It's more than a touch ironic that the closest thing Humza Yousaf has had to a good personal showing in an opinion poll has just arrived courtesy of a poll commissioned by the Alba Party. The reason that Alba have decided to release the numbers is presumably that they're also reasonably good for Alex Salmond.
Who would make the best First Minister? (Find Out Now / Alba Party, 18th-24th March 2024):
Humza Yousaf (SNP) 25.8%
Douglas Ross (Conservatives) 18.2%
Anas Sarwar (Labour) 17.1%
Alex Salmond (Alba) 15.4%
Lorna Slater (Greens) 8.5%
Patrick Harvie (Greens) 8.0%
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Liberal Democrats) 7.0%
These numbers aren't directly comparable to other polls we've seen over the last year. The reason both Humza Yousaf and Alex Salmond usually have poor personal ratings is that the respondents who dislike them are subtracted from those who like them to produce a net approval rating. But this poll has a different format that doesn't take account of negative views, it just ranks the leaders in the order of the percentage of people who view them most positively. So it doesn't indicate that anything has changed, it's just a different way of looking at the situation.
Although Alex Salmond would have been horrified to be in fourth place if this was ten years ago, the reason this result can be regarded as encouraging for him is that his 15.4% support is more than double the percentage of list votes that would be required for Alba to win a decent number of Holyrood seats in 2026. Conversely, although Yousaf's 25.8% puts him top of the pile, it's a lower percentage than would be needed for the SNP to have a good election result. As many as 22% of SNP voters from 2019 think Alex Salmond would be the best First Minister, while Yousaf doesn't even quite manage double that (43.4%).
So the real comfort for the SNP in these numbers does not lie in Yousaf's showing but in Anas Sarwar's. Labour will surely be dismayed to see their man languish behind not only Yousaf but also the hapless Douglas Ross. And he's only just barely ahead of Alex Salmond.
* * *
I'm obviously not a fan of JK Rowling after her harmful intervention in the indyref. But yesterday she posted a thread about some of the most controversial trans women, and dared the police to arrest her for it when she arrives back in Scotland. The columnist Kelly Given reacted by calling Rowling the "most boring human being in the country surely". Well, it does seem unlikely that the most boring person in the country would have been able to dream up the Harry Potter universe, but what Rowling was actually doing was very usefully setting some boundaries for the interpretation of the Hate Crime Act. If she dares the police to arrest her and they don't (and they're very unlikely to because of her fame), it becomes much harder for them to later arrest an ordinary member of the public in similar circumstances. If, as the Scottish Government and its supporters claim, the Hate Crime Act is not intended as an assault on free speech, they should be grateful to Rowling for such a vivid and immediate demonstration that legitimate debate on the trans issue will be able to carry on unimpeded.
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ReplyDeleteJKR could be doing us all a favour by showing up this act for the attack on free speech that it is. Sadly, too many hate her for her gender critical and unionist views to even consider she might be right about this.
ReplyDeleteI don't hold her unionism against her. Perhaps that's because I’m from Edinburgh, too, and know so many English Scots who won't or can't wrap their heads around independence; let alone support it. They also don't like being called English Scots, but I insist on it! No, they're all "British" unless there's a game at Murrayfield, then the truth comes spilling out. To be honest, I've more respect for them than I do the Scots I know here who identify as British, just as ardently. Only the latter have colonised minds.
DeleteWell done Humza!
ReplyDeleteWell done Alex!
DeleteAlex Cole Hamilton must be delighted!
DeleteThe “Liberal Democrats Winning Here” signs will getting looked out as we speak
DeleteThe annoying thing (if you happen to live in one of them, as I do) the lib dems will easily keep their little handful of seats. Tactical Tories are nothing but loyal to the union.
DeleteFFS - 16.5% think Harvie(8%)/ Slater (8.5%)would make the best FM. I mean really. More even want Slater before Harvie. Have these people just woken up from a coma.
ReplyDeleteI will admit that I've voted in STV elections for a female candidate I've never heard of over a male I don't know, either. This is council elections, of course, and the candidates in question aren't exactly household names. But are Harvie and Slater, really?
DeleteAnyone who votes for Harvie, Slater et al in the Greens should be taken away by the men in white coats.
DeleteThe burly folks in white coats would prefer not to be misgendered, thank you! Muscly orderlies have feelings too.
DeleteRecent polls certainly suggest support for Humza Yousaf and the SNP has at the very least stabilised, and may indeed be improving.
ReplyDeleteI’m increasingly confident the GE won’t turn out nearly as bad as some doom mongers are predicting.
Jeff, too positive.
DeleteAgree fully. We'll written.
DeleteYeah, Jeff, you've got to set expectations low so the actual result doesn't look embarrassing. It's a balancing act, I know, but if you set them too low, Humza looks ridiculous, while if you set them too high, he's going to be under pressure for the shortfall.
DeleteTricky, eh? Much easier to just parrot the talking points you're handed down like the other guy. "2019 was a unique election, it is unfair to compare." It wasn't, and it will be very fair to compare indeed. But astroturfing is all about spreading shite.
For a 'newcomer' to the site, Jeff is settling into the role of cheerleader I think we can all agree. 🤭
DeleteHis sureness of touch is really something, eh? You could swear he's been cranking away here for much longer than it seems.
