Friday, May 24, 2013
High Court rules Sally Bercow tweet about Lord McAlpine was libelous, online, it’s better to have a truth telling style, Ms. Bercow looks like she needs a lot of money in the near future, the curse of twitter strikes again
Dear All
Twitter can sometimes be a dangerous place
to comment, politician after politician and the public can sometimes fall foul
of the law.
One high profile case is that of a tweet by
Commons Speaker's wife Sally Bercow about Lord McAlpine.
She posted a ditto after Newsnight ran with
a story implicated the former Conservative Party treasurer in allegations of
sex abuse at Bryn Estyn children's home in the 1970s and 1980s.
The tweet was libelous, and Lord McAlpine
has taken Ms. Bercow to Court and they have found in his favour.
Mrs Bercow has always denied that the tweet
- "Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *Innocent face*" - was defamatory,
but lawyers for the peer said it pointed "the finger of blame" at him
during a media frenzy.
Lord McAlpine said it meant he was a
paedophile who was guilty of sexually abusing boys living in care, and he wants
damages.
Recently on the blog, a SNP supporter wrote
in to say this to me:
“This is ground breaking shit man and nae
comments whats wrong wi people that they cannae see this big fat smelly shite
is bang on the money what a pity he is a walter mitty who has invented a bio
for himself that stinks as much as his oxters and scrotum far oot man I need a
scare crow fur ma neeps whit are ye daan this summer apart fae nae washing and
creeping aboot the parks at nicht looking fur a blow job fae a guy fuck of and
die ya big fat smelly cunt”.
Apparently they didn’t like my article on
how the SNP are denying ordinary working class Scots life chances. The
hatemonger states I am a homosexual who seeks “blowjobs” in public parks.
This individual is a sicko, it is done to
harassment and intimidate, but I wouldn’t be feart and will continue to write
and speak out as I see fit.
As to Ms. Bercow’s troubles, there will now
be another hearing at a later date to decide damages.
That is unless Ms. Berocw and McAlpine can reach
agreement; McAlpine has previously won six figure damages from the BBC and ITV,
so Ms. Bercow is on a sticky wicket.
In mitigation, Mr Justice Tugendhat, in
London, has heard that Mrs Bercow promptly tweeted her apologies, and she also provided
letters apologising for the distress caused and making clear that the
underlying allegations were untrue.
In a statement following the ruling, Mrs
Bercow said:
"Today the High Court found that my
tweet constituted a serious libel, both in its natural meaning and as an
innuendo. To say I'm surprised and disappointed by this is an understatement.
However, I will accept the ruling as the end of the matter. I remain sorry for
the distress I have caused Lord McAlpine and I repeat my apologies. I have
accepted an earlier offer his lawyers made to settle this matter."
Although we have seen people in public fall
from grace and sometimes spectacularly so, this was a story that I didn’t blog on
as there seem to be a bit of a witch hunt because of the Jimmy Saville stories.
As we have seen, many household names,
people in the public domain for decades are now accused of sexual crimes, their
trials are in progress: and the scale, is in some respects breathtaking.
Andrew Reid of RMPI Solicitors said:
"The apologies previously received
from Mrs Bercow did not concede that her tweet was defamatory. Clearly she must
now accept this fact. The failure of Mrs Bercow to admit that her tweet was
defamatory caused considerable unnecessary pain and suffering to Lord McAlpine
and his family over the past six months. With knowledge of the judgment, I am
pleased to be able to say that Mrs Bercow has finally seen sense and has
accepted an offer of settlement, which Lord McAlpine made back in January. Mr
Justice Tugendhat's judgment is one of great public interest and provides both
a warning to, and guidance for, people who use social media. It highlights how
established legal principles apply to social media, and how the courts take
account of the particular way in which social media operates when reaching
decisions on whether publications are defamatory."
In the statement, Mrs Bercow said:
"In November 2012, I tweeted the
question 'Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *innocent face*'. I did not tweet this
with malice, and I did not intend to libel Lord McAlpine. I was being
conversational and mischievous, as was so often my style on Twitter. I very
much regret my tweet, and I promptly apologised publicly and privately to Lord
McAlpine for the distress I caused him. I also made two offers of compensation.
