A survey by YouGov found Sturgeon’s personal approval rating has fallen by 40 points since August last year and now sits at +12 – meaning more respondents said they were impressed with her performance than those who said they were unimpressed. (Daily Record) Compared to Boris Johnson’s -62 these are figures most politicians would love to have but this does show, in my opinion, that the tide, that many of us have suspected for some time via talking to people, is starting to turn and filter through. John Curtice noted that “While she may still be Scotland’s most popular politician (albeit not as popular as earlier in the pandemic) who leads by far and away Scotland’s most popular party (albeit one dependent on the Greens for its Holyrood majority), there is little sense of progress towards its ultimate goal of independence.” From talking to people, family, friends, colleagues, I would also add record of the current SNP Government is less than competent.
The SNP will be happy with 48% of the vote share according to YouGov but this is also a 4% drop, however, neither the Tories 21%, or British Labour 19% pose any threat to the SNP at this time and what this shows is the absolute state of politics in Scotland that we can be governed so badly yet the Government are still seen as the least worse option, this does not instill any confidence at all. On the question of Should Scotland be an independent country? 53% No(n/c since 2-4 May 2021) versus “Yes” 47% (n/c). While nothing to get stressed out about at this time, you do have to wonder given we have the worst and most corrupt Tory Government in history, and the most useless Prime Minister in Boris Johnson, what it will take to shift some of the Jockholme syndrome suffers over to yes. This also shows that Sturgeon has achieved nothing in 6 years on the independence question but at least the core yes community vote are keeping up their end of the bargain if the SNP are letting us down.
SNP’s defence spokesperson Stewart McDonald, yes him of the Russians are bad fame, criticised the “politicising” of the division names in the proposed changes to the armed services. Now I don’t doubt the bravery and service of every single one of our men and women in uniform but the military is not something I have ever been invested in, even though my Dad served during the war in the Navy and I have always agreed with his view that the politicians always let the services down, slums and poverty for heroes was my Dad’s view after the war but you would think that having the Army arranged under four administrative divisions of infantry – the Guards and Parachute Division, the Queens Division, the Light Division and finally the Union Division is absolutely the most stupid idea ever so let them get on with it, if that doesn’t shift a few votes noting will.
The deaths of 27 refugees (Tories call them all Migrants) is a tragedy and the blame is not just with the traffickers but also the UK and France, as well as, every country that took part in the wars in the middle east. There are no easy answers to this crisis and it will only get worse as climate change really starts to bite but the EU, UN, USA, China, Russia etc need to get around a table and do something to sort it out as more people will die, more resentment will fuel the far right in a lot of countries, including England, and the situation will get worse. I have no issue with refugees wanting to come to live in the UK but economic migrants I have a bigger issue with, while I don’t blame them for wanting a better life there is only so much we can do, but the situation just cannot be handled any worse than it is now and a solution needs to be found.
grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com 
I think a major reason for the relatively low polls for independence is that for a lot of people, they simply don’t see a route to independence. The SNP have done nothing over the past seven years to build support for independence (currency, ports etc etc), but instead have blown a lot of hot air about it (“Scotland will not be dragged out of Europe” etc). The main reason though is probably the SNP insistence on a Westminster approved referendum that everyone knows will never be approved regardless of who is in power there, effectively killing off any potential support for independence. Awareness of Alba remains low thanks to various deliberate means of doing so, including by the SNP. Likewise awareness of the SSRG and their plans will not be widely known about. With a widely supported true party of independence, that does address the key issues such as currency, ports etc, then I’d expect the polls for independence would be around 70%. It’s the lack of a means to independence that is holding the polls back, not a lack of belief in it. I hope Alba can build quickly into what the SNP were before Sturgeon took over. Then watch the polls rise
Ian
Yeah all of that makes sense to me. As long as Sturgeon is sticking to her Westminster four nations approach there is little chance of a referendum any time soon but we would lose anyway given the total lack of preparation by the SNP and will need the SSRG and wider movement to continue to work on the policy and the gaps in where we are at just now. Alba will grow I think and while I have always taken the view that given what the party is up against it will take time to make that breakthrough I just hope people don’t get frustrated at any lack of traction, it will take time and the council elections next year are just the next phase. If the party are able to get a seat here or there it is a start but it is not the end of the world if it doesn’t as it will be a more hostile environment than the May elections this year as the pressure is now on the SNP and they are going to get as dirty as Scottish Labour of old.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
People are sick of Sturgeon and her cabal. The SNP need to oust her quick before she runs the independence moment into the ground .She is a destroyer and cannot unite people to the cause. Sturgeon uses the law to silence and oppresses true Patriots and her critics. The biggest theat to Scotland is the gerrymandering of the Voting franchise. People dont realise we are heading for the same disaster as Wales with 1 million migrants from our tethered together partner. In 2050 we will be a minority in our own country. The English colonial experiment will be completed and we will be part of a greater England. On an independence debate last night someone asked me what an indigenous scot was an mocked me telling me that he knows English people who support independence. It is naive to think 1 million English settlers with vote for independence. The real reason Sturgeon delayed the Scottish census. The shit will hit the fan but we will only find this out after losing a second referendum due to a rigged franchise. Sturgeon will be rewarded will a UN environmental ambassadors job.The voting franchise as recognised by the UN on Decolonialisation indigenous population should only get the vote , that’s people how live here.
Plus UN monitors the impartiality of the media and vote counting .
