Rallying to the banner
It’s already getting hard to keep up with the string of well-kent faces and veteran indy campaigners leaving the SNP to join Alex Salmond’s new Alba Party.
It might be an idea to start maintaining a list.
(Asterisks denote later additions.)
Kenny MacAskill MP
Neale Hanvey MP
Cllr Lynne Anderson (until last week the SNP NEC’s Equalities Convener)
Cllr Caroline McAllister (its Women’s Convener)
Cllr Michelle Ferns (SNP councillor in Glasgow, who was instrumental in finally solving the women’s equal pay dispute created by Labour)
Cllr Chris McEleny (SNP councillor in Inverclyde)
Cllr Alistair Bews (independent, formerly SNP councillor in North Kincardine)
Cllr Leigh Wilson (independent, formerly SNP councillor in Mearns)
*Cllr Brian Topping (SNP councillor for 37 years)
*Cllr Shahid Farooq (SNP councillor in North Lanarkshire since 2012)
Corri Wilson (former SNP MP)
*George Kerevan (former SNP MP)
*Jim Eadie (former SNP MSP)
*Dot Jessiman (SNP NEC member)
*Craig Berry (founder and convener of SNP Common Weal Group)
Eva Comrie (lawyer and SNP regional list candidate for 2021)
Irshad Ahmed (SNP regional list candidate for 2021)
Cynthia Guthrie (businesswoman and member of SNP Finance Committee)
The new party’s new members/candidates are impressively diverse, despite the lack of any crude and/or illegal gerrymandered selection tactics to impose that diversity. They feature a range of ages from 20s to 60s, from all class backgrounds, six of the 12 are women, Eva Comrie is disabled (and we mean actually disabled, with an artificial leg, rather than just bad at spelling) and Irshad Ahmed of Scots Asians For Independence is the first high-profile BAME defector from the SNP to Alba.
They’ve joined for a variety of reasons, from delivering a supermajority (Hanvey) to the SNP’s dire weakness on women’s rights (Anderson, McAllister, Comrie), to its lack of serious commitment to a second indyref (Bews and Wilson), and the parlous, corrupt state of the SNP’s internal democracy (Ahmed, who told Wings last night that party HQ had bizarrely refused to let him see the results of the recent list elections until the COVID-19 crisis was over).
The increasingly panicky attempts of Unionists, bitter media columnists and woke SNP activists to paint Alba as some sort of last redoubt for old white men look more and more ridiculous with every passing day. We look forward to continuing developments.
We live in interesting times!
This is the way politics should be, open diverse and for the cause all YES activists want.
Shame on top SNP for denigrating the rise of Alba as a new political force for Independence.
SNP should be welcoming them as a positive force to achieve independence.
Maybe the real Nicola Sturgeon FM will defect soon before she was assimilated into the woke hareem and lost her mind, who knows?
Pedantically, “prominent Yes supporters and veteran campaigners” should include Mr Salmond himself.
I have signed up and am member # 3918
Thanks , Rev. Good to keep a tally as we won’t know the whole clan until April 6th (?) when they run their ‘meet the candidates’
My nephew phoned me tonight (mid 30s) wondering how he could put his name forward to become an MSP for the ALBA party because he REALLY wants to Indy but he particularly wants to tackle corruption in Scotland – totally disgusted with the SNP.
I’ve encouraged him to join up as a member but I also said I thought he might have already missed the boat this time round.
Do Mr & Mrs T Sheridan not merit a mention?
You’d think the SNP would ask themselves the obvious question – WHY?
They seem incapable even of that though, but just spit venom and poison. It took decades for Labour to become New Labour yet the SNP managed it in 5 or 6 years.
Why won’t Peter Murrell let the Audit committee see the SNP accounts?
Very strange indeed.
It’s great to feel positive about Scottish independence again.
Balgowan,
Tommy & Gail Sheridan arent SNP – this is an article about SNP members
If you are.in the Dreghorn Midden’s constituency, vote SARWAR in the head-to-head.
Vote ALBA on the list.
Kick her out of Holyrood.
Panic stations throughout Scotland.
Is it just me or is ‘Politics’ the home for individuals who have failed in their initial chosen profession? The pay is ok, the benefits and expenses are good and a nice pension when it is time to go.
No real experience of anything required. The ability to do as you are told, don’t rock the boat, good at lying, act like a performing seal when prompted.
How do you get on the gravy train?
Corrie Wilson?
Oh! looks like people don’t believe Sturgeon or her evidence. LOL
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/scottish-news/6862584/nicola-sturgeon-dont-believe-billboard-glasgow-govanhill/#
Cheers, Jeannie, knew I’d forget one, will edit.
Under the current FM, the SNP appears to have been rebuilt largely on sand.
The solid foundations of an authentic commitment to Scottish Independence are gone.
Outcomes – very predictable.
Brilliant, The times they are a changing.
The first one’s now will later be last, the times they are a changing
Alba for ever
OOPs! meant to put the archive up
https://archive.vn/yqO2j
I believe Cynthia Guthrie was one of the 3 who resigned because Murrell wouldn’t let them see the SNPs accounts??
With an escape route for SNP politicians frustrated by Sturgeon’s reluctance to pursue the party’s principle aim, Alba will surely speed up the move to independence, as it’s either do something or start losing MSPs. She has five years to establish an independent government in Edinburgh.
And there will be a concerted effort to paint Alba as socially unacceptable. Look at the exclusion of Salmond from the BBC’s leaders’ debate.
The inclusion of Salmond would improve the viewing figures and create news for days. A media dream; but the BBC are trying to control the narrative, not report on it.
The Farage loving BBC probably thinks Salmond supports the wrong country.
Cracking stuff: this show’s finally on the road, I’m happy, the blues have gone, and it might as well be Spring.
Votadini – that’s CORRI – nae ‘e’ in Corri – ask Iain Lawson that yin. (Nae-hermm, btw 😉 )
I’m thinking of cutting up my membership card (when it arrives).
We old, male and pales a minority already!
Only kidding..
Is Cynthia Guthrie one of those who resigned from the NEC’s Finance and Audit Committee?
@Graham Case 11.52 fair point.
The increasingly panicky attempts of Unionists, bitter old columnists and woke SNP activists to paint Alba as some sort of last redoubt for old white men look more and more ridiculous with every passing day
Absobloodylutely.
But it’s interesting that they think being old, white and male is somehow disqualifying. It’s medically impossible to change your ethnicity or sex, and we all grow old unless we’re very unlucky or have a horrible portrait in the loft.
And this is Scotland, where a vast percentage of the population fits the description of older white men, and activists are in the business of asking people they’ve insulted to vote for them.
Get woke, go broke.
No wonder all the good people are flocking to Alba, which values all Scots. Imagine – people of goodwill coming together because they love their country, and not to play unpleasant identity politics games of one-up-personship. Amazing!
You can add Councillor Ellen McMaster to that list, another campaigner to protect women’s rights:
https://www.thenational.scot/news/19193757.snp-island-councillor-reveals-defected-alba-party/
Really glad to see Eva Comrie in there.
I’ve known her well for many years, one of the very best people I’ve ever known. A massive heart and a bonny fechter.
She’ll do Scotland proud.
Of that I have no doubt.
Ha What a difference a week makes in politics ! Last tuesday morning Nicola Sturgeon was strutting out here door with a beaming smile knowing(in advance) she had been been let off from the Hamilton Inquiry.
Now with a Super majority a real possility on the cards for Holyrood with pro indy parties, you’d be thinking she would be dancing on air. But not the vitriol and venom is a dead give away that her cushy days at Holyrood without being held to account may be over. The song nowhere to run to nowhere to hide springs to mind.
Its felt like forever since we had such positivity in the Yes movement. Thank you Alec and everyone involved in and switching over to the Alba party. Spring is in the air.
I think if nicola bad mouths Alba on the BBC – it will backfire.
I have no doubt that the yoon liar sarah smith will actively encourage nicola to put the boot in.
This show will be a very good gauge of how terrified the yoons are. And how much sturgeon is willing to help them.
Nicola Sturgeon and her many enablers have no-one to blame but themselves. The fact that they’re lashing out in all directions shows they’re incapable of reflection or learning from experience.
If you micro-manage democratic expression within a nominally democratic political party then that expression will need and will find an outlet. Twitter is not such an outlet.
Again, it’s the classic New Labour trajectory that only leads in one direction.
Nicola Sturgeon should cast a look at Tony Blair, the defensiveness in his eyes, the realisation in his distant-looking face that he is pretty universally disliked, his perenially haunted air, that is the destiny she is inexorably moving towards…and for what?
Seemingly, because she has two fatal character flaws that fight against each other and cannot be reconciled: the desire for total control and the need to be liked maybe even loved. She’s caught between flying too high towards the burning heat of the sun or too low near the clogging moisture of the sea. It doesn’t really matter which has the greatest effect because political gravity dictates the political fates.
Yet it is the melting wax that is showing now, the love of the people for Chief Mammy (boak!) is dripping away, and the sea below surely beckons.
Thus endeth the modern legend of Nicarus.
Kiwilassie; while I welcome any condemnation of the current First Minister, we have to identify that the folk behind the van – an anti-nationalist group – will do exactly the same with any pro-independence leader, including Alex Salmond. Their agenda/target isn’t corruption but Scottish independence.
Great stuff but can we now get someone to teach them how to say Alba correctly?
Half of them sound like they’re talking about Italy!
Been following this with great interest, and am very, very pleased with it.
Wouldn’t mind being an ALBA MSP myself!
However, have also heard certain commentators girn off bitterly.
“It’s Salmond’s revenge”, and “will split the vote”, etc, etc, etc.
And the pro 1707 politicians are besides themselves, and haven’t a clue how to react.
Some are clearly more panicked than others.
The tories are in near meltdown mode, while Labour and Libs are putting a brave face on it.
The Greens are also likely to lose out.
My hope is that ALBA manages to become the 2nd biggest group at Edinburgh, though with List only candidates, I don’t know if it will be possible, but it could be.
Also, it is bitterly disappointing the way the First Minister and others within SNP are attacking Salmond, the way they are doing.
Especially the First Minister. She would do well to tone it down considerably. Otherwise she could be the one who ends up sounding more bitter than any others.
Th fact is, current SNP Leadership has allowed Independence to go nowhere, and has paid no attention to the many concerns of the wider movement.
This insane adherence to the Section 30 route is also a cause of much resentment, and bewilderment. I mean where has it got us?
So, yes, this is the move many of us have been waiting for.
The most important aspect of the movement of women from prominent positions within the SNP to Alba is this. It demonstrates that many on the inside know the allegations against Mr Salmond were a complete fabrication. More will surely follow and bringing with them critical further information.
Alex S and the Alba Party.
Could you please find a way to reach out to Martin Keatings with a lifeline of help/support.
He’s one of the guys who’s been very active in fighting Scotlands corner. Thanks.
All good and well but we (ALBA/Scotland Party) are I hope much more than merely a new home for SNP officials and pet policies on this and that and a’thing. There is only one aim for now – independence – which itself is needed in order to do anything more such as properly developing our nation.
To ‘negotiate Scotland’s independence’ we will need all our best people and their expertise, including in particular people like Craig Murray and Tommy Sheridan.
So let’s make sure we have the right people on the list Alex!
Let’s not make the same mistake the SNP elite did in pandering to the British msm and the privileged bourgeoisie, both of which will aye let us and our cause doon.
ALBA list candidates need only be asked one question: If elected with a #Supermajority are you prepared to declare Scotland an independent country? Yes or No.
“Diversity” is it?
The SNP is jam-packed with arseholes and fuds but I notice that #Alba has none. Could this ever be, an accurate reflection of society as a whole?
Telling that in the world of progressive politics having ‘old white men’ in a party is seen as an opportunity to attack it.
I’ll hold off on the Alba party until I see what their policies to help men and boys in Scotland are. A dedicated spokesman for men and boys would be a good start.
Chas says:
29 March, 2021 at 11:53 am
“Panic stations throughout Scotland.
Is it just me or is ‘Politics’ the home for individuals who have failed in their initial chosen profession? The pay is ok, the benefits and expenses are good and a nice pension when it is time to go.
No real experience of anything required. The ability to do as you are told, don’t rock the boat, good at lying, act like a performing seal when prompted.
How do you get on the gravy train?”
At least if they have had a go at their chosen profession they have had some life experience – and the experience of failure is as important as the experience of success.
It’s the straight out of uni, work in the constituency office, student politicos that I can’t be bothered with. Some of them still get their mums to do their laundry and tidy up their bedrooms.
Wonderful news!
In a perfect world SNP just short of a majority and desperately
Needing Alba’s seats to achieve anything.
Yes we are unhappy with much in the SNP but we cannot leave the door
open for Unionist parties by voting for them or not voting at all.
It’s the horrible tasting medicine that makes you better so get it done.
On the anti Scotland and SNP billboards, how do these get to go up and when
we tried to corrupt proven lies by the BBC we are not allowed?
No freedom of expression or truth in Westminster’s Scotland.
The SNP should know better having seen the demise of Labour but they seem oblivious to history.
The dirty tricks, abuse and vindictive attacks will only ramp up.
Using covid as an excuse not to see the list results tells us all we need to know. Does the same rule apply for showing us where all the money is?
I’d love to see Tommy Sheridan in the party he’d be a first pick on my teamsheet. I was prepared to vote for AFI. From 2015 onwards, he started the Hope over Fear rallies in freedom square. They were spirited, engaging and kept the flame alive. They were everything I loved about politics, and kept me engaged on Independence. The next thing I know, I’m travelling across to Edinburgh to form a human chain around Holyrood to say no to the power grab singing Hope Over Fear.
This
…and the parlous, corrupt state of the SNP’s internal democracy (Ahmed, who told Wings that party HQ had bizarrely refused to let him see the results of the recent list elections until the COVID-19 crisis was over).
It really highlights itself, eh? FFS….
The SNP should be counting their blessings IMHO as the Alba Party has actually motivated a large number of people to actually vote.
People got pissed off with all the “who else are you going to vote for – unionists?” shite. Its just pure SLAB bullshit and look where that got them!
At least now the people who said “fuck it I can’t vote for anyone in May” now have an option – and as part of that option the SNP are bound to pick up more constituency votes than they otherwise would.
Well that is if the abuse from the Murrel family ever stops……
Re: The European Question.
To accuse someone of being ‘dodgy’ is to use the same diversionary tactic employed by Nicola Sturgeon when she talks about Mr. Alex Salmond. She does it because she has no answer to his arguments.
He is a master tactician, of whom it has been said, in chess terms, that he can think (more than ) three moves ahead.
I do not believe he is confining his thought processes to the one objective of independence. There are at least two more moves pending, with alternatives depending on what circumstances arise.
We may not be able to compete with such intellectual ability, but thinking about what the future of independence means when it is achieved does not make a person dodgy,
Paul Patience says:
29 March, 2021 at 12:09 pm
“Great stuff but can we now get someone to teach them how to say Alba correctly?
Half of them sound like they’re talking about Italy!”
Correctly in Gaelic or correctly in English?
Personally I find it pretentious when people, who are not native speakers of a language, try to impress by emulating the host speakers. It would be like us saying “Parrree” instead of “Paris”.
Those Scots who have English as their first language find it difficult enough to use Scots words with the same Anglo Saxon roots as their English equivalent (the ones who consider it slang are the worst)- how much harder to use Gaelic if they have never been exposed to the language?
Maybe a bit o/t I know it’s a bit early.
This ” inappropriate behaviour ” label that seems to have been attached to everything and anything Alex Salmond says or does is along the same lines as the rubbish people say about Wings and in particular Stewart Campbell I have yet to find anything Stuart Campbell has published on Wings that has turned out to be false or a Lie .
The Holy Wullie comments remind me of a few church goers and self appointed guardians of morality that I have worked with I know they might have been a minority but I have never came across a bigger lot of cheating lying fkrs in my life and this same trait I have noticed in other so called Christians .
I was disgusted to learn in the last few years about children sent to Australia by so called Christians mainly by the Catholic Church and the treatment of them by Nuns the same Nuns who ran the Magdalena Laundries in Ireland , the holy preachers of morality are probably the worst offenders .
Wouldn’t it be better just to simply take over the SNP HQ for our base of operations and safe these people having travel, Come on Ms Cherry jump on the Independence band wagon for the supermajority.
Cynicus says:
29 March, 2021 at 11:52 am
If you are.in the Dreghorn Midden’s constituency,
Reply
Seems last week there was a plane that was flying over HR with a banner saying Resign Sturgeon.
Now this. It can’t be good advertising for her prior to an election. Wonder if she’ll lose her seat,
https://archive.vn/yqO2j
You could call the other side The Murrell Collection.
I wonder if Angus MacNeil will join Alba? He’s been one if the very few SNP voices of sanity for some time now, along with Kenny MacAskill and Colin McElarney, both of whom are now in Alba. Suspect they know they’re on shoogly pegs with Sturgeon and have jumped before they were deselected.
BTW, heard a few complaints about how Alba is being pronounced – I thought it was Ah-lba as in alphabet? Pretty sure that’s how Runrig pronounced it in their completely-Gaelic song of the same name?
https://www.barrheadboy.com/scottish-prism-27th-mar-2021-iain-lawson/
Another good use of your time…
Can I draw your particular attention to a supermajority being 2/3 of the Holyrood seats, which thereby empowers the Scottish Parliament to call it’s elections, plebiscite elections included, any time, at the drop of a hat…
That means winning as many ALBA seats as we can get, plus as many SNP seats. We need each other; each organisation targeting the seats which the other organisation cannot win.
ALBA and the SNP are the two jaws of the vice, and BOTH need to be rock solid. One being strong while the other fails is no good to us.
It must be SNP 1 and ALBA 2.
SNP votes in Constituency Seats, ALBA in List seats.
And last, don’t be disheartened by the mess Sturgeon has presided over, and try to contain your cynicism. Everybody MUST turn out to vote in numbers. SNP1 ALBA2.
Chris McEleny was getting my vote anyway, and I will be telling everyone to vote for Chris, what a brilliant MSP he will be.
Stuart McMillan, your a nipple, and always have been, went to see this numpty at one of his surgeries, he never even had the good manners to reply back to me about my complaint to him, not a political complaint btw, still never replied.
All well and good but beware those who see a better opportunity to get elected.
I’ve joined as has my mate who has left the SNP after 43 years membership. He’s in his mid-40s! He has walked a 1,000 miles and delivered a 1,000,000 leaflets for the cause,has held no political office and is a success in his chosen profession. He’s up for candidature and there should absolutely be accommodation for this background in the party and not just the same old. A combination is best.
And we’re working class Glaswegians. I don’t give a shite about the correct pronunciation of Alba.
Isn’t it discrimination under the Equalities Act 2010 to dismiss my opinion as it comes from an old white man? Age, race and sex are protected characteristics.
This is not the time for vengeance or teaching Sturgeon a lesson. That will come…
A supermajority in May is a much bigger prize than Sturgeon getting a bloody nose.
An SNP which just scrapes home won’t deliver us 2\3 of the Parliament.
Cynicus says:
29 March, 2021 at 11:52 am
“….vote SARWAR in the head-to-head”.
Oh, look. a Labour Plant.
Here is a problem, Chris is standing against McMillan, or he was, and Chris is an SNP Cllr, or he was, oh my aching head, never mind I will work it out when the time comes heh heh heh
“ There are at least two more moves pending”
——-
Glad to hear it. To coin a phrase, “the more fronts she has to fight on the better.”
I am at the top of the port Chris, around boglestone way, get your leaflets up here if your standing
Kenny says:
29 March, 2021 at 12:07 pm
Kiwilassie; while I welcome any condemnation of the current First Minister, we have to identify that the folk behind the van
Reply.
Thanks for that Kenny, I was unaware. Also sorry for my putting it up 3 times. I hadn’t realised I had put it on this thread.
Almost 1:AM here time for bed I think.
The SNP MPs who have defected to this new party are Westminster MPs so correct me if I am incorrect, but that will trigger a by-election in those constituencies. They may lose those seats to the new SNP candidates which will be appointed in their place because in general people vote for the party, not the candidate.
It is yet to be seen if the candidates they are fielding for the Scottish Parliament elections in May will have any impact at all other than splitting the SNP vote. How could that possibly create a pro-independence super majority as known liar, gambler and pest Alex Salmond has suggested?
Independence and the SNP has never been about what’s good for Scotland, it is entirely about the ego of these politicians.
Is this all not just indicative, that Scotland as a progressive modern country is maturing politically. I think so.
The SNP, once they have time to think, should be embracing this change, it could help ensure a truly enormous pro independence majority in Holyrood.
But, all that aside, the focus now needs to be on independence, first vote SNP, with ALBA party second. It is the unionists who really should be feart.
Hilarious and very telling, is it not, that the Sturgeon National Party who have been telling us for years how progressive and inclusive they are, resort to ageist and sexist smears against a party which threatens their cosy cartel.
Just looking at the SNP there seems to be quite a lot of ‘old’ people, of similar age to Alex and some of his colleagues. So, should we descend to their level, we might be justified in tit for tat by referring to Nikla and her colleagues age and gender. Not that we would, of course, but it kind of makes the pot calling kettle black argument for us.
Really, is that all they’ve got? Plus personal smears of course with no evidence. Don’t they think the voters might like to hear discussions about the best route to indy, the means, method and delivery? Or is that what really scares them, since after five years they have precious little to say on the subject, bar some simplistic slogans and hollow promises?
They thought they had it easy, all they had to do was keep quiet, hide the books, avoid a lot of subjects and the voters would elect them because there were no alternatives. And the high salaries and benefits would keep coming. No wonder they are traumatised.
James says:
29 March, 2021 at 12:50 pm
“Cynicus says:
29 March, 2021 at 11:52 am
“….vote SARWAR in the head-to-head”.
Oh, look. a Labour Plant.”
Not at all James, as much as I dislike Sarwar I think I dislike Sturgeon more and would probably agree with Cynicus in having her kicked out, assuming it doesn’t affect the supermajority in any significant way.
Ellen McMaster my local SNP Councillor and Michelle Ferns , snp councillor in glasgow
Its great to see women come over to ALBA from the SNP, sadly the SNP has been slowly eroding women’s rights, with the HCB, the GRA and Self-Id.
As I’ve said before if you’re a woman (A real one that is) and want to see an independent Scotland, with your right protected in that country, then it makes sense to give ALBA your List vote.
I just had a look at the twitter account of Martin J Keatings (he of section 30 fame), and what he has written within a few lines, sums up exactly how we need to go forward. This REALLY is our big chance.
From Martin’s twitter (and this really deserves to be more widely seen). I am not on twitter myself ,so cannot forward it etc..
“Let’s send a bloody message to Westminster. “Div ye think so, aye?” – Let’s fill the chamber of our bloody national parliament with more yes parliamentarians than you can shake a royal sceptre at!
It’s time to stop the timid and coy attitude. Let’s make some noise and show the world its time to take our place alongside them, and simultaneously make the pacemakers in the house of lords skip a beat
If we can unite behind a shared message of SNP 1 | ALBA 2, not based on feeling or emotion but on raw maths and empirical evidence, we can finally deliver equality of arms and use the system the same way that the unionists have used it and never complained.”
Source: https://twitter.com/MartinJKeatings
I sincerely hope Martin does not mind his text being quoted.
All these billboard and planes flying over calling her to resign and saying Sturgeon is a liar, its looking like it going to be very interesting election. I’m with Alex lets get that supermajority and if lose Sturgeon, well there is a god.
“The SNP MPs who have defected to this new party are Westminster MPs so correct me if I am incorrect, but that will trigger a by-election in those constituencies.”
