Thursday, February 4, 2021

Worrying signs for Sir Keir Starmer in Scottish YouGov poll

A couple of days ago, YouGov published the results of a full-scale Scottish poll, but it only included favourability numbers for various leading politicians, and a couple of questions relating to the Holyrood inquiry.  It seems unlikely that they'd go to that trouble without also asking about independence, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see indy numbers in the coming days.  One possibility is that the indy question was commissioned by a paying client and that the favourability questions were internal polling tacked on by YouGov.  If so, it's hard to know what to expect, because YouGov's last indy poll was incredibly tight - Yes 51%, No 49%.

Anyway, here are the favourability numbers -

Boris Johnson:

Positive: 21%
Negative: 75%
Net: -54

Sir Keir Starmer:

Positive: 36%
Negative: 41%
Net: -5

Nicola Sturgeon:

Positive: 59%
Negative: 38%
Net: +21

Alex Salmond:

Positive: 15%
Negative: 75%
Net: -60

If I was a Labour strategist, I'd be very worried by Sir Keir Starmer's results.  He really ought to still be in his honeymoon period, and he certainly hasn't had enough time or opportunity to properly upset anyone, and yet he's already in negative territory.

I know the usual suspects will look at Alex Salmond's numbers and say "he's finished, he's done for, any suggestion that he might make a comeback is delusional". I don't know if they're trying to convince themselves or if they simply don't understand how proportional representation works, but under the Holyrood system it doesn't actually matter if 75% of people dislike you - as long as enough of the 15% who do like you turn out and vote for you, that'll do the trick.  If Mr Salmond stands as an independent or for a new party, he'll only need around 6% of the vote in a single region to return to the Scottish Parliament.

The broader point is that public opinion is not set in stone anyway - it may change after we know the results of the inquiry.  Other questions in the poll show that pluralities of respondents feel that both Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon haven't "generally told the truth", which suggests a greater degree of ambivalence and uncertainty than you'd think from the favourability numbers.

85 comments:

  1. If Salmond stands for a new party or even possibly as an independent, that's his chances of coming back as leader of the SNP and/or FM done and dusted. If these are no longer his ambitions fair enough, I tend to think otherwise though.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I'd be surprised if he's aiming to be SNP leader or First Minister. If he does return to the SNP, he'd probably support someone with like-minded views for the leadership.

      Delete
    2. I think he's looking for vindication, he wouldn't get get a bigger one than that. However if I'm wrong, wouldn't standing as an indy/party X candidate still be a block to him being a powerful supporter of J***** C***** for the SNP leadership?

      Delete
    3. I think what is key is how any comeback would be perceived. If he is seen as coming back for the good of Scotland, then he will win votes. If he is seen as coming back for himself, particularly if that involves perceived vengeance on the SNP, then he'll get nowhere and even damage his legacy.

      This is the danger he faces with e.g. the misleading parliament thing. Just quietly giving your honest account to the standards folk is the right thing to do. Openly attacking sturgeon and making accusations against her (which it is coming across as somewhat) is the wrong thing, even if these have some justification. It is undignified and looks like he's putting himself first with little interest in Scotland's future.

      He should remember the old saying that a real statesman 'doesn't wrestle with the pigs as both will get dirty, but the pig likes it'. The pig in this case being those that have wronged him, assuming this has definitely been the case.

      He has no need for vindication. He won two cases in a row and is innocent. He should not be tempted by 'revenge' as 'an eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind'.

      Delete
    4. "he should not be tempted by revenge"

      Now if a group of people tried to put me in jail for a very long time. If they effectively destroyed my career. If they put my family through hell. If they used internal procedures backed up by trawling for rumours. If the backed up all those tactics with leaks to the Newspapers to ensure a smear campaign just to make sure...I think I would be a tad upset. Wouldn't you.
      OR is it to be as with Women and should Alex weeshed for Indy?

      Delete
    5. Smearer Skier ( lying since 2014) is actually giving Salmond advicešŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£hilarious. As if he would listen to a guy who keeps Smearing him.

      What is Smearers advice to Salmond - it is that Salmond should LIE. Well the liar who thinks nothing about lying thinks Salmond should lie to protect Sturgeon. Not everyone has your low standards Smearer.

