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Poll: Majority of Scots opposed to second independence referendum in 2023 – Holyrood Magazine

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Just over a third of voters are in favour of a second independence referendum within the next two years, a poll has found.

The Survation poll carried out for the pro-UK campaign group Scotland in Union found only 38 per cent of those surveyed want a second vote during the timetable set out by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Just over half (52 per cent) said there should not be a referendum in the next two years, while 10 per cent said they didn’t know.

Setting out the Scottish Government’s programme for government on Tuesday, Sturgeon said she had instructed civil servants to begin work on a “detailed prospectus” for independence, with the aim of holding a second vote – nine years since the last – by the end of 2023.

The Survation poll also found that 57 per cent of people in Scotland would vote to “remain” part of the United Kingdom in a referendum – with only 43 per cent in favour of “leaving” the UK.

Among those who voted SNP in the 2021 Holyrood election, 20 per cent would vote to remain part of the UK, and 24 per cent do not believe there should be a referendum on independence within the next two years.

Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: “This poll confirms that Nicola Sturgeon is out of touch with the people of Scotland.

“A majority of voters oppose her plans for a divisive second referendum within the next two years, and she should listen to what people are telling her.

For more news on Scottish politics, click here: https://www.scotlandmatters.co.uk/politics-matters/

Sturgeon pushes for independence (again) – The Spectator

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t’s Groundhog Day in Holyrood. Amid criticisms about her administration’s underwhelming ‘Programme for Government,’ Nicola Sturgeon has returned to her favourite hobby house: Scottish independence. Much like ABBA’s reunion, the First Minister combined some new tunes with her greatest hits, declaring that May’s election was an ‘undeniable’ mandate for such a plebiscite by the end of 2023 ‘once the Covid-19 crisis is passed’.

Steerpike is not surprised at Sturgeon’s choice of priorities, preferring to have her civil servants devote their energies to indyref2 rather than letting Scots take their masks off when sat on a train. The SNP and its acolytes have had no compunction in undermining the Union at every opportunity throughout the pandemic; a strategy that has been great for poll numbers but has led to almost half of Europe’s top 20 Covid-19 hotspots being located in Scotland.

Much more noteworthy is the lack of interest in Sturgeon’s announcement. Westminster was admittedly distracted with Boris Johnson’s tax shenanigans but even north of the border there was a far more muted reaction to the First Minister’s pronouncements then her previous statements. The Scottish editions of both the Times and Daily Telegraph for instance relegated the news on their front to a nib; BBC Scotland similarly buried the announcement on its homepage.

Campbeltown wind turbine factory closes permanently – BBC news

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A wind turbine factory in Argyll has been permanently closed, with administrators now selling off equipment used at the site.

Owners CS Wind effectively mothballed the Campbeltown factory, which manufactured offshore and onshore wind farm equipment, in the spring of 2020.

The company said “deteriorating market conditions” had led to a lack of new contracts and declining revenues.

All staff have now either left or been made redundant.

Three-quarters of the 94-strong workforce had already departed in August 2020 with only a handful of staff left running the facility.

The manufacturing plant, located at the Machrihanish Business Park near Campbeltown, was bought by CS Wind, a South Korean firm, in 2016.

At the time it was Britain’s only UK facility for manufacturing onshore and offshore wind towers.

It previously went into administration in 2011 before a partnership between Scottish and Southern Energy and Marsh Wind Technology saved the factory.

After CS Wind failed to secure major work with the Kincardine and Triton Knoll offshore projects in 2019, the majority of the staff were made redundant.

At the time the Unite union called the move a “major blow to Scotland’s renewables manufacturing capacity.”

“Market conditions” are being blamed for CS Wind (UK) being wound up, yet market conditions for wind power have never looked better.

Thousands of towers are required for turbines being planted in the North Sea, with a huge further boost planned in the next 10 years.

Existing onshore windfarms are being renewed after 25 years of torque and tension from generating power.

So there must be other explanations for the repeated failure to make the Campbeltown factory into a success story.

Part of the problem is thought to be the South Korean ownership failing to give the plant the support it needed in the past five years. There’s been a stand-off with Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which provided public funding.

