Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

SNP (and independence) at their highest level ever in Yougov polling for the Scottish Parliament election despite Red Card Ross being coronated as Scottish Conservative leader and the exams “fiasco”.

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

Fish & Tourism probably . . . oh and Irn Bru :p:

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

No whisky section in Waitrose, chaps?

Might be offset by a trade deficit in Buckfast though.

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

Red Card has been in post for mere days and I’d be surprised if he, or the exams fiasco (why the “”? it is undeniably a feck up on a grand scale) will filter through quickly under present circumstances.

Our left-leaning members were quick to claim Boris’ popularity has been merely the rally round the flag effect inherent to any major crisis, but oddly enough they’re all still in awe of Nicola Sturgeon, whose decision making on Covid issues has been near identical to those taken in Westminsterland. The Natbots on social media have been waxing lyrical about differences that amount to a few days here or there, or a few more or a few less people in any given space.

Election time will bring it all out ... exam estimates that were 20% over-egged was a blatant political hot potato to all those with sight of it long before results day but they let the moderated grades out and then had no choice but to damage the credibly of the vast majority of accurate grades by backtracking. That’s A-grade political ineptitude. Meanwhile the £230 million ghost ferry MV Sannox slinks into a dry dock in Greenock, more than twice its budget already spent, more than 2 years late and still not in service thanks to an ill-judged deal to save a shipyard run by one of Nicola’s mates. Ferguson couldn’t cope with the job, scot gov owned Cal Mac couldn’t make up its mind what it wanted ... a perfect storm with Nippy sitting at both ends of it.

They’re a sad shower and a poor excuse for a government, and if Red Card Ross (assisted by the newly ennobled Ruth Davidson) play it right they will get a very hard time in next year’s election. Their message needs to be, “we already know there isn’t going to be another Indyref, so let’s talk about...” and then relentlessly target schools, hospitals, police, island ferries, and everything else the SNP has violently screwed up while spending the last decade or more obsessing over independence at the cost of everything else.

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

Only pointing out that there's no Red Card bounce, that's all. :)

My use of "" is to represent that I think the "fiasco" is broadly manufactured given the system proposed wasn't substantially different from that proposed in England (Tories) or Wales (Labour).

Cases are lower per capita and deaths lower per capita. Nor are the Scottish Government urging everyone 'back to the workplace' to get buying coffee and muffins to get the economy going.

These nuanced differences could be the difference between a chaotic winter of 'whack a mole' lockdowns or relative stability, while observing some restrictions.

So what alternative mechanism exists? Poor schools didn't become good schools overnight. Every year students open their results to disappointment.

This is where the criticism falls down - the lack of alternative ideas and vision.

13 years of mudslinging hasn't worked in persuading SNP voters back across to a Unionist party

I'd love to see the Scottish Conservatives offer an alternative vision however I suspect they will not and the same old tune plays out next year.

Your first line "we know there isn't going to be another Indyref" immediately a) talks about independence and b) irks a substantial part of the population who think it's right for Scotland to decide it's own future (be that independence or not) as and when it chooses to.

It's essentially a trap, and the SNP have them hook, line and sinker. Unionists saying "we know what's better for the people of Scotland" paradoxically increases the SNP vote.

Unionists shouting into the echo chamber of unionists doesn't appeal to the soft end of the 50% of the SNP vote.

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

Oh dear oh dear. Red Card and Baroness-to-be Davidson have at least the political nouse to see that the Scottish people don’t like rank hypocrisy.

Tweets about the exam “fiasco” and associated retweets getting deleted right, left and centre this morning. But mainly on the right.

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

The daily Poison Dwarf Half Hour Party Political Broadcast on UK-wide BBC TV midday prime time has made all my Scottish friends change channels.

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

She’s marmite, that’s for sure. The polls may have swung slightly the other side of the separatist divide in recent weeks - doubtless entirely because of Covid - but Scotland is still, essentially, split right down the middle thanks to 6 years of her agitating and fostering division rather than healing. She has caused a mess that will take a generation to fix and if (a mighty big if) there was another referendum, delivering a Yes vote, then Scotland would become a very unpleasant place to live for years into the future. For all the Nats’ banging on about separatist movements in places like Norway, successful votes to hive off part of a nation state are invariably carried by comfortable, sometimes overwhelming, majorities. A Yes by a whisker is the worst possible outcome, for all involved.

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

If the Conservatives wanted to up their vote in Scotland, they could do worse than support the Scottish whisky industry.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknew...?ocid=msedgntp

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

In almost any other democracy, and certainly those multi-party systems, splitting the country “down the middle” and carrying 50% of the vote consistently after 13 years in Government that would reasonably be considered resounding success.

What Brown would have given for that in 2010. I’m sure Boris would settle for that in 2022/7.

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

Re: Will Scotland Leave the UK?
 

I’m not convinced the four years, or more, of circuitous discussion would be worth it. Can only test Paul, Mick, Hugh, Chris and Maggy’s patience levels so many times... :erm: