About time the Scots had their own independent thread.

Sarahs mum might like this. Powerful speech by Alba Party MP Neale Hanvey in support of For Women Scotland.

https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1495832590468665348/pu/vid/480×270/IEinUYiAJF1xgaCo.mp4?tag=12

Bubblecar said:

About time the Scots had their own independent thread.

Sarahs mum might like this. Powerful speech by Alba Party MP Neale Hanvey in support of For Women Scotland.

https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1495832590468665348/pu/vid/480×270/IEinUYiAJF1xgaCo.mp4?tag=12

doesn’t load for me Mr Car.

I was just reading a 2014 article about the UK foreign affairs dept lobbying other govts to fight againt Scottish independence. including Russia. And our own.

sarahs mum said:

Bubblecar said:

About time the Scots had their own independent thread.

Sarahs mum might like this. Powerful speech by Alba Party MP Neale Hanvey in support of For Women Scotland.

https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1495832590468665348/pu/vid/480×270/IEinUYiAJF1xgaCo.mp4?tag=12

doesn’t load for me Mr Car.

I was just reading a 2014 article about the UK foreign affairs dept lobbying other govts to fight againt Scottish independence. including Russia. And our own.

Link

Here it is in For Women Scotland’s Twitter.

https://twitter.com/ForwomenScot/status/1495833119433310210?s=20&t=xdriDOaq33MvDwkYQZaCHg

JudgeMental said:

sarahs mum said:

Bubblecar said:

About time the Scots had their own independent thread.

Sarahs mum might like this. Powerful speech by Alba Party MP Neale Hanvey in support of For Women Scotland.

https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1495832590468665348/pu/vid/480×270/IEinUYiAJF1xgaCo.mp4?tag=12

doesn’t load for me Mr Car.

I was just reading a 2014 article about the UK foreign affairs dept lobbying other govts to fight againt Scottish independence. including Russia. And our own.

Link

It’s better quality on the actual Twitter page I linked.

I wonder why leaders of countries that are conglomerations of regions that used to be separate countries regard it as such a bad thing when the people of one of those regions decide that they would like to be independent again.

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/politics/nicola-sturgeon-fundamentally-disagrees-with-jk-rowling-gra-tweet-3600482

An independent Scotland would need a national anthem – but what would it be?
Rory Scothorne

Nicola Sturgeon recently made clear that Flower of Scotland is not a shoo-in, despite its popularity

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/09/independent-scotland-national-anthem-nicola-sturgeon-flower-of-scotland

sarahs mum said:

An independent Scotland would need a national anthem – but what would it be?
Rory Scothorne

Nicola Sturgeon recently made clear that Flower of Scotland is not a shoo-in, despite its popularity

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/09/independent-scotland-national-anthem-nicola-sturgeon-flower-of-scotland

sarahs mum said:

An independent Scotland would need a national anthem – but what would it be?
Rory Scothorne

Nicola Sturgeon recently made clear that Flower of Scotland is not a shoo-in, despite its popularity

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/09/independent-scotland-national-anthem-nicola-sturgeon-flower-of-scotland

the big issue is going to be the currency. For some reason the Scots are not keen on adopting the Euro… for some reason. According to polls, that is.

dv said:

sarahs mum said:

An independent Scotland would need a national anthem – but what would it be?
Rory Scothorne

Nicola Sturgeon recently made clear that Flower of Scotland is not a shoo-in, despite its popularity

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/09/independent-scotland-national-anthem-nicola-sturgeon-flower-of-scotland

Dear fucking lord, I so hate that song with a passion.

party_pants said:

sarahs mum said:

An independent Scotland would need a national anthem – but what would it be?
Rory Scothorne

Nicola Sturgeon recently made clear that Flower of Scotland is not a shoo-in, despite its popularity

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/09/independent-scotland-national-anthem-nicola-sturgeon-flower-of-scotland

the big issue is going to be the currency. For some reason the Scots are not keen on adopting the Euro… for some reason. According to polls, that is.