Indigenous population people who were born here.
Yes only people born her with ancestry. should have a vote on our country’s independence.
Lara
I would prefer to have plebiscite election and just avoid the whole racist accusation thing which we have been getting thrown at us for years and it’s all Alba fault anyway according to comfy slippers.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Alastair
I don’t agree with the referendum approach, and for some of the same reasons you rightly state, we need to go for a plebiscite election as a clear mandate to start independence negotiations, a referendum is just a trap. I think the tide is ever so slowly turning on Sturgeon and while she says she will stay until 26 I can’t see it personally. I suspect she will go after yet another mandate in a GE when Johnson goes early, will she make it a plebiscite, nope but it will be a mandate and the pressure will be on. The sooner she is gone the better, the issue will be who replaces her. Thankfully Robertson is getting more unpopular by the day, but time will tell I guess.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
The SNP have already gone way down the dirty path. Just look at what they tried to do to Salmond. With the ‘UK’ spiralling into what used to be called a third world country (ie totally corrupt government & ‘elite’ and very poor living conditions for the vast majority when compared with nominally equal countries), the UK shambolic actions have provided an open door for any reasonably competent independence party to be successful. That Sturgeon’s SNP have failed to do so only highlights that they are no better than what’s at Westminster.
Around a year ago, support for independence was at 58%, based it seems on the illusion that Scotland had done much better at dealing with covid than the UK. Better yes, but not much better as the deaths to date per 1 million of population clearly shows – (England 2220, Scotland 1740, Germany 1193, Ireland 1134 & Denmark 488).
Just imagine if covid had actually been dealt with better in Scotland (or at the very least had loudly promoted protests if UK restrictions limited what actions could be made) and other actions had also taken place. To mention just a few –
Clarifying policies on currency and the economy (including pensions)
Destroying the gers deficit / UK subsidy myth
Establish roadmap to re-enter EU Single Market (EFTA)
Establishing a Scottish energy company that would have helped avoid the current electricity crisis & looming costs to customers directly through their bills and indirectly through more UK ‘debt’ being loaded onto Scotland. It was loudly proposed by the SNP in 2017 then dropped in 2021.
Work to establish ports facing Europe & North America and how a border with rUK would operate.
Being prepared to work with others that seriously want independence (eg SSRG)
Drop the Section 30 nonsense and focus on the fact that it seems highly improbable that the UK could prevent Scotland from becoming independent if that is what was voted for (ie 56 out of 59 independence MPs in 2015).
The reasons for Scotland to become independent are a mix of reasons relating to how the UK operates and how Scotland could operate if it was independent. The UK through it’s corruption and incompetence could not have done more to make a strong case for leaving the UK. But people need something to move to. That’s what’s currently missing. If all the above issues and much more had been done, how much higher than 58% would the polls be at now. That they are not only lower, but now back to where they were in 2014, is entirely down to the SNP’s unpopular actions and equally unpopular inactions. They simply are not an independent Scottish Government in waiting.
Which is why we need Alba and the likes of the SSRG to do what the SNP should have done, but never will. I suspect that the takeoff of Alba will happen fairly quickly.The SNP’s actions against Alba are proof enough of how big a threat Alba poses to them and their comfy position within the UK. After seven years of independence deceitfulness, the SNP gravy train is coming off the rails. They have been given the benefit of the doubt for too long already and more hot air without actions won’t be given the same ‘support’. The SNP con job won’t be tolerated much longer as the UK’s downward spiral into more than just comparative poverty continues, probably speeding up as it does so. To avoid the UK’s fate we need a party that acts as a party of an independent Scotland in waiting. That sounds like Alba to me. I think there is a huge potential groundswell of support for independence under the right circumstances. The UK has provided and will continue to provide the reasons for leaving the UK. Now all that’s needed is the extremely strong case for an independent Scotland to be made by those that would actually lead, not just a push for independence, but lead Scotland in the initial years of actual independence. It’s time to get the adults back in charge of that.
Ian
Fair point about how dirty the SNP got with AS, possibly surpassed Labour on that one. There isn’t much i can add to your reply that is for sure. Sturgeon has done nothing to further the cause of independence only her own cause and her wee pet gender warriors and I do think ever so slowly some people are waking up to the state of things but you do have to wonder how bad it has to get before enough do.
Thanks for that Ian.
Bruce
I sincerely hope with all my heart you are right Bruce and the tide is turning against The Poisoned Dwarf. Going by the sheep on Facebook I hae ma doots. They just cant see past her. Saor Alba, We will be free.
Lara
I think some people are, maybe not enough to put real pressure on right now but it will become a flood eventually but she will have moved on by then to look after number 1.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
‘Scottish’ Labour proved that Scotland could be managed for generations without any talent or competence (although, and allegedly, plenty of corruption) but still win landslides at elections. So NS has just reverted to the status quo that existed before AS.
Alba, therefore, signals that her time is marked, which is why she was sniffing around COP26 for another job, terrified that Merkel will hoover up all the good ones before she can get a sniff.
Just like Labour politicians before her, she was always out for herself. I just wish I had seen this sooner.
P.S. see what I did there with ‘allegedly’? 🙂
Alan
I agree, most of us who have seen the light were caught out by her. I was 2016 others later some even earlier. I suspect if the tide turns faster she will be gone sooner as she will need to get her job sorted out, no doubt highly paid with a lot of free travel, just like Labour would do.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce