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I've just read the "joke" he is truly reprehensible. Every paper should publish it just so people know that sort of individual he is.
I'm not easily offended but that's awful.
You know it's bad when the rugby club members are offended. Reform voters aren't offended so he won't go anywhere, just sit out for a day or two until the next inconsequential Reform scandal probably involving his boss.
The telling thing is that he claims he knew instantly something was wrong when he told the "joke" so it was the audience reaction that worried him. Then he apologised and donated money to an organisation associated with one of the groups he slurred.
Not much evidence of him reflecting on his attitudes and behaviour there.
I've read it. Tbh it's the sort of 'joke' Roy Chubby Brown would have told in the 1990s. Maybe even today if he's still alive and working (not checked). When I think of a default reform voter, it's pretty much Mr Brown I think of. So maybe it's bang on the money for his base.
You know it's bad when the rugby club members are offended. Reform voters aren't offended so he won't go anywhere, just sit out for a day or two until the next inconsequential Reform scandal probably involving his boss.
Yeah I thought when the story broke that it would be the sort of thing that was heard/said in Rugby clubs arounds the country at the time and whilst it was probably poor taste, it was probably not as bad as the media fuss. Then I read the report of what he said...
I think a fair proportion of reform voters would find what he said "gross". There will also be some who are quite used to this level of debase humour, and a chunk who will defend his right to "freedom of speech" even if they didn't like the joke.
I'm not a reform voter - and don't subscribe to freedom of speech arguments - but I do worry a bit that anyone who's ever done or said anything stupid at any point in the past will be put off politics because your entire history will be raked over. I'm sure there's plenty of present day things to challenge him over without needing to rake around the past.
Polling for holyrood
With less than two months until polling day, the survey of more than 2,100 people by Lord Ashcroft puts the SNP on 39 per cent of the constituency vote and 31 per cent on the regional list – down from 47.7 and 40.3 per cent respectively in 2021.
Reform UK, which in recent months has overtaken Scottish Labour in many of the polls, is the second largest party in the constituency vote, with 14 per cent. However, it would receive the third-largest vote share in the regional list with 15 per cent.
Polling shows the Scottish Greens are in second place on the regional list, with 17 per cent of the vote. In the constituency vote, the party sits in fourth with 11 per cent, one point behind Scottish Labour.
It looks very much to me like this election will show up flaws in the scottish system and not end up with a proportional chamber.
List vote is the critical one for everyone but the SNP. SNP will clean up in the constituencies because of the fragmentation of the unionist vote and the collapse of labour and will end up over represented with something around a majority of seats. Everyone else will get list seats but will end up under represented
Its going to be very interesting with local variations and tactical voting being very important.
I already see false information flying around - like the lib dems are going to target my seat and consider it a good prospect - they came 4th last time with a measly 4% of the vote 🙂 God knows how they think that. I wonder if its a misreporting and they are targeting a list seat in the lothians? Weird
I think we will see a strong tactical anti reform vote in the constituency vote
"2nd vote green" seems to have caught with them having a significantly higher list vote than constituency vote. Other parties are much of a muchness bar the SNP losing votes to Greens on the list. Greens as the official opposition will be fun. It could happen with the SNP gaining enough constituency seats to govern and the greens in second place looks likely
LOts to dig into here
reform have now lost 4 candidates in scotland and their leaders days must be numbered
reform have now lost 4 candidates in scotland and their leaders days must be numbered
Good, he’s a vile prick.
The vile prick gave an after dinner talk at a farming dinner/award thingy here in Galloway/nithsdale that mates attended years ago, he told a joke mentioning p*kis, I remember this vividly as I drove my mates to the dinner and picked them up afterwards, my mates partner was ****ing livid.
It looks very much to me like this election will show up flaws in the scottish system and not end up with a proportional chamber.
