Friday, October 4, 2024
More analysis of the Dundee by-elections
Just a quick note to let you know I've written a short analysis piece for The National about the SNP's victories in yesterday's two Dundee by-elections - you can read it HERE.
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You seem to be captivated by a subject you claim to view with disdain. Odd.
ReplyDeleteJust to explain, Iain was responding to two troll comments from KC, which I've since deleted. I hope KC's masters are paying him well, because no-one can deny that he puts in the hours.
DeleteI doubt he is getting paid well. There is quantity but the quality is severely lacking. In fact when you read his posts you would tend to think I’m glad I’m not like him.
DeleteFrom the article, regards the British parties failing to overtake the SNP during transfers:
ReplyDelete> Curiously, that can be partly explained by the fact that the number one destination of vote transfers from the Workers Party was the pro-independence Alba Party.
It's not that curious, really. Galloway's lot are quite distinct from the Butchers Apron waving bigots of Reform and the other unionists who are all shoulder to shoulder with Netanyahu, up to their knees in you know what.
Scottish independence isn't the only issue motivating every voter in Scotland. A lot of people are furious with Israel, too.
Don't forget that George Galloway is a Lochee lad. And his party's candidate there was an old school mate. Plus Galloway used to be Dundee Labour in the days when the city was red. So there's a lot of really local stuff in Galloway's party vote, and in the transfers.
ReplyDeleteYeh, Galloway left Dundee under a bit of a cloud if I remember. Still his ant- independence stance is well recorded except if you are an Iraqi, Palestinian, Irish……. The true Anglophile.
ReplyDeleteGeorge is also a Brexiter.
DeleteHe’s no friend of independence. But he’s distinct from the crippling British establishment as well. Doesn’t surprise me there’s crossover among voters, especially as Indy’s nowhere near being on the table under Swinney.
DeleteGiven Galloway's announced intention to vote Conservative if he lived I Scotland, I think we can take it that the distance he claims to exist between his and the other British Nationalist parties is purely cosmetic.
DeleteI've no time for the man myself: when I see Galloway, I see ego, not principles.
DeleteBut that overlap of support James remarked on in the article is no surprise to me. If you think Scottish independence completely outweighs ALL other issues for ALL voters in Scotland, you are plainly mistaken.
As a lifelong unionist, I am becoming increasingly concerned at this string of SNP victories in by-elections. It would be nice to get just one good result for unionists but I fear that may not happen for a long time. Worrying stuff.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. It wouldn't be so bad if the polls showed a majority against independence, but with the UK's gold standard pollster Ipsos consistently showing a Yes majority, it looks like game over for us Blighty Backers. Grim times.
DeleteAs a lifelong shit troller I believe you may also be trolling.
DeleteBacking Blighty!!? Trolling really has reached a new low on here.
DeleteYes, hang your head in shame, KC. A new low.
Deleteas if a brit nat would post the above.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of KC's regular tactics, poor repetitive bastard. He must be Mr. Popular offline.
DeleteLOL.
DeleteKC is "Lifelong Unionist" and "Blighty Backer".
DeleteLooks like he’s accepting the inevitable then. Maybe he’ll piss off and give us all peace.
DeleteI thought KC stood for King Crimson?
DeleteKC is a unionist tosser. Hopefully we’ve seen the back of him!
DeleteKing Crimson you say?
DeleteThe rusted chains of prison moons
Are shattered by the sun.
I walk a road, horizons change;
The tournament's begun.
The purple piper plays his tune,
The choir softly sing;
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
For the court of the crimson king.
Actually does have end of empire vibes about it, come to think.
Note there is no support for Alba in James Kelly's writing here.
ReplyDeleteThat's a whacko comment. Presumably you're the guy from the other day who said turning Scot Goes Pop into an outright Alba propaganda blog was the "minimum expectation" if I wasn't to be expelled from the party? You innocently claimed to have been misunderstood, but you're not exactly dispelling the impression that it's exactly what you did mean. Every single blogpost has to praise Alba to the skies, apparently.
DeleteNo support from the electorate either !
DeleteMcEleney must wish he could expel the voters.
DeleteBut James Kelly far from it being a question of praise to the skies, there is in fact no support here whatsoever.
