The Scottish Politics Thread

[Blackmac]

I’m told those of us in the central belt will get an emergency broadcast on module phones this evening about 1800, because of the red weather warning.

Having had one of these in the USA this year, telling us there was a tornado coming and to seek immediate shelter, they can scare the shit out of you.

It had better live up to it

I bloody hope it doesn't. Can't recall the last time we had 90mph winds forecast. Could be very destructive.

[Jock42]

I’m told those of us in the central belt will get an emergency broadcast on module phones this evening about 1800, because of the red weather warning.

Having had one of these in the USA this year, telling us there was a tornado coming and to seek immediate shelter, they can scare the shit out of you.

It had better live up to it

I hope not. Ambulances are shite in 15mph winds never mind 80mph gusts

[Blackmac]

Stephen Flynn is really barking up the wrong tree with his endless Waspi nonsense. Every time he posts on Twitter he gets absolutely slaughtered as there is little or no sympathy.

[Dogbert]

Stephen Flynn is really barking up the wrong tree with his endless Waspi nonsense. Every time he posts on Twitter he gets absolutely slaughtered as there is little or no sympathy.

Twitter is probably a pretty poor way of public perception , looking at the latest polls , confirmed by the previous poll on polls from the last , the SNP are out on front with 35%, with Labour the next on 20%.

[Slick]

Stephen Flynn is really barking up the wrong tree with his endless Waspi nonsense. Every time he posts on Twitter he gets absolutely slaughtered as there is little or no sympathy.

Twitter is probably a pretty poor way of public perception , looking at the latest polls , confirmed by the previous poll on polls from the last , the SNP are out on front with 35%, with Labour the next on 20%.

Did the polls predict them losing 39 seats at the election?

[Blackmac]

Stephen Flynn is really barking up the wrong tree with his endless Waspi nonsense. Every time he posts on Twitter he gets absolutely slaughtered as there is little or no sympathy.

Twitter is probably a pretty poor way of public perception , looking at the latest polls , confirmed by the previous poll on polls from the last , the SNP are out on front with 35%, with Labour the next on 20%.

Benefitting from the other parties incompetence rather than any great voter faith in them.

[Slick]

Stephen Flynn is really barking up the wrong tree with his endless Waspi nonsense. Every time he posts on Twitter he gets absolutely slaughtered as there is little or no sympathy.

More seriously, I had decent hopes for Flynn but he seems impervious to change and seems to get more out of touch as time goes by

[Biffer]

Stephen Flynn is really barking up the wrong tree with his endless Waspi nonsense. Every time he posts on Twitter he gets absolutely slaughtered as there is little or no sympathy.

Twitter is probably a pretty poor way of public perception , looking at the latest polls , confirmed by the previous poll on polls from the last , the SNP are out on front with 35%, with Labour the next on 20%.

Did the polls predict them losing 39 seats at the election?

Yes.

[Dogbert]

Stephen Flynn is really barking up the wrong tree with his endless Waspi nonsense. Every time he posts on Twitter he gets absolutely slaughtered as there is little or no sympathy.

Twitter is probably a pretty poor way of public perception , looking at the latest polls , confirmed by the previous poll on polls from the last , the SNP are out on front with 35%, with Labour the next on 20%.

Did the polls predict them losing 39 seats at the election?

No they did not , but in an FPTP where Labour gained 35% of the vote , as opposed to the SNP of 30% , Labour won 4 times more seats., so relatively small swings can make huge differences

The difference now - and why Flynn has been pushing the Waspi issue ( remember Pensions are a reserved issue ) is that Labour , and especially Scottish Labour told the world and his dog that they would recompense the Waspi women - whether its right , or wrong is sort of mute here - the issue is that Scottish Labour are provoking to be mendacious - and that is not a good look - in the eyes of the voters - see also WFA - it sets a narrative - and that is pushing through to voters, which is what Flynn is looking for.

