If France had Unionists
Posted on
May 07, 2017 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
So the French presidential election result is in. And we’re getting early reactions:
Well, those are a bit weird, aren’t they?
The tweets above are all fake, of course. That’s how hard it is to fake a tweet. But all we’ve done in all of them is substitute French names/terms for the Scottish ones that the politicians above really tweeted this week. Otherwise we’ve changed nothing.
A little bit of perspective, there. So now we’re just waiting to hear from the BBC that they’ve calculated the “notional” results from 2012 and that Le Pen has actually won.
Nicely done
Shows how ridiculous they all are
A presidential election and council election are far from the same thing.
Don’t you mean ‘Front Notional’ Rev?
Beautiful. Hilarious. And illustrates perfectly the stupidity of the real tweets.
OK that is both funny and pertinent
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/000/681/what-you-did-there-i-see-it.thumbnail.jpg
Aujourd hui, je suis Francaise. Vive Macron. Vive Sturgeon.
I wonder how they would spin a 59 seat win by the SNP?
You have to pity the poor French. Their MSM is clearly not with the project. Quelle dommage!
Mike
A blow to the SNP…or possibly “peak SNP reached”
Brilliantly made point Stu.
The unionist arguments in Scotland truly are farcical, and I sincerely hope that the media complicity in the way the local elections have been treated acts as a wake up and a motivating factor for pro independence voters and campaigners in the upcoming GE.
We really do need to get the voters out in a months time. Thank goodness for sites like this.
They have no shame and no credibility but remain in place because of the media led by the BBC, the enemy of the Scottish people.
The internet has done wonders to waken up people.
Will Saint Theresa of England and Wales censor it like Erdogan and Kim?
As for Macron, he is a neoliberal chameleon.
The French trade unions will soon be demonstrating against him.
Given the choice between Blair and Farage who would you vote for?
That is the choice the French had.
Tres bien?
Brilliant. 😀
Snigger??
Bum hurting, Rock ?
Neatly done Rev. 🙂
I protested to wicki on Friday for running with the BBC figures from the election and they now have a secondary explaination page that says this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_local_elections,_2017#Party_performance
Clearly (unlike the BBC) Wicki is a trusted source for information
However their front page still says this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_local_elections,_2017
Perhaps one of you might have a go at Wicki and suggest that the second page is actuallly more acurate than the first
It looks far more credible and should be the top page
That’s great:D There are few things better than watching the right lose and after the BBC worked so hard to help them too.
But Beeb gimps of the great Brexit Empire 2.0 zone, cheer up, you still have your fascist clown Trump, to cling on to.
O/T (Apologies Rev).
And appeal to the Orange Women of Scotland…
http://imgur.com/a/iLgCu
Haha!
The original Mundell tweet is brilliant. I see Roof retweeted some map that Edinburgh’s first preference voters etc, and what she failed to mention was in many wards the SNP had 2 or 3 candidates to the sole Unionist, but hey ho, let them bask in their ‘glory’.
If anything, this buoyancy around the Scots Tories is an asset to SNP supporters. They are now thinking they’ll take 8, 10, 12, more seats in a month’s time. They are building up expectations, and whilst they are tweeting, boasting away bout their surge or so, just let them. It’ll be all that sweeter in June when they have their second-placed victories.
Thursday’s results were hopefully a wake up call to some in the SNP and supporters. Go out and do your bit! To help us win. It’ll revitalized some straying supporters seeing those crowing Tories. Get talking to your pal, ex partner, boss, whoever voted SNP in 2015 and make sure they go out and vote SNP again.
There’s no doubt that Thursday was a success for the Conservatives, they won over a 100 seats ; but at the expense of the Labour party. The SNP vote held up incredibly solidly, and to think this was the Tories chance! This was their NO SECOND REFERENDUM chance, and they turned out ; but there wasn’t enough of them, AND, the SNP actually won the election. This was the Tory chance to tell us Yessers to GTF, and they only managed 22%.
Of course there are some concerns about individual seats within the SNP, and especially in SNP heartlands – Perthshire, Aberdeenshire where the Tories actually beat the SNP ; but let them have their false day in the sun.
Football analogies are terrible, and they remind me of Mr Murphy ex SLAB, but they are quite efficient, and if I were to sum up the past few years results by using them I’d go with
May 2015 – we won 6-0.
May 2016 – we won convincingly 4-1, with the opposition scoring a last minute consolation goal when we were asleep.
May 2017 – we won 3-1. Our opponents were up, ready and raring to go. We had just came back from a European game and still managed to beat them although we know we can play better.
Let’s see what happens in June 2017.
The BBC are in that gulping, empty feeling of things gone wrong over their coverage of the French election.
So keen to see the French go for EU leave discussions with Le Penn after their endless promotion of Farage.
Now they have realised they are stuck on this island with the Farages and nobody else is coming along with them.
74% French turn out. All I heard from BBC r4 tory news gimps was 28% low turn out, all day. What is really going on with beeb tory charlatans?
Wings Over Scotland Retweeted
Chris Conroy? @dyfl 1h1 hour ago
Chris Conroy Retweeted ChristianChristensen
France holds elections on weekends, and automatically registers all citizens. Always fight voter suppression.Chris Conroy added,
ChristianChristensenVerified account @ChrChristensen
#France’s “bad” voter turnout (74%) is 10% higher than the best US turnout in the last 20 years (64% in 2008). And 20% higher than 2016.
the Rev just retweeted this
https://twitter.com/WingsScotland?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Well I thought it was funny 🙂
Lol, the BBC news and Sky News are really struggling to hide their disappointment.
One_Scot says:
7 May, 2017 at 10:15 pm
Lol, the BBC news and Sky News are really struggling to hide their disappointment.
Imagine the bollocking Ligger Neil’s getting from uncle Rupert right about now, all the way from his $200+ million 5th Ave penthouse, NY NY.
“Rupert please, we all did what we could, everyone in the BBC put everything we had behind Le Pen, we even sent over Jim Naughty, he destroyed the Scots ref on his own, we just have to get some of our guys right in to French telly and radio, like Nic Robinson, here in tory BBC, please help us Rupert, you’re neo fascism’s greatest pin up boy, not even psychos like Dacre and Berlusconi can touch you…
Excellente!
Et merci Rev, pour m’avoir donné l’occasion de dire:
certaines choses ne changent jamais!!!
🙂 (well-chuffed with that!)
heedtracker says:
7 May, 2017 at 9:56 pm
“”74% French turn out. All I heard from BBC r4 tory news gimps was 28% low turn out, all day. What is really going on with beeb tory charlatans?””
…………………
When I looked at the BBC web site just now there was no sign of any figure for turnout but a couple of hours ago when the projected result was announced they were saying that the turnout was 65% but that this was down on the last presidential election. Clearly they are no happy that the turnout was so high.
I read that 25% of the French voters didn’t vote or returned a blank vote.
So, Marin Le Pen got 35% of 75% of the vote – about 25% (?) of the population- not the 35% of French people that we keep hearing mentioned.
Hardly a convincing win if it’s under a true 30%, but the BBC has effectively now named her as the official opposition.
She has 2 MP’s out of 500+ – mind you, I don’t think Macron has any because his is such a new party. Correct me if this is wrong.
In her speech, Marin Le Pen thanked the 11 million people who had voted for her. She said the election had shown a division between “patriots and globalists” and called for the emergence of a new political force.
