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 There wasn't a post in the previous Scotland thread since May. In that time: - We enjoyed broadly the same fate as the rest of the UK in regard to the Covid-19 pandemic, with a slower relaxation of lockdown and some additional measures in place. The ultimate outcome has been around 4,000 deaths out of around 51,000 in Britain as a whole, which favours Scotland somewhat in proportion to the population. There's other obvious factors such as local geography and so far it's not been a competition on that basis. - First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her Scottish National Party government have enjoyed soaring approval ratings and support, in stark contrast to polling on Boris Johnson's Conservative Party UK government, here and across Britain. This is despite having been beset by strikingly similar issues and controversies with regard to the pandemic, including a common failure to protect care homes early-on, U-turns on allowing teachers to award grades to kids who missed their exams this year, and lockdown breaches by senior advisers to both governments. - The Prime Minister tried to take a recovery break in the Scottish Highlands but returned home early, having failed to realise that rural Scotland =/= anonymity. - Opinion polling over the summer has shown increased support for independence, with the most striking so far offering a reversal of the 2014 referendum result -- 55% in favour to 45% against. This has had several outcomes already... - The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, second-largest in parliament, is on its third leader of 2020 in Douglas Ross MP, with previous leader Jackson Carlaw effectively given his jotters by London. Ross was installed by appointment due to entering August's leadership election as the only candidate and is seen as a Johnson ally despite resigning as a minister this year in protest over Dominic Cummings' unique approach to childcare and optometry. - The Sarwar-Baillie axis is currently mounting a coup attempt on Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard as the party continues to struggle in the polls. Leonard was the Corbyn contingent's preferred candidate, which undoubtedly helped him win his position but potentially leaves him high and dry as the unfaithful reclaim the Labour Party. - The SNP have announced that they will put a new referendum on Scottish independence front and centre of their May 2021 Scottish Parliament election campaign. Current polling predicts gains for both the Greens and SNP as the pro-independence parties, with the SNP on course to achieve an overall majority -- an outcome which the Scottish voting system was expressly designed to avoid. The Scottish Greens were fine because they support independence, and also the amazing Extinction Rebellion protests this weekend. No-one cares about the Liberal Democrats, although it was funny when the UK party leader lost her Scottish seat in the General Election. Here's an article in the Herald with the Scottish party leaders all giving their response to what will inevitably be called 'IndyRef2'. Other things which are happening include a Holyrood inquiry into the government's handling of the allegations against Alec Salmond; local lockdowns being imposed in various extents and various places, currently including Glasgow; massed nutters turning up at parliament to complain about that; an ongoing debate over whether attempts to criminalise hate crime are an attack on free speech; and Scotland's current Nations League Campaign. There's mair nor a roch wind blawin... Juliet Whisky fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Sep 8, 2020 |
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Sep 6, 2020 13:32
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Here's a handy map of local Covid-19 resilience groups, should you wish to partake, donate, or participate: https://covidmutualaid.org/local-groups/ Love to Covid Mutual Aid UK! Juliet Whisky fucked around with this message at 23:47 on Sep 21, 2020 |
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Sep 6, 2020 13:32
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Should have done it! I'm going to shamelessly replace my opening stats with yours, one man's hunger is a tragedy but 11,000 deaths are a statistic. Aye the SNP are a very interesting political character overall, a relatively-newly (post-2014) mass-membership political party whose subscribers defy its leaders at conference e.g. in the ongoing debacle over land reform. They're the 13-year incumbent whose jaiket is on a shoogly peg in various directions -- except that it isnae. loving hell though; since it is possible for a person to change gender what is controversial about facilitating that by simplifying the legal process? My preferred reading would be that the Section 28 episode burned out the relevant wires in these people's brains -- what else explains the Scottish Parliament not leading the world in legalising same-sex marriage, banning smoking in workplaces etc. when it was otherwise not doing very much at all? -- but judging from interactions with my family I'll readily and sadly concur that it is TERFs, with their horrible obsession and strange influence, which are to blame for the current impasse. loving hell but it's like 'In Camera': that Twitter link. Juliet Whisky fucked around with this message at 10:17 on Sep 7, 2020 |
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Sep 7, 2020 00:09
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The gloves are off for the world's most craven and pathetic leadership contest!. Despite needing the support of only five MSPs, the would-be traitors are now involved in an argument over whether they actually have that. I kind of like Richard Leonard; he seems sincere in occupying an untenable political position. I think he believes in the vision of a federalised, socialist United Kingdom and it's almost unfair to ask him how, exactly, anyone in Scotland can contribute to realising that against all historical evidence. Certainly he's preferable to the ideological antimatter and complete moral vacuum represented in his foremost challengers: Jackie Baillie and Anas Sarwar. Baillie's most famous for her staunch defence of the nuclear weapons at Faslane on the basis that 'they create jobs' - a position her own party no longer holds - and Sarwar's greatest achievement so far has been to burn through all of the considerable goodwill his father generated as an MP for Govan. Who will win the battle between the glassy-eyed and the dead-eyed? We may never find out as they are apparently too cowardly to sign a letter. In other news: the virus is all over the place again. Please wear a mask and wash your loving hands. Juliet Whisky fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Sep 8, 2020 |
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Sep 8, 2020 19:00
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mehall posted:Still pissed off Matt Kerr didn't win the deputy election. Any contest which includes the prospect of Jackie Baillie being successful has grave and fundamental flaws IMO. I can't find the precise reference, but I'm always grateful to her for confirming the presence of nuclear warheads following this incident, which the Ministry of Defence would never do under their 'neither confirm nor deny' policy.