Of course we could just go with what the bots / loons on twitter tell us - but then the world is flat, the moon landings were fake , and Covid was fake , and if it was real could be cured by drinking bleach

[Slick]

Twitter is probably a pretty poor way of public perception , looking at the latest polls , confirmed by the previous poll on polls from the last , the SNP are out on front with 35%, with Labour the next on 20%.

Did the polls predict them losing 39 seats at the election?

No they did not , but in an FPTP where Labour gained 35% of the vote , as opposed to the SNP of 30% , Labour won 4 times more seats., so relatively small swings can make huge differences

The difference now - and why Flynn has been pushing the Waspi issue ( remember Pensions are a reserved issue ) is that Labour , and especially Scottish Labour told the world and his dog that they would recompense the Waspi women - whether its right , or wrong is sort of mute here - the issue is that Scottish Labour are provoking to be mendacious - and that is not a good look - in the eyes of the voters - see also WFA - it sets a narrative - and that is pushing through to voters, which is what Flynn is looking for.

Of course we could just go with what the bots / loons on twitter tell us - but then the world is flat, the moon landings were fake , and Covid was fake , and if it was real could be cured by drinking bleach

And that’s kind of my point about Flynn, that issue has gone, the news cycle has moved on. Labour have been crap so far and can fairly safely be left to bury themselves for the time being. Swinney seems to get this and is attempting to change the narrative of what a vote for the SNP actually means, not pretendy Indy, Flynn doesn’t seem to have any else in him

[Dogbert]

So they way I read it ,Both Flynn and Swinney are now looking to the May 2026 Scottish parliament election. I suspect that the SNP will go pretty hard at the Labour vote, it was the soft SNP vote that moved back to Labour that hit the SNP so hard. There is little traction in going after the right of centre parties – these are not the natural SNP vote.

So you can have Swinney , who has the power to put policy in place to get voters back from SLAB , BTW I think most Scottish voters do know what a vote for the SNP means, but he needs to refocus back to the traditional strengths that put the party in power .He is of course helped by the complete dogs biscuit of the current Labour governments implementation of policy , and I don’t see any real improvement by the time the election comes around in 2026.

But positive campaigns don’t win campaigns – Flynn has no power at Westminster , Pretty much like all the other parties with Labours huge majority. What he can do is attack Labour , and highlight the differences between Labour and Scottish Labour, to show the electorate that if you vote for SLAB, you won’t get what SLAB promise – because Westminster will overrule , and he can point to both WFA and the Waspi issues , again it doesn’t matter if you think these were the right policies – it’s about persuading the electorate that SLAB cannot be trusted.

Of course , the elephant in the room is Reform , who on current projections look to get about 13 seats and split the Conservatives who are projected to get 17 ( down from 31 )

The SNP are projected to get 50 ( down from 64) , but still the largest party by some way , and Labour increase from 22 to 29 , so at this stage it makes sense to go after the Labour vote.

[Biffer]

So they way I read it ,Both Flynn and Swinney are now looking to the May 2026 Scottish parliament election. I suspect that the SNP will go pretty hard at the Labour vote, it was the soft SNP vote that moved back to Labour that hit the SNP so hard. There is little traction in going after the right of centre parties – these are not the natural SNP vote.

So you can have Swinney , who has the power to put policy in place to get voters back from SLAB , BTW I think most Scottish voters do know what a vote for the SNP means, but he needs to refocus back to the traditional strengths that put the party in power .He is of course helped by the complete dogs biscuit of the current Labour governments implementation of policy , and I don’t see any real improvement by the time the election comes around in 2026.

But positive campaigns don’t win campaigns – Flynn has no power at Westminster , Pretty much like all the other parties with Labours huge majority. What he can do is attack Labour , and highlight the differences between Labour and Scottish Labour, to show the electorate that if you vote for SLAB, you won’t get what SLAB promise – because Westminster will overrule , and he can point to both WFA and the Waspi issues , again it doesn’t matter if you think these were the right policies – it’s about persuading the electorate that SLAB cannot be trusted.