Lord McAlpine issued proceedings and the last few months have been a nightmare.
I am sure he has found it as stressful as I have. Litigation is not a pleasant
experience for anyone”.
Quite so ma’am!
Well, the rule of thumb is quite clear, if
you tweet or blog, then simply tell the truth, so far that is still legal.
Ms. Bercow better ask her husband, John
Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons for a loan, I suspect she will need
to scrap a few quid together.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Former leadership rival Murdo Fraser questions Ruth Davidson leadership, 18 months down the line not a lot has been achieved, why have a “Scottish leader” when they just follow London’s lead anyway, where the differences, and standing up for Scots?
Dear All
The Scottish Conservatives have been doing
some soul searching!
20 years so far and counting.
The party has effectively been a spent
force; however they appear to want to be a force in Scottish politics again.
You would think that given they have had
two decades, someone would have come up with solutions to their problems.
But no!
In Glasgow, there is a single Tory
Councillor in Pollokshields, and a single MSP on the Glasgow list, that is their leader Ruth Davidson.
If it wasn’t for the list, Ruth Davidson
wouldn’t be in Holyrood.
Now, senior Conservative Murdo Fraser has
questioned whether the direction of Ruth Davidson’s leadership will “be enough”
to secure a revival of the party in Scotland.
Probably not, when you look at things like
the bedroom tax which the Scottish Conservatives never opposed and actively
supported, you wonder why there should be such a thing as a Conservative leader
in Scotland.
A Conservative leader should be sticking up
for Scots, not blindly rubber stamping anything and everything out of CCHQ.
And before I forget, the hated poll tax
came out of Scottish Conservative thinking, and we all know how that ended.
Like Moses, the Conservatives started a
trek into the political wilderness, and never came back, still out there
arguing about the route, should they do left, should they go right, should they
go centre!
Annabel Goldie’s claim to fame was to chart
a steady approach, not making any waves; it was steady performance, rather like
not moving in quicksand in case you sink further. It was never a strategy to
get her party out of the fix they put themselves in.
Murdo Fraser asks whether the Scottish
Conservative Party “in its current manifestation” is “the best vehicle” for its
supporters.
I would say no, the brand is so toxic, that
a miracle needs to happen with them and the Scottish public; so far Ruth
Davidson hasn’t created any miracles.
And miracles are the order of the day if
the present setup is to make them viable.
Murdo suggests the Tories in Scotland may
have to revisit his controversial plan for a new centre- right breakaway party,
separate from the UK Conservatives.
Let’s say they go with it, a new shell is
every nice, but at the end of the day, it comes to people and what they stand
for, so far, rejection and not even getting the opportunity to present a case
is the situation.
Murdo Fraser does have a good idea for a
new party, and you could say he is the lone voice in the wilderness; his ideas
on other things have been taken up. He now sits up on the backbenches having
refused a shadow cabinet post.
He says Ms Davidson’s leadership has
brought “glimmers of hope for the Scottish centre-right” due to the policy
shift on devolution.
In the public domain that is meaningless,
if people weren’t voting for them before, a slight shift would generate new
voters or get their old ones back.
In Holyrood, it may mean something, in the
outside world; this looks like internal housekeeping and as such is chip paper
wrapper.
Fraser supports extra powers for Holyrood, however,
Westminster is their real problem, Scotland turned their back because of
Westminster policies and unless they fix their problem there, anything done at
Holyrood is just political window dressing.
Is there unease in the Conservative ranks
about Ms Davidson’s performance at Holy-rood during her 18 months as leader?
It hasn’t been great, it hasn’t been poor,
but she should remember that FMQs are also a meaningless piece of theatre, and
she speaks too long, short and sharp would be better.
Ms Davidson said during the leadership
election that the Scotland Act, which beefs up Scotland’s control of taxation,
should be a “line in the sand” on devolution.
She has now stepped over the line, events
dear boy events.
Murdo is right, the Scottish Conservatives
had “been slow to learn the truth” about the reasons for the party’s electoral
failure in Scotland over the past two decades.
In 2015, the chance, ‘one chance to tell
our enemies that they make take our lives but they will’ …. hold on that is a movie
quote. Probably best to start that thought again, in 2015, one chance to reset
the Conservative brand in Scotland.
