I loathe the Scottish Government

[Dineasair]

I loathe the Scottish Government. I want to see the SNP/Green Party coalition roast in hell! They can take any MSP who voted for the Gender Reform Bill or the Hate Crime Laws with them. Is it now a hate crime for a Scottish Woman to say that?

“if we got separation there would be no need for the SNP, makes you think.”

@Dineasair I’m curious about this view, and have heard it a fair bit from people saying “vote Indy then you can get rid of the SNP’ because I reckon if they were ever to nudge the dial in favour of separation, the unquestioning, tribal hordes would forever give them a vote on the back of this alone (as many do now) and totally neglect their actual failings in governing the country.

The inevitable economic chaos would be forever explained as big bad England Westminster cheating Scotland out of its rightful settlement (hints of Brexit on steroids here I fear) and once again, the SNP would attempt to bat away its own failings as “someone else’s fault”.

Whilst this might eventually lose them support, I really worry for the actual damage it would have to do to get to that point?

Does anyone REALLY think that if Scotland voted for independence, all the SNP politicians would say "job done" and start looking for a proper job? As if. These people are career politicians because they are so lacking in other skills. The SNP would of course carry on.

Thankfully, their total ineptitude over recent years coupled with Brexit and the global political situation in general means we're not going to find out.

The SNP wouldn't go away they would just rebrand!

I think Patrick is starting to brick it that they will lose position (and money!) Hence all the statements about doing more within at the weekend!

I really hope SNP get a kicking and will be tactical voting!

But these people also chose to apply for one. They don’t just land on your doorstep for free without you filling in the form to receive it.
I too think it’s mad that everyone can receive these whether they need them or not. But mostly because as a society we seem to take whatever we can get, whether we truly need or want it.
not to be a sanctimonious cow, but we didn’t receive the baby box for our first two children. Because when the midwife mentioned it, I said we didn’t need it. I knew what was inside it, and I knew we had already bought all of those items in a first-baby rush of excitement. Interestingly, we were repeatedly encouraged to ‘just take it, it’s free, you are entitled to it’ etc. Which is where the problem lies.
with the third baby, our financial situation completely different, we have so much less money this time, all of our baby things had been given away to others (wasn’t planning on another one!) and I DID really benefit from the box. This time, I needed it.
Having now had one, I am certain we would have never used the items with the previous babies because we were better off then and had bought the branded versions of those items already, and it would have been a complete waste of tax funding to give me them. They’d have ended up in charity shops.
I just think at some level there’s personal responsibility. We don’t all have to take what’s made available just for the sake of it. The same way I wouldn’t use the Scottish scheme to get Calpol etc free at the pharmacy when I know I can afford the £2 to buy their generic own brand equivalent. But I take comfort knowing these things are available to people who may need them more than I do.
You have to fill in a little form and post it away to receive the baby box. So people are going to effort to claim one even if they don’t need it, because it’s seen as a right of passage almost. Perhaps there needs to be a level of ‘this is available for you if you are struggling’ attitude to these things without going to the extend of means testing.

IF the Glen Sannox goes into service this summer, it will have taken TWICE as long from launch to being in service as it took to build the QE2.

Seven whole years, from launching a ferry to it being in service, versus 3.5 years to build an ocean liner from laying down the keel to it being in full service.

Maybe, but what about middle earners who are skint partly due to being used as cash cows by the present Scottish government? People who aren’t daft enough to want branded anything? I’ll take it thanks, and I’ll use the things in it, despite not NEEDING it strictly speaking, cause my taxes have paid for it and it is nice - just for once - to be offered something back from those taxes.

I’d bet money on the Greens voting against leaving the Bute House agreement - they have a lot to say about very little of value to Scotland but they are nothing more that a freaky sideshow without this unwarranted power sharing fiasco.