DeleteIt would be wrong to expect the high number of seats that the SNP got in recent elections which were held in abnormal times.
Delete"We'll written."
DeleteLOL
Almost as we'll written as something by Rowland.
Jeff, let's suppose you are correct and the SNP get a similar amount of MPs as per 2019 - say 46 MPs. Please tell me what you expect to happen next re Scottish independence. Ive already said what I expect. What do you expect? Of are you really just interested in getting SNP MPs elected -full stop?
DeleteAnon 12:54, Don't tell me that mysoginost Rowland is commenting here now.😁😁😁
Delete@IfS: We will get our very first pro-independence voices, speaking up for Scotland, in the House of Lords! This will be a breakthrough moment for the independence cause. Think of the message we will strike into the heart of the British establishment by sending a taxi of our own folk there to join them! Sir Keir Starmer will be shaking in his boots, like Bozo was when Nicola demanded a Section 30. Think of all the things we can gloriously fail to achieve now? Glory days ahead, we can all agree…
DeleteBlackford will not be dragged out of the Lords against his will. Only when he's had a few and needs assistance getting up.
DeleteIndependence for Scotland, believe me I share your frustration at the lack of progress regarding independence in recent years.
DeleteI do agree there has to be more focus on the matter, and I really hope the SNP do that. As far as the leadership is concerned, I’m not entirely convinced there’s anybody better than Yousaf right now, certainly no stand out candidate, and I don’t see Sturgeon making a comeback somehow.
I feel strongly we need a strong SNP though, and in that regard the more seats they win at the GE the better. Surely it can be used as a platform to move forward, with hopefully a greater focus on independence.
Well argued entry. Agree 100%.
Delete> Surely it can be used as a platform to move forward, with hopefully a greater focus on independence.
Delete56 seats wasn’t enough in 2015.
48 wasn’t enough in 2019.
Let me break it to you: whatever number we win, it will never be enough. Westminster is England’s parliament. To them we are just a possession. No, never, a thousand times no to section 30.
so blind faith Jeff Mclean. They've already said they will ask for a section 30 if they "win" whatever win means. They won't get it and they know they won't and they don't want it as they have no idea how to win (and would lose if they were given it).
DeleteThe route to victory is:
1. Big tent Yes. All in.
2. A recognition that WM will never give another referendum (or at least not until there are so many immigrants from England in Scotland that a majority becomes impossible which SNP are actively encouraging - see SNP 10 year devo economic strategy actively increasing immigration from rUK by an additional 100k people in next 10 years over and above existing large immigration trends from rUK).
3. Educating the population that there will be no "indyref2".
4. Developing a yes alliance with all real yes parties stating in all real yes parties manifestos that with a majority of votes is a mandate to secede from UK.
5. Winning such a election (best done at Holyrood). This will require targeting deprived areas who have lower turnouts but have the most to gain from independence. In polls these groups are under-represented and have a high proportion of don't knows. To get them to vote it needs to feel like a referendum campaign not just another election as is currently happening. SNP will never get 50% in a normal election campaign.
The immigration effect of people moving to Scotland is 3 times bigger than the much vaunted youth yes effect (which is tiny due to our extremely low domestic fertility rate) which means Scotland is being slowly unionistified by demographics not "more yes" despite what Angus Robertson and Sturgeon CYNICALLY would like you to believe who are both on record as saying Scotland has time on its side due to the youth yes effect.
By reelecting the same people on the same fake yes mandate you change nothing. The only change is independence is kicked down the road a few more years where the demographics are slightly more against us and the current opportunity has been lost. We need to show SNP it's not acceptable by opposing them where Alba are standing and voting for real yes Alba.
I agree with your conclusion—though I'll have no Alba to vote for, you aren't standing in Edinburgh, surely?
DeleteWhere I disagree is the immigration trend. You're assuming all people who move here from England are English and adults. In Edinburgh, they certainly are not. We have far more racial diversity in my scheme now than we had even in 2014, let alone when I grew up. Those folk are origincally from Africa, Pakistan and Eastern Europe in roughly equal measure, who immigrated to England before moving on up here. And their kids go to school and soon speak with the local accent. I have every expectation they'll be as Yes-heavy as their ancestrally local classmates.
When is a migrant now a local? That's the crucial part. We all know elderly white English "settlers" who treat Scotland just like they treat Wales, and will (ironically) never settle in. Tories and Brits, the lot of them. But come to the central belt and the migrants are a much more useful addition to Scotland's dwindling population, working and schooling and accommodating to their new identity as New Scots.
Jeff - I asked you tell us what you expect to happen next re independence if the SNP get 46 MPs. A platform is what you said. They have had that platform since 2015. What you said amounted to zilch and that is what the SNP have been doing for the last 10 years. You shouldn't need to use words like " hopefully" "surely" "hope" about a party striving to make its country free again.
DeleteYou can get fooled again I ain't.
Ste fella, so you’re saying, vote Alba in seats where they’re standing. What will that achieve?
DeleteI’ll tell you exactly what it’ll achieve. It’ll split the pro Indy vote, and potentially hand seats to Labour!
