The Curious Fringes
There’s a post on the superwoke poll-analysis account Ballot Box Scotland today bemoaning the lack of interest in the forthcoming Scottish Parliament election from polling companies, and presenting it as some sort of anti-Scottish conspiracy.
The real reason nobody’s very interested, of course, is that as things stand the election is an obvious foregone conclusion in which the party that’s been in power for the previous 19 years will stay in power for another five, and nothing will change.
The only minor intrigue around the election is to be found at the edges and is only of real interest to politics nerds, but since we ARE politics nerds we may as well take a look at it.
We’ve covered some aspects before. While the odds are against it, polling suggests that an SNP majority isn’t completely out of the question, though it would make no meaningful difference to anything – since it would have likely been achieved on well under 40% of the total vote, it would amount to neither a political nor a moral mandate for either independence or a second referendum, and the SNP have squandered multiple far-stronger mandates.
(Indeed, it would indicate serious problems with the supposedly-proportional Scottish electoral system, since it would give them at least 65 seats where a properly-proportional result from their combined constituency-and-list vote share of around 31% would have delivered only 40 seats – a wildly undemocratic over-representation of over 60%. That’s not as bad as the 88% overrepresentation Labour won from the 2024 UK election, but the Westminster electoral system doesn’t claim to be proportional.)
It also remains a possibility that the SNP and Labour could do a deal, which both sides have flown public kites about in the last year or so and might offer the security of a sizeable majority in a way that suited both parties – who have almost no detectable policy differences – equally and was acceptable to their voters, neither of whom prioritise the constitution.
But Labour’s ongoing UK-wide collapse has reduced that likelihood somewhat and even pushed the Lib Dems into the equation as potential junior partners for the SNP, though again making very little difference to anything in policy terms. (Go on, other than the constitution name us a substantial difference between the three of them.)
Conversely, even a “pro-indy” majority isn’t guaranteed. As we’ve been pointing out for some time, the presence of Jeremy Corbyn’s fledgling Your Party, even if (as seems very probable) it wins no seats itself, could still divide the extreme-left vote enough to wipe out the Scottish Greens, leaving the SNP with no potential pro-indy coalition partners should it have failed to reach 65 by itself.
This, again, is an irrelevance anyway, since the SNP have declared that only a single-party majority will count. But it does lead us to the politics-nerd point of interest that we’re going to chat about today. Because here’s something odd.
According to the last two full Holyrood polls we have (we’re using list polling since it’s supposedly the “true” reflection, undistorted by First Past The Post considerations, and will almost certainly be where the vast majority of non-SNP seats will come from), either Reform and the Greens are neck-and-neck, or Nigel Farage’s party is twice as popular as Ross Greer’s. And plainly that does make a difference.
In the latter case the Greens are in danger of annihilation, because no polling so far has included Your Party and if you factor in even a small impact from them, the Greens hover on the edge of the abyss.
In the former case, not only could they survive the challenge from Corbyn’s shambolic team, they could double or treble their current representation in the chamber, putting the SNP under pressure to take a massive lunge back to the hyper-woke far left.
So which is the truth? Unfortunately, earlier polling is no help. The two previous polls – conducted less than two weeks apart – tell the same story: one has a near dead heat (16 to 17 in favour of the Greens), while the other has Reform on over double.
How about the two before that? Those were just five days apart, but once again produce two diametrically opposite results – one with Reform a single point ahead and both parties battling for overall 2nd place, the other with the far-right party on double the vote of the far-left party, with the two in 2nd and 6th place respectively.
Two more? The two polls preceding those were much further apart chronologically (mid-June and early September) but the pattern is the same – either there’s nothing in it or Farage’s men are ahead by 100%.
You can go all the way back to January and find the Greens a point ahead, and then the very next poll (in March) sees them trailing on half Reform’s vote again.
And we may as well fill in the gaps – the three polls in between the ones we’ve featured so far show Reform on either 140% of the Green vote, or 222%, or 177%.
Very little in the way of solid data is available to tell us which of these two very different pictures is the closest to reality. Reform are plainly on the rise across the whole UK, whereas the England-and-Wales Greens are enjoying a large boost in both popularity and membership under the leadership of Zack Polanski but the Scottish version is riven with factional warring and could only get a tenth of its membership to even turn out and vote in the contest for its own new leadership, just a few days before Polanski won south of the border.
(Something the former co-leader amusingly blamed on “email fatigue”.)
