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Minority Report

Posted on March 31, 2023 by

It’s not often we have to correct the figures of an esteemed KC like Joanna Cherry, but she’s made a straight-up mistake in her column for The National today.

Because of course Ash Regan and Kate Forbes did rather better than that.

Regan got 11.1% of first-preference votes and Forbes got 40.7%, which combined is just shy of 52%, not 48%. Yousaf got in on the second choices of Regan voters, but he was the first choice of FEWER than half of the SNP members who voted (and just over a third of members altogether).

So his comically one-sided cabinet of numpties (only one person out of his team of 28 cabinet secretaries and ministers backed anyone else in the leadership contest) is even more of a hostile takeover than Cherry credits it for, belying all the cobblers Yousaf talked in the campaign about uniting and unifying the party.

(For reference, incidentally, Alex Salmond’s first cabinet had just 15 members.)

Still, all his mates will be enjoying the sizeable boosts to their salaries that comes with their ministerial roles. Poor Emma Roddick might finally be able to make ends meet. And we’re sure the likes of Jamie Hepburn MSP will earn his supplement of £13,372 for being “Minister For Independence” by, er, telling other people to go out and knock doors and persuade voters for free.

Because that’s worked so well for the last eight years.

But don’t worry, gang – he’ll also be kept very busy “marshalling the arguments for independence within government” (presumably some of them aren’t too sure about it) and ensuring that “the case continues to be made”.

You will all try to contain your excitement, won’t you?

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0 to “Minority Report”

  1. Garavelli Princip
    Ignored
    says:

    It really is past time to pull the plug on the SNP and this gang of chancers!

  2. Gordon Bain
    Ignored
    says:

    As an exiled Scot can I just say how utterly fucking depressing all this shite is? What’s wrong with us?

  3. sydthesnake
    Ignored
    says:

    keep doing what you have done in the last 8 years, what’ll work nicely. Independence here we come…
    It’s getting very disconcerting SNP (Scotland Never Prosper) not with these clowns in charge

  4. Daisy Walker
    Ignored
    says:

    Sadly I suspect Humza will last in position a lot longer than folk expect.

    He will surround himself with lackies. He will install family and friends into positions of power – and corruption will be on a new scale.

    With COPFS and Police under his control – and he is set to select a new CC – any chance of it being justly investigated will be nil.

    He’ll do a massive deal/give away (Scottish Water) with Westminster, and be so compromised, that the media will be paid off, and he’ll be given an even easier time than Nikla.

    He is already pushing his own ‘wedge’ issue – abortion (full term and sex selection) – and for clarity I’m in favour of the existing abortion services in Scotland as they are. This is a direct import of a manufactured issue, direct from the USA. By opening up this fight, and standing on ground most people find unethical (sex selection and abortion in month 9)…. he is more than likely to have all abortion rights rolled back on.

    One should not forget his jolly (and his cousin’s) to America, and the friends he made there.

    Scotland is of immense strategic and resource importance to the major powers of the world.

    It would suit America (as an example) down to the ground it it becomes run by an incompetent, corrupt, gangster. America rather likes that set up.

  5. Alistair Murray
    Ignored
    says:

    basic maths…….

  6. Lorna Campbell
    Ignored
    says:

    Ach, it could have been worse, Rev. Don’t know how, but it can be worse? Wait, yes, Owen Jones. Middle-class, Oxbridge-educated, metropolitan woman-hater and champion of ‘trans’ rights (all the ones from everyone else that they haven’t managed to purloin yet) and darling of the hard left, lecturing the Scots on working-class leftism and equity. Jesu! Am I in hell?

    You are right, though, about the percentage votes between the candidates, and about the cabinet personnel… and, well, about it all, really. You know what they say about prophets in their own country…

  7. Beauvais
    Ignored
    says:

    Members leaving the party in droves will continue. So Humza really is about continuity.

    Mind you, the more people leave the more the percentage of SNP members who voted for him will rise.

  8. Taranaich
    Ignored
    says:

    A “Minister for Independence” is, frankly, one of the most insulting things the SNP have come up with. Surely *every single SNP Minister* should, by definition, be a “Minister for Independence”? What the hell will this minister do in his own that the other Ministers should be doing as a collective?

    Might as well have a Minister for Devolution next.

  9. Beauvais
    Ignored
    says:

    Poor befuddled Owen Jones. He actually thinks there’s a clearly definable thing called The Left left.

  10. Craig Sheridan
    Ignored
    says:

    I wouldn’t say JC numbers are wrong. She just quoted the final resolved numbers after transfers and you’re using first preference numbers. Out of interest, who was the outlier who voted against Humza and still got in the cabinet?

  11. sarah
    Ignored
    says:

    ” It [the SNP] is no better, it is much the same.”

    Please God let the SNP die before they kill off the rest of us.

  12. SophiaPangloss
    Ignored
    says:

    Worse and worse, as 48% of those who voted gave Yousaf neither a 1st nor a 2nd preference, and 30% of party members gave no-one a vote at all! I believe that means that, given the opportunity, something like 64% of SNP members chose not to endorse Yousaf as leader.

    And I doubt he’s any more popular in the country.

  13. blackhack
    Ignored
    says:

    The continuation party contiues….
    I finally canceled my membership of the SNP as I was holding out to the results of the election came in.
    The fact that Useless second rate cabinet ministers are now in total control of the party, I can see more and more members tearing up their membership cards.

    As an aside, perhaps the next time you do a poll Stu, you might want to ask “How many SNP members cancelled their membership since Humza took over.”

  14. David Gray
    Ignored
    says:

    Just for the hell of it, I want to ask an unanswerable question:
    how many of this new elite, or their spouses, have their names protected by a court order?

  15. Jo
    Ignored
    says:

    I think that Ash should have recieved more votes she was the only person that had a plan to move forward towards Independence.

    What is the point of being part of an Independence party and not vote for someone who is most likely to get it

  16. Jason Smoothpiece
    Ignored
    says:

    I would think that the SNP will be run down to a very small core and will be replaced by Alba.

    Some of the odd folk presently there will return to their roots at Scottish Labour.

    The more sane will drift over to Alba.

    As the SNP sinks more crazy members will grab for Alba who must guard against the frauds.

  17. Ian McCubbin
    Ignored
    says:

    I have to agree with Daisy Walker in all she says.
    Yousaf has the look and style if a spiv.
    He may last longer than expected.
    For now won’t be holding my breath

  18. Etticus
    Ignored
    says:

    @daisy walker

    Yes there is a chance that Useless can stay in power longer than people think but that has nothing to do with the things you list.

    The only way to get Useless out of power is NO VOTES SNP.

    Unfortunately that was also the way to get Nicola Sturgeon out of power and in the dock for her crimes and yet the draw of the SNP cult was so strong that people still voted for the corrupt liar Sturgeon. It’s unbelievable how stupid some people can be.

    From flicking through the comments on here we have a number of commenters pushing Useless and if this is entertained this will only increase. These people have no care for Scotland and its people, all that matters to them is preserving the ruling party. The fact we have someone as ignorant as Useless as FM is an insult to the country that brought the world the enlightenment.

    I strongly suspect that Useless’s ignorance will be his downfall but if people even consider voting for that fool it will make it more difficult to ensure the damage he can do is minimised. So again NO VOTES SNP, there can be no excuse for voting SNP…: and if this means that for ex Joanna Cherry is collateral damage because she fails to stand up and be counted then so be it. The Tory party and Labour Party manage to survive with awkward MP’s who speak out against the party leadership, so if no one in the SNP is going to speak out against this disaster they aren’t worth saving.

  19. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    “… the likes of Jamie Hepburn MSP will earn his supplement of £13,372 for being “Minister For Independence”…

    He’s been on the front page of the National Rev Stu. That means he’s done it already, cashed the cheque, and now we’ll never hear a squeak out of him again until there’s an election looming.

  20. ephemeraldeception
    Ignored
    says:

    As Gordon Bain mentions above, very depressing Stuff. I guess Alba will get some benefit in membership but the whole indy cause is all over the place, nobody agrees on anything, no consensus or cohesion.