——————-
Also just read that almost a million voters have registered for the GE 17 since it was declared; of that number about 325,000 are under 25 and apparently students are organising to vote against TM and pro-Labour.
just found this on the french election:
Electorate – 47.6 million
1. Macron 20.33 million
2. Abstaining and Blank 16.20 million
3. Le Pen 10.95 million
Old UKipper Neil looks a bit lived on twitter, the last bastion is the low turnout. Only 74% turnout compared to the more convincing 66% in the last UK election.
Notionally the missing 26% will need to be deducted from the Macron vote, leaving the winning margin of less than 4% (I’m using a national broadcasters calculation methods for these numbers of course).
Also the BBC seems to have been given the orders to progress the Tory pension agenda on the news. Not so much impartial, more PPB style.
Legerwood,
Beeb must be a tory bubble, totally insulated by facts etc, because the French are not neo fascists and they certainly do not want the EU to collapse. BBC clearly hoped, prayed, thought Le Pen could win but who really knows why.
LeanneWood?Verified account @LeanneWood 4h4 hours ago
Diolch o galon/deep gratitude to ppl in France for rejecting the #FarRight. We must defeat their divisive, hateful politics in all countries
The BBC news, sorry propaganda on behalf of right wing extremists in France is an absolute disgrace.
They are just sick that their undying support for Le Pen
hasn’t got them the result their right wing extremist masters demanded.
They finish with a warning that if the French economy doesn’t improve under Marcon over the next 5 years the people will likely return to Le Pen?
How do they qualify that???
Will Marcon supporters not stay with him things have not changed too much as they do not want a Fascist state?
Will the French not consider one of the previous ruling parties in 5 years if they are unhappy with Le Pen?
The Tory Broadcasting corporation are already trying to lead the French to Le Pen when they next vote in 5 years time????? Unbelievable! Sacre Bleu / Sacre Orange?
Very Good Bugsbunny!
Springtime for Ruthie and Scot-a-land.
If only it was a joke.
That parody of Tomorrow belongs to me, try this with it:-
Scotland Oh Scotland please show us a sign
Your people have waited to see
The morning has come when the world is mine
And Scotland once more is free
The people of Scotland are Willing and Strong
The Stag and the Oil runs free
So gather together and greet the storm
For Scotland belongs to me
The Glens and the Mountains are leafy and green
The Wind and the Wave Fuels our Sea
And somewhere a glory awaits unseen
And Scotland once more is Free
The Babe in its cradle has opened its eyes
The Blossom embraces the free
Soon there’s a whisper, arise, arise
and we take back our lands and sea.
Scotland Oh Scotland please show us a sign
Your people have waited to see
The morning has come when the world is mine
And Scotland once more is free!
Yes, there’ll be weeping and gnashing and grinding of teeth in the Tory establishment tonight. The far right were demolished in France today, and the centrists won.
Which by the way is why the SNP can’t go too far left, they have to leave that to the Greens to be more left, and the SSP.
meg merrilees @ 10.55
I studied French politics as part of my degree in the late 80s. Then it was compulsory to vote. But the French could put in a blank ballot paper which is where the saying ‘carte blanche’ comes from – literally white card.
Seems that was in place today for those who didn’t like either candidate.
effigy brilliant can just visualise Alex Harvey singing it 🙂
BBC Propaganda channel spending a whole lot of time preparing the Stupid Classes to the fact that the retirement age in the UK is going up yet again.
Even though this isn’t a news story by any means, they make a full feature of this with lots of people called experts to confirm that you just can’t go on giving pensioners increases on their pension?
So it seems that having the 4th worst pension of the 28 E.U. Nations isn’t good enough while last place is up for grabs?
As I said before, a 2.5% rise would see pensioners get a sub- £3.75 rise per week while inflation is at 2.3%.
They will break the Tory Bank with 30 pence extra in their pocket? Do they splash out on a half packet of crisps, a half packet of Spangles, or maybe one finger of a pair of gloves? Absolutely pathetic!
Are you Mr Scottish Tory/Labour/Lib happy to extend your working life beyond your life expectancy?
Do you want a 70 year old Policeman chasing the thief who broke into your home, a 70 year old Fireman trying to lift you out of a burning building, or how about a 70 year old surgeon performing that life saving brain operation that you just sold your house for?
Isn’t it nice to know that Scotland’s richest families saw their £Billions increase by 9% on average last year?
Can you imagine it if they paid all their due taxes here?
Le Pen actually came 3rd.
The actual opposition in France tonight is the blank vote/abstension party.
Apparently she is going to change the name before the next election and try to win next time round.The ‘globalists’ have won – well guess what, maybe people like to be global instead of insular and inward looking!
Hearing that a newly elected Tory councillor in a ward not to far from me has been outed as a twitter troll and a man of very outspoken, obnoxious views. There are calls for tRuthless to act – I’m not holding my breath.
Good news if the BBC is actually going to pursue some line of action regarding the Tory pension age changes – supposed to be announced today.
Wonder if they’ll follow up the CPS investigations as well?
Many Thanks to all those who signed the petition today!
Effijy says:
The BBC have now reached the ultimate stage of broadcasting propaganda.
Although many things can have grey areas and various issues can be interpreted in different ways, Arithmetic is an exact science.
Anyone recall their teacher suggesting the 2+2= subject to boundary changes and if the Scottish National Party are involved -6.
I, like many of you, have lodged many well proven and justified complaints about bias at the BBC, but all judges are jury members are very well paid BBC employees who will send you out a nice condescending letter to say that you are wrong! Full Stop!
Some people have stopped paying the license fee because of this on-going persecution of Scots for Scotland, but the Beeb don’t even give us the dignity of declaring just how many people have done this, or how much revenue that they have lost. Again they are allowed to keep you in the dark about anything that suits them, and ultimately their Westminster manipulating masters.
Even with the professional dossiers produced by Prof John Robertson, a leading authority on propaganda and how it
is positioned and applied, the Beeb just say that he is wrong too and there is no evidence of their corruption.
For quite some time, I have banged the drum to try and raise 100,000 signatures on a petition, any petition, I really don’t care who started it, or who manages it, just as long as it can be presented as true and accurate.
The link below I know causes a stir with some, as this organisation was used for a corrupt purpose by a corrupt Gordon Brown, but that was another petition on another subject.
This link below has 91,880 signatures on it, just 8,000 names away from being able to slap the BBC in the face with the FACT that 100,000 have declared them to be undeniably Biased against Scotland.
I want to see our politicians hit Bird, Robertson, Dimbleby, etc, hit over the head with the fact that the people of Scotland have registered, in significant numbers,
that we know their game, they are biased, they are corrupt, and they have No credibility here in Scotland.
Sign it or let the Celebrity Paedophile Corporation continue to say that they have no idea about what you are talking about!
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/independent-enquiry-into-bbc-bias-regards-scottish-independence-referendum
Effijy signed ur petition re bbc, despite saying I would not sign another 38 deg petition ever again !
The Tories peddle the myth that the EU is falling apart. When in fact the shambles of Brexit will actually strengthen the need to stay in the EU.
England can only work in parttnerships where they call all the shots. They want to control, bully and intimidate other nations. Scotland continues to be bullied because the Yoons want it. We reject it and call it out. They call us grievance mongers because we have the audacity to actually ask for what we voted for.
Ruth Davidson is a bully. But she isn’t a very smart bully. She can’t count or work out why the Snp keep winning. A victory for her is putting Scotland in its place. A victory for the SNP is putting London in its place. In other words protecting Scotland!
