Getting little media attention in the aftermath of the by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West and as Labour dream of a Westminster majority and of leading a Holyrood government in 2026, the Opinium poll for the Tony Blair Institute, based on data for mid-September 2023, casts serious doubt on the latter dream. For the 4th poll in a row, as the SNP fraud drama fades in the midst of Police and courts inaction, Humza Yousaf has clearly settled the ship and recovery, regardless of freaky by-election results, is well underway and the SNP lead for the critical constituency vote is … Continue reading Poll – SNP pulling away to 16% lead for Holyrood election

With delicious timing, in the wake of Scottish Labour minions drooling excitedly about 40 MPs in 2024, the Tony Blair Institute, today, douses them with a dose of reality on just how representative last night was, of Scotland as a whole. Labour has increased its vote share in Scotland to 28 per cent, up 9 points on the last election. Meanwhile the SNP is on 37 per cent (minus 8) and the Conservatives are on 18 per cent (minus 7). This would lead to a majority of seats for the SNP (34 out of 57), down from 48 out of … Continue reading Already, Tony Blair Institute poll puts last night into perspective with clear SNP and Yes leads to rain on Labour’s party

Having a coffee-break and watching Storm Huntley on Channel 5 for a few minutes, I was stunned to hear caller Julia from Sheffield, a Keir Starmer admirer, say: The reason why, I think, in Scotland, the SNP has lost its way is because it’s faced the weight of the establishment, the severe impact of the establishment, on them because the last thing they (the establishment) want is Scotland to separate from the rest of the UK. Think about that. The establishment? The Tory and Labour ‘mandarins’, the top civil servants, the judiciary, the military chiefs, MI5? Is that what she … Continue reading Is it common knowledge in England that the SNP police investigations were ‘establishment’-engineered and that England cannot let Scotland go?

In an Xtwitter poll of 10 000 TuS followers, 99.2% agreed that Labour’s mysterious ‘New Start’ is just waffle and only 0.08% believed it is a real thing. None of the 0.08% were prepared, however, to define it for us. Continue reading 99% think Labour’s ‘New Start’ is ‘just waffle’

Firs thing this morning and all morning, Reporting Scotland has an unconfirmed projection of a prison population increase with no source, on a by-election day – ‘Scottish’ Labour? UK Labour? Remind us who is responsible for the prison population? The judiciary? No? The SNP? Seems so in our media. Missing, of course, this confirmed projection from House of Commons Library researchers, for context: The prison population in England and Wales is projected to grow to between 93,100 and 106,300 by 2027. All things being equal, the prison population of England & Wales should be around 11 times higher than that … Continue reading Rutherglen and Hamilton reminder – Tory/Labour areas in UK expected to have 28% more in prisons than Scotland has

The Herald’s pressganged Ferry Correspondent, Maritime Williams has just surfaced with another in his Scotland’s (Crap) Ferries Newsletter to ask: Will one of CalMac’s oldest ferries ever return after nine months out? The MV in question in the Hebridean Isles, was launched 38 years ago in Selby, not on the Clyde. The non-Clyde build is a worry but 38 is not old for a ferry. 11 of the 21 Washington State ferries, in the affluent Seattle area, are older than this. Three were built in the 1970s, two in the 1960s and one still operating was built in 1959. Of … Continue reading Scotland’s Great Ferries Newsletter – MV Hebridean Isles would be a youngster in Washington State or British Columbia

Scotland’s delayed, state-of-the-art, hybrid, high end, really spacious, big ferries look like costing up to £300 million each. They seem likely to be fodder for Scottish churnalists even long after they sail. Less appealing fodder even though there once was a Scottish stage, it seems, is HS2 as the Manchester stage is binned. Reuters yesterday estimated HS2 to run to £106 billion or 353 state-of-the-art, high-end, hybrid, really spacious, big ferries. We could replace all 34 CalMac ferries, keep several in reserve and still have plenty to sell to troubled Washington State and BBC Ferries and then….. Continue reading One fast English railway equals 353 state-of-the-art, high-end, really spacious, big Scottish ferries

Revealing their usual lack of grasp, BBC Scotland today is claiming: Scotland has long-known it was not part of the HS2 plans but Rishi Sunak’s announcement that he is to scrap the line from Birmingham to Manchester will still have an impact north of the border. From the BBC in December 2009: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8432051.stm Rutherglen to London? 2hrs 30min? Maybe Sarwar will tell Starmer to get that back on track? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67004355?at_medium=social&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_link_type=web_link&at_link_origin=BBCScotlandNews&at_link_id=93C37B52-62AB-11EE-A1DD-1C07681DE14E&at_format=link&at_campaign_type=owned&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_ptr_name=twitter Continue reading Wrong BBC Scotland – Scotland was part of HS2 plans but the siding of that has been conveniently forgotten

BBC Scotland Business above today, nothing on this below. From the Scottish Government website this morning: When comparing the value of Scotland’s goods exports in the year ending June 2023 with the year ending June 2022: The value of Scotland’s international goods exports increased by 12.6% to £36.7 billion.  https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-international-goods-trade-quarter-2-2023/pages/international-goods-exports-eu-and-non-eu-combined/ Scotland now exports £36.7 bn compared to England’s £250 bn so, pro rata, with a tenth of the population, Scotland exports 46.8% more. Scotland only imports £35.1 bn and so has a surplus of £1.6 bn. England imports £470 bn and so has a massive deficit of £220 bn! Scotland’s export … Continue reading Per head, Scotland now exports nearly half as much again as England, has a surplus, and so would have no national debt