Just a quick note to let you know that I have a new article at The National, about Labour's narrow win in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. You can read it HERE.
Just a quick note to let you know that I have a new article at The National, about Labour's narrow win in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. You can read it HERE.
Interesting chart on Mastodon by Craig Dalzell at the moment. Seems 8,800 SNP voter stayed at home, and 3,600 Labour ones. Labour didn't win this, the SNP lost it. Why? Not nearly enough focus on indy IMHO.
ReplyDeletegood article James
ReplyDeleteFor many Independence minded folk it's all very well saying "retaining the pro-independence majority at Holyrood" but the SNP need to explain what it's practically for because so far it's not been for independence. Rendering the phrase entirely rhetorical.
ReplyDeleteThe SNP haven't understood this so far, Swinney certainly hasn't & doesn't give the impression he has any intention of using Independence as anything other than a vote gathering ruse.
To persuade the crucial stay at home voters the SNP really need to up their game considerably, talk to other parts of the movement consensually & start really moving the dial on independence - empty rhetoric doesn't fool enough people these days.
Thanks James - great article and agree that this is a sliver lining for SNP.
ReplyDeleteThe SNP were beaten by a thick member of the Orange Order who likes to take part in Orange Order marches. SNP you will not get my vote again until independence is clearly your priority once again.
ReplyDeleteYou're mistaken. The OO member came fourth and got 6%
DeleteKeaton - I saw the Labour candidate being interviewed on Scotland Tonight and he freely admitted he was a member of the Orange Order. Although he wouldnae admit on camera when he was next going on a march. So sorry Keaton but you have jumped in and are wrong again. So there were at least two members of the Orange Order standing if you are correct about the Tory candidate.
DeleteWhat’s the problem with someone being a member of the Orange Order?
DeleteIs this all we have left?
Obviously not a problem for some people.
DeleteCan I give you some clues - sectarian hatred, spitting on Catholic priests.
Ironically it’s you who are spouting sectarian hatred by tarring all members of a group with the same brush. There’s bampots in every organisation.
Delete3.08pm the organisation is the bampot.
DeleteHi James. I take it that the article will be in tomorrow's print version of the National, not today's?
ReplyDeleteThanks.
It's certainly not in today's, because I sent it in at about 4.40am. My eyes were getting very heavy by the final paragraph, but I just about managed it...
DeleteNo doubt the Nicophants will be saying if only the blessed Nicola didn't resign none of this would be happening.
ReplyDeleteSturgeon resigned because she knew the rot was well established in the SNP. Not to mention the Polis investigation. The rot that she deliberately created to sink the SNP and she decided to go at a time that the nicophants ( think Dr Jim) could still worship her in their own deluded way. Job done with the added bonus the nicophants will buy her book.
Masterful work by Sturgeon. Destroy Salmond, destroy the SNP and still get the dafties to buy her book. The only fly in the ointment for Sturgeon is that independence itself has got more popular even as the SNP declines.
So I thought I would have a quick gander btl at WGD.
DeleteYep the nicophants were out and about:
Handandshrimp says:- “ I think if Nicola was still leader and the whole mess associated with Branchform hadn’t happened then we would be looking at an Indy majority next year and a win last night.”
Shrimp seems to have conveniently forgotten that Branchform happened under Sturgeon’s stewardship of the SNP. Mind you nicophants do conveniently forget a lot about Sturgeon’s leadership.
Dr Jim says:- “ I agree, if Nicola was still FM none of this would’ve happened.”
Again Jimbo seems to have forgotten that Sturgeon was FM when it happened.
For good measure Jimbo throws in this wee nugget of “truth”
Dr Jim says: “ It also transpires that Police Scotland knew for two years that Nicola Sturgeon had no case to answer.”
Does Jimbo provide any evidence for this “truth “ - NO - not a word.
Instead of looking to the future and proper leadership these nicophants look backwards to an imaginary past.
Nicophants are a dying breed and for Scotland’s sake thank goodness.
And still carries on with her legacy. Little wonder the SNP vote stays at home. None of the above won last nights vote. Apathy rules
DeleteAch, there's always the ISP !
