The Hand Of The State
We’ve already noted how the Unionist press appears to be trying to influence the outcome of the SNP leadership election, but last night the big beast of Scottish media – the BBC – waded into the fray.
A major piece by the Corporation’s Scotland editor James Cook focused on interviews with two of the three contenders – excluding Ash Regan – on the basis that both had launched their official campaigns yesterday while Regan’s isn’t expected to be until later this week.
That’s fair enough. No problems there, right?
Assuming Regan gets an equivalent level of coverage when her campaign launches, there’s nothing wrong with one article talking mostly about the other two (Yousaf got 15 mentions and Forbes 19, compared to just four for Regan).
Except when you do it like this:
By what metric are Forbes and Yousaf the “leading candidates”? Nobody really has any clue who’s going to win at this early stage because there’s simply no solid data. The most recent bookmakers’ odds put Regan in second place.
She’s leading a reader poll in The National, with Yousaf a very distant last:
She was the runaway choice of Wings readers:
And more surprisingly she was also the clear winner (out of those who are actually standing) in a poll run by the extremely “woke” Indy Swim account, whose followers might reasonably be expected to have the opposite bias to those of Wings.
None of the above are scientific evidence. Bookmakers respond to how much money people have bet, online newspaper polls are self-selecting and vulnerable to manipulation, and Twitter polls have very skewed sample groups. But as things stand they’re all we have to go on in terms of the three candidates actually declared, and what they certainly DON’T do is provide any justification for calling Forbes and Yousaf the frontrunners. By every indicator available, Yousaf is the outsider.
The print media has no requirement to be impartial. It’s allowed to skew its reporting as much as it wants in favour of the people it wants to win, for whatever reason. But the BBC is not. The BBC is supposed to be scrupulously neutral, and it has no business making baseless assertions about who is or isn’t “leading” the race.
So readers might find themselves wondering why it’s doing so, and just why Scotland’s political establishment is so keen to shape public perception against Ash Regan.
Is it because she is the only one to espouse the 50%+1, treat every election as a plebiscite, by any chance?
BBC = BritNat Brainwashing Channel
If the British Establishment is pushing two out of three, it’s easy to then conclude which of the three are the preferred choice(s) on the part of Yoons, and which aren’t…
Britain may have run out of tomatoes but the BBC will NEVER run out of propaganda.
Whoever thy hate is usually a ‘good-guy’. Whoever they like is inevitably a ‘wank’.
Ash Regen has put the fear of God in to them.
She would start the recovery back to being a normal Independence party, prune the gender woo woo and get the shifty finances sorted out.
If she succeeds, it’s fines an’ jail time for many..!
Nicolas tenure has set back independance at least as long as it’s length. If the membership elect Humza, then the damage is incalculable. The party is captured, well and truly. I wish I could have the faith that Humza will be laughed out the door at the end of this but I can’t say that I do.
The majority of Scotland would reject him, a vote of Yes voters would reject him but the reach of the Murrell tentacles cannot be understated, I can only hope those left that do actually have a vote can draw a line in their blind Murrell faith and say no, Humza is too far.
Whatever the result, I really hope Ash and Kate will not accept anything less than a fully transparent voting & counting process. To do otherwise would be to traduce the SNP members and the public in general. (Since any vote rigging will doubtless be in favour of the cabal’s candidate/s I’m not expecting Humza to raise any dust.)
So aunty mcbeebie has nailed her colours to the mast (again!). Hopefully this time she will go down with ship. Ashten is the only one (so far?) with a clear (and clearly stated) route to independence, so she would get my vote (if I was still a member….). And, yeah, kudos to Stuart for laying it all out for her!
I’m beginning to warm to Ash Regan.
It’s blatantly obvious what is going on here. “Gaslighting” doesn’t begin to cover it. Yousaf is a disaster waiting to happen for the indy movement, and so the unionists (and I include BBC Scotland’s political reporters and presenters in that) are desperately trying to marginalise Ash Regan, who has already set out her stall on independence as well as on several other contentious issues. The same folk are also trying to do down Kate Forbes on the basis of her religion – do they ask other politicians in detail about their religious beliefs?
Unionists are terrified that Regan is going to win this contest – and I very much hope she does because the indy movement needs her, a breath of fresh air, conciliatory in a way that Nicola Sturgeon was not, and with sensible pragmatic ideas on oil, GRR & other matters. Whilst Forbes is a decent candidate, I think she is a bit on the young side at this stage in her life, and Yousaf is bad news for indy (which is why unionists are bigging him up.
Well at least it shows that Ash is getting it right.
Looking furrit to the follow-up BBC report –
“SNP leadership:
will integrity turn the tide for Scottish independence?”
Interesting post over on Craig Murray’s site relevant to this. It’s titled ‘Humza’s Lies on Gay Marriage’.
The MSM and especially the BBC know that despite their claims to be “unifiers”, Forbes and Yousaf are continuity candidates and have no chance of reconciling or reconnecting with the tens of thousands of members that have already left.
Although it may well be impossible now to “save the SNP”, in the eyes of the BBC, Ash Regan is much more of “an unknown” and they intend to keep it that way.
Oh the media already have this sown up it seems. This is so unfair. Scotland Tonight had both Yussaf and Forbes on and it was clear from their reporter that Yussaf is favoured candidate. Even though his input made little sense other than he will change nothing. At least Kate Forbes came out with a more realistic plan if she becomes FM
Hopes are for Ash Regan getting a good opportunity to put her case.
Whoever the MSM don’t want is the right one to vote for.
Interesting that Forbes presbyterianism is such an “issue” but Humza’s islam is not; sharia law doesn’t go with woke-ianity too well, and as for the things the prophet said about cross-dressers, women and homosexuals ! – that’s a bit spicy.
Having a go at the catholics is a national pastime – you can slander them in any way without comeback, so the prods getting it is quite novel.
Humza is an obvious racial grievance grifter – prbly someone called him a contraction for “p4kistani” at skool and now he wants revenge; it won’t be the woke who become a privileged class in Scotland, but the muslims, which is fine as that never leads to trouble anywhere; everyone loves them – buddhists, hindus, chinese communists especially. I could see Aamer Anwar heading a Committee for Public Safety and looking for racists to prosecute. Humza’s not even competent anyway; there are some brilliant p4kistanis in Scotland, but they tend to be surgeons, working for the NHS.
Kate Forbes Presbyterianism I don’t care about – sometimes I make jibes about the prods for various historical reasons, that’s just the bantz, though they are very thin skinned and easy to wind up (“judaizing heretics”). At least she should be immune to wokeness. Her Cambridge education – it’s a great place for maths and homosexuality, historically (Turing, the Apostles, Keynes, Ludwig, etc and so on) but I don’t see what influence they would wield on her.
Ash Regan? hmm, the other one.
– there’s a saying – when you dance with the devil, the devil don’t change; she has been in England, a long time. She came back, not long ago. When you go down there the implied assumptions and beliefs of England and Englishness (the best of men, who have won lifes lottery, a shimmering idea in the mind of God …) they infect you, like a black mould in a damp bathroom.
The Big Bollocks and Cock will come up with some get-out clause such as the leadership nomination period hasn’t closed yet, therefore anyone declared is a leading candidate. From that position they will then justify all four examples given above.
