With the usual distractions of August, blogging has been much lighter than usual recently, but as September approaches we'll soon be back to politics with a vengeance. The recent general election was a wake-up call for all of us that the massive unionist bias of the mainstream media remains a monumental problem. The most obvious and important counterweights are The National and the Sunday National, but those are such a small percentage of the MSM that they do need to be supplemented by a thriving pro-independence alternative media.
Nobody is indispensable, and I'm not suggesting that Scot Goes Pop necessarily has to remain part of the mix. But whatever alternative media does exist going forward, it'll require a degree of funding to be sustainable. That's just inevitable. Political writing, whether you choose to call it blogging, or journalism, or citizen journalism, is incredibly time-consuming and whoever does it on a regular basis needs to keep body and soul together. I do have other sources of income, and I live on a shoestring budget, but nevertheless I rely on some fundraising to make it possible for Scot Goes Pop to keep going.
Until 2021, our annual fundraisers always used to hit their targets pretty quickly. There's been no drop-off in readership since then, but the fundraising has become far, far more of a problem - I can think of three or four possible reasons for that. I've had to promote the crowdfunders over a much more prolonged period, and even then they've generally fallen well short. This year, I took a prolonged break from promoting the crowdfunder over the general election period, but I'm going to have to start making some serious progress now if Scot Goes Pop is to have a realistic chance of continuing.
Many thanks to everyone who has already donated over the last few months. If you'd like to donate, there are three main options -
For card payments, the crowdfunder page is HERE.
Payments can also be made direct by Paypal. In some ways that's a better option because the funds are usually transferred instantly and fees can be completely eliminated depending on which option you select from the menu. My Paypal email address is: jkellysta@yahoo.co.uk
I know a few people prefer direct bank transfer, and if you'd like to do that please email me and I'll send you the details. My contact email address is different from my Paypal address, and can be found on my Twitter profile or in the sidebar of this blog (desktop version of the site only).
Some of you have also suggested that this might be a good time to commission an opinion poll, to get post-election baseline numbers. Again, that would be funding-dependent. I had hoped to run a poll before the election (in fairness that was when we all thought the election would be in October or November), but the fundraiser for it was well short of its target after a couple of months and I had no choice but to go back to the general fundraising. I'll still get the poll done as soon as it's possible. If you're donating by Paypal specifically for polling, please add a note saying "for the poll" or something like that.
Apologies for interrupting normal service with this post, but it was getting to the point where it was unavoidable. Many thanks once again to everyone who has donated so far.
James, I'm still on a zero hours but I will chip you two tenners through pay pal over the next fortnight. This site is an essential weapon in keeping us up to date on all things to do with Independence.
ReplyDeleteThe blog output was not anywhere near as supportive as it should have been, given the owner is a member of Alba, towards Alba candidates standing in the Westminster election.
ReplyDeleteSo, that’s one area I think James got right. I appreciate his critical blogging Alba / SNP, especially given his Alba membership.
DeleteJames - perhaps you can, with empathy, address the Q of perceived anti-Englishness, please?
For context, I’m a SNP voter born in London who moved up to Edinburgh in 1991. Thank you.
As a dirty sassanach myself , I absolutely disagree that there's any serious anti English sentiment on here.
DeleteI am also an SNP member resident now in Scotland for 45 years. My wife and grown- up children are Scots.
Folk should remember that it was the SNP that booted out Siol na Gael from the party and always took a strong position against Settler Watch. I would argue that the perceived present weakness of the Indy movement is more likely to lead to anti Englishness than when we can see the way forward to self-determination. The perception of many folk is that many English people are against our democracy.
I personally have been very badly treated by recent English migrants settled here in Moray-
They see me as a traitor! I am disgusted by the behaviour of some , not all , of my compatriots. Their attitude is one of colonists.
Alba gu brath
I am also English and it would disappoint me if English people were being rude towards other English people based on constitutional preference. It is not my own experience but I am sorry to hear you have been very badly mal-treated by English people who have elected to live in Moray which is a most pleasant part of Scotland.
