General Politics Thread

[101]

Not sure this sits any any one part thread, does anyone think we will ever see a party stop contesting elections in Scotland? Northern Ireland has basically an entirely different party list to GB so thought that might provide some insight as to when parties give up.

The Lib Dems in Northern Ireland basically do f**k all as far as I can tell and are now no longer a major party in Scotland and look like the first to fall.

The Labour party obviously stopped standing fairly recently in Northern Ireland whilst 0.32% of Scots are members of the Labour Party only 0.11% of Northern Ireland's population are members so would that be a key deciding factor in actually being able to afford to contest elections?

The conservatives have one Northern Irish member in the House of Lords but otherwise poll poorly and had a short pact with the UUP.

I actually think Scotland would be far better served having Scottish specific parties contesting the election even from a unionist stand point as you can be anti Scottish independence and realise that the current UK state doesn't work something that neither the Tories would admit and the Labour party seem reluctant to pursue.

Anyway do you think we will see any party give up in the next few parliamentary cycles?

[tamthebam]

12 hours ago, 101 said:

Not sure this sits any any one part thread, does anyone think we will ever see a party stop contesting elections in Scotland? Northern Ireland has basically an entirely different party list to GB so thought that might provide some insight as to when parties give up.

The Lib Dems in Northern Ireland basically do f**k all as far as I can tell and are now no longer a major party in Scotland and look like the first to fall.

The Labour party obviously stopped standing fairly recently in Northern Ireland whilst 0.32% of Scots are members of the Labour Party only 0.11% of Northern Ireland's population are members so would that be a key deciding factor in actually being able to afford to contest elections?

The conservatives have one Northern Irish member in the House of Lords but otherwise poll poorly and had a short pact with the UUP.

I actually think Scotland would be far better served having Scottish specific parties contesting the election even from a unionist stand point as you can be anti Scottish independence and realise that the current UK state doesn't work something that neither the Tories would admit and the Labour party seem reluctant to pursue.

Anyway do you think we will see any party give up in the next few parliamentary cycles?

I can't see it myself. NI was devolved from its conception which gave local parties like the Ulster Unionists a base to work and build support from whereas Scotland was always contested by UK wide parties- Conservative, Labour and Liberals before the rise of the SNP. 

There was talk of the Scottish Tories becoming an equivalent to the Bavarian CSU- separate but affiliated to the main Conservative Party but that has been forgotten about.

[The_Kincardine]

22 minutes ago, tamthebam said:

I can't see it myself. NI was devolved from its conception which gave local parties like the Ulster Unionists a base to work and build support from whereas Scotland was always contested by UK wide parties- Conservative, Labour and Liberals before the rise of the SNP. 

There was talk of the Scottish Tories becoming an equivalent to the Bavarian CSU- separate but affiliated to the main Conservative Party but that has been forgotten about.

This isn't true.  Scotland was contested by the Unionist party until it merged with the conservatives in 1965.

Anyway - as Scotland and England has been the same political entity since 1707 it's only right we have whole-nation parties contest our elections.

[101]

12 hours ago, The_Kincardine said:

it's only right we have whole-nation parties contest our elections

For UK elections you're probably right but for national elections and local elections feel like Scotland would be better served by Scottish parties, and by this I probably mean smaller parties representing their constituents rather than often toeing party lines which effects all sides.

I mean it's not currently political sense for the Scottish conservatives to not attack the UK gov for clumsily delivering Brexit and ruining viable businesses in Scotland or for cutting universal credit, but they won't go after these issues because they are linked to the English HQ, some things in Scotland are directly contradictory to the English position. 

Same could be said for Labour of course but they are actually deselecting people for voicing support for the decision of independence, something that isn't really a party political issue.

[Antlion]

13 hours ago, The_Kincardine said:

This isn't true.  Scotland was contested by the Unionist party until it merged with the conservatives in 1965.

Anyway - as Scotland and England has been the same political entity since 1707 it's only right we have whole-nation parties contest our elections.

Pure grievance. 

[The_Kincardine]

1 hour ago, 101 said:

For UK elections you're probably right but for national elections and local elections feel like Scotland would be better served by Scottish parties, and by this I probably mean smaller parties representing their constituents rather than often toeing party lines which effects all sides.

I mean it's not currently political sense for the Scottish conservatives to not attack the UK gov for clumsily delivering Brexit and ruining viable businesses in Scotland or for cutting universal credit, but they won't go after these issues because they are linked to the English HQ, some things in Scotland are directly contradictory to the English position. 

Same could be said for Labour of course but they are actually deselecting people for voicing support for the decision of independence, something that isn't really a party political issue.

There is no 'English position' as there is no English representative body.  It's also entirely ok for, say, DR to criticise W'minster on, say, Brexit.  I think it's only the SNP who deliberately gag people from dissent.

Holyrood is also in need of reform or scrapping.  When you have a regional administration undermining the credibility and politicising key public services such as the police, COPFS and the civil service then the baw's burst as far as any semblance of 'checks and balances' go.

