Are Scots truly that Left Wing?

Can I just add "everything that peggyundercrackers said"
Nicola Sturgeon scares the life out of me, I have relatives who are staunch SNP, one is actually standing for election,( and I'll be gobsmacked if this person doesn't get in) amd the "inclusiveness" of the SNP is no more than box ticking for every minority group out there.
The local authority in my city is SNP amd the utter cock up which is being made of the city, particularly education, is beyond belief.
As Peggy has referred to the V&A in Dundee, so shall I....funny how the "new revised" costings were made public about 5 minutes after the referendum isn't it....as for jobs coming to the city as a result of it, the very vast majority will be minimum wage service jobs, probably on zero hour contracts. Yay SNP.

"Sorry blowinahoolie but I don't see Nicola as one of us at all - she's no different to any other politician."

^this

Why does no-one get upset about Nicola Sturgeon being a career politician? Her whole life has been about the SNP. Even all her boyfriends (and now husband) have been part of the SNP machine. it's a criticism constantly laid at the door of many Westminster MPs these days, but not Saint Nicola.

And whoever says she is nothing to do with the general election is talking nonsense. Of course she has something to do with the GE, as leader of a party that could wield a lot of power in the case of a hung/minority parliament.

The pro SNP posts on here just confirm for me that the followers of that party are like members of a cult - the leaders can do no wrong, regardless what they say and do. Watching clips of the party conference was excrutiating.

I realise Scottish Labour are a bit of a mess, and that people seem unable to accept that the liberals went into coalition with the Tories and won't forgive them for that (despite the irony that Liberal supporters should be, by definition, supporters of coalitions and consensus politics!) but the rise in popularity of the SNP is frightening. It's not that different to the rise in popularity of UKIP in my view. The support comes from a combination of single issue politics (independence) and protest votes (We hate Westminster and they hate us). Not that different from UKIP.

I don't think Scotland is more left wing than UK. I think it's less well off, more working class, and more conservative with a small c. Plus has a massive chip on its shoulder about the have and have-nots.

why did they stop short of having a public enquiry about the trams? why hide the findings?

look at the V&A project in Dundee - the project will cost double what was originally put aside for it then when it came out the project wouldn't come in at the original cost they denied they knew anything about it. However it turned out SNP knew from the start but they didn't think it was in the public interest to let everyone else know and carried on regardless. its not even a V&A museum - they are only renting the name for 10 yrs...

SNP are also allowing outside companies to come in and build it so there will be no local people get jobs out of it. For the rest of the project in Dundee they are using a main contractor who has black listed 100s of builders because they dared complained about their working conditions.

They were, Ubik, but in order to get their budget passed they had to give in to Tory demands re the trams. SNP would have preferred to put the money towards dualling the A9, saving lives and injuries every year, but hey ho. They had no outright majority - as intended by the architects of devolution - and so had to engage in consensus politics.

Something Westminster might be about to find out about!

I think the SNP were prepared to scrap the entire tram project

Peggy, the SNP weren't in majority control for either of the projects you mention; I can see why you might mention the trams, but you can hardly hold them responsible for the whole flaming Parliament building! Both of these project happened quite some time ago (even the trams, or some of them, are running now), don't you think people can learn from experience?The Forth crossing is coming in early and under budget, and the spare cash invested elsewhere in Scotland, unlike the millions the Labour party sent back to Westminster when they had an underspend.

I think the OP suggests the snp win votes because of their nationalism and despite their other policies.
I think it's absolutely the opposite. I think they win votes on their general philosophy (left-ness if you must) and despite their nationalism.

I support their stance on most social issues. But I think they're awful on the environment. I am not an independence nationalist. I think scottish labour are a complete disaster and that disappoints me as it leaves fewer options.

Topaz Ifthat was aimed at me, I have no problem with a devolved Scottish govt and agree the Scots pay taxes.
My point was that the SNP, because they are not campaigning to be a majority party in Westminster, do not have develop or explain how they would raise money, only how it is spent. This gives them an advantage over a national party.

Ubik I do think both sturgeon and Salmond are very good public speakers but I think that just makes them better liars. They are also good at playing the under dog - they like to be the ones who criticise all the time and anyone who disagrees with them gets short shrift and ridiculed.

I also don't believe in holyrood - it's an expensive waste of money. It's about making a small group of scottish politicians feel more important than they actually are - get rid of it and all the costs that go with it - it's full of hangers-on.

