Comments on: Tavish Scott on devolution, Donald Trump, liberalism and more

By: Mouse

Mouse — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:20:22 +0000

No mentions of the latest opinion polls putitng the Lib Dems 11 % points down on the last general election.
I see Richard Livesey calling for a referendum on Welsh Devolution, Nick Clegg wants one on membership of the EU and Electoral Reform – it’s presumably therefore only referedums on treaties and independance that the Lib Dems oppose.

The party has no strategy for winning elections, only tactics.

By: Simon R

Simon R — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:21:35 +0000

KL- you’re very kind. Many thanks.

By: KL

KL — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:26:19 +0000

Simon R – I think The Scotsman and The Herald have done some polling on this in the past. It’s usually along the lines of “how do you describe yourself – Scottish, British or European?”

By: KL

KL — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:22:42 +0000

ColinW – it’s an understandable cop-out, I think! The Aberdeenshire question came up a couple of times at the Scottish Conference about two or three weeks ago, and it was clear from the audience that representatives were supportive of Debra, Martin, Paul and Sam, with the one Aberdeenshire councillor who tried to defend it getting – I thought – a very cool reception.

Tavish does have to be careful not to interfere on decisions taken by any council group. However, based on Mark’s report, I think he’s trying to say that the fall-outs were unnecessary, that the councillors who opposed the development (which, by law, can’t be decided on a political whip in any case) could have been allowed to continue to oppose the development, and that he hopes that bridges can be mended.

By: Geoffrey Payne

Geoffrey Payne — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:49:56 +0000

The argument that the SNP should not insist on an Independence referendum is the same as could be applied against the Lib Dems asking for one on proportional representation.
It would have been better for Scotland to have had a referendum at a time when the Scottish people would have voted against leaving the Lib Dems in a strong position in a LD/SNP coalition afterwards.

By: Simon R

Simon R — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:02:22 +0000

This is as good a place to ask as any: I am trying to look at the formation of the devolved institutions and its effect on Scottish identity formation. I was wondering if anyone knew any good data for pre- and post-Holyrood polls on feelings of Scottish identity….?

By: ColinW

ColinW — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:30:55 +0000

What a pathetic cop-out over Trumpton. We all know the Planning Committee LibDem Chair & members were absolutely right in refusing planning Permission for this environmental travesty.

Why should they rejoin the party after the way they were undermined & treated disgracefully by the spineless Group Leader. This is the sort of behaviour I would expect from thr SNP or Labour.

By: Iainm

Iainm — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:34:41 +0000

Should have asked him whether refusing to work with the SNP unless they ruled out holding a referendum they didn’t really want to hold and couldn’t have won anyway was really worth making the Lib Dems an irrelevance in Scotland.