She told BuzzFeed News that the Tories had been revived by the independence referendum campaign
and could offer an alternative to the SNP if the party shifts to the left under
Nicola, who would be, she thinks, the most left-leaning first minister that Scotland has even
had. And she prophesies that the Tories could win some seats in the UK elections as a result
of people turning away from the SNP towards more right wing policies in the UK.
She said that the
party was targeting a number of constituencies, but refused to name them on
the basis of being stung in 2010 when they reckoned they could take 12
seats and actually took 1. (Although, to be even handed, Alex Salmond also foresaw the SNP winning 20 seats at that election, and they won only 6.)
Ruth seemed to contradict herself, though, when said that she thought that the Liberals might be the real losers to
a right wing surge. She may be right
there. I'd have guessed that of the 11 Liberal London seats in Scotland, they
will be lucky to keep 3 or 4, and some suggest that only the Alistair’s Northern
Isles and Charlie Kennedy’s seat will stay faithful.
David Cameron appears to agree with his underling, saying that the referendum campaign has given activists a strong foundation from which to build support.
It’s hard to see
that this is likely, although, I grant you, living in Dundee, where
Conservatives are as thick on the ground as hens’ teeth, doesn't give me the best insight to the general feeling.
Someone with,
presumably, even less of a feeling for this, given that he is a Conservative
councillor in Salford, England said: “I
think the fact a lot of socially conservative Scots who were voting SNP had
their minds refocused by the referendum because they weren't backing
independence.
“We saw that with
results in places like Perthshire, Angus, Murray, areas that voted in SNP MPs
and MSPs were voting overwhelmingly to stay in the union, and I think that’s
going to help us going forwards because the SNP is lurching to the left.”
Where exactly she gets this idea, and how it ties in to her theory that the SNP is moving to the left, I have no idea.
The SNP has always said that it will do its best for the people of Scotland. On occasions that might mean voting with the Tories or Labour. But the notion that they would agree to any kind of electoral pact is surely out of the question, and even if it were not, how would being in coalition with a party that refuses to vote on England or England and Wales law be of any use to a party wishing to form a UK government?
And as the SNP, presently constituted, votes against virtually all Conservative UK policies on wars, weapons, social security, immigration, harassment of the EU, etc, etc, where would she be expecting to find any common ground?
Surely the lesson that everyone must have learned by now, is that being in coalition of any kind with the Tories rings a death knell for your party.
Ask Clegg!
Several folk btl have suggested this is shit stirring from Ruthie. By floating the idea - as left field as it is - that SNP would collaborate with Tories, they are hoping that Labour folk who voted yes will flock back to Labour and not consider voting for SNP/ another Yes party in 2015.
ReplyDeleteBTW started writing a piece on Tories and why apparently decent folk vote for them. I can only hope it meets with Munguin's approval when completed!
Yes, that thought crossed my mind PP.
DeleteNothing to make people hate a party more than to suggest it might co-operate with the Tories.
I'm sure that Sturgeon will laugh the idea out of court.
I look forward to your piece.
Munguin say that at least it will all be spelled right... and in this day and age that is not to be sneezed at... I dunno, you can't get the staff these days.... he says!
Cheeky wee sod.
I believe that the SNP constitution forbids an alliance with the Tories.
DeleteShe is thick, misinformed or mischievous.
Yes, I read that somewhere too.. I'm not sure that ruling things out like that is entirely sensible, but I believe it does exist.
DeleteUnlike Ruth some of us can tell the difference between right and left as her right is going back to Dickensian times.
ReplyDeleteI see there is some debate about whether the UK government can take Scotland out of the Human Rights Legislation.
DeleteOn the face of it Scotland signed up separately to this treaty in Holyrood, under Labour/Liberals, and as Scots law is separate from English law, and largely the responsibility of the Scottish government, it would seem unlikely that Theresa May can stamp on our rights.
But you can never ever ever trust this lot not to ride roughshod over everything if they think it will do down the ordinary person. And in the end they are the supreme parliament. We can't stop them no matter what they do.
The SNP have always been willing to work with other parties where there is a common goal that would benefit the people of Scotland. Unfortunately the unionist parties at Holyrood are also working towards a UK election in 2015. They will mostly spend from now until May fighting one another South of the Border while North of the Border they are likely to be desperately trying to just keep the SNP from doing well in May 2015.
ReplyDeleteSorry to say it but I think we all know perfectly well that the Unionists are going to be playing dirty. Positive vision and real solutions to Scotland's problems will never be solved in Westminster but Scotland has plenty of resources that Westminster want to keep feeding its spending plans for the continuing London and the South East bubble.