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Sep 8, 2020 23:31
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forkboy84 posted:I hate Scottish politics. Outside of the Greens there's just nothing. https://glasgowanarchists.wordpress.com/ https://edinburghafb.org/anarchistfederation https://xrscotland.org/ https://iww.org.uk/clydeside/ https://unitycentreglasgow.org/ https://www.banthebomb.org/ https://commonweal.scot/ https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/ https://www.facebook.com/classwarscotland/ https://greenbrigade.proboards.com/ https://twitter.com/freepridegla?lang=en https://theferret.scot/ https://www.facebook.com/faslanepeacecamp/ Choosing the least-worst from a list every few years can be the most trivial of your political actions. Juliet Whisky fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Sep 9, 2020 |
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Sep 9, 2020 01:36
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That was a lazy list, not intended to be exhaustive or unqualified endorsement. However:Miftan posted:I'm sure some of those groups are good but big lmao at linking XR XR Scotland seems pretty autonomous and local groups appear to be finding their own interpretations of the XR tenets. I can certainly vouch for XR peops being very ready to offer solidarity with other campaigns. Also don't tell me that your heart got no glow from their actions against the Murdoch press (in Scotland it was a small, socially-distanced effort which did what they could and knocked it off ahead of arrest due to CV-19 considerations). mehall posted:I'm also not sure how much use it is being active in anti-nuke campaigns given the Scottish consensus is already there, but there's nothing you can do about it without independence anyway. Yup, only the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, from all the Scottish Parties in parliament, support nuclear weapons. That's thanks to a campaign over about sixty years, which was and remains dependent on local people being involved in keeping an eye on what's happening near them. The nuclear disarmament campaign in the wider UK and worldwide still benefits from your support here now. Nuclear power could have been amazing but it was instituted first and foremost to produce weapons-grade material, and subsequently funded just enough to protect the skillset for that -- so we get this instead, and subsidies going out which could otherwise facilitate better renewables.
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Sep 11, 2020 05:20
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mehall posted:See, the real problem with the nuclear industry is the anti-nuclear campaigners. I admire your skills! They're under no threat from a Scottish government promoting diversification and multiple decommissioning projects spanning longer than we've been alive, at a time when there's still no confirmed site for the UK's radioactive waste. Meanwhile: Venomous posted:strongly doubting whether or not I actually want to move back to Scotland now Ach it depends when you left, it's probably much the same and in some ways better, unless if you're Venomous posted:let's not forget how much the TERFs have embedded themselves into the SNP, Christ ...Aa gently caress, aye same shite as everywhere.
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Sep 11, 2020 19:22
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Richard Leonard has survived! The proposed putschists agreed to get their heids back down and get on wi it in consideration of whether they wanted their names so closely tied to next year's election results. The significance of this was accidentally or otherwise reinforced by the BBC Scotland news page: In other BBC news, the First Minister's daily briefings on the pandemic are no longer to be carried by that organ in favour of far more important programming. In fairness, the replacement programme serves as an elementary introduction to both haggling and the selling-off of household items, each likely to be useful and significant skills in the coming year. Will this inhibit the Scottish Government policy of implementing UK proposals early? Was it the result of angry letters from Scottish Labour former grandees remorseful at setting too small a price on their souls? Certainly it will have the effect of means-testing access to information about a pandemic, and in particular local advice as this changes. There's probably some older Tories wishing they'd thought of it back in the 1980s. E: O! forgot that the Shetland Islands are considering seeking independence from Scotland. Juliet Whisky fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Sep 14, 2020 |
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Sep 13, 2020 23:38
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E: nm But also: https://giant.gfycat.com/VelvetyApprehensiveAcouchi.mp4 Juliet Whisky fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Sep 21, 2020 |
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Sep 14, 2020 01:07
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George Orwell posted:Who is sane? Was Hitler sane? And is it not possible for one whole culture to be insane by the standards of another? And, so far as one can gauge the feelings of whole nations, is there any apparent connection between a generous deed and a friendly response? Is gratitude a factor in international politics? These 70+-year-old issues were not addressed by this morning's COBRA meeting, including the heads of the devolved administrations, or our First Minister's appearance in parliament taking questions from the opposition that could have been written by her backbenchers. It does appear that many baws were chewed at this meeting, with Sturgeon stumbling back to propose 'suppression' of the virus, contrary to her previously-stated ambition of using such talks to establish an 'elimination' policy across the UK. The bottom line is that the Chancellor, and our probable next Prime Minister, is refusing to extend the furlough scheme so any additional measures which might currently be effective are reduced in scope to what London will allow. Let's hope whatever is in place is effective! I was meant to be in England the day but decided against it for obvious reasons. E: wow it must have been quite the meeting althegether, with the PM's message effectively repeated by the First Ministers of opposing parties in Scotland and Wales despite each country having its own regulations, and Douglas Ross backing the Scottish Government's actions to the point of interceding with the Prime Minister in support of their application for further funding or an extension of their borrowing capacity. Unsuccessfully of course. Juliet Whisky fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Sep 23, 2020 |
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Sep 22, 2020 17:54
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A couple of months and a hundred years later, it's been a big week for Scotland. We were acknowledged in America, with Nicola Sturgeon selectively-quoted by NBC News, cited as a 'world leader' alongside the Federal Republic of Germany. In Westminster, we beat the Iraq war, light-touch regulation leading to the 2008 financial crash, and the monstering and victimisation of refugees to be named as 'Tony Blair's greatest mistake' and 'a disaster'. Less reactively, some young Scots reaffirmed our status as European contenders with a series of outstanding performances. As the Central Belt follows England into lockdown, fingers are crossed that we don't follow them out of the Nations League this week. We're representing Britain, and we have to do or die...
