Salt n Vinegar

I think the deadline is 10.00pm on election day.

I suppose that the motives could be up for debate, but the Scotland Act 1988 establishing the Scottish Parliament and the FPTP/PR system is an Act of the UK Parliament and as such cannot be amended by Holyrood. If it could be amended at Holyrood I suspect that things like the list of reserved powers might have received some Holyrood attention by now. Edit... It strikes me that a Parliament steadfastly opposed to PR has a bit of a cheek insisting that the devolved Parliaments/Assemblies use PR and denies those bodies the right to have an electoral system of their choosing.

You might be right about the Labour/Conservative situation but I think that some former Tories might be put off by the new Leader. I wasn't awfully keen on Ruth Davidson, but she was a stellar performer compared to that utter balloon Ross. I think her former seat in Edinburgh Central will go to the SNP. Interesting times.

I agree up to the point when he had no answer to the question about him sending his kids to a private school. Floundered a bit there and I don't think it would have gone down too well with the 'brethren and sistren'. If Labour can't overtake the Tories led by Ross, they are in a worse state than is widely thought.

Hi. PV arrived today. Voted constituency SNP, but was a bit torn on Regional list. The SNP didn't win in 3 of the individual Lothian constituencies, and might well win at least one of them back - maybe Edinburgh Central where Ruthy Tank Commander won last time. The SNP received over 118,000 list votes last time and received no list MSPs at all, so even if they don't win back one of the missing 3 constituencies this time I can't see a SNP Regional list vote helping to keep unionists to a minimum. I've given my list vote to the greens. Some folk don't like the tactical voting stuff, which is made even more complicated by the combined FPTP/PR system, but when the electoral system installed by Westminster in the Act was designed to keep the SNP from obtaining a majority, a nationalist has to do what a nationalist has to do.

1-0 to the Rovers...

0-0 half time between the also rans..

So far you kind lads are doing a fine job for the Rovers. They'll be thrilled! Don't worry though... Raith are hardly a shoe-in for 3 points tonight.

I'm now waiting for the inevitable anti-SNP/anti-independence "news" stories. A banger in a crisp poke in a deserted building being dressed up as a 'Scottish National Liberation Army' terrorist plot, a 'Sturgeon ate my hamster' headline in the Sun/Daily Mail, or a 'Scottish Pound to be tied to the Iranian Rial' front page story in the FT. It's only a matter of time!

Anyone reading the Coronation Oath might be surprised at what it says. It includes the Archbishop asking "Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel? Will you to the utmost of your power maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law? Will you maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in England? And will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England, and to the Churches there committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges, as by law do or shall appertain to them or any of them?" The monarch is expected to reply... "All this I promise to do." The oath therefore enshrines religious discrimination in the Monarchy - the head of state is obliged to favour one particular branch of one particular supernatural belief system over all others. There is absolutely no room for such tripe in anything even pretending to be a modern democracy. All in my opinion, of course!

Some try the tourism pish argument with me as well. They tend not to have much of an answer when I point out that the Palace of Versailles has about 10 million visitors a year and they "abolished" their monarchy a while ago. Must be hellish for the USA as well, the royalty desert that it is!

Easy to explain... it was scored by the wrong team. Nothing to see here, move along now...

Absolutely. I've no time for the very idea of monarchies. Most countries seem to get along without them. Edit... I'd be content to let the present one serve out her time, but the idea of King Charles? Boak.

There's a story today in the National suggesting that some "senior ministers" are telling Boris to force a quick indyref because they think it would be a "no" due to Covid. No word in the article of the views of the Scottish Conservatives, who are presumably in a collective state of shock. I really can't take the story seriously. Regardless of anyone's views on independence, if true it would make the next Scottish Conservative election leaflets and party election broadcasts absolutely hysterical.

I would have no problem if Kennedy held on to the job. Not sure about throwing the cup tie though... beating a downbeat Celtic side is great. Thumping a confident, optimistic one will be glorious.

I think my response to that would be that I can't seriously accept any suggestion that I am "toxic" ! The fact that I am still around means that some (hopefully many) decent folk CAN support the club. Not all Celtic supporters support terrorism (Hell, I understand that some of them occasionally wash and that a few even have jobs) and not all Hibs fans want to throw bottles at opposition players or attack them on the pitch. Not all Hamilton fans are like the sadly departed Fergie who years ago famously ranted abuse loud and long. (one of my favourites was when I went with a relative to a Hamilton away match in Kirkcaldy. The players had scarcely disappeared up the tunnel for half-time when Fergie started shouting 'come on ref, get these lazy b*****ds back out'. A polis went to speak to him, but just ended up walking away grinning). I'm certainly not going to condemn all clubs because some fans of each are (in my unqualified view) utter bampots. I suppose my conclusion would be that supporting a club does not require support for the inane views of others who support the same club. Sane people sometimes think nutty things... I understand that Issac Newton was also a believer in the occult, including alchemy. That doesn't lessen the importance of his work in maths and science. Without the 'My team, no matter what' fans, bad though attendances in the lower leagues are, there would be nobody in these grounds at all.

