The first hurdle
There’s already opinion polling in the field regarding the Alba Party.
It’s hard to say how the party will do at such an early stage. But what we DO know is that it has a very low bar to clear – all it has to do is come out ahead of the Greens and/or the Lib Dems (ie probably score about 6%) to destroy any possible rationale for it not being included in election debates like the one the BBC is showing tonight.
The case for inclusion will be greatly heightened if the new party is mentioned at tonight’s debate without being given the right of reply, and it would be very strange and artificial if it wasn’t, given the level of reaction its existence has provoked.
(There were numerous other Alba-related questions in the poll too.)
We’ll be watching (the poll results, not the debate, obviously) with interest.
What is the general lifecycle of polling? When can we expect (generally) to see it?
Funny how the SNP haven’t been described as the greatest threat to the UK we’ve faced… not for some time now anyway.
I think a large portion of the leaders debate will be discussing ALBA and Alex Salmond. A lot of that will be smearing him but I suspect ALBA will reveal a defection or two that will make it impossible to avoid talking up ALBA as a real force.
I suspect Salmond wants a situation where all other parties have to talk about ALBA or him even when he’s not there. Gives ALBA free publicity and shows how much they fear him.
I believe the questions tonight will come from audience members so it’ll be interesting to see how representative that is.
I’ll not be watching any debate which does not include Alba as it will not hold the necessary entertainment value for me. There is nothing which any of the other parties will say which is of interest to me. So the debate tonight is a no from me.
So, say you’re a journalist. You are at the moment paid to write and say things damaging to the cause of Scottish independence, so that is what you do.
Who’s going to pay you after Independence Day?
George Kerevan has just joined Alba. Onwards and upwards.
Where are these polls
Is there an unbiased reason that Alba is not top of that list of choices.
Just the idea of Dross and Wells having to actually work for a living gives me a warm glow to start the day.
Not to mention a supermajority could get rid of the likes, of Carslaw, Fraser, etc….
It’s the little things that make a difference, isn’t it.
If nothing else, I’d love Alba and Alex to win enough seats to be a constant irritant to NS going forward, because I find her continuing attacks and smears on him, and the jury by extension, appalling and disgraceful, but not in the least surprising.
Any idea who has commissioned the Poll/Polls?
Wondering if UK Government or BritNat Parties trying to get an idea in advance of 4th April deadline for declaring an electoral pact or SNP trying to see potential damage.
I complained to the bbc in advance.
the mantra being trotted out is that if you are not going to vote SNP 1 and 2 then you should give your second vote to the Greens as they already the established independence party at Holyrood. Yet the people pushing this fail to tell you that the Greens are standing in Edinburgh Leith against a sitting SNP MSP and in Glasgow kelvin against a sitting SNP MSP. In Edinburgh central where Angus Robertson hope to win the FPP seat for the SNP, there is a Green standing against him. Does this sound like a partner party in the fight for independence? I know who I want backing up the SNP in the drive for independence at Holyrood and that party doesn`t have a colour in tis title
Sturgeon says she won’t work with Alex until he “apologises ” to the women. What a fucking ego she has! He was found not guilty of all charges, well one not proven which is the same thing in the end. The evil wokeists need to get their heads out of their arses. I’m socially conservative and not ashamed to say so. Hopefully Alba will prove reassuring.
I seem to remember the repugnant “Scottish” leader of UKIP being included in past leaders’ debates despite having no representation at any level. Can anyone confirm?
I very seldom watch tv, if I want to see shit all I have to do is take a walk upto the farm and there’s loads of it there.
As for polls, they are a load of shit, frame the questions correctly and you get the right answers
Excuse me sir, would you like to take part in my survey it has only one question, certainly I will take part
What colour do you believe the sky to be
1 green
2 yellow
3 purple
4 red
5 ………………………………….. BLUE
@Prasad
Yes there is.
The great thing about digital surveys is that it is very easy to randomise the list for each user so that there is no bias created in the way the list is presented.
I see George Kerevan, Lynne Anderson and Craig Berry have resigned from the SNP Common Weal Group and will be joining Alba: good additions and hopefully a sign that Alba will position itself as emphatically further left than the gradualists and neo-liberal Growth Commission and milquetoast nationalists in the SNP?
@ Andy Ellis,
Given the quality of the Nationalists who have been announced by Alba and given that their positions in the SNP which will no doubt be filled by the wokerati in due course, it raises the question of
will the last Nationalist to leave the SNP please turn off the lights and lock the door ?
I was reading Nicola’s response about working with Alex and what toxic poison and venom it was. No act of contrition for her part in what happened.
It very much sound like she will throw the cause under the bus and blame Salmond.
D Ross, with his imbecilic comments in the Express, has given the game away and informed us all that the strategy of voting SNP on the constituency vote And ALBA on the list vote, could produce 70% independent seats in Holyrood.
He has inadvertently told the truth by trying to be smart, but failing, as usual.
I fully expect Alba to poll fairly badly up until the final week or two. And I suspect Salmond would be quite content with that. If it starts off polling at 10% (or even 5%) the panic would be overwhelming!
At the moment, it’s frustrating just how many people have no clue at all how the voting system works and just believe whatever the media say about everything. Facebook is full of that, and it’s all the same types who were didn’t want to know about independence or debate it at first in 2012 and had to be coaxed over. But this only takes a tiny bit of information to change minds on something so specific: it’s not like converting people to independence. It’s just giving them a bit of information.
Wonder who is flying from Dundee to Perpignan in the private jet??
Wonder who ordered the two removals vans at bute house yesterday…
The Elephant in the room ,
Well in this case not in the room and not even in the building
Alex despite being ignored will cause more panic amongst the unionist supporting parties by his absence than it would have with Alex being there , if he was there he would have attracted the fire that should be directed at Nicola Sturgeon , aye yer on your own Princess ! defend your recent actions including wasting untold millions on failures instigated during your watch , it’s all yours .
I just wonder what verbal gymnastics will be on show how are they going to ignore the whole existence of Alba and Alex I wasn’t going to watch it but it might be quite entertaining .
As a few others have pointed out why are the Unionists comfortable with Nicola Sturgeon and absolutely Totally terrified of Alex and the Alba party , that’s for the Nicola fan club . WHY ? .
NS has brass neck suggesting that Alex should apologise to the women who were young guilty of lying in the high court and trying to have Alex sent to prison for life. Mrs Murrell it’s you who should apologise to Alex for what he had to go though because of you and your permanent secretary.
Lol, crossing the Forth just now.
Bonnie Prince Charlie?
Ian – UKIP were included in the BBC’s 2016 Scottish Parliament “leaders debate” despite consistently polling well under 5% and ending up with 2% of the regional list vote.
I don’t know if the BBC have plans for more debates, but if they do I expect they’ll probably include Alba. If not, they’ll have big questions to answer.
I really can’t understand why the Scots allowed that horror Blair to sell this ridiculous voting system to them. It’s horrendously complicated, and designed never to let one single party a decent majority. All that it is doing now with the emergence of Alba is to create division and infighting amongst nationalists.
susanXX says:
30 March, 2021 at 11:31 am
Sturgeon says she won’t work with Alex until he “apologises ” to the women. What a fucking ego she has! He was found not guilty of all charges, well one not proven which is the same thing in the end. The evil wokeists need to get their heads out of their arses. I’m socially conservative and not ashamed to say so. Hopefully Alba will prove reassuring.
As far as I know, Alex Salmond has apologised to one of the Alphabettys, the one where the not proven verdict was against at the time it happened, she was also offered another role with same pay and no detriment to promotion
Can you imagine the fear Ms Sturgeon must be feeling at the thought of going into work every day, and certainly at FMQ’s, being asked by the Alba party “what have you done today/this week/this month to advance the cause of independence? To fob this off as ego, playing to the audience or inappropriate will only wash for so long until the watching public see it for what it is and demand more be done. If there was ever a time to invest in popcorn.
No doubt this’ll turn into a Salmond-bashing fest which is probably what the man himself wants of course. He’s got them all dancing to his tune. A major defection just before the programme would be good. 🙂
I really can’t understand why the Scots allowed that horror Blair to sell this ridiculous voting system to them
It was that or nothing.
Sturgeon was scathing, saying: “At the end of the day, we’ve got to win independence fair and square. We can’t game, or cheat, our way to that.”
hahahaha
She must be on drugs if she thinks Westminster gives a hoot about fairness. Only winning counts
She can turn up anytime with her ‘fair result’ and Boris will just say now is not the time and she can take her wee sulky face back to her desk
BTW was she not planning a super majority with the Greens???
Is a coalition a fair result??
Oops sorry for pointing that out
@Wee Monkey.
Is there anything connecting these two events and is there any supporting evidence you can furnish?
It’s very interesting and I would like to know more if there’s anything to it. ?
Not sure if this is old news but just received an email from ISP to effect they are standing down for this election. Looks like a clear run for Alba.
I think Nicola’s game plan is to be so horrendously obnoxious that we SNP1-Alba2 voters can’t bring ourselves to vote SNP1.
This would allow more List SNP msps to get in, displacing that number of Alba msps.
Solution? Vote SNP1-Alba2.
The more SNP msps there are, the more Alba msps there are.
The debate tonight should be interesting. I wonder how much time the opposition will use goading NS about AS.
He is living rent-free in her head already. However much she will deny it, she will be expending so much energy trying to second guess his next move. How many times tonight will she say ‘I don’t want to talk about …’ meanwhile getting in her digs at every opportunity.
In demanding an apology she is on very dodgy ground.
Someone needs to bring up the behaviour she has protected amongst her allies every time she has a go at AS. If this is how she wants to play it then if her behaviour has even a chink of impropriety she needs to be exposed.
Future Chris Cairns cartoon : A huge elephant in the middle of the BBC Election Debate studio which all the participants are studiously avoiding mentioning.
Interesting to see how this polling reports.
Who are these Scottish Conservative/Labour/LibDem parties the survey mentions? I thought no such party names were registered and they were just branch offices of the main UK Conservative/Labour/LibDems?
O/T
Sturgeon handed her arse, ever so nicely and politely
@Davy Smith – wee monkey is a knowledgeable guy. It reminds me of when Imelda Marcos was finally chiselled-out of Phillipino public life, they had a removal van to take away her hundreds of pairs of four-inch heeled Italian shoes and a security-van to take away the gold bullion.
In demanding an apology she is on very dodgy ground.
It makes no sense from an independence POV (Nicola should be delighted there’s a new party asking people to vote SNP and offering them the possibility of a supermajority).
But it makes perfect sense when you understand the SNP has traded your heroes for ghosts.
Independence is on the SNP’s packaging, but not on its list of ingredients. They’re made of Woke.
Woke divides people into a racial and sexual caste system of alleged oppression. The more pathetic you can claim to be, the higher up the totem pole you go. Therefore it doesn’t matter that those women lied about Alex Salmond, or that he was acquitted, he’s an older white man and therefore guilty.
Similarly women need to be thrown under an electric bus the minute they come into conflict with men in dresses. Because that’s how victimhood Top Trumps works.
There’s a huge amount of dishonest personal agendas at stake too, but I wouldn’t misunderestimate how much the true believers genuinely believe this crazy nonsense – it’s been the established orthodoxy in academia for a long time. If you LARP at something long enough, eventually you’ll become it.
Dishonest personal agendas, indeed!
Interesting and highly relevant post From Iain Lawson:
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2021/03/30/this-is-what-would-have-happened-in-2016-if-snp-list-votes-were-for-alba/
You can just picture it.
Sturgeon is going to turn up in her WonderWoman outfit tonight and portray herself as the saviour of wronged women from all around the world.
Andy Ellis says:
30 March, 2021 at 11:38 am
“I see George Kerevan, Lynne Anderson and Craig Berry have resigned from the SNP Common Weal Group and will be joining Alba: good additions and hopefully a sign that Alba will position itself as emphatically further left than the gradualists and neo-liberal Growth Commission and milquetoast nationalists in the SNP?”
If ‘milquetoast’ means ‘kid-on’, I see what you’re getting at!
Isn’t it great that the whole of Scotland is talking about Scotland future and the biggest Pro-Independence party is trying its upmost to destroy our only chance at being Independent because Sturgeon has a vendetta against Mr Salmond. All of this will back fire on Sturgeon it really shows the ordinary person in the street that Mr Salmond is looking forward and to making Scotland Independent and thatvSturgeon it look to settle old scores.
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2021/03/30/this-is-what-would-have-happened-in-2016-if-snp-list-votes-were-for-alba/
O/T Hearing the latest WHO report on Covid I was struck by similarities between China and the current Scottish govt leadership – controlling , obstructive and dishonest.
I have been getting a lot of grief on Facebook, from both Unionists and the Sturgeon Loyal – the greatest number of these trying desperately to poo-poo the notion of voting for ALBA.
However, I have kept putting up the numbers and I now see I am attracting others to the cause. The case for SNP on the Constituency and ALBA on the List is (albeit slowly), getting through.
