Excess Baggage
Posted on
May 04, 2024 by
Chris Cairns
The world's most-read Scottish politics website
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Wings Over Scotland is a (mainly) Scottish political media digest and monitor, which also offers its own commentary. (More)
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A tall tale
Wee Books
Video
Probably a robbery
Transphobia
Very good.
Just one thing… Greer’s hands are too big.
Evilnonce, ahahahaahaha
Of all the cases the Head Case can’t even stand up!
They have helped put independence somewhere over the rainbow!
Looking for the Trans Port.
The expressions are priceless.
When your tie matches your socks yet you still find yourself out on your bahookie, no wonder you’re baffled.
A good morning to all AUOB marches – Glasgow Green awaits. The real Green.
Fifth-columnist infiltration of the body-politic: in full sight!
The four horsemen of the apocalypse.
Conquest Harvie, War Greer, Famine Slater, and Death Chapman.
with suitcases full of Stonewall/trans charity endowments.
Aye, that about sums it all up. Impractical bollocks, Evil NONCEsense, Intolerance, Unpopular guff, Unelected power… sums up the Greens perfectly.
Awa tae fuck wi them.
My wee old Mum passed away this time last week.
But this is the best laugh I’ve had in some time.
I needed that.
Thanks Chris! 🙂
The child mutilators have demonstrated to all just how toxic and spiteful they are and how they will gradually and relentlessly poison any political coalition they are part of with their thick as pig shit, downright dangerous ‘policies’ and never ending creepathon obsession with children’s genitals.
What is the collective noun for cunts?
LOL!
PMSL at Slaters cap. The only one still grinning.
Job done.
Meet the Carpet ba(u)ggers. Your characterisation of these chancers is fantastic, Chris.
– dr.goebbels, loopy loo, ‘it’s a goddam robot!’ and the ginger mudskipper.
Unelected power says it all really. It’s where we are and some. Wishing all today at auob march all the very very best.
“What is the collective noun for cunts?”
The Greens.
Brilliant! Thanks Chris.
Obviously hoping Sturgeon drives by with room for passengers… a big campervan or something.
The skilled in politics stay focussed unencumbered by the latest fashion in baggage.
That’s an absolute belter Mr Cairns.
I’m sorely tempted to print/frame.
🙂
…I recon the Scottish NHS secretly trialed puberty blockers on Greer, which accounts for his looking, sounding and behaving like a P7 Lunch Monitor.
Mac , you need Ruby to provide a suitable collective noun for that!
Brilliant cartoon thanks Chris.
It reminded me of that awful woman that I find forgettable ,Chapman. She who believes children, who can barely string a sentence together , or cross roads unaided, are capable of deciding to change sex and all the hormones , operations that entails
I loathe and detest these people.
Magnificient !
It’s like a Hogarth illustration for, “A Thicket of Idiots”.
You draw them all well except Lorna.
Lorna looks a bit more like the big yellow bird from Sesame Street.
Parasites looking for a new home!
These comedians might now be on the lookout for another gig and with the SNP troupe soon following them, but both showers of charlatans have left all their ‘mad shit, unpopular guff, intolerance, evil nonsense, impractical bolloks’ laws on the UK-subjicio-Scotland statute book, and with a mediocre colonial institutional meritocracy implementing it all. The intended and unintended consequences of all this bolloks is still with us.
It seems to me Salmond is the only one with and sense of strategy.
Is there any likelihood that Swinney might use his former colleague.
Other than that I really don’t see continuity cutting it and disaster ahead.
robertknight
Mr. Cairns has a store, link to cairnstoon.com Alas, this one is not for sale – yet.
Another two-years of the tail wagging the dog as the Greens will force their sick policies on us, and if the SNP don’t comply the Greens will remove their confidence vote.
Meanwhile Swinney who is as big a serial failure as Yousaf was, wants lots more immigration to Scotland. Swinney knows fine well that a foreign country (England) controls who can and cannot move to Scotland, we Scots have no say in who can just up sticks and move to Scotland.
“First Minister-elect John Swinney wants more immigrants to solve the worker shortage crisis caused by Brexit.
John Swinney said his number one ask from Westminster is extra powers for Holyrood to stimulate economic growth by increasing the population.”
The English government will say to Swinney look we’re trying to deport foreigners (Rwanda) not allow them in, so shut the f*ck up, meanwhile the constant tide of English folk crossing into Scotland unabated will continue to put tremendous pressure on our public services which are already at breaking point thanks to Sturgeon/Yousaf and now more than likely Swinney.
The Greens and their SNP lackeys have achieved great results as a body. There are now more Unionists than there’s ever been. Unionism is now on the ascendant. Nationalism is paedophilia.
We’re on the road to Noncewhere….
So West Dunbartonshire authority is the latest authority to declare a housing emergency, and what does the heir apparent to the SNP throne (soon to be coronated) John Swinney think about this, well he finger points and blames Westminster for it.
The same old tired shit from the same old tired people the next two-years of Swinney as FM are going to be tedious as f*ck.
“John Swinney has blamed a “hostile” UK Government for SNP ministers slashing spending on affordable housing in Scotland.
The former deputy minister today launched his campaign to succeed Humza Yousaf and become the next First Minister.
His speech in Edinburgh came just hours after West Dunbartonshire became the fifth local authority north of the Border to declare a housing emergency – meaning the council can’t meet demand for affordable accommodation.”
The thought of actually achieving independence which would free up all the levers of power and cash a government needs to help its people won’t even enter this b*stards mind.
Republicofscotland
Exactly.
“No you can’t have gender woo self ID”
“No you can’t have rights for children”
“No you can’t have uncontrolled immigration”
“No you can’t have a referendum”
At what point do we think these morons will realise they have numerous mandates & a majority in WM to LEAVE this rancid union?! We seem cursed by fcking eejits begging another country for handouts & favours while they collect mandates to gather dust..
Chris, you make Harvie look far too much like himself, whereas in fact he looks more like Himmler. Must do better.
Mark Beggan
Wrong.
The adults in the room know that all this bullshit has “made in Britain” all over it. They’re famous for it. Divide & conquer.
Support is only 4% behind without even a campaign in sight.
I’m not clued up on the housing crisis but councils need to stop selling land to developers.
“Affordable housing” my arse. Cheapest new build round my parts is £350k
An ad running on tube has Jordanhill homes from £350k to a million smackeroonies LOL..wtf?
Do you notice anything?
I see a lot of people blaming the Greens for the gender policies, but isn’t it true that Sturgeon and the SNP were on the way down that rabbit hole anyway? Isn’t it true that the SNP had introduced gender politics to schools and the public sector long before the BHA?
Anyway, Penny’s rebuttal here about members of the SNP being put in the back of police cars is worth a laugh; link to youtube.com
“Do you notice anything?”
Just the usual attendees at the the Esoteric Order of Devolutions’s May Day revival, of which one was so overcome with emotion and religious fervour she couldn’t bring herself to hold her sign the correct way up. DOH!
It occurs than none of the 4 have children.
Chris’s clever cartoon says more than a thousand words ever could.
