Those two slogans are -
"This is an opportunity Scotland can't afford to miss!"
If the opportunity here is "a Labour government", that's a rather rum opportunity Scotland couldn't miss even if it tried. The voters of England decide general elections in the UK, and with three days to go there is no remaining doubt that they will elect a Labour government with a landslide. There is, however, an opportunity that Scotland does have and can choose and therefore could miss, and that is the opportunity to have an independent bloc of Scottish MPs as a counterweight to an all-powerful Starmer government and that will speak up for Scotland rather than being sycophantic cheerleaders for every decision made in London. "An opportunity you can't afford to miss" really means "please miss the only opportunity you have, because we want to be able to do whatever the hell we like without anyone even being there to question us".
Oh, and by the way, Ian Murray as Secretary of State of Scotland is an opportunity that any sensible person can easily afford to miss, thank you very much.
"The change that Scotland needs"
If the election in Scotland is defined mainly as a contest between the SNP and Labour, then the SNP represent the radical change of independence and Labour represent the no change position - both constitutionally and in every other sense, because they are committed to largely continuing Tory policies when in power. Labour have spent the last seventeen years running in terror from the radical change the SNP represents and doing everything they can to prevent and frustrate it. They see this election as a golden opportunity to finally put an end to all hopes of change in Scotland once and for all. To run on a "change" pitch in that context is the height of cynicism - in fact it's Orwellianism on stilts.
* * *
I have two more constituency profiles in The National - North Ayrshire & Arran and North East Fife
Hear , hear. Vote SNP. Nae use voting anything else at this time . Save your Alba votes , if you are that way inclined , for HR 2026.
ReplyDeleteSaor Alba
There won't be an Alba to vote for in the future if no one votes for them in the present.
DeleteIt's the political equivalent of the Osborne effect. And I don't mean the austerity chancellor. It's the self-fulfilling prophecy of what "jam tomorrow" does for today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect
But it's precisely jan tomorrow that Alba is offering in this election. "Damage independence in this election so we can save independence in 2026!" Don't fall for it. Voting against the SNP on Thursday can only do harm.
DeleteIndependence isnae on the ballot in this election. The SNP refused to put it there.
DeleteAnon at 12:13 PM. It's at the front of their manifesto. Literally! There's no simpler way of saying it.
DeleteThey didn't declare this election a Plebiscite on Independence. They didn't form an alliance with all Yes parties so that every seat in Scotland has exactly one Yes candidate. They didn't put together proposals for what they'll do when that alliance secures an overall majority of the vote.
DeleteThey put a word on the cover, and they'll beg Starmer for another Section 30 to which he will say No, as he's already promised. That's not Indy. That's wasting time and opportunity. That's playing us for schmucks.
Spot the useless Woke.
DeleteI think what Labour means is a change from those who currently have the seats.
ReplyDeleteI think Labour means a change of clothes.
DeleteFresh faces like Blair McDougal and Douglas Alexander.
DeleteLabour's hopes in Scotland are all about trying to pretend indyref didn't happen. They're as keen to cancel Alec Salmond and independence as Swinney's SNP.
Anon at 11.39. Is that why Independence is printed on the front of the SNP manifesto? You haven’t even seen it have you? Are you IFS Brigade or Brit Brigade?
DeleteHow do they do it, 1:19? By asking Sir Keir "please sir, can we have independence?"
Delete1:19 It's a word on the cover. We need action, not empty words.
DeleteThe voters have seen through this, fully confident we will be celebrating on Friday morning.
ReplyDeleteScotland is independent on Friday is it?
DeleteNo. Nor are the SNP at the height of their powers. The best they can do is limit their losses. All while the narrative is total Labour hegemony right across Britain.
DeleteThis election's not for us. But we'll rebuild our strength while the Brits squander what they win.
Leave the wacky stuff alone Woke Boy.
DeleteAnon at 5.09. Woke boy?!! What age are you. Higher than your I Q?