Except it won't do that because, as SNPers never cease telling us, NOBODY will vote for Alba because they all hate Alex Salmond. So it's onwards and upwards to election victory for the SNP juggernaut.
DeleteJeff - good post.
DeleteSte fella - you can add to the delaying tactics the completely unnecessary delay of one year to carrying out the census in Scotland. Wales/England/N.Ireland managed to do it on time but not Scotland.
DeleteAye, delaying the census, another piece of SNP nonsense.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteJeff (hard of thinking) Mclean
Delete1. SNP under current leadership aren't an indy vote. You can pretend you're supporting indy while the place is swarmed with rUK unionists while asking for s30 vote that's never coming, blocking a Yes alliance and smearing anyone who tries to actually deliver independence. I don't.
2. It will also weaken the SNP Leadership...a prerequisite for change within the SNP.
3. SNP does nothing at WM anyway. It just has a bunch of seat warmers who take money for themselves, staff and Short money. If ever there was a case to send them that warning it is at WM where nothing is at stake. As SNP can't do anything there (and they won't anyway as they're fake yes nawbags)
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
DeleteSte fella - you are right - there is nothing at stake for Scottish independence but a lot at stake for the SNP - the short money from Westminster. A party of independence being dependent on Westminster money.
DeleteGut renching news from Gaza. Aid workers murdered by Israel. Clearly identified vehicles and prearranged routes. BBC news with sunak saying how terrible it is, no doubt Starmer to follow. If they had followed the SNP motion- ceasefire maybe the aid workers will be alive today. Still the bbc have to boost Sunak with his support of the Harry Potter author the day after racist and sectarian graffiti is posted near the First Ministers house.
ReplyDeleteThe right wing in Scotland and in other countries feel emboldened with Sunak and the rest.
H
So you reckon Israel would have been influenced by an SNP motion for a ceasefire! They won’t even listen to the US!
DeleteIt is of course tragic what’s happening, but get real!
Israel's even beyond the reach of an independent Scotland. Besides Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, there's bugger all any of us can do to influence America's most very special ally of all.
Delete(Sigh). So now anyone who disagrees with H is not only a Brit nat according to him but right wing as well. And this comes from someone who is so 'left wing' that he wants to restrict other people's freedom of speech. At least he has abandoned his bizarre attempt to spell Rowling's name from yesterday.
DeleteThe SNP's Hate Crime Act certainly restricts freedom of speech, whatever wing it's supposed to come from. Looks like it really came out of a whole other part of the bird, if you ask me.
DeleteIf Humza's hoose has been daubed wae graffiti, mibbe he could cover it wae some 'white, white, whitewash'.
DeleteThanks, you have proved my point about right wing infiltration. Racist , misogynistic, sectarian— yeh you tick most of the boxes.
DeleteH
I see you went out and bought that dictionary, well done. Now how about a thesaurus to teach you the meaning of the word misogyny. Don't blame me for you making a fool of yourself with your mad postings.
DeleteSorry H but in this conversation you're the only one who has referred to a woman - the Harry Potter author as you describe her - so I don't know where the misogyny you're on about comes from.
DeleteH is starting to post like Hamish100. Start of with some facts then put his own weird interpretation on them. I mean imagining Yousaf could have saved the aid workers if the baddies in Westminster had just listened to him. H lives in a dreamland. The rest of us live in a colony called Scotland where at best we get ignored at worst we are punished and ridiculed. Why are we still in this colony because the bastards in the SNP didn't deliver on their promises.
DeleteHe's gone full foaming at the mouth on this one. Accuses someone - I think it might be me - of being racist, sectarian and misogynist. Yet the only person who mentions religion, race or women is him! Not exactly the type you would want passing judgement on you under the new 'thought crime' legislation which he's so keen on. The last couple of days seem to have tipped him over the edge.
DeleteSome of the comments about JK Rowling are way over the top, and it would be ironic if the first prosecution under the dreaded Hate Crime Act, was of a support of the Act with hate speech against people who are against it.
ReplyDeleteToo negative about the SNP…
DeleteI know that's a bit, but are the comments you mention on here or just generally today in Scotland? I don't see anything bad on this comments thread. I think most of us are on her side on this one.
Comments elsewhere, including from a former piste artist.
DeleteHonestly, I'm convinced Skier and his mysterious French wife are the same person, hence his obsession with unisex toilets when he posted here.
DeleteIs being as mad as a bag of willies a protected characteristic for the purposes of the HCA? Just asking…
DeleteDepends. If you're women with willies, then you can do no wrong in SNPland. If you're male...
DeleteSunak says " there are questions that need to be answered" about the murder of the aid workers by the IDF. The question that needs to be answered is by Sunak/Cameron and the rest of the Tories for aiding and abetting the genocide going on in Palestine by the out of control IDF. Chucking some aid out a plane does not get them off the hook for this. Oh and Starmer is complicit in this as well.
ReplyDeleteWon't someone please think of the anti-semitism!
DeletePart of Starmer reckons he has to ride those IDF tanks himself, to prove his party's finally atoned for Corbyn. You can't just call a spade a spade (a genocide a genocide) when History's Greatest Monster looms so large behind you.
According to Starmer and friends, History's Greatest Monster is Jeremy Corbyn, not Adolf Hitler.
