Wings Over Scotland

Had that idiot blocked on twitter for a while now.

A weapons grade zoomer.

*and is standing.

I’m hoping for “a week is a long time in politics ” miracle.

The monster in westmonster is getting attacked from all sides. He may decide the state broadcaster should start telling the truth about SNP policies (ironically to distract from his malfeasance) . Then it might hit the fan.

I have heard the SNP are absolutely pink lint. Good.

To nicola’s loyal MSPs and MPs ( and that includes fence-sitters) – you wont be forgiven.

Yep we are in a terrible situation at the moment, in a mad country where half of the population doesn’t understand their own voting system, and shouts at the few who do.

I too cannot vote for the SNP in its present form, there is no peg strong enough to stop my nose from detecting the sulphur and corruption wafting out from the party.

So Alba and a spoiled first vote for me.

The sad thing is, there are some decent msps out there who may be out of a job on the 6th because of the amount of us funding it hard to breathe we’ve hell our nose so many times ( Kate Forbes, my apologies).
I hope to hell folk don’t vote green though. I’m having nightmares at the thought of Harvie Hates Women as justice secretary, or Yousless as secretary for health and SNHS. An entirely plausible scenario if they enter into a coalition.
Damned if we do…

This is pretty much where I am. Voting Alba on the List, and holding my nose and voting SNP (Keith Brown) on the constituency. If I lived elsewhere in Scotland I’d have to think very carefully indeed. Govan, sadly, would be a skoosh for Sarwar.

Before Alba, I was going to spoil my constituency ballot and vote ISP on the list.

Now, I have really no idea what I should do, so I’m going to vote for Kate Forbes on the (admittedly weak) grounds that she is not as bad as most in the SNP, that Alex Salmond has asked us to and that I would hate to trade Forbes for the person who heads the list in Highlands and Islands.

But it is only my list vote for Alba that I am happy with.

Thanks Lennie… Well said.
Catriona’s poster is in my window.
Rev… There is another aspect of SNP 1… This leadership is very shortly going to be thoroughly chastised by SNP membership. There’s no way they can survive the light that bloggers like your good self and the aforementioned have been shining in the shenanigans.

So SNP 1 and a reigning in of leadership practices will bring a new SNP to the fore. I don’t think the SNP is as lost yet as New Labour got.

It’s a hunch. The alternative is to wait 5 years. I don’t think that’s sensible… Asset stripping will start as soon as the Tories and one-England-suits-all unionists can get away with it. That’s the immediate threat to Scotland.

Right now I have faith in the SNP membership. And the ALBA vision.

If the support for independence has gone down recently then one reason might be that ALBA has shone a light on the non-specific Indy timetable.

The reality is that soft yes and nos have felt happy to vote SNP knowing that independence isn’t any time soon. ALBA coming along has focussed on that. The SNP will have to get off that fence soon, especially if they win a majority.

If they don’t get a party majority and the Greens are their working majority partners, Scotland will have lost the opportunity of a generation and the only people to blame are the strategists of the SNP.

I just can’t understand those in the SNP who are still supporting Nicola Sturgeon’s appalling government. They can’t see the lack of democracy; or maybe they want to be dictated to instead of taking part in a debate over policy. They can’t see the difference in treatment of Alex Salmond and Craig Murray and several others and the free pass people like Kirsty Wark and the wider BBC and media got from the Crown Prosecution service? (I identified an alphabet woman from Wark’s ‘documentary’ before it was taken down and edited.)
I could go on and on about the obvious problems within the SNP but most sensible people could recite them in their sleep. The others must be deliberately closing their eyes, ears and brains. What do they think Nicola Sturgeon meant when she said “This election is not about Independence.” on the Andrew Marr show yesterday?
I am a lifelong supporter of SNP. I voted SNP1 and Alba2. It is the last time I will vote SNP unless and until the membership regains control of the party. It may very well be the last time I vote SNP at all as I may not have 5 years spare to wait for the next referendum. A sorry end to my time as an SNP activist. But, hey ho, let’s support the local YES movement and Alba and hope against hope for better times.

Fiona Hyslop got my constituency vote, reluctantly. and Alba got my list vote.

Prior to Alba I would have spoiled my constituency vote with a big “Wheres the £600,000 ?” written across it, wasn’t sure who would have got my list prior to Alba and Alex appearing on the scene, but it wouldn’t have been for the SNP carpet bagger Graeme Campbell on the Lothian List.

A thoroughly disillusioned former SNP member and Activist.

I mostly agree Stu but I do think you may be underestimating the effect that a reasonable group of Alba MSPs could have even in the face of even a majority SNP Government.

Sturgeon fears failure. Let’s not get into the reasons why here but that is ultimately why she will not progress a Referendum. Losing a referendum is a career ending risk for her. There are subtleties around that which her personality disorder does not allow her to see – so it’s all black or white to her.

