, but it’s not the theory of PR to blame, it’s the way PR is set up and abused.
“..Indeed, I’d go further than this. I’m convinced that some nationalist actors are less concerned about Scottish independence than they are with ensuring their cultural credo holds sway in civic Scotland no matter what our constitutional future holds. I’d also include in this group some of the SNP’s professional class for whom the annual clarion calls about independence are little more than an appeal to give them a few more years on the public teat.”
Full article
link to archive.ph
Breeks, SusanAHF
The system of government is not so important if you have a way to monitor it, that has teeth. If you ever needed examples of why accountability and transparency are needed for those with their hands on the public purse then the past three years have been a veritable goldmine, or is that cesspit, of corruption, nepotism, sleaze and regulatory capture.
The founding fathers of the United States of America had the right idea but we as can see from the shenanigans in Washington D.C., it was very far from perfect. However all the basic ingredients are there. Throw in mandatory jail sentences for corrupt politicians and I think that would take you a long way. I’d stay well clear of the European social-democratic model. It’s time is over as it’s too easily gamed by populist leaders. A government should be accountable to the country and not just to the voters, who can be just as avaricious as the politicians.
I see nothing wrong with the Scottish PR system. The problem lies with the Political Party system and candidate selection. All Political Parties skew candidate selection to reward loyalty, service, obedience, connections, favours, family ties etc etc
What we do need is a People’s forum of a representative mix limited to one term that can challenge Holyrood for the People OR the requirement for Referendum on major controversial Bills such as GRR.
We need a system that reminds Politicians that winning an election does not mean you can drive through ANY topic you wish.
The People are Sovereign…..Westminster doesn’t agree and it looks more and more that Sturgeon wants Holyrood to repeat that model.
Was I the only one concerned with the SNP chant….”2/3rds of MSPs voted for GRR….”
A mini UK model is being embraced by Sturgeon and those that follow her, regardless of Party, will not surrender that easily.
It is the 21st Century. The objections to asking the people about GRR or the Hate Crime Bill are not because of technical challenges, it is about not surrendering control.
Sturgeon’s Reign has been a warning. She does not like Democracy and she proved our current system can be abused. GRR was not in a Party Manifesto, It was not voted on at any SNP Conference. Who in the SNP approved Green Party Ministers? It is like the use of Survey Monkey by the SNP NEC. The tool can produce the vote result in seconds. However in the skilled hands of a Murrell Enterprise agent it takes several hours.
We The People………..NOT……….We The SNP.
I watched that Disclosure programme on BBC Shortbread last night. All about sexual shennanigans in the Edinburgh legal EStablishment.
Makes it clearer why the current SNP stinks so much – they’re only trying to fit in, but failing in the process.
link to archive.is
A little surprised by the extent to which this made my blood boil.
There is a particularly noxious poison and deep rooted duplicity in that one. I wouldn’t trust Alyn Smith an inch.
Shit-stirrer in chief, who’s always first to complain about the shit being stirred.
It’s him and all the other betrayers who have sold out Scottish Independence who need their arses booted out. For him to dare call for the resignation of others is insufferable.
I’m with you breeks. I loathe Alyn.
He’s so sneaky, evil, dishonest and cowardly that he is a big cheese in the transcult and the nuSNP.
But the wheels are coming off that particular bogey.
So let’s all rejoice that we won’t have to suffer him for much longer. His recent bleating is just ‘sound and fury’. He is finished.
And, if the rumours are true, he might have to pay back a significant sum to the SNP.
Looking forward to his well-deserved downfall.
Reading stories that Nicola may be about to resign.
If this happened could a Holyrood election be set for around May/June as a defacto referendum.
Breeks@8:28am
It could be the opening shot in the coming SNP civil war. Both sides of the party (the true indy supporters and the woke faction) have by now decided that the other side must go. RE: Alyn Smith’s article – unlikely this is his initiative, someone put him up to it (guess who)? The wokies and troughers are circling the wagons and standing by their great leader. She may manage to hang on as a lame duck FM for a while (although another (unrelated) scandal could sink completely her IMO). They know that, if and when she flies out the door on her backside, they wont be far behind. Personal survival is the name of the game. Will the SNP conference be the usual dull, stage-managed event, or will it be a bit more lively this time? We’ll soon find out.
@Stuart Mackay
“A government should be accountable to the country and not just to the voters, who can be just as avaricious as the politicians.”
