To the National Secretary
Dear Secretary,
I have supported independence for Scotland for as long as I can remember. I was never a party political animal, but immediately after the 1992 general election – that of the failed “Free by ’93” slogan – I joined the SNP since it was the only independence movement we had and I wanted to do something, anything, to help.
I was then living in the south of England and so joined London Branch. I served on the executive committee of that branch in various capacities for a number of years, was a conference delegate and spoke at both conference and national assembly. I also used holiday entitlement to travel to Scotland to help with several election campaigns.
When I returned home to Scotland I joined Tweeddale Branch and again served on the executive committee, for a time as vice-convener. I took part in a great deal of campaigning both for elections and for the independence referendum, and in fact made myself ill during the summer of 2014, so hard was I working for a Yes vote. I also stood as the SNP candidate in the Tweeddale West council by-election in 2013.
During the first 25 years of my membership I made many friends and had many wonderful experiences. I never imagined for a moment that I would leave the party before independence day.
However the past four years have been an entirely different experience and that time has now come. I cannot remain a member of the SNP for the following reasons.
1. Lack of any progress towards independence since 2015, including the lack of preparation of the infrastructure that will be needed by an independent country.
2. Failure to capitalise on the very real opportunities which arose between 2016 and 2019 in the run-up to Brexit.
3. The explicit ruling-out of viable routes to independence, and the imposition of conditions which would stand in the way of viable routes to independence.
4. The insulting dangling of “vote SNP for a new indyref” when an election was at hand, followed by the inevitable kick into the long grass soon afterwards.
5. The lack of rebuttal of unionist attacks and talking-points, combined with currying favour with the unionist mainstream media while attacking and indeed monstering pro-independence online media. The donation of a substantial sum of public money to prop up the Unionist print press was absolutely inexplicable.
6. The fitting-up of Alex Salmond on false allegations of sexual assault intended to prevent his returning to politics to do something about points 1 to 5.
7. The obstruction of both inquiries into this affair by withholding and redacting incriminating documents on the completely false pretext that they would identify complainants to the public, and the blatant lies told under oath by Nicola Sturgeon in her appearance before the parliamentary inquiry.
8. The unshakeable determination of the party leaders to erase the meaning of womanhood by allowing males to self-identify as women, and the resulting destruction of all female single-sex spaces, protections and categories.
9. The appalling Hate Crime Bill which will criminalise simple disagreement if someone simply chooses to take offence at it, and the exclusion of women as a protected category while including men in drag on their way to a stag night.
(I can’t believe I’m even writing that, and Humza Yusuf’s sneering jibe that a woman would be protected in the event she were mistaken for a transwoman was simply the last straw.)
10. The failure to use our devolved powers to protect Scotland from the coronavirus, resulting in a death toll approaching 10,000, worse than Sweden on a per capita basis and indeed one of the worst in the world.
Instead we were treated to a repackaging of lethal Westminster strategies with better media presentation somehow causing it to be hailed as a triumph, despite absolutely nothing being done to reach zero COVID and the virus being allowed to re-enter and spread across the country in the autumn without hindrance.
11. The destruction of the SNP’s internal accountability to members resulting in corruption, cronyism and extreme partiality as to which interest groups are heard and which are consigned to the outer darkness. This goes hand in hand with the promotion of some absolutely appalling individuals who should never have been near the centre of power in any responsible political party.
12. The selective application of party disciplinary proceedings to expel members who were out of favour on flimsy, trumped-up grounds (including but not limited to Gareth Wardell), while ignoring the rafts of complaints about truly reprehensible behaviour by members who are the darlings of the leadership.
(The covering up of what appears to be genuine sexual misbehaviour on the part of a favoured MP is contrasted with the witch-hunt against Alex Salmond for such alleged crimes as touching someone’s knee or hair.)
13. The rewriting of the rules with the obvious express purpose of preventing Joanna Cherry from being considered as a candidate in the Holyrood election.
14. The pauchling of the list rankings resulting in candidates prepared to self-identify as disabled (on some very flimsy pretexts) being propelled to the head of the lists over the people the members actually voted for.
15. The apparent disappearance of around £600,000 in donations earmarked for a “ringfenced” independence campaign. Even if it is implausibly true that that money still exists and “will be spent in the next financial year”, that is a complete betrayal as the money was donated for use in an actual referendum campaign which is not going to happen in the next financial year.
It appears to me that the purpose this money has been and is still being put to is to continue to pay large salaries to high-ranking party employees including the First Minister’s husband.
16. The use of party funds to pay money that elected representatives and/or party officials had made themselves legally liable for, when there was no requirement for the party to meet these obligations on their behalf.
17. The obstruction of Martin Keatings’ court case to establish whether or not a Section 30 order is legally required in order to hold an independence referendum. The party should indeed have mounted this case itself, in 2016.
18. Lamentable performance on animal welfare issues including the backtracking on the tail docking of dogs and the failure to ban snares.
19. Lack of progress on land reform, and indeed an obvious bias in favour of big business, big landowners and right-wing interests in general.
20. Promotion of highly unsuitable sex education material to young children.
I have cancelled my direct debit to the party, and I would be grateful if you would remove my name from your membership records with immediate effect.
Yours truly,
Morag Graham Kerr, membership number 1128566.
Well said Morag. If only they would take some notice of why people are leaving in droves and not just send the acknowledgement, “sorry you are leaving and thanks for your contribution” standard letter.
Telt!
Well said, Morag. I’m sure there are many others who agree with you. I certainly do. I was never a member but have always voted SNP and have given them money over the years. I was really struggling with who to vote for in May but thankfully Alba appeared on the scene, so now it will be SNP 1 (with nose firmly held) and Alba 2.
I’m going riding now. I have a ride booked this evening, first time since February last year. (Boo hiss to the weather.)
If I survive, I’ll hirple in and see what you’ve all said.
Oh, that’s a nice picture Stu chose. That’s St Andrew’s church where I am a member and sing in the choir, and I’ve just returned from picking up my quota of parish magazines to deliver, which were left in the now-open church for us to collect.
That’ll be my leafleting for now.
IN the subject of the hated Hate Crime Act – I will say only this: First they came for the football supporters and you did not protest.
There are not many worse feelings than that of being betrayed.
Well done Morag-getting it off your chest will be therapeutic.
Good luck-hope your horse behaved?
Well said Morag!
Well done Morag. Good list of reasons too.
———————————————————-
PS
I joined Alba first day late afternoon.
I’m #908. which I believe is my membership number.
Looking forward to the vote.
SNP Constituency and Alba on the Regional list.
First comment for about 3-months and very heartened by developments in the last few weeks.
Thanks Rev Stu for all the hard work you put in day after day.
Morag,
You are a wonderful lady living right on my street.
You have covered all the points precisely on why I left the party.
If I were a true representative of the people here I would go to any
lengths or blogs to put right any accusations against me, my party or my country.
No one will come here and try to explain or justify your extensive list of fundamental failings.
All they can muster is ridicule on our objectives here and how they know best but you
don’t deserve to be engaged.
They now treat me, us, our country in the same manner as the Tories.
What on earth are they thinking?
How can they not see how their actions are not acceptable to the many.
Our day will come just as it has for all 66 nations that left the inglorious empire of corruption.
Hope to meet Morag one day, Independence Day !
Bravo Morag, Bravo
The SNP can’t hide from Independence for ever.
ALBA will force them to it.
Our Morag didn’t miss FM and her cabal and hit the wall. Well said Morag.
I sent an email resigning from the SNP and have still not received a reply after a week.
Maybe they are overwhelmed.
Well said Morag! I remember meeting you at the first Wings night in Edinburgh. Never would I have thought that I would ever see this day, either!
I’m still a member and I can’t decide what to do! I’ve been a member of the SNP for about 43 years but an activist for 57 years this year. I abhor what they are doing.
I know there are some good folk left in the party but can’t understand why they are silent and let Sturgeon trample all over them. It’s embarrassing.
I’ll decide soon!
Morag, I’d love to see the reply to yor resignation. Can’t think of anything you’ve missed.
That’s a powerful document Morag.
Don’t hold back Morag.
This is a damning indictment of the rule of Sturgeon. Unfortunately there are still plenty of Sturgeonistas ,and she wil romp home in the election. Why is it that there is still such a cult following?
“First they came for the football supporters and you did not protest.”
Sigh. Not this idiotic argument again. The problem with the Hate Crime Bill is that it criminalises people trying to have a serious discussion about politics. “Rangers” and Celtic fans bellowing “The Billy Boys” and “Roll Of Honour” at each other weren’t trying to have a fucking policy debate, they were trying to start a riot.
Excoriating. I think it’s safe to say Morag has covered all the bases. You would like to think that wiser heids within the SNP leadership could reflect on these points & the loss of another member with such experience, commitment & calibre.
Thanks for sharing this Morag, very well put.
Brava Ms Kerr,
No messing there. The pure unadorned truth, and a direct hit on those who have stolen what was our party.
When it is laid out so starkly, you have to wonder how and when the upper echelons were turned, and by whom.
That is a story that need to be told.
Precisely what does the Brit state have on Nicola and Peter?
Having had an interesting discussion with you only today in Twitter (the first), I offer my congratulations on your decision. I’m sure you’ll be crucial in the quest for indy as an Alba member.
My admiration and respects, Morag.
Excellent article Morag..surely others have got to follow. Well done
Isn’t the list a bit short? 🙂 🙂
Only kidding. Even I can’t think of anything to add.
Ooft.
Glad someone is calling out the abject failure over COVID. We have all been gaslit over this lethally too long. And, land reform and ownership being close to my own heart, it is heartening that someone who was in the SNP is aware of the pathetic record of that party where it actually has considerable power to effect change.
I think Morag sums it up perfectly for a lot of ex members and supporters. The sad but unsurprising thing is that, despite years, decades of service 1) she won’t get a decent reply and 2) the SNP under the Murrells and their cabal just don’t care about us or the issues that have been highlighted. Power and money at any cost is the order of the day for the New SNP
Thanks for your post Morag. Agree with it all – I resigned from SNP last year for all of the reasons above.
You write well – as succinct as the Rev Himself but withoot the sweary words.
You didn’t miss them, Morag. Well done.
Morag’s actually let the SNP off fairly lightly there. She hasn’t even mentioned a whole bucket of domestic failures, like the much-delayed Scottish benefits and tax agencies, the invisible not-for-profit power company promised in 2017, the money wasted on Prestwick and BiFab and the infamous ferries, the supposed new constitutional convention, the shambles of the Growth Commission…
Why is the Kirk’s Saltire at half mast ?
Well Said,Dr M.
I noticed this on a previous post:
Joanna Cherry was a prominent figure in the fight against stopping Brexit and was involved in legal challenges.
If these alleged allegations mentioned by somerled was true, don’t you think this would have been mentioned against her?
WGD made an accusation of ‘whiffs of homophobia’. Maybe there is a bit of truth on it?
“Free by ’93”
That’s the current SNP’s motto for indpeendence.
2093, that is…
A litany of failures and deceptions listed there Morag, many folk have done what you did and resigned from the SNP, you’ve just joined a growing band of disillusioned folk.
Thankfully there’s a chink of light in the shape of the ALBA party.
An excellent summary of events, leading to the absolute bin fire that is todays SNP party.
I’ve just finished reading another lady’s letter, Margaret Lynch. Another belter if anyone gets the chance.
Beautifully written analysis Morag. I am entirely with you on 19 out of 20 points, and it is a damning catalogue.
Points 1-6 are the big ones and then followed by 17.
Why little action on pushing for Independence when it was a great open goal following the Brexit result in 2016.
The section 30 nonsense should have been looked at in more depth and challanged. Not required in my opinion as it’s England recognising the sovereign will of the Scottish people to resign from the Act of Union. If England don’t recognise Scotland to be an Independent country and succeed from this Union it’s their problem not Scotland.
That letter is a damning indictment and it’s interesting because it incorporates a lot of what we’ve been talking about over the last few years. The SNP under the Murrell’s is on a path to self destruction. They are destroying the trust that was hard won by people like Winnie Ewing, Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill. Scotland needs Alba more than ever.
Stu, didn’t she mention that at point 1, without going into the specifics?
I think all snp mps and msps should tonight be very grateful to alex salmond.be under no elusion your acts and behaviours over the last 6 years has been reprehensible from cosy feet wishart to sneering humza the depths you have brought a once great party in such a short time beggars belief.mr salmond has saved your jobs and the entitlements you cherish so dear.you will be given one more chance to redeem yourselves. I imagine some like alyn smith have past their sell by date.to much damage by one person for many to vote for.however alex has rekindled hope for a better future.thereby the many thousands of lost votes will return.the electorate for the first time have a choice of independence partys the present snp have one parliamentary cycle to get it right or go the way of the labour party.i do expect the likes of wishart and the murrells to not care as they have secured vast amounts in their time on our dime .but now the future of snp mps and msps are bound with the electors . Do as we ask or you will be set aside for someone who will.
Bravo!
O goodness , I’ve actually had to skip an awful lot over the past few days ( I’m moving house ) but even my idiot self can see how scared they are running
Pishart was a twat in college and nothings changed , he’s still a bloody social worker , I might be on the wrong thread ,as I’ve said I’m busy lol ,I gave up sw 20 odd years ago
Well that about covers it.
My experience of Holyrood is that they will ignore everything that they can, and deflect and misdirect anything they can’t.
I do think Morag left out some stuff about how certain members of the SNP ruling cabal are very cosy with some undemocratic and antisocial Big Business Chums.
Congratulations Morag on your excellent points and actions taken. In regard to your other comment, I hope your were talking about a horse!!.
“TELTegram for Sturgeon!!”
Well said Morag but it’s a shame you have had to write this.
Points 1 and 10 are often overlooked but both are very important, if they wanted to win an indyref they’d have been able to point to preparations to show swing voters that independence will work.
It’s not all bad, as you stood in Tweeddale you must live in one of the most beautiful areas of Scotland.
Pretty certain you won’t get a heartfelt (unscripted) wee video Morag. Folks who have given decades of their lives to a political party allowed to go without so much as a by your leave. Then again, it seems if you are over 30, you ain’t valued. Anyone remember Logan’s Run on the telly? Hell mend them. They’ll maybe discover that the ‘old timers’ were actually the bedrock of the SNP.
Well said, Morag!
I know you are scientist and don’t make claims lightly. That adds more power to your words.
There it is, all laid out in one numbered paragraph after another.
Laid out like this, who in their right mind can remain a member of the SNP?
(Well, the throughers, the entryists, the gender woowooists, the science deniers who owe their positions and career prospects to unstinting support and admiration of the glorious leader, the chief mammy, the sainted one.)
It’s like something has been boiling in a pressure cooker, pressure building up – ignored by the SNP leadership – and now with the Alba Party, all that pressure is finding an outlet. A healthy, positive outlet, looking forward and focussing on independence.
To be clear, I have no idea whether the independence stalwart Morag Kerr has joined the Alba Party. It doesn’t matter. But her points are something every independence supporter should read and think about (I wanted to use the word ‘reflect’ but it’s been kind of tainted by Nicola Sturgeon ‘reflecting’ so much.).
Also, for the independence of Scotland, you MUST (hold your nose and) vote SNP 1 (constituency) and Alba 2 (regional list).
The Alba Party will not be able to win many or any seats if the SNP constituency vote collapses and the SNP get list seats instead.
Eloquently put. I agree with every single point – which is why I cancelled my SNP membership some months ago (I’d been a member for many years and have never voted for any other party in the last 50 years).
I signed up to Alba on Monday.
Great letter. Sadly it is spot on about what the SNP under NS has become. It didn’t take long for her to turn the party into the woke-mess it is today.
Yep.
“… (I can’t believe I’m even writing that, and Humza Yusuf’s sneering jibe that a woman would be protected in the event she were mistaken for a transwoman was simply the last straw.)… ”
And if a white person blacked up on the way to play Othello, in a Shakespearean tragedy at the local theatre (when the restrictions are lifted) he/she would be protected, too, Humza, under the race/colour category?
Points 6 & 7.
And all the other ones too, but 6& 7 especially.
It was quite something watching ‘Scottish’ Labour turn on the sort of people whose votes it should have been trying to attract. Its “deja vu all over again’ watching the SNP doing it to pro indy voters. It would not surprise me at this point if someone fron the SNP came out and declared that all that will be required after their resounding election victory in May will be for the SNP to bayonet the Alba wounded.
No mixed messages here!
Interesting new report on inequality. Could be doing with one on identity politics.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-report-of-the-commission-on-race-and-ethnic-disparities
Morag, have comfort in the fact that you have remained committed to independence while the SNP has totally betrayed it.
No principled person can remain a member of the SNP while it is in the hands of corrupt lying criminals.
You have done all independence supporters an enormous favour by very clearly pointing out everything that is wrong with the SNP.
The following point especially nails it:
“the blatant lies told under oath by Nicola Sturgeon in her appearance before the parliamentary inquiry.”
She got away with it only because she has the corrupt lying criminal James Wolffe, Lord Advocate of Scotland, in her pocket.
Along with the unionist media she bribed with public money.
With a liar under oath as leader and the embezzler of £600,000 of independence supporters’ money as chief executive, who can possibly remember of the SNP?
To answer my own question, the spineless voiceless SNP stooges in the Edinburgh and Westminster parliaments and the woke cheats in the SNP NEC.
Feel very proud of what you have done today.
Willie Mclean says,
“I sent an email resigning from the SNP and have still not received a reply after a week.
Maybe they are overwhelmed.”
Did you forget to cancel your direct debit?
The only thing they are interested in is your money – to pay for their crimes.
I recall Morag’s many posting on here and elsewhere, and her very determined efforts to help the SNP and the yes vote. She has decided to leave the SNP.
Hello!! Nicola Sturgeon, at what point are you going to actually wake the bleep up, and cotton on to what is happening? The buck stops with you.
I now honestly am starting to think Nicola Sturgeon is deliberately trying to destroy the SNP from within. Her actions, especially over the last four years, make no sense. None. And still it continues. I fully expect somebody in ‘the leadership’ will be along shortly to tell us Morag was ‘an embarressment, and they are glad she has gone, actually‘ – like they did with former SNP Justice Secretary and SNP MP, Kenny MacAskill.
Wake up Nicola, wake up. If it is the people around you setting you up on these disastrous actions, then it is time they went.
Bravo, Morag, a comprehensive list of everything I detest about the SNP. Thank you for that but having seen the full list of all that is wrong with the SNP it’s like a litany of shame. What happened to that party? They are a disaster and just to pick up something out of that pretty exhaustive list – how did they come to loathe such a large proportion of their supporters?
Many have said, as did Jimmy Reid about the Labour party, that the party left them rather than that they had left the party but it is actually even more despicable than that. They actually came to despise us before we came to despise them.
Does the very fact of becoming a politician cause misanthropy and contempt towards their supporters? ( You know, having to court your voters and beginning to see them as difficult and over-demanding? Or is it that at least some of them started out quite cynical anyway having to ingratiate themselves with a voting public many of whom they already felt distaste for?)
Over the years I had come to suspect that, just like Labour politicians before them, some of them, behind a smooth, patronising exterior actually didn’t like us terribly much. Labour politicians, like Tony Blair and Margaret Curran, had taught me how to recognise the signs, the glimpses of their real attitudes when the mask slipped. (To be honest, Margaret Curran’s mask fell off quite frequently and was always a bit lop-sided anyway.)
For me, one of those was Mike Russell. It’s too trite I suppose to say it now but another was Sturgeon who could go from genial to glacial in seconds when the limelight was turned off.
