Even More SNP Nonsense

[Don Dan]

21 minutes ago, Trapper John McIntyre said:

It appears to have been removed at last. Well done, Mods. Saor Alba.

 

The origonal is gone but it’s still visible in a quote!! 

[AuldReekie444]

5 minutes ago, Dannie Boy said:

 

The origonal is gone but it’s still visible in a quote!! 

sorry, im too late to edit it/delete it. 

[Don Dan]

8 minutes ago, AuldReekie444 said:

sorry, im too late to edit it/delete it. 

 Unfortunately that often happens. Let’s hope said posters takes heed about what an acceptable post is.   

Edited June 26, 2018 by Dannie Boy

[Pans Jambo]

1 hour ago, AuldReekie444 said:

 

This is an idiotic thing to post. 

 

[Sir Vladimir of Romanov]

43 minutes ago, AuldReekie444 said:

sorry, im too late to edit it/delete it. 

 

Don't be sorry, always good to be reminded of the nasty streak these people have. 

[jambo lodge]

John Swinney a bit flustered this morning on radio Scotland trying to put a positive spin on Keith Browns sacking and ditching the Educational Bill yesterday. Tick tock. 

[XB52]

30 minutes ago, jambo lodge said:

John Swinney a bit flustered this morning on radio Scotland trying to put a positive spin on Keith Browns sacking and ditching the Educational Bill yesterday. Tick tock. 

Oh dear, even for you that is so much garbage. You do know that Keith Brown is now deputy leader don't you??  Sacked??????  And surely it is better to have everyone on board with the changes in education which is now the case

[jambo lodge]

2 minutes ago, XB52 said:

Oh dear, even for you that is so much garbage. You do know that Keith Brown is now deputy leader don't you??  Sacked??????  And surely it is better to have everyone on board with the changes in education which is now the case

Haha. As the interviewer pointed out the previous deputy did two jobs, he was sacked. As far as Education is concerned this flagship policy was ditched yesterday due to lack of support in Holyrood.

[jambo lodge]

Gillian Martin....any comment Spacey on the new Minister?

[Boris]

Yet this party still dominates in the polls.

 

It's perfectly legitimate to criticise the SNP and to dislike them and their policies.  But it would seem that the lectorate see them as the lesser of the multitude of evils out there.

 

The Tories are the Tories and have only bolstered support based on a single issue.

 

Labour are there, but what do they offer?

 

the Lib Dems are business as usual.

 

And the Greens are idealistic but not yet mainstream.

 

So kick the SNP all you like, it doesn't really seem to be making much difference.

[jambo lodge]

13 minutes ago, Boris said:

Yet this party still dominates in the polls.

 

It's perfectly legitimate to criticise the SNP and to dislike them and their policies.  But it would seem that the lectorate see them as the lesser of the multitude of evils out there.

 

The Tories are the Tories and have only bolstered support based on a single issue.

 

Labour are there, but what do they offer?

 

the Lib Dems are business as usual.

 

And the Greens are idealistic but not yet mainstream.

 

So kick the SNP all you like, it doesn't really seem to be making much difference.

Think it is Boris. The shine has come off them and they are making basic mistakes. If only Labour had a leader with some charisma they would be gaining support. At the moment the SNP are losing popularity and their high jinks at Westminster whilst popular with their supporters is going to lose them even more.

[Boris]

5 minutes ago, jambo lodge said:

Think it is Boris. The shine has come off them and they are making basic mistakes. If only Labour had a leader with some charisma they would be gaining support. At the moment the SNP are losing popularity and their high jinks at Westminster whilst popular with their supporters is going to lose them even more.

Is it though? Very marginal if it is. 

 

I'd agree that Labour stands to be the major benificiery of any leak in SNP support. 

[Thunderstruck]

24 minutes ago, Boris said:

Yet this party still dominates in the polls.

 

It's perfectly legitimate to criticise the SNP and to dislike them and their policies.  But it would seem that the lectorate see them as the lesser of the multitude of evils out there.

 

The Tories are the Tories and have only bolstered support based on a single issue.

 

Labour are there, but what do they offer?

 

the Lib Dems are business as usual.

 

And the Greens are idealistic but not yet mainstream.

 

So kick the SNP all you like, it doesn't really seem to be making much difference.

 

They “dominate” in terms of seats at Holyrood and Westminster by virtue of FPTP but their share of the vote is well below being in the majority. I think we are agreed that ending FPTP is overdue. 

 

The last poll that mattered (see below) tends, I would suggest, to show a party on the slide. At the very least, it was given a message that it is determined to ignore. 

