lichtgilphead

Do you even know what UDI means, @Jedi2 If you look up the article in the National that you've referenced above, you'll find the following quote from Humza ""So if we win that General Election, we will therefore seek that mandate to negotiate with the UK Government on how to put that proposition into democratic effect.” That's not UDI. Do you want to try again?

You might want to edit that...

Is this Jedi making stuff up again? I'm shocked! My recollection was that Humza said that a majority would be taken as a mandate to open negotiations with Westminster. I don't recall any mention of UDI. Whilst my preferred method of beginning negotiations would be through winning a referendum, it does the Yoon side no favours to continually tell lies about the position taken by Indy supporters. So Jedi, how about you either provide a direct quote from Humza threatening UDI, or stfu?

Currently watching Sky's Press Preview demonstrate their total ignorance of Scottish politics Apparently, Humza replaced Nicola less than a year ago, so he will have the shortest tenure of any First Minister if he loses the VONC. In addition, schools and public services in Scotland are doing "very poorly indeed" in comparison with England. Finally, Nicola has just been in the news with "a scandal of her own", so Labour will be rubbing their hands. Totally fact-free nonsense! In reality, to date, Humza has already been in post since 29th March 2023. Henry Macleish only lasted 1 year 12 days. Our public services & schools (whilst not being brilliant) are at least equivalent to England, and in many cases are better. As far as I'm aware, even after all the recent Yoon speculation, only one male ex-member of the SNP has been charged with embezellment from the party. It's not Nicola, and nothing has as yet been proved. So much for quality journalism!

I've not miscounted. As explained above, the presiding officer only votes in the event of a tie, and normally votes to keep the status quo, irrespective of her party affiliation. 64 each will mean that DRoss'sVONC will fall.

If Ash Regan votes with the SNP, that's 64 votes. If everyone else votes against, that's also 64 votes. In these circumstances the Presiding Officer is supposed to vote to maintain the status quo. I assume you're not taking up the offer of a charity bet then?

Yeah, tend to agree. Obviously, it will depend on the number of constituency seats the SNP are expected to win in each region. Will need to consider polling nearer the time whether I go for both votes SNP or whether I vote for someone else on list. Are you willing to have a charity bet that the SNP lose a VONC before a specific date?

Leaving aside the problems with calling an election early, this assumes that Ash Regan & all the Greens will vote to bring down a pro-indy Government. If they do, Alba or the Greens won't be getting my list vote next time round. I'm sure that I'm not the only SNP voter that feels this way. Why would Alba or the Greens want to cut off their noses to spite their faces in this way?

Is it the Sky footage with a weel kent face doing a solo version of The Northern Lights? Please make it so, especially the moment when he realises he can't sing "sweet f*ck all" on TV

Not quite as old as Cappilow, but Arbroath have been continuously at Gayfield since 1881. The pitch was moved in 1925, but still overlaps the old pitch to an extent. The West goal was roughly where the players tunnel is now, and the North touchline was parallel with (and very close to) the wall opposite old Ladyloan School

English precedent is 'persuasive', but it isn't slavishly followed like down south. I can remember a certain Sheriff in Dundee who used to say things like 'what next, a case from Zimbabwe?' when the prosecution quoted multiple English appeal cases

Nick Faldo used to always write cheques for his green fees for exactly the same reason.

Apologies - I had forgotten about Ash Regan's defection. As you say however, I don't see her siding with Lab/Con/LD

Don't the SNP still hold 64 seats without the Greens? If so, they can't lose a VONC as even if the Greens vote against them, Lab, Con LD & Greens can only muster 64 votes, resulting in a tie, and the Presiding Officer votes in favour of the status quo in the event of a tie. Obviously, this assumes that the all SNP vote together, but I can't see any of them breaking ranks...

The biggest component of the price of alcohol is duty & VAT. Aren;t these Westminster taxes? I believe that the plan to ban all citizens currently under 15 from ever buying tobacco products was initially announced by Rishi Sunak? Do you think that promoting hate is a good thing? Are you referring to England or to Wales here? Both perform worse than the Scottish NHS Isn't this policy area reserved to Westminster? Isn't this a responsibility of Local Government? Is it significantly better in Councils run by Yoons? Flegs. Serious stuff. Thanks for the inpurt Hiram, but I expect better trolling from P'n'B's pet Yoons. You must try harder.

By GB news? I'm sure you'll provide a link to prove your point.

They called him "Jeremy Hunt" when he was mentioned. Are you always this hopeless at answering questions?

Happened to have GB News on this afternoon (don't ask why), and the male presenter referred to "Humza Useless" during a discussion of the proposed smacking ban in England. Is it normal for a supposedly serious News programme to refer to politicians by derogatory nicknames?

Telt

Fair enough. I've never risked it. Always parked in one of the other park & rides and got the bus or train in if staying overnight in Edinburgh.

Remember that you can't park overnight at Ingliston - the airport needs its parking revenue

If you listen to any BBC commentary from Gayfield, you would think that the away team had never played a match outdoors in a slight breeze, Home advantage is all generated by a gentle zephyr blowing down the pitch from the Harbour End. This explains Arbroath's unbeaten home record over the last few seasons.

Just to be pedantic, if the next election is 28/01/2025, all the SNP MP's will be "wiped out" on 17/12/2024, when all the current MP's technically get their jotters until the election. Starmer, however, will not be PM until King Chuckles the 1/3rd invites him to form a government. That will be on 29/01/2025 at the earliest, due to the fact that people have to vote & the votes have to be counted. Your clock is counting down to f*ck all - what a waste of everyone's time. HTH

There's no "Daily Record Bias" thread, so I'll just put this here... https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/money/calls-scrap-scottish-tax-bands-32546821 This article is from yesterday's Daily Record. Effectively, it's publicising a petition to remove tax varying powers from Holyrood. It describes the petition as "new", even though the poll has been online since 8th January, and has only attracted 4700 signatures in that time (including today's boost thanks to the Record's publicity - it's gone up by over 100 since I began typing this post) The sub-headline states "All workers in Scotland earning over £28,000 a year pay more tax than elsewhere in the UK." Firstly, that's not true. The breakeven point is ~£28,850. Secondly, 51% of Scottish taxpayers actually earn less than this, so they will continue to pay slightly less Income Tax in 2024-25 than if they lived elsewhere in the UK. (source) Anyone wanting to switch to the rUK system is LITERALLY demanding a tax cut for the highest earners and the bill to be footed by people earning less than £28,850. The Record really is a scummy and devious piece of shit.