There is no obligation on them to stand down. Technically they’re elected as individuals, not as SNP representatives.
So I cancelled my SNP membership today. The recent language used by the SNP towards both Alex and the defectors was a bit of a wake up call, as if Cosy Feet and the gang weren’t enough of an indicator that the party is being overtaken by spoiled children.
Interestingly after clicking on cancel, nothing really happened. No confirmation email, no reassurance that they’d stop taking my money, it just logged me out and refused to let me sign in again. That felt almost as huffy as some of the childish comments publicly coming from those high up in the party.
Jm says:
29 March, 2021 at 11:48 am
“Why won’t Peter Murrell let the Audit committee see the SNP accounts?
Very strange indeed.”
Not very strange at all, Jm, if one remembers a famous line from a famous film:
“Follow the money!”
One day, in a time far away from now, perhaps a famous/infamous film Director may decide to make a movie out of all this.
What should it be called:
“BraveFart” has already been rejected.
“Do Mr & Mrs T Sheridan not merit a mention?”
They haven’t left the SNP.
Ah hahahah, good luck encouraging independence supporters to vote for the British Labour Scottishy branch office manager called Sarwar. Red Tories, blue Tories, nae effing difference.
Some of these new troll-like posters are hilarious.’Vote Sarwar’..a hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahaha’. Even Labour folk won’t vote for him.
Get a grip.
Well said Republiofscotland.
“Vote Sarwar’..a hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahaha’.”
If you believe Sturgeon is a block on independence it’s a very rational position.
If I was any these MP I wouldn’t stand down. We need as much attention for the Alba Party as we can get and who knows the media might just ask Alba instead of going to the SNP, now we have MP’s in Westminster.
Slightly off topic, but has anyone produced the Alba party bullshit bingo card yet? So far Ive got Tories, SLAB, MI5, Russians, US Republicans abroad, Salmond’s ego and split the vote. Any more?
The biggest political voice in Scotland for a generation, yet Alex Salmond will no be in the line up tomorrow for the Scottish elections debate.
The BBC is of course a British propaganda construct and it will do everything in its powers to muffle the voice of Alex Salmond and the ALBA party.
THe progamme will be hosted by the die-hard BritNat and Alex Salmond hater Sarah Smith.
Meanwhile Kenny MacAskill gave an excellent interview on TalkRadio this morning, he was very respective of the SNP when asked questions about his former party and leader. I wish Sturgeon would take a leaf out of MacAskill’s book and be a bit more polite when speaking about the ALBA party.
In the UK you don’t vote for a party you vote for a person and as the person has been elected by the public there is no reason for a by-election unless that person is willing for there to be a by-election.
That’s me joined up. Real shame that it’s come to this, but I have to say that I feel a bit of a buzz and I’m looking forward with less trepidation.
I would be prepared to vote snp1 on the condition that we are allowed to take out sturgeon, swinney and robertson. Targeted warfare is a fair compromise.
Please be kind to poor peter murrell. Im sure the audit committee will understand that he was just a wee bit “out of character” that day.
Alex has flummoxed them all by supporting NS to continue as FM and his push for unity of purpose in getting to Independence, has totally wrong footed them. They can’t support it because it means supporting AS… but not to, makes them look increasingly rabid unstable, and bat-shit crazy.
And the best Sturgeon’s come up with, their new comprehensive , robust manifesto for the near future is , securing a right to choose the road to Independence….after the crisis is over… not even a promise of a Neverendum…. never mind Independence itself !!Where does she think she was going when she got in the drivers seat ?
Robert Louis
Since Sturgeon has been one of the, if not THE biggest impediment to Independence, since 2015, getting rid of her would, I would argue, be great for the cause of Independence.
Unfortunately, this means voters in Glasgow Southside would have to vote Sarwar, since he is the only other candidate with a chance of unseating her.
Even then, she could get back, if the SNP got to elect two List MSPs in Glasgow. However, if she loses in the constituency and the SNP doesn’t have any List MSPs in Glasgow – then, she is still out.
If they get two, she gets back in. If they get one, the List topper (a lady whose name I forget) would be under tremendous pressure to stand down and let Sturgeon, the next on the List, take her seat.
But, would even Sturgeon have the gall to put herself forward as FM, if she had had to get someone else to stand down and let her back into Holyrood?
I think she might. But, how much support would she get?
Interesting times right enough.
@Republicofscotland
It seems that the plan of the unionist media is to pretend Alba doesn’t exist. A few minutes ago on the Guardian site someone posted a comment on their blog asking what the differences were between Alba and SNP. Several replied, and I mentioned that Alba was going to go big on protecting women’s rights compared to Sturgeon’s obsession with gender self-ID. Within three minutes the entire thread had disappeared!
Dave Rodgers says:
29 March, 2021 at 12:56 pm
The SNP MPs who have defected to this new party are Westminster MPs so correct me if I am incorrect, but that will trigger a by-election in those constituencies. They may lose those seats to the new SNP candidates which will be appointed in their place because in general people vote for the party, not the candidate.
It is yet to be seen if the candidates they are fielding for the Scottish Parliament elections in May will have any impact at all other than splitting the SNP vote. How could that possibly create a pro-independence super majority as known liar, gambler and pest Alex Salmond has suggested?
Independence and the SNP has never been about what’s good for Scotland, it is entirely about the ego of these politicians.
———————
How many times do i need to post this before people understand WM ?
It is very obvious the selective SNP hierarchy don’t .
SNP Commons leader Ian Blackford made a grandstanding show this week at PMQs, commending SNP MP and Holyrood candidate Neil Gray for “doing the right thing” and standing down as an MP and avoiding “a separate by-election that would cost the public £175,000.” He then contrasted this with the Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross who is not standing down – alleging this will somehow cost the taxpayer £175,000 in the future…
The trouble for Blackford is he got his charges completely the wrong way round. His SNP colleague Neil Gray resigned too late to not force a separate by-election, later than 6 May, costing £175,000. Meanwhile Tory Douglas Ross is not standing down meaning there will be no by election for him. A spokesman for the North Lanarkshire Returning Officer has confirmed that the by-election for Gray will take place on May 13, saying:
“The trigger for a by-election is a writ being served from the United Kingdom parliament. The writ is now anticipated to be served on April 7 and the Returning Officer is required by law to organise a by-election between 21 and 27 working days from the day after this.”
READ THE LAST PARA ESPECIALLY .
A wee thought re deHonte.
If SNP take the Constituency vote, and we then look at the List vote SNP candidates and the order they are placed in.
What order of List SNP candidate has the most chance of getting elected?
The first one? The second? Third?
I don’t know the answer, but I’m willing to bet that for Nicla and Swinney – they already crunched the numbers in their area based on the 2016 vote and got themselves positioned on the List accordingly.
Changed game now, if enough, or the vast majority of Indy supporters, vote Alba on the List and the SNP List vote goes to near enough zero.
Likewise, I wonder what the vote share numbers on the Constituency vote from 2016 tell us about Nicla, Swinney and Robertson’s chances if the Unionists pull out candidates to maximise WM rule.
It will be VERY telling if these are the seats the Unionists do not carry out this tactic on, won’t it.
Methinks Alyn Smith will be getting wined and dined down in London just now, and quietly smiling.
Should we start calling what’s left of Nicla’s SNP – rSNP?
I’m so pleased to see that Caroline McAllister and Lynne Anderson have joined the Alba party .
There’s an awful lot of people within the Snp who should be hanging their head in shame for all the abuse that they gave to Caroline and Lynne .
Socrates MacSporran @ 1:30 pm
But, would even Sturgeon have the gall to put herself forward as FM, if she had had to get someone else to stand down and let her back into Holyrood?
***
You seriously want an answer to that? 🙂
You couldn’t give that woman a red neck with a blowtorch (wouldn’t mind having a go though!).
Among the “reasons for joining, you must surely include “concern about the state of the SNP’s finances”.
Guthrie was one of the three members of the Finance & Audit Committee who resigned over obstruction.
@ Glen Clova at 1.34pm: “It seems that the plan of the unionist media is to pretend Alba doesn’t exist.”
The penny will be dropping amongst the MSM that the more they attack Alba, the more publicity they are giving it. Anybody who has doubts about the Sturgeon and the SNP and the fact we’re no closer to independence after six years will be wondering why the MSM is so keen to attack Alba, and will want to know what Alba might have to offer.
So, re Nicla’s seat… if the Unionists concentrate their vote to get Sarwar in on the Constituency vote… say by withdrawing either tory or LD candidate?
And the SNP vote collapses on the List vote, going almost completely to Alba…
Like I say, it will be interesting to see – in which seats the Unionists pull candidates. Who will they protect in the SNP and who will they target.
My guess is they will protect Nicla and Robertson, and go all out for non wokies – like Jim Fairlie.
I see the dirty tricks are ramping up against the Alba Party: someone has redirected albaparty.scot to the SNP website. Time for a cybersquatting complaint…
The real Alba Party website is albaparty.org
Now here’s an interesting sideline to AS announcing the Alba party,
Has anyone noticed the names of an awful lot of screaming unionist voices have been silent from this site the last few days, and instead we are seeing a large majority of old independence voices and names returning.
They must be re-assessing their position and regrouping before the next line of abuse starts.
Always knew you were still there.
Welcome back everyone.
I should’ve added on the woman front, that again if you’re a real woman, you should vote ALBA on the list vote, even if you do not want to see an independent Scotland, simply because the SNP has no plans to repeal the HCB or shootdown Self-Id or the GRA, but I here you say how does that equate to voting for the ALBA party.
Well, if the ALBA party reaches its great potential post 6th of May by gaining many List seats, and the Greens are diminished by this, then the SNP will probably have to do deals with the ALBA party in the next parliamentary term, and the ALBA party as far as I know has pledged to protect women’s rights.
So if you’re a woman in Scotland, a real one that is, and you don’t support Scottish independence, but want to see women’s rights strengthened in Scotland, it makes sense to vote for the ALBA party with your List vote.
You’re not voting for Alex Salmond, you’re voting to defend your rights as real women, which are being eroded by Sturgeon and the SNP.
Glen Clova
The Guardian wants to be a global brand. They have been pursuing a readership in the USA. The target market is the same demographic of urban, professionals that they have in the UK. This group is also very woke and very likely to take to twitter and condemn anything and anyone who tolerates any views contrary to their own.
So when it comes to preserving their liberal image (and all that money and the future of the paper), The Guardian is anything but.
Was delighted to see Alba party announcement and definitely want to vote for it. BUT there is a real problem. The more voters that want support it, the worse it could do in terms of numbers of Alba MSPs elected from the list vote. The weak point in the strategy is a kind of prisoner’s dilemma since it relies on the SNP winning constituency seats, lest they take list seats instead and thus negate the Alba strategy. So I’m not sure if I can bring myself to vote SNP at all – yet if I vote Alba, I have to in order to keep out the SNP list candidate. If I abstain on the constituency vote (or vote for any non-SNP candidate) but vote for the Alba candidate on the list, I contribute to the possibility that the SNP takes the list vote by default ie the exact opposite of my preference.
In the UK the electorate votes in the main for a party not the individual. Ethically I think any MP who joins another party or goes independent should stand at a by election. If indeed the electorate only voted for an individual ,then what is the point of Political Parties?
Looks like your list already needs updating
Glen Clova – I don’t think that’s about trying to bury Alba, it’s about trying to bury discussion of genderwoowoo. Trans politics doesn’t stand up to any form of rational scrutiny, so the solution is to call people “transphobes” and drive them out of the public square (also a reason for Humza’s Hate Bill)
The Unionist press seems to be going for a double envelopment strategy of insinuating Alex Salmond, 66, is some kind of sexual tyrannosaur (lock up your daughters), while concern trolling that voting for Alba might somehow split the independence vote.
It won’t work, but the media doesn’t have anything else in its kitbag.
So, for the good guys and girls still in rSNP…
On the Constituency vote, if the Unionists withdraw a candidate to max the no vote, and your candidate is non woke/fully supportive of Indy – they would be a really good person to campaign for, in addition to max the yes – get all the Indy votes for Alba on the list.
And if, say, you are in Nicla’s area, or Swinney’s, and they need help with leaflet posting, etc – now would be a really good time to wash your hair and let the votes fall where they may… in addition to Max the Yes for Alba on the list.
One thing about DeHonte, it cetainly makes you look at the results of unintended consequences.
Good interview from Alex with Times Radio, over on Barrheadboys twitter account. Alex is looking well, which is great to see…. almost as if there has been a huge, positive response to the creation of Alba.
Glen clova@1.34
Yes, that seems to be the plan. No mention at all of Alba on the stv lunchtime news and the BBC referred to it as a new party without mentioning its name.Thank goodness for Stu and other online folk to keep us informed.
I will be campaigning in Glasgow Southside for people to vote for Scottish Labour.
Sarwar is the ONLY credible candidate who can defeat Sturgeon.
And I am NOT a Labour plant.
My Party is called the ALBA PARTY.
I have never voted Labour in my life.
For those of you who want Sturgeon to keep her seat and bring in all sorts of perverted laws, then I would say it is you who has the problem.
Because you are telling Sturgeon that you don’t mind “Chicks with Dicks flashing their bits” in front of young girls in female only changing rooms.
So who has the problem, me or you?
And just to add, loved the ad van in Govanhill saying,,,
“We don’t BELIEVE you Nicola”
The van will be outside the Scottish Parliament next.
Glasgow Southside…Vote Labour 1 ABLA 2
YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE!!!
The Supermajority will still be there, even with the loss of this ONE SEAT.
Breeks says at 12:42 pm
‘Can I draw your particular attention to a supermajority being 2/3 of the Holyrood seats, which thereby empowers the Scottish Parliament to call it’s elections, plebiscite elections included, any time, at the drop of a hat…’
What happens if the SNP don’t do that, saying it’s not the time/COVID etc ? I would have thought that with the SNP’s lack of ambition towards Independence that this would be highly likely.
Dave Rodgers says:
29 March, 2021 at 12:56 pm
The SNP MPs who have defected to this new party are Westminster MPs so correct me if I am incorrect, but that will trigger a by-election in those constituencies
There is no need for a sitting MP to resign to take up a Holyrood seat. Alex held both positions for 10 years and Dross is hoping to do the same thing. Resigning your WM seat to stand for HR only applies if you are Joanna Cherry.
Alba are committed to achieving a supermajority in Holyrood, however so far the SNP leadership (with their SNP 1&2 in all areas) are not. A non reciprocal stance will have a detrimental effect on Alba’s prospects unless the SNP membership chose to ignore the leadership. For me, the stance of the SNP leadership, is proof of their devolution credentials. Having a supermajority at Holyrood means that they will have to answer the awkward questions “why no referendum in six years?” “share your campaign plans for a referendum?” “have you got the funds to pursue a referendum campaign” “will you call a plebiscite election with a supermajority?” “do you actually want independence?” I believe Alex Salmond knows the answer to all these kinds of questions and by asking them that NS/SNP leadership will be found out. I believe that the SNP will fight Alba tooth and nail because it doesn’t want to have to admit that their promise of independence was only ever a pipe dream. Then again I could be completely wrong. Let the games begin and time will tell.
I suppose I ought to start working on my resignation letter then.
@Stuart MacKay
Absolutely, as evidenced by the hounding out of one of their more interesting contributors, Suzanne Moore.
tartanfever 2.02
That is why we need to stop Sturgeon winning her seat again.
It us imperative we defeat her on 6th May.
It has so many positives that it would just be crazy to miss this opportunity to take her out of the picture all together.
The path to Independence would open up with Sturgeon out of the way.
@ robbo at 1.35
The issue is not that Neil Gray “resigned too late”.
The by-election is being conducted separately because it is North Lanarkshire Council who decides when it will be. They have a date range (as you’ve quoted), and they have chosen, supposedly for Covid reasons, May 13 not May 6.
The only other date range that includes May 6 also includes April 29, and they would have chosen that if the writ had been moved earlier (assuming elections take place on Thursdays).
I see that, while WGD hasn’t come down fully from his high horse – he still has one foot caught in the stirrup of advocating SNP1 and SNP or Green 2, he has at least started to acknowledge that the involvement of the Alba Party may have a positive effect…
‘… it’s in the interests of all of us to ensure that the presence of the Alba party increases rather than diminishes the total number of pro-independence MSPs in the next Scottish Parliament and that we maximise rather than reduce the total number of votes for all the pro-independence parties. Successful and pragmatic politics means dealing with the situation we actually find ourselves in, not the situation we wish we were in.’
I’m going to take a little jump here into the future.
Let’s assume we have a supermajority in May. SNP are somewhere near 60 seats, and Alba manages to pick up 25. Feet are under the table and sleeves are rolled up. Those brave souls who have tramped the streets and spoken to Scots have had a rest after their herculean efforts, and are ready for the next step in the march to independence.
Council elections are next year. Those folk who tramped the streets are our database of comments, opinions, complaints, observations, and so on. They’ll show us what Scottish folk want, not only at national level, but local level. It’s that information that could propel us into councils, imho.
Why?
Because for the same reason folk have become disillusioned at a national level with their lives in the hands of WM/Holyrood, they have also become disillusioned at a local level in councils who been indifferent at best about the lives of locals, and contemptuous at their worst. If we can plug into that vast pool of local knowledge collected by our folk on the ground, and develop a strategy that connects with locals positively, then we can also wipe the unionists from the councils, and further diminish the damage they’ll do, or try to do, on our way to independence.
“Sarwar is the ONLY credible candidate”
Don’t make me laugh.
I’m definitely voting Alba on the list but is there any danger of problems with not voting SNP for the constituency? Currently I’m minded to go SNP constituency Alba list just to be on the safe side but I believe the psephologist was outlining potential complications on Radio Scotland at lunchtime.
Mia. 2.13
So you don’t have a problem with Chicks with Dicks flashing their bits in front of young girls then?
In the d’Hondt system of voting,
AS IT IS SET UP by Westminster
for use in the Holyrood Elections,
it is plain to see that the Constituency vote is all about POWER in Holyrood.
It is not till we get to the Regional vote
that INDEPENDENCE becomes the dominant theme.
The SNP however appears uninterested in the Regional vote and seem to be content to concede it to the Unionists. Why?
Might it be BECAUSE THEIR HEARTS ARE NOT IN IT ?
Ps.Why has there been only ONE Indy party until now. Had the SNP since 2014, been focussed on Independence, at least one other Indy party could easily have been formed to compete meaningfully in the List vote.
Instead, nothing was done and the Unionists have walked into Holyrood virtually unopposed since Devolution began.
But now, what a change. From pessimism to optimism, from Union control to Union panic stations.
Ps2. While the new Indy parties are campaigning on Independence alone, and the three Unionist parties are campaigning on saving the Union, the SNP are emphasising policies to be implemented if they win. All well and good, but the point is the SNP are avoiding Independence – just as they did in GE2017 – and lost 21 MP’s.
All because their hearts are not in Independence for Scotland, but rather in power IN Scotland.
Apologies for taking so long to make those points. I hope they help in at least a small way.
.org is going the same way atm. Straight to snp.
My Daughter is trying to join ALBA and me and her are getting snp website. SORT THIS OUT AND REPORT PLEASE
Mia,,,
Are you a sick pervert by any chance?
It occurs that if you have an SNP MP (which I do), you can drop them a quick line through the ‘theyworkforyou’ website to say how you feel about them, as your representative, making the switch.
I’ve told mine I wouldn’t have a problem with it.
It would be ideal if Ms Sturgeon lost her seat, but SNP got a majority of seats (not that I personally rate any of them, but, you know, strategy). ‘Let the voters decide’ after all.
Decisions on whether or not to vote SNP 1 are going to have to be made on a constituency/regional basis, with current polling taken into consideration – it can’t be posed as a general question, and it’ll probably be too early to tell what the best tactical voting method would be. I’d hang fire worrying about it yet.
Just a quick question if anyone can help me out:
How does voting SNP 1 ALBA 2 stop us from having years of Hate Speech and GRA?
Also – how does having a super majority translate into Boris Johnson (British globalist establishment) giving in to demands for Scotland to walk off with the bulk of UK energy reserves? What, they will be shamed into it or something? They will realise that its the right thing to do?
Hoping for a clear answer. Cheers
One last thing – I would be concerned about SNP and mail in voting. Seriously.
diversity was extremely important and needs emphasised to the hilt.
other essentials:
Discipline of keeping positive
no GRA rabbit holes
Simple message. Supermajority/Deliver majority
Media exposure
Disappointed BBC has walked away from last one. It’s really required to make an impact for me.
Andy @2:16
Well, it seems to me that, in fact, the one that does not appear to have the problem with the woowoo queen may be you. I seem to clearly recall that Sarwar and the rest of his branch did abstain in Sturgeon’s VONC letting her off the hook. Either the man is a coward, is in the same team as the woowoo queen or he is quite happy for the woowoos to invade girls and women’s protected spaces.
Lol @ “rather than just bad at spelling”
Good to hear Tommy Sheridan is in the squad. I have no idea what he represents these days, but whatever it is you can count on him meaning it.
I love the way everyone is ignoring the SNP. They’re offering us free computers and all sorts and nobody gives a fuck.
Andy says @ 2.08pm
‘The path to Independence would open up with Sturgeon out of the way.’
How ? Who would become FM presuming Sturgeon’s defeat and how does that guarantee the SNP use a supermajority for Independence ?
I’m looking forward to someone asking Sturgeon the killer question -‘As your party can’t possibly win all the list seats, would you prefer the Greens or Alba to pick up the largest share of the remainder?’
What we should be asking ourselves is why politics has become so dire that the options for someone in my constituency is voting for either Sturgeon or Sarwar when I wouldn’t piss down either of their throats if their lungs were on fire. When you give away power and/or rights you don’t get them back. Sarwar was in The Herald last week opining that anyone expressing an interest in his families business affairs did so purely out of racism.
Quite a number of vested interests posting on here, you must vote SNP, you must vote Sarwar, you must vote Tommy etc.
I believe the last day to submit candidacy applications is Wednesday, 4pm. I have a feeling Glasgow South is in for a surprise.
I see The Times’ Kieran Andrews (@KieranPAndrews) is reporting that another “big hitter” will be announced as defecting from SNP to Alba this evening!
I wonder who….? 🙂
Contrary @ 2.24pm
‘Decisions on whether or not to vote SNP 1 are going to have to be made on a constituency/regional basis’
Or that you believe women don’t have penises.
Morag says:
29 March, 2021 at 2:05 pm
I suppose I ought to start working on my resignation letter then.
I wouldn’t bother, they don’t read them.
Rome, Paris, Vienna, Cologne, seem not much bothered.
Looking forward to more dyslexia jokes in the brave new Scotland. Pathetic.
@ Neil Mackenzie at 14.22: “tell your MP you wouldn’t mind if they switched” to Alba!!
That gave me a good laugh. Mine’s Ian Blackford! 🙂 🙂
The media definitely seem to have decided – after a mad weekend of wall to wall coverage – to entirely ignore Alba is happening. Meanwhile Alex is giving a daily briefing to indy bloggers. Seems a good call, since the unionist media were never going to give him fair coverage and they don’t speak to most in the wider independence campaign anyway.
That will be one other fascinating thing about this election: it will test the power of the old, establishment media in Scotland versus the new, younger and far more dynamic blogosphere. For those who want to be in the “they’re all old, white men and we represent the young and new” that might be something they should reflect on.
So I don’t know if people are acting thick or they really are thick.
What is it that you don’t get about the benefits of Sturgeon being taken out of the equation?