That requires a platform of new policies
and social justice, the reason for the party being “trapped in a vicious cycle
of declining electoral support” by repeatedly campaigning on platforms rejected
by the Scottish electorate is that they come across as a ‘fuck you party give
us your vote and we will piss on your back’.
Any wonder the support collapsed, whether
Ruth Davidson can bring it all back is doubtful, she has to change, and it is ‘road
to Damascus’ stuff.
That road isn’t natural Tory ground, and
for some it be an uncomfortable road to travel down, who wants another 20 years of decline?
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
Scottish independence: Academics pose the questions can Scotland afford higher education in an independent Scotland, SNP plan mass immigration and giving away £1 billion pounds in aid, Salmond and Sturgeon depriving poorest Scots of a future!
Dear All
Many moons ago, I wrote posts about
Scottish students who would end up being squeezed out of a university
education.
Guess what?
George Laird right again, if you doubt
this, then check the blog on higher education posts and you will see I recognised
the problems in advance.
Recently SNP supporters having been looking
at my writings into higher education; specifically my time at Glasgow
University!
Not that this is for enlightenment, but for
the purposes of smearing!
If they thought they were doing to dig up a
hidden past, sadly, it was all put into the public domain, which again
highlights what I have been saying about the Scottish National Party.
There really is a genuine lack of talent in
their ranks, from top to bottom.
At this point, I would like to say hello to
my new reader from Cambridge who is quite the avid reader of my writings.
Enjoy!
Back to higher Ed, the SNP have botched
higher education, it is beyond their scope, unsurprisingly; the post is filled
with a Salmond crony called Mike Russell.
The education sector has no confidence in
him, and who can blame them.
Scots students could be squeezed out of
their home universities if there is a yes to independence and free tuition
continues, experts have suggested.
Sounds like the recognise a problem;
however their solution is slightly off, in other words they seem to be
advocating screwing students for tuition fees.
Ideally, universities need to be slimmed
down, the college sector should be expanded, and community colleges run by
local councils introduced as a revenue provider using schools and teaching
various subjects, the bonus it helps communities and people who need extra help
to get on in life.
And of course the Scottish Funding Council
needs to be split in two, SFC (Universities) and SFC (Colleges), colleges have
been screwed for funds by the SFC body being university dominated.
Edinburgh University academics have been
looking at higher education in an independent Scotland, there would be an
independent Scotland under Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, at the core the
main problem is that they are too stupid, ignorant and small minded, they have
no vision whether it is big or small.
Did you notice that the Scottish Government
is now paralysed?
Currently, Scots and EU students pay no
tuition fees at Scottish universities, while UK students pay annual fees, this
would change if UK students were reclassified as EU students and free tuition
would apply to them.
Scotland would be swamped by applications
and as we have already seen, when it comes to the poorest and most
disadvantaged, Scots already lose out.
Despite the SNP preaching equality, the
university sector is run like a cartel, the Royal Society of Edinburgh members
have a stranglehold on the main posts within the sector. RSE is a private
members only club by invitation only.
And if you think they are interested in
giving poor Scots access to higher education, don’t delude yourselves; St
Andrews University with a rather large student body has one of the poorest
records of admitting the poorest Scots, year on year.
What did the SNP do to fix the problem?
Talk and not much else!
Fairness and equality are the buzzwords to
hide discrimination and failure, 120,000 colleges have been lost since the SNP
became the government, rather makes a farce of the ‘yours for Scotland’ shit
they parrot out.
The latest research paper is by Sheila
Riddell, Elisabet Weedon and Sarah Minty funded by the Economic and Social
Research Council.
In higher education, academics come up with
little ideas and then go ask for funding, then publish to get credit and trot
off to conferences.
The hotel accommodation is excellent from
what I remember some of my lecturer friends telling me, 5 Star apparently is
great, and the food, so yum.
In Edinburgh briefing paper, titled The
Funding of Higher Education in Scotland, the UK and internationally;
personally, the sector is there already, the sector cannot continue without a
major fix in thinking.
What is a university for is a good
question, what should they be teaching and who should get the opportunity to
attend.
