The SNP have fucked it, in the views of this member of the party. We will be looking back in a couple of years and recognising that they had everything they needed over the period 2016-2022 to make Scottish independence a reality and the over-cautious and timid Sturgeon screwed it up, then fucked off and left the choice of leader to be (at this stage, but increasingly looking like the reality) a total hellscape shitstorm.
A nobody in Ash Regan who is being solidly ignored by the media even though there's only three candidates so far (presumably as the only one who actually sounds like they want independence), the religious Kate Forbes who though functionally competent and photogenic actively harms herself every time she's asked about anything because her views sound like something from 1964, even if they've nothing to do with her policies (which have yet to be stated), and Humza fucking Yousaf.
If it's the latter then syonara to both independence and SNP's large election winning victories.
Well done guys, well done. SLOW HANDCLAP.
I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to tell me it's not that bad, but, mmm, yes it does appear that bad from where I'm sitting right now.
the religious Kate Forbes who though functionally competent and photogenic actively harms herself every time she's asked about anything because her views sound like something from 1964, even if they've nothing to do with her policies
1964 ... there was plenty of sex before marriage then ... even in 1864, there was plenty.
Her views may have been fashionable in 1564.
You mean, just before Henry VIII started shagging all his wives' ladies in waiting?
Ah, hold on, he died in 1547.
And who could forget Edward IV, whose memorable response to his mother's furious protest at his marrying a middle-ranking widow was, 'well, she's got two sons and though I'm not married I've got a few myself, so you should have lots of healthy grandsons very soon?'
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
The dualling of the A9 is not a party political subject but a real need for the economies of the Highlands and beyond
It is also a lethal road and very frustrating to drive along as I have done for over 60 years
I would suggest blaming the conservatives is like blaming labour for the last 13 years
Ahem. The SNP have been running the Scottish Govt since 2007 and have, repeatedly, pledged to dual the A9 and the A96. Even Fergus Ewing MSP (SNP -Inverness) seems to be losing his rag with his colleagues for failing to deliver. Nothing to do with trams, let alone Tories. And, yes, it is lethal as is the A96.
The A9 is an interesting road in many ways: it goes through some good scenery, but is not that scenic (compared to many other Scottish roads). It also often avoids some picturesque villages. It really needs dualling, and (from memory) some of the short sections if dualled road are probably more dangerous than if it was single carriageway. It also seems a no-brainer for dualling in its entirety, given the places it links.
So what's the problem? Money? Distance? Will?
Difficult to say. Almost seems a complete lack of interest in the North of Scotland. It's not just the A9. The A96 (Inverness - Aberdeen) is a terrible road and a cause celebre for local communities. The A83 in Argyll is a disaster area with frequent closures. And then, of course, the disaster of all disasters: the ferry contract. It makes you wonder, if Forbes, who is local and is aware of these problems, is indeed sent packing into the wilderness, whether the region might finally tell the SNP to go off and do one.
You forgot the A82 between Tarbet and Crianlarich.
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
The dualling of the A9 is not a party political subject but a real need for the economies of the Highlands and beyond
It is also a lethal road and very frustrating to drive along as I have done for over 60 years
I would suggest blaming the conservatives is like blaming labour for the last 13 years
Ahem. The SNP have been running the Scottish Govt since 2007 and have, repeatedly, pledged to dual the A9 and the A96. Even Fergus Ewing MSP (SNP -Inverness) seems to be losing his rag with his colleagues for failing to deliver. Nothing to do with trams, let alone Tories. And, yes, it is lethal as is the A96.
The A9 is an interesting road in many ways: it goes through some good scenery, but is not that scenic (compared to many other Scottish roads). It also often avoids some picturesque villages. It really needs dualling, and (from memory) some of the short sections if dualled road are probably more dangerous than if it was single carriageway. It also seems a no-brainer for dualling in its entirety, given the places it links.
So what's the problem? Money? Distance? Will?
Difficult to say. Almost seems a complete lack of interest in the North of Scotland. It's not just the A9. The A96 (Inverness - Aberdeen) is a terrible road and a cause celebre for local communities. The A83 in Argyll is a disaster area with frequent closures. And then, of course, the disaster of all disasters: the ferry contract. It makes you wonder, if Forbes, who is local and is aware of these problems, is indeed sent packing into the wilderness, whether the region might finally tell the SNP to go off and do one.
What alternative do they have that would even match their little. They are following a great tradition. Mind you they don't even hav ea motorway between Glasgow and Edinburgh , merely a dual carriageway. The money is all needed for London infrastructure.
The M8 is not a motorway?
No it is a pretendy one , only two lanees so a dual carriageway in any normal persons language.
Two lanes ... gosh ... I don't think we have anything like that in Meirionnydd.
And we won't be getting anything, as the Welsh Govt has cancelled all road building.
Back to the Stone Age with the Drake & Llafur.
I can just about understand not putting dual carriageways in Meirionnydd, although it would certainly be useful from Dolgellau up to Minfordd given the traffic that road carries in summer. After all, there isn't actually that much traffic and the terrain isn't easy.
But it's sheer midsummer madness not to build a proper bridge to replace the Britannia and Menai Bridges, one of which was a lash up of a railway bridge and the other was designed for horses and carts. That's a genuine insult to Ynys Môn and demonstrates how out of touch those Valleys councillors are.
(The Sallie in the song became Bill Drummond's (of the KLF) long-term partner. I was quite astounded when I discovered this connection between two of my favourite artists.)
edit: I've actually realised that both Bill Drummond and Momus are Scottish, in a way.
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
The dualling of the A9 is not a party political subject but a real need for the economies of the Highlands and beyond
It is also a lethal road and very frustrating to drive along as I have done for over 60 years
I would suggest blaming the conservatives is like blaming labour for the last 13 years
Ahem. The SNP have been running the Scottish Govt since 2007 and have, repeatedly, pledged to dual the A9 and the A96. Even Fergus Ewing MSP (SNP -Inverness) seems to be losing his rag with his colleagues for failing to deliver. Nothing to do with trams, let alone Tories. And, yes, it is lethal as is the A96.
The A9 is an interesting road in many ways: it goes through some good scenery, but is not that scenic (compared to many other Scottish roads). It also often avoids some picturesque villages. It really needs dualling, and (from memory) some of the short sections if dualled road are probably more dangerous than if it was single carriageway. It also seems a no-brainer for dualling in its entirety, given the places it links.
So what's the problem? Money? Distance? Will?
Difficult to say. Almost seems a complete lack of interest in the North of Scotland. It's not just the A9. The A96 (Inverness - Aberdeen) is a terrible road and a cause celebre for local communities. The A83 in Argyll is a disaster area with frequent closures. And then, of course, the disaster of all disasters: the ferry contract. It makes you wonder, if Forbes, who is local and is aware of these problems, is indeed sent packing into the wilderness, whether the region might finally tell the SNP to go off and do one.
What alternative do they have that would even match their little. They are following a great tradition. Mind you they don't even hav ea motorway between Glasgow and Edinburgh , merely a dual carriageway. The money is all needed for London infrastructure.
The M8 is not a motorway?
No it is a pretendy one , only two lanees so a dual carriageway in any normal persons language.
A lot of the English cars have steering wheels.....
Can it really be possible for the SNP - having watched the Tories elect an obviously complete dud last year - are now, themselves, going to elect an obvious dud themselves?
Yousaf? Seriously?
I can only imagine that this is part of some cunning Sturgeon/Murrell plan to ensure her return in a few years or so.