How is ‘the country’ different to ‘the voters’? Scotland is just the people of Scotland, it isn’t some kind of mystical spirit. Or are you trying to say the government should be accountable to non-voters? I can’t really see why – if they can’t be bothered to vote why should they be consulted? In fact HOW can they be consulted. They couldn’t be arsed to vote, so what’s supposed to happen, is somebody supposed to go round to their house and ‘consult’ them personally?
Sorry, but i just can’t figure out what you’re talking about here.
REAL women don’t stand a chance with this lot in charge, on top of this REAL women are under even more pressure in Scotland with Sturgeon the Judas as FM.
“UK Women & Equalities Committee 11 members
7 Gender identity ideologues:
Caroline Nokes
Elliot Colburn
Kim Johnson
Kate Osborne
Ms Anum Qaisar
Bell Ribeiro-Addy
Dr Jamie Wallis
3 On the fence:
Caroline Dinenage
Carolyn Harris
Rachel Maclean
1 Gender critical:
Mark Jenkinson”
link to twitter.com
Alyn Smith, the lawyer, has a careless tongue. link to bbc.co.uk
Was he reprimanded for this major gaff where money SNP members’ money was used in compensation paid to the enemy?
link to parliamentlive.tv
Women and Equalities Committee
This is the closest I’ve ever felt that she/her is truly doomed. Pressure needs to be sustained, coz SNP will be hoping to ride this out thinking it’ll be ‘yesterday’s news’ in a couple of weeks.
If Twitter is a good barometer, yes there’s still loads of NicDicks out there but god there’s a real backlash too, like I’ve never seen before.
Time to get talking to those around you (uneducated on this crapola) and pour disinfectant on this shitshow.
She needs to go now, not before the next election. She’s done, her government is done – no confidence in their ability to run a bath let a lone a potential independent country. Hope Alba fills the vaccum and starts getting decent candidates prepared.
1. Identify a respected institution.
2. kill it.
3. gut it.
4. wear its carcass as a skin suit, while demanding respect.
#NuSNP
Towbar Sullivan @9:25am
Add institutions, culture and environment and there’s a lot more to a country than the people walking around in it. This is nothing new. The Convention of the Estates is an integral part to the whole idea of Claim of Right. However, nowadays, I think we can dispense with Barons or other individuals who see themselves as worth more than one vote. Individuals, generally, have more than one stake in the future of a country. In that sense a vote for a political party is a rather simplistic way of looking at it.
Thank you all that was helpful on the PR issue. I don’t sleep well at nights.
Red succinct but accurate
I see there’s chat today about SNP rebels, has it occurred to anyone else that someone in the Scottish Government, be it a minister or civil servant, has set up the bill to be blocked, and bring the gender stuff into the public eye?
The TRA guidance for getting self ID into law is to hide it in a bill about something else which looks innocent enough – that didn’t happen, the SG decided to run it as a one issue bill (perhaps that is what the Hate Crime Bill was initially for.)
The guidance also says to avoid debate to stop the public from finding out about it, by choosing this method of delivery, we saw lots of debate and the cat is well and truly out the bag.
The SG even chose a revision of UK-wide equality legislation as the vehicle. With equality measures specifically reserved to WM, this was always going to be blocked. Perhaps that was even confirmed when Robison met with Badenoch.
Once blocked,the duty to defend the content of the bill, remember this is the unamended, worst version of it, hasn’t been taken up by the SNP, largely speaking. That seems to have been gleefully taken on by the Lib-Dems, Labour and Greens, and worryingly NS, chastising everyone for being such awful, hateful bigots.
I think the greens were brought into government as patsies, so when this went down in flames SNP MSPs could highlight the democratic outrage of WM blocking the bill, while Harvey demanded that protestors be jailed and Chapman dropped jaws everywhere with reality-bending car crash interviews. This reaction of damage limitation, with even Starmer starting to distance himself from the ideology, should see the policy dropped like a stone, especially now the media have broken their silence on the matter and are happy to expose those who abuse self ID in the prison system.