      Salmond is telling the truth - get over it.

      Delete
    6. I'm with "Scottish Skier". Couldn't say it better.

      Delete
    7. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    8. "Now if a group of people tried to put me in jail for a very long time"

      If that's the case. Currently, everyone is innocent of that charge as nobody as been found guilty by the courts. Conspiracy to commit perjury is an extremely serious crime, so if has happened the police will come calling to those involved. Certainly, nobody should be going around accusing people of such a thing. They should go to the police if they have evidence.

      And I totally support justice, just not revenge. The latter is fueled by malice and makes someone no better than those who attacked them. Revenge is for the weak.

      Salmond's complaint is that he was falsely accused of serious crimes with his name dragged through the papers / folk denouncing him as guilty without trial.

      Well, he should in no way claim anyone is guilty of any crime / gross misconduct until such time as they are found guilty. He likewise should not leak anything to the press or he become those he claims to have the moral high ground over.

      It's perfectly possible for him to quietly seek justice with dignity. Just tell your side of the story to the police and to the parliamentary authorities. He should not pass his own judgements for that rile is not his. You only need to look at what happened at the US capitol when influential people make serious claims without court judgements backing these.

      A Salmond that takes the dignified approach to seek justice is a Salmond I would vote for (again).

      Someone who is too weak to overcome desires for revenge is too weak to lead a country and is dangerous. See Trump.

      I am not saying Salmond is that, and I am watching how he deals with this knowing fine well much is coming through the unionist media / anti-Yes party English blogs. At the same time, I await any verdicts on Sturgeon. Obviously not verdicts from online lynch mobs.

      And for all the people that 'claim to know something'. Unless you know everything in every detail, you know nothing so weesht.

      Delete
    9. Not everyone has your low standards Smearer.

      I am not the one claiming to know key evidence but is not going to the police with it, allowing Salmond's conspirators to walk free.

      Unless of course you actually know jack shit, which I rather suspect is the case.

      Delete
    10. Blabhein - you got it wrong it's " I'm with Nicola" Do try and pay attention.

      Delete
    11. Smearer Skier (liar since 2014) - funny how you didn't say James should be going to the police when he said in his article he had info on what was going on. You are a pathetic coward Smearer.

      Can someone, anyone tell Smearer what is going on - it's a public humiliation for Smearer - the self styled highly qualified politics geek has no friends to tell him and will probably be the last to know.

      Delete
    12. People seem to have forgotten that fairly recently Salmond failed to get elected when he was far more popular. The idea of the government plotting to trash him doesn't make sense, but on the other hand the government have done a lot of things that don't make sense.

      Delete
  2. https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/xzean1bi82/InternalResults_SalmondSturgeon_210125.pdf

    Yes voters believe Salmond over Sturgeon by a big margin when comes to telling the truth.
    'Has generally told the truth' (net)
    -23% Salmond
    +21% Sturgeon


    Which is a 44% lead for Sturgeon over Salmond.

    Those most likely to believe Salmond over Sturgeon are Tory / No 2014 / Leave 2016 voters.

    Hardly a surprise when you read comments on here from these.

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    1. Just to add... To be honest, if I was Salmond, I'd be doing everything I could to not be a unionist hero, particularly if I wanted to have any hope of a return to frontline politics in Scotland.

      Delete
    2. it's a good job that Juries who hear the evidence and not people who read lurid newspaper articles that return court verdicts then.

      Delete
    3. It is. Even if you are actually in a jury and can listen to everything, read it over again and again etc, it's not always black and white.

      The people that had Salmond guilty without (before his) trial are the same type that have Sturgeon guilty without trial. They just post anything that suits their agenda while avoiding anything to the contrary.

      I am perfectly confident that if Sturgeon is guilty of conspiracy to commit perjury, then police Scotland will come looking for her. It's not as if none are unionists for example. And everyone in the SNP somehow covering for her? Come on.

      Likewise, I await the verdict of the standards committee and Salmond committee before I have her guilty of anything. I was the same for Salmond; I argued he was innocent until proven guilty to the day the verdict was read, no matter what lurid details the papers tried to push while the Siren voices on here told me sturgeon knew he was a rapist and had been colluding to protect him.