But, with a viable alternative in the parliament – an alternative which keeps the discussion on Independence perpetually current – not progressing a Referendum ultimately carries the same risk. Her ability to control the narrative (or just deny the narrative altogether) disappears.

I suspect the fear of losing control and/or support to Alex Salmond will be even harder for her to handle than the fear of losing a Referendum. This is the explanation for her behaviour during this campaign.

One final thing. I suspect support for Alba is much higher than people imagine. That was my own hunch all along but one of my relatives, who has been a member of the SNP and an activist for over 50 years, was telling me at the weekend that they don’t know a single person who is voting SNP 1 and 2, including themselves.

Excellent article Stuart, they really are evil antidemocrats.

I have already decided SNP 1 and Alba 2
With luck Alba gives her a majority and can force he hand. However a change of subject.
Just caught a bit of Jeremy Vine show (I know!! But it helps me to understand the Daily Mail reader and standard unionist a bit better).
He had a section on the virus denier/Unite for Freedom demonstration in London, and an interview with a Bev Turner. What a communicator!!!! Talking total pish but mega convincing. Vine struggled to switch her of. The other panel guests including doctor woman (did not catch the name) called out the deniers but the message clearly did not land. It is funny how some people cam be complete tossers but come across as knowing what they are talking about.
He mentioned a similar protest in Glasgow and Nicola condemning it. The only thing I have heard of in Glasgow is police patrolling parks and being a nuisance to people sitting on the sun. Why would he even mention Nicola Sturgeon??
Interestingly one callers asked “what do you want me to ask” he said you called us and she seemed surprised.
Just love the MSM

At last someone has had the balls to say what I’ve been thinking.
Vote for SNP only if you have to, and don’t feel like a ("Tractor" - Ed) if you don’t. Vote Sarwar in and her out.
There now. I feel so much better.
Also, celebrant Jayne is an arse. Nasty wee wumin.

I’m sorry to Alex (and Alba) but my constituency vote will be a protest spoilt vote tho’ I will be voting Alba on the list Mid Scotland and Fife.

Apart from the heinous crime of ignoring WOMEN and not pushing their raison d’etre – independence – I simply can’t vote for a party which doesn’t try to fulfil their Manifesto pledge for a NFP energy company thereby sticking the finger up at those in poverty, while pushing forward with an Investment Bank! I have emails from the Minister for Older People promising this would be in place by the end of last term.

It is obscene that in a country so rich in natural energy resources that so many suffer fuel poverty. Seems to me the SNP forgot WHY we elected them and (despite never having voted for a unionist party) if I lived in Glasgow Southside I’d grit my teeth, close my eyes and vote for Sarwar!

“You can’t vote for evil and then wash your hands of responsibility for what evil does, and the current SNP is unquestionably an entity of evil.”

Which is the dilemma for most of us in voting SNP at all.

Do it to game the system is all very well, but there’s still that noxious feeling of helping one of them back in.

In my area it’s a dead cert the SNP will take the constituency seat – having Sarwar as leader has been the utter kiss of death amongst the proles round here. I’ve helped another candidate, who regardless of chances of winning would have made the best MSP of those proffered anyway, so will vote for him anyway, but if I wasn’t in that position and if he wasn’t standing, I’d really have an issue voting for the problem in order to help in the solution.

The SNP, Labour and Tories will all get a cut of the seventeen seat pie in my area. That leaves the Greens as the only threat, since unlike the others they will not have their “cut” of the vote divided by D’Hondt from the start or later.

If Alba doesn’t get enough votes to make that cut of seventeen seats, so be it. You have to be prepared to put in the work to get your vote, and whilst an almost one man band is happily canvassing my area with one or two volunteers, the massed ranks of the bright, shiny new Alba have been non-existent. Right now they are proving no better than those they purport to replace.

If they want people to vote for them, time they started going out to earn it, not expecting it as a given because “our cause is right and just”

The catch 22 presented here is largely hyperbolic. If the SNP fail to win a constituency or two…. yes…their chances of winning a list seat increase. But in terms of raw numbers…..of influential numbers….this is a chance well worth pursuing and we should be going all out to dissuade Alba supporters from voting SNP 1 as this offers us greatest probabilit….however small …of best outcome for this term.

These are cold hard facts.

I had intended to spoil my Constituency vote. I despise Evelyn Tweed as a pawn of Alyn Smith and his coterie, sent as emissary on his behalf to the SNP branch of which I used to be a branch officer, following Wings’ exposure of his antics. I am also suspicious about her selection.

Importantly for me, Ms Tweed told untruths to the branch executive about Bannockburn and Eastern Villages Councillor Maureen Bennison’s work in order to trash her reputation. Councillor Bennison is an indefatigable worker unlike, in my view, Councillor Tweed. Councillor Bennison had, however, criticised the bullying tactics used by Smith’s band of brothers, which are particularly aimed at women.