Of course , the elephant in the room is Reform , who on current projections look to get about 13 seats and split the Conservatives who are projected to get 17 ( down from 31 )

The SNP are projected to get 50 ( down from 64) , but still the largest party by some way , and Labour increase from 22 to 29 , so at this stage it makes sense to go after the Labour vote.

The other thing Flynn can do, and indeed gas been doing, is properly attack the tories in a full blooded way Starmer and the rest of the labour front bench seem reluctant to.

[Wylie Coyote]

So they way I read it ,Both Flynn and Swinney are now looking to the May 2026 Scottish parliament election. I suspect that the SNP will go pretty hard at the Labour vote, it was the soft SNP vote that moved back to Labour that hit the SNP so hard. There is little traction in going after the right of centre parties – these are not the natural SNP vote.

So you can have Swinney , who has the power to put policy in place to get voters back from SLAB , BTW I think most Scottish voters do know what a vote for the SNP means, but he needs to refocus back to the traditional strengths that put the party in power .He is of course helped by the complete dogs biscuit of the current Labour governments implementation of policy , and I don’t see any real improvement by the time the election comes around in 2026.

But positive campaigns don’t win campaigns – Flynn has no power at Westminster , Pretty much like all the other parties with Labours huge majority. What he can do is attack Labour , and highlight the differences between Labour and Scottish Labour, to show the electorate that if you vote for SLAB, you won’t get what SLAB promise – because Westminster will overrule , and he can point to both WFA and the Waspi issues , again it doesn’t matter if you think these were the right policies – it’s about persuading the electorate that SLAB cannot be trusted.

Of course , the elephant in the room is Reform , who on current projections look to get about 13 seats and split the Conservatives who are projected to get 17 ( down from 31 )

The SNP are projected to get 50 ( down from 64) , but still the largest party by some way , and Labour increase from 22 to 29 , so at this stage it makes sense to go after the Labour vote.

The other thing Flynn can do, and indeed gas been doing, is properly attack the tories in a full blooded way Starmer and the rest of the labour front bench seem reluctant to.

So expend time and energy attacking a rump of a party with no hope of power in either parliament for the next decade or more? I suppose it is a knee-jerk reaction built up after years of them being in power but at some stage folks who are now in power are going to have to come up with policies that will get the UK moving and address the major challenges the country faces and then stand and fall on them. The Toaries The Toaries The Toaries gets tired very soon - it was basically Nicola Sturgeon's default mode and I remain hopeful that Swinney & Forbes might realise the need to grow up a bit.

[Slick]

So they way I read it ,Both Flynn and Swinney are now looking to the May 2026 Scottish parliament election. I suspect that the SNP will go pretty hard at the Labour vote, it was the soft SNP vote that moved back to Labour that hit the SNP so hard. There is little traction in going after the right of centre parties – these are not the natural SNP vote.

So you can have Swinney , who has the power to put policy in place to get voters back from SLAB , BTW I think most Scottish voters do know what a vote for the SNP means, but he needs to refocus back to the traditional strengths that put the party in power .He is of course helped by the complete dogs biscuit of the current Labour governments implementation of policy , and I don’t see any real improvement by the time the election comes around in 2026.

But positive campaigns don’t win campaigns – Flynn has no power at Westminster , Pretty much like all the other parties with Labours huge majority. What he can do is attack Labour , and highlight the differences between Labour and Scottish Labour, to show the electorate that if you vote for SLAB, you won’t get what SLAB promise – because Westminster will overrule , and he can point to both WFA and the Waspi issues , again it doesn’t matter if you think these were the right policies – it’s about persuading the electorate that SLAB cannot be trusted.

Of course , the elephant in the room is Reform , who on current projections look to get about 13 seats and split the Conservatives who are projected to get 17 ( down from 31 )

The SNP are projected to get 50 ( down from 64) , but still the largest party by some way , and Labour increase from 22 to 29 , so at this stage it makes sense to go after the Labour vote.

The other thing Flynn can do, and indeed gas been doing, is properly attack the tories in a full blooded way Starmer and the rest of the labour front bench seem reluctant to.

