The latest Opinium poll for the Times suggests that the SNP in Holyrood will remain the largest party but, crucially, there will be a Unionist majority:
Based on the above, the SNP, with or without a Greens deal, could have a go as a minority government but with 57% of the MSPs Unionist in some form, the signs are not good.
More likely, Labour would put together a coalition with the Cons and LibDems and just assume Reform would support most of their agenda.
In return for that support the Cons would demand some ministerial posts – Murdo Fraser as DFM?
The LibDems – Alex Cole-Hamilton as Health Secretary?
Finance Secretary? That’s a hard one. I can’t think of anyone in the Labour ranks more numerate than the average 10 year-old.
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I have said for two years, the SNP should let themselves be defeated (budget ideally), let a Britnat coalition come to power, the sit back and watch the fun. Within a year, they would collapse as an social/economic shambles leaving the SNP looking like a shiny new penny.
However, the SNP would require to reform and coalesce with the YES movement, gain new dynamic leadership and simplify its goals. By then the Britnats would have dismantled the SNP social program, so leave that (Westminster disadvantaging the poor is a push factor for independence) , use the funds released to go for growth and thence independence. An efficient, dynamic government leads to wider confidence in Scotland.
When Labour/Dumbs reference poverty, tell them to change their policies down south. It is Westminster that pushes poverty/inequality/disadvantage, UK-wide, not pro-indy supporters.
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Dangerous game to play!!! It would not be for ONE year but FIVE long years and once Labour are in, it will be very difficult to dethrone them if they are the government down south who will just keep throwing titbits at us Scots. To let the Labour branch office into power would be suicide for all of Scotland. If you want Scottish Independence then it would be insane to vote for ANY unionist party just to show the No-ers how bad it is under Labour/tory/libdums. No I will not be falling into that unionist bollocks trap, exactly what their media have been herding us to do. I WILL CONTINUE TO VOTE FOR SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE!!!
JB
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Absolutely. The English GBUK parties, registered in London but operating in Scotland, would take a massive wrecking ball to public services, and reverse every single positive SNP social policy. They will sell Scottish Water immediately, they will reprivatise Scottish Rail, impose tuition fees on students, remove bus passes for our young and over 60s, and impose bridge tolls and NHS parking fees as they did before. Nothing is safe from being destroyed if they get anywhere near power in Scotland. People need reminding about EngUK Labour legacy in Scotland, SNP should not shy away from informing people it’s no good saying we will make Scotland ‘better’, without saying the LabConsLibdems would make Scotland very very much ‘worse’ indeed. Doesn’t bear thinking about having the country next door wholly controlling Scotland once again, and SNP need to make the clear the distinction between EngUk parties’ disastrous austerity and SNP investment in infrastructure for all, healthcare for all and policies for equality, rejecting EngUK policies of poverty and disgraceful inequality.
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Absolutely PERFECTLY said Arty!!!
JB
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Not so. If they get in right now, there would have to be an election in 2026 just the same. 18 months of chaos, and they simply could not last 5 years in a coalition with their bosses in London calling the shots, never mind finding a common ideology relative to social and fiscal policy.
Tories + Labour + Dumbs +? Greens = bedlam on stilts!
gavinochiltree.
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Not quite as easy as that. Once slabour are in power it will be near impossible to oust them, unionists and their media stick closely together. Once they have destroyed all the good SNP have done it would take at least a decade to try to get it all back, all with a diminishing budget from our ‘ masters’ in wastemonster. All will be forever blamed on SNP policies, we will still have Scotlandbad stories, project fear ad nauseum, and as Arty says nothing left……we will be at our colonial masters feet forever. I have put up the nonsense and lies and betrayal and almost anti Scottish racism for far too long. A very very dangerous game to vote out our biggest party for independence on a tactical whim…..me? NO CHANCE…I WILL NEVER EVER GIVE MY VOTE TO A COLONIAL UNIONIST PARTY EVER…….just to “teach” our present government AND No voters a lesson…..I have had a gut full of their bad taste hate politics to last me another lifetime. CRAZY TO TACTICALLY VOTE FOR A PARTY THAT ARE THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU ACTUALLY WANT……That is nonsensical rubbish to me….this is how their media have continually controlled the Scottish Nation, with their propaganda blitzkrieg on how rubbish we are on everything. This time we should NOT let that happen, they have managed( quite easily, I must admit) to fracture the Yes movement, divide and conquer as they say, to do what you suggest is suicide and will have dire consequences for generations of our kids. I will continue to vote for my country’s Independence and NOT water down that CAUSE FOR SCOTTISH GOOD!!!