And mirror of Johnson hopes
Who could have predicted even 6 months ago the conservative party and SNP would self combust
Indeed maybe a lesson for all those predicting the future that not only is 7 days a long time in politics but events do happen that completely change the narrative
That lesson is never learned.
We're currently hearing about the decades to come of the Greater Starmerreich.
In the context of the Russo-Ukraine War, Michael Kofman derides such a mode of thinking as, "straight-line analysis."
It's the changes that are most interesting, and of course difficult to predict.
Sat at Foley Meir FC bloke in front just said he had a Boris Johnson inspired tea. Explained to his mate, " like normal pancakes but need to be a reyt tosser to make em."
The SNP have fucked it, in the views of this member of the party. We will be looking back in a couple of years and recognising that they had everything they needed over the period 2016-2022 to make Scottish independence a reality and the over-cautious and timid Sturgeon screwed it up, then fucked off and left the choice of leader to be (at this stage, but increasingly looking like the reality) a total hellscape shitstorm.
A nobody in Ash Regan who is being solidly ignored by the media even though there's only three candidates so far (presumably as the only one who actually sounds like they want independence), the religious Kate Forbes who though functionally competent and photogenic actively harms herself every time she's asked about anything because her views sound like something from 1964, even if they've nothing to do with her policies (which have yet to be stated), and Humza fucking Yousaf.
If it's the latter then syonara to both independence and SNP's large election winning victories.
Well done guys, well done. SLOW HANDCLAP.
I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to tell me it's not that bad, but, mmm, yes it does appear that bad from where I'm sitting right now.
the religious Kate Forbes who though functionally competent and photogenic actively harms herself every time she's asked about anything because her views sound like something from 1964, even if they've nothing to do with her policies . 1964 ... there was plenty of sex before marriage then ... even in 1864, there was plenty.
Her views may have been fashionable in 1564.
Sanctimonious prick, she is entitled to her own opinion and is not beholding to riff raff like you, GFY.
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
The dualling of the A9 is not a party political subject but a real need for the economies of the Highlands and beyond
It is also a lethal road and very frustrating to drive along as I have done for over 60 years
I would suggest blaming the conservatives is like blaming labour for the last 13 years
Ahem. The SNP have been running the Scottish Govt since 2007 and have, repeatedly, pledged to dual the A9 and the A96. Even Fergus Ewing MSP (SNP -Inverness) seems to be losing his rag with his colleagues for failing to deliver. Nothing to do with trams, let alone Tories. And, yes, it is lethal as is the A96.
The A9 is an interesting road in many ways: it goes through some good scenery, but is not that scenic (compared to many other Scottish roads). It also often avoids some picturesque villages. It really needs dualling, and (from memory) some of the short sections if dualled road are probably more dangerous than if it was single carriageway. It also seems a no-brainer for dualling in its entirety, given the places it links.
So what's the problem? Money? Distance? Will?
Difficult to say. Almost seems a complete lack of interest in the North of Scotland. It's not just the A9. The A96 (Inverness - Aberdeen) is a terrible road and a cause celebre for local communities. The A83 in Argyll is a disaster area with frequent closures. And then, of course, the disaster of all disasters: the ferry contract. It makes you wonder, if Forbes, who is local and is aware of these problems, is indeed sent packing into the wilderness, whether the region might finally tell the SNP to go off and do one.
What alternative do they have that would even match their little. They are following a great tradition. Mind you they don't even hav ea motorway between Glasgow and Edinburgh , merely a dual carriageway. The money is all needed for London infrastructure.
The M8 is not a motorway?
No it is a pretendy one , only two lanees so a dual carriageway in any normal persons language.
Two lanes ... gosh ... I don't think we have anything like that in Meirionnydd.
And we won't be getting anything, as the Welsh Govt has cancelled all road building.
Back to the Stone Age with the Drake & Llafur.
I can just about understand not putting dual carriageways in Meirionnydd, although it would certainly be useful from Dolgellau up to Minfordd given the traffic that road carries in summer. After all, there isn't actually that much traffic and the terrain isn't easy.
But it's sheer midsummer madness not to build a proper bridge to replace the Britannia and Menai Bridges, one of which was a lash up of a railway bridge and the other was designed for horses and carts. That's a genuine insult to Ynys Môn and demonstrates how out of touch those Valleys councillors are.
Also, the Llanbedr bypass -- god only knows why Adam Price (of the multiple houses) signed up to this.
The Redfield & Wilton Red Wall poll makes grim reading for the Conservatives with a swing of 18.5% from Conservative to Labour - the England sub sample on the main GB poll had a 20.5% swing so it may be the swing in the Blue Wall is over 20% - we'll see.
The Deltapoll swing is just under 17% but what will please Labour supporters are the very strong numbers for Starmer and the Party's widening lead over the Conservatives on the issue of economic competency.
The YouGov Scotland poll is much better for the Conservatives but still shows an 8% swing from Labour to Conservative.
The SNP have fucked it, in the views of this member of the party. We will be looking back in a couple of years and recognising that they had everything they needed over the period 2016-2022 to make Scottish independence a reality and the over-cautious and timid Sturgeon screwed it up, then fucked off and left the choice of leader to be (at this stage, but increasingly looking like the reality) a total hellscape shitstorm.
A nobody in Ash Regan who is being solidly ignored by the media even though there's only three candidates so far (presumably as the only one who actually sounds like they want independence), the religious Kate Forbes who though functionally competent and photogenic actively harms herself every time she's asked about anything because her views sound like something from 1964, even if they've nothing to do with her policies (which have yet to be stated), and Humza fucking Yousaf.
If it's the latter then syonara to both independence and SNP's large election winning victories.
Well done guys, well done. SLOW HANDCLAP.
I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to tell me it's not that bad, but, mmm, yes it does appear that bad from where I'm sitting right now.
the religious Kate Forbes who though functionally competent and photogenic actively harms herself every time she's asked about anything because her views sound like something from 1964, even if they've nothing to do with her policies . 1964 ... there was plenty of sex before marriage then ... even in 1864, there was plenty.
Her views may have been fashionable in 1564.
Sanctimonious prick, she is entitled to her own opinion and is not beholding to riff raff like you, GFY.
Sure, she is entitled to her own opinion. If she believes God created the world in 7 days, that is also fine.
What matters is whether Scottish voters are happy to vote for her ... maybe they are.
Sat at Foley Meir FC bloke in front just said he had a Boris Johnson inspired tea. Explained to his mate, " like normal pancakes but need to be a reyt tosser to make em."
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
The SNP have fucked it, in the views of this member of the party. We will be looking back in a couple of years and recognising that they had everything they needed over the period 2016-2022 to make Scottish independence a reality and the over-cautious and timid Sturgeon screwed it up, then fucked off and left the choice of leader to be (at this stage, but increasingly looking like the reality) a total hellscape shitstorm.
A nobody in Ash Regan who is being solidly ignored by the media even though there's only three candidates so far (presumably as the only one who actually sounds like they want independence), the religious Kate Forbes who though functionally competent and photogenic actively harms herself every time she's asked about anything because her views sound like something from 1964, even if they've nothing to do with her policies (which have yet to be stated), and Humza fucking Yousaf.
If it's the latter then syonara to both independence and SNP's large election winning victories.
Well done guys, well done. SLOW HANDCLAP.
I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to tell me it's not that bad, but, mmm, yes it does appear that bad from where I'm sitting right now.
the religious Kate Forbes who though functionally competent and photogenic actively harms herself every time she's asked about anything because her views sound like something from 1964, even if they've nothing to do with her policies . 1964 ... there was plenty of sex before marriage then ... even in 1864, there was plenty.