Hirples you obviously have a short memory when it comes to large projects coming in on budget and being delivered early remember what happened to the costs for holyrood and the edinburgh trams? Absolute shambles doesn't begin to describe these things.

The difference is that Nicola Sturgeon has stood on doorsteps and campaigned practically her entire adult life. She has had to justify herself and SNP policy over and over again to everyone, face to face. She doesn't look like she'll vomit or faint if a 'little person' starts asking difficult questions during a press call - unlike Cameron and Miliband.

She's tough but she knows how to talk to people like you and me and be genuine. And suddenly she's on this huge stage and she's handling it better than Cameron or Miliband.

I really like Ruth Davidson as well.

Sorry blowinahoolie but I don't see Nicola as one of us at all - she's no different to any other politician.

Yes, some of us are leftie treehuggers, some of us are centrist, some are even Tory! Wings did some interesting polling about social attitudes and if/how they differ north and south of the border before the indyref, with at least one very disappointing (to me) result - it was re capital punishment. :(

I'm a scot living in Scotland and wouldn't vote for SNP if they were the last party standing - none of my family have ever voted for them, some of them vote labour and the rest vote Tory however as with a majority of people in the country they are very disillusioned with all the parties for the time being. SNP are a divisive and controlling party and I disagree with a lot of their policies. I don't trust sturgeon one bit and wouldn't trust any of them to run a bath never mind a country - between salmond and sturgeon they wouldn't know the truth if it bit them on the arse.

"Nicola is one of us, people are saying"

Yes, this is echoed in all of her speeches. She makes them personal, and people can relate to this. She is really in touch with the working class, unlike people like EM or DC. They are completely out of touch with reality.

So, I'll be voting SNP without a shadow of a doubt. Pushing the Tories out is the safest thing for Scotland. I was nodding at everything Sturgeon was saying yesterday at the conference. She speaks a ridiculous amount of sense.

Hoping BIG TIME that most of the 59 seats will be taken up by SNP in the GE. Huge, huge support everywhere you go for SNP. Lots of people feel let down after all these vague promises days before the Referendum last year.

Can we conclude from this thread that some Scots are left-wing and some aren't? I hope the OP got her answer!

Just to remind some of you that since Scotland is part of the UK and Scottish tax-payers pay into UK coffers, they ARE entitled to spend some of that money on services in Scotland. And the Barnett formula WAS agreed at WM - it wasn't some idea cooked up by Nicola and Alex on a rainy day. And WM did agree to devolve some powers to Scotland - and Wales and NI. Some of you seem terribly politically naïve

I think we are agreeing with each other. It all gets too personal and takes over the discussion, (shiny Dave, creepy Jim, nerd Miliband, smug Alex, jimmy Crankie Nicola), they all get it.
I'm not sticking up for Clegg cos he deserves it

I apologise that my "Creepy Jim" comment annoyed you, Behooven, it was not my intention. But just as that annoyed you, so too do the endless personal comments about individual politicians annoy me. This GE has absolutely nothing to do with Nicola Sturgeon, she's not even a candidate, why mention her at all, let alone claim she's a "bad loser"? Because she's not sitting sobbing in a dark cupboard? Because the Yes side lost, so we should all stfu? (I do realise that you didn't make the comment)

True, I generalised, sorry.
But it was the first on this thread, I'd like just one political thread without it.

Come oh Bee! Nothing like a bit of stereotyping.

No one on the Labour/Conservative/Liberal Democrats side has ever made a personal attack?

creepy jim with a pa smiley, personal attacks with a smile? Sums up SNP followers for me.

I totally agree with everything milady said upthread btw. I'm small c conservative and will use my vote tactically for the first time.

I'm quite interested in the fact that at the referendum the 3 main parties were all about 'love bombing' Scotland, better together and please don't leave us. Now that we're facing a GE the political discussion is all about how terrifying it would be to have a large contingent of Westminster SNP MPs.

We're either better together or we're not. You can't say stay with us but only if your democratically elected MPs aren't SNP.

I agree that the West Lothian question is a thorny issue but we were quite happy to take our toys and play elsewhere and they didn't want that.

One of the reasonsSMP do so well is that the three other parties are disastrous. The 'red Tories' really let themselves down during the Indy ref.

I'm by nature a Lib Dem but I've been so disappointed by them in the last few years. I heard Willie Rennie speak at a Indy ref hustings and he was sooo disappointing- very patronising and lost his temper with the audience.

Scotswha. Stocking up on popcorn!

It'll be great to see Alex back in Westminster!