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That article is by David Torrance.

Possible he mean UK government, as in Westminster, but had to cut corners in order to fit it in to one tweet. 140 characters is kind of restrictive.

You love your pigeonholing don't you. I'm guessing internally it makes it easier for you to dismiss the opinion of your fellow Scots... that's Scots that don't get off on flag waving.

You pigeon hole yourself with your nonsense. It's clear that you're part of that minority of Scots who feel, first and foremost, British. Also I might be at odds with most Scots but I'm not into flag waving either. There's more to Scottish culture than a flag.

I can quite happily feel both thanks...

Do you believe the nation you belong to is Scotland or Britain? Britain either is not a nation but a state made up of a number of nations or in fact Scotland is not actually a nation but a region of a nation called Great Britain. I believe in Scotland's right to be a sovereign nation, you do not.

As the article says, independence is the glue that keeps the SNP together... they're not ideologically left or right. They've no want to be radical, although the powers would allow them to be, just in case it unsettles the apple cart.

Easier to give the middle class giveaways and tax cuts for higher earners and then claim you're anti-austerity... try and woo the left and the right.

As long as you are part of another 27 'sovereign nations'.

You did not block me after all

As per my last post, I feel both Scottish and British... and believe currently Scotland is better off as part of the UK.

And that is probably the difference, I believe that the people of Scotland can make a better job of running Scotland than anyone else can. I believe in the potential of the Scottish people. You see returning power to Scotland's representatives as an outrage and you passionately support leaving the running of Scotland out of our own hands.

For me it's not about better or worse job, it's about pooling and sharing with the UK as a whole, the costs of setting up, the risk involved etc.

This I fear you will never understand, but some people can be positive about Scotland, within a United Kingdom... and given we have MPs in Westminster and very recently Scottish Prime Ministers, the running is in our hands.

Pointing out the obvious, we also have our own parliament for devolved areas.

The evidence of the messes the SNP are creating say different or at the very least we'd be no better off. University Fees policy is failing, there aren't enough places for the numbers of Scottish students applying yet in spite of this the SNP are wedded to the idea of providing the same funding for EU students.

Police Scotland is an unmitigated disaster.

The council tax freeze is smoke and mirrors as the new property tax deliberately targets better off home owners in wealthier areas with higher house prices.

The cuts to local council funding continue to bite, oddly enough in wealthier areas, the same areas sending additional tax to the central belt to defend services there.

Sooner or later the pigeons will come home and roost and other than the cause of independence there's little else going for the party these days.

So you believe the SNP are hammering wealthier areas to send cash to the struggling central belt? That's interesting, a couple of days ago you were claiming they were similar to the Tories and the only reason you wouldn't vote for them is the matter of the constitution.

Anyway you seem to have demolished Black Sheeps case about the SNP being most politically close to the Tories. Good work!

Which is why Ms Sturgeon is completely stymied. Home policy is a disaster, she is losing seats and Davidson is outperforming her bigtime, but she can return to independence as her rallying cry.

The trouble is is that it is a rallying cry she cannot press too hard for until she knows she can win otherwise it is career suicide - and she knows at the moment that she will not, so she has to walk a fine line between.

I think you've completely misunderstood me. It would explain a lot.

I mistook you for cool sharp harp.

I see the unionist delusion of Ruth Davidson as the FM's nemesis continues unabated.

No policies to speak of and clearly no self awareness - Waving the union flag continually demanding nationalists have no more talk of independence.

I could almost feel sorry for them if Ruthie is what unionists are pinning their hopes on when the referendum race starts....

Unionists are pinning their hopes on Salmond and Sturgeon - it worked last time.

I can see Nicola at her language class:-

'Poooond'

Davidson showing her potential future FM material in getting pulled up by a new SNP MSP for trying to pass off the bad performance of the NHS in England as somehow being a problem with NHS Scotland.

https://twitter.com/GillianGMartin/s...59462529912832

A real boomerang attack. Tut tut Ruth. Must try harder.

I hope you include your own bias against the SNP, which you show you hate with your frequent comments on this forum.

Personally, I am no supporter of the SNP (I have voted for them once when there was no other candidate to support), but will defend them against blatant lies and misrepresentations which frequent this forum far too much.

I suppose the Conservatives are no longer mainstream in your eyes. I don't know how anyone could describe them as anything other than right wing.

It puzzles my why Davidson only ever waves the union flag and never the Saltire. Surely as a proud Scot she should be happy to wave the Saltire.

Its what happens when you wrap flags up with nationalism, patriotism and bigotry. The Saltire used to be part and parcel with Scottish national identity, it was the logo for Grampian TV for nearly 40 years before its was swallowed up by STV. now its a byword for Nationalism, the SNP and Independence. You could see that by the recent over reaction to Tesco's recent decision to replace the saltire on Scottish produce with the union flag.

I used to have a Saltire draped over my couch, now its tucked away in box in the loft, its come to stand for something very different now.

It should never have been that way but that's what happens when you polarise politics around flags. One might well ask what exactly were the reasons the FM refused Theresa May the courtesy of displaying the Union flag at Bute House?

He still might have, it was another poster he was replying to unless you have two accounts and got a little mixed up