Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown says: “I'm an ex-politician”, he is right, his attendance at the House of Commons is a disgrace, all the more reason that there should be a recall mechanism so people can ‘eject’ someone who won’t represent them or attend Parliament

Dear All

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has described himself as an ex-politician.

If you look at his House of Commons appearances you would have to agree with him.

Gordon Brown is at present seat blocking, which is a bit like bed blocking, he is in the House of Commons because it represents networking opportunities for his ‘cottage industry’ which is promoting his own interests.

As an “ex politician” politician, he is sitting about waiting for someone to offer him a realy big pay day in an institution elsewhere, then and only then will he step down from his £60k and expenses job.

For Brown being an MP is just a hobby, and the Westminster facilities are subsidised which is always handy because London is expensive as a place to live.

The former Prime Minister’s gaffe or telling of the truth, take your pick, happened when Brown was asked his view "as a politician" during a panel discussion as part of the World Innovation Summit on Education in Qatar.

He immediately interjected that he was an "ex-politician."

The panel chair, BBC journalist Mishal Husain, said:

"You're still an MP."

Mishal Husain is obviously better informed that Gordon Brown on his status, but then £60k is probably a drop in the bucket as he is probably doing the after dinner speaking circuit which can rake in a fair few bob.

In 2013 he made £1.37 million but gave the money to charity, which is very noble, however, the best way to be seen as a ‘force’ is to network and keep a high profile. This is the way to get a good international job, and I think we can assume that he won’t be giving that to charity if it came his way.

Foreign Secretary William Hague had a good few pay days on the circuit before he had to give up that enterprise; I understand he kept the cash in his case.

A bit of chit chat and walk away with about £20k not bad for an evening’s work and free grub thrown in plus travel and accommodation.

Looks good to me!

Brown has represented the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath area since 1983 but as an ex Prime Minister, he isn’t interested in the little people, he has tasted the jet set lifestyle and residents complaints doesn’t seem to have the same appeal.

The lack of Brown’s work ethic has drawn criticism from Conservative backbencher Henry Smith.

Mr. Smith said that Brown’s "foreign jaunt" showed he "can't even be bothered to turn up for work".

I wouldn’t say that is strictly true, the issue of whether or not he is in foreign climes is irrelevant, if he was in Britain, he still would be absent.

  

Since the 2010 general election, Mr Brown has spoken five times in the House of Commons.

You can therefore count that on one hand, he spoke four times on constituency issues and once on the phone-hacking affair.

That isn’t good enough, Gordon Brown in my opinion makes the case for a recall mechanism for Westminster, if he was ill, people would understand, but unhappiness at losing an election isn’t an illness.

Surprisingly he has received support from Lord Tebbit, the Conservative former cabinet minister; he paid tribute to him during a question on tax avoidance.

Tebbit asked in the Lords if the minister was "aware that a very good precedent has been set on the avoidance of tax by the immediate past Prime Minister, Mr Brown".

Lord Tebbit continued:

"He does not pay tax on the earnings that spring from the things he does as a former prime minister because he gives all those earnings to charity. Is that not an example which might be followed by other former prime ministers?"

That was a dig at Tony Blair who has been more successful than Brown in wringing millions out of organisations as a consultant and gun for hire.

The money Brown makes goes to the Office of Gordon and Sarah Brown for the employment of staff to support my ongoing involvement in public life.

So, there is an agenda, and I suppose many will comment that his ongoing involvement in public life is in fact ‘job hunting’.

He has a job and that job is as an MP for the people of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, perhaps if he took an active role in the Commons, he would increase his employment chances elsewhere, at present he is just working his ticket and that is unacceptable. Although he won his seat fair and square, he hasn’t done himself any credit since winning it. In fact quite the opposite, he should step down as an MP and allow someone else the chance who wants to do the work, there comes a time when hanging on isn’t worth it.

There should be a recall mechanism for elected officials in order to ensure that they at least attend their place of employment, making a contribution is optional but is generally welcomed.

His actions make a mockery of democracy and insult both the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath and the House of Commons. 

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University  

Scottish independence: Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond is beginning to see his Council tax freeze unravel as the poorest and vulnerable in society feel the cuts to public services, he is keeping the rich happy at the expense of the poor!