His talent has inspired me to produce this wee bit of nonsense.
This is for you, James Che, in the sincere hope it might induce a chuckle or two and lighten yer load a wee bittie:
The original song lyrics are a tad cleverer than my version.
Mel Brooks, Zero Mostel, and Gene Wilder in ‘The Producers’ knew how to use humour to bring tyrants down a peg or two.
RoS @11:01
“Another two-years of the tail wagging the dog as the Greens will force their sick policies on us, and if the SNP don’t comply the Greens will remove their confidence vote.”
The sad thing here is it really needn’t be the case- there’s,what, 8 greens? Surely there are 9 votes which could be coaxed from any of the other 3 parties! Minority government working properly would surely focus on policy which is immediately beneficial to the public, and crucially carries cross-party support. Any bumps can be ironed out with some debate, concessions and compromise. The public feels the benefit, sees politics functioning better, wins all round. Bosh!
One barrier to John Sharpie doing this is the SNP have become too used to being able to batter through any old shit they (and their coalition partners) want to, and are now entrenched and hopelessly committed to these harmful, expensive and unpopular vanity projects to do anything else.
Excellent work.
@Robert, over in Ireland the Minister For Children is a childless gay man who appears to hate the Irish and wishes to see them replaced. His predecessor was a childless gay woman who wasn’t even Irish and when caught being creative with her expenses went back to the US to work on the Biden 2020 campaign.
With regard to Swinney demanding greater immigration to offset the queering of Scottish children, sorry, Brexit, he recently said that the phrase It’s Ok To Be White has no place in Scotland. As someone who is politically homeless it looks as if the lot of them are at war with the populace of Western nations.
My niece is coming over from Switzerland but she has a cold so fearing it could be Covid symptoms she attended her Swiss doctor to see if she was OK to travel. When she said where she was going the doctor said “Oh no! Scotland is really in the shit right now. It’s mad. Are you sure you want to go”!!
We used to be respected as a nation but between the SNP and these perverts in the Greens we are obviously now seen as a third world basket case!! It used to be a joke but it won’t be long until Africa is arranging a massive music festival to raise money for us!
Great cartoon Chris!
O/T: AUOB is reporting that 5000 people came to the march. That’s a lot better than the BiS one but not as many as I hoped – a sign perhaps that most Yessers can’t see any hope on the horizon due to the SNP’s failings.
However 5000 is enough to boost Liberation.scot signature numbers, spread the AyeApp around, and collect enough nomination signatures for Graeme McCormick’s SNP Leadership candidacy, I hope.
“One barrier to John Sharpie doing this is the SNP have become too used to being able to batter through any old shit they (and their coalition partners) want to, and are now entrenched and hopelessly committed to these harmful, expensive and unpopular vanity projects to do anything else.”
Borwiskels.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the above, the arrangement allows the security for the SNP to force through polices that would otherwise fall in the chamber. Though it would appear some within the SNP rejoiced at the dissolving of the (BHA) it seems that now Yousaf is gone the supply and confidence votes of the Greens is back on the agenda, lets not forget that some SNP MSPs actually back Green policies no matter how unpopular they are to the public in general.
The SNP/Green bump in the road has now been overcome and they will probably return to identity politics instead of bread and butter policies, such as housing, the NHS, education, jobs etc, and of course independence the last item allows the government (if achieved) to have all the powers to make them better, and to make other public services better for Scots.
“At what point do we think these morons will realise they have numerous mandates & a majority in WM to LEAVE this rancid union?”
Geri.
They know the above fine well, but they put career and party and even the stability of the union before Scots and independence.
The SNP’s entire raison d’être is/was to achieve Scottish independence, that I’m afraid is now gone, it has been replaced by careerists grifters who put self-interest and party interest ahead of independence.
The younger MSPs coming through appear to be the same, in effect it now looks like the SNP is a rolling party for careerist grifters to come through and make loads of cash as long as they spout positive things about independence without actually doing much about it. The Greens are the same though with far more insane policies, which they hide behind using Green issues to mask their true intentions.
Kevin Cargill @ 2:36 pm
“it won’t be long until Africa is arranging a massive music festival to raise money for us!”
Yes, colonial plunder of our wealth makes Scotland the poorest country in north-west Europe:
link to yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com
They say that ONLY cockroaches will survive a nuclear holocaust, meet our very own Scottish (well 2 of them at least) cockroaches, the other 2 should be sent back from whence they came to produce their own poison
Bortwhisle 12.45pm irrespective of the green poison cockroaches what you have to realise is that every one of these other cockroaches in HR FORCED through the GRRB and the HCA against the overwhelming opposition of the electorate, NONE of these parties had anything about self id in their manifestos,so the whole of HR is GUILTY
SO Mr Sharpie does a press conference mirroring Useless’s call for more immigrants and at the same time more cooncils are declaring a housing EMERGENCY yet no PRESSTITUTE at said conference had the intelligence to put 2 and 2 together and show Mr Sharpie up for the CLOWN that he is by asking him where they were going to stay
Fabulous toon Chris
Politically the most dangerous party in Scotland, and if these other parties had a gain of common sense they’d distance themselves from the greens.
@twathater, in the small print of the building of student accommodation there are in some cases Change Of Use clauses in the event of say a climate emergency. An advertorial from yesterdays Herald.
link to archive.ph
When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right.
Victor Hugo
The dictatorship of the wokeriat, despite the rearranging of furniture, is still a fact.
Alex Salmond attended the AUOB march today in Glasgow, but John Swinney who has spouted about uniting the indy movement was nowhere to be seen.
Seriously, anyone who still votes SNP is a complete numpty and lost cause. They simply are not interested in Independence. Oh yes, they have lots of fine carrots – rotting in the field until the next need for promise, then off we go again. We need to vote them all out, everyone of the complete wastes of space and consign them, their fantasy politics and green fleas to the wastebin where they belong. Recycled? Yes but perhaps as green bottles to sit on a wall. The rest of us need to move on and find a better way to liberate (hint) our country. SNP is no longer a dead parrot, perhaps a dead carrot? Certainly nothing to do with Independence.
From the Westminster careerist and grifter Mhairi Black.
“FIRSTLY, I want to thank Humza Yousaf for his service to our country and for always putting the people of Scotland first.”
By the above Black at least hasn’t lost her sense of humour, could Black be a comedian in disguise?
“As the SNP now looks for a new leader, I am glad John Swinney has decided to throw his hat into the ring.
He has dedicated his entire life to serving the public and the cause for independence.”
Going by the above couple of sentences the answer is yes, infact the entire SNP is now just one big joke.
Alex Salmond was on our colonial news programme (STV news) talking about the AUOB march that he attended today and Swinney didn’t.
Asked if he thought Swinney could unite the indy movement (as he said he would) and deliver independence Salmond said he (Swinney) would need to light a fire in his belly for independence. Salmond is forever the eternal optimist, me I see Swinney as another Sturgeon continuity FM who’ll guard the party’s dirty secrets, and dangle the indy carrots to garner votes, and most of all secure the status quo.
