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I would agree poly. SKS handled it badly but had valid reasons ~Gray has none
The train is good enough for one SNP MP going to the football why does Gray think he is so special he needs a govt car and driver?
https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/snp-mp-mhairi-black-caught-26840334
I for one can't get excited by a Minister using an official car for what some of us may see as incorrect.
It's a bit like the folk who think politicians shouldn't claim any expenses because "they're paid enough" - shows a basic ignorance of how expenses work (for anyone) and a lack of critical thinking.
Its not so much that although its clearly wrong usage but its the lies and the arrogance that will do for him
Well Gray appears to have got away with it?
Sarwar has broken with Starmer again - this time heavily critising the refusal to compensate WASPI women. Thats at least the second time Sawrwar has publicly and strongly come out against westminster policy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpq9vr8x077o
Sarwar's call is not the first time he has publicly diverged from UK Labour since Sir Keir took office in July.
The Scottish Labour leader has previously spoken out against the two-child benefits cap, which the prime minister has refused to scrap.
He also said means testing for the winter fuel payment was too strict after the UK government scrapped universal coverage for millions of pensioners.
Is this because Sarwar has actually got some principles or is it because he is feeling the pressure from the SNP of being outflanked? For sure Starmer is acting as a huge drag on Labour votes in Scotland and giving the SNP easy targets. I can easily see labour not being the largest party after the next Holyrood election as Starmer is rapidly becoming toxic up here
I was a bit surprised that after Gray being in the news another minister thought it was ok taking her son to the old firm game in the chauffeur limo.
Her excuse being it was an official visit to discuss the pyro problem. So, if you are working why take your family?
they ain't limos but yes. Must have missed that one
What a diddy.
I'm still interested in Sarwar making such criticisms of Starmer. Interesting stuff
Meh, not seeing much in that one.
Agreed - petty stuff but just so stupid to give the opposition such ammo. shows arrogance. a classic sign of a party in power too long
Sturgeon and Beattie totally cleared. One charge remaining against Murrell.
I told you so!
[Makes mental note to reread the last 19 pages to see whether I did, in fact, tell you so].
Don't worry Operation Branchform is going to drag on for another year or so.
Sturgeon and Beattie totally cleared. One charge remaining against Murrell.
There wasn't enough evidence to reach the threshold of "beyond reasonable doubt". They are entitled to a presumption of innocence
Following direction from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, criminal enquiries into two people arrested as part of the investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party have now concluded.
The 73 year-old man arrested on 18 April, 2023, and the 54 year-old woman arrested on 11 June, 2023, have not been charged and are no longer under investigation.
https://www.scotland.police.uk/what-s-happening/news/2025/march/operation-branchform-update/
Bye election coming up for Holyrood.
Should be interesting. Farage says he isco.ing up to campaign. I'll bet a significant anti racist counter demo. Remember what happened last time hecame north of the border
My bet? Low turn out and an easy SNP win.
For those who don't know the seat should be fertile ground for reform Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse is a mainly left behind former industrial area with a big sectarian area although some reports suggest that has changed.
Labours popularity has plummeted in Scotland but a lot of folk are scunnered with the SNP
Tories are in the doldrums and have shifted to a hard right culture wars position
Its a bellwether seat
There are still plenty of old gullible racists in the Central Belt, they'll be out in force for Farage.
reform might do better than expected, but McKelvie seems to be have been reasonably liked and a death rather than a by-election for embarrassing reasons probably means less of a less dramatic kick back against the incumbent. The second place at the last election was Labour, who suffer here by being the Westminster incumbent and the local authority ruling party. The SNP will be bound to (probably unfairly - but its politics!) play the S****horpe v Grangemouth card, which is not in the constituency but close enough to feel the ripples and one central belt heavy industry area always resonates with another. Reform didn’t even field a candidate in the seat last time round, and did abysmally in the regional constituency. Unless they come up with a candidate who is local, likeable and seems politically credible I think they’ll struggle to get 3rd. Meanwhile Labour will be unclear which front to fight on and box themselves into second.There are still plenty of old gullible racists in the Central Belt, they'll be out in force for Farage.
Summary of main revelations/themes in Sturgeon's memoir appears in the Guardian today.
TBH, nothing much surprising, but I think the suggestion that gender identity is a "choice" that certain offenders forfeit as part of imprisonment will upset some people. Also TBH I'm not well-informed enough about the gender/sex issue to say whether Sturgeon is right or whether it's fair criticism.