However, back to voting: I swore that I would not vote for E. Tweed. Then I considered the alternative. If she does not win the Constituency seat the SNP is likely to win List seats, impacting adversely on Alba. I am campaigning for Eva Comrie of Alba to win.

Furthermore the SNP’s lead for the List is Stefan Hoggan-Radu. Mr H-R and boyfriend are well ensconced in Daddy Smith Young Men’s Club; he opposes sex-based rights and has a salacious drag-queen fronting his PR. (Like Angus Robertson in fact.) I haven’t forgotten drag queen Flo-Job being imposed on a class of five year olds in Renfrew as part of the SNP’s programme of child-abuse otherwise called sex education. Readers may recall that Flo-Job proceeded to display obscene photos of self on his social media pages next to photos of self with the children.

Mr H-R attracted less than 2% of votes from SNP members but was rocketed to the top of the SNP list when Eva Comrie joined Alba. Applicants who were not disabled or self-identifying as disabled were disqualified. Eva Comrie who has a genuine disability benefited from this policy however she gained the top candidacy totally in her own right when she moved to Alba. And an excellent candidate she is. Mr H-R now..?

What sticks in my craw are SNP supporters out canvassing who omit to counsel voters to use their vote (or both) to tell the SNP to get its house in order by ejecting the corrupt, and elect a hierarchy fit to govern, adroit at securing independence.

Otherwise, the SNP’s power has to be dismantled and rebuilt, put to better use than tarnishing swathes of the population.

My recent contribution:

‘The Adoration of Saint Nicola’: link to wp.me

And you think living in England with this government is a safe place to live? Have you missed the laws that have been passed down there?

You are kidding yourself if you think that the GRA is is going to be confined to Scotland – that is on the agenda for the UK further down the line. Have a look at the political discussion going on in Labour (UK Ltd.) presently, the whole GRA thing will be Europe wide soon. As you say, the only chance we have of getting ALBA ready for the next election is to get them into parliament. We will have no chance if we spoil our constituency vote for the risk of that is a unionist majority so there is NO chance of an indyref. You have to take the chance of an indyref2 and the only way to do that is to vote for an (albeit nominally) independence majority by voting SNP 1 ALBA 2. We need the constituency SNP win to enable ALBA to pick up the list vote. No matter what you think about the SNP (I have had enough of them) this election is about the future of Scotland – whether that is an Indyref, or getting ALBA into the mainstream as a challenger at future elections. To lose this election is to leave Scotland open to the actions of an increasingly hostile, corrupt UK government that has already cleared the way to allow torture and murder through the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act. On top of that we have The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

You say “If we lived in Scotland – and to be truthful we’re increasingly glad we don’t, because it’s no longer safe…” You think England is safe?

The dilemma, as I see it, is this :

If you don’t vote SNP in the constituency – You may get a SNP list candidate and they are all uber-loyal to nicola ( as she gerrymandered the position). You will also get a yoon constituency MSP.

Enough yoon MSPs and a grand coalition to save Scotland from covid ( nicola has gifted them this strategy). This coalition will dismantle holyrood and put a 70% mandate on independence.

So vote SNP in the constituency (unless it’s sturgeon, humza useless, shirley anne hypocrite or angus robertson macbeth). This is the least awful option.

And never forget nicola and the wokeratti are entirely responsible for this disaster. Revenge needs to be served cold.

the vote is with the voter,if enough vote snp then there”s your answer.the fact that snp msp”s are still on the same boat means that they back nicola.if independance is off the menu for a good few years then why bother voting snp.let them have a clear out in opposition.i have no dilema with what to do with my votes.

If ALBA succeed, we have hope.
If they don’t, Boris will shaft Scotland and the SNP will end Women’s Rights in Scotland.

I don’t trust the polling so I’m still positive.

‘Annie 621 says:
26 April, 2021 at 12:03 pm
Don’t vote with your head or your heart. Vote with principle and conscience, I’ve always believed, and so does the Rev, that’s why I read him.’

Thanks Annie you have just boosted my dilemma by 50%.
But seriously, that is the choice.
Still i worry that spoiling in the constituency ballot is going to put in someone who my conscience finds more repellent (on either or both ballots).
Of course one vote matters not a jot but we are on the subject of conscience.

I urgently need to see a sign, just anything, a glint of sunlight, that there is something in the SNP worth saving.

The perversion of fact, truth and minds and the burning of dissent.
link to thecritic.co.uk
Time this shouty, exhibitionist minority kept their «bits» out of sight.
link to thecritic.co.uk
With some evolution has stopped and gone into reverse.

Cuphook at 12.21pm

‘Progressive politics is not left wing. It is a neoliberal construct which appeases the middle class desire to do good without disrupting the money channels.’

