SC unanimously concludes Holyrood's indyref2 bill relates to reserved matters and if no Order in Council Holyrood has no power to hold a referendum on Scottish independence. Devastating result for Sturgeon, huge win for UK government and PM Sunak and indeed Starmer as likely next PM too
Excellent result for Sturgeon who now can blame Westminster for blocking the independence referendum that she almost certainly does not want anyway.
Yes. This is precisely the result she needed, and it was the only legally possible result. Keeping the plates spinning to no absolute conclusion with none of it being your fault is then optimal position for the SNP.
Perhaps it is time for Westminster to call the bluff.
Looks like Sturgeon will have to try and turn the 2024 GE into a proxy indyref now, which might actually give Sunak a weapon he can use against Labour.
Yes but as she ruled out UDI too that is irrelevant
It’s not irrelevant – its just kicking the can down the road but you’re just too shortsighted to see it.
It revealed that 31.3 per cent of 10 and 11-year-old children living in the most deprived areas of England were obese compared to 13.5 per cent of those living in the least deprived areas.
I wonder how many obese kids are on free food schemes.
When I was at school in the 70s and 80s there were 1 or 2 fat kids, there would now be 100-200 fat kids
The fault sadly lies with the food industry. I recall in the 70's and 80's we had meat and vegetables. One thing I am struck by now is just how much packaging we use - my wife and I fill a wheelie bin every two weeks with cardboard, plastic and metal (tins) and was also tend to use the local butcher and greengrocer for a lot of our food. I strongly suspect the increase in obesity is correlated to the increase in convenient food (not necessarily ready meals) but other 'easy' options, such as pasta sauces in jars that contain far more sugar than you would ever put in your own sauce. That, and the poor little mites getting driven to everything, even when its within walking distance. Every kid in the 70's had a bike and cycled everywhere.
A bike? Luxury. We walked. Part of the problem is children no longer walk to their nearest school but must be driven (car or bus) to their parents' second choice five miles away. Adult obesity will doubtless be rising because WFH means no walk to the station, and no walking around at work, at least for office workers who can WFH.
I think most school runs (by car) are less than 2 miles. The main reason is that parents are worried that their children won't be safe on their bikes/walking because of the number of cars and rubbish driving standards.
Yep. We have a 1.5 mile option, which is even walkable in reasonable(ish) time with kids, but ~1 mile of that is a single track, 60mph limit road with no pavements (and some drivers do indeed do ~60mph on it). There's a safer route with pavement, but at 2.5 miles it's not walkable in reasonable time and not child-on-bike friendly, one really nasty junction. (I do the junction on my commute and it's in my top two places to get taken out by a car. One cut across me, not seeing me - I guess - a few weeks back; I had to brake hard. The school journey requires the bike to cut across car traffic.)
I do think we will try to do the walk 1.5 mile option in the summer, at least for afternoon pickup when it's light, less time pressure and (crucially) visibility much better. With an off-road cycle path, we'd be cycling it now with the kids.
There was a viral video where a driver got way too close to a 5 year old on a bike and even Sajid Javid said the parents were irresponsible for trying to cycle to school. This country is completely wedded to cars.
I do think the UK gov's position of 'just ignore it and it'll go away' is not sustainable, but I'm not sure where we go from here, since I also don't think it is the job of courts to get creative around what the law is for political expediency.
The Scottish Parliament has to respond, beyond simply lamenting the decision, but would they really go nuclear on treating a GE result as a pseudo-referendum?
I do think the UK gov's position of 'just ignore it and it'll go away' is not sustainable, but I'm not sure where we go from here, since I also don't think it is the job of courts to get creative around what the law is for political expediency.
The Scottish Parliament has to respond, beyond simply lamenting the decision, but would they really go nuclear on treating a GE result as a pseudo-referendum?
Unless the UK government agrees to indyref2 there is no other way of circumventing today's unanimous SC judgment including a pseudo-referendum GE
SC unanimously concludes Holyrood's indyref2 bill relates to reserved matters and if no Order in Council Holyrood has no power to hold a referendum on Scottish independence. Devastating result for Sturgeon, huge win for UK government and PM Sunak and indeed Starmer as likely next PM too
Excellent result for Sturgeon who now can blame Westminster for blocking the independence referendum that she almost certainly does not want anyway.
Yes. This is precisely the result she needed, and it was the only legally possible result. Keeping the plates spinning to no absolute conclusion with none of it being your fault is then optimal position for the SNP.
Perhaps it is time for Westminster to call the bluff.
No, once in a generation IS once in a generation and that now has full legal force.
Looks like Sturgeon will have to try and turn the 2024 GE into a proxy indyref now, which might actually give Sunak a weapon he can use against Labour.
No idea how that works
With a Labour government on the horizon at Westminster, it does look interesting re. SNP and what they do next. Presumably Sturgeon is relieved
I do think the UK gov's position of 'just ignore it and it'll go away' is not sustainable, but I'm not sure where we go from here, since I also don't think it is the job of courts to get creative around what the law is for political expediency.
The Scottish Parliament has to respond, beyond simply lamenting the decision, but would they really go nuclear on treating a GE result as a pseudo-referendum?
Separatist movements do sometimes run out of steam. BQ, Vlaams Blok, etc.
The occupiers assume, with some justification, that the Sturgeon Show will eventually be cancelled and the SNP will struggle to find a sufficiently galvanising replacement.
Looks like Sturgeon will have to try and turn the 2024 GE into a proxy indyref now, which might actually give Sunak a weapon he can use against Labour.
Bring it on. If the SNP want to campaign in the 2024 GE on a platform that they intend to bring down a minority Labour or Labour/LD government should they not be granted another referendum, more fool them. Starmer will just face them down, as he has already made clear. An SNP threat of a repeat of their action when they brought down the 1979 minority Labour government is going to boost Starmer's chances of picking up seats in Scotland.
You opened with "politics won't affect your decision" mofo.
Is 'political positions [ie, of parties] won't impact our decision' (or whatever he said, I only caught the end) the same as 'political impacts of a referendum are considerable and are therefore relevant'?
I do think the UK gov's position of 'just ignore it and it'll go away' is not sustainable, but I'm not sure where we go from here, since I also don't think it is the job of courts to get creative around what the law is for political expediency.
The Scottish Parliament has to respond, beyond simply lamenting the decision, but would they really go nuclear on treating a GE result as a pseudo-referendum?
Separatist movements do sometimes run out of steam. BQ, Vlaams Blok, etc.
The occupiers assume, with some justification, that the Sturgeon Show will eventually be cancelled and the SNP will struggle to find a sufficiently galvanising replacement.
I do wonder if it was obvious to people BQ was running out of steam, or if it came suddenly and as a shock.
Comments
Perhaps it is time for Westminster to call the bluff.
With a Labour government on the horizon at Westminster, it does look interesting re. SNP and what they do next. Presumably Sturgeon is relieved
The occupiers assume, with some justification, that the Sturgeon Show will eventually be cancelled and the SNP will struggle to find a sufficiently galvanising replacement.
We now await the grievance farming with interest.
Nothing is more boring than Scottish grievance mongering.