As for Black fawning over Yousaf and now Swinney, she’s an arse licker at best, we once had high hopes for her but they days are now truly gone.
Labour’s Sadiq Khan makes history.
“Sadiq Khan today became the first politician to be elected Mayor of London for a third term. He trounced his Tory counterpart, receiving more than one million votes, compared to rival Susan Hall’s 811,000.
The Labour representative has won praise for introducing free school meals for all primary school pupils in London, but has faced controversy for his expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).”
His dozy opponent shot herself in the foot.
“The Conservatives have faced criticism over the decision to put up Ms Hall as their candidate. The former Harrow Council leader supported Donald Trump and expressed “deep joy” at Liz Truss’ mini-Budget.
Campaigners raised concerns about her suitability to be mayor after footage emerged of her suggesting the Black community has “problems with crime”.
It also emerged she had liked a social media post picturing Enoch Powell with the caption, “It’s never too late to get London back!”. Nobody has previously been elected for a third term as London Mayor.”
It makes you wonder if Alex Salmond can use Swinney. After all, Master and servant, Alex may well know which buttons to push.
Here’s hoping.
One word, Freeports. Why is this not screaming out as the central issue we face. Where is Kate Forbes on this, silly question? The rest of the woowoosnp brigade? Where is Alec Salmond and Alba? The lot of them are fiddling, with stringed instruments or fingers in the till, while the brit state torches everything. How long until they frack, not long, and what will we all do – hand wringing apart, any answers?
Surely somebody in the cartoon should be holding up a placard saying “White Privilege”?
As for Khan’s Londonistan, it’s about time it declared Independence.
Whether we end up talking about rUK, or rEngland, everybody outside of the third world shithole that is Londonistan will be better off when it’s gone.
As somebody was pointing out just the other day, Londonistan was dragged oot of the EU against its will!
Swinney was part of the inner circle. By God he knows all the dirty secrets. He stood by and let Salmond be trashed by that woman. He can rot in hell as far as I am concerned. He is a fraud and a chameleon. But worst of all. Doesn’t have a loyal bone in his body.
As for the current SNP members. They are mentally unwell. They are all over social media defending Sturgeons legacy. It’s a pitiful sight.
How eerily appropriate that every time I see Mr Swiney I have this mental image of him as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s Childcatcher.
Bananas & Nutella anyone ?
@RepublicOfScotland 11:01
The WM government is trying to stop grifters and criminals who can’t get into the country any other way from illegally drifting across the sea and pretending to be asylum seekers.
I’m all for it. Whether Scotland remains in the U.K., or becomes independent, the first task of our government will always be to protect our border and ensure our citizens are not put at the mercy of an invasion of criminals, dealers and benefits gougers. Don’t agree? Take it up with one of the knife wielding nutters never out of the news.
600,000 extra people arrived in the U.K. legally in the last year. That’s more than enough. We don’t need the illegal boat people too.
As for seeking extra Scottish powers to grow our Scottish economy, the wasters in HR already have all they need. Reduce the income tax rate North of the border and investment, jobs and prosperity will follow. And so will the immigrants, of all colours, ScotGov wants.
Big Jock. 8.28pm.
I have always admired Alex Salmond for his intellect and optimism when he was up against it. But with various people now coming out with stories about how vicious and nasty Sturgeon was, even in the early days of her career at Hollyrood, I can’t understand how Salmond didn’t know of her reputation. Were they really all so afraid of her that they were frightened to say anything? Or was he told and chose to ignore them?
We are all paying a very high price now for Sturgeon ever getting power. As Alf Baird says at 3.52pm Scotland is now the “poorest country in north-west Europe”. All thanks to Sturgeon and Westminster.
Harvie, can ye no awa and crawl back behind yer stump coz naebody’s interested in dancing to yer tune anymore.
J-Cut & Kolt Siewerts – The Flute Tune (Soulpride Remix)
link to youtube.com
– really disturbing video there, Dan, I hope you didn’t find it on the dark web.
Robin McAlpine is on the Alex Salmond show, worth a look.
BTW – Robin McAlpine has a really nice study, classy, bright, stylish furniture, a wall of books; the place of a thinking man, of means. Maybe he puts the old pizza boxes and porn stash -behind- the camera, a handy tip. Didn’t some artist create an “installation” out of her un-made bed?
I hope youzall have applied for the post of assistant to La Sturgeon, the job ad been going round the media; top tip, identify (if male) as a “trans-bian” at interview; if asked about something on your CV say “I don’t recall” and “not in my recollection, as far as I know”. To bag the job say “I am a stickler for details and always keep the receipts”, also
“who is this Stuart Campbell anyway?”
would go a long way.
Interests should include golf (LPGA), kd lang and virginia woolf.
John. Let’s be honest she fooled most of us. So maybe understandable that Salmond fell for her snake oil as well.
She is a narcacist. One thing we know about them is that they can turn on the charm like a tap. They can manipulate,fake empathy and brainwash the gullible. The majority of current SNP members are still defending her. Despite the damning evidence. The arrests,the missing funds, no referendum, collapse in opinion polls, rejected gender policies.
This is deep state stuff. The cult members need de programed like Jason Bourne.
Robin McAlpine:” I believe the biggest barrier to independence is now the SNP”. Pretty much what we all agree on.
Never mind, after Brentford and Fulham we will get Scottish Fitba at near midnight.
Was at Pittodrie today and Dons should have scored 3 or 4. But very glad for a win and safety from relegation. Hope Stu is happy like all other Dons fans
Just read Robin McAlpine’s post, true but quite depressing.
This link might not work (youtube) but it’s Scotland Speaks – with Alex Salmond – this morning, Sat 4th May and includes that extended interview with Robin McAlpine. Robin explains why independence will now have to happen via the community, not parliament. As Big Jock says, it won’t happen with the SNP. Well worth watching for insight into what’s going on.
Next Saturday’s show was recorded at the AUOB march & rally today. Real camaraderie there today and good to see a turnout easily over double the recent BiS turnout. Some great stalls there too, including SALVO.
youtu.be/8NsJmmneJXw?feature=shared
Big Jock
4 May, 2024 at 8:28 pm
“Swinney was part of the inner circle. He is a fraud and a chameleon. But worst of all. Doesn’t have a loyal bone in his body.”
He is an accountant, what else would you expect from him?
Robin reckons starting at rock bottom it will take 3 years to convince people of independence. But he notes the SNP haven’t reached rock bottom yet. They have somehow managed a new low, and will keep going down under Swinney.
So for every year the SNP spin this out. Add 1 year onto the project. Essentially we are going to have to wait a decade to lose Holyrood power, get it back then start an indi campaign. Probably in 2033.
The SNP faces a perfect storm unlike anything any political party has faced in the UK before. Even if you leave out the investigations and the Salmond court case, the trajectory they are on is cataclysmic.
The dilemma they suffer through association with the Greens sums it up. If they try and disassociate, they run the risk of being forced into a Holyrood election sooner rather than later. If they don’t distance themselves from the Greens, they’ll be more severely punished in the UK General election and the Scottish election when it happens.
