It really is a relic from a time in European history which had significant disruption and often loss of life whenever you got a new monarch and got free new “religion” as well.
The entire institution of the monarchy is a relic from the past, as is the House of Lords - think about it "lords", ffs.
And yet it still lingers on and it still has legal status.
And the church of england ( but no other church) automatically is represented in the lords!
I see the mirror group pro tory tabloids are focusing all their stories on Mrs Forbes and her Christian beliefs.
@J-R I was merely refuting the idea that Scotland is the only country with more than one flavour of Christianity. Look back for the post I was responding to.
I was merely refuting the idea that Scotland is the only country with more than one flavour of Christianity. Look back for the post I was responding to.
I didn't say it was, read it again:
It seems to be Scottish peculiarity that people identify by their sect or denomination rather than a plain old ‘christian’.
And yes @poly I'm aware of NI given it's the entire source of our troubles (dating back to the Ulster plantation).
I see the mirror group pro tory tabloids are focusing all their stories on Mrs Forbes and her Christian beliefs.
A lot of people on the phone-in on Radio Scotland yesterday morning were very keen on Kate Forbes. Unfortunately, it turns out they were Tory voters and when asked, 'Would she be enough to make you a Yes voter?' they inevitably replied, 'No!' 🙂
In other news, Alba and Wings over Scotland involved in shady dealings (I think someone reproduced the results of these shady dealings on the previous page):
https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/23340556.alba-denies-inspiring-attack-yousaf-links-emerge/
I, for one, am shocked **sarcasm emoji**
Involved in doing a lot of heavy linking there.
Wings and alba are desperate to appear relevant and that is pretty damning about them
Currently scurrying around looking for a link between WoS, Alba and Audit Scotland..
https://news.stv.tv/scotland/key-nhs-recruitment-targets-unlikely-to-be-met-warn-audit-scotland
Currently scurrying around looking for a link between WoS, Alba and Audit Scotland..
Yeah, it seems a bit weird that they went running around trying to manufacture shite when they could have just pointed to his record as Health minister.
It's almost like they are not only incompetent but nasty ****s as well.
For those who wouldn't trust Craig Murray his blog about Humsa dodging the gay marriage vote now being run by various papers.
And that proves what?
If Alex Neill was so bothered about it,why did he wait nine years?
It seems a very convoluted way to avoid making a decision which whatever the outcome would have upset people. The obvious solution was to simply abstain.
So I wonder who he presumably thought he would upset by abstaining - same sex marriage supporters or the Muslim establishment?
IMO both would be wrong in objecting to him abstaining. The same sex marriage supporters for not accepting that him voting wasn't necessary - the numbers were always going to be in their favour so no need to needlessly put his back against the wall.
And the Muslim establishment for expecting him to vote against something which is none of their business - I have absolutely no problem with Muslims being opposed to same sex marriage but I do have a big problem with them telling non-Muslims how to live their lives. If that is indeed a problem - in my experience of Muslims (which includes Muslim friends and talking to imans in local mosques) Muslims have absolutely no problem whatsoever with how non-Muslims live their lives. They show the same respect that they expect to be shown to them, IME.
Its kind of blown up bunch of nonsense. Since when did the establishment care about who took over as leader of a Scottish political party.
Clearly they think by demonizing every candidate, the voter will suddenly think the Tories are the party to lead Scotland.
They are living in cloud cuckoo land. No Scot is ever going to give the Tories a majority here.
A quick look at the media, and the right side of politics seem to be backing Kate Forbes, and the centre or slightly left going for Humza, there also seems to be some disparity between the Greens and SNP candidates, this'll leave a nasty feeling in the government after the winner is announced i think.
Since Sturgeon's resignation announcement it's been interesting watching the Twitter Unionist shills & bots trying to build their hate against the future FM, whoever it might be...
So another poll puts Kate Forbes the favourite among SNP voters:
Forbes's 23% isn't quite as much as the previous poll which put her on 28% but gives her exactly the same 8% lead over Humza Yousaf as the previous one.
It would appear that among SNP voters at least her comments concerning how she would have voted on equal marriage legislation hasn't destroyed her credibility, as some were convinced it had.
A breakdown amongst SNP members might not be so clear-cut but it should also be remembered that the voting process is carried out under STV and I rather suspect that, assuming Ash Regan is third after the first count, Kate Forbes will pick up the majority of second preferences.
No links or reference to actual numbers surveyed though.
The % poll was also conducted by The Times which, with a little critical thought, would lead you to conclude that the results weren't that surprising.
No idea who conducted the other poll or any other info. Could well have been a couple of folk in the office for all we know.
There's a poll with a sample of 1001, conducted by Big Partnership (nope - never heard of them) with similar numbers
https://charts.opinionmatters.com/OM10975/OM10975_DDD.html
Sorry my mistake, I thought that poll I linked was among SNP voters, it is actually a poll of all voters, it would appear.
It's the previous poll which put Forbes in the lead with 28% which was among SNP voters only:
Still, my point remains the same, ie her recent comment concerning equal marriages doesn't seem to have written off her leadership ambitions.
The % poll was also conducted by The Times
Commissioned by the Times, not conducted by them. The pollster was Panelbase, I know nothing about them but presumably they are competent pollsters whose business relies on their credibility and customer confidence.
And that proves what?
That he didn't have the courage of his conviction to vote either way and dodged the issue. Even an abstention on the grounds he wasn,t going to vote on the matter because he wanted his religion to be separate from politics would be better than sneaking away from a major issue.