    Different factions need to start to cooperate and align on key strategies or we will go nowhere. Eg. Currency, EU position, Nato, Energy etc. People need to align on a set of stated objectives and set their stalls and arguments whether they are convinced or not and focus on self determination 1st and foremost – then campaign on different policies after. the whole point is to let Scotland decide on its own direction and policies that us today decided by a foreign power in London and since 300 years.

    If people dont agree on all aspects of a combined strategy what do they prefer? Status Quo, London Rule with no say in anything at all, just another day in the colony?

  21. Beauvais
    Ignored
    says:

    “It’s a responsibility I take seriously” says Jamie Hepburn about his new job.

    Well that’s most reassuring.

  22. Johnny
    Ignored
    says:

    Craig Sheridan:

    No, sorry, they are wrong.

    She could either say that Regan and Forbes got 52% between them in the first round of voting, or that Forbes ALONE got 48% in the second round of voting.

    Regan being included in any tally of 48% does not make sense, whichever round one prefers to use as their benchmark.

  23. Duchess of Puke Street
    Ignored
    says:

    How much weight can that gravy train pull?

  24. William Russell
    Ignored
    says:

    Same shit, different day or continuity if preferred. I’m so fucking tempted to vote unionist. This site is my only link to giving a fuck about indy. I think it’s time we started asking ourselves if we deserve indy because right now I’m no sure we deserve anynmore than the pieces of shite being delivered.

    “When will we see your likes again?”…Who the fuck has the shameless brass neck to sing that nowadays?

  25. Beauvais
    Ignored
    says:

    If Joanna Cherry stays in the SNP as the tacked on sensible member then they’ll be…..

    KC and The Moonshine Band.

  26. Geoff Anderson
    Ignored
    says:

    I will never vote SNP again!

    I expect Alba to stand a candidate if Ferrier is pushed out and a By-election called.
    No more deals, no more “wheesht for Indy”.
    The By-election is the best chance to promote Alba….I don’t care it it lets Labour in. The SNP are a much worse option in my opinion.

  27. Daisy Walker
    Ignored
    says:

    Off topic.

    I’m not buying the Gwyneth Paltrow thing, that she said, ‘I wish you well’ to the guy who sued her, as she left the court. I’ve seen the footage and I know an ‘eff u’ spoken through clenched teeth when I see it.

  28. Giesabrek
    Ignored
    says:

    The words “marshalling the arguments for independence within government” show that the SNP is truly no longer a party of and for independence but a UK party where sme members believe in independence and others are yet to be convinced of it. This is Sturgeon’s legacy.

  29. KT Lorimer
    Ignored
    says:

    Marshalling sounds more like making sure everyone follows the approved line on independence.

  30. Craig Sheridan
    Ignored
    says:

    Yep, true she did say between them. I reckon if SNP hadn’t instructed Mi-Voice to not enable to vote change mechanism we would be looking at a different FM right now.

    Johnny says:
    “No, sorry, they are wrong.

    She could either say that Regan and Forbes got 52% between them in the first round of voting, or that Forbes ALONE got 48% in the second round of voting.

    Regan being included in any tally of 48% does not make sense, whichever round one prefers to use as their benchmark.”

  31. SusanAHF
    Ignored
    says:

    Yes it does, KT Lorimer

  32. Ottomanboi
    Ignored
    says:

    Argument for independence…France, Germany, Spain, Malta, Iceland, Barbados, Greece, Hungary, Vanuatu for random starters.
    Independence needs no «justification».
    The SNP must stop this pavlovian rising to the British bait.

  33. Gordon Bain
    Ignored
    says:

    I should have also added… I’ll be back this year and I intend to get involved. I foolishly thought leaving in 2015 would allow me to remove myself from the madness, but that’s not working out. At all. I’m in my twilight years so, for me, it’s now or never. Hail Alba.

  34. Isabell Buchan
    Ignored
    says:

    That is an awful lot of ministers ect but no Minister for Mens Health or Animals

  35. Frank Gillougley
    Ignored
    says:

    The Minister for Independence has SLAB written all over him.

  36. Anton Decadent
    Ignored
    says:

    Just another identikit globalist front in political party form.

  37. John Main
    Ignored
    says:

    The lack of a Minister For Ministers is a puzzling oversight.

    She/He/It/Them could actively campaign to advance the cause of the Ministers. Things like pay, pensions, holidays, perks, indemnity against the law, etc.

    Set up protection details to guard the Ministers against having to encounter Scottish everyday reality.

    Marshall the arguments in favour of improving the personal and financial circumstances of ScotGov Ministers.

    Stuff like that.

  38. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    11.1% for Ash Regan from the membership, that right there tells me that the membership isn’t interested in Scottish independence, as for the other two, Yousaf and Forbes had/have no plan for dissolving this rancid union.

    Then we have the plethora of MSPs who came out and publicly backed Yousaf and Forbes, knowing fine well that both candidates don’t/didn’t have a plan for Scottish independence, Yousaf even warned them (membership/MSPs) that he is the candidate for continuity and still they voted for him and Forbes secondly.

    In my book the SNP are now finished, the party needs to be destroyed to be reduced to a rump at Holyrood, and anyone who does support dissolving this putrid union MUST now vote for the Alba party there’s no route out of this union via the SNP its a careerist party laden with dirty secrets, its holding Scotland back.

    Ash Regan aside, the few half decent MSP’s (if there are any left) need to get out and cross over to the Alba party or face being swept away at the next Holyrood election.

    Firstly lets remove as many SNP MPs (Wishart and Co) as possible from the HoC come the next GE and replace them with Alba MPs, lets make sure the likes of Neale Hanvey, and Kenny MacAskill remain in office both are indy supporters and have shown their loyalty to the people of Scotland.

    Vote Alba, Join Alba.

  39. akenaton
    Ignored
    says:

    Cherry is not to be trusted, likes to keep a foot in both camps.
    “mistake” I don’t think so, Mss Cherry doesn’t make mistakes, how many times has she backed off when needed.

    Rank Bajin!

  40. John H.
    Ignored
    says:

    The Murrells chose him well. Nicola Sturgeon continues to sabotage Scotland and the SNP without having to answer any more tiresome questions about the logic of her policies. Incidentally, I have read that she still has use of a ministerial car. How ironic if true. After Alex Salmond resigned she banned him from even entering the parliament. So says Campbell Martin in his autobiography “Was it something I said?”

  41. Luigi
    Ignored
    says:

    Nicola Sturgeon only survived as FM for so long because, for all her failings (and there were many), she was a decent actor and a proven election winner, keeping grateful bums on seats. If the current FM starts losing large numbers of seats and the remaining bums start twitching nervously, he will be out on his ear before you can say “Humza Yousaf”.

  42. Beauvais
    Ignored
    says:

    If you go down the route of ‘making a case for independence’ you are according a legitimacy to the status quo. You proclaim why we need independence and highlight its normality. You don’t ‘make the case’.

  43. stuart mctavish
    Ignored
    says:

    On bright side, with huge thanks to Boris and Alister Jack, Jamie Hepburn, as of yesterday, outranks the new FM (ie if his counterpart, the Minister for Union, is ranked higher than FM via Section 35 of the Scotland Act, then, applying the principle of pari passu to the treaty of union, the Minister for Independence MUST be above the current incarnation of the Scottish parliament also).

    Accordingly, if Jamie tells Humza to ignore reserved powers and take back broadcasting in time for the next Scotland match then both Humza, and the Supreme Court, will be obliged to obey.

  44. Alf Baird
    Ignored
    says:

    The “Minister for Independence” should understand what independence means and why it is necessary, and the people must also be informed of ‘the case’, so here is a brief introduction to the subject:

    https://salvo-cor.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/THEORETICAL+CASE+FOR+SCOTTISH+INDEPENDENCE.pdf

  45. Ebenezer Scroggie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ash Regan belatedly realised that a vote for her was a vote subtracted from the only opponent of Abu Humza.

    If Regan hadn’t stood against Forbes, Forbes would have won.

