Thursday, October 1, 2015

Castaway Kelly

Good evening from the less-than-sunny Isle of Arran, where I've just got stranded AGAIN.  It wasn't even my fault this time - it was physically impossible to get back, because the ferry is apparently stuck in Gourock or some such semi-mythical location.  Mind you, I probably should have realised that "sunny and warm" on the BBC weather forecast last night was code for "thick, impenetrable fog".  Schoolboy error.  For a while I thought I was going to be sleeping on the streets, because most of the hotels and guest houses in Brodick seem to be full.

I'll have to save my phone charge, so amuse yourselves if a poll comes out overnight.  By the way, on the train this morning I overheard the most extreme example of anti-Scottish bigotry I've ever encountered - perhaps more on that tomorrow.

41 comments:

  1. Good luck with accommodation.

    Not sure if you saw George Eaton's bit in the staggers. He says some polling have shown a shift to slab and that 1/3 of SNP would be more likely to vote labour. Any thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glasgow Working ClassOctober 1, 2015 at 9:00 PM

      That would make no difference as both would not use tax raising powers and end food banks etc.

      Delete
    2. Glasgow Working ClassOctober 1, 2015 at 9:07 PM

      You could start the Nat sis hard done to stories in Miniature Scotland James. If only sheep could vote but you had plenty of sheep on the mainland and failed.

      Delete
    3. Eat your cereal.

      Delete
  2. As a good mythical Gourockian I'll do a dance round the Granny Kempock to ensure your safe return voyage James.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glasgow Working ClassOctober 1, 2015 at 10:42 PM

      Poor James is hardly a refugee trying to get from an impoverished Scotland to England and I look forward to his comment about anti Scottish bigotry and hope he can establish with some credibility who made the comments.

      Delete
    2. And there was me thinking he'd met you!!!

      Delete
    3. I'll start the animal sacrifice on Tower Hill.

      Delete
  3. Richard the only polling I can see by Eaton. Is a UK poll showing the Tories with a six point lead. Labour is going back the way at UK level. Given he can only be elected in the UK Parliament. I doubt Scottish voters would shift their votes to Corbyn's party. However perhaps the Holyrood voting intentions are showing something different,but I can't see it.

    ReplyDelete

  4. 1 October, 2015 at 11:30 pm


    Glenrothes West & Kinglassie (Fife) result:

    SNP – 59.0% (+16.5)
    LAB – 31.9% (-9.3)
    CON – 6.2% (+3.2)
    GRN – 3.0% (+3.0)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Glasgow Working ClassOctober 1, 2015 at 11:48 PM

    Oops back to to polling and leaving policy aside.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Breaking news!

    Police Scotland have stepped up their search for the village missing it's idiot. If you see or hear him please contact them.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dundee Working ClassOctober 1, 2015 at 11:56 PM

    If Labour were to make a gain, of all the by-elections tonight, this one in Kinglassie would be their best chance - by a long shot.

    They literally weighed the Labour vote there up until very recently indeed.

    BBC Herald Daily Mail, has your latest smear campaign gone just every bit as well as your relentless efforts for 6 months prior to GE 2015? Perhaps even better???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. literally

      To paraphrase the Princess Bride, "I do not think this word means what you think it means".

      Delete
  8. Dundee Working ClassOctober 2, 2015 at 12:08 AM

    Breaking - Torys have apparently actually overtaken Labour in the first preferences at Irvine by election (North Ayrshire Council) and have come second place to the SNP.

    My girlfriend is from Crosshouse originally. This result is more than incredible. Irvine??????

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pretty sure it is Irvine Valley and it is East Ayrshire. Still SLAB must be sick as parrots.

      Delete
    2. NP hold Irvine Valley (East Ayrshire):

      STV first preferences:
      50(+5)% SNP
      24(+6)% Con
      24(-6)% Lab
      2(+2)% Green

      EDIT

      SNP hold Glenrothes West & Kinglassie (Fife):

      STV first preferences:
      59(+17)% SNP
      32(-9)% Lab
      6(+3)% Con
      3(+3)% Green

      From Britain Elects Twitter

      Delete
    3. Con was narrowly ahead in Irvine Valley by 0.2% on first preferences.

      Delete
  9. Tories and Labour neck and neck in Scotland. Aaaagh, the humiliation.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Luigi - It's the Corbyn effect! LOL

    I think T in the park gate and housesale gate. Will backfire on the better together Labour and Tory coalition. People are fed up with that style of mischief making.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just can't see the lesser spotted tories and Lib Dems voting tactically for Corbyn. Even unionists have some standards! Makes you wonder just how much Labour's core vote loss in Scotland has been masked by tactical voting. Things could be even worse than they appear for Labour in Scotland. The BBC will go all out in order to shore up Labour in May 2016, but it may already be too late. Interesting times.