And yet Sturgeon keeps doubling down.
twathater: yes, I got that, too. Extremely disappointing, but I won’t give up hope just yet. If the GRC is to stay, then men will still be able to change their ‘sex’ on birth certificates, etc. and, legally, they will have the right to invade female spaces and rights. The UKG is just as bad as the SG. There is no way to keep men out of female spaces and rights unless the GRC is severely restricted to make it illegal to encroach on female spaces and rights. The 2010 EA exceptions are simply no bulwark against this, whatever the SG or UKG say. I think that a women’s party is going to be set up soon, and it will scrutinise all future legislation for loopholes that endanger women and children. It will take away votes for all the mainstream parties and they deserve all they get because none of them has lifted a finger to help women and children, too busy pandering to, and bending the knee to, deviant men.
Mac: you are right. There are no benefits apart from from fetishising, which is one part of it, and misogyny, which is another. This whole thing, however, is underpinned by misogyny because even believing that you have the right to invade female spaces and rights to get your rocks off is the deepest misogyny. I have always thought that the aim is to oust females from all public spaces and institutions and replace them with ‘trans’. That is already happening in Ireland, where women report that many of their organisations are now headed up by men and they are barely allowed to speak. This is natural behaviour for many men, being part of their biological make-up, so proves that these ‘trans’ identified men are still men, function like men and behave utterly like men. So much for the ‘gendered souls’ and ‘lady brains’. It is equally part of women’s biological make-up to resist those attempts at control, so there will be a fight-back.
I signed a petition to repeal the GRA. I received this reply yesterday:
The Government has responded to the petition you signed – “Repeal the Gender Recognition Act 2004”.
Government responded:
As announced in 2020, we believe the Gender Recognition Act 2004 is effective, strikes the right balance and allows for those who wish to legally change their sex. We have no plans to change it.
We are committed to upholding Britain’s long-standing record of protecting the rights of individuals against unlawful discrimination. Government is also clear that we want people who are transgender to be able to live their lives as they wish.
The previous Government launched a consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) 2004. As part of the consultation process, we received over 100,000 responses and since it closed, considerable work has gone into meeting with a range of relevant stakeholders.
As announced in September 2020, we believe the current provisions in the GRA are effective and allow for those who wish to change their legal sex. The process has the right checks and balances. We believe that the process of legally changing one’s legal sex is a serious and legally meaningful undertaking which requires appropriate checks and a level of formality. We believe this strikes the right balance and have no plans to change it.
The Government is also committed to maintaining the safeguards that allow organisations to provide single-sex services, provided for separately via the Equality Act 2010. It is important that the principle of being able to operate spaces reserved for women and girls is maintained, in line with the Equality Act. Government is committed to tackling harassment and abusive behaviours by all individuals, and ensuring single-sex spaces are safe for those using them.
The Equality Act makes it clear that providers have the right to restrict use of spaces on the basis of sex and gender reassignment, whether or not someone has a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), where this is justified.
Cabinet Office
Stuart MacKay says:
1 February, 2023 at 6:54 am
…Throw in mandatory jail sentences for corrupt politicians and I think that would take you a long way.
Yes, I agree.
Here I sit calling for Impeachment, but knowing there’s no impeachment protocol to follow. There’s power to do it, but no mechanism.
Even stepping back a notch from impeachment, we don’t even have an upper house or second chamber to assess legislation for competence, nor even a Scottish Civil Service to help compile it.
Let me stress I don’t suggest we copy Westminster, but something like a Convention of the Estates on a semi permanent or permanent basis, which can be animated very quickly if Scotland’s Constitutional integrity is threatened.
Currently the only mechanism Scottish people have to register an opinion is an election every 4 or 5 years, and in between elections, you just have to suck it up no matter how grotesque the reality.
I’ve yet to be impressed by any Parliamentary committee or inquiry… and that’s being kind.
Our politicians are largely beyond reproach, which goes a long way to explain why Sturgeons Pervert’s Charter has reached the extent it has.
Having said all that, where Sturgeon is concerned, I think there are some serious gaps in the SNP’s own protocols which are demonstrably susceptible to abuse too. Though, in fairness, it begins to look suspiciously like the infiltration was deliberate and coordinated. They really did a number on the SNP.
I’ve been forcing myself to listen to English programmes recently to try to understand how the Sturgeon/trans issue is being received down there. It’s not good. This whole thing is being used by some people to denigrate the subject of independence, and Scotland generally. Whoever leads the independence movement in the future is going to have to carry Sturgeon’s folly on their back for a long time to come.
Job done Nicola.