Her views may have been fashionable in 1564.
Sanctimonious prick, she is entitled to her own opinion and is not beholding to riff raff like you, GFY.
Sure, she is entitled to her own opinion. If she believes God created the world in 7 days, that is also fine.
What matters is whether Scottish voters are happy to vote for her ... maybe they are.
we are unlikely to find out given the concerted campaign by Sturgeon's attack dogs
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
The dualling of the A9 is not a party political subject but a real need for the economies of the Highlands and beyond
It is also a lethal road and very frustrating to drive along as I have done for over 60 years
I would suggest blaming the conservatives is like blaming labour for the last 13 years
Ahem. The SNP have been running the Scottish Govt since 2007 and have, repeatedly, pledged to dual the A9 and the A96. Even Fergus Ewing MSP (SNP -Inverness) seems to be losing his rag with his colleagues for failing to deliver. Nothing to do with trams, let alone Tories. And, yes, it is lethal as is the A96.
The A9 is an interesting road in many ways: it goes through some good scenery, but is not that scenic (compared to many other Scottish roads). It also often avoids some picturesque villages. It really needs dualling, and (from memory) some of the short sections if dualled road are probably more dangerous than if it was single carriageway. It also seems a no-brainer for dualling in its entirety, given the places it links.
So what's the problem? Money? Distance? Will?
Difficult to say. Almost seems a complete lack of interest in the North of Scotland. It's not just the A9. The A96 (Inverness - Aberdeen) is a terrible road and a cause celebre for local communities. The A83 in Argyll is a disaster area with frequent closures. And then, of course, the disaster of all disasters: the ferry contract. It makes you wonder, if Forbes, who is local and is aware of these problems, is indeed sent packing into the wilderness, whether the region might finally tell the SNP to go off and do one.
What alternative do they have that would even match their little. They are following a great tradition. Mind you they don't even hav ea motorway between Glasgow and Edinburgh , merely a dual carriageway. The money is all needed for London infrastructure.
The M8 is not a motorway?
No it is a pretendy one , only two lanees so a dual carriageway in any normal persons language.
Two lanes ... gosh ... I don't think we have anything like that in Meirionnydd.
And we won't be getting anything, as the Welsh Govt has cancelled all road building.
Back to the Stone Age with the Drake & Llafur.
I can just about understand not putting dual carriageways in Meirionnydd, although it would certainly be useful from Dolgellau up to Minfordd given the traffic that road carries in summer. After all, there isn't actually that much traffic and the terrain isn't easy.
But it's sheer midsummer madness not to build a proper bridge to replace the Britannia and Menai Bridges, one of which was a lash up of a railway bridge and the other was designed for horses and carts. That's a genuine insult to Ynys Môn and demonstrates how out of touch those Valleys councillors are.
Also, the Llanbedr bypass -- god only knows why Adam Price (of the multiple houses) signed up to this.
That would help. I find the parked cars there really difficult to navigate.
But then you could do with bypasses for Machynlleth, Aberdyfi, Tywyn and goodness knows Barmouth itself needs one (I've no idea how you could build it though)!
Lots of roads in Wales are simply not designed for cars and you don't need huge dual carriageways to sort them out. The Newtown bypass shows what can be done with a little imagination.
Sat at Foley Meir FC bloke in front just said he had a Boris Johnson inspired tea. Explained to his mate, " like normal pancakes but need to be a reyt tosser to make em."
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
I have heard of her David and saw her say a few words so tha tis mor ethan the vast majority of them who I hav enever heard, never seen and never even seen their names mentioned. Heard nothing bad about her which is also unusual.
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
Always someone else's fault, isn't it?
In that case, it happens to be true. The LDs, and the Labour, and the Greens, all wanted the trams.
There are other reasons for the A9 delays - but fucking up years' worth of budgets is not somethbing the Tories can walk away from.
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
There is more than enough blame to go around to everyone in respect of the Edinburgh Trams. Even the Inquiry itself has proven a disgrace with Lord Hardie's report now several years overdue and massively over budget.
That's actually quite funny, in a grim way.
Can I put in a bid to run an enquiry into an earlier enquiry I will run into the enquiry on the Trams?
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
Always someone else's fault, isn't it?
In that case, it happens to be true. The LDs, and the Labour, and the Greens, all wanted the trams.
There are other reasons for the A9 delays - but fucking up years' worth of budgets is not somethbing the Tories can walk away from.
It's the Edinburgh Tory Councillors who prevented the SNP Government from dualling the A9? Is that right? I really didn't know they had so much hidden influence.
Keir Starmer's contract with the Devil must be quite something.
. .
He looks better when dressed down, should do it more often. Angela always looks good.
Holy Crap who looks the most gormless between that pair
Err…Sunak?
The problem I am having with Sunak is that he keeps disappearing. The job of the PM is to make the political weather. Boris got that, even although he was a lying b******, hell, even Truss got that, although her preference for hurricanes was regrettable, but Sunak, he just disappears.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Fact that she is out of step with those barstewards should make her a certainty. Robertson is easy to know why he did not run, Swinney was disaster last time and is useless, ditto Brown our equivalent of Cleverly.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
One wonders how many potential candidates didn't stand because they thought it was a shoe-in to be Forbes versus Robertson and then reality is suddenly dawning the one hasn't stood and the other's floundering, leaving a surprisingly open goal.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Fact that she is out of step with those barstewards should make her a certainty. Robertson is easy to know why he did not run, Swinney was disaster last time and is useless, ditto Brown our equivalent of Cleverly.
Fair points Malc. Maybe you should run? Would make a better job of it than the current contenders.
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
There is more than enough blame to go around to everyone in respect of the Edinburgh Trams. Even the Inquiry itself has proven a disgrace with Lord Hardie's report now several years overdue and massively over budget.
Except that the SNP didn't want them in the first place. Forced on them by the Tories and everyone else as well.
Which reminds us that the Greens could do huge damage if the arithmetic you correctly mention was to change.
The management of the contracts, once granted, was, well, sub-optimal, to put it kindly.
Indeed. Edinburgh Council was not at its best. If there is such a thing.
But the combination of old infrastructure (which all had to be redone, though that will pay off in the long run) and heavy engineering for a tram line was always going to be tricky.
The first stage of Edinburgh's tram system seems to have been a mess (We were in Edinburgh just before Christmas, and the phase 2 scheme seems to be progressing well). But many other cities have introduced new tram systems over the last few decades: Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Croydon. Was Edinburgh's scheme uniquely mishandled?
It's not a tramway, but in my part of the world the (mis)guided bus appears to have been a tragic waste of funds and opportunity.
Also: what are the ridership figures of phase 1 compared to the pre-building predictions?
I believe part of the problem was the particularly heavy-rail kind of tram chosen, rigfhtly or wrongly. Also Edinburgh is a very old city and the routes included a lot of cellars under the road, unmodernised, services, etc.
T%he ridership - better than predicted, AFAIK (though covid complicated that of late). This is a recent report:
Thanks for that. From it, it seems that although ridership is higher than projected, it is also loss-making. Although that is not necessarily a problem as other advantages (e.g. taking cars off the road) might compensate.
But that inquiry... Oh my god. How is that even possible? Can we have an inquiry into the inquiry, please? It might just finalise its report just before the heat-death of the universe...
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
There is more than enough blame to go around to everyone in respect of the Edinburgh Trams. Even the Inquiry itself has proven a disgrace with Lord Hardie's report now several years overdue and massively over budget.
Except that the SNP didn't want them in the first place. Forced on them by the Tories and everyone else as well.