DeleteMoray WAS pleasant before it became heavily colonised.
DeleteAnon@3:39,
DeleteSad and pathetic comment.
Anon @ 4.05pm.
DeleteIn what way, exactly?
Well as an Englishman now resident in Scotland for 45 years I can honestly state that I've experienced a lot of nastiness from other English folk because I support Scottish independence. I've never experienced anti Englishness.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to learn this because it is not my experience of other English people living in Scotland who have been respectful towards myself and my wife.
DeleteFor goodness sake a contributor isn't responsible for all editorial decisions
ReplyDelete. You're a daftie and likely a Britnat.
James Kelly is not responsible for the comments he is only responsible for the blog posts.
ReplyDeleteIs it not anti-Scottish and anti- democratic to deny the right of the Scottish people a say in their constitutional future? The UN states that a people have the right to self-determination. Why should people from England or native Britnat Scots deny this right?
ReplyDeleteEngland has historically been prejudiced against the minority nations of this island: Taffy was a welshman, Taffy was a thief. Scots are mean and dour; and speak funny! Let's not forget how the Irish were treated too. ( Scots not entirely innocent in the latter as well.)
So pro independence = anti - English?
DeleteWe voted for a referendum, it is democracy. Asserting our national identity is not against anyone. An Irish person is not anti - English for not wanting to be ruled from London.
I think the whole tone of your comment smacks of narrow British nationalism in which you cannot allow for other people's different views. If you're Scottish you are suffering from the cultural cringe. You're entitled to your view but I pity you.
I am English but lived in Scotland (Dumfries) for the last five years, being a way to retire while also maintaining a good standard of living, since housing costs are quite a lot cheaper. On the whole I have not had any problems with the locals up here who have been largely pleasant towards me any my wife.
DeleteIt's up to the Scottish people not you. Its called democracy . Obviously your ingrained British nationalism is blinding you to this.
DeleteAin't is a very English ( or American ) slang word. Britnats again.
DeleteNot complicated , just don't agree.
ReplyDeleteAnon 3.25 . Failte gu Alba. But mind that Scots cannot cash in on the housing boom , we lose out as our prices go up and we can't move to a cheaper place .
ReplyDelete"we can't move to a cheaper place" why not?
DeleteThat's funny as I've seen Alba members annoyed at James for promoting voting for the SNP in the General Election.
ReplyDeleteLooking objectively though the SNP today aren't in a good place. You could argue if many of the criticisms those in Alba and others had about the SNP were addressed when they were first raised then the SNP today wouldn't find themselves in such a dire situation.
There seemed to be a lot of people who had a wheesht for indy attitude which I would say was considerably more damaging as that allowed small issues to develop into larger ones. Things that could have been tackled early on ended up instead with failure, incompetence and the SNP becoming unpopular with the electorate as a result.
Eugene - I don't think James has ever bashed the SNP, on the contrary he has always tried to get people to vote for them even when a member of ALBA he did this. As for btl contributors it's just debate. People have differing views, for example I no longer see the SNP as the vehicle to get us independence any more. They have no plan - after ten years of being in a position to take us out of the UK they still do not have any idea what to do. In my opinion presently, I think we would have a better chance without them. If the 50pc of the population that supports yes were members of other parties such as Labour where already a good proportion support independence it might give us more influence to change the constitutional settlement. The SNP blew it. And a lot of long term independence supporters like myself (all my life) have had it with them. Not even because of their inability to get us independence but because of their incompetence in government and importantly because they lie to us. For ten years they have lied to us and after a while you just can't believe anything they say. I wish it were different, but it is what it is. As for this website, it is a website where discussion takes place unfortunately some times there are trolls and sometimes there are people who comment aggressively. It's not the fault of James Kelly that some people express themselves in that way. As for ALBA, I don't know about their contribution to the debate over independence but I assume this is all done on social media which I don't use. I remember the days of the so called cybernat that gave the SNP and the independence movement a bad name I knew nothing of the content of that either but it was long before there was an ALBA. The toxicity you talk about is due to the platform i.e. social media not the parties nor this website. How do you know the veracity of the claims of those purporting to be members or spokespeople of anything on social media? It's social media that is toxic, differing points of view and reasoned discussion is healthy.
