While not trying to excuse the guy I can see how the D'Hondt system could allow this kind of confusion.
In confusion there is profit.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Holyrood- the next five years
(149 posts)-
Posted 8 years ago #
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Of course the SNP want him to resign the party whip but remain an MSP as there is also profit in that for them.
If he leaves Lib Dems then they are down to 4MSPs and can no longer for "a party group". If I understand the system this means that SNP would again become total dominant having the majority of party affiliated MSPS.
If he resigned as an MSP then the libdems could feasibly win the seat again in a bi-election and the SNP would remain slightly reigned in.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Posted 8 years ago #
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Ah - the pork barrel/magic beans suddenly become apparent:
"there would be a commitment to investigate Prestwick Airport as a potential site for a logistics hub to support the building of the third runway"
Incorrigible
Posted 8 years ago # -
It's just sad that SNP doesn't understand the implications of its own 'smarter, greener, wiser, more apple pie' rhetoric.
Or doesn't care - beyond 'knowing what the voters want'.
I don't think it's fair to the call the SNP a 'single issue party' - far less a 'one party state' - but they are sadly selective about where they choose to show leadership.
Smoking ban and attempt to have minimum pricing for alcohol are good examples of showing leadership on public health issues against some opposition (perhaps based on vested interests...)
They could do the same with 'active travel'. Maybe the vested interests/voter conservatism are just overwhelming(?)
Posted 8 years ago # -
"Maybe the vested interests/voter conservatism are just overwhelming(?)"
Sadly, recent examples of populist backlash appear to bear this out.
The suburbs of Scotland are rising against any threat to 'their' roads from cyclists, and the SNP at local level are in wholehearted support of suburban NIMBYism it would seem.Posted 8 years ago # -
Yes that's the current 'reality'.
I think ScotGov could do a LOT more (the SNP doesn't actually have a majority at Holyrood) it clearly isn't interested enough.
Posted 8 years ago # -
"
Nicola Sturgeon’s two-year stint as First Minister of Scotland has been marked more by “timidity than radicalism”, according to a former senior Nationalist minister.
"
Posted 8 years ago # -
"
SNP leaders have pledged their party conference will give voters a stark contrast to the “narrow-minded xenophobia” of the Tories and “rank incompetence and feuding” within Labour.
Nationalist business convener Derek Mackay said the conference would send out a “message of inclusion and hope in troubling times”.
"
http://www.scotsman.com/news/snp-conference-to-give-message-of-inclusion-and-hope-1-4253086
Posted 8 years ago # -
Smoking ban started under a Labour/Lib administration.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Yes, but they continued with it instead of (perhaps) taking the populist way out.
With 'active travel' they are clearly not willing to pay much attention to the public health improvement evidence.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Smoking is a minority pursuit as is alcoholism.
Driving anywhere at anytime is the god given right of hardworking families.
Had to explain to a cow-orker that, even in a car park, she really should be giving way to pedestrians. She wasn't convinced. I'll keep at it.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Smoking is a (poor) lifestyle choice - alcoholism is a mental illness. Big difference.
Posted 8 years ago # -
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Friday morning’s photo op may have helped Yousaf create the impression that he is on top of things but it will not make this issue go away. Passengers will expect to see swift and substantial improvements to the rail service now that the minister has begun flexing his muscles. Unfortunately, the problems with ScotRail seem to run so deep that it will take more than a few strong words from the government to get the trains back on track.
The SNP likes to paint big pictures: the First Minister and her team use bold rhetoric about a better Scotland and its place in the world. The ScotRail crisis comes as a reminder that more mundane matters can do great harm.
"
Posted 8 years ago # -
chdotFriday morning’s photo op may have helped Yousaf create the impression that he is on top of things but it will not make this issue go away. Passengers will expect to see swift and substantial improvements to the rail service now that the minister has begun flexing his muscles. Unfortunately, the problems with ScotRail seem to run so deep that it will take more than a few strong words from the government to get the trains back on track.
The SNP likes to paint big pictures: the First Minister and her team use bold rhetoric about a better Scotland and its place in the world. The ScotRail crisis comes as a reminder that more mundane matters can do great harm.