    Clearly she’s a lousy Chess player. In Chess you have to think ahead. She thought only in terms of immediate gratification for herself.

    She’d lost sight of the bigger picture that the real threat to SNP was/is the continuation of the Sturgeon/Murrell business model.

  46. Alan A
    Ignored
    says:

    I want to say a huge THANK YOU to Stu and all the commenters on here for being so genuine in a Scottish society that is sadly brim-full of fake. Confession – I was a no voter and had been against the Scottish Nationalist Movement because I saw it as being driven by these fake, middle class, virtue signalling, self-satisfied nobs – who, by the way, are working their way into the upper tiers of the Scottish public sector where they thrive unchallenged. For the newcomer, the Nat on Nat criticisms here actually enhance the appeal of independence tenfold – because the spirit of the debate is open, honest and real – only good will come of it as opposed to from the New Woke Religion.

    Anyway, for me personally, our Scottish culture is best expressed in the honest heart-felt conversation you have with good friends (often but not always in the pub, bare with me), this includes challenging one another, free reign to talk shite, contradict yourself, be politically incorrect, say things you don’t even mean, have a bleezin row if it’s needed – safe in the knowledge that you and your “conversational partner” (aka yer pal) want the same thing – to get to the root of the matter, vent your bile, disagree, but ultimately to genuinely learn, to better yourself, your community and your country. This freedom to interact authentically and irreverently (with real human emotion and difference) is the glue that holds us Scots together (and we will need this to make a success of our next steps together whatever that is). The New SNP have been systematically destroying this freedom, through censorship and social re-education, and over stepping the boundaries of their democratic remit at every turn

    I’d have most of you lot run this country any day of the week because it would be honest, fair and diverse in the true sense of these words. Anyway, this journalism and conversational space is the antidote, it is precious and vital, long may it continue. Again, thank you.

  47. Ottomanboi
    Ignored
    says:

    Once there was a film called Braveheart.
    2023 version is Faintheart with a cast of chickens ready for plucking.

  48. Saffron Robe
    Ignored
    says:

    It’s like a dystopian horror story unfolding before our eyes. Democracy has long since died and all that remains is the pretence. It occurred to me the other day that one of the most important factors that sustains human life is the hope that things will get better. Under Hazmat Useless and his cabinet of empties there can be no such expectation. All we can expect is an accelerated race to the bottom and the continued destruction of Scotland which his predecessor began.

  49. Maureen
    Ignored
    says:

    Apologies if already posted
    Alba Party report surge in new members since Humza Yousaf victoryhttps://archive.ph/TYosH

  50. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    “If Regan hadn’t stood against Forbes, Forbes would have won.”

    Ebeneezer Scroggie.

    And what difference to independence would a Forbes win have made, absolutely f*ck all, Forbes was/is committed to going down the S30 route which is a dead end.

    Only an Ash Regan win would have got the indy ball rolling, however Sturgeon/Murrell/GCHQ and the gutless membership made sure that didn’t happen.

    We need the NuSNP to be reduced to the same as BLiS in Scotland.

  51. akenaton
    Ignored
    says:

    Ebenezer 2:33 pm.

    Exactly what I’ve been saying for weeks, but the Bravehearts here hate conservatives more than they love independence.

    All the bull about nationhood, oaths and suchlike go out the window when they smell a conservative.
    Jim Sillars has said publicly that he is a social conservative, but they haven’t the guts to stand up and slag him off like they did Kate.
    300 year old battles still being fought on these pages when we had a chance to prove we can be a modern sovereign nation.

    Disgraceful!

  52. socratesmacsporran
    Ignored
    says:

    Akenaton @ 2.22pm

    With a heavy heart, I have to agree with you.

    As a sports writer I have always loved the quote: “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row”, said after he had finally beaten Jimmy Connors.

    Sadly, it appears the High Heid Yins in the SNP can beat Joanna Cherry KC as often, and as frequently as they like.

    The Honourable and Learned Lady is, to my mind, just another SNP trougher. She has had umpteen chances to do the right thing and she has always backed off.

  53. Ignorant
    Ignored
    says:

    Siobhan Brown is outlier MSP in cabinet.
    She is minister for victims

  54. Beauvais
    Ignored
    says:

    Jamie Hepburn is Humza’s figleaf to try to make up for the new FM’s total lack of indy clothes.

  55. Oneliner
    Ignored
    says:

    Murphy’s Law – Hobson’s Choice – Schrodinger’s Cat have all made it into common use vocabulary

    Add to that ‘Sturgeon’s Legacy’ – to be used whenever a person leaves zero inheritance.

  56. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    @Alan A (2.35) –

    What a great compliment that is. I hope all Wingers will read it and give themselves a pat on the back because no-one else is going to do it.

    ‘…challenging one another, free reign to talk shite, contradict yourself, be politically incorrect, say things you don’t even mean, have a bleezin row if it’s needed – safe in the knowledge that you and your “conversational partner” (aka yer pal) want the same thing – to get to the root of the matter, vent your bile, disagree, but ultimately to genuinely learn, to better yourself, your community and your country.’

    That reads like a pretty good description of what ‘universities’ were, to begin with – more often than not just the village/town square, folk sitting around blethering, perhaps with a libation or two.

    The Athenians, I suppose, are the most famous example. Must have got quite heated at times, but the arguments would surely have been about interesting and important stuff, not just one another’s genitals.

    😉

  57. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    As we struggle to free ourselves from this fetid prison of a union, spare a thought for other who are struggling for much more.

    “Palestinians have held rallies to commemorate the 47th anniversary of Land Day, in honor of the struggle against Israeli settler-apartheid oppression and the call for freedom, justice and equality.

    People in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East al-Quds took to the streets on Thursday to mark the event that takes place on March 30 every year.”

    https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/03/31/700717/47th-anniversary-of-Land-Day-Palestinians-rally-against-theft-of-their-land

  58. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    Jeremy Corbyn to go down the Alex Salmond route and stand as an independent, as the NuSNP wiped Alex Salmond’s great achievements and service from their history, so the Labour party via its leader the millionaire knight of the realm Sir Keir Starmer and his clique have block Corbyn from standing as party leader again.

    Also like Alex Salmond the same dirty media and party smear campaign was used against Corbyn.

    Labour are a s rotten to their core as the NuSNP are.

    Vote Alba, Join Alba.

    “Jeremy Corbyn has dropped a hint that he will run as an independent against the Labour Party in the next election after the former party leader was blocked from standing for the country’s opposition party as an election candidate.

    The National Executive Committee (NEC), the party’s governing body, on Tuesday voted 22 to 12 to approve a motion from Sir Keir Starmer, the current leader of the Labour Party, to prevent Labour from endorsing the 73-year-old Corbyn.

    A Labour spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that the motion had passed 22-12.

    “The NEC’s decision to block my candidacy for Islington North is a shameful attack on party democracy, party members and natural justice,” Corbyn said in a statement shortly after the vote, which also prompted left-wingers fiercely denounced Keir Starmer’s “authoritarian” and “divisive” move.”

  59. Sida
    Ignored
    says:

    Hepburn, my MSP and an absolute oxygen thief. Him and his useless wife are a pair of utter chancers and had it been a few decades ago they would both have had red rosettes pinned to their tits.

    I took great pleasure in telling him by email when i left the party several years ago now exactly what i felt about him and his careerism and lack of backbone. I demanded answers of him over several issues but he chose not to answer or defend his lack of substance or character.

    In short he a useless glory seeking spineless arse kissing fuck stain without a shred of moral fibre and has absolutely no interest whatsoever in fighting for let alone achieving independence for our nation which makes him being made the entirely made up position of minister for independence utterly pathetic and gut churning. His reward for being a cunt.

    That a once great party and cause has been reduced to little more than the tartan tories we were once accused of being makes me want to weep… then scream… then weep again… then punch the first SNP cunt who canvasses at my door!

    A bigger bunch of self serving, gravy train riding, shameless wankers you will never meet. Supported now by the most naive and politically unaware people among us.

    Fuck this, i’m off to get pished.