It isn’t just the brightest at uni, believe
me, 20 years, I meet some people who graduated who education didn’t benefit,
pond life when they came and pond life when they left.
The report on what if Scotland became
independent said:
"Clearly, free tuition in Scotland
would be a major attraction for students from the UK and other EU member
states. However, there would be a danger that such students could squeeze out
Scottish domiciled students."
Happens already!
But the real nub is the suggestion that
independence could mean no beans in the bank to fund the indulgences of high
salaries and big perks enjoyed at present.
The authors suggested that there would be a
funding shortfall faced by the government of an independent Scotland.
They propose three possible solutions.
Introducing fees for all students
Negotiating an agreement with the EU
whereby quotas could be reserved for Scottish domiciled students
The introducing a separate admissions
system for students from other EU countries
Free higher education isn’t free, and never
was, the taxpayer funds it, the general idea is that education benefits society
as a whole. In Scotland, the tuition argument is a hot topic, seen as a political
point scorer, Labour and Tories seem favour tuition fees, because it shores up
the status quo and pass the burden onto students.
And we should remember, most of the
politicians who advocate screwing the poor benefited from free higher
education, they just want to pull the ladder.
Down South English students gets ripped off
to the tune of £9,000 a year, there are many reasons why, but a chief one I
would suggest is that the political elite are just copying what is done in
America.
If you look at the SNP, they copy Barack
Obama campaigning techniques; the reason is that despite university education,
they aren’t able to come up with original thought.
As to Sheila Riddell, Elisabet Weedon and
Sarah Minty, I am sure that their paper will generate a lot of interest, and
possibly more grants, however, unless there is a major reform in higher
education, there will be a lot of unanswered questions.
And then at some point, a decision will
need to be made to fix, can’t be done in the parliament, independence has
effectively killed government; this term has been a complete waste of time.
As they say, the question is academic
because there isn’t going to be independence, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon
has pretty much killed off any hope of success on that front.
Oh, and before I forget, possibly somewhere
in their paper, they might have said, that more work is required on this
subject, it is a byline for setting themselves up for their next grant
application.
The SNP isn’t interested in giving working
class young Scots a future in an independent Scotland, they are planning to
allow mass immigration and giving away about £1 billion pounds of Scottish
taxpayers’ money a year. This means few opportunities for a job or even an
education place, any hope of a future will rest in the slim chance that a poor
Scot manages to get a place in the ‘uni lottery’.
This pretty much kills the lie that the
Scottish National Party under Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon is standing up
for young Scots.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Labour MP Eric Joyce facing breach of peace charge over Edinburgh Airport staff abuse after he is refused permission to board an aircraft to retrieve his mobile phone, he needs to learn to follow the rules and exercise patience
Dear All
You can’t help feeling sorry for Labour MP Eric
Joyce, in some respects he had it all, and like some in public life, it all
came crashing down around his ears by his own stupidity.
Joyce was someone who could have been a
high flyer if he played his cards right.
Despite having expenses issues enough to
run a small country, he never reached a tipping point till the trouble with
boozing and fighting in the House of Commons.
Now, unfortunately, he is facing charges of
breach of the peace following an incident at Edinburgh Airport on Sunday.
Maybe he needs help of some description
from someone.
Joyce was arrested in the domestic arrivals
area on Sunday, in front of other passengers and members of staff, more shame
and disgrace, when will it end?
A Police Scotland official said:
"A 52-year-old man has been reported
to the procurator fiscal in connection with an alleged breach of the peace,
which happened at Edinburgh Airport on Sunday May 19."
A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said:
"We can confirm that an incident did
occur on Sunday evening and an individual was arrested for being abusive and
confrontational towards airport staff and police. Behaviour of this nature is
something we have zero tolerance for at Edinburgh Airport and police officers
will act accordingly if the safety of our passengers and employees is put at
risk."
The trigger for the problem was that Eric Joyce
left his mobile phone on a plane and was not allowed to immediately retrieve
it.
If he had exercised patience, something
could have been done and he would have got his phone back, given he sits in the
House of Commons passing law, he should know better.
His career is ending in disgrace, and the
longer he acts this way, the less people will think of him.