To find a “tie-break” we can try looking at Holyrood constituency polling:
That’s much more consistent in showing Reform ahead of the Greens, but even there the gap ranges from as few as three points (in April) to as many as 15 points (in October). The averages over the whole of 2025 are 16.6% for Reform and 7.1% for the Greens, which tends towards the “Reform are twice as popular” model – as does slightly harder data like by-election performances – but it’s far from conclusive.
There are also signs that Reform are starting to actually take some degree of interest in Scotland, which might make a difference – until now their support has been almost entirely passive, crossing the border by osmosis rather than from much in the way of visible effort or expenditure.
But during an actual election campaign, they’ll have the benefits of both novelty and extensive coffers, should they decide to pursue Holyrood seats with any determination. (Something which, like the degree of Your Party’s participation, remains to be established with any confidence.)
As we said back at the start, all of this is of little interest to, or impact on, the average voter. Even if Reform win a lot of seats and become the biggest opposition party – which currently looks distinctly possible – it’s likely they’ll be frozen out of any power at Holyrood.
(Although Scottish Labour, who some recent polls have put in FOURTH place, pre-emptively refusing to work with them increasingly sounds like us rejecting the idea of having a joint bank account with Jeff Bezos.)
And regardless of what the final numbers end up being, we suspect the Greens won’t fare much better – the SNP will be reluctant to team up with them again after how it went the last time, and will have very little reason to, since the Greens can usually be bought off with a couple of minor budget concessions should they ever be needed to save a hapless minister in a vote of confidence.
One unplanned side effect of the mainstream parties’ very public freezing-out of Reform, though, could be to boost the party’s support from people looking to register a protest vote without risking any consequences from Farage’s team actually being in government.
The SNP has in the past enjoyed winning significant numbers of votes from Unionists who believed that they were the best option for governance and didn’t think there was any realistic chance of them delivering independence.
And also, Scots are a thrawn race who don’t like to be bullied – the overwhelming political and media establishment bias against the SNP was almost certainly a factor in their success in the last 20 years, at least while it was being expertly marshalled by Alex Salmond in the same way that Alex Ferguson used West Coast establishment media bias to fire up his all-conquering Aberdeen side in the 1980s.
Nigel Farage has a similarly impressive track record of weaponising underdog status to win trophies, and a time when mainstream parties have never been more universally despised could be fertile ground for him.
So while there’s very little to get excited about in terms of who’s going to WIN next year’s election, there’s a fair amount still in doubt that’s of at least academic interest. Whether it’ll be enough to get polling companies to spend any money on it is another question entirely.
Ah, BBS, who infamously called you “Fash Over Somerset”. He seems a bit of a prick
He did? I missed that one 😀
To fill the time betwixt Xmas and New Year lets play the ‘John Swinney is’ game. Examples…
John Swinney is so wet and shallow he receives fan mail from puddles.
John Swinney is the first patient to survive a charisma bypass operation.
John Swinney is…
John Swinney is the answer to a question that NOBODY, ANYHERE, has EVER asked…..
A useless dick
…the definition of mediocrity.
Stu,
Hello, nice to have you back posting, I hope you and you’re family had a lovely Christmas, and all my best wishes for 2026.
It isn’t THAT nice to have him back posting – but that’s just my opinion and not for any reason in particular.
John Swinney went in for an arsehole transplant…..But the arsehole rejected him.
Betwixt the devil and the deep blue sea.
A vote for a union party like Reform
Or
A vote for a union party like the SNP.
Or
a vote for a union party like Labour,
Or
A vote for a union party like the Green lib dems,
Choices choices, daddy or chips.
Politics is about perception and only this, as Swinney and post Indy SNP is perceived as a Devo masked Yoon party, they fail the so what test. As elections now are emotional then Reform are the only game in town and with apathy the clear winner the Scots will be led by an English Nationalist Government, they are a shoe in.
Not content with polluting my YouTube feed with ubiquitous, targeted advertising featuring Anas Sarwar’s baw heed fizzog, the Royal Mail, postie has just pushed an 8 page, A5 glossy pamphlet for Scottish Labour through my letter box.
The first 5 pages have Sarwar’s glaikit grin staring oot.
The advertising creatives who told Scottish Labour that Sarwar’s face was an asset, were just telling the customer what they wanted to hear.
Mind you, pages 6 & 7 feature the corpulent coupon of Jackie “six chins” Baillie.
Sometimes you’ve just got to work with what you’ve got.
