tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post2582208955590552515..comments2024-03-29T07:14:55.029+00:00Comments on All That Is Solid ...: Labour's Scottish Bloodbath ... And What Needs To Be Done About ItPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-15294841641819433542015-05-14T16:49:13.442+01:002015-05-14T16:49:13.442+01:00"were seen to be lining up with the Tories to..."were seen to be lining up with the Tories to screw Scotland in the event of its independence"<br /><br />you have nailed this in a way many even in Scotland haven't been able to.<br /><br />its all about the currency union for me. not consciously, but sub-consciously. the entire unionist establishment (including our own bloody MPs FFS) threatening, in fact RELISHING the notion that they'd punish a Yes vote by destroying Scotland's economy.<br /><br />you don't come back from that.<br /><br />(speaking as an ex-SSP voting Yes voter who voted SNP with hesitation. my candidate is ex-Labour GS up here and left over Iraq. closest to my views, i had to vote for him. but current situation and likelyhood of a decade of Tory rule is forcing me to reconsider everything)Daveynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-78884725741393602752015-05-10T00:49:28.639+01:002015-05-10T00:49:28.639+01:00Well I got that fecking wrong. Well done Ashcroft....Well I got that fecking wrong. Well done Ashcroft.Vinyl Minerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14143010575470895405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-30214857929801558442015-02-10T23:26:24.726+00:002015-02-10T23:26:24.726+00:00Ashcroft has sacked one of his polling companies. ...Ashcroft has sacked one of his polling companies. Another thing is researchers are begining to postulate about a low turnout with many of the large number of first time voters from the referendum withdrawing into their former apathy. The SNP are also having difficulty in halting the vitriolic attacks on those who voted no. With Gordon Brown probably having a high profile part in the campaign I can see the SNP's 10 point lead being pulled in. The collapse of oil prices there is a growing rekindling of Scotlands love of the Barnet Formula.Vinyl Minerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14143010575470895405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-32443210117777011292015-02-06T07:47:41.107+00:002015-02-06T07:47:41.107+00:00A cynic might say that the Scots can vote SNP beca...A cynic might say that the Scots can vote SNP because they don't have to face the consequences - Labour is seeking to represent a compettive economy in a ruthless neo-liberal world and has to cut its cloth accordingly. The Scots can vote for a party that will be able to lever the maximum benefits for them, while the English bear the burden of actually generating the taxable income (particularly now oil is a thing of the past). <br /><br />This is a perfectly rational decision on their part - they get to live off the fat of the English while feeling self-righteous - but it is not sustainable. <br /><br />Labour destroyed the UK with their reckless, ill-thought out policy of devolution. Speedynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-9111729793434192342015-02-05T20:31:59.422+00:002015-02-05T20:31:59.422+00:00Re Anon's comment "I think it's impla...Re Anon's comment "I think it's implausible that SNP has the support of every Yes voter and then some".<br /><br />The reason the Yes campaign failed was that for every Labour voter attracted to it, there was a shy SNPer would noted No. In other words, pensioners and rentiers put their own financial interest ahead of their nationalist sympathies.<br /><br />Those shy Nos will vote SNP in May, out of guilt as much as calculation. This will be offset by some Labour voters who opted for Yes continuing to vote for Labour at Westminster. This means that the polls predicting an SNP vote in the low 40s probably are reliable, reflecting the Yes vote of 45%.<br /><br />Labour won't be wiped out, because its vote remains much more concetrated than SNP support, but where it wins it will do so with narrow majorities. Ideally, this will encourage the SLP to stop acting as a Praetorian Guard for the PLP and start carving out a distinct Scottish proposition. Paradoxically, this more "independent" line is their only hope of turning back the tartan tide, which Murphy was quick to recognise.<br /><br />More broadly, the decline of Labour in Scotland is also occuring across the North of England - it just hasn't come into focus yet. Labour will still pick up the seats (UKIP have little traction in most areas), but the voters are dispirited and increasingly despairing. The significant indicator in May will be turnout in the North and Wales.David Timoneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03568348438980023320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-19902185005597670882015-02-05T17:12:25.390+00:002015-02-05T17:12:25.390+00:00The fact of labour growing is a bad thing. We need...The fact of labour growing is a bad thing. We need a left alternative. You were wrong to join labour, recents events internationally have proved this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-21797051071907829462015-02-05T14:37:19.713+00:002015-02-05T14:37:19.713+00:00Polling isn't an exact science by any means. B...Polling isn't an exact science by any means. But, as a rule, Ashcroft's polling is well-respected in the "community". If he threw out any old crap no one would take him seriously. That said there <i>are</i> differences in methodology, as <a href="http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/9200" rel="nofollow">this post</a> lays out with regards to Ashcroft's and Survation's findings in recent Sheffield Hallam constituency polling. Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-81021518479965256212015-02-05T00:25:14.367+00:002015-02-05T00:25:14.367+00:00You are so right. The only way to win these votes ...You are so right. The only way to win these votes back, if ever, would be to ditch Blairite neoliberalism and adopt real left-wing values.<br /><br />Home Rule used to be a plank of Labour ideology, now they treat it like a warped psychosis, akin to bestiality, paedophilia or Conservatism.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12453996926915980899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-79180110720471702772015-02-05T00:18:32.864+00:002015-02-05T00:18:32.864+00:00UK Polling Report ran a story a while ago about pa...UK Polling Report ran a story a while ago about party identification and left/right identification in Scotland. It was tragic - basically both Labour and SNP supporters see themselves as being to the Left of the other party.<br /><br />Can Labour plausibly attack the SNP from the Left? Not for as long as the SNP go on redefining 'left' as 'nationalist'. Socialist unionism anyone?Philhttp://gapingsilence.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-45557502795809022332015-02-04T23:27:39.269+00:002015-02-04T23:27:39.269+00:00"His numbers are methodologically sound"..."His numbers are methodologically sound"<br /><br />You reckon? This the same Ashcroft who isn't a member of the British Polling Council. How do you know it's sound? The website doesn't say how the research is done nor who carried out the fieldwork. It's sketchy on every aspect of methodology.<br /><br />But more importantly, a review of the referendum polling would show a marked, consistent bias in all of the polling towards Yes. From Panelbase and Survation that had Yes above the final result about 6 months before the result to MORI and YouGov who ended up overstating Yes, even if they were close. There was a persistent bias in the polling and that now translates into a marked bias in favour of the SNP. Not enough to suggest that things aren't bad for Labour but enough. I think it's implausible that SNP has the support of every Yes voter and then some. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com