ReplyDeleteIf the 50pc of the population that supports yes were members of other parties such as Labour where already a good proportion support independence it might give us more influence to change the constitutional settlement.
DeleteWhit? If the SNP won't listen to its independence-supporting members, wtf makes you think Labour would?
Well, Keaton I think you know why. But as it's only a possibility it's not worth the time explaining it. As I said might.
DeleteI don't know why, that's why I asked. Your original post was quite lengthy, so surely you can spare a few sentences to explain how it could possibly require less of a push to get Labour to do something about independence than the SNP
DeleteWell, why are you here? Don't read it if it upsets you that much.
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 3:26 PM I know - it's called colonialism.
ReplyDelete4.38. Dear me , isn't it obvious? Generally with exceptions prices in Englandshire are higher , Scotland lower. SE England drive prices up the British isles . My daughter is a teacher in Highland and just cannot get a house because of incomers/ holiday homes
ReplyDelete. She's getting fed up with " sofa surfing ".
Why do you think there's continuing immigration from England to Scotland? Mostly price is the factor.
I'm sure she could move to a cheaper place but I'm not suggesting she should have to.
DeleteAnd give in her job?
DeleteI live in Dumfries and Galloway, a lot of our neighbours are English who have moved up here to retire. We get on well with them all and have no problem whatsoever. You can’t blame them for moving to an area where property prices are cheaper. It makes complete sense, and anybody would do the same.
DeleteI don't blame the individuals, although they should take in to account that they have moved to a new country and be sensitive to a different culture - often though they just think Scotland is another shire of England
DeleteThe real blame lies with the longterm policies of successive British governments that have enriched he South of England at our expense.
Anon @ 4.05pm. It’s anti England football team not anti English. Perhaps if all these English football fans stopped claiming football is coming home when it was invented in the south side of Glasgow they might get more support but I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteFootball is never coming home to England - never ever.
That is not complicated.
Interesting point, but I have a query that readers might be able to help with. I'm positive I was on a small boat just outside Oban Harbour going to the tiny Isle of Kerrera. It would have been mid to late 90s. Can anyone confirm if I was? Thanks.
DeleteI see some of the wheest for indy(SNP) crowd are back posting again. The Nicola knows best mob. You are the reason we are not independent. Support for them should have ceased when they reneged on indyref2 after the EU ref result.
ReplyDeleteNonsense. Sturgeon was a great asset and there was no want of effort on her part.
DeleteReally? Who?
Delete@7:14,
DeleteI agree, Sturgeon was a great leader. What would we give for her like now?
Thruppence
Delete£600k!!!!
DeleteIn response to the resignation of New Zealand’s Prime Minister in January 2023, Nicola Sturgeon, when asked about her own future, stated that she was fully committed to her role as First Minister and still had the energy and dedication to continue.
DeleteYet, just 23 days later, she too announced her resignation...
Less than two months after that, her husband, Peter Murrell, who was also the SNP's Chief Executive, was arrested amid an investigation into the party's finances. Purely a coincidence as she's obviously still an asset! (to which side that's anyone's guess).
“ Sturgeon was a great asset “ to the British state.
Delete“ There was no want of effort on her part” preventing Scottish independence.
Some of the criticism of Nicola Sturgeon is way over the top at times.
DeleteDifferent story when she was leading us through Covid and support for independence was consistently above 50%. What would we give now for someone with her leadership qualities?
At the very least as Party leader isn't she at fault for not ensuring actual talent were selected as MSP candidates or for not moulding potential successors?
DeleteLike him or loath him under Salmond we always knew that Sturgeon would be the one to succeed him. She didn't plan ahead for what would happen when she left.
