Thread on the 'peace march' in London today.

How things started: according to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Matt Twist (at 3.25pm today 11/11/23) there were "no issues with it [Palestine march]"

So let's have a look at how it went before & after he said this shall we?
(1/12 'Peaceful protesters' openly supporting Hamas, no Met Police in sight arresting them despite them supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation
(2/12

A thread pushing back on PROF @GoodwinMJ's strange twin claims that UK immigration is a story of "low skilled" or unskilled migrants entering the UK, thanks to a Tory party whose immigration policy is a product of "socially liberal" thinking
(1/ For Goodwin's first claim to be true the latest immigration figure would need to show a mass influx of lower and unskilled migrants entering the UK; thus risking artificially holding down wage increases for those at the lower end of the labour market.
(2/

Thread on SNP membership numbers shambles
▶️Evidence of ex-party members being handed the vote in leadership race
▶️SNP MP claims party finances "smell" amid compliance-breaking Murrell loan
▶️SNP HQ refusing to release number of members until *after* leadership race ends
(1/6 Mail revealed proof ex-SNP members voting in the party leadership election despite no longer being paid members. Some cases these ex-members also received messages pleading with them to resume membership to help keep the party finances "ticking over"
(2/6

https://twitter.com/Mike_Blackley/status/1635611101432881154?s=20

Thread on IPSOS Scottish October poll

ScotGov seen as failing to perform on nearly all policy areas amid majority saying nation is on the “wrong track”. Brand SNP losing to Scottish Labour

Ipsos: 1,000 Scottish adults aged 16+, 29 September – 5 October 2022
(1/8 ▪️Wrong track right track

➡️53% of Scots say the country is heading in the “wrong direction”
(2/8

Thread on just some some of the contradictions & unanswered questions in the Scottish Government’s 3rd independence publication. Titled ‘Building a New Scotland: A stronger economy with independence’, its less a prospectus & more a glorified pamphlet
(1/18 ➡️ “re-joining the European Union (EU) to benefit from, and contribute to, the vast European Single Market”
One of the proposals set out in this publication, it sits in contradiction to the currency policy of Sterlingisation (currency substitution) also set out.
(2/18

Just what is happening in Beijing? And why you should care. A short thread.

Former Chinese Premier Hu Jintao led out of the room as the Communist Party Congress closes. It's hard to know what to make of this, but it is still an incredible moment to see captured on film.
[1/7 ➡️Why does this matter?
Hu Jintao was Xi Jinping's predecessor, and it is well known Jintao and Jinping come from opposite wings of the party. Plus, this Congress only happens once every five years and is tightly choreographed.
[2/7

SNP-Gupta Files thread 🧵
▶️How can ScotGov claim the Lochaber smelter is continuing to "perform well" when the auditors have resigned amid investigation?
▶️ Also, who are Jahama Estates & how does it relate to the Gupta Fort William Aluminium smelter & resigned auditors?
[1/16 ▶️What is 'Jahama Estates'?
Jahama Estates has claimed it is the UKs 5th biggest private landowner.
It is the largest property company you have never heard of, and is part of the Gupta umbrella of owned companies.
[2/16

Thread on the changing vision for independence out forward by the SNP, 2007-2022.

A shapeless ever morphing chimera, constantly contradicting itself. The land of empty platitudes: read anything you wish into them.
(1/25 ➡️2007: arc of prosperity

Then SNP leader Alex Salmond led his party to power at Holyrood for first time touting a free market, pro-business tax cutting creed. Tone, policy suggestions and vision mirrored more of the Friedrich Hayek than contemporary Nats care to admit
(2/25

Given the Scottish Government is trumpeting the latest employment figures, here is a thread on in-work poverty in Scotland and the falling employment numbers in low carbon & renewables sector. All facts the SNP want to downplay.
(1/19 Firstly, let’s acknowledge the good news: unemployment in Scotland has hit a record low of 3.2% with employment January to March rising to 75.6%.

And yes, is good news and should be accepted as such.
(2/19

Why the secrecy concerning Eilidh Mactaggart’s resignation from the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB)?

Coverup? Incompetence? Yet another scandal?
(1/10 The Scottish National Investment Bank is a Scottish state-owned investment and national development bank based in Edinburgh. It controls more than £2nd of public money for capital project investment
(2/10

🧵 Thread on the Valneva story you might have missed

Just what is Scottish Enterprise (a non-departmental public body of ScotGov) doing handing Valneva £20m? It isn't advancing the cause of innovation to fork out £20m to a highly profitable (self-sufficient) biotech firm
[1/9 ❓What is Valneva❔

Valneva SE is a French biotech company headquartered in Saint-Herblain, France, developing and commercializing vaccines for infectious diseases.
[2/9

FERRY FIASCO: CIVIL SERVICE PAPER TRAILS

If the SNP politicians won't answer questions, who are the top civil servants from the key period Aug-Oct 2015 who should be in a position to know?