There will NEVER be another leader like Sturgeon, so any new leader will never act the way Sturgeon has.
And Mia,,, Sarwar is not the leader of the SNP, Sturgeon is, therefore what she says goes.
You know this, you just don’t want your wee Nicola taken out.
Well tough,,, I’m going to do everything I can to take her out.
Alan Thoms @ 1.55
You said ‘ethically’ and ‘MP’ in the same sentence. Top comedy sir.
Of course they should stand in a by election, but they dont. Thats Westminster, thats the way that anachronistic, undemocratic cess pit operates. Thats why so many want away from it.
Quick Q, out of the 800 or so, how many pro-indy Lords & Ladies are there? Til now, pro indy politicians have morally differentiated themselves from all other troughers (although I suspect Cosy Feet Pension Pete would bite their arm off if offerred.
And please, for the fannies that keep harping on about mispronouncing words, how do you cope if a natibe French or Russian speaker who speaks English tries to converse with you. Or a geordie, or scouse, or someone from Yorkshire. Do you correct every single mispronunciation? And are we talking Skye gaelic pronunciation, or Lewis gaelic pronunciation? Give it a rest. It is cultural snobbery of the worst kind saying someone isnt educated to speak proper. Ok ya?
Alba could do a lot worse for inspiration than anti-war Scottish patriot and political prisoner, John MacLean. Here’s my video featuring The Islanders.
https://youtu.be/erg2ZzdaPw8
‘Scotland has had few men whose names matter – or should matter- to intelligent people. But of these MacLean next to Burns was the greatest.’
Hugh MacDiarmid
‘No government is going to take from me my right to speak, to protest against wrong.’
John MacLean, speech from the dock, 1918
The John MacLean March is one of the great political Scots ballads, words by Hamish Henderson.
https://www.johnmaclean100.scot/the-john-maclean-march
James says:
29 March, 2021 at 12:50 pm
Cynicus says:
29 March, 2021 at 11:52 am
“….vote SARWAR in the head-to-head”.
Oh, look. a Labour Plant
———-
I doubt if SLAB shares your view, Jsmes.
Last time I voted Labour, Michael foot (RIP) was leader
No Cherry = No Party
@Andy Ellis
The National is speculating that the ‘big hitter’ is ABM, but without disrespect to Mr MacNeil, I’m not sure that he would be described in those terms. Am I correct in thinking that Kenny Mac is the only Alba list candidate declared so far for Lothian?
Anne @1.54
Surely, in all but the most obvious seats which are resolutely Tory, the SNP if it loses the seat may only lose it by a small margin which means that the SNP and the victorious party are both on a high tally of votes for that seat.
That makes it equally harder for either of them to get a list seat and conversely, all the more likely that the losing parties will get priority over the initial seat allocations from the list… – can someone else please correct this if I’m wrong.
Andy says @ 2.43pm
‘So I don’t know if people are acting thick or they really are thick.
What is it that you don’t get about the benefits of Sturgeon being taken out of the equation?
There will NEVER be another leader like Sturgeon, so any new leader will never act the way Sturgeon has.’
Funny, when I look at the current SNP cabinet I see nothing but a bunch of fellow travellers chanting ‘Sturgeon’s way is the only way’
Remove Sturgeon by all means, chances are you’ll just get the same thing.
Really?..
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19192899.alba-technical-fault-reveals-thousands-names-signed-party-events/
Really ??
BA got taken for £20,000,000 for just this after their IT security was beaten by hackers, God knows what they’ll do for incompetence..
Run an independent Scotland ??
I still think decent Scots will find it hard to vote 1 for SNP as they have been shown to be corrupt manipulators so I will vote Alba 2. I would rather vote for George Galloway as at least he is an eloquent speaker and the Scottish Paliament really needs some class. Independence should only come when the people in charge can be trusted to treat us with respect and not dictated to like in East Germany in the 50s.
Nicola Sturgeon should be grateful for the support that Alba will give to her and the SNP and it absolutely beggars belief that she is now moving to personal attack after personal attack on Alex Salmond.
Alex Salmond is an innocent man. Found not guilty in the highest criminal court in the land thirteen times, and having had an illegal unfair and biased process established by Scotland’s highest civil court Sturgeon is now coming across as a bitter vicious woman.
So can we ask Nicola to set aside her vicious personal resentment to her once described lifelong friend and mentor. Her behaviours in office are traducing the office of First Minister, the government and the party she leads.
Salmond is not calling for her head, he’s calling to support her, and the SNP, and he has no personal ambition to be FM.
Enough Nicola, enough. Time to forget your own ego and stop the nonsense.
Willie Jay says:
One day they will make a film of this; film about the fall of Sturgeon
Joan of Nark?
OT.
With all the fevered activity in the past few days I’ve take a few moments to read, in part the statement which I missed, from Laurie Flynn the ALBA PARTY founder last Friday. —–
Hope the Rev doesn’t hit me with Hammers!!
Statement from Alba Party founder, Laurie Flynn.
Friday 26th March 2021
” Following extensive consultation with good and trusted friends, I registered the Alba Party with the Electoral Commission in January this year.
A retired television producer with two lovely grown up children and two grand-children, I have as an adult always longed to breathe the air of a free and tolerant, democratic and independent Scotland which celebrates human diversity.
It’s also clear to me that we’re very nearly there.
In the Scotland that is busy being born, real equality and real opportunity will be available for all. And the driving purpose of the state will be good governance, a renewed and redoubled Scottish enlightenment and a definitive end to colonial attitudes to the rest of the world, and the unnecessary wars that have always gone with them.
The sole purpose of Alba is to strengthen and deepen the movement for independence through an unstinting generosity of spirit, active and lawful campaigning and the extension of our just and democratic institutions so that they are fit for the 21st century and beyond…
As the poet Kathleen Jamie beautifully puts it, I am one of those:
“Small folk playing our part.
Come all ye, the country says.
You win me who take me most to heart.”
I am delighted to hand over the reins to the former First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond. He is the right person to help deliver a supermajority for independence. “
Observer did you hear about the dyslexic pimp?
Rev. Stuart Campbell says:
29 March, 2021 at 1:21 pm
“Vote Sarwar’..a hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahaha’.”
If you believe Sturgeon is a block on independence it’s a very rational position.
=========
Thank you.
Cut the head off the snake and her supporting body of #MeTae, Wokerati and publicly subbed sock puppets (hello, RCS) will writhe and wriggle its way to oblivion.
Goodness me! With the amount of recycling going into the provisional (as opposed to the official) SNP, they could almost be a new green party…..
“But it’s interesting that they think being old, white and male is somehow disqualifying. It’s medically impossible to change your ethnicity or sex, and we all grow old unless we’re very unlucky or have a horrible portrait in the loft.”
Is this a dig at Lady Dorrian perhaps?
I’d take a bet that there is a fair few SNP MSP’s and MP that very much behind Alba and will stay put for a while. For example Jonna Cherry would make the perfect leader of the SNP if Nicola is finally displaced 😉
I would expect them to hedge their bets by staying in the SNP until the results are in, if the SNP do too well (i.e. majority with or without the Greens) they could re-balance the numbers to ensure that Alba are pulling the SNP strings 😉
It seems like ages now since we were treated to the pearls of wisdom uttered by Auld Bob.
I would be interested to hear his views on the current situation from his position of being a very old white man.
I hope that he is keeping well.
For the people nit picking pronouncing Scottish language, please answer the following
Explain the meaning of the word “ Tint “
I know the answer, but just in case your not aware there is more than one language in Scotland, and it does not belong to the English version of what is and is not Scottish language, the word ‘tint’ is not Gaelic, but belongs to a regional Scots language,
There are many more words used and spoken here that are not Gaelic or English slang or other wise,
Who are you to say how to use the language of Scots, as it varies so widely across Scotland, as a nation we have always been international,
I thought it was strange that Joanna Cherry didn’t jump, but then It occurred to me that if Alba becomes a significant force pushing independence in HR, Sturgeon is highly unlikely to hang around as she’ll have no interest in heading the referendum campaign.
She may well step down for one of the many international positions she’s jockeying for, and there will be a natural replacement leader in JC
Is there any info yet about what was decided among ISP members yesterday about their plans going forward?
Jack Murphy says:
29 March, 2021 at 3:10 pm
OT.
With all the fevered activity in the past few days I’ve take a few moments to read, in part the statement which I missed, from Laurie Flynn the ALBA PARTY founder
Reply
Thanks for posting this Jack. I hope you don’t mind I’ve copy & pasted it. “saved it”
What a nice sentiment for starting up the ALBA party.
SNP members should be reading this, In fact all Scottish people should be reading this, to encourage them to give ALBA their list vote.
After all, the founder of the party want’s the same thing the yes voters want. An Independent Scotland.
Andy is right.
-Who has blocked progress towards independence at every turn? Nicola Sturgeon.
-Who has achieved sod all in the last seven years? Nicola Sturgeon
-Who is running the Scottish government like a Mafia don? Nicola Sturgeon
-Who wants to inflict insane policies of gender and criminalise criticism? Nicola Sturgeon.
She and her allies are the root cause of our problems and it’s a priority to get rid of them.
If Sarwar becomes leader on the constituency vote, all that does is increase the value of the SNP list vote; the number of pro-independence MSPs will likely remain the same (although the SNP candidate who will win on the list is dreadful). Sarwar as MSP for Southside is going to be as irrelevant as Sarwar as a list MSP, the difference is that Sturgeon will be gone. The same goes for Tayside North- yes, even Murdo Fraser is better than John Swinney.
Why? What’s the problem? “I can’t vote for a unionist!” If you vote for Sturgeon or Swinney you’re voting for unionists anyway- just especially dodgy ones.
Gordon Currie says:
29 March, 2021 at 3:26 pm
I thought it was strange that Joanna Cherry didn’t jump, but then It occurred to me that if Alba becomes a significant force pushing independence in HR, Sturgeon is highly unlikely to hang around as she’ll have no interest in heading the referendum campaign.
She may well step down for one of the many international positions she’s jockeying for, and there will be a natural replacement leader in JC
Think the chances of her landing a plum gig on the international rubber chicken circuit are toast, given what is now known about her.
“Sarwar is not the leader of the SNP”
No. He is the manager of anti-independence England Labour’s branch, pretending to have more autonomy than he actually has to create the illusion that his branch acts for the interests of Scotland.
“you just don’t want your wee Nicola taken out”
It seems to me the one that does not want to see Nicola ejected from Holyrood is Sarwar himself. Otherwise he would not have abstained during the VONC keeping her off the hook.
For the record, nothing would give me more pleasure on the 7th May 2021 than finding out that the good people of Glasgow has removed the head of both snakes: Sturgeon’s woowoo SNP and anti-Scotland’s England labour branch up the border.
As I told you many times, it does not have to be “either or”. I am of the opinion that should be “neither of” until we are offered an acceptable option. Why settling for mince and over boiled potatoes when you can have Angus top sirloin steak and pipping hot steak cut chips?
The unionists clearly don’t like it up them
Alex Salmond has plunged a stake into the heart of Scottish democracy
… the opposition parties have to seek a formal arrangement before the close of nominations on Wednesday at 4.00pm to not stand in constituencies where in the past they have not polled more than, say, five-ten per cent – or an informal understanding after that date to at least not campaign in such seats
https://archive.is/qzVc5#selection-1009.0-1009.69
Still time for JC!
I wrote in to these pages on Friday I think it was. The subject was whistleblowing. It just doesn’t work in Scotland. David Davis tried it in the HoC and Scottish lawyers even tried to come after his whistleblower and so, for the man in the street anywhere in Scotland, forget it.
Anyway, the important thing about whistleblowing is that you should investigate straight away. It might be a bogus claim, but they are usually genuine and so investigate it instantly.
The whistleblowing claim that I am talking about has taken the Scottish Government 7-years to investigate. Hard to believe that isn’t it?
Anyway, they have taken steps to investigate it now and an expert firm of Edinburgh Consulting Engineers are going to soon tell them if the whistle-blower was right or wrong.
Funny thing is that you should have legal protection as a whistleblower. In Scotland it doesn’t matter. If what you’re saying doesn’t suit the politics of the politicians at the time, then they won’t listen.
If the whistleblower is right, and we will know that within days, then hugely expensive problems immediately follow. Think of Edinburgh Schools four years ago….get the picture?
It’s not in Edinburgh, by the way.
weemonkey @2.58pm.
Your comment is irrelevant, many countries security services which are designed to defend against such a thing get hacked regularly, let alone corporate ones, Gary McKinnon hacked the FBI database, Wiki leaks receive info on such leaks from around the globe etc.
The countries a still being run after the hacks, so your point is as I say irrelevant.
Jack Murphy says:
With all the fevered activity in the past few days I’ve take a few moments to read, in part the statement which I missed, from Laurie Flynn the ALBA PARTY founder last Friday. —–
Laurie’s statement is beautiful.
With this and the Eva Comrie’s statement on https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2021/03/29/a-strategy-to-win-our-independence/, it appears Alba has people who can actually think, and then turn those thoughts into coherent writing.
Encouraging.
@Meg Merrilees
That makes it equally harder for either of them to get a list seat and conversely, all the more likely that the losing parties will get priority over the initial seat allocations from the list…
The only relevant outcome in the constituency vote is the win. Other than that constituency votes are of no relevance on the list. Priority is not a guarantee of a list seat without an adequate number if list votes.
Here’s an idea. You’re only allowed to vote for Alba party if you can pronounce it properly. For fucksake. Really, complaining about the pronunciation of a word. No wonder we are where we are.
Mia
Tell me who is the most credible candidate that is going to defeat both Sturgeon AND Sarwar in the Constituency of Glasgow Southside?
I will start campaigning on their behalf today.
” Dave Rodgers says:
29 March, 2021 at 12:56 pm
The SNP MPs who have defected to this new party are Westminster MPs so correct me if I am incorrect, but that will trigger a by-election in those constituencies. They may lose those seats to the new SNP candidates which will be appointed in their place because in general people vote for the party, not the candidate.
It is yet to be seen if the candidates they are fielding for the Scottish Parliament elections in May will have any impact at all other than splitting the SNP vote. How could that possibly create a pro-independence super majority as known liar, gambler and pest Alex Salmond has suggested?
Independence and the SNP has never been about what’s good for Scotland, it is entirely about the ego of these politicians.”
================================================================================================================
You are obviously a Yoon or a Sturgeonite. You know where the border is dont you?
Still no news from ISP which signifies to me at least that they are no more than ego trippers with one eye on the trough otherwise they would have stepped down immediately in favour of ALBA instead of having to put it to a vote.
Charlatans. Don’t give them any more of your time nor money and certainly don’t give them a vote.
@Scott at 3.28
Its just been confirmed to members that the ISP will stand down at this election.
I actually voted for them to continue to stand but it seems the vast majority dont.
I still think theres a place for another pro indy party on the list as there are plenty SNP folk that want to avoid SNP 1 & 2 without having to vote for Salmond, whom they may not be a fan of.
monteith in the scotsman is hilarious, and also an example of prime chutzpah :
“things might happen that I don’t like so it’s ANTI DEMOCRATIC”
– I don’t see him wanting to get rid of FPTP for westminster; or maybe he wants FPTP at holyrood??
Aye, it’s great having a parliamentary dictatorship for 5 years, on 40% of the vote on a 50% turnout. It is OKAY when we do it.
as a general point, while we play the “democracy game” and accept its results – as far as the other side believe – if they ever lose, then the result is “illegitimate”.
– our job is to lose, always. Pressing for your own political interests, using legal means, is cheating.
“Tell me who is the most credible candidate that is going to defeat both Sturgeon AND Sarwar in the Constituency of Glasgow Southside?”
Until somebody more credible appears, like say Tommy Sheridan, I think Mr “spoil the constituency ballot in mass and vote for ALBA in the list” is the best choice.
Don’t settle for either/or. Be bold. Choose neither.
I think if Joanna Cherry was going to join Alba and stand for Holyrood this year they would have kept the top of the Lothian list for her rather than Kenny McAskill. Kenny is MP for East Lothian which is in the South of Scotland region so he could have gone there (unless Joan McAlpine is going over as well.
Somebody has posted that mps who change party should resign and a by-election held.
That is not the way things work in the UK. Mps are not deputies, representatives or delegates. You elect an individual who may do what he or she chooses when in parliament. They may cross to another party, go independent, not turn up, rarely pay visits to their constituency etc.
Being an mp was traditionally a part time job, For many, particularly Tories, it still is.
Party whips, note the huntin’ imagery, are supposed to keep mps in order and make sure they toe the party line in divisions. All the rest is discretionary.
Alan Thoms says:
29 March, 2021 at 1:55 pm
“In the UK the electorate votes in the main for a party not the individual. Ethically I think any MP who joins another party or goes independent should stand at a by election. If indeed the electorate only voted for an individual ,then what is the point of Political Parties?”
Neale Hanvey was elected as an independent candidate, not SNP, after the SNP dropped him and instructed the local party and supporters not to vote for him or campaign for him.
There were no cries for a by-election when he rejoined the SNP AFTER being elected. But now suddenly it’s the right thing???
Just because folk wrongly think they vote for a party in WM elections doesn’t mean we should pander to their ignorance. I voted for Neale, not the SNP.
Ingwe – Magnifique
Pixy – You’re only allowed to vote for Alba party if you can pronounce it properly
I can’t even pronounce shibboleth.
Tartanfever sayeth Remove Sturgeon by all means, chances are you’ll just get the same thing.
Sure, but at least we might be spared her wee scowling face and – who knows? – the others might learn something. Getting rid of bent politicians is better than not getting rid of bent politicians. There’s no shortage of bent politicians, but that would be an ecumenical matter.
DaveRodgers @12.56pm.
Pay attention Dave, there doesn’t need to be By-elections, people voted for the person not the party, and giving ALBA your List vote doesn’t split the indy vote it strengthens it.
Nearly one million votes were wasted in 2016 giving them to the SNP on the List, which allowed many BritNat MSP’s to squirm their way in to Holyrood and get their snouts into the trough.
Kev @ 3:54
Not had an email to that effect, yet…
I am of the same opinion re. an option for those who get the dry bolk from Salmond, as opposed to Sturgeon, but I opted to stand aside this time.
Fionan…
I did email the Rev via “contact” but I guess he ain’t seen it yet.
Mist001…
Suspected you were an eejit – your comment at 3:53 just confirmed it.
Anti Trans Stewart Campbell and Wings over Scotland
A wiff of homophobia about The Alba party
I wonder what’s next from the Dogger site ?
Join together a great idea we all want Independence just as long as it’s one side that’s making all the concessions , we are the true guardians of this quest , it doesn’t matter if we want to disregard any evidence of wrongdoing by the SNP and the SNP management and government you should forget any and everything they have been proven to have done even the possible criminal actions you need to see our point of view and forgive and forget everything , then we might speak to your shortsighted group again .
Aye that will be fkn right
The people who subscribe to the opinions of the person that runs that platform are not the same as the majority of ordinary people that’s guaranteed even without any opinion poll , By all means accommodate minority groups but demanding that the majority change to suit the fads and opinions of these small groups is a big ask and attempting to force change will result in major push back from the majority of people who are sick to the back teeth of me me me I want I want .
I se the quizzers are busy. The electoral facts are that the less Constituency seats the SNP win the less list seats Alba will win and anybody who suggest otherwise is obviously a Quisling or doesn’t live here and has never voted in a Holyrood election. The more seats the Alba party win the better for us.
Andy. I see from your comments you seem to be concerned over ladies with nine inch clitorises. I strongly suspect you’re indulging in pornography. Did you know that porn distorts an abusers view of reality? Try not to worry about eh… let’s call them over developed ladies, and focus instead on getting your useless candidate elected.
More Constituency seats won = Less List seats won.
Brian Monteith in The Scotsman says:
“The prospect for any SNP candidate ranked second on its regional lists – such as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – is zero. Were Labour’s Anas Sarwar to win her seat in Glasgow Southside the SNP leadership would become unemployed.
“Indeed those of a nationalist bent wishing to change the SNP leadership could sit on their hands for the constituency vote and only vote for Alba in the lists knowing that if the SNP gains a list seat in compensation it is unlikely to be any of the leadership. It would not surprise me if some are already anticipating doing that.”
Captain Yossarian @ 3.38pm.
Failure to investigate whistleblowing is commonplace in Scotland and the failure to investigate concerns in the sector to which I think you refer is absolutely the standard response.
Construction, or should I say infrastructure asset procurement in Scotland is an outrage. From the astronomically expensive design build finance and operate style, to the lowest possible design standards, any concerns about process and abuse are utterly disregarded.
Few people truly know the quality issues that underpin all of the infrastructure asset procurement over recent years, the new Queen Elizebeth Hospital or the Schools where external walls collapsed May well have permeated the public consciousness but little else has.
But poor quality and astronomic cost sit at the heart of just about everything that is being procured today. Hidden from view the punters don’t know, don’t care, and gaily stump up through typically through concession charges paid out from the public purse. But it’s not just concession procurement that’s impacted.
And does the poor old public purse care. The hapless souls shelling out their tax to line the pockets of the corporates. Of course not. As long as McDonalds, or Costa, or KFC is open, our hapless consumers stump up like the ever dripping roast.
Poor standards, I could write a book on it. It is a proud Scottish tradition. But better not say that, folks might get annoyed.
Councilor Wilie Whatsup deflects to ALBA.
Is that really news, sounds a bit desperate.
I doubt if the new Indy parties will gain one seat.
om says:
29 March, 2021 at 4:23 pm
Brian Monteith in The Scotsman says:
“The prospect for any SNP candidate ranked second on its regional lists – such as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – is zero. Were Labour’s Anas Sarwar to win her seat in Glasgow Southside the SNP leadership would become unemployed.
“Indeed those of a nationalist bent wishing to change the SNP leadership could sit on their hands for the constituency vote and only vote for Alba in the lists knowing that if the SNP gains a list seat in compensation it is unlikely to be any of the leadership. It would not surprise me if some are already anticipating doing that.”
——
The only thing I would say to that, is that I have no doubt that whomever topped the Glasgow list would step aside an allow Nicola Sturgeon in. No doubt at all.
“how does that guarantee the SNP use a supermajority for Independence ?”
I have the feeling that what we are seeing so far is just the tip of the iceberg of a master plan. Just look at what Mr Salmond (with a lot of help) has achieved in around 72 hours: he has caused real havoc in Scotland’s politics, UK politics, broadcasters and MSM. He has provoked an earthquake of enormous proportions, affecting not only the SNP that is being shaken to the core and humiliated with continuous defections. To add salt to the wounds, he is teasing them big time because there is a strong possibility that they are going to get a significant number of voters via ALBA that would not vote for them otherwise.
But Mr Salmond has done also the unthinkable: it has left the idiots managing the England parties in Holyrood looking at each other aghast not knowing what to do and desperately going for the water hoses rather than the guns and the ammunition they had been cleaning and preparing to masacre the SNP at the election.
That Sturgeon loses her seat? Who gives a sht? On Friday 26th March 2021 she was made redundant. A new leader, this time the real deal, is back in the picture.
Do you seriously think a master tactician like this man, who after being subjected to humiliating police investigations, court case after court case, untold smearing and lies to destroy his reputation and the life as he knew it, has still been able in impeccable timing to launch a brand new political party from the ground that gets 2 MPs already in the first 24 hours with not even an election being run, does not have a whole deck of cards under his sleeve?
I may be dreaming but I very much suspect Mr Salmond has been busy during the last 3 years, when the headless chickens in SGov, gender woowoo, the lord Advocate, crown agent and civil service looked into every nook and cranny to stitch him up, setting up depth powerful charges on the SNP. This may well means that if Sturgeon, Robertson or whatever puppet is selected to take over the SNP carcass does not toe the line, the detonations of the depth charges, meaning defections will start in earnest.