DeleteI interpret Rowling's action as a deliberate attempt to steer the issue in a couple of way.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, as you say, if they don't arrest her then her brazen challenge can be pointed to by anyone else who is arrested for anything equivalent or lesser as an example of partiality. I'm not a lawyer, I don't know how that would play in court, but I have to assume it would be to the defendant's benefit. It would also be beneficial to anyone wishing to complain to Police Scotland regarding unlawful arrest and the seizure of electronics in the noted concern of "the process is the punishment" regardless of criminality.
Secondly, if they do arrest her against expectations she will be able to afford the best possible legal defence. Since she has been very upfront as soon as the Act has come into force she can reasonably expect that she would have one of the first cases tried for the Act. Indeed, if Police Scotland does decide to go down this route I expect Rowling to do what she can to help the case come to trial asap.
I do not think she expects to lose such a case. The intent then, in this low probability scenario, would be to establish the legal precedents that could be used by anyone else later in the same situation who almost certainly wouldn't have the same resources to draw upon. So far as I am aware precedents create the lion's share of the law in practise, with statutes etc only creating a starting point. I also believe precedents are rarely overturned by a court of equal standing, due to the doubt that implies towards a colleague. Having one of, or even the, first cases for a new law can significantly shape how that law is applied in later cases.
The only scenario in which there isn't a benefit, for this matter which she clearly has strong feelings on, would be if she loses a court case. I believe she has calculated that risk, and considers it either negligible or worth it.
I think that's a very good analysis. As I said at the beginning of this blog, JKR could be doing all of us who believe in freedom of speech a favour, no matter what you think of her politics. The idea that expressing a simple biological fact about men and women should even face the possibility of state censorship is dystopian.
DeleteInteresting and informative post dislogical. If it is a jury decision I think she would be found not guilty but it is likely to be a judge decision and that could be dangerous. You just have to look at Craig Murray's case to see that a jury would never have convicted him.
DeleteThe polis say they have investigated her comments and no further action is appropriate. So will she push the boat out further now?
DeleteOver 3000 complaints after the first day apparently. What a waste of police time and resources. This nonsense is going to collapse under the weight of all the paperwork it produces.
DeleteNow hearing again that the largest bloc of complaints were for Humza's 'white' speech. Don't know if it's true but I wouldn't be surprised - it may be people are doing it out of ridicule.
DeleteRowling already has had a 'Hate crime' allegation made against her to police in England (Northumberland). Why has she not trumpeted that? In my opinion it might be because she thinks ii would publicise to people in Scotland that elsewhere in the UK already has similar legislation.
ReplyDeleteSo if England has a shite law, we should have one too? What happened to campaigning for independence?
DeleteWow the numbers for Alex Salmond is the best news I’ve read for ages. Sturgeon will be remembered in history only with contempt, and Alex Salmond will be appreciated once again for all he did for this country
ReplyDeleteImprobable.
DeleteObviously, Humza will be remembered as the greatest ever, long from now. /s
DeleteAnd now for the final round of the pub quiz: obscure leaders of Scotland. Or the “ Who the F was Jack McConnell?” round.
I'm not surprised that Sarwar is so low, who wants a puppet of Starmer as First Minister?
ReplyDeleteI happen to agree with JK Rowling's stance on gender identity. But while we're on the subject of the Harry Potter universe, it's worth noting that it's unutterable guff, with a disturbing helping of slavery apologia.
ReplyDeleteThe last book rounds off the merry tale of good vs evil with Harry Potter, our beloved, slave-owning hero, forcing his slave - the rather tellingly-named "Kreacher" - to make his slavemaster a sandwich as a reward for defeating evil.
It's the sort of story that wouldn't be out of place in the 1860s Deep South.
Give your children better books to read than Rowling's regressive twaddle, folks. They'll thank you far more for Terry Pratchett than Rowling's trite nonsense.
I agree with you about Rowling and the whole Hogwarts twaddle. But the interesting thing is how many of the trans brigade started out as Potter fans and are furious with her for her 'betrayal' of them. Seems a penchant for childish fantasy is a very important part of being trans.
DeleteIt's definitely an interesting one. There does seem to be a significant overlap between her most vocal and venomous critics today and the very ones who shouted most passionately during the referendum that she and her books were a modern beacon of progressive politics.
DeleteAh yes, those progressive, left-leaning novels where a pampered boy from the Home Counties comes into a vast inheritance, is sent to an exclusive boarding school in the Highlands, and learns about the virtues of slave-ownership.
I'm not sure how they ever deluded themselves Rowling was on "their side" - or frankly, why anyone with any sense would even want her to be. Perhaps it's the immaturity of needing to be on a "team" or in a "Hogwart's House" that these strange people never grew out of from their childhoods.
I wouldn't even class myself as being on "her side", even though I happen to think she's got gender identity spot on!
She is a terrible writer as much for the tedious prose and 2D characterisation as for whatever regressive messages might be found in her plots. She has massive reach and power for a writer of subpar children's fiction and what's going on right now is a long overdue correction in her public power and status level.
DeleteHer enhanced status? As England’s richest woman (RIP Elizabeth 2) she doesn’t seem to need it. But for what it’s worth a lot of us who have no time for her other opinions are with her today.