I note, however, elsewhere, Sturgeon is showing her lack of class, by continuing to bad-mouth Alex Salmond. I fear she is a lost cause, who is destined to be a very-sore loser come 7 May.
With Lynne Anderson from the SNP Common Weal Group crossing over to Alba, no doubt Torn Face, Blubber and Walter the Softy’s latest excuse for this defection will be that they never promised her a rose garden.
(Get’s coat).
The pre-election campaigning period has started.
Political broadcasts on the BBC today: –
Scottish National Party leader – 2
Alba Party leader – 0
@Wee Monkey; Davy Smith and Captain Yossarian
Quite a lot of activity at Dundee Airport right now.
https://www.flightradar24.com/53.84,0.7/6
Remember the old days when people would say ‘but why would Nicola Sturgeon want to keep Alex Salmond out of politics. He was no threat to her at all. He was yesterdays man. Totally irrelevant. A failed and disgraced ex politician who nobody would vote for’.
If that was your view, do you see her motive now?
In less than a week, Alex Salmonds re entry into Scottish/UK politics is being described in front page banner headlines as the biggest ever threat to the union. Alex Salmond in active politics shows Sturgeon up as the charlatan she is. Its why they tried to get something on him that they could ‘sit on until they needed to deploy it’.
Enough people in the bubble know it. The amount of defections underlines that. Her days are numbered because of Alex Salmond. She knew it in 2018. She was so desperate to stop him she was actually willing to jail him.
“SNP are fundamentally misreading the nature of Alba’s appeal to voters”, says James Kelly over at Scot-Goes-Pop:
https://scotgoespop.blogspot.com
Future debates should be interesting but given this debate was scheduled weeks if not months ago then its understandable Alba isnt there given its week long existance.
Will be interesting if any punter asks:
“Should you lose your Constituency vote, will you take the 1st List place or actually respect the democratic decision of the Scottish public?”
What’s Pat Harvie got that Alex Salmond hasn’t?
Re furniture vans at Bute House i would imagine thatbis standard practice prior to an Election, you would not want to get the keys on May 7th if you were other than Sturgeon and have to get the skips in. A genuine nothing to see here.
Let’s be crystal clear about this. Voting SNP 1 and Alba 2 makes so much sense. By doing this voters can add maybe 30 seats onto the circa 60 seats that the SNP will get. Now by my counting 60 plus 30 makes 90 and that is a huge proportion of Indy seats to have in our Parliament.
A Parliament with that level of majority elected by due process cannot and will not be ignored.Not only will it be able to talk the talk but it will be able to walk the walk. Johnson will not be able to simply walk all over Scotland, and the legal routes available to us will now be many fold.
And just look at the talent on the Alba ticket. Talent that will together with their SNP colleagues will be unstoppable. So let us not worry about so called personality, look at the arithmetic, look at beauty and simplicity of SNP1 and Alba 2 and let’s get our show back on the road.,
Westminster never saw this coming. They do now. Let’s do it.
Well I certainly won’t be watching the debate!
I don’t want to be infected by HIV.through the ears.
I was told by the doctor that you could catch it by fucking arseholes
And they are all certainly arseholes!
AH ! Cynicus 12:52 pm. You beat me to it.
” Interesting and highly relevant post From Iain Lawson:….”
https://tinyurl.com/yu7fmch8
SO important that I’ll be voting for SNP on constituency [no bit’s or if’s. It must be done].
ALBA on List for an Indy Supermajority.
I’m not keen on my current SNP candidate but WILL vote SNP on constituency.
This election is the Game-Changer!
I’ll repeat: NO IFS NO BUTS. It’s Scotland’s Last Chance at independence.
VOTE SNP on Constituency.
VOTE ALBA on List.
Just a thought, if NS keeps up this “Apologise” line with AS and I’m sure AS will provide a clean and consistent response (without an apology). Do you think he might get his pal David Davis to use Parliamentary Privilege again and highlight some of the super-injunction info that exposes NS as the hypocrite she is?
Hopefully it would never need to come to that (and I don’t think AS would use personal attacks), but NS has history on not changing tack as I’m sure AS well knows, so trying to guess what he may have up his sleeve as a counter to the “Apologise” position of NS.
Anyone with a fiver on They’ll be going through Jim Walker’s tweets looking for dirt this morning just won their fiver back. God that tactic is going to get boring, especially if 32 candidates or whatever the number are all being announced in 2 days.
It must be close to slander and deformation against AS character by now from NS, she must be treading on thin ice verbally and publicly announcing harassment abuse towards a man who was cleared in a court of law.
A interesting point of view from a usually reasonable commentator raised a eyebrow
The assertion being the Alba party could upset and halt any changes required from within the SNP if many more people left then the management would be free to continue with their pretty flakey ideas and keep going in a baffling direction egged on by some really strange articles that have attached themselves to this inner circle Sturgeon has surrounded herself with ,
I suppose that might be true but the ones that are unsure have had plenty warnings about the direction of travel from Team Nicola they have had all the opportunities to excert a meaningful change we can’t wait until it’s too late it’s time to decide what side of history they want to be on .
It must be close to slander and deformation against AS character by now from NS, she must be treading on thin ice verbally and publicly announcing harassment abuse towards a man who was cleared in a court of law.
Hopefully As will not have to deal with her at FM if she doe not win her seat.
Snp 1 alba 2.
If the BBC think that including Alba in debates will reduce pro-indy MSPs they will be included. If they think that including Alba will increase pro-indy MSPs then they won’t. So don’t expect to see Alba in BBC debates any time soon. I would be less surprised to see them included in STV debates.
This is what we could’ve had in 2016, if the ALBA party had existed back then, but we definitely can now have it post 6th of May. Vote ALBA it makes sense.
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2021/03/30/this-is-what-would-have-happened-in-2016-if-snp-list-votes-were-for-alba/
Stephen. That’s the point isn’t it. Rank Hypocrisy!
We know Sturgeon & Murrell have things in their personal life , they would rather not be exposed. Yet Sturgeon smears Salmond constantly.
Stephen Welsh
Events are racing ahead and Nicola is left standing there with what she thinks is dirty laundry. Despite all the initial hype, the SNP is being left in the dust. Already Alba is their most powerful campaign tool and all they’re all standing around with mouths agape.
It appears the National has went full snp continuous bad press towards Alba the National wants a clear split. I can no longer support Newsquest financially & I’m struggling to support Nicola’s snp with my first vote.
I would expect the Alba party to poll poorly initially, after all, it’s only a few days old but I would expect it to gain ground as time goes on.
The Alba party have given the SNP motivation to increase their efforts regarding independence in the next term of parliament.
However, if the SNP headed by Nicola, manage to cock up the chance of independence, they will find their support deserting them leaving a hardcore of sycophantic zealots, leaving room to be overtaken by the Alba party at the following election.
Agreed James Che
I think she forgets she worked with Alex closer than almost anyone else in Scotland , she apparently has now sided with the women she and her government ABANDONED not my words the statements from the two women originally involved ,
Countless clips and untold praise from her over the years all of a sudden he is the Devil personified he is a danger to every woman on the planet , eh only the small inconvenience of a predominately women Jury and a woman judge concluded he was Innocent that for the hard of thinking means NOT GUILTY she simply can’t comprehend her plan didn’t work,it failed and it failed fkn Spectacularly
2 Inquiry’s millions of public money and police time wasted and the end result to keep one man quiet , the sum total of fk all , nothing, nada ,he haw and that fkr is questioning the verdict , oh she being a lawyer on good standing and good character would know about these things wouldn’t she .
Robert Graham @ 1.28
You are aware your comment can be construed as an argument not to vote SNP1.
If all the gatekeepers have left the SNP to join Alba, leaving only ‘Team Nicola’, do you think that’s going to encourage me to vote SNP.
I’m not sure this is what you intended.
The assertion being the Alba party could upset and halt any changes required from within the SNP
I see it the opposite way. I think a very powerful cabal – not just Sturgeon and Murrell, I suspect there is more to it than that – have had a vice like grip on the party for a few years now. 2017 was when things really started to noticeably change. Even at branch level it was obvious, with some seriously weird and dodgy things happening. Those trying to change it from within have been subject to very public vilification, including all over the media (think Grousebeater, Denise Findlay, Neale Hanvey before his election). That should not – not ever – happen to ordinary members of a political party. When you get to the elected member level, see what happened to Mark McDonald and Joanna Cherry.
There was no way anyone within the party was ever going to be able to democratically change it. The membership had a good go with the NEC elections, but their democratic choices were simply ignored and the key cabal members put back in undemocratically.
What Alba does is provide a lifeboat, and the best possible chance for people who do want to speak out but have been terrified to do so. Some of us have been quite scathing about how spineless SNP politicians have been, but I’m not sure we know just what pressure they were under. Alba will give them a chance to speak out if they want to, with the added leverage that they now have an alternative. “We’ll kick you out the party” isn’t such a threat any more.
With the impact of COVID prohibiting traditional canvassing, it’s absolutely shocking that TV is not doing more to provide complete and fair election coverage. It’s so typical of these parties on TV just gaming the system, shocking.
Some are hopefully pointing out that if all the SNP List votes went to Alba there would be thirty Alba seats and a ninety seat independence group in Holyrood.
Well, that isn’t going to happen. A large number of SNP votes will be wasted as usual. However ten or a dozen seats for Alba are all that is needed to make the difference.
Everybody must vote SNP on constituency and and Alba on List its what Alex recommends and is the road to independence.
I(we) are only voting SNP 1 for Scotland , as there is no alternative. They are least worst option.
If Alba were standing on the constituencies then we would be voting Alba 1 & 2.
This is not an endorsement of the SNP.
With this latest comment, it seems to me that, at some instance of a line crossed, Alex will have to take legal action. I’m sure many of us would support a crowdfund.
You’d think that even a former not-very-good lawyer would bear this in mind. Especially if there’s not much left in the kitty.
Big Jock,
I think that if the shoe was on the other foot it would have to be Alba 1 SNP 2, as others have said, they aren’t necessarily votes for parties but rather a country.
Scotland obviously.
As well as Salmond being the worst threat to women since Jack the Ripper, prepare for Sturgeon reeling out one of our old favourites tonight.
Yes, indyRef2, it will be held just as soon as she has cured the world of the Coronavirus AND only after the world’s economy has stabilised.
So anytime after that, she’ll deliver our referendum.
She really wishes she could be more precise, but this is a World pandemic don’t you know.
Big Jock @ 2.05pm
“I(we) are only voting SNP 1 for Scotland , as there is no alternative. They are least worst option.
If Alba were standing on the constituencies then we would be voting Alba 1 & 2.
This is not an endorsement of the SNP.”
-So voting for a party is not an endorsement for it ?
Well the problem is not what you think it, the SNP will quite rightly regard it as support for their current direction of travel and use it as such to pursue their policies.
Responding to Nicola’s intransigence with anything other than a sweet smile plays right into her hands.
She WANTS division, for Alba voters to refuse to vote SNP, and SNP voters to refuse to vote Alba. That way more SNP list msps displace Alba msps.
Don’t fall for it. Smile sweetly. Vote SNP1, Alba2.
Douglas Ross is an idiot. I thought corona was the biggest threat since sliced bread. And it seems its OK for Tories to play the system but not OK for anyone else. Ross is such a monkey boy.
Genuine question: how do you spoil a first vote, but still vote for ALBA in the second? What do you need to do? I cannot bring myself to vote for the SNP – their blatant hatred of middle-aged men, men in general, and the working class have terminally turned me off them. They disgust me.
Wee Monkey.
So she’s a Perpignanaise the bird from the Khyber Pass? Interesting. That’s halfway between me and Barrhead Boy.
Find me on twatter and we can DM each other., @bigandymccoll
Robert Graham 1:47PM
oh she being a lawyer on good standing and good character would know about these things wouldn’t she .
Reply
Ah! But Robert she isn’t a lawyer of good standing, She had to leave the legal profession after 2 or 3 years as a junior. If she hadn’t she may have been disbarred.
This isn’t the first time she has let women down.
http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2021/03/first-interests-judge-recommended-for.html
I don’t think Sturgeon can openly support Alba in public, it might cost her grief from her own support and the press.
I think we will see Sturgeon and the SNP keep pushing the line that Salmond has a history of inappropriate behavior towards women. This might very well work for a section of the electorate. We do live in very febrile times which of course was sparked off by the Me Too Movement. I think this election will get very dirty.
I know ALBA came along late in the day regards this debate tonight.
But surely all the English brains that run BBC Scotland could have came up with a solution of how to fit one more microphone into their studio?
Surely?
But no, and now we are in for an evening of five leaders against someone who isn’t even in the same City the debate is being held in.
Scottish justice really has nosedived in recent years.
Fuck the fucking Greens they’re a threat to civilization economy and humanity. They are bought and paid for by the likes of EXXON the banks. Strange that the banks are funding carbon trading middlemen who shake down businesses while promising to plant trees. They’ll be shaking down the public with carbon Taxes. A parking permit dependent on car engine size is a carbon Tax. That happens where I am.