@Stuart MacKay
“Add institutions, culture and environment and there’s a lot more to a country than the people walking around in it.”
If you mean political decisions should be in harmony with a country’s traditions and culture then I see what you mean. It’s a conservative (with a small ‘c’,I’m not talking about the Tories) position, but arguably one that would help stop countries going insane – such as making it a crime to say a man isn’t a woman (the Hate cries Act)
I would also add, that in the future any party which is serious about independence should draft a strong constitution retaining power with the membership, so that something like Sturgeonism can never happen again.
CRUMBS!
link to archive.ph
I think I get what you are saying Stuart Mackay. And Scotland IS a conservative country at heart and this should be respected. Not mocked and ignored, seen as an impediment that should be smashed. The concentration on children shows it is nasty, social engineering.
@Ottomonboi
a lawyer eh?
Could he be biting his tongue on the Clydebank stripper thing for more profound reasons?
ie No idea why but it seems to me that one obvious question no one has yet asked*, it being (presumably) the first case of its kind (and first coordinated to get such high profile in any event), is why the result of the judicial review was not published in advance of the trial
*not even by England’s well spoken expert in the rhetorical manouevre known as whitaboot-her-eh
I see Mr noon has a plan for indy
Ask labour
Well that is an inspiring idea
@ Geoff Anderson at 07.50: “The problem lies with the political party system…”
Exactly. A tightly-controlled party can easily, as we have seen, end up as the tool of a handful of people, be easily influenced by lobbyists, and fail entirely to listen to the electorate.
If candidates had to stand under their own name alone and justify standing by demonstrating their abilities and principles, it would make a huge difference as to who got elected. No Emma Roddick for a start – though to be fair there are plenty more MSPs and MPs as underqualified as she.
And of course there must be the Convention to stand over Parliament and wield the People’s Sovereignty.
We had the whole LGBT+ dictatorship on the rocks, but as has been happening for years we start to push our own self interests to the detriment of our stated goal Independence. Misogyny and Misandry are facts of life which must be addressed, but in the context of a social order, not as personal hobbyhorses.
As many here have mentioned, a large part of the Scottish population are Socially conservative and we must make sure that in forming a new administration to deliver Independence we do not end up fighting like “cats in a sack” and giving the present incumbents a chance to re-habilitate themselves
Keep the pressure on Mr Campbell, or all may still be lost
Sarah, true and also that one who was inserted above Joan McAlpine, as blatant a case of gerrymandering as you’re likely to come across. All these supposedly disabled or BAME candidates given preference for no good reason except virtue signalling and political deck stacking.
Geoff Anderson
1 February, 2023 at 7:50 am
‘I see nothing wrong with the Scottish PR system’
I agree with most of your comments, Geoff, but surely AMS/D’Hondt is the worst of all 4 systems.
My main objection to PR is it’s a system that overcompensates minorities and opens the possibility to giving power to groups whose policies don’t have a hope in hell of being supported in the real world. A perfect example being the loony Greens who recorded 1.29% of FPP votes in 2021 i.e., less that 13 out of every 1000 votes, yet now has great influence. That, to me, sums up PR.
Scottish PR is a system brilliantly designed to give the aura of democracy, proportional representation, and a little independence, but is in fact a system that is none of these.
As you point out, list candidates are foisted on us, not chosen by the electorate.
Then it uses the AMS to bin democratic votes. The wishes of 1.1 million voters were binned in 2021, and, no matter what we think of SNP 1&2, binning votes can NEVER be democratic. Giving the vote of a supporter of any whacky party up to 10 times the power of those who, whether in good faith or in ignorance, voted for a party that happened to be popular in the constituency vote is unequivocally wrong.
(It should be pointed out that the real SNP only won in 2007 because of … SNP 1&2)
The most undemocratic part however is that the regional vote, or list vote, is exclusively reserved for recognised political parties. That’s nearly HALF (43%) of the seats in Holyrood that independent candidates are excluded from contesting.
As it seems attitudes to sex, sexuality and reproduction are the new gold standard in separating the «progressive» from the «reactionary», liberal from conservative…
«IS SCOTLAND A CONSERVATIVE COUNTRY? »
Discuss, with a view to defining the subjective term «conservative» in this context, its merits and demerits.
Are league tables such as these
https:www.movehub.com/blog/the-most-liberal-countries-in-the-world/
possibly
indicative of a cultural bias towards a conservative, hegemonic Western worldview?