There’s no way out of this that is good. Swinney’s honeymoon period will be short lived — he will be in crisis within weeks – and in the background we can guess that their financial position is truly dire, with a top heavy party structure that they can’t afford and collapsing membership.
And why should we leave out the investigations and the Salmond court case? They own all that, just as they own the failures in every department of government, the stupid policies, the ferries debacle, and everything else.
Crap policies and a history of failure is nothing new in politics. Normally a party goes away for a few years, lets some other party fuck everything up for a while, then comes back pretending the sun is shining out of its ass again…
But these investigations and the Salmond court case introduce uncertainties that are likely to make the SNP fall from grace uniquely devastating. You might say there’s a high level of entropy in play but as a rule of thumb, the more entropy there is in a given system, the harder it is to predict the amount of chaos that will ensue.
Nobody is ready for the storm that’s coming, not even the hardened cynics in here.
Haha, I’m ready.
The high-end professional politicos will mostly go off to well-paying sinecures in various quangos and think tanks, or lobbying roles in business. The Scottish “blob” will have plenty of vacancies ready for them, and why not? The PP’s will be devoting the next two years to setting these up and making the funding streams unassailable.
One or two of the bigger names might take some high-profile knocks, but I’m confident it “won’t be in the public interest” to harry them too closely. Jail time? Naw.
As for the smaller fry of the “Oor Kirsty” stamp, a lifetime on the sick and benefits awaits, just as it would have done if they had never gone into politics in the first place. They enjoyed their days in the sun, and they’ll have lots of tales to bore the grandkids with. They’ll survive. I wouldn’t lose any sleep.
@Hatuey
Wonderful, isn’t it? The SNP’s impending annihilation – not merely a bad election defeat or banishment to the political wilderness for a few years but total and complete ANNIHILATION – is truly wonderful and so very richly deserved. I for one will enjoy it immensely, and I suspect many others will as well.
I might pop into WGD when it does.
The barrier to independence is HOLYROOD, to that end it was established by Westminster as a means of control.
Holyrood is just one of many examples of «parliamentary democracy» chat rooms the AngloBritish set up in their possessions. In virtually every case independence came from extra parliamentary activity at the popular grass roots where authentic democracy resides.
At long last some are becoming aware of the hard reality that independence is not in the gift of the established political class and its representatives.
Independence can now only happen when the SNP are off the scene. Some will have to be dragged kicking and screaming to a new party and movement.
The SNP rump that is left, are not for turning. They still think the woman that burned the history of the SNP was a good leader!!
There is no helping the mentally disturbed I am afraid. I don’t have any answers for how we save Scotland. I am not entirely confident about our future. But I know the SNP are now the enemy of all of us who want independence. So we can only begin to hope again once they are no more.
Popped on to Wings to read about the success of the ‘Big Merch’ yesterday but hardly a peep. Maybe because the turn out was so poor.
I think it is fair to say that most sane, educated Scots are simply fed up with the whole charade of Scottish politics.The lack of comments reflects this. The UK as a whole is exactly the same.
Nothing is going to change for years, especially in Scotland and Independence is simply a pipe dream no matter what the Wings stalwarts on here write, ad nauseam.
Don’t blame me. Blame the fools who continually voted SNP for years. Amazingly, some will still do just that expecting change. How can anyone even think that with John Superman Swinney in charge? All the SNP heavy weights, in reality fly weights, promising their loyalty and lining up to support him hoping for a well paid position.
Uncomfortable times for all right now and in the near future, unless of course you are on the gravy train.
What do we want-INDEPENDENCE
When do we want it-NOW
Who will form a competent, honest Government-DOES IT MATTER!!
TURABDIN
Hollyrood was set up by Labour, not Westminster.
We’re about to see an historic swing back to Labour at WM, and also at HR. The latter suggests to me that plenty of Scots are more than happy with the place, it’s just the wrong people are currently squatting there.
Otherwise I agree with you. Indy remains the process by which a majority of Scots becomes convinced that the only solution to what ails them and Scotland is lack of self determination.
It remains clear to me that for every Scot who wants Indy and nothing else, there’s 100 Scots who actually want something else, but have carpet bagged on Indy temporarily in pursuit of their prime objective, whatever that might be. The resultant herd of cats running in all directions is what has brought Indy down this time around.
Will history repeat? If the carpet baggers aren’t ruthlessly expelled I expect it will.
The Norstat poll in the Sunday Times divines a roadmap to annihilation for the SNP.
First stop, the reduction to 15 MPs in the impending Westminster GE. This would reduce the allocation of British state, Short money from £1.3m pa to c. £520k pa.
Second stop (destination?), Labour becoming the largest party in Holyrood 2026. The Norstat numbers would have the Unionist block holding 81 seats against a (notionally) Nationalist block of 48 seats.
Even this assumes the SNP would be in a position to effectively contest the election in 2026. Without the Short money the SNP will be bankrupt.
How would SNP “Sevco” fair?
Hatey McHateface 9:32
OK, it was Labour at Westminster with home rule oriented Scots backing the idea. However from my research it did seem intended to put a brake on fundamental Scottish nationalist ambitions to dissolve the Union; a cut of doctored meat to throw to the ravenous.
The SNP then began its slow slipping away from that fundamental principle to being a respectable «devolution must be made to work» party and attracting «soft» elements who were not actually nationalist in their thinking.
The future is nationalist, unalloyed. A nationalism that is prepared to make an enemy of the British state its supporters and agencies and enjoy the experience.
The founders of the SNP who had imagination and guts would understand that.
Sorry to say, but the Indy movement has nothing – and no one to blame – but themselves here. Sure, no doubt the shadowy hand of the British State will have been at play, but they can’t do everything and they can’t perform miracles. Ultimately, if the overwhelming will of the Scots people was for independence, there’s nothing that they – or anyone else – could do to stop it.
That this populist groundswell doesn’t exist (nothing like in fact) is instructive of itself. First off, the case for independence simply hasn’t been adequately made, whatever the diehards here or elsewhere suggest. For the grownups and stakeholders, they want – nay demand – more than vapid platitudes and slogans, where’s the balance sheet?
Also, what about Scotland’s would be leaders, the current crop of homegrown politicians? Complete and utter numpties AT BEST – or worse. Much worse. Would you entrust your future to the likes of them?
There are uncomfortable home truths for the Indy crowd to consider, right enough. For them, it’s going to be a very long term project and rebuild. The first step is to even acknowledge the nature and scope of the problem and the consequent unravelling.
Another nice one Chris says it all.
Just listened to Swinney on BBC Shortbread.
He’s definitely not going to get us Independence. He’s Corporal Jones, telling us not to panic and carry-on. However, unlike the bold butcher, he is not going to gerrit up them, because they don’t like it.
Swinney is in there to hold the fort, keep the snouts in the trough for as long as possible. I reckon the thought of Independence and having to make all the hard decisions, scares Swinney and the troughers shitless.
He wants another referendum, which he well knows, after 2014 Westminster will never again allow.
I read McCormick is planning on running.
