Council Election October 23rd

[NickB]

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Here's my pick:

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[jimcee]

No surprises there Nick (of the Che Guevera beret).
If you had opted for anyone outside of the SNP fold it would have been something akin to hitching your coat tails to UKIP.
Perhaps in the interest of serving your readership (whatever that might consist of now but which will be mostly your own cronies) it might have been more politic to supply a list of the candidates so that we could be aware of who was standing against your preferred choice.
Democracy, hopefully, is not dead, but on this website it is fast becoming an instrument of propaganda for your own espoused causes.
Bully to you, but for all your previous efforts to cajole us into voting YES, it did not bear the fruit you desired, so why not move on, and accept that Westminster (a dirty word) still has some control over our affairs - albeit subject to change shortly.

[NickB]

Perhaps in the interest of serving your readership it might have been more politic to supply a list of the candidates so that we could be aware of who was standing against your preferred choice.

Why?

By all means post the details of YOUR preferred candidate, but why you expect me to do it for you escapes me.

[jimcee]

Because that would suggest that you are using your forum only for your own personal propaganda, and are not interested in anything contrary.
Fair enough, but now that the referendum result is decided for the foreseeable future surely you should change the title to something more appropriate - Political Recommendations from Big Brother?

[NickB]

Because that would suggest that you are using your forum only for your own personal propaganda, and are not interested in anything contrary.
Fair enough, but now that the referendum result is decided for the foreseeable future surely you should change the title to something more appropriate - Political Recommendations from Big Brother?

Jim,

I can post anything I like on here.

So can you. Post as many contrary opinions as you want.

Post the details of an opposing candidate, post why we should not vote for Iain Maclean, but don't moan at me for only posting things I believe in.

And stop with the constant criticism of the way the forum operates - you know that annoys the hell out of me. If you don't like it then just stop using it or reading it.

[jimcee]

OK Nick,
Accepted that you can post anything that takes your fancy.
You may feel that I have a personal vendetta with yourself, but I assure you that my interests are with seeing the future of your forum assured, as I think that it serves a useful purpose.
So any criticisms I voice are an attempt to make the Forum more palatable to a wider audience, and if you feel that they are directed at yourself, it is only because I feel you are being autocratic and are more concerned about using the forum for your own purposes, rather than for the good of the community.
And back to the heading that this appears under - surely this is now history, and if people still want to debate the outcome, please change the title to Referendum Autopsy - I do not expect any recommendations I might make to be incorporated, despite my best interests in your Forum.

[NickB]

surely this is now history

I think it is still very much a live issue.

[jimcee]

Nick,
This has been a live issue for anyone who seeks Scottish Independence since the days that the SNP was first created, which wasn't yesterday. You with your vast knowledge on the subject will probably be able to furnish an exact date.
However, on the subject of the recent referendum a choice was made, and this will be the norm for the foreseeable future, and although the losing side will be licking their wounds, trying to keep the whole momentum going at the present time it is a bit like flogging a dead horse.

[NickB]

. . . trying to keep the whole momentum going at the present time it is a bit like flogging a dead horse.

- which will be why the SNP's membership has trebled in the last two weeks.

[jimcee]

No. I would suggest that the SNP membership increased because those people who were not members but voted YES felt kind of aggrieved and as a voice of dissent at the result, opted to join the SNP. However their numbers, although gratifying to the SNP (and no doubt to their coffers), were still on the wrong side of the equation in the recent results, and can be disregarded for any computation on any future poll. By all means feel chuffed about all these extra SNP names on the list, but you will still have to work on the silent majority.

[NickB]

No. I would suggest that the SNP membership increased because those people who were not members but voted YES felt kind of aggrieved and as a voice of dissent at the result, opted to join the SNP. However their numbers, although gratifying to the SNP (and no doubt to their coffers), were still on the wrong side of the equation in the recent results, and can be disregarded for any computation on any future poll. By all means feel chuffed about all these extra SNP names on the list, but you will still have to work on the silent majority.

The 'silent majority' can be broken down as follows:

~ diehard unionists and those who wojuld like to see the Scottish parliament dissolved

~ those who voted for the status quo or a wee bit more devolution because that is what they wanted

~ those who voted for the 'devo-max' or the 'federal solution' that was proposed by Gordon Brown and enshrined in 'The Vow

The critical ones are those in the third group. I don't know how many they are, but 6% would have been enough to swing the result. It is this third group who pose the danger to the Westminster parties, as they are likely to feel betrayed and angry if/when these hastily made promises fail to materialise.

The unionist parties have a lot to live up to because of their panicky last minute promises, and already there are signs that these 'promises' and 'vows' are just more political hot air. However, we must wait in good faith for the result of the Smith Commission before completely writing them off, which is what Nicola Sturgeon has agreed to do. With draft legislation due out well before the May general election there is plenty of time for the Scottish electorate to scrutinise the proposals and deliver their verdict. If they are not happy then I think we could expect to see a substantial increase in the number of SNP seats at Westminster - particularly if Labour have been seen to be dragging their heels on the extent of the promised powers.

Current Scottish voting intentions in the general election according to the latest Panelbase poll:

SNP: 34%
Labour: 32%
Conservative: 18%
Liberal Democrat: 5%
UKIP: 6%
Other: 5%

From the 2010 election, this is a huge 14% jump for the SNP, with Labour dropping 10%. On a uniform swing, these results would see Labour lose seven seats to the SNP, while the Lib Dems would lose five to the SNP and two to the Tories.

However, there are few are the Westminster seats that are marginal between Labour and the SNP. There are no Labour seats in which the SNP will start off less than 10 points behind and only three in which they will begin less than 20 points behind.

So the SNP will need to increase their lead over Labour substantially beyond the current 2% to gain a significant number of extra seats. That is what I shall personally be campaigning for. Labour really don't deserve to represent this country at Westminster any more IMO - they have taken the Scottish electorate for granted for far too long.

We still live in interesting times.

[Gavin Rae]

Sorry I thought this post was about the BY ELECTION FOR ELECTORAL WARD 5

I don't think it should have anything to do with post referendum antics nor should it have anything to do with feelings about westminster - SNP membership - or whatever

Surely It's about who CAN BEST REPRESENT US IN THIS WARD ?

SADLY it's as a result of a independant candidate who WON THE VOTE IN JULY who tragically died before he was able to fulfil his ambitions to support Oban Noth and Lorn for the benefit of US !!!

Snoman

[NickB]

Sorry I thought this post was about the BY ELECTION FOR ELECTORAL WARD 5

That was my intention.

I think it is called 'thread drift'