There is now a binary choice in Scotland. Vote to become an outward looking welcoming and ethical nation. Or get dragged into isolation, intolerance and xenophobia with good old England.
Regardless of the winner. Only one side has a moral compass and that’s really what matters.
If Farage and his dodgy mates – Bannon, Mercer et al aren’t pleased with the French result it’s looking more like the big idea behind Brexit, Le Pen etc, is to destroy the European Union.
Dear France – thank fuck 65% of you are sane.
with thanks
Big Jock @12.00
Agree totally. De Gaulle was right in the 60s when he blocked UK in Europe, saying they (the English) weren’t European enough.
The establishment are not team players and never were.
Scotland has been trading in Europe for 1000 years, according to Alex Salmond. But at least 800 years according to William Wallace with the letter to the Hanseatic League ( equivalent to the single market ) in the late 13th century, saying Scotland was open for business after the battle of Stirling Bridge and the English were blocking our ships trading with Europe, mainly the Baltic states.
@Effijy /Lenny Hartley –
Just signed, with likewise reservations.
Here’s hoping…
Davidson:
“We go into this election with one seat.
“They go into with 54 — and most of them with large majorities.
“Even to challenge the Nationalists in some of these seats is going to take a Herculean effort. Make no mistake — we are the underdogs going into this campaign. ”
Yes Ruth, because we’re all so monumentally thick, that at 1 vs 54, we could have been mistaken in thinking you weren’t.
#ruthaddressesthethickos.
What Faltdubh says @ 9.45
Fancy a laugh to start your day?
Check out the pic of Thomas Kerr, and tell me he wasn’t the Local shopkeeper in The League of Gentlemen. His wee g!mp is a real beauty too !
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-39830851
“We don’t want a second independence referendum, the people of Shettleston are fed up.”
If they weren’t before, they certainly should be now!
“To be honest, I’d rather have a conversation with Nicola Sturgeon, to say, look, it’s time to get back to the job that you were elected to do,” he said.
I’m sure she’s sitting pining on the phone to ring right now. 🙂
“The school motto was ‘aim for stars’,” he said. “That was always the expectation I had when I was there.”
Fellow alumnus at the School for Fuckwit Toady’s, William Hague, wasn’t available for comment. Busy with ‘Judo’ lessons, probably.
His ring must be aching. Puppeteer Ruthie has awfy big hands, for a girl.
Fancy a laugh to start your day?
Check out the pic of Thomas Kerr, and tell me he wasn’t the Local shopkeeper in The League of Gentlemen. His wee g!mp is a real beauty too !
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-39830851
“We don’t want a second independence referendum, the people of Shettleston are fed up.”
If they weren’t before, they certainly should be now!
“To be honest, I’d rather have a conversation with Nicola Sturgeon, to say, look, it’s time to get back to the job that you were elected to do,” he said.
I’m sure she’s sitting pining on the phone to ring right now. 🙂
“The school motto was ‘aim for stars’,” he said. “That was always the expectation I had when I was there.”
Fellow alumnus at the School for Fuckwit Toady’s, William Hague, wasn’t available for comment. Busy with ‘Judo’ lessons, probably.
His ring must be aching. Puppeteer Ruthie has awfy big hands, for a girl.
Double bubble. I blame the night shift at GCHQ.
Another choice cut from Auntie.
Have a swatch at their carefully selected and cropped pics, to illustrate their utterly impartial leaders debate.
Quelle surprise. It’s to be chaired by the talented, and certainly not because they kent her faither, Sarah Smith.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-39830851
Wee Willie was mid bounce btw.
Some reflections on the local council elections.
OK, the SNP won, but, did they win as well as we pro-indy people hoped they would? I think the answer to that has to be no. So, why not?
Well, we have to acknowledge, the Unionists have the media on their side – they probably won the propaganda battle, persuading enough undecided voters that the SNP was not on top of the day job, to get their votes.
So the SNP can moan about this, or, become more-effective in exposing and thwarting their distortions.
However, any team is only as good as its weakest member, and, the SNP should maybe be coachng better, to strengthen their weaker players.
Down here in East Ayrshire, where, ok, we have got more Orange Unionists than in most places, the SNP has benefitted from the shambles which is Scottish Labour, but, in my particular ward, the first two candidates elected were an old-school Labour guy, who just happens to be a high heid yin in the Orange Lodge, and a local farmer, standing as a Tory.
Why did they get in first? Well, even I, a 70-year-old who was at school with the Labour guy, and who knows he is not the cleverest, has to acknowledge – he has worked tirelessly for the community since he was first elected. He believes in this area, and, even though he wears his sash with pride, when a local RC school was threatened with closure, he led the fight to keep it open.
The Tory, same thing, a community activist, he cares about this village and we all put him high up on our voting order. I did not place him first, but, he was one of my first four choices for the four-seat ward. Why? because I trusted him to fight for my wee village.
The two SNP candidates let themselves down when they failed to appear at a hustings organised by the community council. You cannot treat the voters with such disdain and get away with it.
As things transpired, both got in, but, at late rounds in the voting.
The SNP has perhaps plateaued in Scotland. They have hoovered-up all the more-easily-obtained support. They will now have to work that bit harder to get us over the line to Independence.
The SNP, in my view, is now like Celtic, well clear of the opposition domestically, but, they are not going to reach the knock-out stages without raising their game.
And, as the Celtic fans have been alleging for years – the referees (the media) are very much against them. It has to be said, however, the SNP can make this claim with more certainty than Celtic can.
O/t, one way to get the older generation behind the indy banner would be for the SNP to promise to raise old age pensions to the EU average as one of the first acts of an independent Scotland.
Got to disagree, Big Jock, Ruth Davidson knows exactly why the SNP keep winning, they put Scotland first. It’s a feat Ruth can never emulate because, like kez, her precious Union is the main thing and can only be maintained by putting Scotland, and Scots, down.
Heh. Metroset titles and news channels spitting feathers over the Macron victory.
Good.
Brexit nerves anyone? As I posted elsewhere, if the German elections go as I suspect, then Brexit UK is looking to be a cold, isolated future indeed.
Folk can’t say they weren’t warned about the nature of the Brexit they sought. They can’t say they weren’t warned about Farage and UKIP. Finally, they can’t say they weren’t warned about the nature of the vote and the Conservative government’s reasoning behind it.
Links
https://thebutterflyrebellion.scot/2017/05/07/taking-the-state/
https://itisintruthnotforglory.wordpress.com/2017/05/07/the-failing-guise-of-impartiality/
https://scottovoce.wordpress.com/2017/05/07/peak-british-nationalism/
http://scotgoespop.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/setback-for-tyrannical-theresa-as-shock.html
https://mewsingoutloud.wordpress.com/2017/05/07/so-what-happened/
A Government whose election may have breached criminal law is delivering a referendum result which may have breached criminal law.
Click on the tweets to read the Guardian article
https://twitter.com/JolyonMaugham/status/861326284466655233
Congratulations to President @EmmanuelMacron! Everyone is looking to #France now to take the lead in a New Deal for Europ
https://twitter.com/GuyVerhofstadt/status/861285743171432451
France Elects Emmanuel Macron
http://archive.is/Ls09m
More to come later this week scandal
https://skwawkbox.org/2017/05/03/mps-letter-on-unrefuted-allegation-5m-hsbc-cash-laundered-to-tories/
https://www.thecanary.co/2017/05/07/absolute-scandal-just-hit-theresa-mays-campaign-media-pretending-nothings/
https://infacts.org/brexit-talks-far-catalogue-errors/
https://www.thecanary.co/2017/05/07/theresa-mays-government-just-caught-breaking-law-millions-will-affected/
Good Morning, Nana,
Thank you for Your links. Kettle’s on.