There was a time I would have said no, stability first and pull the movement together but now I am afraid if only one thing and that us continuity.
I am sure McCormick will not help but it will lance the boil.
Did “Minister for Independence” Jamie Hepburn attend yesterday’s AUOB march.
And what about Kelly Given, did she manage to take a few hours out of her busy holiday taking schedule to be there.
“I’m all for it. Whether Scotland remains in the U.K., or becomes independent, the first task of our government will always be to protect our border and ensure our citizens are not put at the mercy of an invasion of criminals, dealers and benefits gougers. Don’t agree? Take it up with one of the knife wielding nutters never out of the news.”
Main or whoever you are.
Utter pish, the English Home office allows in to the UK whomever it sees fit at the time in a political sense, such as Afghans who have sold their country out, or those vile people from that Eastern European nation. Meanwhile the FCO props up some of the most evil regimes in the world in the ME.
How Sturgeon and the Sturgeonistas brought down Yousaf, and any deal with Alba.
“Nicola Sturgeon was in talks with senior SNP ministers as Humza Yousaf was forced out of his job by those who feared Alex Salmond could seize back control of the SNP.
Even before the First Minister had taken the decision to resign, power brokers within the party were lining John Swinney up to take over.
plans were hatched three days before the FM quit to replace him with Swinney
– Ex FM Nicola Sturgeon called the Greens in a bid to convince them to drop their support for a no confidence motion and was talking to other senior SNP figures during the crisis.
– SNP ministers cheered and thumped the table when the Greens were sacked from government.
-Westminster leader Stephen Flynn lobbied for the Greens to be jettisoned and is keen to be SNP leader if lose his seat in the House of Commons.
A senior government source said: “The question you need to ask is who is in control of the SNP if its not the leader of the party and the answer is Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney, Angus Robertson, Ian Blackford, Liz Lloyd and a small but influential group bonded by their absolute antipathy towards Alex Salmond and determination to block him gaining any influence.
And senior sources have confirmed Yousaf’s fate was sealed by Sturgeon loyalists who were thrown into a blind panic after it emerged he was arranging to meet with Alba’s Ash Regan.
“Swinney has been talking about unity but the truth is that for personal reasons these people will never find common ground with the Salmond wing of the party which wants to drop gender based identity politics and the Green Party, and return to sharp focus on the economy, public services and independence.”
“Yousaf had to go and Kate Forbes also had to be stopped because she would never have been able to work with the Greens and so would also have been likely to team up with Regan, of whom she is a friend.
“Swinney was seen as the only candidate to keep her out and take over the reigns for a couple of years, take the general election hit, and then let a proper leadership race take place further down the line.”
“I think it is fair to say that [many] sane, educated Scots…” were at yesterday’s march & rally and have a pretty good idea of what’s what.
Re my previous comment a here’s the link.
link to archive.is
Oops hold the bus we might have a challenger to Swinney’s coronation.
“An SNP activist is making a bid to challenge John Swinney to become leader of the party.
Graeme McCormick believes he can gather enough nominations from party branches to trigger a contest.In 2007 the former lawyer from Arden near Loch Lomond almost beat Labour’s Jackie Baillie to become MSP for Dumbarton.
He has campaigned on land and tax reform and is an outspoken critic of Nicola Sturgeon’s focus on gender politics.Anyone who can gather 100 signatures, including from 20 different branches, can trigger a leadership race.
At last year’s SNP conference he described the SNP led Scottish Government as “flatulence in a trance”.”
With freeports in mind.
“A billionaire tax exile accused of failing to maintain one of Scotland’s main ferry terminals banked a £22 million dividend from his ports empire last year.
CalMac interim CEO Duncan Mackison has warned a lack of investment by Peel Ports at Ardrossan had left it in a dilapidated condition meaning many sailings to Arran have had to depart from Troon.
Peel Ports is controlled by John Whittaker, 82, an Isle-of-Man based businessman who took control of 450 square miles of docks, shipyards and waterways in the West of Scotland in the early 1990s.
The Isle of Man-based tycoon has been accused of blocking the development of key industrial assets like the huge Inchgreen dry dock, in Greenock, which was built with public money in the 1960s but has been largely mothballed for decades.
The Peel Group, 68 per cent of which is owned by the Whittaker family, owns 37.6 per cent of Peel Ports, which entitles them to around £22million.
Campaigners and politicians have reacted with fury to our revelations and demanded key Scottish ports and shipyards and returned to public ownership.”
The SNP has abandoned the independence movement for their own financial priorities which, in the absence of alternative sources, necessitate that the gears of the party machine be lubricated via its Westminster funds.
They will pay lip service to any who challenge their glacial pace on the constitution with a nod to Theresa May’s “now is not the time”, when in reality their financial position will point to there never being a right time – the continuation of the status quo (devolution) and it’s associated financial stream being paramount to secure the party’s future.
Placing the constitution to one side, the SNP under Sturgeon’s dead hand has seen a catalogue of failures visited upon Scotland in practically every aspect of daily life upon which Holyrood has influence. Sturgeon and her acolytes have given a masterclass in how to sacrifice a political party to minority interests, how to use a corrupted judiciary and civil service to destroy the reputation of any who may challenge you, and how to govern a country by fostering disillusionment with its institutions and sowing discord within society.
It’s time for new sang…
“Independence for Scotland! SNP Out!”
How on earth could Salmonds ‘seize back control ‘ of the Party? He has ceased to be a member
Wouldn’t it be ironic if we gained more power with SLAB in charge at Holyrood and London! It would show how useless all those SNP MPs have been at WM.
Good to see Alex Salmond ,Kenny McAskill and other Alba members.
Robin McAlpine and Eva Comrie spoke well as did the Friends of Palestine chap. Couldn’t stay long but reckon about 2 – 3 thousand folk there which on a bank holiday was OK.
Interestingly I would say most were of my vintage – auld!
Saw one of the best tank jobs ever on one of the YES bikers steed!
socrates macsporran @ 10:20 am
“He’s definitely not going to get us Independence.”
He is not alone. The sad fact is, nobody among the ‘legal tendency’ elite (i.e. Imperial power dependent, S30 etc) within the dominant national party is ever ‘going to get us independence’.
Why is this so? As postcolonial theory confirms:
“Colonialism uses different types of native to gain its ends and the first of these are the traditional collaborators – chiefs, caids and witch doctors. Colonialism secures for itself the services of these confidential agents by pensioning them off at a ransom price (and) the tribe follows” (Frantz Fanon).
Nobody has sufficiently explained why it is so important that Swinney wins, why it was so important that Humza won, why the so-called “old guard” are so determined to choose who leads the SNP and, assuming they have concerns about certain historical issues coming to the fore and misgivings about how future leaders might handle those issues in terms of disclosures and protections (which everybody seems to assume), nobody has speculated as to how such an agreement might be worded, how it would work, or what exactly underpins it.
Technically we are talking about a conspiracy theory here. It is a conspiracy theory that the “old guard” is behind the scenes of the SNP manipulating events and outcomes and if you believe that, like me, you are a conspiracy theorist. So, here’s my more detailed conspiracy theory.
