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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Survation finds that YES could have an 8% lead if Scottish

SystemSystem Posts: 12,213
edited June 2014 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Survation finds that YES could have an 8% lead if Scottish voters thought Dave would win GE15

This is one of the closest margins yet in any poll and is very much against the run of other recent polling. It will certainly give the YES campaign a boost but so far it has not seen any movement in the betting.

Read the full story here


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Comments

  • DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    A reminder, if one were needed, of how toxic Mrs Thatcher's treatment of Scotland made her party north of the border, which had up till then consistently returned a couple of dozen Conservative MPs rather than its current one or none.
  • JBriskinJBriskin Posts: 2,380
    A Scottish thread to start the day on world cup day!!

    I must admit I'm finding it difficult to make a comment on any of this - except perhaps to say that we can forgive Eck for his moment of exuberance even if it was very very silly in the eyes of many.
  • DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    LibDems on six per cent might do well to consider attacking Labour on Iraq, where Tony Blair's disastrous misadventures were opposed by Charles Kennedy's LibDems. The cost in financial as well as human terms might be a hitherto unexplored attack surface. ISIS capturing Mosul and Tikrit makes the issue timely. More recently, Labour kept us out of Syria but that may not be as salient.
  • Squeaky bum time for that Hills' client!
  • JohnLoonyJohnLoony Posts: 1,790
    (About three threads ago)

    Someone mentioned the programme about David Beckham going to Brazil and the Guardian mentioning his mispronunciation of "fillet". The review which confused me was that of the Metro, which said

    What’s even more surprising is just how Essex their voices have remained despite their stint in LA and their decades rubbing shoulders with the upper classes. Brooklyn, however, has an American twang to his voice that will take you utterly by surprise.

    It was clear from the programme that Brooklyn does NOT have (even a slight trace of) an American accent; furthermore, it would NOT be surprising if he did.

    http://metro.co.uk/2014/06/09/why-david-beckhams-into-the-unknown-documentary-is-the-best-thing-youll-see-this-year-4755500/
  • JohnLoonyJohnLoony Posts: 1,790
    edited June 2014
    It's the other way round: they should vote YES in order for David Cameron to stay as PM - or, of course, they should vote NO and then vote Conservative like normal people.
  • MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    This business in Iraq reads like a Hollywood script - and probably is.
  • DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    JohnLoony said:

    It's the other way round: they should vote YES in order for David Cameron to stay as PM - or, of course, they should vote NO and then vote Conservative like normal people.

    Ironically, a yes vote will free Scots to vote Conservative once more. Independence might also mean the demise of the SNP if normal left/right politics resumes.
  • ToryJimToryJim Posts: 4,189

    A reminder, if one were needed, of how toxic Mrs Thatcher's treatment of Scotland made her party north of the border, which had up till then consistently returned a couple of dozen Conservative MPs rather than its current one or none.

    Isn't it more a case of how successful others were at demonising the policies adopted.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,937
    MrJones said:

    This business in Iraq reads like a Hollywood script - and probably is.

    Nah - you can't have a Hollywood script entirely populated by antagonists. There have to be at least some protagonists.

    You can't make a Western where everyone wears black hats...
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,937
    On topic, isn't this just a MOE poll? How we would all laugh if the next poll came out as MOE in the other direction - 35:50...
  • O/T
    Does Matthew Shaddick (Shadsy) of Ladbrokes know something which Martin Baxter of Electoral Calculus doesn't or vice versa?

    Those nice people at the Magic Sign are offering odds of 11/8, equivalent to a 42.1% probability, against the SNP winning the Gordon constituency in May 2015, whereas Baxter reckons the SNP has a 66.4% chance, equivalent to approximately 1/2 expressed in fractional betting odds terms.
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557

    JohnLoony said:

    It's the other way round: they should vote YES in order for David Cameron to stay as PM - or, of course, they should vote NO and then vote Conservative like normal people.

    Ironically, a yes vote will free Scots to vote Conservative once more. Independence might also mean the demise of the SNP if normal left/right politics resumes.
    Correct. The best way of getting rid of the SNP is voting Yes.

    They might hang around for a few years, but post-independence the SNP will be fundamentally crippled by their lack of focus and would soon irrevocably split.

    A counter-argument is that FF and FG still exist, but the process of Irish independence was very different. And bugger all good the FF/FG dominance did Ireland in the first decades of independence. In fact, still doing their country bugger all use nearly a century later.

    Look at our neighbour on the other side: Norway's politics post-independence (1905). After their referendum Yes vote they went on to develop normal left/right politics. And both Ireland and Norway are wealthier than their "parent" states (the UK and Sweden respectively).

    Scotland will no doubt continue to have her distinctive (some might say quirky) political culture, but all countries do.
  • antifrank1antifrank1 Posts: 81

    O/T
    Does Matthew Shaddick (Shadsy) of Ladbrokes know something which Martin Baxter of Electoral Calculus doesn't or vice versa?

    Those nice people at the Magic Sign are offering odds of 11/8, equivalent to a 42.1% probability, against the SNP winning the Gordon constituency in May 2015, whereas Baxter reckons the SNP has a 66.4% chance, equivalent to approximately 1/2 expressed in fractional betting odds terms.

    I agree with you. There are quite a few more Scottish seats up now, incidentally.
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    Standard question
    Don't knows and refusers excluded

    Yes 47%
    No 53%

    That's the David Coburn effect for you.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJIjgCCcD5c
  • Paul_Mid_BedsPaul_Mid_Beds Posts: 1,409
    I think Salmond has made a major strategic error. He should have pushed for a referendum on self government with the same approximate powers as the Isle of Man have and Southern Rhodesia had, ie local control of everything except foreign policy.

    He would probably have won that and got effective independence without all the problems. Also if it worked well it would then be much easier to win "dominion" status (ie independence) on the same basis as Australia and Canada in a few years, if it was wanted.
  • Paul_Mid_BedsPaul_Mid_Beds Posts: 1,409

    A reminder, if one were needed, of how toxic Mrs Thatcher's treatment of Scotland made her party north of the border, which had up till then consistently returned a couple of dozen Conservative MPs rather than its current one or none.

    Except that from what I can make out this was a Labour myth. Scotland was treated much the same as south of the border with the exception of bringing in the community charge a year earlier than the rest of GB. Thatcher didn;t even get rid of the Barnet formula.

    I wouldn't be surprised to see a bit of a renaissance for the tories in 2015, particularly if the nats don't accept defeat gracefully.

  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557

    O/T
    Does Matthew Shaddick (Shadsy) of Ladbrokes know something which Martin Baxter of Electoral Calculus doesn't or vice versa?

    Those nice people at the Magic Sign are offering odds of 11/8, equivalent to a 42.1% probability, against the SNP winning the Gordon constituency in May 2015, whereas Baxter reckons the SNP has a 66.4% chance, equivalent to approximately 1/2 expressed in fractional betting odds terms.

    I agree with you. There are quite a few more Scottish seats up now, incidentally.
    I cannot see any extra Scottish seats priced up. Just the same ones we have had for months now:

    Angus
    SNP (1/10), Conservatives (10), Labour (16)

    Argyll and Bute
    SNP (7/4), Labour (2), Liberal Democrats (5/2), Conservatives (7)

    Banff and Buchan
    SNP (1/10), Conservatives (8), Labour (20)

    Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk
    Liberal Democrats (4/6), Conservatives (11/10), SNP (66)

    Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
    Liberal Democrats (2/5), Labour (3), SNP (6)

    Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
    Conservatives (2/5), Labour (9/4), SNP (16)

    Dundee East
    SNP (2/5), Labour (11/4)

    Dundee West
    Labour (1/5), SNP (7/2)

    East Dunbartonshire
    Labour (8/15), Liberal Democrats (6/4), SNP (50)

    Edinburgh North and Leith
    Labour (1/16), Liberal Democrats (12), SNP (40)

    Edinburgh South
    Labour (1/25), Liberal Democrats (25), SNP (33)

    Edinburgh West
    Labour (4/5), Liberal Democrats (5/4), Conservatives (16), SNP (16)

    Gordon
    Liberal Democrats (11/8), SNP (11/8), Labour (7/2), Conservatives (20)

    Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
    Liberal Democrats (11/10), SNP (13/8), Labour (7/2), Conservatives (66)

    Moray
    SNP (1/10), Conservatives (8), Labour (20)

    Na h-Eileanan an Iar
    SNP (1/5), Labour (8), Liberal Democrats (90)

    North East Fife
    Liberal Democrats (2/7), SNP (5), Conservatives (10), Labour (10)

    Orkney and Shetland
    Liberal Democrats (1/100), SNP (25)

    Perth and North Perthshire
    SNP (1/10), Conservatives (8), Labour (16)

    Ross, Skye and Lochaber
    Liberal Democrats (1/33), SNP (10), Labour (33)

    West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
    Liberal Democrats (8/11), Conservatives (6/4), SNP (8), Labour (33)
  • antifrank1antifrank1 Posts: 81
    Falkirk and Ochil etc for starters, Stuart_Dickson.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    A reminder, if one were needed, of how toxic Mrs Thatcher's treatment of Scotland made her party north of the border, which had up till then consistently returned a couple of dozen Conservative MPs rather than its current one or none.