Mind you again, the SNP somehow convinced themselves that pictures of Sally “Gravy bus Barbie” Donald on campaigning literature was something other than boak inducing.
Where’s all the money coming from?
In an age of transactional politics, the Unions have stopped paying because the Labour Party have stopped representing the interests of their members.
As of 4th July last year, Labour in Scotland accrue £1,039,973 pa in Short money.
Perhaps that’s the source of funds for the advertising blitz.
If it is, that begs the question; WTF was the SNP doing with their £1.3 million per annum in British state Short money?
“WTF was the SNP doing with their £1.3 million per annum in British state Short money?”
and WTF happened to the “ring-fenced” £600,000 that the SNP was “looking after” for the All under one Banner marchers ????????
North code 😉
It is interesting to see the levels of self delusion around amongst too many in Scottish politics Stu. As you observed in recent exchanges on X with various SNP die hards however there are still plenty who are hard of thinking enough to advocate voting for them,
The quoted reasons may be various (e.g.: there is no other choice; they’re the only “real” Scottish party; they will deliver a pro-indy majority &/or #indyref2) but the level of delusion and determination not to face up to reality remains constant.
It is much the same in relation to those who insist that telling Reform supporters they are stupid will somehow stop them doing it, when as you point out the evidence is before them that support for Reform in Scotland appears to be in rude health.
I even had one chump arguing with me that the recent local council vote for Reform in Methil, Fife meant nothing because the turnout was low and was attributable to – wait for it – non-Scottish colonisers. Anyone who thinks the area is hoaching with Home Counties second home owners needs the services of Specsavers pronto, or possibly just a good psychiatrist.
Hopefully the only silver lining in the cloud of Reform’s rise in Scotland is that it will give pro-independence voters in Scotland the kick up the arse they appear to need to replace the milquetoast devolutionism of the SNP with a real nationalist party.
I don’t know about you and other alert readers, but I won’t be holding my breath.
As I said before, you’re talking mince!
I.live in the area you clown.
If you do live in the area, which is where I work so also known to me, you can’t possibly think that there are lots of incomers in the area who account for an upsurge in Reform support.
That’s the trouble with nativists and folk who bang on about the dangers of immigration, they can never point to any figures or evidence to back their regressive politics up: it’s never “our” fault it’s always easier to other incomers and out groups than accept the problem lies closer to home.
Rev, now that you are in a good mood what with Aberdeen only losing 1 match in the last 6, may I ask, nay beg, that you try to make a positive difference to the 2026 Holyrood election result?
Looking around, who else can do a better job than you in informing the pro-independence voters of the best candidates to vote for? I can’t see anyone or any other platform.
There will be a body of decent, principled, burning pro-independence candidates standing under the Liberate Scotland umbrella. And individuals e.g. Fergus Ewing, and Alba Party candidates.
It would be best if all these people united under the umbrella grouping or at least agreed an electoral pact.
But what is needed is that the voters are told about the existence of these truly pro-independence candidates. If people don’t know, then there is little chance that the Holyrood election will be of any help in sorting out Scotland’s problems.
Imagine a number of really principled, driven, MSPs – especially a large number – working on every possible route to escaping the “Union”. Then imagine what it will be like with the usual dross and Unionist MSPs.
Please, Rev. Scotland needs you.
Yes Sara, the Liberate Scotland alliance is the only serious option for the independence movement in May’s national election:
“We will use every democratic election as a plebiscite on independence”
link to liberatescot.scot
“Please, Rev. Scotland needs you.”
I fear you might be wasting fingertip skin there, Sarah.
Better following Alf’s suggestion and putting your hopes on Liberate Scotland alliance instead.
Northcode, I am only asking the Rev to increase, if possible, his efforts for the improvement of Holyrood and the chance of independence by publicising all the good candidates and the good initiatives so that we get at least some decent and pro-independence MSPs in 2026.
I understand, Sarah, and I do respect you for the great effort you have made – and the commitment you have shown – in this, Scotland’s ‘fight’ for independence.
However, it isn’t possible to improve Holyrood… Holyrood is entirely the pet of England and cannot be made into a saviour of the Scots.
In fact, after independence I would advocate for the name “Holyrood” to be struck from Scottish public life; retained only in textbooks and historical records to remind future generations of Scots of its duplicity.
I’m afraid Holyrood is now the adversary of the Scots, and all those who serve Holyrood (bar a very few… and they are of no help to the Scots such is their small number) serve England first and foremost.