There would be no SNP if it wasn't for her after Salmond crapped things up
DeleteSalmond is the reason we're not independent, he tried to bluff with his devo max shit and Cameron called him on it, women didn't like him, then he made a fool of himself deliberately unable to argue with Alistair Darling on TV, Salmond tanked it
DeleteYou'd have zip if Nicola Sturgeon hadn't saved the SNP
The public are the ones at fault now, typical Scotland wanted your Mammy to do everything for you then stamp your feet at her when she doesn't
None of you helped, you're useless
Even though we lost the 2014 referendum The SNP as a Party was probably in the best shape its ever been in when Sturgeon took over. It was a Party on the rise with a vast amount of new people joining.
DeleteThe Party that she handed to Humza Yousaf was one on the decline, a vast exodus of members and under intense public criticism (even before the police investigation became public knowledge). The dire state the SNP find themselves in today can be attributed to Nicola Sturgeon.
The public are the ones at fault now, typical Scotland wanted your Mammy to do everything for you then stamp your feet at her when she doesn't
DeleteJim, I'm not sure how the public are to blame for the Scottish Government failing to hold a referendum in October last year as they repeatedly promised, without caveat.
It's obviously tempting for a party on its uppers to blame the stupid public for being too dim to recognise their beneficence - I recall SLAB doing that throughout the 2010s - but it doesn't make much sense in this case
What idiotic reasoning reasoning some on here have.
Delete1. Elects a Party to do something.
2. They don't do it.
3. "Scotland wanted your Mammy to do everything for you then stamp your feet at her when she doesn't"
4. Wtf?
“Idiotic reasoning” that’s Dr Jim @ 11.31am
Deleteand 11.38am and his nonsense about Salmond and his love affair with Nicola who can do no wrong.
I've had to delete about fourteen comments, and I would have deleted them far earlier if I hadn't been out for the day. For the embittered brigade under the impression that posts related to fundraising are some sort of free-for-all allowing them to call me a twat to their hearts' content, let me explain something: no, fundraising posts are not a free-for-all allowing you to call me a twat to your hearts' content. Delighted to clear that up for you.
ReplyDeleteWell said, James, it was appalling. If they hate you or this blog that much, what are they even here for?! It's bizarre.
DeleteThese nutjobs are a fine advert for pre-moderating of comments
DeleteGood luck to James with SGP. It’s not to my taste, but his blog - his choice. I don’t like WGD or WoS either, nor the National, so I’m basically scunnered.
ReplyDeleteTime for my own Indy blog? Probably not.
As James said, we get the the Indy media we all deserve.
DeleteAnon @10.43 PM You tried that already Yesindyref but nobody likes you
DeleteAbsolutely, add sanctimonious Bella to the mix.
DeleteIan McWhirter and Ian Bell please come back.
Citizen journalism was really important in 2011-2014 when there was a campaign to be won and the nastiness of the Internet hadn't come through yet. But with time, inevitably, it's brought out the worst in people and now they've all more or less fallen out with each other as opinionated people are want to do.
The national was surely set up to discredit independence. You had the Sunday herald and now you have a comic. Needs a full rebrand. I want to buy quality, not an snp leaflet. Embarrassed to be seen holding it
The National is an embarrassment and a disgrace.
DeleteDear dear . Salmond , Sturgeon, who is to blame? Let's slang each other aff!
ReplyDeletePast leaders are past . Both Sturgeon and Salmond had good points and made progress. Both had faults . Both gone.
The future is what matters noo.
Let's stop the British nationalists writing the narrative. Are we Scots too stupid , downtrodden and divided to pick oorsels up and get a positive campaign for advancing independence?
At the moment we all face rising energy costs , many pensioners without winter fuel allowance. Yet Scotland is energy rich. Meantime the Brits are connecting the NE with NE England to take our energy South !
Why are we not shouting this from the rooftops?
Because we have turned in ourselves
Delete"Why are we not shouting this from the rooftops?"
