The Scottish First Minister claims that if the SNP win a majority in the Scottish Parliament that would be a mandate for another independence referendum.
Such is the wrong-headed ideology of the SNP, that military aid can’t be used to treat military casualties, insisting it is strictly for civilian use and also a presumption against funding firms involved in the production of ordnance – the stuff that goes bang; war-winning essentials.
Pro-market arguments are hardly the fashion at the moment. If ever there was a policy area, however, where they need to be made it is in housing.
In the face of a tsunami, our politicians are offering a pair of boots and an umbrella. Let the idea that we can win wars fighting yesterday’s battles pass away and allow a great cause new for the Tories in Scotland – cultural restoration with conservative revolution.
We now have two economically left-leaning nationalist parties competing for similar voter segments. The Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election will be the first test of the parties going head-to-head.
This is a real risk for the Scottish Conservatives at Holyrood, but also at Westminster, where the credible rallying cry has been: “vote Conservative to beat the SNP” – if Reform are polling better, what are the Scottish Conservatives for?
The impact that the new government will have Scotland will only be able to be fully assessed once the public see how Starmer balances his commitments to the UK as a whole with the political and economic realities in Scotland.
The Scottish First Minister says “I have been assured that no parliamentary stamps… have been used to support election purposes”.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats have backed some of the SNP’s worst policies – and in any event, they simply don’t figure at all in the running in most of these seats.
In this three-way marginal no leader commands respect and angry voters say they have never felt so dispirited.
In many seats, only a vote for the Scottish Tories can ensure they have not just a bad, but a fatal, result. For Scotland’s sake, and for the future of the Union, it’s essential to get that result in this election.
When it came to the SNP as a whole, however, their previous voters were more critical than in any of our previous research north of the border.
The front runner to be the next leader of the SNP adds “but that’s not the question that the people of Scotland face.”
New polls suggest the SNP may still be dependent on their separatist allies to hold on to power in Edinburgh after the upcoming elections.
In my latest round of Scottish research, even some previously loyal SNP voters were starting to wonder if their party’s record over 19 years – let alone the last five – wasn’t beginning to look a bit thin.