Hi. It would be a tough thing to step away from a team after 50 odd years. I think it is perfectly ok like a team but not like what some associated with the team say or do (or sing!) I think I saw through the stupidity of the sectarian garbage by the time I was about 16/17 and it's a pity that some others can't seem to leave the name calling and mob mentality behind them. It is not lost on me that some of the Rangers supporters in full seethe over racism will have no problems singing about aspects of religion and a certain nearby country. The religious stuff is pretty bizarre as I doubt if any sizeable percentage of them will ever darken the doors of a church. Still, as I have no time for religion, that's not really my problem and if those who let religion play a major part in their lives are content, I dare say they are happy. Don't get me wrong, like most others I've seen idiots in many grounds. I spent some time in Fife, where, let's just say, some fan attitudes and behavior was less than exemplary. My wife, who like me is from Glasgow, studied for a year at Aberdeen's Robert Gordons - she was told to leave a pub in Aberdeen by the staff as her accent was apparently "upsetting" some locals. Glass houses mate! I started going to Ibrox in the late1960s. There might not be quite as many nutters now as there were then, but they are stil about. Cheers.

Should be comfortable enough against Hibs. Pressure is off. I'll be disappointed if it's any less than a two goal margin.

That would be fair comment if some fans of the club I've supported for over 50 years didn't glorify themselves in royalty, Union Jacks, National Anthems and Rule Britannias. (Non-football interest nutters associate themselves with other clubs too including another biggish team in Glasgow.) Trouble is, some will regard Prince Philip's death in the same way as if the Club captain had died immediately after scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final. Personally, I can do without the religious/royalty/unionist pish, but I accept that I'm a minority in the Rangers support, many of whom seem to think/assume that it's a package deal. I'm not "happy" that the Duke has died, but I can't say it will cause me any grief. Edinburgh will get along without him just fine. In the grand scheme of things, with covid, brexit, poverty, global warming, nukes, it's pretty small beer. If some think I'm an unfeeling grinch, OK, but I'll get over it. The media will play this "oh woe are we" stuff for weeks. Aliens could land at Anniesland Cross tonight and it wouldn't get a mention. At least things aren't quite as bad here as they are in parts of Vanuatu, where some considered him to be divine.

Never mind all that guff... you should see the scenes here in Edinburgh where the populace are rioting in the streets because we no longer have a Duke. I've just seen an ice cream van in flames rolling down a street and there are crowds self-flagellating in Leith (mind you, it's Leith, so that might well be normal for a Friday night). How on Earth are we supposed to carry on amid such a catastrophic loss? Please, please, all you good people... think of us and send us the necessary resources to rebuild our shattered society. We MUST rebuild.

Better watch out - if the Tories hear that a vote is available they'll be on to you with a Knighthood or a seat on the board of a bank. Tory democracy - the best democracy money can buy.

It's ok, no problem... I'm in my 60s and my folks died decades ago. Dad was a former Labour voter who was eventually in favour of independence, Mum was a Labour supporter all her days of the "that bitch Thatcher" club. Dad was also a Church of Scotland elder, but I didn't just oppose everything he stood for in his younger Labour days - he was a Rangers fan all his days. All the Queen/Union Jack/Rule Britannia guff gives me the boak, so I'll be quite happy for the Unionists to be given the mother and father of all bloody noses at the election.

Well, it would be interesting if I could speak to my parents but as I am an atheist it seems unlikely... until science comes up with a means of communicating with the dead it would pretty much be a one way conversation with replies a no-no!

Crikey... They'll be in trouble with the DUP over copyright issues... The DUP are already known as the Political Wing of the Old Testament. Who do these chancers think they are? Maybe they are forming a new UK party with the DUP to represent those who'd prefer to live in the Dark Ages. I'm in Edinburgh and appear to be a scarce commodity around here... I'm a Rangers fan, I have always supported the SNP, can't stand Royalty and I'm an atheist. (I don't think there's many of us about!) The consensus appears to be that in these parts the best votes to secure the best pro-indy outcome is SNP for the FPTP constituency and Green for the regional list. Unless anything major happens, I can't see much to change that approach. Always happy to hear of additional views...

Given some of the earlier posts, someone has to say "Gordon's alive" so it might as well be me. I'll get my coat.