[Boris]

5 minutes ago, Thunderstruck said:

 

They “dominate” in terms of seats at Holyrood and Westminster by virtue of FPTP but their share of the vote is well below being in the majority. I think we are agreed that ending FPTP is overdue. 

 

The last poll that mattered (see below) tends, I would suggest, to show a party on the slide. At the very least, it was given a message that it is determined to ignore. 

But as we know, people vote differently at different elections. 

Holyrood, given that's "the day job", is possibly a better barometer. 

One could also argue that tory "success" was a freak result. 

[jack D and coke]

13 minutes ago, Boris said:

But as we know, people vote differently at different elections. 

Holyrood, given that's "the day job", is possibly a better barometer. 

One could also argue that tory "success" was a freak result. 

The Tory success was a freak and a vote for ultra unionists now, they don’t even care what their policies are they just don’t want indyref 2 and with labour being utterly hopeless in both personality and policy there’s no other option. 

For being in power for so long the SNP don’t look like they’re losing their grip anytime soon. 

[Thunderstruck]

9 minutes ago, Boris said:

But as we know, people vote differently at different elections. 

Holyrood, given that's "the day job", is possibly a better barometer. 

One could also argue that tory "success" was a freak result. 

 

It does tie in with Curtice’s longitudinal survey. That puts SNP support at around 35% (max) of the electorate.

 

Low turnout - traditional in Scottish Parliament elections - has favoured the SNP which, despite its faults, is good at getting its support out to vote. The referendum and last year showed that its support isn’t always enough. 

 

That aside, the most recent vote is a better reflection of the more recent issues and the message was that independence (and “getting dragged out of the EU against our wishes”) might be important to the SNP but the Scottish electorate disagreed. 

 

[Boris]

1 hour ago, Thunderstruck said:

 

It does tie in with Curtice’s longitudinal survey. That puts SNP support at around 35% (max) of the electorate.

 

Low turnout - traditional in Scottish Parliament elections - has favoured the SNP which, despite its faults, is good at getting its support out to vote. The referendum and last year showed that its support isn’t always enough. 

 

That aside, the most recent vote is a better reflection of the more recent issues and the message was that independence (and “getting dragged out of the EU against our wishes”) might be important to the SNP but the Scottish electorate disagreed. 

 

I think it was more indy ref than eu, but it shows a polarised electorate, Imo. 

[jambo lodge]

1 hour ago, jack D and coke said:

The Tory success was a freak and a vote for ultra unionists now, they don’t even care what their policies are they just don’t want indyref 2 and with labour being utterly hopeless in both personality and policy there’s no other option. 

For being in power for so long the SNP don’t look like they’re losing their grip anytime soon. 

Don't think you are right about the Tories in Scotland. Polls are consistently high and they are getting good results at Council by elections. SNP will be eorn down by consistently bad press on Health and Education.

[Pans Jambo]

1 hour ago, jambo lodge said:

Don't think you are right about the Tories in Scotland. Polls are consistently high and they are getting good results at Council by elections. SNP will be eorn down by consistently bad lies on Health and Education.

FTFY

[AuldReekie444]

Pans Jambos literally just reworded a post he didn't agree with. 

Freedom of speech doesn't seem that crucial after all.

[Pans Jambo]

8 minutes ago, AuldReekie444 said:

Pans Jambos literally just reworded a post he didn't agree with. 

Freedom of speech doesn't seem that crucial after all.

I would perhaps agree if I had removed your original post. Nope, it’s still there. 

[AuldReekie444]

1 minute ago, Pans Jambo said:

I would perhaps agree if I had removed your original post. Nope, it’s still there. 

It wasn't my post. 

[Pans Jambo]

Just now, AuldReekie444 said:

It wasn't my post. 

I stand corrected. Point stands though. 

[AuldReekie444]

1 minute ago, Pans Jambo said:

I stand corrected. Point stands though. 

 

It does indeed.

You rewrite posts you don't agree with, because you believe in free speech. 

[Pans Jambo]

1 minute ago, AuldReekie444 said:

 

It does indeed.

You rewrite posts you don't agree with, because you believe in free speech. 

I do believe in free speech. Thanks for agreeing with me. 

[AuldReekie444]

Just now, Pans Jambo said:

I do believe in free speech. Thanks for agreeing with me. 

 

And you rewrite posts that you do not agree with, because you believe in free speech.

[Pans Jambo]

1 minute ago, AuldReekie444 said:

 

And you rewrite posts that you do not agree with, because you believe in free speech.

