Mailwatch(ed) Forum

Rural affairs? Lots of Scotland is rural but nonetheless that sounds like quite a demotion. Unnecessarily insulting really.

Politics is brutal. Heat, kitchens etc.

If you don't want her in, which is his prerogative, have the courage to leave her out. "Offered her minister for paper clips, she said no, her call" is feeble.

That wouldn't be courage; that would be weakness.

Is it likely in your view that he thought "Kate Forbes, she's ideal for rural affairs"? I think it's pretty unlikely he did. He thought "Don't want her anywhere, here's a shit sandwich she'll have to turn down".

He thought 'kill her'.

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 6:40 pm Is it likely in your view that he thought "Kate Forbes, she's ideal for rural affairs"? I think it's pretty unlikely he did. He thought "Don't want her anywhere, here's a shit sandwich she'll have to turn down".

Indeed. But having her turn down the shite sandwich is covering his tracks.

Humza achieved the result he wanted by offering Forbes a role as Milk Monitor. Although rural affairs minister in Scotland sounds an interesting posting. Perhaps her main office would have been in the outer Hebrides.

Forbes might find that the Outer Hebrides is a very good place to be for a while. Sturgeon is a tough act to follow, and even under her, independence was stuck in the polls. Brexit, Bozo, Covid, Truss, Sunak, the energy crisis and it's stuck. And the reaction to the GRR bill has rather shown up the limits of progressive Scotland, even if it's better than England. I really don't see what the next move is for Yousaf on independence. That isn't to say that they can't do some good and popular policies, but if the nationalist momentum goes, then I think it could reverse. He stuck in a Section 30 request already, which was turned down with relatively little reaction.

He says he wants to increase the child payment, which is the best policy they've had, but in tough times nobody much wants to pay extra tax. The increase of the top rate of income tax raised £3m in the whole of Scotland, which is 1/15 of what Bournemouth just spent on 2 players. They can get more out of increasing the next band down, sure, but if they commit to give lots of that back by lower rates further down, then that's not going to abolish much poverty.

He's also had Margaret Ferrier's (proposed) suspension announced today, and a not very nice by-election likely. Labour should be favourite in the seat.

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 1:50 pm He's also had Margaret Ferrier's (proposed) suspension announced today, and a not very nice by-election likely. Labour should be favourite in the seat.

It'll be interesting to see whether Ferrier's 30 days sees any attempt at parity when Johnson's sentencing arrives.

One broke regulations once, but very stupidly badly.
The other broke regulations continuously, but has an expensive brief (and we pay).

Funnily enough the Tories on the committee voted for a shorter suspension, apart from one of them called Andy Carter. Andy may be a very principled man, or one who hasn’t remembered about Bozo.

Tubby, you forgot option 3. He could be one of those Tories'who never did like Johnson and is hoping to see the twat's political career dead and buried.

I think Yousaf would probably take this as a first poll, given the difference in his ratings and Sturgeon's. As First Minister, he'll probably get more of the hits to sing himself instead of having to explain problems with Health like he did before, so his ratings will likely improve a fair bit.

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 1:47 pm Forbes might find that the Outer Hebrides is a very good place to be for a while. Sturgeon is a tough act to follow, and even under her, independence was stuck in the polls. Brexit, Bozo, Covid, Truss, Sunak, the energy crisis and it's stuck. And the reaction to the GRR bill has rather shown up the limits of progressive Scotland, even if it's better than England. I really don't see what the next move is for Yousaf on independence. That isn't to say that they can't do some good and popular policies, but if the nationalist momentum goes, then I think it could reverse. He stuck in a Section 30 request already, which was turned down with relatively little reaction.

None of my Scot nat mates are particularly excited about Yousaf. Consensus seems to be that he's a bland, not overly impressive operator, but also the least catastrophic of the final three candidates. I get the impression that the young SNP vote has as much to do with Sturgeon's pushing of socially liberal policies as it does with pro-independence. If memory serves, Yousaf was also the only candidate to commit to challenging Sunak's invocation of Section 35. Joanna Cherry and that Wings Over Scotland creep also seem to hate him, which is a good sign.

A lot with young people supporting independence may be that the SNP at least acts like it wants their votes. I personally think maintaining free university in the face of all sorts of awful social circumstances is a terrible choice, but I can see why young people might like the SNP, and it's a nice contrast with the UK Government in that respect.