Benn Rapson

Scottish Independence Supporter | SNP Member | Politics & IR Graduate | Views My Own | 🏳️‍🌈🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇺🇯🇵

[Benn Rapson @BennForScotland]

I’ve returned to Twitter after two years posting on Threads…

Looking to reconnect with supporters of #ScottishIndependence as we gear up for next year’s Scottish elections.

#StillYes 10+ years on from #IndyRef.

Indy supporters, make yourselves known! Onwards to #IndyRef2! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[Believe in Scotland @believeinscot]

🚨 Our new poll confirms Andy Burnham’s Indyref2 test has been met.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland’s future must be Scotland’s choice.
👇 Read the findings: https://t.co/HfvsitC9iH

[The SNP @theSNP]

🤝 Leaders of Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales have signed memorandum on independence to work together.

All nations should have a choice over their future.

[Usman Akhtar 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @usmanakhtar00]

the legal route to hold an independence referendum should be a vote for one in holyrood, anything else is anti-democratic

[Benn Rapson @BennForScotland]

ScotGov should immediately follow suit.

Endless consultations drive up costs of vital infrastructure and are a major reason it feels like nothing ever gets done. 😭

The challenges of today require a ScotGov that moves at pace! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[Cabinet Office @cabinetofficeuk]

Governments are elected to lead, not hide behind process.

By scrapping consultations and protecting infrastructure projects from judicial review delays, we will put public control at the heart of its decision-making.

[Benn Rapson @BennForScotland]

Calling for a more exclusionary franchise than that of 2014 is an absurd position and fundamentally anti-democratic. We can’t engineer a Yes vote by gerrymandering the franchise. 🤷

It would be a total own goal because we are capable of winning on the 2014 rules! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[Liberation Scotland Committee @LiberationScot]

The weasel words in the Burnham "concession" on a second referendum

The UK Scottish Secretary – Douglas Alexander, note – "shall" call a referendum on Scottish independence "if it looks likely that the people would vote to support it."

Think about that. If it looks like my party will lose, I will set in motion the process by which it loses. Does that make sense to anyone? That Alexander's judgement will ever land on "now is the right time to lose"? Hardly.

Now think further. Polls have shown 52% of Scots *residents* ready to vote Yes. But that 52% includes everyone who would never be entitled to a vote in any state's national elections – newcomers and temporary residents – never mind in a vote to decide another nation's constitutional future. Exclude them, and that 52% can be confidently stated to translate into well over 60% of Scots *truly* and *fairly* possessing the right to vote. And that's only the starting point, that can be compared with the 28% or so that YES started with in the run-up to 2014.

And one more thing: what would the British Government do in the face of losing? They've as good as told us already. They will introduce a third choice – an all-singing, all-dancing "nearest thing to federalism you can have under a colonially-arranged polity." Of course they won't put it like that. But there it will be: another tantalising Vow-like promise, if Scots will just forget about this bothersome Claim of Right and Sovereignty business. "Give up your ancient and internationally-supported human rights, and we will – this time, without fail – set you free".

Will Scots be stupid enough to accept? It's probably too late for that. The cat is out of the bag about what kind of relationship we've had for 300 years with our English neighbours: one of possession, cultural attrition and resource extraction. But at that point they will be desperate – and this will be their final shot at keeping their final and never more prized colonial possession.

[Usman Akhtar 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @usmanakhtar00]

journalists whining and moaning about the snp talking about independence is so boring

[Looking for Growth @lfg_uk]

Granton is one of Scotland's most deprived communities.

Yet Edinburgh is one of Europe's fastest growing cities.

A tram along an abandoned railway would finally connect the two.

Help us force the Council to overrule the subcommittee.

Join LFG Edinburgh & @CalumMccutcheon, who stood up for Granton today 👇

[Gillian Mackay - Scottish Greens @Gillian_Mackay1]

We have already endured far too many years of obstruction, hurdles and political games from UK governments.

It has gone on for far too long.

The Scottish Parliament should have the power to trigger that referendum!

[@GinaDavidson @ginadavidsonlbc]

John Swinney isn’t hanging about given Burnham’s comments yesterday - letter sent this morning asking to discuss a legal mechanism re a second independence vote

[John Swinney @JohnSwinney]

To go from “off limits” to this is an acceptance of the reality that the people of Scotland will decide their own future - not the UK Government.

For the first time since 2014, a British Prime Minister accepts that majority support for a referendum should mean one takes place.

[First Minister @ScotGovFM]

Heart and lung MOTs are being rolled out in communities in partnership with Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland.

First Minister @JohnSwinney visited Dundee to find out more about how the checks will help people make better, more informed choices about their health.

[Mhairi Hunter 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇺🇦 🇵🇸 @MhairiHunter]

POV: Scotpol journalist/ commentator continually writing about Nicola Sturgeon: "The public really doesn't need to hear from this self-obsessed woman, who should just stand quietly in the corner while we give our takes. Nicola Sturgeon takes are OUR job, not Nicola Sturgeon's".

[John Swinney @JohnSwinney]

An update this morning on the Cairngorm wildfire👇

[John Swinney @JohnSwinney]

Scotland is ready to welcome the world.

Honoured to open Team Scotland House in Glasgow today, ahead of the Commonwealth Games starting this Thursday.

[Zack Polanski @ZackPolanski]

Its so poor to treat an entire country like this.

Still Labour has always been this way - and Andy Burnham proving no different.

[John Swinney @JohnSwinney]

Andy Burnham is right to acknowledge that Westminster isn’t working for Scotland.

If he’s serious about delivering more powers for Scotland, I am ready to work constructively with him.

[Rhun ap Iorwerth @RhunapIorwerth]

We will have it put on the public voting record that Labour chose to side with Reform to block a progressive budget - including £120m for children with additional learning needs.

Wales rejected Labour in May. Labour’s response has been to reject the people of Wales’ priorities.

[Andy Burnham @andyburnham]

Labour’s initial response to the treatment of Gaza caused huge hurt. We got it wrong and I am sorry for that.

[Marcus Carslaw @marcuscarslaw1]

Andy Burnham should grant Scotland Full Fiscal Autonomy. In one fell swoop he would save England billions of pounds, force the Scottish Government to reexamine Scotland’s fiscal position beyond “Westminster austerity” talking points, and elevate the constitutional debate.

[Benn Rapson @BennForScotland]

Cool, give us Full Fiscal Autonomy as we asked for over a decade ago…

Or better yet, give us an independence referendum and you won’t have to deal with ‘subsidising’ us pesky Scots! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[The National @ScotNational]

BREAKING: Andy Burnham, Britain's likely next prime minister, wants to 'tear up' the funding mechanism for Holyrood, The National can reveal.

Andy Burnham has said he wants to bin the Barnett Formula, which works out how much money the Scottish Parliament gets from Westminster.