DeleteHave to agree Westend Mick. Tried reading the Potter books to the wee one. We reached book 4 or 5 where the 'heroes' decided to get into the festive spirit by decorating the decapitated, mounted heads of dead slaves with Christmas decorations and I called it a day there and then. There were warning signs before then. But that was just beyond the pale. Awful, dangerous stuff to be filling kids heads with.
DeleteThe wee one wasn't disappointed. The books had already got too long for him then anyway.
Salmond too old to be FM.
ReplyDeleteAgree 100%.
DeleteAgeist - not even 70
DeleteHe is 70 this year so too old now.
DeleteAge is a protected characteristic in the Hate Crime law.
DeleteMen are men . Women are women. MEN XY . WOMEN XX. Though I coudna care a monkey's aboot the GRA I do care aboot biological fact - not all people are XY or XY . You get folk who have a mosaic of cells , mixed XY and XX . Also various syndromes where they can be XXY etc. And differential gene expression. Some folk are really intersex.
ReplyDeleteWell, no one's ever going to come close to Nicola Sturgeon's personal popularity ratings are they, she is an outstanding example of why the opposition hate and fear her the most
ReplyDelete😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
DeleteAt last an anon at 8.15pm who can see the future. Can you tell us when the SNP will deliver independence? WGD/SNP numpties use to say 2018 was the year then It was 2019 then it was 2020 then it was 2021 then it was 19th October 2023. Strangely enough I don't hear them saying 2024.
Delete8.15: well written. Agree 100%.
DeleteAnon at 8.53pm - I've told you before - agreeing with yourself disnae count. " Well written" - posting that you think you have written ONE sentence well is a joke. You are an outstanding example of ........................ fill in hand blank.
DeleteWe’ll written anon. They feared her when she was in power and they fear her even more she’s sauntering about working on her prison memoir.
DeleteHow much more independent can you be than with a terrific lassie like her speaking truth to the colonial power that owns us all? I mean, you’re not expecting actual change, obviously.
No Lords left behind! Vote SNP
IfS: your writing is too negative about Nichola Sturgeon.
DeleteAnon at 9.47pm - your poor spelling has been pointed out before. If Sturgeon is truly your idol do you not think you could try and spell her name correctly. My conclusion is you are a numpty or a sneaky Britnat. .
DeleteSorry my mistake. Nicola.
DeleteIfs you should be more positive about SNP politicians. What about Shona Robinson or Neil Gray?
DeleteAnon at 11.55pm - why should I be more positive - because you want me to - I'll need more than that.
DeleteIfs: Because Shona and/or Neil represent the future.
DeleteAnon at 8.18 am - too vague. Robison is Sturgeon's best pal. Sturgeon filled the Scottish cabinet with her pals and now Yousaf is filling it with her pals.
DeleteIfS surely being a friend of Nicola is not bad in itself? What about Neil Gray?
DeleteAnon at 9.02am still too vague. Yes it is bad.
DeleteI do hold Rowlings unionism against her. Or maybe it's the fools who think giving every incomer a vote on independence will ever achieve it.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a card you check people’s skin colour against at the polling station?
DeleteIt'd not be skin it'd be whether you were born here. Obviously. But you knew that.
Delete'Well, it does seem unlikely that the most boring person in the country would have been able to dream up the Harry Potter universe.' That's just what my 4 year-old said about the stories when the first book came out. 'It's really boring dad. Stop reading it to me.'
ReplyDeleteAre you sure it wasn't when you were reading your blog to him?
DeleteHarry Potter is a big lump of plagiarism anyway, you can substitute every character for the Lord of the Rings characters, it even ends the same
DeleteThere is a major difference between Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. The hero in Lord of the Rings does not become a slave-owner, and learn about the importance of benevolent slave ownership. The hero in Harry Potter does.
DeleteSort of disgusted to see that Kelly has reduced himself to defending a slavery apologist - and a woman who explicitly rates the work of avowed fascist, virulent theocrat, and anti-abortionist woman haters like Matt Walsh. And that's before we even get to her support back in the day of one Brian Spanner - the most virulently, violently anti-women commentator of Scottish Twitter history.
I'll give Kelly the benefit of the doubt, and assume he didn't know - or perhaps forgot, in woman-hater Spanner's case - these inconvenient facts about Rowling. Why would he remember, when she's the writer of a bunch of mumbo jumbo colonialism for kids?
But from here on out, I really would hope he won't go defending woman haters like Rowling again. Even if it's merely a shared interest. It's not worth the gender critical movement aligning themselves with people like Rowling who pick and choose which women to support against violent misogyny.
A lot of nasty people have been very popular, but if popularity is what you want fair enough. I prefer politicians that deliver.
ReplyDeleteEvery day IDS moans about the SNP delivering Scottish independence but never says a word about Alex Salmond tanking it in 2014, and never says a word about what he IDS is ever going to do to deliver independence except gripe and greet
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you do something smart guy ? which he can't, mainly because he's a wee Tory plant troll who's job is to denigrate the SNP and hope people will fall for it
I hate to disappoint IDS but the kind of Rangers supporters he hangs out with don't read blogs, they don't read much of anything except the word loyal
Since when did Ian Duncan Smith start commenting here?