      Delete
    4. You have to laugh at the brass neck of Smearer Skier (liar since2914). He says above " I argued he was innocent" and then he proceeds to smear Salmond all over multiple SGP articles. What a charlatan.

      No matter what happens in Smearers mind he will always be right - similar to a certain Mr Campbell in fact.

      Delete
  3. "It seems unlikely that they'd go to that trouble without also asking about independence"
    They did ...

    ReplyDelete
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    1. If there had been a No majority I think it would be shouted from the rooftops and be the first data set being released. Wait and see.

      Delete
  4. I'll be surprised if Alex Salmond stands for election. I sincerely believe that he has the interests of independence as his primary focus. If he stood as an independent in NE Scotland, then he would walk in to Holyrood, and if he doesn't, then perhaps folk will stop accusing him of putting self before Indy.

    How quickly folk forget! Remember when everybody thought that a civil war would break out in Westminster, when he returned there under the leadership of Angus Robertson? He turned out to be the ultimate team player, with nary a hint of him trying to undermine Angus.

    ReplyDelete
  5. hmmph! Keir Stammer upset me very early!
    You cannot have a Referendum for starters.
    Boris is right to visit Scotland.
    The EU issue is closed.

    I don't think I'm alone!

    The habit now of having a nice big Union Jack behind his desk and promising to push the case for the Union.
    Another Red Tory of the Blair/Brown mould (in every sense of the last word)

    He back Trident replacement, he has embraced Brexit to win back his Red Wall.

    Sarwar and Baillie at branch will be happy in their boss at HQ is a rabid Unionist. I suspect his popularity in Scotland is way, way lower.

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    1. I agree and I'd say the same - but I expected more respondents to remain neutral towards him at this point. This is quite a big plurality of negative ratings. With UK Labour concerned mainly with local elections in England (which will bring even more British/English nationalism and union jackery - but I wonder what'll this do to their prospects in Wales as well) and Sarwar being viewed as his personal appointment, Labour in Scotland really have nothing to look forward to.

      Delete
    2. Sir Keir just has the one Union flag though - just in case we thought he was a Tory!
      The Labour Road back to power is to look respectable (tory boy haircut) and sound patriotic (agree no Indyref with Tories) then just wait for Johnson to make a muck-up.
      That bit's working, but it all goes out the window when the Tories kick out Boris when the polls tank.

      Delete
  6. Tony Blair was very popular in polls both before and after he lied about WMD to start an illegal war in Iraq. A good actor with good communication skills can fool a lot of the people for quite some time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can rest assured that if Sturgeon takes Scotland into an illegal middle eastern war, I will speak of her the same way I did Blair.

      Delete
    2. Smearer Skier (liar since 2014) - I couldn't care less what a liar like you would say.

      Delete
  7. Plenty discussion to be started here. James has given out enough points to talk about to last a week.

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  8. I can see why unionists were pushing the 'collusion' angle back then. Sturgeon 'trying to protect her best mate and fellow nat the rapist salmond'.

    Given ministers were not supposed to intervene in the independent process for assessing cases of harassment by ministers (who are rather obviously going to be of the same party or coalition ergo have a conflict of interest), Sturgeon dodged a bullet here.

    If she'd pressured for mediation, there's no doubt it would look like she was colluding with Salmond to try and get him off the hook. 'Sturgeon uses powers to protect evil salmond from sex charges shocker!'.

    They were super close for decades. Much as she may have wished to, there's no way she could intervene; that would be a massive conflict of interest.

    https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,alex-salmond-describes-the-behaviour-of-the-scottish-government-as-a-disgrace

    Salmond also claims that Nicola Sturgeon had indicated that she would put forward a case to the Scottish Government [UK civil service] for mediation to resolve the complaints, but later changed her mind.

    He mentions three meetings with the First Minister, in April, June and July 2018, at which he suggested mediation would be the best way of dealing with the complaints.

    Salmond claims that in the first meeting on 2 April 2018, the First Minister “suggested that she would intervene in favour of a mediation process at an appropriate stage” but “subsequently decided against such an intervention”..


    Not how Sturgeon would be 'putting a case' to the civil service because it was not her decision. If it is your decision, you don't need to put a case to anyone.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Smearer Skier (liar since 2014) - you are a great one for quoting journalists when the original documents are available for quoting in the Inquiry website.

