Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

But when the oil goes up again?

=======

Could be completely wrong, but I feel the euphoria of the SNP over the number of seats they are promised will diminish nearer to the May election and the number of labour seats lost to them will be less than expected. But one thing which is almost certain those not voting labour out of "frustration" will not migrate to the tories or UKIP.

A coalition of Tories will be unrepresentative of the UK other than the shires and bits of the SE.

The SNP want another referendum sooner rather than later, so I expect Labour will get a bloody nose as predicted in the GE.

That Telegraph report LOL LOL LOL LOL total bollocks. Tories will get at most 20 seats.

Right wing propaganda at its worst.

Jim Murphy may even get it lower than that.

Gf you are the one who is talking total bollocks. You need to read that article again.

DB4.

Examine the basis of your prediction.

The split in at the Referendum 45 Yes/55 No.

For many, if Cameron hadn't shown himself to be a conniving liar after the referendum and unable to fulfill his promises then possibly the SNP "promised" support of now would be less.

I think Cameron and to a certain degree Labour and Lib/Ds have angered the Scots and they are demonstrating that distaste of the London elite.

Depends on the canvassing but the voting will probably return to the left of centre without the enthusiasm for independence, which is being registered now.

========

Fred, try reading a Scottish newspaper and then you might have a clue what is going on in Scotland!


SUPPORT for the SNP is running at twice that of Labour ahead of next May’s general election, a poll has suggested.


Research by Survation for the Daily Record found 48 per cent of voters would back the SNP - the highest level of support the polling firm has found for the nationalists in a Westminster election - with Labour trailing on 24 per cent.

The poll of 1,001 people across Scotland was the first since Jim Murphy was elected as Labour’s leader north of the border.

Support for the Conservatives was at 16 per cent, 5 per cent backed the Lib Dems, 4 per cent would vote for Ukip and 1 per cent for the Greens.

Survation found that for 14% of those questioned, Mr Murphy’s leadership made them more likely to vote Labour, while 18% said they were less likely to do so and 57 per cent said it made no difference.

The SNP also continues to dominate Holyrood voting intentions, with the party’s Scottish Parliament constituency vote rising to 51 per cent, more than double Labour’s 25 per cent.

Polling expert Professor John Curtice said the research suggested “any hopes that Labour might have that the election of Mr Murphy as its Scottish leader would prove to be a magic bullet are dispelled”.

Prof Curtice said support for Labour in voting intentions for the Westminster election is “exactly the same” as a month ago, while the SNP is “actually a couple of points up on last month”.

Writing on the What Scotland Thinks website, he said: “If the swing since 2010 implied by these figures were to be replicated everywhere, the SNP would sweep the board with 54 of Scotland’s 59 seats, while Labour would have just four.”

CONNECT WITH THE SCOTSMAN

We will see!

DB4,

I use stay occasionally at Morningside with my brother and he used to take the Scotsman.

When I read it I thought it to a copy of the Daily Express and asked him why he read it.

He replied "for a laugh".

======


But looked at a recent review.

"The Scotsman editorial today concludes: “The Scotsman regrettably finds itself in the unusual position of not being able to endorse any of the big four parties with any enthusiasm.”

Actually, that is not that unusual for the Scotsman which has dodged the issue of who to vote for, more often than not, in the last few General Elections.

It does, though, suggest it is leaning towards the Conservatives – even though it cannot bring itself to back the Tories outright.

The Scotsman says that David Cameron has “made a considerable effort to reassure Scotland he respects the country’s distinctiveness … has recognised the need for a rapid reduction in Britain’s indebtedness and has the desire to loosen the shackles of state dominance which so limits Scottish ambition”.

That does suggest admiration for the Tory leader, at the very least and the Scotsman’s final appeal is for change – which means either Conservative or Liberal Democrat – and tells its readers to back anyone who promises that change and would bring most to the new parliament."


==============

Broaden your reading!

Since you don't appreciate the Scotsman Fred, here is something from heraldscotland !