They could make a mint.

sibeen said:

dv said:

sarahs mum said:

An independent Scotland would need a national anthem – but what would it be?
Rory Scothorne

Nicola Sturgeon recently made clear that Flower of Scotland is not a shoo-in, despite its popularity

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/09/independent-scotland-national-anthem-nicola-sturgeon-flower-of-scotland

Dear fucking lord, I so hate that song with a passion.

so you’d walk five hundred miles
And you would walk five hundred more
just to get away from that song?

party_pants said:

sarahs mum said:

An independent Scotland would need a national anthem – but what would it be?
Rory Scothorne

Nicola Sturgeon recently made clear that Flower of Scotland is not a shoo-in, despite its popularity

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/09/independent-scotland-national-anthem-nicola-sturgeon-flower-of-scotland

the big issue is going to be the currency. For some reason the Scots are not keen on adopting the Euro… for some reason. According to polls, that is.

Go back to these

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_Scots

dv said:

party_pants said:

sarahs mum said:

An independent Scotland would need a national anthem – but what would it be?
Rory Scothorne

Nicola Sturgeon recently made clear that Flower of Scotland is not a shoo-in, despite its popularity

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/09/independent-scotland-national-anthem-nicola-sturgeon-flower-of-scotland

the big issue is going to be the currency. For some reason the Scots are not keen on adopting the Euro… for some reason. According to polls, that is.

Go back to these

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_Scots

and groats.

JudgeMental said:

sibeen said:

dv said:

Dear fucking lord, I so hate that song with a passion.

so you’d walk five hundred miles
And you would walk five hundred more
just to get away from that song?

Quite a few years ago a Scottish king became king of Scotland and England, so maybe the Scotts should keep god save the queen and tell the English to get their own.

Bump (from dv’s list)

The Rev Dodgson said:

Bump (from dv’s list)

ta.

May 19, 2022

Scotland’s seen its oil and gas revenues go south and its maritime boundaries changed in England’s favour. Now as the renewable revolution kicks in she’s being ripped off yet again and this time cabled up. For cables are being laid that will take the newfound bounty south and with neither revenue nor work benefitting either the country or communities.

Anyone walking in East Lothian’s beaches may have seen ships out on the Forth, not container vessels heading to Grangemouth but other craft often nearer the shore and checking the sea floor. Indeed, I’ve hosted meetings between fishermen and operators as arguments have ensued. Similar work will be ongoing further north.

For the Eastern High Voltage Direct Current (EVHDC) link’s the rather clunky name for what’s one of, if not the biggest, infrastructure project in the UK. One cable will run from Peterhead to Drax in North Yorkshire and another from Thortonloch, near Torness to Redcar, slightly further up the coast in Northeast England. It’s a big project costing billions and won’t be completed for several years yet.

The sites make sense in many ways as they’re located where existing energy infrastructure lies, as indeed does the logic for the project. Scotland has a surfeit of energy and the Berwick Bank development alone, which will come ashore in East Lothian, will provide sufficient power for every home in Scotland and then some. So, providing the cable south, as opposed to simply adding it to the existing national grid isn’t the problem.

The issue’s simply this, where’s the benefit to Scotland or communities such as East Lothian where it’s coming ashore. Will it pass us by as happened with oil and gas or will the land and people benefit. Oil and gas saw revenues go south and whilst Norway now possesses an oil fund worth billions Scotland can only look and lament. The resource stated at the time of the referendum to be virtually worthless and finished’ s now vital for the UK for decades to come.

This project should see revenue ticking up as energy flows south England or even on through the European network to the continent. Instead, a modest sum will be gained by Crown Estate Scotland for the use of the foreshore. But beyond that as the Gigawatts ratch up it’s going to go the same way as oil and gas.

