The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


Waiting For The Men

Posted on October 18, 2020 by

The battle to save the soul of the SNP – formerly a party of Scottish independence but now a career vehicle for intolerant science-denying cultists solely interested in social engineering – is already almost lost.

By delaying its online pretend “conference” until the end of November, the party has ensured that the chronically dysfunctional current National Executive Committee (NEC) controls the selection of candidates for next year’s election, and it’s using that power every bit as crookedly as anyone who’s been paying attention recently might fear.

Following the stitch-up of Joanna Cherry, the latest victim of the SNP’s woke cabal is Caroline McAllister, a woman who the party considers quite fit to be a councillor – and indeed the Deputy Leader of its group on West Dunbartonshire council – but who has suddenly somehow become unacceptable when she tried to seek nomination for the MSP seat currently held by Jackie Baillie of Scottish Labour.

She is, of course, far from alone.

Party insiders like the former Trade And Industry spokesman Iain Lawson have been shining light on the arcane and opaque processes of “vetting”, whereby people who want to be candidates themselves astonishingly have the power to block potential rivals and where “woke” candidates are receiving extremely preferential treatment, but the fait accompli is almost complete – by the time the party belatedly elects a new NEC in six weeks, candidates will be in place and it’ll be too late to change anything.

And of course, what’s revealing is who HAS been passed to stand for nomination as well as who hasn’t. Readers, meet a man called Mridul.

The person in the picture above with Nicola Sturgeon is both biologically and legally male – he has no Gender Recognition Certificate. His name is Mridul Wadhwa (Mridul is a male name in India, where he’s from) and he’s the manager of Forth Valley Rape Crisis, a job he obtained by concealing the fact that he was a man – something he appeared to enjoy bragging about before suddenly deleting his tweets on the subject.

The person posing the questions in that exchange has of course subsequently been banned from Twitter, as gender-critical feminists who pose awkward questions for trans activists invariably are. Incidentally, Wadhwa’s “14 years” claim above appears to be a blatant lie – according to his own LinkedIn page he’s only worked in Rape Crisis since 2014, which is six years, and at Forth Valley for two.

He’s also lying when he says that “no one asked”. The application form for the job can still be found on the organisation’s website and it clearly asks if the applicant considers themselves to be a trans person.

In addition, the ad for the job clearly stated it was for women only:

(Schedule 9, Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010 is the section which specifically allows employers to limit applicants to those of a particular biological sex, even if they’ve undergone legal gender reassignment, which Wadhwa has not.)

In this 2019 video, which hasn’t been deleted yet, Wadhwa makes it very plain that his deception was deliberate and premeditated, saying “It was pretty clear to me that I was the only transwoman in the women’s aid movement [laughs], and I wasn’t even sure whether I would have been hired if they had known that I was trans”.

(Which from the advert we know he wouldn’t. They wanted a woman, not a drag act.)

It’s even odder given Wadhwa’s own stated views on whether males should hold such positions, such as this astounding quote he gave to a student newspaper last year.

Wadhwa also doesn’t believe that self-ID of the sort he’s adopted for himself would ever be abused, despite the literally hundreds and hundreds of documented examples of it being abused by men in order to gain access to women and assault them.

Now, you might be forgiven for thinking that a man getting a job in a rape crisis centre by pretending to be a woman was behaviour that would set off every alarm and red flag on the face of the planet, but it doesn’t seem to bother the SNP.

(Although persistent but unverified rumours abound within the party rank-and-file that Wadhwa was just a step too far even for the NEC and he actually DID fail vetting, only for the decision to be overruled by a senior Cabinet minister whose name we won’t reveal as the story is unconfirmed. But if it’s true – and our sources are good ones – it would be perhaps the most revealing thing of all about the SNP’s current direction.)

Wadhwa has in fact been approved to stand for nomination in TWO seats – Edinburgh Central (ironically the seat Joanna Cherry was effectively barred from contesting, and whose nomination will surely go to either Angus Robertson or Marco Biagi) and more pertinently Stirling, the centre of the party’s woke faction.

Seven people are understood to be in the running for the Stirling nomination (including, we note without comment, NEC member Ellen Forson, who would have had a vote on whether Wadhwa passed vetting), and there’s no obvious high-profile front runner, so the outcome is hard to predict. Given the electorate, it’s entirely possible that Wadhwa could secure the nomination.

This is despite the fact that because a male incumbent is standing down, under SNP policy Stirling is meant to be a woman-only shortlist. The other six contenders, unlike Wadhwa, are all female.

We gather that a complaint has been filed through solicitors, but experience shows that the SNP’s rules are only ever applied to the non-woke. So experienced, talented and principled female candidates like Joanna Cherry and Caroline McAllister are out, while dodgy blokes with an unexplained desire to deceive their way in plain view into the presence of the most vulnerable women in the country get waved through and invited to shape Scotland’s legislation for the next five years.

The only remaining obstacle to the woke coup is the party membership, who ultimately get to decide who they choose to stand as their candidates. It’s the only part of the process that the leadership and the NEC don’t completely control.

Anyone who wants independence can only hope they know what they’re doing and who they’re being asked to hand control of the movement to for the next five years.

.

[EDIT 4 November 2020: Wadhwa has just been appointed as Women’s Officer for the SNP’s Fountainbridge and Craiglockhart branch in Edinburgh. We don’t know if there were any other candidates for the post.]

.

OTHER RESOURCES

Peak Trans

ForWomen.scot

Women And Girls In Scotland

Women Are Human

Claire Graham (intersex voice silenced by Twitter)

Miranda Yardley (dissenting transwoman silenced by Twitter)

Meghan Murphy (Canadian feminist silenced by Twitter, also here)

RadFem Rebecca (Feminist silenced by Twitter)

4th Wave Now (US parents group silenced by Twitter)

Trans Crime UK

Serious violent and sexual male criminals who claim to be women

The War On Women

Pronouns Are Rohypnol

List of gender-critical feminists suspended by Twitter

Who are the TERFs?

Things that only happen to biological women

Statistics on the advantages held by biological males in women’s sports

The huge financial interests behind transgenderism

The alarming culture of misogyny at social-media and tech firms

Two collections of violent threats from TRAs to women

A representative random selection of TRA quotes

Things men have pretended to be to gain malign access to women and children

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

312 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Daisy Walker

Wow.

P

New party please
This crap won’t go away
It’ll take a lot more than closing our eyes and wishing really hard for Indy 2

Famous15

For those not in the loopy loop will you be listing the science deniers and the clearly fraudulent like this fellow?

Liz

This just gets worse and worse.

susanXX

I agree P. We need new parties plural.

Famous15

The more I Ihink about this creepy man in a Rape Crisis Centre the more I wonder does he get his rocks off listening to the tragic sexual traumas

I wonder if the police should be involved?.

Livionian

This isn’t just a problem that is limited to Scotland, but the arrogance of the modern left is astounding. They have lost touch with reality. The embrace of the trans cult, cancel culture, self righteousness, and tendency to think they are better than everyone has set their politics back decades. And that’s why they keep losing. Keep this up and eventually they will lose Scotland.

Remember when the purpose of the SNP was Scottish independence alone? The members need their party back. As for me, I think it is blatantly obvious the answer needs to come out with the SNP. The woke brigade have won that battle and we need a new movement before Scotland rejects their nanny state, ‘pc’, misogynistic identity politics

Daisy Walker

The saddest part of this current course of promoted conduct, is it is likely to provoke a backlash against transgender people.

Irony of ironies – the best of intentions (presumably) is likely to ‘incite hatred’.

It is certainly not going to win votes. New labour, all over again.

John Moss

The most disappointing thing about this is the deliberate and open attempt to undermine our wish for independence. To use our desire for self-determination so that an undeserving minority can lord it over all of us.

Ironic, isn’t it. Independence a route to freedom is being turned into a route to force us into living in ideological slavery.

We need a new independence party and we need it now.

crisiscult

Hi Rev

As you say, the battle … is already almost lost. Is there money (or time to raise some) to get our word out to the SNP members, and the public? I’m thinking worst case scenario, we need a huge nudge early next year to get indy supporters, en masse, to have a genuine threat of not voting SNP if SNP don’t seriously improve their offer re indy. Latest Herald article talking about 2026!! I’m willing to throw cash and time at this, as many of us will be, since the next 6-7 months really will dictate whether any of us have a chance of seeing indy in our lifetimes.

Dave M

The fact that they are able to do whatever the hell they like, in the full knowledge that around half of the population essentially HAVE TO VOTE FOR THEM because of their wish for independence, demonstrates the broken state of Scottish politics. They wouldn’t be doing this if there were at least one credible alternative that could put them under electoral pressure.

Famous15

This creepy man listening to Women in crisis after sexual traumas?

Call the polis!

holymacmoses

Surely enough real SNP members to start a Party The

RealSNP Party

Andy Ellis

Between the institutionalised corruption of the SNP’s structures and (apparently) much of its activist base, and the stodgy managerialism of the Charlotte Street Partners vision for #indy2026 outlined by the party’s “Big brain” and father of the Growth Commission gradualist bible Andrew Wilson no less (.!..no…me either) I’m genuinely torn.

We should all be ecstatic that indy is polling at 58% and that 64% think Westminster shouldn’t veto #indyref2.

Instead, I’m not sure I want half of these roasters within a mile of government, still less in charge of a newly independent Scotland.

We can and should do better. It’s up to rank and file SNP members to sort their party out. So far they have signally failed, and evidence suggests they aren’t up to the job of cleaning that Augean stable out.

I really hope a new party focused on independence, with charismatic leadership and a prospectus more radical and inspiring than Wilson’s vapid independence, emerges.

If not we’re in for years of disappointment.

Graeme

How often have we heard ex Labour voters say “I didn’t leave Labour, Labour left me”

Looks like the SNP have left us

Well done Nicola

auld highlander

Madness, complete and utter madness.

Have they pressed the self destruct button?

Jill Sharpe

There are lists of who to vote for being compiled by members – the Stirling branch is certainly not all Woke.

Scozzie

crisiscult @11.55pm
The time is now not the next 6 – 7 months. Candidates are being lined up now. Do you really think the Rhiannon Spears, this Mridul character, the Alan Smyth posse and a whole host of other McWokes have the desire let alone brain power to achieve independence? They’re nothing more than a mediocre faction of student politics.

Like I said in my comment on the previous thread, this shitshow needs tackled now, not May 2021.

Marshall Adair

Does Nicola S already know that this man has deceived her and everyone else? Surely she couldn’t possibly support his candidacy after such a revelation?

LeggyPeggy

The whole party needs cleared out from the top down and hopefully we get decent candidates standing for the official posts on the Nec and all the other positions up for elections at conference .

As i’ve said here on previous posts that I’ve met Caroline and she’s worth more than all the other
* woke * candidates put together .

I’m still waiting to see when apologies will be issued by the party for the abuse that Joanna Cherry , Joan McAlpine and now Caroline have suffered but I’m not holding my breath waiting on it happening but Nicola was quick enough to jump in and defend Rhiannon Spears on social media .

Of course most of the abuse aimed at Joanna , Joan and Caroline has been carried by the members of the Out for Indy , YSI groups affiliated to the party but the Snp will not support the Women’s pledge group .

Link to Women’s pledge twitter page where they are posting about the decent candidates standing for selection as the constituency candidate for May 2021 .

link to mobile.twitter.com

Grey Gull

Really struggling to articulate how I’m feeling about all of this. A mixture of sad, angry, betrayed (even though I’m not an SNP member) and despair as I can’t see a way out of all this mess any time soon. Sometimes I think my friends and family who don’t care that much about politics might be right – certainly saves them a lot of grief.

crisiscult

@Scozzie

Thanks. You’ll note I said ‘worst case scenario’. This means I’m asking a question that covers from now till then, leaving as many options for ideas as possible. You, perhaps like me, or struggling for ideas on what we can do right now. If not, please let me know your thoughts that can mobilise people like me right now.

PacMan

Up until the tweet from Nicola Sturgeon’s account a few weeks ago which effectively turned on the Yes movement, I have to admit that was in complete denial about what was happening to the SNP. I was also until then taken in by the Nicola Sturgeon herself.

I would like to comment on part of the Rev’s article:

The battle to save the soul of the SNP – formerly a party of Scottish independence but now a career vehicle for intolerant science-denying cultists solely interested in social engineering – is already almost lost.

There is no doubt that those are moving up the ranks of the SNP’s hierarchy are only interested in social engineering and possibly independence second.

However, I wonder those at the top who put this in motion actually know what they are doing?

IMHO, I feel that the move to equality by the SNP is driven by the social media orientated youth where these political ideas are dominant depending on the trends that these individuals subscribe to.

However, these trends are fickle and I suspect they are driven by outside interests as seen with the current US presidential election with talk of interference by Russian and Chinese bots.