    Didn't Major win a respectablish number of seats in 1992 (11 or 12?) with the big decline being in 1997.

    I'm calling you out for prejudiced bullsh1t
  • antifrank1antifrank1 Posts: 81
    Kilmarnock & Loudoun too.
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557

    I think Salmond has made a major strategic error. He should have pushed for a referendum on self government with the same approximate powers as the Isle of Man have and Southern Rhodesia had, ie local control of everything except foreign policy.

    He would probably have won that and got effective independence without all the problems. Also if it worked well it would then be much easier to win "dominion" status (ie independence) on the same basis as Australia and Canada in a few years, if it was wanted.

    Great idea in principal. Totally impossible in practice.

    If the SNP had spent the last 80 years campaigning to be a crown dependency, then that would have been in the 2011 manifesto and thus on the referendum ballot paper. But we didn't.

    Conversely, if we had set our hearts on crown dependency status, we would never have become the largest party in Scottish politics. We probably would not even have lasted 80 years.
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557

    Kilmarnock & Loudoun too.

    Never seen it. Ladbrokes website is totally unnavigable. Have you got the direct link?
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    edited June 2014

    Falkirk and Ochil etc for starters, Stuart_Dickson.

    Never seen them. Ladbrokes website is totally unnavigable. Have you got the direct links?
  • antifrank1antifrank1 Posts: 81
    I'm currently on an iPad. Does this take you to the constituency markets?

    https://m.ladbrokes.com/#!event_details?id=216773182

    If not, I will link later from the PC.
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    Polls like this help gotv.

  • O/T
    Does Matthew Shaddick (Shadsy) of Ladbrokes know something which Martin Baxter of Electoral Calculus doesn't or vice versa?

    Those nice people at the Magic Sign are offering odds of 11/8, equivalent to a 42.1% probability, against the SNP winning the Gordon constituency in May 2015, whereas Baxter reckons the SNP has a 66.4% chance, equivalent to approximately 1/2 expressed in fractional betting odds terms.

    I agree with you. There are quite a few more Scottish seats up now, incidentally.
    Indeed, a similar instance where the Tories appear to be the main opposition to the SNP is Argyll & Bute:

    Electoral Calculus gives the SNP a 54.9% chance of winning, equivalent to betting odds of just over 4/5, whereas Ladbrokes are offering odds of 7/4 against the SNP, equivalent to a winning probability of 36.4%.

    Using the same means of comparison, another glaring disparity, this time South of the Border in a Labour vs LibDem contest is Bermondsey & Old Southwark:

    Electoral Calculus gives Labour a 59.5% chance of wrestling the seat from Simon Hughes, equivalent to betting odds of approximately 4/6, compared with Ladbrokes' price against Labour of 2/1, equivalent to a winning probability of 33.3% .
  • DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    edited June 2014

    A reminder, if one were needed, of how toxic Mrs Thatcher's treatment of Scotland made her party north of the border, which had up till then consistently returned a couple of dozen Conservative MPs rather than its current one or none.

    Except that from what I can make out this was a Labour myth. Scotland was treated much the same as south of the border with the exception of bringing in the community charge a year earlier than the rest of GB. Thatcher didn;t even get rid of the Barnet formula.

    I wouldn't be surprised to see a bit of a renaissance for the tories in 2015, particularly if the nats don't accept defeat gracefully.

    Given the poll tax was what triggered Mrs Thatcher's defenestration, it is hardly minor, but there was also Trident and more importantly increased unemployment as monetarism led to factory closures while "Scottish oil" subsidised the dole queues.

    But in any case look at the results.

    Even if Mrs Thatcher were the spiritual godmother of Alex Salmond, she wiped out her party. The number of Conservative MPs in Scottish seats:

    1979 22
    1983 21
    1987 10
    1992 11
    1997 0
    2001 1
    2005 1
    2010 1
    Over the same period, voting share halved. If the United Kingdom does break up, this is why.
  • MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523

    MrJones said:

    This business in Iraq reads like a Hollywood script - and probably is.

    Nah - you can't have a Hollywood script entirely populated by antagonists. There have to be at least some protagonists.

    You can't make a Western where everyone wears black hats...
    7th cavalry
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    For Stuart Dickson:

    http://sportsbeta.ladbrokes.com/UK-General-Election/Next-General-Election-Constituency-Betting/Politics-N-1z140vgZ1z140v7Z1z141ne/

    And specifically:

    Falkirk: Labour 2/5, SNP 7/4, 100/1 bar
    Ochil & South Perthshire: Labour 2/5, SNP 7/4, Con 50/1, 100/1 bar
    Kilmarnock & Loudoun: Labour 1/12, SNP 6/1, 100/1 bar
    Ayrshire North & Arran: Labour 1/5, SNP 3/1, 100/1 bar
    Aberdeen South: Labour 1/20, SNP 16/1, Con 25/1, Lib Dem 33/1, UKIP 100/1


  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,014
    Hmm... Did the second question taint the answer to the first?

    So far as the second question is concerned I said yesterday and on many previous occasions that the only risk factor I still see for No Thanks is a consistent tory lead in the opinion polls and this backs this up.

    The legends and pure fantasy that SLAB managed to create around the tories in general and Thatcher in particular has been a very effective electoral weapon for them but there is a price to be paid for everything. Labour supporters are the key swing group and they have been indoctrinated with an unreasoning hatred of tories that is hard to overstate.

    Will SLAB be able to deliver its supporters if the tories had, say, a 5% lead by September? That is the risk and why I have consistently said this is not all over.

  • SmarmeronSmarmeron Posts: 5,099
    @DavidL

    " an unreasoning hatred of tories that is hard"

    It's not unreasoned, hard yes.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    DavidL said:

    Hmm... Did the second question taint the answer to the first?

    So far as the second question is concerned I said yesterday and on many previous occasions that the only risk factor I still see for No Thanks is a consistent tory lead in the opinion polls and this backs this up.

    The legends and pure fantasy that SLAB managed to create around the tories in general and Thatcher in particular has been a very effective electoral weapon for them but there is a price to be paid for everything. Labour supporters are the key swing group and they have been indoctrinated with an unreasoning hatred of tories that is hard to overstate.

    Will SLAB be able to deliver its supporters if the tories had, say, a 5% lead by September? That is the risk and why I have consistently said this is not all over.

    Terrible, isn't it David??!! The Tories bear no responsibility for their toxicity in Scotland, it is all someone else's fault. Labour indoctrinated the Scots. The Scots are too stupid to form their own opinions. For the life of me I cannot see why such attitudes would not have people in Scotland flocking to support the Conservative party.

  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    Rod Crosby crossover forecast update.

    "By September 18th, Tory leads should be commonplace..."

    Noted.

  • antifrank1antifrank1 Posts: 81
    For those that weren't around last night, I've put a new post up, a second instalment on UKIP:

    http://newstonoone.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-latest-election-round-what-have-we_11.html
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,014

    DavidL said:

    Hmm... Did the second question taint the answer to the first?

    So far as the second question is concerned I said yesterday and on many previous occasions that the only risk factor I still see for No Thanks is a consistent tory lead in the opinion polls and this backs this up.

    The legends and pure fantasy that SLAB managed to create around the tories in general and Thatcher in particular has been a very effective electoral weapon for them but there is a price to be paid for everything. Labour supporters are the key swing group and they have been indoctrinated with an unreasoning hatred of tories that is hard to overstate.

    Will SLAB be able to deliver its supporters if the tories had, say, a 5% lead by September? That is the risk and why I have consistently said this is not all over.

    Terrible, isn't it David??!! The Tories bear no responsibility for their toxicity in Scotland, it is all someone else's fault. Labour indoctrinated the Scots. The Scots are too stupid to form their own opinions. For the life of me I cannot see why such attitudes would not have people in Scotland flocking to support the Conservative party.

    It's politics Southam and very effective politics at that. What SLAB have managed to do is make it a moral duty to vote Labour to keep the tories out even in seats like my own where the tories are not even vaguely in contention.

    My observation is not bitterness but a concern that this long term policy still threatens the outcome of the independence referendum. As I have said before that decision matters far more to me than the outcome of the next election which is an ephemeral thing by comparison.

    Incidentally, nothing lasts for ever and it is Labour's monomania about the tories that allowed the SNP to blindside them and win a majority in the Scottish Parliament. SLAB have yet to find a means of combatting the Nats other than trying to hold the anti-tory line and it has its limitations in elections where the tories are not really in play.