Onlooker @ 2.24
About spoiling your constituency vote.
This is my understanding:-
You’ll get two ballot papers, one for each vote, so write a message on the first (constituency ballot) or leave it blank – however you see fit to spoil it, and then vote as normal on the second ballot. Return both ballots.
Personally I would just be careful that your spoilt ballot is not marked in such a way that it could be construed as a vote for any particular party.
Genuine question: how do you spoil a first vote, but still vote for ALBA in the second?
I think you’d just leave the constituency bit blank and put an X against Alba in the list vote.
That’s strange It says the blog doesn’t exist yet I have it opened
on my computer. I’ll try this
https://web.archive.org/web/20210303122310/http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2021/03/first-interests-judge-recommended-for.html
All this demented trawling of twitter by the SNP for naughty comments from new Alba party members reminds me of when the Yoons did that to Mhairi Black in early 2015.
Stones and glass houses come to mind.
To get an idea of what may be motivating the “cabal” at the heart of the SNP check ot Mark Windows on ” Windows on the World” on YouTube. Stick with it and watch his videos on ” Common Purpose”. He also does videos on common law. Very interesting and perhaps enlightening.
Andy. I agree with your last comment. Well done for abstaining from pornography. Don’t you feel free now?
For the umpteenth time, people…If you don’t vote SNP on the constituency ballot, the entire plan falls apart because it RELIES on the SNP taking the constituency seats so that they have zero chance of bagging a list seat, thereby removing them completely from the equation. If we want a clean run at this thing, then it has to be done exactly as planned, with no deviations because of spite.
I know this is going to go against the grain here, but: getting beyond a 5-6% threshold in a given List region from a 6 week cold start is not going to be easy.
When discussing politics online it’s always good to remember that anyone who even bothers to read such witterings belongs to the most politicized 1-2% of the population. RISE, Solidarity and many other List only parties didn’t have ALBA’s media profile and professional clout, but they were all examples of people believing their echo chamber’s own bullshit and finding out, after polling day, that they had drastically over-estimated their own support.
So don’t be complacent people.
If we want ALBA to succeed, we’ve got to put in serious campaigning legwork.
Otherwise the most realistic outcome may be that because so many long-time indy campaigners have now burnt their bridges with the SNP, and certainly won’t be allowed to rejoin, they will be raising awareness of the party for 4 years before it gets into Holyrood.
GlenIslay says @ 2.48pm
“For the umpteenth time, people…If you don’t vote SNP on the constituency ballot, the entire plan falls apart because it RELIES on the SNP taking the constituency seats so that they have zero chance of bagging a list seat, thereby removing them completely from the equation. If we want a clean run at this thing, then it has to be done exactly as planned, with no deviations because of spite.”
– Blimey, I’m not voting SNP1 because I don’t believe women have penises. How spiteful of me.
Can I presume that because your voting SNP1 that you believe women have penises ?
SNP’s longest serving Councillor moves to Alba.
https://twitter.com/bridgesforindy/status/1376869502886027268
The voting in this election is to provide the people of Scotland with a voice that politics seldom gives them. So vote snp 1 alba 2.
NS may be looking to divide the yes vote by slandering AS, and for some that works. But this behaviour of NS is not a good look for the snp, it could actually backfired on them.
Her spitefulness could be construed as if in the past she was hoping for a potential relationship with AS and he said NO,
She is making herself look like a woman spurned, and retaliated by concocting a big bad story about him to get even, perhaps it was NS that was hoping he would misbehave with her, and he would not.
I am holding my nose and voting snp 1 Alba 2 for AS and for all of us here in Scotland in that put independence and justice first.
Ever since Alba was announced, Mrs. Murrell (and others) have been raging about how Alex Salmond has a history of inappropriate behaviour towards women and all this. Murrell has never shut up about it, but there are two things about this narrative:
1: Salmond and Sturgeon worked very closely together for years, so why did he never engage in inappropriate behaviour with her?
2: Salmond and Sturgeon worked very closely together for years, so why did she never notice or see anything? She heard no gossip through the grapevine, nothing. Why was that?
OR…
Maybe she did know but she covered up for him because by bringing public attention to his behaviour, that would damage the independence drive in the lead up to 2014.
Whatever the way it happened, Murrell is lying through her teeth and it’s about time someone challenged her on this.
Sturgeon says she will have no dealings with Salmond. Note that she hasn’t sought any approval from her party before issuing this declaration. She thinks that what she says goes, at party level, at government level. No collegiate agreement required.
And after all she’s done to numerous people, especially Alex, she has the brass to try and take the moral high ground….or we could say, the Balmoral high ground.
@ Onlooker at 2.24 and those who replied
Yes, you get two separate ballot papers, printed on paper of two different colours.
What you do on one does not constrain what you do on the other.
They go into two different ballot boxes and are counted separately.
If you vote in person, you will have to put both papers in their respective boxes, not take one home with you, so that the number of papers in the box equals the number given out. With a postal vote, if you only send one back, that would be ok.
There are rules about what constitutes an invalid ballot, and candidates/their agents are shown the papers before the returning officer rejects any.
If you put a cross against one and only one candidate/party, but write on the paper in a way that does not identify you as an individual, it will probably be considered a valid vote. If you sign it, it won’t.
This information is dated 2017, but nothing more recent comes up in a search, so I assume it still applies: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf_file/UKPE-doubtfuls-booklet.pdf
Kiwilassie @ 2.28pm
https://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2021/03
This link works
Thanks crazycat.
@tartanfever
See, this is exactly the kind of low wattage thinking that’s going to lead directly to you having one of those horror show SNP listers from the twitler youth representing you.
Those SNP1&2 zombie types are still going to vote for their party on the list enmasse anyway. Once the SNP start dropping constituency seats, they’ll pick up list seats to make up for it, *at our expense*.
Understand?
In chasing the middle-class vote, the Sturgeon SNP have tried to absorb the ID politics of Hillary, while at the same time refusing to note that, when it really mattered, Hillary blew it.
Yep.
Has to be SNP1 Alba2
The real unelectable SNP dross is on the lists.
Let’s not give them seats for the sake of spite.
I know voting for the SNP on the constituency sticks in the craw but to make this work, you must vote for the SNP.
If you spoil your constituency vote you simply open up the opportunity of the SNP winning on the list at the expense of ALBA.
Dan @2.53pm.
It says Brian Topping was a councillor, whilst Sturgeon was still a school lassie, Mr Topping will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the ALBA party.
By stating the “impossible” conditions needed to work with Salmond Sturgeon has conceded that the SNP might work with Alba if she or he or both were not involved. Think of it as an overly aggressive opening bid.
Now the point about what she is asking is that she’s asking for him to apologise to a woman who, as far as the evidence goes, seems to have make a serious and unfounded allegation out of spite. I suppose he could say sorry for thwarting her ambition and not realising just how far she’d go for petty revenge. But that’s kind of like being bullied into admitting you deserve a kicking from an abuser.
If she want’s him to apologise for what he actually admitted to doing rather than the exaggerations that made it, reluctantly for most of the accusers it seems, to court then I thought he’d already done so when given the opportunity and offered to go through arbitration for others?
So Nicla sides with her yoonionist colleagues in saying that ALBA are gaming the system by having the bastard cheek to form a party for REAL independence , where was her outrage when the yoonionist parties formed their GRAND COALITION of bitter thegether to defeat??????? the 2014 referendum , was THAT not gaming the system or was that ok
Or where was her outrage when her pal Kezia and tRuthless were telling their voters to vote for alternative parties to keep the nationalists out , was that ok Nicla or is it ONLY because it’s Salmond who’s doing it that makes it Baaadddd
Big chance here as the D’hondt system of voting gives the smaller list parties (those that don’t get so many constituency votes) a fair number of seats. Viz a viz Labour and the Cons in the main. If a good number of the list vote is given to Alba then they will get a good number of list seats that would normally go to Labour, Cons, LibDems and Greens. Hence the real need for a second strong Indy Party such as Alba. Although the Greens were keeping the Indy Majority in a major second Indy Party with high profile candidates such as we have now was what is needed to push Independence.
They D’Hondt system was put in place under Blair’s and Donald Dewar’s jurisdiction to prevent any one party (mainly the only Independence Party at the time SNP) gaming an overall majority. What’s now scuppered this theory is another Independence Party ie Alba who are now it the fray with some hard hitters.
The voters will now need to be convinced to give their second list vote to Alba. If the majority of the voters do this we could be living in very interesting times for Scottish Independence.
@Andy H 3.14pm
In general you’re right of course, but in specific cases there’s certainly much to be said for targeted removal of the most egregiously distasteful constituency candidates. I’d happily see Sturgeon and Robertson lose. As an Edinburgh Central voter I certainly won’t be voting for Robertson under any circumstances: I realise that might let the equality distasteful Graham Campbell in, but he’d be such a liability to the SNP cause generally that it’d be worth it just to watch Robertson have a Portillo moment! 🙂
Just a wee recap, if you’re a woman, (a real biological one that is) and you’re thinking of giving the Greens your List vote, because they want to protect the environment, just remember this, the Greens enthusiastically backed the Hate Crime bill, which put the rights of the tiny Trans community and blokes who crossdress ahead of yours.
The Greens might want to protect the environment, but they certainly do not want to protect women’s rights. a List vote for the Greens is a vote to send women’s rights back to the Stoneage.
Give the ALBA party your List vote they at least want to protect women’s rights.
Encouraging that many on this blog are now attune to the importance of voting SNP 1 and ALBA 2.
Getting as many SNP in on the Constituency ticket is critical to getting many in on the Constituency ticket.
Yes many of us have reservations, grave reservations about Sturgeon and some of the others, but maxing the SNP is important. Once we have say 90 independence MSP or more, say 60 and 30 the parliamentary landscape changes utterly. Holding control the move from yellow to alba blue will be swift, as control departs the Queen and her coterie.
There are many many many MSP’s who will already have reconsidered their allegiance. However, whatever the previous personality problems the coterie have had, power and a thumping parliamentary majority is a powerful cocktail.
SNP members running government, ALBA members running negotiations with Westminster. No wonder Westminster fears these developments.
So to all those unhappy with the SNP, they should put that aside. The dark winter these last years is lifting and the sun is starting to shine.
SNP1 and SNP2. Lets do it, every one of use.
@FireproofJim
Hi Jim Spot on with SNP 1 Alba 2.
Let’s hope Joanne Cherry recovers from her illness and gets back to hard hitting the Westminster Establishment.
At Wille was that a typo on your last line?
More additions to the Alba family.
SNP Common Weal Group’s George Kerevan and Craig Berry quit to join Alba Party.
Are these Scottish Election TV debates a bit like Wimbledon until the late 1920s.
The protagonists play down to select a winner – who gets to take-on reigning champion Wee Eck in the Challenge Round?
Pixywine, I am dubious as to the reasoning of these green agendas,
I did some research, look at reforesting Britain or reforesting Scotland and reintroducing animals, the first contradiction I found is using valuable farm land and planting tress to provide habitats for beaver, wolves, bears and bison to roam free,
I also read that the reason for down sizing the amount of cattle here in Britain was because cattle pass wind that causes gases like CO2,?
I suppose herds of bison roaming around Britain are to polite to pass wind, or that wolves don’t fart, that beaver won’t damage water supplies because their very selective and are aware that humans need water so therefore won’t pee in the water. Or fell the trees that everyone spent so much time planting.
This is as ridiculous as wind turbines and battery cars, that people think are safe options for the environment, that is until the older turbines rust away and fall over, and have to go to land fill sites, or the chemical batteries have to be buried or deported to another country, ‘out of site, out of mind’ scenario, like the dumped ammunition’s lying in the sea between Scotland and Ireland.
These green deals are for rich to line their pockets in companies the rich created,
When we vote snp 1 alba 2 I hope in an independent Scotland we can seriously discuss new ideas to make our country green and a pleasant country to live in. And scrap the lobbiest agenda for big companies to silver line their pockets.
I remember Alex giving a briefing many, many years ago.
“Never mention your opponents on you literature, never refer to your opponents in debate. You are just putting them into the voters mind”
I think he has turned that concept to his advantage.
-Trans gammon at 2.50-
You make a good point which to be perfectly honest could have been applied to AFI or ISP, but I don’t think applies to Alba, for the following reasons:
-Alex Salmond is ultra-high-profile
-Many prominent political figures are joining Alba including Kenny MacAskill another well-known politician
-All the media and Nicola Sturgeon have done for the past four days is talk about Alba
-Fundamentally Alba is selling “do something about independence and stop trying to let weirdos into wee girl’s changing rooms” which is a product people want to buy.
All a bit more viable than a group of twenty something academics who all knew each other setting up a social club to discuss Scottish independence in some kind of weird, early-20th-century Marxist framework, even if they did have a point about a few things.