While these equality social media trends may be riding high at the moment, it doesn’t mean that that they will in a couple of weeks time, never mind in a couple of months or couple of years.

These could be replaced by other ones like the hatred of nationalism in all it’s forms. If that does which is likely with Brexit occurring in just over 2 months time and the knock on effect in other countries, that could cause a backlash on the social media which could well affect the SNP even though they stand for the ‘good’ nationalism.

I don’t use social media apart from reading tweets on here and other sites and don’t know too much about it so this is all a personal opinion on my behalf.

However, I do feel that putting all your eggs in one basket by going for the social media obsessed youth at the detriment of most other parts of society is a mistake.

While the SNP is trying to make independence a major social issue for the youth, things could happen like another George Floyd incident, possibly here in the UK, which would turn this social group towards a more UK-centric view which will be disastrous to the indy movement.

If that happens, I wonder what will happen to the SNP high heid-yins who orchestrated this and their power base is gone?

Hatuey

“If there was hope, it must lie in the proles, because only there, in those swarming disregarded masses, eighty-five percent of the population of Oceania, could the force to destroy the Party ever be generated. The Party could not be overthrown from within. Its enemies, if it had any enemies, had no way of coming together or even of identifying one another. Even if the legendary Brotherhood existed, as just possibly it might, it was inconceivable that its members could ever assemble in larger numbers than twos and threes. Rebellion meant a look in the eyes, an inflection of the voice; at the most, an occasional whispered word. But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire. They need only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it.”

robertknight

Pendulum has swung too far IMHO and the SNP is a lost cause.

That image of NS should be captioned…

“And you all thought I was pro-Indy? Mwah ha ha ha… FOOLS!”

Allium

Just hideous. I can’t believe it (although I do). Thank you so much for shining a light the way you do.

When will some people realise that NS isn’t deceived, hoodwinked or mistaken in her promotion of this stuff? It comes from her. This is her first priority in politics now. This is her vision and the legacy she will look back on with pride. This is her dream for Scotland.

susanXX

Daisy Walker@11:54am.

Yes that’s true but I no longer give a damn for ” transgender” people. They kept quiet despite the escalating demands. So fly with the crows, get shot with the crows. I won’t waste any tears.

kapelmeister

Sturgeon & her crypto unionist woke pals should be called Vetter Together.

N. Holmes

Mridul is a sleazy crook. This just gets worse and worse by the day. We need a new independence party immediately.

Daisy Walker

Does Mridul have ANY formal qualifications, of any kind, in the field of counselling?

If not, (and a qualification is likely to be a mitigation factor, rather than get them totally off the hook) then I suspect any woman who was counselled by Mridul at the Rape Crisis Centre – now has a very good chance at a financial claim for damages.

1 count of fraud by Mridul. It is a crime to make false presentation in order to gain – in this case pretend to be female, in order to secure a career lawfully ring fenced for women, and gain access to vulnerable women.

1 count of fail to carry out due diligence by the Rape Crisis Centre?

In view of the potential CRIME, not to mention a complete lack of integrity, will the SNP still be allowing Mridul to stand as a candidate – or do they consider that this will bring the party into disrepute.

Asking for genuine Indy supporters everywhere.

Highland Wifie

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

And thank goodness we have someone of the calibre of Stu who is not only wide awake (as opposed to ‘woke’) but has dug deep into this cesspit of corruption to help bring this to a wider public. Everyone who tries to do this is either vilified or cancelled, some even lose their jobs.
It is incumbent on those who cannot be intimidated in this way to stand up and shout from the rooftops. Because most of the population are either still asleep or going along with it for woke cookies and personal/career progress. Looking at you, Keir Starmer.

Don’t let these careerists off the hook. There’s a silenced army behind you.

PacMan

Livionian says:
18 October, 2020 at 11:54 am

This isn’t just a problem that is limited to Scotland, but the arrogance of the modern left is astounding. They have lost touch with reality. The embrace of the trans cult, cancel culture, self righteousness, and tendency to think they are better than everyone has set their politics back decades. And that’s why they keep losing. Keep this up and eventually they will lose Scotland.

I had forgotten to mention in my previous post that as somebody who believes in progressive politics how much I was blind as well to the dangers of how it can be abused.

I believe in the idea of positive discrimination as a temporary measure to address historical advances and allow woman, LBTQ people and others from minorities to progress in society that the majority can. The outcome would be that for example we progress to a gender blind society where a woman has the ability to go to the top of our society or stay at the bottom based on her choice.

I do feel that is a noble sentiment that any decent person should agree with but the path on how I though we should go there has highlighted a bit of naivety on my part.

It may be all good and well promoting people over others in the name of equality or progressive ideals but the issue is who decides who should get promoted?

Are they getting promoted because of their gender, colour of skin or sexuality or because they are just yes-people who know what to say in order to get themselves ahead?

Also, are they the right people for the movement they are being promoted in or are they malcontent’s or disruptive influences as mentioned in the recent podcast below which describes the state of the SNP’s NEC as almost dysfunctional and not fit for purpose in taking the SNP to independence:

link to barrheadboy.com

I have to admit it has been a bad couple of weeks for me with regards to my relationship with politics. I will need to ponder and reassess what I believe in as I feel I have been taken for a right mug by the current lot at the top of the SNP.

Graeme

The problem it seems to me is the SNP have a monopoly on independence, and the woke have a stranglehold on the party, not voting for the SNP or abstaining will only let the unionists in and that would be worse,

We need to either fix the SNP (if that’s possible) or create another party, none of these things are possible before HR21,I think we need to forget the SNP they’re lost to us for now and concentrate all our efforts on supporting the ISP on the list and get as many indy supporting MSP’s in Holyrood as possible, I think that’s the only thing we can do

Scot Finlayson

Jeezo and FFS what a fricken horror show,
this whole mysoginistic abomination resembles the Catholic Church hiding and shielding abusers for millenia and BBC/Royals protecting and enabling Jimmy Saville.

This is like Ripley protecting the Alien “cause it has rights too and if we just let it in it will thank us and not use our bodies as incubators for its young”.

Effijy

We desperately need a new Independence Party
that has policies that chime with the majority of the
People and give control to its members and complete
transparency to the general public.

We don’t have any of the above as things stand and we
Are only 7 months away from our most important election ever
in our history.

Daisy Walker

susanXX says:
18 October, 2020 at 12:22 pm
Daisy Walker@11:54am.

Yes that’s true but I no longer give a damn for ” transgender” people. They kept quiet despite the escalating demands. So fly with the crows, get shot with the crows.

‘I won’t waste any tears.’

I will, its easy to stir up hate, and there’s plenty of manipulative political bawbags out there who are using it for their own ends. But its a shit way to live and it eats up the person doing the hating. So, I will be giving a shit about transgender people, and I will be looking for the laws surrounding this issue to be measured, well thought out, safe and compassionate, for all. And believe it or not, there will be plenty of genuine transgender people out there cheering on the same.

One bit of decency at a time – even if sometimes its through gritted teeth.

Best wishes.

ahundredthidiot

Let’s face it, none of us were ever really happy with the word ‘National’ in the title of the SNP – not that we are somehow ashamed to be nationalists, but more that the neutral voter would always harbour reservations and that our enemies could exploit that specific point to weaken our argument as a sovereign and independent nation.

I’ve consistently argued against this, but now I think I am close to conceding that perhaps our only way forward now is a completely new Party – to directly compete with the SNP in all and any seats, but only AFTER the 2021 elections.

In other words, next year SNP – no show, no go.

Mr B

Thanks for covering this issue. It is extraordinary that women attempting to recover from rape and sexual abuse face this level of deception and that it is sanctioned by a leader that calls themselves a feminist.
The whole TRA agenda appears to put men’s feelings above the safety, privacy and needs of women.
Usual caveats – not all men etc

PacMan

Famous15 says: 18 October, 2020 at 11:53 am

The more I Ihink about this creepy man in a Rape Crisis Centre the more I wonder does he get his rocks off listening to the tragic sexual traumas

I wonder if the police should be involved?.

You don’t know that and therefore you can’t throw accusations.

Acceptance of Trans people into mainstream society is just a recent phenomenon and we just don’t know how they interact in society especially in sensitive positions like Rape crisis.

There needs to be a level headedness about progressive ideals and a realisation that there are times when you have to say no to the speed at which these ideals are implemented.

There also needs to be boundaries in regards to these ideals. Is it progressive to promote one group to the possible detriment of the other?

I know it is plain common sense and people have been saying this all along but this message always seems to get drowned out in heated arguments over this.

winifred mccartney

Surely if Mridul Wadhwa concealed the fact of being a transwomen this is enough to have him sacked from the post in Rape Crisis.

Do women using this service know of the background of Mridul and are they happy with with. In any other post deliberate non-disclosure of such a pertinent fact would result in dismisal. What are the SNP playing at?

Robert Graham

Worse than even I thought possible, FFS I am really glad I told Murrell to stick my SNP membership up his arse , it’s one thing watching this happening and happening out of sight but I refuse to finance this Deception, because that’s exactly what it is ,
Queen Nicola saying one thing trust honest me ,I have nothing to hide while knowing this shite is going on in the background and what’s worse assisting and promoting this what would be Toxic if voters found out the truth .
People who attack STU for uncovering this underlying problem are either blind or totally stupid it’s one thing supporting the current leadership but I ask them are they completely comfortable knowing all this stuff and they still offer unquestioned support,
I know some are presently looking in from the WGD site just now because the site is not being updated because of a sudden illness, my best wishes go to Paul Kavanagh for a total recovery , My Question to them is are you happy with the direction the SNP going in ,are you happy being deceived , if the answer is Yes , My Sincere condolences to you it’s maybe time for you to remove your heads from the sand and have a long look at what is Happening and not what you believe is happening .

Abalha

In Stirling the SNP Women’s Pledge have endorsed Sameeha Rehman.

A young Kenyan Scot who was campaigning for independence in 2014, aged 14. She works for Steven Bonnar MP who was a witness for Julie McNulty in her successful defamation case.
(he has recently been charged though over a fight with a neighbour who objected to his having a Celtic flag in his front window).

She also has the endorsement of Joanna Cherry.

She’d be my pick if 1/ I had a vote. 2/ Was an SNP member

Border witch

The only remaining obstacle to the woke coup is the party membership, who ultimately get to decide who they choose to stand as their candidates. It’s the only part of the process that the leadership and the NEC don’t completely control.

Do they, though? Who has sight of the count? Who oversees the process? Who is accountable for errors? How do nominees secure a recount or get comfort that the result is genuine and unadulterated? Answers – No. The CEO. Who knows? Who knows? Who knows?

Scozzie

crisicult @ 12.10pm
I have no pearls of wisdom but my thoughts are that NS will need to have her hands on the seat of power prized open with a crowbar so to speak! I can’t see her standing down gracefully, I think it will take pressure from her own SNP MPs / MSPs to tell her the ‘game is up’ aka Thatcher, Blair and May’s demise of power.

So for that to happen I feel the SNP membership and the wider independence movement need to badger ministers that the movement is not happy and the SNP will pay dearly for it come the next vote.

Demand that the independence MPs / MSPs take control and tell NS the ‘game’s up’ or it will cost them their seats. No MP wants to lose their cushy job – it certainly concentrates the mind!

You could start with an ‘open letter’ signed online by concerned voters – much like was done in support of Craig Murray (I believe thousands of peeps put their name to that). And then keep the pressure up – online campaigns, social media, at constituency surgeries, doorstepping MSPs etc.

But it has to happen now – it sickens me that these woke candidates are what’s being put forward at a critical time on the path towards independence.

Failing that, since independence is not on the NS leadership / woke radar – perhaps the SNP need a spell in the wilderness of being the opposition to help them find their purpose again. I hope it doesn’t come to that but voters can only be taken for mugs for so long. Vote donkeys, get donkeys!

Astonished

ahundredidiot

I was really happy about the word national being in our party name. Our party should represent the nation of Scotland.

I will be voting for SNP1 and ISP for my second vote. This will be the first time I have voted for anyone other than the SNP.

Again I say, I will never campaign or forgive the woke for their hijacking of my party. Nicola Sturgeon fooled me and she richly deserves all that is coming her way.

holymacmoses

The Woke brigade celebrate the importance of the individual so there’ll be a limit to their growth. Egos are fragile and lots of them are likely to burst at once.
T.S. Eliot said that human’s ‘can’t bear too much reality’. The Woke wonders can’t stand any reality and wish to control the external world through an emotional, self-centred, pinhole camera

CameronB Brodie

Our government and legal Establishment are clearly hostile towards the Natural law, and are determined to stitch Scotland up to slip seamlessly into a state of English despotism. Brexit represents a crime against humanity, yet our organs of government are doing all they can to further disable Scots law, and the ability for Scots to access their human rights. So it’s way past time we asserted our national identity, and kick these BritNat fascists out of office.