Again. Thanks for the endorsement   

[Thunderstruck]

4 hours ago, jack D and coke said:

The Tory success was a freak and a vote for ultra unionists now, they don’t even care what their policies are they just don’t want indyref 2 and with labour being utterly hopeless in both personality and policy there’s no other option. 

For being in power for so long the SNP don’t look like they’re losing their grip anytime soon. 

 

You could flip that argument around and say that, in respect of the SNP, the Nats  “don’t even care what their policies are they just want independence”.  

 

The complete absence of any response on the question of independence vs the cost to the vulnerable in society suggests that there are several nationalists on here who want independence at ANY cost. Is that sensible?

 

 

[AuldReekie444]

5 hours ago, jack D and coke said:

The Tory success was a freak and a vote for ultra unionists now, they don’t even care what their policies are they just don’t want indyref 2 and with labour being utterly hopeless in both personality and policy there’s no other option. 

For being in power for so long the SNP don’t look like they’re losing their grip anytime soon. 

 

I think you are wrong on this jack D and coke. The Tory vote in Scotland has done well for years now. I don't regard it as a flash in the pan.

 

But I hope you totally underestimate it as much as you possibly can, for as long as you possibly can. 

[JackLadd]

All the SNP are good for is noise and hot air. I am not a huge Tory fan by any means but they are the least worst option for me.  Nobody over the age 40 should vote SNP unless they are desperate or nuts.

[Pans Jambo]

Theres a good few tory voters up here but then theres always pricks in amongst bunches of roses. 

 

Dying breed. Quite sad really. I feel sorry for them. Quite a pitiful group. Really a waste of time in Scotland. A side-show. Fluffy...Lol. 

 

 

[AuldReekie444]

"In the 2007 post – about her time working the US – she said waiters had told her American Jews “tip ok but only if you’ve absolutely busted your hump and everything was faultless in the extreme”.

She said they “often complain about the quality of the food, and then the small portions (Copyright: Woody Allen)”.

She also listed “American Blacks” and said: “Don’t tip at all or tip next to nothing – to be avoided. The waiters (also black, remember) would do anything to avoid serving a table of blacks or be openly disappointed if allocated one.”

And elsewhere she said: ” A special mention for fat people of all races. Difficult to tell if they’ll tip but one thing’s for sure the fatties are there for the ‘All you can eat soft-shell crab and shrimp for $15’ and you’re going to be running back and forth to that kitchen for re-fills all night and they aren’t going to move from that table until they go blind or pass out.”

[Boris]

9 hours ago, Thunderstruck said:

 

You could flip that argument around and say that, in respect of the SNP, the Nats  “don’t even care what their policies are they just want independence”.  

 

The complete absence of any response on the question of independence vs the cost to the vulnerable in society suggests that there are several nationalists on here who want independence at ANY cost. Is that sensible?

 

 

 

Thats a fair point as well. But given how much support they do have, I suspect you have the Indy at any price original SNPers, and then you have the ex-labour/Lib dem voters. It's that second lot who could stop supporting, if Labour got its act together,  but they also ain't gonna go to the Tories.

 

 

[Boris]

8 hours ago, JackLadd said:

All the SNP are good for is noise and hot air. I am not a huge Tory fan by any means but they are the least worst option for me.  Nobody over the age 40 should vote SNP unless they are desperate or nuts.

Not a huge fan but they are the least worst option.

 

so a fan, to some degree then.

 

they are ****ing awful.

[JackLadd]

58 minutes ago, Boris said:

Not a huge fan but they are the least worst option.

 

so a fan, to some degree then.

 

they are ****ing awful.

 

Still less awful than Corbyn and Sturgeon. If I'm looking after number one I have to vote tory. Just how it is.

[Stuart Lyon]

Nicola knew!

[Pans Jambo]

Seems the SNP HAVE been “getting on with the day job” after all. 

I’m looking forward to the British Tory version...

 

 

The list of SNP government achievements is long and wide-ranging. After a decade of Westminster cuts, the SNP government is working harder than ever to protect the most vulnerable in our society and deliver the best public services anywhere in the UK.

