Scotland turning into a banana republic without the bananas as they "elect" the next El Presidente

I always use "separatist". I refuse to use "independent" for the lunatic idea of breaking up the UK. because I don't consider Scotland is oppressed, or shackled or that it needs its "freedom".

So far as your other points, even if it were relevant, I was a remainer. The division in Scotland is caused by divisive ultra Scottish nationalists. There is no majority for separatism. There wasn't in 2014, but they refuse to accept the democratic result of the referendum and there isn't now.

name changed as embarrassed to now be associated with these GC threads

You always were.

It is not ‘Scottish culture’ that passed the GRR bill, it was the failure of a political system driven by ideologically captured MSPs and civil servants. Dictatorships don’t appear overnight, they start with not allowing dissent (SNP rules, hate crimes bill, potential conversion bill, removal of women wearing suffragette colours from Parliament, calling political discussion ‘hate’), creation of preferred citizens/sacred caste (transgender) and differentially policing them (ignoring threats by them and signs calling death of those who disagree with them whilst arresting GC women at their behest), by the destruction of democratic systems (sham consultations, lobbyists for transgender writing bills/being given the position to examine them and inviting their lobby group members as witnesses/whipping MSPs to vote for the resulting bill), by hiding appointment of leaders behind closed doors and changing rules to fit preferred candidates (SNP hustings and leadership election), by allowing organisations representing their preferred ideology to train in distortions of the law and do nothing to correct it (Stonewall), by funding civic organisations and requiring them to agree with you as a condition of this....

Yet your message does exactly what you are criticising others of.

So not about Scotland at all in fact, but another opportunity to tell women if they're not joyfully embracing rape in prisons and exclusion from public spaces if they don't happen to be able to put the emotional needs of a male above their own at all times, that they're bad and evil and 'don't live in the real world'. (And you're definitely GC.)

Gosh it's amazing how often that line is pulled.

Yeah whatever. Ta ta love, you do you.

I agree with this.

Also utterly laughable that divisive UK ultra-nationalists seem to think that 'separatist' is somehow a derogatory term, when so many of them were overjoyed at separation from the EU, and they venerate the state responsible for the ongoing clusterfuck of a segregated Ireland, again, entirely of their own design.

Yet more of the utterly risible - your nationalism and separatism = bad, our nationalism and separatism = good.

First time I've seen 'at least we get the government we vote for' used as a pro-westminster point.

Holy jesus, the irony.

I know that this thread is dead as a dodo, but in the interest of accuracy I just have to post.

But fork me the political situation with the SNP seems to be a real shitshow in reality. At least in the rest of the UK any party that makes a mess of things can get voted out. The Tories arses are dangling way out over the cliff edge from my point of view. I'm worried about Starmer the fence sitter not knowing what an adult human female is when he gets in. My point is in the rest of the UK the party in charge can be changed through a general election.

In general, a "snap" general election is easier/more likely for Scotland (Holyrood) than for the whole UK (Westminster).

When a UK PM resigns, the new party leader automatically becomes PM (subject to royal assent). But at Holyrood, the FM must be elected by a majority of MSPs. Because no one has a majority at Holyrood, the SNP will need at least one other party's MSPs to support their candidate. (Which is why there's so much speculation that the Greens might nix this or that SNP leadership candidate - but the SNP can get their person through with the help of any other party or a random assortment of rebel MSPs).

If no candidate wins a majority, or if the winner isn't considered capable of maintaining the confidence of the Parliament, there's no FM. If there's no FM 28 days after the current FM resigns, there's an election.

Also, the Scottish Parliament can still trigger an election by a 2/3 majority of MSPs. The UK Conservatives used their majority from 2019 - on the strength of which they have had 3 PMs, the last elected by nobody - to change the rules in the UK so that only the PM can call an election. When Truss and then Sunak opted not to call one, that was that.