Yes Adrian, I suspected that the minute the referendum was over the emphasis would transfer to the May election and the important prize of who gets to sit next to Mr Obama and carry his lunch pack.
DeleteAlex worked with Annabel Goldie where it was sensible to do so and also with the Liberals and Labour in the past. I genuinely believe that they want to best form Scotland. Just don't think that getting into any kind of coalition of any kind with Tories would either help Scotland or do the party any good.
The SNP have not moved to the Left - not for at least 30 years anyway. What has changed more recently is the Tories have goose-stepped to the right under huge applause during their conference.
DeleteThe only good thing that the Libs could say was that they had forced the Tax threshold up to £10,000. Cameron has just upped that to 12,500 under a Tory gov. - OK in 5+ years, but it doesn't give the Lib Dems much to now champion.
The ground that in theory Labour should broadly occupy is in Scotland at least taken up by the SNP. In England the Greens are the closest to this position but they are tiny and do not worry Cameron.
Labour have been out played North and South of the Border. In Scotland the SNP has easily been in the centre left of politics for a number of years - actually helped a great deal by Tony Blair moving towards Thatchers politics on greed, one nation and all that nonsense.
There might still be some good people within the Labour movement, but they have been powerless to gain any positive social change from within Labour for a very long time. The people who drive Labour and those that steer it in the direction that it takes do not share the values of centre left politics, they do not want to improve the lives of thousands of families trapped in a low wage economy with little hope of improving their lot. If Labour solved these problems they who would possibly unequivocally vote for them?
Right now Labour are further to the right than Thatcher was in the 1980's. Cameron has moved to have see off UKIP with his policies on TTIP, English votes for English laws, Asda benefit cards, Fracking contracts, 40 pence TAX band change and Camerons pledge to scrap the Human Rights Act.
So much is actually happened in the last 2 weeks that I doubt many of us could actually manage to recall 20% of it and I think we are paying attention. That means that most people out in the real world haven't got a clue about that changes that have been announced.
Brilliant summation. Can't add to it.
DeleteI'm an SNP member. If it lurches to the left then I and a whole lot of others will leave. Nicola is sharp enough to know that. She is not going to change the party to suit the new members.
ReplyDeleteThe two faced lying political types like Ruthie don't understand that.
One of the things that has been brought home to me in the referendum campaign is just how appallingly ignorant most of the Westminster politicians are. Either that or they are just chronic out and out liars.
They are not brought to book because the Media is just as ignorant and the BBC even more so.
I don;t think it will lurch to the left either.
DeleteI accept that the present leadership has taken it leftward. That's sensible in a country where the bulk of the population is centre left. At one time it might have been appropriate to call them the Tartan Tories... it would be plain silly now.
But I see no likelihood of much movement under Nicola.
Ignorant and liars I'd say.
Apparently the prime minister told his conference that they English Dept of Health had plans for 12 hour day surgeries, 7 days a week. That would be yesterday.
Today there is a report of dire shortages of doctors in England...
So maybe he's going to staff these surgeries with work placement people off the dole...
... or maybe he was lying to get a good story for his delegates to take home.
Just like his son's tartan pyjamas. He says whatever he thinks will make a good press story.
I doubt the SNP will lurch to the right either, so Ruthie can haud her wheesht. The reason for the Tartan Tory name tag was if memory serves me when the SNP won a fair amount of council seats to have members turn their coats to the Tories. I would think that this is unthinkable nowadays. We are still a broad church, which has done nobody any harm but I think embracing any Party of the Unionist persuasion might choke members right now.
DeleteI don;t think you could ever accuse the party of being tartan Tories now. I thought it came from the days when the support was largely in the country areas, but it's way before my time so I'm not that sure.
DeleteSo, we now have Ruthie saying that Labour are more Tory than the SNP.
ReplyDeleteBut that the Conservatives may want to form a coalition government with the SNP? Why not Labour, if they're closer to the Conservatives position? And it would be a certainty that a Con/Lab coalition would be a majority.
So why aren't they suggesting that?
You would have thought that she might have thought that one through. Illy.
DeleteRuth Davidson is - as usual - living in cloud cuckoo land.
ReplyDeleteGoing by the slightly forced tone, I think she's mostly trying to convince herself the things she says are true.