I think most reasonably minded folk can see through this for what it is.
The #BlameHumza camapign has garnered headlines and airtime from the usual suspects but quickly became laughable. The idea that Mr Yousaf is somehow responsible for the organisational failings of a private company is fanciful.Posted 8 years ago # -
"The idea that Mr Yousaf is somehow responsible for the organisational failings of a private company is fanciful."
Yes, though of course SR is obliged to implement the SG contract (which presumably Humza had nothing to do with writing/agreeing).
Whether they are doing it well (enough) is obviously an issue, but the idea that a change of Minister or contractor will solve all problems instantly/at all is indeed fanciful.
"Passengers will expect to see swift and substantial improvements to the rail service now that the minister has begun flexing his muscles."
Perhaps, though some times expectations are unreasonable (like trains always running to time - and with no overcrowding). However regularly missing stations to make up time (now banned during commuting times) and frequently running trains with half as many carriages as required is really not 'acceptable'.
At the moment I think it's reasonable to see how things are after EGIP is finished and the new trains and the 'cascaded' rolling stock affect reliability. That's not making excuses for SR, but there is an expensive plan that is being worked through, which ought to make a BIG difference.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Jester - perhaps people get the idea that the Minister is responsible for the poor performance from statements like this:
"...firstly, to any passenger who has a bad experience on our railways, that I am sorry, and that this government is committed to improving the service you receive."
Made by the Minister to the Scottish Parliament last Wednesday.
Posted 8 years ago # -
"perhaps people get the idea that the Minister is responsible for the poor performance from statements like this"
Yes, a remarkably foolish form of words, though he doesn't actually say he/SG is responsible.
The problem may come when 'in spite of everything' SG decides to terminate the current contract - or Abellio does it first!
Then the expectations of whoever is Transport Minister will be high - and expensive to deliver.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Head of Rail Strategy and Funding at Transport Scotland is currently vacant.
Posted 8 years ago # -
"
Earlier, Mr Yousaf announced a crackdown on the cost of major upgrades to the network after several large projects, including the Edinburgh-Glasgow main line electrification, went significantly over budget.
He said schemes would in future only be given the go-ahead once there was a "full understanding of costs".
He told the annual Scottish Rail Conference in Edinburgh, organised by Mackay Hannah, that funders had previously been a "hostage to fortune" in the face of rising costs.
The change will come for the next Network Rail spending period, from 2019.
"
http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/scotrail-improvement-plan-published-in-full-1-4303824
Posted 8 years ago # -
MorningsiderJester - perhaps people get the idea that the Minister is responsible for the poor performance from statements like this:
"...firstly, to any passenger who has a bad experience on our railways, that I am sorry, and that this government is committed to improving the service you receive."
Morningsider, it is possible to feel sympathy for people while not actually being responsible for their situation.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Jester - agreed. It's the bit about committing to improving the service I was really highlighting. That would seem to muddy the waters as to who is responsible for the failures in service provision.
Personally, I think he should have taken a leaf out of the UK Minister's book. He simply denies any and all responsibility for anything rail related, e.g. the atrocious Southern service - even though there does seem to be a drive by the DfT to try and break the RMT.
Posted 8 years ago # -
It was all going so well -
"
TENSIONS within the unique alliance running Scotland’s railways spilled into the open yesterday, as one of the two partners publicly attacked the other at a conference.
A director of the company which runs the ScotRail trains criticised Network Rail, which is in charge of the track, for “continually” disrupting passengers with late engineering works.
Dutch firm Abellio and Network Rail are meant to work in harmony in the ‘ScotRail Alliance’.
"
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14935820.ScotRail_tensions_spill_into_open
Posted 8 years ago # -
https://www.holyrood.com/articles/news/scottish-labour-reach-out-greens-bid-alternative-budget
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Greens 'not willing' to see Scottish budget fall"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-38830566
Posted 8 years ago # -
Green's 'aware that they'd be annihilated if they bring down an SNP government and trigger a general election'?
Posted 8 years ago #
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