Yes absolutely.

Until this gets through, everything else is dealing with symptoms, not cause.

My postal vote posted days ago was SNP1 Alba2.

A member of the SNP since the 1950’s. Perhaps the last time I vote for them but I still hope for a miracle of Alba holding the balance of power and sorting everything out.

I know many decent members of the SNP,including councillors and MSP’s who have being silent perhaps out of shock but are determined to get their party back but cannot figure out how to do it.

Alex Salmond has called it. SNP1 Alba2.

I said a couple of nights ago that my view is, based on what I’ve seen and read, that Mrs. Murrell doesn’t want a majority. I believe she’s actively seeking a coalition with the Greens which gives her support for unpopular policies. If anything goes wrong, the Greens become the fall guys.

Well well well, the Alba leaflet has NOW just come through my door, long after the others, along with one for the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition – for those unfamiliar with the latter, they exist so the Official Monster Raving Loony Party has someone to always come ahead of in English council and parliamentary elections.

Our family have had ongoing discussions on our voting intentions in the fife area. We were all SNP 1/2 but have decided that the eight of us will be spoiling our constituency vote for SAS due to the gender, hate bill, lack of progress on independence and the gerrymandering of the list candidates so our list votes will be going to ALBA.

Fair summation of where we are after the 7 year flaming oil tanker wreck that has been the reign of Queen Nicola. Incompetence, missed opportunities, corruption and blatant criminality, she’s had it all and will go down in history as one of the worst things to ever happen to Scotland…. and yet we still have people who have the absolute brass neck to trot out the SNP1 bullshit topped off with the fantasy that somehow they are going to sort out the narcissistic lying psychopath Nicola Sturgeon by, wait for it, voting for her. Short of grabbing hold of these people and tattooing the truth into their foreheads I don’t what else Rev Stu could do to get these people to wake the hell up.

We have 10 days left to save our country and if that lying corrupt criminal bastard Nicola Sturgeon is re-elected the country is lost. I don’t know how these people can sleep at night.

I will vote for Toni Giugliono in Dumbarton (SNP), standing against Jackie Ballie (Labour). Just had his letter through today, mentioned Independence twice and does not say both votes SNP. ALBA on the list obvs.

I meant the wire above . Btw

Hahahahaha

Werz Breeks, Mia, Ruby, Famous 15, Liz g, AYRSHIRE NOB, Big Al the kiddies Pal and all the other screaming skulls calling me and the likes of Kcor out for being Yoons, 77th, and whatever else you could throw at us for campaiagning for Sarwar to take the Glasgow Southside Constituency seat from Sturgeon and other SNP seats throughout Scotland.

Karma is such a beautiful thing.

Ya shower of roasters.

Watch out for the Incoming Rev,,,from the usual suspects.

Does that make the Rev a Labour supporter for suggesting you should vote for Sarwar?

If the SNP 1 Brigade can’t even take the wise advice of the Rev Stuart Campbell, then you really are all perverts and want to see a Sturgeon/Harvie Coalition of the most perverted politicians in Europe.

Don’t vote SNP,,,ever.

Protect woman and young girls from these Perverts.

Don’t take my word or Kcor’s word for it, just ask the Rev.

Only perverts would vote SNP 1.

Don’t be a Pervert.

Gordon – too late, my postal vote has been returned – SNP/ALBA.
I will never, under any circumstance, vote Red Tory.

The simplest solution to get rid of the party you dislike, is to vote against them.

“… If the SNP win an absolute majority on their own in next month’s election, it will be the end of independence. It’ll also be the end of women’s rights and any meaningful concept of freedom of speech in Scotland. It would be an unmitigated disaster on every level for everyone in the country, nationalists and unionists alike. (The only thing worse would be a coalition with the Greens)… ”

Unfortunately, you are 100% correct in that statement. Don’t rise to them, Rev. Often, being removed from a situation is the best way to see clearly. The SNP, if returned with a majority on 6 May WILL NOT deliver independence, WILL destroy all that women fought for and WILL ruin any hope of the continuation of free speech. There simply is no one, apart from Alec Salmond, even capable of stopping this ordure, of not being sucked into the morass created by a weak leader who, if she had had a shred of self-awareness and respect for the Scottish people, should have stepped down before this election.

I want a supermajority, I pray for a supermajority, I wish for a supermajority, I believe in miracles… I believe in the Scottish people. SAOR ALBA.

If Sarwar were to defeat NS that would do NOTHING to dent the cause of independence and would, in all probability, expedite the process.
The SNP needs new leadership with not just a passion for independence but the competence and integrity to deliver good governance before that happens.
The whole political landscape would change if both NS and Swinney were to go.
We should not be building a national vision on the basis of baby boxes and chicks with dicks, and the current discourse around independence is strangely depressing. Quite unlike the AS years.