I’d like to think that at least some of them could maintain a bit of idealism but perhaps it is too much to expect that politicians subjected to the pressures of a hostile press and restless natives should not become a bit paranoid and sour about the whole business. Then it just becomes a job in which you always have to watch your back and being in a powerful faction is your last redoubt.
It would have helped though if the SNP had managed to get us independence before the party went rancid.
I’d love to have written that, but I left the SNP some time ago – or to be more accurate, they left me…
When they lose memebers with the world skills and commitment you have provided (not to mention financial contributions) they’re awfully, awfully f**ck*d.
To the point where it cannot be by accident.
Great big wake up call now for those decent ones still there. Now that Alba is here, there’s no more excuse for blind loyalty. If you’re going to stay with the SNP get it to change its reason for being, or start pursuing its reason for being – one or’t other, can’t be both anymore.
Indy is coming.
Will Sturgeon dare sue Morag for defamation?
No, because it is the truth that she lied under oath in front of the cameras.
She is completely shameless.
As are the corrupt lying criminals Swinney, Murrell, Wolffe, Evans, Lloyd, Ruddick and many many more.
Well that’s telling them and very well telt too. Thank you
When someone of the calibre of Morag Kerr quits your party & outlines the many reasons why, you’d better take a good hard look at yourselves, SNP.
Personally, I left the party in 2016, after a much shorter stint as a member, because of ‘Garethgate’, as mentioned in point 12.
But I agree entirely with the further 19 points she raised.
Very well said, Morag!
Alba #1063
Well said, Morag. The most disturbing development of all in Nicola’s transformation of the SNP into something totally unrecognisable is her blatant attack on civil liberties of all kinds, and on basic human rights.
Independence is top priority, yes. And it remains so.
But without an equally profound commitment to authentic human freedom, and the defence of liberty, it cannot exist. Instead of independence Nicola Sturgeon is offering us an autocracy, where government rules arbitrarily, and acts unaccountably.
Scotland clearly needs a proper constitution, which will include the separation of powers. Something simple, clear and impossible to undermine. I hope Alba will work on this very quickly.
I also hope Alba will in practice stand firmly and strongly against any further abuse of Executive power. The ease with which the Executive, the Prosecution services and the Police seem to have been able to act in collusion with each other has been disgraceful, and is truly frightening for the future of a genuinely free – as well as a genuinely independent – Scotland.
Alba needs to make it clear that independence is not and will never be the replacement of one form of autocracy with another. The dangers of any form of totalitarianism need to be very forcefully resisted. Insofar as the SNP has been taken over by a surreptitious ideology intent on imposing itself by undermining other people’s basic freedoms, this new and fake SNP must be opposed at every turn.
Insofar as the new Sturgeonite Party now masquerades as something it most certainly isn’t, as if it was still in continuity with the old SNP (the SNP Morag and most of us here supported and once had so much confidence in), it is a total lie, and it does not augur at all well for Scotland’s future.
Morag’s 20 points are all spot-on – absolutely true. My hope is that Alba will be able to stand BOTH FOR INDEPENDENCE and AGAINST THE EROSION AND DESTRUCTION of our civil liberties, natural human rights and democratic freedoms.
Since the SNP seems hell-bent on that path of destruction, and is already far down it, the hope must also be that Alba will have enough guts and enough clout – enough MSPs – to STOP the SNP from getting away with its perfidious plans.
Unfortunately, it is not only Albion that is ‘perfidious’ in our time – though Albion (England) still is such, it also has a competitor. The current so-called SNP – call it Sturgeon’s Party, leaving everyone free to fill in whatever they want to believe the ‘N’ in the middle might stand for (there are many possibilities) – is not simply hard to describe as a ‘pro-independence Party’. It could also be described as a conspiracy against the Scottish people.
Insofar as it is such, by being intent on removing the people’s basic rights and liberties, it can certainly be considered such. These rights and liberties include freedom of speech, which is now seriously threatened. They also include, above all, the people’s right to appoint their own government, and not to be deceived and manipulated by those who seek power through dishonest means. Unfortunately, our institutions, both civil and governmental and juridical, are not inherently robust enough to prevent such deceptions.
The masqueraders need to be unmasked. That is, they need to be ‘de-masque-d’ – have the masque they present to the public taken off them, so that all can see the reality underneath. If that reality underneath is such an unpleasant sight, the people will certainly turn away from them. Alba, after helping them to gain constituency seats, will need to be strong enough to do that job of ‘un-masque-ing them’.
The ‘mascara’ (literally, ‘masque cream’) is already melting rapidly. I hope Alba will eventually be able to melt it down altogether. It looks like that will have to wait until after the election. Hopefully the cards will fall in such a way that from May 6th that will happen very quickly if the Sturgeon N. Party continues to wend and and weave, still kicking independence continually into touch. At that point, Alba will have to go after them, big style.
And they will have to be ready, from Day 1 after the election, with a clear statement of the kind of constitution their independent Scotland will require, and be ready to fight for. Besides being the Party of Independence which will soon be preferred by most Scots, Alba must also be, and be clearly seen to be the Party of authentic human Freedom for all Scots.
We want to live in a free and independent Scotland, not in an ideological straitjacket imposed by an unjust and unaccountable government. Scotland is a country, not a prison. And not a gulag.
Good list and pretty much sums up my reasons for leaving too. It’s good to see 6 and 7 stated so baldly as well. It’s truly depressing the number of people on Facebook who just keep trotting out utter defamation about Alex and then go on to smear those who support Alba by association. Somehow the message needs to get out a lot more strongly about what really happened. I hope there is someway the campaign can do that as well as maintaining a positive SNP1 / Alba2 campaign.
That’s some list. I had about 8 reasons. Now I realise I was being kind!!
21.
Following the Keira Bell verdict, refusal to halt further hormone blocking treatment at Sandyford until there has been a full investigation.
Kudos Dr Kerr.
recently I have thought that FM has not only been got at by the woke team and other ‘advisors’ but also our ‘friendly’ Britnat organisations, since 2016/2017 – pushing to ‘save’ us from Brexit and then little mention of Indy thereafter followed by GRA and Hate Crime Bill and of course Covid (convenient) – she only needed to be the mouthpiece – we have experts and still no mention of Brexit.
Her personality seems to have changed – pressure from various quarters?.
Do we need to be digging out the ‘reds under the bed’ aka brit security?
Wonderfully expressed Morag. You may not post btl as often as you used to, but this above the line contribution certainly makes up for that, and will certainly resonate with many other folk’s experiences and feelings with regard to where we find ourselves.
Meanwhile, coming to a certain inbox in 3…2…1…
“Dear Morag Graham Kerr
Thank you for letting us know that you wish to leave the SNP
We’re sorry to see you go.
In the meantime please accept my thanks for your contribution to the Party
Peter Murrell
Chief Executive“
Hands up if you are disappointed Jo and Angus didn’t jump ship to Alba. I can’t see anything in the SNP for them.
to Kcor
“Did you forget to cancel your direct debit?
The only thing they are interested in is your money – to pay for their crimes.”
No, I did that firsr
Well said Morag,
I resigned on Monday, citing many of the points you have made, but not so eloquently as you. It’s sad and disappointing to see our party spiral from a model of modern democracy, people focused with principles and honesty, turning into a replica of political parties we are trying to escape from.
I am predicting something.
It is certain that something bad will happen to Roza Salih, the BAME candidate at the top of the list in Glasgow.
At the very list, she will be forced to move out of the top position on the SNP Glasgow list.
If I am proven right, it will have happened on the orders of Sturgeon, Criminal in Chief of Scotland.
Mark my words.
This is very similar (although better-expressed) to the list of reasons I gave for leaving the SNP when I resigned my membership following the gerrymandering of the Edinburgh Central candidate selection to exclude Joanna Cherry and impose Angus Robertson. I added, “I hope you are paying attention”, but they clearly weren’t and aren’t. They appear to be quite content to disregard the membership’s wishes and concerns, continue to lose members and supporters en masse, and wreck not only the SNP but independence itself. This is more than mere incompetence, isn’t it? It’s deliberate.
I wish everyone who still believes Nicola Sturgeon is wonderful and can do no wrong would read this post. It explains the issues clearly and powerfully.
“Stu, didn’t she mention that at point 1, without going into the specifics?”
Fair comment, that does cover SOME of them.
I’ve not been convinced by those who think that NS is some kind of government plant- the far more likely explanation, I’d have thought, is that she’s just an egomaniac, a chancer and a control freak- but this does make you begin to wonder. If **everyone** with a brain is driven out the SNP, what is the party actually left with when NS eventually inevitably goes? Nobody. And why would anybody want that?
22. failure to ban driven grouse shooting. A licensing system will not work and it will take 30+ more years to set up and then for that failure to become scientifically proven. All the science supporting a total ban is already available now.
Failure to license all other game shooting.
Failure to ban lead ammunition.
Failure to ban all muirburn
Lorna – Correct. Self ID means anyone can claim to belong to a minority , even if it’s just for one night. Humza is an absolute Rocket!
This should be nailed to the door of Bute House .
See if dieticians of worms can ” refute ” these 20 Theses
That’s one hell of a charge sheet. And all of it backed up by publicly available evidence. If I were a SNP official reading that I would be deeply ashamed, because they cannot rebut it. Maybe that will ring some bells inside the party because there are still decent people there who must know the truth of the charges. Are they all waiting for the leadership to fall?
This is excoriating when you put it all together, an arrow aimed at the heart of the hostile takeover. It is also quite sad, after all the faith of decent people in the party, not to mention independence as well as their unstinting hard work and loyalty. They have been betrayed.
For reason I have never joined a political party or organisation – nor will I – is that at some point the members will be ignored and treated purely as a source of income.
There should have been a change of leadership in 2017, but I get a feeling someone was too well entrenched.
Well said totally agree with every point you have made.
I have an idea.
Kiwilassie in New Zealand or Skip in the USA or lumilumi in Finland or even Mist in France could write a Spycatcher type book about the criminal conspiracy to jail Alex Salmond on false charges.
There is no way the corrupt lying shameless criminal James Wolffe, Lord Advocate of Scotland, would be able to silence you as he has silenced The Spectator and Craig Murray.
Take your time, do your research, but do Scotland a great favour to get all those criminals jailed.
Nicola is just a shit leader of the SNP , who’s insecurity drives her decision making. I don’t think there is any more to it. The has tied her self in knots, because admitting mistakes would shatter her eggshell ego.
Clever people recognise mistakes, learn from them and move on. Nicola does none of that.
More comprehensive than my letter of resignation, but you can still expect the same answer…..
None!
Well done, Morag.
Perhaps one of Nicola’s fans could provide a list of 20 positive achievements, in her 7 years as First Minister, that were of benefit to the Scottish people.
In the absence of any achievements, the usual – ‘you don’t want independence’ – will suffice.
Totally correct, Morag. Good work.
I’m sure you have mixed feelings about the whole affair Morag, but well done to you for sticking with them for so long but also having the principles to say enough is enough.
Your letter is a damning indictment of all thats wrong in the SNP. If they have any sense, they’ll take on board what you’ve said.
Brilliant, Morag. Well said.
Who would you rather be the head of the SNP – someone like Morag Kerr or Nikla Sturgeon?
Case closed.
I could take nothing to do with a political party whose leader, leader mind, whilst being a qualified lawyer would find it in them to say
“Just because he was found not guilty doesn’t mean he didn’t do it”
That is all.
PacMan says,
“Joanna Cherry was a prominent figure in the fight against stopping Brexit and was involved in legal challenges.”
IMHO, that was a completely stupid and undemocratic thing to do.
She should have used her legal expertise to confirm the sovereignty or not of Scots and delivered independence during 2016-2019, when independence was more achievable than ever before.
It was none of her business denying Brexit to the English who had democratically voted for it.
IMHO, she has leadership ambitions and therefore she is still inside the SNP despite having been humiliated by them.
She should have been one of the first MPs to join ALBA.
That’s quite a list Morag utterly shameful, one you didn’t mention which was my lightbulb moment was Pete Wetfarts attempt to be speaker of the house, that utterly disgusted me and If I was leader at that time he’d have been kicked out the party in a heartbeat
Well said Morag Kerr.
This post is one of the most-concise analysis of the absolute bourach which is the current SNP.
This is a party which, unless they have a near-complete clean-out at the highest level, is doomed to wither away.
I will hold my nose and vote SNP in the constituency, but, reluctantly.
Craig Murray says,
“Beautifully written analysis Morag. I am entirely with you on 19 out of 20 points, and it is a damning catalogue.”
On which point are you at odds with Morag?
tartanfever says:
31 March, 2021 at 6:48 pm
Your letter is a damning indictment of all thats wrong in the SNP. If they have any sense, they’ll take on board what you’ve said.
——————————————————————-
If they had any sense she wouldn’t have had to say it
If you’ve been used to claiming the kind of money year in year out from Westminster that ordinary folks can only dream alá Blackford or Lisa Cameron – why on earth would you put Independence anywhere near the top of your wish list?
Superb. My own letter will say much the same, I’ll probably take those 20 points verbatim. I’d put number 11 near the top in importance, as that allowed so much of the rest which the membership collectively would have prevented.
Now that’s what they used to call a “shirikin” in my native Glasgow, and I agree with every word.
Well Done Morag.
Thanks Morag
Looking at the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle one by one, it is very difficult to to see the picture. Of course, putting the pieces together as you have done, and then adding Stu’s pieces, makes it easy to see the whole picture.
Today, a very formidable case has been presented against The SNP of Nicola Sturgeon. In my opinion it is unarguable.
I was going to vote SNP on my constituency vote.
Now I’m not.
Stuart Anderson, if you are an Alba Party supporter, I hope you will reconsider. Voting SNP in the constituencies is an integral part of the Alba party’s strategy.
Rev. Stuart Campbell says:
31 March, 2021 at 6:01 pm
Morag’s actually let the SNP off fairly lightly there. She hasn’t even mentioned a whole bucket of domestic failures, like the much-delayed Scottish benefits and tax agencies, the invisible not-for-profit power company promised in 2017, the money wasted on Prestwick and BiFab and the infamous ferries, the supposed new constitutional convention, the shambles of
Or indeed their complete and utter failure to try and attenuate the drugs related epidemic in Scotland.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-55184961
You forgot the disreputable way the SNP sacked a very able female QC from the Justice Portfolio and replaced her with a failed drama student…
Other than that a very good list.
If you definitely want a reply, ask them to send confirmation that they have removed your contact details from their data base, as you do not want to receive beggin letters from them. Remind them they are lawfully required to do so under Data Protection and suggest to them that you will register a complaint if they don’t.
Worked for me.
Some interesting stuff over at the Britain Elects website, showing how few votes the Alba Party needs just to get one MSP per region and who will lose out as a result:
Central: 5.8% (Lab)
Glasgow: 5.9% (Grn)
Highlands: 5.5% (LDem)
Lothian: 6.6% (Lab)
Mid: 6.0% (Con)
North East: 6.2% (Grn)
South: 5.4% (SNP)
West: 5.3% (Lab)
Ben concludes:
“We’re best off waiting for some polling to see where, if anywhere, they could do well. BUT if there is a uniform transfer from SNP to Alba, the most damage, all things being equal, will be to Labour.”
Source – https://twitter.com/bnhw_/status/1375461477834973184
Here’s the thing.
If you asked all 46 SNP Mps,what they were doing right now to help Scottish independence,and I mean make it happen.
Not one of them could look you in the eye and say anything they were doing. All they are actually doing is representing their constituents. Thats not why they are SNP Mps though is it. Being ordinary mps is not what SNP Mps are supposed to be.
They are supposed to be rebels, rabble rousers and instigators. They are just collecting salaries and watching clocks.
No wonder we are so angry at them.
Alba candidates list is out. Formidable.
Again not a supp As i see it if you don’t dance to the tune from the house of Murrell your sitting on yir erse A said too one of my friend’s your getting played for fool’s
Oops……. Far-right bigot Jayda Fransen to stand against Nicola Sturgeon at Holyrood election
I agree with so much Morag however this is nonsense
10. The failure to use our devolved powers to protect Scotland from the coronavirus, resulting in a death toll approaching 10,000, worse than Sweden on a per capita basis and indeed one of the worst in the world.
We could not ‘protect’ Scotland from the covid19 (clear distinction). Rather we could follow the Swedish approach and not trash everything economically and socially for everyone for a virus with an average fatality age of 82. Ah you note this would certainly not have yielded worse death rates.
Sturgeon’s appalling approach was to follow everything Westminster did but with a little more harm to show how much she ‘cared’. All about the optics, like every action she takes.
Strong words from a strong woman.
Morag I wish you All The Best for the forthcoming election.
Coruscating stuff Morag. I’d echo every word of this, and doubtless be able to add a good few of my own.
It would be good to think anyone in positions of influence inside the party was listening, but I fear the SNP is utterly lost. When folk like you are writing to them in these terms, it ought to give them pause for thought. I hope you will have a good rest and take time to consider your next moves, whether it involves another party or not.
The movement needs people with your passion and commitment. Scotland needs people like you.
Very succinct Morag and you echo a lot of what other BTL commentators have expressed.
It is quite depressing to see that list of failures and think what could and should have been prioritised and achieved these last 6 years.
O/T
List of Alba candidates for the regions.
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2021/03/31/what-a-team/
AKA-Kieran says:
31 March, 2021 at 7:26 pm
Oops……. Far-right bigot Jayda Fransen to stand against Nicola Sturgeon at Holyrood election
How will we know which to vote for?
Looks like you ticked every single box.
I’m puzzled why more folk are not seeing the light with similar coherence.
Except for a personal box. Scotland remains the only part of the UK needing a license for air-rifles. The consultation was 85% against but they went ahead anyway, destroying numerous business’. The exercise proved meaningless anyway, air guns bought mail order sent from south of the border, thanks to Scottish suppliers closing down.
Best wishes.
we should nail this to the door’s of every council building and yes hub in Scotland, hopefully with the Alba party a reality it will empower those who have chosen to stay in the SNP to revolt. maybe the rest can leave and join the greens I guess. And this coming from a former Greenpeace activist. though maybe there has to be a revolution in all pro inde parties in regards to this neo-misogynist trans movement. you would think the greens being advocated for respect to the natural environment would start with self respect for the mother’s on mother earth. not pharmaceutical laden misogyny. (the clear it and pave it view of the world)
Ouch!
No Punches pulled, Morag. But it had to be said. Well done.
“Joanna Cherry was a prominent figure in the fight against stopping Brexit and was involved in legal challenges.”
And why shouldn’t she fight against Brexit? Scotland voted AGAINST Brexit. She represents Scotland, not England. I expect our nationalist MPs expected to bow to what Scotland needs and wants, not to what England’s wealthy class wants, particularly when those “wants” are diametrically opposite. As a representative of Scotland, she did the absolute right thing.
You say it was undemocratic to attempt to stop England having its brexit. What about forcing brexit on Scotland when it did not consent for it and when it is damaging? Are you suggesting our rights are less important than those of England?
What Ms Cherry did was to call the bluff of the England tory and labour party and hell she did call their bluff. They were force feeding us at the time the crap that brexit could not be legally reverted. She demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt they were lying. Brexit “could not be reverted” because they did not want to revert it, not because it could not be done.
What that legal case did was in fact to put back on the table the two options that should have been considered at the time and that if Sturgeon was a real leader, never mind pro independence would have forced them to choose from: either to preserve your precious union you stop brexit, because it has now been proven you can do so, or you terminate the union so you can pursue your precious brexit.
Who did not do the right thing at the time is Nicola Sturgeon because having as she did control of 56 SNP MPs at the time of the brexit vote, and control over the majority of the seats in Holryood plus polls at the time showing yes ahead, what she should have done is to push the British state against a wall to make them decide between either ending the union or stopping brexit.
