The SNP constitution states that a leadership election should take place over a period of four and a half months. Having not had one in almost 20 years, the SNP are now to conduct one from start to finish in the space of four and a half weeks.
The voting period of two weeks (who needs two weeks to vote after three weeks of debate?) means that it’ll be over just a week too late for the party to be able to hold its “special democracy conference” to determine its independence strategy for the next couple of years, but also that the new leader will be in place just in time to file a legal challenge over the Gender Recognition Reform bill before the April deadline.
(Something the party president Mike Russell publicly called for today, in an apparent attempt to influence the outcome of the election. Indeed, he called for candidates not to go back on ANY of the outgoing leader’s policies, which rather invites the question of why they should bother electing a new leader at all.)
We’ve just had the results back from some very interesting new polling, and the first snippet is a particularly instructive one.
When challenged on questions of gender, the reflex response of politicians of most parties in the Scottish Parliament is to bang on about how overwhelmingly MSPs voted for the Gender Recognition Reform bill.
Curiously, so far no journalist has bothered to ask whether they care that according to every poll, they’re utterly failing to represent the views of their constituents on the subject – which is, after all, what they’re supposed to be there for.
So we just asked directly if people felt their MSPs were doing their jobs.
Ouch. By well over 2 to 1, respondents felt that they were being let down by the people who are supposed to speak for them. (Excluding DKs the margin is just shy of 70/30, very similar to the margin by which people in polls oppose self-ID generally.)
But it’s when you drill down into the detail that it gets a bit disturbing.
There are terms beloved of politics activists and commonly used on social media which are a baffling mystery to the general public. We’ve spoken several times of the word “gaslighting”, which is understandably used as shorthand for quite a complex thing that’s difficult to describe concisely, but nevertheless acts as a barrier to understanding for anyone not overly political.
Below are two news reports from the Scottish Sun this week:
Both of the people arrested were male-bodied individuals who identify as women. As far as we’re aware, neither of them has a Gender Recognition Certificate. They are both the same sex, biologically and legally, and both describe themselves as female.
Yet in giving statements about their respective arrests, Police Scotland called one of them a man and one of them a woman. And we’re having no luck finding out why.
But isn’t that the Scottish Greens co-leader in that picture, in the bunnet, between his colleague Ross Greer and Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, all enthusiastically clapping Douglas just a few weeks ago?
Diligently alert readers may have noticed that the SNP MP, former vomit-mopper and permanent embarrassment to braincells Stewart McDonald has an article in today’s National about the best way to look like he’s trying to secure independence without risking losing his cosy lucrative job in glamorous London with all his fancy MP pals.
(McDonald is also one of the party’s most virulent advocates of its massively unpopular gender reforms, which isn’t relevant to anything but we’ve got a streak to maintain.)
Unfortunately it’s 4,000 words long and unbearably boring, but since you pay us we’ve taken the bullet for you, read the whole thing and now present it here in précis form:
The title of this article might sound a bit like the name of a band making their debut at Glastonbury this year, but in fact it’s something infinitely more serious.
News broke late last night that the person we must presumably now refer to as an “individual” who had been arrested in connection with the disappearance of a missing Galashiels schoolgirl (happily found safe and well and back home with her parents) had in fact been charged with an as-yet-unspecified crime.
But the alleged crime wasn’t the only thing going unspecified.
People across Scotland breathed a sigh of relief this morning when missing Galashiels 11-year-old Kaitlyn Easson was found safe and well after a multi-service search.
The police have arrested[EDIT: and now charged] a 53-year-old man in connection with her disappearance, named by the Daily Record as Andrew Miller, a local butcher. This was one of two names that numerous sources had been passing to Wings since the man was detained, but the two names only referred to one person.
After Wings’ investigation into the disturbing world of “furries” earlier this week, the mainstream press picked up on the quite extraordinary decision by SNP MSP Christina McKelvie to endorse a “counter-protest” being organised by the costume fetishists against a women’s-rights event in Glasgow tomorrow.
Because it appears the SNP are more and more openly throwing their weight behind both extreme sexual kink (and worse) and the intimidation of women.