DeleteThat's part of the reason why so many are pissed off at the SNP because they're not shouting that from the rooftops and have backed away from pursuing the change offered via independence.
People bring up Sturgeon etc because poor decisions under her leadership is what let to the dire situation we find ourselves in to and the current SNP leader was standing right beside her as her Deputy during her entire tenure. Nothing will change under the SNP moves away from those remnants of the past.
* turned in on ourselves
ReplyDeleteThere are regrettably a few sanctimonious individuals who want others banned because they don't like what they have to say. We all know who they are as they post so many times to agree with themselves anonymously. This is a forum for political debate - if you can't cope with other opinions maybe you should be the one who leaves.
ReplyDeleteI really don't get the rationale of those who just want an echo chamber of everyone agreeing that the SNP are doing a wonderfully brilliant job. High fives all round!
ReplyDeleteThat just lures people into living in a fantasy land, doesn't bring the unconvinced onboard and makes people end up believing ridiculous conspiracies when the SNP loses because they haven't noticed the reasons why they've lost support.
12.56
ReplyDeleteAye but perhaps we can't leave it all to politicians . We might hope for better leadership but politicians do better with pressure.
Mind also that Sturgeon did seem to favour making the GE just gone a defacto referendum.
Yeah but when you argue for pressure to be applied SNP supporters push back saying you're undermining the cause, helping the yoons etc.
DeleteAlba, ISP, Common Weal, All Under One Banner, Robin McAlpine, Angus MacNeil, Jim Sillars etc are all seen as the enemy because they've been critical of the direction the SNP has been going in and have attempted to apply pressure.
Absolutely. There is a small gang of Sturgeon loyalists on here who wage a perpetual campaign to have IFS banned for his opinions. Thankfully, James hasn't allowed this 'cancel culture' so beloved by the SNP to infect his blog.
ReplyDeleteWeird
ReplyDeleteWas thinking about donating but read the recent analyses of the SNP accounts. Summary: The auditors mention lack of transparency/ record keeping of cash donations. They have eh.. top sliced the branch funds. They have included promised legacy donations. Presto the book balance! I went and bought some popcorn instead.
ReplyDeleteConference is coming up but the ordinary members will get stitched up and you won’t get a say. Well you may be able to talk about Gaza.
There are two generic types of SNP. The ones that benefit from the grift and corruption introduced by Sturgeon and those that actually want Indy.
James isn’t asking for donations to the SNP
DeleteAnd you are neither since your aren’t SNP at all, you are just a poor pretence. What’s your game, pal?
DeleteHe/ she is a Britnat.
DeleteYes
DeleteYou’re a Britnat. He’s a Britnat. She’s a Britnat. Sometimes it seems like every other post on here is accusing someone of being a Britnat. It’s such an easy and lazy accusation to throw at a poster who dares offer an opinion that doesn’t sit well.
DeleteEven if the poster is a Unionist, so what? This blog is about independence and rightly mainly attracts Indy supports, but it’s an open forum and unionists can come on with their opposing views, otherwise it just becomes an echo chamber of disgruntled nationalists spouting the same old grievances to each other.
There are obvious dangers if someone is posting maliciously under a false flag, e.g. pretending to be one thing but actually being the opposite, and making bad faith arguments whilst wearing the cloak of his/ her opponents. That’s entirely different to a Unionist stating that that is their North Star and then going on to make arguments from that perspective.
DeleteI think anon at 822 should provide the real name so their defamatory comments are dealt with in court. No doubt they will have evidence to show. Still it seems even the original complainer over donations is getting irritated over the delays by Police Scotland. I am still waiting to be interviewed as a donator to various groups and charities and have no issues as to how monies are used. In fairness the Police must have a 100000 to interview rather than the 1 or 2 complainants. Got to be seen to be fair.
Delete11.34pm: do you know what ring fenced means?
DeleteThe evidence is the report the auditors of the accounts themselves produced.