He had it all and ruined it by his own
actions while in public office.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow
University
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Scottish independence: Aslef Train drivers’ union vote No to being part of the Alex Salmond’s independence ‘death train’ to political oblivion, No drivers will actively campaign to save the Union, double blow for Nationalists
Dear All
Everyone is deserting Alex Salmond and
Nicola Sturgeon; soon it will just be the dregs of his poisonous nasty vile
clique that are left on the grassy knoll.
Scottish independence is dead.
Now, Aslef, the main train drivers’ union
has became the first union to oppose Scottish independence in a unanimous vote
at its annual conference in Edinburgh.
Looks like Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon
really are getting told ‘take the train’.
And to add insult to injury, the Delegates
also agreed to affiliate to the Better Together campaign for Scotland to stay
in the UK.
It seems that having alienated the public,
denying women cancer drugs, setting up little charities run by SNP members has
taken its toll.
Scottish people have wised up, Alex Salmond
and Nicola Sturgeon; two attention seeking individuals have come to the end of
using up public goodwill.
People are sick of being treated as fools.
Scotland district secretary Kevin Lindsay
said no Aslef branch north of the Border had supported independence for
Scotland.
And why should they?
Salmond isn’t promising concrete proposals,
it is just a bygone era of all ‘steam’ and venting coming from the SNP.
I said there was a genuine lack of talent
and there is a genuine lack of talent.
Kevin Lindsay said:
“This is not about bashing Alex Salmond.
It’s about a vision for Scotland within the United Kingdom. You didn’t get
asked on your way here to Edinburgh for a passport, you got asked for a ticket.
The preferred option of the SNP is the pound issued by the Bank of England and
controlled by the Bank of England. There’s an indication in that name of who
will be running the Scottish economy. I want a United Kingdom that delivers for
the working-class people of this country. Let’s not put borders up,
because borders divide people.”
The SNP has stopped delivering for working
class people a long time ago.
Better Together national organiser Victoria
Jamieson said:
“We are delighted to have the full support
of Aslef. The voice of trade unions must be heard and trade union members will
play a crucial role in this debate. Aslef have been campaigning positively for
a just Scotland in a just UK, and their members have been telling us that
solidarity means working together; not putting up borders to divide working
people, and risk the undercutting of workers in a race to bottom. The union has
also been right to point out that there are many unanswered questions over
separation which could impact upon their members, whether it’s cross-border
pension schemes, rail infrastructure investment, terms and conditions, or rail
regulation.”
Aslef has 1,800 members in Scotland and
18,500 across Britain.
A spokesman for Yes Scotland said:
“More and more trade unionists are agreeing
with Yes Scotland that Westminster isn’t working for Scotland, not least
because of the damaging effects to our welfare system and the agenda of
austerity and cuts”.
Yes Scotland is seen as an SNP front, staffed by
senior SNP, run by the SNP, funded by the SNP and its board is SNP controlled.
There are a few pasties to pad it out from
the Greens, SSP, and ex Labour.
And of course Blair Jenkins, the independence
campaigner formerly of the BBC who has done such a bang up job so far of
collapsing the entire independence support.
He can’t be blamed, he doesn’t know what he
is doing, and that is on a daily basis, no vision, no plan and given the
campaign is going to end in failure, he has no prospects of coming out of this
with his dignity intact.
Here is the rest of the Yes Scotland/SNP
controlled spokesman rant:
“We will continue to engage constructively
with the STUC and trades unions on their vision for a just Scotland - and we
will continue to make the case that a fully empowered Holyrood Parliament is
far more likely to help deliver that vision than the same old policies from
Westminster. After all, Scotland is wealthy enough to be a fairer nation. Alternating
Tory and Labour governments have resulted in one of the most unequal societies
in the western world. Our discussions with individual union members have been
encouraging with many of them are coming round to the view that only a Yes vote
offers a better way.”
Anti English?
Blame Westminster, the current SNP line,
recently trotted out by Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.
Yes Scotland, the SNP front in Bath Street,
Glasgow, the place where the Scottish public doesn’t go, hence, no planning
permission to extend any train line from either Queen Street Station or from
Central.
All aboard the Salmond Express, it’s all
downhill, all the way, and Aslef has left the train!
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow
University
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