I don’t believe that WoS helping by “publicising all the good candidates” will make any difference… even if that help were to be proffered.
It is a certainty that the SNP will be returned to ‘power’ as England’s favourite Scottish Government – that cannot be prevented – and the plunder of Scotland won’t miss a beat as England continues to extract Scotland’s wealth with the help of Scotland’s own Government.
Attempting to improve the Scottish Government is pointless and a waste of effort.
Decolonization is the only remedy for Scotland’s dire predicament.
And the Liberate Scotland alliance is the only political vehicle operating in Scotland that can possibly help the Scots in their endeavor for independence.
I wish I had more encouraging words for you, but I don’t… sorry.
Right now we Scots are where we’re at… and that is that.
I agree, Northcode. Holyrood is the conduit through which Westminster controls and manipulates Scotland from within, hidden behind the veneer of self-governance. Devolution is, after all, backward evolution.
“Holyrood is the conduit through which Westminster controls and manipulates Scotland…”
Well put, Saffron Robe.
According to another blogger, who shall remain nameless but who appears to hang on your every word, to discuss Reform and it’s prospects, like an adult and without ritually condemning them at the start of every sentence, is tantamount to “endorsing” them.
Totally OT, but does anyone know when Sandie Peggie’s appeal is likely to be heard?
I suspect many potential Green voters don’t actually know that Zack Polanski heads a completely different party (and one that the SGP, absurdly, voted to disassociate from due too its alleged transphobia.)
Yes, that’s very likely the cause of a couple of recent spikes in Scottish Greens polling.
If I wasn’t feeling depressed before I surely am now “ the party that’s been in power for the previous 19 years will stay in power for another five, and nothing will change”
God help us all, I doubt if Scotland will be able to survive another 5years of incompetent, ineffective idiotic, corrupt, virtue signalling student politics from SNP.
Things in fact could be even worse than the previous 19 years because many MSPs are retiring to be replaced by some vacuous, juvenile barely out of nappies, woke as F**k children with zero real life experience outwith our failing education system and apprenticeship in the offices of the existing useless MSPs.
Holyrood is looking more and more like a failed project with every day that passes
Heaven help us!
Exactly, Heather. This is why it is vital that we do all we can to inform people about the candidates who are serious about independence and are capable of intelligent thought about our social and economic problems.
And we also need to explain about the need to vote for different groups on the two ballots.
Well Done Heather McLean!
So much sense from her. I particularly liked: “5 years of incompetent, ineffective, idiotic, corrupt, virtu-signalling, student politics from SNP”.
Who are you? Are you planning to stand somewhere? Do tell!
“…and nothing will change…”
Yeah, waking from a nightmare is always a bit disturbing, if not depressing.
Looks like you’re beginning to wake up, Heather… good luck; it isn’t fun at first, but it does get better as one comes to terms with the reality underpinning Scotland’s predicament.
Nothing will change whoever gets to manage Scotland on behalf of England (except perhaps the Liberate Scotland alliance… and even that’s a maybe).
I think it’s difficult for folk on here to understand that Scotland is wholly owned by England and the Scots have no say at all – no say in anything of importance, anyway.
It’s called colonialism.
If it’s any consolation the Scots are possibly the best treated colonized in history with all sort of little perks… like the pretence of their own government, for instance.
Welcome to “The Colony”.
On the ball as usual but in this parish we have an ISP candidate so I have a vote I can place rather than spoil a ballot with a drawing of a large cock and balls also known as a Swinney , Sarwar etc etc. Holyrood may be past it’s sell bye date but it is all we have for now. With you on the standard of SNP kids/candidates/staffers just out of short trousers and waiting their first shave and that is just the so called women.
“…but it [Holyrood] is all we have for now.”
If by ‘we’ you mean independence supporting Scots then… no, we really don’t.
We don’t have Holyrood because England has Holyrood.
Holyrood cannot help the Scots in any way, shape or form.
Let me see… how can I make the true nature of Holyrood clearer?
Holyrood IS England!
Holyrood is England wearing a disguise.
Holyrood is England dressed up as Scotland.
Holyrood is England pretending to be Scottish.
All the politicians who make up the Scottish Parliament are English; even the Scottish born ones (mostly) are wannabe English.
There is nothing, nothing at all that can come out of Holyrood that will in any way assist the Scots… nothing much beyond baby boxes and ‘free’ prescriptions and such; and the Scots pay through the nose for all that free stuff one way or another, anyway.