That she totally let them off the hook so lightly and wasted those two majorities while keeping the yes movement on standby and force feeding us manure is completely unforgivable and should have started to ring all alarm bells of british state party infiltration at the time.
Let’s recap what Nicola Sturgeon did, shall we?
She deliberately wasted the best weapon and the best timing we had to force the end of the union. She deliberately allowed the British state to force brexit on us while handing them a veto to deny us our democratic mandate so she could leave our indyref mandate to expire, forcing brexit on us and in doing so eliminating the main insult to the constitution of the UK, which was brexit, as a fundamental reason to end the union.
Do we remember the wording of the SNP manifesto in 2016? A change in material circumstances was all what was needed. Well, that change in material circumstances happened in 2016 and in 2020. But by the time we are after the May election and by the time this fraud chooses to hold the referendum, that change in circumstances will be in the past and will no longer be a present matter: we have been out of the EU thanks to Sturgeon’s compliance since January 31 2020. So what she has left as the only reason to end the union is the appetite of Scotland for independence, after she has starved the yes movement of energy for 6 fckng years and while migration from the rest of the UK to Scotland continues at pace.
So let’s not project Nicola Sturgeon’s deliberate sabotage of Scotland’s independence cause onto Ms Cherry or anybody else. To each one its own. The sabotage of Scotland’s independence for the last 6 years lands squarely on the lap of Nicola Sturgeon. She is the one that acted undemocratically and betrayed our cause.
Am I correct in saying that ‘Wings’ is now the official mouthpiece of the Alba Party?
Excellent guest post, Dr Morag, but tinged by ‘sadness’.
What a shame that the Party of Independence, with all its glorious, albeit understated, history has been demolished by a crude and amateur wannabe with a penchant for brazen criminality? Scotland deserves better. At least it’s all out in the open now.
O/T and in view of the above letter – so not entirely off topic.
To all the MP’s sitting in Westminster just now on an SNP ticket.
If, one way or another, you don’t get your arses back up to Scotland for the Holyrood election…
And MAX THE YES vote…
Then don’t even think of jumping ship a month before the GE, trying to stay on the gravy train.
You are there to settle up, not settle down, and by your actions you will be judged and voted.
Not you Pete – your gubbed anyways.
If I can hold my nose and vote SNP one last time to MAX THE YES then you lot can do the same. Lets not have almost a million yes votes return Murdo and Liz Smith back into Holyrood. Enough. Time for Indy.
@Gone Right Handed
Whereas you are the official arse piece?
@AKA-Kieran says: 31 March, 2021 at 7:26 pm
“Oops……. Far-right bigot Jayda Fransen to stand against Nicola Sturgeon at Holyrood election”
Ancient news:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/far-right-bigot-who-targeted-23370172
Would be ironic if it was to be the final hurrah of Britain’s far right in the most no hope spot in the world for them!
very well said Morag. I know that you, like so many of us worked your socks off for the SNP and especially at the referendum 2014.What great days those were, when our hopes were so high for a free Scotland. There was great camaraderie and fun, unfortunately it has been knocked out of us over the years of nothingness. It’s true what they say, it’s the hope that kills you. I have felt so low and demoralised over the past months because of all the shenanigans that have been going on. The endless, just give us one more mandate etc. The absolute killer for me was what they tried to do to Alex Salmond, that was the finish. I was not going to vote at all until ALBA appeared last week. I shall vote now, but in spite of what everyone says, I’m still finding it very difficult op hold my nose and vote for the utterly corrupt and disgusting SNP.
@AndyH
I was hoping for some intelligent comments. But many thanks for your contribution.
Speaking of the far right, Alistair McConnachie is again trying to con people with his “Independent Green Voice – Organic Green Scotland” stunt in the Lists for Glasgow.
This guy has a long standing pedigree with the far right – and UKIP only discovered the hard way (despite most other minor parties warning them about his “associations”) about it when he was outed as a Holocaust denier.
Well said Morag. Every point valid.
I do understand the reasoning and strategy of SNP1 Alba2, but to etch a x in the SNP box now and endorse the above catalogue of corruption would be to abandon personal principles simply to attain a desire outcome. So regardless of results I now prefer to retain my moral standing and continue to sleep soundly.
An excellent summary of all that the SNP has done wrong. Thanks Morag.
Well said Morag, sadly many of my friends still think that St Nicola is the Queen of Scotland.
She has split and destroyed what was once a great party. I too have been a party member for longer than I remember although I did resign in the early nineties over policy, but i rejoined a few years later. The National secretary will shortly be getting my letter, it wont be as eloquent as yours for sure and I doubt it will make any difference, I told my local Branch a couple of months ago that I could no longer campaign for the SNP but was remaining to help fight for change within, not there is another Option, with a fair wind hopefully there will be no need for Pro-Indy Parties in a few years. In the meantime I will be tramping the streets for Alba.
Just read this and for a person who started life as ‘not a political party animal’, nevertheless joined and stayed and been committed for decades doing an honest job and expecting those who lead the SNP to be doing an honest job too. It’s what the SNP were always good at over the years. But, the party has become so rotten from within that they have lost that now. Absolutely tragic.
Gone right handed, is this intelligent enough for you? Given that Morag Kerr mentioned nothing about joining the Alba Party (and I believe she posted on Twitter that she is undecided at the moment), I do not see how publishing this letter has anything to do with promoting the Alba Party.
Leaving one party does not automatically mean that one will join another with overlapping aims. (Some might argue that Alba and SNP have very few overlapping aims, but let’s leave that aside for now.)
You tell ’em Morag hen.
What a catalogue of ineptitude and agree with every word.
Still struggling to vote SNP 1. My MSP was a member of the ‘Justice’ Committee that foisted the HCB upon us. Allowing of course the likes of Dame Edna Everage to swan about unharassed but not ordinary women.
And yes, better keep waxing my moustache lest I be mistaken for a man in drag.
(Laughs)
It’s amazing that anyone thinks a flu virus can be irradicated.There are several corona viruses although miraculously no one seems to have had the old fashioned flu. It will come out in the fullness of time that the flu has been rebranded. I don’t fancy a health passport to get into a pub while we have shopped for a year without a mask and no fear. Anything that Tony Blair–remember him- advocates we should run a million miles from.” I want my world back”.
Pixywine.
Would you like to join the Flat Earth Society. We are really global and you will fit right in.
That AUOBs counter protest numpty Manky Jaikit man @Mark Boyle says at 7:54 pm?
I am however going to trot along and vote 1st vote SNP 2nd vote Alba even though I despise the carpet bagger Robertson. In future I’ll never vote SNP for Westminster as they are Tory voting fodder. I think it would be hilarious to see Sturgeons cats arse of a face if Alec Salmond can pull this off He has been done a great injustice so I don’t mind helping him with a vote.
Famous 15. There’s no need to be insulting. It’s just a disagreement. Try and handle dispute like an adult. There you go.
@Skip_NC
Given that I believe the Rev. Stuart has declared for the Alba party I thought it a fair enough enquiry.
As an Englishman I’m curious about what’s currently happening in Scotland.
Morags letter is an excellent summary.
A courageous piece from a very principled lady.
Still playing music? We corresponded a few times on music during the happy pre-2014 compaigning times.
Best wishes to you.
Dear Morgan I wept when I read your essay because ut drummed home to me all the painful things I saw but couldn’t bear to admit was happening to my first and only party of 17 years. The first shock was the treatment of Michelle Thomson. I couldnae believe how she was treated not just by the unionists but by Nicola. Stonewalled. It escalated from there and I fell out with many about what was happening but Her performance at the inquiry was the final straw for me. I knew then she wasn’t who I thought she was and could no longer continue to support her or the party. I also resigned with a heavy heart. Now I am on the rise with a spring in my step. Thank fuck for Alex’s return and #AlbaParty and wonderfully strong people like yourself. Its coming yet .
@ Pixywine: You are talking absolute garbage again. Unlike either Scotland or the UK, there are countries such as Australia and New Zealand which have a zero-Covid strategy and which, if they haven’t been able to eliminate this deadly and highly-contagious disease entirely, have contained outbreaks and kept it to a vastly lower level than our useless governments have. I would have far greater respect for a government that adopted that strategy.
If you’ve been shopping for a year without wearing a mask, you are a selfish idiot.
I prefer to believe scientists and medical professionals, not conspiracy theorists who think their freedom to do as they please is more important than the health and safety of everyone else.
Hi Morag.
Having blethered with you and Lollysmum in the past 6 or 7 years, at the ‘Friends of WOS’ stall at various rallies, I can see that this must have been a wrench for you.
From,
https://archive.is/LC9uN
It would appear that former SNP activists are now deserting the sinking ship. The sun is shining (I think…)
Famous15 says:
31 March, 2021 at 8:14 pm
Pixywine.
Would you like to join the Flat Earth Society. We are really global and you will fit right in.
They mightn’t be articulate however the sentiment is spot on. Deriding people with opposing opinions about a worldwide movement that would had been unthinkable a year or so ago perhaps should lead to some personal
reflection?
So, Morag Kerr, having had a lengthy and presumably successful working life elsewhere in the UK, having now returned home to what she would no doubt refer to “her ain folk” but what could more reasonably be described as the fascist trait of ‘othering’, wants to embark on a political crusade to prevent Scotland’s young people from exercising the same facility. Hypocrite.
I prefer science to prejudice. Call me old fashioned.
I wish I had Stu’s way with words to respond to serial hunted victims.
My jovial criticism must really have hurt the pixy
Aye right.
Superb summary Morag, heartfelt and true.
A pithy summary of the recent achievements of the Scottish Neverendum Party.
As always Morag you manage to be concise even when writing a damning list!
I’ll be following your lead shortly as have many of those who fought the last referendum with such high hopes. It’s a dire situation to be in.
It’s also great to read more of the old voices from way back when campaigning was fun and you ached from walking so much delivering leaflets. I’m enjoying the new sense of excitement from btl comments.
Important people (including SNP supporters) vote for Alba candidates in the list vote.
Be interesting to see a poll on voting intentions soon.
Good sign that he Tories are so concerned that they are doing shifts on this anti Tory site.
Precisely said.
Still, for ALBA to enter the arena we need to vote
SNP 1, ALBA 2
https://petercherbi.wordpress.com/tag/sheriff-olga-pasportnikov/
As I said.
An Arse piece…
@Jockanese Wind Talker says:31 March, 2021 at 8:17 pm
“That AUOBs counter protest numpty Manky Jaikit man?”
Yep! Allistair McConnachie was also an employee of the Orange Order. During the referendum campaign, Electoral Commission receipts showed he was paid £480 a monthfor ‘social media services’ ahead of the referendum, and an additional sum of £225 for providing flags.
One of McConnachie’s sidekicks is Max Dunbar, former Glasgow BNP chief bottlewasher until the big fall out with Nick Griffin and then he started his own Britannia Party to achieve complete electoral oblivion in his own right.
McConnachie also ran/runs “A Force For Good”, another pro-Union site designed to appeal to Orange bigots. Basically he’s a professional sewer scraper, he writes stuff that appeals to the worse dregs so he’s hired to do stuff for them, is able to sell stuff to them, etc. As the Old Firm know only too well, you can make a good living out of appealing to people’s worst knee jerk instincts.
McConnachie also used to head the so-called Bromsgrove Group aka Prosperity UK wanting money reform – but anyone familiar with the far right know a lot of their material (especially their “the money trick” bullshit – nothing to do with “The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists” I’m afraid) is copied and reworded from old National Front (Flag Group faction) publications from the 1980s/1990s – which they simply lifted from the old Social Credit Party anyway (which always amused me, considering the Green Shirts used to give Mosley’s Blackshirts regular kickings as they despised fascists and communists alike!).
When we imagined an Independent Scotland in 2014, we imagined that we simply had to build on our own institutions, and that our historical foundations were strong. We now know following the Salmond trial, that this is not the case: to create a fair and just society, government must be seperated from the courts, and damn 17th century precedents.
How do we help A!ba?
Firstly by voting for them on the list.
Secondly by keeping the SNP on life support. No money or activism.
We are so near something special I can almost touch it, and I want it to succeed. I talked to my wife today about this and she believes Alex needs Indy party’s to succeed to achieve what he is trying to do.
Consequently we will follow his advice
Mia says: Who did not do the right thing at the time is Nicola Sturgeon because having as she did control of 56 SNP MPs at the time of the brexit vote, and control over the majority of the seats in Holryood plus polls at the time showing yes ahead, what she should have done is to push the British state against a wall to make them decide between either ending the union or stopping brexit.
The SNP was never in a position to prevent Brexit by itself. The entire British establishment was determined to stop Brexit, and all they got for their trouble was Prime Minister Boris Johnson with a landslide majority and the ability to do basically whatever he wants.
What Nicola Sturgeon could have done was in 2019, when Parliament came as close as it ever has to breaking down as a functional institution since Oliver Cromwell.
Third “meaningful vote”, March 29th 2019
An unintended consequence of what seemed like a victory for the anti-Brexit side (at the time) was that Theresa May was forced to hold a “meaningful vote” over any Brexit “deal” in Parliament.
As it turned out, she got three, increasingly tense, bad tempered, and more importantly close votes as she attempted to get her “deal” passed into law. It was universally hated – Brexiteers saw it as a complete betrayal of all her promises that would lock us into the EU’s orbit forever. Remainsketeers hated it because after the 2017 election they started to believe they could simply stop Brexit from happening, and were in no mood to accept less.
Theresa May was desperate. She promised to resign if MP’s backed her deal. She promised more pork to Northern Ireland. She even promised to work with Jeremy Corbyn, a man she’d vilified as a terrorist supporting anti-Semite.
The third meaningful vote ended in defeat for the government: 344 nos to 286 yesses. All 34 SNP members presented voted No. It was a rare occasion in which the SNP could’ve held the British Government’s ladynuts in a vice and named its price.
We’ll never know what sort of a deal Nicola could’ve gotten from Theresa May, because it doesn’t seem like she even tried. Despite Brexit being relatively popular in Scotland (nearly 40% voted for it) and among SNP voters (something like a third), the SNP staked out a doctrinaire position and stuck to it like a First World War general stubbornly refusing to countenance an alternative to human waves attacking emplaced machineguns. In the chaotic and increasingly febrile political atmosphere of 2019, they could’ve sensed an opportunity to try something different, but they didn’t and the moment passed them by.
To be fair to them, a large minority is still a minority. Perhaps they thought there was no way of pleasing the 1 million pro-Leave Scots as well as the 1.6m pro-Remainers. Perhaps they were terrified of voting with the TOARIES, because Labour spent most of the 80’s and 90’s vilifying the SNP as the party that brought down Jim Callaghan’s miserable, useless government.
Anyway, 29th March 2019 was a big, huge, missed open goal for the SNP. They might’ve gotten an independence breferendum tacked on to the Withdrawal Act, or something like Northern Ireland’s quasi-EU status, or devo max, but they seemed unable or unwilling to do anything except make empty promises they knew they couldn’t keep.
Morag Kerr, that was unbelievably brilliant.
This “old boy’s network” is full of women… wtf?
The more I look at the mathematics of the d’hondt system, the more obvious and clear it becomes that there’s really no sense in voting Green on the list.
Indeed, a vote for the Greens on the list is basically a wasted vote.
Happy to explain to anyone who understands multivariate analysis and regression.
@John McNab
Getting lonely under that bridge was it!
Alba list of 32 candidates. 18 women and 14 men.
You can cry into your vintage wine Sturgeon.
Off topic, but regarding the spoiler albaparty.scot. domain which has been registered, and the web site now on http://www.albaparty.scot (http only) which redirects to http://www.snp.org/, it strikes me that they are in breach of the .scot domain registration policies.
The whois info for that domain is:
Domain Name: albaparty.scot
Registry Domain ID: Doecw28025-SCOT
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.1und1.info
Registrar URL: http://website.1and1.com
Updated Date: 2021-03-26T14:16:40.106Z
Creation Date: 2021-03-26T14:16:38.858Z
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i.e. it was registered 16 mins after the press conference of Friday, and IMO was (and is) obviously in bad faith.
Now look at the registration policy available here: https://dot.scot/d/11463/
I would suggest that its use violates section 3b (i, iii, and iv) and 3c of the policy. On 3b I’d suggest it violates all of the explicit examples of improper use:
Chic @6.51
I think I read that Ms Sturgeon May have had to leave the Lawyer’s practice she was with as she would have been disbarred otherwise, due to professional misconduct on 3 accounts.
@Hatuey 9.21 pm
Alba should campaign unambiguously for the replacement of D’Hondt with STV as used in Ireland.
Be interesting to see what Holyrood would look like then…..?
Thank you Morag for sharing. Must be quite upsetting for folk like your goodself who put in so much effort in the early days.
Onwards and upwards now.
Good to see Dr. Morag taking the same journey as quite a few here. No 19, land reform. I questioned my MSP some time ago about that, he said it was the Civil Servants who wrote the Bill. I told him I thought you lot told them what to write. He just shrugged. And laughed.
Kcor says:
31 March, 2021 at 6:37 pm
I am predicting something.
It is certain that something bad will happen to Roza Salih, the BAME candidate at the top of the list in Glasgow.
At the very list, she will be forced to move out of the top position on the SNP Glasgow list.
If I am proven right, it will have happened on the orders of Sturgeon, Criminal in Chief of Scotland.
Mark my words.
Regarding Rosa, she is just another SNP aperatchnik. Nice person, and “I’m one of the Glasgow Girls, you know.” BUT.
Out of school, into Uni, out of Uni into a trade union job.
And now trying to make the jump to politics, seen much of life, well not a lot.
And I wonder when does a refugee stop being a refugee, Rosa has been here for the past 20 odd years.
But she is a good pal of Sturgeons.
At Andy Ellis. D’Hondt system forced onto Holyrood by Labour (Blair and Dewar). Main reason was to ensure no party (especially the SNP) could have an overall majority.
Agree an alternative system should be maybe assessed. Needs to be a form of proportional representation.
Not sure how the Scottish Parliament goes about it.
21. The apparent discrepancy between monies rendered to holyrood for covid measures and the distribution of said monies.
Re: John McNab says Morag is a hypocrite…
Hello again Nicola. Can you use your own name instead of pretending you are John McNab. Which of Morag’s points hurt you most I wonder? As always, love to Peter.
Andy White @ 9:06 pm
“When we imagined an Independent Scotland in 2014, we imagined that we simply had to build on our own institutions”
That would seem to imply minimal real change, considering the fowk wha aye rins aw Scotland’s institutions ‘under’ the union.
As RDG Kelley noted: “While we still need to overthrow all vestiges of the old colonial order, destroying the old is just half the battle.”
Dear Morag,
Hold your head high, because you should be very proud of yourself. Writing this letter must have been incredibly difficult and painful at times, but it was worth it. It was worth it because it speaks not just for you but for many more and will help others acknowledge the problem that has been staring at them but their eyes had refused until now to see.
You write concisely and clearly, point by point what many have witnessed with incredulity, from within and from outwith the party, for the last 5 years.
Problems do not just disappear by looking the other way or by gagging those who discover them and ask for them to be addressed. Problems get resolved when you highlight them, you acknowledge them, you roll your sleeves and deal with them. But the present leadership of the SNP is not even trying to deal with problems. They appear to be trying to hide them instead. Well, today you have opened the curtains allowing a rather large ray of sunlight to illuminate the problem, that is the most difficult step.