 

• Record health funding - over £13.1 billion in 2018-19, £4 billion more than when we took office.
• Higher passes have exceeded 150,000 for the past three years, and we’re investing record amounts in schools to close the attainment gap. £120 million will go direct to schools this year alone.
• Free tuition protected, saving students in Scotland up to £27,750 compared to the cost of studying in England.
• Free, high quality childcare has been increased to 16 hours a week for all 3 and 4 year olds – up from 12.5 hours in 2007 – and extended to 2 year olds from low income households, saving families up to £2,500 per child per year in total.
• We continue to meet our world-leading climate change targets. We remain well on track to achieve a 42 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
• We’ve met our target to reduce youth unemployment by 40 per cent - four years early - and it is now amongst the lowest rates in the EU.
• We’ve kept Council Tax down. Bills are lower in Scotland than in England - by £463 per year.
• Prescription charges abolished. In England, patients are forced to pay £8.80 per item.
• We’re leading the way on fair pay. Over 1,000 organisations are now accredited Living Wage employers - one quarter to the total across the UK.
• More than 76,500 affordable homes delivered, including more than 52,500 council or housing association homes. 
• 16 and 17 year olds now have the right to vote in Scottish Parliament and local government elections.
• To boost jobs and support businesses, we’ve slashed or abolished business rates for 100,000 premises – saving small businesses almost £1.5 billion to date.
• Recorded crime in Scotland has reached its lowest level in 43 years.
• Scotland, with one of the most progressive equal marriage laws in the world, is second only to Malta in Europe for LGBTI equality and human rights.
• We’re standing up for Scottish industry.We have secured a future for Scottish steel, the last remaining aluminium smelter at Lochaber, and Ferguson shipyard too.

 

A healthier Scotland 

 

• The number of staff in our NHS is at historic levels - up almost 12,900 since the SNP came to office.
• Patient satisfaction continues to increase with 90 per cent of NHS Scotland patients rating their care and treatment as good or excellent.
• Scotland’s A&E services are the best performing in the UK.
• We are investing £110 million to support implementation of a new GP contract to support wider primary care reform.
• We have brought forward plans for a £5 million expansion of the Golden Jubilee Hospital - the first part of our plan to invest £200 million in a network of elective and diagnostic treatment centres to help meet the needs of an ageing population.
• Over £5 billion has been invested in Scotland’s health infrastructure since 2007, including the South Glasgow Hospitals and Emergency Care Centre in Aberdeen.
• We’ve kept healthcare local. That means A&E units have been saved, children’s cancer services and neurosurgery units protected, and maternity units kept open.
• Nurses in Scotland are better paid than anywhere else in the UK. A nurse in Scotland, at Band 5, is paid between £227 and £312 more than their English counterparts.
• We have protected free eye tests. People in Scotland have benefited from over 21 million eye tests since the SNP came to office, including 2.7 million tests taken by children. 
• We’re supporting the lowest paid workers in our NHS by delivering the real Living Wage. Entry level pay for NHS support staff, Band 1, in Scotland is £1,128 higher than England, and over £1,867 higher than Northern Ireland.
• We’re recruiting more GPs by increasing the number of training places from 300 to 400 each year.
• We’re training more paramedics, with a commitment to train 1,000 more by the end of this Scottish Parliament term.
• We’ve expanded IVF to more families – making access in Scotland the fairest and most generous in the UK.
• Scotland has become the first country in the world to implement minimum unit pricing for alcohol.
• Our hospitals are cleaner and safer.  In over 65s cases of C.Diff are down 88 per cent, and cases of MRSA are down 94 per cent.
• We are investing £100 million to improve the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
• The risk from cervical cancer for the next generation of young women has been cut by providing the HPV vaccine for girls in second year of secondary school.
• Scrapping parking charges at all NHS-run hospital car parks has saved patients and staff around £27 million.
• Scotland has the highest number of GPs per head of population in the UK, and we’ve made sure more practices are now open in the evenings and at weekends.
• Scotland was the first country in the UK to have a mental health waiting times target, and spending on mental health services in Scotland will exceed £1 billion for the first time in 2017-18.
• A record nine in ten people are now registered with an NHS dentist – up from just 52 per cent when we took office.
• More funding than ever before is being provided to support carers and young carers, with investment of over £135 million in a range of programmes since 2007.
• We will begin the work to allow the implementation of ‘Franks Law’, providing free personal care for those under 65 who are assessed as needing it.
• Irresponsible alcohol discounts in supermarkets and off-licences are now banned, and we’ve raised the legal age for buying tobacco to 18.
• We’ve banned smoking in any vehicle carrying anyone under 18.
• We have made key commitments to limit the promotion of products high in fat, sugar and salt, which disproportionately contribute to ill health and obesity.
• We will set a new national aim to halve childhood obesity by 2030.
• Everyone who uses social care services can now control their individual care budget through the Self-directed Support Act.
• We’ve provided extra funding for Scotland’s veteran charities, and ensured our ex-service men and women receive priority treatment in the NHS and other services.
• We have brought forward an Human Tissue (Authorisation) (Scotland) Bill to introduce a workable soft opt out system of organ donation, after consulting on ways to to further increase organ donation and transplantation.

