It really is deeply dispiriting the see the level of utter burning contempt in which Nicola Sturgeon holds the independence movement, if this is the sort of ludicrously insulting garbage she thinks it’ll swallow.
The BBC’s coverage of the Scottish election campaign and what has been described as its “virtual blackout” of ALBA will be the subject of special Ofcom election Committee hearing on Friday 23rd April.
We imagine people may wish to read the Alba Party manifesto.
It can be downloaded by clicking the link above. Had we formed our own party it’s pretty much the manifesto we’d have written, and we especially endorse the gorgeous pooch on the front.
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.
Yesterday we mentioned an SNP election leaflet that someone had posted on social media. It turns out that either deliberately or accidentally (probably the latter, while taking out the bit with their name and address on it) they’d cropped off part of it containing a logo that does passingly refer to independence. You can see it down at the bottom-right corner.
So we should note that by way of clarification. But what’s more interesting about the rest of the leaflet is that if you took the logos off it, it could be from literally ANY of the parties contesting the election. It contains no policies whatsoever, just some general feelgood sloganeering. Which parties, do you suppose, are campaigning AGAINST “equipping children to succeed” or “supporting businesses” or “creating jobs”?
The deeper truth is that the leaflet demonstrates how completely pointless this election actually is, because nothing you do with your vote next month is going to affect anything that happens in the subsequent five years. Only one party is going to win, and once they do it won’t matter what’s in the 76-page “manifesto” they released today. The manifesto is a fake – in reality it amounts to a single line: “keep us in power so we can fill our pockets and do whatever we like for another half a decade, suckers”.
Captain Caveman on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “People are allowed to change their minds without your permission, Dan. It’s called having an open mind, you should try…” Sep 24, 13:01
Hatey McHateface on Cowering From Destiny: “The Teletubbies? I don’t believe I’ve ever seen or heard a joke about them.” Sep 24, 13:00
Dan on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Aye, NC seems to have had a coding change in what it churns out. Compare now to a comment trail…” Sep 24, 12:50
Captain Caveman on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Thanks as ever for your erudite, “sophiticated” contribution, Confused. Brought to you by Evo-Stik and an odd fascination with slow-cooked…” Sep 24, 12:50
Aidan on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “@Sam – under limb one, the geographic separation requirement must include separation by sea. An NSGT cannot be geographically contiguous…” Sep 24, 12:48
Northcode on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Resolution 1541’s criteria only apply to territories that were reported to the UN in 1946 as colonies, protectorates, or overseas…” Sep 24, 12:41
Mark Beggan on Cowering From Destiny: “No talent. No money. No plan. No grassroots support. What could possibly go wrong?” Sep 24, 12:41
Confused on Cowering From Destiny: “nige won’t be PM now since he pissed off the wrong people; the people you can’t make jokes about” Sep 24, 12:28
Confused on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “NC is in mystification mode; the UN is a useful tactic, which may draw blood – the anglos are raging…” Sep 24, 12:27
Effijy on Cowering From Destiny: “A very valid point. I would enjoy watching a stand alone England ruled by Trump style absurdity and corruption but…” Sep 24, 12:15
sam on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Northcode, New post by Rev so you may not see this. Criteria of Colonial Status Resolution 1541 sets three objective…” Sep 24, 12:14
Willie on Cowering From Destiny: “No need big John has just announced that he wants to create six supra regional supra authorities. Like the NHS…” Sep 24, 12:02
Willie on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Critically important to engage in the international environment and Sarah Salyers is certainly doing that. And let us not forget…” Sep 24, 11:43
Captain Caveman on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: ““The emotional force comes from grievance, destiny, and moral urgency; the procedural reality is left untouched.” In a nutshell -…” Sep 24, 11:43
Northcode on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “I watched Sara Salyers’ speech from Tuesday’s UN Geneva side-event – to which Fearghas provided a link – and here…” Sep 24, 10:58
Minceheid on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Hatey McHateface says: 24 September, 2026 at 9:28 am Best go to SpecSavers MH. Any “quine” quoting Samuel L Jackson…” Sep 24, 10:16
Aidan on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Oh look everyone “James” is back. Managed to persuade them to turn your internet back on?” Sep 24, 10:15
Hatey McHateface on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “I personally know folk who have built their house from bales of straw. They think it’s great. So do I.…” Sep 24, 10:11
Hatey McHateface on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “I’m confident Rev Stu can defend himself against my insults. If you get right back to basics, the fundamental fact…” Sep 24, 10:07
TURABDIN on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Countries & peoples may be destroyed through invasion and occupation but the most effective method is to offer those countries…” Sep 24, 10:03
TURABDIN on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Countries & peoples may be destroyed through invasion and occupation but the most effective method is to offer those countries…” Sep 24, 10:03
James on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “LOL.Fireshire Adrian; Comedy gold as always. Keep ’em coming, Curly!” Sep 24, 10:00
James Che on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Yes thesbian does fit NS, however I personally had applied that word to the to the more recent group that…” Sep 24, 09:50
Aidan on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “You say “if the U.K. Government keeps picking fights with them” – but it is Ru**ia that has repeatedly invaded…” Sep 24, 09:50
James Che on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Hatey, It was with sadness that I noted your lack of empathy towards a homeless veteran living in Bales of…” Sep 24, 09:39
Hatey McHateface on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “I guess a thesbian is an obvious hybrid. Probably an apt description for our former National Mammie as she establishes…” Sep 24, 09:35
Hatey McHateface on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Best go to SpecSavers MH. Any “quine” quoting Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction has to be 60 at least.” Sep 24, 09:28
James Che on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Hatey, you start the day by insulting and dismissing Stu’s efforts over the years to present day. Not a good…” Sep 24, 09:24
James Che on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Agentx. Additional ” Scottish income Tax” would apply to every one in Scotland, Its called Scottish income tax for a…” Sep 24, 08:58
James Che on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Suspect NS was always a wannabe actor from start to finish, she certainly played the starring roll and false lead…” Sep 24, 08:45