Which reminds us that the Greens could do huge damage if the arithmetic you correctly mention was to change.
The management of the contracts, once granted, was, well, sub-optimal, to put it kindly.
Indeed. Edinburgh Council was not at its best. If there is such a thing.
But the combination of old infrastructure (which all had to be redone, though that will pay off in the long run) and heavy engineering for a tram line was always going to be tricky.
The first stage of Edinburgh's tram system seems to have been a mess (We were in Edinburgh just before Christmas, and the phase 2 scheme seems to be progressing well). But many other cities have introduced new tram systems over the last few decades: Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Croydon. Was Edinburgh's scheme uniquely mishandled?
It's not a tramway, but in my part of the world the (mis)guided bus appears to have been a tragic waste of funds and opportunity.
Also: what are the ridership figures of phase 1 compared to the pre-building predictions?
I believe part of the problem was the particularly heavy-rail kind of tram chosen, rigfhtly or wrongly. Also Edinburgh is a very old city and the routes included a lot of cellars under the road, unmodernised, services, etc.
T%he ridership - better than predicted, AFAIK (though covid complicated that of late). This is a recent report:
Thanks for that. From it, it seems that although ridership is higher than projected, it is also loss-making. Although that is not necessarily a problem as other advantages (e.g. taking cars off the road) might compensate.
But that inquiry... Oh my god. How is that even possible? Can we have an inquiry into the inquiry, please? It might just finalise its report just before the heat-death of the universe...
It’s a Yes Minister enquiry - designed to push the whole thing to the left until everyone is bored. Or dead from old age.
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
Always someone else's fault, isn't it?
In that case, it happens to be true. The LDs, and the Labour, and the Greens, all wanted the trams.
There are other reasons for the A9 delays - but fucking up years' worth of budgets is not somethbing the Tories can walk away from.
It's the Edinburgh Tory Councillors who prevented the SNP Government from dualling the A9? Is that right? I really didn't know they had so much hidden influence.
P\arliament was where the trams were decided, if you remember. Maybe you were sooking on your lollipops at the time, it was that long ago. (Seriously. )
The SNP have fucked it, in the views of this member of the party. We will be looking back in a couple of years and recognising that they had everything they needed over the period 2016-2022 to make Scottish independence a reality and the over-cautious and timid Sturgeon screwed it up, then fucked off and left the choice of leader to be (at this stage, but increasingly looking like the reality) a total hellscape shitstorm.
A nobody in Ash Regan who is being solidly ignored by the media even though there's only three candidates so far (presumably as the only one who actually sounds like they want independence), the religious Kate Forbes who though functionally competent and photogenic actively harms herself every time she's asked about anything because her views sound like something from 1964, even if they've nothing to do with her policies (which have yet to be stated), and Humza fucking Yousaf.
If it's the latter then syonara to both independence and SNP's large election winning victories.
Well done guys, well done. SLOW HANDCLAP.
I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to tell me it's not that bad, but, mmm, yes it does appear that bad from where I'm sitting right now.
Oooh, oooh, can I be that someone?
It's not looking good at the moment; in fact it's looking a little chaotic, but from my perspective the SNP have a remarkable ability to pull through troubles. The rebel yell of 'independence!' normally pulls everyone together - the recent GRR issues being an obvious and unusual exception.
I can imagine that in six month's time, we're looking at a new SNP leader sitting securely and looking at polling just as good as a few months ago.
Or not...
Still two and a half days for more candidates. Will we see them?
Just looked at the ScotGov Cabinet. The undeclared ones are: Shirley-Anne Somerville (who?), Keith Brown (Dep Leader but dull as ditchwater);Mairi Gougeon (looks quite nice); Michael Matheson (obscure but reputedly competent); and Shona Robison (who usually looks like she's about to burst into tears).
Fancy any of them?
Scandals , useless, unknown , nobody numpty and complete duffer in your order.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Fact that she is out of step with those barstewards should make her a certainty. Robertson is easy to know why he did not run, Swinney was disaster last time and is useless, ditto Brown our equivalent of Cleverly.
Keir Starmer's contract with the Devil must be quite something.
. .
He looks better when dressed down, should do it more often. Angela always looks good.
Holy Crap who looks the most gormless between that pair
SKS. Has the look of a man with permanent haemorrhoids who has forgotten his Anusol.
I would be in favour of SKS getting the JFK treatment and I don't mean having an airport named after him!!
That's unacceptable. Whatever one's political differences with the man, wishing assassination upon anyone, no matter how much you may detest them or their positions, is NOT acceptable. I don't agree with SKS on much, but I do agree with his right to continue to draw breath free from any threat to take that ability away from him. We're supposed to be more civilised than that.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Fact that she is out of step with those barstewards should make her a certainty. Robertson is easy to know why he did not run, Swinney was disaster last time and is useless, ditto Brown our equivalent of Cleverly.
Fair points Malc. Maybe you should run? Would make a better job of it than the current contenders.
It would be worth it just for the fun of him shouting 'bollox' and throwing turnips in the Chamber.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Possibly for the same reason that taking over at OT after SAF was never going to work out either, especially with the former leader hanging around in the background.
Keir Starmer's contract with the Devil must be quite something.
. .
He looks better when dressed down, should do it more often. Angela always looks good.
We all know what you mean with Angela.
Doesn't do it for me. Too much emotional repression and a bit dead behind the eyes.
I am not admiring the quality of my plastic surgical colleagues work!
I mean she always dresses well, with a style of her own that suits her shape and colour. She looks comfortable being normal, which is something that a lot of politicians really struggle with. Not many could pull this off:
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
There is more than enough blame to go around to everyone in respect of the Edinburgh Trams. Even the Inquiry itself has proven a disgrace with Lord Hardie's report now several years overdue and massively over budget.
Except that the SNP didn't want them in the first place. Forced on them by the Tories and everyone else as well.
Which reminds us that the Greens could do huge damage if the arithmetic you correctly mention was to change.
The management of the contracts, once granted, was, well, sub-optimal, to put it kindly.
Indeed. Edinburgh Council was not at its best. If there is such a thing.
But the combination of old infrastructure (which all had to be redone, though that will pay off in the long run) and heavy engineering for a tram line was always going to be tricky.
The first stage of Edinburgh's tram system seems to have been a mess (We were in Edinburgh just before Christmas, and the phase 2 scheme seems to be progressing well). But many other cities have introduced new tram systems over the last few decades: Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Croydon. Was Edinburgh's scheme uniquely mishandled?
It's not a tramway, but in my part of the world the (mis)guided bus appears to have been a tragic waste of funds and opportunity.
Also: what are the ridership figures of phase 1 compared to the pre-building predictions?
I believe part of the problem was the particularly heavy-rail kind of tram chosen, rigfhtly or wrongly. Also Edinburgh is a very old city and the routes included a lot of cellars under the road, unmodernised, services, etc.
T%he ridership - better than predicted, AFAIK (though covid complicated that of late). This is a recent report:
Thanks for that. From it, it seems that although ridership is higher than projected, it is also loss-making. Although that is not necessarily a problem as other advantages (e.g. taking cars off the road) might compensate.
But that inquiry... Oh my god. How is that even possible? Can we have an inquiry into the inquiry, please? It might just finalise its report just before the heat-death of the universe...
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
There is more than enough blame to go around to everyone in respect of the Edinburgh Trams. Even the Inquiry itself has proven a disgrace with Lord Hardie's report now several years overdue and massively over budget.
Except that the SNP didn't want them in the first place. Forced on them by the Tories and everyone else as well.