Ian Brotherhood

Just cannot get my head around this stuff.

A man, dressed as a woman, responsible for traumatised women and girls?

This is so far beyond what most folk consider to be ‘wrong’ it’s hard to find a word – swithering over ‘diabolical’, ‘evil’ and ‘wicked’.

FFS, SNP members, get yersels and your party sortit!

The Isolator

FFS I despair, I really do.Get Sturgeon and the rest of them back to “Scottish” Labour Hame where they belong.The party is absolutely riddled with them,absolutely riddled.I knew it was bad but words fail me.As for dropping National from the name that’s another of their target so no danger.They’ll change the party name after next year’s election it’s a nap.

stonefree

@ crisiscult at 11:55 am

I regret to say I believe it’s bye, This is mid way through the tenth month of the year, Nothing will happen in the twelfth, Could the SNP have a “Brexit Party moment”? You know a sudden rush , in promoting Independence? Don’t see that either You couldn’t move them with Ex-Lax
My opinion is line with I think here Sturgeon and Staff and the NEC, I differ in that I think the NEC are not left-wingers but right wing , Smith I believe is a very wealthy man given previous legal job.
If Sturgeon said to the NEC tomorrow “you’re all sacked Go on friday”,Would it make a difference? Maybe a chance
I find it impossible to believe that Sturgeon is completely unaware of the damage she is causing ,and that is her plan

OldPete

Had more campaign leaflets for 2021 election from John Scott and Douglas Ross today. Not surprisingly they have the same ideas as a large majority of posters on here, that the SNP are bad, not to be trusted and need to be damaged as much as possible.
Apparently support for Independence is polling around about 58%, the British Nationalists are worried and this time want to keep talk of Scottish Independence on the back burner.

Many years ago I was told by a fellow SNP member that the place to go for good information on the ’cause’ was here, doubt if he’d push it forward now.
When you stand side by side with Ruth, Richard, Willie and almost all the MSM in an effort to ensure the SNP fail to win a majority, then Independence for Scotland certainly is not your main goal.
I am proud of my local MP Philippa Whitford, she is an excellent representative for our area. Philippa without doubt like all the members I have came into contact with in the SNP are there because they believe in Scottish Independence.

Without the SNP there would be no fight for Scottish Independence.
Without the SNP there would never have been a devolved parliament.
Without the SNP competent government, support for Scottish Independence would never be at the level it has reached.
Without the SNP this site would never have existed.

Wulls

I’m still waiting on some fucker telling me exactly what “equality” trans people do not currently enjoy.
It seems the woke want them to be more than equal in shades of animal farm
“All trans are equal but some are more equal than others”
Tell you what.
If one of these arseholes invades my daughters personal space I’ll do the jail time with a smile on my face.

[…] Wings Over Scotland Waiting For The Men The battle to save the soul of the SNP – formerly a party of Scottish independence […]

Stoker

Folk like Cherry & McAllister should quit the snp and stand as independents who support Scotland’s right to self-determination.

The SNP has been utterly destroyed & with each passing day their activities are becoming more & more unacceptable if not bordering on the criminal.

I just can’t bring myself to vote for them whilst Sturgeon & Co run the show. I feel disgusted with myself that I once supported & promoted that nasty, bitter wee manhater and now proven liar several times over.

I feel extremely angry she has used & abused my votes & support to play on them being the only party for indy. Well, they can no-longer make that claim with any degree of honesty. Even the “promise” (for want of better word) of another indyref is quietly riddled with caveats.

This tells me they’re more interested in their own agendas & employment rather than indy as a priority. Every other country on this planet of ours have handled Covid as well as everyday business. Some have also held elections *AND* referendums. But Sturgeon hides behind her feeble mantra of “focussing on Covid”.

Another great article btw, keep them coming.

Dave Beveridge

I think the SNP are going to seriously struggle to get the vote out once the MSM go to town on this utter nonsense. And they will – just as soon as the worst of Covid is over and the run-up to the election begins.

I wouldn’t vote to give any of these weirdos a platform.

tartandiaspora

is this legal?

Graeme

If you believe there’s nothing creepy or sinister about about a man concealing the fact he’s a man to get himself access to sexually traumatized women, then you have to believe he’s doing it out of a genuine concern for them.

I know what I believe

Mike d

Someone should stand as an independent in nicola sturgeons constituency. Caroline McAllister maybe?.

susanXX

We’ll just have to agree to disagree then @ Daisy Walker. And I say that as a lesbian.

Beaker

If someone knowingly applies for a job under false pretences, under employment law they can be sacked without notice. Since you would also knowingly be committing fraud, you can be prosecuted.

CameronB Brodie

OldPete
Your party has turned into a club for parochial authoritarians who deny science. That’s because they’re legal practice and policy framework pretty much rejects the Natural law, and instead supports authoritarianism totalitarianism. I blame the Lord Advocate. So they are currently as helpful to Scotland as a dose of Ebola, and something needs done pronto. Or else there is likely to be no way Scots will ever access our human rights.

Stoker

‘Old Pete’ wrote: “Many years ago I was told by a fellow SNP member that the place to go for good information on the ’cause’ was here, doubt if he’d push it forward now.”

Why? The site hasn’t changed much, it still does what most of us expect it to do = support independence & expose the truth.

‘Old Pete’ also wrote: “Without the SNP competent government, support for Scottish Independence would never be at the level it has reached.”

Absolute shite! Prove it! Support for indy is as high as it is due mainly to factors such as Brexit, the Powergrab, the breaking of international & domestic law, Labour being seen for what they truly are and the threat of the Tories being in power for at least 15-20 years to come. FFS! You’ll be trying to credit little miss pishy-washy for creating sliced bread next.

mike cassidy

You know its bad when even Stephen Daisley sheds light on the matter in Scotland

Feminism has been at odds with conservatism for so long and yet it never occurred to the right to simply redefine women out of their rights. It took the left to come up with that.

link to archive.is

CameronB Brodie

Those still cling to the FM as an effective leader of an independence moment, need to wake up to the fact that she is simply not a democrat. Though neither is the Lord Advocate.

Culture and sustainability
link to culturalfoundation.eu

Mike d

Oldpete 12 55pm. ‘ without the SNP there would be no fight for Scottish independence ‘
What fight is that? I must have missed something in the last 6 years.

Mark Mair

After 37 years of SNP membership I’m at the point of quoting because of this. The focus and discipline that got us into government is gone. The SNP is simply a vehicle for woke egos to play student politics and screw the party and.by extension independence in the process. If the NEC is cleaner out and party rules applied without fear or favour then will no longer be the part I signed up to as an 18 year old.

Confused

my what big hands you have …

(which could probably hold more than 26 dollars)

you used to get sacked for lying to get a job

– diffrent strokes for diffrent folks, you buncha haters

kapelmeister

Is Nicola Sturgeon insane? I really think she’s either insane or else has some form of severe personality disorder.

panda paws

Caroline McAllister has announced on twitter her intention to stand for election as Women’s convenor on the NEC!

link to twitter.com

BuggerlePanda

I used to like the old SNP, but this new one not so much.

I knew where the old one was going but this one……

France is more sane

JayR

Only female, BAME, LGBT SNP members who never mention independence will be chosen to stand by the SNP next year. Just look at the potential candidates so far. SNP NEC resembles a right-on student association these days.

JayR

And middle-class party aparatchiks too. Parts a joke now.

Lulu Bells

I honestly cannot believe what I am reading. This man should not be supported and promoted. He should have been sacked the instant his deceit was known.
I have nothing against any person being what they want to be sexually but geeze I am sick of having it shoved in my face like some sort of achievement.

HDavies

This will be the knife that cuts SNP not in half but in bits. Has it occurred to anyone that all this trans stuff is the means by which anti-independence agencies are subverting your cause by fostering unecessary divisions ?

Abalha

In reply to Mike d says:
18 October, 2020 at 1:09 pm
”Someone should stand as an independent in nicola sturgeons constituency. Caroline McAllister maybe?”

Too late for current selection BUT you never know before May ’21, there may yet be a vacancy in Glasgow Southside!

CameronB Brodie

The GRA amendments would detach Scots law further from the Natural law. So even if we escape Brexit, these numpties will have harmed Scots law in a manner that disables its’ potential to support public health, social justice, and democracy. So we need to do something to force our organs of government to support universal principles of legal doctrine, as their approach to the law is clearly a threat to Scotland’s public health, civic society, and our potential for open democracy.

Report on a theoretical review of the conceptualization and articulation of justice in legal theory
link to ethos-europe.eu

Colin Alexander

I no longer stress about any of this.

Holyrood is not Scotland’s parliament; it never has been. A real Scottish parliament would uphold the sovereignty of the people of Scotland. A real Scottish Parliament would not have allowed Scotland’s people’s decision to Remain in the EU to be ignored by the British Empire and European Union.

Holyrood upholds the “sovereignty” of the monarch of the English Crown in England’s British Parliament.

So, I won’t be voting for any colonial administrator at Holyrood whether they believe men are women or claim to believe Scotland should become an independent country some day.

Republicofscotland

Yes Mr Lawson had two articles up on the woke coup of candidates for seats in the SNP. Unless the membership cry out and flex their muscles on the matter, woke trans policies will be the order of the day with the SNP and Scottish independence will remain unattainable.

Sturgeon and Murrell must be forced out, the NEC must be cleared out, the membership must waken up and kick up a stink until something is done about this.

I didn’t vote for the SNP for this I voted for them to obtain Scottish independence, and I’m sure many, many other folk also voted for them for the same reason.

Colin Alexander

My view is: I won’t vote for anyone who wants to become an MSP.

All MSPs are nothing more than colonial administrators for England’s British Empire.

Abstain for independence!

Or vote for someone who regards the election as a plebiscite election to restore Scotland’s national sovereignty.

Cenchos

Daisy Walker @ 11.54.

There have never, I fear, been any good intentions towards trans folk by the woke careerists. They have used the trans cause in an utterly reprehensible way to virtue signal their way towards political power, and they couldn’t care less about the harm they cause trans people by evoking a backlash against them (as susan XX’s post at 12.22 seems to exemplify). Trans folk are viewed as an electorally expendable micro-minority, which is probably why the woke alighted upon that particular group in the first place.

Where was the trans support a very few years ago by those now proclaiming GRA and trans rights above other concerns, including independence?

The woke careerist bandwaggoners are using trans people and GRA as means to shut down any form of questioning of them ; they respond by crying ‘transphobe’ , ‘misogynist’ , ‘hate’ and ‘homophobe’ at anyone they don’t like, including the ‘wrong sort’ of women.

Using a vulnerable minority group as a mere means is surely a hate crime in itself, and seems to me the very definition of evil.

Colin Alexander

My view is: I won’t vote for anyone who wants to become an MSP.

All MSPs are nothing more than colonial administrators for England’s British Empire.

Abstain for independence!

Or vote for someone who regards the election as a plebiscite election to restore Scotland’s national sovereignty.

JGedd

I sometimes think that I have woken up in an alternative reality. This has gone beyond ridiculous. These activists are behaving like a party within a party & have subverted the main purpose of the SNP. Does anyone believe for a moment that these proposed candidates are interested in independence?

I don’t refer to them being in the least left wing. The only radical belief that they have is strictly about the GRA cause. The SNP now presents itself as the best vehicle for their careers. It appears that a generation of university graduates, not at all interested in social justice for the poor & disadvantaged, found all of that boring & outmoded. This new cause gives them an opportunity to join an international radical cause which is classless & revolutionary & novel.

In all the welter of self-congratulatory on-line media ‘conversations’ I don’t recall any of them express any concern for those living in poverty. This new cause gives them the chance to castigate & demonise those they are happy to view as the enemy. There is nothing inclusive about these people, in fact it’s necessary to have an enemy to define themselves as the saved, the crusading children of light.

There is something Manichaean about the way they see the world. It is tailor-made for middle class young people on the make. No need to concern themselves with those annoying disadvantaged people & yet be able to see themselves as part of a righteous movement which has the added advantage of being without any sense of middle-class guilt – and you can get a good career out of it, too.

I think it is too late to save the soul of the SNP as an independence movement. They will pay only lip service to that ideal from now on.

James Che.

The issue here is not solely trans whoever or whomever may be elected that’s dodgy or sleazy,
the font of all that is wrong is the NEC, and the SNP, the Civil servants inside the Scottish government,
If the Scottish people themselves had the control of independence, non of the above would be happening,
Is it possible for us to chose [individuals] who put themselves forward for election, on a independent Scotland only manifesto, like Nigel farage did with Brexit only party,
If thousands of true Scottish independence only manifesto stood, we could flashmob the future election, I think we could see a new influx so great of ordinary Scots that we would win the independence movement.