Dear All

The Scottish National Party got re-elected on a 5 year bribe to freeze council tax.

Upshot of ‘buying’ the vote is that local authorities are feeling the squeeze which the SNP has placed upon them.

Services are being cut as budgets are slashed.

The idea of a Council tax freeze on the surface appears populist, however who can agree that people like Nicola Sturgeon and her husband on the best part of a quarter of a million pounds a year should benefit from it.

Rich people shouldn’t be getting a council tax freeze or free prescriptions either.

A considerable time I ago I highlighted that the second term of this current government should have been about public sector reform, that didn’t happen, and oh how we are all feeling the effects of the SNP’s ‘Government on Pause’.

There is now no way that any realistic reform can take place before the Scottish independence referendum, and you can probably add nothing done until after Xmas 2014. So, if anything was to be considered then pencil in January 2015.

That is right January 2015.  

Scotland has 32 councils, you could argue that some could be merged and the number drastically reduced, however is there the political will to do so, who knows; less Councils doesn’t mean less work. Some of the functions in the past have been mooted as being shared, a half way house; you could argue if that represents best value.

This sharing while caring in providing services in more "imaginative" and "creative" ways is supposed to keep the current system up and running, the reality is that the sinking feeling is still happening but less slower.

The Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (Solace) said on the situation at present that "significant levels of savings" are required to made in the coming years will lead to service cuts.

At present Holyrood's Local Government Committee is taking evidence on the 2014/15 draft Budget from Solace and Local Government Directors of Finance (Scotland). They will only have one message to say, they need more, rather like Oliver in Oliver Twist.

Labour member Richard Baker has suggested a 4.8% resource budget cut and the continuing council-tax freeze meant that reductions in services and increases in charges would be "inevitable".

No Shit Sherlock; Mr. Baker has never impressed me, and he still doesn’t, stating the obvious hardly represents talent, can we see a solution in his future?

Elma Murray, chair of Solace and chief executive of North Ayrshire Council, said:

"My sense is that that is becoming increasingly difficult right now. I do think there are some things that we will have to stop or reduce to a very very limited level."

Ms Murray said an example of this was community centres which many councils help to fund and run. Personally at a time where communities need to stick together, it is rather short sighted to float this as an idea of merit.

Murray added:

"Local authorities have provided a lot of support in relation to community centres. I think it will become increasingly difficult for us to maintain that. That is an area that a lot of us are looking at very carefully."

Look elsewhere.

Ian Lorimer, chair of Local Government Directors of Finance, said:

"Pay inflation, albeit at a modest level of 1%, is coming back in, so if we found it difficult to balance our budgets when pay inflation wasn't a factor, it's going to be that much harder to balance budgets in a situation where pay inflation does come back."

One wonders how much his take home pay comes out, I would assume that he isn’t one of the people suffering at present.

Finance Secretary John Swinney defended the funding deal local authorities get as he insisted continuing the council-tax freeze was a "priority" for the Scottish Government.

The priority is all about trying to build a consensus around a Yes vote.

SNP MSP John Wilson (not exactly one of life thinkers) said there were "constantly" calls from "from various leaders of local authorities throughout Scotland about how much better it would be if they were unshackled from the constraints of the council-tax freeze".

He can read wow!

The Council Tax freeze will continue through-out SNP Government term but ideal Councils should some leeway in any future deal possibly up to 3%.

And in future, the rich shouldn’t get a Council tax freeze or any of the other freebies which take away services from the most vulnerable in society.

People are suffering because the SNP wants to be ‘popular’ but they can’t carry on like that post 2016, hard choices have to be made, services need to be restored and who has the vision for that trick?

A new model for Government and local Government is required in order that both these institutions can generate revenue rather than just spend it.

And I am not just talking a couple of quid seems Alex Salmond is running out of ideas, but then he never had any real ones in the first place.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Scottish independence: Nationalist supporter Hamish says he would vote for the Nazis if it got Scotland independence, he has met Alex Salmond, and on several occasions Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, failed the moral maze question!

Dear Hamish

Have you ever heard of the Court of Public Opinion?

Sadly, it appears you have convicted yourself.

Was Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon ever your lawyer?

If so, ask for a refund, part of her responsibility is to tell you to think before you say something incredibility stupid and when in doubt say nothing.