DeleteBecause he’s an analyst?
DeleteYou really demand an end to objectivity here, and a conversion to propaganda?
The Ministry of Information is a harsh mistress.
Is the ALBA diversionary court case allegedly for the winter fuel issue a fundraiser?
ReplyDeleteI’m sure it’s as “ring fenced” as Nickie’s new wheels.
DeleteIt's certainly an Alba stunt of some sort because Peter Fanning is an Alba office bearer at branch level. I'm surprised that fact alone didn't put an end to the media's interest, but maybe they had the wool pulled over their eyes about it.
DeleteI think there was an initial spurt of interest but the media quickly realised it was a stunt. I’m just surprised that Mike Dailly was dragged into it.
DeleteThey keep trying to push it but it isn’t getting traction. The problem is Salmond is desperate for publicity, any publicity so we will probably see more of this type of stunt
Wee trip to the Lake District this coming week. Stop off at Tesco in Carlisle to buy couple of litres of Bacardi. Will save over £5 a bottle compared to here, due to the SNPs minimum pricing in Scotland.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt this wins a few votes from some do gooders, but the majority of us can see what MUP really is, ie yet another attempt at political points scoring.
Roll on 2026.
Yawn. You'd be better slapping a tattie scone on your brainless heid!
Delete@9:09,
DeleteYou, like many Nats, don’t like hearing the truth.
As Jones used to say in Dads Army, they don’t like it up em!
Yeh - the best you can do is quote from a bbc tv programme from the late 1960’s about WW2? The little englander syndrome.
DeleteTo quote the theme song to the show: "If you think old England's done."
DeleteAnon at 10:47 PM
DeleteStupid boy
Anon @9.17:
DeleteAre you Capt Mainwaring?
Or maybe more like Capt Waggett?
Asking in a Great British way with a quick flash of my union jack.
That Captain Mainwaring guy is crazy! Why is he talking in a Swedish accent? Mentaaaaal!
DeleteThese elections are worth a bit of thought because the SNP may not be diving as much as it appeared. I resigned from the party more than two years ago but still vote for it to block unionists - that worked where I live.
ReplyDeleteHow these smart Alec, school kid, unionists make a bit of a gain here is by taking advantage of James's careful observance of free speech.
They get others to waste their time, and stunt the discussion, by reacting to their drivel.
Ignore them - it is all they deserve.
Blocking unionists is one thing, but hasn't the SNP moved on to blocking independence?
DeleteOff topic but seen the Daily record front page?
ReplyDeleteI want to believe in the SNP again but I can't square the finances thing with the trust i gave these people over about half my life. I cannot believe she would allow funds to be embezzled but it looks bad. How can a party with 120k members for years paying subs to 20 ish staff be going near bankrupt when they operated and won elections with less than 25k members? Where did the money go? Why was the ceo on such high wages to oversee about 20 staff?
I want to become an SNP member again but we need this wound cleaned and trust back if I give them a dime more.
Anyone know when the full story will out as any recovery is dependent on this chapter being closed.
Yes, I have said previously, let's see what they actually have.
DeleteI also said that either way, one side will not believe that the CPS and Police Scotland are at it.
You read the Daily Record? or just look at the pics of Sarwar and Baillie grinning like demented Cheshire cats?
DeleteIt’s a political prosecution. It will never see a court room. I donated. The money was used in an attempt to further Indy. Crown Office know this and know hundreds of us will insist on being called as witnesses. Fed up explaining this.
DeleteAt least the Record is a newspaper.
DeleteBit of a stretch to call the National a newspaper.
Anon@10:49pm,
Delete“The money was used in an attempt to further Indy”
Well it was money well spent then!
Indy!! Dear oh dear, there’ll never be independence. There is no case for independence, never has been, never will.
The SNP couldn’t answer in a positive way, questions on the important issues regarding independence in 2014, and still can’t. I’m talking about Currency, pensions, border with our biggest trading partner by far, loss of billions we get each year through the Barnett Formula, etc, etc.
It’s pie in the sky lunacy that only the most deluded of crackpots believe.
While 11:46 sounds like KC after the second line, their opening point is correct: how was the money used to further indy? Seriously? What has the SNP done since 2014? All their interest has been on "other stuff."
