To say thank fuck for Nicola Sturgeon

[Chippednailvarnish]

I can't stand her anti English stance, but at least one political leader is doing something for the refugees...

Scoobydoo8, have you seen the predictions for the 2016 elections? I almost cant wait neither :D

I pay £2717 for Band G in Glasgow (Band E is £1992) - I think it is the highest in Scotland.

Re Prescription charges: having worked in management in the health service for both a health authority and in community health (albeit over 20 years ago), I can understand the thinking behind it. It costs the health service less to do blanket free prescriptions than to administer means testing checks plus have more expensive treatment caused by people not picking up their scripts due to the cost and then presenting later with more serious health problems. I do agree that things like ordinary painkillers that cost pennies OTC shouldn't be covered though.

Scooby - don't you think SNP are a shoo-in for the next elections?

Having seen Nicola doing a few meet and greets around the country I think there is plenty of the cult-leader atmosphere to go on for a long time yet, sadly.

She is FAR and away more popular in Scotland than Cameron is in England.
I suppose she also has the better backing from her party, hard to tell with the draconian measures in place by the SNP re expression of dissent by party members.

Like Thatcher, like Blair, NS IS 'charismatic' and IS the 'popular person' for the times. Like both of those aforementioned she is also doing tremendous damage and history will not judge her / current SNP well, I don't think.

I am Scottish, work in a public service much discussed on this thread and like Nicola.

I was disappointed with the suggested figure of 1000 refugees for Scotland. But the SNP do have a decent track record on asylum withinthe very tight limits of what they are allowed to do as it is a reserved issue. For example, a number of years ago they changed the rules on access to higher education so that asylum seeking young people who were waiting for a Home Office decisions could go to uni, rather than being stuck in limbo on leaving school as was previously the case.

There are things I would criticise about the SNP. I would rather pay more Council Tax and I think that they are not as good on the environment as they make out.

But many of the problems being discussed on this thread are a consequence at least in part, of austerity and there are similar, or worse, problems in the rest of the UK.

I think the level of vitriole against Nicola Sturgeon on this thread is bizarre. You think of all the politicians in the UK and the one you really hate is Nicola? Which politicians do the Nicola haters actually rate?

ClearBlueWater - what are these "draconian measures put in place by the SNP to prevent dissent by its members"? I've never come across them.

Ok. I'll try to google some facts.
I was referring to the SNP requiring its MP's to stick to the Party line at all times.

I think the actual phrase is quoted some way up the thread clear though I can't be gassed going looking for it.

Its also worth reading the article posted earlier which explains the lack of oversight in the Holyrood system.

And the budget figures I've quoted are Scottish governments own figures which they have to produce but bury quite well.

iirc the budget "gap" is about a fifth of the overall budget but don't quote me on that.

Prettybird

The new standings orders state that any MP must "accept that no member shall within or outwith the parliament publicly criticise a group decision, policy or another member of the group".

Thanks, WankerDe
Thanks, trixy

that was what I was thinking of.

Scooby - don't you think SNP are a shoo-in for the next elections

Hmmm, everyone seemed very anti Tory at the last uk election and look who got in.

No commentators or media twigged that Labour were going to be demolished.

Round here we have SNP instead of Labour SMPs for the first time. But I will prob vote Labour if I have to next time to try to remove SNPs.

Hate their cover Scotland with wind Turbines policy.

Remember over half of Scotland voted against independence. If Labour makes any sort of a come back then many snps will lose their seats imo.

Should have said over half the votes were against independence.

Also their blanket ban on GM crops without actually looking at the science. It's no different to what farmers did eons ago cross breeding crops to get hardier crops or better yields - yet we've banned it and it could mean 10% higher crop yields which would help the economy.

Robertaquimby, if it's any consolation I hate AS more than NS! I just hate the small minded, parochial, chip on both shoulders attitude that many nationalists seem to have. They would deny it of course but I truly believe the root of a lot of their support is a resentment of the English and definite feeling that somehow Scots are inherently fairer, more decent people. That's why I reserve particular dislike for NS and her party.

I've been away from the thread for a couple of days, but Ubik no not 'both of them' as you have incorrectly assumed.

DH's family are Scottish, many have lived there until very recently, working in various sectors. There is a great deal of unease at how things are moving, both among the family connections we have, and among other friends.

Really important lesson - don't assume someone is uninformed just because they have a different opinion to you.

She's all hot air and talk. His many refugees are Scotland taking in!

Aberdeen is ??2746 for Band G. I think it buys us more impressive potholes.

JohnCusack I am not keen on AS either. I voted SNP in May but still wanted to vomit when I heard him say "The Scottish lion roared."

One of things I like about NS is that she doesn't seem to assume everything English is bad eg visiting London schools to look for lessons about how they have been so successful.in raising attainment.

BBC news reporting that teachers unions are up in arms about the testing being introduced.

So we complain about not being able to hold them to account over literacy and numeracy skills, and then we complain when they want to test literacy and numeracy skills. Am I missing something

Maybe it's because some of them are up to their eyes in trying to implement the CofE and maybe others are afraid of being caught out for being lazy?

The interesting thing about having children 1 school year apart is seeing them do exactly the same work from the same teacher this is despite the frequent time given for lesson prep etc. One was particularly known for it. Fuck knows what she was preparing unless there was a big queue for the photocopier. This was in the days where they were doing their A-E assessments or whatever it was. Both my children had identical reports - Marked straight down the middle of course - and neither passed or sat any assessments in the year that they were in her class.

I appreciate that this was pre SNP etc however just showing an example of where overall testing should help since it would show that no progress was being made.

Incidentally she got bumped from P3 to P1 - I wonder if they thought she could so less harm at that age though personally I think it would be better to give them a decent start...

...and if you reread your post, it's not parents that are complaining, it's the teachers unions.

Well, "we" are not complaining...the unions are. And the Devil's in the detail, isn't it. If they introduced testing at primary that gave me a clear indication of how my child and their school was performing in simple terms like a % mark or an A/B/C grade etc then I would support that. But I strongly doubt that that is what's being proposed since it seems to run contrary to current educational theory to tell parents how primary pupils are performing.

I feel so uncomfortable and so depressed at whats happening in Scotland, and actually quite frightened, I just want to sell up and move away. Unfortunately we no longer have the property market we have enjoyed up here for most of my life, and my property has been on the market for 6 months with almost no viewings and a substantial price reduction (well under the valuation). I want to move to England. The SNP can do what they like in Scotland, but I don't want to own a property there any more.

Oh, and re education - I did a science Higher at a night class with college pupils 2 years ago, and I was pretty appalled at what was required. I passed, but only after dumbing down what I was trying to do to learning certain responses by rote and being able to churn them out without thinking.

I didn't like the 3 limited fields of study or the fact that there were so many tests and assessment, prelims, mock prelims and so on that after the first few weeks, all you were doing was preparing to pass tests on quite a limited area of study with a limited range of responses. The essay responses in particular were in no way comparable even in short form as to how you should properly construct an essay at university level. The exam/text schedule meant that everything was very hurried.

It was as if it was more important to be seen to be doing something (showing certain attainment levels to a wider audience/being able to follow a very prescriptive set of responses) than actually gaining knowledge and a qualification worth anything.

I remember once writing "precipitation" instead of "rainfall" and being marked as incorrect because it didn't appear on the answer sheet. (When in fact precipitation was more correct as it also encompassed due and snowfall).

Yes screm, my daughter lost points on her nat5 prelims for using terminology that doesn't get taught till higher. I don't know if that's standard but I was that a correct answer was marked incorrect for not being simplistic enough? Is that standard in other places?