For those who haven’t seen one of the latest additions to The Alba Party: https://twitter.com/ILawson27/status/1376778090840481793
That Jim Walker tweet is hilarious. I used to call my wee sister a cow when I was about 8. I’ve since graduated to massively better and more Glaswegian forms of abuse. I’ve called Sturgeon much worse when she’s been smearing Alex on TV. And I’m quite middle class. I mean I lived a while in Mornigside, ffs.
Alba voters saying they won’t vote SNP 1………suicide.
I mean I lived a while in Mornigside, ffs.
I’m so posh I put Buckfast in a crystal decanter.
5 weeks to go, krankie will be offering a month in Antigua for every voter by then, will she notice the snp only consists of her and the moslem by that point?.
@Trans gammon (2:50pm)
“I know this is going to go against the grain here, but: getting beyond a 5-6% threshold in a given List region from a 6 week cold start is not going to be easy.”
I agree about the challenge and expectation setting, however I’d say the minimum success threshold is 1 seat per region (8 Alba MSP’s).
Based on some of the statements coming out from a LOT of SNP members (including ex NEC members like the Common Weal Group) it feels like a complete purge of the SNP is underway. I think stage 2 (post election) will involve a fair number of SNP MSP’s moving to Alba, only need enough moving to tip the balance of an SNP/Green majority.
This will finally put the SNP Leadership on the back food and loose the control they have worked hard to obtain in recent years by excluding input from ordinary members etc.
Alba voters saying they won’t vote SNP 1………suicide.
Realistically the SNP are going to get in anyway, there’s not likely to be a significant swing away from them in the constituency vote in just a few weeks. Alba has made a great start but so far but it’s going to be an uphill battle.
Long term, if people stopped voting for arseholes who hate us we’ll be better off.
Voting Alba 2 is a no brainer but I am really struggling with SNP 1.
I look at Sturgeon’s failures since she took over the leadership, her lying under oath, the millions of pounds wasted, surrounding herself with incompetents who would have been fired from their positions in the real world.
I then look at my current MSP who has ignored 3 Emails I sent. Not even an acknowledgement!
At the end of the day, I will vote with my conscience and not as I am instructed to do by somebody else!
I wish Boris would call a snap election.
What do you think Pete Wishat ? Will you be comfy with that ya scroat?
NS is a cow and a lot more dung comes out her mouth each day confirms that.
The Greens might want to protect the environment
There’s literally no evidence of them ever doing anything to protect the environment. Trying to impoverish people in Scotland won’t make the tiniest bit of difference to global weather patterns.
AWhiteLife says:
30 March, 2021 at 3:57 pm
5 weeks to go, krankie will be offering a month in Antigua for every voter by then, will she notice the snp only consists of her and the moslem by that point?.
Now, now Mr Ross. If you were a regular visitor, you’d know we don’t do that kind of thing here. Besides, I thought it was travelling people you wanted to victimise and show the red card.
The best way to look at SNP1 is that Nicola doesn’t want IndyRef2. She cannot escape that reality if ALBA are in Holyrood with a dozen MSPs she will have no excuse. She will also have to explain why the 540k is not available.
Put her in a position she doesn’t want. She will not last long under scrutiny and we will have a super majority.
In simple terms call her bluff.
Amusing to see all those on here announcing that they always, always knew that that Nicola Sturgeon was a wrong ‘un, while lauding Alex Salmond as, according to one lunatic, “a master tactician”!! This is the same balloon who got sideswiped by David Cameron – David Cameron! – at the time of the 2014 secession referendum, with regard to the form of the question.
Also I feel it incumbent on myself to point out that, between the SNP/Greens and ‘Alba’ ( the provisional SNP), there are no actual “nationalists” agitating for actual “independence”; rather what you have are two groups of EU Empire Loyalists agitating for secession with a view to subsuming a portion of the extant UK into that body as a new country.
PS did Lynne Anderson promise us a rose garden?
RoS @3.33
Also let us not forget it was the Greens and only the Greens who voted against Johann Lamont’s amendment to the Forensic Medical Services Bill which allowed rape victims the right to choose the ‘sex’ of their medical examiner.
Shocking lack of common decency.
John – Alex actually got a referendum and was within 6% of winning. Bear in mind indy support was 28% at the time.
Not exactly a failure!
Sturgeon is now in her 7th year and 4th mandate. No referendum.
TheSNPLeftMe says:
30 March, 2021 at 3:45 pm
I remember Alex giving a briefing many, many years ago.
“Never mention your opponents on you literature, never refer to your opponents in debate. You are just putting them into the voters mind”
Tbf he wasn’t entirely consistent on that point, and rightly so. I remember putting leaflets through doors highlighting Tory cuts and Michael Forsyth (who Alex seemed to really dislike). Sometimes you’ve got to give the other team a kicking, but it shouldn’t be your main message.
An Alexism that’s stuck in my mind for well over 20 years is when he talked about bringing a message to voters that’s “simple, honest and true”.
I loved that then, and we need it now more than ever.
To reiterate, SNP constituency MSP vs SNP list MSP? All those Woke weirdos?
Has to be SNP1 Alba2
Think of it as a football score and it’s more palatable.
snpleftme @4.07pm.
That’s exactly it, ALBA MSPs will ask the awkward questions that Patrick Harvie and the Greens would never ask. Such as where is the ringfenced indyfunds, why haven’t you moved any further forward with Scottish independence.
ALBA party MSPs will shake FMQs up and hopefully leave Sturgeon no hiding place on the indyfront, as for the Greens the ALBA party must replace them along with BritNat MSPs.
Chas- I am voting for Scotland when I go into the polling booth. In order to do so (vote SNP 1). I have decided not to watch or listen to Sturgeon on TV , from now until May.
It avoids my red mist getting in the way of my better judgement.
Nally Anders @4.12pm.
Yes Nally, I can only hope that Harvey and his genderwoowoo MSPs are wiped out come the 6th of May. Without the Greens propping them her at every turn Sturgeon might no be so cocky.
Big Jock at 4.13pm
Alex was granted a referendum by the grace of Parliament; got the facility to decide the form of the question, the timing of the vote and its franchise. It still didn’t come off and as they say, a miss is as good as a mile.
After the result, this is the same guy that later sulkily lamented the absence of a ‘devo max’ option on the ballot. He’d been seen off by David Cameron.
I sincerely hope you’re not intending to vote on the basis of this embarrassing historic electoral faux pas and the content of opinion polls….
Socrates MacSporran @3:43
“Are these Scottish Election TV debates a bit like Wimbledon until the late 1920s.”
The rackets and outfits of 1920s tennis remind me of Douglas Ross. Wooden and lots of flannel.
Big Jock @ 4.17
I really am struggling with what you propose. Like you, I have no intention of watching any lies or false promises on tv from any of them. I should add that this will be the first time my wife and I have voted for 20 years! I want Independence but the current crop of SNP politicians!! turns my stomach. I simply do not trust them.
Kiwilassie- go on his blog site and do a name search in the search bar and it come up.
This is the same balloon who got sideswiped by David Cameron – David Cameron! – at the time of the 2014 secession referendum, with regard to the form of the question.
Not sure if stupid or trolling, but…
The question on the 2014 ballot was:
“Should Scotland be an independent country? YES/NO”
If that’s David Cameron’s political genius (lol), no wonder he resigned in a huff a couple of years later after his gambler’s luck ran out (double lol).
Any activist who’s been in the game a while will tell you it’s easier to elicit an affirmative – YES! – than a negative. And the question itself was perfectly set up for the good guys, asking about Scotland and Independence, not Separation and the United Kingdom.
Hard to imagine a more favourable question getting past the Electoral Commission.
Alex Salmond ran a brilliant campaign reminiscent of Scotland v Brazil in the 1998 World Cup. So close, so much closer than the vastly better resourced opposition thought it would be in their scariest nightmares. And while we narrowly lost, it was a Pyrrhic victory for the Unionists. They’ve been on the back foot ever since.
So get it roond ye.
@John McNab 4.10pm
That’s not really true: I’ve seen plenty of folk say they were taken in and have now repented of their earlier assessments of Nicola. I have to say I actually quite rated her in the immediate period after the 2015 election when I first joined the party. I was taken in by the apparent competence and the presentation and assumed (wrongly) there was depth behind the facade. It’s easy to be wise after the event of course, but some of the adulation started to feel wrong to me pretty early on, and it wasn’t that long before I realised it was more like the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain.
As for Alex, he didn’t have to be a tactical genius to outsmart Cameron or his government. Alex for everything he asked for in the Edinburgh Agreement negotiations: the britnats totally caved. In part of course that was Cameron’s hubris: he was convinced they’d win hands down so thought it was low risk.
Finally, nobody really buys the EU membership isn’t real indy schtick. It’s a vanishingly unpopular stance amongst Scots. As things stand we’ll have to reapply anyway, it won’t be automatic. It may well be that by the time indy happens EFTA or EEA Norway type deal looks a better bet, but you’re in a very small minority pitching an anti EU line to the movement as a whole: it just makes you look like a zoomer.
Chas @4.01pm – I used to think like you- BA (before alba).
My thoughts were lose some SNP MSPs and the others would have to change things. Only I could not vote out the ones I now loathe (sturgeon, useless, swinney and angus robertson macbeth.). And I was going to have to accept the wokey nutters who were gerrymandered into number one position on the list. A very unsatisfactory position but all I could do. Then we would start the SNP clean-up. Delaying independence by at the very, very best two years.
Then along came Alba like the cavalry coming over the hill. Putting country before party ISP and AFI both withdrew from the list to give Alba a free run. We know that not every SNP supporter will vote for Alba but I suspect a fair few will. Will it be enough ?
I fully agree with you that the current SNP MSPs are a spineless lot – this is to Alba’s advantage. If they are led to independence then they will follow (see how many did NOT rule out joining Alba). Sturgeon will never lead them to independence BUT ALEX SALMOND WILL.
So hold your nose and vote SNP on the constituency and ALBA on the list . And you can enjoy watching your cowardly SNP MSP squirm. AND GET INDEPENCE NEGOTIATIONS BEGINNING IN MAY 2021.
As all the wokeratti were saying to all of us questioning SNP policies very recently : EYES ON THE PRIZE ( I love Karma).
MAX THE YES : SNP on the constituency and ALBA on the list.
AND BEGIN NEGOTIATING LEAVING WESTMONSTER CONTROL AND RETURNING TO EUROPE AS A FAVOURED COUNTRY IN TWO MONTHS.
Stephen Welsh at 4pm
Was thinking about the possibility of constituency MSPs moving over after the election. Michelle Ballantyne and Andy Wightman have changed/left party but kept their place as list MSPs. Presumably once all the list seats are divvied out any subsequent changes are fair game?
The real wonder is that dross hasn’t included the nicola party in his gaming of the system.
Given our FM’s declaration that she will not deal with Alba means that a potential supermajority means nowt to her, she would be the perfect ally.
I will never allow the westminster leader of our party to be dragged out of it’s subsidised dining rooms against his will. He will always stand as a strong and enthususiatic caution against physical and financial obesity.
‘John McNab’ @ 4.10pm….same name of a book by the tory John Buchan ( Lord Tweedsmuir) Empire Loyalist…..says it all really.
Alex and his close team have looked at this from all angles. We all need to abide by his calculations. He has truly played a blinder here.
However, my worry is, like in 2014, how are the votes going to be counted? I read that most will be redirected to England to be counted. Jiggery-pokery there? Is there any way of getting a handle on that?
For those in areas with a Swinney or a Sturgeon on the Constituency vote – who are really struggling to give them your Constituency vote, can I just say its early days. I do sympathise, am in the same boat.
Lets see how things go nearer to election time.
I wonder what would happen – in one or 2 choice Constituency seats – if for example polls show Alba set to take nearly all the List seats and the SNP list seat votes collapse (not that they count for anything anyway), but you know, what if.
In the meant time, due to Covid, the ballot boxes will be held overnight and counted the following day/s. How do we secure them and prevent interference.
After the doors close for registering as a candidate tomorrow, I think it inevitable that NS and co, will go full tonto to deliberately scupper the SNP constituency vote and make them unelectable.
Its one tool they have in their toolbox, and they are desperate.
We still need a list of good guys/gals and wanks on the SNP Constituency list. We may well have to rally round and campaign for the good ones.
The SNP continue to push the narrative that with so many charges against him Salmond must be a disreputable character. I have done some statistics on this.
Is the intuition of those who basically say ‘no smoke without fire’, justified?
Can we use statistics to assess the likelihood that narrative 1 or narrative 2 is correct?
Yes we can.
From 2007 to 2017 the average conviction rate for sexual crimes in Scotland was 76% (https://www.gov.scot/publications/criminal-proceedings-scotland-2016-17/pages/27/).
So the acquittal rate for such offences was 24%.
The chance of being convicted must depend in part on whether a person is genuinely guilty. We may allow that some guilty men or women escape justice due to a faulty acquittal. But how many?
Suppose we make the very pessimistic assumption that fully half of those acquitted were really guilty. This means that the chance of a guilty person being acquitted on a sexual charge would be 12%. Salmond was acquitted on 13 such charges in succession, so the probability of this happening is thus 0.1213 or 1/(934,638,789,872).
