With Alba likely to be a sideshow at best, the Greens could move front and centre. If that means coalition, the question will be, have they really thought it through?
Analysis
There are two inferences that almost everybody agrees on: firstly, that the Taliban has won and will likely exploit the power vacuum for their own barbaric purposes; secondly, that America’s decision to leave is nonetheless the best for all concerned.
Source Direct: Afghanistan – Failed States and Rogue States
Sturgeon is renowned for her staid, lawyerly command of briefs. There is no prospect that she would fight a referendum on a platform as flimsy as the Growth Commission.
Source Direct Election Profile: the SNP
“Unfortunately, this culture of big business-politics cross-pollination, and at times straightforward grift, has also landed in Scotland.”
Analysis: From Westminster to Holyrood, the corporate lobby is out of control
He was neither a giant of the age nor a vicious fascist; in truth, he was a standard figure of the upper reaches of the British aristocracy.
Source Direct: Philling the Void
The Lib Dems have long faced a crisis of function. They were formed as the third way between a working class left and a capitalist right; broadly, they would represent the middle-class centre. Ironically, given their history, they spent their most productive years opposing Labour from the left.
Source Direct Election Profile: The Lib Dems
A recent poll gave Galloway a fighting chance of winning a seat. But, in all likelihood, his presence will merely pinch votes from an already demoralised band of Scottish Conservatives.
Source Direct Election Profile: All for Unity
Ruth Davidson capitalised on the anti-2014 backlash, but those fires are almost extinguished, and the new leader sounds so shrill that the Party seems tempted to relegate him from frontline campaigning. One party source said of Ross, “he needs to smile more”. So far, he’s had nothing to smile about.
Source Direct Election Profile: The Scottish Conservatives
There are legitimate reasons to be sceptical of Brexit, but one of the silliest claims is that isolationism stems from nostalgia for Empire or even “neo-colonialism”. This violates the first law of all political tactics, which is to know your enemy.