Thank you for making public this letter. It is an eye opener. I had noticed some of the points you mention in your letter but had missed others. As somebody in this thread said above, one thing is to see each point individually. This would allow you to indulge in believing the leadership was just naïve, too trusting, inexperienced or surrounded by poor advice. But when you see all those 20 points and others together, accumulating over a space of 5 years, then the picture looks frightenedly different. It looks like a different agenda.
A week ago we were all deflated and many of us had no hope left and were even thinking we would have to spoil our ballots in despair. Independence seemed so distant and unattainable. But a week is a long time in politics. There is now another party to work with and to vote for and our hope together with the smile that Nicola Sturgeon erased from our faces on 31 January 2020 with her capitulation speech, has come back.
Smile, Morag. It is all good. Going down with a sinking ship is only chic when you are the captain.
merganser says:
31 March, 2021 at 9:40 pm
Re: John McNab says Morag is a hypocrite…
Hello again Nicola. Can you use your own name instead of pretending you are John McNab. Which of Morag’s points hurt you most I wonder? As always, love to Peter.
————-
You do realise we can your other posts merganser? Concern troll?
So can Stu.
Morag
I don’t think anyone of us left the SNP with a feeling of joy.
I think most of us left the SNP under a cloud of sadness and confusion.
I chucked in the towel after that diabolical surrender of our country in January 2020.
And Morag, you will not be the last to leave the unrecognisable SNP.
Well said
Has anyone got a plan for independence?
Does anyone who wants independence for Scotland believe that on day one everything will be exactly as it was the day before?
I don’t believe Scotland could do very well as an independent country. It would be in hock to UK for it’s share of UK debt for starters. What currency would it use? How would it raise money on the international markets?
Would it seek to join the EU? If so, would that not create a lot of problems? And what’s the point of throwing off Westminster in order to burden yourselves with Brussels?
If not, wouldn’t that leave it open to aggressive takeover bids from the Chinese Communist Party?
I’m sure they could modify their Belt and Road initiative to take over control of Rosyth once the RN left.
The prospect of independence raises many questions and I’d be interested if anyone could supply an answer.
Mia says,
And why shouldn’t she fight against Brexit? Scotland voted AGAINST Brexit. She represents Scotland, not England.”
In your own words: “she represents Scotland, not England.”
It was none of her business to stop England getting the Brexit it had voted for.
Her business was to deliver independence to Scotland, while remaining in the EU, as it had voted for.
She did the bidding of Sturgeon, who does not want Scotland to be independent.
Tell me what Cherry has done to forward the cause of independence?
After moaning about being sacked from her SNP position, she was very happy to be appointed to a Westminster committee.
That puts her in the same boat as Wishart wanting to be Westminster House Speaker.
Kcor
I agree with you regards Joanna Cherry.
She is an inigma.
A brilliant brain, but for some reason she shuns the limelight.
A lacking in self confidence.
Needs to be more forceful.
Gone Right Handed
You are right. Sooner or later the hard questions have got to be addressed. I don’t believe joining the EU is the answer. In fact it won’t happen.
Kenny J says,
“But she is a good pal of Sturgeons.”
That will not stop Sturgeon pushing her under the bus.
Anyway, you missed my point.
Robbo
My ‘concern’ is the allegation of hypocrisy made against Morag’s action, which seems perfectly justified given the list of reasons for it. Do you also think she is a hypocrite?
Davie says:
31 March, 2021 at 7:33 pm
I agree with so much Morag however this is nonsense
10. The failure to use our devolved powers to protect Scotland from the coronavirus, resulting in a death toll approaching 10,000, worse than Sweden on a per capita basis and indeed one of the worst in the world.
Davie I agree and whilst I think zero Covid is an unattainable strategy you wouldn’t blame people for believing it might work. It’s been constantly promoted by the so called experts and our pliant and largely innumerate media. Both you and Morag are absolutely right about Sturgeon. Many see her as mother/sister protector and The public health scientists who have very much ignored data on issues like demographics and false positives deserve to be held to account as well. That said even the self-regarding Prof Jason Leitch has had to get himself in the ads because when there a platform and publicity Sturgeon has very sharp elbows. Lastly like you I’d dispute whether she has communicated better as you say it’s all about optics.
@Wee Willie
UK wouldn’t tolerate a poor Scotland being seduced by the CCP. Neither would the US.
The possibility of the status quo being upset by an independent Scotland mean that Westminster, of whatever political persuasion, will not agree to another Indyref.
I still think a lot of newly elected SNP MSPs will keep their powder dry and will wait until they win their seat, THEN jump ship over to ALBA.
Gone right handed
Av gone right aff you. Btw you go right handed- you’re either left handed or right handed unless you’re ambedextros Seen plenty of tripe posts like this over the years. Always from a troll and would never accept any opinions.
Now fuck off
Yes Joanna Cherry is gradually falling into the class of being an SNP selfserving trougher.
@AYRSHIRE ROB
Thank you for your comment.
I will take your suggestion into consideration.
Sheesh!! 20 Reasons to leave the SNP. I thought I was bad thinking up 10 Reasons why somebody should leave the SNP.
Robbo
To make it clear, I am saying that Morag’s action is justified in resigning from the SNP, not the allegation of hypocrisy made by ‘John McNab’.
Interesting is it not that the Herald chose to use a totally confected and non-story to smear Alba with the old guilt by association claptrap.
And yet here is a real story of terrible disillusionment with the SNP from one of its former great supporters and members. Any journalist would recognise this is a real story, especially if it can be backed up with evidence of other feeling the same and leaving. That is genuinely interesting and may signal a change in the Scottish political scene.
But no, they won’t be interested in how things are changing and how the SNP are now the jaded, worn out establishment, instead of the young, challenging radicals. Instead they will recycle social media trivia in an attempt to manipulate public opinion. That money Sturgeon splashed around was well spent, eh? Journalists aren’t interested in real political stories any more, just SNP PR, and generating clicks with fake outrage. How the once mighty have fallen.
What are they so scared of/craven about? Are they so uninterested in what is happening before an election?
Thank you Morag for this combination of heart-felt feelings and precision. I suspect the SNP have had many other letters not of this quality.
Ref S30 order. Not needed as this is the other so called Act of Union partner (England) agreeing the result of the Sovereign people of Scotland asking to leave the Act of Union.
If they (England) don’t want to have a S30 order that’s their problem. England doesn’t own Scotland although some people think they do.
Many countries have become Independent and not been recognised intially by some other countries.
So fine if England doesn’t want to recognise a Sovereign people’s right to be Independent from another partner state that’s their problem not Scotland’s.
wull says:
31 March, 2021 at 6:33 pm
“Well said, Morag. The most disturbing development of all in Nicola’s transformation of the SNP into something totally unrecognisable is her blatant attack on civil liberties of all kinds, and on basic human rights.”
Couldn’t agree more. Morag has listed most of the reasons I had for leaving the SNP last year and expressed them more eloquently than I ever could.
It tells you everything you need to know about Nicola Sturgeon’s character that she made a video appeal for her wee wokerati allies, begging them not to leave her, yet has had nothing to say about the departure of many long-serving members who have given years of loyalty, unpaid work and financial support to the party.
AYRSHIRE ROB/robbo
Will you fuck off with your gatekeeping shite.
If somebody wants to post a comment, then that is up to them.
You are an embarrassment with your “troll” and “yoon” and “77th” and “we see you” shite.
Try posting a relevant comment and give us peace with your self appointed site police man.
@TheItalianJob
Just because you say you are independent doesn’t mean that you are independent. Doesn’t Scotland own some of the UK’s debt?
Welcome to your political home Morag.
I did not leave the SNP, the SNP left me.
It’s a pity that such an eloquent critique of the omnishambles that is the SNP is certain to be summarily dismissed by both the Commandant and lesser animals of the ‘Clean Tails League’.
@Gone Right Handed
You cannot ‘own’ debt if you are not allowed to borrow
Morag’s actually let the SNP off fairly lightly there. She hasn’t even mentioned a whole bucket of domestic failures, like the much-delayed Scottish benefits and tax agencies, the invisible not-for-profit power company promised in 2017, the money wasted on Prestwick and BiFab and the infamous ferries, the supposed new constitutional convention, the shambles of the Growth Commission…
I had to draw the line on specifics somewhere, and these were included in the first point in general terms.
@oneliner
Sorry, I’m not with you. What are you referring to?
wull says:
31 March, 2021 at 6:33 pm
“Well said, Morag. The most disturbing development of all in Nicola’s transformation of the SNP into something totally unrecognisable is her blatant attack on civil liberties of all kinds, and on basic human rights.”
Couldn’t agree more. Morag has listed most of the reasons I had for leaving the SNP last year and expressed them more eloquently than I ever could.
It tells you everything you need to know about Nicola Sturgeon’s character that she made a video appeal for her wee wokerati allies, begging them not to leave her, yet has had nothing to say about the departure of many long-serving members who have given years of loyalty, unpaid work and financial support to the party.
What a heartfelt letter, thank you Morag. I am sure you and I are miles apart on the political spectrum but I admire your honesty and clarity and agree with all your points. Respect.
Beautifully written analysis Morag. I am entirely with you on 19 out of 20 points, and it is a damning catalogue.
Now despite the backhanded compliment, Mr Murray is saying here that he has no objection to, and indeed positively favours, the redefining of womanhood to include men, and the resulting destruction of all women’s single-sex spaces, protections and categories.
He holds to this despite having the implications explained to him by many women who are more eloquent than I am. It seems that Mr Murray elevates the feelings of his dear translady friends above women’s safety, comfort and modesty. I think its is a despicable position and I hope such a man is never within a hundred miles of being elected into any position of influence within Aba.
@Gone right handed.
No chief. Scotland has no share of something it had no powers to generate. We are unable to borrow so Westminster owns that particular item all by itself.
One Liner = Troll
Remember what the Rev says Don’t feed the trolls.
There will be many more along in the next 6 weeks!
Gone right banded is desperate to be fed
.
Once the shackles of Westminster are released we can join all the other successful countries in recent years who have gone on to be successful Independent countries.
Funny how many Tories complain to me about how Westminster subsidies (ha ha believe that if you will) Scotland.
My reply to them is to lobby your Tory MP to support a bill for Westminster to release Scotland from the Union and all should be well. Funny how they then shut up and don’t know what to say.
Remember the British Establishment needs Scotland they will degenerate it say it will never survive on its own despite scores of small countries now independent since the break up of the Soviet Union and doing very well thank you very much.
Gone right handed
The split from the Union will not be a turn of the switch event. It could easily take up to 2 years to implement the processes to gives us a smooth transition.
Many other countries have successfully gone through this sort of thing and none of them have come crawling back to rejoin their original union
Get off your knees man, we can do this!
@Davy Smith
I might be incorrect but I have been led to believe that Westminster would require some payment as settlement in the ‘divorce’.
Anyway. Would an independent Scotland seek to join the EU? Or not?
And if it didn’t would it be able to raise money in order to finance itself?
And if it did join the EU, then what is the point in leaving one union for another? What benefits would Scotland accrue as a member of the EU that it cannot as part of the UK?
And my enquiry about predatory nations with an interest in getting a foothold in the North Atlantic?
I have all these questions and would like them answered. Point by point.
@ian murray
I’m not on my knees. I’m British. As a fellow Briton you stand at my side don’t you? We British don’t kneel. Or so I was taught.
We can raise and spend our own revenues rather than as we do now and give it all to the U.K. Treasury and get a small amount back as a handout.
If the economy is going well or isn’t so good then Scotland as an Independent Country is accountable in full and we will solve our own issues rather than the mess we have at the moment with next to no financial clout on how we spend ALL of our revenues we raise and give to the U.K. Treasury.
@Gone right handed
You are talking bollocks try using your left hand, troll.
@ gone right handed. This old saw. OK, I’ll bite. Depends on how you look at it. Assuming you are looking at the balance sheet form a historical and longitudinal perspective, which I assume you are, and therefore if you include the revenues from oil, the whisky industry, privitised water, etc. etc. You will find that, objectively, we, as a country, are owed, we do not owe.
If, on the other hand, you look at it from the perspective that all revenues generated in the “UK” over the last couple of centuries belong definitively to ‘Westminster’, and you are inferring that Westminster is English, you need to read up on internal colonization.
Gone right handed says:
31 March, 2021 at 10:00 pm
“The prospect of independence raises many questions and I’d be interested if anyone could supply an answer.”
I doubt you’re actually interested in answers but here’s a few just incase:
I don’t believe Scotland could do very well as an independent country. It would be in hock to UK for it’s share of UK debt for starters.
Depends whether an independent Scotland is a continuator or successor state (i.e. a new country). Westminster takes the position that it would be a new country. Therefore it would not be liable for any debt the UK has accumulated (as was the case with Ireland I believe.) In 2014 Salmond was proposing taking on a portion of UK debt as a fair negotiating position, not an obligation.
What currency would it use?
Absolutely sick to death of hearing this stupid question. It’s of no importance. Currency is just a symbol, and Scotland is a rich country. Whichever currency we choose to use will be worth something and people will do business with us because we have things people want. It does not matter what you call it.
How would it raise money on the international markets?
With the tax money and assets currently sent South. Do other oil-rich countries have a problem with the international markets?
Would it seek to join the EU? If so, would that not create a lot of problems?
Scotland complied with EU law when it was in it, is a rich country, in a strategically important location, and has a long history as part of Europe. Why would it cause problems?
And what’s the point of throwing off Westminster in order to burden yourselves with Brussels?
False equivalence. The power structure of the two unions is not the same.
If not, wouldn’t that leave it open to aggressive takeover bids from the Chinese Communist Party?
I’d be more worried about attacks from space.
@cynicalHighlander
Thank you. I’m off up the wooden hill now. Toodleoo.
Jesus. If there were any further proof that the dark forces of the “British” state are threatened by recent developments, all one has to do is to note the sudden increase of mouthbreathingly unsophisticated whataboutery posts turning up here.
The Accountancy Trick that hides Scotland’s wealth.
http://www.businessforscotland.com/category/scotlands-economy/
Why doesn’t Gone right handed go and do his/her own research instead of trolling on here. Maybe start with The Wee Blue Book and the Business for Scotland site.
Then maybe he/she can come back and tell us how the RUK will manage without our resources and how it will pay for the storage of Trident from day one until it gets it off our land.
@WeeChid at 11.26pm
Agreed. See my post above on Business for Scotland.
God there is a whinging Brit Nat troll who is absolutely boring me to death. Even when you slap them with deid fish that have been deid for a week they still whinge. they wont even get up off their knees to get out of the way of the stinking fish they are getting beaten with.
Achtung Spitfire or Achtung Migs as it has been the last week or so. No doubt living in his Commando comic. Somebody tell him it is 2021 and not 1940. Next he will be telling us the North Koreans are coming or is it the Yellow Peril and Fu Manchu.
Morag says,
“It seems that Mr Murray elevates the feelings of his dear translady friends above women’s safety, comfort and modesty.”
So that was the 1 point out of 20 on which he didn’t agree with you.
Self identification provides an open door to predators like Rape Crisis Scotland’s Mridul Wadhwa, the man pretending to be a woman to get easy access to very vulnerable women.
The SNP has sold women down the river so Sturgeon can present her super woke credentials to get a top international job. She doesn’t give a damn about independence.
Busy day so I thought I might have a look at what the village people were discussing
BBC biased – no shit eh
Oh ALBA is a busted flush ,
Alex’s a vote loser ,
where are they getting their money from,
No impact on social media with percentage analyst ,
Gee wiz eh launched on Friday and no impact yet fk me they will sink without trace
Now Patience ladies it’s only Wednesday and another 5 or so weeks to go
For folks that don’t care about them they certainly are talking about them eh Job Done ha ha oh nearly forgot something sinister about ALBA being all in caps ! yeh I don’t fkn believe that post
“Be interesting to see what Holyrood would look like then…..?”
STV is already used in local council elections here in Scotland, isn’t it? It looks messy, with all sorts of strange alliances.
I like fptp. It would be impossible to estimate how Holyrood would look if we had STV. We can guess how it would look if we had a full fptp — more or less the same.
@ Gone right handed
Open the following link.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/your-country-needs-you/
Then press Ctrl F, enter “Chas”, then click through the multiple posts answering Morph’s pal last time the old Scotland’s too poor shiz was suggested.
You may feel like an amazing cutting edge pioneer ripping in tae us on these pages, but it’s all been asked and dealt with before over the years.
@ Magnus Erlendsson at 11.22pm: Excellent!
.
osakisushi
Afraid I have to disagree with you on air rifles laws in Scotland.
You are likely right that some folk may go out of the gun business. There are plenty of jobs. Distressingly, children only have two eyes. I had to attend A&E when one 9 year olds lost his left eye.
At least three times a year I was called out to attend a firearms “incident” which involved air rifle or air pistol.
Taking it up a notch, many folk have friends from Dunblane.
Nothing good has ever come out of the end of a gun.
I had a strange feeling when looking at some of the posting on the Village People platform ,remember when we had video rental shops ? That’s what is was like rows and rows of BETAMAX tapes loads of them with big signs the latest Hollywood blockbusters now for hire .you could go into the archives on WGD and find the same firs saying the shite from 2013 things haven’t changed a bit aye still going round in fkn circles .
Thon Andy @ 1030 ish
You’re not the sharpest tool in the box are you? I replied to “gone right handed ” legitimately quite quickly because I knew what was coming. Many other posters have confirmed this in subsequent posts. See above.
You’re quite quick to link other posters with me when it suits you and actually sent a few off this site because they couldn’t be arsed with the hassle. I, auld champ will not be bullied aff by a fanny like you. You keep mentioning the wings stall in some weird smear of someone on a regular basis too which is just weird. There’s no likelihood IMHO of you ever being at a AUOB march I reckon, cos you’ve full of shite and more likely to have a U jack fleg above your bed next to the red hand of Ulster.
Folks like you I’ve met many times in my life child, so you don’t fool me.
You and your other usernames have came up with the same nonsense for months. You haven’t even got the brains to change your style of writing all the way back to “dog biscuit” .
No fuck off oot of my hemisphere on this planet wae yir pal and concentrate on you’re pet hate of NS you demented twat.
Btw I’ll no be voting for Sarwar you tumshie, so beat it.
Good range of candidates from Alba – and great to see some working class ones, young ones, older ones, experienced politicians and activists. A majority are women too! Quite enjoyed reading the bios.
Snp could be in deep do do. The ring fenced funds and state of their finances which have been in the public domain for a year was covered today by Private Eye and the Sun. Is the MSM and British state rattled by the appearance of Alba? If so the SNP should wise up and accept with grace the very generous attitude of Alex Salmond’s gesture of support.
It’s hilarious when you listen to the broadcasters down the road who have cast all this as salmond v sturgeon: It’s much more serious than that – it’s Scottish independence versus the union. They really don’t understand how that desire to return Scotland to its rightful state of nationhood is the fire that burns. Any other potential reason is meaningless in comparison. A great example would be how ISP and AFI stepped aside, despite absolutely busting a gut working towards their goals. Now that really is putting country before party. Sadly with the SNP it’s the other way round.
Right – there’s work to be done. And hope in my heart again.
The argument that independence is a bad idea because we’d be burdened with a share of debt is an odd one. The most certain way of guaranteeing a share of the debt is to stay.
The more you look at it, the more you realise it’s English independence they fear.
Without Scotland, without the guaranteed income Scottish natural resources provide, all England would have going for is its black market offshore banking facilities (aka “the city”).
Gone right handed says:
31 March, 2021 at 10:00 pm
Has anyone got a plan for independence?
I think you were doing this on the other post under a different name, but whatevs.
Does anyone who wants independence for Scotland believe that on day one everything will be exactly as it was the day before?
On day one? Probably.
I don’t believe Scotland could do very well as an independent country. It would be in hock to UK for it’s share of UK debt for starters.