  60. McDuff
    Ignored
    says:

    There is no way we will ever get this lot to take Indy seriously so it’s vote Alba and get them out.

  61. pipinghot
    Ignored
    says:

    Corbyn should stand in Starmers seat.

  62. Colin
    Ignored
    says:

    socratesmacsporran says:
    31 March, 2023 at 3:11 pm

    As a sports writer I have always loved the quote: “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row”, said after he had finally beaten Jimmy Connors.

    Never read/heard this quote previously but brilliant!

  63. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m sick reading and talking to people who have cancelled their SNP membership who then tell me they will vote SNP still. What on earth is wrong with them?

    From what I can gather they remain scared a Unionist party will get in instead. No amount of reasoning convinces them that they have to take a different route towards Indy.

    It is like trying to hammer a flower stalk into a brick wall.

  64. robertkknight
    Ignored
    says:

    Troughers gonna Trough!

    Indy for Scotland – SNP OUT!

  65. 100%Yes
    Ignored
    says:

    I never ever wanted Sturgeon to be rewarded by delivering Independence after what she did to Mr Salmond and she won’t, neither will Humza.

    The is the SNP short of money, their members are leaving the SNP all the time.

    I really do hope the RedTories take 10-20 or more seats from them at the next Westminster election that’ll really hit the party’s finances.

    I also hope the Rag goes bust the paper never ever did anything for the movement, lets see what comes up in the next two years.

  66. Graeme George
    Ignored
    says:

    Bob Mack says:
    31 March, 2023 at 4:54 pm

    ”I’m sick reading and talking to people who have cancelled their SNP membership who then tell me they will vote SNP still. What on earth is wrong with them?”

    Einstein once said there are only 2 things he knew were infinite one is the universe the other is the stupidity of the Scottish electorate, although he wasn’t entirely sure about the universe

  67. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    OT
    Scottish Gold mining… Ach, it’ll probably be the wrong type of gold so best stick to mining Redbull tins from along oor roadsides tae cash in at the new DRS machines.

    https://twitter.com/scotgoldresltd/status/1640079910898130945

  68. Red
    Ignored
    says:

    Our Minister for Independence, Jamie Hepburn, has never worked a day in his life. Straight from “yooni” into the political bag carrier -> identikit careerist MSP pipeline.

    Our First Minister, Humza Yousaf, has never held down a full time job either. His only encounter with the real world of earning a living was a 6 month stint at a call centre while a student.

    And I remember laughing when the Labour Party anointed Donald Dewar “father of the nation”. Donald Dewar was Robert the Bruce reincarnated compared to these no-marks. Donald knew what he was doing.

    Have you ever heard of a successful independence movement led by lazy bawbag scroungers with no achievements to their name?

    Asking for 5 million increasingly annoyed friends.

  69. LondonScott
    Ignored
    says:

    Out of interest, if say Labour take control of the Scottish Parliament next time round – not impossible – would readers be happy if Anwar appointed a Minister for the Union paid for by tax payers? Just asking.

  70. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    Inflation and prices through the roof in the UK, but not so in Europe. This is what happens when you allow another country (England) to make the rules for Scotland.

    The SNP are the continuity party so nothing will change.

    vote Alba, Join Alba

    https://twitter.com/RichardJMurphy/status/1641734524085190657?cxt=HHwWgoC-ub62zsgtAAAA

  71. msdidi
    Ignored
    says:

    Humza makes it on US telly! https://archive.ph/TYosH What possessed SNP members to allow this to happen?

  72. LondonScott
    Ignored
    says:

    akenaton says:
    31 March, 2023 at 3:05 pm

    “Exactly what I’ve been saying for weeks, but the Bravehearts here hate conservatives more than they love independence.”

    A thought from a Scottish Yooni. Like Indies I have a romantic attachment to Scotland – culture, history, landscape etc Scotland is the land of my birth, ancestry and upbringing.

    My main reason for being a Yooni in the past was practical – how do you untangle 300 years of joint currency, taxes, passports, pensions, benefits etc? A logistical nightmare. How do you even a define what a Scot is? People will get duplicated or even disappear from the Scottish/rUK records. If Brexit was difficult- Scexit would be 100 x more difficult.

    But now I have a more pressing reason for being a Yooni. It seems that the argument has morphed from being about independence, to Scotland being an independent left wing one party state where conservatives (big C and small c) are not welcome. 40 years ago most SNP members of my acquaintance were conservative – in political, economic and social terms. Where have they gone? Would they be welcome in an independent Scotland. I am sure many no matter how much in theory they welcome an independent Scotland would feel frightened of being despised second class citizens. Surely a mature campaign on independence would say, “this is about independence, after which the Scottish people are free to elect a Socialist/Conservative/Liberal Government and people of all philosophies will be welcome in the new Scotland. Without reaching out to Conservatives and Liberals, the Indy movement will never get a majority at a referendum.

    Frankly as a Conservtive Scot I would be frightened of living in an indeppendent Scotland.A country that ebven before indpendence has assed the most tortalitarian legislation on free speech in the 1st world.

  73. Robert McAllan
    Ignored
    says:

    When are those presenting Forbes as a credible candidate goin’tae get a grip? Forbes was last to announce her candidacy! Forbes entered the competition wi’ nae structured policy on Independence and for that matter made nae attempt whitsoever at any of the hustings to denounce the Section 30 policy.

    For those who still cling to the myth that she was the honest candidate have another think! A member of her campaign team reportedly stated that Forbes had been asked to stand down by Liz Lloyd in favour of YOUSAF. That in itself was tantamount to rigging an election process but she chose not to bring it to the attention of the appropriate authority. She also endorsed the plan for Freeports and selling off the SCOTWIND FLAGSHIP POLICY at a potential loss of £60 billion to the Scottish Exchequer.

    Forbes chose tae run awa from the vote that wid huv guaranteed Women and young girls safe spaces during the GRR (Bill) debate at Holyrood!!

    Forbes showed herself up for the chancer she is by deciding she needed to step back from ministerial office owing to her recent maternity confinement. Couldnae manage Rural Affairs but First Meenister, AYE NAE BORRA!! HONEST! AH COULD HAE MANAGED IT, AYE NAE BORRA!!!

  74. Gordon Gekko
    Ignored
    says:

    Excellent Stu, Excellent !

  75. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    After Wings short Whites Riot vid linked to below I was thinking that a few more hues on the pantone colour chart might have been incorporated in Humza’s Wardrobe (Cabinet to me conveys a higher quality construction).

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ILRxTv0PH8

    Then I recalled that his cousin had political aspirations and a somewhat colourful past.
    There are various Wings articles mentioning Osama Bhutta / Saeed if you search, but will link to this other site’s one from a couple of years ago as covers a few things I recall.

    http://glasgowunihumanrights.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-snp-candidate-and-sex-worker-snp.html

  76. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    Scottish government to offer the next Police Scotland chief close to a quarter of a million pounds salary, no doubt this huge salary will include utter obedience to the FM, the current police chief will stand down in the Summer.

  77. Stuart MacKay
    Ignored
    says:

    Republicofscotland

    Food prices are going through the roof here in Portugal. Roughly last year, a weekly, decent quality food, shop for the family, used to be about €100 with a couple of bottles of wine and something good like Welsh/Scottish lamb chops (Portuguese ones are dismal quality). That same shop, minus the wine is now €130.

    From last week, beef is off the menu for us except on special occasions (this is mince, not steak). Fresh fish is the same. Generally inflation for food is 20-25% across the board with some items (rice) it is over 70%.

    Anything grown in a greenhouse is of marginal quality – probably because growers care cutting down on heating. Strawberries, for example, are only half ripe. Same for tomatoes.

    At least there’s lettuce and turnips.

  78. wullie
    Ignored
    says:

    Bob Mack says:
    From what I can gather they remain scared a Unionist party will get in instead.
    They are obviously not paying attention, what the hell do they think the SNP are.
    Tell them they are unionist to the core. There is not one SNP MSP, MP, Councillor, party member with any interest in independence. They work for England, the shenanigans of the recent party elections prove that beyond any doubt

  79. Gordon Gekko
    Ignored
    says:

    Republicofscotland says:

    31 March, 2023 at 6:05 pm

    “Inflation and prices through the roof in the UK, but not so in Europe. This is what happens when you allow another country (England) to make the rules for Scotland.”