However, if there is a candidate running under the Liberate Scotland umbrella one can vote for then go for it… it’s really the only option available to independence supporting Scots next May.
Be prepared to be even more depressed Heather for it appears ALBA members are the new cult , they have moved from being apologists and sycophants for sturgeon (spit) when they were Scum Nonce Party members to now being apologists and sycophants for MacAskill and ALBA
I recently posted on Grousebeater that MacAskill had ignored the hand of friendship and unity offered by Liberate Scotland to ALBA, preferring to beg and prostrate himself at the feet of the FAKE, VILE, woman hating, independence hating troughers the Scum Nonce Party
Grousey got VERY upset at the TRUTH, insisting that MacAskill had NOT ignored Liberate Scotland’s outstretched hand, BUT LS were trying to FORCE ALBA to join them, he ridiculed me and said that MacAskill tirelessly worked towards independence and I didn’t know what I was talking about , I responded that MacAskill had been in senior positions in the snp and SG for decades and YET we are still in this VILE union so his HARD work isn’t WORKING , Wet pishfart rightfully gets ridiculed and laughed at when he BRAGS about being the longest serving snp mp in WM, little realising that he is a FAILED fuckwit he is supposed to get Scotland OUT of the union NOT celebrate longevity
Other ALBA stalwarts are also turning into apologists and sycophants when you point out that ALBA’S plans are the same as the snp’s , Westminster permission for a ref which needs a SECT 30
Of general interest. Hints of current Trump support for putative breakaway of oil-rich province of Alberta from the Canadian confederation. Unlikely in the event, but George Conway’s analysis today covers factors very familiar to Scots, ie questions of pensions and currency (c 8 mins ff), UDI (c 13 mins ff), comparison with Canada’s check-mate of the 1995 Quebec referendum (actually in my opinion the template followed by David Cameron in 2014), unsettling geopolitical framing, and so on. The immediate most obvious contrast with the Scottish situation is that (for just about every reason imaginable) America would of course comprehensively collude with England in keeping Scotland pliantly inert and comatose even if incoherently muttering to itself.
TRUMP ADMIN REACTS TO ALBERTA PUSH IN CANADA
(Conway Media, 29 Dec 2025)
« In today’s update, we take a close look at the latest claims and online buzz suggesting that Trump administration figures are “fully backing” the idea of Alberta leaving Canada. What’s actually been said, what’s rumor, and what’s being amplified for headlines? We separate verified statements from speculation and explain why this story is suddenly trending again.
« We also cover the political context inside Canada, how Alberta’s independence conversation has evolved over time, and what hurdles any real separation effort would face. Finally, we explore why U.S. reactions matter, what Ottawa and provincial leaders might do next, and the key signals to watch in the coming days if this narrative keeps gaining momentum. »
link to youtube.com
`Chinese eunuchs,
serving in the imperial court for millennia,
functioning as harem guards, palace servants,
and political figures,
wielding immense power due to their unique access to the emperor and inner sanctums,
controlling everything from daily affairs to state policy, despite their lowly status ,
becoming essential yet feared figures in Chinese imperial history`
reminds me of Sturgeon/Swinney`s diversity and transcult staffers.
The reality in 2020’s Scotland, and everywhere around the world, is that social media has totally changed society where it is atomised and driven by performative behaviour.
As another poster mentions the party that does the “incompetent, ineffective idiotic, corrupt, virtue signalling student politics” will get themselves pushed up the algorithm rankings so their message becomes viral and get all the social media addicts out to vote for them.
For the rest of us, we just shake our heads in apathy and don’t vote at all.
I have no idea why people are saying it looks grime, its been grime since Sturgeon took on the roll of leader of the SNP.
I met sturgeon in Edinburgh on her grant tour and on stage she made it quite clear when asked about a referendum, we had a referendum and we lost it wouldn’t be fair on the other side if we had another. I left that event and went back to England where I stayed, then in 2015 she stated it was time to make Westminster work for Scotland. Our people haven’t been listening to Sturgeon but instead just carried going along on the idea that the SNP is an Independence party Independence will just happen, well it won’t.
Buying The National will not bring Independence nor will given money to a Indy scrounger or listening to Lesley Riddoch, Gordon Ross or the two Dave’s the only thing that will actually bring Independence is the removal of the SNP from power and government and allowing Reform to win and take control of Holyrood.
Stop thinking Independence is going to happen in 2026 it just isn’t and I’ll tell you something else it isn’t going to happen in 2031 either if we do not act now to remove the SNP and stop this party.