  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,326
    This - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10892606/Trojan-Horse-debate-We-were-wrong-all-cultures-are-not-equal.html - was posted last night and is very good.

    The only issue I have is with her saying that now is the time to do this. Of course it is but we have known for 30 years that this should be done - since Ray Honeyford, since the Rushdie fatwa. There are none so blind, alas, as those that don't want to see.

  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    BobaFett said:

    Rod Crosby crossover forecast update.

    "By September 18th, Tory leads should be commonplace..."

    Noted.

    When do you forecast commonplace Tory leads prior to next May ?

  • O/T
    Does Matthew Shaddick (Shadsy) of Ladbrokes know something which Martin Baxter of Electoral Calculus doesn't or vice versa?

    Those nice people at the Magic Sign are offering odds of 11/8, equivalent to a 42.1% probability, against the SNP winning the Gordon constituency in May 2015, whereas Baxter reckons the SNP has a 66.4% chance, equivalent to approximately 1/2 expressed in fractional betting odds terms.

    I agree with you. There are quite a few more Scottish seats up now, incidentally.
    Indeed, a similar instance where the Tories appear to be the main opposition to the SNP is Argyll & Bute:

    Electoral Calculus gives the SNP a 54.9% chance of winning, equivalent to betting odds of just over 4/5, whereas Ladbrokes are offering odds of 7/4 against the SNP, equivalent to a winning probability of 36.4%.

    Using the same means of comparison, another glaring disparity, this time South of the Border in a Labour vs LibDem contest is Bermondsey & Old Southwark:

    Electoral Calculus gives Labour a 59.5% chance of wrestling the seat from Simon Hughes, equivalent to betting odds of approximately 4/6, compared with Ladbrokes' price against Labour of 2/1, equivalent to a winning probability of 33.3% .
    OGH: "The other big polling story overnight has been the 6% share that YouGov is reporting for the LDs – the lowest ever from the firm."

    Can Simon Hughes survive this shockingly low national level of support for the LibDems? ....... Personally I doubt it.

    Is it time to start backing Ladbrokes' 21-30 LibDem GE Seats band at 7/2? Possibly.
  • JohnLoony said:

    It's the other way round: they should vote YES in order for David Cameron to stay as PM - or, of course, they should vote NO and then vote Conservative like normal people.

    Ironically, a yes vote will free Scots to vote Conservative once more. Independence might also mean the demise of the SNP if normal left/right politics resumes.
    A YES will be good for the Tories in the sense that the rUK will be proportionally more conservative (large C and small c), making Tory majorities that bit easier to achieve, and also that it is likely the rUK will want to choose a party more likely to negotiate for the best advantage of the rUK and LAB/SLAB cannot be trusted to do this.

    A NO will be good for the Tories in that they will put Devomax in their manifesto. Scots who want more control over Scotland to come from Holyrood (a MUCH larger proportion that want full independence) should vote Tory (or SNP). A post-NO Scotland is going to be more fertile ground for Dave than has been the case for ages.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Hmm... Did the second question taint the answer to the first?

    So far as the second question is concerned I said yesterday and on many previous occasions that the only risk factor I still see for No Thanks is a consistent tory lead in the opinion polls and this backs this up.

    The legends and pure fantasy that SLAB managed to create around the tories in general and Thatcher in particular has been a very effective electoral weapon for them but there is a price to be paid for everything. Labour supporters are the key swing group and they have been indoctrinated with an unreasoning hatred of tories that is hard to overstate.

    Will SLAB be able to deliver its supporters if the tories had, say, a 5% lead by September? That is the risk and why I have consistently said this is not all over.

    Terrible, isn't it David??!! The Tories bear no responsibility for their toxicity in Scotland, it is all someone else's fault. Labour indoctrinated the Scots. The Scots are too stupid to form their own opinions. For the life of me I cannot see why such attitudes would not have people in Scotland flocking to support the Conservative party.

    It's politics Southam and very effective politics at that. What SLAB have managed to do is make it a moral duty to vote Labour to keep the tories out even in seats like my own where the tories are not even vaguely in contention.

    My observation is not bitterness but a concern that this long term policy still threatens the outcome of the independence referendum. As I have said before that decision matters far more to me than the outcome of the next election which is an ephemeral thing by comparison.

    Incidentally, nothing lasts for ever and it is Labour's monomania about the tories that allowed the SNP to blindside them and win a majority in the Scottish Parliament. SLAB have yet to find a means of combatting the Nats other than trying to hold the anti-tory line and it has its limitations in elections where the tories are not really in play.

    You seem to be claiming that the Tories in Scotland have been the victims of "legends and pure fantasy" propagated by Labour. In other words, it's all Labour's fault that so many Scots will not countenance voting Tory; nothing that the Tories have said or done can be held responsible. I know that Tories generally like to blame others for their problems, but that does take the biscuit! It's like the Labour left blaming the Tory press for brainwashing voters into rejecting socialism.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,336

    I think Salmond has made a major strategic error. He should have pushed for a referendum on self government with the same approximate powers as the Isle of Man have and Southern Rhodesia had, ie local control of everything except foreign policy.

    He would probably have won that and got effective independence without all the problems. Also if it worked well it would then be much easier to win "dominion" status (ie independence) on the same basis as Australia and Canada in a few years, if it was wanted.

    I think Salmond has made a major strategic error. He should have pushed for a referendum on self government with the same approximate powers as the Isle of Man have and Southern Rhodesia had, ie local control of everything except foreign policy.

    He would probably have won that and got effective independence without all the problems. Also if it worked well it would then be much easier to win "dominion" status (ie independence) on the same basis as Australia and Canada in a few years, if it was wanted.

    Great idea in principal. Totally impossible in practice.

    If the SNP had spent the last 80 years campaigning to be a crown dependency, then that would have been in the 2011 manifesto and thus on the referendum ballot paper. But we didn't.

    Conversely, if we had set our hearts on crown dependency status, we would never have become the largest party in Scottish politics. We probably would not even have lasted 80 years.
    It's an interesting suggestion by Mr Beds, but on reflection I agree with Mr D. If one had wanted that one would have gone for Keir Hardie or the Liberals (then and now). Foreign policy (which includes war, rremember) also became too important to ignore with Trident and Iraq (both particularly unpopular in Scotland).

  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,014
    Cyclefree said:

    This - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10892606/Trojan-Horse-debate-We-were-wrong-all-cultures-are-not-equal.html - was posted last night and is very good.

    The only issue I have is with her saying that now is the time to do this. Of course it is but we have known for 30 years that this should be done - since Ray Honeyford, since the Rushdie fatwa. There are none so blind, alas, as those that don't want to see.

    Agreed on both points. It is a very good piece indeed. For the reasons set out in the article we have failed generations of muslim girls in this country and it really needs to stop. They deserve better.

  • FinancierFinancier Posts: 3,916
    Re: YouGov and LD VI of 6%

    The only clue for this very low score is the split of the LD2010 VI.

    The split is:
    Cons: 18% (usually around 12-14 for June)
    LAB: 32
    LD: 24 (equals 2014 low)
    UKIP: 13
    Green:10

    This YouGov poll had very good support from the 18-24 age group who are the ones who mainly support Green.

    Also Midland/Wales (usual caveats) is Cons: 38/Labour34.
  • Still on that ultra low polling for the LibDems ...... is there any remaining prospect of Uncle Vince being drafted in to hold the fort at the forthcoming GE - available at 8/1 from Paddy Power - or are they now stuck with Clegg come what may?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,336
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Hmm... Did the second question taint the answer to the first?

    So far as the second question is concerned I said yesterday and on many previous occasions that the only risk factor I still see for No Thanks is a consistent tory lead in the opinion polls and this backs this up.

    The legends and pure fantasy that SLAB managed to create around the tories in general and Thatcher in particular has been a very effective electoral weapon for them but there is a price to be paid for everything. Labour supporters are the key swing group and they have been indoctrinated with an unreasoning hatred of tories that is hard to overstate.

    Will SLAB be able to deliver its supporters if the tories had, say, a 5% lead by September? That is the risk and why I have consistently said this is not all over.

    Terrible, isn't it David??!! The Tories bear no responsibility for their toxicity in Scotland, it is all someone else's fault. Labour indoctrinated the Scots. The Scots are too stupid to form their own opinions. For the life of me I cannot see why such attitudes would not have people in Scotland flocking to support the Conservative party.

    It's politics Southam and very effective politics at that. What SLAB have managed to do is make it a moral duty to vote Labour to keep the tories out even in seats like my own where the tories are not even vaguely in contention.

    My observation is not bitterness but a concern that this long term policy still threatens the outcome of the independence referendum. As I have said before that decision matters far more to me than the outcome of the next election which is an ephemeral thing by comparison.

