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Category: SNP

Why Sturgeon’s SIndy2 isn’t a gamble; it’s a necessity

Why Sturgeon’s SIndy2 isn’t a gamble; it’s a necessity

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In addition, I was elected as FM on a clear manifesto commitment re #scotref. The PM is not yet elected by anyone. — Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) March 14, 2017 Her window of opportunity could be closing The SNP exists to achieve independence for Scotland. This simple fact shouldn’t really need stating but keeping it at the forefront of our minds is crucial to understanding why what’s going on is going on, and how events might pan out in future. As…

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As we edge towards the enactment of the A50 Bill Nicola has just made Theresa’s task harder

As we edge towards the enactment of the A50 Bill Nicola has just made Theresa’s task harder

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The political price of hard brexit could be a smaller UK TMay’s reaction to Sturgeon’s InyRef2 announcement was that the Scottish FM and SNP leader was “playing politics” – a term I generally conclude to mean that what’s been said has been highly effective. Certainly the suggestions that TMay might defer invoking A50 until the end of the month suggests there’s a need to look again at her strategy and the rhetoric she will deploy when the formal process of…

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The opening IndyRef2 odds make it odds-on that it’ll take place and odds-on that Scotland will vote YES

The opening IndyRef2 odds make it odds-on that it’ll take place and odds-on that Scotland will vote YES

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Lots of activity from the bookies following Nicola Stugeon’s announcement that the SNP is going for a second IndyRef because of the vastly changed circumstances as a result of BREXIT. The Ladbrokes betting: Ladbrokes latest betting Next Independence Referendum 4/6 Before end 2020 11/10 Not before end of 2020 Year of next Independence Referendum 25 2017 7/4 2018 5/2 2019 10 2020 11/10 2021 or later Result of next Referendum 8/11 YES 11/10 NO (If held before end 2020) WILLIAM HILL…. SECOND…

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Another way of looking at how the parties are doing – how successful they are at fundraising

Another way of looking at how the parties are doing – how successful they are at fundraising

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LAB drops to 3rd LAB pushed into 3rd place in the Q4 2016 party donation totals from @ElectoralCommUK . UKIP got just £33k. CON top pic.twitter.com/k6ufeXHbVj — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) March 2, 2017 See the difference between the amount of private v public funding received by political parties pic.twitter.com/n7E9EAdu5z — Electoral Commission (@ElectoralCommUK) March 2, 2017 Tweet

Labour’s massive challenge: Support for Corbyn as “best PM” is inversely proportional to people’s likelihood to vote

Labour’s massive challenge: Support for Corbyn as “best PM” is inversely proportional to people’s likelihood to vote

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There’s a new YouGov voting poll out which has the Tories extending their lead to 12%. The figures are: CON 40% LAB 28% LD 8% UKIP 13% This means that the Tories have double digit leads in four of the five polls since Theresa May became PM. Clearly she is enjoying a honeymoon bounce but, on top of that, she is facing a Labour party that appears to be at war with itself. One part of the poll that show…

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Holyrood 2016: the SNP’s hegemony continues

Holyrood 2016: the SNP’s hegemony continues

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But how bad will it get for Scottish Labour? You wouldn’t know if you only received your news from the London media but there are three general elections in the UK this year. Voters will go to the polls in May to elect new Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland and to the Scottish Parliament (as well as a London mayor, various lesser mayors, a bumper set of councillors and PCCs across England and Wales – it’s probably the biggest…

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At 10.30 am we’ll find out if the 2nd by-election of the 2015 parliament will be in Orkney and Shetland

At 10.30 am we’ll find out if the 2nd by-election of the 2015 parliament will be in Orkney and Shetland

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UPDATE Carmichael cleared Wednesday's The National front page:Carmichael:Judgment Day#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers #scotpapers pic.twitter.com/mVRAzpxg2w — Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) December 8, 2015 The election court will announce its decision in the Carmichael case If the case goes against the former Scottish Secretary then the LDs could lose the one seat in Scotland they hold and have to fight a by-election. Based on what happened in the Phil Woolas case in 2010 the Speaker might delay calling a vacancy in the constituency pending the…

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The Sunday Trading vote: Dave/Osbo’s problem is not the SNP but the rebellion on the issue by 20 CON MPs

The Sunday Trading vote: Dave/Osbo’s problem is not the SNP but the rebellion on the issue by 20 CON MPs

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Aside from the EU a developing story at Westminster is the decision by the SNP to vote against the planned changes on Sunday trading that Osborne announced in the budget for England and Wales. In Scotland this is a devolved matter with decisions being made at Holyrood. Inevitably this will raise the whole English Votes for English Laws (EVEL) debate because of the devolved nature of such a measure. But before we get too deep into this let’s remember that…

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