Robert Graham

Stoker @ 1:13
Got to agree with your response to Old Pete he seems to follow the line of oh it doesn’t matter what they hide , it doesn’t matter what they do , The SNP is the only way forward to independence so suck it up and stop causing trouble and embarrassment to the present leadership ,
I ask Old Pete to explain exactly what has changed since 2014 , how exactly has the SNP moved forward with their stated purpose of pushing for and enabling Scotlands voice to heard within this Union,
Old Pete among others seems to be having tunnel vision and only relying on poll numbers as a justification to cover up and wilfully hide some pretty unsavoury aspects of present the direction of the current management , They know these proposals will go down like the preverbal lead balloon with normal people and are being hidden from the SNP membership in order to stay in power , not to secure independence but to further the unsavoury aims of a small section of people who couldn’t get elected if their proposed aims were made public , in short it’s Electoral Fraud .

Republicofscotland

I wish the EC would hurry up and release the SNP’s accounts figures, folk seeing that the ringfenced indy funds are gone might shake quite a few folk up out of their Sturgeon/Murrell loving torpor.

schrodingers cat

why is this even a thing?

tartandiaspora

i ask again, is this not illegal?

Mist001

I don’t know how to go about it myself, but the topics which are regularly discussed on this website HAVE to be relayed to the wider SNP membership at large because most of them probably don’t read this site and most of them don’t have a clue what’s going on with the SNP.

There has to be a way of making the SNP membership aware of all this.

A physical maildrop, perhaps? Something viral online?

It’s no use just the same handful of regulars here talking about it and agreeing about how bad it all is. The information has to reach a far wider audience for anything to change.

Gregor

The only SNP I can vote for is a fair, just, transparent and accountable SNP (a party I value, entrust and can depend on).

WHERE HAS IT GONE…

Helen Yates

I believe the only chance of ever seeing Independence will have to be through a new party, for me this party is toxic as it stands right now and I can’t see anything changing on that front before the election, I honestly wish the ISP would stand in the constituency seats as well, they’d get both my votes for sure because nothing could induce me to vote SNP unless the party is completely reformed and that is not going to happen now, of course I could be wrong and I’d love to be proved so.

Abalha

There are 14 NEC members standing for election

4 have no contender
Colin Beattie/ Keith Brown/ Nicola Sturgeon/Ruth Maguire

The other 10 will face open competition;

Alex Kerr works for John Mason MSP/Christian Allard/ Ellen Forson /Cllr Graham Campbell/ Heather Anderson/Kaukab Stewart/ Cllr Lynne Anderson/ Cllr Rhiannon Spear/ Rhuaraidh Fleming works for an MSP/MP, not sure who/ Stacy Bradley

FWIW I predict only two will be selected;

Lynne Anderson, very solid candidate, in Uddingston and Bellshill and Kaukab Stewart who appears to have been around for decades. Stood for the SNP against Donald Dewar in 1999.

CameronB Brodie

A party and legal Establishment that rejects medical philosophy, bioethics, and phenomenology, is unable to support public health, democracy, or the rule-of-law, and certainly not a nation’s self-determination. So we have a very serious problem if we don’t clean the totalitarianism out of our government and legal Establishment.

Human rights and natural law
link to en.unesco.org

Robert Graham

Just watched a presentation to a select committee in the house of ilrepute by Johanna Cherry about the recent law breaking proposals by the Tory Government , a clear concise description of what exactly this bunch of gangsters are attempting to do and the legal professions reluctance to be involved or associated with their unlawful behaviour .
She managed to introduce Scottish independence and the devolution settlement into her presentation more than I have heard most SNP politicians say in the last six years since the referendum , by Christ no wonder she is the present managements no 1 target she won’t be silenced into following this pointless section whatever it’s descriptions is that entails begging a Tory PM for permission to bloody breathe .
She has guts and brains and offers a real danger to the present management because she will stick to the whole purpose the SNP were formed in fact their whole reason for their existence

mike cassidy

An insight into how the woke think

In the Sunday Times, no less

(And I’ve no idea why the interviewer was worried about mispronouning. In an interview, you would use ‘you’, wouldn’t you?)

‘I have always been non?binary

link to archive.is

susanXX

I recommend not voting for woke SNP candidates. Majority lost? When you treat the electorate like shit karma rebounds.

susanXX

Unnecessary divisions? Fuck you! This is rewriting reality and denying 51% of the population to validate a mixture of the mentally ill and fetishists.

Sharny Dubs

Just logged in haven’t had time to read all the posts, but sweet Jez, just when you think it can’t get any worse.

Keep on keeping on Stu. The need is now more than ever.

Bob Mack

My wife and daughters and grandaughters can no longer support the SNP. In truth neither can I. We have decided to cancel our main vote and vote for an Indy party on the list.

Ah well. It was good whilst it lasted. I cannot in all conscience vote for a party who force these things on the public without regard of the consequences to women voters..

Suggestions for a list party most welcome.

susanXX

Me too Bob Mack.

Mark F

That’s enough now ffs.

Sturgeon has taken this party from a credible force to this nonsense.

Membership cancelled.

Beaker

@HDavies says:
18 October, 2020 at 1:35 pm
“This will be the knife that cuts SNP not in half but in bits. Has it occurred to anyone that all this trans stuff is the means by which anti-independence agencies are subverting your cause by fostering unecessary divisions ?”

It’s not the ‘agencies’, but individuals who have their own personal agendas. These people are opportunists who will latch onto the best available vehicle to promote their cause. In this case, it is the SNP. If the Lib Dems were popular (when Hell freezes over) then they would go there.

Beaker

I think susanxx phrased the response better! 🙂

The Isolator

Right calmed down a bit now.Well done Rev for the analysis once again and the nod to Lou/Velvets in the headline is pure genius.Only to be surpassed by Confused@1.19..26 dollars indeed.Excellent stuff.

CameronB Brodie

schrodingers cat
This is a thing because dissemblers like you deny morals are a thing, or that they are essential to maintaining the rule-of-law. Which you hold in contempt. So your outlook is pretty much the constellation of beliefs that critical theory was invented to counter, i.e. a propensity towards totalitarianism. You might understand this if you weren’t so hostile towards those who support ethical rationalism and the Natural law. Mkay!

A Plant

Re: the name. It does seem that the name can be used for both males and females and I don’t think they’ve ever changed it. (I’m only going by an internet search, however.)

Re: Qualifications

When I checked out their Linked-In profile a while back, their qualifications all seemed to pertain to the hospitality industry/hotel management. They do have experience in HR which they seem to have used to get a foot in the door elsewhere. Haven’t been able to find anything related to counselling, etc, but I’m willing to be corrected on that.

As others have suggested, the lack of appropriate qualifications is rather concerning.

Ian

I watched this video until the Greens Co-Leader smirked through the question of a 2nd List Party (at 19.15 on). Maybe she hasn’t figured out yet that people in Scotland really don’t like smug arrogant fools. It’s why we want independence. What a mess.

link to facebook.com

Stan Broadwood

Regarding Baillie and Sturgeon.

I was watching FMQs last week, and Baillie put a question to Sturgeon, and even while asking the question, Baillie had that cheeky “pals smirk” in her face, as did Sturgeon.

It was like two best best pals talking to each other.

I had one of those “What the fuck is happening here” moments.

Baillie is the arch enemy of the Yes Movement. The fat Unionist bastard was one of the main stumbling blocks to us winning
indyRef1 .

So where has this sudden “friendship” come from between Sturgeon and Baillie???

Has she agreed to go soft in Baillie’s constituency in exchange for an easy ride regards the Salmond case???

Have they become lovers???

I don’t know what has happened, but it ties in with what is happening regarding the SNP selection process in that seat.

Something is seriously wrong here, it’s as if they have forgotten the reason they were elected to Holyrood for, and it has turned into a grand plan to keep Devolution rolling along for years to come.

That way they all get to keep their cushy jobs and big salaries,,,and push through their very dodgy policies.

Blair Paterson

Let’s not kid and swank these people are freaks of nature pure and simple and should be treated as such not to try to be accepted as normal which they are not and as for a Kenyan Scot you cannot be 2things you can’t be fat and thin short and tall etc., so this lady is not a Scot I freely admit to being racist and homo phobic but to me I am more normal than these people and how can abnormal people make normal decisions ???

CameronB Brodie

Brexit erases Scottish culture from global constitutional consciousness, and so our contribution and potential to contribute to the Natural law. THIS IS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY. The GRA amendments provide assistance to this agenda, as they would eradicate the meaningful recognition of “womanhood” from Scottish legal consciousness.

Christian bioethics: Non-Ecumenical Studies in Medical Morality, Volume 25, Issue 2, August 2019, Pages 154–168
Natural Law, Catholicism, and the Protestant Critique: Why We Are Really Not That Far Apart

Abstract

Catholics and Evangelical Protestants often find themselves on the same side on a variety of issues in bioethics. However, some Evangelicals have expressed reluctance to embrace the natural law reasoning used by Catholics in academic and policy debates.

In this article, I argue that the primary concerns raised by Evangelicals about natural law reasoning are, ironically, concerns expressed by and intrinsic to the natural law tradition itself. To show this, I address two types of Protestant critics: (1) the Frustrated Fellow Traveler and (2) the Solo Scripturist.

link to academic.oup.com

Milady

I think the party is probably already lost to these people but the upcoming selections are crucial. If local branches can wrest back some control there may be hope but if the majority of candidates come from the woke faction the game’s a bogey. We *will* need a new party.

susanXX

I must admit I don’t agree with the ‘ she’s her lover’ tropes ( willing to stand corrected) but NS is definitely behind the GRA Hate Crime Bills. Probably to put her in a good position vis-a-vis future appointments.

Mr B

tartandiaspora says:
18 October, 2020 at 2:03 pm
i ask again, is this not illegal?

All Scotgov funded organisations have to have a trans inclusion policy or they won’t get funded. This means every rape crisis, domestic violence, NHS facility will include anyone who identifies as a woman, within the category of women.

The equality act allows discrimination on the basis of sex in these circumstances (legitimate aim) but it has recently been discovered that the guidance to the EA has been wrongly interpreted. Possibly because of the influence of Stonewall and other lobby groups.

Ann Sinnott, former Cambridge City Councillor, is currently taking this issue to Judicial Review and many women have contributed to her crowdfunder. link to crowdjustice.com
Then there’s the crowdfunder forwomenScotland are running for Judicial review into the redefinition of women. link to crowdjustice.com
All this is being funded by small donations.

Paul Snowdon

Here in Airdrie & Shotts we have a Male MSP standing down and no bar on Male candidates standing for selection.
The all-female list rule seems to be all over the place!

CameronB Brodie

I’m not trying to hurt the party, I’m trying to wake folk up to the fact that their approach to politics and the law, is no longer capable of supporting our cause. Or public health, human rights, social justice, or democracy. Though that appears to be acceptable to the Lord Advocate.

Human Participation in the Eternal Law through the
Natural Law in the Thought of Thomas Aquinas
and Bernard Lonergan: Transpositions from a Classical to a Modern Mindset

link to tspace.library.utoronto.ca

newburghgowfer

The SNP hierarchy, Mps & Msps must have been paissing themselves with laughter knowing that all the people marching were making them even stronger within the voting electorate who actually thought that the SNP would lead them to Indy. I for 1 never heard any of Nicola or her cohorts extolling the virtue of the marching people.
Whilst they were resting their tootsies they didn’t have to do 1 morsel of effort to increase their support. They think its a win win and Co-vid is the best thing to happen to them as the supporters lap up the spoonfed bullshit as though its actually helping. The only way we will get Independence is if a Nordic Country took over running Holyrood and the people had genuine Politicians to vote for.

Shug

On a different topic the BBC is making much of the low life’s who went to Carlisle to watch the game
I think I suspect the BBC trying to spread misinformation and lessen the sg advice in order to make the Scottish figures as bad as those in england

Robert Graham

Fragmented, This is my impression of the Indy supporting movement since 2014 , all the elements are there but nothing seems to bind them together , This next Holyrood election is a case in point , given our hands are tied and have been purposefully manipulated into the position of ensuring the SNP are the only option for most of us who can’t and will not vote for any Unionist party,
One way out of this predicament would be if we had a way of pressuring the current leadership , the recent emergence of the Digital Covenant promoted by Mark McNaught the Covenant circumvents every political party it enables We The People to have our say without interference by any political party and definitely makes sure these Toxic interest groups are kept at arms length,
All this would be helped by the identification of these woke supporting political activists who are being foisted on local SNP branches , they can be stopped in their tracks if people are aware who they are ,and what’s more who they are attempting to replace , recent high profile candidates have highlighted the moves to push them out of the way but it’s only because they have let people know what’s going on , example only women short lists or impediments to the sitting candidate for inclusion on the preferred candidate list , keeping this quiet is the purpose of these shady groups the can’t stand the publicity because they can’t defend their aims because the electorate wouldn’t buy what they are selling so they hide behind the SNP hoping that they don’t get noticed .