I’m not convinced and no-one else should be but the BBC politics output is structured so that any passing idiot is able to understand it. Imagine having all that journalistic experience, all that training, and then having to write copy that a seven year old could read and comprehend.
Assuming the BBC is still the media arm of Scottish Labour – Regan is the one who gives ScotLab the biggest problem – her politics are what Sottish Labour should be.
The other two are much easier to deal with from the left of centre.
Seems to me that KF has blown it already with the youth/woke faction what with the anti gay marriage stance. If its then a straight fight between HY and AR then on paper would think AR would win hands down but its the wokes we are talking about here. Lets just ‘pray’ common sense prevails.
Guardian doing the same and painting Humza as the “progressive” frontrunner, playing up Forbes’ line on GRA and same sex marriage. Always disappointing when you realise that when it comes to Scottish independence, the British media are all one happy family.
The media of Scotland is truly loathsome and I hope that if the ladies win they will have the courage to radically reduce or totally cut any taxpayers money used to prop them up. I’m sure they can both think of better uses for the money, but if they’re short of ideas I have a few.
“The most recent bookmakers’ odds put Regan in second place.“
========
Not so
This very minute the BEST odds available are
Yousaf. 8/11
Forbes. 11/4
Regan. 6/1
“This very minute the BEST odds available are
Yousaf. 8/11
Forbes. 11/4
Regan. 6/1”
“Best” was not the metric.
The BBC always has to have an ‘angle’ on what it reports on. It gave up a long ago just reporting on facts.
It may hope to influence the way people vote, but I don’t think it will have any effect in this particular election for an SNP leader.
This is because the people who can vote come from such a narrow range of similar-minded sheep that they will follow the party line set out by Sturgeon. They will do as they are told.
If they don’t, there are other ways of getting the ‘right’ result in view of who is in charge of the process.
Tim Farron style hatchet job on Forbes on GMS this morning.
No pretence at impartiality by Martin Guisler.
In my wildest dreams I never imagined Rev Stu and John McTernan rooting for the same candidate. But, there was McTernan a couple of hours ago pulling out all the stops for Ash Regan on Kay Adams
Humza Yousaf.
Convicted for driving without insurance. Caught whilst heading to an overnight stay with a woman in the car not his then wife.
Humza the man who because he and his wife ould not secure a space in a nursery then resorted to shysters phoning up the nursery masquerading as parents trying to entrap the nursery.
And the nursery then mysteriously turned over by the Scottish Government inspectors and put through the mill.
And Humza’s cousin a one time candidate for Ayrshire very much in the circle of knowledge and advanced vetting trading under a different name from the name he was known by when hundreds of thousands of pounds of Government Grant to an Islamic charity could not be accounted for. And a, wife who also sailed through vetting whilst others struggled.
Ladies gentlemen and all classes in between the Party gives you Humza.
But check out his history. It’s in the press.
@Confused
she has been in England, a long time. She came back, not long ago. When you go down there the implied assumptions and beliefs of England and Englishness (the best of men, who have won lifes lottery, a shimmering idea in the mind of God …) they infect you
Having went to Uni in England and worked in England for 10 years, may I say the English folk I met, even the die hard rich Tories of Buckinghamshire were all great people. Nothing but openness, humour and caring for their fellow person.
If that’s infection, I hope I and Ash are riddled
Cynicus @ 12:17pm:
It depends where you look.
As of 12:42pm:
Ash Regan has come in sharply on Paddy Power in the last couple of hours – from 11/2 (5.5/1) to 7/2 (3.5/1).
Forbes is drifting in the opposite direction, from 11/4 earlier to 10/3 now.
Yousaf has also drifted – slightly – from 8/11 (less than 1/1.5) to 4/7 (nearer to 1/1.2) in that same timeframe.
So someone is putting money on Regan.
A self fulfilling prophecy. If bookmakers see the biased influence Union media has will effect odds on Ash to plummet giving support to the notion she is not a front runner. They are there to make a profit not champion a just cause.
Humza supporters are all over twitter claiming he was at the Pakistan consulate on the day of the same sex marriage vote and just couldn’t possibly be there.
He was saving someones life, apparently.
However the vote was on the 4/2/2014 where he appears to have been at Holyrood on parliamentry business, which couldn’t possibly wait.
Meeting with the Pakistan consulate was on 16/01/2014.
Forbes has lost 5 of her backers because of her stance on gay marriage.
Not looking good for her chances sadly but Yousaf would be Murrell/Sturgeon favourite to continue the GRR push so would be no surprise if he “wins”.
Personally I think Regan/Forbes partnership would be a better fit
to repair the damage going forward.
Made a mess of the calculation relating to Humza’s current odds, his odds are also tightening, as 4/7 is less generous than 8/11.
I remain suspicious that Humza was nominated by Mhairi Hunter, who I always thought was a devout Sturgeon acolyte. Why would she nominate Humza without a nod from the Sturge? Was there a deal done with regards Air Miles Angus, the woke friendly Sturgeon substitute? Has Sturgeon’s “sudden” resignation perhaps left certain individuals high and dry, and feeling pretty miffed about the “Management”….
Then there is the Green Party factor… and what impact the reaction of the sober level headed types like Maggie Chapman might have on the SNP’s nominal majority if the GRR is abandoned.
It’s true, maybe I’m just seeing what I want to see, but the potency of the Wokeratti seems different somehow. It’s all gone quiet at the back of the bus.
Do you suppose a belated survival instinct has kicked in amongst the fickle SNP troughers that it’s time up for all the silliness and it’s time to face the music for bringing the Scottish Independence to the brink of disaster?
Might the eight year nightmare actually be coming to an end? My Pantone 300 stuff is all a bit Pantone 298 these days… I’ll have to get some new stuff.
Frankly I’m having to recalibrate my incredulity meter. It’s still set to “putting rapists into womens’ prisons”, and on that setting, “being a wee bit too Christian” is such a small blip that it’s actually quite difficult to read, even with my specs on.
So the suspicion is that Humsa Yousaf arranged for himself to be absent during the gay marriage bill, after coming under significant criticism from the muslim community (his main support base) for supporting an earlier stage of the bill. How convenient. Is this more honest than Kate Forbes being away on maternity leave? At least Kate is now attempting to be honest about her faith (and taking a hit for it). Humsa is looking increasingly shifty – he professes to be a practising muslim (keep the base happy) and yet he votes contrary to muslim beliefs. He treads a risky line trying to please everyone. The MSM should really challenge him on this, but Oh wait I forgot, he is the favoured candidate, right? The MSM is only building Mr Yousaf up to be FM so they can knock him down. And what a knock down it will be, if the continuity crowd get their way. It will all end in tears.
« INDEPENDENCE », how often invoked, with total commitment, passion and fervent desire might be an appropriate measure.
What else matters now?
Yes, let’s see some conspicuous PASSION AND DESIRE.
This very minute the BEST odds available are
Yousaf. 8/11
Forbes. 11/4
Regan. 6/1”
“Best” was not the metric.
=====
True. Your metric was “most recent”.
The odds I posted were even more recent than yours.
Yousaf it more than appears deliberately arranged a meeting with the Pakistani consul to avoid voting on gay marriage.
Read Craig Murray today about Yousaf’s chicanery.
He’s a vicious nasty piece of work who’d stoop to anything. No wonder so many of the Asian community can’t stand him. Or for that matter so many others in our community.
