Silas McGilvray

NEW: John Swinney has responded to Nigel Farage's attack on Glasgow schoolchildren, calling it 'quite simply racist' ⬇️

Tackling child poverty is my driving mission - and thanks to our actions, Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty is falling.

Glad that Labour was finally shamed into doing the right thing.

Top EU court mandates same-sex marriage recognition across borders The Luxembourg-based court said a decision by Polish authorities infringed on a same-sex couple’s freedom of movement.

The EU’s top court ruled today that when a same-sex couple is legally married in one member country, any other member country where they move or reside must recognize that marriage.

Anas Sarwar can’t decide if he’s for or against the two-child cap - we’re scrapping it in Scotland next March. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

This is what it looks like when the firewall is torn down for good. EPP, under the leadership of Manfred Weber, using the entire extreme and far right (including German AFD, French RN) for trashing sustainability and due diligence requirements for big business. The masks are off for good.

A graphic with an image of a man (Callum) in front of trees. The top text reads: “SNP | By-Election 11th December”. The bottom text reads: “Vote Callum Cox for Whitburn and Blackburn”. Promoted by Allistair Tatton, on behalf of Callum Cox, both at 34 Glenshee, Whitburn, EH47 8NY

I’m stepping up to be your @snp.org candidate for the Whitburn and Blackburn by-election.

West Lothian’s Labour-Tory coalition has been running our services into the ground – I’ve had enough, and I’m sure you have too!

So vote Callum #1 on Dec/11 for a local, fresh and committed voice!

I wouldn't be as generous to Sarwar on this. He intentionally tied Scottish Labour incredibly closely to their UK counterparts and failed to adapt when the UK Party undermined or slighted him.

Caught up in events larger than himself, yes, but also very much brought upon himself.

Justice Sotomayor with a graphic dissent as the Supreme Court allows Alabama to move forward with the execution of Anthony Boyd by lethal gas:

I started reading this expecting to see Sarwar being disingenuous about what decriminalisation means. But what struck me by the end was his incoherence on the topic

Graphic in the style of a train ScotRail train station sign with the words: Scotlands trains? Best in the UK. Cancellation rates: Scotland: 2% UK: 3.3% North East England: 4.5%

Thanks to SNP public ownership, Scotland has the lowest % of cancelled trains in the UK. 🚂👇

The UK Government’s recognition of Palestine is a welcome step, and one that is long overdue.

But words alone will not stop the genocide in Gaza.

Sanctions, an end to arms sales, a ban on goods from settlements, and the suspension of the UK–Israel trade deal must follow.

Went canvassing today. Four different people said they are concerned about immigration, by which they all meant they are concerned by how demonised it is and blame Labour for failing to fight fascism. Inner city Glasgow. Stick that in your narratives

Ah yes, the far-right, defenders of women and girls.

You say that like Labour personalities haven't routinely given speeches in front of massive union flags for years before this particular bout of flag-shaggery

Instead of delivering support on the cost of living, Westminster is busy demonising people who seek sanctuary.

I will have no part in it.

Our Saltire is a flag of welcome - and refugees are welcome here in Scotland.

Every time living standards fall, Nigel Farage blames migration.

And every time, Keir Starmer nods along.

People are struggling with the cost of living and blaming migration won’t fix that.

Scotland deserves better - a fairer, wealthier, welcoming future with independence.

Germany and France hit out at EU-US deal Euro slides as investors bet that long-awaited trade agreement will hurt Eurozone economy

Well, it is mainly France hitting out - Merz supports the deal but points out it hurts EU exporters.

Be that as it may, this is very disingenous: the contours of the deal we were headed for was clear for weeks. The two most powerful EU member-states could've stopped it.

www.ft.com/content/00ec...

Proof, if anyone needed it, of how far Starmer's Labour have drifted from anything resembling a progressive, practical, reasonable, or even just centrist immigration policy.

Brussels blame game on full display here.

1) There is no way the EU Commission went ahead for the deal without prior agreement from France.

2) France, among others, signalled unwillingness for robust reaction as soon as Trump threatened a key French interest (wine).

It's clear that we're not going to agree. The last thing I'll say is that the idea that the only people in the public sphere who have an obligation to have and debate ideas is politicians just seems mad to me. It's no wonder we're all so negative and cynical

Of course criticism is important.
But we've no shortage of people in this country who are happy to criticise ideas. We've a chronic shortage of people willing to put forward other ideas or constructive suggestions. Especially those with platforms

And the point i made is that this sort of unconstructive, hand-wringing negativity will achieve nothing at all. Easy enough to sit on social media and make snide remarks about the people who have actually come up with proposals, whatever you might think of them.

Of course you can. If neil thinks it's a bad plan, he suggests a better one.

But in any case, you've absolutely no basis for saying that this was JS' big vision for HR26. We're still 10 months out - if anything, this was likely an opening move.

Somehow, I have a feeling this discussion isn't going to go anywhere. Have yourself a good night.

Little interest in Indy. Aye, that'll be why he joined the SNP in 1979, for a 'comfy' devolution job 20 years before devolution existed.

The Scottish Government has no legal right to take a case to the International Court of Justice unless I'm much mistaken, and in any case would have few ways of enforcing a positive ruling against Westminster even if it did!

I never said he should 'direct' politicians, but if not journalists, then who do you suggest should compare ideas and foster debate in public forums?

The evidence is Catalonia, and other such places, that would be independent by now if it were a simple matter of appealing to international law

Yes, this one is in the broadest sense an actionable suggestion, whatever its pitfalls may be. But 'push boundaries', as per your other post, could mean any number of things.

And the point remains that my initial question was to Neil, who has a significant platform and wrote the original article.

We'll have to agree to disagree on whether it's fair. For a start, this plan is different to the one proposed by Humza Yousaf.

But my broader point is that the article, and your comment, is not constructive or productive. What does 'be the thistle' or 'seize open goals' mean in practice???

Even if that were practical or realistic, my question was not asking for proposals generally, it was to Neil specifically about his article. Namely that I don't think what he's written is fair or indeed helpful.