I believe the SNP under Sturgeon was turned, around 2017 (when PM May made an impromptu and highly secretive visit to meet Sturgeon in Glasgow). Theres almost no information on what was discussed at that meeting and what little information there is makes no sense since it’s so unimportant that it would have been more appropriate to communicate by email or over the phone rather than in person. In short, I believe the British State effectively told Sturgeon at that meeting that it had enough on her to bring her down.
Context is important in my understanding of all this (the risks associated with Brexit, the potential risks to the UK economy and Sterling, the potential risks of Scotland breaking away, everything as far the UK was concerned falling apart). For the UK government these were the gravest risks imaginable and we can assume the sabre-rattling of Sturgeon and the SNP after the Brexit referendum was of the utmost concern. It’s probably important to remind ourselves that May was head of the Home Office before becoming PM…
In my conspiracy theory, then, the British State, its tentacles in the MSM, and the SNP have been playing a complicated and deceitful game against the Scottish independence movement since around 2017, a game that continues today.
Let’s fast forward to now…
Is it possible the agreement that the “old guard” has with the UK government, to go easy on them, keep certain things under wraps, to protect them in effect, hinges on making sure the SNP leadership stays in the hands of people that can be trusted not to pursue independence with any degree of seriousness? In other words, is it possible the agreement hinges on the SNP not really pursuing independence at all in any meaningful sense, or only pursuing it in ways that impose hard limits and restrictions on how it can be pursued — i.e. the Section 30 process?
Is that why it’s so important that the leadership of the SNP stays in the right hands? Is that why BBC Scotland is so keen on Swinney and over the last few years has gone exceptionally easy on Sturgeon, Humza, etc?
There are a thousand other things that comfortably slot into this conspiracy theory, important things such as the so-called Salmond scandal, but I’d rather consider arguments and points that confound it, if anyone has any…
If my theory is correct, or even roughly correct, we can predict that the UK Government, the MSM, the judicial system snd others will go easy on the SNP over the next few months, doing everything possible to ensure the SNP survives as a useful wounded animal that absorbs votes, distracts, and confounds, rather than completely departs. We’ll see.
Republicofscotland
Ignored
says:
5 May, 2024 at 10:53 am
“Nicola Sturgeon was in talks with senior SNP ministers as Humza Yousaf was forced out of his job by those who feared Alex Salmond could seize back control of the SNP.
That one issue, the potency of Alex Salmond, or rather the Establishment’s absolute fear of it, is THE source of everything that’s gone ahem ‘wrong’ with the SNP.
I also have a sneaking suspicion that ALBA’s share of the popular vote is unnaturally low. It just doesn’t “feel” right.
While Scotland remains poised at this constitutional crossroads, contemplating Independence, it just feels very gullible of us to be trusting the Establishment to administer the whole democratic process, from franchise to the count.
For true progress, we desperately need the guile of Salmond, but in my opinion, he is wasted while acting inside the game controlled by Westminster’s rule book. That game is rigged, cover to cover, and Salmond is blunted.
ALBA has been a disappointment to me, not for it’s polling results, but way back when Alex launched ALBA, (and yes, I know it was very rough around the edges), one of his earliest references was to Scotland’s sovereign constitution and in particular, Scotland’s Community of the Realm. Do you remember?
I swear, my spine tingled listening to Salmond talking about democracy and the sovereignty of the Realm… It was “THE” missing component of the 2014 YES Campaign, and yet, to me it is, and always has been, the very essence of what sovereign Independence is all about.
Then nothing.
I don’t understand why we are playing to lose. We are the only ones playing by the rules, except not International / Constitutional Rules, but the grubby rules of the UK Establishment which has NEVER played straight with anyone.
Get this Treaty of Union dead, by any means possible. It cannot then be resurrected.
We need only win once, and it is done.
“The SNP has abandoned the independence movement for their own financial priorities”
Robert Knight.
We can only hope that Operation Branchform brings down Sturgeon and her clique, which might allow Alba a chance to unite with the SNP MSPs that are left that support independence and in the process negate the Greens who are in my opinion way past saving.
See my 10.53am comment.
I tried posting this earlier but I think my incompetent inclusion of a YouTube link sent it to the Wings spam folder. I’m trying again with some modifications. My apologies if my comment shows up twice.
I made a poor parody upthread of a song from a movie.
I meant to add a link to the scene where the song is sung in the 1968 black comedy ‘The Producers’ for those who might not have seen it.
A remake (2005) starring Mathew Broderick wasn’t as good as the 1968 version, although both were written by Mel Brooks.
I haven’t added a YouTube link before so I might have messed it up and it might not work:
Springtime for Hitler – The Producers (1968)
Here’s the YouTube address in case my link above fails:
youtube.com/watch?v=ovCf9VRLnDY
The movie is based on a Broadway show going by the same name and was made just 23 years after the end of WWII. A brave gamble by Brooks at the time considering the relative freshness of the war and its horrors in the minds of the public.
Brooks cleverly focused quite a bit on the audience’s reaction to the show dance they were watching.
As an American soldier in the war, Brooks was literally taking shots at the Nazis. He carried on taking shots at them, albeit figuratively, for the rest of his career.
@George Ferguson
Seems your wish may be granted George: Alex Salmond sent out an email yesterday saying that Alba support has mushroomed in Dundee and that they will field GE candidates in both constituencies.
There may also be icing on the cake for you as rumours suggest that Salmond is considering standing in Dundee.
My enthusiasm for Alba has been on a downward trajectory for a year or so, but that could change – there’s no telling where the cards will fall if the dust ever settles on the explosion of political farce that has engulfed us (before and) since the Salmond stitch-up.
Excellent work.
All Under One Umbrella.
Seems to me some people have unrealistic expectations about Alba. It was obvious pretty early on that there was going to be no rapid or huge breakthrough. The only way that might have happened was if a significant sector of those inside the SNP had defected quickly. We might be in a very different place today if folk like Ash Regan, Joanna Cheery, Angus Brendan MacNeil and some other high profile office holders and activists had publicly defected then.
However, we are where we are. Although Big Eck may be right that sometimes things can change fast, particularly in politics, nothing in recent events in Scottish politics or in the longer history of the Scottish political scene, suggests that a black swan event is imminent.
Most of us here – whatever our other differences – can probably agree that we want the SNP either destroyed or certainly cut down to size. It is delusional however to think that we can simply snap our fingers and make them disappear, much as an Irish style 1918 IPP moment for the SNP would taste sweet.
Like it or not, we are likely to have to deal with an SNP presence as part of the movement for some considerable time. That being so, we need to ensure that we have ways to deal with them, and to ensure that they are never again in a position to exert the dominance they have enjoyed over the movement for the past 10-15 years.
Alba (or any combination of other pro-independence parties) doesn’t have to destroy or replace the SNP, it/they just have to deny the SNP a majority. Of course yoons and the Sturgeonista loyal love to point and laugh at Alba and say we’re only on a few per cent in the polls, but it won’t take that much for things to change.