🙂
Peace Always
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/04/coal-mining-jobs-renewable-energy
Shetlander Peter Macolmson, a long supporter of the Liberal Democrats, on why he is voting SNP.
video here
https://twitter.com/MiriamBrett/status/861306605354319872
Our plan for 30 Journey to Yes stories will terrify ScotTories and the No campaign Back us
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/journey-to-yes-film#/
https://twitter.com/PhantomPower14/status/861333744594157568
Good morning Smallaxe. It is good to my stand in standing by!
In addition to Nana’s links above, comment and investigation from https://kittysjones.wordpress.com
The bottom line is that the Tories are up to their neck in corrupt banking and other equally corrupt finance businesses and being heavily funded in the process.
It is not unreasonable to conclude that this Tory Government is a puppet of irregular and corrupt global finance and media interests.
Scotland’s need for Independence is becoming increasingly urgent, as Westminster under the Tories is absorbed into the global criminal network of corrupt banking and high finance.
In case you’re wondering, the Electoral Commission see nothing wrong. Move along please. http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/225943/EdwardsL-to-MullinR-IPGL-Conservative-Party-03-05-2017.pdf
The SNP outright winners again with incesssed vote and council members. On an electoral system deliberately perverted so there is no overall winners. The usual disgusting action of the unionists. Do not let the voters have Democrscy. STV and D’Hondt nonsense. Make no mention of it when giving commentary by the MSM. Even a same name mix up gets reported as some great triumph.
The Tories have got the regurgitate usual 20%+ share of the vote. Nothing new or spectacular. Just the usual regurgitation with quite a few unsavories thrown in. To blame the SNP for ignorant voters voting for Tories and Orangemen is more than insulting.
The LibDems had better recognise they were ranked third before Lablour/Tories by SNP supporters, and act accordingly. Or they will be out.
If the Glasgow vote share is mirrored throughout. the Independence vote will be up considerably.
At least Willy Young is out. The SNP has advanced in Aberdeen City. Lost out in the Shire but if the LibDems remember who put them in. That should not be a problem.
GE Election now coming, FPTP. The SNP can take all.
The SNP will have to get an majority in Holyrood again. Change the electiral systems to FPTP. Then they will sweep the board for better Gov. Instead of useless 3rd rare rejects regurgitating and
getting in. How people in Scotland in can vote Tory is a mystery. Especially after Thatcher.
£20Billion a year is the cost of the Union to Scotland. A £300Billion Oil fund was illegally and secretly taken. Illegal high Tory taxes on the Oil & Gas sector has cost 120,000 jobs in Scotland. Scotland could have had full employment. The tax is 40% from Jan 2016.
Now Brexit. The EU costs Scotland nothing and brings benefits. £Billions of investment. The Tories will negotiate a deal that costs more for less rights. There is nothing surer. The Tories are not raising enough taxes in England/Wales and are racking up the debt. They are useless incompetents. Spending £500Billion borrowed on Hinkley by the sea, HS2, Heathrow and Trident. All a total waste of money with more credible cheaper alternatives. The Tories are embezzling and wasting public money so they and their associates can line their pockets. 5 jobs Osbourne getting £Millions from Hedge Funds for not enforcing the UK tax Laws. Ruining the Scottish Oil & Gas sector. Costing 120,000 jobs in Scotland.
Brexit and the fall of the £ has increased the (foreign) UK based tax evaders wealth 15%. The ordinary people pay for the higher cost of goods.and food.
May has not declared the shared interest Brexit increase of her husband’s Hedge Fund. Or their shared wealth. The Tories are illegally sanctioning and starving the vulnerable. Taking care and cars away from disabled people, They are a disgusting disgrace. The Westminster crooks and charlatans should be put in jail. Electoral fraud was committed in 31 constituencies. The reason for the GE. Corbyn and Labour are useless.
The US/UK have caused the worst migration crisis in Europe since 11WW. They will not get away with it. Illegal warmongers. Costing the EU €Billions. The burden of sorting out the UK/US bloody mess. Fallon is living in the 1950’s. Trying to take the UK bsck to the 1930’s. 26Million Russians died in 11WW saving the West.
The $Billions the US spends on Defence could pay for an excellent public education and healthcare system. The US is €Trns in debt going to go over a cliff. Ruining the world economy.
@Big Jock says: 8 May, 2017 at 12:00 am:
“… There is now a binary choice in Scotland. Vote to become an outward looking welcoming and ethical nation. Or get dragged into isolation, intolerance and xenophobia with good old England.
Aye! Big Jock, thing is that Scotland has historically always been more European than the South Britons.
For example not many people realise that what gives the fishing villages around the Fife Coast their unique look is due to their historic links with the Netherlands.
There was trade between the nations with Fife ports exporting coal and salt to the low countries. Dysart is a name from the Gaelic meaning Salt Town. Dysart used to be called, “Little Holland”. The Fife boats would take loads of coal and salt to the Netherlands and load up with such things as pantiles and Delft tableware for the return trip.
These red pantiles were very handy as ballast, so even when the cargo was mainly other goods the boats would use the tiles as ballast.
Which is why the Fife Fishing villages have that red pantile look for in the past Scottish roofs were laid with Scottish quarried Slate. The other European look is the, “Craw-Step-Gables”.
There was also a trade in Delft ware that influenced the old Fife potteries such as Wemyss Ware and the Scottish love for colourful china, “Wallie Dugs”, and”Wallie Cats”.
Old Dysart town records show that the 15th century, trade with the Low Countries began for salt and coal exportation. In the 16th and 17th centuries, trade expanded to the Baltic Countries. Dysart acquired two nicknames: “Salt Burgh” and “Little Holland” as a result.
@manandboy
I’m seeing a lot more people calling for a public enquiry.
How many public enquiries have we had over the years and to what good, other than shares in whitewash doing quite well.
Guardian article archived.
http://archive.is/DgMZR
Ta for the links Nana. 🙂
Morning reading sorted.
Iain says:
I agree completely.
Broadly speaking, the UK state pension is one third of average earning and is among the worst in Europe. Again broadly, the EU average is about half average earnings and the best about two thirds.
Roughly a million pensioners. Every £20 a week onto an iScotland state pension would cost £1billion per annum.
Less debt repayments, less spent on defence and international posturing, oil taxed like Norway does and we afford to catch up on the rest of the EU.
Scotland doesn’t need or want to be special, we just want to be normal!
I find it somewhat ironic we’re being asked to buy newspapers to learn how to spot fake news
Alex Massie predicts no MPs for Labour and at best 4 or 5 Tories because the Tories are now at their peak in Scotland with no further to go
Radio Scotland this AM
@defo says: 8 May, 2017 at 2:42 am:
“Fancy a laugh to start your day?
Check out the pic of Thomas Kerr, and tell me he wasn’t the Local shopkeeper in The League of Gentlemen. His wee g!mp is a real beauty too !
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-39830851
“We don’t want a second independence referendum, the people of Shettleston are fed up.”
I’m sure the people of Shettleston weren’t the ones that voted for the numptie.
The bit that really gave me the laugh was this :-
“His grandparents were in tears when the results were announced.”
I’m not surprised – they were SNP voters.