JB
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gavinochiltree.
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An actual potential coalition of chaos.
We might once again witness that some in Scotland may, in 2026 , decide to either :
Vote tactically to try and keep the SNP out.
Once again lend their vote to Labour (or others) to try and keep the SNP out .
Or who, through ignorance , may vote for any party but the SNP, as they are obviously oblivious to any good the SNP have done for Scotland mainly as the MSM supress that information and instead prefer to relentlessly promote #SNPBAD.
So SNP no more (as the Scottish government) and instead a “Coalition of Chaos” that no one in Scotland really wanted or voted for as a government for Scotland.
Yet is that not exactly how Labour operate politically at council level where they push the SNP out as the controlling party and then they, Labour, collaborate with other parties like the Tories to take control of that council.
(Indeed in Edinburgh Labour suspended two of their councillors as they would not, as Labour councillors, vote with the Tories on that council – so hands up anyone who knows someone who is not politically engaged and who was oblivious to that particular piece of information – well my hand went up as I know someone who votes Labour and he , when I told him about it, did not even know that news – #ThanksToTheMSM).
So in 2026 if we do indeed get a Pro UK coalition as the new supposed ‘Scottish’ government then finally voters , as in people who live in Scotland , may at last get more of a true sense of how more people in England suffer (and have suffered for a long long time) compared to people in Scotland all because of the consistent bad decisions made by various UK governments , who as a government, are also those who are in charge of English public services.
Unfortunately that will also mean people like us in Scotland ,who do not support Labour (or any other pro UK party), will also have to suffer for, once again, the bad and naïve decisions made by those other voters in Scotland.
However we who support independence have already suffered since 2014 based on some of those same voters in Scotland deciding that those on the NO side knew better than those on the YES side.
They also must have thought that the NO side was more truthful than the YES side.
So as far as “The shape of things to come” well those NO voters obviously thought that the NO side was more credible with their predictions in how they saw the future under both independence for Scotland and also Scotland remaining under the UK.
It must have seemed, as a future , to have been more accurate for those who voted NO and also far more likely and also a more factual future scenario for NO voters.
Where those who voted NO thought that they would be more protected from having to exit the EU, more protected from having to suffer any cost of living crisis and they also assumed that they would experience more woes in voting YES than voting NO.
Of course those on the Project Fear side (NO side) were indeed very very accurate in all that they attributed to eventually happening, as in the future for Scotland , after the 2014 Independence referendum.
However the only problem for them, as the NO side , was that all that they said that would definitely happen but only, they said, with a YES vote winning , actually all happened with the NO vote winning in 2014.
(Voters in Scotland in the recent GE who voted Labour have obviously forgotten or forgiven that hugely significant fact and now reality)
Alas for the NO side and their wonky (false) foresight it now has all, as a false foresight, been well and truly proven to have been nothing more than a a crock of S**t.
So it seems that some of those same voters , who voted NO in 2014, are desperate to be lied to over and over and over again by the very same people who told them in 2014 how they and their country would be “Better Together” with the rest of the UK.
In the GE in 2024 the Lib Dems increased their seats in Scotland (they too were part of the No side in 2014) , the Tories kept all but one of their seats in Scotland (they too were part of the NO side in 2014) and Labour also increased their seats in Scotland in gaining the most seats in Scotland and they were the dominant part of the NO side in 2014.