    Not in Europe because the ECB set interest rate is 3.5%.

    The BOE set it at 4.25%

    Interest rate hikes are price hikes. They don’t fight inflation they make it worse. Increasing interest rates to fight inflation is a myth.

    a) Increasing interest rates, increases the cost of borrowing and thus if businesses borrowing costs increase they pass that increased cost onto the consumer by putting their prices up.

    b) Increasing interest rates increases interest payments to savers. That is a fiscal stimulas.

    c) The spot and forward price for a non perishable commodity imply all storage costs, including interest expense. Therefore, with a permanent zero-rate policy, and assuming no other storage costs, the spot price of a commodity and its price for delivery any time in the future is the same.

    However, if rates were, say, 10%, the price of those commodities for delivery in the future would be 10% (annualised) higher. That is, a 10% rate implies a 10% continuous increase in prices, which is the textbook definition of inflation! It is the term structure of risk free rates itself that mirrors a term structure of prices which feeds into both the costs of production as well as the ability to pre-sell at higher prices, thereby establishing, by definition, inflation.

    The mainstream economics profession has it backwards.

    https://warrenmosler.com/there-is-no-right-time-for-the-fed-to-raise-rates/

    Japan is the only country not to hike the interest rate. Inflation is around 3%. Fiscal and monetary policy comparisons between the big nations.

    https://billmitchell.org/blog/?p=50560

  80. Gordon Gekko
    Ignored
    says:

    Stuart MacKay and Republicofscotland

    The real issue is we are still living with the Volker Myths.

    https://medium.com/@monetarypolicyinstitute/the-volcker-myths-8579cea33b95

  81. Alan A
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood @ 3:41 – Thanks Ian, when I look around and see what’s happening, I’m glad you are all here engaged in what sadly has become the most counter-cultural activity in Scotland today – having an honest conversation.

    Sadly the universities have been captured by the ‘progressive brain washing machine’.

    Re discussion in these pages, it is clear that new battle lines are being drawn here. Who would ever have predicted that the Independence movement would first need to prioritise the defeat of institutional capture / entryism within its own political instrument (the SNP)? Salmond being the best hope of achieving this is like Dr Frankenstein killing his own monster.

  82. Nally Anders
    Ignored
    says:

    Mention of arch lefty Mysognist has just reminded me of this excellent balanced statement from the Communist party. Basically reiterates/explains WM’s legal reasons for slapping a Section 35 order on the GRR.
    How long before OJ accuses them of being right wingers.
    https://www.communistparty.org.uk/the-gender-recognition-bill-and-equality-law/

  83. Mia
    Ignored
    says:

    I am afraid those results have only helped to make me even more suspicious of that contest.

    On the 16th March 2023, 3 days after the contest had started, the Daily Mail on Sunday published that insiders from Mi Voice claimed the database they received from SNP HQ had 78,000 names on it. By this time, the voting links had already been issued.

    The final report published by Mi Voice claims the number of eligible voters was ony 72,169, which is even lower than the figure released by the SNP on the 16th March: 72,186 (published by The Guardian).

    Mi Voice were given a database with an excess of 5,800 names

    Let’s leave aside for now all the obvious questions about those people getting a vote and if they got the vote, what happened after. Let’s just concentrate on the numbers.

    The Daily Mail published on the 16 March that in Mi Voice they were expecting only 54,600 members of the 78,000 to cast a vote because they were “based on a presumption of a 70% turnout”.

    What they need to make a presumption about the turnout 11 days before the voting ended escapes me or what they might have needed to estimate many votes they would receive in advance of the result. It also escapes me what informed that 70% figure, where did it come from. This was the first leadership contest in quite a while, and this was a particular hot one, so if I was to make a presumption, it would be more than 70%

    Interestingly:

    54,600 predicted on 16 March is exactly 70% of 78,000
    50,494 declared on 27 March is almost exactly 70% of 72,169

    Wow. Do they have a crystal ball in SNP HQ?

    So we are expected to believe the original electorate figure changed wildly (78,000 became 72,186 and then 72,162) yet the turnout remained the exact same. How do you straight that one out?

    Looking at these figures, I am begining to get the impression it is not the cast votes what was important when determining the result of this contest, but rather that odd figure “70%”.

    There is something odd about the votes:

    In the case of Regan, around 10% of those who selected her as first choice did not vote for anybody else (572 votes).

    In the case of Forbes, around 16% of those who selected her as first choice did not vote for anybody else (3419 votes).

    In the case of Yousaf, the percentage of those who only voted for him, himself and him again was a jaw-dropping 40% (9763 votes). Wow.

    Something stinks about this.

    Lets not forget that Yousaf won by just 2142 votes and that was after second preference was chosen.

    Let’s see this in a bit more detail:

    Forbes with second vote to Yousaf or Regan: 17,140
    Votes Yousaf with second vote to Forbes or Regan: 14,573

    If it was not thanks to those over 9,000 votes exclusive to Yousaf, he would have been well behind Forbes in the first round and would have lost on second preferences because more votes from Reagan went to Forbes than Yousaf.

    Now let’s play a bit with the numbers and calculate how many votes for Yousaf with no second preference he would have if his proportion of no preference was like the one Forbes had:

    Forbes: 19.9 (20%) (I have calculated this figure as the percentage of the votes for Forbes with second preference that those with no preference represent)

    If, like with Forbes, the number of votes Yousaf received with no second preference were a 20% of those he received with second preference, then we would expect only 2915 (2914.6) votes just for himself.

    9763 – 2915 = 6848 single votes above the 20%

    6848.4 – 1849 postal votes = 4999

    !!!!!!…?????

    Could it be possible they chucked in 5,000 extra first-preference votes to get this numpty over the line ?

    If somebody was to give him a wee push to get him over the line it would be as first preference, because I don’t think it was a secret the majority of Regan’s voters would choose Kate as second preference. In fact, in my humble opinion, the only way Yousaf could “win” is if there was an excess of preference votes for him without any second preference. Isn’t it a wonderful coincidence that this is precisely what happened?

    Humza’s handlers would be fighting on two fronts on this:
    1. stopping Kate getting in as FM
    2. stopping Regan’s proposals being seen as popular.

    Considering the blatant refusal of Russell, first to release the numbers and then to let members change their votes, if some votes were going to be “accidentally” find their way into the pile, my guess would be that the wandering votes were already in the pile by that time.

    A change in members preference at that point would send HQ and its minions into displays of hysterical, maniacal laughter and convulsive outbursts of trumpism invoking waffle because not only would completely mess up all their calculations, it would make the result far more impredictable and if the chosen one was to lose preferential votes, potentially impossible “to fix” without making it blatantly obvious.

    Wouldn’t it be fun if MiVoice were to release the number of first and second preference votes per day that each candidate got?

  84. thothScot
    Ignored
    says:

    msdidi says:
    31 March, 2023 at 6:21 pm

    Humza makes it on US telly! https://archive.ph/TYosH What possessed SNP members to allow this to happen?

    Was he invited by Republicans, suddenly finding a leader who makes Trump look like a genius?

  85. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    @ Stuart Mackay at 6:43 pm

    Sounds to me like you need to raise your hunter gatherer game significantly!
    Portugal’s Mediterranean climate should be a piece of piss to grow fruit and veg. Try living in Scotland with pishy shitty weather and minus 20 deg C temps where you have to find a mild weather window to extract a leek from the ground, or get the pick axe oot if you wanna make a pot o’ soup!
    Still munching my stored spuds, beans, kale I grew last year. Jams and chutney too.
    Fortunately I pickled enough beetroot two years back so still have some jars in stock seeing as that bastard deer chomped last year’s crop. That marauding freeloading pilfering tick carrying fucker is defo going down this year.
    Alternatively you could just hire me as a sustenance engineer and I’ll happily fire up my motorbike and cruise down to get oot of this McSkipfire of a situation here.