To recap for you here is what you uttered:

“You asked: "If the Nazis got intopower and wanted Scottish independence, would you vote for it?" Yes, ofcourse”.

You said that you would vote for the Nazis if they wanted Scottish independence in the moral maze question.

Hamish, the correct answer is No, you wouldn’t vote for the Nazis if they were in power, didn’t history teach you anything?

So you would be supporting racism, injustice and inequality.

“But I have sufficient respect for our neighbours in the present UK to know that the hypothesis is not credible”.

What does it have to do with “our neighbours”?

Learn to stick to the point.

Also this further answer shows that you really don’t get it.

“If a bunch of sectarian thugs supported your football team would you switch your allegiance? No, you would send the thugs packing?”

Not the same scenario.

“For the record, I have met Alex Salmond once abd Nicola Sturgeon on several occasions. I respect the abilities of both, but I am not a confidant or crony of either”.

You respect Nicola Sturgeon for leaving Scottish women to die from cancer by not providing the same drugs available to people in England?

Say whit!

“I am a life-long supporter of the principle of the right of every nation to determine its own affairs”.

Does that include Zimbabwe? Rigged elections and murder are the hall mark for that regime!

So, fail on the moral maze question, fail on football team scenario and fail on “the principle of the right of every nation to determine its own affairs”.

All three wrong that is really something Hamish; and you wonder why independence is on its arse!

An Anon reader has looked at what you said and decided to post a few well chosen comments, this might upset you.

“Just read Hamish's comment about Nazi's and he would still voting for Independence.
One of the reason's why the YES campaign can't get above 25 per cent. Complete and utter arsehole. And that's me being kind”.

You see Hamish, there are Nationalists who agree with the George Laird view, because the George Laird view isn’t a knee jerk reaction, it is thought-out.

The poster went further:

“I'm really angry that we have arseholes like him in our movement. We should be attracting voters not panicking them with attitudes that he has.
FUCK OFF HAMISH YOUR KIND ISN'T WANTED”.

And to think you have met Alex Salmond and Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minster Nicola Sturgeon. 

You couldn’t have failed to notice that in Ms. Sturgeon’s company that you weren’t in the presence of ‘greatness’ Hamish.

Ms. Sturgeon surrounds herself with trash and nonentities in order to make her look good.

Nicola Sturgeon looks like the type who someone has to ‘buy’ friends and allies for her, without her knowledge of course.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Open letter to Nicola Sturgeon’s brown noser, I am not posting on the Daily Record as George Wynne, try and get your facts right before running off at the mouth, I find it amusing that someone uses my material about Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, not my problem!

Hi Nicola’s brown noser

“See you are George Wynne leaving comments on the Daily Record everyone knows George Wynne and George Laird are the same person”.

I didn’t know!

I am not posting on the Daily Record as George Wynne, I get it; the paranoia must be ripping out of you.

I post as George Laird and only as George Laird.

Can I be frank? 

The person posting as George Wynne will have a different ip address than me, so technology would prove this isn’t me. Anyway, I do notice that he or she has read my blog and uses lines I have used in the past.

Can I help it if what I write is popular!

If it helps someone get their 15 minutes of fame who am I to stand in their way.

“Unpopular George Laird a man no one wants in their political parties”.

Really?

Funnily enough, I got an offer after standing as an independent candidate in Govan.

Sadly, you are so behind the times, maybe if you spent less time pressed hard to Nicola’s political arse you could view the world a whole lot better!

“Time to shut up your messages is going nowhere maybe an overdose would be the best thing after all George you are a nobody”.

Yawn!

Since you keep talking about an overdose, have you thought of political suicide? Surely after Govan and Dunfermline it is time to consider it?

Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minster Nicola Sturgeon lost both and she will lose the big one in 2014.

Tell Nicola I said hi.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Scottish independence: Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond and increasingly unpopular Nicola Sturgeon are taking Scotland towards taxes going through the roof, 14% rises in independent Scotland just to keep declining services, two buffoons muck up indy bid

Dear All

One plus one adds up to two and from there the world lies before you.

The Scottish independence campaign is a farce, it’s a complete farce; how do we know this?

We know this because there is no Scottish Government reform and no local government reform.

The entire campaign is hollow, it’s bogus and it has no substance to it, recently the Grangemouth dispute shows how unprepared Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond and Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon are when it comes to forward planning.