A smarter Scotland

 

• All children in primaries 1 to 3 – around 135,000 pupils – are now benefiting from free school meals, saving families around £380 per child per year.
• We have launched the Scottish Attainment Challenge, and investment in that programme will be £750 million over the life of this Parliament.
• Spending by local councils on education has increased in real terms for the past two years - up by £144 million in 2017-18.
• More school pupils are now in well-designed, accessible and inclusive learning environments. Between 2007 and 2017, 751 schools were built or refurbished – more than twice as many as the previous Labour/LibDem administrations.
• Record numbers of Scots are being accepted to study at university with record numbers from our most deprived communities too.
• We have introduced a new £100 national minimum school clothing grant - meaning all eligible families will get the same level of support wherever you live. 
• The First Minister’s Reading Challenge, which aims to encourage children to read for pleasure, has been opened to all primary school pupils after the success of the initial scheme for primaries 4 to 7.
• The Disabled Students Allowance has been protected and bursaries for students have been maintained in Scotland, while the Tories have abolished both elsewhere in the UK.
• We’ve expanded the Education Maintenance Allowance in Scotland – now scrapped south of the border – to support even more school pupils and college students from low income families.
• We continue to maintain at least 116,000 full-time equivalent Scottish Government-funded college places. 
• We’re supporting a further £300 million of investment to deliver new campuses at City of Glasgow, Inverness and Ayrshire Colleges. And  we’re investing in new campuses for Forth Valley and Fife Colleges too.
• We’re providing our further education students with record levels of support of £107 million in 2017-18 - up 32 per cent under the SNP.
• The number of full-time college students completing recognised higher education qualifications is at an all-time high.
• Full-time college students in Scotland can now benefit from the highest bursary of anywhere in the UK. 
• Graduates from Scottish universities are earning more than their counterparts in other UK nations.
• Taken together, the package of support for university students is the best in the UK – with free tuition; low interest rates for student loan repayments; and a minimum income guarantee of £7,625. And we are committed to doing more.
• We’ve introduced a new £20,000 bursary for career changers iming to become teachers in priority science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) subjects.

 

A wealthier Scotland

 

• Youth unemployment is now amongst the lowest in the EU.
• Scotland is the top destination in the UK, outside of London, for foreign direct investment.
• Today Scotland has the highest pay anywhere in the UK outside of London and the South East.
• Scotland’s productivity is outperforming the UK as a whole.  Since the start of the recession, productivity has increased by 7.6 per cent, while it has grown by only 0.6 per cent in the UK as a whole.
• Over 250,000 young people have had the opportunity to undertake a Modern Apprenticeship since 2007. And by 2020, a further 30,000 opportunities will be available every year.
• Councils have been enabled to build new homes for the first time in years – with 9,217 council homes delivered since 2007.
• 15,500 social houses for rent have been safeguarded by ending Right to Buy.
• £500 million has been committed to stimulate and support economic growth in Glasgow and the Clyde Valley.
• £125 million has been allocated through the Aberdeen City Region Deal to stimulate and support economic growth in the city, alongside an additional £254 million for infrastructure projects in the North-east.
• We are investing £135 million in the Inverness and Highland City Region Deal – two and a half times the UK Government investment.
• By the end of 2021 we will have committed £1 billion to tackling fuel poverty, and over one million energy efficiency measures have already been installed in almost one million households across Scotland.
• We’ve helped people into homeownership through the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, which has kept more than 24,000 households out of tax compared to UK Stamp Duty that it replaced.
• Public sector procurement has been simplified, with more small and medium-sized enterprises now competing for and winning public sector contracts.
• The number of registered businesses in Scotland has reached 176,400, the highest number on record.
• Scotland’s international exports - valued at £29.8 billion in 2016 - are up 44.6 per cent under the SNP.
• Scotland’s tourism industry is going from strength to strength – in 2015 spending by tourists in Scotland generated around £11 billion.
• We have established Innovation and Investment Hubs in London, Brussels, Dublin and Berlin, and in 2018-19 will open a hub in Paris.
• Spending on economic development in Scotland is higher than the UK as a whole – to the tune of £43 per head.
• We will invest a further £60 million to deliver innovative low carbon energy solutions, such as electricity storage and sustainable heating systems - to improve energy efficiency as we look to a low carbon future.
• We won new powers over tax and social security, and protected Scotland’s budget from a £7 billion cut by the Treasury over the financial arrangements enabling new powers.
• We have begun work to establish a Scottish National Investment Bank, committing £2 billion investment over ten years.