But there is a wider question about the failure to link the renewable power revolution to a manufacturing base in Scotland.

The Scottish government sunk more than £37m in three BiFab yards in Fife and Lewis for fabricating offshore platforms. That also went into administration.

For more environmental fails, click here: https://www.scotlandmatters.co.uk/environment-matters-2/

Leaked internal report reveals SNP ‘overwhelmed’ by member complaints – GuidoFox

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A bombshell internal report written by SNP Deputy Leader Keith Brown has revealed the dire state of the party’s internal affairs: not only does the report suggest creating a new financial scrutiny committee to “restore confidence” in the SNP’s financial governance, it also shows that party has been “overwhelmed” by the volume of member complaints over harassment and impropriety since 2014. Presumably keeping their new ‘complaints adviser’ busy, then…

The report goes into great detail to explain how “recent controversies concerning the party’s finances” (in other words, how a £600,000 referendum war chest seemingly vanished into thin air) have “inevitably raise[d] questions about the SNP’s financial governance”, and recommends creating a more formal financial governance structure that “encourages good financial practices, [and] has the potential to pick up any irregularities”. Which is useful, because the party’s auditors have already washed their hands of that responsibility.

It also says that the party’s “current complaints-handling procedures have themselves resulted in a real dissatisfaction [and] lack of trust” amongst the membership, and that the Governance Review Group often failed to act on incidences of abuse despite repeated warnings from within the party. Considering 1 in 5 SNP MPs has either recently quit, or been sacked, investigated or suspended, perhaps the Governance Review Group has just had its hands full…

Leaked Internal Report Reveals SNP “Overwhelmed” by Member Complaints

Holyrood scraps plan for public energy company – Daily Business

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A plan to set up a state-owned energy company has been dropped by the Scottish Government, Daily Business has learned.

Four years after promising a state-backed company delivering low cost power, ministers are now focusing efforts on a “new dedicated national public energy agency” that will be more of an advisory body.

First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon told delegates at the party’s 2017 conference that the government would create a not-for-profit energy company promising low prices for consumers.

It would buy its energy on the wholesale market or generate it in Scotland – from renewable sources.

Since then there has been little sign of progress and in June this year, Green co-leader and now government minister Lorna Slater, criticised Ms Sturgeon for not moving fast enough on the plan.

At the weekend Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said the new SNP-Green partnership made no mention of the energy company plan in a 50-page joint policy statement.

“It’s astonishing there is not a single mention of a public energy company in the SNP and Green coalition agreement,” he said. “It adds to an ever-increasing list of broken promises from the Scottish Government.”

Labour, he said, has been calling for the proposed company to move beyond the paper stage so that it can start supporting the development of renewable energy in Scotland.

Holyrood scraps plan for public energy company

For more economic news, click here: https://www.scotlandmatters.co.uk/economy-matters/

Janey Godley apologises over ‘deeply hurtful’ tweets as it emerges she’s being paid £12k by taxpayers for Covid campaign – The Sun

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AN SNP-backing comic has made a grovelling apology over highly offensive tweets as it emerged she’s being paid £12,000 by taxpayers for a Covid social media campaign.

Janey Godley apologised for Twitter jokes using terms with language that mocks disabled people – including “spazzy” – after her lucrative deal with the Scottish Government sparked anger online.

The use of Ms Godley to front a pandemic health push also prompted controversy as she is seen as a “divisive” figure due to being a strident pro-indy political activist who has been involved in multiple online spats.

Critics also pointed to past tweets from Ms Godley where she made jokes using the word “mongo” and used “Chernobyl” repeatedly as an insult.

After her agent was approached by The Scottish Sun about the criticism, Ms Godley issued a statement on Wednesday – also posted online – where she apologised for past comments, but insisted some were faked.

The Scottish Government said Ms Godley was being paid £10,000 plus VAT for her work on a “multi-channel campaign” urging people to “stop the spike”.

In one 30-second ad posted on the Scottish Government’s official Twitter with the hashtag #StopTheSpike, Ms Godley appeals to Scots to do twice-weekly lateral flow tests.

