Tag Archives: SNP

How should Pro UK people in Scotland respond to threats from the SNP to hold an independence referendum without permission or to use the upcoming Scottish Parliament elections as a proxy referendum on independence leading to a unilateral declaration of independence? The answer as always is to do what your …

My mother is nearly 88. She has yet to receive an invitation for a Covid vaccination. I hope it comes soon. The risk to her comes entirely from me. She has hardly left the house since March, but I have to go shopping. If I caught Covid on one of …

Conservatism above all else is about moderation. It is about conserving rather than overthrowing.  It is for this reason that Conservatives reject both the extremes of Left and Right and the extremism of nationalist and secession movements. The extremes of Left and Right are treated very differently in the media. There …

Nicola Sturgeon said that Scotland will be back soon in Europe. Where does she think we are now? Does she think that somehow Scotland has sped up the process of plate tectonics so that we are somewhere near Jamaica now. If so, why isn’t it warmer? Worse if Scotland is …

In recent days the SNP has decided to offer free school meals to all primary school children and to offer £500 to all NHS and social care workers. There is little doubt that free things are popular in Scotland. Who doesn’t like a bargain especially just before Christmas? But there …

There’s an Austrian school of economics. After Emma Harper an SNP MSP’s confusion about what a currency is, we obviously need an SNP school too. 1. In an independent Scotland we could make money from non-existent secret oil fields even if the price of oil can turn negative. 2. Scotland …

I don’t recall demonstrations against the Scottish Government and Nicola Sturgeon.  It had begun to appear that Teflon Nicola was completely non-stick both in terms of her policies and in terms of whatever misdeeds the SNP got up to. The Scottish voters simply did not care. She could make a mess …

The SNP rival even the Lib Dems for scandals. I have yet to come across anyone shooting a dog, but I sometimes have the impression that every SNP politician has been married to every other SNP politician and has had affairs with them too. It gets complicated too because every …

The other day when Margaret Ferrier travelled up and down the country as if she had the intention of going down in history as Covid Maggie, I began thinking about scandals involving SNP politicians. How many have there been. I’ve lost count. Derek Mackaysending text messages to a sixteen-year-old boy …

Keir Starmer wants voters to believe that Labour has rediscovered its patriotism and that it loves Britain as much as everyone else. He wants us to believe that Labour is different now than it was when it was led by Jeremy Corbyn. It is clear that Starmer is a much …

There is I think only one place in the world which in recent times offered a part a vote on secession. That place is Canada. On two occasions in 1980 and 1995 Quebec had the chance to leave Canada. On the second occasion the result was very close indeed. Canadian …

The Scottish Government has announced that there is to be a draft bill for a second referendum on Scottish independence – indyref2. There is already much comment about what the question will be (perhaps a variant of Leave/Remain to comply with Electoral Commission guidance post 2014), whether independence will win …

For a few years as a child while my father helped build an oil rig, I lived in a very remote part of the West Highlands near to where Boris Johnson tried to go on holiday with his family. There were less than twenty children in the school and around …

There is a new Conservative strategy about Scotland. It is for this reason that we will soon have Douglas Ross as Scottish Conservative leader. It is also the reason why Conservatives will attempt to turn the conversation in Scotland away from independence towards the SNP’s domestic record. Ross first came …

There is minimal interest in Scotland in what goes on in the Scottish Parliament. How many MSPs can you name? In a Pointless style quiz my guess is that 99% or more Scots could name Nicola Sturgeon, one or two political anoraks could name the other party leaders and the …

The British Government has already ruled out a second Scottish independence referendum during the course of the next Parliament. It was in the Conservative Party manifesto and the Conservative Party won a large majority. That should be the end of the matter. Constitutional matters are reserved. The Scottish Parliament should …

I’ve learned to distrust opinion polling because I don’t think it is remotely scientific. For this reason, I haven’t been concerned about a few polls that have shown support for Scottish independence to be rising. Support also rose after the EU referendum as disappointed Scottish Remainers flirted with Scottish nationalism. …

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 …

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 …

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 …