So if Labour do again make gains in 2026 and then Anas Sarwar becomes the next FM then I for one will not be shocked as the pattern seems to be for some of the same people in Scotland that they are prepared to be ‘fooled once and then fooled once again, indeed consistently fooled, but never , it seems, with any shame on them apparently’.
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Too scary to contemplate. 😬
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the snp needs to get its act together and work for indy with all others or they will get spanked
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“the snp needs to get its act together and work for indy with all others or they will get spanked”
I think that “the SNP have already been spanked” in the recent 2024 UK GE .
With the obvious fact being that “others” , as in some other Indy parties , in not working “with” the SNP, but instead very much working against the SNP , then they as “others” helped that GE result (spanking) happen !
Also why is it only the SNP who are always , as a party, those who are being asked to compromise and co-operate with others while those same others just seem to want to constantly attack the SNP, side with some pro UK political parties and indeed their demeanour, behaviour and attitude towards the SNP is not conducive to those seeking any form of unity or collaboration on independence going forward.
I think some other Indy parties seem, via their words and actions, to want to see the SNP destroyed and they take their place, forgetting of course , that those politically disengaged voters in Scotland may not warm to or welcome them as the new Indy party on the block ( so to speak).
Divide and conquer , that as a actuality, is really what is seen to cause a spanking for all pro Indy parties in elections as the public then witness ‘infighting’ among the YES movement and then decide it is too precarious to vote for them (and then indeed independence).
How about , as an idea, we all just keep on blaming the real bad guys in the constitutional debate , as in those parties who support the UK, and so who are then also against independence for Scotland.
Now that would both a display of Unity and would also show a UNITED front, via all pro Indy parties and their supporters , now that might just win more votes for Indy parties, like the SNP and maybe others too, in 2026 !
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Exactly well said.
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🙂
As a follow up to my above comment I notice that Alba’s Alex Salmond is one of the panel members in the return of the Scottish (in location only) tribute act to the BBC’s QT that is Debate Night on Wednesday .
The Alba party who, in the Scottish parliament, have only one former elected SNP MSP who then defected to the Alba party.
Also Alba’s two former MP’s in the HOC, who both lost their seats in the recent UK GE, were also those who were originally elected as SNP MP’s but then defected to the Alba party .
So why then is he , Mr Salmond , invited on as a panel member on this programme ?
I’m old enough to remember when some (media and political) who were on the NO side stated that he, Mr Salmond, was “Yesterday’s man” now he is being elevated or rather reinvented by these same people as being the ‘Man of Today’ whose opinion is so keenly sought. (By pro UK media and political debate & News programmes).
However it is very very strange that his opinion seems to be more keenly sought, as an opinion, by those who are vehemntly opposed to Scottish independence.
When he, Mr Salmond , is apparently known by them to be the leader of an alternate Indy party who , as a political party, are supposedly working towards getting Scottish independence.
Could it be that Debate Night anticipates a further #SNPBAD succession of observations from Mr Salmond in their programme as a panel member in what is seemingly his , and indeed also the BBC’s , quest to see the SNP destroyed.
(My observation based on what is said and written about the SNP from both Alex Salmond and too the BBC also).
This is actually typical of similar behaviour we formerly saw with the BBC’s QT programme with Nigel Farage, where long before Nigel Farage won any seats in any parliament under any party he was involved with , he was being platformed by them, BBC QT, as a panel member on their programme.
Now we are seeing “Yesterday’s man” aka Alex Salmond is also being platformed (by the BBC and other media too) as what ?
A ‘Useful Idiot’ or only being platformed until he decides to stop attacking the SNP as a party and also them as the current Scottish government ?
(Then he , Mr Salmond, will once again be considered, by them, as being “Yesterday’s man” whose presence or opinion is no longer required – by any of them).
The kind of presence required indeed very much needed in Scotland, by the pro UK media and pro UK politicians, is often from those who are prepared to be political agitators against the SNP as a party and as the current Scottish government.
(Examples being Alex Neil, Jim Sillars and also Alex Salmond).
In Scotland though , for both the pro UK media and pro UK politicians, who better to do that agitating than a former SNP leader and FM.
Job done.