    Incidentally, nothing lasts for ever and it is Labour's monomania about the tories that allowed the SNP to blindside them and win a majority in the Scottish Parliament. SLAB have yet to find a means of combatting the Nats other than trying to hold the anti-tory line and it has its limitations in elections where the tories are not really in play.

    Labour's monomania about the Tories? In Scotland, at a time when they are positively in bed with the Tories? It's the SNP Labour have an absolute raving obsession with, vide Ms Lamont's speech at the last SLAB conference. It's not the Tories who evicted them from their comfortable position in the devolution parliament and administration.

    I've said before - and will say again now - that the great reason why we are where we are in the runp to indyref is not down to the Scottish bits of the Labour Party, but the way in which the Tories allowed themselves to lose Scotland from the 1950s onwards.

    How far Labour were the cause, and how far the beneficiaries expanding into the vacuum, is nother matter and I've been reading your discussion with interest.

  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    antifrank said:

    For Stuart Dickson:

    http://sportsbeta.ladbrokes.com/UK-General-Election/Next-General-Election-Constituency-Betting/Politics-N-1z140vgZ1z140v7Z1z141ne/

    And specifically:

    Falkirk: Labour 2/5, SNP 7/4, 100/1 bar
    Ochil & South Perthshire: Labour 2/5, SNP 7/4, Con 50/1, 100/1 bar
    Kilmarnock & Loudoun: Labour 1/12, SNP 6/1, 100/1 bar
    Ayrshire North & Arran: Labour 1/5, SNP 3/1, 100/1 bar
    Aberdeen South: Labour 1/20, SNP 16/1, Con 25/1, Lib Dem 33/1, UKIP 100/1


    Yummy! I especially like that 7/4 in Falkirk, and that 16/1 in Aberdeen South is simply daft.

    Result - Aberdeen South & North Kincardine - May 2011 - SNP gain from Liberal Democrats on a swing of 15.8 points

    SNP 11,947
    Lab 5,624
    LD 4,944
    Con 4,058
    Ind 1,816
    NF 214

  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,336
    DavidL said:

    Hmm... Did the second question taint the answer to the first?

    So far as the second question is concerned I said yesterday and on many previous occasions that the only risk factor I still see for No Thanks is a consistent tory lead in the opinion polls and this backs this up.

    The legends and pure fantasy that SLAB managed to create around the tories in general and Thatcher in particular has been a very effective electoral weapon for them but there is a price to be paid for everything. Labour supporters are the key swing group and they have been indoctrinated with an unreasoning hatred of tories that is hard to overstate.

    Will SLAB be able to deliver its supporters if the tories had, say, a 5% lead by September? That is the risk and why I have consistently said this is not all over.

    Very sensible posting.

    Serious question please - how can a second question taint the first if the first has already been asked and answered?

  • SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    edited June 2014

    Still on that ultra low polling for the LibDems ...... is there any remaining prospect of Uncle Vince being drafted in to hold the fort at the forthcoming GE - available at 8/1 from Paddy Power - or are they now stuck with Clegg come what may?

    [edit] Morning all.

    Is there any polling evidence to suggest replacing Clegg with Cable would improve the LD's lot prior to GE2015? - If not, then Clegg is safe, er until further notice.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,406
    I've just had a look at the tables of the Yougov.

    Out of 2157 respondents

    Neunundneunzig LDs:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQYQTFudrqc
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    DavidL said:

    Hmm... Did the second question taint the answer to the first?

    Huh?

    How could an, as yet, unasked question "taint" the answers to the first question? Respondents do not get to see the entire questionnaire before responding: they see/get asked each question one at a time, so would have no idea what the next question might be when responding to the main VI question.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,534

    A reminder, if one were needed, of how toxic Mrs Thatcher's treatment of Scotland made her party north of the border, which had up till then consistently returned a couple of dozen Conservative MPs rather than its current one or none.

    The Scottish Conservative decline both pre-dates, and post-dates Thatcher. The Party went from 50% of the vote in 1955 to 31% in 1979. It went from 26% in 1992, to 15% now.
  • FinancierFinancier Posts: 3,916
    DavidL said:

    Cyclefree said:

    This - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10892606/Trojan-Horse-debate-We-were-wrong-all-cultures-are-not-equal.html - was posted last night and is very good.

    The only issue I have is with her saying that now is the time to do this. Of course it is but we have known for 30 years that this should be done - since Ray Honeyford, since the Rushdie fatwa. There are none so blind, alas, as those that don't want to see.

    Agreed on both points. It is a very good piece indeed. For the reasons set out in the article we have failed generations of muslim girls in this country and it really needs to stop. They deserve better.

    Two interesting comments on that piece:

    "I wonder how many of the middle class white Guardian reading BBC loving intellectuals who prattle on about how wonderful and encriched our country now is would actually send their own kids to one of these Muslim hell hole schools?

    I think we know the answer to that."

    "It's a simple practical issue.

    A society will die if it tolerates a large influx of citizens who wish to live separately and by a completely different code.

    The end result is the same, whether that influx is violent or peaceful, or a mix.

    LibLabCon will do nothing abut this. Nor will their elite media chums. Both sets live far away from the third world hell holes they have deliberately encouraged in England's inner cities."


  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    edited June 2014
    Carnyx said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    SNIP

    SNIP

    It's politics Southam and very effective politics at that. What SLAB have managed to do is make it a moral duty to vote Labour to keep the tories out even in seats like my own where the tories are not even vaguely in contention.

    My observation is not bitterness but a concern that this long term policy still threatens the outcome of the independence referendum. As I have said before that decision matters far more to me than the outcome of the next election which is an ephemeral thing by comparison.

    Incidentally, nothing lasts for ever and it is Labour's monomania about the tories that allowed the SNP to blindside them and win a majority in the Scottish Parliament. SLAB have yet to find a means of combatting the Nats other than trying to hold the anti-tory line and it has its limitations in elections where the tories are not really in play.

    Labour's monomania about the Tories? In Scotland, at a time when they are positively in bed with the Tories? It's the SNP Labour have an absolute raving obsession with, vide Ms Lamont's speech at the last SLAB conference. It's not the Tories who evicted them from their comfortable position in the devolution parliament and administration.

    I've said before - and will say again now - that the great reason why we are where we are in the runp to indyref is not down to the Scottish bits of the Labour Party, but the way in which the Tories allowed themselves to lose Scotland from the 1950s onwards.

    How far Labour were the cause, and how far the beneficiaries expanding into the vacuum, is nother matter and I've been reading your discussion with interest.

    Spot on.

    What outsiders rarely grasp about SLAB is that it is a machine. A political machine. Nothing more. Nothing less. At certain points in modern history it has been terrifyingly effective at winning elections, which is really its sole cohesive function. And how it won elections never bothered it in the slightest, hence the ruthless use of the Tory Demonisation tool by John Smith, Robin Cook, Gordon Brown, Donald Dewar & Co. That demonising the Tories might risk the Union in the long term was irrelevant for those men: what mattered was winning MPs in 83, 87, 92, 97 etc etc.

    The key, tragic mistake made by the Tories was made an awful long time ago. 1965 to be precise, when the once-proud Unionist Party simply gave up and handed control, lock stock and barrel to the English Conservative Party. Only Murdo Fraser MSP seems to understand their own suicidal path, and he has very effectively been sidelined by Cameron.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,608

    I think Salmond has made a major strategic error. He should have pushed for a referendum on self government with the same approximate powers as the Isle of Man have and Southern Rhodesia had, ie local control of everything except foreign policy.

    He would probably have won that and got effective independence without all the problems. Also if it worked well it would then be much easier to win "dominion" status (ie independence) on the same basis as Australia and Canada in a few years, if it was wanted.

    Paul: anything less than full independence requires the consent of the (remaining) British people too. If he offered 'independence without defence or foreign policy', then he would be totally stuffed if Westminster said 'look after yourselves'. He can only offer things in the gift of the Scottish people: i.e. full independence.
  • Innocent_AbroadInnocent_Abroad Posts: 3,294
    Meanwhile, in the real world...

    In Iraq the Islamic militants march on - it seems the coercive apparatus has no will to resist (I suspect the rank-and-file are choosing their moment to switch sides and the top brass are planning their return to exile). When the militants have won their civil war (for that surely is what it is) will Obama ask Cameron to join him in another invasion and if so will Clegg use it as the excuse to leave coalition?

    Let us be clear. It's not that most Muslims think that the militants are wrong in principle, but that their timing is awry. Islam, the average Muslim in the bazaar* thinks, is not yet strong enough to attack and destroy Western civilization. The Iraqi militants may lead to a rethink, of course, if they can take Baghdad. I am reminded of Franco's comment about the relative location of his columns and of Madrid...