DeleteBasically vote SNP is the message here. Regrettably that is not going to happen in the numbers needed, and there is a chunk of Indy support intent on facilitating a unionist landslide in Scotland as well as England. Wanting to give SNP a bloody nose and a rocket up the rear is understandable, but the time for that is a Holyrood election and a credible list only party to vote for. The Indy movement is so fractured, due in no small part to covert unionist smearing and a gullible section of the Indy movement, that this is not going to happen. A majority of unionist M Ps in Scotland on Friday morning will see Starmer implement his clearly stated intention of further weakening devolution with the main intent of making Indy even more difficult to obtain. Not a price I am willing to pay, nor something I want on my conscience. Other opinions are available. I will not respond to abuse.
ReplyDeleteBut you will pipe up to toot your horn at every opportunity.
Delete1119-away and have a wee holiday. Give SNP a bloody nose? So you are a Brit Nat unionist. You have a conscience? ALBA is possibly seeing is disintegration by Friday and thereafter. Are they saying we will get you independence by 2026 is just stupid.
DeleteAnon at 11.32. Any actual response? Anon at 12.32. Your post is incomprehensible. Try again, if you actually have a response.
DeleteThe SNP only have themselves to blame for the situation we now find ourselves in. Why have they waited til the GE campaign to put independence to the forefront? It’s too late, because a lot of people just see it as a desperate attempt to buy votes. People have had enough, and are saying enough is enough. Why more indy supporters aren’t backing Alba is almost beyond comprehension! Do these people actually want independence, or are they happy to vote for more of the same, with the SNP?
ReplyDelete“The world is burning! Only a vote for us can save it! Think of the children!”
DeleteThen they win, sit down and calmly do absolutely nothing about it.
“The world’s still burning! Only a vote for change can change this!”
Rinse and repeat for as many election cycles they can wring out of you.
The scale of the incoming Labour landslide is such that - bear with me! - if Scotland were to hypothetically elect 57 Tory MPs, it wouldn't make a difference to the UK government, except that Ian Murray definitely couldn't be SoSfS.
ReplyDeleteAmusingly, it has to be allowed that a good night for Labour in Scotland results in the same; there are a number of candidates who could swipe the job from him if they got elected. Douglas Alexander, for one.
Therefore, only a bad night for Labour in Scotland guarantees that Ian Murray becomes SoSfS.
Isn't Danny Alexander already measuring the curtains in the Foreign Office for his long-expected stint there?
DeleteGod! I forgotten about him. Possibly sourer than Murray and who can forget him stabbing his sister in the back. He is classic Blairite Machievalian politics. Starmer is bound to find himself inexorably drawn to his dark arts.
Delete@11:41am - I'm sure he would like that, but there are many others in the way of that. SoSfS is the obvious consolation prize, unless he can be persuaded to serve as a "mere minister" under Murray.
DeleteJeepers, is he still touting himself around around? Never say die. I thought he'd have been running a right-wing think-tank in the USA. Isn't that what failed Labourists do when they don't get a seat in the House of Lords?
DeleteIsn't Danny Alexander already measuring the curtains in the Foreign Office for his long-expected stint there?
DeleteIs this a typo for Dougie, or is Danny also making a comeback? It's hard to keep track of all these cadavers being hauled out of their crypts
Labour will be a change of people to blame for the failing economy, failing services and collapsing environment. While I don't doubt Labour have better intent than the Tories I can't see them turning this giant listing, leaking tanker around.
ReplyDeleteMy postal ballot returned, I voted SNP. There wasn't any other indy candidates anyway so my choice was very easy. I get the argument that Alba could come into its own as a list party at Holyrood. However, it needs a strong SNP to do so. If the SNP vote is down then the SNP will need their second votes in order to secure seats. If the SNP are strong and are only likely to get two or three list seats then voting Alba makes sense. Sadly there doesn't seem be much of an outbreak of peace between the two parties at the moment for that to happen. But that may change, hope springs eternal.
I think it's fair to predict that "peace" between the SNP and Alba is as likely as Starmer handing Scotland a Section 30 for Indyref2.