      Why do you keep quoting their words when the original words are available to quote!

      Smearer Skier says - Given ministers were not supposed to intervene ...........". Wrong that only applies to former ministers. For current ministers Sturgeon makes the decision.

      You really do not know your stuff Smearer and you are misleading readers with your inaccurate comments.

      Delete
    2. You told us all before that 'after Sturgeon signed off the policy, she washed her hands of the whole process'. Were you lying?

      And if Sturgeon was running the investigation, why was she only named as an interested party (in terms of the outcome) in the civil case and Salmond only called for Evans to resign?

      You seem to be trying to mislead people.

      Delete
    3. Smearer Skier ( lying since 2014) - back to your lying again Smearer - you put in quotes words I never said. Nothing but a lying charlatan.

      I would never use the words "she washed her hands of the whole process..... you are a compulsive liar.

      I bet you even have the nerve to tell your daughter not to lie. You truly are a despicable human being.

      Delete
  9. Juries are uniquely privileged.
    They get to hear the evidence from BOTH
    The prosecution and the defence, unlike newspaper readers or TV viewers who only hear what others decide is good for them.

    ReplyDelete
  10. For the people who do not have the mental capacity to read any of Salmonds submissions to the Inquiry or are too scared to do so.

    Here is a wee interesting snippet.

    Paragraph 24 of Salmonds submission on the Judicial Review -

    " We have a witness precognition (statement) which recounts that in late November 2018 a SPECIAL ADVISOR told the witness that the Government knew they would lose the JR but that they would "get him" in the criminal case"

    Now who could the Special Adviser be and who is the witness. Will they be revealed and if so when and where? If not why not?

    Certainly doesn't seem like a neutral civil servant/special adviser to me - certainly not a fan of Salmond. Who could it be?

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    1. I assume it was one of Salmond's special advisors.

      That's who the bulk of the complainers were; people who worked closely with him as SPADs etc, with 7/9 of these UK civil servants.

      Delete
  11. I think most people who have followed the inquiries into the government's actions and Sturgeon's actions conclude that either the last FM is lying, the current FM is lying, or they are both lying. Also, the Scottish government operation looks seriously bad - one inquiry is into their proven incompetence, so they lie somewhere between incompetent (a given) and having many traits of the government of Belarus (a distinct possibility).

    Possibly, or probably, the most likely outcome for any Holyrood election is an even lower turnout. The opposition have been 'project feared' into irrelevance (see 'government of Belarus traits'), hence non-participation becomes protest.

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    Replies
    1. I think most people haven't paid the slightest bit of attention because it's not remotely important. Even if both are telling fibs, so the fuck what? 100k dead in the UK and the economy being trashed by brexit is just a wee bit more important than the definition of 'first heard about something' and whether that was on the Thursday or the Monday.

      Delete
    2. Smeaer Skier ( liar since 2014) - a person of no morals.

      Lying to the people of Scotland and the Scottish parliament is just fibbing to Smearer Skier. This is the type of person Smearer is. Trying to put Salmond in jail - doesn't bother Skier one bit - thats Smearer for you.

      An abuse of government power and misuse of public funds not a problem says Smearer Skier - what a dreadful person you are Skier.

      Delete
  12. I'm sure we'll hear this phrase a lot applied to many things including economic growth.

    The UK is a “speedboat” while the European Union is a more cumbersome ship, Ursula von der Leyen has said in defence of the vaccine shortages in the bloc.

    In an interview with various newspapers, the European commission president said the bloc should also prepare itself for further “obstacles” and “production problems” and even “shortages” of components.

    Do you really wish your vaccination programme was controlled by these guys.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A speedboat with a large hole below the waterline.

      https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/economy/arid-40218275.html

      UK had worst Covid-19 economic hit in all of G7

      Delete
    2. Smearer Skier (liar since 2014) - I posted that info about 4 or 5 articles ago. Do try and keep up.

      Delete
  13. The EU has administered vaccines to 3.22% of its adult population, compared with 15.5% who have had a first jab in the UK.

    Von der Leyen said the chief cause of the difference in timescales between the EU and the UK was the slower authorisation process undertaken by the European Medicines Agency than that open to national regulators.