So expend time and energy attacking a rump of a party with no hope of power in either parliament for the next decade or more? I suppose it is a knee-jerk reaction built up after years of them being in power but at some stage folks who are now in power are going to have to come up with policies that will get the UK moving and address the major challenges the country faces and then stand and fall on them. The Toaries The Toaries The Toaries gets tired very soon - it was basically Nicola Sturgeon's default mode and I remain hopeful that Swinney & Forbes might realise the need to grow up a bit.

Spot on

[Biffer]

So they way I read it ,Both Flynn and Swinney are now looking to the May 2026 Scottish parliament election. I suspect that the SNP will go pretty hard at the Labour vote, it was the soft SNP vote that moved back to Labour that hit the SNP so hard. There is little traction in going after the right of centre parties – these are not the natural SNP vote.

So you can have Swinney , who has the power to put policy in place to get voters back from SLAB , BTW I think most Scottish voters do know what a vote for the SNP means, but he needs to refocus back to the traditional strengths that put the party in power .He is of course helped by the complete dogs biscuit of the current Labour governments implementation of policy , and I don’t see any real improvement by the time the election comes around in 2026.

But positive campaigns don’t win campaigns – Flynn has no power at Westminster , Pretty much like all the other parties with Labours huge majority. What he can do is attack Labour , and highlight the differences between Labour and Scottish Labour, to show the electorate that if you vote for SLAB, you won’t get what SLAB promise – because Westminster will overrule , and he can point to both WFA and the Waspi issues , again it doesn’t matter if you think these were the right policies – it’s about persuading the electorate that SLAB cannot be trusted.

Of course , the elephant in the room is Reform , who on current projections look to get about 13 seats and split the Conservatives who are projected to get 17 ( down from 31 )

The SNP are projected to get 50 ( down from 64) , but still the largest party by some way , and Labour increase from 22 to 29 , so at this stage it makes sense to go after the Labour vote.

The other thing Flynn can do, and indeed gas been doing, is properly attack the tories in a full blooded way Starmer and the rest of the labour front bench seem reluctant to.

So expend time and energy attacking a rump of a party with no hope of power in either parliament for the next decade or more? I suppose it is a knee-jerk reaction built up after years of them being in power but at some stage folks who are now in power are going to have to come up with policies that will get the UK moving and address the major challenges the country faces and then stand and fall on them. The Toaries The Toaries The Toaries gets tired very soon - it was basically Nicola Sturgeon's default mode and I remain hopeful that Swinney & Forbes might realise the need to grow up a bit.

No. When done consistently, it highlights that Labour aren’t doing it. So enables a ‘more of the same from westminster’ line of attack on Labour.

You might not like that, but it’s effective - look at the way labour has plunged in the polls in Scotland since the election, far more than across the rest of the uk.

[Blackmac]

So in February 2022, the Scottish Government vowed to move all of the disabled persons who had been in long term hospital care back into community care by March 2024. By January 2025 is appears they have achieved the square root of f#ck all and of the £20 million earmarked for the project, £12.5 million is unspent and £6 million has gone missing and cannot be traced. This is an absolutely mind blowing level of incompetence.

[Biffer]

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/249 ... tory-2026/

The SNP looks set to be the biggest party in Holyrood after the next election, with support for Scottish Labour having “imploded,” according to a poll commissioned by The Herald.

Anas Sarwar’s party list vote is now at its lowest level in three years.

[Biffer]

Seat projection

SNP 56 (-13)
Lab 16 (-6)
Green 15 (+7)
Con 15 (-16)
Lib Dem 15 (+11)
Reform 9 (+9)
Alba 8 (+8)

[Biffer]

Oddly, there’s no story about this on the bbc website.

[Slick]

Oddly, there’s no story about this on the bbc website.

TBF, neither did any other media outlet since it was an "Exclusive Herald Poll". Even the usually excellent National didn't pick up on it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2mg93vj83o

[Tichtheid]

It's a bit disturbing that "Reform are to take a quarter of the Tory vote", even if that amounts to around 3% of the total.