I expect the next tact will be that Le Pen lost due to the hard stance the EU are taking against Brexit and that the French bottled it. Followed by a wistful speculation that once May has won her election and any other EU elections are over there will be a softening of their position. After all the other Europeans are all cowards and we brits are made of much tougher stuff.
@Macart
Have another link Sam
Rules what rules?
http://archive.is/HNPKi
Banksy makes a brilliant statement at Dover ferry terminal. EU flag with one star being chiselled off. BBC publish several nasty comments as is now their custom.
Well at least they publish the picture.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-39837963
Macron detests the English Establishment nearly as much as we do.
Macron and Merkel are good for Scottish Independence. They will make sure the English get well and truly hammered in the up and coming Brexit negotiations.
I hope EU officials start to wind up the Britnats more and more.
Especially by telling the UK gov that it really shouldn’t be including Scottish assets as part of any negotiations.
I wonder if the truth will bypass the BBC via the European press.
Robert Peffers.
Aye Robert. The roofs of the Royal Burgh of Culross, Palace included are a perfect example of the longstanding, two way trade with our European friends.
It wasn’t just Pantiles and fancy tableware that made the return journey. They sent their finest to be edumacated at St Andrews Uni too.
I could have a dig about the demographic of Wills alma mater these days, but won’t.
Oops, I just did. 😉
AndyH says:
The EU know the situation and know ScotRef is a near certainty now.
Scotland can’t be bargained with until we know the ScotRef result.
It’s a feedback loop! The worse the negotiations go the higher the probability of ScotRef and a Yes win at the end of them!
In negotiations you play every card you are dealt and the EU side hold the Scotland card, not May.
http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20170508_02870997
Vive la France. Amazing morning of BBC r4 tories crying into their tory Today show cornflakes. Jim Naughty in particular giving Le Pen’s crew massive boost, its a great renewal of a new kind of not fascist French politics, so keep the faith Brit BBC r4 not neo fascists, grinched the sneak.
Thanks for the great linking Nana, Graun is really funny, “several” means a whole lot more than that too.
“Several other Brexiters mocked Macron’s relationship with his wife Brigitte, who first met the president-elect when she taught him at high school and is 24 years his senior.
Katie Hopkins tweeted a picture of the pair and the caption: “Macron’s wife has promised him a special new toy from the shops tomorrow for being such a clever little boy.”
Socrates MacSporran says:
8 May, 2017 at 4:57 am
“Some reflections on the local council elections…”
Yep. What you say resonates with me, with a couple of caveats.
The SNP does have to raise its game, but I think it will.
Prime example is the SNP website. There was talk months ago about overhauling it, and establishing it as a vibrant hub for pro Indy web footage, media, and myth busting facility. Doesn’t strike me as a big thing to ask or expect, but the website as is just screams obsolescence. Come on SNP. Get the finger out.
The second caveat is the General Election. The SNP seems to have its Indy eggs in the ScotRef basket further down the line, and isn’t investing too much Independence rhetoric in Theresa’s General Election. It’s frustrating, but I can see the sense of it. The Brexit phoney war is coming to an end, and very soon the truth is going to tell, (and hurt). Already we are seeing palpable BritNat disillusion that France will not be joining the UK in its self imposed purgatory. One more wheel off the wagon. As time progresses, the realisation will harden that it was never going to, but I sense the BritNat UKIP brigade had invested a lot of faith that La Pen would deliver. Take another bow BBC. Up the garden path for the chocolate soldiers, but thankfully no prizes this time.
Yes, I think the SNP does have to raise its game, and now, or perhaps after Theresa’s coronation, it would be a good time to slip a refurbished YES campaign out of its dry dock.
Whether it’s true or not, if the SNP vote has peaked, I don’t actually think matters. But it matters even less if we have A rerun of the vibrant YES campaign running parallel to the SNP’s own campaign, pure and simply to mop up disaffected SNP people or ex Labour or Tory voters who are prepared to support Indy but baulk at the idea of voting SNP.
Here’s an important suggestion too… I wonder too whether there is space in the marketplace too for a third stall; that of a very pro European lobby. A focal point for our EU pals to swell our Pantone 300 revolution with all the colours of Europe.
That would give us the SNP in the Engineroom, YES 2 raising the clans in transient alliance, and Pro EU lobby group to hammer home the joys and benefits of Europe, and the desolate harm of Brexit.
SNP for the political Indy. YES 2 for the Festival. And the EU Solidarity lobby for the uncompromising EU perspective. Quite literally a party in Scotland for all our EU Nats living here, our EU students training here, our immigrants and our visitors. Don’t just give them a voice, don’t just give them a vote, give them a whole political presence.
By my reckoning, that’s two or occasionally three legitimate seats on every panel in the run up to the ScotRef. …But the ideas need both fuel and oxygen right now.
News from France good unless you listen to the pundits on Auntie who are already looking forward to the June round of local elections and we are reminded that millions pop a blank ballot in the box.
Locally I see it reported that in Fife it’s to be a coalition between the largest party SNP and the Labour.
No other options really…that should work out well 🙂
The language of this CNN article caught my attention…
“France has elevated a charismatic new leader in the great political battle between globalism and nationalism that is underway in Western democracies …. the second round of the French election represents liberal internationalism’s most significant response yet to the populist tsunami that yielded President Donald Trump and Brexit”
Like the Scots, the French have more sense than the English or the Americans!
Although the dark forces of the Union like to portray pro Indy supporters as being THE nationalists, in the language of the article that is not quite the true situation.
We are the internationalists with the globalist view, it is the Unionists and Brexiteers who are the narrow inward looking nationalists.
In this ‘great political battle’ we are standing against the ‘populist tsunami’ epitomised in the UK by Brexit and the neo Tories.
http://archive.is/zN6zA
@Dr Jim
Fingers crossed, I think the Tories might be at their peak, or the overall percentage for first preferences in the council elections won’t be as great as they make out.
I’m still going for an outside chance of 58 SNP MSPs.
My glass isn’t half full, it runneth over!
I recognise the dilemma the SNP faces. Neither the council elections or the upcoming General Election are or were referendums on independence and are fraught with danger to the independence cause if we get bad results on elections fought on issues which actually have little to do with independence.
On the other hand our opponents want to fight only on the independence issue – because with their control of the media they can make sure the SNP gets very little or no credit no matter how well it does the day job. They can leave that to their media friends.
So both these election have seen us attempting a holding position and not putting the independence issue onto the front line where we could see it damaged severely for the wrong reasons.
We have done well but not quite as well as many of us hoped. But our bedrock vote has stayed firm (despite significant difficulties over candidate vetting procedures and, because of this, a campaign starting far too late in many areas).
We are however now in the end game. Every election in Scotland from now on will see the voters facing a binary choice. Independence or the union will determine the vote and this is where we want to be.
So this is where I have a grouse. No matter whatever else the SNP campaigns for it from now on must at the same time
campaign for independence on a daily, weekly, monthly continuous basis. We are in a completely changed political landscape now since Brexit.
The SNP vote hasn’t peaked.
It will continue to grow but slowly. More young voters will back the SNP and independence just as the Yoon vote will decline via the mortality route.
The big question now in the short term is whether or not we have the numbers to win a second referendum.
In the long term, ten or so years it’s inevitable.
I reckon we will do it this time round but it hangs on the Brexit fallout.
Mr house price wealth and German car lover won’t like the reality of the pounds demise and the cost of living increases.
Business will be more polarised this time round as well. The 2014 arguments are largely null an void for the Yoons.
I do hope the SNP has something in reserve though. The meekness thing is beginning to annoy me.