DeleteAlba's very existence is anathema to the SNP. It must be destroyed, with extreme prejudice.
I think it's Alex Salmond's Alba that has the destruction of the SNP in mind far more than the other way round
DeleteIf Alba gets themselves a new leader people can vote for and becomes an actual political party then who knows what can happen one day
As far as I can see most of the antipathy comes from Alba supporters on here towards the SNP rather than anything the SNP say or do. Anyway it is not in the gift of political parties to destroy other parties. Politics is about ideas. Parties are just vehicles for ideas. Despite what happens to the Tories on Thursday and they may come third they will likely be back by the next election. The Lib Dems were down and out in 2015 but they are back again.
DeleteNetanyahu' desire to destroy Hamas is equally doomed to failure. It is an idea. He can remove those responsible for the attacks but the party remains and will bounce back until it's supporters decide on a new idea. His failure is in not offering a new idea to reach for.
Alba's proposition at launch—indeed the reason why I voted for them in 2021—was Salmond's appeal to SNP voters to make their second votes count by voting for another independence party on the list. Back then, Alba was about welcoming SNP voters with open arms. It was the SNP who took offence at Alba's existence and demanded Both Votes SNP (we'd rather have unionists to work with than lose our monopoly on Yes votes).
DeleteFair point though that time's moved on and Alba's just as hostile to the SNP—especially online—as vice versa. There's no love lost between either party, really. This is more rational than it may appear. Why? Because the SNP's strength comes from its undiluted dominance of the Yes vote. Alba hasn't managed to carve out a separate identity from them, as far as the public's concerned. So they're fishing side by side in the same pool of support.
If the Greens were serious about independence, I'd vote for them. Sadly, they're not even as serious about the environment now than they are trans-stuff. They've fallen even further in my esteem than Nicola took the SNP.
My heart is with Alba and Salmond but people need to get out of this bashing Alba and SNP and turn their sights on unionist Labour.
Deletelost our focus, big time.
SNP's alleged corruption, arrests and seen as pursuing niche issues, as well as simply being in power too long is a difficult sell. But the opposition are even worse.
Sadly, a negative message isn't the SNP's forte. A push for change and hope is their message but hard to keep going after nearly 20 years.
ALBA members if they are ALBA are delusional. Tactically they should have tried to appeal to the 30% of labour supporters in Scotland who support independence.
DeleteIf Alba got rid of A S and turned their focus back to a list only 2026 Holyrood election I think they would be pleasantly surprised at the votes they would receive. At present, they are primarily concerned with damaging the SNP.
DeleteThere's already an alternative independence party without Salmond as the leader: the ISP. They'll do no better than Alba in this election, nor would Alba without him.
DeleteThe problem isn't Salmond. The problem is the SNP == independence to everyone outside the bubble. When the SNP is failing, there's no alternate vehicle ready to hit the road.
"alternative"
Delete12:36 Salmond has already said they are targeting the 15% of indy supporters who, according to the polls, will not vote SNP. I doubt they will be successful but it's a reasonable strategy
DeleteWhether we like it or not, the "we need change" is a potent slogan.
ReplyDeleteLabour have no clear policies though, which is a shame as change for change sake is no change at all.
Every party besides the Tories (UK gov) and SNP (Scotgov) can and does campaign on "Change!" of course. Labour's unique selling point is that they're the only viable alternative in England's crooked voting system, and so the only kind of change you've got.
DeleteUnless, of course, you consider independence. Which the SNP has conspicuously not through all these years of opportunities…
Anon 12:24,I believe that you dis not see the following statement in the first line of the SNP manifesto.It said: Vote SNP to make Scotland an independent country.
DeleteGood to see John Swinney has confirmed he’ll stay on as SNP leader, regardless of the election result.
ReplyDeleteThis has to be positive news.
Does he want he beat his previous record of election losses from his last stint as Leader?
DeleteYou are a saddo. You assume a person of 10 yrs ago hasn’t learned from mistakes or successes. The fact he is FM would suggest he has. The enemies of the SNP including the unionist news media were successful in removing Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf. John Swinney has stemmed the tide. They have no way to go.
