General Politics Thread

[Joey Jo Jo Junior Shabadoo]

13 minutes ago, Billy Jean King said:

Who's the latest alleged Tory beast then ??.

Current MP who is an ex minister cuts down the options, certainly. I've got Jeremy Hunt in the sweep.

 

[git-intae-thum]

24 minutes ago, MixuFruit said:

literally just wings over scotland. as he dissolves into irrelevance and fringe crankery it'll all sort itself out.

Just wings......You really think so?.....

Many commentators in the know...both outside and inside the party, have expressed concern at the ongoing shenanigans of the nec and factions within the leadership.

I hope it sorts itself but attempting to cancel good people because they don't agree with certain controversial/ divisive opinions will very much damage the party and it's chance of delivering indyref2.

[NotThePars]

Is there anything guiding the murmurings over Sturgeon's successor beyond her not delivering independence right now and the pure egoism of the potential candidates

Edited August 1, 2020 by NotThePars

[zidane's child]

1 hour ago, Billy Jean King said:

Who's the latest alleged Tory beast then ??.

I have a feeling it might be Stephen Crabb! 

[ICTJohnboy]

1 hour ago, Billy Jean King said:

Who's the latest alleged Tory beast then ??.

 

Please let it be Boris.

[pawpar]

Given the evidence it can only be one of the following 8 mp's.

James Brokenshire

Stephen Hammond

Greg Hands

Boris Johnson

David Simmonds

Matthew Offord

Andrew Rosindell

Paul Scully

P.S Boris Johnson became leader of the Conservative party on 24th July 2019 and the alleged offences happened between July 2019 and January 2020.

 

Edited August 2, 2020 by pawpar

[doulikefish]

2 hours ago, pawpar said:

Given the evidence it can only be one of the following 8 mp's.

James Brokenshire

Stephen Hammond

Greg Hands

Boris Johnson

David Simmonds

Matthew Offord

Andrew Rosindell

Paul Scully

P.S Boris Johnson became leader of the Conservative party on 24th July 2019 and the alleged offences happened between July 2019 and January 2020.

 

Also Crispin Odey charged with indecent assault.Hedge fund manager and backer of boris 

[Detournement]

9 hours ago, NotThePars said:

Is there anything guiding the murmurings over Sturgeon's successor beyond her not delivering independence right now and the pure egoism of the potential candidates

If there isn't a majority for independence after May she will surely step down. If she doesn't achieve a referendum in the next parliament she won't run again. If she loses a referendum she will step down. 

So it's either independence or this is her last election as leader. 

 

[sparky88]

4 hours ago, pawpar said:

Given the evidence it can only be one of the following 8 mp's.

James Brokenshire

Stephen Hammond

Greg Hands

Boris Johnson

David Simmonds

Matthew Offord

Andrew Rosindell

Paul Scully

P.S Boris Johnson became leader of the Conservative party on 24th July 2019 and the alleged offences happened between July 2019 and January 2020.

 

Off the top of my head, it could also be Mundell, Fox or Cairns.

[oneteaminglasgow]

4 hours ago, pawpar said:

Given the evidence it can only be one of the following 8 mp's.

James Brokenshire

Stephen Hammond

Greg Hands

Boris Johnson

David Simmonds

Matthew Offord

Andrew Rosindell

Paul Scully

P.S Boris Johnson became leader of the Conservative party on 24th July 2019 and the alleged offences happened between July 2019 and January 2020.

 

Only Stephen Hammond is a “former” minister out of them, as far as I can see. Could still be Mundell, Fox or Cairns as well.

This is also the first time I’ve realised that Liam Fox is Scottish.

[Michael W]

Mark Francois is in his 50s and is a former minister...

[SandyCromarty]

42 minutes ago, ThatBoyRonaldo said:

The annoying thing about the SNP at the moment is that outside of the FM, there are basically 2 indentifiable wings of the party and both are bad. You've got the ones who love to think of themselves as sensible centrists like Angus Robertson, Alyn Smith and Stewart McDonald etc, and the headbangers like Joanna Cherry and Kenny MacAskill, who have a point in that the leadership could stand to be a bit more radical, but who also are too invested in stuff like the Salmond trial and being against the GRA to really take seriously. 

I think the Salmond trial and rise of Cherry to prominence has made the leadership realise they had a succession planning problem. The FM looks unassailable for now but things can change quickly and when you look at who's in Holyrood it's fairly slim pickings. Swinney's had his chance, there was the unpleasantness with Mackay, likes of Yousaf and Forbes are probably too young and folk like Mike Russell are too old. In that context it's hard not to see Robertson as jumping to the head of the queue if he wins the seat. I thought the party would move more explicitly left after 2014 but looking at that list of candidates it's a hard argument to make. If we wind up winning independence under Sturgeon then I suppose that will toss everything up in the air though. 