I don't like Sturgeon's politics and I think her approach to her (soon-to-be-ex) spouse's conduct in financial affairs reeks of wilful blindness...but I find Salmond's suggestion that his prosecution was entirely a political conspiracy was and is implausible.
Hmm shall we revisit that by-election then. Let's just remind ourselves of TJs prediction.
My bet? Low turn out and an easy SNP win
So low turnout, yep 44%, feels fairly low. Easy SNP win, no they got beaten by Labour. And how did Reform do, 26.1% of the vote, not far behind Labour 31.6% and SNP 29.4%.
So SNP on the wain and Reform clearly in ascendancy in this case. Maybe Scottish voters aren't so different after all?
More gender nonsense from Sturgeon there. Either you have self id or not. Forfeit for rapists? OK. What about indecent assault? Breach of the peace with serial elements?
As for her criticism of Salmond. He took the indy movement from around 30% to a whisker of independence. In her decade with the benefit of Credit and Boris she got no closer.
On domestic policy she asked to be judged on the education attainment gap. She failed.
". There were no “ifs” and no “buts” about it. This was to be the government’s “top priority”, superseding all else. Sturgeon left herself no wriggle room at all. She said: “Let me be clear — I want to be judged on this. If you are not, as first minister, prepared to put your neck on the line on the education of our young people then what are you prepared to? It really matters.”
So let’s look at the scorecard. In 2019 the attainment gap was 16.9 percentage points and this year, six years later, it is 17.1"
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/nicola-sturgeon-attainment-pledge-failure-bx625c6cc
As for her criticism of Salmond. He took the indy movement from around 30% to a whisker of independence. In her decade with the benefit of Credit and Boris she got no closer.
To be fair to Sturgeon, Salmond didn’t win the referendum, he turned out to be a workplace bully and arsehole (but not a proven sexual harasser), and has Brexit made Scottish independence less viable and not more attractive.
So let’s look at the scorecard. In 2019 the attainment gap was 16.9 percentage points and this year, six years later, it is 17.1
so I would agree with her - it probably is the most important thing a government can do. I’d probably also agree with you that they haven’t done enough. Would I be using 2019-2025 data to make a point that sturgeon failed? Probably not - Covid fell in that time and frankly ****ed over most teenagers but most of all those from poorer backgrounds. More to the point she’s not the current FM, nor even the one before so the last third of that period was not on her watch. Of course it’s also not something than can be fixed overnight, even if you had huge resource the gap is deep seated, cultural and structural inequality.
So let’s look at the scorecard. In 2019 the attainment gap was 16.9 percentage points and this year, six years later, it is 17.1
Would I be using 2019-2025 data to make a point that sturgeon failed? Probably not - Covid fell in that time
"Events, dear boy, events".
"Events, dear boy, events".
Not sure what you mean. Was she supposed to predict Covid? Pull off some miracle in avoiding harm to young people, especially disadvantaged young people which no other country (to my knowledge) managed? Is in fact the gap better than it would have been in another government's hands (I have no idea, but I don't see anyone else making real suggestions how they would solve it either). And you edited out the rest of my comment about the time period - she wasn't FM for a big part of that period. Humza and Swinney also deserve scrutiny to see if they put the attainment gap as a top priority. Sturgeon failed to achieve her ambition - but I think she genuinely regrets that.
For me Brexit has made Scottish independence more difficult to attain but has simultaneously made it more abundantly clear that we need to be independent.
100% - it has made people who were sceptical want to support it whilst at the same time made people who support the idea question how it can work. I won't be surprised if when Indy Ref 2 comes round (whether that's in 4 years or 40) if the Westminster politicians pull off another "Vow" trick to say they'll fix Brexit issues so long as we all play together...
This I find very interesting. Polling for the next Holyrood election. Greens and SNP together will have enough seats to run an administration tho SNP on their own will be well short. Greens due to double representation. Reform taking a bunch of tory seats but hardly making a breakthrough. the votes that went to labour from the SNP at the last Westminster election have not stayed with labour but rteturned to the SNP or the greens. Greens due to double representation.
Given the SNPs issues and the fact they have been in power for yonks ( I firmly believe all parties that win elections run out of steam after 10 years or so) I find it fascinating that they are still on course to be the largest party and to form the next administration. It shows how poorly labour and the tories / reform are doing here.
Edit - link didn't show
https://www.electionpolling.co.uk/polls/scottish-parliament
And a massive difference from the westminster polling. Whats that about the electorate not being much different here?
https://www.electionpolling.co.uk/polls/general-election
Reform taking a bunch of tory seats but hardly making a breakthrough.