AYRSHIRE NOB

You are the thickest of the thick.

The Rev explained in big giant easy to understand chunks what the reality is if you vote SNP 1, and all you can do is attack me.

Just admit that you have lost your argument with me and Kcor.

You are thick.

It must have been all that english army training.

Go now and tell the Rev that there’s a big man shouting at you.

Ham shanker!!!

Another ingredient in the mix was a comment made by Salmond in this interview on RT.
link to twitter.com
When asked about why so few had jumped ship from SNP to Alba he replied that many more had wanted to but he has asked them to stay put for now. Someone above wrote about glimmer of hope, well since they are hard to find (within the next 5 years and beyond that it may be too late) there is a speck of light. At the very least his comment must be giving Sturgeon nervous palpitations. If she wobbles her head any more than she does now it may fall off (makes me giddy just watching her nodding dog routine). I would love to see a body language expert read her right now. Full blown rage, venom and paranoia are obvious.

Rev,,, Brilliant.

This thread had to be posted.

It clears the air.

No more confusion.

Plain and simple.

DON’T VOTE SNP,,, EVER.

ONLY PERVERTS VOTE SNP.

Stuart Mackay. Anyone who leaves the SNP is a bigot? Is that really what you’re saying? Seriously?

Aberdeenshire West

SNP 1 = Fergus Mutch (defence witness for AS at the High Court so on the “good guy” list)

link to mobile.twitter.com

ALBA 2 = Alex Salmond, Heather McLean, Brian Topping and Dot Jessiman

link to albaparty.org

Hopefully due to backlash against the Tories by farmers and fisherfolk we get 5 Independence MSPs

I respect Mr Salmond’s tactical expertise but have doubts about holding my nose and voting for the crooks currently running the SNP. I am not convinced that the number of Alba or SNP LIST seats can ever be predicted as a result of the constituency votes, Scot goes pop seems to suggest the same despite being a SNP1 voter. Any data modellers out there? However if Eck knew for certain that the Sturrels and all of their mob would be gone very soon I could be persuaded to hold my nose. Perhaps he or someone close could drop a hint?

This is your bleakest blog ever, Stu, but it sums up my predicament: my MSP is hopelessly woke. An absolute SNP majority will mean the end of many of the freedoms we have taken for granted. Remember how people wondered in the past how other “civilised” nations’ slide into totalitarianism could possibly have happened? Well, we’re living through that process right here and now.

At first I thought AS’s advice to vote SNP in the constituency was quite clever for several reasons but the danger of entrenching a batshit crazy, authoritarian bunch of science-deniers and paedo-enablers for five more years is a dreadful prospect. In that event, I fear this site will be closed down quickly by Yousaf because of its “hate speech” or some such crapola.

I’ll vote Alba on the list but my pre-Alba decision to spoil my constituency vote is beginning to look more necessary now, unless something unexpected happens between now and May the sixth to weaken the SNP leadership: I have grand-children who are precious to me.

Looking unlikely that Alba will win enough seats to hold the balance of power. I know the tactics are support the SNP and be positive but the nuclear option would be to use the GRA issue. This is a major policy difference and could persuade a big chunk of ordinary SNP voter to switch on the list.

10 times in the last 4 Holyrood elections candidates from various parties have been returned on the list in an electoral region after their party polled less than 6% in the region. So that happens 2 or 3 times every Holyrood GE.

Progressive politics is not left wing. Cuphook@12.21pm.

I agree entirely with this. Occasionally there are comments on here railing about left wing politics being behind the woke nonsense. It’s one of those statements which is almost correct in so far as those young activists who would normally have gravitated to left-wing politics have been captured by the woke agenda. It has become the zeitgeist of their generation.

However, I have found that there are some left-leaning young people (graduates, just like many of the woke enthusiasts) who have begun to realise that they have been had. Make no mistake, just like many of us, they also thought at first that they were supporting a minority who were discriminated against and so, brought up to be tolerant, they, too, were accepting of the trans dogma.

They are a small minority in their generation but they now find to their disappointment that the SNP have gleefully abandoned what they thought should be major concerns as left wingers – namely poverty, inequality, lack of opportunity, the neglect of whole communities – and find that they can no longer find a home for them in the SNP. They correctly identify the SNP as being neo-liberal and won’t vote for them now. They also acknowledge the bitter truth that most of these representatives and would-be representatives are simply careerists.

However, like the rest of us, they feel the loss of that movement for independence which seemed to promise a new future with the chance to confront the harm that centuries of neglect and discrimination had wrought.

So, to those who would insist that left-wing politics is to blame I would simply remind them that many of the institutions of the state have already been quietly captured – the judiciary, the police, for example, who are not generally regarded as left-wing. The left-wing has never been successful in storming those bastions of the state.

