Chaos in Scotland.

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k3k3
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1501 Post by k3k3 » Wed Feb 15, 2023 10:18 am

Sturgeon's press conference is at 11:00, I wonder if she'll say where the £600k went?

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1502 Post by Ibbie » Wed Feb 15, 2023 10:28 am

Will Ian Blackford stand as a candidate to replace her as leader of the SNP? Having their leader as an MP in the UK Parliament and not a member (haggis) of the Scottish Parliament shouldn't cause a problem to them.

Can't think of anyone better.

Salmond will be leaping.

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1503 Post by Boac » Wed Feb 15, 2023 10:45 am

Salmond will be leaping
There's definitely something fishy going on.

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1504 Post by CharlieOneSix » Wed Feb 15, 2023 11:07 am

Krankie to go, thank God! Best news I've had in the 8 years since she became leader. Not too surprised, she's been upsetting some party members and SNP journalists with her single policy of independence. Glasses will be raised .....after I've driven to the barber and back.
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1505 Post by Woody » Wed Feb 15, 2023 11:44 am

I bet UP has already opened the MacAllan :D
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1506 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Wed Feb 15, 2023 12:17 pm

My experience of Canadian regional politics is that sudden resignations by first thingummies, which are not uncommon, are tied to either fraud or lethally stupid decisions. It usually takes a couple of years for the full facts to come out, but the resignation comes once it is internally known that it can't be hidden forever.
This has the same whiff.

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1507 Post by Woody » Wed Feb 15, 2023 12:18 pm

When all else fails, read the instructions.

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1508 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Wed Feb 15, 2023 12:23 pm

Meanwhile, at the Nicola Sturgeon IS Leaving drinks....
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1509 Post by Groundgripper » Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:44 pm

sudden resignations by first thingummies, which are not uncommon, are tied to either fraud or lethally stupid decisions.
That was my first thought, F3

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1510 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:53 pm

Indeed, the point of going what seems like too early is so that the revelation, when it does emerge, is far enough distant in time. This way it doesn't get much media attention, and the new incumbents can claim 'Things Are Different Now'.

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1511 Post by 4mastacker » Wed Feb 15, 2023 4:14 pm

Fox 3 wrote:

My experience of Canadian regional politics is that sudden resignations by first thingummies, which are not uncommon, are tied to either fraud or lethally stupid decisions.
Her resignation seems to coincide with the Scottish Police being given "permission" to interview current and former members of the SNP over the alleged discrepancy of £600k in party funds and possibly the £100k loan by her hubby to the Party (of which, as CEO, he is an employee). Since when did the police need "permission" to investigate an alleged crime?
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1512 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Wed Feb 15, 2023 4:29 pm

Since the politicians started appointing the Police Commissioner, i.e. forever.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1513 Post by CharlieOneSix » Wed Feb 15, 2023 5:35 pm

An indication of the disquiet in the SNP - better to go than be pushed....

An article in the Aberdeenshire Press & Journal on 14 February by Campbell Gunn who is a retired political editor who served as special adviser to two first ministers of Scotland.

I’m a lifelong SNP member but my party has definitely lost its way. More time is now being spent on personal ‘hobby horse’ policies than on the cause.

I’ve studiously tried to avoid commenting on the current state of the SNP. This is mostly because of loyalty to the party, which I joined when I was still a schoolboy, a long, long time ago.

At school, I stood for the party in sixth-year mock elections, at a time when the SNP had no elected representatives in any parliament. Since then, I’ve held elected posts in branches in various parts of Scotland.

When my full-time career as a journalist ended, I went to work as a spad – a special adviser – first to Alex Salmond, then to Nicola Sturgeon. So, I believe I can claim that my commitment to both the SNP and the cause of Scottish independence is unquestionable.

But my faith in the party, of which I am still a member more than half a century later, is being sorely tested these days.

I have never been all that exercised by the trans rights row which appears to be doing so much damage to the party’s polling. Like, I suspect, most people, it was not an issue of which I had previously been aware, or on which I held any strong views either way.

However, there is little doubt that the government’s decision to press on with its gender recognition reform policy in the face of overwhelming public opposition has been a serious error. Remember that there was never any mention of introducing a policy of self-identification in the party’s manifesto at the last election. No matter how worthy and correct the introduction of the Gender Reform Act was, pressing ahead with it showed a lack of political judgment.

Some elected representatives have now even suggested that anyone who doesn’t agree with each and every policy espoused by the party shouldn’t be allowed to stand for election. How would that work?

Remember the divisive debate over membership of Nato a few years back? The party changed its policy mid-term. Does that mean that all those elected members who opposed joining – that was probably around half – should have stood down, since the party suddenly supported a policy with which they disagreed?

The attitude which spawned the view that party must always come before conscience is a dangerous one, and smacks of control-freakery.

When I worked for the government, it was often claimed that the SNP was a strictly controlled organisation, where no one was allowed to rock the boat. That was not true.

No one stepped out of line because we all believed in the same goal of Scottish independence, which we felt was more important than differences over individual policies. Nobody had to tell us to keep our discipline.