[Paddington Bear]

Reform polling one point below Labour and well above the Tories in a Scottish Westminster poll over the weekend. Not totally convinced it’s a shock - there’s a significant socially conservative streak in Scotland that hasn’t had much of a political outlet.

[Tichtheid]

Reform polling one point below Labour and well above the Tories in a Scottish Westminster poll over the weekend. Not totally convinced it’s a shock - there’s a significant socially conservative streak in Scotland that hasn’t had much of a political outlet.

Would you have a link for that? I can't find anything atm.

[Paddington Bear]

Reform polling one point below Labour and well above the Tories in a Scottish Westminster poll over the weekend. Not totally convinced it’s a shock - there’s a significant socially conservative streak in Scotland that hasn’t had much of a political outlet.

Would you have a link for that? I can't find anything atm.

https://x.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/1886048593192132690

Haven’t done a deep dive into how reputable it is etc

[Dogbert]

Reform polling one point below Labour and well above the Tories in a Scottish Westminster poll over the weekend. Not totally convinced it’s a shock - there’s a significant socially conservative streak in Scotland that hasn’t had much of a political outlet.

Would you have a link for that? I can't find anything atm.

https://x.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/1886048593192132690

Haven’t done a deep dive into how reputable it is etc

Ballotbox Scotland is an interesting source of current projections in Scotland

https://ballotbox.scot/scottish-parliam ... arliament/

There is no doubt that the rise of Reform in Scotland is splitting the Conservative vote, and that is with Reform not having a 'Scottish' leader ( which may be helping them - Michelle Ballantyne was recently removed as Scottish leader of Reform as she was found to be the administrator of a Facebook page featuring racist and far-right posts. At some stage they will need to appoint someone, who will no doubt come under scrutiny, which could prove interesting.

Still way to early to know what this will mean in the next election cycle, the SNP vote is well down , but has stabilized , and Labour are in real difficulties.

[robmatic]

Reform polling one point below Labour and well above the Tories in a Scottish Westminster poll over the weekend. Not totally convinced it’s a shock - there’s a significant socially conservative streak in Scotland that hasn’t had much of a political outlet.

Well, the failure of establishment politics applies in Scotland as well. Although immigration shouldn't really be an issue when it is so low north of the border.

I had an SNP-supporting flatmate at uni who was incredibly right wing about benefits claimants and immigrants etc. but independence was always his overriding cause.

[Tichtheid]

That Ballotbox prediction would make for an interesting situation - an unlikely coalition between SNP and Lab? SNP/Green/LibDem?

[Tichtheid]

Reform polling one point below Labour and well above the Tories in a Scottish Westminster poll over the weekend. Not totally convinced it’s a shock - there’s a significant socially conservative streak in Scotland that hasn’t had much of a political outlet.

Well, the failure of establishment politics applies in Scotland as well.

Aside from being anarchist and not actually sitting as an MP, I'm never sure what an anti-establishment politician would look like. Farage is as "establishment" as they come, although you could argue he did fuck all as a Euro MP, not attending meetings he was supposed to be at and similarly the last time I looked he hadn't voted in the HoC.

I had an SNP-supporting flatmate at uni who was incredibly right wing about benefits claimants and immigrants etc. but independence was always his overriding cause.

That's not particularly unusual, to be fair, there are arguments on the redder end of the political spectrum both in favour and against indy, I assume there is the same on the Right.

[robmatic]

Aside from being anarchist and not actually sitting as an MP, I'm never sure what an anti-establishment politician would look like. Farage is as "establishment" as they come, although you could argue he did fuck all as a Euro MP, not attending meetings he was supposed to be at and similarly the last time I looked he hadn't voted in the HoC.

Oh yeah, Farage is a hypocritical cockwomble like most of these right-wing grifters, but there is a portion of the electorate that is there to be gathered up by him.

That's not particularly unusual, to be fair, there are arguments on the redder end of the political spectrum both in favour and against indy, I assume there is the same on the Right.

It's also why I am a bit sceptical of assuming that the Scottish electorate is overwhelmingly enlightened and progressive based on people voting SNP.