Murphy fails his first test
Sunday Herald View

Sunday 21 December 2014

IT was a chance to prove he really did mean what he said.

When Jim Murphy was elected last week he promised a "fresh start for Labour", and said his aim was to "unite Scotland".

But he has fallen at the first hurdle - hobbled by the weary, useless tribal Westminster-style politics he represents.


When offered the chance to unite with the four other party political leaders in Scotland - Nicola Sturgeon, Patrick Harvie, Ruth Davidson and Willie Rennie - to save the Aeronautrical Rescue Coordination Centre at Kinloss in Moray, he walked away.

Instead of joining the cross-party effort and collectively putting pressure on UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon to reconsider the closure, Murphy snubbed the move and went on his own way, writing his own letter to Cameron instead.

Let's get this in perspective: Kinloss is a key air search and rescue centre. It saves lives. It co-ordinates RAF, Royal Navy and Coastguard search and rescue helicopters, as well as the RAF mountain rescue service.

If it closes, Scotland will lose a crucial and highly valued service, which will instead move to the south coast of England. At least 27 RAF posts and 10 civilian posts would be affected.

Murphy's actions were petty and embarrassing - even more so given that the proposal for cross-party co-operation to save Kinloss was proposed by a Labour Highlands and Islands MSP, Dave Stewart. Where Stewart was prepared to put old squabbles aside, Murphy was not. Where Stewart was prepared to think of the people of Scotland above the Scottish Labour Party, Murphy was not. So, there's at least one elected Labour representative in this country who seems to be seeking a new start and a new political paradigm, but it is not Jim Murphy.

Murphy might have been elected Scottish Labour leader last week, but in truth he is yesterday's man. The tide of history is against the ­tribalism which has for too long driven politivs in Scotland.

If the SNP promised universal peace and wealth for all by tomorrow morning, Murphy would turn his back because that is the sort of politics he has been schooled in - petty, negative, and serving the people of Scotland not one jot.

He represents a party which would do almost anything to score a ­political point against the SNP.

We have repeatedly heard Labour insist it has learned lessons from past defeats.

The most important lesson it had to learn is not to put political point scoring above the best interests of Scotland.

Murphy himself suggested as much when he said after his election as Labour leader that he would employ 'yes' in his team.

Sadly, he seems to have reverted to the depressing Labour habit of rejecting any collaboration with the SNP, which he can only view as an arch enemy of his party.

The Apprentice....

Has anyone found Alan Sugar's/Mark Wright's new 'Climb Online' web site yet?

I understand the new £250,000 business is designed to 'climb you up the online ratings and get you found more easily'.

The only 'Climb Online' business I can find is, ...wait for it...wait for it....., an online climbing web site.

It's at: http://www.climbonline.co.uk

Billy Connolly asked me to send this to Fred! ( if the link works!)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9nnnM-__JQ

Anyone else finding SPs here arent the same as IG Index???????????

Ive found at least 6 of mine dont tie up or anywhere near tie up.

Cant understand it, nobody else complaining????????.

DB4.

One of my least favourite Scotties.

I will give him a miss.

Actually, it's one of his better efforts - without the usual stream of foul language, suggesting that the theme from The Archers would make a better national anthem than God Save the Queen. :-)

If ya didna have your feet in ya wellies

sticky - do you not use L2 which has real live prices?

No not these days. Dont bother........overated imo.

bullshit .... L2 is absolutely and unequivocally live
if you're talking about s/b prices, i have no idea from where they are gleaned

GF,

Might help,

I use CMC for SBs and the prices seem current enough for me.

But the spreads on occasions seem a little too wide, but you can use the mid price.


But when buying and "selling" do it from charts.

If you know what you're doing, Cyners, you don't need Level 2 (or any other dom data for that matter). And, if you don't know what you're doing, you shouldn't be doing it anyway.

It was good for spotting shifty MMs at 100 paces when everything outside the 100 went through SEAQ, but the advent of SETSmm just gave the MMs a veil of secrecy to hide behind.