We’re in debt now.
What currency would it use?
Scotland could easily use any currency it wants, but the option that’s most compatible with national democracy is the Pound Scots.
How would it raise money on the international markets?
How does any country raise money on international markets? Even Venezuela still has access to credit.
Would it seek to join the EU? If so, would that not create a lot of problems? And what’s the point of throwing off Westminster in order to burden yourselves with Brussels?
That’s up to Scots.
If not, wouldn’t that leave it open to aggressive takeover bids from the Chinese Communist Party?
I’m sure they could modify their Belt and Road initiative to take over control of Rosyth once the RN left.
This is like your point about debt, you seem oblivious to what’s happening *now*.
Boris Johnson recently unveiled his “Global Britain” plan, which includes continuing to suck China’s wang. Not coincidentally, the regime in Washington DC, which has controlled British foreign policy since the Suez Crisis, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese Communist Party and headed up by a senile corpse whose pockets are stuffed full of Chinese cash.
We’re not even the colony of a great imperial power. We’re controlled by effete arseholes in London who are themselves the bottom bitch of a gerontocratic kleptocracy in the fever swamps of the Potomac, who are in turn bought and sold by an evil totalitarian regime that puts people in literal concentration camps. But I hear they pay well. Maybe we should cut out the middlemen.
The Chinese regime is crawling all over Iceland, and declared itself a “near-Arctic state” (China is thousands of miles away from the Arctic).
The response of Global Britain, the United States, and the EU to this is… continue to ship jobs and technology to China (it’s, eh, greener? the bribes, I mean) while allowing them to buy up anything they want and build nuclear reactors in England.
But you’re CONCERNED about what Scotland might do.
If you asked all 46 SNP Mps,what they were doing right now to help Scottish independence,and I mean make it happen. Not one of them could look you in the eye and say anything they were doing. All they are actually doing is representing their constituents. Thats not why they are SNP Mps though is it. Being ordinary mps is not what SNP Mps are supposed to be.
To be fair, representing their constituents is their job, and an important one if an MP is doing it right (whether they all are or not is another question). Same with MSPs and councillors. If all they’d all been doing day in day out since 2014 was shouting about independence while ignoring their constituents, they’d likely have long since been voted out. Similarly, the SNP are the Scottish Government, so they do have to run the country. And, again, that can’t be done on a continual war footing with WM. We can certainly argue about policies and that, since Brexit, it should have been on a more aggressive footing, but that is just argument – none of us are/were in the front line having to deal with it.
All of that demonstrates the need for more than one party to be fighting for independence, or for the wider movement to step up and become more organised, rather than being a criticism of MPs who may be working very hard to help constituents and with local issues. My issue is more around where they haven’t been either fighting for independence OR representing their constituents. So stitching up Alex, trying to destroy Joanna, focussing on divisive identity issues etc.
‘it’s Scottish independence versus the union.’
It maybe more authentic to say:-
‘it’s Scottish independence versus the Colony.’
Al-Stuart says: at 11:44 pm
“Nothing good has ever come out of the end of a gun.”
Pfft! I’d beg to differ as before the ban, pellets facilitated the creation of my kickass wood pigeon or grey squirrel stir fries.
I was getting locally sourced quality meat, and keeping the invasive grey squirrel numbers in check.
Now I have to buy meat of dubious origin with a significantly higher carbon footprint, and the native red squirrels have lost a protective ally.
Nicola Sturgeon labeling ALBA as ‘gaming the system’.
How Unionist sounding is that!
The FM implicitly defending the system of 3 English Unionist parties v 1 Scottish party.
Right there is the problem with Nicola Sturgeon.
What a true refection of the SNP and its leadership and I’ve no doubt it even worse than any of us really know.
Ian Davidson (ex chair) Westmister Scottish affairs committee in 2014 is on youtube asking the question of the Westminster experts what is the amount of Scotlands ‘National’ debt if it was to become an independent state.
Answer was. Zero (fact)
I’ll try and find it tomorrow.
————————————————————–
Here is another scenario from Ritchard Murphy saying same!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoOfXUZj4gM
Number 21 on that list should be the appointment of a certain media chief!
I have done the arithmetic and like it or not it has to be SNP1 and Alba2 with one or perhaps two regional exceptions and these will become obvious with some polling data.
TheItalianJob says: 9:34 pm
At Andy Ellis. D’Hondt system forced onto Holyrood by Labour (Blair and Dewar). Main reason was to ensure no party (especially the SNP) could have an overall majority.
Agree an alternative system should be maybe assessed. Needs to be a form of proportional representation.
Not sure how the Scottish Parliament goes about it.
————————–
!!??
D’Hondt IS a form of proportional representation.
Just because it’s been misused in Scotland doesn’t mean it’s bad. Many countries use it incl. Germany where I live.
… everything morag said and more.
hopefully a new beginning on the horizon !
I actually thought I had posted from my phone from the stables this evening but nothing seems to have come through.
The thing about the flag on the church. They fly it like that on the day of a funeral. It bugs me that they fly it so low – somebody doesn’t seem to know that “half mast” doesn’t mean half way up the flagpole, it means the height of the flag from the top of the pole. That just looks stupid.
They fly it right at the top of the pole on the day of a wedding. The photographer should have chosen a wedding day for the photograph, or simply asked someone to move the flag for a short time. (I have a fun shot of a wedding day when the snow was 18 inches deep and the boy piper, standing in a narrow path that had been dug, looked as if he was playing up to his knees in snow. The flag looked good though.)
I had a super ride, on a huge black beast called Rocco who nevertheless had very nice paces. We didn’t go too far or too fast because the paths were muddy (skelpit on through dub and mire was about right) and most of the riders unfit. I was lucky enough to snag one of the two remaining slots for next week when I got home, and they were all gone half an hour later. Hopefully the weather will be better.
I remembered there’s a MacDonald’s with a drive-through nearby and my guess that they wouldn’t require an advance order was correct, so I even had a meal out afterwards (Chicken McNuggets, sitting in my parked car!) So all in all, a cheerful day which I very much needed.
Michael Laing Dev Sridahr is a policy womk and Neil Ferguson is a computer modeller. Neither of them are doctors. Neither of them are virologists so what science do you mean? Why is professor Karl Sikora banned from the News? Because he disagreed with the Government.
Michael. I’ve been at this for a year now and the most dispiriting thing about the whole covid 19 business is how many people have fallen for dictatorship. We can disagree man but there’s no need for personal insults. I’m trying to make a point about something I believe and you insult me. Have I insulted you? Michael have you not noticed how one sided the media reporting of this virus is? Have you not noticed that the UK Government keeps moving the goalposts on the end of lockdown? Do you fully accept everything the Government says about pandemics? As far as Independence goes I’ll vote but its not a priority for me now as there are bigger and more pressing politics going on in the world right now.
.
Dan,
I read your point.
With respect I don’t want to get into a debate about guns. I agree with your opening rejoinder mentioning you beg to differ about what I wrote…
“Nothing good ever came out of the end of a gun”
You have a point about meat and culling mammals. I tried to walk in your shoes to respond better. But the scars from my side sadly run deep.
The least worst experience is having to attend a parent to drive them to hospital following their son being blinded in one eye by a stray air gun pellet.
The worst, and this is why I end up in Wings BTL forum between 1am and 5am. PTSD. When you have to attend the post mortem of a child killed by a shotgun. The parents were strongly advised not to view their son in the chapel of rest. They never got to grieve that way.
Dan, I cannot reconcile your need for meat and culling by firearm when ingenuity can find 1001 different ways of dispatching the critters rather than nine grams of lead to the head.
Sorry chief, we will need to differ.
Funny how the emphasis is always on a certain party gaming the system but we as voters know that actual politicians – the personalities of politics – have an importance that matters to us because some individuals at Holyrood are clearly of a mediocre intellectual calibre and they’ve been hiding in plain sight, some of them for decades, receiving financial rewards that are in no way commensurate with their actual abilities. So which parties have been gaming the system by inflicting on us these serial failures who would have never had any chance of getting elected in a more transparent voting system? That would be the Conservatives, Labour, the Libdems, the Greens and of course the SNP, trousering millions of unearned pounds in the process.
Now the Alba party have brought the actual nature of the d’Hondt system to light, the fact that it was designed to keep Scottish independence representatives artificially low, and are using the design of this distorting voting system against itself but also in the service of a political ideal. There is no concealment of this new party’s programme but they are entirely open that their the purpose is that this political ideal should be pursued without delay.
Many of the Alba party’s candidates have made honourable resignations from a party where patronage, favouritism and political nepotism are rife in order to stake their immediate futures on pursing their ideal. Doing this may come at a cost in negative publicity.
Having laid out the actual state of affairs in the above way, who is in fact gaming this distorting and prejudicial voting system?
Answer: I don’t think it’s the Alba party.
When Sturgeon effectively banned airweapons the Scots lost the ability to train marksmen.
Now, about the coronavirus. I am a recently-retired expert in disease control and I can tell you that Scotland’s handling of this epidemic, under Nicola Sturgeon, has been atrocious. Far too many people see our slightly better performance than England (largely due to our lower population density and lack of a big international hub airport and the Channel Tunnel) as some sort of success. It is not.
Too many people also make excuses for Nicola, first saying that she had no power to do x, y or z, and then when it’s pointed out that not only did she have such powers, she actually used some of them but way too late and only when events in England might be seen as giving permission, they say well Boris wouldn’t have let her. I do not expect an independence-supporting FM to allow tens of thousands of Scots to die because she’s scared that Boris might be cross if she tries to save them. She bought into herd immunity right at the start (and so did that idiot Jason Leitch) and she has never seriously tried to diverge significantly from the WM strategy since.
She sometimes says she’s going to do the right thing, and my heart lifts, but then she carries right on not doing it. She even said, correctly, that simply trying for zero covid, even if it’s not entirely successful, will save a huge number of lives. Then she went right on not trying for zero covid.
She sometimes announces some sensible regulations, then she allows Police Scotland (whom we know dance to her tune) to announce, don’t worry, we will be policing with a light touch, we won’t be stopping cars, do what you like. Even Wales tried to stop tourists driving into the country last year. We never did.
I will never forgive her for all these deaths, many of which could have been avoided, nor for meekly repackaging Westminster’s lethal strategies rather than declaring Scotland was going to look after itself and using every legal trick in the book to achieve that. And if Boris had said no you don’t, you must let the virus in because I say so, what an advertisement for independence that would have been.
There are vested interests that want to promote the idea that zero covid is not achievable. Of course it’s achievable, we almost did it last year, but NS simply issued the virus with an engraved invitation to come back and smiled nervously as she watched it do just that. It will have to be done in the end, and the longer we wait the more both the people and the economy will suffer.
But don’t anybody come here telling me I don’t know about epidemiology or disease control, because I do, and what I have seen over the past year and more has shocked and sickened me.
Oh and just to finish, Karol Sikora is a crank and a charlatan who wants to abolish the NHS so that he can enrich himself from other people’s misery. He knows absolutely nothing about epidemiology or disease control and he should be locked in the basement with the lights out.
Rev. Stuart Campbell says:
31 March, 2021 at 5:48 pm
“First they came for the football supporters and you did not protest.”
———-
Sorry, but the grounds of your dismissal of Mr McLaughlin’s argument are spurious. Indulge me and consider Pastor Martin Niemöller’s text:
“ First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me”
The analogous line is
“ First they came for the Communists…”
Would you accept the special pleading of a postwar German intellectual or churchman who said:
“ The German Communists were not interested in a political debate. But only in assisting the mass -murderer Stalin whose Red Army troops wrought havoc in Germany, murdering thousands of German non-combatants and raping tens of thousands of German women.“
No?
Regarding air weapons, my objection was the Scot Gov licensing decision only effecting business in Scotland. In no way did it restrict the supply of weapons, just damaged Scottish business.
My hobby, target shooting, still takes place on my own land as I’m licensed.
But any scumbag who wants a rifle will still purchase one mail order. Companies south of the border or in Europe know to either send boxes with a “do not fly” label to avoid x-ray or post the barrel and stock separately.
It was a case of unilateral legislation doing absolutely nothing, other than giving a fake positive headline for Sturgeon. Meanwhile, ONLY Scottish business suffered with the majority of weapons now sourced via English & German suppliers.
Guns, all forms of guns, are an emotive subject and I’d be happy to be licensed if the field was level. But Scottish legislation literally created a stupid, impossible to police, situation.
Al Stuart. If nothing good came out of the barrel of a gun does that mean police constables have no good reason to be armed?
Congratulations to Morag on an exhaustive list of her reasons for leaving the SNP. It is refreshing to find a principled political activist, even when you disagree with much of her policies.
I would suggest one cautionary note about the mechanics of any successful independence campaign. If the SNP still heads the government during the transition and the drafting of a constitution, you run the real risk of them entrenching many of the current problems, such as the Hate Bill, or the conflicted position of the Lord Advocate. This would get you off to a really acrimonious start, and the possibility of some type of State Capture by their venal connections. It is essential that the SNP be destroyed. The current piggy-back from Alba, though clever, can only be a short term solution for this election, not a long term strategy.
Morag. Sikora not a cancer specialist then? Tell me Is it normal for the MSM to run a completely one side story and to monster and insult anyone who disagrees with them? With a 99% survival rate what science are you following? Chris’s Whitty who has 600 000 pounds worth of shares in a pharmaceutical company? Do you actually believe there is a deadly pandemic when the PCR test is not normally used as a diagnostic and it is being run at 40 to 45 cycles instead of the WHO recommended 30 cycles. It’s run at higher cycles in order to produce more bogus positives. These “cases” never seem to end in mass death. If you are a doctor then you should also know that the vaccine is actually a medical experiment being carried out on the general public. In 1946 Nazi doctors were hanged for carrying out medical experiments on victims in tje death camps.
Morag. I think you should take a closer look at the politics and Money around covid 19.
Oh for God’s sake I spent years in a lab that actually used PCR tests in diagnosis and disease surveillance and control. We did huge numbers of tests on healthy individuals to ensure continuing freedom from infection and we know all about false positives and false negatives and how to handle them. The people running the coronavirus testing know these things too, it’s hardly rocket science. You have been reading fake-news rubbish from conspiracy-theory web sites. Give it up.
It’s bad enough having to watch the monumental mess all the British governments are making of trying to handle this pandemic without also having to listen to completely off-the-wall rubbish from raving nutcases who wouldn’t know a PCR machine if they tripped over one.
Morag at 2:37am
I really wish there was the facility to upvote your post. Still giggling.
@Morag
I don’t know what to make of the following fact because there is an unusually high number of this grouping in the higher echelons of the professions in Scotland, but is it common knowledge that ‘that idiot Jason Leitch’ is an evangelical christian?
Everybody should read the below at least once. If you’re a bit thick, you might consider reading it 2 or 3 times. And btw, I’ve been saying almost all of this for about a year (not with the benefit of hindsight).
From Morag @ 1.38;
“ Scotland’s handling of this epidemic, under Nicola Sturgeon, has been atrocious. Far too many people see our slightly better performance than England (largely due to our lower population density and lack of a big international hub airport and the Channel Tunnel) as some sort of success. It is not.
Too many people also make excuses for Nicola, first saying that she had no power to do x, y or z, and then when it’s pointed out that not only did she have such powers, she actually used some of them but way too late and only when events in England might be seen as giving permission, they say well Boris wouldn’t have let her. I do not expect an independence-supporting FM to allow tens of thousands of Scots to die because she’s scared that Boris might be cross if she tries to save them. She bought into herd immunity right at the start (and so did that idiot Jason Leitch) and she has never seriously tried to diverge significantly from the WM strategy since.
She sometimes says she’s going to do the right thing, and my heart lifts, but then she carries right on not doing it. She even said, correctly, that simply trying for zero covid, even if it’s not entirely successful, will save a huge number of lives. Then she went right on not trying for zero covid.
She sometimes announces some sensible regulations, then she allows Police Scotland (whom we know dance to her tune) to announce, don’t worry, we will be policing with a light touch, we won’t be stopping cars, do what you like. Even Wales tried to stop tourists driving into the country last year. We never did.
I will never forgive her for all these deaths, many of which could have been avoided, nor for meekly repackaging Westminster’s lethal strategies rather than declaring Scotland was going to look after itself and using every legal trick in the book to achieve that. And if Boris had said no you don’t, you must let the virus in because I say so, what an advertisement for independence that would have been.
There are vested interests that want to promote the idea that zero covid is not achievable. Of course it’s achievable, we almost did it last year, but NS simply issued the virus with an engraved invitation to come back and smiled nervously as she watched it do just that. It will have to be done in the end, and the longer we wait the more both the people and the economy will suffer.”
PhilM says:
April, 2021 at 4:16 am
@Morag
I don’t know what to make of the following fact because there is an unusually high number of this grouping in the higher echelons of the professions in Scotland, but is it common knowledge that ‘that idiot Jason Leitch’ is an evangelical christian?
====================================================================================================================
Ian Gray of the Labour Party is a Free Presbyterian but it doesn’t seem to account for much in his voting record. I dont think religious leanings do when it come to votes in Holyrood.
Oh and you dont get where Jason Leitch got by being an idiot. It doesn’t do to underestimate people in positions of power and influence and he is that. He has lasted longer in the job than Calderwood did for one.
All the discussion seems to assume that the Conservative vote will hold up in May’s election. Yet as I understand it the constituencies with Conservative majorities are the very farming and fishing communities that have been hit hardest by Brexit. Surely there’s going to be a backlash against the Tories? This could be a very useful stick with which to beat the Tories with for Alba.
What’s happened to the IndyRef 600,000? It’s gone, used to pay bloated salaries to Murrell and their cronies. Even more concerning is that the SNP show every sign of going bankrupt and soon. Failure to pay branches their share of subs for the last 2 years (2019 & 2020) and begging members to renew annual subscriptions 3 months in advance are all signs of a financial crisis.
Reports of high bank charges indicate the Party has gone into overdraft – who authorised that? Certainly not the NEC, who can’t even get a set of accounts out of Pete Murrell that is more recent than December 2019. The NEC are in the position of the Board of Directors in a public company. The Board of even the smallest company expects the latest accounts at it’s monthly Board meetings. For Murrell and the Treasurer not to level with the NEC about the Party’s financial position is unacceptable. The new Treasurer has been in office for over 4 months now – why hasn’t he told the members about the Party’s finances?
The SNP’s finances are in dire straits even before you factor in the cost of May’s election campaign. Spend $1.5 million on the campaign – where’s that going to come from? They can’t even cover their day-to-day operating costs without going into overdraft. With membership numbers in freefall I seriously doubt the banks will be willing to pony up another 1,500,000. Sturgeon & Murrell are obviously hoping they can get the membership to bail them out with donations. Having alienated so much of the membership that ain’t gonna happen.
The SNP is heading for a financial crash and soon. They might manage to stumble through May’s election somehow but the crunch can’t be long delayed. When it comes Murrell and Sturgeon will both be discredited and lose their positions. Unfortunately their legacy will be a bankrupt Party with a diminished and demoralised membership.
Kcor says:
31 March, 2021 at 6:45 pm
I have an idea.
Kiwilassie in New Zealand or Skip in the USA or lumilumi in Finland or even Mist in France could write a Spycatcher type book about the criminal conspiracy to jail Alex Salmond on false charges.
Reply
I have been saying things on the twitter pages of those I know to be involved in Alex’s stitch up. For instance one married male candidate up for election will be getting special treatment.
Posting things on blogs can & will put the blog in danger of being closed down. Posting on their Face book page only gets you banned from it. The only place left is on twitter.