Which reminds us that the Greens could do huge damage if the arithmetic you correctly mention was to change.
The management of the contracts, once granted, was, well, sub-optimal, to put it kindly.
Indeed. Edinburgh Council was not at its best. If there is such a thing.
But the combination of old infrastructure (which all had to be redone, though that will pay off in the long run) and heavy engineering for a tram line was always going to be tricky.
The first stage of Edinburgh's tram system seems to have been a mess (We were in Edinburgh just before Christmas, and the phase 2 scheme seems to be progressing well). But many other cities have introduced new tram systems over the last few decades: Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Croydon. Was Edinburgh's scheme uniquely mishandled?
It's not a tramway, but in my part of the world the (mis)guided bus appears to have been a tragic waste of funds and opportunity.
Also: what are the ridership figures of phase 1 compared to the pre-building predictions?
I believe part of the problem was the particularly heavy-rail kind of tram chosen, rigfhtly or wrongly. Also Edinburgh is a very old city and the routes included a lot of cellars under the road, unmodernised, services, etc.
T%he ridership - better than predicted, AFAIK (though covid complicated that of late). This is a recent report:
Thanks for that. From it, it seems that although ridership is higher than projected, it is also loss-making. Although that is not necessarily a problem as other advantages (e.g. taking cars off the road) might compensate.
But that inquiry... Oh my god. How is that even possible? Can we have an inquiry into the inquiry, please? It might just finalise its report just before the heat-death of the universe...
It’s a Yes Minister enquiry - designed to push the whole thing to the left until everyone is bored. Or dead from old age.
The Conclusion to the Report has been written, exonerating the guilty.
The difficulty is the evidence -- the paper trail, emails, interviews which tell us what happened.
The evidence needs to be massaged to be consistent with Conclusions. That takes time. Draft, after draft.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Fact that she is out of step with those barstewards should make her a certainty. Robertson is easy to know why he did not run, Swinney was disaster last time and is useless, ditto Brown our equivalent of Cleverly.
Fair points Malc. Maybe you should run? Would make a better job of it than the current contenders.
I certainly could not do worse and there would be a few duffers getting chucked out by the arse of their breeks. A bonfire of the nonentities
So I tune in to find BJO behind the grassy knoll. I thought he’d lost it when he started falling in love with Boris, but this is a new low. Not good. The obsession is poison.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Fact that she is out of step with those barstewards should make her a certainty. Robertson is easy to know why he did not run, Swinney was disaster last time and is useless, ditto Brown our equivalent of Cleverly.
Fair points Malc. Maybe you should run? Would make a better job of it than the current contenders.
I certainly could not do worse and there would be a few duffers getting chucked out by the arse of their breeks. A bonfire of the nonentities
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
One wonders how many potential candidates didn't stand because they thought it was a shoe-in to be Forbes versus Robertson and then reality is suddenly dawning the one hasn't stood and the other's floundering, leaving a surprisingly open goal.
Have to wonder why Cherry did not run, probably did not fancy more death threats from the mob
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Fact that she is out of step with those barstewards should make her a certainty. Robertson is easy to know why he did not run, Swinney was disaster last time and is useless, ditto Brown our equivalent of Cleverly.
Fair points Malc. Maybe you should run? Would make a better job of it than the current contenders.
I certainly could not do worse and there would be a few duffers getting chucked out by the arse of their breeks. A bonfire of the nonentities
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
One wonders how many potential candidates didn't stand because they thought it was a shoe-in to be Forbes versus Robertson and then reality is suddenly dawning the one hasn't stood and the other's floundering, leaving a surprisingly open goal.
Have to wonder why Cherry did not run, probably did not fancy more death threats from the mob
Me too, but there is still time. Les and less though.
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
Always someone else's fault, isn't it?
In that case, it happens to be true. The LDs, and the Labour, and the Greens, all wanted the trams.
There are other reasons for the A9 delays - but fucking up years' worth of budgets is not somethbing the Tories can walk away from.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Fact that she is out of step with those barstewards should make her a certainty. Robertson is easy to know why he did not run, Swinney was disaster last time and is useless, ditto Brown our equivalent of Cleverly.
Fair points Malc. Maybe you should run? Would make a better job of it than the current contenders.
I certainly could not do worse and there would be a few duffers getting chucked out by the arse of their breeks. A bonfire of the nonentities
Keir Starmer's contract with the Devil must be quite something.
. .
He looks better when dressed down, should do it more often. Angela always looks good.
We all know what you mean with Angela.
Doesn't do it for me. Too much emotional repression and a bit dead behind the eyes.
I am not admiring the quality of my plastic surgical colleagues work!
I mean she always dresses well, with a style of her own that suits her shape and colour. She looks comfortable being normal, which is something that a lot of politicians really struggle with. Not many could pull this off:
Mental that the SNP seem like they're about to implode over this GRR stuff now that their best candidate is being politically decapitated.
I still think the real reasoning behind it was to shore up Sturgeon's flank on the left, and drive a further wedge with London. If they allowed it, divergence. If they blocked it, grievance.
But the more this plays out, the more astonishingly stupid the whole thing looks. Not least, because in the real world regardless of what a bunch of drunken imbeciles on Twitter or at Stonewall might think (or more usually, not think) gender dysphoria affects such a tiny proportion of the population that guidelines and proper funding rather than regulations would resolve 99% of the problems they face. It is using a steam hammer to crack a boiled pea. It was an absolutely daft issue to pick to fight on for that reason.
Nobody has died. So it isn't comparable with Suez for Eden or Ukraine for Putin, or the Sparrowcide for Mao.
But it has now cost the SNP its leader, a large chunk of its credibility, and the only really plausible candidates they have to replace the aforesaid leader.
In terms of incredibly pointless political mistakes it is right up there with Asquith's decision to ask General Hubert Gough what his choice would be if given the option to use armed force against the Ulster militias or resign his commission.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Fact that she is out of step with those barstewards should make her a certainty. Robertson is easy to know why he did not run, Swinney was disaster last time and is useless, ditto Brown our equivalent of Cleverly.
Fair points Malc. Maybe you should run? Would make a better job of it than the current contenders.
I certainly could not do worse and there would be a few duffers getting chucked out by the arse of their breeks. A bonfire of the nonentities
Well I'm back visiting the folks and I've just scored a half of bitter for £1.23. Red Wall rules ok!
I was in spoons the other day and they had a craft beer at £1.79 a pint. I had a lovely pint of Abbott at £2.29, compared to the other day day in another pub was £5 for guinness and over a fiver for pint of Peroni.
Looking back to my first years in pubs in the mid 1990s, pints were between £1.20 in the Barrels and £1.70 at the Spread or Lich. They now seem to range from around £3.50 at the cheapest places (I don’t include special offers at chains where there’s other commercial stuff going on) and £6.00 in the priciest pubs. Southern England ex-London. So that’s inflation of 100% at lower end to 250% at high end.
Over 30 years it’s not actually that high an inflation rate.
At least 100% higher than average wage growth though so twice as expensive £(1990s) for £(2020s)
Yes, 3.8% CAGR for the cheap stuff and 4.6% for posh. Higher than wage growth since 2000 which was around 3.1-3.2% until last year, though not hugely so.
Wage growth was 5-6% from the mid 90s to the financial crisis so a pint was getting more affordable. Then 2% or less even in nominal terms since 2008.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Possibly for the same reason that taking over at OT after SAF was never going to work out either, especially with the former leader hanging around in the background.
But, Alex was 72. Nicola is 52.