    *And likewise his cousin in London or Birmingham.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,608

    Still on that ultra low polling for the LibDems ...... is there any remaining prospect of Uncle Vince being drafted in to hold the fort at the forthcoming GE - available at 8/1 from Paddy Power - or are they now stuck with Clegg come what may?

    [edit] Morning all.

    Is there any polling evidence to suggest replacing Clegg with Cable would improve the LD's lot prior to GE2015? - If not, then Clegg is safe, er until further notice.
    Any odds on Charles Kennedy as next LibDem leader? In the event of the LibDems being on 6% at the GE, he'd be one of about three MPs.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,950
    Good morning, everyone.

    This is just depressing. I can respect those who are unionist or separatist, but to make the decision based on one election result is bloody stupid.

    Also, photo-bombing is acceptable behaviour if you're a marmoset. If you're a first minister, it just makes you look like an arse.
  • MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    rcs1000 said:

    Still on that ultra low polling for the LibDems ...... is there any remaining prospect of Uncle Vince being drafted in to hold the fort at the forthcoming GE - available at 8/1 from Paddy Power - or are they now stuck with Clegg come what may?

    [edit] Morning all.

    Is there any polling evidence to suggest replacing Clegg with Cable would improve the LD's lot prior to GE2015? - If not, then Clegg is safe, er until further notice.
    Any odds on Charles Kennedy as next LibDem leader? In the event of the LibDems being on 6% at the GE, he'd be one of about three MPs.
    I'll drink to that!!!! ;D
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    rcs1000 said:

    Still on that ultra low polling for the LibDems ...... is there any remaining prospect of Uncle Vince being drafted in to hold the fort at the forthcoming GE - available at 8/1 from Paddy Power - or are they now stuck with Clegg come what may?

    [edit] Morning all.

    Is there any polling evidence to suggest replacing Clegg with Cable would improve the LD's lot prior to GE2015? - If not, then Clegg is safe, er until further notice.
    Any odds on Charles Kennedy as next LibDem leader? In the event of the LibDems being on 6% at the GE, he'd be one of about three MPs.
    Charlie Kennedy is 85/1 at Betfair to be next Lib Dem leader, which looks like terrific value if you think total LD meltdown is on the cards next year, and you assume a No vote (a tad risky).

    If the LDs go sub-15 MPs then Kennedy might look like the only qualified candidate to be next leader.

    Shadsy clearly recognises this, as he prices Kennedy shorter, at 33/1.

  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,336

    Good morning, everyone.

    This is just depressing. I can respect those who are unionist or separatist, but to make the decision based on one election result is bloody stupid.

    Also, photo-bombing is acceptable behaviour if you're a marmoset. If you're a first minister, it just makes you look like an arse.

    Works both ways - to defer indy based on whether Mr Miliband is the next PM is a curious logic, though I can see why they do it - bird in the hand and all that. Plus the ratchet effect of another 5 years of Tory rule (bearing in mind they have carefully saved a lot of the cuts till after the referendum/election).

    But I think you perhaps forget that a Tory government would be seen, fairly or unfairly, as likely to be highly influenced by UKIP. UKIP are very keen to reverse the devolution settlement of the 1990s. And the Scottish Pmt is very popular.

    Er, what do marmosets have to do with photo-bombing?

  • EasterrossEasterross Posts: 1,915
    Morning all and on thread, as I have said for over a year, this summer presents the "Perfect Storm" for Eck and the YESNP.

    It started a fortnight ago with the Tories outperforming expectations in the Euro and Local elections.
    It continued last week with the easy Tory hold in Newark.
    This week the English media has gone into overdrive promoting a 2nd rate football team which few expect to get beyond the group stage and almost none beyond the quarter finals.
    We now have many in the media and political commentariat expecting the Tories to get back in next year.
    Over the next fortnight we have the hype surrounding Bannockburn 2014
    Next month we have the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, today they announce the largest Scottish team ever, 100 more athletes than in Manchester
    Then we have the Ryder Cup
    By August/September is it not likely that the re-election of a Westminster Tory government will be the main political story..........

    just in time for Eck to say, vote YES on 18th September and avoid 5 more years of Tory rule from London.

    Last week I thought that NO might just win but now I am tipping back into expecting a narrow YES. Worryingly for the future of Scotland it is getting really nasty as evidenced by the spat over Eck's spad and his disgraceful slur on the Labour wifie.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 37,534

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Hmm... Did the second question taint the answer to the first?

    So far as the second question is concerned I said yesterday and on many previous occasions that the only risk factor I still see for No Thanks is a consistent tory lead in the opinion polls and this backs this up.

    The legends and pure fantasy that SLAB managed to create around the tories in general and Thatcher in particular has been a very effective electoral weapon for them but there is a price to be paid for everything. Labour supporters are the key swing group and they have been indoctrinated with an unreasoning hatred of tories that is hard to overstate.

    Will SLAB be able to deliver its supporters if the tories had, say, a 5% lead by September? That is the risk and why I have consistently said this is not all over.

    Terrible, isn't it David??!! The Tories bear no responsibility for their toxicity in Scotland, it is all someone else's fault. Labour indoctrinated the Scots. The Scots are too stupid to form their own opinions. For the life of me I cannot see why such attitudes would not have people in Scotland flocking to support the Conservative party.

    It's politics Southam and very effective politics at that. What SLAB have managed to do is make it a moral duty to vote Labour to keep the tories out even in seats like my own where the tories are not even vaguely in contention.

    My observation is not bitterness but a concern that this long term policy still threatens the outcome of the independence referendum. As I have said before that decision matters far more to me than the outcome of the next election which is an ephemeral thing by comparison.

    Incidentally, nothing lasts for ever and it is Labour's monomania about the tories that allowed the SNP to blindside them and win a majority in the Scottish Parliament. SLAB have yet to find a means of combatting the Nats other than trying to hold the anti-tory line and it has its limitations in elections where the tories are not really in play.

    You seem to be claiming that the Tories in Scotland have been the victims of "legends and pure fantasy" propagated by Labour. In other words, it's all Labour's fault that so many Scots will not countenance voting Tory; nothing that the Tories have said or done can be held responsible. I know that Tories generally like to blame others for their problems, but that does take the biscuit! It's like the Labour left blaming the Tory press for brainwashing voters into rejecting socialism.
    SLAB were very successful in propagating the argument that Conservative government in Scotland was somehow illegitimate, because the Conservatives only won a minority of seats there. That argument has now come back to bite them on the arse.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    rcs1000 said:

    I think Salmond has made a major strategic error. He should have pushed for a referendum on self government with the same approximate powers as the Isle of Man have and Southern Rhodesia had, ie local control of everything except foreign policy.

    He would probably have won that and got effective independence without all the problems. Also if it worked well it would then be much easier to win "dominion" status (ie independence) on the same basis as Australia and Canada in a few years, if it was wanted.

    He can only offer things in the gift of the Scottish people
    Like a Sterling Zone, continued membership of the EU on the same terms, NATO membership.....

  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    IndyRef pricing:

    Shadsy cuts his Yes price from 7/2 to 3/1

    Betfair still longer than 4/1
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,608

    rcs1000 said:

    Still on that ultra low polling for the LibDems ...... is there any remaining prospect of Uncle Vince being drafted in to hold the fort at the forthcoming GE - available at 8/1 from Paddy Power - or are they now stuck with Clegg come what may?

    [edit] Morning all.

    Is there any polling evidence to suggest replacing Clegg with Cable would improve the LD's lot prior to GE2015? - If not, then Clegg is safe, er until further notice.
    Any odds on Charles Kennedy as next LibDem leader? In the event of the LibDems being on 6% at the GE, he'd be one of about three MPs.
    Charlie Kennedy is 85/1 at Betfair to be next Lib Dem leader, which looks like terrific value if you think total LD meltdown is on the cards next year, and you assume a No vote (a tad risky).

    If the LDs go sub-15 MPs then Kennedy might look like the only qualified candidate to be next leader.

    Shadsy clearly recognises this, as he prices Kennedy shorter, at 33/1.

    I think you know in your heart-of-hearts that this poll is - simply - wrong, and that the Scots will vote crushingly to stay in the Union.

    I have therefore taken the maximum available on Betfair (a meagre £2). If anyone wants to match me, I've left £18 or so hanging...
  • EasterrossEasterross Posts: 1,915

    Good morning, everyone.

    This is just depressing. I can respect those who are unionist or separatist, but to make the decision based on one election result is bloody stupid.

    Also, photo-bombing is acceptable behaviour if you're a marmoset. If you're a first minister, it just makes you look like an arse.

    Unfortunately few of you in England understand the sheer hatred of a great many of the Central Belt Labour types towards the Tory Party. Gordon Brown is typical of them. These are the people the YESNP is reaching out to in the huge housing estates Labour built on the edge of Glasgow and Edinburgh and in the new towns started in 1948.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216

    Carnyx said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    SNIP

    SNIP

    It's politics Southam and very effective politics at that. What SLAB have managed to do is make it a moral duty to vote Labour to keep the tories out even in seats like my own where the tories are not even vaguely in contention.