It’s best to wait to hit them with what I know when it gets closer to election date. If it helps another candidate whether he be Independent Indy supporter or a unionist.
If I can prevent him from winning the constituency seat he’s after. It will be Karma for him & his wife.
The week before your election I will hit his face book page multiple times in one evening while he’s asleep before getting banned. “Having 12hrs time difference helps at times. LOL
chic says:
31 March, 2021 at 6:51 pm
I could take nothing to do with a political party whose leader, leader mind, whilst being a qualified lawyer would find it in them to say
“Just because he was found not guilty doesn’t mean he didn’t do it”
That is all.
Reply
Chic she was a junior lawyer who had to give up the profession before she got barred for misconduct.
https://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2021/03/first-interests-judge-recommended-for_8.html
Bravo Morag and thank you for your articulate and truly shocking indictment of the damage and harm and abuse caused by the abject failures of Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership. This is precisely why I wanted them removed from power. Then Alex took the political arena of Holyrood by storm and I was literally jumping for joy. He is a tactical genius and an intellectual giant who has reenergised and galvanised the Indy movement when we needed him the most.
Nicola Sturgeon is damaged goods, beyond repair and past her sell by date. She will be out of her depth when Alex returns to Holyrood. When she departs the scene, she will still be required to account for her actions in the court proceedings against Lesley Evans and the police investigation into the Daily Record leak. Bring it on and let’s get on with restoring our nation to the noble cause of Independence. # 4378 Alba.
“ She sometimes says she’s going to do the right thing, and my heart lifts, but then she carries right on not doing it. She even said, correctly, that simply trying for zero covid, even if it’s not entirely successful, will save a huge number of lives. Then she went right on not trying for zero covid.”
I’ve often felt in the minority for thinking she really HAS NOT shown great leadership throughout the past year.
Daily covid briefings conducted by herself and NOT the health secretary – was politics – NOT great leadership. Leaders delegate. Of course she could have stepped in for the ‘landmark’ announcements.
It is easy to tell people the bottom line is safety, it she has found it far harder to apply these decisions when they might come into direct conflict with England. It took Wales to take the lease on closing the border. That’s NOT great leadership.
She has been propped up by Boris’ sheer incompetence.
If she’s relying on her COVID record for this election, I’d say that is a very bad move.
manandboy @ 11:58 pm
“‘it’s Scottish independence versus the Colony.’”
Self-determination independence is decolonisation, according to the UN Special Committee on Decolonization (C24):
https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/c24/about
It that case it might be important to know who your colonizer is.
Rev Stu. Given that activists are limited with mail drops due to Covid19 Is it possible to get the word out this way.
With the catchment of e-mail urls you have amassed over the years, producing a fact sheet explaining the best way to vote, showing the features & benefits to Scotland & Independence by doing so.
Doing a mail merge from your catchment of URL’s. People who receive the e-mail from you then forward it on to people within Scotland, they have on their own computers.
By spreading the word throughout Scotland this way can cover the whole of Scotland at no cost what so ever.
What do you think, Is this feasible?
Morag, may I say how much I enjoyed your letter and your responses to some other posters – I hear the pissed off pain loud and clear.
Free by 93….2093?
Nicola on Radio Shortbread around 8.15 say
“It might be argued that there is a case for Independence” ?
Back to bad mouthing Alex- she reveals he is a bit of a
gambler, even bets on the horses most days?
He doesn’t seem to be bankrupt from having a flutter
so is anyone who sticks a Fiver on the first favourite
a loose cannon that could never be trusted?
A book makers have multi billion pounds flowing thru
their tills, are there very few trust worthy citizens in the country.
She still argues both votes SNP but I’ve seen the graphs on how
it works and Alba will be getting my second vote without doubt.
So, Nicola Sturgeon was a lawyer at one time, then in 1998 she left that profession and went into politics.
I say she left, what actually happened , she was investigated by the law society and found to have been a useless tosser by them
She had three identifiable breaches, one of which was not sending away a legal aid form signed by a client of the firm she was working for, nothing happened with this and other complaints against her, so she was able to sneak into the political arena with no stain on her character. does this sound familiar to anyone.
i was given £500 compensation many years ago against a firm that did the exact same with my legal aid form, months wasted because they never sent it away, that was just an oversight by the seretary as she was a very busy woman and she overlooked it.
Now, Nicola Sturgeon had three breaches that where identifiable, so she cannot claim an oversight, but in saying she cannot claim that, she probably did, lets be honest, she has a memory for forgetting important matters when it suits her.
I would not go as far as to say she is a liar, but if you are always not telling the truth and making a habit of being forgetful when it suits you, what three letter word fits the bill
NIT
I hope someone has alerted Denise Coates to Sturgeon’s quotes on gambling.
Great April Fool by the National today.
They are pushing a story that Nicola Sturgeon wants Independence.
Kiwilassie says:
1 April, 2021 at 8:13 am
“Doing a mail merge from your catchment of URL’s. People who receive the e-mail from you then forward it on to people within Scotland, they have on their own computers.
By spreading the word throughout Scotland this way can cover the whole of Scotland at no cost what so ever.
What do you think, Is this feasible?”
I can answer that – its illegal and has been for 18 years. PECR (Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) mean you can be required to pay damages per email.
Also “chain letters” (seems to be your suggestion) are infantile. Only the very stupid do anything other than bin them.
DC
I had dealings with her as a lawyer and she was a very odd, cold unhelpful individual that left a lasting impression .
@kiwilassie: what you’re proposing is a massive breech of the GDPR, so no.
“Yes Joanna Cherry is gradually falling into the class of being an SNP selfserving trougher”
From where I am standing, the evidence that is available does not support such assertion.
For starters, Ms Cherry with her experience and qualifications would make far more money out of politics than within politics. She does not fit the mould of the average careerist that enters politics because they are not good at anything else. She is good at something else. Actually, exceptionally good and I suspect that is the reason why she was stonewalled and treated the way she was.
Secondly, self-serving troughers do not openly oppose a corrupt leadership that has completely lost the sense of right and wrong and that because they know they have already lost the argument before they even started to defend it, they simply use dirty tricks to remove you out of their way.
Thirdly, this lady has been subjected to disgusting attacks in social media, and painfully some from her own party, and even received nasty threats. Even the mere suggestion that she welcomes this in order to continue earning less than half of what she could earn if she was out of politics is ridiculous.
I honestly do no know what it is that you are after, but I am beginning to doubt it is independence. I expect absurd comments like that to come from the political trojan horse deployed to deliberately divide the yes vote and that we know as genderwoowoo, a British state whose pride is still hurt by the way Joanna brought the ERG down their high horse by winning the a50 revokation case and by bringing an arrogant Johnson and a compliant monarch down a peg or two with their attempt to abuse power to impose a prorogation on parliament, or from the Murrell’s apparatchiks.
If Ms Cherry is doing something, it is not that of becoming another SNP self-serving trougher. Because if she was, she would be best pals with and would receive lovely tweets from Wishart, Robertson, Blackford, Smith, Black, McDonald and Blackman.
You could argue that in fact what she is doing is exposing the real troughers.
In a press release today Kenny MacAskill has exposed his huge concern about the London based Electoral Commission failing to approve the Alba logo for inclusion on the ballot.
Commenting on the situation Mr MacAskill has commented on how the Electoral Commission were able to process and approve a change of SNP identity mark first released for public consultation on 11th March but not ALBA material submitted exactly one month earlier. The Commission officials bent over backwards to assist the big party but gave little or no help to the emerging party.
Such apparent bias, to use a phrase, is absolutely outrageous in a so called democracy. Effectively banning a party’s logo comes across as an interference designed to influence electors in the casting of their vote.
But of course the BBC has already run leaders debate programmes without the leader of the Alba party. Bias and electoral interference is I am afraid oozing out of the British establishment. Election rigging is their game.
Where it will stop I don’t know but come the 6th May 2021 we all need to give our vote to Alba and to the SNP too.
Do that and we will together be tooled up to pursue our objective of independence. And in the meantime, we must demand that all establishment driven bias be stopped forthwith.
.
There are a lot of very decent SNP folk like Morag.
Then you have the Sturgeon justice-deniers and court-contempters such as Pete Wishart.
Even supporters and followers of Wishart are starting to realise that the truth will out.
Others are, thankfully, realising that all is not “right” in Sturgeon-world.
The “look” that Wishart is giving off has been picked up by his followers.
The end of Wishart’s twenty year SETTLED IN RESIDENCY in the U.K. PALACE of Westminster is coming to an end.
To quote a group of folk on Wishart’s notorious echo chamber at Twitter, and the ilk of whom Wishart will soon ban as he suffers (and boasts of) premature Twitter e-ban-ification…
———————————-
QUOTE FROM WISHART SUPPORTER ABOUT STURGEONS CONTINUED CONTEMPT OF THE COURT VERDICT.
sjardine
@positivescotlan
·
27 Mar
Replying to
@PeteWishart
“He was found not guilty. Why does she keep making insinuations. It is not a good look. The verdict should be respected he should be allowed to get on with his life.”
Alex Salmond was interviewed on Radio 4 just after 8.30 this morning, although I only heard the very tail-end. Should be available soon on catch-up.
Electoral Commission being silly buggers with Alba?
https://twitter.com/bridgesforindy/status/1377509022522298370
Reading in some quarters, and I don’t think it’s widely understood what a supermajority is, and why it matters. I’ve seen cynical observations that Boris Johnson won’t respect a simple majority mandate, so why would he roll over for a supermajority?
It is my understanding that a supermajority is not just another way of saying an emphatic majority, it is a fixed threshold; it is having 2/3’s of the Holyrood seats in Pro-Independence hands. That means securing 82 seats minimum of the 126.
It is a meaningful threshold because allows the Scottish Parliament to call an election, or plebiscite election whenever it likes. It unwinds the Section 30 stranglehold / veto on Scotland’s right to hold a referendum and puts Holyrood back in charge.
It also changes the fundamental structure of Holyrood, because while the Unionst List seats are divided between 3 loyalties, the Independentist List Seats, (assuming the SNP wises up) will be focussed on ALBA, which, if the results go well see ALBA returned as the second biggest party to the SNP. That means the Scottish Government and its official opposition BOTH being pro Independence voices, and the whole format and tenor of Holyrood Government changes.
How will Westminster react to a democratically Scottish Parliament which has squeezed out Unionist representation which the Scotland Act was specifically drawn up to enshrine?
Is it acceptable to deploy this cunning strategy to exploit the voting system to eclipse “legitimate” Unionist representation? This is the reason why some malign the tactic as gaming the system. Well, let’s be overly accommodating for arguments sake, and concede that you could make that argument.
But then, I’m struggling to see what actual rules are being broken, but furthermore, exploiting the voting system to achieve a predetermined result is precisely what Westminster and the Scottish Unionists had in mind when writing the Scotland Act to hobble the chances of anybody being radically empowered by securing an emphatic majority. They’ve gamed Holyrood for decades, and with a corrupt British media helping them indoctrinate the electorate to do it.
If you doubt the validity of this partisan Holyrood legislation, just wait until a Pro-Independence supermajority does exist, and marvel at the extent Westminster to which will go to discredit it, and rewrite the Scotland Act to deny Scotland yet another route for it’s sovereign democracy to express itself.
Holyrood is just a political arms race, where every new measure devised, quickly spawns it’s own countermeasure and the merry go round keeps turning. You’re not actually meant to get anywhere.
It also worries me the extent to which the mud Sturgeon continues to throw at Alex Salmond sticks. I rather suspect that 80-90% of the muck she is throwing is failing to stick, (and the rate is dropping the more desperate and vindictive it becomes), but that stubborn 10% that does stick could make a difference if the results are tight. We all know Union TV will amplify the toxicity.
I don’t know “who” it will take, but “someone” needs to get to their feet inside the SNP and call a halt to the smears and attacks on ALBA.
If ALBA supporters can set Nicola Sturgeon’s lamentable track record of corruption and incompetence to one side, in order to vote in an SNP (which many now find utterly repugnant), then it seems the least we can ask is for the SNP to do likewise and bottle their bile until our supermajority is secured.
There’s no point trying to persuade them that Alex Salmond is the good guy in this. These folks are emotional types who have allowed themselves to become blinkered, and are now bitter to be persuaded by rational argument. Their devout loyalty to Sturgeon might actually be commendable in some parallel universe, but sadly in our universe, it clearly isn’t coming from any shrewd or rational analysis of her woeful decisions.
We need to be careful and handle this delicately. We are guilty of assuming that when offering an SNP voter a choice between a supermajority and a hung Parliament, they will instinctively choose a pro-Independence supermajority. It’s a no brainer to us. But “somebody”, and pardon the expression, “one of them”, needs to be diluting Sturgeon’s daily drip of toxin, or her unchecked festering bitterness will bring us all down.
I am voting SNP 1 and ALBA 2, no matter what bile comes out of Sturgeon’s gob, (and upsetting Cosy-feet-Pete is just a bonus), but I would still welcome Sturgeon’s stepping down and as a godsend that would clear the way for the SNP to align itself properly with the SNP1 ALBA2 supermajority objective.
I don’t give a shit about Sturgeon. I’d even give her an amnesty and big fat pension just to fk off. What I want is the choke point on Scottish Independence removed. What I want, is 82+ seats in Holyrood and Scotland’s greater empowerment.
Mia @ 8 57
I have always found your comments at the very least interesting and frequently brilliantly perceptive , but of late you’ve been really knocking it out the park , articulating with uncanny precision exactly what’s been on my – and I suspect quite a few others- mind .
Great work my friend , keep ’em coming
OK – the caveat is, thanks to years of wrong choices, mismanagement and sheer incompetence, they have been overtaken in terms of elected MPs and MSPs by the Tories, but, it could be argued that Labour is still Scotland’s second-most-popular political party.
In which case, the forthcoming electoral clash, between Nicola Sturgeon and Anas Sarwar, for the Glasgow Southside constituency is unique.
For the first time in a naitnal election, the leaders of the two largest parties are going head-to-head for a single seat.
What a pity this is not a normal election, with hustings, public meetings, candidates on the streets and the like – that could ahve been very-interesting.
Mishal Husain, interviewing Alex Salmond on Radio 4 this morning, refused to accept that Gordon Jackson QC had denied calling his client a ‘sex pest’. She then reaccused Salmond of ‘stroking a sleeping woman’s face’ and indulging in ‘a sleepy cuddle’. Strange that, of all the charges of which Salmond was accused and found not guilty, she should pick out those two for repetition. Obviously trying to prompt an angry denial and to goad him into explaining himself. Salmond stuck to his entirely reasonable position that fair-minded people would accept the verdicts handed down in the highest court in Scotland.
Breeks @ 9.15am
Great post – you’re sucking diesel son.
likewise Breeks !!
Al Stuart 09.07
I’m not a nationalist and not a fan of Alex Salmond, but I find the continued insinuation and outright insistence of Nicola Sturgeon that Alex Salmond is guilty, despite having been acquitted by a jury in a Court of Law, to be reprehensible. Even worse is her insistence that she knows he is guilty because he told her so during a private conversation, an unsubstantiated accusation she knows cannot be disproven or even disputed.
This is despicable behaviour from Sturgeon and I would make the same condemnation of anyone, who would seek to impugn a jury and the findings of that jury in such a way. It is time for the nationalist movement to call time on Sturgeon and restore some dignity to your cause.
At Breeks @ 9.15am
Very good post Breeks as usual from you.
Not good that Sturgeon and the SNP are not being more reasonable with AS as he has been with them.
We have Galloway’s party All United or whatever it’s called to contend with including the 3 big Unionist parties so the SNP have to be very careful and back off with their negative rhetoric on Salmond.
It could backfire on them as Salmond still has a big following of Independence supporters in Scotland and further afield.
We definitely need a big showing of support for Alba in the list vote to get as many seats for them as we can.
Breeks,
Could I ask where you found the information relating to a “fixed threshold” of two thirds of members in the devolved Parliament being sufficient to authorise the calling of elections and/or plebiscites?
I
Breeks, the logic of a supermajority is absolutely supreme. It does so many things and it truly is as easy as maximising the constituency votes and the regional votes for the SNP and Alba respectively.
And how a supermajority will change things.
For one it will grant power to the parliament. Power as you say for it to call it’s own plebiscite by the legally mandated choice of two thirds of its MSPs. Yes, that removes the Boris Johnston section 30 stranglehold.
But it does much more. It also allows the Parliament to pursue other avenues to independence. Avenues such as pursuance of legal challenge or securement of legal rights in the courts here or internationally. And all backed up by a Parliament that would be recognised around the world as a Parliament legitimate in all respects, with a government properly elected by due process.
The vision forward has never looked brighter. Taking back control and all through the insanely simple message of voting SNP1 and Alba 2.
And as for the complexion of the new Parliament, I think a super majority would change the outlook just fine. Of that I have no doubt.
At the moment Anas Sarwar has the advantage of a very noticeable presentational/attitudinal difference vis-à-vis Sturgeon. It’s going to be very interesting to see how he gets on.
A possible scenario is that a grand coalition of the unionist parties could cost SNP FPTP seats. Alba will win seats on the List and become the power broker with SNP well short of a majority.
At least this will temper Sturgeon’s ability to ride rounghshod over us all.
What has Scotland done to deserve this Salmond / Sturgeon farrago? Borg sociopathic ego maniacs that have not delivered on the daily running of Scotland hence the endless fiascos. Salmond was cleared by the courts which is fair enough but life is not black and white and I know that his behaviour over the years has been dubious if not criminal. Not a nice person.similarly Sturgeon evades the truth even as can be observed by the tortuous 8 hours of denials. Finally this much discussed super majority is just pie in the sky. You can’t get 2 pints into a pint pot and the nationalist vote is not going to double over night. But seriously, what is the allure of this terrible duo? Beats me.
James Blair , I’m sure his lawyers will be delighted by another smearer. I can only hope that you may be ‘delighted ‘ by his lawyers.
Morag, would I put it to you that the “real SNP” has actually moved to become Alba anyway? So in a way you are staying with the SNP?
You deal in science. It is a bit like a parasite which has landed in another animal’s territory. So that animal just moves somewhere else.
So the SNP membership (talking in “real” terms) has simply moved into the body of Alba?
Fortunately, people have been waking up to the “new SNP” much quicker than it took to suss out “Scottish” Labour. It is just like moving to a new house when squatters or awful neighbours move into your own or next door to you…
“The SNP was never in a position to prevent Brexit by itself”
I respectfully disagree.
If we had a proper pro independence leader heading the SNP instead of the Westminster stooge we have been burdened with for the last 6 years, the SNP could have stopped brexit right on its tracks or forced the end of the union.
Until 8th June 2017, Sturgeon commanded 56 out of 59 nationalist MPs in Westminster. During the GE2015, over 50% of the votes cast in Scotland were for pro indy parties. She also commanded the biggest share of the seats in Holyrood and together with the Greens, if they really were the pro indy parties they claimed to be, a majority of the seats in Holyrood.
SNP and Scottish Greens could have brought the entire Uk to a standstill if they really wanted independence.
The only thing Sturgeon had to do to force the British state to the negotiation table was to remove those 56 MPs from Westminster and declare that unless an immediate agreement was reached that was satisfactory to Scotland (giving of course a tight deadline), Scotland’s MPs would not return to Westmisnter removing the legitimacy of the UK parliament, the UK government, the UK Supreme Court and any other UK structure to continue acting on behalf of Scotland. She could have said that the MPs would be withdraw back to another chamber in the Parliament of Scotland and would start drafting an act to end the union and to seek from the UN the initiation of decolonisation procedures. That act would be passed the day after the deadline offered if no agreement was reached. She could have said that any attempt by the kingdom of England MPs to trigger A50 without the consent of Scotland would be interpreted as a abuse of power and a direct breach of the treaty of union and followed up in an international court. She could have said that any attempt by the monarch to give official approval to such assault on Scotland’s rights under the treaty of union would be interpreted as an attempt to impose absolute rule over Scotland in direct breach of the Claim of Right 1689 that underpins the Treaty of Union 1707 and gives it legitimacy.
