Shall we have a Scotsnet general election thread?

[JennyLake]

This WILL be interesting. Even if it doesn’t rid us of the SNP from Holyrood, it will provide a good barometer of public opinion on the recent exploits of the SNP.

Farewell Blackman and Black!

I’m the same as you @mummywithtwokidsplusdog
Libdems stance on gender is shocking through. I’ll never vote for them. Labour to get rid of SNP probably but maybe Tory (yuck). I wish Labour would respect women and I also as an Edinburgh person (25% of kids at private schools here) worry about the impact of VAT on school fees- it seems an unthought out, easy vote winner for them based on the politics of envy.

Edinburgh here too. The state schools simply do not have capacity for the estimated 10% of pupils the private schools will lose, and that will fall on a council which is having to make huge cuts as it is.

I’m feeling more and more down with this election. I should vote tactically where I am but I just cannot do it. I know all about holding your nose but I can’t. I am almost dreading the Labour manifesto today. This election should have been so hopeful, as a natural left leaner, but I’m so so disappointed in the pandering to current or former Tory voters. There was no need.

There is an independent I can vote for but I can’t find any info about so far. I think I am going to have to spoil my ballot, for the first time ever.
I would love to be canvassed, never happened ever where I live, so don’t expect it now. I might however write to the candidates asking for their stance on female spaces and self ID, just to make the point this is of interest.
And as for the SNP, no you cannot presume to take over an election with your Indy nationalist stuff. Sure, if you want to do that, then you should only have this one policy in your manifesto, otherwise it’s a nonsense.

I don’t get why people see spoiling their ballot as some sort of great protest, it means nothing. No one knows whether it is a protest or someone was just too thick to complete the paper properly. I’d just vote for any random candidate not likely to get in. If you spoil your ballot you may as well not vote, it counts for the same.

I also don’t think VAT on school fees is the politics of envy. VAT is paid on any other type of service so the biggest question for me is why has private education been exempt so long. It should never have been.

Taxing education has never been something the UK or EU has done so there's no 'exemption' to talk of. The only reason it's even possible now is because of Brexit. In the EU taxing education is illegal. Other countries give tax breaks for educating independently because they recognise that it's a good thing when children don't need educated by the state as it frees up resources for other children. Only here do they think it makes sense to tax parents twice for doing it. This non-sensical policy is why I won't vote Labour for the first time.

Completely agree

Think the VAT on school fees is a soundbite policy and hasnt been thought through but I always thought it was ridiculous that this wasnt charged when there was VAT on sanitary products !

and I still don't understand why private schools have charitable status

Particularly as the Scottish Lib Dem leader, Alex Cole Hamilton, stated that he 'did it all for Beth' in regards to the GRR. They're on a par with the Scottish Greens in that respect.

It’s a bit like an SNP policy:

Rent controls
Referendum when they know the UK won’t allow it.
DRS

Think it through FGS

I'm enjoying that The SNP are already blaming Labour for everything and we haven't even had the election yet.

Kate Forbes tried her hardest yesterday on Question Time but she couldn’t escape the fact that no SNP policy stands up to any serious scrutiny. And she couldn’t defend the terrible state of Scottish public services. I was disappointed nobody pointed out that the Scottish NHS being worse than the rest of the UK despite being receiving massively more funding. Surely that’s nothing to be proud of.

And yet she kept going on about record funding. Why can’t the media hold the SNP to account as well as members of the public do? Why aren’t journalists asking these questions.

Question time isn’t what it used to be - I watch it from time to time and astonished by what goes unchallenged by Kirsty Wark, but I guess it’s a fine line in that format where she doesn’t want to be engaged in the argument herself.

Why can’t the media hold the SNP to account as well as members of the public do? Why aren’t journalists asking these questions.

Yes. the media have given the SNP an easy ride at both council and Holyrood level.

Kate Forbes defending SG for not spending EU funding and blaming it on the councils . Can only assume the councils in the rest of Uk are far more efficient .
One example : 116 million lost for funding economic and anti poverty programmes because they failed to meet key targets . Does this not make everyone so incredibly angry?
The SNP incompetence knows no bounds .

Yep, blame the councils, presumably none of them run by the SNP and none of them starved of cash and resources by council tax freezes?

Bit of railing against waste in the "system". Four of us in this house eligible to vote. All four of us have requested postal votes as we intend being away from home at the time of the election. We have all requested our postal votes online.

Four separate letters arrive today at our home address informing us that there is an election and saying that we've applied for a postal vote. Also saying that the postal voting paper is being sent separately next week. Assuming another four separate letters.

Now I get the argument that they need to send each ballot paper separately because of voter integrity. But sending out letters to tell you that there is an election and you've applied for a postal vote? When clearly you know there is an election or you wouldn't have gone online to apply for a postal vote, and when they've confirmed your postal vote by email?

What a waste of money.

I'm very disappointed there haven't been any party faithful out in our town square today so I could tell them what a heap of shite they are. I'm in a newly created constituency in an area that has always been Tory or SNP so not sure how it will go. Labour usually trail in a poor 4th and we don't have any greens thankfully - I don't think they'd dare appear in an area which has one of the highest road death rates in the country

QT thoughts? I thought that Sunak really let his mask slip. Was also disgusted by his eagerness to re iterate he'll be shipping people from Afghanistan etc to Rawanda if he wins.

That really makes me furious.

I’ve decided after a lot of agonising not to vote at all. I cannot in all conscience vote for any of them. Spoiling my ballot is a waste of time.

SNP at it again... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg334q4z0npo

@Misthios I saw that on the tv news and thought that the BBC Scotland newsreader sounded almost gleeful when she announced it!

I mean, it's pretty small beer in the grand scheme of things and not as bad as using your insider knowledge to place bets on the date of the election, but still, it shows a general disregard for the rules and is just another example of how they are useless.