    Von der Leyen said. “Before concluding a contract with a pharmaceutical company, the 27 member states had five full days to say whether they agreed or not.

    “This naturally delays the process."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The EU has a far smaller pile of dead bodies and infected people.

      The UK closing the door faster after the horse has bolted isn't something to celebrate.

      Delete
    2. Hmmm,
      Hungary 1347 deaths/million, Belgium 1830/m, Slovenia 1729/m, Portugal 1325/m, Czechia 1583/m, Italy 1494/m, Spain 1300/m, France 1193/m, Sweden 1187/m, Lithuania 1077/m, ......

      Simpy not true is it and these populations still exposed due to lack of vaccines. Cases still rising in many of these countries with no end to the pandemic in sight. Central and eastern Europe avoided much of the first wave but haven't been so lucky second time around unfortunately.

      Delete
    3. Out of all the countries here only Belgium's got a bigger figure regarding deaths per million people (and they are reporting also the people who haven't been tested, but only assumed to have covid when they died - so it's not comparable to the UK figure).
      And also don't forget that UKGov, Tories and Johnson gifted the world with the English variant of the coronavirus due to their lack of action. UKGov caused the Portugal English variant outbreak in January by not informing Portugal of what'd been happening in the UK in December and letting people travel to their second homes in Portugal for Christmas holidays.

      Delete
    4. Deaths 28 days following test in UK 1650/m, on death certificate 1687/m, excess deaths since start of pandemic now lower than both figures.

      There aren't any other deaths to measure. Belgian rate is higher on any measure, lets see where the figures are when all is said and done

      Delete
    5. You should really compare England with Belgium as the UK is a union whereas Belgium is a state with full control of covid management just like England has.

      The UK has 4 nations which have adopted differing approaches.

      Belgium is still ahead, but England had given it a run for its money.

      Delete
    6. Not true, Belgium doesn't have full control of covid management, it is subject to EU vaccine regulation and procurement.

      Delete
    7. "The UK has 4 nations which have adopted differing approaches."

      Again not true, the nations of the UK have all adopted pretty much the same approach with very slight timing issues. All nations began lockdown at the same time, all are in lockdown now. All had slight relaxations for Christmas.

      The vaccine roll-out is also happening at a very similar rate across the four nations with each nation having proportionately equal amounts to distribute.

      The reason Scotland may have fared a little better is, as you mentioned re the vaccine programme, that the population density of Scotland is maybe a fifth of that of England which confers a huge advantage.

      Ceredigion, Devon and Cornwall have also fared better than the UK average as they have the same advantage.

      Delete
    8. Like Scotland isn't you mean? So why unionists try to compare Scotland and England?* Stupidity or an attempt to mislead? Must be one of the two.

      And are you arguing a fully independent / Bexited Belgium would have done better than independent England [sic UK]? Fair enough.


      ---
      *Of course you can do this as long as you qualify that Scotland doesn't have full covid control whereas England does.

      Delete
  14. Unity is obviously more important to the EU than the health, well-being and welfare of your citizens.

    Von der Leyen said "I can’t even imagine what it would have meant for Europe, in terms of unity, if one or more member states had access to vaccines and not the others.”

    ReplyDelete
  15. I wonder if it is one of Sturgeons Storm Troopers that threatened Cherry. One of these people who Sturgeon begged in her video to rejoin the SNP as their natural home. Note I said people - I don't want one of these bampots on my case - scary people.

    So let's recap - Cherry gets a false accusation of bullying in her London office - case dismissed. One of the accusers subsequently gets a job in Edinburgh with the SNP . Cherry gets bullied by these trans bampots regularly on social media for standing up for women's rights. Cherry gets blocked by these people on the NEC for standing for the Edinburgh MSP seat. Cherry gets threatened and 30 year old man gets charged. All just a series of unfortunate events. A coincidence - aye right.

    As Salmond has found out to his cost - being perceived as a threat to Sturgeon/ Robertson is a dangerous place to be.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I see you forgot to take your medication today. He said/she said is what you keep peddling. Perhaps Mi5 are involved somehow, who knows. No concrete evidence every quoted. Your moniker should be reported under the Trade Descriptions Act as I suggest that you really are no friend to the campaign for Scottish Independence. Quite the reverse. Jog along nicely now after taking your medication.