Such a move would force the British state to the negotiating table because in such situation, they would not be able to negotiate withdrawal with the EU. Why? If I am not mistaken, it is stated clearly that the triggering of A50 must be in line with the constitutional requirements of the member state. Well, if you are questioning that constitutionality, which is precisely what such bold move would do and which is what Sturgeon should have done at the time if she really wanted Scotland’s independence, the invoking of A50 would not be accepted by the EU as it would be seen as unconstitutional.
In summary, in my personal view we are where we are because this Westminster stooge colluded with the British state to force brexit on Scotland so England could survive out of the EU. She did not even bat an eyelid when the withdrawal agreement was passed through the commons even when for fist time in the uK’s history, Wesminster was self awarding itself in law parliamentary sovereignty, moving what was at all effects an English convention into law. She didn’t even blink. Even Carwyn Jones commented on that. But we heard no even a peep coming from Sturgeon’s mouth.
It is my personal opinion that besides deliberately undermining our popular sovereignty, what Sturgeon has been doing by letting our mandate for indyref to expire is to transform brexit into the status quo for any future referendum, weakening our reasons for independence.
Brexit was not the status quo in 2016, 2017, 2018 or 2019. At any point during those years brexit could have been considered a significant material change in circumstances and an assault on our constitutional rights. But thanks to the compliance of Sturgeon’s government and leadership, Brexit has been the status quo since 2020. In my opinion, at all effects what Sturgeon has done is to steal from us the most important constitutional reason we had to call that referendum. And while she was doing this, she was distracting us with unlawful complaints procedures, unnecessarily long judicial reviews, criminal court cases, inquiries…
With regards to the often peddled excuse by the Sturgeon’s faithful “she did not have the powers”, we were also told countless times Sturgeon did not have the power to close the borders. She even had the arrogance together with Yousaf to insult those yes voters concerned about the virus that demonstrated to have the borders closed, as racists. I wonder if they would still be able to resource so lightly to insulting someone as racist as a tool to quash dissent under the Hate bill.
Yet, health is devolved and she could have imposed mandatory quarantine of 2 weeks to anybody attempting to cross the border into Scotland. That would be at all practical effects closing the borders. Did she do that? Not until very late and with the quarantine rule having more holes than a sieve. Why she did not do this before? There was a point last year when the level of infections in Scotland were so low that it could have been eradicated. So why didn’t she? A cynic like me believes it is because she wanted the virus to continue circulating so she could have an excuse to keeping us under lock down during what has been at all effects the time in history when the uk was at its weakest and where her actions to derail independence could have been stopped by real pro independence potential leaders – who, just as a preventative measure to stop them attempting to do so, were kept busy and distracted with court cases, police investigations, threats, attacks on social media, etc. But that is what somebody as cynic as me thinks.
Why didn’t she stop brexit or forced the end of the union when she had the chance, because she had the chance?
Your guess is as good as mine. Mine is because she was never in the business of delivering independence. But that is, of course, just an old cynic’s opinion.
A grand unionist Unity Front with George Galloway as leader?
That would be fun!
@Morag 1:38am – a must read
‘I will never forgive her for all these deaths, many of which could have been avoided, nor for meekly repackaging Westminster’s lethal strategies rather than declaring Scotland was going to look after itself and using every legal trick in the book to achieve that. And if Boris had said no you don’t, you must let the virus in because I say so, what an advertisement for independence that would have been.’
Thank you.
@Ottamonboi 10.06
“A grand unionist unity front with George Galloway as leader. That would be fun!”
/
Indeed.
He certainly has the ability as his stellar performance in front of US senators bore witness.
However, he has too much baggage here.
But, I agree with you, it would be fun to watch.
I think the main problem the SNP have is the unpopularity of Sturgeon. She will make the unionist’s case for them without them having to say much.
James Blair says:
1 April, 2021 at 9:50 am
What has Scotland done to deserve this Salmond / Sturgeon farrago? Borg sociopathic ego maniacs that have not delivered on the daily running of Scotland hence the endless fiascos. Salmond was cleared by the courts which is fair enough but life is not black and white and I know that his behaviour over the years has been dubious if not criminal
Is this written because it’s April 1st?
I wonder how your life would bear out under the scrutiny that Mr Salmond has endured over the past 2/3 years?
I know it won’t prove to have been as useful and suspect that it will be more dubious – that is if you have seen any real action in the cut and thrust of a political career.
We all make mistakes – it is the only way to learn.
Behave yourself with the miscalling and get on with the political issues.
Sturgeon wants to piss off Alba supporters so much that they will not vote SNP1. The way D’Hondt works, this means SNP list wins will displace Alba list wins.
Don’t fall for it. Vote SNP1, Alba2.
There we go. The British state desperately circling its wagons around Nicola Sturgeon and itself when via one of its multiple organs of state, is already attempting to damage Alba’s chances during the election by denying it to use its emblem in the ballot papers. And some still claim we live in a democracy.
“Electoral Commission says Alba can’t use party emblem on ballot slips”
Today in the National.
“Sturgeon wants to piss off Alba supporters so much that they will not vote SNP1”
I suspect what Sturgeon must be getting really worried about by now is the numbers of potential defectors to ALBA there might be among SNP candidates to the constituency ballot.
I am not sure the ones in the list can defect without losing the seat because what you vote for in the list is the party, not the candidate themselves?
So the above is true, the only ones she can rely on at this point to follow the whip are the list ones. But then again I would not put it pass her to be crass enough to deliberately attempt to kibosh that pro indy majority to avoid delivering indyref, considering the undemocratic way she has let our 2016 mandate expire.
Morag, would I put it to you that the “real SNP” has actually moved to become Alba anyway? So in a way you are staying with the SNP?
Yup. I joined Alex Salmond’s SNP and it was a great place to be. Full of debate, ideas, learning about politics and the constitution. It was open and encouraged people – not only via the party itself but wider community groups – who were normally excluded from politics to play and active role, speak and become political. This was especially true for women, who are powerful political advocates when they do advocate for something (largely because they generally don’t to the extent men do).
Over the past few years, Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP has morphed into something unrecognisable. It’s become a deeply unpleasant place to be, where any questioning, thinking, speaking about your own life and experience etc is positively dangerous. It’s been taken over by a cabal of divisive people pushing “identity politics” but not to any end, simply to punish and silence. Again here, this is especially targeted at women and has a huge amount of misogyny about it. Independence, and any kind of campaign to move people towards it has been completely sidelined. (Similar is happening in the Greens and Labour, where the environment and genuine social justice have been pushed out).
I’d already left before Alba came along. Alba feels like re-joining the SNP as it was in the run up to the referendum. And it’s the happiest I’ve felt about politics and independence for a long time. The fact the attacks on it from the unionists, media (and Sturgeonites in the SNP joining in with them) are exactly the same as they were in 2014 only confirms it’s the right move.
Thanks Breeks @9:15am.
“…We all know Union TV will amplify the toxicity…”
Union TV. Hey I like that—–definitely a Keeper.
The Electoral Commission can be told to F*** off
with regard to Scotland’s National Flag not being
presented as background to our Independence party’s Logo.
Take them to court if necessary!
My county’s flag is for legitimate use in my country!
My local council refuse to swap the Butcher’s Apron for the Saltire
even for just one day. St Andrews Day.
Remember Brown saying it unionist flag too?
What to lock up in a cupboard like he wants our people.
Outrageous!
SPOP INDEPENDANCE……..VOTE SNP 1&2
YOURS, NICOLA
Jams Blair whilst you are waiting a letter from Mr Salmonds Lawyers may I suggest you watch the yes East Kilbride Video on youtube which explains to the difficult of understanding like yourself how the modified d’hondt system in Scotland works with a real life example.
And yes you can get a supermajority with the exact same number of Pro Indy votes, that is what snp1 alba2 is about ffs, you obviously will never be awarded an alert reader badge.
First election leaflet through the door this morning, from the Tories.
Picture of Ruth, not Douglas, on front page. Message from Ruth, not Douglas, inside. The word referendum appears 21 times.
Morag, super glad to hear you had a good day out on the cuddies.
I always had ambitions to learn to ride a horse, but have as an adult developed an alergy to them. Which is a shame, cause they always need and want petted, and even if I wash my hands straight away, its a sneeze fest for hours after.
Cats too, still at least the horses don’t come and sit on my lap – cats can be quite evil.
OT Guns and Police Scotland.
Can I just say something a wee bit positive on this subject. The vast majority of licenced firearms holders in Scotland understand the reasons for the extensive checks carried out on them and cooperate with a good will.
The checks came in after Dunblane, as everyone knows, but what is probably not known, is that since then Injury/Fatality Licenced Firearm Holder Incidents are increadibly low in Scotland, compared with outer countries that also have strict gun licencing controls.
So much so, that Police from England, and other countries in Europe, (and I think also Canada?, could be wrong) have sent officers over to Scotland to the Police College to ascertain what we do, compared to other countries.
It is not full proof. Human beings are the most dangerous creatures on the planet and every single one has their snapping point. There is no such thing as full proof.
With regards the licensing of Airweapons – get one of them pointed in your face by an angry ned – and tell me its not a real gun. Dare you.
100’s of thousands of them were handed in for destruction, and if it was heard once, it was heard a hundred times – ‘the wife, mother, gran has been nagging me for years to get rid of it, I haven’t used it since I was a laddie’.
They do have one legitimate use – they are very good for shooting pigeons and rats around farm steadings – being of low impact, the ammo does not shatter the tiles on the roof if they miss.
So, as with the big guns, if you don’t have a legitimate reason for having it, and an authorised safe area to use it – then you should’t have one, and anyone who has one should have a license.
Its really not rocket science.
As for ‘depriving Scots the chance to become marksmen’. Whoever said that, please just stay quiet from now on – really.
As for the arming of Police in Scotland. Since the set up Authorised Firearms Officers Division – it has taken regular cops off the beat.
The average AFO is male, tall, very fit (its a requirement and they get to use the gym in their shift time – which is fine – because they’ve nothing else to do) and attracts almost across the board, the big lazy useless cop on the shift – who used to stuff up every call he ever went to that wasn’t a 2 cop breach, and then other cops had to come along to after and spend 3 times as long sorting out.
However, because there are so few genuine full blown firearms incidents in Scotland (see ‘Licensing’ above) this is perhaps the best place to put them, out of harms way.
Unfortunately, because they have it cooshy, they have become a macho attraction within the Police, including with Scottish Federation reps… and they get to go on ‘fact finding missions’ aka jollies, to America – funded by some of the gun weilding organisations…
So in the last 25 years, Police on the beat have gone from being almost universally – no way I’m carrying a gun and they can’t make me – to the young ones, looking at the bling, saying I think we should all be armed at all times.’
In spite of some of the best and safest gun incidents records in the world.
Make of that what you will, and if you ever need to give an AFO PTSD – ask them to show you their notebook. Then watch as they panic, pretend to get an emergency call on the radio and blue light it out of town. Its fun.
Are you sure you are third from the sun?
Re Alba logo – isn’t Alex clever – its the Soltire flag, and simple cross and the word Alba on it.
Almost as if he knew.
More good news: I saw one of Niclas interviews, and behind her was a Billboard of her (alone – as ususal… it really is becoming quite pronounced now) and something about – Its Scotland’s right to choose. Sorry can’t remember the exact wording.
Point is, I think the poster/message was ordered up – before Alex went public… she’s going to have an awful hard time diverting from that message (clearly beefed up for the carrot season) if it’s on all the Billboards. Doh.
Many versions of the saltire exist. How can anyone claime it is illegal.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltire
Nicola Sturgeon is still working hand in hand with the “unholy trinity” of the Crown, the British Civil service and, more so now, the British media to further trash Alex Salmond with her persistent smears and now attacking the Alba Party suggesting that they are somehow cheating by gaming the system. She continues to attack a lawful independence party yet tells you that she wants independence. Just think about that!
Spewing Sturgeon and her caviar of smear.
Scotland’s future is Scotland’s Choice
And Nobody else’s.
She really does look lonely – even when she’s in front of a photo, its a photo of her on her own.
As for Alex being a gambler, I wish they’d stop… I keep getting an ear worm… and its worse when you don’t know all the words.
You’ve gotta know when to hold em
Know when to fold em
la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la la
Mia, I think you’re giving Nicola Sturgeon too much credit as some kind of Professor Moriarty of politics, when all signs point to her being a relatively dim, emotionally brittle, intellectually inflexible person who’s out of her depth.
The only thing Sturgeon had to do to force the British state to the negotiation table was to remove those 56 MPs from Westminster and declare that unless an immediate agreement was reached that was satisfactory to Scotland (giving of course a tight deadline), Scotland’s MPs would not return to Westmisnter removing the legitimacy of the UK parliament, the UK government, the UK Supreme Court and any other UK structure to continue acting on behalf of Scotland.
Definitely a bolder strategy than anything the SNP actually attempted in Parliament, which was to just keep voting against Brexit and hope their English allies might prevail.
I think it’s likely that removing all 56 SNP MP’s in 2017 would just have handed Theresa May an effective working majority that was immune to opposition votes though. How that would’ve shaken out in court cases and subsequent elections is anybody’s guess, but we know the SNP has no appetite to risk its cosy sinecures.
How do readers feel the campaign is going so far? I feel like NS has had a rough start but that might be confirmation bias. Certainly lots of people asking questions about her achievements or rather lack thereof.
Also think Sarwar is doing well and making Ross look like a fool, as shown by the leaflet referred to above. IMO the Tories would have done better with even Carlaw as leader, that is how bad Ross is.
Good that ALBA embraces the linguistic heritage of our nation in its very name. I hope we can support Scotlands other languages, like this Doric initiative:
https://bramblegraphics.com/doric-road-signs?fbclid=IwAR2o-7tQ1yhLEqhBa3LoAYTZloFx0bPPUNPrijuVHB-ERZS-B-v8DH9fk4g
“I think it’s likely that removing all 56 SNP MP’s in 2017 would just have handed Theresa May an effective working majority that was immune to opposition votes though”
In England’s parliament, yes. And frankly, that would have been England’s business. A tory majority is at the end of the day what they voted for. But with over 95% of Scotland’s MPs having being removed from that parliament denying it legitimacy as the Uk parliament backed by a majority of seats in Holyrood, that tory majority would haven not been applicable to Scotland. Arguably, that might have been the kick in the jewels Labour would have needed to start acting as a proper opposition instead of the tory enablers, but again, that would have been England’s business. Scotland at the time only had one MP of each tories or labour.
Oh dear. Well, if the Alba logo isn’t allowed to be printed on the ballot paper, everyone will have to draw it in themselves in the wee box next to the name.
“If the Alba logo isn’t allowed to be printed on the ballot paper, everyone will have to draw it in themselves in the wee box next to the name”
Not before we are 100% sure that doing so will not give them an excuse to declare the ballot as “spoiled”.
Daisy – your comments on Scottish firearms cops contrast with my understanding of such cops and their ARVs in the south of England. Here they respond to normal Police calls and are called out, for instance, to break down doors with the ‘big red key’ not just for Police raids but also to give Ambulance folk access. For much of their time is not spent on actual firearm duties. They are spread around the County, not sat at base.
They respond to RTAs, and often are first on the scene, having the fastest vehicles and best training. They then have to deal with wreckage, passing traffic and grim injuries until other cops, Fire and Ambulance arrive.
I accept that we are both correct and that therefore ScotPol needs serious attention from outside post-Sturgeon.
When you put the cross in the voting box think of that of that as adding logo to their name.
“A muddle not a fiddle”? – or is this what the SNP Treasurer means by money “woven through the system”?
“Angus SNP branches made to pay back £20k Covid business …https://www.thecourier.co.uk › local › angus-mearns
4 hours ago — Angus SNP branches have been told to pay back £20,000 of coronavirus help they should not have been given. Arbroath and Montrose …”
Ref: Link by Heaver 11:32am
Extract from Bramble Graphics ‘North East road users to get Doric – English signs’.
The project was not without its challenges. I. C. Sharn from SMML explained, “The phonetic spelling of place names and pronunciation differing between teuchters and toonsers added a level of complexity to the project. There were some tricky decisions as to whether to translate Peterhead as ‘Peterheid’ or ‘Bloo Toon’. But after a public consultation by GCG, ‘Bloo Toon’ won the popular vote.”
B.s. Union flag and the St George’s cross have formed the logo on the Conservative Party and UKIP and UKIP election fodder at some point over 50 years. Tories only changed recently to a tree.
ALBA could claim it is the letter “M” from the international maritime flag usage.
Morag
Don’t know if you’d be interested to know one of the architects behind the European movement towards 2004 GRA has had second thoughts.
https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/april-2021/the-trans-rights-that-trump-all/#
Gordon Dangerfield
March 28, 2021 at 2:02 pm
Scott, I’d personally vote Labour in a heartbeat in Humza’s constituency, as I would for Sarwar if I was in Sturgeon’s constituency. Because of the SNP’s insane and unlawful system of candidate ranking for the list, there’s a genuine likelihood I think that Sturgeon would fail to get in as second on the Glasgow list if she loses in the constituency and that would do more for the cause of independence, free speech and women’s rights than anything Salmond or anyone else can do.
I’m in the Glasgow Provan constituency where I asked Ivan McKee straight if he would go along with the GRA, which I know he opposes, and Hate Crimes Act if elected. He said he’d vote in accordance with Party policy, which means he’d vote for HCA and GRA, so I told him he’d lost my vote.
The stuff I’m reading today suggests Sturgeon has really flipped.
Has she totally lost the plot?
Are we watching someone having sort sort of mental breakdown?
This is bizarre. She’s briefing and fighting against a pro-indy majority in Parliament, basically saying she’d rather 30 tories and unionists were sitting there.
Jesus Christ.
The SNP is finished because this fruitcake. They’ve done more harm to us in her 5 years than SLAB done in 50.
Today’s papers have adverts from the SNP showing Boris in a kilt. When WILL they learn that most people aren’t thinking about Boris! Trying to compare the UK PM with Scotland’s FM only reinforces the point that Boris is dealing with a whole country of 60 odd MILLION versus a small population of 5 MILLION. And that the FM has failed time and again along with her government. You can whine about X billion to such and such a firm/person/bestie of Princess Nut Nut but we see far more waste/political spending here. And without UK extra funds the SNP wouldn’t be able to afford their bribes. All these ads do is remind people of the fact that the SNP have failed.
John Martini says:
1 April, 2021 at 11:17 am
Many versions of the saltire exist. How can anyone claime it is illegal.
The Appin Banner named in Gaelic Bratach Bhàn nan Stiùbhartaich (The White Banner of the Stewarts [of Appin]) was flown at Culloden with honour.
Re: Brexit. The 56 SNP MPs could, if so instructed, have passed Ken Clarkes Customs Union option for the UKs future relationship with the EU. This in turn would have made the NI protocol more straightforward.
They didn’t support it because they wanted all or nothing.
An independent Scotland remaining in tbe Customs Union post-split sounds achievable, and would similarly have helped the border at Berwick.
The Scottish people are not daft and can tell when the wool is being pulled over their eyes. The SNP were at their high watermark anyway.
Sturgeons tactics are clearly self-serving.