Willie

Has she or he got a boaby and baws. That is the big question. And it’s important.

If she has, then there is no way he should be near the girls dressing room or the girls toilets. This quite frankly is wrong. Wrong on the girls who might have to put up with this. Maybe a metaphorical boot in ra baws might knock some sense into the dick. In fact what about gender reassignment being granted subject to the tackle being removed.

Truly, I despair.

Johnny Martin

O/T

Andrew Wilson’s slabberings today confirm that he is to Indy what Joe Biden is going to be to the USA, a comforting sign to elites that the political events they mean to preside over will result in no change and the preservation of certain elites. His nod to “let’s keep the task of setting up an indy Scotland in the politicians’ club by having Darling and Brown be involved” is one indicator.

We need our own currency yet this charlatan also wants to keep us chained to the Bank of England for decade(s) so that it can boss us about and block the improvement of our society.

That’s not independence; we require political AND monetary sovereignty; we will not be able to make the required improvements to Scotland without both.

Sarah

Ex-SNP members and everyone: please join the SNP now [only £5 for pension-age], apply to be conference delegates and then vote for the people endorsed by Joanna Cherry and the SNP Members for Independence Facebook site that was a guest post here on Wings recently.

There are several NEC-reform Resolutions being submitted so there is a good chance of change in the party.

NB Delegates can have their attendance fee paid by their Branch.

stonefree

Accounts timing
All accounts have a period of 12 months,
I believe it can be varied, usually it’s shortened ,for say aligning a pair of companies……For example two companies have a end of year in December , one would be altered to June or the month chosen that being in the same year(calendar wise)
The Production of the accounts after the year end has also a limit.If that is inline with the rest of HMRC then the period would be 9 months and one day after the end of the accounting period
(not a clue about the day thing)
The date of the last set of Produced Accounts, would be where to work it out from
Incidentally ALL members are liable for shortages, that is passed on to Board (NEC)IF within the membership agreement
I’m reasonably certain I’m correct

Jan Cowan

So angry! It seems NS is deliberately destroying the Party which was built by so many keen members over the years. Either she and her friends leave or we leave and follow Rev Stu’s advice on how to achieve Scottish Independence.

CameronB Brodie

I don’t want to hog the thread, but I’m just getting up to speed and I could honestly do this all day. From umpteen different intellectual positions and disciplines. That’s because my legal position is post-colonial, so I’m able to support human rights and democracy, as well as defend international law and order.

Btw, my practice is WOKE, so I’m determined that the loonies pushing the science denying totalitarianism of McWOKE ideology, don’t deny Scots access to due process in law and the potential to access justice. As this is the legally subourdinate position forced on Scots by British nationalism.

Linacre Quarterly, 2012 Feb; 79(1): 73–80.
The Return of Virtue to Ethical Medical Decision Making

Abstract

For the past several decades, ethical deliberation in medicine has been dominated by “principlism,” an ethical method that relies on a set of principles or rules that are variable and applied inconsistently. This approach overlooks the moral agent, separates the ethical decisions from the moral sensibilities that shaped them, isolating the decisions from the moral actor. Ethics, being a human endeavor, cannot ignore the moral agent. I propose a practical approach to the ethical dilemma that combines virtue with principles.

The Ethics of Virtue

Virtue is defined by Aristotle as competence in the pursuit of excellence.1 For Aristotle the virtuous man is principled, and his ultimate telos is to become a man of excellence, thereby attaining happiness.2 Happiness resides in full human flourishing, is the chief good for man, and can be secured in whatever life is most satisfying.3

Man’s virtue is linked with action. Virtue is acquired by doing virtuous acts; and enhanced by repetition of virtuous acts. This activity results in a virtuous disposition, a habit.4 Virtue and the virtuous person—that is, the person practiced and adept at finding moral goodness in real situations – are an intrinsic part of moral behavior….

link to ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

katherine hamilton

Hmm I’ve been saying all through this farrago that at Holyrood vote we must vote SNP1/Indyparty2. This, however. If that div was standing in my area I couldn’t vote for it. Just couldn’t. His own words show him to be a fraud and a liar by omission. Coward, to boot. The fact of his transness is the least of it. He should be suspended by his employer and investigated.

Andy Ellis

@Milady

I think many agree with you now. We need a new party, and from what I’ve seen the ISP isn’t it (sorry, ISP guys & gals…good effort but pretty disappointing so far!).

Ideally we need a core of high profile folk like Alex Salmond, Joanne Cherry, Joan McAlpine, Philippa Whitford, Angus MacNeil and others of their ilk.

We need to counter the gradualist prospectus set out in the Herald’s piece on Andrew Wilson’s pronouncements from his “chic man cave in Balerno”. (boak)

By the next available vote after Holyrood 2021 we need to have a “full fat” alternative party established and ready to take the fight to the SNP both for constituency and list votes. I suspect the SNP is lost to us: even in the event the members manage to lance the woke boil (don’t hold your breath!), it’s vanishingly unlikely they are going to change policy or direction.

Gradualists gonna gradualise.

Ron Maclean

I don’t want to hog the thread…’ Well don’t.

‘I could honestly do this all day…’ I noticed.

Harder to get rid of than Nicola Sturgeon.

David Ferguson

@ schrodingers cat
18 October, 2020 at 2:03 pm

why is this even a thing?

It’s a thing because that’s what it is. It’s in the nature of things to be things. It’s also in the nature of many things to be either good things or bad things.

I happen to think it’s a bad thing to exclude an honest genuine hardworking loyal woman from candidacy as an MSP. while promoting the candidacy of a skin-crawling weirdo who lied his way into one of the most sensitive spaces of vulnerable and damaged women.

Nicola Sturgeon clearly thinks it’s a good thing. And so, by extension, do you and your pals. So why not have the balls to explain to me all the reasons why it’s actually a good thing, instead of indulging in infantile one-line sneers?

Lorna Campbell

That Nicola Sturgeon, herself a woman, and other SNP women, have done this to their own sex, is beyond belief – almost, but not quite, given all the other nonsense that we have been hearing about lately. This person should be turfed out on her ear. The more I read about and hear of trans gender excesses, the less sympathy I have, which is sad for people who have genuine trans gender issues, but who do not wish to impose them on everyone else.

I am beginning to be persuaded that many of them are fetishists and creeps, misogynists and science deniers. Nothing else, apart from possibly severe mental illness, can explain why any male person would want to infiltrate, under cover, a women’s organization (mainly) in order to gain access to harrowing tales of rape and sexual assault by his own natal sex. Why this has been tolerated by the SNP hierarchy gives the impression that this kind of thing is at home there. Didn’t it ring any alarm bells at all? Are the high heid yins in the SNP so brainwashed by these malign p**s takers that all sense has deserted them?

The thing that really strikes me is that the most vociferous of these so-called trans people are so f*****g lazy and cowardly. They have piggy-backed on the hard work done by women. There are females in Afghanistan, in Iran, in all the Muslim countries, who risk their lives daily to try and gain a small piece of breathing space for themselves. They have been beaten, raped, stoned to death for imaginary crimes, and these people think that they can just walk all over us and take what we have fought for, in the West (because it was once like that here, too).

Their SNP aiders and abetters in this massive and sickening capture of our society need to be turfed out on their ear. All of them. As soon as.

CameronB Brodie

Ron Maclean
Do you seriously have a problem with someone offering practical insight?

Robert Graham

Last comment before I start looking for something to watch on u/tube _Netflix or Amazon Prime ,if anybody had said this time last year the biggest impediment to a next Indy referendum would be the party that has imbedded in its whole DNA it’s purpose for being there would be the SNP , and the best promoter of any kind of rise in support would be a lying fat English Tory PM I would have thought that they were out for the day and taking some mind altering substance.

But there we are ,we are in situation I would have never believed in a century of Sundays we would be in the whole world has turned upside down and I won’t forget who made it happen .

TJenny

katherine hamilton – ‘He should be suspended by his employer and investigated.’ I can thnk of something else he should be suspended by.

Ron Maclean

@CameronB Brodie 4:41pm

I don’t have a problem with someone offering practical insight.

The Dissident

I see that, according to the Herald, Andrew Wilson is the brains of the Yes movement.

I would have said that he doesn’t have the brains to complete a bowel movement but the Report of the Commission for Sustainable Growth proves otherwise.

CameronB Brodie

Ron Maclean
“I don’t have a problem with someone offering practical insight.!”

Though you appear to want to shut me out from further contribution.

Integrating gender and social equality into sustainable development research
A guidance note
October 2018. Version 1.0

link to sei.org

stonefree

@ kapelmeister at 1:22 pm

Yes and Yes
……………………..

@ Paul Snowdon at 3:14 pm

It has been for a while,In 2015 it had the start of a good inroads

ahundredthidiot

Todays SNP – If you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything.

Weak Leadership is everywhere, even in most businesses. Good, strong, principled people – in my experience – never think they’re good enough to get to the top…….so the chancers get there, and once faced with difficult decisions/challenges/adversity, fall for anything to try to get themselves out of it.

kapelmeister

Mrs Murrell really is in the Mridul of a sea of troubles. She ought to go now while it’s still possible to appear moderately dignified.

Ron Maclean

@CameronB Brodie 5:00pm

No my site.

Ottomanboi

link to gsb.stanford.edu
With a little help from MI5 too, maybe.

John H.

Nicola Sturgeon may not be MI5. But from the damage she has done/allowed to be done to the SNP, she might as well be.

Contrary

Always vote with your conscience, as the situation requires at the time. Without change the SNP do not represent independence, and my coscience says ‘they can fuck right off if they think I’m going to fall for any more shit and lend my vote on false promises.’ My conscience can be brutal at times, but at least I have one.

I couldn’t even read that whole pish article about Wilson. Utter and total garbage.

In contrast the the sunny ray of sunshine of Stu’s article, and that of my comment, Richard Murphy has posted the latest Alex Salmond Show

link to taxresearch.org.uk

And it is definitely worth a watch – Alex looks hale and hearty, and in good spirits. Interestingly talking a lot about ‘new economic thinking’. Alex Neil, who is retiring next year, has good economic plans for Covid-recovery, and says he’s stepping down from politics but not activism – he’ll be campaigning for independence from then on. Good on ye Alex. Notable is the avoidance of mentioning the SNP current leadership – total absence of any mention at all in fact.

Alex Salmond is the person we need to start a new independent nation, he has the economic know how, and appears to have a renewed confidence in his abilities.

CameronB Brodie

Ron Maclean
“No my site”

I don’t think the Rev. objects to me supporting democracy with facts and stuff, do you?

Contemporary Political Theory volume 8, pages 111–112 (2009)
Justice, Legitimacy and Self-Determination: Moral Foundations for International Law

link to link.springer.com

kapelmeister

Andy Ellis @4:26

Andrew Wilson’s pronouncements are so hollow they belong in a concave, not a man cave.

SilverDarling

I see one of the liggers for Independence, Suzanne McLaughlin has made a quite astonishing claim against Callie McAllister without any backup and the claim has been immediately refuted. Of course thoughts and prayers have come in fast and furious from the creepy weirdos for Indy who believe every word from the ubiquitous Ms McL who appears regularly on TV and print sharing her paucity of thought far and wide.

link to twitter.com

That whole freaky cabal show how small the pool is in Scottish Politics and how much it is in desperate need of voices like Callie Mac.

Robert Louis

It is abundantly clear, that this nonsense is sanctioned by the leader, Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell. THIS is one of many reason why they must go ASAP.

The very idea of a bloke running a rape crisis centre is utterly absurd. Really, cloud cuckoo stuff, and I simply find it hard to fathom how folk can get so brainwahsed as to think, ‘yeah, why not’ And then supposedly approved as an MSP candidate??

Make no mistake the enemies of independence and the SNP are just biding their time on this nonsense. It could well be the route to a better than expected Tory result next year.

But still, the leader of the SNP carries on with her loony pseudo ‘feminist’ ‘equality’ pish. Whilst trashing LGB and women’s rights in the process.

As somebody rightly points out above, there will be a backlash and LGB rishts which were fought for and won by LGB people like myself, could end up damaged in the stramash.

It is utterly absurd, utterly utterly absurd. Real nonsense of epic proportions, right up there with the Trump nonsense about drinking bleach.

WTF has happened to the SNP??? The enemies of indy are taking notes and just waiting for their chance, and make no mistake, they will.

Get it sorted Sturgeon or get the f out of it and take your loony, science – deying wokeist beardy cabal with you.