You good folks do realise that if, contrary to expectation either Kate Forbes or Ash Reagan becomes the next FM, those SNP members responsible will all be labelled racists and bigots by the greens and the MSM wokies, as they throw their toys out the pram and walk away in disgust. Furthermore, a certain shifty individual may well play the race card (again) if he doesn’t get his way. If only….
Johnny says:
21 February, 2023 at 12:42 pm
Cynicus @ 12:17pm:
It depends where you look.
======
Of course
ODDSCHECKER was screwed: quoted one candidate at 20/21 and that was Alex Salmond. No kidding. So, I checked with a rival multi-bookie site and posted the position then.
There is one person who knows who the winner will be. Peter Murrell.
In the Guardian, Forbes is being set up not only to fail for her religious bigotry, but also to drag down Reagan with her on the false conflation that they represent the same anti-progressive views.
It’s so annoying that she says she wouldn’t have voted for GRR but fails to say she could have voted remotely against it but lacks the integrity.
Also extremely irritating that she implies that she’s being discriminated against for holding discriminatory views, on the basis that hers concern “faith” (as opposed to reason).
Beginning to think that we could possibly see a similar story to that of Jeremy Corbyn.
Regardless of your opinion of the man, his ‘left wing’ stance, which offered far more hope for working people than the other Neo-liberal candidates, is similar in that Regan could be viewed as probably the most left orientated candidate. That straightforwardness we admire will not be liked by the internal party machine.
Look for her to be undone by press and party under some false scandal or spurious accusation.
Feared we were being set up for a “Rallying Call” come the second round but I assume all the runners be declared at first vote?
Ash is playing a clever game by sayin nothing. Appear late and dot give the Media an inch to take a mile.
The issue of course is the voters. Who will hold the voting power? The Sturgeonites for more of the same “I’m all right Jock” approach or The Stir Em Ups. I fear theres a lot of folk in the SNP who are very comfortable with their lot indeed.
Those people who backed Forbes and whonhave since withdrawn support must have know her views on same sex unions, so what was that about?
The possibility of offending, hurting, upsetting goes with being a leader with principles that may go counter to the passing Zeitgeist.
No need to apologise either, non of the above amounts to the proverbial hill of beans in the wider scale of things of Scotland and Independence First.
Personally, for what it matters, I think same sex marriage is homosexuals playing at being straight. Why on earth!!!!
You are what are. Be that, but just don’t expect me to tick a like or fall for Tom Daley.
“Her fellow contender, Ash Regan resigned as community safety minister to oppose the bill and, had the vote not fallen during Ms Forbes’ leave, the finance secretary would surely have had to do the same.
“That would have been a decision that I’d have had to take in discussion with colleagues,” she said.”
There was nothing stopping her doing this, being on maternity leave doesn’t mean your phone or computer stops working.
It seems that everybody is getting twisted into knots over Forbes’ aversion to same-sex couples. While it’s not the best look for a political leader, it’s not as if we’re electing an Emperor/Empress with absolute powers. I guess this is going to be the wedge issue that will be used to drive the faithful over to Yousaf.
Mike Small over at Bella Calendonia, bear with me, is all wracked with angst as her candidacy is a clear sign that the end is nigh for the SNP. He’s just overstating the “danger” so Yousaf will be seen as the safe pair of hands.
As for James Cook, and the BBC. They know a good thing when they see it. With Yousaf at the wheel, there will be endless gravy and stories that will write themselves. He’ll be the gift that keeps on giving.
As for Regan, she probably has a bit of work ahead of her. This is a good thing as we’ll see what she’s made of. If she fails, then crying over the SNP will be a waste of salt water.
Extra popcorn required.
It is not some big conspiracy, and no the “establishment” is not scared of Ash Regan (or indeed any of the candidates). She is another non-entity that no one has heard of and most couldn’t pick her up of a line up. And the 50%+1/endless plebliscitary strategy is not a threat to the Union; it is an irritant at best. And a vote loser to the non-believers – the very people you need to win over to have any hope of independence.
But go ahead, convince yourselves that when Useless inevitably wins that you woz robbed, if it makes the truth that no one can secure you independence more palatable. And why can you not achieve it? Because the majority of the electorate reject independence and reject the SNP.
Cook is a lying manipulating unionist working for rewards in Westminster’s main propaganda Channel that is determined to keep Scotland in England’s pocket.
His job depends on his anti independence bias and it pays well and has other rewards.
He was sent off to jolly around the USA reporting on bits and pieces for services to distorting Indy Ref 1.
Now it’s Listhp Smith’s turn to enjoy the high life over there as she did her anti independence bit for these last few years.
You should remember Cook for the Frenchgate affair where he ran with the story that Surgeon and French diplomats discussed a preference to having a Tory in No 10 rather than Labour.
All parties at the meeting denied every fibre of that allegation but he wouldn’t accept their word although no one else could prove otherwise.
It looks obvious to me that he has been studying the art of Framing and emphasis when seeking to pitch bias propaganda.
Has he done this alone or has been sponsored by the BBC or Westminster?
Not only is Forbes’ bigotry being used as the wedge to elevate Yousaf, it’s also the anti-progressive ship on which they will try to sink Reagan along with her.
Re Hamza Yousaf his views, the Holy Qur’an and Hadiths, expect you could put the Himalayas, the Rockies and Andes between the two and still have room to spare for the Urals.
No one noticed?
Bigot:A person obstinately and unreasonably wedded to a particular religious creed, opinion, or ritual.
synonyms:
dogmatist.
extremist.
fanatic.
true believer.
zealot.
partisan.
prejudiced person.
racialist.
I notice that there have been cries of ‘Bigot’ from those defending Kate Forbes when critics have raised her (let’s face it)minority religious views. The interesting aspect is that these critics are from a mainstream secularist majority whose religious beliefs are unstated as they are not motivated highly by a religious creed or the maintain their beliefs silently or draw a distinction between personal religious beliefs and political opinions(If that is possible).
Isn’t this a remarkable inversion of any kind of understanding of the trajectory of Christian adherance. Of course there is a long history of Christian martyrdom based on the determined holding of the faith in the face of extreme and even murderous hostility, and saintliness is somehow often associated with the determined adherence to belief in the face of murderous intention
So a modern example of such stubborn faith might even be the determination of trans activists to assert their ‘rights’ in the face of widespread or majority indifference or opposition.
I dare say Kate Forbes would prefer not to be compared with a trans activist, but that is the strange, cock-eyed world we are all confronted by in these times.
As soon as it was announced that Kate Forbes was to stand I immediately recognised a major problem, in that the beliefs and creed of the church she is attached to largely run counter to the overwhelmingly dominating secularist outlook of the great majority of the population and institutions that make up the society she is seeking to represent.
If that state of affairs isn’t recognised by her as a major problem, that very point of view reveals a great deal in itself.
Of course we ‘all’ advocate tolerance and freedom of worship but the problem is much deeper than that that kind of trivialising ’boutique beliefs’ we see so often nowadays.
A reference point might be the current situation that prevails in Iran where a religious minority establishment attempt to impose values that are not accepted by a large proportion of the population. I am not saying Scotland is Iran -it clearly isn’t,(although it has been in history and could be again) and Kate Forbes is certainly not some Caledonian mad Mullah analogue, but it is obvious that a democratic government is partly or largely guided by the values and perceptions and consent of the majority.The conflict in Iran has a great deal to do with the unwillingness of the religious establishment to concede its powers.