One man held an entire country to ransom.  

The Grangemouth refinery supplies 70% of the fuel used at Scotland's filling stations and it also supplies fuel to Northern Ireland and the North of England. This means that this national asset on which so much of Scotland would depend is unstable.

Plan McPetrol and McDiesel by the SNP?

No!

Another disaster facing working class Scots due to the ill prepared bid is that taxes would have to rise.

The current figure quoted comes in at almost 14% if they were the sole method used to fill the fiscal black hole facing the government of an independent Scotland.

For years I have been commenting on how Scottish Government reform and local government reform was an essential part of the process on the road to independence.

Taxes will rise, there isn’t an alternative under the current setup to fix the problems of the black hole, the SNP like to talk around it as if it doesn’t exist; they play on the idea that the Oil Fund would solve anything and everything.

The SNP leader of Salmond and Sturgeon are running a con trick on Scots.

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) latest report on independence also highlights another problem again this hasn’t been addressed by the SNP leadership that is service cuts. Far from the land of ‘milk and honey’, Scots face the grim prospect of austerity on a par with Greece…. without the sunshine!

So, we are being setup for a mix of tax hikes and spending cuts if Salmond and Sturgeon get their way on Scottish independence, for them the great pity is that Scots can read and think for themselves.

Senior IFS economic researcher Stuart Adam said:

"This gives people a sense of the scale of the fiscal challenge facing an independent Scotland."

Alex Salmond and the increasingly unpopular Nicola Sturgeon went for an independence bid too soon.

However, the fairytale by the SNP hasn’t been played out, not just yet, earlier this year, John Swinney, the Scottish Finance Secretary, said he did "not envisage increases in personal taxation in an independent Scotland".

His reputation is increasingly taking a battering as he must know the bid is entirely wrong and unprepared.

Swinney’s pitch is that lower business taxes would help "grow the economy and thereby grow the tax base".

Assumption, and if England does the same it cancels out any advantage.

Duh!

So, we can see that having left everything to the last minute and with the additional spending pledges, the term Skintland used jokingly isn’t far off the mark.

You can’t have independence without proper preparation and quite frankly the ‘Fat man’ and little Ms. Unpopular haven’t done the work, the sums don’t add up and trust is a major issue for the SNP leadership.

You can’t mislead people on matters of fact and expect them to believe you in future, the EU lies literally destroyed all credibility on the subject of independence.

No plan for a Scottish pound was another factor.

On most reserved matters, the SNP are out of their depth, defence being a major issue that shows how incompetent the Nationalists have been.

You name it they have buried pretty much every issue with their short sighted and Neanderthal approach, the white paper is coming next month and we will see what kind of story that produces.

The truth is that Scottish independence is now dead in the minds of the Scottish people, in the time left there is not enough time to construct a proper bid, not with these people at the helm, the SNP turned this into a cronies campaign a rich man’s campaign, a campaign for vested interests, it was never about making the people of Scotland’s lives better, it was all about one man, Alex Salmond.

It was all about his dream of destroying the union at any cost to the people of Scotland so he could have a place in history.

Well he is getting a place, the man who lost Scottish independence based on his own vanity and stupidity.

The sums don’t add up, the reality is that things would never be perfect for a bid, however you certainly could cut down the limiting factors, he chose to present a bid based on a stupid smile on his face and that would be enough for everyone to gamble their future, their jobs and their homes.

He isn’t that popular and neither is Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minster Nicola Sturgeon.

Better Together campaign claimed the report and another by the Centre for Public Policy for Regions shows that the SNP's economic credibility was in tatters. They state that you cannot have an Oil Fund and maintain services without spending being slashed.

And it is so obvious, Scottish Government reform and local government reform was needed to have been started in 2011.

George Laird right again.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Supply teacher in Ayrshire is struck off as a teacher for saying that ‘Hitler wasn’t all that bad’; an entire world minus the cranks would strongly disagree with David McNally, he deliberately sunk his whole career, and was rightly barred!

Dear All

Some people aren’t quite cut out for teaching; David McNally appears not to be getting the hang of it after telling “Hitler wasn’t all that bad”.

During WW2 about 50 million people lost their lives.