There are open goals appearing that they are not capitalising on.
And if the SNP peaked is an argument at all, then the opposite argument is whether Unionism by embracing O-O is already scraping the very last dregs of the barrel.
When IndRef2 it might be worth pointing out that even if we were to accept that every single penny of trade with the rUK is properly allocated and isn’t goods being exported via English ports then two points need to be made.
1) The simple proximity of Scotland to England means that transport costs are going to be lower so the total price to the customer will be biased towards buying our “exports”. rUK customers can cut their nose off to spite their face if the want.
2) Brexit may very well destroy the rUK economy, and ours if we don’t vote for independence. That will change the balance of trade towards independence being more beneficial.
Obviously both those points mean that it’s still in Scotland’s interests to try to persuade Westminster to follow a less destructive path as far as Brexit goes regardless of whether we ultimately vote for independence or not.
AndyH says:
Yes, and with a good dose of Tory nastiness and toxicity.
We are approaching the ‘the perfect storm’ IMO. The SNP/Green/Indy vote is holding up despite massive anti Indy campaigning but very little pro Indy response.
One Brexit turns sour and the Tories are exposed for what they are plus serious YES2 begins, we stand a good chance with ScotRef.
Although longer term there will be demographic changes, if we don’t win this time WM will change the UK and Scotland’s part in it to make future independence very difficult.
This is our best chance IMO.
@galamcennalath 9.29
Pretty much. The UK gov’s political and diplomatic stock with continental Europe is near an all time low currently. The Macron result has sent a disturbing message to those in Westminster who hoped for a fracturing and break up of the EU through right wing politics, as France the most recent in a line of recent continental elections, follows the trend of rejecting extremist, isolationist politics.
Their one time bestest bud for a quick indy bad headline, Spain, is also unlikely to prove helpful to Westminster’s cause this time around for obvious reasons. Half the right wing meeja in the UK all but declared war on Spain for bringing up the Gibraltar issue recently and spookily I doubt that would have sat well with the Spanish government.
Indeed, I’d say that favours from continental Europe are looking pretty thin on the ground at this point. 😉
Proud cybernat 9.41pm. Some ugly looking mares among that lot.
O/T
A few more links
Tory fraud investigation: CPS to announce before general election whether it will press charges
http://archive.is/wcNEz
Ireland set for fastest euro zone growth for fourth year in a row
http://archive.is/8bOVw
NHS staff ‘quitting to work in supermarkets because of poor pay
http://archive.is/Ns4vh
Impressive turnout for Angus Robertson’s campaign launch
https://twitter.com/dsmooney/status/860985437153873920
@CMD “Locally I see it reported that in Fife it’s to be a coalition between the largest party SNP and the Labour.”
Well good, it’s time the SNP and Labour learned to get on with each other and keep out the cruel heartless far right Tories.
#toriesout
I kinda get it, in terms of what others are saying on this thread regarding SNP holding their vote…but that implies that we didn’t attract a higher voteshare in the local elections…when in fact we did. 75,000 more votes? So there is no SNP peak and the SNP’s base vote is capable of increasing?
Or am I reading this wrongly?
https://mobile.twitter.com/PeterMurrell/status/860605684194451456
A great result for France and the EU. 🙂
It’s not what the right-wing Tories, UKIP and their propaganda mouthpieces at the BBC and right-wing press wanted.
For years they’ve been talking down the EU / Euro and prophesying their downfall.
Brexit was partly designed to help bring this about, without the UK’s superior diplomatic clout and HUGE(!) market for their products the EU was certain to decline and wither. May desperately needed the proof that the UK way was right and that the EU would now start to crumble. Without us you’re doomed..!
Le Pen was supposed to bring home the bacon but failed.
Who’s next? Germany?
After a period of weakness with falling popularity and the new leadership of Martin Schulz for the Social Democrats -SPD -, Merkel’s CDU has recovered and is once again leading the polls for the general election in September.
Yesterday the SPD lost the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament’s election and Merkels Party won handsomely.
London and the Beeb/MSM can forget any help from Germany for their arrogant hopes.
The sling is slowly starting to tighten on May’s throat. 🙂
In fact Rev is citing 100,000 extra votes on Thursday, on twitter right now. We are not ‘just’ holding the line here, we are increasing our numbers. And yes, yes…we could get into the ‘fear’ of slippage, but considering the relentless monstering, that’s actually remarkable?
Graf Midgehunter says:
8 May, 2017 at 10:48 am
“A great result for France and the EU. ?…..Who’s next? Germany?”
Nope. The AfD was the right wing threat to Germany, but has plummeted in the polls and its leader Frauke Petry was talking about stepping down amidst bitter infighting. The AfD was about 15% a year ago but is now floundering at around 5%.
@Graf Midgehunter
Just seen this
Angela Merkel’s Party Wins Unexpectedly in German State Elections
http://archive.is/6HBuZ
Great links Nana.
Donated to the ‘Journey to Yes’ videos fundraiser.
https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/10921/sturgeon-tories-plan-sacrifice-scottish-economy-win-ukip-vote
https://skwawkbox.org/2017/05/07/video-theresa-may-wipes-hands-after-shaking-hands-with-worker-ge17/
Brand new party folks…Team May [not conservatives at all]
T May to give speech with southeastern Tory candidates. Behind her (for TV): 50:50 gender split. At sides (not in shot): men in suits
https://twitter.com/MichaelPDeacon/status/861515446633336833
Has anyone got a direct link to the extremists tories elected to local councils so i can have a wee gander?
@Nana
RE: Ms Merkel
Well, well.
Pretty much what a lot of peeps hereabouts having been saying for a while.
That’s going to leave an impression on Ms May.
The OA pension should be at least £180 a week. The means tested bureaucracy costs more. The average wage is £520 a week. The old age pension. £140 per week. A 1/3. Women pensioners list out big time. Many worked P/T and were denied pension rights. They were told by Gov to pay a smaller stamp. To get pension rights on their husband’s higher joint contribution. Plus the age goal post being changed without redress to pay the difference.
The Scottish Gov could sort that out. Especially if Scotland was Independent. Not paying £20Billion the cost of the UK Union.
The IndyRef2 is coming soon, The young folk are coming through. Scotland Independent in the EU. Scotland more prosperous, peaceful, happy, equal and fair. A cohesive country. Just like most prosperous, top of the index, smaller countries.
Little England’s posh right wing media wished and wished for their people (Wilders and Le Pen)to be elected in Netherlands and France to try destroy the EU.
Their last chance saloon is the forthcoming German election.
Unless they get a new Hitler in power there,then snobby Little Britain will be hung out to dry by the progressive EU.
The problem with the British is they think they are superior to all others.
They are about to find out they are not and they belatedly shall now be punished for this arrogance.
@Chic you are welcome. Did I miss a name change Chic[k]?
@Macart
I hope May had a good breakfast this morning, she will need a lining on her stomach what with all this good news from the continent, lol
They fucked it with Brexit, we all knew it, the amount of times I’ve read guff btl about Europe ‘falling apart’ as some rationalisation for voting leave under articles on various rags is staggering. This Grand Delusion pepetrated by Tory euroskeptics aided and abetted by the BBC and all right wing rags including the guardian, who the gullible and moronic believed is beyond belief.
Farage is an utter contemptible shyster and the BBC promoted him and ukip to the hilt and still do…England and Wales fell for it. And they think they can just drag us screaming intae the hell of their own creating because ‘numbers’. Well they can gtf. Germany will not fall for it either.
