It really is quite uncanny how similar some SNP supporters have become to the most frothing, abusive blood-and-soil Yoons of 2014. But we can live with this company:
Patrick Harvie on a radio phone-in today, refusing to say if he knows what a woman is and refusing to guarantee them safety from men in women’s single-sex spaces.
Because this is a pure embarrassment from the notional main opposition leader. Even if it was all true – and we’d be very sceptical about that until we see the workings – £4.5 billion over 14 years would be £321 million a year.
That’s a substantial amount of money, but it’s also almost exactly 1% of the Scottish Government’s budget, and no government on Earth has ever had everything it attempted work out perfectly. Sustaining 99% efficiency on spending over nearly a decade and a half is actually pretty good going.
More to the point, it’s a staggeringly audacious attack line from a Westminster MP in a party whose government wasted £12 billion on ONE project in ONE year alone – the catastrophically failed COVID test-and-trace app.
(We’d still like someone to explain to us how in the world you can possibly spend £12 billion in a few months on a mobile phone app, even if it had worked.)
The First Minister released a short film this week.
While it has the character of a hostage video, with terrorists just off-camera pointing a gun at the unfortunate victim and forcing them to read out a pre-prepared text, sadly we doubt that was the case. We think this is really what she believes and intends.
We’ve been racking our brains for a few hours now, but we still haven’t been able to think of a single UK citizen of the last 100 years – indeed, probably the last 300 – who has terrified the British establishment more than Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond.
By any conceivable measure Salmond is the most successful Scottish politician of all time. He’s the only one to date to have won a (supposedly impossible) majority in the Scottish Parliament, the only one to have secured an independence referendum, and the man who took Scotland to the brink of regaining its democracy, where – despite the best efforts of his successor – it still just about remains.
He survived a uniformly hostile media for 20 years as SNP leader, then also survived a corrupt and criminal conspiracy within his own former party to have him imprisoned, walking out of court a free and innocent man despite a two-year smear campaign in the press and a police and government operation of unprecedented scale trying to convict him.
(A point that hasn’t been made enough in coverage of the entire fiasco is the amount of police resources which were devoted to the case. Ask the average woman who’s alleged a sexual assault below the level of rape – or indeed an actual rape – if SHE got a team of two dozen dedicated police officers interviewing over 400 people at a cost of millions of pounds to try to firm up HER claim.)
So you’d think that when he formed a brand-new political party, which got numerous elected representatives from the SNP to defect to it, and contested a notionally-crucial Scottish general election, it would sound like a work of absurdist dystopian fiction if one were to suggest the media would exclude it from even participating in televised election debates in a manner more befitting North Korea than a Western democracy.
So-called “puberty blockers” – the class of drugs that were used to “chemically castrate” computing pioneer Alan Turing for being homosexual (a crime in the UK in the 1950s), which is believed to have led to his suicide by cyanide poisoning at the age of 41 are extremely dangerous.
Scotland’s only gender clinic, the Sandyford, had to apologise just a few months ago for having concealed the very serious hazards posed by the drugs. But it has no plans to stop prescribing them to under-16s.
And the Scottish Government refuses to intervene in the matter.
Dr Malcolm Kerr joined the SNP in 1967, has contested local council and Scottish Parliament elections and is currently an activist in Cunninghame North constituency.
I’ve been a member of the SNP for long enough to recall the days when the party was capable of generating killer slogans. “It’s Scotland’s Oil”. “Independence – Nothing Less”. Those were the days!
Nothing describes the SNP’s descent towards being the new New Labour better than its choice of slogans in recent years. “Stronger for Scotland” serves only to flag up just how powerless the party’s large contingent at Westminster is. “Progress” is entirely meaningless.
And fellow activists and members may recall just how depressing it was to attend the most recent in-person spring Conference, when the leadership felt that the slogan “Hope” was going to be inspiring. When you’ve been in power for 14 years you’re supposed to DO things, not just hope for them.
We’re getting to the point where we should soon be Blairite enough to invade Iraq. Fortunately, we lack the means.
Yesterday the SNP released their 2021 election manifesto, and on the divisive subject of gender reform it was as bad as we feared. Yes, there is obfuscation to mask intent, but the intent is crystal clear all the same. Especially if we judge the SNP by their record and all the things they have failed – and continued to fail – to address.
The manifesto commits to reforming the GRA while ensuring that it will not affect the rights or protections women enjoy under the Equality Act.