A good humping for the SNP at this year’s Westminster General Election, a few more arrests and revelations about the SNP’s nefarious past, and the ongoing failure of Swinney and the Continuity Cultists to disown genderism should be a good base to build from.
We need – sadly – to accept that this isn’t going to happen quickly, but we can start preparing for the 2026 Holyrood elections knowing that change in time for them is quite feasible.
Clear, eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.
Haugtey 12.57
100% correct!
The forces against Scottish Independence are at the heart of the SNP!!
“I don’t understand why we are playing to lose. We are the only ones playing by the rules”
Breeks.
Yes its frustrating playing by the rules, but we have to been seen to be playing by them, remember the world is watching and the foreign media in Scotland (all of it) would shout loudly from the rooftops if we didn’t.
The deck is firmly stacked against us with Fifth Column parties that owe their real allegiance to a foreign countries parliament (England/Westminster) sitting at Holyrood, many Scots still back the union for one reason or another, even though there’s no actual case for the union to exist-the colonist mindset is pervasive in many Scots still.
Alba and the ISP are up against this formidable machine and it took decades for the SNP to reach where they are now, or where they were in 2014 under Salmond, and only now is information coming out provided by Salvo Liberation etc that shows the dark under belly of the unions creation and the lies that prop up this House of Cards.
Many countries have seized their independence by force, if the numbers aren’t right then it descends into civil war, and with Scotland having no military forces at all and the media controlled from down South, well you get the picture.
Sometimes you have to take a few steps back to move forward, its unfortunate but Sturgeon and her old guard clique have done such a number on Scotland that it would appear we have very little choice, we’ve lost the recent battle but not the war, as around 50% of Scots remarkably still support an independent Scotland, imagine what the number would be if we had the right people in government running the country well.
The Scottish Parliament is not a Scots parliament – it is a den of iniquity pretending to be the tail that wags the dog. Holyrood is a product of the English parliamentarian system and, as such, it is a function of Westminster. Devolution is the opposite of evolution: something constantly devolving (degenerating) into a worse state than before.
The UK system of governance is a denial of democracy, the Treaty of Union itself a denial of Scotland’s democratic will and right to self-determination. An analogy can be made with cinema: voting only changes the film being shown on the screen, which gives the appearance (illusion) of change to the audience, but the mechanism behind the projection, and the power source that causes the projection, remain unchanged. And, of course, everyone’s attention is focused on the screen. Another analogy would be Plato’s cave: only by stepping out into the light and taking charge of our own affairs will we see things as they actually are, not as they are being manipulated to appear.
The political parties utilise a classic bait-and-switch scenario: the bait is what they promise in their manifesto; the switch is what they actually deliver when they are voted into office. Liberation will not come from within the current political process – only from without. They want to keep us thinking inside the box.
A “ vassal state” is a country subject to the control of another country but not actually occupied by that country. Instead the vassal state pays tribute to the controlling entity and obeys its orders. A “ colony”, of course, is occupied and fully controlled by the colonizer.
Is there no more to our thought than a flicker on the wall?
All sat, as Plato says, trapped in our cave?
Our backs to the door, spellbound by the movie,
Dazzled by lights from on high at the end of the show?
An e corra-shùgain air balla a th’ anns ar cuid smuaine,
nar suidhe, a-rèir Plàto, cuibhrichte nar n-uaimh?
Ar cùlaibh ris an doras, fo gheasaibh ar mùbhaidh,
Na solais àrda gar dùsgadh aig deireadh na cùise?
“Nobody has sufficiently explained why it is so important that Swinney wins”
Absolutely, I totally agree. There is no appetite from the establishment to explain why, or, more importantly, to identify who the members of the cabal are.
One of the recent tweets from the Rev has a snippet of “Debate Night” where the presenter asks Neil Gray
Presenter – “Let’s try to understand that with “Neil Gray here. Humza Yousaf said “I am not willing to trade my values and principles for a deal with whomever” on the basis of their ask of competence in government, progress on independence and acceptance of the Cass Report. What was so difficult about that in terms of principles and values?”
Neil Gray – “I think that everybody knows there was more to it than that and around what we saw over the weekend demonstrated what this was all about for the ALBA party and we have also seen a demonstration…(at this point he was interrupted by the presenter)”
Presenter – “what do you mean by that?”
Neil Gray – “it is about the rehabilitation of Alex Salmond”
Presenter – “so it is about one man.”
And there we have it. The Sturgeonist cabal (and whoever/whatever is controlling it) soiled their pants at the prospect of Alex Salmond having some sort of influence in the direction of travel of the SNP.
We all know what Mr Salmond pursues: Scotland’s independence.
This leaves one thinking that the only credible explanation for such move was that the cabal were desperate to stall progression of Independence, and they had somewhat identified Mr Salmond as the prime target to stop it.
The immediate two questions the oleaginous Gray should have been asked are:
Why does Mr Salmond need rehabilitation when he was acquitted of all charges?
Why is the rehabilitation of those who facilitated the false accusations against him and potential peversion of justice not being stopped in the same measure?
In my view, there is only one possible conclusion from this, and that is that since Sturgeon took control of the party, the SNP cabal has been following one mission and one mission only: to stop Mr Salmond having any form of control over the SNP MP majority and the pro-indy majority in HOlyrood, because that would be the fastest way to stop independence.
The BE, USA and Israel are among those with the highest interest in derailing Scotland’s independence, therefore there is no doubt in my mind the arseholes in the cabal have been actively helping those entities to stop independence.
“Technically we are talking about a conspiracy theory here”
We may be called “conspiracy theorists”, Hatuey, but we know we are not. The only thing we are doing is watching the evidence that is in front of our eyes and extracting the most logical conclusion from it. That is no conspiracy. That is common sense.
There are two ways of looking through the kaleidoscope. That the party of government is acting by default on the best interests of Scotland is just an assumption. But choosing as starting point that the party of government is by default working against the interests of Scotland is as valid an assumption.
So, if you take this latter assumption, which is the one I am taking since 19 Sep 2014, then the ones how look like conspiracy theorists are those who are constantly churning increasingly gravity-defying verbal acrobatics, like Mr Gray did in that programme, to justify, within the context the SNP is still a party of independence, the wrongful actions of the SNP leadership, since Sturgeon took over.
It is not us who has to explain ourselves, but rather those who insist in demanding from us blind faith and that we continue to keep our eyes and ears closed and ignore the evidence.
“I believe the SNP under Sturgeon was turned, around 2017 (when PM May made an impromptu and highly secretive visit to meet Sturgeon in Glasgow)”
I agree with you on this as well. I am of the opinion that the second visit from Theresa May to Scotland in 2017 was to cut a deal.
May visited Scotland in July 2016 “Theresa May visits Scotland to press case for ‘special union'” (the Guardian, 15 July 2016). This was in my opinion to open negotiations.
13 March 2017, Sturgeon announced intention to seek a S30 and the SNP launched the crowfunder for Indyref.
In my opinion this was political posturing from Sturgeon to force the hand of the BE.
27 March 2017 Theresa May visited Scotland again:
“Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon meet ahead of Article 50” (BBV News, 27 March 2017).