[Antlion]

20 minutes ago, The_Kincardine said:

 

Holyrood is also in need of reform or scrapping.  When you have a regional administration undermining the credibility and politicising key public services such as the police, COPFS and the civil service then the baw's burst as far as any semblance of 'checks and balances' go.

Typical whining UK nationalist grievance.

[D Angelo Barksdale]

25 minutes ago, The_Kincardine said:

Holyrood is also in need of reform or scrapping. 

Best leave that decision to the people who actually live here m9.

[The_Kincardine]

33 minutes ago, Proposition Joe said:

Best leave that decision to the people who actually live here m9.

We're a unitary nation-state so what happens with Holyrood matters be you living in Portobello or the Portobello Road.  We're not all parochially minded.

Edited August 27, 2021 by The_Kincardine

[D Angelo Barksdale]

40 minutes ago, The_Kincardine said:

We're a unitary nation-state so what happens with Holyrood matters be you living in Portobello or the Portobello Road.  We're not all parochially minded.

Nope, it has nothing to do with narrow minded nationalists such as yourself who live outwith it's jurisdiction.

[The_Kincardine]

1 hour ago, Proposition Joe said:

Nope, it has nothing to do with narrow minded nationalists such as yourself who live outwith it's jurisdiction.

We're all Brits living in Britain so Holyrood is absolutely my business.

[D Angelo Barksdale]

5 minutes ago, The_Kincardine said:

We're all Brits living in Britain so Holyrood is absolutely my business.

Use your vote in the next Scottish Parliament elections then.

Oh wait, you don't get one.

Try popping over to Belgium and France and saying "We're all Europeans living in Europe, so Brussels and Strasbourg are absolutely my business"

[Dawson Park Boy]

7 minutes ago, Proposition Joe said:

Use your vote in the next Scottish Parliament elections then.

Oh wait, you don't get one.

Try popping over to Belgium and France and saying "We're all Europeans living in Europe, so Brussels and Strasbourg are absolutely my business"

Are you deranged?

Belgium and France are separate countries.

Scotland is a PART of the UK.

[D Angelo Barksdale]

19 minutes ago, Dawson Park Boy said:

Are you deranged?

Belgium and France are separate countries.

Scotland is a PART of the UK.

You're a poster that has puzzled me for some time. I'm not ashamed to admit that I can't tell if you are a low rent troll or a monumentally thick bigot.

In future, please avoid replying to my posts.

[oneteaminglasgow]

Absolutely furious that i didn’t get to vote in the Senedd elections recently just because I live 300 odd miles away from Wales. A fucking disgrace if you ask me.

Edited August 27, 2021 by oneteaminglasgow

[DublinMagyar]

You're a poster that has puzzled me for some time. I'm not ashamed to admit that I can't tell if you are a low rent troll or a monumentally thick bigot.
In future, please avoid replying to my posts.

It's the second one

[The_Kincardine]

5 hours ago, Proposition Joe said:

Use your vote in the next Scottish Parliament elections then.

Oh wait, you don't get one.

Try popping over to Belgium and France and saying "We're all Europeans living in Europe, so Brussels and Strasbourg are absolutely my business"

 

5 hours ago, Dawson Park Boy said:

Are you deranged?

Belgium and France are separate countries.

Scotland is a PART of the UK.

It's the ScotchNat way.  Manufacture an inapposite parallel and try and argue from it.

If that fails resort to personal abuse.

They really are the boors' boors.

Edited August 27, 2021 by The_Kincardine

[hearthammer]

6 minutes ago, The_Kincardine said:

 

It's the ScotchNat way.  Manufacture an inapposite parallel and try and argue from it.

If that fails resort to personal abuse.

They really are the boors' boors.

I trust you're enjoying your english bank holiday weekend to the full by giein' the junipers laldy today ??   You live in Buckinghamshire - deal with your local issues like travelling people "invading" your environs or the local marmalade making village show being cancelled due to "leftist" protests about the orange pickers.

Scotland is for the Scottish people who live here to decide what the future holds, not the ex-pat community slurping from the westminster dripping used condoms the english usually get.

Just an opinion, you understand.

[The_Kincardine]

53 minutes ago, hearthammer said:

Scotland is for the Scottish people who live here to decide what the future holds

Yet another ethno-nationalist boor who can't grasp the concept of a unitary nation-state.

To repeat myself:  The less you know about Scotland the more likely you are to be an empty-headed ScotchNat.

[sophia]

15 minutes ago, The_Kincardine said:

Yet another ethno-nationalist boor who can't grasp the concept of a unitary nation-state.

To repeat myself:  The less you know about Scotland the more likely you are to be an empty-headed ScotchNat.

You do rather.

Perhaps a mention of Darien, a gonk and some low rent misogyny would keep us entertained and repulsed in equal measure.

Edited August 27, 2021 by sophia