I don’t want to vote for reform but I know the only way Scotland and its people will vote for something is if what they already have is worse and here is were I believe is why we need reform to win next year Holyrood election and to remove the SNP. Here is when Liberate Scotland come in for the 2031 election and if Salvo are successful at the UN it will all happen at the same time.
If you want Independence and you believe that the national and the SNP, Alba or these so called soft Indy supporters who make a living out of Independence what the same as you then your a idiot and your letting your self and your country down.
If you don’t want to vote for reform then I would say don’t vote for the SNP or the greens because if you do you ain’t helping Scotland your securing the Union and in that case you would be as well placing a tick along side the Tories or the Lib-dems.
If anyone has been paying attention over the last year since Starmer took office the national has made its top priority to Owen Jones and to have the national full of articles about the Labour party both the National and the SNP are lining us up to make these to our next government and we shouldn’t allow it to happen, It’s what John and Starmer wants.
“…in the same way that Alex Ferguson used West Coast establishment media bias…”
Neatly done.
According to my digging, there’s only 3 years that the gruesome twosome have failed to win anything. With the League Cup being post- WW2, the first one is 1895 (Hearts and St. Bernards, then 1952 (Hibs, Motherwell, Dundee) and 1955 (Aberdeen, Clyde, Hearts). Order is League, Cup, League Cup.
Why do the SNP still expect others to believe they support independence after the recent act damaging tourism by closing the tourist information centres which no one else except England and Wales has done.
Is the furlough for Alexander Dennis still continuing or is that being delayed or forgotten.
I recently received an email for an English whisky distillery
is this a vision of the future when a big earner and employer for Scotland is closed to prevent competing remember when Scotland brewed many good tasting and quality beers.Anybody old enough to remember the motorcycle industry in England just as Japan was emerging.
.
Hi Stuart,
I see your obsessive stalker, Jimmy-The-Grifter has got stuck at a pathetic £891 on his final, definitely last, no more ever (until April 2026) crowdfunder.
Obviously given his latest creepy stalking of your hoose in Somerset and avalanche of obsession directed to you on Scot-Goes-Phut blot, Jimmy is trying to poach readership numbers from you and this, WoS… the biggest political website in Scotland. This is fact as Jimmy is now boasting of it.
The trouble for Jimmy-The-Grift is that NO ONE is buying what he has to sell.
Perhaps if Jimmy stopped posting selfies of himself on holiday after using earlier crowdfund money, or better still, stopped frightening my grandkids with selfie pictures of his gormless ugly mug and stupid hat on a forum that is accessible publicly, and instead he actually wrote about political opinion polls, he might get a couple of grannie cougars to send him a tenner.
(i). Surely there are laws against crowdfunding for a thing you promise to deliver and end up confessing you spent other peoples’ donated money on your holidays?
(ii). There must be laws about crowdfunding for “opinion poll research” and then some of that money goes to paying to film and record SNP events should be declared under electoral procedural legislation?
This crowdfunding by the Scot-Phut crowd-grifter for his political participation as a member and office bearer in the SNP has the aroma of rodent that haunted Nicola Sturgeon’s house for many years. Jimmy isn’t really that bright is he?
Just like the SNP vanishing and weaving of £600,000, if Jimmy stopped boasting about how his leaching from this WoS site is working (at £891 Jimmy, none of us here are buying the shyte you are selling), then yon Jimmy-The-Grift might see a few more tenners on his tiny piles (of cash).
Yo Jimmy, we all know you lurk here and pleasure yourself at WoS BTL and Stuart’s actual research and factual details, so whilst you are doom-scrolling this site, here is some advice from this “BTL moron at WoS” or whatever noun your 6 regular ad hominem abuse commentators hurl at us…
The fact is, ya haufwit, is that yer Scot-Goes-Phut website is gubbed.
We can all see that your begging routine on crowdfund just ain’t working. Fact.
If yer pals and friends cannae get past £891 for yer latest holiday a.k.a., political gravy train fur Jimmy fundraiser, then yer time is up.
Kelly, away and get a proper job, because you are utter cr@p at your “blogging” career. Ye hiv pi55ed aff John Swinney and burnt yer bridges at Alba so much that you will NEVER get a ticket to ride aboard the free-money political gravy train.
Jimmy-The-Grift, in the words of a very talented Scotsman…
“Gonnae no dae that.”
(iii). I think it was a proper journalist called Stuart Campbell who researched and broke the original SNP bent and woven £600,000 fundraiser scandal.