The issue we are confronted by is an immense philosophical impasse. It reveals itself in many different ways.It is In the plutocratic and technological competition that defines the poverty and powerlessness of the lives of so many. In the reluctance of these plutocrats and their political lackeys to acknowledge the impact of their beliefs and financial powers on the current decline of the planet into climate chaos. In the US impulse for hegemony, driven by a set of underlying, largely covert, religious beliefs. The Russian actions in Ukraine likewise have both secular and religious components. Ukraine is not just a neighbouring state but a religious entity interwoven into the history, culture and language of greater Russia.
These religious components are currently being revived in Serbia, where there is a growing movement to re- assert its position in relation to Kosova.
Kate Forbes suitability for the position will be determined by her ability to explain, confront and accommodate these inherent ambiguities in her beliefs.
Its looking like quite a smart move by Regan to delay her official launch. Its allowed Yousaf and Forbes to put the main issue as being GRR and social issues both of which Regan has a clearer and stronger answer on. If she had announced before the other 2 she may have been forgotten by now. Instead she is putting together a decent policy platform on which to make an impact.
Either Regan is a very shrewd operator and/or she is taking some very shrewd advice.
@Mark at 1.44pm:
“She is another non-entity that no one has heard of and most couldn’t pick her up of a line up.”
No. *You* may not have heard of her.
Scotland’s women have heard of her, because she did the right & moral thing on their behalf.
Good to have Wings fact checking the establishment press. Detectives eye.
I’d love to see Ash Regan doing interviews on Wings, the Prism show and the rest of the Scottish new media. Its her core voter base she needs to get through to.
Why is Kate Forbes answering gotcha questions about how she might have voted in 2014, before she entered politics?
She doesn’t seem to understand that:
a) All questions from journos are loaded questions, and you don’t need to answer every question
b) There’s no answer she could truthfully give that would “win” such an exchange
Poor stuff from a professional politician. She just walked face-first into the easiest ambush the press will mount all year.
But it is helpful to know that being a believing Christian is now incompatible with leading the SNP. When the SNP used to be a Scottish nationalist party, it could be a big enough tent to accommodate the breadth of Scotland, but the crazylogic of woke progressivism has led it to the point where being a bog standard Free Church of Scotland member is now some sort of scandal.
?The establishment of NuSNP are in thrall to reality defying, Poststructuralist dogma. Science teaches us to “follow the facts”. Even this is an anathema to them. They start with the desired outcome and contort, corrupt and pervert the investigative process to support their predetermined conclusion.
Humza Yousaf is the anointed successor. Coronations are not preceded by elections. Peter Murrell and Sue Ruddick will ensure this comes to pass. Ballots cast for anyone else will be fed directly into the shredder. I predict the outcome would make Colonel Gaddafi blush. 99.8% for Humza.
Cards on the table, I am a ‘yoon’. Having got that out of the way I would welcome Ash Regan. Here’s why. The thing Scotland needs is competent politicians and she strikes me as competent, with fire in her belly and a desire for change. Those are good things and should be valued far more than they are by people of all political beliefs, and none. I am sure Scotland will become independent in my lifetime (I am not young!) and I do not want to leave so I would much prefer competent politicians thank you!
No to Kate Forbes, she is shouty and lies rather to easily.
As for Humbug Useless, urghh, no thank you. Horrid little man with a serious reverse Midas touch. Very dangerous if given too much power. I don’t believe a word he says about anything.
And the BBC; it should be rembered that they are anti anything except their own nepotistic little world of urban elite, moral highgrounding, supercillious arrivistes. They think they are cleverer, more moral and generally better than the rest of us. Needless to say they are wrong.
Liz you’ve not quite got that right. See my blog article.
O/T for a breath of fresh air, listen to Charlie Abel on his video clip posted on Eva Comrie’s twitter an hour ago.
Charlie is the council by-election candidate in Aberdeen this week, Alba Party. Independence for the sake of the people is his straightforward line. There is nothing of the politician about him – just straight talking.
I pray that he wins.
Could some ask health secretary Humza Yousaf why the Sandyford Gender Indentity clinic has closed to new patients?
If he cares that much about trans healthcare, why did he cut the funding?
Could it be, that the Sandyford clinic is incorrectly putting young autistic people on puberty blockers and medical pathway for life like Tavistock?
We all know the answer already.
GRAHAM
BIGOT: someone whose views I dont like.
PROGRESSIVE: someone who views I like.
All that wordplay belongs to the old régime.
Every reform, however necessary, will by weak minds be carried to an excess, that itself will need reforming.
I have seen great intolerance shown in support of tolerance.
[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]
The SNP membership (what is left of it) and most of its MPs and MSPs is awash with snowflake wokeratti no matter where this debate goes , somebody somewhere in the SNP is going to be offended.
The only person I have heard offer any policies that would get my vote at a GE is Regan, she would appear to be more in touch with the real issues affecting most Scots.
GRRB -gone, North Sea energy opposition -gone, fully uncosted social care bill – gone.
All just for starters.
Gone yirsel Ash.
Former Councillor and Nicola’s bunny boiler friend Mhairi Hunter is begging for someone to intervene on twitter.
It must be going horribly wrong for Humza and the SNP.
ANDOUILLETTE
The function of the BBC is to support and sustain the UK status quo. No surprise there.
The SNP to its shame, has been ineffective in rectifying that.
The status quo in broadcasting remains solidly British.
We are a secular society nowadays and I am not in any way religious myself.
I do wonder, though – is religion not supposed to be a protected characteristic? Why, then, the implication that Forbes’ beliefs mean she is not fit for the job? Is that not discrimination? Or does that just not matter when the “tolerant” folk have decided it doesn’t?
To be clear, I personally want Regan to win but I am ruminating here about what all this means. Can you just attack someone’s faith when you have decided they aren’t who you want for a particular job?
Seemingly on the btl Guardian the subject of Kate Forbes is proving an opportunity for that the tolerance that passeth all intolerance; misogynist, anti christian, burn you c**t, burn….
When I am weaker than you, I ask you for freedom because that is according to your principles; when I am stronger than you, I take away your freedom because that is according to my principles. – Frank Herbert
According to the Herald:
KATE Forbes looks set to be probed by the SNP’s conduct committee after members of the party’s LGBTQ+ wing accused her of breaking rules on transphobia.
In an interview with ITV Border, when asked if she believed a trans woman is a woman, the Finance Secretary replied: “I believe that a trans woman is a biological male who identifies as a woman.”
People of Gender, having successfully co-opted the SNP, are not about to let some uppity Heilanwoman get away with being tolerated:
Erin Lux, the co-convenor of Out for Independence, the SNP’s LGBTQ+ wing, has now submitted a formal complaint to National Secretary Lorna Finn.
If Ms Forbes is found to have breached the rules she could be required to make a formal apology or even be suspended from the party.
Kate Forbes is saying sex is for marriage.
Ahaha on yourself Kate. You stick up for your beliefs.
Let them mock you.
Johnny, you can if they are Christian, but it’s a big islamophobic no-no if they are Muslim. Similarly antisemitic if they are Jewish. The bigotry is off the scale.
Maybe holy josie Kate Forbes is just what the sexual deviants in the SNP need. No sex before marriage.
The traditional family unit. Over changing a kids gender. I’m glad she’s winding them all up the wrong way.