Or so they (all) assume .
Perhaps wrongly as much water has now passed under the bridge since he, Mr Salmond, was the SNP FM and his reputation is not the same as it was pre 2014 and after 2014 so how much clout and influence does he have with voters (well none it seems as in the recent UK GE there was no Alba party MP’s elected in Scotland).
So if he keeps sniping from the sidelines then not only will independence be the loser but so will he and also his new political party.
Enough already.
After all Jackie Baillie is also on this programme on Wednesday night and she will provide more than enough #SNPBAD to satisfy the BBC in the whole bloody programme.
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Is it only me who detects more than the usual whiff of ‘Eau de Latrine- Made in London’ from ” The latest Opinium poll for the Times.. ” ? – Is it only me who detects the overpowering stench of ‘soiled underpants’ as London’s final ‘Empire’ stand meets resistance across the entirety and majority of everyone north of the Watford Gap ?
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Since today is an anniversary date of the Scottish independence referendum (10 years on).
It is now , post July 2024, also quite significant in another way.
In that with all of the broken promises, costly mess Scotland has found itself in since some voted NO in 2014, also the cost of living crisis and additionally us being forced out of the EU against our will in the UK EU referendum in 2016.
Well before the recent 2024 UK GE some put these many disasters for Scotland all only being down to the Tories being the UK government since the 2014 Independence Referendum.
So Labour could say “Well if we had been the UK government things would have been different for Scotland post the 2014 Independence Referendum in that we would have kept our promises that we made to the people in Scotland and so all would have been exactly as we said it would be if people in Scotland voted NO in 2014”.
However now that Labour are in charge as the UK government (since July 2024), so then they, as the UK government, now have the chance to prove what JK Rowling asserted would happen if we voted NO in 2014.
As in she stated in 2014 “If we (Scotland) decide to give things one last go (as in some of us vote NO – which happened) then we ,Scotland, would find all the major political parties who are currently wooing us with offers of extra powers, would be keen to keep Scotland happy so that it does not hold an independence referendum every ten years and cause uncertainty and turmoil all over again. I doubt whether we will ever have been more popular, or in a better position to dictate terms, than if we vote to stay”
So then were the Tories not one of the “major political parties” JK Rowling referred to in her (propaganda) ditty and so then what did they do post 2014?
Yes they were indeed however they , the Tories, pulled us, Scotland , out of the EU and after that they did a power grab on our devolved powers.
Then they , the Tory UK Govt, also made us endure years of “uncertainty and turmoil” after the Brexit vote.
We in Scotland have also endured many economic woes all because of Brexit and one of the “major political parties” JKR referred to in 2014.
Then to top it all we had to also endure Boris Johnson (Who Blair McDougall, during the Indy campaign in 2014, stated that he , Johnson, would never be a UK PM) and then also had to endure Liz Truss as both being Tory PM’s and whose time(s) in office shamed their UK and also did unrepairable damage to Scotland with their damaging reserved policies.
Proving that the political party (the SNP) that we the people of Scotland democratically chose to be our Scottish government were then not seen by the Tory party, or other “major political parties” as being “more popular, or in a better position to dictate terms” after we, Scotland , “voted to stay in the UK” in 2014.
Now Labour (as another “major political party” whom JKR referred to) are the ones in charge of the UK.
So they now have a chance ,as the new UK government, to prove that we, Scotland and the government we elected, are indeed “more popular, or in a better position to dictate terms”.
But instead they , Labour as the new UK government, have decided to bypass devolution in Scotland in them diverting funding away from the Scottish government (that we elected to serve us) and instead giving that funding , as in allocating millions of pounds to the Labour UK government’s SOS ,Ian Murray, for him to dish out to whom, as councils, he sees deserving of that money.
So I guess none of the “Major political parties” really want to “woo us” with “extra powers” or “keep us happy” well not as long as we keep on democratically voting for the SNP to be our Scottish government.
Mind you I also suspect that they will also not want to “woo us” or want to “keep us happy” if we even vote for a Pro UK party either as our next Scottish government.