    My observation is not bitterness but a concern that this long term policy still threatens the outcome of the independence referendum. As I have said before that decision matters far more to me than the outcome of the next election which is an ephemeral thing by comparison.

    Incidentally, nothing lasts for ever and it is Labour's monomania about the tories that allowed the SNP to blindside them and win a majority in the Scottish Parliament. SLAB have yet to find a means of combatting the Nats other than trying to hold the anti-tory line and it has its limitations in elections where the tories are not really in play.

    Labour's monomania about the Tories? In Scotland, at a time when they are positively in bed with the Tories? It's the SNP Labour have an absolute raving obsession with, vide Ms Lamont's speech at the last SLAB conference. It's not the Tories who evicted them from their comfortable position in the devolution parliament and administration.

    I've said before - and will say again now - that the great reason why we are where we are in the runp to indyref is not down to the Scottish bits of the Labour Party, but the way in which the Tories allowed themselves to lose Scotland from the 1950s onwards.

    How far Labour were the cause, and how far the beneficiaries expanding into the vacuum, is nother matter and I've been reading your discussion with interest.

    That demonising the Tories might risk the Union in the long term was irrelevant
    as devolution had "killed Independence stone dead".......

  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,950
    F1: interview with Haas (NB his team will join in 2016):
    http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2014/6/15945.html

    "Q: Your plans to base your team in the US have raised a lot of eyebrows, especially after Kenny Anderson and Peter Windsor’s ill-fated project of a few years back. Can you make that work?
    GH: I think in this age of communication so much can be done on the Internet. Our base will always be Kannapolis, North Carolina. We plan to run a small shop in Europe where the cars come in and are refurbished and worked on, but the main facilities for building and design will be Kannapolis."

    Just not smart. There's a reason why just about every team except Ferrari and Sauber are based in a small corner of England. Engineers can change teams without needing to move house or move their children to new schools.

    He's also indicated he wants largely American personnel. Reminds me a bit of when Todt and Brawn left Ferrari. It turns out hiring people based on ability rather than birthplace works well.

    Haas is also after a Ferrari engine. I have no idea why. It's perhaps the worst one.

    He reckons Danica Patrick would be his dream driver. Wouldn't be a bad choice, actually, as it would certainly get media and sponsorship attention. Maybe Simona de Silvestro[sp] will be racing for Sauber by then.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,950
    Mr. Easterross, you mean there are... lots of people like Brown?
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    edited June 2014
    Sean_F said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    SNIP

    Terrible, isn't it David??!! The Tories bear no responsibility for their toxicity in Scotland, it is all someone else's fault. Labour indoctrinated the Scots. The Scots are too stupid to form their own opinions. For the life of me I cannot see why such attitudes would not have people in Scotland flocking to support the Conservative party.

    It's politics Southam and very effective politics at that. What SLAB have managed to do is make it a moral duty to vote Labour to keep the tories out even in seats like my own where the tories are not even vaguely in contention.

    My observation is not bitterness but a concern that this long term policy still threatens the outcome of the independence referendum. As I have said before that decision matters far more to me than the outcome of the next election which is an ephemeral thing by comparison.

    Incidentally, nothing lasts for ever and it is Labour's monomania about the tories that allowed the SNP to blindside them and win a majority in the Scottish Parliament. SLAB have yet to find a means of combatting the Nats other than trying to hold the anti-tory line and it has its limitations in elections where the tories are not really in play.

    You seem to be claiming that the Tories in Scotland have been the victims of "legends and pure fantasy" propagated by Labour. In other words, it's all Labour's fault that so many Scots will not countenance voting Tory; nothing that the Tories have said or done can be held responsible. I know that Tories generally like to blame others for their problems, but that does take the biscuit! It's like the Labour left blaming the Tory press for brainwashing voters into rejecting socialism.
    SLAB were very successful in propagating the argument that Conservative government in Scotland was somehow illegitimate, because the Conservatives only won a minority of seats there. That argument has now come back to bite them on the arse.
    Indeed. I well remember the years when SLAB used to campaign under the slogan "No Mandate". They positioned themselves as Scotland's national party, even if another party had that official name. It was, and is, a very fertile point to position yourself in within the Scottish electoral matrix. The SLDs were pretty darn good at that game too during their glory days.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,608

    IndyRef pricing:

    Shadsy cuts his Yes price from 7/2 to 3/1

    Betfair still longer than 4/1

    He's only offering a (basically insulting) 1/5 on 'No'.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    DavidL said:

    Cyclefree said:

    This - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10892606/Trojan-Horse-debate-We-were-wrong-all-cultures-are-not-equal.html - was posted last night and is very good.

    The only issue I have is with her saying that now is the time to do this. Of course it is but we have known for 30 years that this should be done - since Ray Honeyford, since the Rushdie fatwa. There are none so blind, alas, as those that don't want to see.

    Agreed on both points. It is a very good piece indeed. For the reasons set out in the article we have failed generations of muslim girls in this country and it really needs to stop. They deserve better.

    Spot on. As I have said on here before, the left has plenty to answer for with regards to multiculturalism and the belief that all cultures are essentially equal when they are not. But Pearson talks about her experiences in 1981 and about Ray Honeyford. A blind eye has been turned for many a long year, not just since 1997. The simple fact is that for different reasons it has not suited either the Labour party of the Conservative party to take these issues on and to do something about them.
  • peter_from_putneypeter_from_putney Posts: 6,956
    edited June 2014
    rcs1000 said:

    Still on that ultra low polling for the LibDems ...... is there any remaining prospect of Uncle Vince being drafted in to hold the fort at the forthcoming GE - available at 8/1 from Paddy Power - or are they now stuck with Clegg come what may?

    [edit] Morning all.

    Is there any polling evidence to suggest replacing Clegg with Cable would improve the LD's lot prior to GE2015? - If not, then Clegg is safe, er until further notice.
    Any odds on Charles Kennedy as next LibDem leader? In the event of the LibDems being on 6% at the GE, he'd be one of about three MPs.
    Yes ....... 50/1 available from Hills, etc. Btw is your real name Martin Day by any chance?
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    rcs1000 said:

    IndyRef pricing:

    Shadsy cuts his Yes price from 7/2 to 3/1

    Betfair still longer than 4/1

    He's only offering a (basically insulting) 1/5 on 'No'.
    Hardly "insulting". If you don't like Shopkeeper Shadsy's wares then there are plenty of other boutiques on the high street, but good luck getting a decent stake on at a higher price at the moment.

    My advice to prospective No backers is: wait. You'll get much more pleasant prices in the near future.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,336
    edited June 2014

    Morning all and on thread, as I have said for over a year, this summer presents the "Perfect Storm" for Eck and the YESNP.

    It started a fortnight ago with the Tories outperforming expectations in the Euro and Local elections.
    It continued last week with the easy Tory hold in Newark.
    This week the English media has gone into overdrive promoting a 2nd rate football team which few expect to get beyond the group stage and almost none beyond the quarter finals.
    We now have many in the media and political commentariat expecting the Tories to get back in next year.
    Over the next fortnight we have the hype surrounding Bannockburn 2014
    Next month we have the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, today they announce the largest Scottish team ever, 100 more athletes than in Manchester
    Then we have the Ryder Cup
    By August/September is it not likely that the re-election of a Westminster Tory government will be the main political story..........

    just in time for Eck to say, vote YES on 18th September and avoid 5 more years of Tory rule from London.

    Last week I thought that NO might just win but now I am tipping back into expecting a narrow YES. Worryingly for the future of Scotland it is getting really nasty as evidenced by the spat over Eck's spad and his disgraceful slur on the Labour wifie.

    The problem with the Labour lady was that she was presented by Labour/BT as an ordinary non-political member of the public/community, was she not? Which would have been a fib to begin with. [Edited] I agree that it was inaccurate to say that she is the daughter of a certain Labour politician, though I have seen it commented how odd Labour should consider that an insult ...

    Bannockburn is really a Unionist shibboleth rather than a SNP one. I recall the incessant complaints from the Unionists about having the indyref in the same year as the 700th anniversary of Bannockburn. No doubt they would have complained if 2013 had been chosen, being the 400th of Flodden Field. And 2012 would have been too soon anyway. Ideally they would have preferred no referendum ...

    No doubt to avoid being criticised for commemorating something so tactless as a Southron defeat, the Scottish Gmt has effectively delegated commemorations to the National Trust for Scotland, that well-known SNP front [I speak ironically]. Though that didn't stop the MoD and the local Labour-Tory council suddenly deciding to hold Armed Forces Day for the UK a few miles down the road, with predictable results (e.g. low flying jets and reenactors don't mix well).