However imperfect the Hollywood electoral system is, 27 years on we're still waiting for Westminster to improve. Recalculate the Scottish elections using FPTP and get back to us 😂
oh indeed scotroutes.
all systems have flaws and of all the ones i have looked at i do like the holyrood system the best. its produced pretty good proportionality up to now
to get a truely proportional system you have to pretty much lose the constituency link or have massive constituencies or end up with a really high threshold
under fptp snp would have had 90+ % of the seats at points
Read this in the herald which I think is probably the closest thing we have to an objective newspaper in Scotland? Maybe a wee bit towards SNP?
edit: scotsman which is right wing unionist. Doh
Attempting to form a minority government with support from Reform? Is Sarwar an SNP mole? they could hardly give the SNP a bigger gift! Sarwar is on record as saying he would do no deals with reform. Does he seriously expect their MSPs to vote for him as first minister just because they are unionists? the man is off his head
Labour believes it has identified a route to forming the next Scottish government by flipping a dozen constituencies from the SNP and relying on a strong Reform performance on the regional list to deprive John Swinney’s party of the keys to Bute House.Anas Sarwar’s team believe that in battlegrounds across the Central Belt, where constituencies can be framed as a straight fight between Labour and the SNP, turning 11 or 12 seats red would create three large party blocks, with an assumption Labour would be the only party able to form a government with the help of Reform.The claim is they would have a “moral mandate” to govern, but in order to stand a chance of forming the next government, Labour needs the polls to tighten dramatically to around four or five points. Currently, Labour trails the SNP by around 18 points - meaning Mr Sarwar’s campaign will need to bring forward something extraordinary to move the dial on public opinion in the coming weeks.Labour’s potential route to Bute House would rely on unionist parties, including Reform, to vote in Mr Sarwar as first minister following May’s election, with Labour attempting to govern as a small minority administration.
In the scenario of three strong blocks of Labour, the SNP and Reform, Labour is banking on unionist parties to put Mr Sarwar into Bute House instead of Mr Swinney.
“We would have the moral mandate having come from third, even if we are marginally behind the SNP as the biggest party”, the source claimed.
Can you imagine the press reaction if the SNP ever claimed something called a "moral mandate" ?
More polling showing a differnt picture:
HOw two polls can have such huge varience in the green vote is more than odd Ashcroft had the green vote twice what this one does
The SNP will fall short of an outright majority at May’s Holyrood election, fresh polling suggests.
Figures obtained by the Diffley Partnership predict that voters will elect 62 nationalist MSPs, two seats fewer than in 2021.
Using polling conducted by Survation between March 16 and 23, elections guru Mark Diffley contends that the Reform will form the official opposition to the SNP, securing 19 seats, while Scottish Labour will come third with 18 seats.
The Conservatives will lose almost 20 seats, returning 13 MSPs, followed by the Scottish Greens with 10 MSPs and the Liberal Democrats with seven.
There'll be a lot of horse trading if that poll is correct. Primarily depending on which other parties are willing to make deals with Labour and Reform. That's assuming that Sarwar can get his party to follow him on that deal which I don't think is a foregone conclusion
SNP with green support would still have a majority
When Edinburgh council labour did a mucky deal with the tories to freeze out the SNP 2 councilors refused to vote for the deal and were suspended. I would hope enough labour MSPs would have the integrity to refuse to work with tories and reform
guru Mark Diffley contends that the Reform will form the official opposition
Eep!
Does that mean that if reform end up as second biggest party Sarwar thinks they have a moral mandate to be voted in as gov/FM (if I understood the mental gymnastics?)
Does that mean that if reform end up as second biggest party Sarwar thinks they have a moral mandate to be voted in as gov/FM (if I understood the mental gymnastics?)
No - I think its if labour come a close second having been in third place in the polling they have a moral mandate - like they did in edinburgh council ( or were they third there? )
I think ( unlike Sarwar who seems to not be able to)
SNP with green support would still have a majority
When Edinburgh council labour did a mucky deal with the tories to freeze out the SNP 2 councilors refused to vote for the deal and were suspended. I would hope enough labour MSPs would have the integrity to refuse to work with tories and reform
The greens would never cooperate with reform
I don't see the lib dems helping reform in anyway
The tories will probably be reeling and so even when politically aligned be unhelpful
So even IF Labour did cooperate (which I doubt), reform will be impotent.
The Scottish system was set up to try and stop parties gaining overall majorities so it shouldn't be a surprise when that is what it does. A pleasant consequence of that is it stops quite so much tribalism and hatred and encourages cross party cooperation - which is actually what the public want.