(iiv). Jimmy, pick an article, any article from this Wings Over Scotland and to use a word Alex Salmond was fond of, these WoS articles are “redolent” with research and facts.
Whereas the utter cr@p you upload on Scot-Goes-Phut website is just not worth anything.
For your dense cranium, James, people are NOT buying what you are selling on your website. It lacks credibility and you’ve gone from being a laughing stock to being a creepy looking Amadan posting pictures of yersel’ gurning, whist on holiday, paid by a previous fundraisers.
When ye shut Scot-Goes-Phut, please don’t let the door skelp yer erse too hard oan yer way oot.
Voting for paper hat parties on a wet sunday to fill a Holyrood parliament that is under Westminster acts and Statues. With matters reserved to England,
There is nothing Scottish regards the Scottish parliament,
The Scottish parliament didn’t even exist to vote for its own creation since Sine Die in 1707.
It is devolved from Westminster the same as other Counties in England,
Changing Scots laws through the back door of a facade.
Were talking The slow creep of a Federation of Britain, not a union,
The Parliament set in Scotland is on the same level as devolved English County Councils,
If we vote for the paper hats to fill that devolved County of Scotland we continue in our own demise as a Country, or a nation.
It akin to agreeing that Scotland as nothing more of importance than a County of England.
Thats what you’re being asked to vote for in reality.
Scotland did not create the Scottish parliament, the reserved matters are not Scotlands,
The acts and Statues were not Scotlands.
The Scotland Acts are not Scotlands,
Those ideas were suggested to Scotland, to be put to Scotland by Westminster, in a restricting question vote,
If it were a genuine Scottish parliament and not a pretend one, England would have no control over Scotland,
So you vote in Scotland to maintain the pretense and fool ourselves we have democracy, all the while
Knowing your being treated as a County of England.
Point of order -Reform are not far right if wanting to decide your own rules ,have your own border and to live amongst yer ain folk is far right , the snp are nazis.
“Reform are not far right if wanting to decide your own rules ,have your own border and to live amongst yer ain folk is far right”
Indeed, Gordy. Clearly, the effectiveness of being labelled “far right” by the tofu-quaffing Guardianista, for having perfectly decent, logical, common sense views, are markedly on the wane these days.
Ironically, the inverse is true: the increasingly absurd beliefs of the Left are now seen for what they clearly are; extreme, divisive, nonsensical, baseless, dangerous.
A profound, radical societal and political sea change is afoot in the UK; a rare thing indeed. I’ve not seen people this angry since the late 70s (Brexit – perhaps – excepted, though I doubt even that).
The use of the term far right might be contested – not least by some within Reform who are scared of frightening too many electoral horses – but just because they and some people planning to vote for them who don’t identify as far right reject the label doesn’t mean that it isn’t the right definition.
Even academically the umbrella right wing is often broken down in to a spectrum which encompasses “traditional” conservatives, non-fascist far right and outright fascist parties.
Some would additionally split the far right in to the radical right (which would encompass current figures like Farage, Le Pen, Orban, Trump etc who accept the essence of democracy but oppose fundamental aspects of liberal democracy, particularly the concept of universal rights. The more extreme far right rejects the very essence of democracy, popular sovereignty and majority rule.
Most people here and I think in the UK more broadly would comfortably fit Farage, UKIP and now Reform in to the far-right category, particularly given his past links with other far right groups in Europe and his open admiration for and aping of other far right populist figures.
The playbook isn’t only Reform’s of course, but openly questioning the result of elections, attacks on human rights an the principles of universal rights generally, the use of racist, xenophobic and misogynistic language and the promotion of populism and elite conspiracy theories are ale symptomatic of the kind of party Reform is, and of its underlying values.
Of course voting for Reform as a protest vote to give mainstream parties an electoral bloody nose doesn’t mean you personally agree with all of Reform’s policies or platform. It is however disingenuous for anyone to claim that they don’t really know the general character of the party.
You can’t cherry pick the parts of their platform you agree with and blind yourself to the other parts of it you don’t agree with, then complain when they achieve power and enact policies and parts of their platform you disagree with, or be surprised when they suddenly start curtailing your rights, even if it starts off with relatively innocuous measures.
We’ve seen what Trump is doing in the USA, so there’s really no excuse for anyone who enables the election of Farage or his equivalent or even allows them access via coalition government, and then finds out too late that it was a huge mistake.