As for jobs on shore where’s the work. Turbine manufacture is largely going south or abroad and onshore there’s hardly any. The sites being built onshore in East Lothian are mainly being done by contracted labour brought in from the west of Scotland or south of the border. Maybe a security guard or two lives locally and some hotels and guest houses no doubt get added custom. But additional jobs there are none. It’ll be the same in Scotland’s north-east.

At least Shetland managed to negotiate a deal for a modest revenue from Sullom Voe but requests to Treasury to address a legislative gap on offshore wind allowing local community benefit have so far been ignored. It’s perverse that energy rich Scotland is seeing so many Scots fuel poor. But sold out by London and let down by Holyrood, we’re being ripped off and cabled up.

https://kennymacaskillmp.scot/cabled-up-19-may-2022

sarahs mum said:

May 19, 2022

Scotland’s seen its oil and gas revenues go south and its maritime boundaries changed in England’s favour. Now as the renewable revolution kicks in she’s being ripped off yet again and this time cabled up. For cables are being laid that will take the newfound bounty south and with neither revenue nor work benefitting either the country or communities.

Anyone walking in East Lothian’s beaches may have seen ships out on the Forth, not container vessels heading to Grangemouth but other craft often nearer the shore and checking the sea floor. Indeed, I’ve hosted meetings between fishermen and operators as arguments have ensued. Similar work will be ongoing further north.

For the Eastern High Voltage Direct Current (EVHDC) link’s the rather clunky name for what’s one of, if not the biggest, infrastructure project in the UK. One cable will run from Peterhead to Drax in North Yorkshire and another from Thortonloch, near Torness to Redcar, slightly further up the coast in Northeast England. It’s a big project costing billions and won’t be completed for several years yet.

The sites make sense in many ways as they’re located where existing energy infrastructure lies, as indeed does the logic for the project. Scotland has a surfeit of energy and the Berwick Bank development alone, which will come ashore in East Lothian, will provide sufficient power for every home in Scotland and then some. So, providing the cable south, as opposed to simply adding it to the existing national grid isn’t the problem.

The issue’s simply this, where’s the benefit to Scotland or communities such as East Lothian where it’s coming ashore. Will it pass us by as happened with oil and gas or will the land and people benefit. Oil and gas saw revenues go south and whilst Norway now possesses an oil fund worth billions Scotland can only look and lament. The resource stated at the time of the referendum to be virtually worthless and finished’ s now vital for the UK for decades to come.

This project should see revenue ticking up as energy flows south England or even on through the European network to the continent. Instead, a modest sum will be gained by Crown Estate Scotland for the use of the foreshore. But beyond that as the Gigawatts ratch up it’s going to go the same way as oil and gas.

As for jobs on shore where’s the work. Turbine manufacture is largely going south or abroad and onshore there’s hardly any. The sites being built onshore in East Lothian are mainly being done by contracted labour brought in from the west of Scotland or south of the border. Maybe a security guard or two lives locally and some hotels and guest houses no doubt get added custom. But additional jobs there are none. It’ll be the same in Scotland’s north-east.

At least Shetland managed to negotiate a deal for a modest revenue from Sullom Voe but requests to Treasury to address a legislative gap on offshore wind allowing local community benefit have so far been ignored. It’s perverse that energy rich Scotland is seeing so many Scots fuel poor. But sold out by London and let down by Holyrood, we’re being ripped off and cabled up.

https://kennymacaskillmp.scot/cabled-up-19-may-2022

A more realistic oil and gas share between England and Scotland is contained in the link below and it would appear that Scotland has done remarkably well from the arrangement.

https://www.scotfact.com/article_oilandgas

PermeateFree said:

sarahs mum said:

May 19, 2022

Scotland’s seen its oil and gas revenues go south and its maritime boundaries changed in England’s favour. Now as the renewable revolution kicks in she’s being ripped off yet again and this time cabled up. For cables are being laid that will take the newfound bounty south and with neither revenue nor work benefitting either the country or communities.