She’ll be voted out.
just watching the Alba party candidates online. FFS the tech needs sorted this is not good. I’ve attended better Zoom meetings. I don’t want to be disparaging but this will be used against the party. Sort the tech please this can’t continue.
ps: Morag fantastic post laying out the sheer incompetence, laziness, corruption of SNP. A husk of what was once a party of independence.
So she is complaining about the hate crime bill but is clearly admitting there it’s only because she doesn’t get anything from it personally. If she was included as a “protected category” she’d be fine with it. So she just wants her goodies and freebies or special powers too. This is a trap many voters fall into, we’re all only human after all.
I don’t like Nichola or the cronyism that seems to be the new normal but blaming her for covid is idiotic. Respiritory diseases in a damp and cold northern country with an aging population like ours will always be a thing and they mutate and come back every year. It is normal to get a good year and a bad year too. If an area has had a good year or several then there’s more people that are going to fall to the first bad respiratory disease that appears. It’s a fact of life, sadly. We all die eventually and so far we’re doing pretty good in Scotland for average ages and medical care in general. Look at the records going back generations on a per capita basis and you’ll see deaths from it too, in particular with the same vulnerable categories. They are a fact of life. The very similar flu comes in multiple endless waves over time and has killed far more in the past and hasn’t been stopped either by any government despite countless money and resources. Even if you had a full on horrendous nazi regime with the last human rights we have left under the open prison that our nations are becoming stripped away you’d still get these viruses happening and new mutations. The Council of Europe and others have spoken out against the creeping loss of human rights and massive power grabs by goverment or the favouring of mega businesses and billionaires over the small businesses and ordinary people but this new Project Fear is too successful for the sensible voices to be listened to over the screeching fear porn and prophets of doom.
More will probably die from the loss of cancer screenings and treatments, heart problems ignored, various other abandoned and postponed medical treatments, suicides from the crushing loss of normal society and rights, economic fallout leading to hardships and homelessness and general poverty and loss of services from government, etc. We’ve stripped away the lives and rights of the young and many generations to come to give the elderly and dying maybe another six months to a year. It’s the choice of vampires.
You’d have to have people literally locked up forever in isolated camps and not allowed to travel anywhere to have this mythical “zero” she’s imagining. I’d expect that such a dictatorship will come when they’re hyping up whatever supposedly terrible wave we’re supposed to live in endless fear of despite the average age of the dead being somewhere north of the average lifespan and none of this being a new thing even in the lifetimes of people around still today…
Independence won’t matter when the economy is crushed and we have no human rights. It’d have been more sense from the start and would have likely cost far less to roll out a royal red carpet for anyone in a vulnerable category with money to stay home, extra free medical care and attention, etc. Quarantining the healthy of an entire nation for a tiny minorty of the unhealthy and at risk is completely backwards and wastes money and resources that should be laser focused on those who need it instead to give them A+ treatment instead of spreading it thinly over those who don’t need it. That would also have maintained the economy needed to actually pay for all of this (we can’t just borrow from our future generations forever) and would have maintained human rights and not set the precedence of government just being able to strip away your freedoms with a snap of a finger.
She many good points there too that are serious concerns and have been simply swept under the rug by the SNP for years as they dangle their carrot to distract us, but it is sad to see it tinged by unrealistic expectations or just outright selfish desire as is the case for the bill. The fact that we are now so many years under SNP government and still Scotland is carved up and controlled by everyone but those who live in Scotland is shameful.
TheSNPLeftMe says:
1 April, 2021 at 11:55 am
ALBA could claim it is the letter “M” from the international maritime flag usage.
I’ll go with that “M” the maritime meaning for this flag is “I have a doctor on board” …….Doc Alex has a pill to cure a bad dose of devolutionitis…
@ SOG, re AFO’s.
Can’t speak to what the Firearms Polis do down south SOG. Up here there are 2 obstacles to getting any productive work out of the AFO’s (in addition to them being of a lazy, useless disposition) firstly any call they attend must first be authorised by the Control room Inspector – a lot of the time, its just easier for them to say ‘no’ rather than ‘risk’ it.
And secondly, and more appropriately, the AFO’s do not want to get tied up with routine Policing events (such as a custodial case) in case a ‘real’ FA incident occurs. Which is a fair point.
All the civilian Firearms Enquiry Officer Licensing jobs were staffed by Civilians (usually retired cops) – due to the cutbacks, they were all given the push and replaced with Cops off the beat.
Every 5 years (since Dunblane) nearly all the FA licenses come up for renewal. A huge backlog, and the work has to be parcelled out to – the beat cops, in order to get it done.
It made perfect sense for this job, instead of the beat cops, to go to the AFO’s, since they could break off at a moments notice for emergencies and re-attend later. (Which is what the beat cops have to do anyway).
However because they are a different ‘Division’ the Divisional Commanders had a pissing contest and the Beat Cops lost as usual.
It gets even more dumb – the AFO’s are trained and kitted out with the non lethal response Tasers. Ideal for dealing with frothy mouthed nutters with knives.
However, because they also have GUNS, the Duty Inspector in the Control Room will not authorise them to attend in the first instance, putting the beat cops in first. Anything but risk having to make a decision that could end their careers – is the DI’s viewpoint.
Beat cops are now getting trained and kitted out with Tasers for deployment, again relying on the Duty Inspector in Control Room for permission to be deployed. Don’t hold your breath.
In fairness to the cops down south, given population density, and crime patterns, etc – the cops down there are dealing with way more violent crimes on a daily basis, including firearms incidents. So, I’d suggest they’ve got more practise.
Re Alex being a Gambler.
I have a question. Dear Alex, any tips?
Also are the bookies open, or do I have to put a bet on Alba via online?
Alex Salmond is bravely fronting a live introduction to his candidates but it is not running smoothly as several online links are not performing well.
Please – can any sound engineers/ internet and phone technicians out there who want Scottish Independence please take one step forward.
ALBA NEEDS YOU.
Brave attempt by all involved and a true representation of the sheer size of the fight that we are taking on.
David and Goliath has nothing on this.
Alex is remaining remarkably calm but it can’t be easy.
men chase after women, and if a woman fancies you she enjoys the mating rituals, it goes on in nature all the time
There is only a problem when a guy that looks like a sack with a bail of hay sticking out of it decides to have a mistress when he is married with 4 kids.
Who is this great man of politics, why its the one and only, for one night only, ( sometimes lol ) Boris the spider Johnstone
heh heh heh
Funny how gambling on the stock market or currency or Oil futures is respectable but a two Bob each way on the GeeGees is evil
Re Nicla,
Seeing a lot of people unhappy at the tone Nicla is setting re her smears of Alex.
I said this before.
The Onionists have got to stop a Supermajority.
If they can’t stop Alex, they’ll have to do something else.
I think that will fall into 2 methods.
1/ Get Nicla to sabotage her own campaign – and ruin her Constituency candidates’ chances
and
2/Get the Onionists together and encourage a Tactical Voting Policy
We, the Yessers need to expect this. Because, we need to identify the nonwoke, genuine Indy SNP Constituency Candidates, and get their vote shored up.
And in order to help do that we need a ‘do’s and don’t list of how to campaing Covid Safe’ so that we don’t give our enemies the ammunition of bad publicity.
We also need a couple of WBB inspired fact sheets we can home print about the need to max the yes, so that we can get the vote out.
I’m a supporter of Scottish independence, always have been.
I literally don’t care how (excluding violence), or with who (corrupt politicians or not), we achieve it … so the whole idea of the Alba party helping to achieve a “supermajority” etc etc sounds great, promising, a breath of fresh ‘n aw that…
… however …
When, after the May election, the SNP share of the vote is greatly reduced (which it now certainly will be …) and there are perhaps a handful of ALBA MSPs sitting (looking at this optimistically), plus maybe a couple more unionist MSPs due to lost SNP seats … what’s the plan exactly? Or … assuming there is a massive indy majority … still, then what? How is this going to suddenly change the minds of the government in Westminster to “allow” us to have a referendum? The UK, Tory government back in 2014 almost sh*t themselves when they realized how close they had come to causing the break up of the union, and if you can be sure of one thing it’s that they will never allow that to happen again, no matter how bad it looks, whether it’s immoral to deny a majority their right, whether they piss off millions of voters. I just don’t see how this hoped for result of the May election is suddenly going to change this.
Someone enlighten me …
I have never known the flu to last this long, when has anybody you know been taken into the hospital with the summer flu
Its as deadly as the flu for some people, but most of us just shrug it off and carry on as normal
I would never refuse the flu jab, and I have had my covid, just waiting for my second appearance at the town hall, I might do a little turn while i’m there.
Know where where did I put my old Harry Lauder song book, just in case lol
Michael B says:
First election leaflet through the door this morning, from the Tories.
——————————————————–
Ditto here in Fife A4 coloured three fold:
DRoss on front page and Ruthie 2nd page and photo of the Tory candidate D. McPhee for Mid Fife and Glenrothes.
Yup 21 mentions of ‘divisive’ referendums. 🙂
Meg Merrilees @ 12.27pm
I also posted similar concerns. I don’t know who’s doing their tech but I think they need a different team of professionals even if it’s gonna be big bucks.
They are relying on online communications to get the message out as their chance of getting on TV is near to nil. So they really need to nail this. Spend the money, get the best tech they can.
If a live link-up across the country is too risky tech wise, then pre-record their stuff and just use Alex as the anchor.
Arch Stanton says:
1 April, 2021 at 9:34 am
Breeks,
Could I ask where you found the information relating to a “fixed threshold” of two thirds of members in the devolved Parliament being sufficient to authorise the calling of elections and/or plebiscites?
Scotland Act.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/11/part/1/crossheading/legislation-by-the-parliament/enacted#:~:text=“%2031A%20Two-thirds%20majority%20for%20Bills%20relating%20to,number%20of%20seats%20for%20members%20of%20the%20Parliament.
We all make mistakes that’s why they put rubbers on the end of pencils, I am not the greatest typist, but I am an expert on the whisky, years of practice and never spilt a drop yet
de brus,
Perhaps you might try persuading a majority Scots that an independence referendum within the next two years is in our interests, before you start trying to persuade a Westminster Government tha5 the wishes of that majority of Scots are best ignored?
@Arch Stanton
Sorry .. what?! I’m not sure you understood my point …
I am not a gambler, but I do have a system that never fails, worse scenario you break even, gambling on horses is a mugs game, I have known lots of people, and still do that make a good living from the gee gees, but they treat it strictly as a business as I do
Renovating my house at present, stopped for a bite to eat and a swally o tea
Back to work now. ta ta
@de brus 12.34pm
Having > 2/3 of Holyrood seats held by pro-indy parties would allow them to call fresh Holyrood elections. Logically therefore, when Boris says “now is not the time” again to S30 Order request (which he inevitably will), the SNP will have nowhere to hide. Either they back down and are exposed as a busted flush devolutionary party, or they announce beforehand that if Westminster refuse to cooperate with #indyref2 on the same terms as #indyref1, they will call new Holyrood elections and stand on a specific plebiscitary platform. A victory in that election would be taken as de facto independence. Simples.
Of course whether the milquetoast nationalists around Sturgeon have the political chops to do it is open to question. With luck the few remaining grown ups in the party will politically defenestrate her and he odious cabal before it is altogether too late to save their party.
Thank you Breeks,
Very much obliged to you. It took me a while to get my head around some of the language used but I got there eventually. The potential for a real constitutional crisis would appear to be clear. I suspect that, even in the event of a Bill passed by a super majority, Westminster could continue to reasonably argue the sovereignty of the UK Parliament but would not bet my house on the outcome of such a confrontation.
I’ve just had my whole roasted goat for lunch – grabbed it this morning when I nipped out from under the bridge. So feeling a bit more relaxed now.
If my sarcastic comments to some posters have ruffled feathers it is because I don’t like being called a lunatic for saying Alex Salmond is a master tactician, and I didn’t like Morag being called a hypocrite. That description would be better applied to those mentioned in her article.
I’ll try and stick to the arguments in future.
FFS as they say but I’ve just seen stuff on the BBC website where Nicola Sturgeon is arguing against a super majority.
Jeepers What kind of nonsense is this. She’s just finished the last Parliament as a minority government yet could, at NO expense to SNP seats whatsoever have the benefit of around 30 extra nationalist MSPs.
It’s unbelievable, totally unbelievable that Sturgeon would prefer unionists seats in favour of nationalist seats. What on Earth is this woman about.
No wonder the party are planning to depose her once the election is over. In the meantime let’s maximise every vote to max constituency SNP seats and regional Alba seats.
For all you legal experts out there. I said Salmond was unpleasant but NOT criminal. That was proven by his court case. Hope that is unambiguous. Calling out Salmond and Sturgeon as ego maniacs is not as yet but maybe soon a legal issue. If you lot had voted for an honest, smart person with integrity you would not be in the mess that you’re in.
Aye indeed Morag. It’s cracking me up watching the SNP crumble to dust. And although I had the bitter taste of defeat in my mouth in 2014, I did think “onwards and upwards” now, it’s more like “crash and burn”.
@Arch 12.49pm
I very much doubt you, or those who think like you represent the majority of Scots now.
Opinion polls consistently show that around 2/3 of Scots agree that when, how often and using what franchise, question etc a referendum is held should be entirely a matter for Holyrood to decide, not Westminster. Going against that overwhelming majority can only be a bad thing for the unionist project, as it obviously includes a significant % who are (currently) opposed to independence.
In reality of course the anti democrats in Westminster are never going to countenance #indyref2 under any circumstances, so the point is largely moot. The most sensible route to indy in that case – and one the international community would recognise – would be a victory in plebiscitary elections.
A super majority in Holyrood allows pro indy parties to call a new election.
Heaver , happy gowk day to you!
I really would love to see that sign though!
Morag & Hatuey
Only country I know of that can claim to have more-or-less achieved Covid Zero is New Zealand. That country has many similarities with Scotland so can reasonably be held up as a role model.
The giant fly in the ointment is that New Zealand has no Freedom Of Movement requirements foisted upon it arising from membership of a supra-national organisation such as the EU.
So let’s join the dots to paint a coherent picture. Get Scottish Independence. Get to Covid Zero. Protect both achievements by ruling out rejoining the EU.
Gets my vote. Tell me I’m the only one if you wish, but I won’t believe you.
Red says:
1 April, 2021 at 11:28 am
Mia, I think you’re giving Nicola Sturgeon too much credit as some kind of Professor Moriarty of politics, when all signs point to her being a relatively dim, emotionally brittle, intellectually inflexible person who’s out of her depth.
I’d love to borrow that description of Sturgeon from time to time ‘Red’ – it covers all bases . Would you mind?
Andy Ellis,
Polls consistently show that 70% of Scots are opposed to a referendum taking place within the next two years. That’s because a majority of Scots are not easily fooled.
James Blair says:
1 April, 2021 at 1:06 pm
For all you legal experts out there. I said Salmond was unpleasant but NOT criminal
Is that you back-tracking Mr Blair? Like I said before – we all make mistakes.
NOW are you going to go and learn something and then report back here with a couple of interesting remarks?
I’m off to read Mr Wing’s next post
Daisy – agreed, ScotPol needs a review from outside. Down here they have a Tactical Adviser, available on call to give the control room advice and a backbone, if the latter were needed. That’s in addition to Bronze, Silver and Gold.
Sad for the SNP to lose such a previous stalwart.
I was reflecting that, when small(ish) parties become bigger, a shift seems to take place. Perhaps they start to attract more of the ‘wrong’ sort of folk (by wrong I mean those that don’t share the original aim(s) of the party).
Then, once a party gets big enough, it starts to become part of the establishment. So, the SNP seems to have become the establishment, and then proceeded to go rotten in record time.
One can only hope that nobody’s going to be put off by the absence of ALBA logo on the voting forms…
Morag says:
31 March, 2021 at 11:00 pm
“I think its is a despicable position and I hope such a man is never within a hundred miles of being elected into any position of influence within Aba.”
Oh dear, she’s off on one already, did everyone else miss the above.
Missions accomplished inside the SNP in meltdown, job done.
There had been for a short time such hope, a glimmer of light, and then I read Agent Kerr had joined ALBA and something inside died, that light suddenly seemed more dim, more distant, less alluring.
Already too attempting to pull rank, tout herself as witchfinder extraordinaire and seeking to dictate policy and vet candidates (again?).
Is the direction we’re headed in? Sexual and identity obsessed politics should be left at the door, or we re-run the SNP’s sorry downfall, all the way to the same end.
Could someone please tell me why nicla took part in several woo woo marches but NOT ONE INDY MARCH????
Simple ?n
Simple answer please
It’s not dust under the carpet. Nicla’s carpet. Helensburgh, Edinburgh Balmoral, flats all over the shop. Why does she hate women?? Proper women????
Pervert in charge. I didn’t vote for that.
No honesty just SMS for us and our country
Well slap you nicla back. Alex is back and you keep lying. We know, you nasty, perversion of a human.
Truth will out. Maybe after 100 years ????
Morag. Please don’t call me a ” raving nutcase”. Have I insulted you? How many cycles did you run the PCR at? If you work for the NHS I do not trust you. Instead of reacting in an angry dare I say unprofessional manner why don’t you explain the process to me. When you throw insults and no answers you’re not helping anyone other than the pharmaceutical industry and the Tories with stocks and shares in it. Why are the BBC denying all knowledge of deaths post vaccine? By the way. The NHS will be privatised and nothing we can do about it.
Tony M. So Morag has some “previou” a serial resigner?
Morag. A highly emotive angry reaction from you. Aiming for zero covid is surely an attempt to abolish flus and colds. I was stopped on the road in East Lothian by the Police and fined for being outwith my five mile exclusion zone. The Police were pulling lots of drivers at the time. Have you checked out the world economic forums plans for us all? Do you think internal health passporting is a reasonable response to a health crisis? Have uou done any tik tok videos recently?
John Main. Why don’t we erect an Iron Curtain around ourselves and live in ” bubbles” for the rest of our sorry lives?
Mia says,
“For starters, Ms Cherry with her experience and qualifications would make far more money out of politics than within politics.”
She has leadership ambitions.
She has been humiliated by the SNP but is still with them.
What has she done to advance the cause of independence so far?
Did she help Martin Keatings who is trying to establish whether Scots are sovereign or not?
Unless, she comes out for ALBA soon, she is no different from the rest of them.
Mia says,
“If we had a proper pro independence leader heading the SNP instead of the Westminster stooge we have been burdened with for the last 6 years, the SNP could have stopped brexit right on its tracks or forced the end of the union.”
In your own words: “or forced the end of the union.”
That is the only thing that matters.
It was none of Cherry’s and Sturgeon’s business to stop Brexit.
It was their business to end the union.
That’s some list Morag. Re point 9 – I have not read the bill, so don’t know how its worded, but if it distinguishes between women (not protected) and transwomen (protected), doesn’t that mean transwomen aren’t women? Why aren’t the trans activists calling the bill transphobic?
I was wondering if anyone can provide an actual contact for
The Alba party. I have signed up, but also want to donate.
When you go through the process to donate I find the ” Purchase” button is what you press at the end to complete.
I have tried a number of times as has my partner, she gets the same result as I do. The button does not work. We want to donate, as we know the will party needs finances, yet the button to do so does not work.
I cannot find a way to contact them and alert them as to the problem. Can anyone help with this?
Well said Morag, I got to number 14 before resigning from the party, that was the point where the party became an autocracy and the membership lost the basic right to select the candidate they felt would represent them best. The meeting where Mike Russell allowed prospective beneficiaries of the policy to vote for the policy, then he himself as chair voting against convention and the status quo was abhorrent. The issue the party has is that treated the support for indy as support for the SNP, they are now discovering that even the most committed indy supporters have a breaking point.