She's also in the Herald saying the SNHS has been disadvantaged to the tune of £700 million since 2009 by SNP ScotGov. Neglecting to add, that budgets have increased, just not by as much as was hoped - its not actually a cut per se.
She's another mendacious wee nyaff. Blaming a Scottish Government who's funding from Westminster is being slashed for having to juggle budgets. Austerity is a Tory policy and she's trying to pin it on the SNP.
Also, Cara Hilton was trying to blame the Scottish Government for closing primary schools in Fife...
Labour LA votes to close schools
Parents appeal to LA
Appeal falls on deaf ears.
Parents appeal to ScotGov
ScotGov investigate but can't find anything in the LA's conduct they can use to keep schools open
Schools close
Cara Hilton (Labour MP) blames Scottish Government for School closure.
That right there is reality according to Labour in Scotland.
Oh aye. Scottish Labour now chasing people for 25 year old Poll Tax arrears. Bet Ruthie was kicking herself for not thinking that one up.
And the ever-quixotic Hothersal creature says LA's hands are tied -'they have a legal obligation' apparently - proving once again that Labour apparatchiks wouldn't know a sense of morality and/or decency if it slapped them in the coupon.
I feel bad for No voters who thought they were doing the right thing. Next time though...
Next Time...
I choked myself laughing at Hilton.
DeleteShe's campaigned on not closing schools; got elected; closed schools, and then blamed the SNP because the government did not reverse her own party's policies.
She's sleakit and cheap.
I see Alex has trumped the poll tax councils, by saying that they will introduce legislation to close that matter for once and all. I wonder, if they have a legal duty to pursue Council Tax debt, what they have been doing to fulfil these duties for the past 20 years!
I remember reading that when Labour was in power in London and in Edinburgh, the block grant was around £32 billion.
I understand that it is now around £27 billion.
Part of that, I'm sure, was Gordon Brown getting Scotland back for ditching Labour, just as HE became prime minister of their glorious union. You can imagine how a set back like that would affect a psychopath like him. But most of it is that they simply don't have enough money in the UK to run the UK and all its warring and grandstanding.
These cuts affects the whole of the UK, not just Scotland. It's the price we all have to pay (well some of us have to pay) fro years of incompetent government.
It's worthwhile saying that the SNHS is paying back vast amounts on these idiotic PPP agreements that Brown (and McConnell) entered into to make it look as if they were building hospitals and schools for the people, while all the time they were lining the purses of big business.
Services have been cut drastically everywhere. I think Ruth will find that Scots have done really well because John Swinney seems to be able to make much less go much farther.
Just how they expect the government to spend more money than it gets from London, I'm not sure.
Perhaps if Ruth were first minister she would raise income tax on the rich to make up the shortfall?
No, thought not.
Ruth knows though that it is hell of an easy to criticise when you are permanently in opposition.
It's more difficult when you actually have to make the decisions and run the country. Fortunately for us, she will remain ignorant of that responsibility.
ReplyDeleteDave is developing the man in the Moon face and Ruthie is already there.
Maybe it is because of Halloween and cakes.
Tory Party party on Hallowe'en
Deletehttp://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://top-10-list.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Halloween-holiday.jpg&imgrefurl=http://top-10-list.org/2011/10/31/top-10-things-about-halloween/&h=167&w=301&tbnid=9-AUY8lj3VT2tM:&zoom=1&tbnh=111&tbnw=200&usg=__n3P2Wd5IOwQhlvVhH6KJkLiBpss=&docid=j2UbwpWmGdcZ1M&itg=1&ved=0CKoBEMo3&ei=_pEuVNPzOYzvaPKJgqgH
Leaders poll ratings on trust.
ReplyDeleteRuth does have a higher rating than the irrelevant party has.
Thanks. That needed more push sol I've copied it for a post.
DeleteI don't think she's mendacious or Machiavellian, just a middling-ability assistant branch manager who's been promoted beyond her abilities. Her lot might win a Liberal seat or two, like in the Borders, and their dazzlingly able Mr Muddle will probably hold on the to A74 seat, but poor Ms Davidson is as irrelevant these days as a Tilley lamp in a power station. The Libs will hang on to Orkney and Shetland, but even Charlie Bottle will have a struggle in Skye and Lochaber.
ReplyDeleteLOL. "Ms Davidson is as irrelevant these days as a Tilley lamp in a power station." That has to be the line of the month!
DeleteShe just seems to ape what Cameron says, and when he changes his tune to suit the mood, she does it too.
Remember the famous "line in the sand".
You're probably right. Being Machiavellian takes real brains.