A fairer Scotland

 

• All babies in Scotland are now provided with a Baby Box in a bid to reduce infant mortality and help families at the start of a child’s life.
• In 2011, we became the first government in the UK to pay the real Living Wage to our staff, including all NHS workers. We have now extended the real Living Wage to all adult social care workers. 
• We have already ensured that nobody in Scotland has to pay the Bedroom Tax. And we will use new powers to effectively abolish it once and for all, protecting over 70,000 households.
• Over 285,720 low income households in crisis have been helped to buy essentials such as nappies, food and cookers through our Scottish Welfare Fund since it was established in 2013.
• 1.3 million older and disabled people have benefited from free public transport through the National Concessionary Bus Travel Scheme.
• Around 77,000 older people in Scotland benefit from access to a wide range of personal care tasks without being charged.
• Almost half a million vulnerable households in Scotland – including around 180,000 people aged over 65 and almost 78,000 lone parents – have been protected from UK government cuts to Council Tax benefit.
• We have passed a Child Poverty Bill which will set targets to end child poverty by 2030, and will establish a new £50 million fund to tackle poverty at a grassroots level.
• We have already safeguarded the rights of almost 2,600 of the most severely disabled by establishing the Scottish Independent Living Fund.
• We’ve kept Scottish Water in public hands. Customers are now paying less for a better service – charges for the average household bill in Scotland are £42 lower than in England and Wales.
• Our new employment support programmes will be on a voluntary basis and will not interact with the UK government’s punitive benefit sanctions system.
• Almost 500 companies have signed the Scottish Business Pledge - a voluntary code for companies to commit to policies that boost productivity, recognise fairness and increase diversity.
• We are investing £185,000 to help women who have had career breaks back into the workplace, by investing in six Returners projects.
• We have passed a new law requiring public bodies to work towards gender balance on their boards - the only part of the UK with such a statutory objective. 
• We now have Scotland’s first cabinet with an equal number of women and men.
• A £300,000 Sports Equality Fund has benefited 14 projects with the aim of increasing women’s engagement in sport.
• We are investing in £500,000 in a national scheme to improve access to sanitary products for women on low incomes. And from August sanitary products will be available free in all schools, colleges and universities. 
• We are working with local councils to end all burial and cremation charges with immediate effect for all under 18s.

 

A safer Scotland

 

• Since we took office, non-sexual violent crime is down by 49 per cent,  robberies are down 60 per cent and handling offensive weapons – including knife crime – is down by 68 per cent.
• In Scotland, under the SNP, police numbers are up, while they’ve fallen in England.
• The new Scottish Crime Campus provides a focal point for excellence in intelligence-sharing, evidence gathering and forensic science to tackle serious organised crime.
• Automatic early release has been ended, meaning that long-term prisoners who pose an unacceptable risk to public safety will serve their sentence in full.
• The reconviction rate has been reduced to its lowest level in 18 years, thanks to tough community sentences.
• Since 2008, £92 million has been seized from criminals and has been reinvested in community projects for young people across Scotland.
• We have passed a groundbreaking Domestic Violence Bill that creates a new specific offence to help tackle domestic abuse. This covers not just physical abuse, but also other forms of psychological abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour.
• HMP Low Moss opened in March 2012 and HMP Grampian opened in March 2014, two major parts of our prison building programme.
• We are investing almost £30 million to tackle domestic violence against women and girls.
• We will create a new criminal offence of drug driving to come into force in 2019 - to tackle a growing threat and make our roads safer.
• Access to air weapons has been tightened to improve public safety.
• Tackling sectarianism has been backed up with record investment of £12.5 million.
• The new Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has been created. 
• We have made the sharing of so-called ‘revenge porn’ a specific criminal offence, carrying a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.
• Scotland has the UK’s first national action plan on human rights, showing our ambition to be an example of how to realise human rights and tackle injustice at home and abroad.
• We have introduced a Bill to the Scottish Parliament to raise the minimum age a child can be held criminally responsible from eight to 12, keeping children out of the court system and reinforcing Scotland’s commitment to international human rights standards.