And that’s your right, because you are ‘entitled’ to it, and I don’t think you should be stopped from accessing it. Thus I don’t think we should means test it.
We are/were also middle earners. And the first two children were born pre Covid, pre cost of living crisis etc. We didn’t buy the best of brands because we also were not ‘daft’ enough. But we bought better quality bits because we could at that time and because we wanted them.
But as middle earners, we are now being entirely screwed over just like you. We now also have a daughter with ASD who costs a lot of money in resources and lost earnings to support her (we had never claimed anything for her because we didn't need to before now). It’s because of this that we did take the baby box this time. Not because we are destitute, but because our family would genuinely benefit from and use the items. So would yours, so that’s not wasted.
But I’ve known SO many well off people who got the box and would never dream of putting their child in any of the clothes, or the blanket, and who would never use that towel over the much fluffier softer ones they bought from the White Company.
The contents are stated on the form you fill out to apply for one. So they know what’s in it, and they know whether they really need or will use what’s inside. I wouldn’t have used them before. Not because they are crap, but because I knew I’d already bought those things.
Likewise I think it’s bizarre that in one term of a Scottish council nursery, my daughter came home on NINE occasions with yet another toothbrush and massive tube of toothpaste that was provided by the government to all Scottish children. Absolute waste. We will use the toothpaste because it’s such a bloody waste otherwise. But she isn’t a kid without toothbrushes. We are STRUGGLING financially, but not so much that I can’t get her the toothbrush that’s got a shape and character that makes her brush her teeth. So I didn’t need those. And I didn’t get a choice about whether they were given. Sticking them out for parents/kids to take if they wanted would surely have been less wasteful than just giving them to all of the children so constantly throughout the term.

None of us recieve nothing for our taxes. We all use services. And I totally agree there is so much wasted while more important areas continue to be plundered and underfunded. But me making sure I claim for every single socialist freebie I possibly can won’t fix it, nor will it give me any satisfaction that compensates the fact that the working middle families are being completely destroyed by this government and its policies.

Again though, if you’d use the stuff, I think you should be able to get it whether you REALLY need it or not. That’s why I don’t think they are wasteful in themselves. What I think is stupid, is the fact so many people claim for them who have no intention of thinking about if they really want it. They just apply because it’s there and ‘ why should others get it if I don’t’. Stupid mentality imo. Plenty of people got organ transplants today on an nhs funded by our taxes too. I didn’t. No one’s stamping their feet about not getting the same.

Humza has called for an Emergency Cabinet Meeting. It's all imploding before our eyes... Branchform, Bute House Agreement... SNP. Have had enough of the Greens.

All they can do is barrel from crisis to catastrophe. A truly incompetent shower of politicians. Scotland deserves better. Holyrood is a shambles.

Greens are showing their true colours aren't they? Not fussed about missing the climate targets, the ferries, the bottle refund fiasco, but banning puberty blockers for children - that's their line in the sand.

The greens have apparently been into Bute house and are out of government. 🥳

Let’s not pretend Humza hasn’t just got in first before the Greens voted to end this anyway. Playground stuff, not real government. Wish Scotland would get them all punted.

Brilliant! Could mean an early election..

The SNP are bad enough but the Greens really are on a different level.
Waiting to see what this announcement will be

@ArtfullyCrumpled much as I’d like that I doubt it. Youseless will cling on to his job for dear life. It’s not like he doesn’t drop his job title repeatedly into EVERY. SINGLE. INTERVIEW.

A walking ego.

I'm not sure about that, I'm sure there's something in the Scottish legislation that the parliament is fixed term, election dates set in stone and they can't call an early election even if they wanted to.

And they don't want to, the SNP will stumble on regardless, to the bitter end.

Humza said something last week about continuing as a minority government if the Greens ended the agreement. They'd get nothing done for the rest of the term, which probably isn't a bad thing...

I don't think we'd notice the difference tbh, would we?

Hooray - desperate for a better Green Party, I hope they implode as they’ve been useless implementers who’ve lost sight of what they’re supposed to be for.

Good riddance, like an earlier poster said, SNP are bad but the Greens are another level of awful.

Brilliant! Could mean an early election..

Sorry no. Fixed term parliament.

Wishful thinking on my part. They would need to lose a no confidence motion. Unlikely. Damn it! We are stuck with the narcissist numpty!!

Anyone chuckling at the green allegation the SNP have been reactionary and anti change? Utterly the opposite - we’ve had too much poorly scrutinised and poorly implemented change whammed through.

It would be great to see a Green Party that is interested in the environment rather than transing our kids etc. one that applied a bit of intellect to policies such as rent freezes and return deposit schemes to make sure they are workable prior to trying (and failing) to implement.