As well as being the Director of the John Smith Policy Centre (a job with no known responsibilities but which nevertheless pays around the same as being an MSP making laws in the Scottish Parliament) she writes regular columns in The Times and The Courier and is now, hilariously, the new Professor of Practice in Public Service in Glasgow University.
(A post with unspecified duties and unknown salary and which was also not, as far as anyone can tell, ever publicly advertised.)
We were bored so we thought we’d find out, via Panelbase, if her latest lucrative role was perhaps the result of a noticeably impressive performance in the first one.
A year and a quarter ago, we contrasted the performance of the SNP’s last two leaders in terms of building support for independence. As the First Minister crows about how much better she’s been at staying in power than a succession of UK leaders, it seems only proper to bring the stats up to date.
Do you remember, readers, how the next UK election was supposed to be a single-issue de facto referendum on independence if the Supreme Court ruled Holyrood didn’t have the power to hold one itself?
Well, it appears that policy has been abruptly and quietly ditched.
Because just a couple of hours ago SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford told BBC News that “I can assure you” the SNP “will have a growth manifesto” for the whole UK whenever the next election comes around, because in his view the UK economy hasn’t been growing enough for the last few decades and the SNP would have a plan to fix it. Because apparently fixing the UK is the SNP’s purpose now.
Guess we better hope for a good result from the Supreme Court, then.
And while the prediction itself wasn’t vindicated, the reasoning behind it certainly was, because she duly lost her majority just as we said she would, and limped pitifully into oblivion over the next two painful and shambolic years. (While Nicola Sturgeon ponced around hopelessly trying to stop Brexit instead of saving Scotland by getting it the hell out of the UK before it was too late.)
So it’s in that spirit that we’re going to stick our necks out once again and predict that despite the opinions of most political pundits Liz Truss is going nowhere any time soon, because as incredible as it seems, she’s almost certainly the least worst option for the Conservative Party right now.
Between recesses and the mourning period for the Queen, the UK Parliament has been sitting for just four weeks since the 1st of July this year.
In that time the government has somehow managed to lose three Chancellors Of The Exchequer and is about to engage its fourth in the alarming form of Jeremy Hunt, a man whose primary claim to fame and utility to the UK is as rhyming slang.
Sometimes even fools and liars and charlatans speak the truth.
Thing is, we rather liked it when the horses south of the border were frightened. Things happened in those days. But to coin a phrase, those days are past now.
Honestly, readers, swear to God, all joking and sarcasm aside, when we saw this tweet yesterday we were wondering how on Earth some clever satirist had managed to hack Anas Sarwar’s account to insert the screenshot into it.
Because we didn’t believe that even Scottish Labour’s low-watt-bulb of a branch manager would willingly post something that made him look so much of an imbecile.
Because the SNP are now openly, publicly telling you that they’re never going to achieve independence for Scotland, nor even make any meaningful attempt at it.
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “THE CRISIS IN HUMANIST POLITICAL THEORY by Herman Dooyeweerd PDF: https://vcho.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/The-Crisis-in-Humanist-Political-Theory-B-Vol-7.pdf” Jul 26, 19:49
Lorncal on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Minceheid: it’s fire-raising in Scotland. No such crime as arson up here. Not trying to be smart or putting you…” Jul 26, 19:46
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “THE CRISIS IN HUMANIST POLITICAL THEORY by Herman Dooyeweerd (1931, republished 2010) Currently (re-)reading above book. Just reached the following…” Jul 26, 19:30
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “It goes further than that, Mark. Once you are a woman they send in the crone with the rusty razor…” Jul 26, 19:27
Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “During the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ the streets had no names. In today’s Middle east ‘Troubles’ the names have no streets.” Jul 26, 19:14
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I think we can all agree there’s a need to dampen things down. Send for Rayner.” Jul 26, 19:11
Bilbo on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Labour is ideologically tied to immigration whether they like it or not. We are in a time where the UK…” Jul 26, 18:42
Southernbystander on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I would have said yes to this genius spot, but no, unless the Cairngorms are full of ham.” Jul 26, 18:12
Southernbystander on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I was on the border not very long ago and I can assure you there was a broken old fence…” Jul 26, 18:01
Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Being a Trans in a Muslim country is a waste of time and money. Once you are a woman they…” Jul 26, 17:13
Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I’ve came to the conclusion that if you are a gay Scot then voting for the Green party is Turkeys…” Jul 26, 17:04
Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “They are going to blame Elon Musk. They won’t admit that progressive leftist ideology has failed.” Jul 26, 16:29
Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I used to have a T-shirt that said in German ” I’m a jelly doughnut”.” Jul 26, 16:06
Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Two of JFKs most memorable speech quotes; “Ask not what your country can do for you..” And “Ich bin ein…” Jul 26, 15:49
Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “So that’s were the saying ‘cut your cloth according to your pocket comes from. The Jocks had big deep pockets…” Jul 26, 15:49
Northcode on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “The length of time a constitutional arrangement has existed doesn’t determine whether it operates on long-term or short-term incentives. A…” Jul 26, 14:37
Northcode on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““…even though we now live in a revised world.” Your comment seems to rest on the assumption that constitutional questions…” Jul 26, 14:29
John Cleary on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Hello Stu, Want to know what happened to John Smith? Have a look here https://drive.proton.me/urls/0J0FYKBG24#F9ZfxS0qYcr6” Jul 26, 14:07
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Burnham setting the heather alight? His very name suggests guilt.” Jul 26, 13:53
James Che on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Meantime, back to the news that Stu posted, Anas Sarwar, Ruthie, the SNP, and Labour switch believes and shared branch…” Jul 26, 13:39
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “The King of the North in the South is going to sort it. The Ginger Growler has returned from exile…” Jul 26, 13:26
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““colonial systems are built for the short term” You forget we’re not all thousand year old, space traveling Picts, Northy.…” Jul 26, 13:21
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““they don’t dissolve the underlying constitutional questions” They do have an affect on democratic voter’s decisions. “they hinge on internal…” Jul 26, 13:16
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “A bit OTT, Confused, but there’s some diamonds there amidst the dross. One of the things you haven’t thought through.…” Jul 26, 12:39
Bilbo on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Glasgow City Council has been accepting asylum applicants from the UK Home Office since 1999, well before the SNP took…” Jul 26, 12:31