  86. Merganser
    Ignored
    says:

    Mia @ 7.12.

    A very interesting analysis. The SNP hierarchy clearly wanted a stop-gap temporary patsy which they managed to achieve by one means or another. He will last as long as he serves a useful purpose for them i.e. to take all the hits before the real succession candidate is put forward as a hero to sort out the mess.

    He must be polishing his armour and grooming his horse ready to ride to the rescue when the call comes.

    Who do you think would stand against him? I sense another coronation in the not too distant future. Annointed for services rendered by….you know who.

    No votes needed. No claims of vote rigging. Job done. The latest in a line of pay-offs.

  87. wullie
    Ignored
    says:

    Fascinating Mia
    Makes me think. It is often wondered why the indy ref 2014 was lost, could it be that we have just witnessed the reason why. An inside job you say, mmm I don’t know.

  88. Mia
    Ignored
    says:

    Oh my! Look at that headline from Owen Jones:

    “What the result of the SNP leadership race means for the left”

    Clearly, the powers that be cannot resurrect the corpse of labour until they successfully restore the ficticious divide “left/right” around which England’s politics hinge. I guess this is their last-gasp desperate attempt to push away the actual divide that matters in Scotland: independence vs the union.

    The divide “left/right” as a vote and attention bait ceased to be relevant in Scotland since 2014. I guess this is the reason they need to bring up this reincarnation of Dafoe to force fed us with the more acceptable doctrine even if we don’t have any interest in it.

    I suppose this is why they had to eject from the National anything to do with Alba. They cannot float England’s ficticious left/right mantra as being relevant to Scotland if there is a political party actively and aggressively campaigning for independence and continuously reminding us that the “the right” Scotland is fighting against is Westminster, independently if it is Tories or labour who control in n10.

    It looks the powers that be have finally accepted that their older dafoe version, our own Brown has more than reached his sell by date, hence sendig us this fresh-faced version from England.

    So, how long until they hire Ress Mogg to write in the National and initiate a debate with Owen Jones to make the “left/right” more realistic? I mean, if they are going to fabricate the fake of a divide, they may as well go with the full charade.

    Welcome to the metamorphosis of the National into the low budget Scottish version of the Guardian: England labour’s echo chamber of the north. The apparatchicks at the Daily Record must be shaking in their boots.

  89. James Jones
    Ignored
    says:

    A Minister for Independence could be good news if he develops a proper vision and proposes exactly how an independent Scotland would proceed. Currency, borders, trade, taxes, energy, the welfare state, these should all be defined. Such a demonstration would surely strengthen the case for independence and convince more Scots to vote for it.

  90. JimuckMac
    Ignored
    says:

    Thank god for Mia because most on here are so indoctrinated by the system they really do struggle to think outside the box. Simply put, Scotland will never gain its independence through the ballot box.

  91. Stuart MacKay
    Ignored
    says:

    Dan,

    For the longest time when I arrived here I was wondering why Portugal is not as rich as Sweden since they have similar sized populations. Then I realised it’s a simple matter of cooperation. Here, if you have 10m2 of land, you can feed yourself. You don’t need to rely on anybody else. Whereas in Sweden, if you’re not cooperative, then your first winter is also your last. It’s the same pattern across Southern Europe. Don’t like your neighbour? Then he can go to hell. In Northern Europe nobody can afford that luxury.

    On the hunter-gatherer front, if you’re ever in this part of the world, then this is worth a visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Rock_Art_Sites_in_the_C%C3%B4a_Valley It’s mind-boggling to think of people hunting along this river valley when the rest of Europe was encased in ice.

  92. Ruby
    Ignored
    says:

    pipinghot says:
    31 March, 2023 at 4:32 pm

    Corbyn should stand in Starmers seat.

    Posie Parker is going to stand in Starmers seat.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3whmtr4HEA

  93. Red
    Ignored
    says:

    Mia – Clearly, the powers that be cannot resurrect the corpse of labour until they successfully restore the ficticious divide “left/right” around which England’s politics hinge.

    Not just England, it’s the template for dividing and ruling the electorates across the Western world.

    This is the era of fake politics, and sham democracies. They don’t represent us, they are paid to manage us.

    It’s wall-to-wall wallopers as far as the eye can see.

  94. Stuart MacKay
    Ignored
    says:

    Gordon Gekko

    Thanks for the link. I’ll need to read it more carefully but I see that plenty of other people are also saying that interest rate increases are going to do nothing to dampen inflation.

    The interesting question is how do governments get out of this one? Prices are never going back where they were and wages are never going to get double-digit increases to compensate. Productivity is declining with pension reform likely to dampen it further. Throw in the costs of all those climate change measures and we’re pretty much on a path to the return of horses and carts – but then everybody will be complaining about methane emissions. Interesting times.

  95. Nae Idea
    Ignored
    says:

    OK. Emma Roddick. She’s never had any kind of experience in Equality, Migration, and Refugees…but is now the SNP minister for these serious, deeply contentious modern political fields. Let’s think about this for a moment.

    A mere 25 years old, came fifth in a Highlands and Islands candidate selection vote. Leapfrogged to the top by self-identifying as disabled. Had both her parents die young. Was homeless. A survivor of sexual assault. Has PTSD and BPD. Is already moaning on social media about money and the stress of it. That and trans people and being “queer” – her word. So it’s all business as usual so far.

    I have one simple, single question here: who the Hell put this woman in this post? Seriously. She’s mentally and emotionally unbalanced, having sadly lived a tragic and painful and unstable life – and now she’s going from zero to 90 in five minutes, straight into the public eye in Holyrood and a 64 grand a year job? Madness. Pure madness.

    Just wait until the stress of the job itself kicks in, never mind money before it starts – and the SNP may very well have a serious problem on their hands. I honestly think giving so clearly a tragically damaged woman a deeply stressful position she has absolutely zero experience of is an act of worrying irresponsibility. I mean she’ll clearly add nothing of her own to the job, and just will be told what to say, obviously, but does she just hope to play the disability card when going gets tough? Or will she have a public meltdown?

    I am not trying to be uncharitable, or say that the disabled can’t work. Of course that’s not the case, and it’s great they can retain independence and a real life. But this smacks of criminal, terminal employer negligence to me. We see how hard other, more mentally and emotionally balanced women in politics find it, let alone those with a lot of pain and trauma in their past. I truly do hope this young woman comes to no harm. Or the SNP will only have themselves to blame.

    This country is semingly run more and more as a self-defeating extremist wannabe-American sociological experiment, or an off-the-rails children’s crusade than an actual, functioning real country, as the last eight tragic, horrifying and disgusting Sturgeon years have borne witness to. I truly do hope this does not end up in tragedy for some over-burdened and under-qualified starryeyed woman.

    Time will tell.

    Some notes on PTSD and BPD:

    https://www.verywellmind.com/example-of-bpd-at-work-425151

  96. msdidi
    Ignored
    says:

    The link I posted at 6.21 was the wrong one.(Humza on US telly) Hopefully this works https://twitter.com/i/status/1641744924826632192

  97. DMcV
    Ignored
    says:

    NotRevd Stu continues to scream NO PLAN FOR INDEPENDENCE! at everyone in the SNP, and continues to not have one himself.

    You could always stand for Holyrood or Westminster, Stu. But I wouldn’t do it under the ALBA banner. Lost deposits hurt.

  98. Lothianlad
    Ignored
    says:

    Never really trusted cherry. Both votes snp is not for me thanks.

  99. Big Jock
    Ignored
    says:

    Ash made a very big mistake when she said she would not challenge the result or the process. The SNP never answered her query about the 78k ballots being issued.

    Why did she swiftly back off? Something changed. Now because there was no challenge , we will never get to the truth.

    I simply don’t believe Humza won this election. He is deeply unpopular, even within the SNP. The whole thing stinks.

    When are we going to stop being conned!

  100. Big Jock
    Ignored
    says:

    How others see us. Yes quite a damning clip of Humza complaining that white people are in charge of a white country.