Andy Ellis

@kapelmeister

Indeed. The problem we have is that his influential gradualists like Wilson and others in the SNP hierarchy and government represent party orthodoxy. The “don’t scare the horses” mentality is so ingrained that they have convinced themselves that *everyone* shares it, or at least that those who don’t share it will tolerate because *wheesht for indy*.

Some of the more clear headed probably share the negative view of ordinary members about the woke infiltration, the attempted lynching of Salmond and the bin-fire that is the NEC. Once again however, they hope that people will avert their eyes and do nothing because *Nicola’s got this* right?

Recent experience suggests they are right sadly, which is why anyone who is horrified by Wilson’s interview, by the FM kicking indyref into the long grass, by the ongoing shambles that is candidate selection, has to realise that the SNP is a lost cause. Loyalists can try and justify staying inside a dysfunctional party all they like, but they can’t pretend everything is alright, or that they haven’t been alerted to the issues.

The fact is SNP members either don’t care or lack the political courage to do the right thing.

That isn’t the kind of party I can support any more.

CameronB Brodie

Folks, we are not going to help Scotland by turning folks against woke theory and practice, which has been perverted out of all recognition in Scotland, by immoral lobbyists with access to Holyrood high-fliers, and a civil service determined to support British nationalism by whatever means. Our civil service were instructed to support genderwoowoo, and the person who made them do this is not a democrat. Simples.

Sarah

@Andy Ellis: have you looked at the facebook SNP Members for Independence or read the article with that title on Wings on 4th October?

Ordinary members are trying to sort things out in the party because if we abandon this party it will take years before the non-anorak voters recognise which party they can trust to get independence.

tartandiaspora

Willie says:
18 October, 2020 at 4:06 pm
Has she or he got a boaby and baws. That is the big question. And it’s important.

really?……….

the long winter nights must just fly by willie….

Rob

A female that has been raped and has now found out that the person counselling her,(and getting into her mind with all the intimate details she has to divulge)has turned out to be a man disguised as a female counseller, must have dire pschological consequences on the victim’s mental state.

I suspect that any victim will have a strong legal case against this counsellor and the organisation who employed her.

David R

As it is more than likely that the SNP will win next year and fill parliament with the new wave of SNP politicians people in Scotland may not like the look of a future Indy Government. For those saying fix it after indy it’s important to realise that these new politicians will be the political class of indy and will only get more bat shit crazy as they mentor future generations.

Dan

Getting rather scunnered with a Party and its leadership that seems so hell bent on fucking around with internal power struggles and virtue signalling about all their perceived global injustices.

Have they never heard the phrase think global, act local.
Maybe if they could consider actually pushing to regain full control of Scotland and its massive array of diverse resources we would be better placed to address the issues our country suffers from.

One forlornly hopes they wake up one morning and think about what we actually need to sustain the basics of life and to furnish a decent standard of living for those living here, then they might have more of a fuckin clue what they should be focused on.

Coz if oor oan Government Administration lacks the gumption to comprehend that we would be better in control oor oan destiny with the follow stats* it makes you wonder what the fuck is rattlin’ round in their nappers…

* Caveat that the following has been posted for years so may need updating slightly to be 100% accurate:

32% of the land area.
61% of the sea area.
90% of the fresh water.
65% of the natural gas production.
96.5% of the crude oil production.
47% of the open cast coal production
81% of the untapped coal reserves
62% of the timber production
46% of the total forest area
92% of the hydro electric production
40% of the wind wave and solar energy production
60% of the fish landings
30% of the beef herd
20% of the sheep herd
9% of the dairy herd
10% of the pig herd
15% if the cereal holdings
20% of the potato holdings
70% of UK Gin production
…obviously 100% of the Scotch Whisky industry.

Lizg

tartandiaspora @ 6.14
Well said …I just wish he’d fly right past here.

CameronB Brodie

The potential for justice in Scotland, and the avoidance of unnecessary harm to the vulnerable, is under deliberates attack by those who are charged with the care of Scots law and society. This is a symptom of the unhealthy social pathology we call British nationalism, and must not be allowed to continue harming Scottish culture and society.

International Journal of Constitutional Law, Volume 18, Issue 2, July 2020, Pages 429–433
Resurrecting positive action

Abstract

The idea of “positive action” has long been regarded as a key element in a gender equality strategy and has been extensively promoted by the European Union (EU) as such. This brief comment considers: (i) how far positive action has been adopted in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA); (ii) the reasons why the practice of positive action has fallen short of the ambitions that the EU has had for it; and (iii) how it might best be resurrected. I emphasize in particular the need for a radically revised regulatory approach to be adopted, one more in keeping with the insights of regulatory theory in other contexts.

Issue Section:
Reflections on Gender and Public Law: Eight Views

link to academic.oup.com

Effijy

Very interesting Scot Gov claim Covid numbers
Delayed due to more tests sent here from England
than usual and they say that this is definitely not the case?

The person people lying need nailed to the floor!

We Willie Winkie the Fib Dem on tap to blame SNP as he has made a career out of.

Wendy

We’re never going to get independence with people like this.

willie

Reading the piece about the foul rejection of Councillor Caroline McAllister in the Dumbarton Constituency is it not time that ALL of the candidates took a public stance and stood down.

As SNP members, pursuing the cause of independence there should not be one who should be taking comfort from the advantages paid to them and the vile disadvantages visited on others.

If they have any decency, and some candidates I suspect will have decency, then they must declare that decency.

To not do so tethers them forever as rotten and corrupt.

CameronB Brodie

I don’t think corrupt fully covers it, as this lack of principles is rooted in our legal Establishment’s ideologically biased approach to the law. Which is hostile towards the Natural law, as the Moral law challenges the English legal tradition of Parliamentary sovereignty.

Law and Philosophy (2020)
Methodologies of Rule of Law Research: Why Legal Philosophy Needs Empirical and Doctrinal Scholarship

Abstract

Rule of law is a concept that is regularly debated by legal philosophers, often in connection to discussion of the concept of law. In this article, the focus is not on the substance of the conceptual claims, but on the methodologies employed by legal philosophers, investigating seminal articles on the rule of law by Joseph Raz and Jeremy Waldron.

I argue that their philosophical argumentations often crucially depend on empirical or legal doctrinal arguments. However, these arguments remain underdeveloped. I explore how these arguments could be linked to approaches related to rule of law in different fields of legal scholarship and investigate how the methodologies of these fields may complement each other.

Thus, the article aims to provide an argument for a specific form of triangulation of three kinds of approaches to the rule of law: philosophical, social-scientific and legal doctrinal. This method of triangulation is illustrated by a discussion of the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index.

link to link.springer.com

Cath

Yeah, you know, if anyone ever wants to ask ever again why women, and frankly anyone who isn’t a corrupt arse licker doesn’t want to get into politics, show them this. There has never been a time where we were more desperately in need of decent people in politics. It’s just a cess pit of cliques, back stabbing and those who most want power. For a while, challenger parties emerge which aren’t like that. Then they get power and those bullies who most seek power take it over. No idea what the answer is.

Lorna Campbell

Daisy: :… Using a vulnerable minority group as a mere means is surely a hate crime in itself, and seems to me the very definition of evil… ”

So, why do you think she did it? Why do so many of the vociferous trans lobby piggy-back on the hard-won rights and sex-based spaces of women and gay women, both of who have fought long and hard for recognition? I do think it’s this more than anything else that gets me, because it just seems like a lot of creepy men, who would never dream of putting themselves in the firing line, are making women’s lives impossible. They are lazy, cowardly parasites. There is simply no other answer to the GRA than the end of women participating in sport and in many other areas of life because these are already being taken over by these men.

Were women sidelined out of the rape crisis job because this person got it – and under false pretences? How do the women she counselled feel about being hoodwinked by such a dubious person? What was her intention? To help women who were traumatized or to get her rocks off in listening to the harrowing stories. So, what does that make her? It is not being discriminatory to ask this very pertinent question. Are many of these people just perverts, and worse? I think we have all been played by these people – women, gay women, genuine trans women, everyone, but worst of all, innocent children and young people are at their mercy, and we cannot tolerate that.

I have bent over backwards to give Nicola Sturgeon the benefit of the doubt, and I have never considered her stupid, but, now, I can find no explanation for her behaviour that does not fall into the category of either utter stupidity and gullibility, even if well-intentioned, on the one hand, or crass and vile long-term, careerist opportunism, on the other. If I’m honest, I would prefer it to be the former because then I could forgive – at a push – but, if it’s the latter, I would find that very difficult to forgive.

In some ways, I think the all-woman shortlists have been part of the problem, because if you insist that trans women are real women, you cannot keep them out of the all-women’s shortlists, and that is known as an own goal. I keep asking the question: why are trans people not proud to be trans when gay people are proud to be gay and don’t try to hide behind others? Why are men not owning trans women as part of the masculine spectrum, and the same goes for women and trans men, albeit I have noticed that women’s groups do acknowledge that trans men will require female healthcare, etc.?

Some of the right-on ones in the SNP government will not be ‘woke’ to it until there are absolutely no natal women at all at Holyrood. How f*****g dumb can you get? Too dumb to be in a government job, that’s for sure.

Mist001

@ The Isolator

Lou Reed stood on stage in 1979 and told the audience ‘I guess this next song’s about inflation, ‘cos 26 dollars doesn’t get you very much anymore!’

Colin Dawson

“Border witch says:
18 October, 2020 at 12:46 pm
The only remaining obstacle to the woke coup is the party membership, who ultimately get to decide who they choose to stand as their candidates. It’s the only part of the process that the leadership and the NEC don’t completely control.

Do they, though? Who has sight of the count? Who oversees the process? Who is accountable for errors? How do nominees secure a recount or get comfort that the result is genuine and unadulterated? Answers – No. The CEO. Who knows? Who knows? Who knows?”

Ahead of the 2015 General Election, when my local SNP branch held an election to select a candidate, I was surprised that branch members were not permitted to know how many votes had been cast for each potential candidate. I queried this with the branch secretary and was told that members weren’t allowed to see the results of the vote. When I complained and said that democracy had to be seen to be done, I was told to take the matter up with party HQ. I did but, unsurprisingly, got no reply.

AYRSHIRE ROB

Got an email fae Gavin Lundy 2 days ago (candidate for Ayr).He’s the 1st one I’ve had. It’s aboot time the rest of them got their arse in gear b4 he hogs it.

cirsium

@Andy Ellis, 4.26
We need to counter the gradualist prospectus set out in the Herald’s piece on Andrew Wilson’s pronouncements

Do we not need to counter the neoliberal prospectus set out by Mr Wilson and followed by Ms Sturgeon and her group?

John H.

Robert Louis says: 5:44pm.

“WTF has happened to the SNP???”

Nicola Sturgeon took over in 2014.

Andy Ellis

@Sarah 6.11pm

Yeah, I think I did see that a while ago. I wish them well and hope they succeed but it’s not my party any more.

I really have my doubts it can be saved. In fact I’d now go so far as to say I’d actively campaign to STOP them being in power post indy if you and like minded “ordinary” members don’t bring about the changes you seek.

Andy Ellis

@Cirsium 8.31pm

Both IMHO. I’m no fan of of the GC neo liberal thang either.

Beaker

Since the SNP are having women-only shortlists for MSP seats who are standing down, then why is Grant Costello – Digital Manager for the SNP – putting himself forward to replace Linda Fabiani?

If he gets selected that will speak volumes. After all, as an employee of the SNP he should be fully aware of the rules.

Fionan

Graeme suggests we should “concentrate all our efforts on supporting the ISP on the list”. While I agree we badly need a list indy party, I will not be voting for the ISP crowd – a) they seem to be opportunists jumping on the bandwagon b) they don’t bother replying to contacts from prospective voters and c) their convener on this site was rude and dismissive towards me in hi9s comments here.

If I vote at all, I will look at what the Action for Indy gang have to offer, and at least they have some known and committed names among their members. my vote matters to me and no way will I be handing it to a bunch of rude and unpleasant careerists/opportunists just because the snp have screwed up. After all,it is the very dismissive, arrogant and patronising attitude of the snp which has caused them to lose my vote and I will not be simply swapping for another clique cut from similar cloth.

stonefree

@ AYRSHIRE ROB at 8:19 pm
I assume candidate for the party as opposed to Party Candidate
Friend of Smith’s Crew and the National,
Up for his first job

Andy Ellis

@Fionan

Although the principle of the ISP is sound, the execution has been – to be charitable – amateurish. Critically they lack big hitters or charismatic leadership.

The other major drawback is it looks like the SNP will win an outright majority in 2021, so although I’ll applaud any seats they take from unionists on the list – and may well vote for them myself – it isn’t going to male any difference. The USP for list only parties was to ensure a pro-indy majority, but be able to hold the SNPs feet to the fire. That looks unlikely now.