The idea of Malcolm Offord, who had zero experience of Holyrood process as LOO never mind FM is comical. Even in the Lords he was only speaking a couple of times a week, and usually to ask a pre-prepared question so hardly a serious adversarial politician.
A pleasant consequence of that is it stops quite so much tribalism and hatred and encourages cross party cooperation - which is actually what the public want.
Apart from labour who have done nothing but sulk since 2007 and as a result have made themselves irrelevant.
The idea of Malcolm Offord, who had zero experience of Holyrood process as LOO never mind FM is comical. Even in the Lords he was only speaking a couple of times a week, and usually to ask a pre-prepared question so hardly a serious adversarial politician.
[/quote
Let me correct that for you
and usually to ask a pre-paid question so hardly a serious adversarial politician.
More candidates being dropped - SNP lose one for being useless when another SNP bod was found guilty of sexual assault - her being dropped comes just hours after Swinney said all candidates were standing tho he didn't mention her specifically
labour lose one for fraud charges
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2ev34jnre1o
FFS - is there any party that is actually fit to govern? I have lost count of how many have had to stand down now. Keep it in yer trousers, keep your hands out of the till and do not be a racist twerp. Its not exactly a high bar is it?
FFS - is there any party that is actually fit to govern? I have lost count of how many have had to stand down now.
You're confusing the parties with the individuals. A party would be unfit if it wasn't requiring these candidates to stand down. The individuals are unfit to run and the parties are doing the right thing by ditching them.
@tjagain - you forgot this one
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4glrxrnlywo
Nothing to look at - move along.
FFS - is there any party that is actually fit to govern? I have lost count of how many have had to stand down now.
You're confusing the parties with the individuals. A party would be unfit if it wasn't requiring these candidates to stand down. The individuals are unfit to run and the parties are doing the right thing by ditching them.
not imo. these folk should have been dealt with earlier .
scotroutes. yer no helping 🤣
Reform Scotland have now lost 8 candidates and their press officer I think.
I haven't heard of any tories or lib dems. Tories least shambolic campaign? FFS
For the first time in my life I have no idea for whom to vote.
It's always been simple:
1 - Labour
2 - If for some reason I dislike the Labour candidate, or especially like the Green or SNP candidate, then Green or SNP
3 - If there is a good local non-aligned candidate I might vote for them
(I once voted Lib-Dem as I was told this would 'keep out the Tories'. It let the Tories in. Never Again)
This time I cannot think of a single party that deserves my tick. The closest I can come to a rational decision is to vote Tory, as the current member seems to be a good constituency MP. This goes against all my instincts.
I am considering spoiling my ballot, which has always previously seemed a bit silly.
Anyone else facing a similar dilemma? Or can anyone convince me that I should vote for a party?
I didn't vote in the last Westminster GE for much the same reason. FWIW I don't see the point of going along just to spoil the ballot paper(s) either.
There are a couple of interesting new/minority parties I might consider this time based on local candidates.
Anyone else facing a similar dilemma? Or can anyone convince me that I should vote for a party?
No dilemma down here in galloway, snp for myself, kick the tory ****er out, labour are a busted flush - greens are......green?, lib dems are probably playing in the park and reform should be taken out and sent to the abattoir
i didn't vote in the GE as there was no one i wanted to vote for.
However for holyrood my msp is snp and a good guy.. I dont have much sympathy with the snp in general mainly because of the control freakery and centralisation
i am also disgusted with the way labour behaved over the assisted dying bill despite it being supposedly a free consience vote. Final nail for my life long labour vote ( until 10 years ago)
Hence i will be voting green on the list and eithe green or snp ( for the first time ever) in the constituency vote
Folk who are in the position of no one to vote for may I suggest checking polls and vote anti reform tactically
2nd vote green is a good bet IMO to keep reform out
I'll be similar to tj, I think Deform will only benefit from people that don't vote.
Thanks for replies.
Maggie Chapman alone is enough to stop me voting Green.
Although I agree with the Greens on many - even most - issues there are a couple of their policies that mean I cannot vote for them.
Of the other parties I align with Labour most, but I agree they're a 'busted flush'.
Where I am I think that voting to keep out Reform would most likely mean voting Tory.