Anyone walking in East Lothian’s beaches may have seen ships out on the Forth, not container vessels heading to Grangemouth but other craft often nearer the shore and checking the sea floor. Indeed, I’ve hosted meetings between fishermen and operators as arguments have ensued. Similar work will be ongoing further north.

For the Eastern High Voltage Direct Current (EVHDC) link’s the rather clunky name for what’s one of, if not the biggest, infrastructure project in the UK. One cable will run from Peterhead to Drax in North Yorkshire and another from Thortonloch, near Torness to Redcar, slightly further up the coast in Northeast England. It’s a big project costing billions and won’t be completed for several years yet.

The sites make sense in many ways as they’re located where existing energy infrastructure lies, as indeed does the logic for the project. Scotland has a surfeit of energy and the Berwick Bank development alone, which will come ashore in East Lothian, will provide sufficient power for every home in Scotland and then some. So, providing the cable south, as opposed to simply adding it to the existing national grid isn’t the problem.

The issue’s simply this, where’s the benefit to Scotland or communities such as East Lothian where it’s coming ashore. Will it pass us by as happened with oil and gas or will the land and people benefit. Oil and gas saw revenues go south and whilst Norway now possesses an oil fund worth billions Scotland can only look and lament. The resource stated at the time of the referendum to be virtually worthless and finished’ s now vital for the UK for decades to come.

This project should see revenue ticking up as energy flows south England or even on through the European network to the continent. Instead, a modest sum will be gained by Crown Estate Scotland for the use of the foreshore. But beyond that as the Gigawatts ratch up it’s going to go the same way as oil and gas.

As for jobs on shore where’s the work. Turbine manufacture is largely going south or abroad and onshore there’s hardly any. The sites being built onshore in East Lothian are mainly being done by contracted labour brought in from the west of Scotland or south of the border. Maybe a security guard or two lives locally and some hotels and guest houses no doubt get added custom. But additional jobs there are none. It’ll be the same in Scotland’s north-east.

At least Shetland managed to negotiate a deal for a modest revenue from Sullom Voe but requests to Treasury to address a legislative gap on offshore wind allowing local community benefit have so far been ignored. It’s perverse that energy rich Scotland is seeing so many Scots fuel poor. But sold out by London and let down by Holyrood, we’re being ripped off and cabled up.

https://kennymacaskillmp.scot/cabled-up-19-may-2022

A more realistic oil and gas share between England and Scotland is contained in the link below and it would appear that Scotland has done remarkably well from the arrangement.

https://www.scotfact.com/article_oilandgas

>>Following the launch of the Alba Party in March 2021, in advance of the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, MacAskill announced that he was leaving the SNP to join Alba, making him their first sitting representative. He was reported as planning to stand for election to Holyrood in a regional list seat. The SNP called on him to resign and trigger a by-election, describing his defection as “somewhat of a relief”. In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, he stood on Alba’s Lothian regional list but neither he nor his party succeeded in gaining a seat. Wiki

PermeateFree said:

PermeateFree said:

sarahs mum said:

May 19, 2022

Scotland’s seen its oil and gas revenues go south and its maritime boundaries changed in England’s favour. Now as the renewable revolution kicks in she’s being ripped off yet again and this time cabled up. For cables are being laid that will take the newfound bounty south and with neither revenue nor work benefitting either the country or communities.

Anyone walking in East Lothian’s beaches may have seen ships out on the Forth, not container vessels heading to Grangemouth but other craft often nearer the shore and checking the sea floor. Indeed, I’ve hosted meetings between fishermen and operators as arguments have ensued. Similar work will be ongoing further north.

For the Eastern High Voltage Direct Current (EVHDC) link’s the rather clunky name for what’s one of, if not the biggest, infrastructure project in the UK. One cable will run from Peterhead to Drax in North Yorkshire and another from Thortonloch, near Torness to Redcar, slightly further up the coast in Northeast England. It’s a big project costing billions and won’t be completed for several years yet.