I’m more convinced than ever now that we need a new party. I like the cut of the jib of the Faroese “Republic” party. We need something with a bit more heft than a list only protest party.

Ron Maclean

@Mike d 1:09pm

‘Someone should stand as an independent in nicola sturgeons constituency. Caroline McAllister maybe?.’

Don’t know about Caroline McAllister but a well briefed, properly supported street fighter could bring what’s been going wrong into the light.

Andy Ellis

@Stu 8.48pm

“Or, y’know, you could just ignore me and keep doing it with the headers. That usually ends well here.”

If only there was a way to stop him…..huh?

AYRSHIRE ROB

Stonefree

Yes that’s what I mean,but if the other 3 don’t start communicating you know it could end with him AS candidate- full stop

Ian Brotherhood

So, what is to be done?

Eliminate the negative:

WM? Forget it. Not interested in Scotland so long as it doesn’t go indy. SNP MPs treated with open contempt, can’t do anything in real terms

Scottish parliament? Forget it. The SNP won’t push for indy, for reasons known only to highly secretive leadership.

Mainstream media? Forget it. No indy-supporting broadcasters, only one newspaper.

That leaves the Yes movement, of which approx 10% are SNP members. (Can’t source that figure – anyone have solid data?)

That means us (and I’m including this place and other indy blogs/social media as part of the movement).

What can we do?

Accentuate the positive:

If this place is anything to go by, many of us have had enough and know that we have to do the heavy lifting if indy is to happen at all let alone anytime ‘soon’. We simply can’t rely on politicians to keep the promises they made and we have no obvious ‘leadership’ (a strength?). We kept our side of the bargain. They didn’t. So, what peaceful actions can we take post-Brexit? assuming that large scale marches will be banned for bug-related reasons until at least the end of next summer.

It’s one thing to discuss civil disobedience but quite another to organise it. But the mere act of discussing it will give many people plenty of food for thought.

Let’s start sharing ideas – no-one’s talking about subversive stuff, creeping about in the dark frightening folk. Get it all out in plain view.

I’ll lob in one for starters: establish 3 permanent protest camps in Edinburgh, at Holyrood, Bute House and the new Scottish Office ‘hub’, as close to the buildings as Police Scotland will allow, and make sure they are safe, secure places where we can have people 24/7, to deal with Press, tourists, general public. Let’s make sure the politicos and civil servants know we’re watching them – literally – every single day until indy is secured.

Really basic stuff, aye, but we’ve got to start somewhere and these things have to be properly planned. So let’s get on with it rather than getting wound-up by time-wasting roasters.

Wee Chid

I thought lying on a job application was now a criminal offence. Rhiannon Mackay was jailed for 6 months for doing so in 2010.

Wee Chid

Border witch says:
18 October, 2020 at 12:46 pm
The only remaining obstacle to the woke coup is the party membership, who ultimately get to decide who they choose to stand as their candidates.

In some areas there may be nothing but woke candidates

John Jones

Help Ma Boaby

Will ye vote fur chancers
Wimmen wi dicks an baws
Standing fur election
A threat tae Indy cause

Sneakin in the back door
A nod frae up the top
Ye claim tae be a wummin
Nae need tae get the chop

Nae need fur aw this vettin
Pit oan yir nicest frock
Mak shure it is long enough
Don’t wanty tae see yer cock

My name is really John
In Fife it sounds like Joan
Ah’m sure ahm no a wummin
Ma SNP chance has flown

Never been a member
Tho voted aw ma life
Bit never in the future
No wi aw this strife

Done ma share o’ canvassin
Marchin fur the cause
SNP huv had it
because o’ wimmin wi baws

willie

Where the ISP or the AFI sit just now is not really significant.

Nearer the time, and with the right heavyweights giving the signal both ISP and the AFI could be invigorated with new members, and highly motivated and skilled members at that.

SNP 1 and List 2 could very easily be the message. And there could be targeted constituency
scalps too.

The Wokes may think they rigged the nominations but soon they will be flushed down the toilet. Like Toleys to the Sewage Treatment Plant if I may inelegantly opine.

AYRSHIRE ROB

Agree with you there willie.Maybe there showing their hand too soon,who knows.Once there all out in the open.The work can be done then.

Elizabeth Stanley

I would like some really sticky stickers to attach to lamp posts etc.

The following…

Scottish Independence For All.

For all parties.

For all faiths.

For all genders.

For all incomes.

For all nationalities.

All votes for all.

No mention of SNP.

That’s a bit crap but I’m sure there are many folk oh here that could make it better.

I live in the N.E, plagued by cons but I could plaster these about the place.

Margaret E

To Ian brotherhood@29.04pm
I cannot bear to see the coldhearted obliteration of an ancient nation. Like Breeks, I am in despair, but I feel there must be something I can do. I am not in Scotland, in any case too old to march or work in these proposed hubs even if I were there.
There is not much point in pontificsting or protesting in blogs like this. Preaching to the converted.And there is literally almost no time left. After 31st December, the obliterstion of the nation will proceed st full speed.
if the members of the SNP do not see this, and have no appetite to challenge the takeover of their party, then there really is very little hope left. They will have colluded in the destruction of Scotlsnd the nation. They will hsve accepted colonial status.

Hatuey

Well, here’s my ten bob’s worth.

Ordinary people, those that don’t much give a fuck about politics and don’t come to sites like this, will object to the trans stuff if they are given enough information and it’s framed in a certain way. There’s potentially a huge backlash there but it’s hard to say how big.

That’s the only chance you have of stopping it and that means it’s an information war – easy enough to win in normal circumstances and achievable now but it would come at a cost.

The cost of engaging in a campaign like that is that you’d be distracting not only yourselves but ordinary people from other arguably more important things. And people are in survival mode right now.

The centre of gravity when it comes to a bunch of contentious issues is the SNP leadership. If that goes, the whole rotten edifice comes down and gender reform with it.

I’ve read enough on here lately to form an expectation that the leadership we see now will not be the leadership we see in 6 months time.

I get what’s being said about time being of the essence on this but if things go in the direction I’m hoping then all of this stuff will be easily remedied down the line and we will be in the fight of our lives for independence.

If things don’t work out and this leadership somehow survives the Salmond scandal, we are all fucked anyway. A few guys dressed as women at the trough won’t make much difference.

CameronB Brodie

Andy Ellis
“Both IMHO. I’m no fan of of the GC neo liberal thang either.”

That’s you spouting push again, as if you’re some credible intellectual authority. If you think a gender-critical view is neo-liberal, then it’s clear to me you really haven’t got a clue. You also appear to be hostile to woke practice. So I suggest you start providing supporting evidence to back up your poorly grounded opinion, or just get tae with your sham position of support.

McDuff

The SNP has ceased to be the party of independence, it has ceased to be anything. Is it an organisation, a club, what the hell is it.
I am so angry so very angry at this betrayal, at their confident arrogance to take us down this road to madness.
I ache for my country to be independent and all my life have supported the SNP but unless something dramatically changes I will vote for another indy supporting party and will not give my vote to Sturgeon who has no intention of pursuing our freedom.
And why are the other MSP/MP`s not challenging this insanity.

CameronB Brodie

sorry….spouting PISH,

Andy Ellis
As far as I’m concern, you’re an intellectual fraud, So kindly stop punting your pish as if you’re some kind of qualified expert, or just get tae.

Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, Volume 25, Issue 3, Fall 2018, Pages 337–360
Theorizing Feminist Struggles in the Triangle of Neoliberalism, Conservatism, and Nationalism

link to academic.oup.com

Andy Ellis

@Spameron 9.48 & 9.56

I was referring to the Growth Commission you crushing bore, not gender critical.

Now bore off and take yer meds, eh? You know your typing and spelling goes to pot when the spittle flies in your eyes during one of your abuse sessions.

Ian Brotherhood

@Margaret E (9.36) –

I hear ye loud and clear, and share the anguish. It does feel hopeless right now but we can’t just give up.

‘Despair’ is completely understandable. Given what’s happening, and what’s looming, only someone who really doesn’t care or isn’t paying attention could claim to be happy ‘because poll numbers are good’ or whatever other rose-tinted shitery gets them through the day.

The reason I suggested permanent camps is partly due to that despair, and pessimism over the general trajectory right now. It’s not inconceivable that online spaces like this will be curtailed or even closed. I doubt anyone foresaw Wings being ‘memory-holed’ by Twitter. Likewise, the noises being made by the Lord Advocate vis-a-vis Craig Murray’s blog may just be bluffery, but it would be foolish of us to discount the possibility that any blog on which contentious comments appear btl will find itself summarily ‘suspended pending investigation’ or somesuch similar flimflam. (Any of us could post ‘worrying’ material btl on all the main indy-supporting blogs within five minutes, easily.)

We have to bear in mind that the British State is in ‘State of National Emergency’ mode and all broadcasters are expected to toe the line, D-Notice style, when it comes to dealing with suspected subversives, troublemakers, dissidents, whatever you want to call them. Wingers are already called worse, even by fellow indy travellers (!), so this place will be a prime target.

That’s why the permanent camps would be valuable – they will provide real-life hubs (socially-distanced, naturally!) where the friendships and contacts which have already been established can be maintained.

In short – none of us know how long we’ll be able to communicate via this place, or others like it, so we should firm up contact details, share ideas and outline medium-term plans (i.e. what to do if WOS disappears) while we still have the chance.

Paranoid? Moi?

Perhaps, but better to be safe and aw that.

Thanks for the response Margaret. Appreciated.

Try not to despair. It looks grim right now, aye, but now that we know who the real enemies are (some unexpected, aye! but at least they’re in plain view now), plenty of us here are up for a fight and prepared to go the distance.

😉

CameronB Brodie

Andy Ellis
That’s not how I red it, or your btl opinion and practice. You’re just cheeses off I can prove you’re not the pop-star you appear to think you are. 😉

Cadernos Pagu, no.56 Campinas 2019 Epub Feb 03, 2020
Feminism versus neoliberalism: women’s freedom practices in world perspective

Abstract

Turning to the “original” voice of Simone de Beauvoir we find that she, like Fraser (2013), had criticized a neoliberal kind of “feminism”. However, Beauvoir’s approach also captures how contemporary feminism involves a plural set of freedom practices, rather than a universal program as Fraser implies.

Key words:
Feminism; Neoliberalism; Freedom Practices; Simone De Beauvoir; Nancy Fraser

link to scielo.br

stonefree

@ AYRSHIRE ROB at 9:04 pm
That John Scott’s seat, Not much of a majority I think that’s why Lundy is there.the SNP could win probably not with him though. Lundy is bland at best
Slightly aside If the likes of him don’t get in, the current SNP are going to employ him directly with Member’s money till another vacancy comes up,there by dragging the SNP further down That’s only my opinion

Andy Ellis

@Spameron 10.20pm

Once again in English please…..?

Time to step away from the hard stuff bud. Can’t think what you must have been doing to injure your hand so badly that you can’t type…..

What has your link got to do with anything by the way? It has nothing to do with what we’re talking about or the thing you (wrongly) accused me of doing.

Honestly…mate…give it up. You’re just not that good.

Joe

I’d like to point out a few things:

1 – The political situation has never stopped Scotland or the Scots themselves being who they are. That’s the most important thing. Whether it is in the EU or out. In the UK or out. With out own parliament or without it.

2 – the real damage that will be done is if the younger generations continue to be brainwashed into this anti-nationalist mentality that simply see’s Scotland as another region in the great progressive global scheme. If that continues to happen the Scottish nation will die eventually. There is more danger of that happening from Holyrood right now than from anywhere else in the world.

This will go one of two ways. Either the national spirit will be crushed under the weight of the hyper progressive agenda and Scotland will resemble just another collection of cities with big golden ‘M’ signs, Starbucks and all the other trappings of global capital, with a defeated grey, drab population of dispirited consumers perpetually sorry for harboring any thoughts or expressions of heritage or tradition while being continually tax-farmed to pay for national debt they never signed up for.

Or the nature of the independence movement itself will change to one far more combative, far less apologetic or unnecessarily ‘nice’. That does not mean exclusionary or unfair and it certainly does not mean violent, as I know some will attempt to equate those things.

The Scottish people have had their over willingness to try to understand, to be patient, to give chances, to be ‘nice’ turned upside down on their head like a bucket of shit and now they are expected to be patient some more.

The people who read this blog regularly will already be doing this but stop waiting for a leader or figurehead to do it. Start on an individual level. Straighten your back and refuse to take shit, verbal, written or otherwise from anyone in the name of your nation. If they won’t represent you honestly dont vote for them. If they want you to not use certain words then use them freely when its natural to do so. If they want you to repeat a lie then repeat the truth at every opportunity. Be happy to lose friends. Be happy to make enemies. Stop being politically correct. Stop wondering if you will hurt some hyper sensitive weirdos feelings. Stop caring if you seem the odd one out. Be free as an individual Scot and if enough of us do so then the nation will follow.