In words this is one in 934 billion. There are about 1500 sexual offences brought to trial each year in Scotland. At that rate, for Salmond to be guilty and yet acquitted 13 times would be a once in 600 million year event.
On probability grounds we can thus reject the guilty man hypothesis. The victim of false accusations interpretation is overwhelmingly more probable.
https://paulcockshott.wordpress.com/2021/03/30/statistics-and-salmond/
Hi John McNab at 4:23 pm.
You typed,
“After the result, this is the same guy that later sulkily lamented the absence of a ‘devo max’ option on the ballot. He’d been seen off by David Cameron.
You’re haverin’.
AS wanted a straight two choice vote – yes or no. The last thing he wanted was the complication of a devomax choice that would have diluted the possible yes votes.
So, knowing that Cameron would utilise the Bain Principle, the devomax option was suggested and, sure enough, Cameron turned it down.
Scott says:
30 March, 2021 at 4:34 pm
Stephen Welsh at 4pm
Was thinking about the possibility of constituency MSPs moving over after the election. Michelle Ballantyne and Andy Wightman have changed/left party but kept their place as list MSPs. Presumably once all the list seats are divvied out any subsequent changes are fair game?
Expect Ccampbell and his phone bill as a convert shortly after the election
I dont think many will stomach voting for the SNP stazi. I honestly think it would be more honest to not just go for the list but to stand for the regions. Why not try to clear out the swamp and if that delays independence then it is worth it. To rebuild on good foundations or the whole house might tumble down. Integrity is important and we Scottish people owe Nicola Sturgeon nothing and certainly not another period of lording it over us. Im glad to be out of Europe and have no intention of going back in and if Scotland had the backbone it would stay away from the EU.
Wonder if there will be some “big hitters” announced just before the leaders debate? Lol
Someone told me that Salmond’s defence lawyer used the defence that “Salmond is a sleaze ball but not criminally so” (though not in those exact words).
Just what did Salmond admit to?
If @Rev is of a mind, a page setting out Salmond’s behaviour (ie what he admits to) and the out-and-out lies about it (ie what others claim he has admitted to) would be useful.
Another tale I was told was that airport stewardesses had to stop walking with Salmond (to stop punters pestering him) to the gate etc because of his wandering hands – is that true or a total lie?
Far to many Alba supporters saying that they will not vote for the SNP for me to feel comfortable voting for them on the list.
I shall vote for the established Green Party as normal and hope a lot of folk think the same as I do. Unless things change of course.
Gregory, it’s not difficult to find write-ups of the trial. For about half the allegations the defence, supported by witnesses, was that the behaviour claimed of did not happen. For a few, such as the hair-pinging or the Vettriano re-enactment, the defence was that the incident happened but was not regarded at the time in the way it has since been painted. On the “sleepy cuddle” the defence was consent.
“Any possible rationale”. Pretty sure you only get on the debate if you’ve some sitting MSPs, particularly if you only launched last week. If Alba get on then Galloway would have to get on
Salmond’s lawyer didn’t say that, it was edited to make it sound like he did, as I understand it.
What he actually said was something to the effect that more cynical and scathing people might say “yes, Salmond is a sleaze ball but not criminally so…”
And that’s entirely different.
I think Troll Gregory Beekman (4:42) needs banned!
Nicola Sturgeon painted herself into a corner with a “gold standard” referendum presented Theresa May / Boris Johnson with a Section 30 veto over Scottish Democracy.
Nicola Sturgeon painted herself into a corner with her “wait until we know the final details of Brexit” malarkey, which essentially paralysed Scotland’s involvement with Brexit negotiations, while giving Theresa May a free hand to negotiate her own Brexit without any constitutional interference from Holyrood.
Nicola Sturgeon painted herself into a corner when she arbitrarily set aside Scotland’s Constitutional Sovereignty, thus forfeiting Scotland’s winning hand which would have saved Scotland from Brexit and brought the UK to an existential constitutional crisis in 2016.
Nicola Sturgeon took less than 24 hours to paint herself into a corner over ALBA, the most progressive and insightful development on Scottish Independence since 2014, and Sturgeon is determined the SNP should left out in the cold.
Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t “do” strategic thinking. There is no plan.
Luckily we’re not voting SNP 1 and ALBA 2 to keep Nicola in the style she’s become accustomed to, we’re doing it for Scotland, and a supermajority in Holyrood.
SNP 1 ALBA 2
nobody really buys the EU membership isn’t real indy schtick. It’s a vanishingly unpopular stance amongst Scots
Naw it isnae. It’s just not discussed much because it doesn’t align with any establishment party or MSM agenda. Even the Scottish Tories were reaching for the Tena Lady over Brexit. And the EU isn’t really discussed in any real sense, there’s no sober cost benefit analysis or indication of how much integration, how much surrender of democratic power would be too much, just crying about an imaginary, Panglossian EU that only exists in the mind of people who vaguely imagine Brussels is a bright, shiny, modern Super Best Friends club that stands for progressive cosmopolitanism somehow.
Over a million Scots voted to leave the EU. 38% of votes cast, despite a complete lack of campaigning infrastructure in Scotland (Vote Leave etc. were very English focused). I’ve seen various figures bandied about, seems likely that roughly a third of YES voters were also LEAVE voters. Most politicians would literally give you a handy in a dirty alley behind the Spar if it got them between 30 and 40% of the vote. That’s not a vanishingly small minority.
Brian Topping, the 36 year veteran SNP councillor who just joined ALBA, supported Brexit. At the time he said:
“I want Scotland to be in charge of its own destiny, and I cannot see how we can do that and, at the same time, be in Europe and have un-elected people making policies that we may or may not agree with.”
Makes sense tae Brian, and it makes sense tae me.
@Breeks at 4.49pm
Spot on and well said.
Gregory@4.42:
Do not create work for the host that you could do for yourself and the rest of your country.
Get all sherlock holmes and get back to us all.
@Garavelli Princip
You need a brain inserted.
There’s a LOT of info out there about Salmond, but how much of it is accurately reported?
Imagine even suggesting someone should be banned from this site because they trust the Rev to tell the truth and thus asking for Rev to put the record straight?
The mind boggles…
I was speaking earlier on the remarkable similarity between Nicola Sturgeon and Imelda Marcos, erstwhile First Lady of the Phillipines.
It’s a chap called President Duterte who’s in charge over there now. Quite a tough guy who takes convicted drug dealers up in a helicopter, opens the door and kicks them out in mid-flight. He used to do it personally, but he gets others to do it for him nowadays.
Now it seems likely that Alex Salmond will make another appearance at Holyrood, it makes you wonder what he’s got in mind for James Wolffe, doesn’t it? A short helicopter trip over the Firth of Forth? I’m sure there are one or two in Scotland just now who would gladly kick him out the door.
Red at 4.27pm.
It may well be easier to elicit a positive response (Yes) than a negative (No); but it didn’t. So I would redirect, get “it (whatever that might be) roond ye.”
Sturgeon doesn’t seem to realize or maybe she does, that attacking Mr Salmond she is really attacking the majority who do want Independence and who realize that a Supermajority being offered by the Alba Party is a golden opportunity not to be missed. A supermajority gives the nationalist so many opportunities to gain Independence from the UK, because if I’m right, and the nationalist holds 66% of the parliament after the May election then the Scottish Government has a legal right hold a plebiscite election and there is nothing the UK can do. Now we all know that Sturgeon isn’t interested in a plebiscite, she want a referendum on the basis of the last referendum conducted in 2014, then this is where Mr Salmond’s Alba Party comes in again, simply because the SNP and the Alba Party can vastly reduce the number of unionist within Holyrood and thereby when the Scottish Government went to the UK and stating that the sovereign people of Scotland want a referendum and we want to be granted a section 30 order, and if you don’t grant a section 30 order, then we’ll hold a referendum as it is what we’ve been elected to do by the Scottish people.
The trouble is Sturgeon really doesn’t want a referendum, now or in the next five years. Some nationalist already know this and some just will not accept this, and this is where the Alba party comes in again, as it will hold the SNP to account on the mandate it seeks on 6th May 2021 (and the mandates already been given to the SNP). The Alba Party wants Independence, that a fact and Sturgeon knows this and she is extremely worried about the Alba Party getting any sort of say in Holyrood because unlike the Greens who’s aren’t really bothered if a referendum happens or not provided they have a seat at the table, all the Alba party are complaining on is Independence for Scotland, and giving the SNP (and Scotland) the economic ability to achieve Independence now.
Sturgeon will state during the whole 5yrs of the next Holyrood parliament, that the reason why Scotland can’t be Independent is because of the Economic issue as a result of the pandemic, well in my opinion that’s like saying Scotland can’t be Independent because where dependent on the bank of England and the UK government, it seems to me like Sturgeon is playing the cards that the Unionist where playing to keep us in this union in 2014 what kind of strategy is that.
Gregory Beekman says:
30 March, 2021 at 4:43 pm
Another tale I was told was that airport stewardesses had to stop walking with Salmond (to stop punters pestering him) to the gate etc because of his wandering hands – is that true or a total lie?
Gonna say that’s a total lie.
The “Airport” incident was apparently when a stewardess walking ahead of Alex Salmond and set off a security metal detector, and Alex Salmond quipped “It must be the killer heels”. That’s it. The end.
That, I understand is the full extent, chapter and verse of the Airport incident.
Misconduct? Gross misconduct? Sexual assault??? Go to jail as a sex offender???? – Lunacy. Sheer knocked out the ballpark lunacy.
Gregory Beekman at 4.43:’…..another story I heard….’
Do you see the flaw in your deductive reasoning yet, champ?
Lochside at 4.38pm
What is the “all” that being called John McNab says? Really?
Its more important to settle the score with the 313yrs union than it is between Sturgeon and Salmond he’s willing to drop the matter and so should Sturgeon.
paul @4.54
I had to get stents in my coronary arteries earlier this year, so was too ill to follow the Salmond trial as closely as I’d have liked.
Rev has followed it very closely and, I’d hope, would be able to easily put together something.
But note I asked, did not demand.
However, it’d also be a useful campaign page – I’m sure there’ll be lots of times Salmond’s alleged behaviour will be brought up on social media, wrongfully and spitefully spun, and a page setting out truth from lie in that context would be extremely useful to send to those peddling such stuff.
Michael B @5:03
No, please spell it out for me.
John McNab – I see you ignored the subsequent strategic collapse of the unionist vote and the very high likelihood we’ll get them in the next fixture (and we only need to win once, the Yoons need to win every time), so I hope it doesn’t sound in any way childish or disrespectful when I say
GET IT RIGHT UP YE YA TUMSHIE
Apologies in advance if this has been mentioned further upthread but I see a possibility of the unionist parties doing Indy supporters a favour by going for a double whammy in the debate.
1. Alba bad. “Alex Salmond is the devil incarnate”. Either Sturgeon agrees, following on from all she’s said, and is therefore seen to be agreeing with unionists OR she defends him and looks like a hypocrite. Same with the party itself. If Ross does his “threat to the union” spiel, either she agrees and is happy about it (e.g. yay, more indy votes!) or she disagrees, leaving people to question her opinion that more Indy votes, whoever gets them, does not threaten the union.
2. Sturgeon bad. The reputational angle. Misleading parliament, wasting public money, using legal resources to deny access to evidence, plus the HCB and, particularly, the GRA – “What? You want to protect women?? Don’t make us laugh!!”
If I thought any of the other participants could rise to the occasion and show some dingo’s danglies about it, I might be tempted to tune in.
Sadly I suspect the level of vigorous debate will remain firmly at ‘plankton’.
I predicted earlier today that the Tories are going to re-activate the Salmond scandal as a way of undermining Sturgeon. I don’t think they have much choice if they want to avoid their worst nightmare, with 90+ pro-indy MSPs dominating Holyrood.
I hope they do that.
Tonight’s debate should be interesting in that respect.
I hear that Sturgeon is ruling our any sort of cooperation with Salmond until he has apologised for his actions to the alphabet women. Generally she is going around promulgating the idea that the inquiries and court cases have established her innocence and Salmond’s guilt. This is the opposite of the truth.
Salmond as we all know was the one who was found free of guilt in both the criminal trial but also the court of session. The inquiries were both very scathing of the role of the FM and her Government.
What’s remarkable, though, is that the inquiries were essentially prohibited from even looking at the most damning allegation against Sturgeon, that she was involved in plot to imprison and destroy Salmond.
Key evidence and testimony that we can guess would have corroborated the so-called ‘conspiracy theory’ has been systematically hidden, withheld, redacted and apparently even shredded.
And Salmond needs to apologise?
Maybe Someone should call David Davis and put this baby to rest once and for all.
Brian Doonthetoon at 4.40pm
I am not havering. For at least two years, prior to the 2014 referendum, (which AS wasn’t really committed to) he wanted ‘devo max’ on the ballot paper, which David Cameron knocked back, convincing AS that the ballot paper question was just what AS thought that he was supposed to be wanting. So despite Salmond’s claim during the pre-referendum hustings, that there were “free plan bees” he ain’t no master tactician.