  101. Kcor
    Ignored
    says:

    In view of the first Muslim First Minister’s pro gender reform postion, it would have been more appropriate to have a Minister for the rights of Women with penises.

  102. Big Jock
    Ignored
    says:

    53% of Scots are Christian. 35% no religion. 1.8% Islam. So essentially Scotland is a Christian country with a Muslim leader. Yet Humza made the most of Kate’s Christian faith, like it was alien to most Scots. But we are to believe this won him the election.

  103. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    I have the numerical equivalent of dyslexia but I found Mia’s 7.15 comment persuasive.

    Is anyone capable of re-crunching those numbers and confirming her findings?

  104. Brian Doonthetoon
    Ignored
    says:

    Hi DMcV.

    You are typing a load of $h!te on this pro-independence web site.

    What do you hope to achieve?

  105. Michael Laing
    Ignored
    says:

    @ DMcV: It’s not Stuart Campbell’s job to have a plan for independence, it’s the SNP’s. I’m not an expert on false arguments, but I would guess that’s the ‘straw man’ argument. And in any case, I suspect that Stuart Campbell does have a fairly clear idea of the process for Scotland to gain independence. He backed Ash Regan for the SNP leadership, after all.

  106. Gordon Bain
    Ignored
    says:

    @Dan

    Sorry to be pedantic but Portugal is on the Atlantic coast.

  107. SusanAHF
    Ignored
    says:

    Big Jock, and how likely is it that Pakistan would elect a white Christian leader… I hear the Christian minority in Pakistan is threatened on a regular basis, especially with trumped up charges of blasphemy against mohammedanism, which carries the death sentence

  108. Astonished
    Ignored
    says:

    I am more hopeful of an ALBA breakthrough.

    Thanks Sturgeon and Humza.

  109. Big Jock
    Ignored
    says:

    Astonished. Alba may have the last laugh. I can see some high profile defections coming. Particularly from the WM side.

  110. Saffron Robe
    Ignored
    says:

    Mia, excellent comments as always and I have no doubt that your analysis is correct. Like everything else about the SNP, there was nothing genuine about the election of Useless. Did Stuart not say there was no way he could win fairly and squarely?

    And I agree that it is not about right and left, but about right and wrong. And the only way we can right the wrongs of the Union is by ending it!

    Nally Anders, very interesting statement from the Communist Party. I thought the following was insightful:

    “Gender as an ideological construct should not be confused or conflated with the material reality of biological sex. Gender is the vehicle through which misogyny is enacted and normalised.”

    The clip of Useless making accusations based on skin colour is very disturbing. A clear example of racism and hate speech!

    I see Donald Trump has been indicted in the US. Not that I would compare Donald Trump to Alex Salmond, but I can’t help thinking there are parallels with the cynical attempt to jail a perceived threat and abuse of the criminal justice system.

  111. Alf Baird
    Ignored
    says:

    Big Jock @ 10:39 pm

    “Humza made the most of Kate’s Christian faith, like it was alien to most Scots”

    Humza and those voting for him appear to be unaware that the self-determination of ‘a people’ is an ‘inalienable’ right, which means it is not transferable to another people/culture. He and the SNP hierarchy are unaware of what independence means or why it is necessary, for they are unable even to define it (it is decolonisation). Their understanding therefore remains rudimentary because they have never undertaken a reasoned study of colonial society. Their limited knowledge and understanding of colonialism explains why they have failed to deliver independence. If you don’t know the ‘condition’ you cannot administer the ‘treatment’.

  112. Geri
    Ignored
    says:

    Saffron Robe

    That’s what I thought too. I’m not a fan of Trump but it appears they’ll do anything to have him removed.

    They’re worse than the dictators they depose.

  113. PhilM
    Ignored
    says:

    There’s nothing cynical about indicting a career criminal for the frauds he’s committed. Everyone around Trump, who’s not part of his family, has gone to jail. His career in business fraud has been well documented in hundreds of articles and scores of books. There are NO parallels between what happened to Alex Salmond and the convening of a grand jury to consider the evidence of criminality against Trump.
    The US justice system has caught up with Trump now that he’s no longer president. There’s no ‘they’ here. There are allegations, there is evidence, and now there are indictments. That’s a functioning justice system at work, unlike the corrupted system we have in Scotland at the moment.
    To indulge in paranoid thinking on this topic is ridiculous. If we had grand juries here, Alex Salmond would not have been put through hell for two years.
    On second thoughts, if there is a ‘they’ then they and their corrupt acts should be readily identifiable because the US is still relatively open. So here’s a challenge…find the ‘they’ in this case, have a go, I’ll be really curious to see who ‘they’ turn out to be.

  114. Towbar Sullivan
    Ignored
    says:

    I suspect that the days of an SNP with a huge membership are soon over. And I’m sure the powers that be in the SNP want it that way.

    A large membership is just a nuisance to the leadership. All they want are enough members to shove leaflets through letter boxes come election time. And if they don’t have the membership they’ll pay people to shove leaflets for them. It works fine for the Tories.

    A large activist party membership is only of interest to a party that is controlled by the members and has something to campaign for. The SNP today is elite driven, not membership driven and activism by the membership will be seen as undesirable at best and a challenge to leadership control at worse.

    They want a large electorate; they don’t need a large membership.

  115. Towbar Sullivan
    Ignored
    says:

    @msdidi
    You might want to stop posting links from Newsmax as it represented anything. It’s a fringe channel and usually considered far right.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsmax

  116. msdidi
    Ignored
    says:

    says the person who then posts a link to ……wikipedia!

  117. twathater
    Ignored
    says:

    akenaton I very nearly sided with you in your comment about Jo Cherry then you went and spoiled things by siding with ebenezer scroat and going off on a rant about commenters hating the poor wee tories

    Is this the same wee tories that oppose indy with every breath , the same tories that have a rock in place of a heart , the same tories that don’t give a flying f++k about the elderly or the poor, the same tories that are so amoral that they make profit out of suffering , the same tories that embrace the GREED of profits from protective clothing and energy companies whilst people freeze and medical staff are put in harms way because some arsehole tory wants more profit

    WHY do tories WORSHIP entrepreneurship and capitalism and at the first sign of problems they DEMAND assistance from the STATE, why do they worship private health care and starve the SNHS of funding yet when their private consultants and hospitals fuck up operations the SNHS the STATE has to repair said fuckups

  118. Iain mhor
    Ignored
    says:

    It’s still bizarre to me that the tail wags the dug in the SNP apparently. They could be looked at as two seperate entities, almost two seperate parties.
    Are MP’s autonomous? What jig are they jumping to, and what tune? Nae idea myself.

    Anyway, I have to have a wry smile at the tune: ‘Show we can govern well over decades and people will come over to Independence…’
    (as a title it’ll never catch on)

    The primary flaw with that, is that people who hanker for independence have managed to carve out their lives and families for generations, all while not living in an Independent Scotland.
    Similarly, the next generations are doing the same – getting by, despite, not because of government.

    The generations pre-devolution, may have come to the conclusion, that Scotland is better governed post-devolution, and Scotland could be orders of magnitude better yet if Independent; they are a dying breed, and are slap bang in the demographic of the elders who are Unionists to the hilt.
    Neither are shifting the Independence needle.

    The demographic the SNP (apparently) need, are those whose memory is primarily of devolution, and a degree of Scottish self government.
    The SNP are effectively saying to them: “Watch us govern better than we have done in the past, and better than the past you barely recall, all during a global shitshow.”

    They can’t show that. People just perceive life/ cost of living getting worse, and naturally just point the finger at government – any government – especially the government which says “Look at us, look how great things are getting with us in charge”

    Tactical ineptitude – but then the SNP are stappit fu’ of Lawyers, bankers, and those from an ‘education’ background – all used to saying “Just because”, and as we all know – that phrase is what you use on weans.

    How is Scotland better under extended devolution, under the SNP, and in a cost of living crisis, a global recession, wars, and runours of wars? (yet again)
    “Just because it is”
    Aye right.