The comedian says: “That’s Covid cases rising again, and we cannae just let this virus run riot like your gran in the supermarket reduced section.

To see how Scotland has changed under the SNP, click here: https://www.scotlandmatters.co.uk/category/scotland-under-the-snp/

Scottish government asked for urgent clarification over Greens’ ‘racist Zionism’ policy – Jewish Chronicle

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Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is being urged to clarify her government’s position on antisemitism after it emerged Holyrood’s power-sharing partners believe Zionism is a “racist ideology”.

In 2015 the Scottish Greens approved a motion that declared Hamas was not a terrorist organisation while branding Israel an “apartheid state”.

Antisemitism campaigners voiced concerns the party was now in power in Scotland while Scottish Conservatives called for the First Minister to condemn the “shameful stance”.

The Scottish government adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism in full in 2018 but the policy of its new junior partner appears to be a clear breach of that definition.

Policy Motion 2, voted through by Scottish Greens in 2015, has never been rescinded. It was debated and voted on at conference on a Saturday, excluding participation by observant Jews.

It condemns Israel’s claim to be the “Jewish state” and brands Zionism a “racist ideology based on Jewish supremacy in Palestine”. It accuses Israel of being an “unacceptable” “apartheid” state.

It goes on to demand Israel repeal its law of return for Jews, while backing the right of return for all Palestinian Arabs and their descendants.

It declares that Hamas should no longer be designated as a terrorist organisation and offers its support for the anti-Israel BDS boycott movement.

Jackson Carlaw, whose Eastwood constituency is home to a sizeable Jewish population, branded the Greens’ position “a disgrace”.

The Conservative MSP said: “They have backed positions that appear to be contrary to the IHRA definition.  Nicola Sturgeon has to distance her Government from this shameful stance. This kind of outrageous rhetoric from the Greens has no place in 21st Century Scotland. It doesn’t belong anywhere near the Scottish Government and should be stamped out.

“Scotland’s Jewish community needs to hear an unequivocal condemnation of the Greens’ position and assurances that the Government does not support these extreme views.”

The historic cooperation agreement between the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Greens ensures two ministerial roles for the junior party and bolsters the First Minister’s case for independence.

Edinburgh pub refuses entry to customers from the Scottish Family Party – Edinburgh Live

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Exclusive: Staff from the Outhousebar in Edinburgh say they felt “uncomfortable” after finding out that a group of people affiliated with the Scottish Family Party had booked a table at the venue.

Three customers were refused entry to an Edinburgh pub after staff found out that they were affiliated with the Scottish Family Party.

The management team at the Outhousebar on Broughton Street Lane confirmed that they denied entry to the group – which included Scottish Family Party Leader Richard Lucas – as their political views ‘do not align with the venue.’

The Scottish Family Party policies include ’promoting marriage, opposing transgender ideology and abortions.’

Their website states: “We respect life, opposing both abortions on demand and assisted suicide, We promote marriage, We oppose transgender ideology, especially the confusing of children.”

Assistant Manager Rob told Edinburgh Live how the group booked their function room on Thursday night (September 2).

It is understood that they did not disclose to the venue that they were affiliated with the political party and instead described themselves as a ‘small group of academics.’

To see how Scotland has changed under the SNP since 2007, click here: https://www.scotlandmatters.co.uk/category/scotland-under-the-snp/

Letters to the press, 04/09/21: Scottish bigotry, Be Careful, Tess White was right.

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Alarm as one in eight Scots teachers in temporary jobs, according to new figures – The Sun

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ONE in eight Scots teachers is now in temporary posts, new figures reveal.

Some 6,259 out of 52,672 teachers were not on full-time contracts in 2020, as the 12 per cent tally was up from eight per cent reported in 2006.

Ministers faced calls to end the “damaging overuse” of “zero-hours” supply contracts after the stats emerged in a parly written question by Tory MSP Stephen Kerr.

He said: “It’s vital that young people have permanent teachers.

“We should not be asking teachers to plug gaps in our system by taking temporary jobs, leaving them unable to plan long term or get a mortgage.