Neither the UK nor Scotland is a "one party state", but I'd say the UK is functionally closer at the moment. Of course, the UK also has the check and balance of a second chamber in the HoL, which Scotland does not.

l studied dictatorships and fascism at undergrad, I can literally discuss anything I want in Scotland, yes I might get criticism on Twitter but I won’t get murdered in my sleep…
You might not get murdered (yet) but it's likely you could have....
-Your children removed or decisions made about their care against your will.
-Your employment lost.
-Your bank accounts frozen
All under the lovely SNP roolz...

And another fuckity bye and awa' and bile yer head from me, another Scottish person, living in Scotland.
I had enough of the SNP and the absolutely still precedent shite that stuck from the independence vote 'if you're not with us, you're against us' attitude which made so many peoples work and private life horrific.

The SNP is not Scotland.
Scotland is not the SNP.
I remember, when I moved to Scotland in 1990, they were a wee fringe group.
Their greatest achievement has been to equate support for the SNP with Nationalism / being ' a real / true Scot'. Their worst 'achievement' - how to choose from the destruction of educational standards (& the politicisation of education too), the Named Person fiasco, the care home / Covid scandal (also happened in England tbf), NS & PS being at the centre of the Missing Funds, the nightmare of women being legally erased in Scotland & "trans' men being given light sentences in women's prisons, but worst of all is the lack of democracy- from forcing SNP MSOs to toe the line on ALL votes to now making the hustings as secretive as possible. The SNP is NOT Scotland !!

I can't remember what Wings specifically said on economic issues. But then again the Yes campaign never said anything specific either beyond, "it'll be fine, we can use the £ and rely on The Bank of England as the bank of last resort" (to which George Osborne said, "er, no you won't")

Wings is still pro separatist- he just hates the SNP.

Fuckity bye

Signed

An actual Scottish person.

Did he ever say it would? Salmond didn't.

Even in 2014, it was clear wings was wrong about oil paying for independence.

Bloody hell, I didn't realise that the SNP had a gagging clause in place. Even during World War II, any MP who felt like it could bollock Churchill. When the War went Wrong - as it did a lot in the first three years - Winnie got his arse kicked (Fall of Singapore, Fall of Tobruk etc). Needless to say Axis propaganda made hay with these bollockings but they still happened.

But the SNP won't allow it in peacetime. That is shocking.

There has been no volte face. Wings was pro indy before 2014, and is still pro indy. The difference is that the SNP were also pro indy up until 2014 under Salmond, but no longer under Sturgeon (despite all the claims that she talks of nothing but - she has done nothing to advance the cause.)

Wings was a truth-teller then. He's a truth-teller now.

Damn this is depressing I thought they'd clean house. There's no hope for us in Wales then. They're pushing ahead with the same strategy that sunk Sturgeon 😪

I can literally discuss anything I want in Scotland,

only because HY’s hate crime bill has not been commenced, when it is you can be reported for hate for your dinner table discussions. And if HY gets FM then he may well let the lobby group write in conversion bill they want to write which would be a huge breach of human rights and the end of free speech. Their report would ban Bible.

SCOTLAND IS NOT THE SNP
SCOTLAND IS NOT THE SNP
SCOTLAND IS NOT THE SNP

I think under the principal of self determination, that if the people of Scotland want to leave the UK they should have the right to do so

The separatist vote in the 2014 referendum was 45%. Since then in the opinion polls support for separatism has only very briefly reached 51%. They are no nearer to achieving separation than in 2014.

The majority of voters in Scotland vote for Unionist, or if you prefer, unionist parties. There is no popular call to leave the UK.

The unionist vote is split between 3 parties and tactical voting only gets you so far. I will always vote for the candidate most likely to defeat the separatist candidate as it is separatism which is the most damaging for Scotland.

The SNP is a single issue party. It has no interest in governing for the good of Scotland because that would mean devolution works. It's easy and useful for their cause to blame the failure caused by their own inadequacies and incompetence on Westminster.

I find 'Wingd' turnaround amazing. He was held up as a beacon of truth by independence supporters at the time of the referendum. He seems to have come to his senses done a complete volte face.

The "no criticism" rule is not an invention by Wings.

I have the misfortune of being related (fortunately only by marriage) to an SNP MSP. I know what their views are on the GRR Bill- not in favour, didn't say a word against it, voted for it.