How is taking a bunch of Tory seats not a breakthrough?
Reform UK currently do not have any seats in Holyrood, ending up with a bunch of seats sounds like the very definition of a political breakthrough.
At the last general election Reform went from no seats at all to 5 seats. That was widely seen as an important breakthrough for Reform and since mid-April they have led every single national UK opinion poll.
It is clear that Reform are making huge gains in Scotland and your repeated denial of this reality is false.
How is taking a bunch of Tory seats not a breakthrough?
Two cheeks of the same arse?, entirely interchangeable?, a ****ing foul smelling shit covered fly ridding arse at that
Bearing in mind Reform are stronger Britnats than 'Scottish' Labour, or perhaps even the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party, their presence is hardly going to harm the SNP / Green vote. If anything, Reform will split the Unionist vote and strengthen SNP / Green chances of forming a majority administration.
It is clear that Reform are making huge gains in Scotland and your repeated denial of this reality is false.
Its clear you understand nothing about scottish politics with reform only gaining seats because of PR and only a handful then whereas they are due to be the largest party in england in FPTP but here they win not one co0nstituency. They are polling half here compared to England.
Reform will split the Unionist vote and strengthen SNP / Green chances of forming a majority administration.
Pr remember. this is not so because of the top up list seats. It matters not if the unionist vote is split 3 ways not two - there will still be the same number of unionist seats
For me Brexit has made Scottish independence more difficult to attain but has simultaneously made it more abundantly clear that we need to be independent.
I'm actually inclined to agree but Brexit has increased the short and medium term costs of Indy Scot joining the EU immensely. It's gone from a 5 year project to a 20 year one.
Its clear you understand nothing about scottish politics with reform only gaining seats because of PR
I know exactly why Reform are gaining both support and now likely seats too in Scotland. But that is not what is being discussed.
The point I am making, as you know, is that support for Reform in Scotland is growing and has now become significant. Something which you have repeatedly denied over and over and over again.
At the last Holyrood elections PR was fully in place as it will be in the next Holyrood elections, PR is nothing new in Scotland. Please explain why Reform have currently no seats in Holyrood?
Support for Reform is growing in Scotland and they look very likely to be about to experience a significant breakthrough in Scottish politics. You can place your fingers in your ears and shout la-la-la-la as much as you like but it won't change that undeniable fact.
For those who don't know the seat should be fertile ground for reform Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse is a mainly left behind former industrial area with a big sectarian area although some reports suggest that has changed.
Labours popularity has plummeted in Scotland but a lot of folk are scunnered with the SNP
Tories are in the doldrums and have shifted to a hard right culture wars position
Well you were right about the Tories and SNP although you also said it should be an easy win for the SNP.
Support for Reform is growing in Scotland and they look very likely to be about to experience a significant breakthrough in Scottish politics. You can place your fingers in your ears and shout la-la-la-la as much as you like but it won't change that undeniable fact.
Oh dear Ernie - stick to the english politics threads. If reform support in England was the same as in Scotland reform would not win a single seat at westminster. However their support is twice what it is in Scotland
Stumpy - so in a political situation and area that should be fertile ground for reform they could only come third. Hardly the breakthrough they were looking for
If reform support in England was the same as in Scotland....
Who on earth has made that claim? Go on, tell me who has claimed that support for Reform is the same in Scotland as it is in England.
Instead of making stuff up how about admitting that were wrong in your claims that support for Reform in Scotland was pretty much non-existent and not growing?
And also how about dropping your ridiculous assertion that Reform getting seats in Holyrood wouldn't represent a breakthrough for them?
It is a fact that Reform are gaining ground throughout the UK whether you or me like it or not. London has always been a no go area for Reform and yet they are now making significant breakthroughs, a couple of weeks ago they got their very first council seat in London
Reform will probably do well in next year's local elections in London, relative to how well they have previously done in London. That is a fact whether I like it or not and being in denial isn't going to magic them away, as you apparently seem to think.
Stumpy - so in a political situation and area that should be fertile ground for reform they could only come third. Hardly the breakthrough they were looking for
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj42gver2glo
Maybe the BBC should stick to commenting on English politics?
I never said what you keep on claiming I have done. You keep on saying there is no difference north and south of the border despite the actual data showing a huge difference - and this is one of them. reform are a fringe party here and are not set for a significant representation despite PR
Ernie - look I like your enthusiasm and your analysis if not always your conclusions - but your ignorance of scottish politics just shows thru.