JOHNNY
We may live in a «secular society» but it seems when it comes to religion some turn aggressively sectarian, «thou shalt not», thin lipped and prissy.
@craig murray (tips hat)excellent piece on your blog re:Useless who is well and truly called out on the same sex marriage vote. Let’s see if the MSM call him out on it (won’t hold my breath)
Kate Forbes is showing up the woke left for the anti Christian and sexual deviants that they are. They were allowed to run riot under Sturgeon. Time for a reset under Regan and Forbes.
Robertkknight.
With reference to yor comment two posts back suggesting that I was asking for a referendum,
It was awully nice of you to tell me what I was wanting,
But perhaps you should have asked before telling me what I wanted. That would be the polite thing to do.
So for your and readers benefits I will make it clears,
I do not want a referendum that “we” are given permission for by our colonial masters,
Where they state the time, the day, the year, and which centuary,
I do not want a referendum where our votes are moved and counted by the opposition whom gave permitted permission while they own the franchise and set up the condition and % vote line to be crossed.
That is a rigged referendum that we have had to beg for, cap in hand,
It will be ensured that the Scots vote for independence never quite gets over the line required.
So no, I do not want that begging fixed referendum,
I want a Scottish parliament like we used to have, which Sine Die’ d in 1707.leaving no Scottish parliament in the treaty of union,
Karl says:
21 February, 2023 at 12:45 pm
“A self fulfilling prophecy. If bookmakers see the biased influence Union media has will effect odds on Ash to plummet giving support to the notion she is not a front runner. They are there to make a profit not champion a just cause.”
What if we all put a bet on her – would that shorten the odds and make her favourite?
OTTOMANBOI
My point is that the do not like Britain or any part of it, they do not care about the status quo and they are only interested in their own rather small bubble. They might as well be known as The Just Us Superior Folk Broadcasting Corporation!
@craigmurray got it.
The meeting was booked on that day for the 4th.
So important it could wait for more than 14 days!
There’s a new item on Craig Murray’s website, pointing out that Humza Yousaf ducked out of the gay marriage vote much as Kate Forbes did.
link to craigmurray.org.uk
As for out4indy.
No one voted for those fekkers.
When I was a branch member, I asked about affiliated groups, thinking I could get a womans one on the go.
Was told, no more affiliated groups were accepted post 2018, for reasons…
O4I were affiliated in Nov 2019 – again for… reasons
A lot of people probably thought Henry McLeish was in it for the long haul but he quickly came undone. One year…the current record for a First Minister. Prepare to see all records broken. Humza is our Liz Truss. When Useless wins it will be a very short interval before this bubbling-under national embarrassment makes his buffoonery visible to every single potential voter. When the SNP vote starts to tank, he will be out within a matter of weeks. I honestly cannot remember a time when an utter laughing stock of a politician was being seriously considered for a top job…and that includes Liz Truss.
I can see it now. Wings toys thrown out of wings pram if Regan doesn’t win. For goodness sake this is a contest we don’t even know if there are any other candidates ,not have we had a hustings in which we are able to cross question the candidates.
James Che…
Then why are you and others swelling BTL column inches discussing who should or should not have a vote? As Sturgeon and her chocolate teapot of a LA enabled the UKSC to ensure any referendum is within the gift of Westminster alone, how else do you plan to have a vote on Indy free of it’s influence if not outright control?
And if you don’t want a referendum via Westminster, for reasons you outlined, where and how do you propose to get one?
Again, if you don’t want or are unable to secure a referendum free from Westminster control, why discuss who should be entitled to vote in one?
Yours sincerely
Confused
The key question for Kate Forbes and humza is would they try to block a policy voted for by the SNP to allow same sex marriage if they were leader?
Their personal views are not relevant but blocking policy would be …..
The British media are having a field day with the moronic fringes
I predict a SNP/Green coalition made up of Humza Yousef, Graham Campbell, Maggie Freeman and Ghislaine Maxwell. As the last of these is still listed as a WEF Champion Of Technology this coalition would tick all of the boxes as a forward looking, progressive, globalist EU friendly option.
This is only posted partially in sarcasm, things really have got that bad under our noses.
The supreme test of tolerance is to be able to see the human being behind the opinion you don’t care for and maintain your own integrity.
…..Just to record the fact, that on ‘The World at One’, Radio 4,
what the Scotland reporter said about Ash Regan, right at the end of the piece devoted to Kate Forbes, with some mention of the other fellow, was that Ash had ‘yet to put her head above the parapet’!
Here are two things about Hope
‘Hope springs eternal in the human breast’, and
‘Hope deferred maketh the heart sick’
I’m on the cusp…..
Oh dear, this is starting to feel like we could be heading for our own Liz Truss moment? Where somehow we end up with medicine that is worse than the illness was…
Is that your considered contribution, Izzie?
Maybe come back when you can write in intelligible sentences.
I am not religious. I am an atheist, although as the old joke about Northern Ireland goes, I am a “catholic atheist”. Very Lapsed!
If I were still a member fo the SNP, I would be voting Ash Regan.
But given reports here and elsewhere of Kate Forbes forthright views and honesty in expressing them, I am really, really warming to her. I think she and Ash will make a brilliant team – once one or other of them has seen off the charlatan proven cheat and proven liar that is Humza Yousaf.
Murrell permitting!
And the having the wokerati and the perverts pure effin bealin is an added bonus!
Rob, Forbes did not ‘duck’ the 2014 same sex marriage vote. She was not an MSP until 2016.
Oddschecker quite good for showing price dispersion across different bookies. Also shows the direction of odds, where Forbes is drifting, while Regan and Yousaf both shortening. Forbes now the outsider of the three with almost all bookies.
link to oddschecker.com
johnny (sad face)I typed not instead of not. Attack the messenger when you can’t bear to hear the message.
They want Humza, because they know he would be a train wreck First Minister. They know Forbes would probably be credible. She is a gradualist, but they still fear she will help our cause. Finally Ash is the most dangerous. She is not a gradualist , so she could potentially end the union sooner rather than later.
Is her Christianity really the issue though? Who ever said a Christian can’t be SNP leader?
Surely it’s the intolerant political views she espouses (regardless of their divinity) that renders her unfit to be SNP leader.
Being religious may be a protected characteristic, but that doesn’t mean anything you believe because you are a Christian must be treated with sanctity.
So who is James the Quizzer Cooks actual preferred candidate? That is the individual the Indy Movement doesnt want!
Whoever the diseased Brit Nasty Press and Media hates the most should be the next leader.
Oh and integrity and honesty and the BBC and the Brit Preess and Media are four things that shoudln’t be mentioned in the same sentence.
There’s no need for any politician to bring religion into the job.
Kate Forbes or anyone else in the same position, can quite simply enact the Will of the People, that is the job after all and it’s called democracy.
They are supposed to be led by us, not the other way around. Of course, many politicians hold the general public unworthy of their respect, I think they should be reminded on a regular basis and in no uncertain terms that they work for us, their personal lives shouldn’t come into it.
I wish Kate Forbes well. I don’t agree with her views but I couldn’t respect them more.
Scotland is more than just a country of gender extremists. Kate Forbes says she believes marriage is between a man and a woman. She believes in no sex before marriage. She’s a good person in the eyes of her lord.
She’s importantly not putting her views onto us. She’s refreshingly honest.