This is the point where, in my opinion, a deal was agreed.
18 April 2017 May calls a general election:
“Theresa May calls for UK general election on 8 June”
18 April 2017
In my opinion, during that meeting, calling an early GE was discussed and one of the main objectives of this was to remove Mr Salmond from Westminster and to thin down the SNP representation in WEstminster.
The fact that STurgeon continued to deny that a vote for the SNP was a vote for independence, makes me think the thinning down of the SNP in WEstminster was part of the deal.
More things hint towards this:
May 2017 – “Leader Patrick Harvie hints that supporters should postpone push for independence and focus on stopping Tory landslide – The Scottish Green leader has urged supporters to consider a tactical vote for Labour or the Liberal Democrats if their candidates have a better chance of stopping the Tories” The Guardian, 19 May 2017
Focusing on the tories was just distraction.
And
May 2017 – “Ruth Davidson won’t like to admit borrowing from the SNP playbook, but there has been something almost Salmond-esque in her boasting that her party will take seats from the nationalists on June 8. Ms Davidson had already predicted a Portillo moment in Moray, the home of SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson, but now seems to think that Gordon is within her grasp” The Scotsman, 9 May 2017.
It was obvious both Mr Salmond and Robertson had already been ticketed for eviction. This is bizarre. None of them were leaders of the party, Sturgeon was. It does not make sense to target Mr Salmond and not Sturgeon for tactical voting unless sturgeon was already on their side and Salmond being the biggest threat to the BE in terms of capability to mobilise the absolute majority of MPs towards independence. That Mr Salmond’s seat and not Sturgeon’s was targeted for tactical voting to me hints towards his eviction from Westminster being very much a calculated and planned for move.
13 June 2017 – The SNP drops the fundraiser- this hints to the fundraiser having fulfilled its purpose, which was not indyref at such, but creating the illusion of it for political posturing.
13 July 2017 – “Alex Salmond reveals he will stand again in future election” The National, 13 july 2017
I think this was the turning point that set Mr Salmond’s faith. In my opinion this was the point when the emergency smearing plan against him was deployed. The targetting of Mr Salmond’s seat with tactical voting was clean. Left no trace. This contrasts with the incredibly dirty way the complaints procedure was deployed leaving footprints and waste everywhere. That points, in my opinion, to a rushed fire-fighting operation rather than a carefully planned one.
31 October 2017 – “Ministers order a review of the Scottish government’s “policies and processes for addressing inappropriate conduct”
This was the excuse used to target Mr Salmond. But one that had more holes than a sieve and that left the culprits fighting to keep the lid down ever since.
To me, that all these events above are linked is so obvious that I see as conspiracy theorists those who attempt to deny it.
I am sure that, like me, you had a look at Sturgeon’s speeches before and after that second visit from May and noticed a change in tone towards brexit and towards independence. It got much softer.
In my personal opinion, taking Mr Salmond out of Westminster was always part of the plan. Announcing his intention to stand for a Holyrood seat in 2017 mixed with his increasing popularity through his programme in RT is what sentenced his faith. The fact that the SNP, civil servants and the crown office were involved on this directly or indirectly, suggests not only collusion but an active role from the BE.
It is my opinion that whatever deal Sturgeon agreed to in exchange for stopping independence, has not been delivered yet. I always thought this would be some form of FFA. This would explain why the entire SNP has been so, so apathetic about progressing independence and felt so relaxed as if their work had been already done. I am also of the opinion that, whatever is to be delivered in exchange for sacrificing the SNP, has been working its way in the background and will be delivered when labour is in power.
I am convinced Sturgeon offered Scotland as the sacrificial lamb to the BE at some point in 2014, so the UK elites could have their brexit, but completed the stabbing of Scotland in the back in 2017.
I am also of the opinion that the 2016 election mandate with indyref should there be a change in circumstances was designed as a a political threat against the BE rather than as a commitment towards Scotland. The wording was in line with the Vienna Convention.
I am of the opinion that the seeking of the S30 order in March 2017 or the fundraiser for indyref where not serious and just just political posturing designed to fool voters.
I am also of the opinion the GE2017 was agreed with STurgeon and had as one of its agreed objectives to eject Mr Salmond from his seat.
It is obvious to me Sturgeon never pursued independence. There are records already in 2015, the day after the GE, hinting at Sturgeon and Johnson considering negotiating a deal:
“At an event hosted by the think-tank Reform Scotland, Ms Sturgeon said she had not had many dealings with Mr Johnson, who is widely expected to be the next Prime Minister.
But she recalled walking beside him the day after the 2015 general election, at the VE Day commemorations in London.
She said: “Boris and I walked along together and I think he said something to me like – I’m not directly quoting here for the journalists in the room – but it was something that was along the lines of, ‘So Nicola, full fiscal autonomy – does that kind of buy you guys off?’”
The context around the remarks is not clear, but Ms Sturgeon joked it would be the “starting point” of her relationship with Mr Johnson if he secures the top job. – Johnson asked Sturgeon showing Sturgeon and Johnson already ”
the Herald, 18 June 2019
FFA, rebranded as “Full fiscal responsibility” was included in the 2015 manifesto of the SNP.
However, I am of the opinion Sturgeon was dirty well before that. I cannot forget her words: “A vote for the SNP is not a vote for independence nor a vote for a referendum”. With those words, she effectively rendered the SNP worthless.
I am also one of those “conspiracy theorists” who does not believe the official 2014 ref result. I am convinced yes won, by a narrow margin, but won. It is the only way things like 2015 landslide for the SNP, Sturgeon’s infamous “a vote for the SNP is not a vote for independence nor even a vote for a referendum”, the desperate attempts by Brown and Cameron to remove from our minds the possibility of another referendum, the conspiracy against Mr Salmond and the enormous efforts the sNP continues to make today against his rehabilitation and against progression towards independence, and the de-democratisation of the SNP and ring-fencing of its membership from having any say in the direction of travel of their party, make any sense.
Andy Ellis @ 2.01pm
‘Seems to me some people have unrealistic expectations about Alba’
My expectation was that Alba would challenge SNP with all its might, highlighting at every opportunity their shortcomings, redactions, proof of Salmond’s stitch-up, and many dubious actions. Instead, Alex has focused on a strategy of coming to an arrangement, and encouraging ties with those he felt were ‘the good people’ within SNP.
Like you, I’m a founder member, but I never bought into SNP1/Alba2 and thought it was a mistake, political expediency. Gaming is playing with fire, as you well know we can never be sure with AMS/d’Hondt how this subterfuge will unfold – we have if fact been badly burned with SNP1/Green2 gaming.
There is widespread misunderstanding of how AMS/d’Hondt works and taking an objective view on voting for the same party in both constituency and regional votes would lead to the conclusion that it is the natural and proper way to attack this scam of a system.
However, 3 years on, the strategy of accommodating SNP may be over and hostilities begun, and that I welcome.
@RepublicOfScotland 10:47
Good one!
Now unlock your bedroom door. Your maw’s wanting in to hoover.
Best crack open a window too.