Neo-liberalism has always been pragmatic in accepting that if there is a force already operating which is useful to it then they will exploit and promote it. If they can wear the mask of progressiveness while doing it, then all to the good. The growing success of the trans culture in causing division in society is starkly obvious. It divides those who would have been natural allies against the steady creep of neo-liberalism.

“You can’t vote for evil and then wash your hands of responsibility for what evil does, and the current SNP is unquestionably an entity of evil.”

Have to disagree with Stu on this point. Because those holding their nose & voting SNP1 to enable a max of #ALBA2 votes to take list seats are NOT ‘voting for evil’ – they are demonstrably voting the only way possible that has a chabce of holding evil to account & bringing about reform & a refocus on independence. If you really want evil to render evil unassailable then spoiling your constituency ballot while voting ALBA on the region is a good way to go about it. Getting a powerful ALBA presence in ScotParl *requires* voting SNP1. It’s just how the fucking system we’re currently stuck with works.

Dave Beverage @11.02am

I will NOT gamble with my first vote Dave and certainly not for evil. There is no party worthy of my constituency vote and none of them are getting it.
ALBA have given me some hope and a vote. If there is a future in Independence, it now lies with ALBA.

The SNP have become the main unionist party in Scotland!

how ironic.

Rev
I think you have hit the nail on the head when you say that Sturgeon has no shame.
Another poster said that they once met her and her eyes appeared black and lifeless.

She seems to be incapable of hearing the growing noise which has now become a deafening din telling her that her policies and style of government are unacceptable to so many people.

She will be swept away at the election on a tsunami of her own hubris.

I am in the Alba party. However I can’t vote SNP anymore. With every week that passes my levels of disgust with Sturgeon, Murrell, Wishart, Blackford and all the loony Stasi cult on Twitter , grows deeper.

So spoil 1st vote for me, and Alba 2nd. The way I see it , at least I will have voted with my conscience clear.

To progress independence. We need the SNP just short of a majority and Alba second. The Green vote seems to be holding up , and that worries me greatly.

Sturgeon and Harvie are a toxic combination.

Incidentally. My brother was a Sturgeon believer.

I had a few rants about what was going on with the SNP. I thought it fell on deaf ears and he thought I had a screw loose.

However low and behold he is now of the belief that Sturgeon is a con artist and there has been a major cover up. So the message can get through.

You have to make people question what they are being asked to believe. They do their own research, and find out you weren’t a paranoid conspiracy theorist after all.

Could someone explain why not voting SNP at all is a bad idea.
If they get too few votes then they get no list seats nor constituency seats.

I am not suggesting voting for another party on the constituency, spoil that ballot and only vote on the list. This would deny the SNP list seats and constituency seats.

Annie 621 says:
26 April, 2021 at 12:03 pm

“Don’t vote with your head or your heart. Vote with principle and conscience.

Absolutely Annie. Nailed it.

It’s good to know that you understand and sympathise with the dilemma we are in Rev.
Because it is indeed a hard one on the conscience but , nevertheless we have to vote in the election in front of us and not in the election we wish we were having.

If members of the Yes movement take the view ( as I do )that the British Party’s are not an option for Scottish voters then it can simplify things somewhat in the range we are voting in.
What ever the question the British/Labour/Sarwar can’t possibly be the answer because there’s evil there too Rev , as many Iraqi mums will testify, not to mention all the lies and thieving done to Scotland over decades.
Do I even need to list any evil the Torys and their Chums the Lib Dums have visited on Scotland and the wider world ?
We don’t have to pick the scab from the front of the British Party’s off very much to find evil and a very lot of it too.
So either way evil is on the Ballot and the only reason that we can’t say the same for Alba is that they haven’t yet had the chance to do any !!

Your no really any safer in England either Rev you’ve always only had evil to vote for, just a different flavour of it.

So do we give our conscience free reign here and refuse to vote for evil when we identify it ? Because , I’d also caution that it’s generally accepted that for evil to triumph good men have usually done nothing.
Do we really want to do nothing and not use our vote ?
Or
Do we act as best we can in the circumstances we have ?

We are no entirely powerless here , knowledge is power ( thanks Rev ) they might be the only choice at this point in time but we do know exactly who they are and what they are trying to do.
We were all up for convincing as many No voters as we could of the true nature of the Union no matter how long it took, so I don’t see there’s much difference in making sure that as many Scots as possible know the true nature of their Goverment too.
That is something we can do , and do well.

I’ll certinaly vote with a clear conscience but mibbi that’s because my expectations of politicians ( all of them ) were so low to begin with?
What I won’t do is not vote.
They will never break me from that right.
I’ll go right on voting.
And I count that as the real win.

Stephen 2.38pm

Re, Sturgeon’s eyes.

I commented on the last thread about the state of her eyes on the Marr show.

She has bags on top of bags.

A sure sign of alcohol and substance abuse.