Can you imagine anything more unsettling and disconcerting for “a leader” that not knowing when they go to sleep how many loyal MSPs will have left the next day?
“A Whiff of Homophobia”
Think I’ll stick with Hai Karate aftershave, or is that culturally appropriating the Chinese community?
That suggests to me [WGD] that those who make such comments are more interested in opposing socially progressive politics than they are in independence
I dunno what’s progressive about pumping gullible youngsters full of synthetic hormones that mess up their brain development and sterilise them, but whatevs.
It’s probably true to say that a lot of people see what the SNP is doing with the Transylvanian stuff, race baiting, man hating, authoritarian insanity, and are put off the idea of giving them more power. Mebbe don’t blame the voters?
The man/womxn/genderspecial o’ independent mind,
Xe looks an jazz hands at a’ that.
Steel helmet time but here we go
Is there a point where Alba becomes too successful to quick as they are only standing in the list?
What I mean by that is if all the SNP best and brightest cross over as they rightly see Alba as the way forward and wish to distance themselves from the deranged entity that the SNP has become what does that leave people to vote for in the first ballot
Also Alba needs to ensure it stays on point and support SNP 1 despite the crap been thrown its way as it does not have a presence in the first vote
That said the SNP media machine is doing a great job of highlighting its non indie credentials by attacking Alba and may scupper the whole thing if people latch on to the fact they are shite
So is it a case for GO ALBA but not well just yet please
Behind the sandbags fire away
I’m betting that those joining up with Alba are going to be reviled as: wrong kind of young, wrong kind of minority ethnic and wrong kind of disabled.
Desperate stuff, really.
Pixywine. 4.14
Another Sturgeon Fanatic who will turn a blind eye to everything Sturgeon has done, just as long as she keeps her seat.
What about trying to jail an innocent man?
What about our missing Indy Fund Money?
What about the corruption?
What about…?
nancy says:
29 March, 2021 at 2:58 pm
“….I would rather vote for George Galloway….”
Oh, ma sides! Stop it!!
NB the idiot ‘socialist’ Galloway is leafleting Dumfriesshire telling voters to vote Tory.
Red says @ 4.06pm
‘Tartanfever sayeth Remove Sturgeon by all means, chances are you’ll just get the same thing.
Sure, but at least we might be spared her wee scowling face and – who knows? – the others might learn something. Getting rid of bent politicians is better than not getting rid of bent politicians. There’s no shortage of bent politicians, but that would be an ecumenical matter.’
So how does voting SNP1 outside of Sturgeon’s constituency the rest of Scotland get rid of bent SNP politicians ?
re, ‘Its just been confirmed to members that the ISP will stand down at this election.’
I’m sorry about this. If the Britnats force Nicla to go full tonto and self sabotage the SNP Constituency election chances – which is the last big weapon they have in the cupboard, and it works, then the supermajority goes.
Consolation is we would have swapped a no good SNP party for a very good Alba party – but without a Holyrood majority.
The trouble for all, is if Operation SNP Self Skupper goes ahead, it will not start proper until after Wednesday.
We still need an SNP good guy/wank list. If Operation SNP Self Skupper does go ahead, all campaigning will need to be for the good guys/gals, to max the yes.
PaulaJ says:
29 March, 2021 at 4:38 pm
I’m betting that those joining up with Alba are going to be reviled as: wrong kind of young, wrong kind of minority ethnic and wrong kind of disabled.
Desperate stuff, really.
And most assuredly ‘the wrong kind of wimmin’.
@gallaneno4 4.26pm
I doubt your post will age well: you’ve always had more than a whiff of being not open to reason about you in your input here, so that’s no great surprise.
It won’t take many % points for Alba to take seats, particularly with AFI & ISP disappearing. Given the few thousands who joined Alba within its first few days, what % do you think they’re likely to attract in May? After all, the Greens got seats with barely 5% in the past. It seems pretty likely to most folk without axes to grind that Alba are on course to take seats from both yoon seat warmers and the odious Scottish Greens. The only question is, how many?
Mia
Tommy Sheridan would be standing as a List candidate.
Still waiting on you telling me who is going to defeat both Sturgeon AND Sarwar in the Glasgow Southside Constituency Vote?
Mia, you talk in claptrap riddles.
Away back to your bed and stop waisting everbody’s time.
“It’s just been confirmed to members that the ISP will stand down at this election”
Could any of those candidates stand in the constituency for selected areas, lets say for instance, Sturgeon and Sarwar’s, Yousaf’s, Harvie’s, Rennie’s, Sweeney’s and Robertson?
Wouldn’t it be epic to eject from Holyrood the 2 woowoo leaders and the three local chiefs of the England unionist branches?
Ah that’s the sweeties being rolled out to entice the gullible another tenner for the children .
How’s about a bit of honesty Mrs instead of trinkets for the natives
The political parties will be tossing our money about like drunken sailors Aye jam tomorrow , just like eh Independence will be just round the corner and within touching distance .
To the Sturgeon posse. Did you know that being unwitting accomplices of the Tory Government is not good for the cause of Independence. In fact I would say its worse than Onanism – takes the heat off Andy somewhat- he only wants a millionaire “socialist” in charge. The Twitleratti want the Tories to win why?
SNP staffers. Remember get behind me evil snake
“Tommy Sheridan would be standing as a List candidate”
Mr Sheridan has joined ALBA, so he cannot stand credibly as an independent candidate. But I am sure there are other excellent candidates like Mr Sheridan that could take over.
“Still waiting on you telling me who is going to defeat both Sturgeon AND Sarwar in the Glasgow Southside Constituency Vote?”
Until a better candidate appears, spoiling the constituency ballot looks like a great option.
“you talk in claptrap riddles”
And either you learn to live with it or you better skip my comments. Your choice.
You have not answered my question: Why should we choose “either/or” when it is “neither” that is suitable?
@Willie – ‘Failure to investigate whistleblowing is commonplace in Scotland and the failure to investigate concerns in the sector to which I think you refer is absolutely the standard response.’
It is the standard response, but it should not be. That’s why we have parliamentarians. That’s also why governments and professional institutions have all agreed, years ago, that it shouldn’t happen but I agree with you, it continues. In my personal opinion, it is worse here than it is possibly anywhere else in the world.
How are we going to be a credible independent country if we cannot deal honestly with things like this?
I worked in the Middle East several years ago and it even works there but it still doesn’t work here. Why is that?
In the middle East it was a farm labourer who walked into a Police Station and told them that a local telecoms mast was going to collapse. Straight away they took him seriously, got the mast checked and found out that he was correct. It wasn’t something obvious like a broken cable, but something very subtle that he understood and no-one else did and he reported it. He was rewarded with a new Toyota car and his photograph was in the Arab News. From start to finish it took a few months to resolve.
Here, whistleblowers are directed to Scottish Government partnering lawyers and so you end-up paying 350/hour to report a construction fault. The lawyer was, of course, useless and decided personally that the whistleblower was wrong.
Unfortunately, it was the lawyer who was wrong. The whistleblower who was right has been unemployed for two and a half years and working itinerantly for another four and a half years. Life goes-on for the lawyer. He’s still sitting in a chair getting paid.
The cause of this was a simple construction mistake which could be made by anyone. It could have been fixed at the time; now 7-years later, that is not certain and so the projected cost of this foul up could be many millions of pounds.
Interestingly, and I have this in common with the venerable Alex Salmond, those who are guilty of this foul-up have not owned-up, have not been sacked or demoted. In fact two of them have been promoted and are now in charge of all schools.
In the Middle East, these people would now be in jail. In Scotland, we promote them right to the very top. It’s what Jim Sillars referred to as the toxic tentacles of Holyrood poisoning all of our civic institutions.
Anyway, I’ll let you know how it goes. It’s now being checked by experts. In many countries in the world that gets done within a few hours. In Scotland, it takes 7-years.
My lasting impresion of this is that we now have a truely delinquent legal profession in Scotland. You literally have no-one to help you. Even people you pay work for someone else.
Has anyone reported the herald to the police for hacking into the alba lists.
Was it bad of me to register in the name of some of her favourite mps amd msps
If the SNP offer blow jobs for your vote what then?. How can we defeat such a wicked plan.?
“It might be an idea to start maintaining a list.”
Better send for Alyn Smith
Media speculation that Dougie Chapman, SNP Treasurer and MP is moving to the ALBA party.
tartanfever – Well, apparently they’re building a space port in Sutherland.
So… Golgafrincham B Ark aimed at the nearest stellar mass of incandescent gas?
They could enjoy themselves debating how many agender two-spirit demidragon leather daddies can do the Safety Dance on the head of a locally-sourced carbon neutral fairtrade pin, before Sol Invictus does his Crazy World of Arthur Brown thing.
And we can dress real neat
From our hats to our feet
And surprise ’em with the victory cry
All this new party elevated-spirits he-said-she-said stuff is pretty entertaining. CAN I GET A WITNESS??!! 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on5TLUz-ag4
Mia. “either or” is good for Andy I think. I’ve tried to give him some advise but I fear he is caught up in some frightful fever.
Cherry is an affirmed lesbian and so must be as woke as the majority of the SNP front line, she obviously found the diminishing of women’s in the GRA a step too far but not someone to be trusted, I think.
We need a Party that is going to speak for all Scots, even social conservatives like me……and Jim Sillars.
@Robert Graham says: 29 March, 2021 at 4:12 pm
“A wiff of homophobia about The Alba party”
Nah, just not the stench of transphilia from kidults who learned all they know about intimate relationships from Anime.
Oh, and don’t have the stench of gay misogyny or “post-modern queer theory” gobbledygook from “Professors” in jumped up tech colleges (“The University Of Tantric Perspectives – formerly El Rico’s Chip Emporium, Saltcoats”) with less reputable qualifications than a professor at Hogwarts!
Story in The National speculating several more MPs set to defect. Looks like Salmond is going for the drip drip effect, which is fun to watch if nothing else.
Cut off the head of the Snake (Sturgeon)
The mood within the Yes Movement would be instantaneous.
Can you imagine the feeling in the country if we were to wake up on 7th May knowing that Sturgeon had been defeated.
She is a power crazy Psychopath who needs brought to her knees and made to apoligise to the people of Scotland.
Pixywine. 5.06
What advice is that?
I must have missed it.
I am only interested in defeating Sturgeon at the ballot box.
So on you go, tell me your plan.
There seem to be a number of people who are taking the eye off the ball. Independence can be gained by SNP 1 and ALBA 2. That’s the message. I’m not sure that there aren’t a few ‘agent provocateurs’ fingering their keyboards on this site at the moment.
All things can be dealt with appropriately in time and place. Let’s get the opportunity first.
Unscientific ballpark, hypothetical figures follow.
Election night, results are in;
SNP 53 (-10)
Con 25 (-6)
Alba 22 (+22)
Lab 20 (-4)
Lib 6 (-)
Green 3 (-2)
Normally, Sturgeon has to go. Myriad reasons. Dead duck, lost election, defections to Alba, having to be shown up weekly by AS etc. But, she has no exit strategy. She cannot leave. If she isn’t FM, everything unravels. For the sane, this is unsustainable, but in all likelihood, the day she is no longer FM, she becomes a defenceless criminal. Normal rules dont apply for her at the mo. Hanging on at any cost is her only motivation. Who knows!!!
But, SNP now need Alba for absolutely anything. No worthwhile pact with the Greens. 3x Unionists never going to side with them. Only possible ‘power’ left for unionists is to abstain, like Lab & Lib did in vonc against NS recently. And thats no power whatsoever. For anything to get done, Holyrood needs Alba’s consent.
Now I know AS says he doesnt want to be FM. But with something like the above result being likely and Alba being kingmaker, we could be looking at AS as FM in a matter of weeks.
If you think its unlikely, it would have been ridiculous just last Thursday. Yet today Alba have 2 MP’s, more than the UK Greens. Its not unfeasible they could soon be the 4th largest party at Westminster!!!! An atom bomb has detonated in Scottish politics. So AS as a coalition FM???? Sturgeon deposed and answering questions under caution??? What a time to be alive.
Alex Arthur, of boxing fame has joined the Alba Party – he’s a “big hitter” right enough
i don’t think you need to worry about sturgeon winning her constituency. a worthless waste of energy.
there are absolute toppers in the SNP and on this site that would have you floating in nomans land.
SNP 1, Alba 2
A knockout in Lothians for ALBA.
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2021/03/29/man-with-a-huge-punch-joins-alba/
Daisy and Paula
….wrong kind of disabled, wrong kind of wimmin…
and let’s not forget the prime example, wrong kind of LEADER!
Depends on your angle really – maybe we’ll just make the wrong kind of impact and end up with the wrong number of seats – i.e. lots!!!
“If the SNP offer blow jobs for your vote what then?”
And how are they going to manage that with the 2 meters distancing?
frazerio you’re getting carried away.
It’ll be a victory and i mean that sincerely if Alba get 1-2 seat in, never mind 22.
We’re looking at 5-6% of the vote. That’s good enough.
Bear in mind they’re getting no help in terms of TV debates.
Just a point Nichola worked with Alex for years then stepped into his job in2014 why did she not raise her concerns about his behavour before now.
limey says:
29 March, 2021 at 5:09 pm
Story in The National speculating several more MPs set to defect. Looks like Salmond is going for the drip drip effect, which is fun to watch if nothing else.
_____________
Rev Stu – will have to do a top of the pops type run down
New at number 7 ex-SNP councillor
New at number 5 ex-SNP MP
“Bear in mind they’re getting no help in terms of TV debates”
Realistically, how many people actually bother anymore with the TV debates? For instance in our household we have not watched live television for over 4 years.
The bloggers are the future of mass communication. Clearly Mr Salmond has seen that.
If I remember correctly, at some point during the presentation of the party or within its website it was said that it is not the no voters or the undecided who are being targeted here. It is the yes voters. Now, how many committed yes voters actually see the broadcasters and the MSM as anything other than the British state propaganda mouthpieces? If anything they yes voters be amused and reassured by seeing the enormous lengths broadcasters go to hide the information about ALBA and Mr Salmond.
Have I got this right?
AFI and ISP have both withdrawn to leave Alba Party a clear run on the list.
These are sacrifices and I am very grateful to them. Boosts my faith in the people of Scotland.
So Alba support SNP1 and Alba2 for the sake of Scotland’s future.
I am back in the room!
@Graham 5.20
“Alex Arthur, of boxing fame has joined the Alba Party – he’s a “big hitter” right enough”
You have to hand it to Alba they are running rings round the media. Excellent stuff
Got them on the ropes now!
Yes I have heard there will be a few more Mps coming over to Alba. One possibly this evening!
Big Jock says:
29 March, 2021 at 5:42 pm
Got them on the ropes now!
will they throw in the towel
Well they were a bit ring rusty.
IANAL, but it looks to me that the Herald have committed an offence under section 1 of the Computer Misuse Act.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/18/section/1
They have purposefully obtained access they are not allowed to AND they knew that they were not allowed.
They even named names in the article which they retrieved from Alba’s system this incriminating themselves. That’s a 12 month jail sentence in Scotland.
Returning officer in Airdrie and Shotts has decided the by-election will be held on Thursday 13th May.
Two thoughts
Sturgeon’s attacks on Salmon and Alba seem often to be projections of her own faults onto him. Remind you of Trump?
Do the selective failures of memory suggest Sturgeon is suffering from early onset Alzheimers?
Some of the posters here are hilarious. Next they will be uncertain of Alba if they don’t prefer green budgies to blue.
How I see this playing out. The Yes movement will win the day.
You will have a super majority of Independent politicians in HR.
All The Yes community live for is Scotland being Independent.
The ALBA members, even though a couple of days ago were going to spoil their votes rather than vote SNP, are now prepared to hold their noses & give the 1st votes to the SNP, so they can win all of the Constituency seats.
Yes SNP voters, once they know how well this could work towards Independence, will also hold there noses to give ALBA the list vote.
Yeser’s have said for years this isn’t about the SNP, Independence is down to the will of the sovereign people.
You have five weeks to get the Yes family united again. It is you the yes voters that will make this work. Alba & SNP are but the vehicles.
The yes folk still listening to the SNP may not be feeling as positive as you have done since Friday. Time to let them know how excited & positive you all are & that Independence has never felt closer than it does now.
Many of these people lived on WOS before the 18th Sept 2014. Time to let them know how positive the vibe in here is now.
Let them know that the yes movement needs to come together, your strength is in your numbers.
Take the politics out of it, See both parties as being one, having the same goal.
If the yes movement can come together, It’s in the bag.
You don’t have to worry about the union parties or the union voters. They are a side issue & of no consequence now.
If they say oh! I couldn’t vote for the ALBA party, I don’t Like Alex. Tell them you are prepared to vote for the SNP, even though you don’t like Nicola. This is for Scotland & your future.
Let them know how AFI & IPS stood down not to split the vote, putting Scotland before party.
I hope I’m not speaking out of turn here. Though I’m a Scot I have no skin in this. I can’t vote. Good Luck!
It’s ridiculous that ISP even had a vote whether to stand down or not. Standing down should have been their default position. The question shouldn’t even have risen.
I like others are excited and happy that Alex has wrenched this rabbit out the hat , but and it is a very big but we all have to be very careful about checking out the dissenters from the SNP , there are VERY FEW of those dissenters who spoke out and against Sturgeon’s rabid wokerati and lunatic policies , did ANY of them vote AGAINST the HCB or GRA did any of them SUPPORT Joanna Cherry or Joan McAlpine in their time of need
Or do they just see the writing on the wall and the support for ALBA rising and think to themselves prepare for the future and switch gravy trains
I may be cynical and wrong but we must be cautious because let’s face it we’ve had the pish ripped before and currently
Well done to the ISP.
This will not be forgotten.
Mist001
With all due respect, go pi$$ up a rope!
There seem to be a number of people who are taking the eye off the ball. Independence can be gained by SNP 1 and ALBA 2. That’s the message. I’m not sure that there aren’t a few ‘agent provocateurs’ fingering their keyboards on this site at the moment.
Totally agree. Follow Alex’s lead: keep it entirely positive. Leave the venom to others, as trying to split the movement will be a key tactic. An electoral split is positive; a toxic one where people are attacking each other is not. Opponents of independence know that, regardless of what side of the independence campaign they might pretend to be on. Ignore and block.
Bunker mentality spreading faster than a dose of clap through the higher echelons of the SNP !
Eventually caught up and just joined at a number in excess of 4,050
According to Wiki, other party numbers are:
Lib Dems – 4,085 (will pass today)
Greens – 6,400
Tories – not published
Labour – 16,400
SNP – 125,000 (tbc..)
More constituency wins for the SNP means more List opportunities for ALBA
Keep your eyes on the prize folks
A Supermajority takes the decision out of Westminster’s hands
Now that we have two MPs who no longer take the SNP whip, it is open to them to make statements in WM under Parliamentary privilege – just as David Davis did.
Kenny MacAskill knows a great deal about what was done to Alex Salmond. He has already received material from a whistleblower.
Who is to say that the same whistleblower, or even someone else might not send him the full set of incriminating documents that are known to exist on Murrell, Sturgeon, Lloyd and others.
What would now stop Mr MacAskill, free of the SNP whip, reading these matters into the Parliamentary record under privilege?
After the election, of course.
Just a thought!
Mark Boyle
Eh by the way I was quoting WGD he said there is A wiff of homophobia about ALBA he’s also said Stewart Campbell is Anti Trans I was just wondering what’s next on the agenda after some reasonably well known women have joined ALBA in disgust with the SNPs recent antics to remove women’s rights
Ian murray 6.20
Apart from Sturgeon’s.
Lib Dem’s won’t have 4,000 members
The Greens I could run with 6,000
The Tories are better not to embarrass themselves by lying with under 10,000
Labour are less than 12,000 and dying of old age
SNP Lucky if they have 80,000 and falling fast.
Alba can be the 3rd largest party membership in Scotland before the Elections
If the Tories try to argue, get them to prove it?
I know it must have been difficult for the IPS to stand down, but credit to them, for putting the overall cause ahead of anything else.
I tip my hat to the good folk of the ISP.
Thank you.
Right, I don’t do numbers (or good spelling), but I have attempted to analyse the voting numbers for my area from 2016. I’ve rounded the numbers.
I’m in North Perthshire for the Constituency vote, which comes under Mid Scotland and Fife for the List votes.
Overall for all Scotland voting turn out was about 56% – and about equal for both Const and List vote.
On the Constituency vote
Swinney SNP won and took the seat 16,500
Murdo (cons) 13,100
Labour 2,600
LD 1,700
So, on the constituency vote SNP have a 3,400 majority, and if the unionists want to step a candadate down to max the Onion vote – really they need labour and LD’s to step down.
I’m not sure that would be a good look.
So – on the list – for the seven seats on the list – the Tories got 4, Labour and or the libdems got 2 and the Greens took 1. SNP nil….
here comes D’Honte,
There are 7 voting/counting areas within the Mid Scotland and Fife areas. I’ll give yous a skiffy of their results individually below, but lets just do the total and try and work the D’Honte magic on it first.
Cons 73,300 Labour 51,300 LD’s 20,400 SNP 120,100
Grns 17,800
So, because the SNP took the Constituency vote in North Perthshire
That 120100 vote gets divided by 1+1 = 2 = 60,050… which is less than 73,300 that the Tories got, so bingo a seat for Murdo.
Round 2 Tories now have a seat – so 73,300 divided by 2 = 36,650 – which is less than the 51,300 that labour gots – so bingo – someone from labour gets a seat
Round 3 this is where I get mixed up, do we divide the snp’s 60,050 by 2 again, = 30,025 which is less than the next highest which is 36,650 – so bingo – the tories get another seat – step up to the plate Liz Smith.
Round 4 The tories 36,650 now needs to be divided by 3 = 12,213. The SNP total 30,025 divided by 2 again = 15,000, and the LD’s have no candidates, so on 20,400 bingo, they get the seat… step up Willie Rennie
Round 5 The Lib dems now have a candidate, so 20,400 now needs divided by 2 = 10,200 – which is less than the 17,800 the greens took so – yeah they get a seat.
Round 6 Greens 17,800 now needs divided by 2 = 8,800
The tories 12,213 divided by 3 = 4,070, Lib dems 5,100, snp 15,00 divided by 2 – 7,000
Oh sod it, I can never work out when they keep dividing and so forth.
Anyway – the SNP got sod all on the list, which when you break it down into the areas is a disgrace as follows:
Cowdenbeath SNP 13,000 Labour 8,800, Tories 4,600 others around 1,000 each
Kirkcaldy SNP 14,900 Labour 7,800, Cons 4,900 Grns 1,500, LDs 1,000
Glenrothes SNP 14,900, labour 7,800, Cons 4,900 Grns and LDs just over 1,000
North East Fife SNP 14,500 labour 6,800, Cons 4,700 Grs and LDs 1,000 ish
Perthshire South SNP 13,600, Cons 13,900 labour 3,400, LDs 1,900 Greens 2,200
Perthshire North SNP 14,200 Cons 13,000 labour 2,600 LDs 1,300 Grns 2,000
Stirling SNP 13,600 Cons 9,800 Labour 5,900 LDs 1,100 Grns 2,800
That means folks that with the exception of Perthshire South – the SNP took the most seats in all but one area of the Regional vote.
“There seem to be a number of people who are taking the eye off the ball. Independence can be gained by SNP 1 and ALBA 2. That’s the message. I’m not sure that there aren’t a few ‘agent provocateurs’ fingering their keyboards on this site at the moment.”
