scotlad

A plank, yes; a plant, no. That is my gut feeling. There were a lot of people in the upper echelons of the party awfy keen to see him installed as leader last year though. 🤔

During Corbyn's time in charge of Labour he encountered - and failed to deal with decisively - resistance not only from so-called moderate MPs, but also party apparatchiks who favoured them. The membership and other affiliates were largely behind Corbyn and I think if he'd made a priority of it he could have turned the tables on the right-wing of the party, but for whatever reason he didn't. There's a lesson from history there that anyone from outside the SNP in-crowd should pay attention to if they're going to go for the leadership. Patrick Harvie a decade ago seemed like quite a reasonable guy. A wee bit radical compared to other more mainstream politicians, yes, but he always made his points soundly and logically. What a shame that he's chosen to spend his time in government this way. It's ironic too that he is supposedly part of a movement that urges people to listen to scientists and experts when it comes to climate change, but encourages the opposite when it comes to gender ideology! The coalition with the Greens was always unnecessary. The SNP could have run government just as easily as a minority administration - a large minority administration - and saved themselves a lot of face in the process.

Apparently he was once accused of buying drugs for a teenage male escort. A few years later the Tories made Menzies a trade envoy to Colombia and Peru. I guess it was his aptitude for trade that impressed them!

Aye, at full strength I'd feel a lot more confident about our chances but sadly we won't be, and the drop-off in quality in some positions is alarming.

The Swiss are better than they're given credit for. Tournament regulars who often reach the knockout stages, they're not a 'big name' side but at this point I don't fancy our chances against them.

Agreed. Clarke would have had nothing to lose by playing him in a couple of friendlies. If he played well, then he'd have had another option to pick; if he didn't cut the mustard then that's the whole 'Ryan Gauld for Scotland' issue put to bed.

Potentially the best piece of news to have emerged in the past 48 hours!

She wasn't, no. Strangely it was like there were other issues that were a higher priority for people. I understand what you're saying and I have seen the media playing that game in the past, but I pay attention to politics in this country, where the Greens are partners in government with the SNP, and save for a botched deposit return scheme (which, incidentally, I am in favour of, in principle) and some stuff to do with insulation in homes, I'm struggling to think of many distinctly green policies that they've brought to the table.

It does make you wonder, doesn't it? Support for independence has remained firm for the past decade and demographics suggest it's likely to increase, and now we're seeing the main political vehicle towards achieving independence potentially on the verge of going bust (I don't think that's too much of an exaggeration). There was a lassie from the English Green party on Question Time last night and she didn't mention puberty blockers, pronouns, or sex change operations on the NHS once. Instead she spoke eloquently and insightfully about policies to help the environment. It was very refreshing! 😄

Maybe time for a reboot of The New Statesmen, in which Alan B'Stard is a corrupt, conniving gay MP (although I think even in the original series, B'Stard's wife is bisexual and his corrupt solicitor is transgender, making the series very ahead of its time!).

Not as a party member he hadn't though (not that him resigning from the party really makes much difference).

Peter Murrell.

For a minute I thought you meant Humza had quit! 🤦‍♂️

😳

Supporting the SNP at the moment is a bit like being in a pub with a couple of mates who have been on the sauce all day, are absolutely blootered and are making a scene. Everyone else in the pub is either irritated by them or are laughing at them; the bar staff are no longer serving them and the bouncers are staring over at them, poised to pap them out; yet they are still roaring, singing and giggling away, completely unaware of how embarrassing they are, and you're left sat there thinking "please, just fucking STOP!". The B-side to the HCA fiasco is going to be the Misogyny Act, which is set to reignite the whole bloody trans issue because they seem intent in including transwomen in the legislation. Wouldn't it have made more sense to have included sex as a protected characteristic in the HCA, meaning both biological females and transgender people would be covered equally? Say what you like about Kermit, but he got a show out there every week. We, on the other hand, have Gonzo in charge.