DeleteBeyond the headlines and looking at the 'boring' detail it showed that The SNP recorded a surplus last year, but almost entirely by robbing their own branches.
They identified that some original documentation related to cash and cheques received (for membership, donations, and raffle income) was not maintained by the Party before July 2023, they could not verify the completeness of income for both the current and prior year due to this limitation. Therefore, they could not determine if adjustments to income were necessary or the impact on opening reserves.
Losing 80% of their MPs at the general election will cost the SNP around £250,000 a year in parliamentary levies (money paid out of MPs' salaries into party coffers) alone. They still owe owe Peter Murrell £60,000 and the party had just £42,448 in the bank at the end of the year.
So unless the SNP are taking their own auditors to court it can hardly be classed as being "defamatory comments".
Regarding the missing £600K looking at the accounts it's obviously long gone and questions still loom surrounding what exactly happened to it.
DeleteIt's reasonable to assume it was never ring-fenced as promised and thus was not used for the intended purpose raised & was misappropriated.
Why don't you Britnats go elsewhere?.why are you so obsessed
ReplyDeletewi oor independence? I suppose you're feart , after all England will struggle without Scotland's resources.
LOL, you should try stand up comedy.
DeleteAnon 11.30am says he is speculating. He isn’t, he is trolling. He is the obnoxious poster who keeps making personal attacks and contributes nothing to any debate.
ReplyDeleteAnon@9:11,
ReplyDeleteLOL. England wouldn’t struggle as much as Scotland.
Ain’t happening though.
In other words of Roy Orbison with The Travelling Wilburys “End of the Line” for the UK coming soon.
ReplyDeleteBritnat
DeleteAnon@7:57,
DeleteWhy the hell is anon@11:20pm a Britnat for saying “End of the Line” for the UK is coming soon???
Another seventeen comments deleted. Again, I don't see how I can make this any clearer: the usual moderation rules are not suspended just because this is a fundraising post, and I'm slightly baffled as to why people think they are.
ReplyDeleteAnon 12.23pm
DeleteI read your post. Best thing for you is that it is also deleted as you come across as a Pratt. Probably a Britnat Pratt.
Alex Salmond has accused the SNP leadership of a 'brain-dead' response to the party’s General Election result.
ReplyDeleteHe said the party lacks 'fight' and that people no longer believe it is trying to secure independence.
I'm afraid to say that he might be right. Since the General Election result there has been a very noticeable lack of fight coming from the SNP. You would have expected some radical shifts but instead there's been virtually nothing.
Another post that seems aimed at sowing Yes division, sapping moral etc….
DeleteLet's hope some positive decisions come out at the forthcoming conference.
DeleteWhat’s the point in making this argument? What are you try to achieve?
DeleteAnon 11.27am. Wheest for SNP rides again.
DeleteWhere did all that wheesting get us for the last 10 years. Nowhere.
And your party alternative is….Alba, I assume? Regardless of merits / demerits of SNP and Alba, fact is one has shown it can win seats and the other has shown it is consistently a repository of wasted votes. Go figure.
DeleteAlex Salmond is increasingly looking like the sad old wannabe to be noticed again. Time is his enemy as it was bidens. Most new young voters have no idea who or what he was only what he has become, bitter.
DeleteRemove your feelings about Alex Salmond and answer this: Is he wrong in what he's saying?
DeleteHonestly is it better to just keep quiet, pretend everything is fine, not "sow division" and then act surprised when disaster strikes or to point out glaring flaws in strategy in the hope that they will be addressed before that disaster strikes?
DeleteRemind us all which constituency Alex Salmond stood for again?
DeleteRemind us all why Alex Salmond refuses to stand for election?
Remind us all of the success of the two Alba MPs again?
Brain dead? For a man nobody wants to vote for, Salmond has a brass neck more dense than his own brain
The game's been up for Salmond since day one of his crusade against the SNP and he's too stupid to lie down and die gracefully
Back to the point in hand: Is what he's saying wrong?
