To be honest, Humza Yousaf’s new Cabinet satirises itself – everyone’s picking on the absurdity of noted idiot Shona Robison becoming Finance Secretary but the funniest is surely omnifailure Shirley-Anne Somerville as Trans Rights – sorry, “Social Justice” Secretary – so rather than waste our breath on it today we’re going to catch up on some results from our latest Panelbase poll that we haven’t managed to squeeze in amid the mayhem of the last couple of weeks.
They tell us some interesting things about the Scotland the new FM now leads.
The beam on Kate Forbes’ face was quite something.
She’d clearly been exhausted by the contest some time ago, and must have been dreading winning and having to continue fighting the assault from within her own party. Her evident delight and relief at her own failure was a revealing moment.
The great unknown in this election was just who the SNP membership was. No poll could tell us, and with over 50,000 people having quit the party in the last three years, nobody knew who was left. But we know now: idiots.
Today is the last day of Nicola Sturgeon’s record-breaking reign as First Minister of Scotland. In a few hours we’ll know who is to succeed her in the role. She was only the second SNP occupant of Bute House, and the legacy she bequeaths compared to the one she inherited from Alex Salmond is a matter of measureable record.
This is the second time Wings Over Scotland has asked Police Scotland a question through the proper official channels, only to read the response in the tabloid press before we’d heard it firsthand (which we still haven’t, incidentally, several days after the 28-day deadline expired).
But the sidebar piece in today’s Sunday Mail raises more questions than it answers.
We’ve been thinking about it since last night, and we’re not sure if Humza Yousaf now still has ANY of the policies he started the leadership election with.
But this one‘s got us extra-specially perplexed, since at the start it was pretty much the main unique selling point he was hanging his whole campaign on.
According to SNP President and acting CEO Mike Russell, SNP members are too thick to understand the concept of changing their vote, and integrity is “disruptive”.
We’re not very clear on why a revote would be susceptible to “hacking” in any way that the original vote isn’t, but we’re sure there’s a great explanation.
There can surely be no credible disputing that the SNP leadership election – and therefore that of Scotland’s next First Minister – is, to put it very mildly, under a cloud.
As things stand, whoever wins will be forever tainted by the process – easy meat for the Unionist opposition in the Holyrood chamber and the media and a potential legal challenge could cause untold further damage to the party.
With six days still left for voting, the case for a reballot – an administratively fairly trivial task in an election being conducted almost entirely online – is now unanswerable, and needn’t even involve a delay.
Alf Baird on The Narcissism Of No Differences: ““This is wholly a male thing” Yes Lorncal, in ‘The Intimate Enemy’, Nandy’s study of the psychology of British colonialism…” Apr 19, 11:44
Confused on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “I see the hunday mail has got hold of the (some, at least) of the whatsapp messages … this could…” Apr 19, 11:35
Alf Baird on The Narcissism Of No Differences: ““why does Scotland not appear to have Epstein compromised individuals” As a colony we are ‘out of the game’, willie,…” Apr 19, 10:57
Bilbo on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “The right by it’s very nature, one whose only purpose is to converse, is never radical. It only appears as…” Apr 19, 10:56
willie on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “Listening to Laura Kuennsberg this morning the prog is all about why Sir Keir Starmer allowed Peter Mandelson to be…” Apr 19, 09:43
willie on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “A timely article in today’s Sunday Mail publishing emails in relation to the Alex Salmond attempted stich up. https://archive.is/oavLF” Apr 19, 09:31
Aidan on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “Again that’s more total bollocks from the both of you, the motorway network does not “mostly stop at Carlisle” does…” Apr 19, 09:22
MaryB on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “Nobody will ever agree with every policy of any one specific political party, especially in the current political climate. But…” Apr 19, 09:11
Alf Baird on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “Excellent point Dan. The same might be said for motorways which mostly stop in Carlisle, and all other essential infrastructure…” Apr 19, 08:46
John McNab on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “You don’t need ‘none of the above’, as by definition, it will be at the bottom of the ballot paper,…” Apr 19, 08:41
Nicky T Naquetti on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “Something I forgot to mention about Sheridan – his waste of public funds, by claiming legal aid in order to…” Apr 19, 08:18
Nicky T Naquetti on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “Tommy Sheridan? I suppose it may be possible to enjoy the services of prostitutes while still “respecting women” – he…” Apr 19, 07:29
Dave on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “Wow, a demonstration that grammar, punctuation, and spelling are entirely optional if conviction is high enough. ‘you’re blinkers’ ? ‘your…” Apr 19, 07:06
Mark Beggan on The Narcissism Of No Differences: ““I never thought I’d live to see the day when the right wing would become the cool ones giving the…” Apr 18, 23:25
Dan on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “This may interest you. I’ve often mentioned that for all the renewble power generated in Scotland’s geographic area, the rail…” Apr 18, 21:54
Bilbo on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “It’s nearly 50 years since the Sex Pistols released Anarchy in the UK which heralded Punk music into the mainstream.…” Apr 18, 21:41
Aidan on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “Yet another boring post. It’s a lovely evening here on Skye. Hopefully it is where you are. Go and enjoy…” Apr 18, 20:43
Lorncal on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “Turabdin: I believe you are right. We have had enough. I also believe that women have had enough, too. These…” Apr 18, 20:34
Young Lochinvar on Happy Anniversary: “George I reckon the whole counting crosses process should be topped off by the candidates doing an arm wrestle. :-)…” Apr 18, 20:03
Young Lochinvar on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “LOL! The post reads as follows. Adrian says; How incredibly boring. Succinct and to the point really plus a round…” Apr 18, 19:55
George Ferguson on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “@Dan 6:18pm Absolutely Dan A principled stance was my core belief. I don’t want taxpayers money. I had the formation…” Apr 18, 18:53
Dan on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “@George You’ll have to wait a long time for a decent and easier to instigate recall policy being implemented by…” Apr 18, 18:18
George Ferguson on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “@Sven 5:26pm True especially for wayward MSPS. I favour a recall mechanism for MSPs. A recent vote in the Scottish…” Apr 18, 17:55
Mark Beggan on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “The only winners in this election are the Civil servants and Lawyers. The only hope is that the whole woke…” Apr 18, 17:45
Alf Baird on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “Scots surely have the additional challenge dealing with colonial rule based on racial and cultural subordination which adds another dimension…” Apr 18, 17:43
Sven on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “Genuine query, George. What action is available to bring to bear on an MSP newly installed for the next 5…” Apr 18, 17:26
George Ferguson on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “@twathater Wow calm down. We live in age of social media. Every promise they make will be played back to…” Apr 18, 17:02
twathater on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “So George how are the elected politicians going to be held accountable for their ignoring their manifestos and the voters…” Apr 18, 16:19
sarah on Happy Anniversary: “It has got worse since Westminster imposed the reduction in Councils – no more District Councils, only Highland Council with…” Apr 18, 16:15
George Ferguson on Happy Anniversary: “My Father in law was a Caithness Councillor he won it on a toss of the coin. A draw and…” Apr 18, 15:46
