Updated Scotland poll tracker: 🎗️ SNP still projected one short of a majority. Pro-independce majority of 21. Worst ever Labour & Con results. Best ever Green result. Seats (+/- 2021): SNP: 64 (-) Ref: 16 (+16) Lab: 18 (-4) Grn: 11 (+3) Con: 10 (-21) LD: 10 (+6) Alba: 0 (-) 1/4

I just woke up from a nap and somehow while I was asleep, everyone on the bus has figured out we are not going to the right place

First Scotland poll of the year, first Scotland poll tracker of the year. SNP still projected one short of a majority. Seats (+/- 2021): SNP: 64 (-) Ref: 19 (+19) Lab: 17 (-5) Grn: 13 (+5) Con: 9 (-22) LD: 7 (+3) Alba: 0 (-) 21 marginals: 17 SNP, 3 Labour, 1 Conservative. 1/3

Nigel Farage is currently unveiling Robert Jenrick as a defector at his 430 press conference.

I mean, my wife’s horse has a field, stable, and receives everything he could possibly want or need in return for 20 mins light exercise he enjoys. This doesn’t sound that bad tbh

A Budget which isn't terrible but is a bit disappointing, the SRC's response to today's Budget here: brc.org.uk/news-and-eve...

Nice to kick off Scottish Budget week with a early interview with Radio Scotland on what retailers are looking for in tomorrow's Scottish Budget (rates discount, funding retail crime taskforce and supporting consumers) (06:25) : www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

I call on my party and my government to remove themselves entirely from X and communicate with the public where they actually participate online and can be protected from such illegality.

Five leading Business Improvement Districts have added their voices to that of the SRC in calling on Scottish Government to introduce a permanent business rate discount for all retail, hospitality, and leisure premises. @heraldscotland.bsky.social www.heraldscotland.com/news/2573965...

I once had to go to minor injuries after slicing my finger open, spraying blood across the kitchen (which needed repainting), because I caught it on some cardboard in the paper bin. It's still scarred a decade later.

General PSA: Don't be an asshole to retail staff in the run-up to Christmas. Or ever, really.

Huge new poll puts Plaid ahead of Reform with Labour and the Conservatives on just 10% each. willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/bombshell-...

Short new post from me about Bloc Politics. A lot of commentators have argued, with evidence from @profjanegreen.bsky.social, @robfordmancs.bsky.social and others, that British politics has split into blocs. So what does that mean for electoral strategy? 1/n benansell.substack.com/p/bloc-parties

NEW Scottish Political Monitor from @ipsosinscotland.bsky.social 🟡SNP continue to lead on Scottish Parliament voting intention, with 35% of the constituency vote share,⬆️1 since June. 🔵Reform UK stand at 18%,⬆️4 since June. 🔴Scottish Labour’s share falls to 16%, ⬇️7 since June.

Best ever list vote and joint best constituency for the Greens here (certainly, of any BBS covered poll), though Ipsos do tend to be on the higher end. Worst Labour constituency share of this term. Alba such a tiny proportion of respondents they don't even register; was 2% on list last poll.

Decision in the Sandie Peggie case. She was not directly or indirectly discriminated against, her claim of victimisation fails entirely, her claim of harassment fails largely and her claim against Beth Upton fails entirely. www.judiciary.uk/judgments/sa...

It’s amazing how often I’m accusing of opposing MUP of alcohol when SRC literally supports it.

Fun piece by @emmavj.bsky.social on office blunders:

“This was a big Budget, but not in the way people were necessarily expecting.” – @helenmiller.bsky.social 📗 Our immediate IFS response to #Budget2025 is out now: ifs.org.uk/articles/aut...

The UK Budget puts the Scottish Government in a tough place on retail business rates - the SRC's preliminary response to #Budget2025 : brc.org.uk/news-and-eve...

Theft has surged in the UK since the pandemic — and shoplifting is driving the lion’s share of it. But one English county is fighting back. An #FTEdit 🧵on how Northamptonshire Police is tackling shoplifting 👇

BREAKING: The UK’s response to Covid was “too little, too late”, a damning official report on the handling of the pandemic has concluded, saying the introduction of a lockdown even a week earlier than happened could have saved more than 20,000 lives.

Let’s have a look at a crazy Twitter to newspaper pipeline story and debunk as we go! 🔎👍🏼 16th Nov the “Britain is Broken” account shared the following post claiming “Tesco are no longer celebrating Christmas” With a picture of their “Evergreen” Trees 2.2Million views to date🙄 🧵1/26

The Danish Social Democrats are currently on course for their worst election result since at least the Second World War, despite their brand of far-right accommodationism being touted as a blueprint for other centre-left parties.