The sites make sense in many ways as they’re located where existing energy infrastructure lies, as indeed does the logic for the project. Scotland has a surfeit of energy and the Berwick Bank development alone, which will come ashore in East Lothian, will provide sufficient power for every home in Scotland and then some. So, providing the cable south, as opposed to simply adding it to the existing national grid isn’t the problem.

The issue’s simply this, where’s the benefit to Scotland or communities such as East Lothian where it’s coming ashore. Will it pass us by as happened with oil and gas or will the land and people benefit. Oil and gas saw revenues go south and whilst Norway now possesses an oil fund worth billions Scotland can only look and lament. The resource stated at the time of the referendum to be virtually worthless and finished’ s now vital for the UK for decades to come.

This project should see revenue ticking up as energy flows south England or even on through the European network to the continent. Instead, a modest sum will be gained by Crown Estate Scotland for the use of the foreshore. But beyond that as the Gigawatts ratch up it’s going to go the same way as oil and gas.

As for jobs on shore where’s the work. Turbine manufacture is largely going south or abroad and onshore there’s hardly any. The sites being built onshore in East Lothian are mainly being done by contracted labour brought in from the west of Scotland or south of the border. Maybe a security guard or two lives locally and some hotels and guest houses no doubt get added custom. But additional jobs there are none. It’ll be the same in Scotland’s north-east.

At least Shetland managed to negotiate a deal for a modest revenue from Sullom Voe but requests to Treasury to address a legislative gap on offshore wind allowing local community benefit have so far been ignored. It’s perverse that energy rich Scotland is seeing so many Scots fuel poor. But sold out by London and let down by Holyrood, we’re being ripped off and cabled up.

https://kennymacaskillmp.scot/cabled-up-19-may-2022

A more realistic oil and gas share between England and Scotland is contained in the link below and it would appear that Scotland has done remarkably well from the arrangement.

https://www.scotfact.com/article_oilandgas

>>Following the launch of the Alba Party in March 2021, in advance of the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, MacAskill announced that he was leaving the SNP to join Alba, making him their first sitting representative. He was reported as planning to stand for election to Holyrood in a regional list seat. The SNP called on him to resign and trigger a by-election, describing his defection as “somewhat of a relief”. In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, he stood on Alba’s Lothian regional list but neither he nor his party succeeded in gaining a seat. Wiki

i knew he was out of favour.

sarahs mum said:

PermeateFree said:

PermeateFree said:

A more realistic oil and gas share between England and Scotland is contained in the link below and it would appear that Scotland has done remarkably well from the arrangement.

https://www.scotfact.com/article_oilandgas

>>Following the launch of the Alba Party in March 2021, in advance of the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, MacAskill announced that he was leaving the SNP to join Alba, making him their first sitting representative. He was reported as planning to stand for election to Holyrood in a regional list seat. The SNP called on him to resign and trigger a by-election, describing his defection as “somewhat of a relief”. In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, he stood on Alba’s Lothian regional list but neither he nor his party succeeded in gaining a seat. Wiki

i knew he was out of favour.

Sounds like a radical.

History may record that Britain finally died the day the UK Government decided to rip the European Convention on Human Rights from the heart of Scotland’s devolution settlement.

The leader of the group which drew up the Convention, in 1950, was a Scottish lawyer, Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe. As a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, David had seen first-hand how international justice could be effectively applied to support universal rights for individuals. He guided the draft, which has influenced the understanding of human rights throughout Europe ever since.

At one time, this Convention would have been regarded as the bedrock of British values. But now the Government in Westminster seeks to cross out the bits it doesn’t like. It has declared its intention to remove these from the Scotland Act without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.

Perhaps history will record that the values enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights turned out to be Scottish values and that English values are rather different.

Fundamental disregard for the devolution settlement

The Convention was used to halt a flight deporting refugees against their will to Rwanda, and now the UK Government intends to excise sections from British law. The changes it intends to make include removing the right to trial by jury – for indidviduals the Government doesn’t like.