How might that relate to Scotland’s position within the English dominated Union?
@ SusanAHF and others
Some countries use an open list system, where instead of just voting for a party, and having to do research about who the candidates are, voters rank the names within their chosen party. That reserves candidate selection to the parties and requires larger ballot papers, but would at least let us choose Joan McAlpine over Emma Harper.
Such a shift of control to the electorate, of course, damages the gravy bus.
O/T Today I got an email link to the latest blog for Raptor Persecution UK. The blog outlines how a Scottish Government review has been delayed until it’s probably too late to include any findings in upcoming legislation, but also how those invited to give evidence on ways to tighten regulation on wildlife crime were strongly biased towards the shooting lobby.
A Scottish Government committee biasing evidence to one side of the argument eh? Astonishing.
link to raptorpersecutionuk.org
That seems like a better idea though it is a shame independent candidates are excluded. I must remember open lists.
sarah says:
1 February, 2023 at 12:00 pm
‘If candidates had to stand under their own name alone and justify standing by demonstrating their abilities and principles, it would make a huge difference as to who got elected’
That’s more or less what I said here a year ago, Sarah: –
‘remove the party nametag from candidates. They would stand on issues they feel are important to them, voters would choose the candidate that aligns closest with their views. There should be only one party – the Scotland Party. All MSPs should be fighting only for the best interests of their constituents and the Scottish people’.
I also said that ‘all MSPs would sign an inflexible T&C agreement. Harsh penalties for lies, corruption, collusion with outside interests, unjustified deviation from pre-election promises’.
Towbar Sullivan, SusanAHF
I wasn’t thinking of conservatism but more along the lines of checks and balances – but I guess that is the same thing.
If you look at the mess the country is in then one cause is a lack of accountability. In the UK a lot of that used to come from trades unions, which for good or ill, limited the damage politicians could do – that’s why they had to go.
Rather than having power-blocs slugging it out in elections I’d rather see accountability built into everything from the ground up. There are more and better ways of getting information out than in days of yore so there’s not much need for the populace to delegate that power to groups that might not have their interests as a first priority. That needs more grass roots involvement in order to keep everything working. But again with the likes of the internet more people can get their concerns and opinions out here.
That’s starting to ramble a bit, but I think I can put succinctly as “it’s time to put the ‘servant’ back into ‘servant of the people”.
Remember seeing this the other day somewhere – REV just retweeted earlier. I could not believe someone could be so fucking dumb.
Ellie Mae O’Hagan on Politics Live, BBC 2, November 2021
link to twitter.com
Ebok.
I like you’re individual thinking.
You do not sound like a person stuck in a coronation ( snp) street drama, that has many repeats. Which is a worrying pattern recently.
NOR do you come across as AI bot.
Keep thinking outside the box,
Stuart MacKay.
A couple of years back I found an explanation of the D’hondt system on youtube. It explained simply and thoroughly why ‘both votes for the SNP’ was a crock of shit.
I wish I could find it now because I think many don’t know how it works and how creepy little folk can game the system.
Was it this one, found below, which I always thought was great from the ISP
link to isp.scot
Was it this below from the ISP?
link to isp.scot
Stuart MacKay.
One of the problems that is a cause of uncountability is decentralisation, big tech replacing the front access accountability line,
Every thing is so distant and impersonable, it is waiting for ages on the end of a phone call with a totally different person to whom you spoke with to the last time,
It is the out of touch to local, disinterested personality at the other end of the phone that creates the mini Hi…..ler,
This is the same with Gmail or Email transactions , along with skype appointments that are often cancelled, with no access for the customer dealing with the problems on a day to day basis,
When you eventually get through to a Voice, it asks for your details and says they will get someone to phone you back, this seldom happens, sometimes the references to your conversation have not been recorded or entered in,
The Gap between personal local accountability and responsibility has been removed, the person that never answers the other end of the phone might as well be on holiday or in the office with the boss up to no good.
Brave office people and often short, sharp and abrasive with the distance between the customer and uncountability.
Technology used in this sense makes the system of local personal community fail.
We saw this in how doctors missed many cancer patients and other emergancies during the Virus period,
They were mostly AWOL, and staff office workers stalling appointments over the telephone,
I remember giving OAP patients a lift home from the surgery because the receptionist simple told them it was a mistake appointment, and the elderly person did not understand the withdrawel of their appointment via Gmail.