DeleteAs for KC: jeezo, if only there were any other countries Scotland's size in the world, doing a hell of a lot better than us, even without our spectacular natural resources. Wait a minute!
Genuine question: Do we seriously believe hundreds of thousands of pounds to an apparent non-existant company to refurb the Party headquarters at a highly inflated rate or the purchase of a luxury motorhome was done for independence?
DeleteAt what point do people stop defending the ludicrous things money was spent on, the amounts spent and stop regurgitating the comedic reasons given for the purchases?
The case is no longer about the ring fenced cash that should be obvious.
DeleteAnd if the case goes ahead the victim will be the SNP
The unionist trolls are out in force I see. No actual response to the point made. It is a politically motivated prosecution. It will never see the inside of a court room, but it will continue being investigated until after Holyrood 2026. The terms and conditions of donation can be debated until the cows come home, but I, and many others, will insist on giving evidence. My donation was not misused. Any answer to the difficulty this causes the prosecution? Why do you think Crown Office are sitting on this? Think and unionist troll in the one sentence. I know, sorry.
DeleteSo how do you think your donation *was* used, then? This might come up when you take the witness stand in court, so you'd better practice your answer.
DeleteHi, I am the OP l here.
DeleteI'm not really even talking about the 600k. I'm talking in general and the allegations today, the wages of the ceo to oversee a fairly smallish organisation's back office all while receiving around 6 times the previous subs.
My feelings around indy strategy and other things aside, I need trust that these people were not coining it in off the back of all this before I take the plunge to rejoin.
A lot of them are still there. Whatever the issues are, get them out on the table and let us see. This "it's all a plot" doesn't square with me at the moment.
For context the ANC in catalonia and omnium are rolling in cash and they actually put up events regularly. The legacy monies, subs it doesn't make coherent sense to me. They've either been profligate or deliberately used funds badly is my gut feel until someone gives us all the facts.
The "ring fenced" 600k *is* the heart of this. You can stuff money into party funds and not care how they're spent or squandered, that's on you. But that indyref2 crowd funder was a PROMISE by the party, which SNP CEP Peter Murrell treated with contempt.
DeleteAnon at 7.56. You clearly speak from a position of complete ignorance. The terms and conditions of donation and my consent to its use are what is relevant . Stick to talking about things you understand. Limiting for you I know but less embarrassing.
DeleteIf I donate to the Salvation Army or the Red Cross or Cancer Care or any group in the giving of my time or monies is freely given. Whether the Sally Army buys a bag of T bags or a coat fro someone that’s it. They decide. If I don’t like it I don’t donate or I join the organisation and change the rules. Maybe the complainant should just withdraw and ask for his fiver back?
DeletePete Murrell should definitely pay back every penny of the 622k, personally.
DeleteTo some people it must seem outrageous and unbelievable that Sturgeon, the party Leader and Beattie, the party Treasurer when all this was happening have not been suspended by the SNP. To me it is not unbelievable as both Yousaf and Swinney are part of Sturgeon's gang.
DeleteSturgeon has contributed a lot to the SNP. Never forget that.
DeleteDaily Record/Ranger Lol !
DeleteThe complainant is Sean Clerkin.soon to get a gong from His Majesty.
DeleteAlec Lomax says on WGD:- " Soon to be Sean Clerkin MBE " at 1.35pm today.
DeleteAfternoon Lomax at anon 1.50pm. I see you are still posting your snidey one liners and contributing zero.
Your Sean clerkin and I claim my empire biscuit
DeleteA lot of deliberate idiots posting above e.g. 11.09am, who seem to be claiming they are ignorant of what " ring fenced" means.
DeleteThe SNP leadership never had any intention of holding Indyref2. It was always a money making scam that clearly many SNP/WGD numpties still cannae handle the emotional upset to believe they were fooled so they just blame everyone else that tried to warn them.
That's right Lomax , you and the rest of the WGD/SNP crowd are to blame for letting this happen. I see you now have a strident Zionist amongst your shrinking band on WGD who blames the Palestinian, Lebanon, Iraq, Syrian and Iran governments for not having their own iron dome technology to protect their people. As if you can walk in to your local branch of Currys and buy one. Idiots galore on WGD. The same idiot wants Kavanagh to ban any criticism of Israel as he has done with the SNP. Look where that has got the SNP and Israel.
