IndyRef2, mandate or not?

Three arguments here, that either a) you need an overall SNP majority, b) you need an overall majority in the popular vote, or c) you need an overall parliamentary majority of pro-independence parties. #SP21
The first one seems to be the unionist argument (although I'm sure any mandate would have been rejected regardless). This is based on the basic FPTP system of winner takes all. That's fine, but we have a PR system in Scotland, so those rules don't apply. #SP21
But in reality, if that was the judgement, then the SNP have romped home in FPTP and there is a clear majority of those seats. This argument essentially ignores Green seats as important. #SP21
What about popular vote majority? Well that only works as an argument if apply the same logic to Westminster, which means no mandate for Brexit, not even under Boris Johnson's 2019 victory and certainly not under Cameron's 2015 pledge for an EU referendum. #SP21
The final route to a mandate is a parliamentary majority. Either this is, like in Westminster, the equivalent to a mandate for whatever policies have been put forward, or you may as well ditch parliamentary democracy as a representative system. #SP21
Both the SNP and Scottish Greens stood on a platform for indyref2, and they will hold a majority after today

Even if you don't think that is a mandate, there is absolutely no mandate for no IndyRef2, given all unionist parties fail to meet any of the three above conditions #SP21
You can either accept parliamentary democracy as valid, or continue basing your arguments on a flawed approach to 'majority', winner-takes-all politics based on FPTP, on which the SNP is a clear winner should Holyrood simply be a FPTP system. #SP21
Should clarify what I mean here, as in 2016 pro-union parties did win more than 50% of popular vote (which is on a knife-edge this year).

Popular vote on works as the basis for a mandate if it applies across the board.
Tories can't claim popular vote is what counts in Scotland while pushing through similar constitutional change based on less than that with Brexit which they believed had a mandate due to a parliamentary majority. #SP21
Of course, Boris Johnson could just say no. That hurdle is yet to be overcome by any pro-indy party and may require a trip through the courts to get a judgement on whether that position is sustainable #SP21
The opposing view to the SNP/Green argument above, which is equally legitimate as a way to challenge an IndyRef2 mandate #SP21 results

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More from @conor_matchett

7 May
If you're following me, it is likely you want to be kept fully up to speed on the Holyrood election results.

The best place to do that is on @TheScotsman's website, here's what is on offer:

A live blog, updated constantly throughout the day:
scotsman.com/news/uk-news/s…
For those of a visual mind, we have a constituency map which will tell you in an instant who has won your seat and regional list votes:

scotsman.com/news/politics/…
We also have a fully searchable table of results which, as it is updated during the day, will give you the details of who has won, by how much, and what the swing has been:

scotsman.com/news/politics/…
Read 9 tweets
23 Feb
Couple of thoughts on the Salmond debacle today.

1) I think there was a genuine error in publishing in full his ministerial code submission. I felt there were aspects of it I expected to be redacted, it wasn't *that* shocking the Crown got involved
2) The decision to publish, then remove, redact and republish is in my view more damaging to the anonymity of the complainants than anything else this inquiry has done up until now.

That was a serious error of judgement.
3) There should be an inquiry of some sort into the way this has been handle (I know, I know), and if it possible, a way to give Holyrood a similar level of parliamentary privilege to Westminster.

Without that, this issue is going to recur for as long as the parliament is about
Read 5 tweets

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