The Bill makes clear that the UK Government intends to amend the Scotland Act of 1998 by replacing all references to the Convention with the UK Government’s own Bill – that will clearly have to take place without the consent of the Scottish Parliament. That shows a fundamental disregard for the principle that the devolution settlement would be respected, and should not be changed by Westminster against the will of Holyrood.

The UK Government has decided not to submit its Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny by the House of Commons or the Scottish Parliament. The UK Government has made it clear it doesn’t recognize any sovereignty for Holyrood so it doesn’t matter if the Scottish people and their representatives consent or not.

Those who voted No in 2014 believing assurances by Unionist parties that the devolution settlement would be respected have every right to feel betrayed.

https://www.believeinscotland.org/the-day-that-britain-died-rights-ripped-from-scotlands-devolution-settlement/

sarahs mum said:

History may record that Britain finally died the day the UK Government decided to rip the European Convention on Human Rights from the heart of Scotland’s devolution settlement.

The leader of the group which drew up the Convention, in 1950, was a Scottish lawyer, Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe. As a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, David had seen first-hand how international justice could be effectively applied to support universal rights for individuals. He guided the draft, which has influenced the understanding of human rights throughout Europe ever since.

At one time, this Convention would have been regarded as the bedrock of British values. But now the Government in Westminster seeks to cross out the bits it doesn’t like. It has declared its intention to remove these from the Scotland Act without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.

Perhaps history will record that the values enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights turned out to be Scottish values and that English values are rather different.

Fundamental disregard for the devolution settlement

The Convention was used to halt a flight deporting refugees against their will to Rwanda, and now the UK Government intends to excise sections from British law. The changes it intends to make include removing the right to trial by jury – for indidviduals the Government doesn’t like.

The Bill makes clear that the UK Government intends to amend the Scotland Act of 1998 by replacing all references to the Convention with the UK Government’s own Bill – that will clearly have to take place without the consent of the Scottish Parliament. That shows a fundamental disregard for the principle that the devolution settlement would be respected, and should not be changed by Westminster against the will of Holyrood.

The UK Government has decided not to submit its Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny by the House of Commons or the Scottish Parliament. The UK Government has made it clear it doesn’t recognize any sovereignty for Holyrood so it doesn’t matter if the Scottish people and their representatives consent or not.

Those who voted No in 2014 believing assurances by Unionist parties that the devolution settlement would be respected have every right to feel betrayed.

https://www.believeinscotland.org/the-day-that-britain-died-rights-ripped-from-scotlands-devolution-settlement/

The plan to withdraw from the Euorpean Human Rights system is pretty serious and profound.

It is not actually connected to the EU, it predates it by decades, and is considered one of the great legacies of Winston Churchill. Juast because it has “ European” in the title does not mean it is part of the EU.

All this, to send a few plane loads of foreigners to Rwanda, just so they can imitate the discredited Australian offshore asylum-seeker processing system that we shamefully introduced a few years ago. Any decent human rights court would disallow it, as shown by the ECHR decision.

If anything it should be seen as a signal for Australia to drop the stupid system. Not for other countries to break international treaties to follow our mis-guided path.

These signs are appearing all over Scotland, posted by feminists in response to Sturgeon’s promotion of extreme transgender policies:

https://twitter.com/Scot_Feminists/status/1541712886115999745?s=20&t=r9a5oPOlpV_E9Vqvmne9JQ

“It’s like we’ve had just one Prime Minister for the past 30 years. The Ghost of Margaret Thatcher haunts us.”

Asking Glaswegians about the cost of living crisis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-x8n4ejdrw

Ian Blackford standing down as Westminster leader for SNP

The MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber will continue to represent his constituents and said he would be taking on a new role at “the centre of the SNP’s independence campaign”, leading on “business engagement”.