Sturgeon forced us to accept gender ideology. Kate is not doing that. I’ve got massive respect for her. She must keep running.
O/T Stu but is there any chance that you could curate a comprehensive list of the bovine SNP/MSP hypocrites who are now falling over themselves to denounce Forbes? I think it will be of genuine future interest. I suggested it to Luke Warm Dave on Twitter but the lazy c*nt wouldn’t do it. I would genuinely try myself but these people are such utter f*cking nonentitities that I forget their names the second after I see them.
India, Africa, Australia, America, Scotland to name a few all have one thing in common,
They are all Colonies that have been under the rule of the British Empire, all had British run government systems and peers controlling their Countries.
Some like Scotland, still have a Colonial gifted devolved governance parliament, with restrictions to Control the natives.
And to control the Country.
Just like India, Whom was selected for high offices and managerial posts of their Country, always came from the establishment of Britain,
Wether it is SNP, tories, labour, lib dems or other in elections, it will not be the populations choice.
If they ever came close in their struggle to independence, their were quick repercussions and regime change within the party of their choice, it took years for India to be decolonised, and to this day is not entirely free from interference from the Empire that once held them.
Today Scotland is cusp of learning that it to is under the remaining dregs of Colonial governance system placed in Scotland by its colonial masters, that is ruled from the old Empire structure outside their Country.
The old empire system of half a managerial governance in Scotland that still needs to seek permission to be a free Country, from the old HQ,
That We find the Empire, speaking of colonial stock Scotland Act, and and colonial Land and Sea acqusitions Scotland Act, it is not surprising to find these records when researched, but just the tip of the ice burg in all these records.
Under the guise of a falsified treaty that has no record of a existing Scottish parliament in it, Scotland has been Colonised, controlled and duped into faux position of being part of Britain, in a treaty of union, that never was.
The people of Scotland are having great difficulty in recognising they have as much rights as Indias population for independence,
however the feeling that Scotland and the Scots could have been fooled for such a long period of time is hard to digest, for most of us here are still in denial, and have become accustomed to being in a colonised mindset.
After all we have become to rely on help from the empire to improve our lot, that was forced upon us years ago,
It takes a lot of effort to stop looking through the colonial bars, to distant freedom and to divert your attention to the bars you are hold in your hands for support , that are preventing you from attaining that freedom.
A colonial governance management system in Scotland is still a devolved governance from a old Colonial Empire system that you cannot see and do not want to see.
Sometimes a caged animal has a innate fear to leave its cage after so many years of believing this is the reality of their world.
Again radio news claiming that Ash Regan is focusing on contacting members of the SNP (phone and social media wise) rather than concentrating on giving multiple interviews on air.
Come on Stu- by your own admission Regan is a political nonentity- her only notable act as a politician has been to resign on a point of principle- which until recently was the expected and proper thing to do.
What exactly can be said at this moment which would be of interest to any non SNP member?
Both of the others fall into the ‘ nonentity’ bracket as well.
I just don’t see the political genius in Forbes- just what has she done ?
She’s been on maternity leave for over 6 months & there was Covd before that- so 4 years in politics?
Yousaf is the worst sort of professional politician imaginable so I’ll say no more.
Politicians and political parties now exist in their own world- they act very similarly- no matter where.
This is our Liz Truss moment- no matter which one succeeds it’s going to be short lived & messy.
The divide within the SNP is just as wide as that in the Tories and they’re very similar entities now.
It’s noticeable that all the real players eg Cherry, Flynn, Robertson et al are going nowhere near this – they know what’s coming.
I think history will draw real and valid comparisons between Sturgeon & Thatcher.
One of which is their total dominance of their party & the feral subjugation of internal competition & dissent – and the ever decreasing circle of advisers who are “ one of us”-so much so that their departure leaves a leadership void & the sudden explosion of long suppressed voices.
It’s going to be a long & destructive decline.
One difference between Maggie and little Saint Nic however is that Maggie & Dennis weren’t found to be dipping the Tory till after she was offed- there are bigger quakes to come.
LIZ CROKIN (21/02/2023): Twitter: Video:
“THREAD: Highlights from President P(redacted)n’s speech today where he calls out the West’s normalization of pedophilia – “See what they do with their own peoples – the destruction of the family, cultural and national identity, perversion, mockery of children and pedophilia are declared the norm.” – “Look at the Holy Scriptures…the family is a union of a man and a woman.” – “The Anglican Church, for example, considers the idea of a gender-neutral God…forgive us, Lord, for they don’t know what they do.” – “We must protect our children.””:
link to tinyurl.com
If anyone’s in contact with Mike Fenwick would they ask him what’s become of of the bottles of Pound coins that he entrusted to Sturgeon or have they went the way of the 600k
@Graham
Re Kate’s religious views
She says my religious beliefs doesn’t allow ME to do X,Y or Z
Whereas Sturgeon/Yousaf’s gender ideology or quasi religion
says my religion won’t let YOU do or say something.
Forbes said she wouldn’t change the law on same sex marriage or take away existing rights. Gender ideology is and was only too happy to take away my rights to same sex spaces though!
It’s obvious Forbes is a stalking horse for Yousaf. Her role is to make him seem “normal” by comparison. The leadership clique need one of their own in Bute House to keep their secrets, and that is Yousaf.
Robertkknight.
If you read it again,
You will read nothing in my comments about who should NOT get a vote but rather that all Scots should be included,
After all if people in the EU, ( from other countries) are allowed votes in Scottish elections because they temporally live here,
Then it follows that Scots temporally living else where, should also be able to vote in there own countries future.
Goose and gander scenario.
I agree with Rev Stu and Alf Baird, that people born here have as much right to vote in Scottish elections as someone born in another country but temporally living here,
After all it is a Election for the people of Scotland .
You jumped to quickly in your misinterpretation.
“and just why Scotland’s political establishment is so keen to shape public perception against Ash Regan”
1. Because she is the only serious pro-independence candidate who has put the cards over the table and stated in the clearest possible terms that with her at the wheel, SNP MPs will be elected on a mandate for independence. This puts, for first time in over 8 years, the Treaty of Union at risk.
2. Because she has not attended any of those brainwashing “puppet as leader” courses promoted/paid by USA, therefore she cannot become a reliable manchurian candidate on time for the next GE.
3. Judging by the absolutely disgusting, vicious way they are all ganging up to attack Ms Forbes to promote the hopeless Yousaf, they clearly have not found yet any dirt they can sucesfully ping on Ms Reagan on time for the leadership contest. The only thing they can do at this point is to airbrush her off the contest.
It is, and always has been, all about protecting the Treaty of Union, isn’t it? A majority of anti-union MPs elected on a mandate for independence and led by somebody who actually wants independence is the single biggest and most powerful threat to the union there is. There is no bigger threat.
When you look at what Mr Salmond achieved with just 6 or 7 MPs back in 2013, or even the level of disruption only 2 MPs can cause (Alba MPs when they stood up to defend the Claim of Right), one wonders what Mr Salmond would be able to achieve if he was in control of the 56 we had in 2015. The treaty of union would not stand a chance. No wonder they fabricated the criminal case to chuck him out of the SNP.
I do not know how the rest of the people here feel, but I have to say, the disgusting level of disinformation and brainwashing in place to present somebody like Yousaf, which is clearly no leader material by any stretch of the imagination, as “the” candidate, is beyond insulting to any average intelligence. This is even worse than the ridiculous levels of pro-union propaganda pumped in 2014.