    However, the constitutional consequences of Bannockburn were indeed important and it will be interesting to see how much those are discussed in the media.



  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    @SeanF - "SLAB were very successful in propagating the argument that Conservative government in Scotland was somehow illegitimate, because the Conservatives only won a minority of seats there. That argument has now come back to bite them on the arse."



    But they were successful because the Tories caused themselves to be immensely unpopular. Such a message would not have worked if people had not been willing to hear it.

  • OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143
    Looking at the Survation data tables and I notice a couple of things.

    1. The question "If you were certain David Cameron..." appears to only be calculated for "all respondents", and so does not include certainty to vote adjustments that are applied to the main referendum question. Therefore the Y-N-D of 44-38-18 should really be compared to the figures calculated on the same basis, which are sadly not given.

    2. The male/female splits are emerging as a key factor in this referendum. For the standard question [with likelihood to vote weightings applied in full] men split 44-42-14 and women split 33-47-20. The figures for the second question [note all respondents], with changes on the main question are:

    Men: 47% (+3) - 38% (-4) - 15% (+1)
    Women: 42% (+9) - 37% (-10) - 22% (+2)

    Conclusion: Women in Scotland seem more open to changing their voting intention for the referendum, and so their decisions will ultimately decide the result. Both campaigns need to understand why women are less keen on Independence than men and what messages will be most effective in convincing them one way or another.

    It's also worth pointing out that most of the contributors to this blog are men, and so there is a real risk that people will miss the key issues that will decide the referendum and lose money on their bets. You have been warned!
  • the average Muslim in the bazaar* thinks, is not yet strong enough to attack and destroy Western civilization

    Indeed. But military strength is increasingly technical and expensive. The islamic militants espouse a culture utterly antithetical to material advancement and will always be technologically backwards. They are takers not makers. Losers. Medieval backwards losers. Sure they can try to push terrorist acts - but that isn't going to destroy our civilisation, just fire us up. We choose to be 'weak' because our culture is relatively tolerant and kind. It may not stay that way if they start succeeding.

    And at some point the technical gap may become such that we can just 'switch them off' from a desk in Washington.
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    JackW said:

    BobaFett said:

    Rod Crosby crossover forecast update.

    "By September 18th, Tory leads should be commonplace..."

    Noted.

    When do you forecast commonplace Tory leads prior to next May ?

    I don't. I forecast the odd MOE 'crossover' poll.
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557

    Good morning, everyone.

    This is just depressing. I can respect those who are unionist or separatist, but to make the decision based on one election result is bloody stupid.

    Also, photo-bombing is acceptable behaviour if you're a marmoset. If you're a first minister, it just makes you look like an arse.

    Unfortunately few of you in England understand the sheer hatred of a great many of the Central Belt Labour types towards the Tory Party. Gordon Brown is typical of them. These are the people the YESNP is reaching out to in the huge housing estates Labour built on the edge of Glasgow and Edinburgh and in the new towns started in 1948.
    A self-evident lack of understanding of Scottish politics, culture and society rarely stops PBers commenting at length on those topics.
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    Anyone know last night's Yougov ?
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789

    Morning all and on thread, as I have said for over a year, this summer presents the "Perfect Storm" for Eck and the YESNP.

    It started a fortnight ago with the Tories outperforming expectations in the Euro and Local elections.
    It continued last week with the easy Tory hold in Newark.
    This week the English media has gone into overdrive promoting a 2nd rate football team which few expect to get beyond the group stage and almost none beyond the quarter finals.
    We now have many in the media and political commentariat expecting the Tories to get back in next year.
    Over the next fortnight we have the hype surrounding Bannockburn 2014
    Next month we have the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, today they announce the largest Scottish team ever, 100 more athletes than in Manchester
    Then we have the Ryder Cup
    By August/September is it not likely that the re-election of a Westminster Tory government will be the main political story..........

    just in time for Eck to say, vote YES on 18th September and avoid 5 more years of Tory rule from London.

    Last week I thought that NO might just win but now I am tipping back into expecting a narrow YES. Worryingly for the future of Scotland it is getting really nasty as evidenced by the spat over Eck's spad and his disgraceful slur on the Labour wifie.

    Once again you are project what's in your head, not reality.

    The media are not over promoting England at all. The hype has been conspicuous in its absence this year.

    You are conflating your own prejudices with actuality.
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557

    Carnyx said:

    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    SNIP

    SNIP

    It's politics Southam and very effective politics at that. What SLAB have managed to do is make it a moral duty to vote Labour to keep the tories out even in seats like my own where the tories are not even vaguely in contention.

    My observation is not bitterness but a concern that this long term policy still threatens the outcome of the independence referendum. As I have said before that decision matters far more to me than the outcome of the next election which is an ephemeral thing by comparison.

    Incidentally, nothing lasts for ever and it is Labour's monomania about the tories that allowed the SNP to blindside them and win a majority in the Scottish Parliament. SLAB have yet to find a means of combatting the Nats other than trying to hold the anti-tory line and it has its limitations in elections where the tories are not really in play.

    Labour's monomania about the Tories? In Scotland, at a time when they are positively in bed with the Tories? It's the SNP Labour have an absolute raving obsession with, vide Ms Lamont's speech at the last SLAB conference. It's not the Tories who evicted them from their comfortable position in the devolution parliament and administration.

    I've said before - and will say again now - that the great reason why we are where we are in the runp to indyref is not down to the Scottish bits of the Labour Party, but the way in which the Tories allowed themselves to lose Scotland from the 1950s onwards.

    How far Labour were the cause, and how far the beneficiaries expanding into the vacuum, is nother matter and I've been reading your discussion with interest.

    That demonising the Tories might risk the Union in the long term was irrelevant
    as devolution had "killed Independence stone dead".......

    Ho ho. The gormless George Robertson cracked one of the most infamous jokes in Scottish politics that day.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,564
    The second question is amusing but methodologically flawed. Merely asking "If X happened how would you vote?" prompts people to have second thoughts. More importantly, it encourages them to think only about X and not all the other factors. But that shouldn't obscure the notable shift in the first question. I wouldn't like to be the fellow with £400,000 on a No. I'm aware of moves within Labour to gear up No campaigning there now, though.

    The LD 6% isn't significant in itself - just a MOE away from the usual 7-9. But the fact that we're used to thinking of 7-9 as usual IS significant. The party does appear to be marching over a cliff without hesitation or deviation.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    "This week the English media has gone into overdrive promoting a 2nd rate football team which few expect to get beyond the group stage and almost none beyond the quarter finals."

    This is nonsense. I don't think I have seen a single report in any part of the English media that claims anything other than England are in Brazil as an Also Ran.
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549

    @SeanF - "SLAB were very successful in propagating the argument that Conservative government in Scotland was somehow illegitimate, because the Conservatives only won a minority of seats there. That argument has now come back to bite them on the arse."

    But they were successful because the Tories caused themselves to be immensely unpopular. Such a message would not have worked if people had not been willing to hear it.



    But the Tories are an English party. We all know that.
  • surbiton said:

    Anyone know last night's Yougov ?

    Lab 36%, Con 34%, LD 6%, UKIP 14%, Others 10%.

  • MonikerDiCanioMonikerDiCanio Posts: 5,792

    Good morning, everyone.

    This is just depressing. I can respect those who are unionist or separatist, but to make the decision based on one election result is bloody stupid.

    Also, photo-bombing is acceptable behaviour if you're a marmoset. If you're a first minister, it just makes you look like an arse.

    Unfortunately few of you in England understand the sheer hatred of a great many of the Central Belt Labour types towards the Tory Party. Gordon Brown is typical of them. These are the people the YESNP is reaching out to in the huge housing estates Labour built on the edge of Glasgow and Edinburgh and in the new towns started in 1948.
    A self-evident lack of understanding of Scottish politics, culture and society rarely stops PBers commenting at length on those topics.
    How's the weather in Uppsala?
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557

    Morning all and on thread, as I have said for over a year, this summer presents the "Perfect Storm" for Eck and the YESNP.

    It started a fortnight ago with the Tories outperforming expectations in the Euro and Local elections.
    It continued last week with the easy Tory hold in Newark.
    This week the English media has gone into overdrive promoting a 2nd rate football team which few expect to get beyond the group stage and almost none beyond the quarter finals.
    We now have many in the media and political commentariat expecting the Tories to get back in next year.
    Over the next fortnight we have the hype surrounding Bannockburn 2014
    Next month we have the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, today they announce the largest Scottish team ever, 100 more athletes than in Manchester
    Then we have the Ryder Cup
    By August/September is it not likely that the re-election of a Westminster Tory government will be the main political story..........

    just in time for Eck to say, vote YES on 18th September and avoid 5 more years of Tory rule from London.