And of course, the atrocity that is most mentioned is the systematic murder of Jewish people in the death camps.

So, an entire world minus the cranks would strongly disagree with David McNally.

David McNally was a religious education supply teacher at Kilwinning Academy, North Ayrshire.

Teaching is a wonderful profession, I have had a go at it myself in my youth and taught at Glasgow University, that being said they will let pretty much anyone teach there, however in my case I was brilliant.

Mr. McNally has been banned from teaching after being found unfit after he admitted all seven charges against him at a hearing.

McNally’s offensive remarks included:

“Hitler wasn’t all bad, he killed the Jews, the gays and disabled.”

What kind of example does that set?

He also asked pupils, the classic no no lines, “Are you a jakey?” and “Did you have sex at the weekend?”

In Southpark, there is one episode where the teacher wants to get sacked, one wonders if McNally watched the show!

On another occasion, Mr McNally told S3 pupils:

“I didn’t want to be a teacher. I would have rather been a prison warden or a child abuser.”

Well, it seems that he needs help and career’s advice rather badly.

More less than wisdom followed:

McNally also said:

“I have a part-time job at a children’s home, they taught me how to whip a child with a wet towel without leaving a mark”.

And he boasted:

“I love my mobile phone because I can sit and watch porn on it.”

If he wasn’t happy about teaching, all he needed to do was just write a letter and resign, it is that simple.

In what must be one of the most appalling records of being offensive; he also went on about Jimmy Savile while teaching his S3 class.

Paul Reid, case presenter for the GTCS, described the remarks as “offensive”, inappropriate” and said they caused “distress” to both parents and pupils.

McNally decided to not be present or represented but instead sent a letter in which he admitted all the charges.

Mr Paul Reid told the hearing in Edinburgh:

“Mr McNally has provided a response but has chosen not to engage in the process. The remarks were deeply offensive and inappropriate, and caused pupils and parents to make formal complaints. These comments were not said outside his workplace but were said in a classroom. In respect of the complaints these comments are clearly inappropriate. His conduct falls short of the expected standards of a teaching professional. He did admit these making these remarks, in his notice of defense he tries to dilute the effects of his remarks. In regards to the question of ‘did you have sex at the weekend’, Mr McNally claims it was a hypothetical statement in a discussion about abortion. I advise the panel to take a dim view of the man’s behaviour. In my opinion he is not fit to teach children - his comments have caused distress to parents and young people.”

Yes, well, I think the panel could come to that conclusion all by themselves.

Panel chairman Donald MacKay said:

“Mr McNally has admitted the facts made against him. The panel has therefore found the facts proven. He has admitted that he is impaired and is unfit to teach. The panel has decided he is unfit to teach, and he will be removed from the register. He can appeal the decision if he chooses too.”

And with those epic words, Mr. Mc Nally’s ass was fired for all time!

When you teach, you must understand your audience and pitch your lesson accordingly, although ‘madness’ may appeal to some, the class room is an inappropriate place to vent it. The Teacher/ Pupil relationship is one of trust, not just between them but also between the teacher and the parents of the pupil.

For someone who is educated, Mr. McNally acted like a bam, he tossed his teaching career away and his professional reputation, all the time he spent getting his degree and all the time he spent getting teacher training qualifications.

And one day he will regret it.

If you are not happy, then find something else to do that will make you happy.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University 

Labour win marks party fight back against the SNP, it was an important victory for them, Dunfermline is the first Holyrood seat to change hands for 13 years, Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon can’t multi task government and indy campaign, both an omnishambles

Dear All

There is a fight back happening in Scotland, while the Scottish National Party has been sitting on its hands in government and as a party, the Labour Party has been winning seat after seat off Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Dunfermline was an epic disaster for the Scottish National Party; another equally damaging open wound was the defeat in the Govan by-election. As someone familiar with by-elections, the SNP’s Govan campaign was incredibly inept.

Who runs an election campaign on the back of a dead former councillor?

It gets worse, the perceived ‘legacy’ the SNP thought was there never existed, most people didn’t know who she was.

At Govan Cross, it was amusing to see SNP Cllrs and Sturgeon cronies actually turning up to campaign which was something of a rarity from my previous experience of them.

And how uncomfortable and unhappy they looked, the SNP even managed to position a wall paper pasting table in the wrong place.