Breeks @5.:02
Yes, that was my understanding too.
But these ‘tales’ are going to multiply through this campaign, I would imagine, putting doubt over Salmond’s character and thus denting his vote.
How are we to counter such attacks? Saying ‘found not guilty’ doesn’t destroy the ‘sleaze-ball who would slobber over any woman who came within range but not criminally so’ attacks to put people off voting Alba.
Maybe Someone should call David Davis and put this baby to rest once and for all.
Do they need to now that Kenny MacAskill is no longer an SNP MP so free of their whip?
Red at 5.08pm
“Strategic collapse”??? What does that even mean? It implies some sort of attack of the vapours.
Is there no end to your people’s self delusion? Your closing statement may well have been intended to be childish and/or disrespectful, but I couldn’t care less.
It certainly wasn’t “joyous and civic” though…
Gregory Beekman says:
30 March, 2021 at 4:43 pm
“Someone told me that Salmond’s defence lawyer used the defence that “Salmond is a sleaze ball but not criminally so” (though not in those exact words).”
I don’t think that is the case, From what I heard the lawyer said that Salmond had admitted to inappropriate behaviour but Salmond told him to withdraw that statement because it wasn’t true. I think I heard that on an episode of “Through a Scottish Prism”.
I know many are struggling with the idea of SNP1, particularly if you have an ‘inner circle elite’ MSP.
Just a suggestion here but maybe check their previous majority, think about how much of that they might lose while still managing to retain their seat and decide on that basis whether to give them your vote or not.
Europe is going to split this.
Hatuey @4:47
Thanks for that clarification! (So my friend told me a porkie!).
Breeks says:
30 March, 2021 at 4:49 pm
Nicola Sturgeon painted herself into a corner with a “gold standard” referendum presented Theresa May / Boris Johnson with a Section 30 veto over Scottish Democracy.
The key word is herself, not her electorate.
Nicola Sturgeon painted herself into a corner with her “wait until we know the final details of Brexit” malarkey, which essentially paralysed Scotland’s involvement with Brexit negotiations, while giving Theresa May a free hand to negotiate her own Brexit without any constitutional interference from Holyrood.
I’m no politician, but at the latest (say mid 2018) the anti euro faction had won (lets forget the anti euro electorate had won 2 years earlier) and that was going to be what has happened.
Nicola’s ‘Stop Brexit bus’ got little mileage outside the campaign,and even then did not stray over the border, the one where they voted for it.
Nicola Sturgeon painted herself into a corner when she arbitrarily set aside Scotland’s Constitutional Sovereignty, thus forfeiting Scotland’s winning hand which would have saved Scotland from Brexit and brought the UK to an existential constitutional crisis in 2016.
Nicola Sturgeon took less than 24 hours to paint herself into a corner over ALBA, the most progressive and insightful development on Scottish Independence since 2014, and Sturgeon is determined the SNP should left out in the cold.
She has one pot of paint, shade called ‘murrell beige’, spec sheet says:
Poor coverage,expensive, not enginereed to cover structural flaws
Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t “do” strategic thinking. There is no plan.
Luckily we’re not voting SNP 1 and ALBA 2 to keep Nicola in the style she’s become accustomed to, we’re doing it for Scotland, and a supermajority in Holyrood.
SNP 1 ALBA 2
I am with you brother!
Gregory Beekman at 5.08 ‘please spell it out for me’
Already did. ‘Another story I heard’
PS Bowel cancer in last year. Treatment didn’t make me dopey.
Menstruator @4:46
I was seriously ill earlier this year so couldn’t follow the trial as closely as I’d have liked.
Do you have a trusted source you could point me to that lists the lies told about Salmond’s behaviour towards women and the actual truth?
Thanks.
Michael B @5:20
Hope you recover fully from that op!
Another story I heard was that Salmond was found innocent.
Are you going to dismiss that the same way? Look beyond the phrasing, see the content.
Gregory Beekman
Assuming you truly wish to be informed you could watch this podcast from Craig Murray and then draw up your list.
Thanks Rev for turning the WoS twitter back on. Informs, educates and amuses me no end. smiley face thing.
Gregory Beekman says:
30 March, 2021 at 5:06 pm
paul @4.54
I had to get stents in my coronary arteries earlier this year, so was too ill to follow the Salmond trial as closely as I’d have liked.
Sorry about that, not much to do with the subject.
I’ve seen a lot of comments over the years qualified with terrible experiences.
I feel as strongly towards your plight as them.
Rev has followed it very closely and, I’d hope, would be able to easily put together something.
But note I asked, did not demand.
Kind of you
However, it’d also be a useful campaign page – I’m sure there’ll be lots of times Salmond’s alleged behaviour will be brought up on social media, wrongfully and spitefully spun, and a page setting out truth from lie in that context would be extremely useful to send to those peddling such stuff.
Yes
James Che @ 3.44
Way way off topic for here but …..
I’d read years back that the re-wilding narrative has little to do with the environment at all.
It’s really because the Corperations and Goverments have nothing left that the Banks will mortgage and land will be the answer to underpinning and acquiring more public debt.
At the time it was in relation to First Nation Americans and their land but was certainly before the water protests at the end of Obamas years. Although land grab was very much what those protests were about.
There was also some stand off between some US gun nuts and their federal government over land being acquired too…. it didn’t end well, and this rewinding theory surfaced again around it.
I can’t remember much of the details, or how it was ment to work,but the thrust of the theory ( and it was a conspiracy theory ) was to look out for the term re-wilding and a push for it to be accepted as a good thing. Because it’s really all about the next place to generate debt to load on to the public.
Well here we are , and living in the part of the island with the most empty land too….Sooo…. ???
Gregory Beekman says:
Just what did Salmond admit to?
From memory:
1. A ‘sleepy cuddle’ with one woman. This was the most serious charge in his trial, of attempted rape. However at the time of the incident there was arbitration. He apologised, and the woman was offered employment at the same grade elsewhere. She accepted the apology and chose instead to remain in his office. The jury found this charge Not Proven.
2. Pinging another woman’s hair, as part of a long-running office in-joke. Not Guilty.
I don’t recall any other incidents that Salmond admitted to. If he did, they were of the level of incident 2. above.
I think that might be it – apart from saying that he was no saint. His enemies take that as a tacit admission of sexual predation. I don’t see it like that at all. Like many driven politicians he could be hard to work for. John Reid for example, was no saint, but that didn’t make him a menace to women.
Btw, people jumping on Gregory’s case. Wouldn’t you rather have a confirmed list of Salmond’s behaviour, so you can counter accusations of sex pest with the actual facts? I am pretty sure that is where he is coming from.
@breeks
Now, now Mr Ross. If you were a regular visitor, you’d know we don’t do that kind of thing here. Besides, I thought it was travelling people you wanted to victimise and show the red card.
Firstly I am not a Mr anything, secondly we Don’t do what here?, I have no mind to victimise any people, travelling or otherwise. Quite the opposite, I want indigenous Scottish people to flourish in their ancestral homeland if they so choose, I don’t expect to be living under sharia law which is exactly what the HCB is the start of. I want to see our Parliament filled with Scots, who swear in on the Bible or affirm otherwise. Not in urdu on a quran. Sturgeon has been madly shaking her money tree which never really pays out. New computers for all the kids, did the £9 million for 25,000 laptops ever get distributed to them last year or are they still in storage? if so there can’t be many more low income households with kids in need of more. Where is the missing money?. I’m sure if my comments are considered “we don’t do that here” enough they will be removed or i will be asked not to comment again.
Gregory Beekman
Craig Murray can tell you all you want to know http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2021/03/a-very-tough-video-to-make/ Another good source for you is Grousebeater https://grousebeater.wordpress.com/2020/03/09/salmond-trial/
I should clarify above that for point 1., the ‘sleepy cuddle’ was consensual, according to the version of the facts accepted by the jury.
Craig P @5:39
Thank you!!
Yes, that was exactly the point and thanks for stating what Salmond has admitted to. Much obliged.
Gregory Beekman says:
30 March, 2021 at 5:12 pm
Breeks @5.:02
How about the fact that he has been in politics for most of his life, the police had over 20 officers dedicated to digging up dirt on him and all the could come up with were the cases which were all dismissed by the courts – including at least one where it was evidential that the complainant was lying because she was not even in the building on the night in question? All those years when, as a champion of independence, he would have been under the closest possible scrutiny of MI5 and they had to come up with “hair pinging” and bad dad jokes to try to build a case under the Moorov doctrine. don’t you think that if they had uncovered even the slightest bit of evidence it would have been used in 2014? Even his enemies at Westminster realised that these allegations were absolute shite and wanted no part of this.
@Gregory Beekman says:30 March, 2021 at 5:12 pm
“But these ‘tales’ are going to multiply through this campaign, I would imagine, putting doubt over Salmond’s character and thus denting his vote.”
Chief Whip Patrick Grady was reported as a sex pest to Nicola Sturgeon by no less than Alex Salmond, a few months before the oh-so-convenient allegations were made against him and the ones for Grady were mysteriously shelved.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nicola-sturgeon-knew-about-patrick-grady-before-sex-claims-were-made-kb80t0nt8
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/sturgeon-patrick-grady/
The Aide of Patrick Harvey has said the Salmond accusations were trumped up.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/alex-salmond-is-victim-of-a-witch-hunt-aide-to-snp-chief-whip-says-5ffjwz3kb
Hmmmm, wonder why she thought that?
Derek Mackay never faced justice despite clearly breaking Scottish digital grooming laws the SNP had only recently passed to protect 16 year olds from such pretatory adults.
Sturgeon and Yusless – with Tory, Labour, Green and Libble-Blibble backing – will rubber-stamp a Self-Gendering “reform” rendering it impossible to stop known rapists and sex predators from making women’s safe spaces (toilets, changing rooms, etc) their hunting grounds. Even police will be hamstrung from taking “deterring” actions for fear of being sued for “transphobia”.
But they’re waiting until AFTER the current Holyrood elections to do so, knowing the public will go nuts!
Honestly, if they want to chuck stones around inside the People’s Palace, it’s them the glass is going to rain down on big-time if we counter-strike rather than perma-defend like fools.
I think this campaign will become dominated with smears against Salmond’s character of the form “he’s admitted he’s a sleaze-ball but not apologised” and eventually it’ll cost him dearly.
Gregory Beekman , no he didnt, go away trill.
Pat Harvie really had his finger on the pulse of the Nation.
“Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie has said the focus of the election must be climate change in order to cut Scotland’s emissions.”
Aye ok Pat.
And what about this Independence thingy Pat?
Just like the SNP, the Greens have no intention of delivering Independence.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-56575904
Craig P says:
30 March, 2021 at 5:39 pm
There is a list on another thread on this site.
The “sleepy cuddle” also appeared to have been a mutually agreed cuddle between two adults and only considered inappropriate because he was her boss.
If you don’t want a cuddle from your boss you tell him so – in no uncertain terms – if you go along with it you don’t go dropping him in the shit afterwards.
Not a fan Gregory?
If folk remember, in 2015 Mr Salmond told Anna Soubrey to ‘behave woman’ during a parliamentary debate and she complained that this was sexist.
The Huffington Post did a short article on the incident and asked Nicola Sturgeon about Mr Salmond’s behaviour. Her response can be quoted
‘I have worked with Salmond for 25 years and have never known him to be sexist’
Adding later
The fundamental question ‘does that language indicate that Alex Salmond is sexist? Absolutely not!, There is no man I know who is less sexist’
So what happened after June 2015 to change her mind – given that ALL the incidents claimed at the trial were well before that time and during a period in which Sturgeon knew him so well and had never, ever known him to be sexist.
It was fear that won the 2014 referendum for no John. Nothing to do with Salmond’s tactics.
It was called ‘Project Fear’ ffs. It’s pretty hard to get a nation to vote yes, when they are hiding in the corner from their abuser.
Things are different now. The UK is truly broken. The promises they made were just empty , and the real danger is actually staying in the UK.
John is just spouting pure baloney.
Holy ” What has happened since 2014″.
Nicola got power and decided to abuse it. She is simply not a very nice person, power in the wrong hands!!
Gregory Beekman says:
30 March, 2021 at 5:47 pm
I think this campaign will become dominated with smears against Salmond’s character of the form “he’s admitted he’s a sleaze-ball but not apologised” and eventually it’ll cost him dearly.
I don’t know if that’s wishful thinking or if you actually believe it but I think you may find that will die down before long – if Ms Sturgeon wishes to return to Holyrood at all.
EITHER Be patient OR stop stirring it.
Gregory Beakman @ 5.47
You could always just go with asking ..
What was it about Nicola Sturgeons friends that makes Alex Salmond loose all reason ?
That would be a start… 🙂
If the Alba Party bit the bullet and made the Glasgow List vote a battle between Patrick Harvie and Tommy Sheridan, it would be a slaughter.
West End Woke Trendy vs The Thinking Man’s Ned? No contest.