Anon 11:09 When I donate to a 'ring fenced' indyref2 fund, I expect to get an indyref2, not to buy a motorhome for the party leader or provide her with a shiny new hq.
DeleteThe people saying this is about Sean clerkin are really off putting to me
DeleteThis is about trust and values. I want to give snp another chance but they've got questions to answer. To suggest otherwise is wilfully ignorant
When someone writes “genuine question” you know it isn’t.
ReplyDeleteNonsense
DeleteGenuine question, why not?
DeleteLet’s keep up with the innuendo cos that’s all you have.
ReplyDeleteSee Humza has been on a rant again. Great to see the Lebanese Cristians celebrating the wipeout of the Hezzbola terrorists. Peace in the Middle East may be at last achievable and the hostages can go home.
ReplyDeleteYeah mate, Hezbollah are the only bad guys there, and just any day now till they hand back the hostages and turn themselves in. Peace and happiness and Zion for all, for ever after.
Delete/s
Anon: You sound like Davros. He regarded himself as peace-loving because after the Daleks exterminated all other life-forms there would, indeed, be peace.
DeleteI think you will find the term is “Christians”. I would have to say anyone cheering the deaths of tens of thousands Muslims, Jews, Christian, atheist, agnostic are in the end just human beings. Yeh there may be a few terrorists in there but on the other hand one of the biggest leads the Israeli state.
DeleteTime for any cheering to stop along with the missiles, bombs, bullets and the rest. Peace in the Middle East has been put back 20 years.
Hard to see how Israel committing atrocities in Lebanon will contribute to the "release of the sausages" in Gaza.
DeleteIt’s October in a US election year. It’s carte Blanche for Israel, and that makes it land grab time.
DeleteI see Wings has migrated to a new comments system. Folk can down/up vote comments now. Interesting to see the pile-ons. Also telling to see the criticism Stu Campbell gets for never engaging with the Salvo argument himself. Seems to be a thing over there.
ReplyDelete"Folk can down/up vote comments now."
DeleteDo they need to be logged in to do that? If not, I may have found my next hobby.
it's a bit quiet, I think they are adjusting; some red numbering and blood in the water already
DeleteAlba need to convert SNP voters to Alba voters to make a breakthrough. It will be much harder, if not impossible in 2026 to make an SNP 1 Alba 2 argument. Because the SNP will not be dominating the constituencies. The SNP will campaign hard for the list vote so to succeed Alba in 2026 will need to take SNP votes. Alba have already said they will be standing in the constituencies this will be to build their list vote.
ReplyDeleteSo are voters on a journey from SNP to Alba
The SNP 1 voters second preferences in the by-elections Alba has fought so far
Linn - 9%
Broxburn - 12%
Dyce - 17%
Bellshill - 22%
Inverness - 18%
Perth North - 16%
Lochee - 19%
So rapid improvement until Bellshill then stalled
The 5.5% in Lochee is similar to what the sitting councillors who moved to Alba were achieving in 2022. The 2022 results ranged from 1% to 8.5% with 111 candidates.
But Alba haven’t managed to break out of that range even though they are contesting very few by-elections and throwing a lot into the campaign with visits from the party leaders.
And they are cherry picking for example didn’t put up a candidate in Strathmartine the neighbouring Dundee ward where they stood in 2022.
It seems their plan is smoke and mirrors they pretend they can extrapolate from these local results to the list vote in 2026
And / Or slowly build up the vote in council wards till they start to get councillors elected which is a long term project and might be the only way Alba can eventually be successful but that will take a long time.
They may of course be hoping something will turn up Salmond will be vindicated by his court case everyone will realise how badly he was treated and start voting Alba ?
Alan Ross the Alba candidate was a councilor in Lochee for 15 years until 2022.
DeleteSalmond is a lost cause - he wasn’t liked by women in the main before the issue and less liked now. In some aspects it’s not Salmond that’s the issue is ALBA. Most SNP members I know wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole. Those that left is all you are going to get but even they are leaving ALBA in not expelled first for speaking out.
Delete