BTW JKR ended her (propaganda) ditty with these words:
” I just hope with all my heart that we never have cause to look back and feel that we made a historically bad mistake” .
She obviously said this in the context of if we had voted YES in 2014.
Ironic then that this has indeed happened as in many do have “cause to look back and feel that we (they as NO voters) made a historically bad mistake” .
However that “bad mistake” was because they voted NO , not because they voted YES.
But then the NO side was the side that she, JKR, was rooting for and unbelievably still does !
So obvious lesson is.
Beware the tellers of (Tall) tales.
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What do you do if you as a political commentator have, since 2016 , as in just after Brexit that you opposed as a policy, spent most of your energy , focus and time berating the Tory party and their various PM’s for cronyism, scandals , their policies For privatisation as in their preference For Privatisation of most public services, their pro Brexit position and also their cruelty towards those who are considered to be vulnerable within the UK yet simultanously allowing the more able (wealthy) to thrive and remain unharmed by your government policies and actions.
So this you did as a political commentator on either:
Social media
A MSM or alternate new TV political debate/news programme
Or even one who has a weekly column in a ‘National’ (UK/English) newspaper.
Then the Labour party win a UK GE and so they take over as the new UK government.
Then they Labour , as the new UK government, do the same as the Tories did before them when they, the Tories, were the UK government(s).
Quandary for you then as a political commentator who previously condemned the Tory UK government and their Tory PM’s for all of the policies and actions that you stated you were very much against but now it seems your favoured party, Labour as the new UK government , are choosing to either keep or implement the same or similar (or worse) policies than the Tory party !
But you , as a political commentator, formerly promoted the Labour party as a (supposed) real alternative , a “change” even, to the Tories (as did Labour) if Labour won the next GE and then became the next UK government. (which Happened).
So do you now, as a Labour friendly political commentator, choose to try and justify and defend what Labour and their PM are doing now as the new UK government or do you try to deflect attention away from their actions and instead focus on other matters (or people) in all that you now say on social media, on TV and in your newspaper column (which was something you , as a Labour friendly political commentator, berated Pro Tory political commentators for doing when the Tories were in power).
Or do you just try to completely ignore all that is being done and happening just now by and with Labour as the new UK government in all of their (bad) decisions and (cruel) actions, which BTW was also a behaviour (practice adopted) that we often saw with the Tory friendly political commentators , who also tried to obscure negative news connected to the Tory party when they were in power.
Now that the shoe (Boot) in on the other foot and we see Labour in charge thus they are the ones now being judged on their performance as a UK government then can these Labour friendly political commentators put their hands on their hearts and state , with honesty, that things have now ‘Changed’ under Labour as the new UK government ?
Or is there a distinct familiar stench of the same old same old (Tory feeling) with Labour now in charge in their UK.
My point here is that those who , as Labour friendly political commentators, were vehemntly opposed to the Tories and all that they did when they were in power in the UK, well they also, as Labour friendly political commentators , have a tendency to also, like Tory friendly political commentators, be very selective in what they promote as political news connected to parties they support or indeed in what they notice and highlight as political news to their followers on social media and also to their readers of their newspaper columns.
That then makes them , Labour friendly political commentators, just as much a hypocrite as those Tories and their supportive political commentators were and still are.
Where previously they, as Labour friendly political commentators , targeted both the Tories and those political commentators who defended and supported them as being corrupt and compromised.
What the H has that to do with Scotland ?
Well these same political commentators in siding with the Labour party are also then very much opposed to Scottish independence and opposed to any political party who advocates it for Scotland.
So they will, on TV, Social media and on Debate & News programmes argue against independence for Scotland and against parties like the SNP (all on behalf of the Labour party and the UK that they support and endorse publicly).
Apparently we who support independence are, according to them, no better or no different to English Nationalists . In fact they define all forms of ‘Nationalism’ as toxic and divisive while patriotism, as endorsed by the Labour party, is of course ‘A’ Okay.
Just another negative aspect (one of many) of life for us Scotland in their Pro UK state aka Absurdistan.
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