Everyone outside of the cappuchino and wine bar circuit would prefer Glesga Grit to a Patronising Shit – someone that would fight the city’s corner.
Actually, that’s a campaign point in itself – who would you rather have as your List MSP? Tommy Sheridan, a “Man of The People”, or Patrick Harvie, a “Man Of The Right Sort Of People”?
John McNab @5.10pm
Hello Nicola. I’m surprised you have the time to post on this site. Try keeping a closer eye on your Ministers breaching lockdown. Love to Peter.
Eh, have you ever met Patrick Grady?
He’s a soft, timid wee guy. Sex pest? Mibbe. But a harmless one, I’m sure. I find it hard to believe any young man would have difficulty telling him to go and perv on somebody else.
However, young people these days, especially the type that gets involved in politics, tends towards being fragile wee snowflakes who literally can’t even.
I’m sure it’s been blown out of all proportion, very interesting how he’s been protected by Nicola though.
John McNab – It certainly wasn’t “joyous and civic” though…
I’m more of a piss in a ginger bottle, throw it at my enemies sort of guy. But joyously, so you’re welcome.
Gregory Beekman says:
30 March, 2021 at 5:47 pm
I think this campaign will become dominated with smears against Salmond’s character of the form “he’s admitted he’s a sleaze-ball but not apologised” and eventually it’ll cost him dearly.
Do smears outweigh examined evidence?
Do smears outweigh jury verdicts?
Are smears anything more than smears?
Those smears, disproven in court, have already cost AS dearly.
Justice is not easily paid for in our current scotland.
Gregory Beekman, apologies, i jumped in before reading your other posts, think you have been out right by others. Have a good day.
Gregory Beekman says:
30 March, 2021 at 5:47 pm
Listen to this from around 34mins in – or listen to it all if you really want some insight.
http://www.barrheadboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Barrheadboy-Scottish-Prism-27th-Mar-2021-Iain-Lawson.mp3
Big Jock says:
30 March, 2021 at 5:56 pm
Holy ” What has happened since 2014?.
Nicola got power and decided to abuse it. She is simply not a very nice person, power in the wrong hands!!
I think she was all right without power. Once she got power she didn’t really understand how to use it and found herself feeling more and more threated and certainly wasn’t going to let it go.
She’s inferior to Mr Salmond. NOT because she’s a woman but rather that she doesn’t have as good a brain.
She is the epitome of an over-achiever. Many leaders are:-)
It appears there is a chart doing the rounds telling Onionists how to vote tactically on the List.
It squeezes out the LD’s in all by H and I.
That will not play well in my area – where the Big tory vote has lost a lot of ground to the ‘nice/baby tory vote of the Lib Dems’.
A lot of those blue rinse voters – will not coutenance voting Tory. The Lib Dems do all that the tory’s do, but with a sad face, and they like that.
Everywhere else is Labour or Tory.
The question for the Onionists is how are they going to sell that to their voters. On the List vote.
I think there are areas (Red Morningside) where the voters are willing to vote tactically on the Constituency vote… but the List vote has always been the wee local guy/gal to keep the big boys honest.
Say you hold your nose – as a tory – and vote Labour to keep Scotland chained to the Union – to do that once on the Constituency vote is a big ask… but then to do it again on the List vote (especially if you think the List candidates are strong and deserve supporting?). I think that is a really big ask.
Yes voters on the other hand are being asked to vote for SNP and Alba – both ‘officially’ for Indy – and to Max the Yes.
What a wonderfully positive message. (And I’m thinking of the voter who does not do politics the way all of us here do, and so does not have the same misgivings about Nicla as us).
Anyway, if anyone is up to it – and I’m not competent – what would the 2016 list vote figures look like if all the SNP / Green votes go to Alba, and the Unionist vote is consolidated to the biggest party?
In Mid Scotland area (from memory) Roughly speaking the figures were like this:
SNP 120,000
Conservatives 73,000
Labour 51,000
LD’s 20,000
Greens 18,000
If for the sake of argument all the green votes go to Alba also
You get 148,000 for Alba and 144,000 for Unionists
I think under Dehont that would work out at 4 Alba seats and 3 Unionists.
Which is still an awful lot better than throwing them all away for nothing on both votes SNP.
We can really do this folks. Its shear madness not to go for it from an Indy point of view.
Merganser at 5.58pm:
?
Red at 5.58pm:
Stay classy, gadge, stay classy.
Ginger Dugger Alert.
She’s back
The one who will never have a bad word said about her beloved fellow Lesbian Nikla.
An imposter, and if I see her taking money from punters under false pretenses at a Wings Stall, then I will call her out.
Just as I will do with her fellow fraudsters over on the Wee Gingerbread Man’s website.
She’s trying to creep back onto Wings, but not a bad word about her criminal hero Sturgeon shall be typed.
They fill the buckets at these Wings Stalls, then it’s back to base camp to share the spoils.
Chancers.
You know who you are…
You have been told by others to get back to your fellow Denyers.
This is what I hate about social media – you ask a genuine question about something and you get a lot of irrelevant ‘noise’ in response…
Thanks to those posting relevant material, I’ll have a read/listen of that.
I suggested Rev put together an article but looks like some excellent commenters have done the work for him!
Hello Lizg, re ‘ Liz g says:
30 March, 2021 at 5:39 pm
James Che @ 3.44
Way way off topic for here but …..
I’d read years back that the re-wilding narrative has little to do with the environment at all.
It’s really because the Corperations and Goverments have nothing left that the Banks will mortgage and land will be the answer to underpinning and acquiring more public debt.’
It is also about curtailing the ‘Right to Roam’ that we have in Scotland and blocking off some of the most beautiful areas from public access – but only for those and such as those you understand.
The MO will be 8′ high fences with warning signes ‘no entry – wild wolves/lynx/bears in area.
“he ain’t no master tactician”
That depends on the perspective, I guess.
If Devo Max had been included in the ballot in 2014 it would have won by a landslide. Both Mr Salmond and Cameron knew it. I believe that was the reason why Cameron refused to include it in the ballot – because he knew he would have had to deliver it and was not prepared to do so.
My guess is, that because he knew well that Cameron and the tories did not have any intention to deliver Devo Max, Mr Salmond asked for it.
That planted the seed in the minds of both the electorate as a possibility and the minds of the British state mandarins as a damage limitation tool.
Look at what happened after. Just a week before the referendum was due, the British state mandarins were in a panic because Yes was ahead in the polls. What do they do? They resource to that damage limitation tool and that they knew would win the contest: the vow and the fake offer of Devo Max.
That saved their bacon. Or did it?
The tories and the British state mandarins knew in 2014 that they would never deliver Devo Max. Mr Salmond knew this too. But we didn’t. But now, 6 years later, we know.
If they were to include Devo Max in the ballot today, do you think it would win? I don’t think it would. In fact, I think you may find that thanks to brexit and the most appalling tory government in UK history, it would divide the no vote even more. Many among the soft no’s are weary of independence, but would be happy for Devo Max.
Devo Max would have been the only thing that would have quenched Scotland’s thirst for independence in 2014. With that move in 2014 by those responsible of the vow that exposed the real intentions of the British state and that exposed them as liars who never had any intention to deliver Devo Max, Mr Salmond ensured Devo Max would no longer be an alternative suitable to quench our thirst for independence.
So, do you still think Mr Salmond is not a master tactician?
West End Woke Trendy vs The Thinking Man’s Ned?
I nearly spat out my milk.
Scumbag Patrick Harvie seems like the kind of guy who has a collection of hard drives hidden under a loose floorboard, and waits at his front door with a big creepy smile on his face every Halloween.
Good guy Tommy Sheridan is the kind of lad who’d give you a lift in his Arctic White Ford Escort XR3i, even though it was out of his way, just because it was raining.
Reject Harvie. Be like Tommy.
Gregory, as others suggested, go and read Craigs articles on the trial. He was the only journalist who reported what the defense witnesses said, all the msm journos closed their note books at that point. I think he may have had to pull some of them last week following another intervention by COPFS, but go and look on the wayback machine, they should be held there as archives.
And re the airport incident and the killer heels. Robertson the odious had something to do with that. Cant remember exactly, maybe he was there or he related it to somebody, or the wearer of the heels was known to him. I thought it was a spad rather than a stewardess that triggered the detector.
Meg merrilees says:
30 March, 2021 at 6:08 pm
Heard an interview with AS this morning – fluent, convincing, full of positivity.
Then I heard an interview with Neil Hanvey – best I can say is that he needs to study some of the positive things ALBA is doing and have them firmly in his head. He managed to answer well but it was quite stilted at times.
He missed the prime point – that ALBA is only standing on the list but asking people to vote for the SNP for the constituencies. The reason for that is precisely because a million list votes did not bring the SNP ANY MSP’s at the last election so it is a wasted vote.
ALBA has been formed to get round that problem.
When asked if that was undemocratic and gaming the system AS replied that there are currently three parties fighting against the SNP for the constituency seats so no one can surely complain if there is now another party on the same side as the SNP to redress the balance.
I can’t imagine that ALBA will be given many media opportunities at prime time so it is crucial that likely interviewees are fluent and concise with the answers and reasoning.
Here is the interview with AS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1FRKFKePAXU&feature=youtu.be
OT re vetting – I think the words I joined the CND years ago and became politically activated then – should automatically serve as a warning signal with regards their commitment to Indy.
Lord Darling agrees with me.
Andy says,
“As well as Salmond being the worst threat to women since Jack the Ripper, prepare for Sturgeon reeling out one of our old favourites tonight.”
And she didn’t notice a thing during the thirty years she was working closely with or under him.
Sturgeon is PURE EVIL.
Andy says,
“But no, and now we are in for an evening of five leaders against someone who isn’t even in the same City the debate is being held in.”
I think it will backfire badly on the lot of them.
The good people of Scotland will be disgusted by the backstabbing that will happen live on TV.
Mia at 6.11pm.
I’m assuming that rather voluminous, yet insubstantial, riposte is intended for me. I apologise if it wasn’t. Can you actually back up a single one of the claims you make with verifiable references?
If you’ll allow me the luxury of paraphrasing an old saw, ‘The Vow’ like patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Daisy Walker @ 6.11
Your probably right Daisy and if they get their way canned hunting of these animals will be the future of our tourist industry too.
Mark Boyle says:
30 March, 2021 at 5:57 pm
“If the Alba Party bit the bullet and made the Glasgow List vote a battle between Patrick Harvie and Tommy Sheridan, it would be a slaughter.”
Have you completely changed your mind about Tommy Sheridan in a couple of weeks?
Mark Boyle says (On who to believe 15 March, 2021),
“Tommy may have many qualities (and many flaws), but he’s out of practice on the political stump and she’d make mincemeat of him – thinking anything else is kidding yourself.”
I asked this previously and one person did reply saying they thought it was correct but I am still not sure.
If instead of voting SNP1 we voted tactically against the SNP i.e. ANTI-SNP1. Would that not mean we still take pressure off the regional seats by electing more Tories / Labour on the constituency vote instead of SNP MSPs?
So does it really make any difference to ALBA2 if we vote SNP1 or LAB1 or CON1? I understand it would effect the supermajority but does it really effect the number of likely MSPs ALBA will get via its regional votes? As long as we vote for any of the main parties on the constituency vote does it not create the same ‘space’ for ALBA on the regional vote?
This is just a hypothetical question, not advocating for it.
I do hope somebody will ask Chairman Nicolae tonight that if she professes to take the moral high ground and demand that AS ‘apologise’ to the people who fitted him up, then she must surely refuse to speak to Boris Johnson.
Alex Salmond is pure as the driven snow in comparison to the utter sleazebag and professional lothario that is Johnson, a supercreep, amoral, feckless monster who has treated women abominably, for his own gratification. Such a lothario he is unsure how many children he has. But Salmond is worse? You’re having a laugh, Nicolae, you hypocrite.
WeeChid says:
30 March, 2021 at 5:50 pm
There is a list on another thread on this site.
WeeChid – thanks! Nobody should take my word for it. Read that thread instead for the actual facts, or the Craig Murray / Grousebeater ones linked above.
Mac @ 7.12
That’s not how I understand it and it kind of defeats the purpose of keeping the British party’s out of Holyrood.
Which is the whole point.
Things are getting intereting – thank you, Alba Pary and Alex Salmond – but I’m appalled at the ignorance of many people commenting here or on Twitter or wherever. People who are very committed to Scottish independence. People I thought were politically savvy, even if not anoraks.
The reason ordinary people and even political anoraks STILL don’t know how the electoral system for Holyrood Scottish Parliament works must be deliberate.
The devolved Holyrood Scottish Parliament, with this voting system (FPTP on the constituency + AMS (Additional Member System) on the regional list to make it more proportionally representative) has been around for more that 20 years. There are voting age people who’ve ALWAYS lived under this system.
Why haven’t the kids in school been taught this in their civics class? Why haven’t the older generations been educated on it?