Labour’s “we have to do it, or racism will get worse” argument is striking. Any other public policy failures British ethnic minorities should be on the hook for? Can we be blamed en bloc for Rachel Reeves’ budget next week too? www.ft.com/content/37b0...

When you go to Auschwitz they have piles of jewellery and watches which were confiscated from those arriving.

Operation Save Big Dog By Giving His Main Rival A Chance To Show He’s Better At Politics is going well www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Me pretending to be shocked when the enemies become lovers in the book I specifically bought for the enemies to lovers plot:

How Sky News investigated X's algorithm for political bias

The @edbookfest.bsky.social has added videos of 60 additional events from the 2025 festival to watch online on a donate-what-you-can basis – joining hundreds of recordings of past events going back to 2015, from authors from Scotland & around the world www.edbookfest.co.uk/look-and-lis...

So a weird thing happened to me in Aldi that I cdn't quite place until I was listening to Gabby Bertin talking about choking in porn on the radio this am. (NB: this is 100% not a sex thing). Having the usual polite chitchat with the cashier who is tired from working extra shifts to make £ for xmas..

This morning the SRC has published our second mini-manifesto ahead of the election; laying out some of the policies retailers want to see from the next Scottish Government: brc.org.uk/news-and-eve...

Note how, when the government’s condemnation is timely, the rest of the Westminster ecosystem does in fact, react differently!

That scene of the Welsh BBC correspondent being the only person interviewing Caerphilly's new Plaid AM while the rest of the media interviewed Reform's loser in the background was far too on the nose.

Great to hear from @britishretail.bsky.social ‘s Dr Kris Hamer about the latest picture for Scottish and UK retail

The Courier looks at the fortunes of the centre after The Entertainer toy shop announced plans to close.

Sure they will ...

The Welsh government has insisted the rest of the UK will follow its plan to include glass in the rollout of its #DRS Welsh deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies said it was working with drinks companies “large and small” on a new reuse model for glass

🔴 Scottish businesses have warned of an even tighter squeeze on household finances www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

NEW DATA: Notional results for the 2021 Scottish Parliament election on 2026 boundaries. Of interest to academics/pollsters/journos Post: chrishanretty.co.uk/posts/sp2026... Data: github.com/chrishanrett... Source: github.com/chrishanrett...

Identity findings in the SSA very much tally with what we saw in the census. Sharply declining British identity, growing Scottish identity. The SSA also finds that these correlate with constitutional preference...

Nobel Peace Prize awarded to María Corina Machado on.ft.com/4nTWp5l

We have built a society in which people of different skin tones, religious backgrounds & cultures get along, share power, work alongside each other, procreate with each other, recognise the each other’s humanity and democratic rights. It is a STUNNING ACHIEVEMENT OF WORLD HISTORIC PROPORTIONS.

This weeks post: Misunderstandings on the left (and elsewhere) about the OBR, independence and the bond market mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/09/misu... The government delegating some technical tasks to independent experts doesn't create a democratic deficit, but it does avoid wishful thinking.

On the morning of Keir Starmer's conference speech here's a new post on an odd psychopathology in British politics - our main parties don't like the people who vote for them - the dreaded Professional Managerial Class. And so they are acting out like a divorced dad seeking cooler voters. 1/n

🛍️📈 Highest shop price inflation in 18 months Today we published the latest @britishretail.bsky.social – NIQ Shop Price Monitor, covering September 2025.

🚨 BREAKING: The pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) is firmly in the lead of Moldova’s election, with around half of votes counted so far and PAS-sympathetic constituencies still to tally. Full story: www.politico.eu/article/poll...

The lovely people at @enlightenscot.bsky.social gave Work-Me a little space to rant about why I hate the myth of dying high streets, and what the next Scottish Government can do to lead High Street recovery: www.enlighten.scot/scotlands-ne...

The SRC were delighted to chair a roundtable in Glasgow with @bankofengland.bsky.social MPC member Megan Greene. 🤝 They discussed trading conditions, retail’s evolving landscape & the economic outlook. 💬 #retail

Or, and this is controversial, we could stop putting massive tax rises (like eNICS) on businesses who will pass those costs onto consumers. But sure, let's try state sponsored consumer prices - good luck with that. It's always gone well elsewhere after all