A
If Alex Neill was so bothered about it,why did he wait nine years?
Because there wasn't a leadership election until now. Elections are when we question the ability and character of candidates.
@irc you misunderstand. Are they publishing it because they have verified the story etc. and have a good case or did they just copy it off that blog wholesale with no checks to verify anything?
Let's face it, Yousef isn't liked by a lot of people so it doesn't take much imagination to see why someone would want to discredit him further. That's entirely their prerogative but as said, there's plenty of stuff out there without resorting to making stuff up.
It is nothing to do with Craig Murray's blog. He may have been first to run the story but it is confirmed by Alex Neil who was there in govt when it happened.
“There was a request from Humza, because, in his words, of pressure he was under from the mosque for him to be absent from the vote.
“And Alex Salmond, the first minister, gave him permission to do that.
“And a ministerial meeting was arranged to take place at exactly the same time as the vote in Glasgow to give Humza cover for not being there.”
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/humza-yousaf-denies-arranging-meeting-29307070
Humsa's ministerial diary confirms the dates of the meetings and when they were arranged.
The meetings the vote, and the date each was arranged are here.
https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers/question?ref=s4w-19630
https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/questions-and-answers/question?ref=s4w-19630
Kate Forbes political career was funded by anti abortion Christian lobby group that does not declare where it gets funding from.
Careful now, don't be persecuting those fine upstanding Christians.
John Swinney standing down too. Strange he didn't announce this at the same time as the FM. It might have allowed a few joint-tickets to be proposed.
John Swinney standing down too. Strange he didn’t announce this at the same time as the FM. It might have allowed a few joint-tickets to be proposed.
I'm guessing he was (i) as surprised by most people at Sturgeon's timing so hadn't given it too much thought, and (ii) can now see who the likely leaders are and has considered if he wants to be part of their team - going now is more graceful and better for the party than the media presenting it as a tantrum after the election. I mean his choices are: Work with Kate who he picked a fight with on Faith, Work with Humza who he will know to be useless, or work with Ash who quit the gov he was deputy leader of to make a stand on the GRR he voted for. Seems like a logical decision - especially since he's obviously happy to have peaked in his political career.
I’m guessing he was (i) as surprised by most people at Sturgeon’s timing
Yep - I agree on his reaction to the three candidates. I'd have thought there might have been some discussion prior to her decision though. It just makes her departure seem even more sudden.
I wonder if there's any scope for two of the three to join forces?
I wonder if there’s any scope for two of the three to join forces?
After the last few contests i'm going to say no!
My goodness these candidates are lacklustre! the brown but grey man. the religious bigot and the return to tartan tories candidate.
Is this really the best the SNP have or are some folk keeping their powder dry?
On a related topic - Westminster are going to block another scottish government policy - the bottle return scheme.
On a related topic – Westminster are going to block another scottish government policy – the bottle return scheme.
From what i've read, this wouldn't be such a bad thing, a lot of unhappiness about this scheme, and i believe all 3 of the candidates have said they'd either scrap it or pause it anyway!
The UK wide scheme is happening soon i believe though, so any talk of blocking might be down to this, or the number of independents raising this to their MPs/MSPs, it's another one of those projects that has a lot of conflict within the Scottish Government, but still being run out with a lot of 'we'll fix that later' approach.
Its sheer spoiling from Westminster. Can't allow those uppity scots to have their own progressive green policies showing up westminster policies and there is zero chance of a UK wide scheme
Ash Regan has come out in support of assisted dying. The other two are against it
@tjagain, it would be better for the UK to adopt as a whole trading block as the problem with cross border trade on the bottle recycling scheme is quite complex. Especially around web based sales. Essentially companies will have to make Scotland/Rest of UK a seperate trading country with different rules for a short space of time until the rest of the UK come on board.
My understanding is from looking at how to implement this in a large online and store based retailer, however I understand this is even harder for smaller traders from what I have read in the news.
It is a great idea and will be implemented, it is more a timing issue
There is no chance of a UK wide scheme. There is no real conflict with the rest of the UK.
Alister Jack quoted in the HoC how it'll add £2.40 to 12 bottles of Aldi water - 'forgetting' that under the English scheme it is planned to do EXACTLY the same.
Only difference from what I've can find out is the English scheme won't cover glass, whereas the Scottish scheme will.
It is a great idea and will be implemented, it is more a timing issue
How long should Scotland wait?
There is no real conflict with the rest of the UK.
My experience based on how to implement for a large online and store based retailer. Can I ask what yours is based on?
@intheborders tbh that is really not one for me to answer is it. That is probably more for the leaders of Holyrood to answer. All the candidates for SNP leadership seem to be rolling back on it. My point is ONLY it is a lot better for UK as a whole to do it all at once.
Personally I think it should be implemented UK wide asap and we are already looking at how we do this across the EU and as one large trading bloc it does make it a lot easier than the UK.
Can I ask what yours is based on?
Reading what the scheme actually consists of not the scaremongering from some right wing folk
Its not the system I would want at all but its a decent stab at it.
Personally I think it should be implemented UK wide asap and we are already looking at how we do this across the EU and as one large trading bloc it does make it a lot easier than the UK.
Its never going to be implemented under the tories. Of course it would be better UK wide but that is not on offer. so once again Scotland is prevented from having its democratically elected leaders enacting the policies they were elected on by an undemocratic Uk government