      Delete
    2. Sturgeon gets death threats all the time from unionists. As Cherry's profile has risen, she will be on their radar too now.

      Of course unionists will naturally try to blame independence supporters.

      Delete
    3. Unknown - I suggest you are an idiot who cannot even come up with a moniker. If you want concrete evidence away and read the papers lodged by the Inquiry on their website. Of course you won't because you are an idiot.

      You are no friend to thinking human beings.

      Delete
    4. Smearer Skier (liar since 2014) - do you keep a tally of how many unionists you think you have discovered in your time on SGP.

      Don't forget to look under your bed tonight to check for unionists.

      Delete
    5. You seem to be trying to get unionists off the hook for the cherry attacks IfS? That's going to make folk suspicious of you.

      Delete
    6. Smearer Skier (liar since 2014) - don't forget to check under your bed for unionists.

      Delete
  16. I see Murrell is going to attended the committee again. So much for the liars that told us he wouldn't.

    Obviously as neither a current for former minister or a member of the UK civil service, it's completely impossible for him to have any responsibly whatsoever for the botched investigation. He's just a civilian. He's also under zero obligation to attend.

    Yet he does to try and help as best he can, even under threat of jail by unionists.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Murrell volunteers what he knows while others - including some on here and in England - say they have key evidence that could jail sturgeon for conspiracy to commit perjury but are not releasing it or telling the police.

      Delete
    2. Smearer Skier (lying since 2014) - Murrell is a liar just like you .

      1. In your own words two SNP members are alphabet women. So Murrell does have a responsibility both when he was " pressurising " the police in 2018/2019 and today.

      2. He does have an obligation to attend as does any Scottish citizen but particularly when you are married to the FM and the Chief Exec of the political party governing Scotland.

      3. He was pressurised in to attending by the Committee.

      So to summarise both you and Murrell are lying charlatans with not a speck of integrity . If Murrell had any honour he would have resigned months ago.

      Delete
    3. No, Murrell is not a member of the Scottish government so cannot be held responsible for its actions. That's plainly ridiculous.

      Leslie Evans is ultimately responsible for the actions of the UK civil service in Scotland, hence Salmond's calls for her to resign after the civil case.

      Murrell has freely volunteered his time under threats of jail from unionists calling him a lying charlatan etc.

      This contrasts yourself. You claim to know key information but are withholding it from the police and the committee. Have you written to the latter with your evidence? Why not? Why persecute Salmond like this?

      Delete
    4. Smearer Skier (liar since 2014) - all you have is lies and total nonsense.

      According to Smearer Skier Sturgeon is a FM who every week has Cabinet meetings with her permanent secretary Evans and her Principal Private Secretary Somers but they just do what they want and ignore the FM of Scotland. Smearer Skier paints a picture of a FM under the control of Evans. What a load of bollocks Smearer posts. Sturgeon runs the Scottish government - if she doesn't then Skier says we are voting for Evans to run Scotland. What utter tripe Smearer posts.

      Smearer why don't you pose the same question to James Kelly he claims he knows stuff. I'll tell you why because you are a coward and an arse.

      Murrell just like you Smearer is a proven liar.

      Delete
  17. The pace starting to pick up a little bit, thank heavens Scotland has access to UK vaccine supply and is not constrained by EU vaccine procurement issues.

    As of 8.30am, another 48,165 patients in Scotland had received a first dose of coronavirus vaccine, taking the total to 742,512, Swinney said.

    The increase is the largest daily increase since the vaccination programme began.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Another great deal secured by the UK Government. Supporting Scotland, saving lives.

    The UK has agreed a deal with German company CureVac to develop vaccines against new strains of coronavirus, the business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said.

    He tweeted:

    We’ve entered into a partnership with CureVacRNA to rapidly develop vaccines against new strains.

    We must be prepared for all eventualities so we’ve placed an order for 50m doses, if required.

    I can also confirm the agreement will allow large-scale manufacturing in the UK.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scottish vaccines have been secured by the Scottish government. Public health is devolved.

      Delete
    2. Not true, contract's are with the UK Government which in turn provides Scotland with a population share of the supply. No guarantee Scotgov would get same terms and conditions if acting independently.