 

 Investing for the future

 

• We have doubled the walking and cycling budget to £80 million per year. 
• We have delivered the £1.35 billion Queensferry Crossing.
• We’ve connected Glasgow to Edinburgh with continuous motorway for the first time.
• Commuters have saved around £2,280 since bridge tolls on the Forth Road Bridge and Tay Bridge were scrapped by the SNP.
• Since 2007, £8 billion has been invested in our rail infrastructure.
• The Borders Railway, the longest new domestic railway to be built in Britain in over
• 100 years, has reopened and welcomed over 1 million passengers in its first year.
• A £5 billion investment programme in Scotland’s railways up to 2019 will deliver longer, greener trains, new stations, new track upgrades, more seats, and more services.
• The first section of our £3 billion project to dual the A9 from Perth to Inverness has been completed.  
• Construction of the £745 million Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route is underway. 
• In the South of Scotland we’re taking forward the construction of the Maybole bypass on the A77, making further improvements to the A75 and exploring how to better connect Dumfries and the M74.
• With government assistance a new buyer was found for the Ferguson shipyard in Port Glasgow and it has now delivered the first of two new hybrid ferries.
• Scotland has now achieved 95 per cent fibre broadband coverage – and we’ll reach 100 per cent superfast coverage by 2021.

 

Empowering communities

 

• Scotland’s independence referendum was the biggest democratic exercise in Scotland’s history.
• We launched a £200,000 Access to Politics Fund to help disabled people stand for the 2017 local government elections. And we will continue the fund for the Scottish Parliament elections in 2021.
• Local communities have been given a voice in the planning and delivery of local services - backed up by £20 million of funding - through the Community Empowerment Act.
• The Scottish Land Fund has already helped 112 communities across the country to purchase land, with over 500,000 acres now in community ownership. And the Fund has been increased to £10 million per year.
• The radical and ambitious Land Reform Act has been passed to transform rules around the ownership, accessibility and benefits of land in Scotland.

 

A greener Scotland

 

• Scotland has exceeded its target to produce 50 per cent of its electricity from renewables by 2015 - with more than two-thirds of Scotland’s electricity needs met from renewable sources.
• Scotland is outperforming the UK as a whole and most western European nations in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Only Sweden and Finland have achieved greater reductions in Western Europe.
• A new Bill will see Scotland continue to have the toughest climate change legislation in the world, as we aim to become one of the first countries to achieve a 100 per cent reduction in carbon emissions.
• With the support of the SNP Scottish Government, low carbon industries in Scotland and their supply chains generated over £11 billion for the economy in 2016.
• We have ensured that fracking and underground coal gasification cannot take place in Scotland.
• Scotland’s household recycling rate was 45.2 per cent in 2016 – up from around 32 per cent for municipal waste in 2007.
• Carrier bag use has been reduced by 80 per cent - the equivalent of 650 million bags - in the first year of the carrier bag charge.
• To cut waste and keep our beaches clean, we are committed to banning plastic cotton buds and are looking into other ways we can tackle our throwaway culture.
• We’ve helped make our communities safer from flooding with investment in flood defences and new measures in the Flooding Act. And we’ve agreed a new 10 year funding strategy for flood protection, consisting of £42 million a year, aiming to protect 10,000 families across Scotland.
• By 2021, £21 million will have been distributed through the world-leading Climate Justice Fund, which is now supporting projects in Malawi, Zambia and Rwanda.
• We are ensuring the clean, green status of our valuable food and drink sector is protected by opting out of the cultivation of genetically modified crops.

 

Supporting rural communities 

 

• A record £1 billion has been invested in vessels, ports and ferry services since 2007 as part of our commitment to our islands and remote communities, with six ferries added to CalMac’s fleet and two new ferries due for delivery in 2018.
• We have passed an Islands Bill that will ensure future laws and public sector policies are ‘island-proof’ and reflect the interests of islanders. to meet the unique needs of Scotland’s islands and empower communities. 
• Road Equivalent Tariff has been rolled out to all ferry routes in the Clyde and Hebrides network, delivering significantly reduced ferry fares and the highest passenger numbers since 1997.
• Residents of Caithness and north-west Sutherland, Colonsay, Islay, Jura, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles are eligible for a 50 per cent discount on air fares. 
• With produce output worth around £2.3 billion a year and around 65,000 people directly employed, we work tirelessly to get the best deal for Scotland’s farmers, crofters and growers. 
• We played a key role in reforming EU fisheries policy to bring an end to the wasteful discarding of fish at sea.
• We have begun work towards establishing a South of Scotland Enterprise Agency by 2020 to support businesses, jobs and skills in the region.
• With food and drink exports valued over £5.5 billion and 14,000 new jobs estimated to be created in the sector by 2020, we strive to promote Scotland’s top quality produce.
• We’ve frozen fares on Northern Isles ferries and, in 2018, we’ll introduce a scheme to reduce fares.
• The clean, green status of our valuable food and drink sector has been protected by opting out of the cultivation of genetically modified crops in Scotland.
• Scotland’s first National Marine Plan aims to achieve the sustainable development of our seas.
• We are investing £6 million in a Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund to help ensure the services and facilities tourists and communities need are provided. 