DeleteAnon at 1.29am - is a classic post by WGD numpty Dr Jim. Perhaps Jimbo should note that the SNP wiped Salmond from their history and actually said that Sturgeon was the person who led the 2014 referendum. Soviet style rewriting of history. You cannae have it both ways Jimbo. The unrequited love of your life Sturgeon was there in 2014 and she was responsible according to the SNP.
DeleteSo to summarise the SNP wiped Salmond from the 2014 referendum and Jimbo is wiping Sturgeon from the 2014 referendum. They are well matched the SNP and Jimbo. They are both liars.
Anon at 1.29. You are too negative about IfS. I have interacted with him in respectful tone I hope he agrees. It is not appropriate to be disrespectful in use of English.
Delete
DeleteThere is a concerted effort on this site by several posters (or it could all be the same one as they're mostly anonymous) to force IfS off the blog because they don't like what he says or how he says it. It's juvenile behaviour more reminiscent of the school playground bully than serious debaters. As a long-term contributor to the site, he's seen them off in the past and will do so again.
Owen that is certainly not true of me. I respect ifs while disagreeing and always use respectful language toward him and I hope he agrees.
DeleteAnon at 9.21am how on earth do you think I know it is you who is posting when you are an anon among many anons. As I have trumpeted in the past and Felix and others have more recently sign off with a unique moniker/identifier if you cannae replace anonymous technically. As a general rule if people refer to me with insults they will not be respected back. If people engage with me in a civil manner I will respond in a civil manner. It is their choice - they set the tone. However, there are sneaky Britnats about like KC who kid on they are independence supporters just for a bit of childish fun. Sad but true.
DeleteSome may think how does IFS know it is Dr Jim at 1.29am. Well he had been posting about Ally McCoist on WGD and his comment that he and many others will be breaking the Hate Crime law at Ibrox this weekend so Rangers was on his mind. His sentences had no full stop at the end and just his general rant against Salmond. His style - no doubt about it - and he is too cowardly to post as Dr Jim.
DeleteIn terms of me and delivering independence it wisnae me who kept (for many years) garnering votes and money off the back of false promises to deliver Indyref2. It was Sturgeon and her gang.
I had hoped you would perceive that some of the posts under anon (which includes those from me) were respectful towards you.
DeleteI don't think he's disputing that. This is the curse of anonymity on here - nobody knows who said what to whom. An identifier would make things so much clearer.
DeleteAt 10.23am this morning Dr Jim kindly posts a long comment on the Assisted Dying bill. Not one full stop makes an appearance. Jimbo this is what they look like ............... As is the way with Jimbo he waits until Sturgeon states her position and then says he agrees ( against it if anyone is interested). Perhaps I will change my moniker to -
DeleteSherlock Holmes Wants Independence for Scotland. 😂
Worth noting that this poll was commissioned by Alba and hence was probably designed to make them look as good as possible.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can see, the question was "Who would make the best First Minister?" If you think a question like that makes Alba look good, perhaps there's a reason why.
DeleteJames the poster is probably a WGD numpty they have been rubbishing polls since the SNP started falling.
DeleteThere are more design features than just the question posed.
DeleteWell, be specific. We know that polling companies don't change their methodology to suit a particular client, so if the question wasn't the problem, and if the methodology wasn't the problem, what are you referring to?
DeleteDouglas Ross. The poll does seem to indicate that he is quite a good leader for the Conservatives.
ReplyDeleteWhy are posters on this blog so obsessed with wee ginger dug
ReplyDeleteIt'd be IfS not other posters.
DeleteAnon at 12.67pm - so says the WGD numpty.
DeleteFor a laugh?
ReplyDeleteNow I am all for looking to improve systems/processes and other ways of doing things better but just why are the SNP wanting to change aspects of Scotland's justice ststem to be the same as England's. Scotland's distinct system is protected in the Treaty of Union. I have served as a member of a jury in Scotland on three occasions and I see no reason to change to make it twelve jurors instead of fifteen and I also see no reason to change the majority verdict either to two thirds. If there was a change to the three verdicts currently in force I would change it to not proven and proven. Why are these proposals from the SNP making it more like Englands system. This is all part of colonisation.
ReplyDeleteFinally the attempt to get rid of jury trials for more prosecutions is just not acceptable.
Some of these are best practice changes recommended by legal authorities.
DeleteAnon at 12.25pm - not enough info. What who why when.
DeleteSTV news giving that nasty women Sandy Brindley of Rape Crisis Scotland a platform to spout her views that juries are useless in rape trials because convictions are too low. Is Brindley going to set the judges performance related targets for how many convictions they get. Brindley is funded by the Scottish government and had a clear conflict of interest when she continually faced the media promoting the alphabetties and saying the jury was wrong. Brindley gives the impression she should be the judge and she would get 100% convictions and work through any backlog at hyper speed. Guilty next - guilty next - guilty next - guilty next.......... what there are no guilty men left. Brindley was the mouthpiece for the lying alphabetties.
DeleteJustice in Scotland is under attack. A rape victim who got her attacker convicted by a jury was also given a platform to say how a bunch of random people off the street ( a jury ) should not be allowed to judge these cases - juries are a fundamental part of justice. Nobody should be sent to jail unless a jury has found them guilty.
