The latest poll by Panelbase for the thinking man’s James Kelly (Scot Goes Pop) and the aesthete’s John Curtice, suggests 80 seats for the SNP, Greens and Alba (62%) and only 49 for the opposition parties (38%). This doesn’t give the SNP an overall majority but, and I say this as an SNP member sore from pounding the streets locally, informal coalition with a harder-left party is no bad thing, that majority of 31 is whopping and, recognising the flaws inherent in too many of its new members, I’d welcome the presence of the Alba Party’s Salmond and MacAskill to … Continue reading Massive lead for pro-Independence parties in latest poll suggests Green or Alba 2 could work

Nicola Sturgeon will today (Tuesday) urge Scottish voters to back the SNP as the only party with the experience to lead Scotland through the pandemic and into an economic recovery Campaigning in Wigtown today, the SNP Leader will warn that Scotland cannot afford to leave key powers in the hands of the ‘job-destroying’ Tories at Westminster. She will also highlight a number of key policies the SNP will take forward to support jobs during the recovery, including: – £33bn in infrastructure projects over the next 5 years in our National Infrastructure Mission, directly supporting around 45,000 jobs and provide benefits … Continue reading SNP JOB-CREATION PLANS IN STARK CONTRAST TO ‘JOB-DESTROYING’ TORIES

  The SNP has said figures showing a dramatic decrease in food and drink exports to the EU is the “grim reality” of Boris Johnson’s botched Brexit deal. According to figures by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), sales of milk and cream to the EU are down an incredible 96% – with chicken and beef exports down by almost 80%.  Overall, export barriers created by Brexit have cost exporters more than £1.1 billion since the start of the year.  The FDF are now urging the UK government to conduct “essential” talks with the EU as a matter of urgency … Continue reading Brexit: Scottish food and drink exporters lose more than 1 billion in 2021

From SNP Media: Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture, Fiona Hyslop, has unveiled a mini-manifesto for Scotland’s workers today (Monday), adding that the SNP won’t join the Tories’ “race to the bottom” on workers’ rights after Brexit. Ahead of an STUC hustings in which First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will represent the SNP, Fiona Hyslop set out a package of measures to create job opportunities, make work fair for all and protect workers’ rights, including: – develop the Young Person’s Guarantee to ensure that every young person aged between 16 and 24 has the opportunity to go to university or college, … Continue reading SNP won’t join the Tories’ “race to the bottom” on workers’ rights

Crudely, because of its massive 1.4 billion population, India is setting record infection totals but it’s the ratio that matters. England had many more cases than Iceland but it also has far more hospitals to treat them. India’s infection rate, per 100 000 people, as you can see in the graph below, is not that high, well below France, Turkey and Cyprus at the moment or England back in January and the rate of increase is less steep than France in October or England in December. The death rate, equally, is not as high per 100 000 people, as in … Continue reading It’s not India’s infection rate that matters but its brutally unequal society

The SNP has been granted an Urgent Question in the House of Commons amid the growing Tory sleaze scandal – with Tory ministers set to face MPs from 3.35pm. Alison Thewliss MP has tabled a question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Michael Gove, to update the House on the Ministerial Code amid the serious allegations of special access, impropriety and possible illegality being levelled at the Tory government. The SNP has called for a full independent public inquiry into why Tory donors and friends have been handed lucrative contracts, special access, tax breaks and peerages by the Tory government. … Continue reading SNP GRANTED URGENT QUESTION AMID TORY SLEAZE SCANDAL at 3.35pm on BBC Parliament

BBC Scotland, as Covid deaths were plummeting in early April, against a background of a far lower death rate over the course of the pandemic, in England, chose instead to morbidly trumpet the above bloody ‘milestone.’ BBC England and BBC Wales did not celebrate any of their equivalent but bloodier milestones. They buried them. One million second doses, our most vulnerable protected, but there’s no sign of recognition in our MSM as they scurry around looking for something bad. Here’s the detail: The latest vaccination figures for Scotland show Scotland is set to pass the key milestone of one million … Continue reading Will BBC Scotland notice the 1 MILLION second doses ‘milestone?’

I’m against formal testing in Primary schools and especially in the early stages. The ‘assessments‘ can be built into everyday learning and used as diagnostic evidence by the teacher to improve the pupil’s ability to learn. Teachers have done this kind of thing on a daily basis for decades now but mostly using their own assessments or perhaps something standardised in the school or by education authority advisers or in a published scheme. These Scottish Government centrally issued assessment materials are no different other than that they enable schools across the country to standardise with the best tools in the … Continue reading Swinney will be concerned even if a tiny handful of confused teachers are misusing the assessments and stressing P1 pupils

Regardless of the First Minister’s impressive victory over Andrew Marr’s dishonesty yesterday, ‘giving him and his researchers a doing‘ as Ruth Davidson claimed Andrew Neil had done to her last year, the MSM will now put all of their efforts into persuading voters that the SNP is somehow weakened by the dodgy predictions of the IFS and the need for a hard border at Berwick should we become independent within Europe, as a clear majority of us desire. I’ll leave the deficit for another time and just repeat the First Minister’s point that the IFS report makes the case for … Continue reading Independent Scotland in the EU will NOT be forced into accepting a border arrangement that England decides

By stewartb: This comment is prompted by the above from the BBC News website: ‘Scottish election 2021: Many manifestos, but for what?’ written by Douglas Fraser, BBC Scotland Business/economy editor. I offer these extracts from a section entitled: “What difference can Holyrood make anyway? Mr Fraser argues: “The answer to that DEPENDS ON YOUR ATTITUDE to independence.” (my emphasis) So for Mr Fraser it would seem that ‘ATTITUDE’ trumps the actual legal powers given and withheld under the terms of the devolved settlement! And then he adds: “ THERE’S A LOT THAN CAN BE DONE AT HOLYROOD, and done differently. … Continue reading Douglas Fraser and ‘attitudes’ to independence