European Politics discussion
Huh.
Nicola Sturgeon likely to be arrested next by police, SNP fears
Senior members of the SNP fear that former leader Nicola Sturgeon could be the next figure to be arrested in the Police Scotland investigation into the party’s finances.
The SNP has been rocked by the arrest of former chief executive Peter Murrell and current treasurer Colin Beattie, both of whom were later released without charge pending further enquiries.
One senior SNP figure told The Independent it was likely that Ms Sturgeon would also be arrested, given that she is one of the three names believed to be on party accounts.
To me, this is a shocker over the last few months. Was this something that developed quickly, or slowly? How has it affect the popularity of the SNP overall?
This wasn't part of devo max, was it?
To me, this is a shocker over the last few months. Was this something that developed quickly, or slowly? How has it affect the popularity of the SNP overall?
It’s hard to context this because I’m not Scottish, (although I do have a Scottish friend I talk politics with regularly, and the company I work for nearest site is in Edinburgh, and I travel there quite often) but this has been - apparently - brewing for quite a long time. Support for the SNP is - again, this is my friends opinion rather than mine - often down the fact many Scottish people regard them as ‘the least worst choice’ rather than any real support they may have. ‘Best choice for Scotland’ is a phrase I’ve heard more than once from my Scottish colleagues when this comes up too.
There has been some exasperation that Sturgeon’s apparent focus on continually picking fights with Westminster (i.e. the Tories) and the second independence referendum she was never going to get rather than some rather more urgent domestic issues. Again, I can’t speak for this myself, only what I’ve heard / been told by my friend and my colleagues.
For sure independence is very important for a lot of Scottish people, but for other I find they don’t really care at all. Or maybe, just don’t find it that important at the moment. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of middle ground in my experience.
The SNP is an odd party - it’s a one issue party that has found itself in a limited government but has responded to that quite well. However as with the Tory party there has been a purge of anyone competent once the leadership got in, so the offering once Sturgeon left (who despite whatever else she is, is a very competent politician) are very thin.
It’ll be interesting to see how this all breaks down in the next GE and how the SNP get on to that point.
Some levity, in a thread that could use it:
‘Too provocative’ mermaid statue causes stir in southern Italy
Adolfo Marciano, the headteacher of the Luigi Rosso art school, defended the statue, saying it was a “tribute to the great majority of women who are curvy”. He explained that the students were tasked by the mayor of Monopoli to create several statues for the town, including one on the theme of the sea.
Uh-huh.
Um have they seen the other statues around Italy?
How is this levity?
A bit of GOP-style voter suppression in UK local elections
Not mentioned in the article is that acceptable forms of ID skew towards Conservative base voters (over 60s bus pass ok, young person's rail card is not).
How is this levity?
I found it comically absurd, but YMMV.
A bit of GOP-style voter suppression in UK local elections
Not mentioned in the article is that acceptable forms of ID skew towards Conservative base voters (over 60s bus pass ok, young person's rail card is not).
I actually think this will backfire as it's the elder generation in the UK who are more likely to turn up and say "What do you mean I need ID? I've never needed it before. Why to I need it now? Get out of my way you buffon!" followed by a lot of complaining to local media.
Concave wrote:A bit of GOP-style voter suppression in UK local elections
Not mentioned in the article is that acceptable forms of ID skew towards Conservative base voters (over 60s bus pass ok, young person's rail card is not).
I actually think this will backfire as it's the elder generation in the UK who are more likely to turn up and say "What do you mean I need ID? I've never needed it before. Why to I need it now? Get out of my way you buffon!" followed by a lot of complaining to local media.
Here's hoping 
They have not turned away from Brexit yet, have they?
...Right then.
They have not turned away from Brexit yet, have they?
...Right then.
Currently it's about 60/40 in favour of rejoining the EU. I think quite a few have to be fair.
So when will the Tories allow a new vote? I'm thinking... Never?
So when will the Tories allow a new vote? I'm thinking... Never?
I thought it was a "no backies" deal.
Even if the EU could be persuaded to let them rejoin, you can be sure the Pound wouldn't survive.
Weren't they told they could re-apply for membership?
Weren't they told they could re-apply for membership?