[Biffer]

It's also why I am a bit sceptical of assuming that the Scottish electorate is overwhelmingly enlightened and progressive based on people voting SNP.

But before the rise of the SNP in the 00s, it was overwhelmingly Labour voting. Scotland hasn't returned a right wing party since the 50s, and most of the SNP rise came from Labour voters.

[Slick]

All this talk about who has been in power links in to some thoughts I've been having lately.

Scotland is a great place to live and having lived elsewhere in the UK I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. But then I guess I'm fairly solidly middle class, albeit a product of a very working class background on my dads side, and it's easy to dismiss or forget some of the really bad social issues we have here.

We can get quite seduced by the tourist images of castles and hills, islands and seas, invention, enlightenment etc and sweep under the carpet that we have the worst drugs issue in Europe, the lowest life expectancy in Western Europe, dreadful health statistics, huge alcohol problems, a school truancy rate that is worse than most others, decimated wildlife and an astonishing litter issue, amongst others. The root of most of this is grinding poverty.

All these issues predate the current government and have been around for decades and longer with no real answers or solutions on the horizon. Why is this and what can we do, whatever colour of government, to improve the situation.

A back of a fag packet issue I've been mulling over is that we have always been a divided nation - highland/lowland, Rangers/Celtic, Indy/Union, Jacobite/the other one, land owners/the rest, Protestant/Catholic, Glasgow/Edinburgh (not rugby) and this has always held us back, and will continue to do so.

[Biffer]

This is as well in here as anywhere else - Leith Theatre has secured £4.5million of Lottery Heritage funding. After securing the 50 year lease from the council, it seems that this place finally has a secure future, which is great. Looking forward to it being used as a flexible venue; I saw Arab Strap play there a couple of years ago and it's a good gig venue, plus it's another space for the International Festival's more 'imaginative' productions, and other types of performance as well - there's a musical version of Restless Natives on there this summer.

https://www.leiththeatre.co.uk/news-fea ... ry-support

[inactionman]

This is as well in here as anywhere else - Leith Theatre has secured £4.5million of Lottery Heritage funding. After securing the 50 year lease from the council, it seems that this place finally has a secure future, which is great. Looking forward to it being used as a flexible venue; I saw Arab Strap play there a couple of years ago and it's a good gig venue, plus it's another space for the International Festival's more 'imaginative' productions, and other types of performance as well - there's a musical version of Restless Natives on there this summer.

https://www.leiththeatre.co.uk/news-fea ... ry-support

Superb..

We went to a few events when it was trying to sort out its future, the auditorium looked ready to fall in on itself - they'd made a fair few more renovations in the time we were going but it was always a bit hand-to-mouth.

Awesome it's got a lifeline

[Tichtheid]

This is as well in here as anywhere else - Leith Theatre has secured £4.5million of Lottery Heritage funding. After securing the 50 year lease from the council, it seems that this place finally has a secure future, which is great. Looking forward to it being used as a flexible venue; I saw Arab Strap play there a couple of years ago and it's a good gig venue, plus it's another space for the International Festival's more 'imaginative' productions, and other types of performance as well - there's a musical version of Restless Natives on there this summer.

https://www.leiththeatre.co.uk/news-fea ... ry-support

Superb..

We went to a few events when it was trying to sort out its future, the auditorium looked ready to fall in on itself - they'd made a fair few more renovations in the time we were going but it was always a bit hand-to-mouth.

Awesome it's got a lifeline

Excellent.

I was in the Lyceum yesterday for the first time in dog knows how many years, possibly 40, and I was very impressed with it. These venues need to thrive.

Incidentally, Chaakoo Bombay Cafe on Lothian Road - ace.

[inactionman]

This is as well in here as anywhere else - Leith Theatre has secured £4.5million of Lottery Heritage funding. After securing the 50 year lease from the council, it seems that this place finally has a secure future, which is great. Looking forward to it being used as a flexible venue; I saw Arab Strap play there a couple of years ago and it's a good gig venue, plus it's another space for the International Festival's more 'imaginative' productions, and other types of performance as well - there's a musical version of Restless Natives on there this summer.

https://www.leiththeatre.co.uk/news-fea ... ry-support

Superb..