      Delete
  11. Unionists Must Unite!!!....but behind who? With the Red Tories and Blue Tories now necker neck it's a pretty tough choice.SNPouters will have some serious head scratching to do.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Scottish cross-break of YouGov GB poll is SNP 47, Con 26, Lab 17.

    SNP won the two by-elections in Aberdeen and one in Stirling. An independent won in Lossiemouth. Sounds like the SNP are also winning a by-election in Linlithgow (West Lothian council) - they were about 1,000 ahead of Labour on first preferences.

    ReplyDelete
  13. James, was the bigotry from American missionaries in uniforms? I've encountered them before on the Gourock-Glasgow train. I overheard them saying in loud voices that Scotland is immoral and like a third world country.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Here are 4 of the remaining by-election results from yesterday from Britain Elects. Still waiting on the West Lothian result. These are first preference votes, and presumably the change is from 2012. The one thing that leaps out is there does appear to be a small swing from Labour to the Conservatives in most cases, including the two results last night.

    Midstocket / Rosemount (Aberdeen)
    SNP - 40.9% (+2.0) CON - 23.6% (+9.8) LAB - 21.2% (-11.2) LDEM - 8.3% (+2.0) GRN - 6.0% (-0.4)

    George Street / Harbour (Aberdeen) SNP - 51.2% (+17.5) LAB - 26.1% (-5.4) CON - 10.4% (+3.7) GRN - 7.2% (-0.1) LDEM - 5.1% (-4.7)

    Stirling East (Stirling) : SNP - 45.2% (+8.3) LAB - 37.7% (-11.9) CON - 11.8% (+3.1) GRN - 5.2% (+0.5)

    Heldon & Laich (Moray) IND - 41.1% (+41.1) SNP - 31.1% (-5.9) CON - 21.8% (+4.6) GRN - 6.0% (-0.6)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Heldon and Laich result is really disappointing considering how incompetent, inept and corrupt the ruling Independent & Tory coalition on the council is.

      It is perhaps not surprising though. I did predict some weeks ago that unless the SNP took it on round one then they wouldn't win it. The Tories have once again transferred their vote to an Independent who ran virtually no campaign at all.

      West Lothian was another SNP win so it was a 6 out of 7 for the SNP.

      Delete
    2. It could be you see the rise of the Tory percentage is due to the low turnouts - Tories have a hard core vote and are very loyal in voting.

      Delete
  15. Calum I suspect it might be closer to home...Just guessing..Lesser spotted Red, White and blue Tits!

    ReplyDelete
  16. SNP hold Linlithgow.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The results in the local council by-elections suggest any 'Corbyn bounce' is right wingers bouncing out of SLAB in reaction straight into the Tories, though some SLAB support seems to have gone to the Greens too. Authenticity vs U-Turn Corbyn perhaps there.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Corbyn will be gone by Christmas at this rate.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Yeh I agree looks like the Tories benefitting from Labours collapse. It makes me uncomfortable that there are still that many Tories in Scotland. However if I was Labour, I would be thinking. Sh*t all the left wingers are in the SNP and our guys that are left are soft Tory unionists! Maybe Ruthie slogan could be Labour voters come home to Tory.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Result for Linlithgow:

    SNP 2,049 [43.1%: +10.1%]
    Labour 1,088 [22.9%; -0.5%]
    Conservative 973 [20.5%; -17.7%]
    No description 230 [4.8%; +4.8%]
    LD Caron Lindsay 133 [2.8%; +2.8%]

    ReplyDelete
  21. Glasgow Working ClassOctober 2, 2015 at 8:26 PM

    If you add those votes that did not vote Natsi then it is almost 50/50. So the Nat sis should not celebrate. And Cameron at last has layed down the gauntlet to the Nat sis regarding taxation. How will the Nat sis wriggle out! Will they tax the Scottish better off and unfreeze the council tax!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Glasgow Working ClassOctober 5, 2015 at 9:15 PM

    Well James you did say 'perhaps more on that tomorrow'. You have declined to do so so far.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe the word 'perhaps' is very adequately explained in most popular dictionaries.

      Delete
    2. Glasgow Working ClassOctober 6, 2015 at 12:41 AM

      Indeed James so you have declined to give a full account of this anti Scottish incident you apparantly encountered on a train journey. So why mention it?

      Delete