Why did Nicola go ? The absence of any succession planning is odd.
I mean, the SNP seemed to me to be (@malcomg to the contrary) pretty competent.
Mental that the SNP seem like they're about to implode over this GRR stuff now that their best candidate is being politically decapitated.
I still think the real reasoning behind it was to shore up Sturgeon's flank on the left, and drive a further wedge with London. If they allowed it, divergence. If they blocked it, grievance.
But the more this plays out, the more astonishingly stupid the whole thing looks. Not least, because in the real world regardless of what a bunch of drunken imbeciles on Twitter or at Stonewall might think (or more usually, not think) gender dysphoria affects such a tiny proportion of the population that guidelines and proper funding rather than regulations would resolve 99% of the problems they face. It is using a steam hammer to crack a boiled pea. It was an absolutely daft issue to pick to fight on for that reason.
Nobody has died. So it isn't comparable with Suez for Eden or Ukraine for Putin, or the Sparrowcide for Mao.
But in terms of incredibly pointless political mistakes it is right up there with Asquith's decision to ask General Hubert Gough what his choice would be if given the option to use armed force against the Ulster militias or resign his commission.
One of the original theories re GRR was that Sturgeon was lining herself for a global UN-style role and that the GRR was to be the springboard for that. To be blunt, the way she has handled the whole situation is giving a lot more credence to that view.
I wonder if we see Ardern and Sturgeon doing some sort of global female power-duo act at some point.
I note from this morning's debate we are to hold street parties and go back to voting Conservative because we might manage 0.8% growth this year. Forgive me if I don't join the festivities.
I doubt those public sector workers who are being told they will get 3.5% when inflation (though falling) is still more than double that will also feel in a party mood.
The current economic mantra seems to be "you can't get the staff" - that was evident at Lingfield yesterday afternoon with hardly any on-course catering facilities and a swathe of closed and shuttered bars and restaurants. Okay, there weren't 8,000 coming through the gates on a Monday afternoon but the regulars, the needy and the greedy all need to eat and drink.
Hearing about the acute crisis in Special Educational Needs provision or the collapse of public transport services in provincial English towns and cities makes the debate about who should lead the SNP all a bit moot but this is a political betting site and inevitably we'll talk about the things we can bet on.
The truth of today's borrowing figures, decent though they were, is we will still be paying £6 billion a month in debt interest payments and that will likely go up. It must be time for a Chancellor looking to reduce the deficit to look at pulling back on some of the measures designed to mitigate the risk of recession - the 5p reduction in fuel duty could now be reversed given petrol prices are back to where they were last May and we are told the economy is doing so much better than had been predicted. That would go some way to mitigating the monthly debt interest payments.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Fact that she is out of step with those barstewards should make her a certainty. Robertson is easy to know why he did not run, Swinney was disaster last time and is useless, ditto Brown our equivalent of Cleverly.
Fair points Malc. Maybe you should run? Would make a better job of it than the current contenders.
I certainly could not do worse and there would be a few duffers getting chucked out by the arse of their breeks. A bonfire of the nonentities
Mental that the SNP seem like they're about to implode over this GRR stuff now that their best candidate is being politically decapitated.
I still think the real reasoning behind it was to shore up Sturgeon's flank on the left, and drive a further wedge with London. If they allowed it, divergence. If they blocked it, grievance.
But the more this plays out, the more astonishingly stupid the whole thing looks. Not least, because in the real world regardless of what a bunch of drunken imbeciles on Twitter or at Stonewall might think (or more usually, not think) gender dysphoria affects such a tiny proportion of the population that guidelines and proper funding rather than regulations would resolve 99% of the problems they face. It is using a steam hammer to crack a boiled pea. It was an absolutely daft issue to pick to fight on for that reason.
Nobody has died. So it isn't comparable with Suez for Eden or Ukraine for Putin, or the Sparrowcide for Mao.
But it has now cost the SNP its leader, a large chunk of its credibility, and the only really plausible candidates they have to replace the aforesaid leader.
In terms of incredibly pointless political mistakes it is right up there with Asquith's decision to ask General Hubert Gough what his choice would be if given the option to use armed force against the Ulster militias or resign his commission.
I had typed quite a long reply to this - but it boiled down to 'wtf?', 'black swan' and 'events, dear boy'.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Fact that she is out of step with those barstewards should make her a certainty. Robertson is easy to know why he did not run, Swinney was disaster last time and is useless, ditto Brown our equivalent of Cleverly.
Fair points Malc. Maybe you should run? Would make a better job of it than the current contenders.
I certainly could not do worse and there would be a few duffers getting chucked out by the arse of their breeks. A bonfire of the nonentities
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Possibly for the same reason that taking over at OT after SAF was never going to work out either, especially with the former leader hanging around in the background.
But, Alex was 72. Nicola is 52.
Why did Nicola go ? The absence of any succession planning is odd.
I mean, the SNP seemed to me to be (@malcomg to the contrary) pretty competent.
Chickens coming home to roost, only a few days after hubby was interviewed by our finest and hubby loaned SNP 107K and she as leader of SNP and his wife did not know about it. How they going to explain that 600K missing. Plus many other things could easily pop up as well.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Possibly for the same reason that taking over at OT after SAF was never going to work out either, especially with the former leader hanging around in the background.
But, Alex was 72. Nicola is 52.
Why did Nicola go ? The absence of any succession planning is odd.
I mean, the SNP seemed to me to be (@malcomg to the contrary) pretty competent.
How the hell did you get that idea? Living in Wales is seriously distorting your perspective.
So I tune in to find BJO behind the grassy knoll. I thought he’d lost it when he started falling in love with Boris, but this is a new low. Not good. The obsession is poison.
Have to admit my worst post of my circa 20,000 on here apologies.
Mental that the SNP seem like they're about to implode over this GRR stuff now that their best candidate is being politically decapitated.
I think it's more that they are possibly going to implode over the inherent split in 'the SNP' as a party/project. The GRR stuff is just the current focal point.
Post a theoretical independence they'd have split anyway.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Possibly for the same reason that taking over at OT after SAF was never going to work out either, especially with the former leader hanging around in the background.
But, Alex was 72. Nicola is 52.
Why did Nicola go ? The absence of any succession planning is odd.
I mean, the SNP seemed to me to be (@malcomg to the contrary) pretty competent.
How the hell did you get that idea? Living in Wales is seriously distorting your perspective.
Compared to Mark Drakeford, Commodus was a competent leader.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Possibly for the same reason that taking over at OT after SAF was never going to work out either, especially with the former leader hanging around in the background.
But, Alex was 72. Nicola is 52.
Why did Nicola go ? The absence of any succession planning is odd.
I mean, the SNP seemed to me to be (@malcomg to the contrary) pretty competent.
Chickens coming home to roost, only a few days after hubby was interviewed by our finest and hubby loaned SNP 107K and she as leader of SNP and his wife did not know about it. How they going to explain that 600K missing. Plus many other things could easily pop up as well.
Maybe you are right.
But, a missing 600 k sounds easy enough for a competent politician to explain away.
Smarmy Blair or Johnson or Cameron would have no difficulty.
A missing 600 billion, maybe a bit more difficult.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Possibly for the same reason that taking over at OT after SAF was never going to work out either, especially with the former leader hanging around in the background.
But, Alex was 72. Nicola is 52.
Why did Nicola go ? The absence of any succession planning is odd.
I mean, the SNP seemed to me to be (@malcomg to the contrary) pretty competent.