Scottish Skier ( ex poster on SGP unless of course he posts now as anonymous ) used to troll me on SGP but ran off to WGD in a huff when our host joined Alba, has this to say on the Hate Crime law :- " Who could possibly have predicted it would be right wing British unionists wasting/using up police time with the Hate Crime act? "
ReplyDeleteActually Skier loads of people said there would be vexatious/malicious allegations flying all over the place. The waste of polis time is only there because of the act itself - a law that the polis parked on a shelf for three years. So what numpty took it down from the shelf - that's who is to blame. What numpties supported it? - oh that's right the WGD numpties they are also to blame. I mean you can go in to a sex shop make an allegation anonymously about something that affected another person but only the accused is named. Is this what passes for justice in Scotland these days? The numpties also supported DRS, self ID and other waste of money activities. Why don't the SNP try doing what they were created for in the first place - namely Scottish independence for a change - or is that just too hard for them - or as I now believe they just don't want it.
How on earth Skier thinks he knows for sure they are all right wing British unionists I have no idea. Mind you the lack of evidence has never stopped him in the past.
Is there ever an SNP policy Skier doesn't agree with? He is the epitome of the SNP cultist, incapable of any independent (oops, there's that 'i' word again 😄) thought outwith the hive mind.
DeleteWe are the Borg Resistance is futile You will be assimilated
DeleteFelix: you're probably being too harsh on Skier. Yes he supports the SNP strongly but that is not a crime.
DeleteDid I say it was? Just pointing out that if the SNP said the world was flat, Skier would be the first to warn us of the danger of falling off the edge.
DeleteAnon at 2.17pm - Skier is a propagandist which is entirely different from strongly supporting a political party. He has openly admitted that he is happy to lie to support the SNP and indeed does so. He believes his lying is for the greater good. Some people may agree with his perspective I don't. Do you agree with Skier anon?
DeleteBritnats lie about independence but we don't need to our case is so strong. Skier undermines all independence supporters by punting his lies to support the SNP.
Felix - Skier would probably try to sell you a parachute.
Well, given our disagreements when he was on here, he certainly wouldn't GIVE me one.😁
DeleteHi Felix no I do not agree with Skier although his devotion to the SNP does not annoy me.
DeleteHe doesn't annoy me, he amuses me. I miss his input here as he is an extraordinary Walter Mitty character with a vivid fantasy back story, a bizarre obsession with shared toilets and a blind devotion to the Blessed Nicola which can be hilarious at times. He once told us that he could personally guarantee the missing referendum money shortly before demanding a refund of £20 from James becausehe didn't approve of the blog changing direction!
DeleteBut I agree he's harmless enough, nobody who listens to him for five minutes would take him seriously.
" A MAJOR police operation is ongoing in Greenock this morning involving officers with riot shields.
ReplyDeleteSeveral marked police cars and vans have swooped at a property on the town's Ann Street.
Officers wearing helmets and carrying riot shields and battering rams are involved in the operation."
https://archive.is/zkbDa
He shouldn't have said he had concerns about this Hate Crime Act.
A nice little report on STV news about the family in Scotland who have two children already finding out they are going to have 4 boys. Six children suddenly - 4 babies and no child benefit. An example of how mean and miserable the Tories are. I would commend the Scottish government if they stepped in to help the family. It would a nice change from them wasting money on crackpot activities.
ReplyDeleteHang on a minute! Aren't you that Rangers-supporting, Tory-loving, rabid Unionist that I've read so much about? Own up - what have you done with the real IfS?🤔
DeleteSee a new pole is out with SNP on 19.
ReplyDelete19 what? Percentage or seats? Holyrood or Westminster?
DeleteMPs. It's not too bad for Humza . On the lower end of expectations but not into resignation territory imho.
DeleteLabour: 28 seats
DeleteSNP: 19
Con: 5
Lib Dems: 5
Not great but not resignation territory for Humza.
Really? Down from 48 in 2019 seems pretty calamitous to me. I suppose we all have our own idea of what constitutes failure.
DeleteThe thing to keep in mind is that with FPTP you can get quite big seat changes with quite small changes in underlying first preference vote share.
DeleteYes, good point.
DeleteYou don't have first preference votes in FPTP, just one vote.
DeleteWhit - a 10 year downward trajectory from 56 MPs in 2015 to 19 MPs in 2024 under Sturgeon's reign is acceptable is it. Pure gaslighting stuff from anon at 4.26pm.
DeleteYou only have first preference votes in FPTP!
DeleteIn the Herald article about that:
Delete"Labour is taking nothing for granted and we will continue working tirelessly to earn voters’ trust."
I wonder what Yousaf would say? My guess is:
"The SNP is taking YES voters for granted and we will continue doing absolutely nothing to earn voters’ trust."
Mmm, if only Tennents did politicians ...
Anon5:13, First preference votes are a term generally reserved for an STV voting system where you can list an order of preference. Obviously, in an FPTP election your single vote is, by default, your only preference - don't be facetious.
DeleteIndyref2, the complacency displayed by the SNP supporters here is quite startling. I think they are in for a short sharp shock on election day.
DeleteEven if the SNP vote collapses and they go down to 19 or fewer seats at the GE, there’ll still be people prattling on about de facto referendums.