DeleteRemove the tinfoil hat.
DeleteNicola Sturgeon only has herself to blame for being forced to resign and the sheer idiocy of having the Greens in Government is what led Humza Yousaf to resign. All the "enemies of the SNP" had to do was just sit back and watch.
I don't recall anyone forcing Sturgeon to resign. In fact her announcement that she was stepping down was a bit of a surprise to everyone.
DeleteIt was indeed a surprise. Only a short time before she resigned she said she had “plenty left in the tank”.
DeleteI wonder what happened!
To revive the SNP, we need a leader who isn't tainted by 10 years of sleaze, who is going to give control of the party back to the members and who is a full throated supporter of independence.
DeleteContinuity Swinney won't cut it. All he offers is managed decline.
I’m sure you or one of your pals have cut and pasted the before. Just insert name of any SNP leader. Still the parties of johnson, truss, Mone, Farage, Blair, brown, Starmer , austerity Lib Dem’s are all worthy of your praise I would assume.
DeleteGo away Swinney, Flynn and co are doing a good job.
"I wonder what happened!"
DeleteWell, 1:16, the polis came round for her hubby soon after…
Anon1:16 Isla Bryson happened!
DeleteMysoginy still exists it appears in the the mind of some. You have to wonder if they will ever realise that they are now in the 21st century?
Delete"the SNP represent the radical change of independence"
ReplyDeleteThe issue though is that's become questionable. If you don't believe that the SNP will actually pursue independence then you're left to judge them on everything else.
With that in mind they've been in power in Scotland for 17 years, the Tories have been in power in England for 14 years. People are understandably dissatisfied with both Governments.
By definition Labour would be a "change" to two Governments who arguably have been in power for too long.
It won't be long before the media are carping about the Labour government. It is a truism that whoever you vote for the government always gets in.
DeleteA Labour government is needed to demonstrate the Union is useless because nothing will change. It will be the biggest boost to Indy since 2014 (when voters were told Labour would be back in power before they new it) and Holyrood 2026 is a mid term test for Labour and an opportunity for independence parties.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're right. Question is : will the 22 months till HR 2026 be long enough ? Or will Labour still be in a kind of honeymoon period . I fear the latter and we'll end up wi Sarwar as FM. Nae doot his main aim will be to "strengthen the union" and entrench Scotland's colonial status.
DeleteSaor Alba
Anon@ 2:08, Sadly I suspect you’ll be proved right☹️
DeleteI've been thinking this, too. Labour's been the white knight for the union, the "sane voice" of English rule that most unionists here long to return to power. When London Labour inevitably fails Scotland, that hope is finally gone. It's a huge psychological barrier, I suspect, and once it is breached, a new flood of Yes support may come.
DeleteSarwar won't be able to do a thing about it. Of course, he's not going to hold Indyref2 either, so a Labour Scotgov can delay Scotland's departure, but the shifting tectonic plates are completely beyond his control.
An opportunity for independence parties to show they mean it by advocating SNP 1 , Alba or Greens 2 or pretend they mean it by advocating SNP 1 SNP 2, I wonder?
DeleteEncouraging analysis. Inevitably, SNP will become more popular.
DeleteAnon at 4.23. Ditch the most unpopular politician in Scotland, weed out the WOS mob, and Alba, standings as a list party in 2026, can achieve a breakthrough. Ive been SNP 1, Green 2 up until now. No more. Plenty others like me.
DeleteAnon @ 5.42
DeleteA misprint in your post. I think you meant "I've been Labour 1, Conservative 2 up until now."
No need to thank me. Happy to help.
Ribblesdale. Gosh. Novel response. Oh wait muppets like you have been using this sad wee response for so long. You are yet another sad wee keyboard warrior, too stupid to understand pretty basic statements. Trolling really is at an all time low with morons like you. Off you toddle. The adults have work to do.
DeleteJames’s write up of East Fife is a good warning about expectations management and tactical unionist voting. Well worth the look.
