Alba

Women quite well represented, at a quick glance.

Here's the full set of Alba candidates for Holyrood 2021 by region/ranked list, in case anyone's curious and didn't want to go digging:

Central Scotland: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, Cllr Lynne Anderson, Dr Jim Walker, Margaret Lynch.
Glasgow: Cllr Michelle Fearns, Ailsa Gray, Cllr Shahid Farooq, Lynn McMahon.
Highlands and Islands: Kirk Torrance, Craig Berry, Josh Robertson, Judith Reid.
Lothian: Kenny MacAskillMP, Alex Arthur, Christina Hendry, Irshad Ahmed.
Mid Scotland and Fife: Eva Comrie, Neale HanveyMP, Jim Eadie, Stephanie Reilly.
North East Scotland: Alex Salmond, Heather McLean, Cllr Brian Topping, Dot Jessiman.
South Scotland: Cynthia Guthrie, Corri Wilson, Suzanne Blackley, Laurie Flynn.
West Scotland: Cllr Chris McEleny, CllrCaroline McAllister, Cllr Ellen McMaster, Delia Henry.

www.albaparty.org/introducing_our_candidates

Tasmina was also active in the Conservative and Labour parties before settling on SNP as the party most likely to further her personal ambitions. She was our MP for a while and appears to be in politics for what she can get out of it, without values or scruples. A good fit for the sex pest party.

Latest Alba candidate is Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh. Another top quality candidate.

On 15 January 2019, she was found guilty of professional misconduct by theScottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunaland fined £3,000.The Tribunal found that Ahmed-Sheikh and fellow solicitor Alan Mickel had shown "disregard for the rules" in running a trust and had a conflict of interest when they borrowed money from it. In addition to their fines, the pair also had to pay the expenses of theLaw Society of Scotlandwho had brought the case forward.

That's a good article from Margaret Lynch. Thanks, Necessary. She sounds eminently sensible and reasonable.

The problem isn't so much individual issues like the trans/women's rights debate, or even independence/Brexit - it's the methods used to suppress, ignore and punish dissent. Not healthy. Not democracy.

This made me laugh, but logic seems quite impeccable:

The irony of Alex Salmond presenting a solution to our problems has not escaped me. Some feminists think this is a bridge too far. But what I know is that Alex Salmond’s political survival now depends on him demonstrating at all times and to all people that he can be trusted in women’s company and to defend women’s rights.

Nicola, who I have long admired and liked, has demonstrated over and over again that she CANNOT be trusted to defend women’s rights – and in fact would throw them under a bus in a heartbeat to gain the support of the fanatical youth wing of the party, and the Greens who appear to care less about the environment than they do about bedding down Queer Theory in Scotland’s political institutions.

New guest piece up on Wings Over Scotland

Why women want Alba

Margaret Lynch is a former director of the anti-poverty charity War On Want, a former volunteer with Glasgow Women’s Aid and Strathclyde Rape Crisis Centre, founded the SNP Women’s Pledge and was elected to the Policy Development Committee of the SNP by the party’s members four months ago.

@MissBarbary never said i was keen on Independence, the phrase "stuck between a rock and a hard place" springs to mind. Just a bit fed up of the general minimising of effects on small business. There seems to be an attitude that if a business is small and cant survive in current conditions it must have been in some way flawed or inefficient with when (in our case) it could be very profitable, expanding and providing a decent income.
I am very aware of the irony of remainers voting for Indy 2. I would love to be shot of the Tories for ever but i dont have an easy solution for this.

The National has a screenshot.

And in other news their " big hitter" is also anti- vaxxer as well as a racist.

www.thenational.scot/news/19197384.alba-candidate-dr-jim-walker-called-nicola-sturgeon-a-cow-party-launched/

The latest party Ecksit candidate , Jim Walker, apparently tweeted and then deleted “What a cow!” about NS.

I don't have a screenshot but someone in Scotsnet spotted it.

This is the party which is pro- women?

vivarium Yes, they must be. I hope that Salmond will give them proper credit for their very magnanimous decision.

Not true, every Labour government except one had a majority in England.

Without the Scottish seats Labour would not have a working majority.

BlackForest They must be gutted. It must be like a big boy came and took the ball away. I was hoping they'd stand in my area.

[quote Wbeezer]@MissBarbary you may no longer think Brexit is a disaster, as a proprietor of a small export led manufacturing company I'll have to agree to differ.[/quote]
It may well be but if your business is based in Scotland then separating from the UK in the hope Scotland will be admitted any time soon and on favourable terms , into the EU isn't likely to do your business much good either.

@MissBarbary you may no longer think Brexit is a disaster, as a proprietor of a small export led manufacturing company I'll have to agree to differ.

ISP. They haven't merged but they have stood down

Did the women's independence party, IWP, I think, merge with Alba?

I was looking forward to seeing what they did - perhaps they could steer the policies of Alba towards something that protects women from the likes of Tommy Sheridan 's rights

Cherry was cheer leading for him but has gone quiet now. I don’t think she'll join Ecksit, particularly given the calibre of those who have. She can hang on at Westminster until 2024 and a lot can change between then and now.

Thanks, Necessary. That is quite the leap.

Rioja I don't think it's true that Salmonds lawyer called him a sex pest.

Original article here - not seen the raw material.

I think it's safe to assume that the article is spun anti-Salmond to the maximum possible extent. Article says:

He then appears to say Salmond could be seen as “a sex pest but he’s not charged with that”.

So "appears to say", "could be seen as", and half a sentence. That's a triple fudge sundae. Was there more context to this ever available?

Other reference in the article is the subheading: "Alex Salmond, Scotland’s former first minister, was referred to as “a sex pest”".

Just as JK Rowling was referred to as a "transphobic bigot"?

Rioja I don't think it's true that Salmonds lawyer called him a sex pest.

This issue has a long long history of smears and misrepresentations on both sides - I always always double check the sources for any claim either side makes. It's tiresome that we can't trust anyone.

Labour has only won when they had the majority of seats in Scotland.

Not true, every Labour government except one had a majority in England.

No fucking way. And if Joanna Cherry is joining him she’s not as bright as I thought she was. Very disappointing. Alex Salmond’s own lawyer called him a sex pest. Come on!

the Tories became and will remain the majority party in the UK Parliament, and consequently a Government least likely to agree a binding referendum re Scottish Independence

Er, the Conservative government did exactly that in 2014. The separatists claimed it was "Once in a lifetime !"- pity they weren't honest to enough they meant the lifetime of a hamster.