All political parties have major disagreements in the ranks, and tbh they wouldn't be normal if it wasn't so, it was ever thus.

Think of all the petty jealousies and arguments within your own family and there you have politics, it's life in all it's glory.

[Aim Here]

35 minutes ago, sparky88 said:

Off the top of my head, it could also be Mundell, Fox or Cairns.

35 minutes ago, sparky88 said:

Off the top of my head, it could also be Mundell, Fox or Cairns.

Stephen Crabb is too young. Boris Johnson is a current government minister, it would be curious to describe him as a 'former' government minister.

Liam Fox was on twitter less than 24 hours ago

Jeremy Hunt fits the profile, hasn't tweeted since July 30th, and, curiously, the time window between him losing his ministerial job and gaining his Parliamentary chairmanship matches the reported time window of the alleged assaults, though that's likely a coincidence.

 

 

[sparky88]

2 hours ago, ThatBoyRonaldo said:

The annoying thing about the SNP at the moment is that outside of the FM, there are basically 2 indentifiable wings of the party and both are bad. You've got the ones who love to think of themselves as sensible centrists like Angus Robertson, Alyn Smith and Stewart McDonald etc, and the headbangers like Joanna Cherry and Kenny MacAskill, who have a point in that the leadership could stand to be a bit more radical, but who also are too invested in stuff like the Salmond trial and being against the GRA to really take seriously. 

I think the Salmond trial and rise of Cherry to prominence has made the leadership realise they had a succession planning problem. The FM looks unassailable for now but things can change quickly and when you look at who's in Holyrood it's fairly slim pickings. Swinney's had his chance, there was the unpleasantness with Mackay, likes of Yousaf and Forbes are probably too young and folk like Mike Russell are too old. In that context it's hard not to see Robertson as jumping to the head of the queue if he wins the seat. I thought the party would move more explicitly left after 2014 but looking at that list of candidates it's a hard argument to make. If we wind up winning independence under Sturgeon then I suppose that will toss everything up in the air though. 

Those wings of the SNP have always existed. Issues like Brexit and Section 28 have defined these wings long before the current division on trans rights. Through their discipline in Holyrood and Westminster they've tried to present a united front. But even a cursory glance through the history of the SNP shows that this division existed in the 1980s and 1990s.

Perhaps it also reflects a jockeying for position as independence becomes the majority position. I wonder if a centre right party will be formed - post independence - primarily from the remnants of the SNP, rather than the Tories.

Edited August 2, 2020 by sparky88

[NotThePars]

2 hours ago, ThatBoyRonaldo said:

In that context it's hard not to see Robertson as jumping to the head of the queue if he wins the seat. I thought the party would move more explicitly left after 2014 but looking at that list of candidates it's a hard argument to make. If we wind up winning independence under Sturgeon then I suppose that will toss everything up in the air though. 

I think it's pretty clear that it's not political ideology or where someone sits on the spectrum that guides the successorship in the SNP but whoever's seen to be the most competent manager which is why Cherry's divisiveness and petty squabbles is doing her major damage. Robertson might have lost in 2017 but he took it in good stride and even seems to have went about securing his place as the candidate for Edinburgh Central without causing any fuss which will bolster his profile for the future as well.

[itzdrk]

On 31/07/2020 at 20:56, itzdrk said:

I see my local SNP branch won't be allowing my current MSP to stand for reselection due to having a penis. 

I see this situation has resolved itself correctly, I'll likely no be voting for him but positive discrimination loses the day and that's good.

[topcat(The most tip top)]

Those wings of the SNP have always existed. Issues like Brexit and Section 28 have defined these wings long before the current division on trans rights. Through their discipline in Holyrood and Westminster they've tried to present a united front. But even a cursory glance through the history of the SNP shows that this division existed in the 1980s and 1990s.
Perhaps it also reflects a jockeying for position as independence becomes the majority position. I wonder if a centre right party will be formed - post independence - primarily from the remnants of the SNP, rather than the Tories.

And practically speaking, if you’re going to grow a single issue party into the dominant force in Scottish politics then you’re not going to do it while having everyone agree about everything else.

[ICTChris]

[Billy Jean King]

No suspension for the latest mystery Tory beast, quell surprise !

[thisal]

14 hours ago, NotThePars said:

Is there anything guiding the murmurings over Sturgeon's successor beyond her not delivering independence right now and the pure egoism of the potential candidates

I'm not really in the know about the inner workings of the SNP. But looking from the outside it seems there is a small group in the SNP looking to rock the boat. They seem to rely on the unionist community to publicise their agenda. The Times print some speculation and it's retweeted by the unionist community.