Northcode on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “I doubt Donald would settle for being king of a mere territory. There can’t be the slightest doubt that President…” Jan 10, 22:11
william G Walker on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Alf Baird writes a lot of sense, though tongue-in-cheek! Or is it? Better a peripheral “territory” of the USA than…” Jan 10, 21:14
Alf Baird on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Aye Northcode, that’s the dilemma with a national tradition whereby oor leeberator aye gets tae be crouned Keeng! The Scottish…” Jan 10, 20:37
Northcode on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““Scotland a poodle rather than another poodles bitch” It’s a step up from where we are now for sure… the…” Jan 10, 19:44
Alf Baird on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““A very unhelpful comment, TURABDIN” I think what you mean, Fearghas, is that such a view is ‘unhelpful’ to the…” Jan 10, 19:35
Northcode on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““…an argument that presents negative consequences is not inherently fallacious…” There goes “Dances Without Facts” dancing without facts again. All…” Jan 10, 19:30
Alf Baird on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “As a son of Scotland there is no doubt Scotland is on President Trump’s radar. What does he have in…” Jan 10, 19:00
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “A very unhelpful comment, TURABDIN. Unsound in various ways already very well aired on Wings. It would be wearisome to…” Jan 10, 18:51
TURABDIN on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “SCOTLAND was invaded and settled «colonized» by three cultures, Irish aka Scotti, Anglian aka Inglis and Norsemen. The indigenous locals…” Jan 10, 18:08
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““Young women” can well speak for themselves, but I particularly deplore your anti-Jewish pitch. I would draw people’s attention to…” Jan 10, 17:45
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Aye, Confused, the towel heids just like being oppressed. Their women can’t get enough of being beaten to death if…” Jan 10, 17:18
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “I don’t think Scots, germans or Americans are welcome to invade Englands Britain, only the old crusading Countries are made…” Jan 10, 16:15
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Willie, Thought provoking post, He did indeed fly the flag of Scotland from his limousine when in the Country of…” Jan 10, 15:48
James on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “I gave up on your post after a few lines…. Did Confused upset your Anglo sensibilities?” Jan 10, 15:42
Sven on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “willie @ 14.55. Gosh, even though I can’t quite believe a word of that imaginitive scenario, you didn’t half bring…” Jan 10, 15:37
willie on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “when Trump came for his trip to Scotland and his motorcade went to Turnberry the Beast limousine bore not the…” Jan 10, 14:55
Chas on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Isn’t it remarkable the breadth of knowledge that the regular nutters on here possess when it comes to world affairs.…” Jan 10, 14:54
Confused on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Anyone who doesn’t think the iran situation has the CIA/Mossad all over it … I have a high yield investment…” Jan 10, 13:39
factchecker on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “NC quotes a definition of ‘Argument ad baculum”; namely that “This fallacy is often used to intimidate or coerce agreement…” Jan 10, 13:36
Confused on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “rumour has it, trump saw 2001 : A Space Odyssey the other day, thought it was an intelligence briefing from…” Jan 10, 13:34
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Aye, a few more might help Scotland shake on the dumbing down effect of minds controlled. I For one are…” Jan 10, 13:29
Insider on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Blimey ! Alf Baird, “James” Cheyne, Willie and Northcode have all come out to play together ! The four Nutters…” Jan 10, 13:05
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Just acknowledging that Scotland does not hold and never did make a treaty with the Great Britain parliament in 1707…” Jan 10, 11:47
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “What an odd post, sarah. It’s like CM’s defection to Your Party in October last year has completely passed you…” Jan 10, 11:37
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “How can the Great Britain parliament even challenge a 1707 Scottish parliament that no longer exist and that never made…” Jan 10, 11:27
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “A Setterday sermon, Northy! Fit are ye angling at noo? Ye’ll be claiming the Picts were the Lost Tribe next!” Jan 10, 11:15
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “My Great Brutish Empire and my British Labour? Like many Scots of a certain age, I worry about creeping cognitive…” Jan 10, 11:10
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Alf Baird, I agree with you regards Colonialism, However I do come to that conclusion from a slightly different angle…” Jan 10, 11:08
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Should be a slam dunk. 319 years of documented real world history rendered, what? Imaginary? Overnight! An absolute bummer for…” Jan 10, 11:03