DeleteFor a man who nobody wants to vote for, your obsession with Salmond is bordering on psychopathy.
DeleteCan we move away from the 'Play The Man And Not The Ball' deflection?
DeleteWhen valid points are being made who cares who's saying them?
Alex should be concerned with the lost deposits hit own party accrued.
DeleteAlba- has not delivered seats in Westminster Holyrood or at council level. Just stolen by the career jumpers. I await to see some wanting to come back to the snp. SNP should say yes only if they give up their seat and have an election. That would be honest. ALBA will fade away like the other wee parties.
ReplyDeleteSerious question: If career and self-interest was the primary motivator then wouldn't those people have stayed in the SNP in the first place?
DeleteLike take Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey for example. They aren't stupid and likely knew their chances of getting elected as Alba MPs, if their own career was the primary motivator then staying in the SNP would have been the best decision. But they made the jump regardless, ask yourself why?
Doesn’t matter what their motivation was. They are just two guys, bid deal. Who cares? Question is, how do we move forwards? If Alba folk want to spend their time usefully then they would (hopefully they would… or at least they should be if SNPers have sufficient sense) be welcome back in the SNP.
DeleteBut the SNP today frankly hasn't changed (or you could argue has gotten worse) from the SNP most of the Alba people and others left. There's been no reforms, no olive branchs etc.
DeleteIf you believe the latest SNP accounts Party membership was 64,525 at the end of last year (down from 74,889 the previous year and massively down from the high of 125,000 in 2019).
The reasons behind that vast exodus of members has never been addressed by the Party. Those numbers indicate that it hasn't just been a minor problem caused by a few disgruntled deserters.
Anon 1.24pm - why would anyone who wants Scottish independence join the SNP. It’s a party who won elections and got mandates for indyref2 and did nothing.
DeleteWhy would anyone who wants a career join the SNP. It is a party losing members and MPs.
Like it or lump it, the SNP are the only vehicle fori independence.
DeleteAnd that vehicle is our Titanic.
DeleteThere's a new Norstat poll out today showing SNP narrowly win the most seats at Holyrood, with 41 to Labour’s 40.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this would leave it short of an overall majority, and the support of other pro-independence parties would not be enough to get it over the line. This would likely leave the path clear for Mr Sarwar to become first minister with the backing of other unionist parties.
The same poll gives Alba 4 and worryingly Reform 8 MSPs.
DeleteThe unionist Parties may band together to prevent the SNP from forming a Government but if that poll is accurate how effective will that unionist coalition of chaos be in day-to-day Governance? Passing a budget and the like?
By the 2026 Scottish elections Labour will be right back to where they were pre general election, and maybe even further back by that time, Sarwar will have angled himself out of Holyrood to the Lords because he'll know what's coming and the Tories will be decimated
DeleteThe Greens and Lib Dems will hope they can join Labour in a pact at the moment but as time goes by even the Greens will be attacking Labour, they'll have to, and of course there will be no Alba representation whatsoever leaving Salmond in the position of calling everybody on the planet brain dead for not loving him dearly and his family will have to take him away quietly
That's a mince mid term propaganda poll designed to influence not predict
DeleteDr Jim ranting again at 2.13pm and 2.15pm.
DeleteHow do you who it is?
DeleteThis is before Reeves came up with her vindictive WFA stunt.
DeleteReform UK MSPs would be pretty irrelevant in practice as not even the Scots Cons & Unionist party would / should want anything to do with them. Labour and LDs also despise Ref too.
ReplyDeleteJust as posts about fundraising do not signal a free-for-all in which the normal moderation rules are suspended, nor do comments in which I explain that moderation rules have not been suspended signal such a free-for-all. It would be pretty bloody odd if they did, but apparently some people are under that misapprehension. It might also be worth pointing out that I am not so thick that I cannot spot the writing style of people who I told months ago were no longer welcome to post here under any circumstances. What is required of those people is not that they belatedly start adhering to the rules. What is required of them is that they go away and never come back. Many thanks.
ReplyDelete