Thursday , March 28 2024

Tag Archives: Nicola Sturgeon

Jockdown

Scotland entered lockdown at exactly the same time as the other parts of Britain. We did so because we were following the advice that had been given to the British Government by the SAGE committee of scientific experts. Boris Johnson announced a very cautious easing of this lockdown some time …

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Scotching the SNP

The SNP has been demanding a second referendum on Scottish independence from the moment it lost the first one. We never get a break. I began writing about Scottish politics in 2012. I was willing to be magnanimous when we won in 2014. I advised people not to gloat or …

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Scottish independence just died from Covid.

The reason we are in lockdown is because of the The Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 which were laid before the Scottish Parliament on the 27th of March 2020. Similar regulations were laid before the House of Commons on 26th of March, but these applied to England. Health …

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Covid-19 Heroes and Villains

It’s been a while.  I last posted a blog here, back in June 2018 and since then have managed to contain my utterings to 120 and then 240 characters but..  That just isn’t enough. What follows mostly applies to the UK but I suppose some will resonate in other countries. …

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Conservatives in Scotland need something different

There are only two issues of consequence in Scottish politics, Brexit and independence. I don’t follow what happens from day to day in the Scottish Parliament. In this, I strongly suspect, I am identical to the vast majority of Scots. Most Scots may want the Scottish Parliament but they are …

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All the First Minister’s men

Imagine if sometime in mid-2014 we had discovered that Alex Salmond had been accused of committing a serious crime in 2013. What sort of effect would this have had on the independence referendum? Imagine too if between the alleged crime and the summer of 2014 the SNP Government had made …

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What did you learn Nicola?

I don’t want Mrs Sturgeon to click her ruby slippers together while repeating endlessly that there’s no place like Scotland. Nor is it helpful to once more hear nationalists repeat clichés like “A hard Tory Brexit makes independence inevitable.” But it might be useful to revisit Scottish independence in the …

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Check hers

September 2014 The Yes side win a vote for Scottish independence by 53.4% to 46.6% November 2014 Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon begin negotiations with the UK Government led by Michael Gove. December 2014 Michael Gove announces that the UK will only support a free trade agreement with Scotland under …

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The EU wants our coat too

I have been finding contemporary politics dull and uninspiring. It is above all for this reason that I’ve been struggling to write about recent events. We know that at some point there will be another election struggle between a rather daft, but reinvigorated Labour Party and a worn out Tory …

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The Catalan handkerchief

Spain isn’t greatly liked in Britain. This has been particularly noticeable in the past few weeks as the crisis in Catalonia has developed. Quite a few writers have indulged in the pleasures of Spain bashing and for a variety of reasons. Some Eurosceptic Brexiteers have sympathised with the Catalans and …

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The SNP goal is receding into the distance

Did anything happen this week of consequence? Nicola Sturgeon turned up in the Scottish Parliament and said something about delaying indyref2. If this meant that we would have this referendum in a couple of years’ time, then what she said would have been of small consequence. What does it fundamentally …

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The frostbite of her hopes

In the aftermath of an election emotions are high, levels of spin even higher and judgement barely there at all. Politics in Britain has become uncertain. This is the third election in a row in which we have woken up to a surprise and not only one surprise but sometimes …

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Bursting the SNP bubble

A few months ago there were two main strategic challenges facing Britain. How to leave the EU successfully and how to keep our country intact? There are in addition, of course, the usual challenges facing any government. How to keep the economy growing? How to earn more than we spend? …

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Don’t wake up to a nightmare

I don’t feel much like writing about politics at the moment. We all stopped campaigning. We did so for a good reason. How do we start up again? There is only one thing on all our minds. But no-one wants to score cheap points. Yet the alternative is to remain …

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May points the way

Recent experience has taught everyone with an interest in politics not to rely too much on opinion polls. However, the present General Election campaign is unusual because there has been an actual poll which has acted as an hors d’œuvre to the main course on June 8th. We don’t know …

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An Overview of #GE2017

So, here we go again. The politics of the United Kingdom are centre stage once again. Scottish independence Referendum 2014, UK General Election 2015, EU Referendum 2016 and now, UK General Election 2017. Introduction The one in Scotland was the ‘once in a generation’ Referendum you may remember but SNP …

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What if the SNP held indyref2 without permission?

Nicola Sturgeon loves to make threats.  How often have we seen her put on her angry face, screw up her fists and start talking in her thickest Ayrshire accent about what she will do if her demands are not met? Her colleagues follow the leader. Every few days we see …

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Ignore Sturgeon’s bluster, Brexit has weakened the case for Scottish independence

In the four weeks since Nicola Sturgeon called an urgent Monday morning press conference at Bute House to sound the latest salvo in her perpetual drive to partition the United Kingdom the most notable consequences have been to see support for Scottish independence sink to minus 12 points and to …

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Reasons why the SNP should not be allowed to hold a second Independence Referendum.

The colloquially called “Edinburgh Agreement” was signed on 15 October 2012 AGREEMENT between the United Kingdom Government and the Scottish Government on a referendum on independence for Scotland. The United Kingdom Government and the Scottish Government have agreed to work together to ensure that a referendum on Scottish independence can …

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