Decentralisation of systems wether it is the Medical Practice, or the local Council, places people in a community in a dehumanised enviroment.
Apparently rapists and paedos, who want into female prisons and spaces are a stigmatised minority, well according to Sturgeon the Judas’s unofficial mouthpiece.
“If you’re watching the right wing press in full baying hounds mode going after a stigmatised minority & thinking “ah, but this time it’s different”. No, it’s not. It’s never different. It’s exactly what it looks like.”
link to twitter.com
Mhairi Hunter, another oxygen thief. Where do they all come from, are they ex-Labour opportunists?
O/T.
“ANDREW Wilson, co-founder of Edinburgh communications consultancy Charlotte Street Partners, is to leave the company this month “to pursue new opportunities”.?
Charlotte Street Partners was launched in 2014 by Wilson and Malcolm Robertson.”
Malcolm Robertson is the son of Lord Robertson his daughter-in-law is the sister of Sarah Smith.
link to 12ft.io
Anyway if you are interested in the murky world of lobbying at Holyrood, (who has wined and dined Sturgeon) which involves Charlotte Street Partners (which never discloses it clients or their agenda for them) others do, then have a read of this.
link to static1.squarespace.com
“Where do they all come from, are they ex-Labour opportunists?”
Yes the vast majority of them.
Kelpie #12:56
Sadly what is to be expected from Sturgeon’s rancid SNP.
From wildlife crime, to health, to education, to ferries, to renewables… everything the SNP touch turns to shit.
If Wings Over Scotland has traction on this issue, does that make Rev Stu a “tractor”?
…asking for a friend
@Ottomanboi who asked whether Scotland was a conservative country with regards to sex, sexuality and reproduction and how that related to Scotland’s position within the English dominated Union?
Some very brief thoughts:
Like Ireland, Scotland’s “reticence” about sex etc probably derived from families living at very close quarters in cabins and tenements.
Modesty, understood as a pattern of precautions and behaviours, became necessary to prevent incest,voyeurism, exaggerated sibling rivalry etc. All these behaviours damage the family and the community, both of which had to survive.
One reason why Scottish families were living in cabins and overcrowded tenements rather than large enough houses and flats was linked to the Union’s domination and economic interests. Although living conditions improved somewhat with Labour’s post-war government the change did not/could not eradicate the centuries old habit of “modest” behaviour with its social background of protecting women, children, the family and the community
I have stated many a time on here I am fully supportive of mandatory voting and I echo Eboks calls for more stringent action to be taken when politicians lie or obfuscate
I believe that people should be FORCED to have an interest in what politicians and political parties are selling and how they are representing them, as others have said there is NO responsibility or penalty, these amoral arsewipes just shrug their shoulders issue a FAKE apology if that , then just carry on as normal
The last 10 years has shown that these bastards are NOT accountable for ANYTHING
SusanAHF Mhairi Hunter is the daughter of the late Allison Hunter a powerful and well respected former organiser of the SNP. Mhairi has an English accent as a result of being brought up in London.
@ Ebok at 1.11: ” MSPs… harsh penalties for lies, corruption…”
Indeed. I wrote a letter to my local paper a few years back pointing out that advertisers’ copy has to be legal, decent and truthful but politicians don’t have to meet those conditions, in fact politicians are allowed “political lies” – that was the reason Alistair Carmichael got away with lying about the story of N Sturgeon telling the French consul that she hoped for a Conservative win in the election.
It is astonishing that these public “servants” aren’t bound by the same code as the rest of us. If we lied at work, how long would we last?
Thanks to Salvo we now know that we do have a solution available to us – restore the Convention of Estates that put our people’s sovereignty in force over any politician or other public servant. Sign up to https://liberation.scot to enable the next step to be taken via the International Court of Justice.
I’ve stated here before and i’ll say it again, if there are Unionist operatives within the SNP then i believe 100% that Alyn Smith is one of them.
Note the very telling negativity about independence at the end of this article. After he calls on ‘the rebels’ to resign. And after he spouts his gender-change tripe.
