Really interesting post! It's the sort of thing I could imagine Nicola Sturgeon doing, but I'd be surprised to see Humza Yousaf go for it. But perhaps the biggest blocker is whether anybody senior enough will even consider the idea. We seem to get precious few electoral pacts in British politics, despite the broken electoral system.
> We seem to get precious few electoral pacts in British politics, despite the broken electoral system.
I agree. it's as if all the parties think all the other parties are evil and completely beyond the pale. Which is very childish since in reality they often agree on lots of things.
People who agree on some things but disagree on others should work together on the things they agree on, and agree to disagree on the rest.
Last week, the leader of the "Scottish" Lib Dems, Alex Cole-Hamilton, stood up (in his kilt) at a debate at Oxford University and declared that Scotland did not exist, nor should it. I think that would be hard for even the current supine SNP leadership to work with. Clearly ACH is working his ticket to becoming an MP, and clearly he doesn't care where.
Given that the LibDems abandoned their "historic commitment" to Home Rule the moment it became a possibility, just as they had abandoned their "historic commitment" to local income tax when that became a possibility in 2007, a lack of principle is nothing new.
As you know, their vote collapsed in Scotland because of their austerity coalition with the Tories. They have managed the rare feat of having more constituency MSPs than list MSPs because they target specific seats and just ignore spending rules in them. They're paddling their way to well-deserved obscurity, and no-one should offer them a lifeboat.
Yes, you're right, ACH did say some pretty disgraceful things about Scotland. And you're also right that the Lib Dems have behaved in unprincipled ways from time to time.
My biggest gripe with the Lib Dems, however, is not that they are unpricipled but that they're incompetent. E.g. in 2010 they held the balance of power and sold it for a referendum on a non-proportional voting system that they didn't even want. They should have held out for something better and been prepared to walk away if they didn't get it. I don't know if you've read Coalition by David Laws, one of the Lib Dem ministers from 2010-2015? The impression I got from that book is the Lib Dems were completely outplayed by the Tories, who care about power above all else.
The Lib Dems need PR because without it they will never achieve anything. They should thus be single minded in achieving it. They probably won't be, because as I've said, they are incompetent.
While I have no interest in giving them a lifeboat, nor am I against them as a group of people: individual Lib Dems who I know personally seem nice enough people, if a bit ineffectual. No, what it's about for me is rejoining EU, which is necessary for boosting the economy and for Britain to be an important playing in the world, and for PR, which is a necessary precondition for a truly democratic society.
I'd also like Scottish independence (which would give us EU membership and a parliament elected by PR), but if Westminster wasn't so nasty and crap, I would feel a lot less urgency in supporting indy.
I don't disagree with anything you say - the Lib Dems were bought for a few ministerial mondeos, whereas if they had had the courage to go for a less formal coalition, they would have wielded more influence. Compare and contrast to what the DUP leveraged out of Theresa May! But neither the Lib Dems nor the current SNP leadership are motivated to fight for our independence - the Lib Dems are actively hostile to it, and there's no-one at the top of the SNP with the strategic nous to negotiate with Westminster, if they even want to. The only thing making me optimistic is the resurgence of grassroots activity about indy supporters.
I think the SNP have lost their way, and sadly I don't see indy happening any time soon. It might do the SNP good to lose an election, badly, as that would bring them to there senses.
Really interesting post! It's the sort of thing I could imagine Nicola Sturgeon doing, but I'd be surprised to see Humza Yousaf go for it. But perhaps the biggest blocker is whether anybody senior enough will even consider the idea. We seem to get precious few electoral pacts in British politics, despite the broken electoral system.
I made a prediction market on Manifold Markets to see how likely that community thinks it is that an electoral pact will occur: https://manifold.markets/Fion/will-the-snp-and-the-liberal-democr
> We seem to get precious few electoral pacts in British politics, despite the broken electoral system.
I agree. it's as if all the parties think all the other parties are evil and completely beyond the pale. Which is very childish since in reality they often agree on lots of things.
People who agree on some things but disagree on others should work together on the things they agree on, and agree to disagree on the rest.
Last week, the leader of the "Scottish" Lib Dems, Alex Cole-Hamilton, stood up (in his kilt) at a debate at Oxford University and declared that Scotland did not exist, nor should it. I think that would be hard for even the current supine SNP leadership to work with. Clearly ACH is working his ticket to becoming an MP, and clearly he doesn't care where.
Given that the LibDems abandoned their "historic commitment" to Home Rule the moment it became a possibility, just as they had abandoned their "historic commitment" to local income tax when that became a possibility in 2007, a lack of principle is nothing new.
As you know, their vote collapsed in Scotland because of their austerity coalition with the Tories. They have managed the rare feat of having more constituency MSPs than list MSPs because they target specific seats and just ignore spending rules in them. They're paddling their way to well-deserved obscurity, and no-one should offer them a lifeboat.
Yes, you're right, ACH did say some pretty disgraceful things about Scotland. And you're also right that the Lib Dems have behaved in unprincipled ways from time to time.
My biggest gripe with the Lib Dems, however, is not that they are unpricipled but that they're incompetent. E.g. in 2010 they held the balance of power and sold it for a referendum on a non-proportional voting system that they didn't even want. They should have held out for something better and been prepared to walk away if they didn't get it. I don't know if you've read Coalition by David Laws, one of the Lib Dem ministers from 2010-2015? The impression I got from that book is the Lib Dems were completely outplayed by the Tories, who care about power above all else.
The Lib Dems need PR because without it they will never achieve anything. They should thus be single minded in achieving it. They probably won't be, because as I've said, they are incompetent.
While I have no interest in giving them a lifeboat, nor am I against them as a group of people: individual Lib Dems who I know personally seem nice enough people, if a bit ineffectual. No, what it's about for me is rejoining EU, which is necessary for boosting the economy and for Britain to be an important playing in the world, and for PR, which is a necessary precondition for a truly democratic society.
I'd also like Scottish independence (which would give us EU membership and a parliament elected by PR), but if Westminster wasn't so nasty and crap, I would feel a lot less urgency in supporting indy.
I don't disagree with anything you say - the Lib Dems were bought for a few ministerial mondeos, whereas if they had had the courage to go for a less formal coalition, they would have wielded more influence. Compare and contrast to what the DUP leveraged out of Theresa May! But neither the Lib Dems nor the current SNP leadership are motivated to fight for our independence - the Lib Dems are actively hostile to it, and there's no-one at the top of the SNP with the strategic nous to negotiate with Westminster, if they even want to. The only thing making me optimistic is the resurgence of grassroots activity about indy supporters.
I think the SNP have lost their way, and sadly I don't see indy happening any time soon. It might do the SNP good to lose an election, badly, as that would bring them to there senses.