      Delete
    3. Yes, the Scottish government organized the vaccines for Scotland, negotiating with the UK government on this.

      Scottish taxes / borrowing paid for Scottish vaccines.

      Delete
    4. Exactly the same thing has happened in the EU union; denmark's government sourced it's vaccines from the EU who did the collective bargaining.

      The UK government are in charge of licensing, but Holyrood is in charge of public health / the NHS and medicine procurements.

      You are the one constantly berating them for supplying Scots with vaccines fast enough.

      Delete
  19. Unionists seemed most keen for Salmond to be guilty, now seem keen that he was cleared.

    I've only seen strong support for Salmond (and Cherry) online which makes me wonder which are the SNP die hards and which might be wee pretendy 'stirrers'. In either case, I'm not too fussed if Salmond has a vanity project regional run; he's likely if these favorables are to be believed, to pick off just as many Unionist anti-Sturgeon votes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My tuppence worth.

      I think there is a lot of agent provocateurs trying to divide the SNP/Yes movement and using the Salmond/Cherry sagas for their attempts. The British Establishment are scared and you can see from the media both media, mainstream and social that they will have a harder time compared to 2014. I still feel that Alex and Joanna won't be pawns for those seeking to divide the SNP.

      Interesting that a self ID Yes fundraiser launched nearly a day ago which in the past would raise quite substantial amounts in a few hours is not doing so well.

      Delete
  20. A positive result from the court of session.

    However, on Friday, Lady Carmichael said the courts would only intervene "to determine allegations of unlawfulness".

    Like sensible heads keep saying, the referendum will be legal unless someone affected can successfully argue it was actually unlawful.

    The UK could not hope to democratically survive England - especially Tories - trying to challenge an iref in the Scots courts, just after Scots voted for that in an election.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Aye Skier, that's my take too, and don't think the unionists haven't been following this avidly.
    Ditto the Scottish government. Nae excuses. Fortune favours the brave.
    This is our time and London knows it.
    Let's not fail because we are too feart to sieze the day.

    ReplyDelete
  22. SCHRODINGERS SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

    Handling of harassment complaints involving current or former ministers.

    1. Internal procedure agreed in December 2017 and published at that time on the Scottish intranet.

    2. Internal procedure in December 2017 and published in February 2018 on the Scottish Government intranet.


    Liars getting caught out and changing their story.

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    1. That's the UK civil service for you.

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    2. When we cast our vote for the SNP to run the Scottish government you are saying we are actually voting for Evans. I say we are voting for the leader of the SNP to run the Scottish Government.

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  23. I'm getting the impression more and more that many more people would be alive in the UK, and the economic hit wouldn't have been as bad if this guy had one the Tory leadership contest.

    Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has been on BBC Breakfast this morning to warn against easing lockdown too early.

    In recent days he’s been calling for “sensible restrictions” to be kept in place until cases can be driven down to such a level – such as below 1,200 a day, for example – so that thorough contact tracing can be done.

    “The point I’m making is that we have a new issue that we have to tackle if we’re going to avoid having a cycle of lockdowns, which is this issue of the new strains and mutations,” said Mr Hunt, who is also chair of the Commons health and social care committee.

    “The worry that we have to really plan for is the possibility that we’ll have a new mutation that is actually immune to the vaccines that we’re giving out at the moment.

    “So in order to make sure we don’t get caught out by that again, we need to get transmission levels down to the kind of levels where we can do incredibly thorough contact tracing like they do in Korea and Taiwan.

    “When you can get to that level of thoroughness you know that you won’t have to go back to another lockdown if you’ve got another of these horrible variants.”

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  24. I fear thew Chariot is going to steamroller Scotland today.

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    1. I must be doing something right to have an official stalker.

      Life must be pretty pitiful for you though right now; i mean for you to have have fallen as far as the loner stalker stage.

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    2. "I fear the Chariot is going to steamroller Scotland today."

      'Fear' or a boast? Wrong either way...

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    3. Aye, not sure folks can trust yer predictions dogger.

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    4. Jeez, I just looked up whit dugging is. Since 2013 huh?

      Well, ok.

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  25. That Yougov poll hasn't appear so either results they didn't want published or for a private poll.

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