I have already covered the SNP attempt to disrupt my campaign by an angry wee Nat called Neil McDonagh who the Police told me that they would be happy to ‘lift’ if he caused me anymore trouble. A stupid little man with a massive chip on shoulder, who more than demonstrated why he is unsuitable to be a candidate for Public Office, a clown!

Back to Dunfermline and the Sturgeon defeat, Dunfermline is the first Holyrood seat to change hands for 13 years.

Many people know that the tide has turned for the Scottish National Party, the independence referendum is already lost, it is doubtful that they will get 3 seats at the European Election, and things don’t look good for Westminster in 2015.

Let’s face it, at Westminster, the SNP have proved ineffectual and lazy, which SNP MP’s Robertson and Whiteford ably demonstrated, Robertson is out of his depth on defence and Whiteford is just a Salmond crony easily forgotten. Her claim to fame is that she ‘took the huff’ and never returned to a committee where she was supposed to be standing up for Scotland’s interests.

Bags of time for shopping in London now!

Labour leader Johann Lamont said her party was back on track with its "emphatic" by-election victory, Labour has been doing well, in a number of by-elections; the SNP have been losing support.

Dunfermline wasn’t just an ordinary by-election, the Bill Walker case played a role; his imprisonment for 12 months reinforced a feeling that there was something wrong in the SNP ranks.

One SNP crony being replaced with another SNP crony and an outsider to boot!

The SNP is a party within a party and as such, they are leeching support from their activist base, many people are taking a back seat. In SNP branches now dubbed ‘Yes Scotland wherever’, the numbers coming out to work for them are very small, just a trickle. You might have gotten the impression from Alex Salmond that he has tens of thousands of activists that is correct.

Cara Hilton’s win was impressive; she took the seat in west Fife with a whacking 2873 majority.

The bottom line is that she made Dunfermline the second safest Labour seat at Holyrood.

If you are an SNP MSP that should tell you that you shouldn’t be making plans for the big house, the big car and to start saving, because your tenure at Holyrood is looking incredibly shaky.

Johann Lamont said:

"It's a very positive step. It's a very substantial result, an emphatic result. And given where we were in 2011, this is a very important stage. That's where we've got back to, being in a process where we are able to compete politically. Because the defeat in 2011 was so significant, then we know the scale of the challenge. What this does, however, is it confirms that both politically and organisationally we are able to compete and we can build on this."

Ms Hilton said:

"The people of Dunfermline have rejected Scotland being put on pause for another year. The Government of Scotland has been suspended so that a referendum campaign can be won."

She added:

"We are only here tonight because of the bravery of three women, three women who came forward to demand justice and who won that fight. Their courage and determination must be a reminder to all of us that we need to work harder to ensure that all victims of domestic violence are able to come forward and receive the justice they deserve."

Over in the SNP camp, Salmond said that if the 7% swing to Labour in Dunfermline was replicated nationally, his party would still be the largest.

Well, it is a long road to 2016 and the signs don’t look good for holding onto that SNP majority, that was a fluke, and with the tide now turning away from Salmond and Sturgeon, we are seeing the calibre of the SNP clique, it is a drone class devoid of original thinking, most people don’t know what is behind Salmond and Sturgeon.

The SNP leadership has a talent for promoting and keeping stupid people round them to make them look good. A prime example is the trash surrounding Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister. At the SNP GRA one night, I listened as two of Sturgeon’s cronies went through the Glasgow City Council 2012 manifesto, not only could the Hunter’s clan not explain what was in it, I had to stop reading because I was appalled by the very poor presentation of Mhairi Hunter, I thought, was I in an 8 year old’s reading class?

And the manifesto was crap, no big ideas, nothing of worth, just dreadful tat. 

As to the SNP loser and wannabe Yes Scotland quitter Shirley-Anne Somerville, she said her party could be ‘proud’ of its campaign which focused on the threat of school closures in the area.

That’s it!

Somerville added:

"We've run a positive campaign trying to support local parents in their schools and I hope we can come together, all of us in the party, to make sure those three schools in the Dunfermline constituency stay open."

Somerville wanted to quit Yes Scotland which is a doomed enterprise, the SNP loaded the organisation up with Team Salmond and Team Sturgeon cronies thinking that independence could be run as just another election.

