scotlad

He is appropriately named, if nothing else. Seriously, I think he could spend all day walking up and down Princes Street and no one would recognise him, unless he bumps into someone from work. Apart from being in the wrong party Neil Gray is exactly the kind of person the British establishment had in mind for FM when they set up Holyrood: a bland, unassuming administrator. A Jack McConnell. For Westminster, having spent over a decade watching Salmond and pre-Idpol Sturgeon occupying one of their colonial institutions like a couple of hungry grizzlies prowling around some poor frightened Canadian family's back garden looking for breakfast, the prospect of a nice, compliant devolutionist with the charisma of cardboard must be a blessed relief. The sad thing is, whatever throbber tweeted that Kate Forbes' views are right-wing, neo-conservative and ultra-Christian was probably being sincere. Clueless beyond belief! 🤣 I have some reservations of aspects of Forbes' politics, such as her apparent support for freeports, but - and I know this is a low bar - she is in my view one of the brightest MSPs presently sitting in HR. Anecdotally she is respected amongst the electorate, including amongst people who don't normally vote SNP, and based on her record as Finance Minister and with the right people in place I think she would run government more capably than we are seeing at present. If she isn't planning on standing again either for family or personal health reasons then that is a shame, but understandable. If it is because of the dog's abuse she got last time, then that too is understandable, but it is also a sad reflection of the times we live in when some of the more capable amongst us are dissuaded from putting their heads above the parapet because of guttersnipe arseholes who have never done anything useful in their lives. We get the country we deserve, I suppose.

Possibly so. I also remember a couple of months ago she tweeted something about having to call an ambulance for her daughter, so maybe the wee soul has a problem and she wants to devote more time to her. Hopefully her daughter is okay though, and if she isn't standing it's for a nicer reason. I think I would too 😟 I didn't think they'd be able to find someone with less charisma than Anas Sarwar but they might have! 😂 🤣

The most exciting day in Scottish politics in ages and the board fecking crashes 😂 Humza rumoured to be on the verge of quitting with Neil Gray taking over. Haud me back. 😕

This is almost certainly the smartest move Humza has made since taking office. The situation is still slightly embarrassing for him though, since maintaining the BHA was part of his leadership bid and he was still in effect defending the agreement as recently as a couple of days ago, but in ending the agreement he's saved some face, for the time being at least. It'll be interesting to see what happens next. Wings was suggesting the opposition would have the numbers now to force a VONC, and if I was in Sarwar's position I'd be tempted, going by current polling. Then again, I expect both Humza's personal polling as well as his party's will improve as a result of today's announcement. A general election victory would assure his position as FM for a while longer.

Hopefully Humza's going to resign but it's most probably the Bute House agreement being junked.

A plank, yes; a plant, no. That is my gut feeling. There were a lot of people in the upper echelons of the party awfy keen to see him installed as leader last year though. 🤔

During Corbyn's time in charge of Labour he encountered - and failed to deal with decisively - resistance not only from so-called moderate MPs, but also party apparatchiks who favoured them. The membership and other affiliates were largely behind Corbyn and I think if he'd made a priority of it he could have turned the tables on the right-wing of the party, but for whatever reason he didn't. There's a lesson from history there that anyone from outside the SNP in-crowd should pay attention to if they're going to go for the leadership. Patrick Harvie a decade ago seemed like quite a reasonable guy. A wee bit radical compared to other more mainstream politicians, yes, but he always made his points soundly and logically. What a shame that he's chosen to spend his time in government this way. It's ironic too that he is supposedly part of a movement that urges people to listen to scientists and experts when it comes to climate change, but encourages the opposite when it comes to gender ideology! The coalition with the Greens was always unnecessary. The SNP could have run government just as easily as a minority administration - a large minority administration - and saved themselves a lot of face in the process.

Apparently he was once accused of buying drugs for a teenage male escort. A few years later the Tories made Menzies a trade envoy to Colombia and Peru. I guess it was his aptitude for trade that impressed them!

Aye, at full strength I'd feel a lot more confident about our chances but sadly we won't be, and the drop-off in quality in some positions is alarming.

The Swiss are better than they're given credit for. Tournament regulars who often reach the knockout stages, they're not a 'big name' side but at this point I don't fancy our chances against them.

Agreed. Clarke would have had nothing to lose by playing him in a couple of friendlies. If he played well, then he'd have had another option to pick; if he didn't cut the mustard then that's the whole 'Ryan Gauld for Scotland' issue put to bed.

Potentially the best piece of news to have emerged in the past 48 hours!

She wasn't, no. Strangely it was like there were other issues that were a higher priority for people. I understand what you're saying and I have seen the media playing that game in the past, but I pay attention to politics in this country, where the Greens are partners in government with the SNP, and save for a botched deposit return scheme (which, incidentally, I am in favour of, in principle) and some stuff to do with insulation in homes, I'm struggling to think of many distinctly green policies that they've brought to the table.

It does make you wonder, doesn't it? Support for independence has remained firm for the past decade and demographics suggest it's likely to increase, and now we're seeing the main political vehicle towards achieving independence potentially on the verge of going bust (I don't think that's too much of an exaggeration). There was a lassie from the English Green party on Question Time last night and she didn't mention puberty blockers, pronouns, or sex change operations on the NHS once. Instead she spoke eloquently and insightfully about policies to help the environment. It was very refreshing! 😄

Maybe time for a reboot of The New Statesmen, in which Alan B'Stard is a corrupt, conniving gay MP (although I think even in the original series, B'Stard's wife is bisexual and his corrupt solicitor is transgender, making the series very ahead of its time!).