Also, local (council) elections are done under yet another different system, the STV (single transferable vote), which is a form of acheieving PR (proportional representation).
It’s like voters in Scotland are given three very different voting systems: FPTP for Westminster; a combination of FPTP and AMS (calculated on the d’Hondt system) for a semi-PR Holyrood, two votes: constituency and region; and the STV system used for council elections where you rank candidates/parties to achieve a sort of a PR outcome.
It’s almost like the powers that be were trying to keep ordinary voters confused. Even discourage voting.
Really! In my independent country, local and parliamentary elections are pure open list proportional representation as calculated by the d’Hondt method. We’re taught about this method and its vagaries in school from an early age, 10 or 12 onwards. The leader of the biggest party usually becomes Prime Minister and de facto leader of the country. He/she is answerable to the people, as represented in Parliament.
We also have an elected Head of State, the President. He/she is elected for a term of 6 years, only allowed to be re-elected once (so max 12 years tenure). Basic written constitution stuff. The President cannot change the constitution because he/she cannot introduce legislation to the parliament. Much like your Queen.
The President does have some influence in foreign policy (unlike your Queen), and he/she is of course a strong opinion leader domestically, and a figurehead for our country internationally.
This figurehead “Head of State” is elected by direct people’s vote. Unless no candidate gets 50%+1, the two candidates with most votes go for a run off, which is FPTP. The President’s office is now mostly symbolic because the last 3 or 4 incumbents have not chosen to flex the muscle the constitution gave them and the constitution has now been changed to make our country more a true rebulic and a parliamentary democracy.
What I’m seeing is a lot of independence-minded Scots still in thrall to the English/Westminster political culture. FPTP MPs/MSPs somehow being “better” than regional list MSPs. Struggling with the idea of proportional representation, which is the norm in most western countries apart from the anglosphere ones.
The political culture won’t change overnight but I think the Alba Party has made a LOT of people take notice.
The unionist cries of “gaming the system” are the most amusing.
This is the system YOU gave to the Scots. If the Scots use YOUR system to the best of their advantage, they’re only using YOUR system. So why are they so bad or gaming or whatever?
You unionists created this, own it.
Liz g. OT
Rewilding large areas of Scotland would a very good thing and would restore the ecosystem.
Scotland today is actually a wet desert compared with what it once was
In the Middle Ages there used to be a mighty forest, across the Highlands, home to huge range of animals, but little by little it was cleared and the animals exterminated.
The bare wet land became acidic and unproductive and, by Victorian times, the only thing that it was used was huge sporting estates for the rich and their friends from the South.
Every year the heather was burned to provide young growth for the Grouse who live on the shoots, thus destroying other plants.
And where there was rough grazing sheep were let loose like living mowing machines to eat any young tree that tried to grow. Anything that competed with the Grouse was classed as vermin and shot, including eagles and osprey and any hawk. Deer were encouraged for “sport” and their
numbers are now much more than the land can support so they have to be culled in thousands every year. I know this because my Grandfather was a gamekeeper on a Highland estate.
If you wish to see what nature can do if left undisturbed just look at the small islands in lochs which sheep and deer can’t access . In almost every case they are covered with trees.
These sporting estates are a blot on Scotland’s landscape. The land should belong to the nation and restored.
Gregory Beekman says:
30 March, 2021 at 5:00 pm
@Garavelli Princip
“Imagine even suggesting someone should be banned from this site because they trust the Rev to tell the truth and thus asking for Rev to put the record straight?
You need a brain inserted.”
Just how thick do you think we are to believe your disingenuous comment above.
What you are asking is for the Rev to repeat the lies rehearsed against AS by those whose lies were disbelieved by the jury that heard them.
Obviously Gregory, you HAVE had a brain inserted – right up your arse – and sadly, it’s the only brain you have!
Hi. My first comment. As a Yoon, and an Englishman, and someone who votes for the Conservative Party candidate, and as someone who voted for Brexit, and as someone who lives in an English county not a mile from a hunt kennels whose hounds I follow, can I please ask one question. Why do you Scots (well 46% of you, if you believe the POLITICO poll) actually want to be independent of the UK?
I’m fascinated.
I’m not sure if, as an Englishman that I can be a Yoon, but please bear with me if my grasp of Scottish contemporary culture is incomplete. In order to learn I’ve been reading The National, The Scotsman, Scottish Herald and of course ‘Wings’. Which seems to display a mite more honesty and straightforwardness which I like.
Anyway, cheers.
Repeating myself, but this is the biggest point of my long diatribe above.
The unionist cries of “gaming the system” are the most amusing.
This is the system YOU gave to the Scots. If the Scots use YOUR system to the best of their advantage, they’re only using YOUR system. So why are they so bad or gaming or whatever?
YOU unionists created this, own it.
The worrying thing is that Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP agrees with the Unionist parties on this.
Take a moment to reflect (as Nikla is wont to say) on this.
The SNP and the unionist parties and the Greens, who’re rapidly becoming irrelevant… from been promised ministerial positions, ha ha, and the MSM are all denigrating the Alba Party.
Why? Independence.
Why not denigrate the SNP or Nicola Sturgeon..?
So, who’s for independence?
Who will independence-minded ordinary Scots vote for?
The leader of the Alba Party advocates the SNP on the constituency vote (SNP 1), and Alba Party on the regional list vote (Alba 2) to maximise pro-indy MSPs in Holyrood.
The petted lip SNP seems unable to acknowlege (even process) this unexpected olive branch, this endorsement of their constituency vote, (probably winning them back votes who were going to spoil their ballots) and resenting another indy party putting their wasted regional list votes to good use… to deliver a pro-indy supermajority in the Scottish Parliament.
The Alba Party is the best thing that has happened in Scottish politics since 2015.
It’s been so stagnant, so subdued, but now there’s again the energy, the feeling, the enthusiasm, the independence desire and a conduit for it!
Nicola Sturgeon, take note. (Of course she won’t, she’s in her own bubble.)
“Can you actually back up a single one of the claims you make with verifiable references?”
1.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/15/scottish-independence-devo-max-referendum
2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-26245611
3. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/scottish-independence-blog/live/2014/sep/07/scottish-independence-poll-shows-yes-side-in-the-lead-live
4.https://www.thenational.scot/news/19158627.independence-majority-scots-dont-want-third-devo-max-option-ballot/
“Asked about news that plans to devolve more powers to Scotland in the event of a no vote are going to be unveiled in the coming days, Salmond said the credibility of that was undermined because David Cameron was not prepared to allow those powers to be offered to Scottish voters on ballot papers”
5. https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/13144787.the-case-against-devo-max/
6. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-17094333
“The problem for England, be it the north east, the south west or any other region you care to mention is that they don’t exist as distinct political and legal entities and so under European law would not be allowed to vary corporation tax rates.
The House of Lords’ Constitutional Committee this week warned in a report that devo max should not be a question for Scotland alone, as it has the potential to create different and competing tax regimes within the UK”
7.https://leftfootforward.org/2012/01/devo-max-isnt-a-solution-its-a-whole-new-can-of-worms/
@Wee Willie 30 March, 2021 at 12:00 pm
“I really can’t understand why the Scots allowed that horror Blair to sell this ridiculous voting system to them. It’s horrendously complicated, and designed never to let one single party a decent majority. All that it is doing now with the emergence of Alba is to create division and infighting amongst nationalists.”
So what your trying to say is that up till now no Scottish MSP at Hollyrood has had the intelligence to understand the Hoolyrood Voting system and question if it was for the purpose it was designed for ? Or could it be simpler that you just don’t have any idea what your talking about ? Do you get out of bed on the wall side every morning ?
So you think its complicated do you ? https://wingsoverscotland.com/ams-for-lazy-people/
Captain Yossarian says:
30 March, 2021 at 12:37 pm
@Davy Smith – wee monkey is a knowledgeable guy. It reminds me of when Imelda Marcos was finally chiselled-out of Phillipino public life, they had a removal van to take away her hundreds of pairs of four-inch heeled Italian shoes and a security-van to take away the gold bullion.
That reminds me..
A former SNP member and former prospective SNP candidate, who moved to the SGP party last year, more recently was co-presenting a ‘Trans Identity Workshop’ (one, though, in which any questioning of trans identities was explicitly barred from the outset: anyone who might be intending to do so was asked to instead leave the meeting or they would be put out.)
This gracious person said,
“I’m wearing a purple and green sari,
to celebrate spring.
It’s one of 300 saris I own.
If you’d like a sari, be my friend.”
The October 2017, “Me2” campaign and the Westminster sex scandal arising from it prompted the completion of a confidential survey of people employed at Holyrood, including MSPs, their staff, parliamentary workers, and news reporters. Over 1000 individuals responded and the results were shocking.
The report sent to Nicola Sturgeon at the beginning of March 2018 listed more than 200 allegations of harassment, most dating from 2016. Of the 137 women who said they had been sexually harassed, 67 reported that the perpetrator was an MSP. The report was quickly buried and only Alex Salmond was put through the ringer. Why?
https://caltonjock.com/2021/03/30/scottish-government-harassment-of-alex-salmond-was-a-diversionary-tactic-introduced-to-cover-up-the-real-problems-in-holyrood/
Some thoughts from a, hopefully non-trolling, unionist.
1. I agree that AS should have been in the debate. Past BBC policy seems to have been to include any Scottish party with an MP, an MSP or an MEP. (Hence the odious Coburn’s appearance previously). ALBA has two MPs. There should also be someone for Reform Uk. Defectors count.
2. Gaming the system? If it’s not against the rules then why complain? If the SNP had cynically and coolly decided to pretend to be two separate parties so as to max their seats then that would have been a bit underhand. But I don’t think we can begrudge them a full blown acrimonious schism.
3.Am I bothered? Not really. It’s very hard to see how this will turn out. It certainly won’t be a 86 seat supermajority but the chances are that ALBA will get enough seats that even if some of these are at the expense of SNP, with the Greens maybe losing all theirs, there will still be a pro-Indy majority.
Even if Nippy Nicla survives (electorially obviously – no beheading incitement in this comment!) I really don’t see her heading up the next administration. She has left herself no wriggle room whatsoever & will have to go.
I resigned myself to seperation after the 1997 vote. I support the Union and will vote for it until it’s gone, but becoming a citizen of an Independent Scotland won’t be the worst thing that ever happened to me, especially if NS isn’t running the show.
4.What can the Unionists do about it? Not much really but stay calm and try & leave the nasty stuff to Nicla. She’s very good at it. But in a bad way. Constantly dismissing ALBA as “The Rapist’s Revenge” (I paraphrase her public statements but only just) is likely to harm her as much as him.
We can, and probably will, vote tactically for the best placed unionist candidate in each constituency but in the lists we just vote for the party of our choice. Except possibly All for Unity which I don’t see the point of: The Unionist list vote can just about cope with being split 3 ways, but not 4.
Whatever, I’ve got lots of beer and crisps in & intend to enjoy the show whatever happens.
Interesting times indeed.
Slainte & thanks for reading.
Some insight into the apparent “inappropriate behaviour.” https://www.barrheadboy.com/scottish-prism-27th-mar-2021-iain-lawson/
“Why do you Scots (well 46% of you, if you believe the POLITICO poll) actually want to be independent of the UK?”
Democracy. Whichever government Scots get, it should be one they voted for, not one imposed by the people of another country.
Alan Mackintosh @6:18
How many articles are there and how much reading is involved? To be honest, I don’t want to spend a few days full time pouring over the trial. I was just hoping for a simple one-pager. But it sounds as if that’s wishful thinking on my part!
Garavelli Princip @7:45 pm says:
“What you are asking is for the Rev to repeat the lies rehearsed against AS by those whose lies were disbelieved by the jury that heard them.”
No, I was asking for info on what others are saying Salmond admitted to in the trial, not what witnesses or complainers said.
If a newspaper writes “During the trial, Salmond even admitted that XXX…” then it’d be nice to have a page that stated what Salmond had admitted to and thus we can treat anything else as a lie.
So you’re way off the mark. Again.
More insight into the Scottish governments shenanigans https://www.barrheadboy.com/scottish-prism-the-dogduck-bloggers-jason-michaels-iain-lawson-4th-march-2021/
Interesting https://twitter.com/arcofprosperity/status/1376663590191632388?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Eembeddedtimeline%7Ctwterm%5Eprofile%3Ascotpol1314%7Ctwcon%5Etimelinechrome&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.barrheadboy.com%2Fscottish-prism-the-dogduck-bloggers-jason-michaels-iain-lawson-4th-march-2021%2F
Hmm, what’s going on with the order of options presented for that regional question? It’s not alphabetical. It does not come close to resembling the order which will appear on the ballot paper.
There’s a Panelbase politics survey going round with Alba included in the list option. Also includes questions on which of Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon, Boris Johnson is most trustworthy. I wonder who’ll come bottom?
@Rev Stuart Campbell
Isn’t that a bit like saying that South Yorkshire should seceed from the UK because they mostly voted Labour in 2019?*
*For illustrative purposes only. I’ve no idea if this actually occurred.