Who Do I Vote For?

SCOTLAND

The best word to describe the mood of the Scottish public is scunnered. Some people tell me they are so out of joint with politicians, and the SNP in particular, they will spoil their ballot paper. If you are going to deface your vote why bother turning up?

Sticking graffiti on the ballot paper is a personal choice, but so is abstaining. If ballot spoiling was a concerted, well organised campaign I could understand the policy, but if not, you are left questioning the efficacy. It sounds a lonely pursuit. The estimation is, at least a quarter to a third spoiled votes would only then be noticed for candidates and pollster John Prentice to be aware of widespread protest. What was scrawled on ballot papers is another matter.

The impression on the streets is SNP MPs are about to be molicated, ‘decimated’ according to our local poll guru, Sir John Prentice, he looking more and more cadaverous every new appearance on television, perhaps emblematic of Scotland’s plight. The voter is about to teach them a lesson for wasting seven years of mandates under Sturgeon’s uninformed leadership, for chasing the GRR regulations, and inulting Scots intelligence with authoritartian laws embellished in the Hate Crime Bill. Yousaf’s short time treated us like naughty children.

“How should I vote?”

I will answer this rhetorical question shortly. I am asked it a lot, usually by former loyal independence supporters repulsed at what they see, correctly, as a terrible betrayal of trust by the SNP, and an historic squandering of at least three, (some say two) solid mandates to call an end to a corrupt Union. Their lack of constitutional erudition is shameful. Infamous. In a last minute dire attempt to salvage her collapsed reputation, Sturgeon sent her mirror image, another ingenue, to London’s Supreme Court to ask a group of men’s smoking club judges if they thought we should be allowed another referendum. How pitiful.

Voting Labour for ‘change’ they will not list because they mean the status quo, welcomes back our oppressors who wear a red tie that has a blue silk lining. Their glee at ruling Scotland again, and continuing the naked plundering of our wealth is treasonable, agents from another country given free hand to do as they please.

I can only repeat what I wrote in response to the idea of ballot spoiling. To me it’s a bit like hit and run tactics of Picts against Romans. The tactics might pay off in years to come. If you care about Scotland but refuse to vote, or you spoil your ballot paper, you’re sacrificing our security for momentary anger, an outburst of temper. And it’s going to have a consequence.

The sickening SNP

I fully understand why people are repelled by what the SNP has done, and not done, the latter being to refuse to unite with other indie parties. But not to vote in a neo-liberal reality opens the door to the opportunists, the Blair McDougalls, the Michael-no-referenda-ever-Shanks, the deceitful wee Dougie Alexanders and the close Holyrood Farages. Reform UK is standing in Scotland. Expect an MP elected by village people in the Borders.

My advice is to vote for the lesser evil. There’s another word for lesser evilism, it’s called rationality. Lesser evilism is a rational position. But you don’t stop with lesser evilism. You begin with it, you use it to prevent the worst, and then you go on to deal with the fundamental roots of what’s wrong. You continue to organise and develop the mass popular movements, (as Alex Salmond is doing) which will block the worst and change the institutions. All of these things can go on at once.

Better an incompetent Indigenous administration that an alien one

We need no group of colonials wholly responsible to London. Scotland’s national elections are not far away. The thinking seems to be, let our MPs take the hit this time around, and then we can supplant our trans obsessed MSPs next election. But if we keep refusing to elect alternative independence MSPs we are taking a whip to our backs. And we open the door wide to our oppressors, the Vandals and Barbarians of the modern age.

For once, Scotland has a real choice in indie parties with ALBA leading the way, and doing it with little newspaper coverage. They are fielding 19 candidates and supporting the independent MP Angus MacNeil in the Highlands.

As for the simple question of what button do you push on ballot day? Check if there is an ALBA, ISP, or solo candidate standing in your constituency if you cannot thole the idea of voting SNP. The choice is yours, a personal decision. But your decision matters, it matters a hellova lot. There is a concerted move by the British State to shut Scotland down; even Starmer says he will not negotiate with the SNP, our government. The enemy takes no prisoners.

ENGLAND

A few words on what’s happening in merry England. Let’s get rid of the Tories is the war cry doon sooth, echoed by fools in Scotland. It was Alex Salmond who said there were more pandas in Scotland than Tories. Swinney thinks only the Tories stop Scotland’s progress.

The English have seen their land bespoiled and ruined, polluted rivers, trees cut down, one significant one at Hadrians wall, and ahundred one dark night by a renegade council to create space for a questionionable housing scheme; swathes of land and woods lost to a useless new mega-costly railway that goes nowhere, and on top of that, massive corruption led by the Tory party.

Labour are still on course to win a massive majority in England on July 4, despite the fact they have not had a brilliant campaign. Professor Sir John Curtice says Starmer should have had a more decisive victory against Sunak in the last televised head-to-head leaders’ debate given how far ahead he is in the polls. But he did not. Sunak looked the better informed. Starmer, or Sir Stumblebore, is not a charismatic individual, not a great thunker or speaker. He sounds more like a local bank branch manager giving an annual appraisal of the bank’s progress for the year.

YouGov published an England-centric poll immediately after the televised debate on BBC One on Wednesday night. The poll put Mr Sunak and Sir Keir both on 50 per cent. The public can’t tell one from the other by their arguments. When asked how much they have in common with the two leaders, the public gave Starmer 56 per cent and Mr Sunak 44 per cent. Perhaps religion and skin colour had something to do with that imbalance. Personally, I don’t give a damn about England. I care about what they do are are doing to Scotland and the Scots.

Here is the levels at 28 June.

The English Vote

The main headache to point out for Labour, is the narrowing gap between the SNP and Labour phony Scottish branch, and the rise in popularity of the Lib-Dems in England and Wales.

An exclusive poll by Savanta for The Scotsman revealed the SNP and Scottish Labour are now back to being neck-and-neck on 34 per cent each. However, because of the concentration of Labour support in the more populous Central Belt, this would equate to 28 seats for Labour and only 18 for the SNP.

The Labour lead over the SNP is disappearing, but that can be explained by the variations expected in the polls. But the broad message is there is not a great deal of movement. Curtis claims the Tories will still see a “serious defeat” at the election, with most polls predicting the Tories to be on around 100 seats and Labour to be on up to 450 seats, the vast majority England and Wales. What a nightmare.

In summary

As somone who has lived through over twenty general elections, and witnessed the rise of Scottish yearnings for a nation state again, it’s worth warning that polls suggesting a “substantial” Labour majority with “heavy losses” for the Tories risks exaggerating the extent to which Tories support is consistant. One reason for Tory support falling is the re-emergence of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage in the election contest. Reform is polling at less than 8 per cent in Scotland.

England always debatesd new ways of voting at these times, often led by the Lib-Dems who poll well but gain few seats. The FPTP system is defended by the English mostly on the grounds of its simplicity and ability to produce one representative for each constituency resulting in a strong constituency-MP relationship. In 2011, England voted overwhelmingly against changing the voting system to the Alternative Vote, not proportional representation. The alternative vote is a preferential voting system where voters rank candidates in order of preference. Good luck to them.

Let England solve its own election process and MP problems. Just keep them out of Scotland. Tell them to go back to the mother country to think again.

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