I honestly think she is verging on a major health problem. Her eyes are lifeless, almost zombie like, and nearing a major nervous breakdown.

She has been defending her lies, thefts and corruption for a few years now, and I think it is going to come to a head.

To the point where she might even get dragged out of Bute House in a straight jacket.

But if this happened would I feel sorry for her?

Maybe the same way I would feel if she lost her seat on 6th of May.

So the answer is, she brought all this upon herself.

@ Ian Brotherhood at 11.53

how on earth could anyone justify the sole representative of a party being given any kind of ministerial position?

At the last election to the Welsh Assembly (now Senedd), the Liberal Democrats were reduced to one AM – Kirsty Williams.

31 seats are needed for a majority, and Labour had 29. Williams was appointed to the Welsh cabinet as Education Secretary, a post she still holds. She is not contesting the election next month.

Arch Stanton says:
26 April, 2021 at 1:01 pm

“It’s looking more and more as if we might as well just forget about this independence thingummy, particularly in the absence of any attempt to present potential solutions to the major issues of currency, debt, deficit, borders, economic investment, EU membership……?”

Not forgetting the huge elephant in the room that no-one, EVER seems to discuss or address – UK’s nuclear deterrent based in Scotland, at Faslane. You think they (NATO, G20, etc) are gonna let that be jeopardised?? Never, no way. This whole subject is way bigger than a colonial spat between Westminster and Holyrood.

It is entirely possible that the Scottish Green Party will be invited to join with the SNP in forming the next government at Holyrood. An invitation that will be extended to Harvie by Sturgeon so that they will be able to make major advances in their declared social behaviour agendas. Voters need to be alerted to the excesses of a number of their favoured policies. The discredited Yogyakarta principles will be fully implemented and other trans rights and GRA policies will be forced onto statute by government without consultation and with the active assistance and support of the all powerful “Equality Network”.

Voters concerned about plans to remove women’s rights and exposure of their families to regulatory imposition of oppressive social norms need to be alerted to the foregoing so that they will be better informed and able to give their vote to “ALBA” a party that fully intends to consult with and gain the support of the electorate before adding any new statute to the Laws of the Country.

link to caltonjock.com

Sturgeon is about to play the victim card. She will claim to be suffering mental health problems due the alba oppressors.

Maybe she has had to turn to drink and drugs to cope with the evil alban misogynists and hpmophobes.

Watch this space..

Maybe better in the Nobody said it was easy post, but

“Hi, I’m Slop, and my chosen typeface is Garamond. If you choose to mischaracterize me by not using my chosen font, you can f right off.”

Unfortunately, the list of candidates for Comic Sans is just too long.

cynicalHighlander says: 26 April, 2021 at 3:47 pm

https://bakerstreetherald.com

Stopped reading after the following line:

“We’ve called our first project to make sense of this chaos The Tabula Rasa.”

Why not call it “we are pretentious wankers” and be done with it? Absolute Guardian reader levels of self importance.

@Stephen says: 26 April, 2021 at 4:22 pm

Mark Boyle
I clicked on it as well and stopped reading when I saw mention of Hayek.
Hardly The Guardian.
Right wing libertarian free market economist more like.

Actually they see right wing liberatian conspiracies around every corner!

link to twitter.com

“Here to inform you & expose injustice, particularly from the right-wing libertarians & think tanks who orchestrate global politics”

Doesn’t matter whether you’re left wing or right wing – if you are wearing a tin hat, you are still wearing a tin hat no matter how you style it!

Does anyone think that all the rapist, sex offenders, pedophiles, sex offenders etc will leave prison and immediately self-id as women?

It would be a breach of their human rights if they weren’t allowed to.

HATUEY 3:33pm
Truly, must be awesomely awful being you…so uptight with petty prejudices, fears and all that neo-fascist, jingoistic Brit patriotism.
Stay safe in your own little Unionist world.
You deserve your own company.

We can only hope that the ALBA party does well and the Greens are reduced, even then the SNP will have no real plans for independence.

The only way I can see (If Sturgeons not a Whitehall plant, and I have my doubts as to whether she is or not) is if Johnson begins dramatically undermining Holyrood, draining powers to the Hub and so forth, leaving Holyrood more of a talking shop than a government. Only then I think would Sturgeon make moves towards independence.

Sturgeon and Harvie have a new Freaks Coalition anthem planned for after the election.

youtu.be/QdbLirsZ_4Q

@Stephen:

> Hardly The Guardian.
> Right wing libertarian free market economist more like.

I dunno, after The Guardian decided to chase the US, White, Intellectual elites with disposable income and came in from the cold and got into bed with the security services I think that’s a reasonable description of the direction the paper has gone.

Definitely neo-lib, globalists and since a lot of their new tech-based subscribers have libertarian tendencies I’m sure they won’t do anything to alienate them.