Cynicus on Shield Of The Phantom: ““ Why would a tribunal judge make such gross errors?” Use Occam’s Razor. The simplest explanation is that the “judicial…” Jan 27, 02:45
Cynicus on Shield Of The Phantom: ““This Judge Kemp has been shown to be a liar” ========= That is too strong. Less diligent than his high…” Jan 27, 02:35
Saffron Robe on Shield Of The Phantom: “Colin, your point about a deliberately flawed judgement makes sense and seems very likely to be true.” Jan 27, 01:43
robertkknight on Shield Of The Phantom: “Zero accountability in the Banana Republic that is the SNP’s Scotland. Only thing to do…kick the B***ARDS OUT!” Jan 26, 23:43
Lorna Campbell on Shield Of The Phantom: “You make excellent points, Colin. The thing is: if there was political interference, it has not served whoever did it,…” Jan 26, 23:20
Young Lochinvar on Yelling at the tide: “Who knows what goes through the heads of our super(ior) fan daby dozy southern neighbours. Probably have a contingency plan…” Jan 26, 22:59
McDuff on Shield Of The Phantom: “This is outrageous. Is there no one with power and prominence within the political and judicial system to challenge this…” Jan 26, 21:16
Colin Dawson on Shield Of The Phantom: “Perhaps the purpose of the judgement was to try to delay the resolution of the issue of safe spaces for…” Jan 26, 21:04
Iain More on Shield Of The Phantom: “Off topic probably. So when is Starmers Rent Boys Trial? Will we ever see one? I guess the days when…” Jan 26, 20:05
Nae Need! on Shield Of The Phantom: “An interesting point, lothianlad. When we consider that Sturgeons idol WAS, in fact, Thatcher. And then when we consider the…” Jan 26, 19:25
Nae Need! on Shield Of The Phantom: “It is. They will obfuscate, though. There’s a part of my mind that still can’t fully understand how government business…” Jan 26, 19:16
Lorna Campbell on Shield Of The Phantom: “I think you may be right, Rev. Had Kemp used AI, or listened to his two lay colleagues, he would…” Jan 26, 19:12
100%Yes on Shield Of The Phantom: “Just watched a political broadcast from the Scottish Greens, no mention of transgender or Independence, not surprised. What I will…” Jan 26, 19:05
Nae Need! on Shield Of The Phantom: “No surprises there. Thank you for pushing at the firmly closed door, Stu, cos nobody else would have. Now we…” Jan 26, 19:01
agentx on Shield Of The Phantom: ““Nicola Sturgeon MUST be called to give evidence about deadly super hospital as she dodges scrutiny Scottish Labour leader Anas…” Jan 26, 18:51
Effijy on Shield Of The Phantom: “The confidence tricksters posing as a judicial system are using a blackout curtain for transparency. A response such as this…” Jan 26, 17:52
Willie on Shield Of The Phantom: “An absolute outrage of a response. No one, and I mean no one can have any confidence in the integrity…” Jan 26, 17:18
100%Yes on Shield Of The Phantom: “@bobo bunny, The National still has the offer of 1 years subscription for £20, just think you’ll be able to…” Jan 26, 16:48
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “Or we could walk away legally not being in a 1707 treaty of union with neither the UK parliament or…” Jan 26, 16:47
100%Yes on Shield Of The Phantom: “One thing is certain Scotland will never become Independent by the hands of the SNP and I’ll be my house…” Jan 26, 16:41
Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: “Crash course in Arabic (focus on water features) and a chequered T towel and you’ll be ready to rock n’…” Jan 26, 16:10
Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: ““elect wee nige and let him destroy HR and give our SNHS to his american millionaire pals” You’ve got in…” Jan 26, 16:05
bobo bunny on Shield Of The Phantom: “Time to start burning things down, and blowing shit up.” Jan 26, 16:02
bobo bunny on Shield Of The Phantom: “You’re hardly 100%Yes then, are you?” Jan 26, 16:01
Robert Burns on Shield Of The Phantom: ““6b: it is about a judicial decision, or judicial case management.” So, making up stories to support a ‘judicial decision’…” Jan 26, 15:42
twathater on Shield Of The Phantom: “Aw well it’s nae big deal there’s nothing happening with Scottish politics just now anyway I wish there was some…” Jan 26, 15:37
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “The law in and of Scotland goes much deeper than what Stu is contending with, As we have to ascertain…” Jan 26, 15:17