Alibi

Delighted to hear this news. I wonder if Yousaf will now resign, given that just yesterday he was saying the BHA was a good thing. I can see polling figures for the SNP rising as a result of this. Even better if the SNP moved away from some of the unpopular policies that resulted from the Greens being included in government - the woke stuff, plus the DRS that Slater made such a mess of and a few other things as well. It's an opportunity for the SNP to press the reset button, although I think for that to happen we would need Yousaf himself to be ousted.

Someone from the SNP needs to come out and say unequivocally that they agree with the Cass report. aYousaf has avoided doing that. Patrick Harvie is painting himself into a corner with his utterances, and pandering to him by not disagreeing with what he is saying is crazy. If they could just accept what about 99% of the world acknowledges, that it is not possible to change sex and that trans people, while living as someone of the opposite sex, do not not actually miraculously become the opposite sex, we might get somewhere. As it is, it's just another bad decision which will lose votes. Why do they persist with this electoral suicide at every turn? Surely it can't just be stupidity? is it a deliberate strategy? I think the time for political parties trying to claim they are the vehicle for independence has maybe passed. They always put their own restraints on it (for example the SNP insist on EU membership which, while I personally tend to support it, divides opinion). We need an organised independence movement that is a civic organisation, and if it is necessary to stand for election to implement that, it should be on a simple one line manifesto "independence for Scotland". We can sort out the other stuff once we have indy regained, with a general election with any parties that want to stand.

Good grief, he is utterly hopeless. Next thing he'll be condemning the Cass report so as not to upset his wokeists. The wheels have come off genderwoowoo and all sensible folk are running a mile from it, but Humza's carrying on regardless.

The sooner the SNP drop the Greens the better. Preferably before the Greens resign from government (which they probably won't because they like the money). If the SNP don't drop the Greens, they will look indecisive and may even be tainted by the inference that they don't disagree with Harvie's views on Cass. I expect Yousaf will plead with the Greens to stay. He has a talent for doing the wrong thing at every opportunity.

Bit of a clusterfuck. Would be quite funny if it turned out that Murrell was in the pay of the British state all along. I know all governing parties come up with some daft policies, but it seems to me that the Sturgeon version of the SNP have brought forward almost nothing but unpopular policies - even the recent 30% increase in minimum alcohol prices during a cost of living crisis could have been thought up specifically to lose votes. I'm becoming more and more convinced that it's deliberate - malice rather than incompetence. Those promoting these daft policies know exactly what they are doing.

Sabotage?

Spot on. The current SNP leadership with a few (very few) notable exceptions are a bunch of bland nobodies. Scared of their own shadows, scared to rock the boat, scared to say anything that the MSM might take exception to. Meekly accepting whatever WM say - and in doing so, showing they are happy with Scotland being held prisoner in an abusive, coercive union. I don't recall any of them asking directly - and getting a proper answer to the question - "If this is a voluntary union, what is the procedure for leaving it". And the answer is not acceptable if it includes any English veto over Scotland doing just that.

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. If they don't major on indy, they don't really offer anything to attract those who want indy. In a UK election where the SNP can never get in power, they have to demonstrate a reason to actually vote for them. Nobody is enthused to vote for being allowed to be told "Section 30? Fuck off. Back in your box". Which in essence is what they seem to be offering nowadays. They need to stop being good wee parliamentarians and go down there and kick up fuck at every opportunity, but they won't.

Probably to do with weighting. Not the first time a large poll has come up with nonsense when it is applied to Scotland because the raw figures are wrongly weighted. In any case once Labour are having to defend brexit and a load of other stuff (Sarwar will likely have to support tuition fees and prescription charges for example) their vote will likely fall back. Nobody likes Starmer, and Sarwar just tries to be everything to everyone - campaigning for fair pay and in support of waspi women while his family business pays poverty-level wages and his party spent millions in Glasgow opposing these same women. Labour support is being shored up by the MSM and BBC Scotland. Fuck them.

If the SNP sideline independence, they will get hammered - not necessarily by folk voting for yoon parties but more by folk just not voting. Right now they don't have an appealing set of policies to pursue and in fact they don't seem to have anything to offer, indy aside and they are clueless about how to achieve that - Yousaf asking people to vote SNP and they will ask for a section 30 again doesn't cut it. Oh how we need a leader! I reckon Yousaf has been manoeuvred into place by the British state. He must be like a dream come true for them. He has no drive. He focuses on the wrong issues. With Yousaf in charge, indy is withering on the vine - people are just getting fed up waiting and nothing is happening. We need better.

Well worth a read.

I will be voting SNP at the UK general election. Under no circumstances could I ever vote for a party that didn't support independence for Scotland. Independence is the main reason I vote. A party's other policies are of course of importance but as long as they are reasonable it's unlikely to be a great problem. I could never vote Labour because despite the line taken by the MSM and BBC Scotland, they are not a slightly left of centre social democratic party (as the SNP were until they became infiltrated by folk intent on destroying the indy movement from within). Labour are pro-brexit, anti-indy, anti democracy, in essence pretty much like a Tory party from ten years ago. Sir Starmer is a particularly slimy snake of a man. I don't believe what has happened to the SNP is accidental - someone somewhere has masterminded the actions needed to corrupt the party and remove any semblance of voting power from the members. I disagree strongly with some policies brought to the fore by the SNP, mainly the contentious ones that no sensible leader would have considered, let alone championed, and I regard the Greens as a collection of weirdos who should have been dropped long ago. alba have a lot of good ideas and I have nothing against them, but it would probably be far better if they all rejoined the SNP and changed it from within if that were possible. And I think that Salmond, sadly, would be better stepping back and becoming an elder statesman rather than leading a party that is gaining little traction. Problem is he is still by far the best politician in Scotland by a country mile, but his best role would be as a leader of the indy movement, above party politics. Those who say they won't support the SNP are on the wrong track. Any vote for a unionist party will be weaponised and used against the indy movement. Give them half a chance and Holyrood will be closed down or reduced to an impotent shell of a parliament. Finally, we need the SNP to give us a reason to vote for them. Nothing vague or half hearted. The manifesto needs to make a clear statement that a vote for the SNP is a vote for indy - and not just for another feeble request for a section 30 order. That won't get us anywhere and is conceding defeat before a vote is cast.

That hate crime bill looks like a horrific piece of work - although supported by all parties except the Tories, it will be the SNP that are criticised for it. Also I see the groups "protected" are quite limited, but of course "transgender" is one of the groups included. Be interesting to see what transpires (see what I did there?) on Monday when it comes into force. First to be the target of the wokerati probably JK Rowling.

IMHO the SNP (if they can tear themselves away from all the unpopular legislation they seem to be prioritising) should modify their EU policy to allow EFTA (or whatever it's called now) membership as a stepping stome to neutralise the "Scotland will never be allowed to join the EU" rhetoric from yoons. EU member ship in any case should be subject to a post-indy referendum or election where parties make it clear whether they will apply for EU membership. The fewer conditions put on indy, the better, so that everyone who wants indy can vote for it without ruling it out because they might not want EU membership or some other diktat that is appended to the indy offering. Sadly, indy doesn't seem to be a priority for the SNP at the moment. As for freeports, presumably if they are a bad thing or an obstruction to membership of the EU, they could be abolished after indy, but any decision should be for the people of Scotland, not a cabal of bullies at Westminster who have a financial interest in them.

A switched on indy party would be on this like a shot. We'll probably just get some tepid irrelevance like which colour of lanyards they are wearing, to distract everyone from this report. Seems to be strong ammunition for the independence cause. i'm sure BBC Scotland will be all over it with blanket coverage for days on end. But campervans...