They aren’t mugs. Don’t get me wrong there is a great deal wrong within our societies, but it is not the fault of the EU, the austerity politics since 2008 have driven people to the brink and we, ordinary folks have been blamed for the crimes of the elites. People got suckered in England and Wales. They have ushered in a ‘regime change’ and given their masters permission to repeatedly crush them. With the European elections this will become a stark reality as those who have justified this extreme move to the right in England by citing EU colllapse, begin to realise slowly what they have brought upon their own communities. Ignorant, gullible and utterly thick mugs.
We have options and we will utilise every one of those democratic options to ensure that we will not be forced into their fantasy little England where everyone knows their place and the furriners are blamed for all their woes.
We’re on our way. We will overcome.
@Robbo
I put a link up yesterday at 11.03am on thread below. I’m not sure if they were all elected.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/accuracy-by-duncan/
I agree that there is technically a ceiling on the SNP vote,but I do not feel that has been reached as yet, remembering of course that 16 and 17 year old seem to be in favour of indy but are not yet eligible to vote in elections.
The only ceiling is one which we impose on ourselves at this time. I am very hopeful that there are also plenty of voters who though not supporting indy, view the SNP government of Scotland as a better proposition than any of the Unionist parties.
I truly believe when Brexit really does start to bite then minds will focus. All we have seen up till now is posturing and false bravado from the UK. It will have a massive effect though they try to send out positive signals about the future.
@Nana
If the next bit of info is correct, her day and that of Ruth Harrison’s is about to get worse.
SNP 105,000 more votes than 2012 Local elections.
608,000 First preference votes
(To be confirmed)
🙂
Re French abstentions.
It was the Left, who abstained,
the true left, not the far
..or the hard..just the true Left.
Remember it? Before Blair and Brown corporatised what was left of the industrial unions..the part of our community that puts commonality first not difference, the opposite of Fascism..there are smatterings of it around the British Isles.
In France,the centre left/progressives hold sway, not the far right. The Left, could, have turned against Macron..but it didn’t, allowing the centre left a clearer conscience. (like the Blair v Farage analogy)
I seem to read regularly that the SNP is too low key,meak ect in its refuting unionist propaganda,lies ect.But tell me what are they supposed to do when they have little or no access to the press and television?The only tools they have are word of mouth or sites such as this which i may add have done ok so far.
If anyone has any better ideas to give us a fair and unbiased platform with the traditional madia i’m all ears.
I got my wee letter from Tim Farron telling me how Baad the SNP are for me and asking me for my opinions on the state of the Nation as it were, and he very kindly included a wee stamped addressed envelope for me to send those opinions back to him
So I did
@K1
Latest tweet from Peter Murrell:
“UPDATE: Looking more like 105,000 more votes than in 2012.
608,000 first preference @theSNP votes.
Official confirmation expected tomorrow”
@Nana
Great news about Merkel. The vote share of that far right party whose name I forget, had gone done in the opinion polls. I think Brexit has scared the bejeses out of the more rational people on the contingnont.
Just had a look at the Scottish Papers’ headlines:
“Davidson vows to cut the SNP down to size,
but
Sturgeon warns that ‘thousands of jobs’ will be ‘sacrificed’ under a ‘hard Brexit’ “
or variations on that theme.
Correct me if i’m wrong but –
in a country where the SNP is in government,
has 56 out of 59 MP’s,
has the largest number of MSP’s,
has just increased it’s vote by 75,000-100,000,
and increased it’s number of of Councillors at an election 4 days ago –
surely the headlines SHOULD read;
‘STURGEON WARNS THAT ‘THOUSANDS OF JOBS’ WILL BE ‘SACRIFICED’ UNDER A HARD BREXIT’
but Davidson vows to cut the SNP down to size.’
‘Paircel o rogues’ right enough!
@Macart
Aye I spotted that last night. It’s just braw!
One more link [I promise] well unless something major happens!
https://www.cfoi.org.uk/2017/05/whistleblowers-and-journalists-face-prison-for-revealing-information-that-could-be-obtained-under-foi/
Rugger bugger Beattie is going to explain how the BBC is correct.
Apparently.
@ian 11.37am
Years ago the SNP used to try and refute the nonsense reported on them but quickly realised that they ended up playing the medias agenda so that’s why they don’t get into it too much because you just end up talking about what the media wants you to talk about and not what you want to talk about
Now because of social media and sites like Wings we get angry on their behalf so we refute it to whoever we’re talking too and word of mouth from us voters is better every time than a politician arguing on the Telly and the newspapers misreport everything they say anyway so it’s a waste of their time
The more lies and the more angry the media gets the more the people start to see through it and once folk catch the media out lying they never believe them again
Every time the media overdoes the crap the SNP membership goes up
130,OOO members says it works
Don Mc @06.53
You are correct and we should always remind people of this…
The Unionist parties can NEVER put Scotland first. They always have to put Scotland SECOND behind ‘The Union’.
The SNP ALWAYS put Scotland FIRST!
Erm, I forgot to add about the Notional calculation for the missing council seats.
@ Dr Jim
That’s quite possibly a good strategy.
I’m one of the people who shouts at the TV/radio on their behalf then.
@defo says: 8 May, 2017 at 9:26 am:
” … It wasn’t just Pantiles and fancy tableware that made the return journey. They sent their finest to be edumacated at St Andrews Uni too.”
Indeed it wasn’t, defo, it was just one, (not so obvious), example of the very different Scottish, (and I use the term advisedly), outlook on life.
The French Enlightenment writer, philosopher and historian Voltaire (1694 – 1778), published more than 20,000 letters and 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was a very outspoken supporter of social reform and civil liberties and that included the freedom of religion. His ideas had great influenced on both the French and American revolutions.
Yet his own influences came mainly from Scots and from Scotland. Voltaire freely admitted it was mostly due to the Scottish Enlightenment, led by David Hume and Adam Smith, and Scotland’s outpourings of philosophical thinking and the questioning of the status quo in their quest for the practical humanist solutions to societal problems that had shaped all modern Western society.
This was what Voltaire was talking about when he said, “We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation”.
I find it quite frightening the fact that our overwhelmingly right wing media including The BBC and our ConUKIP racist and xenophobic government gave faintly disguised support for LePen and are now churning out blatantly negative comments following Macron’s decisive win.
Something to bear in mind for 86 GE:-
16 & 17 year olds who qualified to vote in Indyref1 and many 15 year olds who didn’t qualify in 2014 will be qualified to vote on 6/8 and many of the 2014 16 & 17 year olds did not qualify to vote in the 2015 GE.
Apologies if someone has linked to this already ,
youtu.be/0M91g4OlGEY?t=5
An increase of 105,000 votes is good news, and clearly contradicts the idea of passing a peak.
But on its own that figure doesn’t mean much; turnout needs to be taken into account (so a percentage would be helpful), and the electorate is larger – 16 and 17 year olds did not vote in 2012.
I’m not meaning to be a pourer of cold water here, but we point out dodgy statistics when the enemy use them, so have to be careful ourselves.
@ Breeks
“Nope. The AfD was the right wing threat to Germany, but has plummeted in the polls and its leader Frauke Petry was talking about stepping down amidst bitter infighting. The AfD was about 15% a year ago but is now floundering at around 5%.”
That’s what I (also) meant by saying Germany.
The FN of Marine Le Pen is a much more cohesive party than the AfD who are always argueing amongst themselves and drifting more to the right.