The can re-apply, but they may not like the conditions. As well, their power and exceptions they enjoyed pre brexit will be reduced/eliminated.
Robear wrote:So when will the Tories allow a new vote? I'm thinking... Never?
I thought it was a "no backies" deal.
Even if the EU could be persuaded to let them rejoin, you can be sure the Pound wouldn't survive.
Was the Pound anything other than a mechanism for laundering Russian mob money? The world will be better without it anyway.
Was the Pound anything other than a mechanism for laundering Russian mob money? The world will be better without it anyway.
OK. That's the hottest of hot takes. the US Dollar is the primary currency for money laundering across the globe. Should we ban that too?
Paleocon wrote:Was the Pound anything other than a mechanism for laundering Russian mob money? The world will be better without it anyway.
OK. That's the hottest of hot takes. the US Dollar is the primary currency for money laundering across the globe. Should we ban that too?
But it’s more than that. Londongrad though has been a ghost town since the Russian laundromat shut down.
But it’s more than that. Londongrad though has been a ghost town since the Russian laundromat shut down.
You know how you don't trust Fox media in the US because it is so overwhelmingly bias? It's the same for practically every media outlet in the UK as well.
"Londongrad" was just a phrase for a very small - if geopolitically pertinent - issue that specifically impacted London and not the rest of the UK. And the UK has been cracking down on that immensely the last couple of years - you only have to look at what's happened to Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov in recent years to understand that Russian Oligarchs are no longer moving their money through London. They are mostly now using Cyprus instead by all accounts. London isn't "a ghost town" - not even the incredibly, disgustingly rich parts. There's the odd stupidly expensive building here and there, and it's now mostly been replaced with Oil Rich Nation Royalty admittedly, but "Ghosttown" is so far wide of the mark it's embarrassing.
Stop believing everything you read online.
Which sourced do you trust in the UK? Please tell me The Guardian is reliable (reports are accurate, bias is either declared or readily evident). I like that one.
Which sourced do you trust in the UK? Please tell me The Guardian is reliable (reports are accurate, bias is either declared or readily evident). I like that one.
There’s a question. As previously mentioned, despite active government interference the BBC is one of the most impartial and factual news services available globally. ‘Trust’ is a relative term, but the BBC reports facts first, statistics and opinions second. You need to be savvy enough to spot when the ‘opinions’ the BBC offers isn’t its own.
As for the rest of the UK media, it’s all bias - extremely so for quite a few of them (The Sun, The Daily Mail etc) - they will report opinion as fact and not make any effort to make a distinction between the two. Sadly a lot of the broadsheets have gone in this direction as well, the telegraph is by far the worst offender there.
Papers like The Guardian, The Times, The Independent will still report fact first and opinion second - most of the time. Often it’s a small amount of fact and a hell of a lot of opinion, but I would argue that most readers are aware of that as are the papers - I also read The Guardian because it broadly aligns with my world view, and it does give you information before opinion - that doesn’t mean I don’t take a lot of what it tells me with a pinch of salt at times.
Thanks. Guardian, Independent and BBC are my UK gotos. I appreciate your answer.
Thanks. Guardian, Independent and BBC are my UK gotos. I appreciate your answer.
The other paper I've not mentioned is The Financial Times ("The FT"). It's a very capitalist read for sure, but don't think that means they automatically support what the Conservative Party is up to. They've been scathing of the Conservatives lately, especially the Liz Truss debacle. It's a viewpoint worth reading if you want to stay out of your echo chamber.
'Newspapers of record' are The Times and The Telegraph (on the right, Telegraph more so) and The Guardian (on the left).
The Economist is also very centrist and capitalist like the FT but is more a magazine than a newspaper and usually paywalled up the wazoo.
Thanks again!
The Telegraph has sturdy paywalls as well. I realized I did not want to peek behind that wall. I picture a newsroom composed of Spitting Image puppets.
The Telegraph has sturdy paywalls as well. I realized I did not want to peek behind that wall. I picture a newsroom composed of Spitting Image puppets.
It's mostly wind up Brexit apologists behind that wall.
How is this levity?
Boobs are funny. Just look at me, I'm a big one.
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