This site has some detailed polling - including showing regional lists.
Apologies if I am stating the obvious but for an anti reform list vote you need to be voting for a party that is underrepresented in constituency seats compared to their vote but that is doing OK in the regional list
https://ballotbox.scot/scottish-parliament/polling-scottish-parliament/
- If I was in your situation I might look at the candidates rather than their parties and try to see if one of them might be a better representative for the area than the others. Not very satisfactory I admit and full of risks but perhaps better than not voting and ending up with the worst of all possible choices
jusat seen this poll. An outlier? Can't find any links to methodology
Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️
@LeftieStats
🗳️ Holyrood MRP points to SNP **majority**
🟡 SNP: 67 (+3)
🔴 Lab: 17 (-5)
🟢 Grn: 14 (+6)
➡️ Ref: 14 (+14)
🔵 Con: 9 (-22)
🟠 Lib: 8 (+4)
Source: @ElectCalculus
/ @FindoutnowUK
, 13-31 Mar
+/- vs 2021 election
Thanks for replies.
Maggie Chapman alone is enough to stop me voting Green.
Although I agree with the Greens on many - even most - issues there are a couple of their policies that mean I cannot vote for them.
Of the other parties I align with Labour most, but I agree they're a 'busted flush'.Where I am I think that voting to keep out Reform would most likely mean voting Tory.
interesting - I don’t think I could find a party that didn’t have policies that make me unhappy, similarly there’s no a single party that doesn’t have at least one vocal idiot! I tend to see the parties for their top three flagship policies and if I can support them for that I will mostly tolerate the others if they can manage to muster enough MSP votes to get it through. In terms of individuals, unless a constituency MSP has done something to particularly offend then I’ve come to realise they mostly just do as they are told - so I focus on who the top couple of people are (and who might replace them in the next 5 yrs).
Well having recommended voting for the individual rather than the party. I don't think I have strictly speaking ever done it. I did once desert my normal party to vote for someone else. That was in 2003 , I voted for Dennis Canavan who was standing as an independent. He was fiercely independent, and really represented his constituents particularly the poorer folk.
Offord on R4 telling us how unregulated illegale immigration into Scotland is ruining community links and causing breakdown in social cohesion where the immigrants are not fully integrating into the local community causing ill will and issues.
I have to agree with him he's absolutely correct.
All these middle class retirees coming from Surrey with their money and little understanding of the community (sometimes rural) they are moving into and the laws around land access.
But I guess it is not these orange tinted skin tones that are the issue.
Nicola Sturgeon on BBC's, The Assembly
Worth watching; more personal than political and she came across pretty well, I thought
Sturgeon is smart and personable and a good communicator. In an earlier political landscape she would have just been another decent politician but given the calibre of the other leaders in Holyrood and Westminster at this time she looks like a political giant.
She did try to do too much herself and had control freakery and centralisation tendencies that meant I had reservations and of course she will always be tainted now by Murrell
On balance one of the best if not the best leader we have had in Scotland but its a low bar
A few years ago, perhaps last election, Gary tank commander bloke interviewed the leaders. Only kezia (?) came across as a party line tower.
Sturgeon? Grifters gotta grift.
Your Party Scotland is officially no more.
The 12-strong interim Scottish executive committee have quit, accusing the UK leadership of a “generational fumble”, as they announced they would set up a rival outfit.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/26016125.party-scotland-over-leadership-team-resign-en-mass/
Just spotted this in the National abou8t Sturgeon
FORMER first minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced she is taking up a new role with a charity that is fighting the UK Government in court.
Sturgeon, who served as an MSP from 1999 until the dissolution of the Scottish parliament earlier this month, will join the refugee charity Safe Passage International (SPI) as chair of its board of trustees. It is a voluntary, unpaid position.
SPI defends the rights of refugees, using the law to help them access a safe route to a place of safety. It is currently taking the Labour Government to court over what it alleges is unlawful changes to the right of refugees to bring their family members to the UK.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/26014644.nicola-sturgeon-takes-role-charity-court-battle-ukgovt/
Sturgeon, who served as an MSP from 1999 until the dissolution of the Scottish parliament earlier this month,
That would be news to her constituents given she's been MIA since stepping down as FM.