He says: “Do I agree with every single item of SNP policy? No, I don’t, I’ve got my doubts about some,”
Shame it was BBC Radio Shortbread asking him the questions because a proper interviewer would have pushed him beyond the soundbites to ascertain, *exactly*, what policies he doesn’t support. My money’s on indy being one of them but creepy cowardly untrustworthy self-serving Smith will never admit it, until he’s writing his memoirs. Perhaps he could call them ‘Woke Springs Eternal’? Or how about; ‘The Trojan Woke’?
The last paragraph can hardly be classed as promoting a positive message regarding indy. Yes, it’s a Unionist rag but it’s quoting Smith. For someone who’s just spent a chunk of his time preaching about “team players” it’s time he was substituted for scoring yet another own-goal against indy with this:
“Smith, the party’s Europe spokesman, also admitted Scotland faces a period in the constitutional wilderness if it left the UK. He said “there are a range of outcomes” that could emerge from post-independence negotiations, could not say how long it would take to establish a separate Scottish currency and refused to put a timescale on taking Scotland back into the European Union.” link to archive.is
A list of SNP MPs who boycotted Neale Hanvey’s speech on Scottish independence, the sooner we ditch this lot the better.
Bardell, Black, Blackford, Blackman, Bonnar, Brock, Brown, Callaghan, Cameron, Cowan, Crawley, Day, Docherty-Hughes, Doogan, Dorans, Fellows, Flynn, Gibson, Grady, Grant, Hendry, Hosie, Law, Linden, Stuart and Stewart McDonald, McLaughlin, McNally, Monaghan, Newlands, Nicolson, O’Hara, Oswald, Qaisar, Sheppard, Smith, Stephens, Thewliss, Thompson, Thomson, Whitford and Wishart.
courtesy of Joan Hutcheson.
Thanks James Che, Twathater, Sarah, for supportive comments.
It can be daunting contributing with so many well-read observers out there and sometimes I half expect a pile-on if straying from an assumed consensus or posting drivel.
Fortunately, most responders are now considerate and polite.
Republicofscotland says:
1 February, 2023 at 6:24 pm
A list of SNP MPs who boycotted Neale Hanvey’s speech on Scottish independence, the sooner we ditch this lot the better.
Wow! I mean, that is simply staggering.
It seems to me that we need to ask: whose space or right has this been, traditionally, legally, politically and philosophically? The answer must be that they have been women’s and girls’ spaces and rights and services. We fought to establish them; ‘trans’ did not. So, logically, ‘trans’ identified men should legally have to justify their intrusion into those spaces and rights, etc.
It should not be for women and girls to have to justify why these TIMs require to intrude upon our spaces and rights, which have as much to do with dignity and privacy as they do with safety issues. Both the GRA 2004 and the EA2010 need to be replaced with properly devised legislation that does not intrude on women’s and girls’ spaces and rights at all. That will mean third spaces, and this should have been the answer from day one. Third spaces. No men in fmale spaces, rights, services, etc, at all.
We know that money is a factor here, and building new spaces will require money to be spent, but, at the end of the day, it might be the only way forward. We have to look back to the 1960s and see how TIMs were encouraged into women’s and girls’ spaces without invitation. That should be a crucial element in determining why we find ourselves besieged by these ‘trans’.
We were not asked, we did not know that governments were allowing this access outwith the law. Basically, the door was held open by the old-style transsexuals for the new wave of fetishists to enter. It is rich that now, with a new wave of far more aggressive TIMs, women and girls should be made to feel that they are the ones who are being difficult.
I am of the opinion that there are many, many more autogynephiles/fetishists out there than we are being led to believe there are and that door kept ajar was the way in. This is a ground on which we should fight because it was illegal at the time, and legality cannot be assumed from illegality.
If this law passes, GRCs will become the go to, one stop shop for legal access to all female spaces and rights (don’t forget the rights, services, etc.) because the 2010 EA is simply not up to being able to prevent this influx. TIMs will be able to challenge on both gender reassignment and on legal sex, while biological sex, which the Act actually does infer is woven through it becomes impossible to defend. TIMs would then have two protected and legal characteristics while females would have none because biological sex would not keep out legal sex.
Basically, this is what the Scottish government planned. That would mean that no sex offender with a GRC could be kept out of the female prison estate or any other single-sex space, service, right, etc. Couple that to the ten-fold increase the SG expected (probably a very low underestimate) and they must have known that many, many more TIMs would be accessing female spaces and rights and we would have no way to discover whether or not they are sex offenders on the sliding scale of fetishistic behaviours (rape and sexual assault at one end to public exposure at the other) because a GRC protects these men by making it illegal to disclose their offending
If children of 16 get access to a GRC, our children’s schools will become the front-line.