DeleteI had rather hoped Idiot For Scotland had at long last grasped the basics of what has happened, but no, here he is, spouting the same I hate Nicola shite. Many of us are disappointed and let down by N S. But in the real world a lengthy and expensive police investigation could find no evidence of criminal actions by N S. Stop lying, Idiot For Scotland. There are plenty of grounds for criticising N S. You appear too thick to identify them.
Delete6.21pm the idiot is you. The Police passed a file to the COPFS about Sturgeon. The nothing you claim it contained took them more than 6 months to review. Sturgeon’s husband is being prosecuted for embezzlement while he worked for Sturgeon as SNP Chief Executive. Sturgeon claimed the SNP accounts were fine but the Police think otherwise. This all happened when Sturgeon was leader. She is responsible.
DeleteSturgeon was correct to resign. The party should have expelled her.
Anon at 6.21pm not only are you the idiot you are the liar. IFS does not mention “criminal actions” in that post but you do. What do you think the Police passed to COPFS on Sturgeon a shopping list for Asda!
Finally, IFS has extensively reported on Sturgeons failings on a whole range of subjects over many years. So once again you are the liar.
wooh wooh stop, SNP vote share fell 17% from 2021, many SNP voters simply did not vote. They didnt switch to Labour or Reform, they just stayed at home, why?
ReplyDeleteWe cant keep clutching at straws like this. There was no vision of Independence, there was no prospect of Independence, John Swinney is not relatable, he blundered into Kneecap dispute, pissing off many pro republicans in the area ( only for kneecap to sell out at the Hydro next day) , his government overturned the most despised planning application in history on Loch Lomond which generated genuine anger and hurt, his government is seen to favour big business over local democracy, your almost guaranteed planning permission if your a National Housebuilder, no matter how many rejections you get, the SNP are obsessed with inward investment over local communities, and its got to the point now that many SNP voters have said enough.
Swinney is not an able politician, he cant think on his feet, he looks like a headmaster, sounds like a headmaster, has shocking ability to read public opinion. and the elephant in the room remains the Independence strategy. SNP cant keep getting elected on the promise of ' maybe'. Its a miracle they have done so for this long.
There is an end of runway here eventually for SNP, and plenty evidence that they will continue to piss people off mean time with their lack of competence (GRA, missing funds, Ferries, Flamingo Land, Local planning decisions, zero indy vision, zero indy plan, refuse to engage with Yes groups etc). Scottish government are now being labeled ' colonial administrators' and its hard to argue against that. They are quite happy to complain about Westminster, but offer up zero alternative vision other than vague, unclear messaging on Independence.
No wonder they stayed at home.
Great comment
DeleteIn recent weeks we've seen John Swinney double down on the SNP's obsession with gender identity politics, which voters are completely sick to the back teeth of hearing about. The SNP have hardly mentioned independence at all, and by all accounts made a poor choice of candidate for this by election. It's little wonder that at a time when independence is narrowly ahead in the polls, so many independence supporters simply chose to stay at home yesterday. The SNP have got no-one but themselves to blame for this catastrophic result, and they can't even blame Alba this time as they usually do. There is absolutely no way this result can be sugar coated.
ReplyDeleteThe SNP parachuted in an outsider, so I think did Reform, as a commentator last night said the Labour winner was the only one who didn't have to leave the constituency to go home. That's not just a kick up the bahookie for the voter it's a kick up the bahookie for local activists.
DeleteI think it would be good if only local people got elected in future.
I don't agree with that. Katy Loudon was an excellent choice of candidate. She campaigned really hard with the full support of the party behind her. She would have been a shot in the arm for the independence movement if she'd won last night.
DeleteAnon at 4.45. Can you provide references to the speeches and election materials she used in her campaign where she focused on the real and urgent need for Independence to allow us to achieve our primary aim? Did she identify Independence as her primary aim? Please respond. We both know you cannot, which is why she lost.
DeleteOf course I will respond. Katy engaged well with voters on the doorstep and listened intently to their concerns. Tackling the everyday issues is at the heart of the good governance the SNP delivers as we prepare Scotland for independence.
