There’s something odd happening with the Savanta ComRes polls for the Scotsman/SoS. Since the beginning of April, consistently coming below all the others and now reporting on the same date as YouGov get 52% for the SNP in the constituency vote and Survation get 49%, they get an astonishing 42%. 25% for Douglas Ross? Now I know they’re fiddling something. Given that they all ask the same question, it must be the sampling. Surely they wouldn’t construct their sample to deliberately get a low SNP score? Continue reading Are the Scotsman polls just based on over-65s in Borders, Moray and Edinburgh South?

In the Herald today: THE MAJORITY of Scots who support holding another referendum want it to be held after the coronavirus pandemic is over, according to a new poll. The exclusive data, obtained by BMG Research for The Herald, also shows that even among independence supporters, the majority would favour waiting for the pandemic to subside (53 per cent) than hold a vote immediately (39%).  39% want a referendum ‘immediately?’ Astounding! 53% ‘favour [just] waiting for the pandemic to subside?’ Wow! Subside? So we’re just waiting for Moray’s Tory council to get its act together? The virus is well-under control everywhere else. … Continue reading 92% of Scots ‘want’ a referendum this year!

‘…..haven’t been vaccinated.’ Throughout the day before an election, the headline story, extracting anything from an otherwise positive story that might reflect badly on the the SNP administration. Scotland has, of course, vaccinated more of the JCVI list, over 50s and vulnerable, than the other nations but that’s a story only for reporting by BBC UK. ‘…in the area would be devastating’ and ‘would ruin firms that have only just reopened.’ Straight on to the second story, challenging the Scottish Government’s pandemic strategy, on behalf of a Conservative-run council and business interests and in the absence of any such threat … Continue reading 24 hours to go and BBC Scotland is campaigning hard

By Alasdair Galloway: Anas Sarwar claims that ““We should never have been sending Covid positive patients into care Homes. That didn’t require medical guidance that required common sense.” Yet, Robert Cuffe, the BBC’s Head of Statistics, suggested in the last few days that those Care Homes that received discharges, actually had a lower rate of Covid. But before proceeding to what might have been the more important factors, it is important to remember that the transfers took place at the time only after consultation between doctors and care Home management. Does Mr Sarwar believe he would have known better? The … Continue reading ‘Those care homes that received discharges, actually had a lower rate of Covid!’

From SNP Media: The charade of the Scottish Labour party’s campaign has been exposed today with a clear statement from the party that Anas Sarwar shares Tory priorities – which include cuts to services and stopping Scotland’s progress. In a desperate plea for Tory votes that will shock younger and more traditional Labour supporters, the former leader of the No Campaign, Alastair Darling, tells Tory voters that “Anas Sarwar shares your priorities”, confirming that Labour cannot and will not stand up to Boris Johnson.. Alistair Darling as Chancellor pledged that Labour would cut “deeper and tougher” than Margaret Thatcher. Families … Continue reading Alastair Darling, tells Tory voters that “Anas Sarwar shares your priorities”

Two polls by Opinium and YouGov in May 2021, put SNP support for the constituency vote above 50%, after 10 polls putting them below 50% and, of course, Savanta ComRes for the Scotsman repeatedly and suspiciously putting them much lower. In the regional vote Opinium has them up at 41% after 9 polls putting them below 40%. The YouGov poll gives the Greens 13% and Opinium gives them 8% with both giving Alba 3%. In terms of seats, we’re looking at an overall SNP majority of 4 plus around 10 Greens to create a super-majority of between 25 and 30. Continue reading Two polls: SNP surges to highest score since beginning of April

At the end of an otherwise well-judged piece in Foreign Policy on 16th March 2021, An Independent Scotland Would Bring No Surprises for Allies: Scotland is in a great position to be a good global citizen, SNP MPs Alyn Smith and Stewart McDonald write: Like Ireland, Scotland will be a smaller state but within a global A-Team, a good news story for the EU out of the despond of Brexit. Unlike Ireland, Scotland will seek to be a reliable NATO partner; it’s in too vital a strategic position not to be. Unlike Ireland? Global A-Team? Here’s the situation: In 1999 … Continue reading Leave the toadying and anti-Irish sentiments to the Unionists?

By stewartb If you plan to listen to the leaders’ TV debate this evening, reflect on what follows when an inevitably aggressive Douglas Ross talks over Nicola Sturgeon as she answers his predictable, context free charges the poverty-related attainment gap in Scotland. Reflect on what follows when Ross’ Unionist allies seek to make out that Scotland’s government has been exceptionally bad in not closing this gap more quickly or completely. Recall that according to Audit Scotland the gap is closing but not fast enough. This is from the Education Policy Institute’s ‘Education in England: Annual Report 2020’ (https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/education-in-england-annual-report-2020/ ) The EPI … Continue reading Before the leaders’ debate, read this on attainment

Described as ‘a transatlantic think tank based in London‘, the Henry Jackson Society has lots of ‘previous’ on bias and lack of transparency of its donors. In 2014: A rightwing thinktank, accused of pushing an anti-Muslim agenda, has pulled funding for two parliamentary groups which focused on homeland and international security after refusing to disclose its donors to the Commons’ standards watchdog. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/30/rightwing-thinktank-pulls-funds-commons-groups-disclosure-rules In 2017: They were accused of running an anti-China propaganda campaign after the Japanese embassy gave them a monthly fee of £10,000. The campaign was said to be aimed at planting Japan’s concerns about China in British newspapers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Jackson_Society#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20the%20Henry%20Jackson,about%20China%20in%20British%20newspapers. … Continue reading Fake news from right-wing think tank to undermine Independence campaign