Poll - 2019 Shetland MSP by-election

[Davie P]

@Suffererof1crankymofo - yup, I paid for my PG education too (in fact I'm still paying!) and travel grants and the like had long finished by the time I went to Uni.

 

Keeping in mind I said earlier that "I have no problem with those who can afford to contribute something being compelled to do so", the two fundamental reasons why IMHO the state should also contribute is a) equality of opportunity, ensuring students from lower income backgrounds can access higher education and having a well-educated workforce benefits the economy.

 

Also keep in mind that it is only core tuition fees that are covered by the government, only Scottish residents are eligible and the majority of students have to take out loans too.

 

Government supported tuition fees themselves are inward investments into the economy and many Scottish universities are world leaders attracting large numbers of non-Scottish students with all the economic benefits that entails.

 

I completely agree that there should be more supported vocational training opportunities such as apprenticeships, and I think the Scottish Government does quite well in that department.

[Muckle Oxters]

I'm tinkin Ryan Thomson wid do a good job. He speaks a lot o sense and seems weel grounded.

 

I'm seen some o da idder eens speakin and hivna been aa dat impressed. Wan in particular has been campaignin long and hard on gettin weemin intae UHA but I don't think she's good at makin persuasive arguments and seems to get drawn intae pettiness too easily - no really parliament material.

Edited July 12, 2019 by Muckle Oxters

[JGHR]

Very interesting. I think Ryan Thomson will do well, I expect he'll get a lot of the under 40 age group vote which otherwise might favour the SNP.  I think it will be between him and whoever the Lib Dems put up, but it may well be the end of an era.

  

Now that the field is known I've changed my mind slightly. I think it's between Ryan Thomson and Tom Wills. The Lib Dems missed a trick with their selection and I mean that with absolutely no disrespect to Beatrice Wishart.  It's the millennials and post millennials who are going to decide this election and I expect them to select one of their own. 

 

Shetland could do much worse than send Ryan Thomson to Holyrood, in the event of a hung parliament in 2021 he would wield considerable power and be in a position to extract tremendous benefit for Shetland.

[Windwalker]

I think Tom Wills could do a good job, but there is no way I would every vote for the SNP.

So do you go for a party rep or an independent ? Usually I’m pretty sure who I’d vote for, but this is the first time I feel a few of them could be good in the job.

 

Totally undecided at present, so let’s hope they take this short time to sell themselves and convince me who to vote for.

[Wheelsup]

There’s likely to be a split vote resulting in a someone with an overall minority winning the seat. Could easily see SNP winning.

[Claadehol]

That's a very likely scenario Wheelsup, far too many candidates to keep the SNP out of these islands. The independence fanatics will of course ignore all the others and vote for the long awaited one party state. All other voters will look  at individuals and vote for the one that appeals at the time. Sadly!

[Capeesh]

This is the safest of safe seats for the LibDems, if they put a LibDem rosette on a freshly clipped sheep and put it up for election it would most likely win by a landslide and be bleating away in Holyrood till the next election.

I have to disagree with JGHR when he says the millennials and post millennials will decide the vote, I hope I'm wrong but when I go to the polling booths and look around, the older ones always seem to vastly outnumber the younger ones.

[Suffererof1crankymofo]

Who seems the most savvy and likely to concentrate on the small print?  Beatrice.  The others lack experience.

[JGHR]

This is the safest of safe seats for the LibDems, if they put a LibDem rosette on a freshly clipped sheep and put it up for election it would most likely win by a landslide and be bleating away in Holyrood till the next election.

I have to disagree with JGHR when he says the millennials and post millennials will decide the vote, I hope I'm wrong but when I go to the polling booths and look around, the older ones always seem to vastly outnumber the younger ones.

 

It might just be wishful thinking on my part, but I get the impression that younger folk are more engaged with the political process than they have been in the past. I think its a consequence of the monumental balls ups inflicted on them such as lack of action on climate change, and now Brexit. For that reason I think/hope we might see a swing towards more progressive thinking political representation in years to come. 

 

Also keep in mind that some millennials are not actually that young any more. Difficult to believe as it may be for oldies like me but 1980 was nigh on 40 year ago now.  

[Davie P]

So no Brexit candidate and Debra Nicolson is standing for the Greens.

 

I'm surprised The Brexit Party haven't fielded. I expect they'd have done quite well in Shetland.

[whalsa]

Good god what a lot of drivel in this article!

Crime has reduced by 50% thanks to the increase in officers? I'd be interested in seeing more detail in those statistics. In Whalsay we rarely ever see a policeman so it is no wonder crime figures are down, Police Scotland have closed their recently built police station. When asked why Police are no longer stationed in the outer Isles the Chief Inspector replied they do not have the resources, where has the increase been?

They have supported our internal ferry service? Everyone must be aware that they are consistently refusing to fully fund the revenue service, let alone commit to the capital funding of the much needed replacements. They have forced the Council to draw from it's reserves in order to make a balanced budget. Far from fighting to improve transport they are hindering it! 

Externally, they have bought unfit for purpose vessels that are under capacity. They have introduced parking charges at Sumburgh, are relocating air traffic control to Inverness and are refusing to pay air traffic controllers enough wages to hinder them going on strike (you might claim this is HIAL but they are just a Government quango). 

He also totally fails to mention the SNPs raison d'etre - Scottish Independence. Why that I wonder? Could it be because Shetland voted No and is traditionally against Scottish Independence? 

Shetland Islands Council has had it's funding cut by the SNP Government over and over again, more so than any other area. They are making conscious choices to starve local government of funding and force them to make cuts, how is that supporting rural communities? 

Mr Wills must think we are blind and have very short memories! 

 

https://www.thenational.scot/news/17785143.tom-willis-snp-good-shetland/?ref=fbshr&fbclid=IwAR3KGli_C_NMRtFuX495hAe9jOAGE29MRNMny-RnQnJcgI1o74oCADnZF5I

 

[Windwalker]

Completely agree Whalsa, having read the article, I’m amazed that he believes what he’s written or been quoted, typical snp rubbish, trying to distort the true picture. The snp Seem to think they can spoot ony old crap and we will all fall fir it.

[Ghostrider]

I'm surprised The Brexit Party haven't fielded. I expect they'd have done quite well in Shetland.

 

Maybe some local Brexit supporters would be considered too extremist for them, and the Brexit party considered not extreme enough by such supporters. They're a pretty tame bunch really IMHO.

[BigMouth]

I will be voting for the best man for the job.

[Ghostrider]

^ So, you've gotten it narrowed down to a short list of five then.