– Likewise, there seems to be a number of infiltrating SNP gender woo – woo’s trying to save the Sturgeon’s ever dwindling constituency vote by advocating the Alba message of SNP1ALBA2. Oh, and woman have penises to !
Really folks, we can all play that game – stop being cretinous.
Agree RoS.
Massive thanks to the ISP for your magnanimous gesture especially after all your hard work.
Hopefully there will be a role for you within Alba (if you’re of a mind.)
@Daisy
“That 120,100 vote gets divided by 1+1 = 2 = 60,050”
Nope, that 120,100 SNP regional list votes gets divided by 7 (SNP constituency wins in the region) + 1 = 8
120,100 / 8 = 15,012 regional votes as the starting position.
Mia says:
29 March, 2021 at 4:02 pm
“Tell me who is the most credible candidate that is going to defeat both Sturgeon AND Sarwar in the Constituency of Glasgow Southside?”
Until somebody more credible appears, like say Tommy Sheridan, I think Mr “spoil the constituency ballot in mass and vote for ALBA in the list” is the best choice.
Don’t settle for either/or. Be bold. Choose neither.
Definitely not the year for spoiling ballot papers
Woops (sorry) SNP lost Perthshire South, so 6 (constituency wins) + 1 = 7
So 120,100 / 7 = 17,157 as regional list starting position, before seat allocation/division on region/list
Standing down must have been an incredibly tough decision for ISP. So much work has gone into building that party from scratch, with some excellent people behind it. I hope some of them are able to stand on the Alba list, or that the party can carry on longer term. When we’re independent there will be a need for a whole load of parties. Massive thanks to all who put so much work into it over the past year.
Good on ISP and AFI standing down, it gives a a nice feeling of solidarity and committment to the cause involving decent people instead of the corruption and self-serving SNP tribe.
I belive we could now be on the cusp of independence. When that happens we have to do something about the unionist MSM which will still be in place controlling the air waves, print and television spouting anti Scottish bile.
The velvet gloves will have to come off.
@ Ian Murray 6.20 which decision does a supermajority take out of Westminster’s hands?
“The only thing I would say to that, is that I have no doubt that whomever topped the Glasgow list would step aside an allow Nicola Sturgeon in. No doubt at all. ” (Mountain Shadow, 4.28pm).
Unlikely, because the top list slot is reserved for BAME candidate, Roza Salih. It would be a terrible look for Sturgeon to break the BAME list ‘fix’ to save her own skin.
Sturgeon thought Covid was her meal ticket to another 5 years of corruption and torture.
Well Nic and Pat, the Party’s over.
Your depravity is coming to an end.
The Holyrood swamp is getting drained.
The place is needing fumigated
Andy. If you’ve been following my advice you would know I’m not a fan of Nicola Sturgeon. I do however have a great deal of concern for the fallen. You poor depraved Labour wretch get on the Alba- pronounce it any way you like folks- charabang and vote 1 SNP 2 Alba. Uou know it makes sense.
The information on 2016 mid Scotland and Fife is available on
http://ballotbox.scot/scottish-parliament/2016-elections/mid-fife-sp16
SNP won 8/9 constituencies but no list seats. Smallest majorities were the Perthshire seats of Swinney 9% and Rosanna Cunningham 4%
Lib Dems won NE Fife for Willie Rennie
Tories got 4 on 25%, Labour 2 on 17%, Greens 6% & Lib Dems 7% got 1 each
Republicofscotland says:
29 March, 2021 at 5:04 pm
Media speculation that Dougie Chapman, SNP Treasurer and MP is moving to the ALBA party.
——————————————————————
I really hope he does, he could be the biggest prize yet, as treasurer he might just spill the beans on the missing dosh,
I’m looking at this bit again, imagining that the list SNP vote was actually all for Alba
Cons 73,300 Labour 51,300 LD’s 20,400 SNP 120,100
Grns 17,800
I think it would translate as 2 x Alba, 2 x Tories, 2 x Labour and 1 x either LD or Greens.
And I’m very likely wrong so don’t hit me. I’m really struggling to work out the dehonte system.
So if this was repeated in all 8 Regions – 2 x 8 = 16 seats, compared to the 4 the SNP got on the list.
Anyway my calculations are all fingers and toes – but in 2016 voting turn out was around 56% and the snp took 41.7% of the list votes.
If we can get the full yes vote out, and voting for Alba, get that 120,000 way up – get it to 150,000 – when that gets divided by 2 its 75,000 = more than the tories got in total at 73,000. I think that would translate into 4 Alba seats on the list.
That means all of the SNP list votes becoming Alba’s, and an increase of 30%. Can we do it – YES WE CAN.
Everyone on here today (who are sincere YES voters since 2014) would probably have been part of the SNP’s approximately 1 million voters at the 2016 election.
The simple question is what percentage of that million or so voters will vote SNP1/ ALBA2.
If only 15% out of 1 million SNP voters in 2016 do vote ALBA2 then that will yield approximately 5-6 MSPs (because that is what it yielded the Greens who got roughly that level of votes in 2016).
Personally I think a lot more than 15% of SNP voters will be inclined to vote SNP1/ALBA2.
I think Salmond gets more and more popular the further you travel from the leadership levels of the SNP and the closer you get to actual SNP voters. I think a lot of them still really have a lot of affection for Salmond and for good reason.
There is definitely a 2014 buzz starting, let’s nurture it and grow it as we did then and not get sucked into the usual SNP pit of negativity and ad hominem attacks so typical of the last 7 years.
It is no mistake the buzz is back now we have distanced ourselves from the spewing fount of poison. Leave them to it if that is what they want.
Fishy Willie @7.02pm.
It comes from here.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/19195583.holyrood-2021-speculation-mounts-snp-mp-douglas-chapman-will-move-alba/
@ Daisy Walker at 6.28
That’s not right either.
I’m not sure if I can explain it, but I’ll try – in two posts to keep it a reasonable length.
Constituency results in Mid-Scotland and Fife were
SNP 6, LD 1 (Willie Rennie)
List seats:
Con 4, Lab 2, Green 1
Those list seats were allocated based on the total votes for each party in the region, not in 7 separate “counting areas”. Breaking it down into “list votes within each constituency”, which is what I think you are doing, is not how the system works.
(You say “with the exception of Perthshire South – the SNP took the most seats in all but one area of the Regional vote.”
Presumbly you mean “got the most list votes in each constituency except Perthshire South”. – my emphasis)
Part 2 to follow.
Just been speaking on the phone with an old acquaintance who lives in Edinburgh Central. They feel stuck between a rock and a hard place or two kinds of hell in this case.
Do they vote for Robertson to keep Sturgeons wokist Campbell out or dont vote in the constituency vote and let Tories hold seat and let the wokist in on the List???? I dont know what to tell them but to vote Alba on the List is obvious. I know I dont want to have to make that onerous choice.
It is bad enough having to vote for Richard Lochhead in Moray and hoping to keep the wokist Emma Roddick out on the Highland List.
Oh and Kudos to the ISP for standing down. Putting the Nation before Party. All power to them. The SNP could learn a lesson or two from the ISP, AFI and even the Alba Party but they arent listening as the Sturgeonite smear machine has the throttle down and they continue to pump out the SNP 1 and 2 Propaganda which will only deliver extra seats to the Tories and the other enemies of Scotland.
Its official DeHonte, Does my Head in. Not enough fingers and toes.
Bottom line. On the Constituency vote if the Onionist try to rig it – its one or 2 of the big 3 who have to withdraw.
And the votes are not going to like that – big time. Its one thing for them to vote tactically, but you take away one of the blue rinses ability to vote for Murdo, or Rennie and they will smack you big time.
And if they try it on the List vote – Hmmm, I think that might save the greens.
Anyone realised that the Alba Party is effectively the vaccine that will immunise the SNP and bring it back to health.
The first dose being administered now is already showing huge promise. However, the second dose scheduled for May the 6th will deliver the full therapeutic effects with a sick and poorly Parliament brought back to full health.
The Alba – Regenerator vaccine is here!
Hi Daisy Walker. (How’s Daisy BTW?)
As ElGordo typed, you’ve got your ‘wurkie out’ wrong. It’s how many constituency seats a party gets in a region, not a constituency.
See what would have happened in Mid Scotland and Fife if 25% or 40% of the SNP regional vote had transferred to a single Pro-Indy party in 2016 at this link:-
https://wingsoverscotland.com/quarantine/comment-page-3/#comment-2549421
(I was furloughed; it gave me something to do. Other regions are in comments above and below the link.)
Has anyone considered when trying to guesstimate the possible/likely share of list seats the votes that went to RISE, SOLIDARITY ,INDEPEDANTS on the list etc .
Surely some of these votes must come Alba’s way, yes?
Thanks Crazycat re ‘“with the exception of Perthshire South – the SNP took the most seats in all but one area of the Regional vote.”
Presumbly you mean “got the most list votes in each constituency except Perthshire South”. – my emphasis)’
I did mean what you said, (least I think so anyway) what I think it demonstrated is that the support on the list for SNP in 2016 was regionally very, very consistent – and ahead of the others.
From a moral and a tactical point of view I think that’s worth highlighting.
So its not like the Yes vote in 2014 with Dundee and Glasgow doing all the heavy lifting, if you see what I mean.
@Willie – some at Holyrood are chronically unwell; it’s gone-on for years and years and are thus the cause of the sick and poorly Parliament. I understand what you mean though.
INDEPENDANTS even
Am I missing something?
Mid Scotland and Fife 2016 – Wikipedia
9 FPTP seats
8 SNP and 1 Lib/Dem
7 list seats to be elected :
SNP vote = 120,128/9 = 13,347 =0
Tory vote = 73,293/1 = 73,293 36,619 24,413 18,309 =4
Lab vote = 51,573/1 = 51,573 25,786 17,191 =2
L/D vote = 20,401/2 = 10,200 =0
Gr’n vote = 17,860/1 = 17,860 =1
INDEPENDENTS, Robbo!
8=)
mist001
I talk little here but IMO you talk shit
Off to watch something shit on Netflix
I watch read post little
Thanks Rev. Just shared your post, and the list(very impressive), to my FB page. I hope that’s ok?
@ Brian Doonthetoon says:
29 March, 2021 at 7:17 pm
Hi Daisy Walker. (How’s Daisy BTW?)’
Brian you’n Crazycat are officially the Dehonte masters. I will leave it in your capable hands. Your link explains it very well.
Anyway I have a good excuse for muddled thinking – change of life as what like real wimmun get.
Put petrol in the diesel car the other day. Got my jag times wrong today. What’s a few errors trying to work out de’honte in comparison.
Word to the wise for any self identifying ‘womxn’ attempting any woke nonsense my way any time soon. I really wouldn’t.
Constituency & Regional/List votes
I made a graphic that may help with this:
https://imgflip.com/i/53n07v
@ Daisy Walker at 6.28 Part 2
I see you’ve done some more arithmetic at 7.04; I’m just addressing your first post here.
List votes:
SNP 120,128
Con 73,293
Lab 51,373
LD 20,401
Green 17,860
Others 8,117
Round 1 divisors:
SNP 9, LD 2, everyone else 1
With LD now at 10,200.5* and SNP at 13,347.6, Con tops the list.
Murdo in.
Round 2 divisors:
SNP 9, LD 2, Con 2, everyone else 1
NB – the numerator of the sum remains the same throughout and equals the total number of votes obtained by each party
Con reduced to 36,646.5
Lab top and gets seat 2
Round 3 divisors:
SNP 9, LD 2, Con 2, Lab 2, everyone else 1
Lab reduced to 25,686.5
Con now top and gets seat 3
Round 4 divisors:
SNP 9, Con 3, LD 2, Lab 2
Con reduced to 24,431
Lab top, gets seat 4
Round 5 divisors:
SNP 9, Con 3, Lab 3, LD 2, everyone else 1
Con still on >24,000, Lab on 17,124.3
Con gets seat 5
Round 6 divisors:
SNP 9, Con 4, Lab 3, LD 2, everyone else 1
Con on >18,000 still bigger than Lab on 17,124
Con gets seat 6
Round 7 divisors:
SNP 9, Con 5, Lab 3, LD 2, everyone else 1
Con reduced to 14,658.6
And this is where it gets interesting.
Lab is now on 17,124, well in excess of Con, but the Greens, still only divided by 1, just pip Lab to the last seat with their 17,860 votes.
Very few votes in it for that last seat.
*obviously there cannot be 0.5 of an MSP, but the decimal places have to be taken into account in case of a close result at any stage.
Does that help?
For all those SNP1 proposers
“Nicola Sturgeon launched the SNP’s Holyrood election campaign, saying she has ‘much less patience for those who treat politics like a game, and for indulging anyone who puts self-interest ahead of the country’s best interests’.
You will reap what you sow…
mountain shadow at 4:28 pm.
You typed,
“The only thing I would say to that, is that I have no doubt that whomever topped the Glasgow list would step aside an allow Nicola Sturgeon in. No doubt at all.”
I wouldn’t be too sure. Roza Salih, I surmise, is no pushover.
She was one of the founders of “The Glasgow Girls”.
“When she was only 15-years-old, and tired of the Home Office’s treatment of asylum seekers and refugees, she co-founded the Glasgow Girls with six other young people. The group mobilised their communities and challenged then-first minister of Scotland Jack McConnell to end deportations. They continued their campaign while asylum seekers at their school were facing dawn raids and detention.”
https://www.thecanary.co/feature/2021/02/19/roza-salih-could-become-scotlands-first-asylum-seeker-elected-to-public-office/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roza_Salih
Ah well third time lucky Brian. Spelling wasn’t my best at schule lol
Col Blimp IV 7:30pm
maybe-
Votes Seats %age votes %age seats
120,128 8 42.41% 50.00% more
73,293 4 25.88% 25.00% equal
51,573 2 18.21% 12.50% less
20,401 1 7.20% 6.25% less
17,860 1 6.31% 6.25% equal
283,255 16 17,703 per seat
total votes seats
@Brian Doonthetoon says:
29 March, 2021 at 7:31 pm
INDEPENDENTS, Robbo!
8=)
Does that make you one of the aforementioned INDEPEDANTS, then?
Good work!
🙂
Didn’t format very well on the paste
Your overall share of the vote is supposed to reflect in the number of seats you get.
Looks like it was pretty fair, with the winner (SNP) getting a slightly higher no. of seats than the %age of the vote.
Votes Seats %age votes %age seats (fair or not)
120,128 8 42.41% 50.00% more
73,293 4 25.88% 25.00% equal
51,573 2 18.21% 12.50% less
20,401 1 7.20% 6.25% less
17,860 1 6.31% 6.25% equal
283,255 16 17,703 per seat
total votes seats
-not much better, sorry
@ Clavie Chiel at 7.09
In 2011, the SNP won all but one of the constituencies in Lothian region. They did not get any list seats, but there was Margo.
In 2016, they gained the “missing” constituency, but lost 3 others – a net loss of 2. They still didn’t get any list seats to compensate, despite no Margo, probably largely due to the strength of the Greens, who got 2.
What will happen if they fail to regain Edinburgh Central? Obviously that depends on
a) whether they regain either or both of the other seats they lost in 2016
b) whether they hold the other 6 seats
c) how the list votes are distributed – all parties’ vote shares come into play here, not just the SNP’s.
Since losing seats plural in 2016 did not result in a list seat, it is certainly not inevitable that failing to regain a seat would let Graham C in. Neither is it impossible, of course.
I think that’s a big shout for the ISP to make. No disrespect to AFI, but the ISP seemed to be the main thrust for List Party success, and it can’t have been easy to change their plans.
I think we have a chance now. That supermajority might actually be within reach.
Sturgeon must surely see the writing on the wall. She cannot hurt the ALBA party, her histrionics and smears of Alex Salmond are simply bouncing off, leaving her looking desperate and vindictive.
Unlike AFI and ISP, I don’t think Sturgeon has the depth of character, or a broad enough back to turn the SNP around and start embracing with the SNP1 ALBA2 strategy. Consequently, Alex Salmond is almost running the SNP’s election campaign for them, by remote, and still doing it more effectively than Sturgeon. The irony of that ‘twist’ must be driving her absolutely nuts. She’s been outmanoeuvred and she must surely know it.
It isn’t just candidates and MP’s the SNP is losing. It’s losing it’s roll as the primary baton carrier for the dream of Independence. It has the numbers, for now, but not much else. No initiative, no momentum, no direction.
I think if the SNP fails to embrace the ALBA party when it’s offering support and a sensible, mutually beneficial common strategy that WILL deliver a supermajority, and is sincere in doing it, then next election, whenever that is, ALBA will have grown to be a much bigger fish, and big enough to swallow the SNP whole. Sturgeon will be long gone by then of course.
This typing about a “supermajority”.
In order to hold an early plebiscite election, a 2/3 majority in Holyrood would be required, to support any proposal for another Holyrood election.
That means 87 MSPs voting in favour.
Current polls are suggesting that the SNP will get 67 seats, meaning that Alba would have to have at least 20 MSPs to carry the vote.
Therefore, all of us have to spread the message that if we want independence, we have to vote SNP in the constituencies and Alba in the regional (list) vote.
However…
What would happen if an Alba MSP put forward a motion for a plebiscite election? The Alba MSPs would, obviously, vote for it.
What would the SNP MSPs do? Vote for, against, or abstain?
The result of that vote would let us Yessers know on which side of the independence toast the SNP wants its butter.
Thanks Crazycat – you and BrianDTT explain it very well – and can do the sums properly.
OT from Mr Slippers himself, ‘The bloggers and their followers were always going to form their own party. Their deeply held social conservative views and UDI indy vision set them apart from mainstream SNP. They now have the leadership they crave and will be as much defined by Alex, his baggage and his past’
There’s something very ‘rich’ about a guy who wanted to be Speaker of the House, and First SNP MP to be elected to the House of Lords accusing us of having deeply held social conservative views… but if by that he means I’m one of those who agrees with the science and a person cannot change sex, and that woman = adult human female – then deeply conservative I am. And there’s a lot of us out there.
SNP 1 Alba 2 – Max the YES, SNP1 Alba 2 Max the YES, SNP 1 Alba 2 Max the YES.
Alba, Alba, Alba, Alba.
Question, if Runrig’s not very good song Alba makes a comeback and gets into ‘the charts’ will cosy feet donate his part of the royalties to a good cause, oh you know, something like compensation for teenagers permanently damaged by puberty blockers…? What would the damages be for sterilising a teenager I wonder.
@ ElGordo says:
29 March, 2021 at 7:39 pm
Constituency & Regional/List votes
I made a graphic that may help with this:
https://imgflip.com/i/53n07v
Thanks ElGordo – that clarified it perfectly. Is that unleaded or Diesel?
Agree, Breeks. Nikla has pursued such a vendetta, which she has pinned her flag to, that she has painted herself into a corner which she can’t extract herself from. For her to do a climbdown now with Alex would make her look stupid. She has to maintain the fiction of the smears in order to justify the colossal amount of time and money that was wasted on it, and because of her narrow-minded insistence that she knows better than the entire legal system.
A political figure who understands statesmanship would have avoided implicating herself in the whole fiasco, would have accepted the courts verdict and be able to function as the leader of a party whose interest it is to seek alliances and common cause. Of course she is such an egotist that she has always avoided any contact with non SNP groups, to her and indy’s detriment. Far from Alex looking like yesterday’s man, as her feeble rejoinder is, she is the one looking out of time and ideas.
The only place she has left to go is resigning, and i won’t be surprised if she does after the election, especially if Alba hold some significant seats. She knows, anyway, that she has no chance of the referendum any time soon, so why hang around when she can ride off into the sunset with her loot. The SNP will be immeasurably better off after her despotic regime is over. She must know that deep down. No leader lasts more than 7 or so years. A fresh face with new ideas, uninterested in vendettas and willing to listen would do them a power of good.
@republicofscotland, 5:04, @Fishy Wullie, 7:02
Media speculation that Dougie Chapman, SNP Treasurer and MP is moving to the ALBA party.
——————————————————————
I really hope he does, he could be the biggest prize yet, as treasurer he might just spill the beans on the missing dosh,
He will also have to spill the beans about what he was doing visiting Ukraine with Stewart McDonald and Integrity Initiative’s Neal R Stewart, about who funded the trip and what was its purpose. The last thing Alba needs to come on board is a UK intelligence asset.
@crazycat says:
29 March, 2021 at 7:39 pm
@ Daisy Walker at 6.28 Part 2
“I see you’ve done some more arithmetic at 7.04;”
Arithmetic? It’s more like bloody quantum physics to me, and I’m pretty good at statistics. Think I’d better spend some time learning the system properly.
Explanations shown above are good, though most voters won’t understand how they work, hence the cry (desperate?) for SNP 1/2.
A lot of work to do. I met a member of what was my local branch and was pleased to tell her that with ISP taking the stance they had the way was clear for everyone to vote Alba and got a bit of an earful. No malice she was just unaware that Alex Salmond had called for an SNP 1 Alba 2 vote. We need to get this message out there and through the fog of disinformation being pumped out by the SNP. Glad to see the search for the big hitter by the media was a bust.
@Daisy Walker says:
— Thanks ElGordo – that clarified it perfectly. Is that unleaded or Diesel?
I’d need to check at source with Coo 8 🙂
@Brian Doonthetoon
Surely it’s likeliest that the SNP will get roughly the amount you say in constituency seats, but that together with Alba MSPs and a few Greens they’ll command a super majority?
As you rightly posit, that’s a huge headache for the gradualist coterie around Sturgeon, particularly when the Britnats say: “Now is not the time” again. As a member of Alba I intend to push hard to get the party to commit to plebiscitary elections being called for Holyrood immediately upon any refusal by Westminster to grant a S30 Order for #indyref2.
No more Mr Nice Cybernat. We demand a plan, a timetable and action when the circumstances dictate. 🙂
“Question, if Runrig’s not very good song Alba makes a comeback and gets into ‘the charts’ will cosy feet donate his part of the royalties to a good cause, oh you know, something like compensation for teenagers permanently damaged by puberty blockers…? What would the damages be for sterilising a teenager I wonder.”
Well said, a friend’s grand daughter was persuaded to “transition”, pills and indoctrination in school led on to surgery in her teens the whole family in despair and the girl who bitterly regrets the whole episode is psychological damaged for life. The wonderful world of the woke 21st century.
From the slightly desperate sounding SNP email I got earlier the magic money tree is going to be in full flow.
But not much about independence.
Just passing
https://twitter.com/hopeoverfear01/status/1376600461671825409
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/john-swinney-apologises-after-deleting-23817647
Swinney went quiet now know why
that party HQ had bizarrely refused to let him see the results of the recent list elections
Reason for this is straightforward, and is the same reason they’ve refused to release the results to anyone – because they were warned that if the policy for “correcting” the votes (or gerrymandering them, to be more honest) was challenged in court then the SNP would likely lose that challenge.
Solution? Don’t allow anyone to know the pre- and post- correction results, then nobody can challenge them and there’s no court case.
Irshad Ahmed almost certainly got more votes than Graham “Party Hopper” Campbell, and should have been the winner in that list. As a BAME candidate there was no reason for Campbell to have preference over Ahmed. Other than, well, I’m sure you can figure any potential reasons for favouring Campbell out yourself pretty easily…
Playing catch-up and delighted to hear my previous Party – ISP – have taken the decision they have.
Thank you ISP.
It’s all guns blazing now for SNP 1 ALBA 2
Stand Together.
Cirsium @8.08pm.