As a result of WWII and re-education the Germans nowadays have a healthy aversion against left or right extremism. If a political party starts to veer off too far it fairly quickly gets cut down to size.
Same with the AfD, as soon as they sarted with right-wing noises a-la EDL, BNP etc. they lost votes and are now floundering round the 5-7%. Nobody but a small minority takes much notice of them, it’s background noise.
@Dorothy
Thank you for this. I have been told the ‘strong & stable’ mantra is from Mein Kampf, oh well should we be surprised at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M91g4OlGEY&feature=youtu.be&t=5
Robert P..
‘This was what Voltaire was talking about when he said, “We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation”.
Aye Robert, an Independent Scotland will be a young-again nation.
Progressive.. means rejecting, wholesale, ANY ideas that compromise our basic standards of humanity, and moving the debate FORWARD.
Conservatism.. means blaming others for ideologically deliberate, failures of previous policies..instead of those policies or previous governments themselves.
An awful lot of pensioners seem to forget that they, as opposed to those youngsters, are responsible for the STATE WE ARE (all) IN…
What’s that? You didn’t vote for Thatcher?
.. No, but many reaped the early rewards, house ownership..unlimited overtime..private-pension tax relief..AND now blame those around you for ‘allowing division’ grow up pensioners.
For every final salary pension-grandee..there are a hundred counting the pennies.
bbc SCOTLAND NOW.
Explaining how the bbc changed the figures. Bloke from university of Lancaster. From 1249
He states there was no dramatic change. Sounds that the prof was notionally guestimating. Its not a big deal!! thought the snp should have more seats but didnt so they have less.
Got it. SNP BADD. No BBC conspiracy says John Beattie
ian says:
8 May, 2017 at 11:37 am
“….But tell me what are they supposed to do when they have little or no access to the press and television?The only tools they have are word of mouth or sites such as this which i may add have done ok so far….”
They have to get access to Press and TV. I have made loads of suggestions:
Hold EU solidarity summits with European Leaders and provide extensive facilities for European Press entourages to stick around and shadow BBC misreporting. Set our own media agenda, not follow the BBC’s.
Set up a media heavy and media savvy SNP website hosting embedded video and live feed to press conferences. I don’t care if it’s technically broadcasting. Let Westminster object and make a hell of a fuss if they dare shut it down.
You could literally have an online “Points of View” debriefing of BBC programs the day after. If or when Question Time skews the debate or gets away with murder with its bias, at least have a formal “debunking” of the nonsense and the truth given.
Set up sponsored University project with Prof John Robertson for Scottish Media and Journalism where Scottish Student Journalists shadow the BBC for news production, but do it better and more professionally. Have a new Scottish Press fraternity waiting in the wings for the demise of the BBC in Scotland.
Make devolved broadcasting a manifesto commitment in Theresa’s General Election so the SNP has a mandate to demand a Scottish news channel.
Way back in 2014, the day after the result I was saying the SNP should have held a plebiscite on the back of the “Vow” which was at the time ambiguous and imprecise, but steal the Vows commitment to more powers by having a Scottish Plebiscite decide which powers they wanted. Top of the list? Broadcasting.
Lastly, and least favourably, the SNP could simply have a mini coup over broadcasting and set up a Scottish News Service in flagrant violation of Westminster’s allegedly “sovereign” right to deny Scotland access to its own cultural broadcasting.
I don’t care if the options are difficult or awkward. Do we want the BBC to take another referendum from us like stealing candy from a baby or do we take what belongs to us? The right for Scottish broadcasting to co-exist.
Nana, no need to thank me , I only found it because of you via skwakbox!
And I am now about to retrace my steps and read some more of your lovely links.
Off Topic. The General Election 2017. Leaders’ TV Debate.
From BBC on-line today:
“…….David Dimbleby will host two Question Time Specials in which leaders will face audience questions consecutively.
Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn will appear on 2 June, followed by Tim Farron and Nicola Sturgeon on 4 June.
Mishal Husain will moderate a seven-way debate on 31 May.”
“…..”In addition, Mrs May and her husband Philip are also expected to appear on BBC’s One Show on 9 May,…..”
I’m very suspicious of the BBC One Show [7pm Mon-Fri]—it’s supposed to be a lighthearted magazine/consumer half hour programme.
In Referendum year 2014,they gave Hillary Clinton free reign to oppose Scottish independence sitting relaxed in their studio—–unchallenged,with both presenters smiling approvingly.
It was a disgrace then,and remains a disgrace now. 🙁
@Dorothy
Good job you spotted it Dorothy.
I’d best hand back my alert reader badge, I never spotted the video.
I’m always in too much of a rush to be reading the next link, lol
Fair do’s crazycat, though it is still heartening given the level of shite thrown at us 😉
Also to keep the balance, no need fur us to think ‘peak’ and base’ vote unmoving either until we have those percentages re turn out and more voters etc. 😉
BBC led UK zone fury at France, also matched by Russian media. Funny old world,
NewsWorldEurope
Emmanuel Macron labelled ‘psychopath who hates France’ in Russian media
An article in Komsomolskaya Pravda says France deserves to go through ‘globalist hell’
Shehab Khan @shehabkhan 6 hours ago Independent.
Emmanuel Macron becomes the youngest French President in the history of the republic Reuters
A Russian tabloid has quoted a description of the new President of France, Emmanuel Macron, as a psychopath who hates his country, and made derogatory allusions to homosexuality around him and his campaign.
An article in Komsomolskaya Pravda, refers to a picture of a topless Mr Macron as he poses for a magazine with the title “coming out”.
The piece then later goes on to quote a psychiatrist who calls Mr Macron a psychopath, and suggests he does not love France and instead only loves himself. “
The Unionist parties can NEVER put Scotland first. They always have to put Scotland SECOND behind ‘The Union’.
It depends on which unionist though. Mind Dr Scott, BBC Question Time audience member, always right in the centre of the QT audiences, shouting SNP Disgrace and NO, 2014? Dr Scott’s got into politics now and has two vote SLab and Dr Scott facebook pages, both with rather different catch phrases,
Dr Scott Arthur – Standing up for Labour.
and
Dr Scott Arthur – Standing up for Colinton / Fairmilehead Ward
Dr Scott won last week,
https://www.facebook.com/DrScott4Ward8/posts/1443808358974942
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Dr%20Scott%20Arthur%2
which explains the two vote Dr Scott two catch phrases, sort of.
crazycat @ 12:24,
I do agree about your caution, though we must also be willing to unashamedly acknowledge – if it turns out to be true – that the expansion of the recent plebiscite to include 16/17 year olds has demonstrated a further shift to indy.
Crusty old BritNats heading for the exit door as enthusiastic new independentistas are increasingly entering, as it were. That would be a relevant demographic factor that cannot be ignored, if it turns out to have been as much a factor in these recent elections as the population surveys keep indicating.
(Even if it won’t apply so thoroughly in the coming WM elections with their crusty old rules.)
This spat about number of supposed virtual losses of “seats” is a BBC-Unionist diversion, and even if believable, indicates something else than binary attitude to independence (or independence referendum).
I have already argued that the most accurate indications of popular sentiment are the first pref. vote and its percentage share. And the latter normalises-out the effect of increased voter base, etc. as well.
So those are the figures we should be publicising. And they will emphatically contradict, I’m certain, Rude Gal’s megaphone bluster about somehow “winning” that particular argument.
Face it Unionists, Scotland has decisively rejected your “no-ref” proposal. We have a right to be heard, and we are plainly assenting to that right.