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Nov 17, 2020 09:06
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Scottish Labour done a good thing! Tempting as it is to ask 'Why didn't they think of it before?', the same applies to all members from all parties.
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Nov 24, 2020 22:19
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It's a couple of days until what will hopefully be the final election to Scotland's devolved parliament. Predictions are that the result will not be a resounding endorsement of our current constitutional settlement. Annoyingly Alex Salmond's Allipa, which may as well be an MI5 operation for all the help it's been to the independence movement, looks set to gain a seat or two. This will ideally be offset by a good showing for the Greens, who have graduated from having their arse out the window as the only party to vote against the SNP's budget ten years ago to being the most effective party of opposition in the UK by some distance. Their proposals of free public transport and a universal basic income for all are key points in the (presumptive) Scottish government's agenda for next week. Meanwhile the same polling suggests that Anas Sarwar may have saved us the embarrassment of having the Tories as Holyrood's second-biggest party. Labour's flagship policy at this election is spending more on shopping vouchers for everyone than their proposed increase to the NHS budget. There is no mention of Trident in their manifesto, despite the democratic aberration of Scottish Labour's members forcing it to formally adopt an anti-bombardment stance. Some young Scots visited Trident's home berth of Faslane recently, obstructing road traffic at the site's main gate for eleven hours. Juliet Whisky fucked around with this message at 08:54 on May 4, 2021 |
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May 4, 2021 08:36
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It is a minor challenge wrestling with metre-long peach ballots comprised of nutters and people who were kicked out of Holyrood's parliamentary parties in a little polling-booth space to find the Only Sensible Choice (Scottish Green Party FTW). They do widen the scope of creativity afforded in spoiling your ballot paper but now is not the time.
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May 6, 2021 13:15
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It is a good result. The Greens have been able to punch above their weight through a friendly-but-arm's-length relationship with the SNP, being firm on sorting out last year's exam fiasco for one when the SNP were willing to alienate all pupils, parents and teachers by failing or down-grading the most put-upon peacetime school year since child labour was abolished. Having the balance of power again as Glasgow hosts the COP26 summit is a good position for them to be in. Also co-leader Lorna Slater may be the first literal circus performer elected to the UK's chambers of power, as opposed to the legions of figurative clowns who preceded her. (Not her day job, she is a renewables engineer. Or was until now.) But! On a high turnout the vote was split close to 50/50 between pro-independence and unionist parties. So in order to progress, it will be necessary to resolve Caledonian antisyzygy itself, transcending all previously-known boundaries of society, its institutions, space, time, and consciousness and thereby realise
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May 8, 2021 23:17
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Tam Nairn posted:"Scotland will be reborn the day the last minister is strangled with the last copy of the Sunday Post." Here's the front page of the day's Sunday Post:  Despite this evidence that evolution is possible, we've also seen Justice Secretary Humza Yousef confronted by racist bams at the Glasgow count and the police failing to do much about it, in spite of his efforts in pushing a Hate Crime Bill specifically-targeted at pressing punitive sanctions on such pricks against a ton of pushback.. ACAB forever. More hearteningly, Kurdish refugee and immigration detention abolitionist Roza Salih probably got several hundred thousand votes in Glasgow (strangely hard to pull numbers at the moment; maybe the Greens demanded a recount as they were within a couple of hundred votes of getting another MSP). She has not become a member of the Scottish parliament due to the fact that her fellow Scottish National Party candidates did so well in the city and elsewhere.
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May 9, 2021 12:05
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