Before you think this is all too Trumpian. Trump’s supporters are/were poor. Guardian readers most definitely are not.

I forgot to add, by not spoiling your vote and voting say Labour, at least you give Alba a chance to grow into a proper challenger next time. Alba could be head of the SG.

I share Stu’s sense of foreboding about the outcome of these elections and what might happen in the event of an SNP or SNP/Green majority. However bad they might be as an administration, those of us who have decided to support and possibly even join Alba need to ensure the groundwork is laid over the next five years.

There will be opportunities as well as challenges. I have little doubt that the SNP and Greens will signally fail to advance the cause of independence during their tenure in the next Holyrood session. That being the case it is important that disillusioned former SNP and Green voters and members are given positive reasons to transfer their support to Alba.

Promising starts have already been made from what I’ve seen and read of the manifesto: that needs to be built on. Clear tartan water needs to be demonstrated between the progressive, social justice and equality focused approach of Alba and the illiberal, regressive approaches of the unionists and the current SNP and Green parties. The economic neo-liberalism of the Growth Commission and weak position on independence has to be mercilessly attacked: the institutions of the new Scottish state have to be sketched out.

Given the moral and political cowardice and the sheer ineptitude of the current SNP leadership there will be an appetite amongst what will be a significant number of disillusioned former SNP and Green voters when they realise in the next year or two that they’ve been sold a pup.

Stuart MacKay@4.51
What you say is interesting.

For an overview of right wing politics in the US I recommend watching “Firing Line” interviews on YouTube.
I seem to remember watching one of William F Buckley interviewing Hayek.

Anyway Buckley was closely linked to Goldwater but fiercely opposed to the John Birch Society. He had a strong moral tone to his thought and was a conservative Catholic, opposed to Vatican 2.

Buckley’s changing position on Vietnam is most noticeable from being one of its biggest supporters to finally realising that he and the rest of the US had been duped.

Some argue Trump is Goldwater mark 2.

Hi Prasad, there’s no one more repellent than the SNP these days, voted for them for 40 years.. Betrayal is the ultimate sin.

LibDem MP Jamie Stone in the Parliamentary standards debate today 16.16 pm.

The smartarse answer from Gove is just as bad.

link to parliamentlive.tv

“You can’t vote for evil and then wash your hands of responsibility for what evil does, and the current SNP is unquestionably an entity of evil”

A catch-22 indeed, Rev. Because from where I am standing, Sarwar looks a lot like evil too. He is on one hand a unionist who could not find the balls to oppose the hate bill enabling it to pass threatening freedom of speech and rights of women and children. On the other hand, this red rosette variety evil will not hesitate in using that unionist seat as proof that the people of Glasgow Southside does no longer want independence. So if this man is determined to deny us democracy and right to self determination and cannot bring himself to oppose when he is in the opposition, what on earth do we want him in Holyrood for?
I am afraid under no circumstance I can bring myself to vote for that wnkr.

I suppose all filters down to a question of personal priorities. Given the way labour and libdems helped the toxic greens and the eviscerated SNP pass that hate bill, there is no way I will ever contemplate voting for those parties. They are not even good at opposition. I will never vote for the tory amoebas that are allowing their own England counterparts to steal our powers, control over our assets and to deny us our right to self determination.

So in absence of a sensible government and even worse, in total absence of a funcional and willing opposition, my personal priorities are very much back to basics:

1. pro independence seats – this means to eject as many unionists from Holyrood as it is possible

2. to find a funcional opposition that will put the excesses of the fraud on a leash – for this we have to decrease as much as possible the possibility of her eviscerated SNP to take Alba seats from the list.

I hear what you say: another mandate under this political fraud and we will not see independence. But the opposite is also true: without a majority of pro indy seats we will be in the exact same boat we have been in the last 5 years and will not see independence either because the fraud or the puppet taking over will use it as an excuse to not deliver indyref.

Our only chance in hell is for ALBA to have a decent number of seats and start acting as a real opposition and as the standard of what a real pro indy party looks like. I do not see how that can happen if you don’t lock Sturgeon’s eviscerated SNP in the constituencies.

I have to be honest, if the choice is between a unionist seat (Sarwar) that is not even capable or even willing to function as opposition and a pro indy one (the political fraud that may not last that long in post) I choose the latter every time. Why? because useless and unwilling as the woman may be as pro independence leader, her seat will be seen by Westminster and the world as a pro indy seat and that counts.

It is indeed a big gamble and in less than 2 weeks’ time we will have to put our bets.

There is only one reason and one reason only why I will be voting SNP 1 instead of spoiling my ballot, and that is to increase the chances of ALBA, the only pro independence party taking part in this election, to enter Holyrood in numbers. The woeful performance of the political fraud leading the SNP and her attempts to throw the election are not going to make me lose focus.

Is SNP1 and ALBA2 for me.