We went to a few events when it was trying to sort out its future, the auditorium looked ready to fall in on itself - they'd made a fair few more renovations in the time we were going but it was always a bit hand-to-mouth.

Awesome it's got a lifeline

Excellent.

I was in the Lyceum yesterday for the first time in dog knows how many years, possibly 40, and I was very impressed with it. These venues need to thrive.

Incidentally, Chaakoo Bombay Cafe on Lothian Road - ace.

Yep - my wife did some AmDram/community theatre at the Lyceum a few years back, I thought it was a lovely venue. I've got a really nice photo of her on-stage that I've been meaning to print out.

[Biffer]

This is as well in here as anywhere else - Leith Theatre has secured £4.5million of Lottery Heritage funding. After securing the 50 year lease from the council, it seems that this place finally has a secure future, which is great. Looking forward to it being used as a flexible venue; I saw Arab Strap play there a couple of years ago and it's a good gig venue, plus it's another space for the International Festival's more 'imaginative' productions, and other types of performance as well - there's a musical version of Restless Natives on there this summer.

https://www.leiththeatre.co.uk/news-fea ... ry-support

Superb..

We went to a few events when it was trying to sort out its future, the auditorium looked ready to fall in on itself - they'd made a fair few more renovations in the time we were going but it was always a bit hand-to-mouth.

Awesome it's got a lifeline

Excellent.

I was in the Lyceum yesterday for the first time in dog knows how many years, possibly 40, and I was very impressed with it. These venues need to thrive.

Incidentally, Chaakoo Bombay Cafe on Lothian Road - ace.

Yeah, the Lyceum is lovely. Get some very good productions in there as well.

[Tichtheid]

Yeah, the Lyceum is lovely. Get some very good productions in there as well.

The Merchant of Venice is on this week.

I’d recommend it.

[Biffer]

Yeah, the Lyceum is lovely. Get some very good productions in there as well.

The Merchant of Venice is on this week.

I’d recommend it.

Friend of mine went to see it and said it was excellent, but Having seen it a few times and read it at school, it really annoys me. There's no one in the play that's anything other than a dick. To a greater or lesser extent. So I only ever walk out of it thinking 'fuck them all, shower of wankers'. Saw Jonathan Price play Shylock at the Globe a few years ago, was excellent, still thought every character was a dick.

[Slick]

This is as well in here as anywhere else - Leith Theatre has secured £4.5million of Lottery Heritage funding. After securing the 50 year lease from the council, it seems that this place finally has a secure future, which is great. Looking forward to it being used as a flexible venue; I saw Arab Strap play there a couple of years ago and it's a good gig venue, plus it's another space for the International Festival's more 'imaginative' productions, and other types of performance as well - there's a musical version of Restless Natives on there this summer.

https://www.leiththeatre.co.uk/news-fea ... ry-support

Superb..

We went to a few events when it was trying to sort out its future, the auditorium looked ready to fall in on itself - they'd made a fair few more renovations in the time we were going but it was always a bit hand-to-mouth.

Awesome it's got a lifeline

A group of locals took over Portobello Town Hall a year or so ago which had been lying empty for some time. They raised funds and got some Lottery money and have turned it into a very decent venue that seems to have something on most nights - ceilidh's, boxing, panto, comedians, DJ's etc, but also as a community venue. Looks like it's beginning to get a bit of a name and some pretty decent shows coming this year. They really have done a great job.
Excellent.

I was in the Lyceum yesterday for the first time in dog knows how many years, possibly 40, and I was very impressed with it. These venues need to thrive.

Incidentally, Chaakoo Bombay Cafe on Lothian Road - ace.

[Tichtheid]

Not politics, I just thought this was a fantastic photograph - the Red Arrows flying over the Bass Rock with Fife in the background

https://www.eastlothiancourier.com/news ... IyH2P7gTzA