DeleteKC at 5.45pm - I certainly will KC because the independence vote will not collapse. Your hands must be really red these days.
DeleteIFS, I agree the independence vote won’t collapse.
DeleteThe problem you have is it won’t go above 50% either.
I'm not so sure it won't collapse. People are becoming very disillusioned with the SNP's glacial approach to independence and will need motivated to get out there and vote. The present lot of MPs are a pretty uninspiring bunch.
DeleteKC or whoever you are at 5:45 and 6:00, have you nothing better to do with your time?
DeleteAnon at 6.17pm - the SNP is not Scottish independence. Voting for independence is not the same as voting for the SNP. It's the SNP that are stopping a vote on independence.
DeleteKC - your UK was happy with a vote under 52% to leave the EU. Even you can work out that is not much of an increase to achieve in a campaign and that is why people like you are on here. KC you sure you haven't created a new sneaky persona called J McL.
KC are your hands still red like your pals in N. Ireland.
DeleteIFS, please don’t associate me with KC. I told you the other day I was totally genuine, whereas KC is clearly a mischief maker with nothing better to do with his time than come on here trolling.
DeleteBritnats didnae like it when I post this about Gaza. Do I care? Not in the least. They need calling out on the massacre taking place in Gaza. If you vote Tory or Labour you have blood on your hands. Both parties support the Gaza genocide. Both parties support sending weapons to Israel. Both parties support British armed forces assisting the IDF in their murderous operations. Chucking a few parcels of food out some planes is just propaganda for the gullible in the UK. Some of these parcels have actually killed more Palestinians. The ICJ judgements are being ignored by the UK.
ReplyDeleteIf you vote Tory or Labour you have Palestinian blood on your hands and all the International aid workers killed. There is no hiding place now - no excuses after 6 months of carnage. Both party leaders are Friends of Israel.
Labour and the Tories in Scotland are bowing down to their imperial masters in Westminster who are continuing to send arms to Israel, leaving an open goal in politics for Yousaf and the SNP.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately Yousaf is arguing with the linesman about the shape of the balls, and the dentist about about who knows what, and reporting admittedly very offensive graffiti to the Police, rather than shouting from the rooftops "Independence - and here's how we are GOING to get it, never mind the begging bowl" to loud cheers and votes from at least 50% of Scotland.
There's a dancing broccoli on my screen. It has more copon.
I'm sorry but I see horrible sectarian graffiti on walls in Glasgow all the time. What can the Police do about it if they don't know who has done it? Humza seems to think a certain type of abuse is more offensive than others just because he's on the receiving end.
DeleteHe promotes his religion all the time when it suits him then ducks out of sight when questions are asked about what it says about homosexuality and transgenderism.
As mad as it sounds I don't feel a great hatred for Douglas Ross, even the banter he gets at the football..I think many actually tip their hat that he goes and takes the abuse. You know he's a country Tory, that's what he is. It's Anas "flower of Scotland is fine" Sarwar..look at me I'm Scottish.. noone asked you about FoS pal..
ReplyDeleteThe Jim Murphy irn bru gang are back
He does seem OK to me given he is a Tory and you know that that is what he is and believes.
DeleteHe is generally bested by, and never lands a blow on, Humza at FMQs.
DeleteAnon at 7.09am - so that's it is it - happy with that. Thin gruel for an independence supporter but maybe just fine for an SNP party person. Just how does Yousaf winning a boxing match with that pratt Ross makes us independent? Sturgeon was better than Yousaf where did that get us - nowhere.
DeleteIfS: FMQs are a useful test of leader strength hence good for SNP supporters if SNP leader is winning.
DeleteAnon at 9.08pm - still thin gruel. You are boasting about winning an irrelevant little battle with a Tory leader while Ross wins the war as we are still a colony.
DeleteTime to give up on this colony nonsense IFS.
DeleteYou still around KC - time to give up on this childish game of hide and seek nonsense. Who are you pretending to be these days? Got the red blood off your hands - you'll find it won't.
DeleteWhat a pain in the backside this KC guy is.
DeleteIs getting slagged off for being a ginger eligible as a Hate Crime? (asking for a carrot heided friend)
ReplyDeleteIs he a transginger?
ReplyDeleteMurdo Fraser Tory MSP getting quite upset about his Human Rights being breached because the polis have recorded a non crime Hate incident against his name but not Rowling or Yousaf. Of course Fraser being a Tory conveniently forgets that a lot of his colleagues in his party want to bin his human rights completely. A bit of a farce all this business.
ReplyDeleteHi IFS: I don't understand what you mean when you say " a lot of his colleagues in his party want to bin his human rights ".
DeleteWould you be kind enough to clarify for me?
The fact that a lot of Tories want to withdraw from the UN convention on human rights?
DeleteI think quite a lot of Tories want to withdraw from the human race.
DeleteAnon at 9.56pm - a lot of his Tory colleagues in England want to replace The UK Human Rights act which Incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights with their own Tory version probably called a Bill of Rights. The main motivation for this is to send illegal immigrants (the boat people ) to far away places like Rwanda without the courts interfering. Who knows whether they would actually introduce another Tory version and what it would contain.
Delete