Guid mornyng aw… whit clear kirstal sky flemit the nicht theis dey… an sae the reid mornyng rose frae the richt air. An bein a ceevil man an no rowd in naitur lyke ithers aboot theis immaterial space a greet ye wi guid wishes fir the dey aheid an wish ye aw weel.
Following their recent inaugural conference, Your Party have been offered as a separate entity on the most recent polling for Holyrood. Find Out Now, field work 11 – 19 Dec, population sample 1,000.
Your Party, get zilch percent.
The flouncing off of various prominent characters in the Scottish Greens, to Your Party may actually help the former.
I ken folk who would naturally vote Green, but are utterly scunnered by their policy of enforced affirmation of the clinical delusions of the mentally ill.
Folk who think that their increased Building Insurance resulting from more frequent, and severe mega storms, is a wee bitty mair important than someone’s chuffing pronouns.
The Greens lost a sub-set, of a sub-set, of a sub-set. That could gain votes from the less deranged majority of the electorate.
Perhaps it won’t pay dividends in central Scotland, where Comrade Beaker, and the Byres Road, Gender Taliban hold sway, but it could increase votes in the Highlands & Islands, and Southern Scotland, enough to gain additional MSPs.
The greens wont win votes in the highlands while they oppose the A9 and A82 upgrades and other issues like hammering car ownership costs where there are simply no alternative transport options,
Plus nothing done in Scotland will have any effect on the climate, the problem is elsewhere. This doesn’t mean that no effort should be directed at climate change at all but there has to be a reprioritisation of where it sits in the overall list and it needs to be severely downwards on that list.
For the last 11yrs the SNP has destroyed democracy, Independence, justice system, education, NHS, Police, prison service, woman rights, local authorities, trails by jury, free speech and allowed our industries to be shut down and allowed free ports to take complete ownership of Scotland.
I’m sure that people on here who are better educated than me can add to this list of failures.
The SNP is Scotland Jailer and will be the demise of Scotland and they are perfectly aware of what they are doing and are being assisted by The Nation al and the people who write for it.
There is no one on this planet who can come on this site and state that in the last 11yrs the SNP has done anything for Scotland or its people when in fact the SNP has done more damage to Scotland during Sturgeon and now Swinney term than any other English party or Westminster government and to give these ("Tractor" - Ed)s another 5yrs to govern will bring the END to Scots and our nation.
Since Sturgeon took over from Alex she has been driven by 2 policy to preserve the Union and form closer ties with the Labour party in both England and in Scotland and John Swinney is the same.
Absolutely right 100% Yes, the SNP are out to destroy independence. They have squandered every mandate given to them to push for independence. Policy after policy has ipso facto been against independence and the Pretend Parliament is a vehicle for control.
Democracy is an utter illusion. Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems utterly disregarded as voting shows. And the SNP. well as far as can be seen from polls they are marginally ahead in a system that is now in utter chaos. Just the way the establishment want it. A no good pretend parliament split politically into shards with a Westminster establishment in place to pull the strings. But this was the plan all along. 2014 and the Referendum gave the establishment a fright and they could not be allowed to do it again – ergo Alex Salmond as one example had to be taken out!
But we know that. So who or what do folks vote for. Or do they even bother. Or how do we change the political system and galvanise a movement again. Or do we just take of beatings like a dog, as hapless North American Indians or Australian Aboriginals heading for extinction.
Its a good question and Rev Stu is maybe very much right when he says the SNP will make take the most number of seats in a split parliament to deliver another 5 years of the destruction of Scotland’s people. their culture.
North American Indians got glass beads, lost their country and so will we.
Next year I will be voting for Reform for the sole reason off destroying the greens and stopping the SNP.
The SNP and Greens has destroyed Independence and allowed our Country to be sold to foreign investment company’s.
In 2015 Sturgeon was election on a massive majority with a huge 56 MP’s sent to Westminster and what did she do with that? She saved the Union and destroyed any chances of Independence.
People on here can argue how can you vote for Reform next year and my answer would be, I’ve been voting to destroy my country since Sturgeon was leader, if I had known then what I know now I would have given my vote to an other party and I hate myself for being party to the destruction of my country.
I am most likely to vote reform next year despite the bad taste in my mouth. The current politicians have failed us and seem to have forgotten they are supposed to be representing us, not working to their own agendas.
I don’t expect much from reform but what I do want is a protest vote and they are the only realistic option.
Not voting means you do not have any right to an opinion on what sort of government we get as you have disenfranchised yourself.