Border Scarifier, not that one but it’s good – thanks for hunting!
No more Wings notifications from FB I see!
Good job I’m capable of checking into the website for recent articles.
Dorothy Devine says:
1 February, 2023 at 2:12 pm
‘It explained simply and thoroughly why ‘both votes for the SNP’ was a crock of shit’
As far as I’m concerned, D’hondt is an establishment scam, Dorothy, and yes, the above description is accurate.
I can’t help with the video you refer to, but the simple rule of thumb is that IF your first choice is likely to win one or more of the 8, 9, or 10 constituency seats in your region, then a regional vote for the same party is likely to be shredded.
If any party wins one constituency seat, half of all regional second votes for that party are shredded, and in most regions 90% of all second votes for SNP were discarded in 2021.
Obviously, this benefits parties whom the electorate has rejected. The primary purpose is, in my view, to shackle any upsurge in support for a party that does not conform to (WM) establishment thinking, whether they be socialist, nationalist, or whatever.
As things have turned out, we could say we were fortunate with SNP losing 1.1 million votes, but rise above party loyalties and consider the objectivity of this system, a system designed FOR HR to ensure no party ever won a majority – even though we now know it is possible if every vote falls into a very narrow pattern.
The very principle of two votes in one election, where an indeterminate number of votes count and others don’t, should alert folks to the fact that this is not democracy, and if that doesn’t cut it, the fact that the system can legitimately be gamed should spell it out loud and clear.
Ebok, is STV any better? I’d like to think some form of PR could be fair and lead to more accountability of parties
SusanAHF says:
2 February, 2023 at 2:27 pm
‘is STV any better?’
Bear in mind, Susan, that I have no academic qualifications of any kind. Life experience is all I have to base my views on.
Yes. STV is generally acknowledged as the system that best reflects PR.
The difference between AMS and STV is primarily three-fold: –
1) AMS has a 57% FPTP element via the constituency vote, STV modifies that to elect 100% of candidates through a ‘quota’ method.
2) On the regional vote in AMS, most votes are shredded: in STV only a small portion of votes (those given to candidates exceeding the quota) are lost.
3) STV accommodates independent candidates: AMS is a party system and virtually excludes them.
Roughly, the STV quota is arrived at by dividing the total votes cast by number of candidates + 1. The candidate with the lowest number of votes in each round is eliminated until the correct number of candidates is elected.
Some folks believe that STV gives more than one vote, but this is incorrect. The transferrable vote only applies once the voters first choice has been eliminated. The votes given to eliminated candidates are distributed to each voters’ subsequent choice, depending on who has been eliminated in previous elimination rounds.
If no second or subsequent choice is indicated, or all choices are eliminated, it is as if you hadn’t voted.
The problem with PR is that it is complex, and most voters have no idea how it works. FPTP is straightforward, everyone knows how the result is arrived at, warts and all.
IMHO, to improve democracy there should be named candidates (not parties) on the ballot paper, shorter periods between elections (3 years), smaller constituencies, and meaningful accountability for politicians and gov. institutions.
Then I’d be more relaxed about which voting method we use.
@ Ebok 4.59pm once again I broadly agree with your thoughts especially the 3 year term proposal, in fact I would have a method where an assessment of capability and effectiveness of the government were conducted by a citizens assembly after 2 years and if they were not performing effectively the assembly could FORCE an election
If we look at the current situation the 5 year rule has enabled sturgeon’s morons to decimate Scottish society and social services, unfortunately that is not new the liebour trougher morons done the same thing for decades
WE have to make these politicians and their parties forcibly ACCOUNTABLE and do away with idolising and deifying their party or individuals
THIS party loyalty by snp members has enabled and encouraged sturgeon and her clique to effectively DESTROY a cohesive united yes movement by creating and fomenting anger and distrust against non aligned independence supporters, and it is happening again but this time with ALBA members and supporters doing the same with Alex Salmond , this idolatry weakens the fight and is comparable to young people idolising their favourite pop stars and excusing their mistakes or stupidity, or strictly or eastenders supporters worshipping crap actors and storylines , it is just another form of football tribalism and we all know how divisive that is
Thanks ebok, very helpful