Humza #Yousaf isn't a great politician, but he isnae a rubbish politician either, and the #SNP is short of talent at Holyrood. #Swinney would be unwise no tae gie him a cabinet seat; and gien hoo #Yousaf has performed on #Gaza an ither maitters furth o Scotland, it would be guid tae see him in a foreign relations brief.
If we're aiming for #ScottishIndependence, we need to be developing strong relationships with the rest of Europe and beyond.
@simon_brooke I think one thing that Swinney will do is buy some time to settle things a bit. Get Forbes on board, align Westminster MPs to the Holyrood narratives, bring Cherry closer and get some strategic coherence re Indy. Run Scotland as a country with a foreign office that builds relationships.
@kennybrown131 aye, a tent big enough for Cherry is too big for me. But then I left the party years ago over the monarchy, so that isn't a problem for them.
@simon_brooke we have really strong ties, so not starting from scratch. Humza had the role previously. Jenny Gilruth did a good job too . Angus Robertson’s wider roll has enabled him to be a regular on Austrians and German TV to promote Scotland. Kaukab Stewart is currently in the role and very very capable. No idea who John will have in his cabinet but there are some very capable on the benches who have not been been given the opportunities to use their skills. Imagine Humza will play a part
@simon_brooke@Thebratdragon TBH I couldn't blame them for stepping back for good. Being an MP or MSP for the SNP in Scotland means being under attack from all angles all the time. You need to watch every move you make. I'm sure anyone would get fatigued by that in a very short time, and wouldn't blame them for wanting to step back. Theres only so much stress a person can take.
@Thebratdragon@latelesley@simon_brooke I also think the stress of the assault on Gaza on Humza’s at home must be unbearable. These aren’t strangers to him. Over 450 medical professionals are proven as dead, another 300+ in Israeli jails without charge and a surgeon in orthopaedics beaten to death in custody - these are family and family friends not just numbers. In any other line of work he’d have good cause for compassionate leave.
@ScotHomestead@Thebratdragon@simon_brooke The whole thing over there is a mess, and it's guaranteed unrest for decades over there. I was sad to see the Hamas attack, But understand why it happened. Israel had been slowly picking Gazans off for years, and holding an iron grip on basic resources. It was bound to explode at some point. Netanyahu is a monster, who helped stir this all up, to green-light the genocide. And Hamas fell into the trap.
@ScotHomestead@Thebratdragon@simon_brooke neither side is right, and it would take a far better person than I to figure out a solution over there, because I can't see any.
Netanyahu wants a Zionist state, only; Hamas wants and Islamist state, only; but both oppose either a single state in which all religions and none have parity of status, or two states, one for Jews and one for everyone else.
@Jhughes1@simon_brooke@latelesley@Thebratdragon Hamas was wrong to use such violence, wrong to rape and no-one ‘made them’. Punishment of an entire population for the crimes of Hamas is also wrong. And the killing of a whole group of people because of their religion, national identity or place of residence is genocide. As Goldberg points out history will judge both sides. The pressing question is how to stop the killing.
The Israeli government with its policy of encouraging Israeli settlers to just take Palestinian land, and treat Palestinians as third class and less than human is also equally culpable.
@Thebratdragon@Jhughes1@simon_brooke@latelesley Yes, this. I’m not justifying IDF. Nor the British Empire, (arguably responsible for the mess), nor those UK politicians, inheritors of that imperial mentality, who profit from siding with IDF. I am not justifying any of them. I am also not justifying any person who uses rape as a method of warfare even as a response to injustice. I’m saying that there is a path to justice which condemns rape, murder, genocide & seeks a balanced 2-state peace.
@simon_brooke@latelesley@ScotHomestead Hamas offered a release of all hostages on oct 9th, in return for a return to the 1966 borders and a recognised Palestinian state.
@Thebratdragon@ScotHomestead@simon_brooke I don't see it as that simple. It would need to be a palestinian state, with very defined borders which Israel couldn't keep pushing like they have for years. And monitored by neutral outside parties. (If they are any, which I now doubt) Trying to integrate them together would just be as messy as it is now. There's too many generations of bad feeling to have an integrated solution I think.
@ScotInTraining@Thebratdragon@Lassielmr@simon_brooke I read somewhere that it would be possible for a SNP MP like Flynn or Black to stand for election as SNP leader and then delegate a SNP MSP to stand as FM, if they won, until the leader could be elected as a MSP.
I understand why she is jaded with Westminster, but she is a clever and talented politician, who stands by her morals. She would be a great loss to politics if she retired, and I can see her continuing to serve Scotland well for decades
@simon_brooke Don't agree that Yousaf isn't a great politician. He inherited a poisoned chalice & showed strong leadership on Gaza. For that alone I was proud of him as FM. Though he made a major blunder ending BHA. Agree he should be in cabinet & foreign affairs seems a good choice.
@naefool@simon_brooke I don't think he was wrong ending BHA. The Greens were pushing too far, and left him no choice I think. I see Harvie to be to blame here, and caused a lot of damage to himself, the Greens, and the SNP in one fell swoop. He doesn't know when to slow down or stop, forgetting you need to carry the people with you. I see the Greens as Idealists, who forget to meet the people where they are currently at.
@latelesley@naefool I agree Harvie is often an over-pugnacious politician, not one I admire. But without a strong Green agenda in government there is no future for Scotland, and Yousaf, if he had been a better politician, would have sat Harvie and Slater down over a private meal and had a serious discussion about policy differences, rather than sacking them without warning.
If Swinney does not bring Greens back into government in some form, there will be little future for him, or for Scotland.
@simon_brooke@naefool I kinda agree - But I don't think Swinney is in for the long haul. I think he's just holding the reigns till after the election for someone more capable to step in. A lot of people are getting jaded with the SNP. Services are getting worse, NHS isn't faring well, and the perceived inaction on Indy feels like they are just carrot dangling like old Labour of the 00's. (1/2)
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