DeleteThis time, the message didn't quite get through to the people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse which is a great shame as Katy is a tireless campaigner and the SNP's core values are at the heart of everything she does.
Sorry anon at 7.08. You didn’t answer my question. She did not emphasise Indy as her primary aim and the only way by which the aims aspirations and everyday worries and concerns of people in Scotland can be dealt with. SNP managed a sustained period of good governance up until about three years ago, when the party was taken over by entryists and careerists with no real interest in Independence. The rest is as they say history. There is no plan for independence, no agitation, no confrontation, no constitutional crisis or conflict. Nothing other than ongoing cowtowing to Westminster. Depressing but true. The SNP candidate lost to a semi literate sectarian cretin who cannot string three words together. Think about that.
DeleteDid the word Independence feature at all in the SNP candidate’s campaign literature? No. Read into that what you will. Approximately 8000 Indy supporters chose not to vote in the by election. Is anyone in SNP really asking why, or interested in accepting the answer?
DeleteFrom the National article:
ReplyDelete"Another consolation for the SNP is that they can point to their narrow defeat as a timely wake-up call for the independence movement. "
Perhaps, but that would be ill-judged if they didn't also take note of the corollary:
"Another consolation for the independence movement is that they can point to their narrow defeat as a timely wake-up call for the SNP."
and that seems a bit unlikely at the moment, when Swinney says:
"“So the SNP made progress last night, but it’s not nearly enough and we’ve got to build on that.”"
John boy, you LOST the 2024 election, you LOST the by-election, the way it's going you are making progress for the SNP into oblivion.
Swinney was a loser last time he was leader and he is a loser now. He has learned nothing.
DeleteAlba is the way forward 😏
DeleteIt'd be interesting if a poll could include a question on attitudes in Scotland towards immigration from England to Scotland.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest threat to Scottish culture is surely from English culture, rather than from the culture of any immigrants from further afield (though the influence of English culture in Scotland probably owes more to England-based media and government than to the English people who live in Scotland).
English people seem generally well integrated in Scotland, but their votes may have accounted for much of the 10% margin of victory for No in the 2014 referendum.
Immigration is constantly discussed in the news, but never immigration to Scotland from England!
Seriously gavin? That sounds a bit racist mate.
DeleteQuite correct Gavin. It was English votes swung the No vote, similarly English votes swung the Welsh Leave vote 2 years later. Retired English people quite openly tell me they "relocated" here for the health care, then encouraged the rest of the family to "come up here", or those English 'socialists' who proudly stick to their No vote as being the correct one. I've come to call it colonial settlement because the ones you hear bear all the hallmarks. I hope James you dont delete this comment, because Scots tell me they resent its effects and why would they need to hide that and pretend its fine, also because I'm an English-born unhesitant Yes voter, which might be why I've never had the slightest urge to "relocate" back to a now foreign country, I'd rather just gag myself to avoid association because lots of them boil my pish too.
DeleteI'll let you away with it this time, but for future reference please note that telling me not to delete a comment is the quickest way to get it deleted.
DeleteWhat on earth are you talking about gavin? Are you saying that people who are English shouldn't be allowed to live in Scotland but we should allow people from other countries to live here?
ReplyDeleteFfs he isn’t saying that at all. So do you honestly think that English people don’t have any effect on our culture or the referendum vote on independence. Just a few weeks ago Scots students were getting slagged for having a Scots accent in Edinburgh university. I personally didn’t know any English person, and I know more than a few, who voted yes in the referendum. They weren’t too slow in gloating the next day either
DeleteSo you bring me back to my original point, are you saying English people shouldn't be allowed to live in Scotland or allowed to vote?
DeleteWhy pretend that Scotland with a population of 5m with vast untouched country, surplus natural resources, living next door to England, with population 55m, the most densely populated country in Europe, with limited natural resources, and rapidly running out of space, is not a threat to Scotland in the future? Are we pretending for example, it's not English incomers that are the biggest issue behind rural housing, the depopulation of youth in fragile rural areas, and the survival of culture and language?
Delete