And it can’t.

Also it is a mistake to do the ‘angry Nat’ bit which signal a change of course at the SNP Conference, a big mistake, that is like going full speed over the abyss, when the SNP hit the bottom in 2014, the party will try and do a unity bit, the reality is that Salmond and Sturgeon killed indy.

And SNP members shouldn’t forget that.

The Labour Party did well, Cara Hilton deserved her win; and ‘carpetbagger’ Somerville deserved to lose, she wanted to represent Dunfermline but didn’t want to live there, who is kidding who, she wanted to represent herself and the SNP.

The end is looming for Alex Salmond, the defeat in Dunfermline was a key test that he and Sturgeon badly botched.

Not so ‘brave’ now Salmond!

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Open letter to Hamish, speaking of ‘Traitors’ willing to take the moral maze question on Scottish independence, Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon shouldn’t be the ‘face of independence’, your hero sucks ass dude as a leader!

Dear Hamish

Hello, by now you will have seen the political ass raping that the SNP suffered in Dunfermline.

Both cheeks left hanging like straw being blown in the wind.

Firstly, I have been off a few days from blogging; my birthday, you understand and I didn’t have my usual break in the summer from blogging.

Did you campaign in Dunfermline Hamish?

Did you fight the good fight?

I should ask; do you actually know anything about political campaigning at all?

The SNP didn’t select a local, they went with a Sturgeon crony, come on, Hamish, in a situation like Dunfermline you go with the best candidate, in this case, the choice was two women.

Hardly represents choice.

“it gars me grue George to say this again: someone who claims to be in favour of Scottish Independence but strains every sinew to oppose the best chance in a century to achieve it is a traitor”.

Traitor?

Let’s play a moral maze game Hamish.

If the Nazis got into power and wanted Scottish independence, would you vote for it?

If the answer is yes, what does that say about you?

If you say no, where does that leave you?

It leaves you with; it isn’t independence at any cost, which is where I am at.

“I have used the same word about Alec Douglas-Home who urged Scots to vote against the first devolution bill on the grounds that the Conservatives would offer something better, which of course they did not”.

I have corrected a typo in your post, however, to return to Alec Douglas-Home, do you know what he stood for, I assume he is dead. Ancient history is hardly relevant, unless you think somehow that Douglas-Home reminds you of me. I am hardly from his background, me working class from a housing scheme, however, I watched BBC 2 in my youth. 

“Under what circumstances will you support Independence?”

Can I be blunt?

Do you know personally the two CUNTS, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, and I do mean CUNTS, well Hamish; these CUNTS have let me down badly, when I ask for something, I don’t expect ‘a pair of stinking provincial bastards’ to ignore me.

Anyway why are you so upset?

Aren’t Salmond and Sturgeon going to deliver you independence in 2014?

Maybe Domino’s pizza is in their range, independence, hardly, if you regularly read this blog, you will read how I always get it right on the big issues and Nicola Sturgeon fucks it all up.

“Only when George (Braveheart) Laird leads the campaign?”

Have I applied for the job?

When?

Given the way that Sturgeon has buried the campaign you think I could do worse?

Nicola Sturgeon went to Glasgow University, but lets us remember I taught there and let us also remember when I did teach there I was the best in my field, so let us not assume that Sturgeon is something ‘special’.

I taught the elite at Glasgow University, what did Sturgeon achieve while there?

She ended up at Drumchapel Law Centre, hardly Perry Mason.

Why don’t you apply to head Yes Scotland?

They need a serious political campaigner, Hamish, however, best wait a few days, Ms. Somerville will be coming back to the outfit she wanted to quit, mucho depression for a few days.

Mucho!

Finally, when I ask for something, I don’t expect ‘a pair of stinking provincial bastards’ to ignore me.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

ps the song is really good

Dunfermline by-election special: Nicola Sturgeon loses key Dunfermline by-election, Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister sees SNP vote dramatically slump as people reject Nicola Sturgeon’s proxy, more proof George Laird right again about the ‘face of independence’

Dear All

Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has lost the Dunfernmline by-election.

This by-election was the first 'women beating by-election' held in Scotland’s history for the Scottish Parliament, the reason for it being held was that Nicola Sturgeon’s pal; and SNP MSP Bill Walker had for decades been smashing in women’s faces.

