Disappointed Children

I asked some children "Did they have a good Christmas ?"

They replied "No !".

Apparently they did not get the presents that they were expecting.

In addition to what they would normally get they were expecting to receive either a laptop or bicycle from Aunt Nicola who said during the election campaign that she would make sure needy children would get these items when she was re-elected.

Has anyone in Caithness received a laptop and or a bicycle from Aunt Nicola ?

If so, could you please supply the contact details so that people can apply for the items they were promised during last years election campaign.

Thank you in advance.

I tell you what. Ask Boris to send up some of the £350,000,000 a week he promised the electorate that the UK would save if we voted for Brexit. That would buy a lot of bikes and laptops.

Curiously, the people of Scotland don't seem too disappointed with Aunt Nicola. The latest polling analysis shows that the SNP would win all 59 seats if there were a general election - https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/scotland.html

Have we given up with the Politics section now? I really expected this topic to be totally different and was intrigued to read it at first to see what it was all about.

I think Boris the Baffoon is otherwise occupied trying to survive to answer any more questions and did anyone really believe any of the promises made by the Brexiteers, obviously some did. I would think that Brexit is probably costing the UK that much each week.

What has a polling analysis to do with breaking promises or lying ?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Corky Smeek

I tell you what. Ask Boris to send up some of the £350,000,000 a week he promised the electorate that the UK would save if we voted for Brexit. That would buy a lot of bikes and laptops.

Curiously, the people of Scotland don't seem too disappointed with Aunt Nicola. The latest polling analysis shows that the SNP would win all 59 seats if there were a general election - https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/scotland.html

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tom Bowler

What has a polling analysis to do with breaking promises or lying ?

---

Well, you started it by taking a cheap political potshot at the SG over what you claim are broken election promises. All I was doing is pointing out that, whether that is true or not, the Scottish electorate clearly still favour the SNP.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Corky Smeek

Well, you started it by taking a cheap political potshot at the SG over what you claim are broken election promises. All I was doing is pointing out that, whether that is true or not, the Scottish electorate clearly still favour the SNP.

---

Corky, the electorate may well be favouring the SNP at the moment, after all people seem to like disaster stories rather than those with happy endings.

My comment was a statement of fact not a cheap political point, although the powers that be here don't like it we still have the right of freedom of speech and to air our views for the time being.

All parties should be held to account.

Well, since most of the "disaster stories" are perpetrated upon Scotland by the Westminster government then I suspect that the Scottish electorate will be favouring the SNP for a very long time to come.

Your statement was not a "fact". It was an opinion based upon a fiction, i.e. that you surveyed the children of Caithness and are now reporting the results of that survey. If what you said was a fact then it would be indisputable. That is most certainly not the case since I, for one, am disputing it.

Also, what evidence do you have to support your other "fact", namely that the powers that be here do not like freedom of speech? That is nonsense and you know it. And, if that's not a cheap political potshot, I don't know what is. So, whilst I may think you are talking a load of rubbish in this thread I am more than happy to defend your right to do it.

Finally, no-one is arguing against holding political parties to account. That is a basic tenet of any democracy. What is not acceptable is holding them to account with arguments based on nothing but unsubstantiated opinion.

And finally, finally. This thread really ought to be moved to the Politics section.

"We will provide free bikes for all children of school age who cannot afford them – and ensure every child in Scotland leaves school with the ability to cycle safely."

"That’s why we will provide every primary and secondary school child in Scotland with a laptop or tablet to get online – including a free internet connection and the support to use it".

Although I do not believe everything I hear and read in the media the promise to supply free bicycles and laptops to needy children was made last year and reported widely. The SNP idea of the bicycles was to encourage youngsters to get out and about more (a good idea apart from the dangerous state of the roads in Caithness) presumably to get them off their laptops which were also promised. These pledges were in the 2021 SNP Election Manifesto as you can see above. Further details can be found in the section headed "What we are doing for young people".

Some of each have been distributed in certain areas and if Corky read the initial thread more closely I asked a question which, as yet, has still not been answered.

Incidentally I did not claim to have carried out a survey so don't do a Aunt Nicola and twist comments. Also I did not claim that my comment about free speech was a fact, another twist.

I'm not really bothered about where this thread is posted but the actual question was more likely to be seen by more people in the discussion section rather than the politics section which may be why Corky wants it there.

As for freedom of speech I think Corky's attitude says it all. There must be no criticism of the SG, if so, adopt the attitude of the SG and resort to insults, ridicule and if necessary aggressive responses which will hopefully deter people from raising future criticism.

So there you have it, if Corky Smeek does not agree with your comments they are deemed as "Rubbish", "cheap political pot shots" etc. Why not just call me a liar ?
It is very gracious and generous of you to defend my right to "talk a load of rubbish" thank you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tom Bowler

"We will provide free bikes for all children of school age who cannot afford them – and ensure every child in Scotland leaves school with the ability to cycle safely."

"That’s why we will provide every primary and secondary school child in Scotland with a laptop or tablet to get online – including a free internet connection and the support to use it".

---

Tom Bowler: It might be a good idea to cite your sources so that we can either support or refute the proposition. I remember the mention of bicycles and laptops but it was in the news media which I don't believe has a great deal of credibility. So if you know of a credible SNP policy document please share it.

Tom Bowler; you might want to have a look at the Connecting Scotland Programme which aims to get 60,000 digitally excluded households online by the end of 2021. For bicycles you might want to look at https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/...ots-announced/ published on 17 August 2021.
If you expected the First Minister to climb down every chimney in Scotland to deliver a bike and a laptop to every child you should look to blame the London-centric tabloids for misinterpreting the original concept.

Tom Bowler

Do you actually read articles completely or do you just see a phrase and pounce on it

Most of us read articles fully and summarise it fully and then make our decisions.

Please allow the articles you have quoted from available to us all so we can read and assess for ourselves

Otherwise you are trying unsuccessfully to lecture to us.

I read the SNP 2021 Election Manifesto as it happens.

SNP Manifesto 2021: What we’re doing for young people — Scottish National Party

Look under the headings FREE, GREENER TRAVEL and END THE DIGITAL DIVIDE to save time.

Happy reading.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tom Bowler

I read the SNP 2021 Election Manifesto as it happens.

SNP Manifesto 2021: What we’re doing for young people — Scottish National Party

Look under the headings FREE, GREENER TRAVEL and END THE DIGITAL DIVIDE to save time.

Happy reading.

---

I wonder if I could ask you to provide a link to the section in the manifesto where it specifically mentions that these initiatives must be carried to a timescale that suits Tom Bowler.

It may interest you to note that progress is being made - bikes and laptops

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Corky Smeek

I wonder if I could ask you to provide a link to the section in the manifesto where it specifically mentions that these initiatives must be carried to a timescale that suits Tom Bowler.

It may interest you to note that progress is being made - bikes and laptops

---

Thanks for those links, in the bike one it mentions the timescale of before the end of this Parliament, most Manifesto's frequently put that sort of timescale on pledges/policies regardless of Party.

I hope that Caithness gets it's fair share and that the roads can be repaired and made safe for the cyclists sooner rather than later.