In 2015, Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (SSA) found that trust in the Scottish government was three times higher than that in the UK government. 73% of people in Scotland trusted the Scottish government. This was higher than for any previous Labour/Lib Dem coalition and I suspect much higher than for the last independent one in 1707. Trust in the UK government was 23%. Again, I doubt it’s so high today. The Scottish government was also trusted by 49% to make ‘fair decisions’ while the figures for local government and Whitehall were only 34 and 18% respectively.
http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0049/00497047.pdf
While a powerful anti-SNP media campaign, especially that focusing on unfounded criticisms of NHS Scotland, a short Corbyn surge in 2017 and the disgraceful flight of some Labour supporters to the Tories, putting the Union before their social values, created a dip in support at the time of the last general election, support for the SNP has risen again and looks solid at near 40%. See paragraph four in:
http://blog.whatscotlandthinks.org/2017/10/how-much-difficulty-are-the-snp-in/
That the SNP government should be popular to this day is clearly apparent in the enormous lists of achievements by the independent Grouse Beater in April 2016 and by the SNP itself in 2018:
https://grousebeater.wordpress.com/2016/04/19/the-snps-achievements/
I was reminded of all of the above, by reading of four Scottish government actions in one day, yesterday (posted above), which seemed so indicative of why we are so fortunate to have this administration rather than the utterly repugnant Whitehall as its actions hammer the poor, the disabled and the civilians of Yemen, to name just three groups of victims.
Footnote: On the same day, our Foreign Secretary was blustering, like a second-rate Churchill, about punishing the Russians if they are found to have poisoned an ex-spy. Punishing the Russians? Aye right!
Talking-up Scotland 
It would be pretty easy to punish the Russians; just confiscate their London properties. That’ll learn ’em!
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Oh those Russians. Yes that would be easy.
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Reblogged this on Ramblings of a 50+ Female.
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From Scottish Legal site info there is a vote in Westminster tonight regarding backdating of political donations (Northern Ireland) to 2014 (notice Tory 3 line whip). See below – I’ve incorporated some further info which seems relevant from Grauniad today, and The Observer from July 2017 – The plot is thick but worth a quick glance if people have time. Amazing how ‘Scottish’ britnats are always involved somewhere in these ‘shady’ (Deep State) dealings:
UK government pressed to backdate publication of political donations to 2014
The UK government is facing calls from opposition MPs to allow the backdated publication of Northern Ireland political donations from January 2014.
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Smith has alleged that the government is “doing the DUP’s dirty work” by moving the date of publication from 2014 to 1 July 2017.
The Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 provides for the Northern Ireland Secretary to allow or require the Electoral Commission to publish information about political donations in Northern Ireland from no earlier than 1 January 2014.
However, the UK government has instead whipped its MPs to back The Transparency of Donations and Loans etc. (Northern Ireland
Political Parties) Order 2018 which provides for publication of donations from summer 2017, something opposition MPs say will prevent scrutiny of donations made during the 2016 EU membership referendum.
Questions have been aimed at the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since it emerged the party had spent £280,000 on a four-page wrap-around pro-Brexit advert in the free Metro newspaper, which is circulated in Great Britain but not in Northern Ireland
(From Grauniad today): Serious questions remain over the DUP’s spending on the EU referendum in June 2016 – including a £435,000 donation from a group called the Constitutional Research Council (CRC), chaired by Richard Cook, a former vice-chairman of the Scottish Conservatives and Unionist party.
The DUP spent more than £280,000 of that money on a wraparound advertisement in the London-based Metro newspaper, which is not distributed in Northern Ireland.
On Monday night, the government attempted to enact the transparency rules in the legislation via statutory instrument, a process which allows the provisions of an act of parliament to come into force or be altered without parliament having to debate them.
However, after objections by Labour at the last-minute nature of the SI, the measure will now be put to a vote on Wednesday, where the party will attempt to get the law backdated to its introduction in 2014. Conservative MPs are under a three-line whip to oppose.
A Labour source said: “The government tried to pull a fast one and got their minister to sit down early so they could vote on the SIs last night rather than deferred on Wednesday. We stopped it but it’s very unusual and shows the nervousness on this, especially the NI political donations.”
(From The Observer Jamie Doward Sat 1 Jul 2017): The new minister for securing the UK’s departure from the EU is under pressure to clarify his relationship with the obscure organisation behind a controversial £435,000 donation to the Democratic Unionist Party during last year’s Brexit referendum.
Steve Baker, a leading light on the Tory right, has also received £6,500 from the Constitutional Research Council, the body behind the DUP donation. The revelation has heightened interest in the council and its links to two powerful organisations now holding sway over British politics: the DUP, whose 10 MPs are propping up the Tory government, and the European Research Group, an increasingly influential group of around 80 pro-Brexit MPs that was chaired by Baker until he stood down last month.
The council is chaired by Richard Cook, a former vice-chairman of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party, whose business associates include a former Saudi spy chief and a man alleged to have been an intermediary in a major arms scandal. It has no website and publishes no accounts and is one of several organisations that have emerged as having played a key role in securing Britain’s exit from the EU.
In his register of interests, Baker states: “As chair of the European Research Group (ERG), I accepted £6,500 from the Constitutional Research Council to fund hospitality for ERG members and their staff at an event on 19 December 2016.” Baker’s promotion in Theresa May’s recent reshuffle was seen in Conservative circles as proof that the Tory right was now the dominant force in the party.
In 2012 his (Cook’s) company, Cook Consulting, signed agreements to deliver environmental projects in Karachi worth more than £600m.
But where the CRC gets its money from is a mystery. Cook, who did not respond to requests for comment, has said “three or four individuals” donate. In May he explained to the Sunday Herald “..“People come to us with projects [and] they tell us how it is promoting the Union. The executive committee assess that and will decide.”
Cook is unlikely to be a substantial donor. Cook Consulting was dissolved without filing accounts. Five Star Investment Management, a company that he founded with a Dane called Peter Haestrup and whose shareholders included the late Prince Nawwaf bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, a former director general of the Saudi intelligence agency, has also been dissolved.
The same sort of tricks will be thrown Scotland’s way again come the brexit Indyref.
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Update from the ‘deferred division’ at Westminster – carried on beeb Northern Ireland site:
MPs voted to approve a statutory order providing for greater transparency on party funding.
Labour and the SNP objected to the order because the government set July last year as the date after which all donations and loans of more than £7,500 should be made public.
The opposition parties argued it should have been backdated to 2014.
With the Conservatives applying a three-line whip, the measure passed by 308 votes to 261.
It means no details of any donations made during the EU referendum campaign of 2016 will be made public.
That includes a controversial £435,000 donation to the DUP from a group of pro-union business people called the Constitutional Research Council (CRC).
The CRC is chaired by Richard Cook, a former vice-chairman of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.
It is expected the first political donations could be published as early as next week.
Note how beeb N.Ireland correspondent alludes to role of Richard Cook of the ‘Scottish’ tories. You would look long and hard for the same candour on the beeb Jockland site I’m afraid.
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Thanks for all this.
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