ReplyDeleteI expect a great deal more unionist polarisation in this election. As much as many of us (myself included) are scunnered with the SNP, many unionists will be just as motivated to defeat them. This will show up in the seats they already hold, too.
Wasn’t “read my lips no new taxes “ Ronald Reagan?
ReplyDeleteNo it was George Bush.
DeleteWhen the SNP win another mandate, Starmer's position will be untenable; we need to "hold" and keep to the plan. Sturgeon has not been working on nothing this past decade, wheels within wheels.
ReplyDeleteVery encouraging analysis. SNP will become popular again in time.
DeleteSturgeon will be thoroughly vindicated by justice officers she gave jobs to, and if she isn't she came blame Peter.
DeleteAnon at 7.42. Make your mind up. Unless you’re just havering??
DeleteThe Wokists have undermined the Indy cause ad the sooner they are wiped out the better. The SNP will never recover until the Wokists are purged from the SNP. The "real sane" Greens will never amount to anything either until they purge their Party of the whining Alphabet Queers.
ReplyDeleteThe LGBTQ+ community support the SNP.
DeleteOf course they do. The SNP is now the political wing of Stonewall. Independence? What's that?
DeleteLet's attack the youth.... the people who overwhelming support independence.
DeleteI hate to break it to you but losing a old gammon faced indy supporter like you or Fergus Ewing to win over 20 or 30 under 18s is worth it.
I'm 24!🤣🤣🤣
DeleteMost folk who quote the term Wokist(s) are right wing and if asked cannot clarify what the term actually means such is their twisted mindset.
DeleteAnd most wokists cannot clarify what the word woman actually means, such is their deluded mindset.
DeleteI think most folk are a bit more intelligent than you though. You still don't understand the term obviously.
DeleteWhit dae the word " woman" actually mean? Please enlighten me.
DeleteAn adult human female - ie, not one with a penis and a beard who puts a frock on. Too difficult for you?
DeleteI think the greens problem is they have not been radical enough, backsliding on the highly popular LGBTQ+ antiracism and diversity pride train. Harvey and Slater need to talk the talk and walk the walk; Harvie and Slater need to go for the surgery in order to inspire the people; if I knew that Patricia Harvie had a vagina and Lorna a penis constructed from thigh-flesh I would not hesitate to give my vote. I want to see an indy Scotland where trans surgery is free, to all the world, and carbon neutral; we shall offer it to all migrants and asylum seekers. We can become a vanguard for the world. Net zero, penis zero.
DeleteJust back from my first gotv session very encouraging and positive SNP responses.
ReplyDeleteVery encouraging for the SNP.
DeleteI can’t believe what I’ve just seen.
ReplyDeleteAn independence poll by PollAndBangWe from yesterday, putting Yes 12 points ahead. This hot on the heels of the earlier PollAndBangWe poll putting Yes 14 points ahead. Surely this is too good to be true!
I’m already buzzing, is it too late for John Swunney to declare this election a de facto after all?
It's good to see PollAndBangWe's results getting better for Yes, because I've always admired their ethics as a polling company. We'd reach net zero with them a lot quicker than with any government.
DeleteTotally agree, well said.
DeleteWow, that poll’s amazing news. Really cheered me up. Surely it’s only a matter of time til we get our independence, and reap the enormous benefits it’ll bring.
DeleteHappy days😁
Pollandbang ? Is this some sort of joke? Is is there really some polling company of that name?
DeleteAnon@9:35, of course there is, surprised you haven’t heard of them. Like Ipsos, they have a good reputation too.
DeleteIt’s just a pity the polls weren’t showing this level of support for independence a few weeks ago, or am sure Swinney wouldn’t have hesitated to pull the trigger and declare the GE a de facto referendum.
Aye richt,!
DeleteSome folk think we'll believe ony shite.
DeletePoll and bang? There's nae sic a thing.
DeleteHas KC been taking a Scots language course on Duolingo?
