Much of central Cowdenbeath was closed down for several hours by the police yesterday to facilitate an Orange Order parade attended by DUP leader Arlene Foster. (Curiously, Ruth Davidson, who’d been vocal in her complaints about traffic disruption in Glasgow due to the recent Yes march, had no objections this time.)
Foster made an audaciously ironic plea for a nation “free from intolerance and hatred“, right before the next speaker stepped up to denounce large sections of the local population as “enemies of Christ”.
In our latest Panelbase poll, we asked the same independence question we asked in the last one, and got much the same answer. (Technically the indy vote went up by about a sixth of one percent, but that’s statistically meaningless.)
That’s a bit disappointing after the events of recent weeks, but also not very surprising – after all, the way the question is framed pretty much guarantees at least 38% of the population will choose the second option straight off the bat.
Much more interesting is the question we asked next.
Political pundits on both sides on the border often marvel at how the SNP appear able to defy the normal rules of electoral gravity, still holding a comfortable double-digit lead in the polls after more than 11 years in power. But there’s no great mystery to it, and the answer is simple, in several senses of that word.
Ladies and gentlemen, allow us to present to you Scottish Labour’s offering for who’d be in charge of all the Scottish Government’s money if the SNP weren’t in power – finance spokesman James Kelly MSP.
As alert readers will know, we’ve heard little from the Unionist parties in Scotland over the last couple of years but “SCOTLAND SAID NO!”, “SCOTLAND DOESN’T WANT ANOTHER REFERENDUM!” and “WHAT PART OF NO DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?”
That clutch of blunt, angry slogans was (and remains) pretty much the entire Scottish Conservatives manifesto, for example, and it rests on the claim – based on some extremely misleading selective reading of opinion polls – that the nation is implacably opposed to a second vote. The reality, as we know, is somewhat more balanced. But it’s never been quite THIS balanced before.
We’ve just got the results back from a new Panelbase poll of Scottish voters. As ever there’s some fascinating stuff in there, but we’ll start with the headline voting numbers:
HOLYROOD VOTING INTENTION (excl DK, chgs vs Dec 2017)
SNP 41 (+2)
Con 27 (-1)
Lab 22 (-3)
LD 6 (-)
Grn 2 (-)
This year’s Scottish Social Attitudes Survey has found, yet again, that Scottish people trust their government in Holyrood vastly more than they trust the one in Westminster. The figures transcend party loyalties, with far more people saying they trust the Scottish Government than vote for the SNP.
Trust in both governments was down by five points, which meant the Scottish Government had lost 7.6% of its trust (66 down to 61) while the UK government had lost 20% of its trust (25 down to 20).
Now let’s see how two newspapers owned by the same company reported the news.
The Sunday Times puts some poll results in an interesting frame today:
And readers who’ve learned anything at all from this site over the last six years will be looking at that tweet and immediately wondering “what AREN’T we being told there?”
And to be absolutely fair to the Scottish Lib Dem leader, he’s always been consistent in his beliefs, such as the view that elected members should be given a second chance when they’ve committed a minor misdemeanour, and NOT have to (for example) stand down and face re-election.
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Cowering From Destiny: “Bill Browder’s backstory is engaging and informative. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlF0ZzH6C9s” Sep 27, 22:24
Hatey McHateface on Cowering From Destiny: “THEY’RE BEHIND YOU, JAMES!!! Oh dear, I shouldn’t have startled you like that. My bad. I’ll put some sand doon,…” Sep 27, 21:45
James on Cowering From Destiny: “Oh, the fucking irony!!! This site’s btl is being take over by warmongering TurboTory Yoons.” Sep 27, 20:19
Hatey McHateface on Cowering From Destiny: “If only there was some way to get £5 from every delusional who really believes that Scottish Independence is synonymous…” Sep 27, 19:48
Chris Downie on Cowering From Destiny: “Even if the conspiracy theories were incorrect, the SNP stance is completely undemocratic – and thus guilty of the same…” Sep 27, 19:07
Hatey McHateface on Cowering From Destiny: “Have you tried popping across to explain that to them face to face? Could be that it has never occurred…” Sep 27, 18:33
Hatey McHateface on Cowering From Destiny: “Guantanamo is still open. Should be a cinch to organise a direct flight from Fairford. The Yanks will have no…” Sep 27, 18:28
Hatey McHateface on Cowering From Destiny: “The usual masterful insights from Confused. His conviction that R can’t do force projection gives us hope that when everybody…” Sep 27, 18:22
Hatey McHateface on Cowering From Destiny: “Loving how English colonialism supposedly made them the world’s most hated nation, whereas Scottish colonialism supposedly gained us many international…” Sep 27, 18:03
Captain Caveman on Cowering From Destiny: ““Factual post” No one is denying the accuracy of Lavrov’s quote, Shit-for-Brains, merely the act of quoting him at all,…” Sep 27, 17:45
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Spartan 117 on Cowering From Destiny: “I expect behinds will be felt for this one, especially if the guardroom call going unanswered has any truth to…” Sep 27, 17:32
James on Cowering From Destiny: “LOLZ. Alf posts a factual post and as usual gets half-witted responses from The Daily Mail The Daily Star and…” Sep 27, 17:21
Spartan 117 on Cowering From Destiny: “Indeed. NI is a warning to us all of the consequences of people keeping ancient irrelevant grudges festering instead of…” Sep 27, 17:20
Alf Baird on Cowering From Destiny: “England-as-UK Foreign Minister Miliband sure as hell won’t help liberate us Scots, he’s there to keep us ‘doun-hauden’ and to…” Sep 27, 17:18
Mark Beggan on Cowering From Destiny: “Trumpy just said to the press that the US was investigating the group from the start. The UK media are…” Sep 27, 16:39
Dan on Cowering From Destiny: “A “Compromise” might have been to not hold the highly contentious march in that particular area in the first place……” Sep 27, 16:33
Spartan 117 on Cowering From Destiny: “This morning’s event seems to have been an extremely lucky escape instigated by the vigilance of a good citizen (who…” Sep 27, 16:20
Spartan 117 on Cowering From Destiny: “Quoting Lavrov has to be an academic’s nadir. I’ll respect your democratic right to your views but sorry, you’ve lost…” Sep 27, 16:04
Captain Caveman on Cowering From Destiny: ““Foreign Minister Lavrov” Ah, the “R” guy at the UN. Figures, eh Alf. Hilarious to see you being a fawning…” Sep 27, 15:16
Dan on Cowering From Destiny: “Had a quick search and aye, the boiler issue was mentioned in the following article; Which also points out the…” Sep 27, 15:11
Alf Baird on Cowering From Destiny: ““Don’t be attached to it when it goes down” Foreign Minister Lavrov can also see it coming. Evidence here that…” Sep 27, 14:38
lothianlad on Cowering From Destiny: “Thats an anger i can relate to!! truly” Sep 27, 14:29
Willie on Cowering From Destiny: “Interesting comments Dan. Seems that there is a major issue with gas boiler tubes. But the plant has been beset…” Sep 27, 14:03
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Dan on Cowering From Destiny: “That’s far from an ideal situation. Viridor are a big company that run many ERF sites across the UK so…” Sep 27, 13:10
Mark Beggan on Cowering From Destiny: “Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear. Alcohol does such damage to the brain.” Sep 27, 12:49
Spartan 117 on Cowering From Destiny: “Grrr, They Inglish. How dare anyone seek a better life for themselves away from their origin. *Awaits the inevitable Grassy…” Sep 27, 12:38