Now, it seems, things are different. The reason? Scottish independence no longer appears to be the issue driving many members of the party. More time is spent campaigning for personal “hobby horse” policies than espousing the cause for which the SNP was founded. And, according to some in the party, if you don’t agree with all of these individual policies then you should leave.

In addition, we now have senior people in the party speaking out against government policy and performance – and not only the “usual suspects”.

Concerns have been raised about the proposed de facto referendum, the failure to dual the A9, the bottle return scheme and the banning of alcohol advertising, in addition to concern over gender recognition reform.

Add to that the opposition attacks on local council cuts, NHS waiting times and the ferries fiasco, and it appears that we have a government which seems to have lost the sure political touch it once possessed.

I do not doubt that everyone currently in the SNP supports independence. But, is it the overriding priority which it should be?

Next month, a special conference will be held in order for party members to vote on whether to use the upcoming general election as a referendum on independence. It’s one of the daftest ideas I’ve heard.

Just because one party says they’ll campaign only on a single issue, doesn’t make the election about that.

The other parties will ignore it and fight on their manifestos as usual. The “referendum” will have no legal standing. And, no matter the outcome, Westminster will, justifiably, ignore it.

I intend to stay in my party – after all, I’ve been a member longer than most SNP MSPs and MPs have been alive. But I do so with a heavy heart and a feeling of pessimism.

The optimism and enthusiasm of the 2014 campaign now feels like a distant memory.
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1514 Post by Karearea » Wed Feb 15, 2023 6:02 pm

Sturgeon:
..."I get up in the morning and I tell myself, and usually I convince myself, that I've got what it takes to keep going and keep going and keep going," she said.
"But then I realise that that's maybe not as true."...
reminds me of the very recent Ardern:
...I know what this job takes, and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple. ...
Wishing the best to Scotland for the future. :-bd
And with the morn, those angel faces smile...

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1515 Post by CharlieOneSix » Wed Feb 15, 2023 6:41 pm

Sturgeon's Scotland.....

Mrs C16 recently had a NHS consultant appointment at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary at 1500 on a Sunday. On the morning she received a phone call to say the appointment was cancelled. It was because there was no consultant employed in Aberdeen with the required speciality and one was being flown up from London to do a day of appointments and his flight was cancelled by the airline.

Is it any wonder that the NHS in Scotland finds it difficult to attract consultants from south of the border to move here when you look at just two items of research that I have done.

Year 3 NHS Consultant in England and Wales earns £96,665
Year 3 NHS Consultant in Scotland earns £96,185
..so £480 less for a NHS Scotland Consultant ...but taking those figures and nothing else, the NHS Scotland Consultant in 2021-22 would have paid £28,112.82 in income tax, that is £2014.82 more than the NHS England and Wales Consultant's figure of £26,098.00 in tax.

Now we come to housing. Take the case of the purchase of a £500,000 house - not unreasonable for a Consultant.

In England and Wales the Stamp Duty upon purchase would be £12,500.
In Scotland the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax would be £23,350...a difference of £10,850.

Would you voluntarily move north of the border to lose that amount of money?

Note that to keep my job I was dragged kicking and screaming up here from the south coast in 1980 so I wasn't a volunteer - but in those days there wasn't a difference in the above figures north and south of the border. I couldn't escape south when I retired 23 years ago :(( as I'm married to a Scot (thankfully not an SNP supporter)...
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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1516 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Wed Feb 15, 2023 6:52 pm

...as I'm married to a Scot
SIW !

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1517 Post by barkingmad » Wed Feb 15, 2023 7:49 pm

Aah well, as they say, a week is a long time in politics, from a few days ago;

https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,nico ... erial-code

So was it the prospect of Hamish McPlod ferreting around in the drawers of power or did something else tip her over the edge?

Or possibly it was Climate Change, or the dreaded menopause, or maybe the offer of a plum job with the EU or the UN?

Whatever the reason, Mutti Merkel jumped ship (Global Young Leader), Saint Jacinda jumped ship (Global Young Leader) and now Wee Krankie is going, soon to be ex-Supreme Leader of the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Scotland.

From Admin2:

"I don’t know if our wee fishy attended Klaus Schwab’s.................."

After exhaustive research into your new embryonic conspiracy theory I can find no evidence of her involvement with the WEF other than being asked (on behalf of the Scottish Government) to complete a survey on climate change prior to her attending a climate summit (along with Prince Charles and many others) in November 2020. However, should you dig anything up to satisfy your ignorance feel free to post it here. One would hope, though that as a national leader she would be aware and briefed on this body?


I almost feel sorry for the Jocks, effectively leaderless, rudderless and broke, but at least they may console themselves by realising they’re in the same leaky boat as are those of us south of the Berwick-Gretna dividing wall?🤔

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1518 Post by FD2 » Wed Feb 15, 2023 10:02 pm

Cheery Bye Nicola!

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1519 Post by Groundgripper » Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:47 pm

If it doesn't go the way she thinks it should, will she go for a second resignation?

GG

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Re: Chaos in Scotland.

#1520 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Thu Feb 16, 2023 6:50 pm

=)) ^:)^

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