Interesting points, which you’ve mentioned before but still no answer is forthcoming.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/an-open-letter-to-douglas-chapman/
Needs a really, really simple message on the list vote.
A vote for Alba is worth at least 7 SNP votes on the list, unfortunately so is the vote for any other party, multiply the yes like Wattoo Wattoos.
Maybe without the Wattoo Wattoo bit, but something along those lines.
So the midlothian MP owen thompson who lost a 10,000 majority in 2017 and then begged for a job as wee pishart’s caddy, likes to tweet rcs stuff alot?
He Wont be joining the Alba party as he is a sturgeon loyalist who likes the status and the gravy way too much to care about freedom.
Sad really, but there are lots of owen thompsons who sailed in on the back of hard working activists who dreamed of an independent scotland.
Thankfully their days are numbered. Thompson like sturgeon, is no gambler because they picked the wrong side!
I hear though owen Thomson used to make wee pishart a lovely cup of tea.
https://caltonjock.com/2021/03/29/the-betrayal-of-tommy-sheridan/
Tommy Sheridan’s victory over Murdoch and the News of the World was confirmed when he was allowed to keep the £200,000 libel damage settlement.
Appeal court judges ruled that a civil jury were “judges of fact” and they were “entitled to believe parts of what a witness said, and to disbelieve other parts”. The jury clearly believed Tommy Sheridan had been wronged and his erstwhile colleagues were settling old scores. The judges also felt they “should not ignore” Sheridan’s proved allegations of phone-hacking by Murdoch’s empire and its “disregard for proper journalistic conduct” and “wilful contempt” of the criminal process also fed into their decision.
Many years later despite being in the forefront of campaigning for independence he is still trying to live down allegations of infidelity in his private life that if true occurred 18 years ago. His wife stood by him throughout the ordeal and their marriage is a strong as it was at the outset. I believe he deserves another chance at the highest level of politics. He would be an asset to Alba on the campaign trail
Must say I forgot how bloody hilarious Fawlty Towers is. Lmao
mist001@ 6pm
Holding a vote on a major decision is what proper party democracy is all about. Making big decisions without consulting its members is the kind of thing the SNP does.
I see Sturgeon is making the eradication of child poverty her next ‘big thing’. I hope she’s more successful at that than she was with her last big thing (education).
jesus – that fat bitch on the nine is really going for it … fsake
Daisy Walker
OT from Mr Slippers himself, ‘The bloggers and their followers were always going to form their own party.
_________________
Pete Wishart is a really nasty piece of work.
On a lighter note. Thanks for the laughs you gave me when you were trying to do your sums. “Meant in a nice way”
You come across as really cute. LOL
Watch withbresiliencecas the SNP gravy train collude with every yoon media outlet and politician to attack Alba party.
Why?? Because independence will end the careerists gravy train.
Suddenly the comfy crew are getting nervous!
The Herald asked all 44 MSP MPs whether they were going to join Alba.
Only 18 ruled it out. Joanna Cherry gave them a holding/non answer.
Looks like Stuart will be busy keeping his list up to date.
https://archive.is/quGhr
I noticed on twitter that Morag Kerr is resigning from the SNP, and declaring support for (though not yet membership of) Alba.
It’s always seemed passing strange to me that the SNP appears entirely uninterested when members and activists of decades standing leave, citing their disillusionment with the party’s polices, direction of travel and shameful inaction on the abuses it has been warned about over and over again.
The First Minister makes instant and fulsome appeals to a handful of sophomoric Twitler Youth zoomers when they flounce out of the party over their latest tantrum, but appears indifferent to the hundreds who have left due to the ideological extremism and purity spirals represented by these bigoted zealots.
Sturgeon went out of her way to personally defend a piece of work like Rhiannon Spear, but tacitly supported the monstering of Joanna Cherry and others by her pointed refusal to condemn their treatment by TRA’s and their fellow travellers in the party. She might as well have handed them the paint pot for the targets they painted on Joanna’s back.
The SNP and increasingly those most vocal in its support actually disgust me now.
Don’t listen to the clown at 6.00 pm
He will slag Alba party soon ,you watch.
Too right Andy Ellis, too right. Disgraceful motives of a FM.
Confused @ 9.08 pm
That’s a bit harsh pal. Think the lassie is ok. Heard a lot worse than that lass.
I had another play about with DeHonte – sorry.
I think I’ve got the formula correct now.
For voting figures similar to the ones achieved Mid Scot, and if all previous SNP votes go to Alba this time round…
120000 Alba 73,000 Cons 51,000 Labour 20,000 LDs 18,000 Greens
I think it would work out at 4 Alba, 2 Cons, 1 Labour.
If we got the vote up to 150,000 for Alba and the other votes staying the same, I believe it would become 5 seats Alba 2 Conservative.
150,000 is do-able – if the green vote transfers over and we increase the vote by another 12,000.
Max the Yes – SNP 1, Alba 2
Good graphics and explanation of the d’Hondt system in this video from Yes East Kilbride
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bqHnzdgPiPw
Sadly their examples at the end miss out Option 3: what happens with one list party Alba. If we don’t split the list vote though, Alba can do as well as the unionists in 2016, without sharing it with other parties.
.
ElGordo says:
29 March, 2021 at 7:39 pm
Constituency & Regional/List votes
I made a graphic that may help with this:
https://imgflip.com/i/53n07v
.
.
Careful now!
Maree Todd trying to earn brownie points with the leader by echoing her comments about Salmond. Todd told her local paper, the John O’ Groats Journal, that his return to politics isn’t appropriate.
The crawler must be hoping for a cabinet post.
https//internationalscotland.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Facebook-1080.mp4?_=1
you don’t need fingers and toes to work it out just watch this wee video.
Daisy Walker
Apparently the formula is
Quant = V/S + 1
You enjoy lol
boris says:
“He would be an asset to Alba on the campaign trail”
Boris, i don’t doubt all you’ve revealed is technically true; however, the idea that he is in any way an asset to anything other than himself and his narcissistic ego certainly isn’t my opinion.
He has zero credibility and is nothing short of a figure of ridicule both in the ordinary person’s eyes and, importantly, the media’s – and if i were NS&Co i’d be praying that ALBA put him up as a candidate.
Even by mere association, he’ll taint ALBA. It’s not good news my friend, not by any justification.
@carltonjock aka boris
The trouble with Tommy Sheridan was that his brittle ideology of the time compulsed him to take on the Evil Murdoch instead of just letting it go. On an emotional level, I understand his wish to defend his public reputation for the sake of his wife, but the rest of it was too John Proctor in “The Crucible”.
After the 1992 “Paddy Pantsdown” (aka the Simon Berkowitz affair) farce (where it backfired spectacularly and the LibDems never looked back – until Clegg!), it was Game Over for politicians being “ruined” by sex scandals. The zeitgeist had changed to the extent Bob Geldof could tell a mortified Sarah Greene on kid’s telly “I don’t care what some paper claims I’ve got up to, just so long as the girl says I’m great in bed!”
It was now seen as putrid, prudish, petty spite from a mindset which had died with Perry & Croft “nudge nudge” comedy. People no longer cared who politicians fked just so long as they weren’t fking the country – and The Herald can prefix Tommy with “convicted perjurer” all they like, but since they don’t also prefix Rangers with “tax-dodging bankrupt phoenix club” people know they tend to hold a grudge like silly children.
I think Sheridan’s an older, wiser head now – his immediate stand down upon Alex’s “Bonnets” appearing over the horizon showed excellent political maturity and that he’s lost none of his sharpness when it comes to reacting to events. I still think his best years are yet to come if he lets realpolitik overrule the radical – but time will tell.
@ re’
Clavie Cheil says:
29 March, 2021 at 7:09 pm
Just been speaking on the phone with an old acquaintance who lives in Edinburgh Central. They feel stuck between a rock and a hard place or two kinds of hell in this case.
Do they vote for Robertson to keep Sturgeons wokist Campbell out or dont vote in the constituency vote and let Tories hold seat and let the wokist in on the List???? I dont know what to tell them but to vote Alba on the List is obvious. I know I dont want to have to make that onerous choice’
Its early days yet, and folk are crunching the numbers (in my case wrongly) and trying to figure it all out. One question though, from a BritNat perspective – between Roberston the odius and Graham Campbell (the not really at work very often) who would the Brits prefer to be elected to Holyrood? And what will they do to achieve their preference?
It might come down to that kind of thinking. There are definitely some individual seats that might require different voting tactics. But its still early days.
I often see people who comment on here deeply despondent after spending time on Twitter.
Have you considered the problem might be Twitter.
Intereting Boris, Tommy would get my vote any day.
Cuphook says,
“She has five years to establish an independent government in Edinburgh.”
She has five weeks before she is kicked out of the Scottish parliament.
Vote tactically for Sarwar in the Glasgow Southside constituency to get her out, without any loss to SNP seats:
Rev. Stuart Campbell says (Scheming on a mirage),
“It’s much the same as the Glasgow Southside situation. You’re not choosing between Anas Sarwar and Nicola Sturgeon – Sarwar is top of the Labour list so he’s getting in no matter what happens. What you’re effectively doing with your constituency vote in Glasgow Southside is choosing between two SNP MSPs – Sturgeon or Roza Salih. If you’d prefer Salih, vote Sarwar on the constituency paper.)”
As far as I am aware, Roza Salih of the SNP is not a corrupt lying criminal who betrayed independence and tried to get Alex Salmond jailed on false charges to retain her position of power at any cost whatsoever.
“I think Sheridan’s an older, wiser head now”
I realise i am in the minority here – i accept it. For me it’s wishful thinking and i’ve seen or heard nothing from him that’s convinced me otherwise.
Please, if i can ask anything be honest with yourself and consider this for a moment. If he was joining the SNP in their ‘hour of need’ – we’d all be on here deriding him and laughing our socks off, but because we can’t possibly do that as we want ALBA to succeed – we go looking under any stone for vindication and justification.
@ Contrary at 9.35
They also can’t spell d’Hondt, and I don’t understand why they refer (more than once) to the North East as a region where Both Votes SNP might be desirable when there were zero list seats for the SNP there in 2016, but there was one in Highlands and Islands.
In NE the SNP won all but one constituency; in H&I they were two short of the full set. Maybe Yes EK are using one of those maps of Scotland that puts Orkney and Shetland in a box off Aberdeen!
This nonsense about needing a section 30 approval from Westminster is another red herring. A section 30 from Westminster is only an agreement that Westminster and de facto the other signatory of the Act of Union ie England acknowledges the sovereignty of the Scottish people in wanting its Independence as a country back. If the will of the Scottish Sovereign people is to be Independent and no longer part of the Act of Union then so be it and if England don’t agree with that then it’s their problem not Scotland’s.
Irshad Ahmed almost certainly got more votes than Graham “Party Hopper” Campbell, and should have been the winner in that list.
Seems a dead cert this is exactly what happened. If not, the SNP could easily release the numbers.
I’m not surprised he’s left, and I’m pleased he’s joined Alba. Irshad Ahmed is a businessman who has been campaigning for Scottish independence and the SNP for many years. Graham Campbell is a professional race grifter who couch surfs between political parties and – ironically for someone who seems allergic to working – lectures people about slavery for a living. Unlike Irshad, he doesn’t even live in Lothian.
Promoting or disadvantaging anybody on the basis of their skin colour or disabilities is, of course, incompatible with a free and democratic society, and anybody who suggests it should be tied to a stake and fed to particularly bad-tempered TERF leopardesses. If we don’t nip this kind of thing in the bud soon, it’ll metastasise into a permanent caste system.
But the SNP couldn’t even use their own racial privilege scheme to favour the guy who’s consistently put the hard yards in to support the party, and who lives in the area. They chose a lazy carpetbagging idiot instead, because… I dunno, wokelogic?
It’s an insult to Irshad, and an insult to anybody thinking of voting SNP. I’m through with voting for people who hold me in contempt, the SNP is dead to me. Alba or nothing.
The chat re Alex Arthur’s tweets from last year, with content that appears to be anti-vax and comments about Romanian beggars make me think that the Alba vetting is not quite on point
Breeks says,
“This is not the time for vengeance or teaching Sturgeon a lesson. That will come…
A supermajority in May is a much bigger prize than Sturgeon getting a bloody nose.”
Is it not possible to both get a supermajority AND “teaching Sturgeon a lesson” by getting her kicked out in her Glasgow Southside constituency?
A super majority AND “Sturgeon getting a bloody nose.”
What could be better than that?
Don’t ever forget that Sturgeon is PURE EVIL.
Sorry if I am being thick but I saw someone post about this saying that tactical voting for the list doesn’t work and linking to an article you wrote previously. Can you explain how it will work this time. Is it because the percentage voting for Alba will be higher than 40%? https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-sweet-spot/
@Gfaetheblock,
Those Romanian beggars happen to be gang led. They shift others on with threats of violence.
Done a couple of court reports on them. Don’t be too hasty in judging Alex Arthur.
Robert Louis says,
“’Vote Sarwar’..a hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahaha’. Even Labour folk won’t vote for him.
Get a grip.”
Rev. Stuart Campbell says,
“If you believe Sturgeon is a block on independence it’s a very rational position.”
Independence was never more achievable than during the period 2016-2019.
Sturgeon deliberately sabotaged it.
There is a golden opportunity to get her kicked out by voting for Sarwar, with no loss of SNP seats and no gain of Labour seats.
Bob Mack,
I am aware that there are some organised begging gangs, but I have no idea if this was the case or nor do I think that the the tweet is appropriate. He’s at the ‘some of my best friends are Romanian’ stage on Twitter now.
Suffice to say, probably not the profile a party needs on day 4 of it’s existence
BBC seems to be doing its best to not talk about Alba. Main parties all interviewed but minimal on the most important election story and the risks to Nicola
Why would the BBC minimize anything that is a problem for the Scottish government????
Now let me think!!!!
It’s a conversation I have heard many times in my workplace, about Romanian beggars. I don’t necessarily agree with stereotyping people.
However there are gangs of them. They drop off the women in vans and collect them later. They are a problem for the police.
Alex wording was crude and insulting,but let’s not pretend the gangs are not real. They are.
@Samuel Coleman
The bottom line is that, unless there are exceptional circumstances, any party that receives 6.25% of the list vote in any region will get a seat if they haven’t already won a constituency.
The theoretical problem which all the mad ‘Both Votes SNP’ crowd exaggerate to within an inch of its life is that if Alba fails to reach this threshold it might not win any seats itself AND take sufficient votes from the SNP to reduce the number of seats it could win on the list. But this is a marginal concern in very few areas.
Voting Alba on the list has potentially enormous upside with a VERY small risk of causing harm to the cause. I would argue the risk is VANISHINGLY small, especially if you are of the view that the SNP left to its own devices (or in concert with the Greens) will do nothing for the cause anyway.
Angus Robertson is poison. He & his wife are well known for who they are. I would be surprised if he got the seat.
Though if he did I’d be watching more FMQ on Thursdays. LOL
The boxer has got to go,gangs or no gangs. You would have thought the mbe was a warning.
Difficult for new organisation to get it right first time but they must try harder.
AND it is not significant that NS follows him as he is champion sportman.
Yep after viewing a few comments it’s pretty clear
There are disruptive elements stalking this site a wee hint here a wee nudge there oh their not quite right or he has a checkered history , aye you are being noticed seen it all before .
As for the comments about Tommy Sheridan
No speaker in Holyrood is as quick and as sharp as Tommy I saw him taking on four Unionist politicians and single handily wipe the floor with all of them and that was including the neutral host of the debate .Michael Portillo was left white as a sheet and looking like he had Shell Shock.
Don’t forget Tommy while he was a MSP was instrumental in the abolition of Warrant Sales in Scotland despite total obstruction from so called Labour and socialist MSPs and the Tories were
just as bad ,
Tommy like Alex is unpredictable and sharp as a tack both were targeted because they couldn’t be controlled so please don’t add to the smear tactics like some in the SNP management it never ends well , Tommy drew crowds from all over when he spoke during the 2014 referendum most of the SNP nodding dogs couldn’t raise a crowd in their own fkn street.
Socrates MacSporran says,
“But, would even Sturgeon have the gall to put herself forward as FM, if she had had to get someone else to stand down and let her back into Holyrood?”
She has no shame whatsoever.
But it would still be humiliating for her to make a BAME SNP MSP stand down in her favour after passionately endorsing BAME and Disabled lists against legal advice.
What she will now do is to get someone in the SNP or civil service [Lesley Evans] or Crown Office [Wolffe} to do her dirty work for her by getting the BAME and Disabled lists declared illegal, and then she will get on to the top of the list in Glasgow.
But why should anyone of us here, knowing about the crimes she has committed against Alex Salmond, have any problem with her being crushed by Sarwar in the Glasgow Southside constituency?
Do we owe her any loyalty?
Well said Robert.
I hate faux outrage!
Crazycat at 10.16pm,
Yeah, their examples are pretty rubbish, they didnt cover a lot of potential situations, and they didn’t cover the most obvious idea of predicting what would happen if only one pro independence party was voted for on the list. But I liked the graphics and the easy style of explanation! Sorry.
Daisy Walkers cow graphics is probably better:
https://imgflip.com/i/53n07v
🙂
Mhairi Hunter: ‘…if Unionist votes were significantly under-represented…’
What? Under-represented in a proportional voting system deliberately chosen to miminise the impact of independence votes? Under-represented in the way that 954,000 votes for the SNP produced 4 MSPs under the list?
Andy says,
“Glasgow Southside…Vote Labour 1 ABLA 2
YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE!!!
The Supermajority will still be there, even with the loss of this ONE SEAT.”
There will not even be a loss of one seat.
Sturgeon OUT in the constituency, Roza Salih (SNP) IN on the list:
Rev. Stuart Campbell says (Scheming on a mirage),
“It’s much the same as the Glasgow Southside situation. You’re not choosing between Anas Sarwar and Nicola Sturgeon – Sarwar is top of the Labour list so he’s getting in no matter what happens. What you’re effectively doing with your constituency vote in Glasgow Southside is choosing between two SNP MSPs – Sturgeon or Roza Salih. If you’d prefer Salih, vote Sarwar on the constituency paper.)”
A totally WIN WIN situation for all except the diehard Sturgeonists.
Let me make this simple.
There are no conceivable circumstances in which it is morally acceptable to vote for Angus Robertson.
Anyone seen Nicola’s face today?
Nicola Facewatch.
I’d check in daily.
I quite enjoyed this interview of Alex Salmond by Times Radio (?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1FRKFKePAXU&feature=youtu.be
Interesting, anyway, particularly some answers – and the lack of one to do with ‘forgiveness’.
Fred, nobody on here (including you) is in a position to judge Tommy Sheridan. Unlike you, he has actually put more than anonymous words on the line for his beliefs. Indeed, he went to prison for them. He’s the real deal and you should have some respect for that in a world of fake news and even faker politics.
People like you make it easy for the gutter press to demonise and marginalise people. You’re like a wee old gossiping nobody at a bus stop. Nobody with intelligence gives a fuck about what the MSM said about his private life 20 years ago.
Craig Murray, thanks for that. I agree. And I feel the same about James Dornan. I refuse point blank.
The pampered bourgeoisie will always sell their country or colony out for their own advantage. Just look at the SNP elite, and those MPs unwilling to defect. The bedrock of any independence movement and the national consciousness which drives it is the lumpen proletariat who have suffered most from oppression, in our case that is mostly Scots speakers from a working class background. That is why Alex Salmond is aye one of us, as is Tommy Sheridan, and this is why the latter should figure high in Alba’s future prospects.
Mia says,
“Sarwar is the ONLY credible candidate”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
What Andy actually posted:
“Sarwar is the ONLY credible candidate who can defeat Sturgeon.”
Mia, any particular reason you didn’t quote Andy’s full sentence?
Robert Graham says:
29 March, 2021 at 10:48 pm
Yep after viewing a few comments it’s pretty clear
Reply
Thanks for saying that. It needed said.
Whatever you think of the Alex Arthur tweets, the brass neck and hypocrisy of Allan Casey getting all holier than thou about it is quite something. One rule for some, eh?
http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/575281/snp-aide-allan-casey-who-wrote-pro-ira-messages-passed-party-vetting-process-for-council/amp/
I also cant vote SNP because of the calibre of candidate/ politician!
Colin beattie……. WHERES THE MONEY???
Re: Alex Arthur.
Robert the Bruce stabbed a guy in a church.
William Wallace had someone boiled down and made into a belt.
Hugh MacDiarmid was a literal Communist, .
Billy Wolfe had extremely outspoken views on the Pope.
Alex Arthur… said some mildly non-PC stuff on Twitter.
I dunno, I’m struggling to care. He’s not running for the Romanian Parliament, is he? (Btw, I know some Romanians and they’re a lot more vituperative about gypsies than Alex Arthur has ever been).
It’s like the stuff about Tommy. Don’t care. I only care about Scotland. Joanna Cherry has been accused of all sorts. I don’t give a scintilla of a quantum of a particle of a fragment of a monkey’s about that, I like her because she’s on Scotland’s side.
Do you, dear reader, really care about a boxer’s old tweets about Romanian beggars and vaccines? Or are you worried somebody will point-and-shriek at you while doing the guilt by association dance? If so, why do you care about that?
Seems to me that the process of carefully selecting people who only repeat pre-approved, focus group tested, on-message talking points hasn’t exactly served us well, has it? We don’t need more Stepford politicians. We need people who fight.
Kcor. 11.16
Mia is past bothering about.
She is either acting like an idiot, or she
Is an idiot.
@Mist001 at 3.53 I often read your comments and many of them seem to me to reveal opinions which I find hard to understand. Merely because ISP took time to consider their position would not lead any reasonable person to the view you expressed.
Why not stand back a little and consider. ISP was on an election footing long before Alba was announced last week. There were candidates, a pre-election meeting at which the manifesto was to be announced all arranged for 3rd April.
Imagine for a moment that you are a member of a Party in that position with a constitution and rules. Such a party would need to have a meeting to consult the candidates and members (possibly two meetings, on for each) and then to put to the vote [one member one vote] the suggestions made, THEN to come to a decision.
Just because the decision did not come as quickly as you had expected does not make them Charlatans.
By the way, I agree with Robert Knight’s comment at 4.08
The comments of many expressing their views about solidarity and committment BTL are appreciated –
Country Before Party
SAOR ALBA
Alf, I’m in a constructive frame of mind but I suspect it will be difficult to sell the idea that Scotland’s future is in the hands of its underclass (lumpen) on the doorsteps.
I think it would scare more than the horses.
On Tommy Sheridan, Gordon Dangerfield wrote a bit about his case (he keeps promising to write more but hasn’t yet) in the middle of this article here:
https://gordondangerfield.com/2020/10/05/salmond-inquiry-more-diversionary-tactics-by-copfs/
It’s given as an example about COPFS handing over evidence: but it’s pretty clear, the News of the World got witnesses to lie in court, and kept pushing the case, even after Tommy Sheridan got awarded damages. The snide wee sanctimonious comments have no basis in reality.
Craig Murray says:
29 March, 2021 at 11:04 pm
Let me make this simple.
There are no conceivable circumstances in which it is morally acceptable to vote for Angus Robertson.
Stop mincing your words Craig, tell us what you really think 🙂
Seriously, are the Greens fielding a candidate here?
It’s in the independence movement’s interests that the SNP attack Alba initially. If not the media would crucify us for ‘gaming the system’.
The indy movement now have a scenario where a legitimate split could deliver a super majority. Stars are aligning for us. The perfect shit show for the unionists.
.
I am not going to make any more comments about Alex Arthur’s tweets from a year ago.
The past is another country. Scotland’s future is What matters. Don’t let anyone distract us by deflection and playing the man and not the ball.
Kcor 10.50
“But why should anyone of us here, knowing about the crimes she has committed against Alex Salmond, have any problem with her being crushed by Sarwar in the Glasgow Southside constituency?”
“Do we owe her any loyalty?”
None whatsoever.
I’ll even volanteer to pull the trap door, no problem.
tartanfever says,
“Remove Sturgeon by all means, chances are you’ll just get the same thing.”
There is no same thing as Sturgeon.
From betrayal of independence, attempting to jail Alex Salmond, preventing the committee from doing its job, the buck stops with Sturgeon.
Just imagine what would have happened if Alex Salmond had been SNP leader and First Minister on the day that the Brexit vote result was announced?
Would he have gone full force for independence or would he have stood shoulder to shoulder with New Labour spin doctor Allistair Campbell to deny Brexit to English voters who had democratically voted for it?
What has Sturgeon achieved for Scotland since she came to power?
Two points.
1.Basic to scrub your on line history if a candidate but he is not a candidate.
2. He is nowhere near as bad as Douglas Ross on gypsy travellers but we should aspire to higher standards than the Tories anyhow!
Anti unionist rhetoric is a hate crime according to the new snp doctrine.
The best video I saw of Tommy Sheridan in action was from about 2014 in Dunfermline, I think.
It was a hustings/QnA against Willie Rennie.
And he tied silly willie up in knots.
If you haven’t seen it , it’s worth digging out.
It’ll be on youtube or something.
Brill stuff.
God it’s so depressing to be in the exact same situation as indyref1 – the independence movement trying to make a positive case and have a debate about Scotland’s future, but being hammered at every turn by smears, bitterness, underhand tactics and negativity from the unionists. Only this time the SNP are part of the negativity, smearing and nastiness. I hope we can manage to get back out campaigning because social media is just energy and life sapping, and allows far too much power to the negativity and divisiveness merchants.
Mia says,
“As I told you many times, it does not have to be “either or”. I am of the opinion that should be “neither of” until we are offered an acceptable option.”
How many times do you have to be told that we can’t get rid of Sarwar but we can get rid of Sturgeon by voting tactically for Sarwar in the constituency?
I told you FOUR times on a previous thread:
Rev. Stuart Campbell says (Scheming on a mirage),
“It’s much the same as the Glasgow Southside situation. You’re not choosing between Anas Sarwar and Nicola Sturgeon – Sarwar is top of the Labour list so he’s getting in no matter what happens. What you’re effectively doing with your constituency vote in Glasgow Southside is choosing between two SNP MSPs – Sturgeon or Roza Salih. If you’d prefer Salih, vote Sarwar on the constituency paper.)”
The good people of Glasgow Southside will do the voting but we others can advocate it, and those like Andy can actively campaign to get her out.
Its seems pretty clear to me that you are lying when you claim you want Sturgeon out, as you are dead against the only way to get her out.
Giesabrek (the original) says: I thought it was Ah-lba as in alphabet? Pretty sure that’s how Runrig pronounced it in their completely-Gaelic song of the same name?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FutVGIQ_4kc
I’ll be dancing on Calton Hill when Alex Salmond makes it back to Holyrood! Love it!
Gutted about these Alex Arthur tweets. Made a right arse of it.
The exact stuff Alba needs to get right.
They’re ganting to smear Alba as a tartan ukip and he presents that opportunity.
So frustrating.
@Daisy Walker says:
29 March, 2021 at 9:44 pm
Do they vote for Robertson?
My constituency. I’m thinking of spoiling my ballot – for the first time ever.
Mia says,
“Tell me who is the most credible candidate that is going to defeat both Sturgeon AND Sarwar in the Constituency of Glasgow Southside?”
“Until somebody more credible appears, like say Tommy Sheridan, I think Mr “spoil the constituency ballot in mass and vote for ALBA in the list” is the best choice.”
As I had informed you on a previous thread:
Kcor says,
“Tommy Sheridan is not standing. In fact I had suggested he stand long before you did.”
Unless a big name comes up by Wednesday, Andy, whom you deliberately misquoted, is absolutely right:
Andy says,
“Sarwar is the ONLY credible candidate who can defeat Sturgeon.”
I suppose at the next gatherings of the Yes Movement there will be a Stall for the
Ginger Duggers, aka the Sturgeon crimes Denyers.
And a Stall for Wings Over Scotland, aka the Don’t even try bullshitting us Sturgeon.
We are split between the Sturgeon believers,,,and the Sturgeon non-believers.
Let the battle commence.
God some people on here are already focussing on spoiling vote 1 before we’ve credibly got vote 2. Delusional self conceited pish.
Eye on the prize or this is lost.
Never seen an interviewer get the better of TS – he has them over a barrel every time. Tommy is a tad too left for me, but by god does he deserve his place in Holyrood.
Kcor
Mia told me she had a plan.
I’m still waiting to hear it
She talks in incoherent riddles.
Similar to Vote SNP 1 and 2.
She disappears and Mia appears.
They are a rag team of two born idiots.
Even a Tag Team
@ Contrary at 10.57
Yes, the video is very nicely made, and helpful up to a point.
Just a shame it wasn’t perfect!
@ ScotsRenewables at 11.27
Alison Johnstone appears to be standing for the Greens in Edinburgh Central, as she did in 2016. She was well adrift then, but even if she doesn’t much (or at all) improve on that, she could have the same effect as she probably did then.
Enjoying my lunch again not having to listen to President Sturgeon and her daily party political broadcast on covid. I think she will make up for the reduction in TV time by fronting any news exposure herself after all she basically trusts no-one, don’t blame her would you rely on a plank like Swinney, wouldn’t trust him to take me across the road.
Cath says:
29 March, 2021 at 11:44 pm
Quote:-
“God it’s so depressing to be in the exact same situation as indyref1 – the independence movement trying to make a positive case and have a debate about Scotland’s future, but being hammered at every turn by smears, bitterness, underhand tactics and negativity from the unionists. Only this time the SNP are part of the negativity, smearing and nastiness… ”
—
John Swinney deleted evidence of another SNP Covid breach on the campaign trail as the government minister responsible for setting the rules was “spoken to” by police over a separate incident, we can exclusively reveal.
Ref. https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/politics/scottish-politics/2083186/john-swinney-covid-breach/
Vote 1 SNP for continuance of the same and to hell with Scotland!
crazycat says:
30 March, 2021 at 12:18 am
@ ScotsRenewables at 11.27
Alison Johnstone appears to be standing for the Greens in Edinburgh Central, as she did in 2016. She was well adrift then, but even if she doesn’t much (or at all) improve on that, she could have the same effect as she probably did then.
So – a pro-indy candidate you can vote for instead of giving it to the slavering oaf Robertson.
I would be tempted if I was living there.
Willie Rennie v Tommy Sheridan, 2014 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf_PXB1OfqU
If you like that sort of thing, you might want to search for the Mike Tyson vs Peter McNeeley fight from the mid-90s.
@ Andy at 11.40pm: Tommy gave excellent talks in Kirkcaldy and Methil during the 2014 campaign too. If they’re still on YouTube, they’re extremely persuasive and well worth watching. I suspect he can be given much credit for converting solidly pro-Labour Fife to solidly pro-Yes in the referendum.
@Ross
Yeah. “Shortsighted” would be far too kind of a word to describe their thought process.
No SNP constituency seats = no Alba list seats + every woko SNP type getting in on the list.
It’s almost like they want the wokies to win.
Any hope of a welcome even baring a olive branch over in La La Land is a waste of time now if you’re a pig wearing lipstick and high heels with a beard your guaranteed the red carpet treatment
One of the benefits for them all being corralled in one place is it keeps the streets clean
You have a nice day now Doggers
Yah bunch of fkn weirdos
@ Derek at 11.55pm and crazycat at 12.18am: It’s not for me to tell you how to vote, but rather than wasting my vote or endorsing the Greens and their wokism, I’ll be voting for BonniePrinceBob; not only because I despise Robertson, but because I agree with almost every point made in BonniePrinceBob’s campaign video.
Craig Murray says,
“Let me make this simple.
There are no conceivable circumstances in which it is morally acceptable to vote for Angus Robertson.”
Craig, it is still not too late for you to stand against him.
As I had written previously:
“Let us see you, in a white suit, confront Robertson and his wife Jennifer Dempsey at Edinburgh Green or whatever a central place in Edinburgh is called.
Let them jail you after you have been elected an MSP after routing Robertson.
You have international contacts and friends. The world’s press will be looking.
How will they then complain about Putin jailing political opponents?
Expose them all for the bastards they are.”
Robert Graham 12.30
Brilliant
What a way to end the evening.
Very funny Mr. LoL
Only a perverted numbnut would vote for the Scottish Greens
They are way past all that Politics shite.
They are edging towards out and out child abuse.
Kroc 12.36
If only…
I am concentrating on Sturgeon.
But the three stoogies of
Sturgeon
Swinney
Robertson
What a result that would be if those three were defeated.
“Tomorrow is another day” as John Wayne said to Bette Davis in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!!!
Contrary @11.06
Thank you for the link to the AS interview- brilliant. I recommend others to watch it too.
Andy says,
“She talks in incoherent riddles.”
IMHO, there are several posters here who post a lot of waffle, but their main aim is to confuse and fool people into not harming the prospects of Sturgeon and her fellow corrupt lying criminals.
Mia will come back again with the same shite about getting rid of both Sturgeon and Sarwar, knowing perfectly well, from none other than the Rev. Stuart Campbell, that is just not possible:
Rev. Stuart Campbell says (Scheming on a mirage),
“It’s much the same as the Glasgow Southside situation. You’re not choosing between Anas Sarwar and Nicola Sturgeon – Sarwar is top of the Labour list so he’s getting in no matter what happens. What you’re effectively doing with your constituency vote in Glasgow Southside is choosing between two SNP MSPs – Sturgeon or Roza Salih. If you’d prefer Salih, vote Sarwar on the constituency paper.)”
She claims that she wants Sturgeon out, but is dead against the only way to get her out.
Let’s empower the next Parliament and vote SNP 1 and Alba 2.
That very simply will max the SNP constituency seats whilst maxing the Alba list seats.
SNP 1 and 2 cannot work. Take circa 60 seats in the constituency and the SNP will take no regional seats. ( in 2016 when the SNP took 57 constituency seats their list vote of 953,000 votes delivered 4 seats, whilst 956,000 delivered 45 unionist seats )
It’s insanity not to vote SNP 1 and Alba 2 and that is why Alba’s encouraging voters to bpvote SNzp in the constituency and Alba in the regionals.
And then, with a super majority we have a parliament well tooled to take on and pursue Scotland’s legal right to independence. Let’s get that message out!
Andy says,
“But the three stoogies of
Sturgeon
Swinney
Robertson
What a result that would be if those three were defeated.”
You are being too kind, Andy.
They are no stooges – they are corrupt, lying criminals. They are pure evil.
As I posted on an earlier thread:
“The launch of the Alba party is a very big and sudden gamechanger.
I have been totally opposed to giving the constituency vote to the corrupt lying criminal SNP but have now reconsidered my postion.
I continue to support a tactical constituency vote in favour of candidates most likely to defeat all SNP ministers and Robertson in Edinburgh Central.
As it stands, I am 100% in favour of a tactical vote for Sarwar in Sturgeon’s Glasgow Southside constituency.
Although my preference would be for Tommy Sheridan to stand against Sturgeon, Craig Murray against Robertson and Martin Keatings against Swinney.”
a long read before bed
https://www.unz.com/mhudson/in-quest-of-a-multipolar-economic-world-order/
– now imagine independence (“political sovereigny”) allied with
economic sovereignty
+
our natural resources and human capital
= (as john lydon would put it) ” Potential H-Bomb ”
Scotland as the richest, most advanced country on earth, with its generated wealth flowing among its citizens, not siphoned off immediately to foreign oligarchs and ruled by native scots and not a hostile foreign elite
– don’t think small, think big.
Our cringe-ing middle class would sell us all down the river for a wee job in the meeja or at the beeb; the SNP would, if they ever got there by accident, sell us all again to wall st, as long as they get a few coloured beads and a feathered hat out of it, and Scotland, free of being “north britain-shire jockistan” turns into a theme park for fat americans – outlander-land heritage museum and golf resort by walter mcdisney. OCK I BUDDY!
“Everything I have done or attempted to do for Scotland has always been for her benefit, never my own and I defy anyone to prove otherwise.”
Sean Connery
How many of you will be able to say that if more Tories get elected and less Alba Party members get elected because some of you cant see past the ends of your noses?
I hope that some brains will be engaged. I lived through the Thatcher Years and I think it would be morally reprehensible to inflict the equivalent of that on Scotland again.
Those of you who want to be advocates for the Tory Party returning MSPs will not get my support from me. In fact I would go as far as to say take a good look in the mirror.
It will churn my stomach to vote for Richard Lochhead in Moray but vote for him I will to increase the chances of the Alba Party winning Highland List seats and the more the better. Nation before Party. Nation before all else. Even above my own desire to kick Sturgeon and the SNP and how they need it but as I said Nation before Party.
I will put Scotland first. Aiding the election of Tories is not putting Scotland first.
Is it all too late??
pbs.twimg.com/media/Exqp8cdWUAcWPx9?format=jpg&name=small
: )
Kcor
If Tommy is representing ALBA, then he will be the List MSP for Glasgow Southside.
I would then be Voting Sarwar 1 Sheridan 2
Andy – is Tommy not standing as an independent on the constituency platform?
Rev Stu, did you ban ‘Rock’ from posting comments on here?
Because he seems to be back posting as ‘Kcor’, and he’s as depressingly annoying as before.
If you don’t wish to ban ‘Kcor’, can you at least consider limiting him to a maximum of two comments per article. It’s tiring wading through his self-quoting, aggressive, word salad.
A lot of Alba supporters on twitter saying they won’t give the Snp their vote, silly if you ask me.
I think ‘Kcor’ has some valid arguments; however, he or she certainly appears to be something of a keyboard warrior and comes across as arrogant, bullying and excessively concerned with how particular individuals intend to vote. I can’t speak for the people concerned, but I can certainly say that who I decide to vote for is an entirely personal decision and I wouldn’t take kindly to being told to vote one way or another by someone I don’t even know, and especially not if that involved voting for a unionist candidate. Regardless of whether voting for Sarwar boosts the chances of getting rid of Sturgeon, independence-supporters are naturally going to be suspicious of anyone who repeatedly promotes voting for a unionist candidate.
@ Robert Graham 10.48pm Well said Robert , I have watched a few of Tommy’s talks re indy and his passion and determination for Scotland’s freedom and our ability to have a more equal and compassionate country is so refreshing , I have attended his Hope over Fear rallies and there are NON in the SNP could match his passion or integrity
I posted on here repeatedly for weeks practically BEGGING Tommy to go against Sturgeon and Sarwar in the constituency vote as I think he has a very good chance of winning the seat
I also begged Craig Murray to do the same against Robertson in Edinburgh and Martin Keatings against Swinney in Perth , all that was needed was for someone to stand against Humza Useless and bring up the HCB and GRA repeatedly and they must have a chance at winning, but that was under AFI and before ALBA which quite honestly would be even BETTER and more effective if done MOW
GTA on Twitter just got suspended as I was reading his/her feed. Bummer.
@ AKA-Kieran: Expecting independence-supporters to vote for a party that has failed to do anything about independence despite having the best possible justification for it and has set out to destroy Scotland’s greatest modern-day leader by means of lies, corruption and criminality is a pretty tough ask, regardless of the necessity of bringing about a supermajority. I do hope that people will do as Alex Salmond is asking, but there’s no way in hell that Angus Robertson will be getting my vote.
I suspect things are about to get very interesting.
You have to wonder what the Tory/Unionist strategy is going to be in the approach to the election.
We all tend to view things here through the prism of Alba-SNP relations, but from the Tory/Unionist perspective this is potentially their worst nightmare — we could be looking at a Parliament with 90+ pro-independence MSPs sitting in it.
What are the Tories’ options? Attack Alba? But where? They have no obvious targets outside of Alex Salmond and they’ve been bombing him for over a decade. The big problem here is that it simply wouldn’t work; Alba is operational on the ground amongst the grassroots indy movement, way beyond the reach of the Tories and their allies in the MSM.
We can safely rule that out.
They are left with no other option than to attack the SNP and, if the intention is to do serious damage to the SNP (which it must be for the Tories), that leaves them with no choice but to attack the character of Sturgeon which so much rests on…
I don’t think criticising the SNP on education, drug rehab, gender stuff, or say Bifab, is going to do the sort of damage that the Tory-Unionist axis really requires, if they are to avoid their worst nightmare.
What does that leave? Coronavirus? No way. It would take years to dramatically alter the perception in the mind of the general public that Sturgeon has handled coronavirus badly.
Eliminate the impossible and what you are left with no matter how improbable must be the truth…
The Tories are going to rekindle the Salmond scandal and use it to do maximum damage to Sturgeon and the SNP. Don’t be surprised if some new evidence comes to light that has a dramatic impact on “our” understanding of that saga.
It’s actually the their only option if they want to avoid disaster…
I should listen to my own advice but just had a look to see how the Duggers are getting on. I got about a third of the way down Paul’s latest and realised I had read it before so clicked on the most recent comment from the wonderfully batshit crazy Dr Jim. ” The problem with the Salmond party supporters is they have been sold a bill of goods by the subversive from Bath in his attempt to destroy Nicola Sturgeon ” was the opening line and it went downhill from there. Wow. At least I now remember why I have not visited Paul for weeks and not donated for a few years. Not sure I can stand a look at Bella as still feeling faint from visiting the doggers.
Mia. You seem to be getting targeteted I suspect because you ask a lot of questions and clearly put in the work.
re hatuey.
Salmond isn’t the weak link. Sturgeon via Murrell is. We know there is missing money. Follow the money and I think the Yoons will go on the attack the last weekend before the election about that missing money. They tried to jail Salmond and failed and Alex finally took the gloves off and put on the bovver boots. Now the enemies of Scotland are having diarrhea. They can only go for Sturgeon and the SNP now.
I bet that 600,000 suddenly reappears. Well if they are going to smear Salmond it will. The wokists are or have been busy tonight. I smell fear and it is rank. Like napalm in the mornings.
I forgot to add I didn’t get blocked on WGD tonight. I better go lie down.
Looks like Stu’s Twitter account has been suspended.
The Russian Migs are here again according to the English Press and Media. i.e The Northern Scot. Guess there is an election on.
https://www.northern-scot.co.uk/news/moray-planes-scrambled-this-morning-233247/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Achtung Spitfire or is this achtung Migs. The Yoons live in a Commando Comic.
AKA-Kieran says:
30 March, 2021 at 2:04 am
A lot of Alba supporters on twitter saying they won’t give the Snp their vote, silly if you ask me.
ALBA support needs to realise for one of them airing that view there’s 10 SNP supporters who can do the same likewise
Wise up everyone it’s a voteloser.
Daisy Walker @ 9.44
For what it worth Daisy, if my choice was Robertson or Campbell I’d go for Campbell.
I don’t think he’ll do well in Holyrood and is certainly no groomed as the next leader, he’s more a cartoon candidate and as far as I can see has little of substance beyond looking like a guy in a midlife crises trying to “get down with the kids” …. therefore not as much of a threat to keeping Scotland operating like a mini me Westminister as Robertson is.
As for Nicola Sturgeon… I want her returned to Holyrood and for three reasons.
Firstly… The prospect of her having to face and debate with Alex Salmond will ( because people can be like that ) as the saying goes “attract viewers”.
Hopefully the less engaged in the detail will vote for the spectacle and boost our chances of pulling of a Super majority.
The pleasure of having her voted out will be short lived and throw the SNP a life line to bugger about finding a new leader from day one, when we all want Indy to be the focus.
We don’t need the “that will be a matter for the new leader ” spun out for months ( how bloody long were the enquirys dragged out for ) and lose the momentum of a new Indy Parliament .
Secondly…. we don’t need to be facilitating the “Labour are on the way back” mantra .
A victory for Sarwar , especially against Nicola Sturgeon will , I think, do exactly that, then we are back with “all we need is a Labour government in Westminister and Scotland will be fine” shit.
The British will make hay with his profile and we don’t need Labour resurrected in any form because there are still those who would buy into it.
Thirdly…. It would be better all round for the Parliament and Scottish politics in general , if when Nicola Sturgeon leaves Holyrood “she” actually leaves Holyrood ( and I know it’s an election , I’m speaking of perspective here ) as a resigning First Minister .
To cut her loose to do the “I was hounded out by a vengeful man” act is a distraction we just don’t need, and, a narrative we shouldn’t gift to the British media !
She is not going to go to jail no matter how much some may think she should , we’ll need the different Scotland we’re working for before that would be likely to happen, I’d say.
And while I don’t think she’ll stay long, the only redress that will ever happen to her is facing those who know the truth of it all in Holyrood, and that are not under her controll anymore…and that is probably just going to have to be enough.
Meg merrilees 1.55
I thought Tommy joined ALBA.
Must have heard wrong.
Thanks for update.
Cath says on 29 March, 2021 at 11:44 pm
“God it’s so depressing to be in the exact same situation as indyref1”
Says an absolute clown who less than half-an-hour previously posts a direct link to a BUM rag propaganda outlet. Aiding & abetting their efforts to shit all over Scotland and our children’s futures. And you wonder why Scotland’s fucked? It’s halfwits like you that keep us in this same situation. Next you’ll be encouraging us all to vote for the SNP’s woke guidance teachers, “The Greens”.
Quick mention about the BBC in Scotland’s “Leaders” debate tonight at 8pm. I only seen this announced on the text service prior to 11pm last night. Apparently they have an online “audience” lined up from “across Scotland”. That’s very handy and quick eh? Usual suspects no doubt?
No Alex Salmond or ALBA at tonight’s Leader’s debate.
So the other five Parties will get tore into Salmond and ALBA without reply.
Sturgeon has already been quoted as saying that she wants nothing to do with Salmond until he apoligises to all the women involved in his court case.
So you can see already the direction this so called debate is going in.
@Andy – All the dirty washing has been seen in Alex Salmond’s case and there is no more scandal. What scandal there was, didn’t seem to amount to much to me. Is there more scandal yet to come for Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney?
The more SNP msps, the more Alba msps.
It’s as simple as that.
David says:
30 March, 2021 at 2:00 am
“Rev Stu, did you ban ‘Rock’ from posting comments on here?
Because he seems to be back posting as ‘Kcor’, and he’s as depressingly annoying as before.
If you don’t wish to ban ‘Kcor’, can you at least consider limiting him to a maximum of two comments per article. It’s tiring wading through his self-quoting, aggressive, word salad.”
WTF?
So is this your idea of democracy David?
So if you don’t like a certain poster all you do is Grass to the Rev the name you don’t like and get the Rev to ban him?
Dear Rev,,, there is this poster called David and he is a total wanker, can you limit him to two posts per month, or even better still Rev, will you just bsn him?
Is this the kind of democracy you believe in David?
You sound more like an SNP member than an ALBA member.
Because that is the kind of world Sturgeon lives in.
You qualify for Grass of the Month trophy David.
Roaster.
The BBC have announced that a cross section of the public
have been selected to participate in tonight’s political debate.
Could you please contact the BBC directly if you are a member
of the Orange Order, National Front, or any right wing extremist group.
English residents need not apply as that is already most of those selected.