 

Enabling creativity and sport

 

• Free access has been maintained to our national museums and galleries, which now welcome four million visitors every year.
• We are ensuring Scotland is on the centre stage for major events, providing funding for the European Championships 2018, the Solheim Cup 2019 and the UEFA Euro 2020.
• Since the SNP government backed the 'Daily Mile' challenge over half a million children in over 3,000 of Scotland's schools now walk or run a mile each day. 
• 98 per cent of primary and secondary schools across Scotland are now providing two hours of physical education a week – up from 10 per cent in 2005.
• Since 2007 production spend in Scotland has increased by 200 per cent - in 2018-19 we will double public sector funding for Scotland’s screen sector to £20 million and support the establishment of a dedicated unit for film and TV, based within Creative Scotland. 
• We have provided £19 million investment in Edinburgh’s major festivals since 2008. We will now add investment through a new five year, PLACE - Platform for Creative Excellence partnership, with £5 million each from Edinburgh City Council and the Scottish Government.  
• We have invested £25 million in the V&A Museum of Design in Dundee, which will open in 2018.
• We are committed to supporting MG Alba, which operates BBC Alba and receives £12.8 million a year from the Scottish Government. 

 

…but there’s still much more we want to do. Together, we will continue to shape a fairer, more successful Scotland.

[Pans Jambo]

24 minutes ago, Stuart Lyon said:

Nicola knew!

The Tories not only knew...they joined in (allegedly of course ).

 

 

[jambo lodge]

11 minutes ago, Pans Jambo said:

The Tories not only knew...they joined in (allegedly of course ).

 

 

Are you Spacey in disguise?

[Boris]

50 minutes ago, JackLadd said:

 

Still less awful than Corbyn and Sturgeon. If I'm looking after number one I have to vote tory. Just how it is.

 

A very erudite summation of Tory philosophy!

[Pans Jambo]

27 minutes ago, jambo lodge said:

Are you Spacey in disguise?

Do you have a “Jim fixed it for me” badge???

[AlimOzturk]

Nice list above tbf

[Boris]

20 minutes ago, AlimOzturk said:

Nice list above tbf

 

Nah, it's shit.  Eat your cereal.

 

[jambo lodge]

54 minutes ago, Pans Jambo said:

Do you have a “Jim fixed it for me” badge???

Anyone can make a list, notice there is nothing on improved performance on Health or Education.

[Thunderstruck]

15 minutes ago, jambo lodge said:

Anyone can make a list, notice there is nothing on improved performance on Health or Education.

 

It isn’t anything that the Regional Councils couldn’t have done. 

Edited June 29, 2018 by Thunderstruck

[jack D and coke]

SNP need to get on with the day job  

Only that balloon Davidson could get away with that shite unchallenged by our media. 

Incidentally there’s rumours she’s been taking elecution lessons to sound less Scottish  to further her career  

 

Edited June 29, 2018 by jack D and coke

[jack D and coke]

12 hours ago, AuldReekie444 said:

 

I think you are wrong on this jack D and coke. The Tory vote in Scotland has done well for years now. I don't regard it as a flash in the pan.

 

But I hope you totally underestimate it as much as you possibly can, for as long as you possibly can. 

It collapsed under Maggie and it still hasn’t recovered. The ultra unionists use them for a vehicle against indy 2. 

They have nothing. You know that too. 

Edited June 29, 2018 by jack D and coke

[Boris]

27 minutes ago, Thunderstruck said:

 

It isn’t anything that the Regional Councils couldn’t have done. 

 

So not a fan of devolution then?

 

Fair play to you.

[Pans Jambo]

27 minutes ago, jambo lodge said:

Anyone can make a list, notice there is nothing on improved performance on Health or Education.

So make one showing the tory achievents.

 

I will start it for you...

 

 

10 years of tory austerity showing no let up anytime soon 

Brexit shambles

Rich getting richer

National debt at £1.7Tn & rising

Billions of tax avoided & held off-shore

dramatic rise in food-bank usage

DWP effectively killing off the vulnerable with their draconian sanctions

Getting into bed with the DUP

Universal Credit

Duck Ponds.

Being held to ransom by the Chinese over new nuclear power station contracts

Cash for access to the PM

Boris!

Jeremy Hunt!

 

Feel free to continue...

[Boris]

5 minutes ago, Pans Jambo said:

 

Boris!

 

 

Johnson...obviously!