In the run up to the next general election, which the SNP plans to run as a de facto referendum, Mr Blackford said “right now is the time for fresh leadership”.

more..’

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/politics/ian-blackford-standing-down-as-westminster-leader-for-snp-3938389

sarahs mum said:

Is this a strategy to stop them from declaring independence!

sarahs mum said:

What is the National Grid and why does it cost to connect to it?

On the face of it, it seems quite reasonable that companies generating electricity in sparsely populated areas and sending it to highly populated areas a long way away should pay much more to the companies providing the transmission service.

I also note that the cost is less than 1p/kW hour.

Why companies in SE England get the transmission cost for less than nothing, I don’t know (if it is true).

sarahs mum said:

What does this mean? Why does this matter? I just don’t understand the point you are making.

Kate Forbes most popular SNP leadership candidate with the public, poll finds

Kate Forbes is the most popular SNP leadership candidate with the Scottish public, a new poll has found.
Alistair Grant
By Alistair Grant
39 minutes ago
0 Comment

The poll, carried out by Ipsos Scotland for Channel 4 News, found almost one in three respondents (32 per cent) placed Ms Forbes as the best First Minister of the three hopefuls.

Meanwhile, 24 per cent chose Humza Yousaf and 8 per cent picked Ash Regan, with a clear pattern by age, as younger people tend to favour Mr Yousaf and over 55s lean towards Ms Forbes.

However, among those who voted SNP at the 2021 Holyrood election, Ms Forbes and Mr Yousaf are neck-and-neck. One in three (33 per cent) said Mr Yousaf would make the best First Minister, while 32 per cent said the same of Ms Forbes.

Overall, one in four said none of the prospective candidates would make the best First Minister.

The findings come ahead of the Channel 4 News leadership debate tonight. It is the second TV debate of the contest, with the first, held by STV, seeing brutal exchanges between the three candidates.

Ms Forbes sparked outrage from some SNP figures by trashing the record of her main rival, Mr Yousaf. She also suggested Nicola Sturgeon’s record in government was mediocre.

Ipsos polled 1,503 Scottish adults over the age of 16 between March 6 and 7 – before the STV debate was held. This included a subsample of 582 SNP voters at the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections

https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/kate-forbes-most-popular-snp-leadership-candidate-with-the-public-poll-finds-4057152

Nicola Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell has resigned as the SNP’s chief executive with immediate effect.

Reports had suggested members of the SNP’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) threatened a vote of no confidence in him. It follows the departure of the SNP media chief Murray Foote, who left on Friday amid a row over the party’s membership numbers.

Mr Murrell has been the party’s chief executive for more than 20 years. In a statement on Saturday, he said: “Responsibility for the SNP’s responses to media queries about our membership number lies with me as chief executive. While there was no intent to mislead, I accept that this has been the outcome. I have therefore decided to confirm my intention to step down as chief executive with immediate effect.

“I had not planned to confirm this decision until after the leadership election. However, as my future has become a distraction from the campaign I have concluded that I should stand down now, so the party can focus fully on issues about Scotland’s future. The election contest is being run by the national secretary and I have had no role in it at any point.

“I am very proud of what has been achieved in my time as chief executive and of the part I have played in securing the electoral success the party has enjoyed over almost two decades. Fourteen national election wins is testament to the skills of the dedicated and talented HQ team that I have been privileged to lead. They give their all to the party and the independence cause and I thank them for it. I have worked for independence all my life and will continue to do so, albeit in a different capacity, until it is achieved – and I do firmly believe that independence is now closer than ever.”

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/politics/snp-turmoil-chief-executive-peter-murrell-resigns-with-immediate-effect-4070077

I’ve just read that Scotland’s new First Minister has promised to renew negotiations for Scottish independence. So a man of Pakistani ancestry (Yousaf) will negotiate with a man of Indian ancestry (Sunak) for the partition of Great Britain.

The irony is so delicious it almost hurts.