Members of Alba can contact the 77th brigade directly as we have staff shortages
due to the increased numbers employed in our propaganda only Dept.
akenaton says: 29 March, 2021 at 5:08 pm
Cherry is an affirmed lesbian show she must be woke? Not to be truest, because she is an affirmed lesbian?
The whiff of homophobia that WGD had mentioned?
Beaver @7:44am
The more SNP constituency MSPs , the more ALBA list MSPs BUT just as importantly the less Woke SNP list MSPs and the less Unionist MSPs.
The most issue of all is a supermajority at Holyrood for Independence
SNP1/ALBA2
It was not my plan to vote this way but I sense the movement is getting behind it ( Sadly WGD is the exception)
So no opportunism here whatsoever!!!!! ?
Captain Yossarian. 7.41
How can BBC Scotland justfy excluding the ALBA Party?
The five Parties appearing on tonight’s debate are shit scared of Salmond, so everyone of them are going to get cheap shots all night at this terrible new Party.
And as I said, without reply.
The Electoral Commission she be intervening here and telling BBC Scotland that the debate should include the ALBA Party.
Off topic but…..Yet again we see the ‘experts’ such as Clavie Cheil (6.32 and 6.45) failing to understand WHY we scramble Typhoons. (a) Russians always turn OFF their transponders and can’t be seen by civilian aircraft therefore dangerous to all other aircraft in the area and (b) Russian Bears often trail a FIVE MILE long aerial behind them that is a danger to civilian aircraft. If you were on a Loganair flight to the Shetlands I bet you’d rather not have the chance of hitting a five mile long aerial… why DO these keyboard warriors make stupid remarks about Achtung Spitfire or claim the scramble is an election thing?
It will be interesting to see what happens to James Wolffe, now that Alex Salmond looks set to return to Holyrood.
James Wolffe – that man of many mallicious prosecutions. Some, including myself, would call him a delinquent lawyer who has done incalculable damage in the last few years.
Wolffe already looked anxious the last time he spoke at Holyrood, didn’t he. Come the time Wolffe has to speak to Salmond at Holyrood? – that might well be too much for the old-bastard.
@Andy – I would keep an eye on this website for the next few weeks. Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney aren’t in charge here.
For the morning crew, I posted this last night, (Meg also thinks is good viewing)
“29 March, 2021 at 11:06 pm
I quite enjoyed this interview of Alex Salmond by Times Radio (?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1FRKFKePAXU&feature=youtu.be
Interesting, anyway, particularly some answers – and the lack of one to do with ‘forgiveness’.”
It gives a good idea of Alex Salmond’s stance on the matter, and how he will accept things as they are – for Scotland. I like the way he describes Alba as an orchestra – good one to promote. And the line up is looking very good – big hitters as folk are saying. High profile, experienced and rebellious.
Alex Salmond is a master political strategist and he is fully, and without doubt, in favour of an independent Scotland. We can have faith in that much, and whether personally popular in the wider population, absultely ideal as leader – or rallying point – for the yes movement. He knows how to play the politics, and we get guidance from that.
I would never, myself, suggest anyone vote against their conscience though – I know the best strategic move is to get all SNP candidates into their constituency seats, but the best I can do to enable that is to not be too vociferous about my condemnation of a corrupt SNP government & the nascent sycophants that have supported them.
I don’t support a populist leader and corrupt gov’t in Westminster – and I have no intention of doing so for Holyrood. I accept the overall strategy though, and that we might end up with the present incumbents. Things are afoot that could bring them down anyway, and we are hoping to put in place more safeguards. At present I have no intention of voting SNP at all, ever – but, as a lifelong tactical voter, and with a fairly low profile SNP MSP that never joins in slagging matches & does get involved in the community (Maryhill and Springburn), I will consider an SNP vote if polling is looking a bit shit for him.
I definitely wouldn’t be able to stomach voting directly for Nicola Sturgeon, Angus Robertson, John Swinney, or Shirley Ann Somerville, and I don’t envy those with that choice. The loss of 4 constituency seats doesn’t seem a big deal if we get the rest of them in the bag though, and, I think, improve the chances of actual independence overall. It’ll be a difficult balance though, and take an amount of tactical moanouevring that we perhaps don’t have time for. We’ll see.
Dr Jim Walker standing for Alba. World class economist.
Will someone please tell NS to STFU!!
https://archive.is/Wuo1h
I was particularly amused by her closing statement in the Daily Record(Aka NS mouthpiece) this morning
“In a final dig at a man she once admired, she said: “Any serious politician who tries to tell people there’s an alternative way of doing it that doesn’t tick all these boxes I think is misleading people.”
Well she knows about misleading people, doesn’t she!!
I keep saying all publicity is good publicity for ALBA, but she just gets my blood boiling!! grrr
K Campbell says:
30 March, 2021 at 8:32 am
“Will someone please tell NS to STFU!!”
Someone needs to. Her “Alex Salmond Bad” mantra is becoming about as hysterical sounding as the Yoons only policy “No to a referendum”.
Every innocent person who has ever been cleared in a court of law should be absolutely furious with her for bringing the decision of juries into serious doubt. Had I been on that jury I’d be calling her out. I really am beginning to believe that she has become seriously unhinged and needs removing from public office altogether.
Andy @ 8.04
Re the electoral commission …
They should be intervening here absolutely, and I hope they do.
But , on the other hand it can also backfire on the British too if the BBC get away with it.
If Alex Salmond is kept off the debates at least until it’s to late to register to vote, there’s a chance that the Unionist party’s will struggle to get the don’t normally vote but will turn out to save the Union voter to see the threat and by the time they wake up to it they can’t register.
In the meantime the Yes movement is , (as it always has) gettin organised online 🙂
Just read the points from Contrary . Alex was on form and his answers were insightful .
In relation to the interviewer asking him to apologise , and his position that AS needed to show further remorse .
Alex Salmond made his position clear and suggested he the interviewer look at previous statements . AS did apologise to the first Complainant in 2013 the matter was resolved informally . I am intrigued as to how this complaint was resurrected . The HR Lawyer should have been all over this particularly in relation to the new policy , and the significant departure from ACAS and indeed the Scottish Govt . own FAW policy .
My view is that AS was never any danger or threat to women . The women were used , abused and exploited by the Govt . their evidence to the inquiry very telling .
The vile comments and smearing by NS is a further sign that she fears his return to politics , and I’m beginning to think that she engineered the leak to the daily record .
akenaton says:
29 March, 2021 at 5:08 pm
“Cherry is an affirmed lesbian and so must be as woke as the majority of the SNP front line”
Perhaps you could explain why someone’s sexual orientation should make them “woke”?
Do you understand the issues at all or does your “social conservatism” just make you an ultra right wing bigot?
Criticising lesbians puts you firmly in the same camp as the trans activists who would rather children are made to believe that they were born in the wrong body and should transition, than admit that they are homosexual.
Andy says:
30 March, 2021 at 7:32 am
“Sturgeon has already been quoted as saying that she wants nothing to do with Salmond until he apologises to all the women involved in his court case.”
Which doesn’t bode well for any alliance in Holyrood. I can see her adopting the “Bain” principle as far as Alba are concerned.
Ha ha, Sturgeon refused mediation
ALBA is the restorative, invigorating tonic for the independence movement.
It is not meant to put the National party to sleep.
Only agents of BritState could wish that.
Do the math!
WeeChid – what does bode well for an alliance was 80% of her SNP MSPs and MPs have not ruled out joining Alba.
The only people ruling it out are the wokeratti. I think because they know they wont be wanted.
Leaders can be replaced. Especially if 80% of our SNP MPs and MSPs seem to be getting spine implants.
P.S. I will be voting SNP in the constituency and Alba on the list. Makes sense to me. Especially as my MSP has had the tiny amount of courage to not rule out joining Alba ( I imagine yusuf’s thought police will be phoning round – so retractions may occur).
Robert Graham says:
29 March, 2021 at 12:36 pm
Agreed Robert – and it’s thanks to this attitude that folk are more appalled at accusations against Alex Salmond than they are at the number of Covid deaths – because it’s worse to commit a sexual offence than it is to kill someone. So bloody hung up about sex in this country.
I take it you’ve seen Oranges and Sunshine and The Magdalene sisters? I’d also recommend Philomena with Judy Dench and Evelyn with Pierce Brosnan and, although these tend to focus on the failings of the Catholic Church, Protestant Churches have their own skeletons in the vestry.
YES folks have been lost, not caring about the SNP and all the wrong stuff they have been doing.
So up pops ALBA and suddenly we have something better, suddenly Indy is nearer, hope is rising now that we have more hope for a free Scotland actually becoming a reality.
I am in too, 100%.
I resigned from the SNP when they were and still are working against the rights of Scots in the Keating case. Unexplicable that they would be working with the enemy against Scottish sovereignty. With ALBA I have found another home. That is when I really saw what they have turned into, and it ain’t pretty.
@cometoghana has been suspended from Twitter as well.
Is this the 77th Brigade at its finest?
Liz G @6.59
Thoughtful comments. I would add two things. We need to be careful not to lower ourselves to the SNP loyalists “debating” level. I want to see Sturgeon at FMQs answering to Alex Salmond.when it is announced that her husband has been arrested.
Astonished says:
30 March, 2021 at 9:11 am
I’ve still not made up my mind but if I do vote SNP 1 it will be thanks to Alex Salmond and nothing to do with the SNP. It does help having a non woke candidate who I can always dream might move to Alba after the election.
Have you heard of Dr Jim Walker?
Sorry, modest confession, neither had I, but then I’m not really much of an authority on world class economists.
But this seems to be a good development, so I’m happy to take it as just that. A hearty welcome aboard, err, … Dr Jim.
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2021/03/30/world-top-ranked-economist-joins-alba/
Glad to see Sturgeon still asking Alex for an apology for “the wimmin”. At all times refer to S29 of the Hamilton report where they, in their own testimony, outline how they were used, abused, neglected and hung out to dry by said Ms. Sturgeon.
“Poor wimmin”= SNP betrayal.
Wee Child you are right. – As far as I am aware. The only woman that Salmond needed to apologise to, was the one where they had a cuddle in his bedroom. Indeed he actually apologised immediately after it, and it was accepted.
The other ones were either liars or there was no inappropriate behaviour. Has Nicola apologised to Salmond for trying to jail him?
Sturgeon is just a total bastard. Can’t think of any other word for her.
Claire,
Yes, quite. Alex, I think is hopefully right, that the initial knee-jerk reaction will die down a bit – self-preservation might kick in from NS even (though I wouldn’t bank on it) – and we can move on to political debate. I liked the bit where he said ‘usually when people say something is predictable, they predict it BEFORE the event’ (paraphrased), haha.
I think Iain Lawson has the right of it – if anyone writes about vague behavioural problems relating to Alex Salmond – ask them precisely what those are (there is no legal restriction here) – you’ll find silence is your answer, because people don’t actually know anything. Just as people seem to be unaware that NS was NOT exonerated by the inquiry reports.
What worries me most is that people are using FALSE allegations – entirely fabricated stories – and suggesting those should be apologised for – which way does this lead society? People need to take far more social responsibility for what they say. Alex Salmond apologised unreservedly for what he needed to apologise for, at the time, and stuck by his promise that it would never happen again. There’s an end to it. Trying to force someone to apologise for things that are PROVEN to have never happened is complete madness!
https://twitter.com/Jeggit/status/1376592239397330951
When you’re thinking about the very real prospects of a Scottish supermajority, this wee clip from Jeggit will make the hairs stand up on the back your neck.
Scottish Independence is happening, and I haven’t felt that buzz since 2016.
YES folks have been lost, not caring about the SNP and all the wrong stuff they have been doing.
So up pops ALBA and suddenly we have something better, suddenly Indy is nearer, hope is rising now that we have more hope for a free Scotland actually becoming a reality.
I am in too, 100%.
I resigned from the SNP when they were and still are working against the rights of Scots in the Keating case. Unexplicable that they would be working with the enemy against Scottish sovereignty. With ALBA I have found another home. That is when I really saw what the SNP have turned into, and it ain’t pretty.
There is quite an interesting Twitter account I have been following called Ghana Tourism Authority (@cometoghana). Just went to have a look at it and no tweets were loading, though it showed 9000+ had been made. I reloaded it and it said they hadn’t tweeted yet, then changed to suspended before my eyes. Not sure who is behind this account but it is a shame if it has been removed.
Andy says:
29 March, 2021 at 11:22 pm
Kcor. 11.16
Mia is past bothering about.
She is either acting like an idiot, or she
Is an idiot.
Reply
Oh dear Mia is now getting the treatment from the ‘Creepy Sockpuppet Stalker’
I guess George galloway will not be getting out of his bed any day soon. No bad thing really.
Know when to fight and when not to fight: avoid what is strong and strike at what is weak. Know how to deceive the enemy: appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak. Know your strengths and weaknesses: if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
Is it not better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in abwar.
It would indeed be very interesting in terms of the future direction of travel if the SNP lost both NS and Swinney.
They look vulnerable and it would boost the indy cause if their seats changed hands.
This is not just about policy but organisational culture. Neither present Scotland in a favourable light and a changing of the guard at the top could do wonders for the sustainability of the indy movement.
https://www.tns2019.org/new-blog-1/2021/2/27/a-salmond-takeaway
Clavie Cheil says:
How many of you will be able to say that if more Tories get elected and less Alba Party members get elected because some of you cant see past the ends of your noses?
It’s a judgement call every voter has to make for themselves. For me, while I completely understand the electoral logic and Alex Salmond’s plan, voting SNP again is no longer compatible with decency, or self respect, or respect for my countrymen, or my duty as a husband to my wife and a father to my children.
I don’t see them as being better than the Tories, I think they’re worse. The Tories would deny us independence. The SNP has denied us independence while also denying us our basic human rights to free speech and fair prosecutions and introducing racial discrimination to Scottish politics and the most corrupt public administration in Scotland I’ve ever seen (and I saw Michael Forsyth’s big bulging Mekon head).
However, I’m not conceited enough to think my lack of a vote for the SNP is going to make a difference. The SNP will get in anyway, because they’re the new version of Scottish Labour, having successfully colonised the section of the electorate that would literally vote in Count Dracula if he/she/them was wearing the right rosette. The number of people in Scotland who know and care about their crimes is a lot smaller than the number of people who treat politics the way they do football teams, and think the Kafkaesque nightmare the SNP have turned the criminal justice system into is funny because it’s currently happening to people who aren’t on their supporters bus.
Lots of the twittler youth out backing SNP/SNP,
yet to see someone without a nose ring or a rainbow or she/him/her/he in the bio and trying for a degree in Social Studies/Fashion Design backing snp/snp.
@Breeks,
Dr Walker was one of the first economists to forecast the crash in America’s sub prime market. He also accurately predicted the Asian market downturn around the time Alex first became FM.
Sound economist.
Tenruh @ 9:03 am
Ha ha, Sturgeon refused mediation
Sounds more like she refused medication going by the way she’s becoming more banshee-like with every utterance. Starting to make a right fool of herself.
I had finally decided that I couldn’t vote for the SNP in this election. But the creation of ALBA changes everything. I think that if we don’t vote SNP 1, and ALBA on the list vote then we will be cutting off our nose to spite our face. See Breeks above at 9.35 am.
That’s how the Irish did it, and I think the Norwegians did something similar. We can do it too and at long last achieve independence. I will never trust a Brit run referendum anyway. Far too easy to rig.
Re the false allegations against AS it is a great shame CM blog taken down . It seems that anything that is supportive of AS position is homed in on . The full Contempt of Court details re CM raise further questions for me , and I would be interested in views on the allocation of the case being heard by Lady Dorian and Lord Pentland . “ Apparent bias” does indeed spring to my mind .. Do you have any thoughts , whilst we await GD part 3+4
Re the Daily Record I recall Jackie Baillie asking NS about a story that was held back .. I took from this that AS was offered on a plate dare I say as an exchange .. My gut tells me NS/PM had their hand in this ..
Bob Mack re Dr Wakler.
Is he a multi millionaire then.
Mind you he is probably a bit brighter than a retired boxer.
Re Glasgow Southside constituency: there are 3 wards in this constituency. At the council elections SNP did well. However, Labour had fielded more than one candidate in each ward. If this ha£ been an FPTP election, Labour would have won. The total number of votes when translated into the Holyrood seat suggests this could be tighter than Sturgeon would like. Especially if the large Asian community in Pollokshields get behind Sarwar.
@Contrary says: 30 March, 2021 at 9:34 am
“I think Iain Lawson has the right of it – if anyone writes about vague behavioural problems relating to Alex Salmond – ask them precisely what those are (there is no legal restriction here) – you’ll find silence is your answer.”
No, no, a thousand times no, that is Iain showing how long since he last fought an election campaign. You answer a loaded question by turning it back on the questionner, make THEIR preferences sound the appalling risky choice instead.
So when these questions are asked, say, “It’s Sturgeon who needs to apologise for ignoring the warnings about the sex pest Derek Mackay who inexplicably avoided police charges, and plans to allow predators to go into women’s safe spaces (toilets, changing rooms, even to be transferred to women’s prisons) with NO police background checks and anyone publicly objecting risks prosecution for “transphobia” – with this “reform” backed by all other parties – even the Tories – EXCEPT for the Alba Party – the only one dedicated to stop it.”
The best form of defence, is OFFENCE – and Sturgeon’s Nasty Plans have plenty about them that are bloody offensive to the vast majority of the population outside of her Guardianista echo chamber.
For Contrary .. I’m fairly new on this site .. a comment that I hope you get to read is being moderated.
I agree with your latest points .. I still think the fact that AS defence witnesses were predominantly Female is overlooked . They also did not have the provision of anonymity . These points have not been capitalised on enough .
The role of RCS I flagged up on GD site and I have significant concern over their role and Engender .Noticeably these groups hold several of the same personnel and sit on network groups with COPFS , Police Scotland and have been heavily involved in shaping Hate Crime and GRA , ordinary women’s group entirely alienated .
I have also made comment on the piloting of no jury on Rape cases , I note Lady Dorian heavily involved ..and this seems politically motivated .
TNS2019 – Sir, my problem school is currently being checked by the best engineers in the country and I’m optimistic we will get an honest outcome this time.
Last time it was checked, back in 2018, it was checked by some of the best engineers in the country then too. The problem was, the results were covered-up. Not with a redactor pen this time, these results were just ‘disappeared’.
That was our friend the Deputy First Minister at work again. This guy has been a waste of everyone’s time and money, hasn’t he. More eyes on him this time though and so I think we will get a quick and honest result.
Isn’t it ironic that the chap who has seen the inside of a few courtrooms in recent years is now seen as the chap who will save us all from creeping government criminality.
If he unsettles a few of them, and he is doing that already isn’t he, then good luck to him.
@Gullane 04,
Is Dr Walker a millionaire? I don’t think so ,but he is comfortably off.
Besides, his job is telling millionaires how to become billionaires.
As for the boxer. Wel! Known in Edinburgh for his youth work.
I suppose he’s just the wrong type of working class for your requirements. Personally I would stand beside him any day of the week.
Mark Boyle,
I agree but you need to be careful how you start your reply otherwise you won’t be successful at negating the smear and leave it hanging there, for later. Without giving it too much thought I’d go for something like:
“Yes, pinging somebody’s curls is such a grave offence. Now, if you want to talk about unacceptable behaviour, Nicola Sturgeon wants to give any man access to women’s changing rooms, what types of unacceptable behaviour do you think might happen as a result?”
” Scot Finlayson says:
30 March, 2021 at 10:05 am
Lots of the twittler youth out backing SNP/SNP,
yet to see someone without a nose ring or a rainbow or she/him/her/he in the bio and trying for a degree in Social Studies/Fashion Design backing snp/snp. ”
nicola sturgeon, angus robertson macbeth and maree todd so far. We wont forget. Or forgive – if we lose the 2/3rds majority by one seat.
Mark Boyle,
Instead of fighting fire with fire on social media groups, try just reporting posts attacking AS personally to group Admins as hate speech.
It can be more effective at shutting this shite down than going toe to toe with the frothing Nicolytes hordes.
Let’s not forget this today at high noon.
https://www.albaparty.org/policy_launch
A week ago we were all squabbling about how we should vote or not vote. We were suggesting spoiling papers or voting Unionist.
The AFI and ISP set the example. The YES movement is getting back on track.
#bothvotesscotland
Thank you Alex.
Auld highlander, that’s next Tuesday.
Auld highlander
Is it not noon on the 6th. April?
@Chas 29 March, 2021 at 11:53 am
“Panic stations throughout Scotland.
Is it just me or is ‘Politics’ the home for individuals who have failed in their initial chosen profession? The pay is ok, the benefits and expenses are good and a nice pension when it is time to go.No real experience of anything required. The ability to do as you are told, don’t rock the boat, good at lying, act like a performing seal when prompted.
How do you get on the gravy train?”
Any trougher will do it appears, seeing Corrie Wilsons name there hardly inspires confidence , Corrie Wilson’s main goal it appears is to strip as much money from being in Public Office as possible for Her and other family members and little else, make me boak tbh, allowing Her to be part of this has a destinct aroma of desperation. If there is a bandwagon around to be jumped on Corrie Wilson will be there and Scottish taxpayers will pay dearly yet again.
Are we suckers for electing wastrels ? https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/ayrshire/ayrshires-snp-at-war-over-20174675
Re the boxer, I hope he makes a fulsome apology and then gets on with the campaign.
Just because boxers get hit on the head a lot – does not automatically mean they are dumn.
Greatest boxer in living memory was a sharp as a tack. Mohammed Ali.
Sorry about the Twitter site CTG getting taken down. They really are very spiteful.
Max the YES SNP 1 Alba 2.
@Stuart MacKay says: 30 March, 2021 at 10:53 am
Mark Boyle, I agree but you need to be careful how you start your reply otherwise you won’t be successful at negating the smear and leave it hanging there, for later. Without giving it too much thought I’d go for something like:
“Yes, pinging somebody’s curls is such a grave offence. Now, if you want to talk about unacceptable behaviour, Nicola Sturgeon wants to give any man access to women’s changing rooms, what types of unacceptable behaviour do you think might happen as a result?”
Answering the smear? Point out the person who first raised the matter of that other sex pest Patrick Grady to Sturgeon was a certain Alex Salmond as I seem to recall, something to do with “people in the Glasgow branches getting nowhere trying to raise the matter themselves and so turned to the former First Minister.”
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/sturgeon-patrick-grady/
Amazing how many pieces about the last few years fall into place once that’s known!
How about: If Sturgeon regards women’s safely so highly, why’s she about to turn every women’s toilet, changing room and prison into a secure hunting ground for predators nationwide? And why is ALBA the ONLY Party dedicated to stopping this madness approved also by the Tories, Labour and LibDems?
A wee thought that is not going away…
With regards Superinjunctions – that we are not allowed to ask about or mention.
They cost around £200,000 a pop and last 18 months… or it might be the othe way around £180,000 and last 2 years – anyway you get the gist.
I don’t see how anyone on a public wage could afford that.
It really needs to be asked, is the tax payer picking up the bill for this when it comes to public servants? Of course its possibly ‘not devolved’ in which case WM might be picking up the bill.
And if we are paying, then I think its in the public interest to know – at the very least – how many have we funded – and for how many people in positions of power in the public sector.
As the saying goes, follow the money.
I see Sturgeon has gone into full sabotage mode in an interview in The Daily Record (I know. I’m sorry),stating that ALBA’s supermajority strategy is cheating the system. FFS, we know that Bojo isn’t going to grant an s.30 order anyway but why give him another stick with which to beat us. This is Sturgeon’s “once in a generation moment” and clearly lays bare her views on Indy.