DeleteLabour are colonialists, same as the Tories, same as the LibDems. The SNP are not. But Swinney is not important. Sturgeon not important, nor Yousaf. Nor is the SNP for its own sakes, just its Constitution clause 2. What is important is this (22):
ReplyDelete“The process of devolution in the UK would be seen as an exercise of the internal right to self-determination.”
https://assets.nationbuilder.com/albaparty/pages/659/attachments/original/1687279203/OPINION_ON_MATTERS_RELATING_TO_INTERNATIONAL_LEGAL_ISSUES_CONCERNING_THE_RIGHT_TO_SELF-DETERMINATION_FOR_THE_PEOPLE_OF_SCOTLAND.pdf?1687279203
and this from (27):
“c. Where the people are blocked from meaningful access to government in the State, such as the people of Kosovo,15 or mistreated systematically by the central government.”
This is unlikely to be just a single instance. it would be expected to be repetitive. If the UK was federal in any way, it is relatively unlikely we’d be able to demonstrate being blocked. Luckily in its way, devolution leaves a lot of reserved issues we can not really affect – the, indeed, democratic deficit. But while Yorkshire might have the same problem, they are not devolved whereas we are – and indeed, recognised as a Nation.
A minority of Nationalist MPs can and will be used to say that Scotland has no interest in Independence. A majority of Nationalist MPs can not.
Unfortunately it needs repetitive elections with a majority of Nationalist MPs so that, ultimately (135)
“There are two possible international legal routes available:
…
b. Make a unilateral declaration of independence. This requires a clear majority of people representing Scotland to indicate their approval but it should not be done by the Scottish Parliament, as the latter is within UK domestic law. This could be done, for example, through a convention of elected and diverse representatives from across Scotland with a clear majority in favour. This approach relies for its effectiveness on the recognition by States of the Statehood of Scotland.”
(Professor Robert McCorquodale)
Swallow our bile – and vote SNP. Or throw Independence away.
Who gives a about the SNP, WE are Scotland, they are just the vehicle. And if we have to tow them along, so be it.
Aye sure. Anyone got a tow bar?
ReplyDeleteAye . Vote SNP Thursday . But don't leave it to them . Get out an aboot and proclaim " we are nation and we are sovereign " . Independence noo.
ReplyDeleteSaor Alba
Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell set to be cleared of all charges the day after the general election
ReplyDeleteThere's nae charges against Nicola but you're probably richt.
Delete" the SNP represent the radical change of independence "
ReplyDeleteOh they do, do they?
So if we vote in 56 SNP MPs, we'll get the radical change of independence will we?
No?
So what do they actually represent then?
The people who vote for them. Makes a change from the 1-2% who think they can dictate terms to the rest of us. They haven’t grasped the idea of majority’s
ReplyDeleteI agree
DeleteThey're better than Britnat Labour/ Tories. . Fit else dee ye expex8?
ReplyDeleteI also agree with this. He standard of posting on this site is sublime.
ReplyDeleteAgree 100%
DeleteSome of the commenting is a laugh though, "I'm voting Alba to see what they can do" well they can go down the pub, and well that's about it genius
ReplyDeleteAlba maximum vote share 3% of Scotland, remove that from the SNP and you get Labour
The gap between support for independence and support for the SNP is considerably higher than 3% though.
DeleteCan blame Alba all you like but the facts speak for themselves: If the SNP can't manage to secure the pro-indy supporter vote that's on them...
Fairly obvious the game of Reform, the Conservatives (perhaps the SNP too I fear) is to tell Labour voters it's all over, decided, no point in bothering. Why? Because Labour won already. Farage has made this his mantra to a point of nausea. There is every chance this will mean turn out is low and many many of those inclined to Labour just don't bother to show, making the result far less certain than is claimed. . In my view this is verging on anti-democratic. Moreover, as James has pointed out, many of the MRP polls rely on toss up seats where nobody really has any idea which way they wlll go. I am all in favour of tactical voting but that does not mean staying at home. Of all the parties running in this election, Reform can do the most harm.
ReplyDelete