    Last week I thought that NO might just win but now I am tipping back into expecting a narrow YES. Worryingly for the future of Scotland it is getting really nasty as evidenced by the spat over Eck's spad and his disgraceful slur on the Labour wifie.

    - "This week the English media has gone into overdrive promoting a 2nd rate football team which few expect to get beyond the group stage and almost none beyond the quarter finals."

    Point of information: Ladbrokes have 4/7 that England will qualify from group D, and their quarter final prices are not all that long (eg. just 9/5 for England to reach the QF at Unibet), so clearly an awful lot of people disagree with you when you that "few expect to get beyond the group stage".
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 54,014
    Carnyx said:

    DavidL said:

    Hmm... Did the second question taint the answer to the first?

    So far as the second question is concerned I said yesterday and on many previous occasions that the only risk factor I still see for No Thanks is a consistent tory lead in the opinion polls and this backs this up.

    The legends and pure fantasy that SLAB managed to create around the tories in general and Thatcher in particular has been a very effective electoral weapon for them but there is a price to be paid for everything. Labour supporters are the key swing group and they have been indoctrinated with an unreasoning hatred of tories that is hard to overstate.

    Will SLAB be able to deliver its supporters if the tories had, say, a 5% lead by September? That is the risk and why I have consistently said this is not all over.

    Very sensible posting.

    Serious question please - how can a second question taint the first if the first has already been asked and answered?

    I don't know enough about how the questioning was done but if I was presented with a sheet of paper with 2 or more questions on it I would certainly have a quick skim through the subsequent questions before answering the first. If it was someone with a clipboard then maybe the same issue would not arise. I simply don't know.

  • EasterrossEasterross Posts: 1,915
    Just caught up on the thread. The major mistake the Scottish Tories made was agreeing to change our name and handing control to London. This was done in the wake of the Ulster Unionists breaking away from the party. There had been a particularly close tie between the Scottish Tories and Ulster Unionists and even into the early 1980s we had serious delegate attendance at Scottish Tory conferences from the UU. I remember Willie Ross MP speaking at SYC conference and one of my closest political chums was Vice-Chairman of the YUU.

    The other thing which hurt us particularly hard were unfavourable boundary changes. 3 on the trot to be precise. The 1970s changes wiped out our Glasgow Cathcart seat in 1979 by adding strong Labour wards instead of leafy Tory ones. Almost exactly the same thing happened on the north side of the river in the 1980s review which is why Hillhead went from being an SDP v Tory marginal to a safe Labour seat taken by George Galloway. We saw unfavourable boundary changes in Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, the South of Scotland, Tayside and Angus, Edinburgh and the Highlands. I was heavily involved in the boundary reviews in the 1980s. The Tory v LibDem marginal of Ross and Cromarty was completely transformed by taking 10,000 voters on Skye and sticking it in. Easter Ross which had been the bedrock of the Tory vote (Jamie Stone later LibDem MSP was at the time Tory ward chairman) was hived off to Caithness and Sutherland.

    I happen to think that if Scotland votes YES, we will see the Scottish Tory recover many of our traditional seats because the "English 5th columnist" tag will simply no longer resonate. However assuming there is a NO vote, I do think we could advance at GE2015, largely at the expense of the LibDems.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,959
    Focus on the headline poll figures, which is very good for Yes.

    The secondary question is a bit irrelevant and lacks context if you don't ask the question on how people might vote in the Indyref if Ed Miliband was going to be PM/Labour going to win in 2015.

    Remember Panelbase asked those questions last August.

    How likely are you to vote for Independence if there is an x govt at Westminster post 2015?

    50% said they were likely to vote yes if there was a Tory led govt in 2015

    47% said they were likely to vote yes if there was a Lab led govt in 2015
  • SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322


    This week the English media has gone into overdrive promoting a 2nd rate football team which few expect to get beyond the group stage and almost none beyond the quarter finals.

    I swear Scots just trot out these things without any pause to consider whether it's actually true. It's like the claim Andy Murray is listed as Scottish when he loses and British when he wins. He's actually reported as both in both cases, and the English media hasn't done anything but say England will struggle in this World Cup.

    It says a lot about the Scottish grievance mentality that many need to make up grievances.

  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,668
    Out of interest, is there Commonwealth Games fever in Scotland? I don't detect much down here. It's never really been that big a deal, has it?
  • The second question is amusing but methodologically flawed. Merely asking "If X happened how would you vote?" prompts people to have second thoughts. More importantly, it encourages them to think only about X and not all the other factors. But that shouldn't obscure the notable shift in the first question. I wouldn't like to be the fellow with £400,000 on a No. I'm aware of moves within Labour to gear up No campaigning there now, though.

    The LD 6% isn't significant in itself - just a MOE away from the usual 7-9. But the fact that we're used to thinking of 7-9 as usual IS significant. The party does appear to be marching over a cliff without hesitation or deviation.

    We're also starting to get used to seeing UKIP at < 15%.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,959
    DavidL said:

    Carnyx said:

    DavidL said:

    Hmm... Did the second question taint the answer to the first?

    So far as the second question is concerned I said yesterday and on many previous occasions that the only risk factor I still see for No Thanks is a consistent tory lead in the opinion polls and this backs this up.

    The legends and pure fantasy that SLAB managed to create around the tories in general and Thatcher in particular has been a very effective electoral weapon for them but there is a price to be paid for everything. Labour supporters are the key swing group and they have been indoctrinated with an unreasoning hatred of tories that is hard to overstate.

    Will SLAB be able to deliver its supporters if the tories had, say, a 5% lead by September? That is the risk and why I have consistently said this is not all over.

    Very sensible posting.

    Serious question please - how can a second question taint the first if the first has already been asked and answered?

    I don't know enough about how the questioning was done but if I was presented with a sheet of paper with 2 or more questions on it I would certainly have a quick skim through the subsequent questions before answering the first. If it was someone with a clipboard then maybe the same issue would not arise. I simply don't know.

    It was a survation online poll.

    So each question would appear on one screen, when you've completed one question, you press enter, and it takes you to the next question, and IIRC there's no option to go back.
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557

    The second question is amusing but methodologically flawed. Merely asking "If X happened how would you vote?" prompts people to have second thoughts. More importantly, it encourages them to think only about X and not all the other factors. But that shouldn't obscure the notable shift in the first question. I wouldn't like to be the fellow with £400,000 on a No. I'm aware of moves within Labour to gear up No campaigning there now, though.

    The LD 6% isn't significant in itself - just a MOE away from the usual 7-9. But the fact that we're used to thinking of 7-9 as usual IS significant. The party does appear to be marching over a cliff without hesitation or deviation.

    The punter who put 400,000 GBP on No at 1/4 at Hills last week is a nutter. Just a couple of weeks ago he'd have got a much nicer 4/11, and if he'd have waited till later in the summer...
  • BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    @JBriskin

    I fail to see what the bloody fuss was about re: Salmond and the saltire.

    Scottish FM celebrates Scottish player who was born in Scotland and is a proud Scot winning by waving a Scottish flag.

    It's not the effing Olympics where you are only allowed to wave the flags Seb Coe approves of, thank god. In most major sports he'd be playing officially for Scotland anyway, and, according to Google Sports, he does in tennis too...
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,608

    rcs1000 said:

    Still on that ultra low polling for the LibDems ...... is there any remaining prospect of Uncle Vince being drafted in to hold the fort at the forthcoming GE - available at 8/1 from Paddy Power - or are they now stuck with Clegg come what may?

    [edit] Morning all.

    Is there any polling evidence to suggest replacing Clegg with Cable would improve the LD's lot prior to GE2015? - If not, then Clegg is safe, er until further notice.
    Any odds on Charles Kennedy as next LibDem leader? In the event of the LibDems being on 6% at the GE, he'd be one of about three MPs.
    Yes ....... 50/1 available from Hills, etc. Btw is your real name Martin Day by any chance?
    LOL!

    Personally, I think the Libs will - as they did in 2010, 2005, 2001 and 1997 - get around the same share at the General that they have done in the Locals.

    This would put them on about 12-14% at the General Election (I would suspect the lower end) - and I reckon around 25-35 seats.

    However, if you believe LibDemaggedon (i.e. 6-7% share at the GE) then maybe the cheapest way is to bet on Charles Kennedy to be leader.

    If the LibDems lose 75% of their vote, then Tim Farron will not be in the HoC; nor will Vince Cable, Ed Davey, Danny Alexander, Jo Swinson, Jeremy Browne or Norman Lamb. In fact, there will be very few seats (certainly less than half a dozen) that they will keep. Charles Kennedy is one of the few people who would remain an MP. And he is still an ambitious man; he is (I believe) now sober; and he led the LibDems to notable successes in the past.

    I think 50-1 and up is a good hedge for the bets that I laid isam :-)
This discussion has been closed.