Plus they hav eignored everything and put all energy etc into teh GRR shambles, plus she had run out of independence carrots and would not meet her 6th promised , certain referendum in 2023. Days were numbered and just a case of what shambles/scandal brought her down.
While the centre-right Government here may be struggling, the centre-right is actually doing quite well in some parts of Europe.
The opposition Conservatives in Norway and the People's Party in Spain are polling well against incumbent centre-left Governments. The Greek New Democracy Party has a clear lead over Syriza and PASOK.
In Germany, the Union is now polling over 30% (31% in the latest Forsa poll) as the SPD-Green-FDP Government struggles in the low 40s. Alternative is polling well at 13-15% but I'd still be surprised if Merz sees them as a potential partner in Government.
In Ireland, the Fianna Fail/Fine Green/Green Government holds a commanding advantage over Sinn Fein (52-31) in the latest poll while in Austria the Freedom Party leads the SPD while the People's Party languishes in the low 20s. The liberal NEOS party is now outpolling the Greens.
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
The dualling of the A9 is not a party political subject but a real need for the economies of the Highlands and beyond
It is also a lethal road and very frustrating to drive along as I have done for over 60 years
I would suggest blaming the conservatives is like blaming labour for the last 13 years
Ahem. The SNP have been running the Scottish Govt since 2007 and have, repeatedly, pledged to dual the A9 and the A96. Even Fergus Ewing MSP (SNP -Inverness) seems to be losing his rag with his colleagues for failing to deliver. Nothing to do with trams, let alone Tories. And, yes, it is lethal as is the A96.
The A9 is an interesting road in many ways: it goes through some good scenery, but is not that scenic (compared to many other Scottish roads). It also often avoids some picturesque villages. It really needs dualling, and (from memory) some of the short sections if dualled road are probably more dangerous than if it was single carriageway. It also seems a no-brainer for dualling in its entirety, given the places it links.
So what's the problem? Money? Distance? Will?
Difficult to say. Almost seems a complete lack of interest in the North of Scotland. It's not just the A9. The A96 (Inverness - Aberdeen) is a terrible road and a cause celebre for local communities. The A83 in Argyll is a disaster area with frequent closures. And then, of course, the disaster of all disasters: the ferry contract. It makes you wonder, if Forbes, who is local and is aware of these problems, is indeed sent packing into the wilderness, whether the region might finally tell the SNP to go off and do one.
What alternative do they have that would even match their little. They are following a great tradition. Mind you they don't even hav ea motorway between Glasgow and Edinburgh , merely a dual carriageway. The money is all needed for London infrastructure.
The M8 is not a motorway?
No it is a pretendy one , only two lanees so a dual carriageway in any normal persons language.
Two lanes ... gosh ... I don't think we have anything like that in Meirionnydd.
And we won't be getting anything, as the Welsh Govt has cancelled all road building.
Back to the Stone Age with the Drake & Llafur.
I can just about understand not putting dual carriageways in Meirionnydd, although it would certainly be useful from Dolgellau up to Minfordd given the traffic that road carries in summer. After all, there isn't actually that much traffic and the terrain isn't easy.
But it's sheer midsummer madness not to build a proper bridge to replace the Britannia and Menai Bridges, one of which was a lash up of a railway bridge and the other was designed for horses and carts. That's a genuine insult to Ynys Môn and demonstrates how out of touch those Valleys councillors are.
What do you think to the following for Ynys Môn:
- Designated location for new mega-city - 50 billion in funding for infrastructure - 3 million new homes - Integrated metro system and connection to UK high speed rail - New international airport - New motorway and bridge - NI-style accession to single market - Full payroll tax holiday for residents for 10 years - Irish corporate tax rates in perpetuity
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
I have heard of her David and saw her say a few words so tha tis mor ethan the vast majority of them who I hav enever heard, never seen and never even seen their names mentioned. Heard nothing bad about her which is also unusual.
I have met someone who worked with her describe her as 'hard of thinking'.
Does anyone know anything about Ash Regan, other than the fact that she had the bottle to resign over the GRR bill? It’s a genuine question. As a more than averagely interested follower of Scottish politics I know nothing about her. She is described as being on the left. It’s really embarrassing when the poor die of cold left or the I don’t give an F about the economy left?
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
Maybe, but she's completely out of step with the party heirarchy. A no-hoper, surely.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
Possibly for the same reason that taking over at OT after SAF was never going to work out either, especially with the former leader hanging around in the background.
But, Alex was 72. Nicola is 52.
Why did Nicola go ? The absence of any succession planning is odd.
I mean, the SNP seemed to me to be (@malcomg to the contrary) pretty competent.
How the hell did you get that idea? Living in Wales is seriously distorting your perspective.
Compared to Mark Drakeford, Commodus was a competent leader.
Lucius Aelius Aurelius didn't have to get elected. Which Mr D. has done, in contrast to PC and notably the local Tories. More than once.
Fantastic result for Douglas Ross, Sunak and Scottish Conservatives if it is Yousaf.
He will be far less popular with their 2019 voters than Forbes would have been. In fact even less popular with Scottish Tories than Sturgeon
Good evening
We do not agree too often but on this I do
Forbes had the possibility of attracting Scons, not least as her pro the oil and gas industry plus her commitment to dualling the A9 would be popular with the conservatives
Indeed the dualling of the A9 or lack of it has been a failure of the SNP, indeed one of many failures
Furthermore, there may have been a little wee bit of hyping labour chances if Yousaf and Sarwar/Starmer fight for the left vote
These are interesting times in Scottish politics and frankly until this all settles down, polls are likely to be all over the place
Tories shouldn't have voted for the Edinburgh trams if they wanted the A9 dualled.
The dualling of the A9 is not a party political subject but a real need for the economies of the Highlands and beyond
It is also a lethal road and very frustrating to drive along as I have done for over 60 years
I would suggest blaming the conservatives is like blaming labour for the last 13 years
Ahem. The SNP have been running the Scottish Govt since 2007 and have, repeatedly, pledged to dual the A9 and the A96. Even Fergus Ewing MSP (SNP -Inverness) seems to be losing his rag with his colleagues for failing to deliver. Nothing to do with trams, let alone Tories. And, yes, it is lethal as is the A96.
The A9 is an interesting road in many ways: it goes through some good scenery, but is not that scenic (compared to many other Scottish roads). It also often avoids some picturesque villages. It really needs dualling, and (from memory) some of the short sections if dualled road are probably more dangerous than if it was single carriageway. It also seems a no-brainer for dualling in its entirety, given the places it links.
So what's the problem? Money? Distance? Will?
Difficult to say. Almost seems a complete lack of interest in the North of Scotland. It's not just the A9. The A96 (Inverness - Aberdeen) is a terrible road and a cause celebre for local communities. The A83 in Argyll is a disaster area with frequent closures. And then, of course, the disaster of all disasters: the ferry contract. It makes you wonder, if Forbes, who is local and is aware of these problems, is indeed sent packing into the wilderness, whether the region might finally tell the SNP to go off and do one.
What alternative do they have that would even match their little. They are following a great tradition. Mind you they don't even hav ea motorway between Glasgow and Edinburgh , merely a dual carriageway. The money is all needed for London infrastructure.
The M8 is not a motorway?
No it is a pretendy one , only two lanees so a dual carriageway in any normal persons language.
Two lanes ... gosh ... I don't think we have anything like that in Meirionnydd.
And we won't be getting anything, as the Welsh Govt has cancelled all road building.
Back to the Stone Age with the Drake & Llafur.
I can just about understand not putting dual carriageways in Meirionnydd, although it would certainly be useful from Dolgellau up to Minfordd given the traffic that road carries in summer. After all, there isn't actually that much traffic and the terrain isn't easy.