Margaret E

Ian Brotherhood
I do not think that it is in the least paranoid to expect that blogs like this will disappear. Just look at what is happening to Craig Murray. There has to be another way to combat what is happening right in front of our eyes. And that calls for some kind of effective organisation. Money always helps. That can be done, it seems that there are people like myself, literally unable to take initiatives for different reasons, but becoming more and more anxious to do something. We are waiting for some move, some direction.
I have willingly,even enthusiastically lent my vote to the SNP candidates in each election, have lost lifelong friends in attempts to change attitudes.
But I, along with many others, simply cannot vote for a science-denying political party.And equally I cannot simply be a bystander at the death of a nation.

CameronB Brodie

Andy Ellis
If I was the paranoid kind, I’d almost think you are trying to alienate me from the btl community. The fact is, I probably know as much IR theory as yourself, as well a shed load more relevant intellectual disciplines. Such as the law, forensic criminology, phenomenology and stuff. So until you curb your hostility towards me, I’m just going to have to assume you’re a hostile agent who’s lack of insight needs countering. Mkay!

Andy Ellis

@Spameron 10.33pm

Oh mate. You’re just embarrassing yourself now.

I doubt you have much understanding of IR theory from the evidence of your own vomitus here. As for your claimed knowledge in other areas, it’s pretty apparent that your expertise is about as impressive – or indeed germane to anything you insist on spamming here – as an under pressure below average undergrad thinking plagiarism = research.

Oh…and you don’t need any help from me alienating the BTL community.

Hatuey

“Be happy to lose friends. Be happy to make enemies. Stop being politically correct. Stop wondering if you will hurt some hyper sensitive weirdos feelings. Stop caring if you seem the odd one out. Be free as an individual Scot and if enough of us do so then the nation will follow.”

And welcome to Fight Club.

Grey Gull

Ian Brotherhood @10.10. Margaret@ 9.36

I share your despair, Margaret, and the others who say they feel angry and betrayed. I’ve marched, chapped on doors, delivered leaflets, talked to folk and I wonder why I bothered.

Ian, camps may be a way but I remember something about one at Holyrood? Did it get shut down? Don’t know all the details. I think there needs to be a clear out in the SNP, a new leadership, some focus on independence but I can’t see where it’s coming from and time is short.

Perhaps I need to be more like Bruce when he was looking at the spider.

Ian Brotherhood

@Margaret E –

Better minds than mine will surely be be working on ways to combat what’s happening. The fact that they’re not posting on blogs like this is probably a good sign.

FWIW, I don’t believe that there is any appetite for violence of any kind. I know you didn’t even mention it, but any discussion which even alludes to ‘resistance’ is always dismissed as malicious rabble-rousing.

If, for example, the protest camps became a reality, they would require substantial financial support, especially if their presence was challenged on legal grounds. We can deal with that as and when it happens, but the priority, right now (just imo, obviously) is to find out what appetite there is for ‘civil’ protest and/or disobedience of any kind. It’s a hard thing to assess because folk are, naturally, wary of committing themselves in ‘print’, even if it is on social media.

My gut feeling is that there’s huge support right there, right now, for organised, peaceful, sustained, smart, media-savvy protests.

Hopefully we’ll see ideas and plans being openly discussed. Soon!

😉

John Digsby

@Andy Ellis

CBB never needs to explain himself. He sits on a loftier plane and will just ignore all efforts to engage him in a discussion because we aren’t educated enough to understand him. His links mean nothing, his writings are irrelevant to all topics and he can’t define his terms.

Best ignored in classic ‘don’t feed the troll’ fashion. Though I admit it is easily done- pretty sure you were involved in talking me out of taking him seriously.

Carol Jardine

Ian Brotherhood 9.04

I’m an ‘old’ lurker and like your suggestion of setting up camps at the three sites you mention. Count me in!

CameronB Brodie

Andy Ellis
I’m trained to work in international development you numbnuts, and I’m also following my training as an educator. I’ve been trained to help decolonise culture, where as you clearly haven’t. If you weren’t such a snobby A-hole, you might appreciate this fact of life, and perhaps improve your poorly grounded opinion.

Journal of Latin American Studies, Volume 44, Issue 4, November 2012 , pp. 703-732
The Practice of Autonomy in the Age of Neoliberalism: Strategies from Indigenous Women’s Organising in Mexico

link to cambridge.org

Hatuey

CameronB, for what it’s worth (I know, zilch), I think you’re cool. At worst harmless…

I’m sure some like to imagine that you detract from the important work they do here, but not me.

CameronB Brodie

John Digsby
I’ll hud ma wheesht if you can prove my position incorrect. Otherwise….

willie

Breaking News :

All hell breaks out in Dumbarton Constituency

Late this evening the National Secretary of the SNP suspended the Dumbarton Constituency Association hustings scheduled for Monday evening.

In doing so it was confirmed that the National Executive Council (NEC) would arrange their own hustings for the Dumbarton Constituency and in doing so would suspend the Constituency Convener to be replaced by an NEC appointed chair.

More breaking news to follow as it emerges………

CameronB Brodie

Hatue
I’m reconnecting to the theory of theory and practice theory and stuff, so random punters on t’internet, like Andy, are simply useful idiots. Which is nice. 😉

John Digsby

@CBB

If you could ever explain in plain English what your position is without resorting to irrelevant references, I’d gladly have a try. But I know from the other day that you will refuse to do this – if you can explain the relevance of your repetitive musings or the completely off topic links without resorting to ad hominem then I will review your comments seriously

But all we see is noise that drowns out the BTL here, as you shout like an angry drunk before last orders and condemn anyone who asks you politely to be a mite quieter or more civil. Some of us are just tired of it.

crazycat

@ Grey Gull at 10.45

There was indeed a camp at Holyrood, pledged to be there till independence was obtained. Some of its denizens were … interesting.

Andy Wightman (to his eternal shame, in my opinion) accepted the task of informing them that they must leave.

They were (probably) poor, but they did have lawyers, because there was at least one court case, which they lost.

Philip Sim’s tweets about it were surreal.

For example
link to twitter.com and others following.

Effijy

willie says:
18 October, 2020 at 10:54 pm
Breaking News :

All hell breaks out in Dumbarton Constituency

Late this evening the National Secretary of the SNP suspended the Dumbarton

Effijy
Surely this just cannot be true?
Has this become the Brass NEC?

Unbelievable if these reckless idiots pursue this abdominal action.

Nosey

OMG!!! This is sickening, a man sitting listening to women who has been raped. I can’t believe Nicola knows about him, yet kept him on her staff. It’s a sacking Offence for lying On your job application. We really need to do something, get this whole party wiped out, and put someone honest in place who also “wants Indy” Joanna Cherry hint hint. No but honestly NS and her dodgy counterparts need to go, and go fast time is running out, Johnstone will soon be taking over Holyrood and we will be well and truly fucked!!

Ron Maclean

@Ian Brotherhood 10:50pm

‘Better minds than mine will surely be be working on ways to combat what’s happening.’

I’ll believe that when I see it. We’ve been conned and betrayed and we need to learn some lessons. Fool me once …

We need to organise. That might take some time but we’ve got nothing to lose but Nicola Sturgeon.

Grey Gull

Crazy at @ 11.04

Thanks for that info…..interesting indeed!

Ian Brotherhood

@crazycat –

I remember that!

Any future camp will, hopefully, have a more modest mission statement.

😉

CameronB Brodie

John Digsby
I’m way too rusty to produce an ethically robust account, there is insufficient space, and that’s not how you change folks minds. So why not educate yourself from the sources I’m sharing, so you can get the word from the horse’s mouth, so yo speak? That way you might appreciate when your position is poorly grounded and indefensible.

Stan Broadwood

This whole story regarding the Indian guy getting the job at Forth Valley *ape crisis centre is weird enough, but to then put him forward as a potential MSP is even weirder.

He could then potentially become the Prime Minister of an independent Scotland

Can you imagine that happening in reverse???

Can you imagine a wee guy from Govan heading to Mumbai in India, dressing up as a woman, then applying for and getting a job in the Mumbia *ape Crisis Centre???

THEN, putting his name forward to become a member of the Indian Parliament.

And potentially become the Indian Prime Minister.

I know Corona Virus has us behaving in strange ways,,,but this is plain fuckin crazy.

Robert Graham

Oh dear re Dumbarton , looks like but I am open to correction that the NEC are making the local branch a offer they better not refuse , well if I was in that constituency I would consider offering the SNP NEC a offer to withhold my vote so their appointed candidate would be up shit creek , it’s a case of who blinks first , who has the most to lose, it wouldn’t be me the constituent because the SNP won’t push for independence so I have lost nothing , your move NEC .

Daisy Walker

@ Lorna Campbell says, ‘The more I read about and hear of trans gender excesses, the less sympathy I have, which is sad for people who have genuine trans gender issues, but who do not wish to impose them on everyone else.’

——-

This is how I feel also, but not all transgender people are behaving in this deceitful and untrustworthy manner. Some have called this behaviour out, are just as appalled as you and I are about it, and are fearful that it will incite a backlash against them.

It is for them, that I don’t want to give into hate, or fear, while at the same time agreeing with all the dangers highlighted and the need for the laws to be carefully risk assessed and written.

@ Ian Brotherhood says, ‘Let’s start sharing ideas – no-one’s talking about subversive stuff, creeping about in the dark frightening folk. Get it all out in plain view.

I’ll lob in one for starters: establish 3 permanent protest camps in Edinburgh, at Holyrood, Bute House and the new Scottish Office ‘hub’, as close to the buildings as Police Scotland will allow, and make sure they are safe, secure places where we can have people 24/7, to deal with Press, tourists, general public. Let’s make sure the politicos and civil servants know we’re watching them – literally – every single day until indy is secured.

Really basic stuff, aye, but we’ve got to start somewhere and these things have to be properly planned. So let’s get on with it rather than getting wound-up by time-wasting roasters.’

——

We need posters – I’m having computer probs just now. Is IndyPosterBoys material still available? And if not do we have any alternatives.
Business For Scotland stated that a big chunk of folk are ready to vote Yes if the economic case can be made (now that they’re prepared to listen). To me that means the map, with all the Scottish Assets on it.

All sizes – home made Billboards in Gardens. A 6 size glued onto your wheelie bins and put out on the street, small ones for car bumpers, windscreens, and lamp-posts.

Lets do this now folks, and prepare the ground for a plebiscite HR election (one way or another).

With regards the Edinburgh Hub – Get someone to sell Pith Helmets (Taking the Pith Helmets) £1 each or 2 for a Euro.

I will find out what the process is – and cost – for independent candidates to stand for Holyrood.

Where there is a ‘sound’ SNP Candidate for the Constituency vote (and by that I mean they are not GRA/hate bill tainted, and they will sign up for The Bath Declaration) they get left alone, and the Indy/Indy candidate stands for the list.

Where a woke is standing for the SNP – 2 Indy/Indy candidates are put forward. If they are local, and reputable, with enough canvassing now, it will work for Holyrood.

We need to anticipate what the Britnats will do now. In 9 days time, the AS committee hearing re-convenes, and the AS court material will be disclosed. I think before then, if not full lock down then D notice, or something, will happen to prevent/delay disclosure and keep NS in power until after Dec 31st.

Somebody, somewhere, had better have a plan B to get that info out by fair means or foul, if that looks likely. And if their intention is to lead the Yes movement (if not a new party) then all their eggs had better not be in the Committee hearing basket. That leadership is required now.

But ask yourself, what would a leader tell us to do.

They would say campaign (in Covid safe manner) – which means posters and leaflets.

They would say get Indy support over 60% before years end.

They would say educate the voters about the absolute necessity to save Scotland with a plebiscite vote at Holyrood next year.

In the doing of that, it will be likely we identify local candidates for election, and those candidates become identified in the local communities.

Then we crowdfund to support those local candidates, standing on the Bath Manifesto. The SNP can join it, or we offer the voters a choice.

Without the leverage of being prepared and determined to carry this part out, the SNP wokerati will not budge.

With regards the concern about sites such as this being closed down. Yes, be prepared, can we get info, from one side of the country to the other, within the day? Do we each have posters ready to put up in our area. If not (me, sorry, will now do so) then fire up the home printer and get going.

Re the protest hubs – 3 in Edinburgh might be a bit too much, at least initially, how about making it a moveable feast – booking Holyrood for Thursdays FM Q time. Need 1 for Glasgow too, after all, they’re Miles Better;) Pacific Quay? Specially at evening news time.
And its too far from Inverness to travel. Would they like to do one. If 24/7 is unrealistic, pick one day, maximum effect, for the local area.

That’s it for now.
And last but not least – We can do so much better than boris.

stonefree