Somebody who requires such industrial scale level of propaganda pumped so furiously from across all the arms of the establishment to seem relevant, should never be anywhere near the driving wheel of a pro-independence party with a chance to succeed.
I’ve always supported independence, but at the same time I’ve always been wary of the SNP as although it is a broad church, it has a deep vein of conservatism (social and fiscal) running through it with the exception of the Salmond years when it maybe, finally looked like it was adopting a socially democratic model and making the concept of independence open to everyone and not just the Saltire brigade.
Even Sturgeon’s early time as FM was basically just following a blueprint of European socially democratic parties and she too made it clear the party was a broad church. From 2017 or so that began to change with the party becoming more and more of a neoliberal party pushing out a pretense of ‘progressive’ politics while at the same pushing an increasingly authoritarian set of ideas and polices while at the same time bringing in people who clearly have no love of independence beyond some vague lip service but see the SNP as a way to exert incredible amounts of power upon a country which has incredibly diverse views, which is something these people don’t have as they’re a hive mind.
Now I don’t agree with Forbes on her church’s views on equal marriage, but at the same time Yousaf’s religion also fails on this point but he’s getting next to no scrutiny on this while Forbes isn’t. Of course misogyny comes into play but it’s also clear Yousaf is the chosen one by the SNP faithful who are throwing their hands up in the air about Forbes.
And all the while there’s very little talk about independence, or how to even grow support for indy, which by the way, won’t grow if the SNP buckle down on intolerance and make clear to anyone following traditional religion that they aren’t welcome but those who worship neo-religions like Queer Theory or Trans are. All this debate over Forbes is doing is further hollowing out the SNP and hurting support for independence.
But hey, a few authoritarian SNP types will feel ‘safe’ from opinions which don’t match theirs.
James Che
Guilty – I assumed you were referring to referenda.
As to general elections of the Scottish variety, personally, if you have Scottish Tax Code, you get to vote here. If not, you don’t. Simples.
Why should someone who doesn’t pay taxes in Scotland decide which party forms the Government at Holyrood which then sets taxes?
That sounds like the sensible thing to do.
Not much point wasting your time with people who don’t have a vote.
The devolved colonial Scottish government office in Scotland and all that work there under oath of allegiance have a lot in Common with other Colonised Countries, the system implanted and introduced by the labour party over-runs the Scots laws and justice system of our Country through the back door,
Although people wishing to stay in the so called parliamentary union have never actually been able to explain why the Scottish parliament was Sine Die’d in 1707,
Why the agreement between the commissioners from both Countries, which was later ratified by both Countries extinguished the Scottish parliament in 1707.
Why a subsumed Scottish parliament would be a active Scottish parliament in the treaty of the union or there after in 1707.
They have never explained how a subsumed or extinguished Scottish parliament can provide Scottish parliament members to Westminster from Scotland after 1707.
They have never explained how a extinguished or subsumed Scottish parliament (no longer a active Scottish Parliament) in Westminster’s view, can be held accountable to uphold the conditions of a treaty with Englands old Parliament.
Why a 1707 Scottish parliament (if) it exists today, and is not a repealed act in Westminster legislation, but is still a equal part of the treaty of union, but no in longer use since 1707 does it become, under the legal terminology of DESUETUDE.
Or why If the 1707 Scottish parliament is in the position of Desuetude. That ends the treaty of parliamentary union since 1707.
These are logical questions, and need logical legal position answers rather than theory or supposition.
I want proof and evidence in records in law and Acts that the 1707 Scottish parliament is still in the treaty of the Parliamentary union and has been since 1707,
So far what has been offered up as explanations by those wishing to swear the union is a parliamentary union since 1707 has as much air in it as cobweb history theory,
And yes I know those very same people do not want me to keep bringing this to the for-front of Scottish conversation, and will try quieten the subject with the cancelation culture attitude, but that raises even more attention to the position of the old 1707 Scottish parliament.
Is it obsolete?
Is it still a responsible legal member of a treaty if it was subsumed or extinguished in 1707 today?
Anyone else thinking some of the parliamentarians who initially came out for Kate Forbes only to now denounce her later are playing games? Surely they all knew her religious beliefs.
I love this website. The posters are all so much more lucid and articulate than many others, but being lucid doesn’t mean rational! However, tho’I might disagree with the politics, more power to you all (literally). I am English and can’t argue with the independence mindset; I voted Leave. Incidentally, if you lot don’t vote Forbes or Regan, you really will deserve Hamza. He’s such a hopeless, corrupted freak.
“The BBC is supposed to be scrupulously neutral”
It has never ever been neutral in its existence.
It has always been the propaganda unit of the British State.
Pravda GB.
@Breastplate says:21 February, 2023 at 4:28 pm
can quite simply enact the Will of the People, that is the job after all
What’s that then, BP? The Will of the People, that is.
Do tell!
Pete Wishart (2021): MEET THE BLOGGERS….
“They’re male, they’re pale, they’re angry and intolerant and by God, they loathe the SNP…”:
link to archive.ph
Pete Wishart (17/02/2023): Scotland’s leading politician blogger:
WHY HAS SCOTLAND’S MODEST GENDER REFORMS BEEN MET WITH SUCH TOXICITY?
“The one thing that bothers me… why Scotland?..”:
link to archive.ph
Leading:
“Very important or most important.”
link to dictionary.cambridge.org
Why:
“For what reason.”
“Why did you choose to live in London?”
“Why should I help him – he never helps me?”
“Quite why he isn’t here today is a mystery.”
“There is no reason why we shouldn’t succeed.”
link to dictionary.cambridge.org
Honestly:
“The quality of being honest.”
“I appreciate your honesty.”
“I must tell you in all honesty (= truthfully and hiding nothing) that there is little chance of the proposal being approved.”
“And the moral of the story is that honesty is always the best policy.”
link to dictionary.cambridge.org
New Scottish Hymns Band (2018): Joy Will Follow: Why Did You Come:
“Why did you come
Into it all
Into this broken world
Why did you come
Not as a flame
As bright as the sun
Not as the king, coming to reign
Why did you come?..”:
link to tinyurl.com
Joanna Cherry KC (21/02/2023): Twitter:
“I repeat- time to call the dogs off Kate & now Ash too. Mennie another MSP’s staffer should be reigned in. @theSNP manifesto did not commit us to a policy of Self ID. The party’s code of conduct is being trashed. It’s unconscionable”:
link to archive.ph
Spectator (21/02/2023): Nicola Sturgeon’s gender policy failure:
“…Sturgeon used her leadership to shut these questions down. She shot back at her critics, calling protestors’ comments ‘offensive and completely unacceptable’. But when the Bryson case forced her to finally confront these issues head on, it became clear she could not provide any answers herself.
The Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) Bill will stand as a monument to the current style of government: preferential access and generous funding for a small group of favoured organisations and individuals; selectively chosen soundbites over critical analytical rigour and a hypersensitive, personal objection to criticism.
A test now lies ahead for Scotland’s political class. Having thrown their weight behind the GRR Bill…”:
link to archive.ph
Failure:
“The fact of someone or something not succeeding.”
“The whole project was doomed to failure right from the start (= it could never have succeeded).”
“Failure is not an option.”