Enter stage right Leslie Evans and Alyson Stafford CBE.
deanmthomson.substack.com/p/ferry-fiasco… SNP ministers might be practicing duck and cover, but in the civil service there is always a paper trail. Emails are sent, anyone with even remote overlapping authority is copied in. Why? Spread risk, ensure accountability, body-swerve blame, avoid stepping on toes.

Thread on findings of watchdog report into SNP ferry fiasco

Scathing is the word, and as others have said, a full independent public inquiry is now an inevitability
(1/9 ▪️ignoring financial dangers

Amid talks to sort the shipbuilding contract, the report finds senior ScotGov figures sis to have ignored warnings about financial risks
(2/9

Thread 🧵 on growing proof nationalists realise indyref2 isn’t happening anytime soon

Ex-SNP Coms director Kevin Pringle has said “it seems reasonable to say out loud that an independence referendum is unlikely to take place by the end of next year”
(1/10 But interestingly he adds:

“I don’t think the war in Ukraine has changed this, in the sense that it was no more likely before the Russian invasion and all the destruction and instability being wreaked.”
(2/10

Thread on Ottawa

I rarely discuss international politics, but a word on Ottawa.

But there are signs that instituting the 'emergency act' was a misjudgement by Justin Trudeau. Far from calming matters, it's escalating them.
[1/10 Photograph has emerged of an elderly protester relying on a walker being trampled by Canadian police.
[2/10

Short thread on the breath-taking hypocrisy of our first minister regarding her demands for the Gray report to be published in full with no redactions.
[1/5 ▶️Regarding the Hamilton Report on whether Nicola Sturgeon breached the ministerial code...

Nicola Sturgeon was perfectly relaxed about redactions in Hamilton report imposed by court order. Hamilton was "deeply frustrated" that information on a key meeting was unpublished.
[2/5

SNP Chief Whip & Midlothian MP Owen Thomson claimed £264,347 for 2020-21

➡️accommodation: £29,839.12
(includes £1,874.89 council tax)
➡️travel: £8,226.95
(includes £5000 mileage car, ££2,432.25 rail & £464.20 taxis)

Basic salary £81,932.04. But needs us to pay for his taxis. SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford claimed £239,229.97

➡️accommodation: £23,169.91
(Includes council tax £969.91)
➡️travel: £6,237.69
(Includes £303.68 parking & £2,474.45 car mileage)

Basic salary: £81,932.04. But needs us to pay for council tax)

Let's compare what nationalists have said in two situations. One involving Nicola Sturgeon and the other involving Boris Johnson.

A thread reminding certain politicians (and a newspaper) of the proverb "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"
[1/12 Let's remember:

ScotGov conducts an internal investigation into the alleged conduct of a previous First Minister Alex Salmond.

This investigation upholds 5 harassment complaints against Mr Salmond.
[2/12

Scottish NHS A&E waiting times now worst on record.

Humza Yousaf can't keep hiding behind the excuse file titled 'pandemic'

The statistics are horrifying, and lives are being put at serious risk.

[1/18 ▶️Compliance with 4 hour standard

On the week ending: 05 July 2020, 95.6% of those attending A&E were seen within 4 hours.

However since then, the % seen within four hours has collapsed to just 67.4% as of 09 January 2021.
[2/18

This is a common view worth rebutting. The logic goes that since Scotland has a higher or at least comparable rate of infection than England despite SNP restrictions, this only shows a need for tougher restrictions.

But this is nonsense. Let me explain why...
[1/9

https://twitter.com/wildmountain_1/status/1479346248142532609

The restrictions were imposed from 26th Dec to reduce the infection spread. But it manifestly failed to deliver this.

Going into the restrictions according to ONS data, Scotland had, with 1 in 40, a comparable positive testing rate as England.
[2/9

This is the @scottishgreens internal elections officer. She has decided to make this statement 10 hours ago about how proud she is of young Scottish Green office holders. So let's meet some of the chaps she is 'proud' of...
[1/6

https://twitter.com/elliebgomersall/status/1479214454046928897

Here is a young Scottish Green policy officer called Paul.

But why highlight him?
[2/6