But it's sheer midsummer madness not to build a proper bridge to replace the Britannia and Menai Bridges, one of which was a lash up of a railway bridge and the other was designed for horses and carts. That's a genuine insult to Ynys Môn and demonstrates how out of touch those Valleys councillors are.
What do you think to the following for Ynys Môn:
- Designated location for new mega-city - 50 billion in funding for infrastructure - 3 million new homes - Integrated metro system and connection to UK high speed rail - New international airport - New motorway and bridge - NI-style accession to single market - Full payroll tax holiday for residents for 10 years - Irish corporate tax rates in perpetuity
Who is proposing that? Not the Welsh government, certainly.
One thing they can and should look at is electrifying the North Wales Coast line to Holyhead. That in itself would necessitate a solution to the Britannia Bridge. Also of course the tubular bridges at Conwy. But it would be a big improvement when done.
Comments
James IV had six known illegitimate children by four different women.
https://youtu.be/vgOpj_sjFR0
But it's sheer midsummer madness not to build a proper bridge to replace the Britannia and Menai Bridges, one of which was a lash up of a railway bridge and the other was designed for horses and carts. That's a genuine insult to Ynys Môn and demonstrates how out of touch those Valleys councillors are.
(The Sallie in the song became Bill Drummond's (of the KLF) long-term partner. I was quite astounded when I discovered this connection between two of my favourite artists.)
edit: I've actually realised that both Bill Drummond and Momus are Scottish, in a way.
It's the changes that are most interesting, and of course difficult to predict.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-59125562
The Redfield & Wilton Red Wall poll makes grim reading for the Conservatives with a swing of 18.5% from Conservative to Labour - the England sub sample on the main GB poll had a 20.5% swing so it may be the swing in the Blue Wall is over 20% - we'll see.
The Deltapoll swing is just under 17% but what will please Labour supporters are the very strong numbers for Starmer and the Party's widening lead over the Conservatives on the issue of economic competency.
The YouGov Scotland poll is much better for the Conservatives but still shows an 8% swing from Labour to Conservative.
What matters is whether Scottish voters are happy to vote for her ... maybe they are.
Doesn't do it for me. Too much emotional repression and a bit dead behind the eyes.
Right now a blank page is looking pretty bloody attractive but can anyone add some colour?
But then you could do with bypasses for Machynlleth, Aberdyfi, Tywyn and goodness knows Barmouth itself needs one (I've no idea how you could build it though)!
Lots of roads in Wales are simply not designed for cars and you don't need huge dual carriageways to sort them out. The Newtown bypass shows what can be done with a little imagination.
What I find amazing is that the SNP have screwed up so badly that they don't have anyone even half decent lined up to head off Humza. Swinney, Brown or Robertson would have done as a short-term leader but all have ruled themselves out. Truly weird. Why wouldn't you want to be FM and have your name on the historical record?
There are other reasons for the A9 delays - but fucking up years' worth of budgets is not somethbing the Tories can walk away from.
The problem I am having with Sunak is that he keeps disappearing. The job of the PM is to make the political weather. Boris got that, even although he was a lying b******, hell, even Truss got that, although her preference for hurricanes was regrettable, but Sunak, he just disappears.
I mean she always dresses well, with a style of her own that suits her shape and colour. She looks comfortable being normal, which is something that a lot of politicians really struggle with. Not many could pull this off:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CltC23woYeD/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
politicians
The difficulty is the evidence -- the paper trail, emails, interviews which tell us what happened.
The evidence needs to be massaged to be consistent with Conclusions. That takes time. Draft, after draft.
SKS is a joke of a leader of a Party called Labour and that's not very funny.
But the more this plays out, the more astonishingly stupid the whole thing looks. Not least, because in the real world regardless of what a bunch of drunken imbeciles on Twitter or at Stonewall might think (or more usually, not think) gender dysphoria affects such a tiny proportion of the population that guidelines and proper funding rather than regulations would resolve 99% of the problems they face. It is using a steam hammer to crack a boiled pea. It was an absolutely daft issue to pick to fight on for that reason.
Nobody has died. So it isn't comparable with Suez for Eden or Ukraine for Putin, or the Sparrowcide for Mao.
But it has now cost the SNP its leader, a large chunk of its credibility, and the only really plausible candidates they have to replace the aforesaid leader.
In terms of incredibly pointless political mistakes it is right up there with Asquith's decision to ask General Hubert Gough what his choice would be if given the option to use armed force against the Ulster militias or resign his commission.
Wage growth was 5-6% from the mid 90s to the financial crisis so a pint was getting more affordable. Then 2% or less even in nominal terms since 2008.
The GFC fucked us over big time.
Why did Nicola go ? The absence of any succession planning is odd.
I mean, the SNP seemed to me to be (@malcomg to the contrary) pretty competent.
I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for that pesky CHB!!
That I will not be running for SNP leader this time.
I wonder if we see Ardern and Sturgeon doing some sort of global female power-duo act at some point.
I doubt those public sector workers who are being told they will get 3.5% when inflation (though falling) is still more than double that will also feel in a party mood.
The current economic mantra seems to be "you can't get the staff" - that was evident at Lingfield yesterday afternoon with hardly any on-course catering facilities and a swathe of closed and shuttered bars and restaurants. Okay, there weren't 8,000 coming through the gates on a Monday afternoon but the regulars, the needy and the greedy all need to eat and drink.
Hearing about the acute crisis in Special Educational Needs provision or the collapse of public transport services in provincial English towns and cities makes the debate about who should lead the SNP all a bit moot but this is a political betting site and inevitably we'll talk about the things we can bet on.
The truth of today's borrowing figures, decent though they were, is we will still be paying £6 billion a month in debt interest payments and that will likely go up. It must be time for a Chancellor looking to reduce the deficit to look at pulling back on some of the measures designed to mitigate the risk of recession - the 5p reduction in fuel duty could now be reversed given petrol prices are back to where they were last May and we are told the economy is doing so much better than had been predicted. That would go some way to mitigating the monthly debt interest payments.
Radio Station IMO wall to wall Proclaimers
Post a theoretical independence they'd have split anyway.
But, a missing 600 k sounds easy enough for a competent politician to explain away.
Smarmy Blair or Johnson or Cameron would have no difficulty.
A missing 600 billion, maybe a bit more difficult.
The opposition Conservatives in Norway and the People's Party in Spain are polling well against incumbent centre-left Governments. The Greek New Democracy Party has a clear lead over Syriza and PASOK.
In Germany, the Union is now polling over 30% (31% in the latest Forsa poll) as the SPD-Green-FDP Government struggles in the low 40s. Alternative is polling well at 13-15% but I'd still be surprised if Merz sees them as a potential partner in Government.
In Ireland, the Fianna Fail/Fine Green/Green Government holds a commanding advantage over Sinn Fein (52-31) in the latest poll while in Austria the Freedom Party leads the SPD while the People's Party languishes in the low 20s. The liberal NEOS party is now outpolling the Greens.
- Designated location for new mega-city
- 50 billion in funding for infrastructure
- 3 million new homes
- Integrated metro system and connection to UK high speed rail
- New international airport
- New motorway and bridge
- NI-style accession to single market
- Full payroll tax holiday for residents for 10 years
- Irish corporate tax rates in perpetuity
One thing they can and should look at is electrifying the North Wales Coast line to Holyhead. That in itself would necessitate a solution to the Britannia Bridge. Also of course the tubular bridges at Conwy. But it would be a big improvement when done.