    No revolutionary movement took decades to get it’s tactical ducks in a row. They pinpointed simply, what was needed, and moved clinically to that end. In the manner of the best of Hollywood (if not Holyrood) they never looked back at the explosion.

    The SNP need to get off the Holyrood donkey, and back to Westminster; return a majority, on a single Indy ticket by clinically, and cynically targetting seats – pull the pin, walk away and don’t look back.

    So SNP MP’s – lackeys, or leaders?
    There are a damn sight fewer of you than MSP’s and easier to keep track of.
    FPTP and general elections are very easy for voters to understand; most in Scotland appparently think d’Hondt is the President of South Africa, and STV is ‘after the news where you are’

    The glass swivels in your direction now.

  119. JimuckMac
    Ignored
    says:

    Robert Gordon University had bestowed an honorary doctorate of business administration in 2010 to Mr Donald Trump.

  120. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    <

    Stuart MacKay says:
    31 March, 2023 at 8:58 pm

    … we’re pretty much on a path to the return of horses and carts – but then everybody will be complaining about methane emissions. Interesting times.

    I disagree Stuart. Hydrogen is your friend…

    Short term and long term, it’s Hydrogen baby…

    There are already vids on Youtube about people converting petrol generators to water fuel. The machines which synthesize enough fuel from water to run themselves and what looks close to a normal output to a tool.

    Two downsides, you need to add an electrolyte to the water, and second, the cheap and chearful way of doing it puts gaseous state Hydrogen and Oxygen mixed together into your fuel pipes & carburetor, so the components are there primed and ready to burn / explode… albeit the quantity is small.

    They often quote an HH+ patented electrolyte, but it looks like potassium hydroxide. What potency of chemical, I don’t know.

    The bottom line is however, the water fuel engine produces enough power to electrolyse it’s own fuel and run a useable output.

    It’s there on Youtube, and you see similar interpretations of the tech from different people, so it demonstrably works.

    People say oh hydrogen needs a fuel cell to store it, – but not if your engine is synthesising the hydrogen from water in real time. You literally could fill your tank from a tap. The “consumeable” isn’t the water, it’s the “HH+” electrolyte…

    Incidentally, if it’s something like Potassium Hydroxide, it will turn your water fuel very caustic, (alkaline), before the electrolysis, so you won’t want to be touching it. That could have it’s own implications for a “safe” fuel system that resists corrosion.

    Note also, this fuel goes straight into a tweaked but unaltered petrol engine. Scale that up to a car, and where it’s physically possible, existing vehicles with internal combustion engines, petrol and diesel, can theoretically be converted. That means all your vintage cars and even second hand runabouts might have a lifeline with some adaptations.

    I believe JCB are taking this very seriously, but logic suggests they won’t be alone. Truth be known, this isn’t new technology, but “sat on” technology which has been around for years.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6_qAta3Gk8

    With our surplus energy production, I believe Scotland should be jumping in to hydrogen fuels and electrolysis…

    Electric cars? Meh… nice grunt and acceleration, but I believe Hydrogen will win in the long run. Batteries are not good for the planet.

  121. Mia
    Ignored
    says:

    “‘Show we can govern…”

    But at least since November 2014 the “SNP” has not been governing anything. They have been handing the bulk of Scotland’s funds to England and administering Scotland on behalf of the crown on pocket money.

    Governing a country is to treat it as a separate entity: managing its resources, managing its people, planning for growth, etc.

    Let’s look at demographics for instance. Deaths have been surpassing births for years and the useless Sturgeon, in one of her talks a few years ago recognised this and said the proyection is for this to be the case for many years more.

    A proper government would immediately act upon this to stimulate births among the native population. The useless Sturgeon simply looks at immigrants when the overwhelming majority of these are transient and leave again. If you want the population to grow, it has to be by stimulating births in the native population and you do that by reducing the emigration of their young.

    In any real world job, an administrator is well below managers in the hierarchy of command. For the last 8.5 years Scotland has not had managers, only administrators. The managers are somewhere down south.

    What the “SNP” has been doing for the last 8.5 years is what Labour and libdems did before Mr Salmond’s minority government and what labour will do again thanks to SNP controllers deliberately making the SNP unelectable: to make the UK look governable by using Scotland’s money to mitigate the toxicity of policies designed for England by England’s mandarins. Because this has been the main objective of the Useless Sturgeon administration: to preserve the union at all costs.

    A proper government with managers, as opposed to an administrative unit, would keep Scotland’s money in Scotland, would manage Scotland’s resources for Scotland and use the revenues to develop the country, not waste them to mitigate the toxicity imposed by another. A proper government would not mitigate, would STOP the toxicity.

    Mr Salmond attempted to progress “the devolved administration” into a government. The useless Sturgeon did her damnest best to revert it.

  122. Iain More
    Ignored
    says:

    Yadda yadda yadda, Useless Yousef is an interim leaded. Forbes told him to go and fuck himself but too late in the day. Minister for Indy = aye fuckin right.

  123. Natal XY and proud
    Ignored
    says:

    David Gray says:
    31 March, 2023 at 12:48 pm
    Just for the hell of it, I want to ask an unanswerable question:
    how many of this new elite, or their spouses, have their names protected by a court order?

    I only know of one. How many more?

  124. JockMcT
    Ignored
    says:

    Anyone else suddenly seeing adverts for slab and anas useless2 on You Tube, wid gie ye the boak…

  125. Ebenezer Scroggie
    Ignored
    says:

    To answer that would risk prosecution for jigsaw identification.

  126. Red
    Ignored
    says:

    The US justice system has caught up with Trump now that he’s no longer president

    Imagine watching TV, and then believing what you’re told.

  127. North chiel
    Ignored
    says:

    “Mia@0734 am what the SNP has been doing for the past 8.5 years is what Labour & Libdems did prior to Mr Salmond’s minority government “ . Couldn’t agree more with this post Mia these “ administrators “ have been “ bought & sold “ and their sole function is to “ divi up” the Barnett hand out from the Britnat establishment, whilst ensuring that the Holyrood “ administrators “ reward themselves with a generous “ cut” of the Victoria sponge Meanwhile their fellow troughers & quaffers at Westminster have of course comfortably settled into the “ gravy train “of subsidised food & drink , bloated expense accounts for travel and accommodation & fat cat salaries/ pensions paid for by their increasingly shivering , hungry & poverty stricken constituents .
    As you say Mia, no different to the previous “ Barnett hand out arrangements” prior to so called devolution .
    Every one of them “ have their price” to remain compliant .

  128. Anne Johnston
    Ignored
    says:

    ‘Treason doth never prosper,
    What’s the reason..
    For if it
    prosper, none dare call it
    Treason.’

  129. akenaton
    Ignored
    says:

    Twathater, I often agree with much in your comments, but I dont go all dizzy if you say something I disagree with.

    If we are really interested in Independence, we need all shades of political opinion I thought I had made that clear in my post. There is no contradiction in being a Nationalist AND a social conservative, though I’m beginning to think that trying to maintain a standard of living which is really unsustainable by taxing everything and pandering to every minority no matter how crazy or deviant they may be must be ultimately bad practice.

    Being a conservative does not equate to being a Unionist, I was totally against membership of the EU, a corrupt club which the SNP see determined to re-join.

    Anybody who follows that line, is not a “Nationalist” in my opinion as the EU is anti Nation state .

  130. Saffron Robe
    Ignored
    says:

    PhilM, “they” are the ruling party, obviously. The same politically motivated manipulation of the criminal justice system in an attempt to jail an opponent and remove a potential threat to their power.

    Tyler Durden: “It’s illegitimate and political…And don’t understate the danger to Trump, who will face a jury of Biden voters. Biden won Manhattan 86.7% to 12.3% according to the New York Times. The jury of Trump’s peers will be friendly to the prosecution. That’s all the Manhattan DA might need to secure a conviction. Trump could very well win on appeal but the damage – which carries national repercussions – might already have been done.”

  131. John McGregor
    Ignored
    says:

    The Snp have been playing their members for fools since 2014



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