“The operation was a success.”
link to dictionary.cambridge.org
@gregor
Presumably Mennie (and far too many others) will be disciplined (and seen to be), suspended, and lose their right to vote thanks to their behaviour today.. had Humza’s backers the smarts to have acknowledged the concern from Joanna and Ash earlier, they’d be raging!
Humility:
“The quality of not being proud because you are aware of your bad qualities.”
“He doesn’t have the humility to admit when he’s wrong.”
“They might be very rich, but it wouldn’t hurt them to show a little humility.”
link to dictionary.cambridge.org
bigotry
disliking someone for their opinion or faith
a smear on the competition, but not when winning
link to aim.scot
@stuart mctavish re. “Presumably…”
I’m certain many people share your sentiment and are horrified by unfolding events.
The only thing we can truly count on under this rotten banana SNP/State, is our-self (nothing lost/all to gain…)
@Reality will bring us through…
Scottish Metrical Psalter 1650: Psalm 131 Humility:
“…Mine eyes not lofty be
Nor do I deal in matters great
Or things too high for me
I surely have myself behaved
With quiet sp’rit and mild
As child of mother weaned
My soul is like a weanèd child…”:
link to tinyurl.com
@stuart mctavish
Keep publicly shaming (positively hammering) our corrupt and deranged overlords with the reality mirror (our/Scotland’s unlimited power)…
Elon Musk (21/02/2023): Twitter:
“How blatantly obnoxious that they just want to keep canceling people! Do they ever write about music anymore? They should rename themselves “Scolding Stone”, as all they seem to do these days is holier-than-thou nagging.”:
link to archive.ph
Cancel:
“To completely reject and stop supporting someone, especially because they have said something that offends you.”
“A celebrity who has shared an unpopular opinion on social media risks being “cancelled”: they are completely boycotted by fans.”
link to dictionary.cambridge.org
John Main,
Feel free to research the subject.
Groove Culture (2016): Promo HD:
(Recorded in May 2016 at SWG3 in Glasgow, and live sequences taken from Crieff Hydro Christmas Party Nights, December 2015. Groove Culture are Wedding and Corporate entertainers from Central Scotland):
link to tinyurl.com
Wings Over Scotland (21/02/2023): Twitter: re. Stewart McDonald
“Fuck me, he’s punted it to *2050* now? “:
link to archive.ph
Ash Regan is an opportunist. If we are to gain independence by convincing a majority of the Scottish electorate, we must have a leader who speaks to the real people of Scotland.
Forbes views may shock the left on this forum but the demographic is changing quickly through immigration and an ageing electorate.
Soon all the nonesense and media indoctrination will be binned and politics once again will be about reality. The economy and jobs will lead the way, the work ethic will be replanted.
I hope Forbes is like the little boy who outed the king and proves that LGBT++++++ are a figment of our imagination.
Lets get back to real life FORBES as leader can be inspirational..
Infinity:
“Time or space that has no end.”
“A place that is so far away that it cannot be reached.”
“The mountain range stretched away into infinity.”
“An extremely large number of something.”
“An infinity of stars in the galaxy.”
link to dictionary.cambridge.org
NationalScot (21/02/2023): SNP leadership hopefuls ‘must set out convincing independence case’:
“The SNP leadership candidates are being urged to outline their vision for an independent “Scotland 2050” and avoid the danger of the party…”:
link to archive.ph
World Economic Forum: Forum Members:
“…Forum Members are fully integrated into the World Economic Forum vision…”:
link to weforum.org
The British establishment want to see Humza Useless as leader. He is the only one who will persue Sturgeons abominable GRR. If that happens, then the vast majority of voters will abandon the SNP and so wrecking the party and independence.
World Economic Forum (2019) Agenda: Zero by 2050: How the world’s economy has planned to battle…:
“…Is net zero even possible?…”:
link to archive.ph
World Economic Forum (2020): Great Reset:
“…To improve the state of the world, the World Economic Forum is starting The Great Reset initiative…
…determining the future state of global relations, the direction of national economies, the priorities of societies, the nature of business models and the management of a global commons. Drawing from the vision and vast expertise of the leaders engaged across the Forum’s communities, the Great Reset initiative has a set of dimensions to build a new social contract…”:
link to weforum.org
NO(NWO)ESCAPE
@Reality…
Simple Minds (2022): Direction of the Heart: Vision Thing:
“The morning of the night before
I’m wide awake and thinking of you
And no one in this universe could make me do the things that you do
Is no rhyme or reason, why you’d ever stop believing in me?
You took me to another room and told me ’bout the things that you see
You have the gift, can you give it to me?
I opened up and I’m still wondering
I wakened up and I was able to see
The vision thing, you got the vision thing…”:
link to tinyurl.com
Elon Musk (21/02/2023): Twitter:
“If this doesn’t convey gravitas, nothing does!”:
link to archive.ph
Pew Research Global (20/02/2023): Twitter:
“Citizens are largely pessimistic about their ability to influence politics. Roughly half or more in 18 of the 19 countries surveyed in 2022 say the political system in their country does not allow people like them to have an influence on politics”:
link to archive.ph
Wikipedia: Gravitas:
“Gravitas was one of the ancient Roman virtues that denoted “seriousness”. It is also translated variously as weight, dignity, and importance and connotes restraint and moral rigor. It also conveys a sense of responsibility and commitment to the task… gravitas was particularly appreciated as an ideal characteristic in leaders…
Roman concept:
Gravitas was one of the virtues that allowed citizens, particularly statesmen, to embody the concept of romanitas, which denotes what it meant to be Roman and how Romans regarded themselves, eventually evolving into a national character…”:
link to en.wikipedia.org
I for one applaud Katie being open with her beliefs and standing by them. Everyone knew this before but suddenly it’s an issue because they got flack for voting for her.
She has said she won’t change the law and supports others having different views. What’s wrong with that? Solid, reasonable debate is what should drive forward a compassionate and democratic Scotland. Multiple views shaping the future. Not this “all hail Saint Nicola”.
Humza hasn’t admitted his views are roughly the same but will do what he has to do to get votes.
The SNP is a god Damn farce where everyone is scared to step out because they might get cut off or their seat taken away from them for someone else who will tow the line.
I noticed that the James Cook article omitted to state the position of Judaism on gay marriage. I wonder why that was?
@alex “…What’s wrong with that? Solid, reasonable…”
Nothing is wrong with that (Woke Scot Gov ideology cult has lost the plot)
You’re leading the way for Scotland, now…
Elon Musk (22/02/2023): Twitter:
“Many go woke for the moral cloak”
“Turning judgment from metoo you”:
link to archive.ph
Knightmaker1979 (21/02/2023): Twitter:
“@theSNP was once a broad church of many faiths, many beliefs, many arguments and debates. Now it’s just a party of utter vindictive miscreants who’d knife each other pandering to narcissistic youth, the rot and corruption from stealing ring-fenced Indy campaign funds to.”:
link to archive.ph
Celebrity Devi Sridhar (21/02/2023): Twit:
“Brexit Britain”:
link to archive.ph
Shame on you, Devi Sridhar
re. Scotland’s unprecedented (“statistically significant”) excess public deaths – under your watch (WEF/WHO: guidance/rules/schemes/disinformation/coercion/propaganda/lies/negligence):
link to gov.uk
Sridhar is a Clinton foundation operative connected to the Wellcome Trust which has links to bigpharma. No surprises there then.