He is currently doing 12 months in prison and unsurprisingly Nicola hasn’t visited him.

Labour’s Cara Hilton won the Dunfernmline by-election, fair and square, congratulations on her win and that goes also to those on her team, they did the work, they played a good steady campaign.

This by-election was a key test on the ‘road to independence’ and Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yet again showed that she is completely wrong to be the ‘face of independence’.

George Laird right again.

The SNP leadership fought everything at this by-election as SNP activists from all over Scotland came to try and win back the seat.

But trust has been broken.

Cara Hilton (Lab) 10,275 (42.46%, +6.89%)

Shirley-Anne Somerville (SNP) 7,402 (30.59%, -6.99%)

The Labour majority was a tub thumbing 2873, it was a massive victory, let no one be in any doubt about that.

The SNP were handicapped by the ‘Curse of Sturgeon’, people in the SNP must now realise that she is a liability; in fact I understand privately that is already being discussed in the SNP ranks.  

Carpetbagger and Sturgeon crony, Shirley-Anne Somerville who wanted to run out of the 'sinking ship' that is Yes Scotland was left with her tail between her legs as she returns back to Yes Scotland, a quitter who has been shown to have no loyalty to the cause, a paid Nat who put the feathering of her own nest before the needs of the independence campaign.

Quitters don’t win.

For the people of Dunfermline, this is their victory, this was them standing up for victims of domestic violence, it was a victory for Scotland.

Today, the people of Dunfermline also sent a message to Nicola Sturgeon who has destroyed the Scottish independence campaign, her and Alex Salmond’s poisonous vision isn’t wanted here in Scotland.

The Lib Dems were third and the Tories fourth. Turnout was just under 43%.

So, if Cara Hilton works hard and keeps a high profile as a pro active MSP for the people, the SNP have also lost Dunfermline in 2016.

Ms Hilton praised the bravery of the three women who helped convict Walker in her victory speech.

There was no praise for Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Recently Nicola Sturgeon lost the Govan by-election, again the SNP flung the kitchen sink at it, Sturgeon played a key role on the ground and despite the fable that ‘Nicola is popular’, the people of Govan rejected her, I took SNP voters off her that she had visited.

In Dunfermline, the SNP leadership and their candidate opted to hide behind children with Scotland’s unpopular DFM nowhere to be seen, so when she campaigns she sinks a campaign and when she doesn’t she sinks a campaign.

That is a problem for her; the ‘no show’ at Dunfermline was to avoid questions about what she knew about SNP women beater Bill Walker.

Finally, the SNP made a big mistake in not going with someone local, the Sturgeon crony was always going to lose.

People in Dunfermline rejected Nicola Sturgeon and now the ‘virus’ has spread to her cronies, for a supposedly 'popular government' they are losing a hell of a lot of by-elections!

Alex Salmond played the 'jolly fat man' role at this by-election surrounding himself with kids as 'human shields', many SNP MSPs will be waking up today and knowing they won't be coming back to Holyrood in 2016.

Blame Nicola!

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Scottish independence: SNP Conference closes with Blair Jenkins issuing a referendum rallying cry, Salmond tells people there are ‘tens of thousands’ of activists ready and some shit about a fairer and more just society while Salmond is parked in a luxury suite at the five star Gleneagles Hotel

Dear All

Yes Scotland chief executive is a guy called Blair Jenkins.

Apparently he is supposed to be something ‘special’, his tenure at Yes Scotland which is seen by many as an SNP front has been a spectacular flop.

Awhile ago he expressed the need for a clean campaign which was positive.

Oh how times have changed for him and the SNP.

In pure scaremongering mode which he says he opposes, he has urged voters to back independence to rid the country of "warmongers and welfare bashers".

Then playing to the crowd at the SNP Conference, he launched an attack on successive UK governments.

What about Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon who left Scots women to die of cancer?

Not a peep out of him.

Blair Jenkins has selected memory loss it appears.

His memory also is fuzzy on the SNP wanting to deny Scots the right to a fair trial.

Jenkins is in the swing of unionist bashing possibly picked up from Team Sturgeon, went on to describe Westminster as "remote" and "ridiculous".

Speaking of "ridiculous", his campaign is on its collective arse and going backwards which a major part of the fault is Nicola Sturgeon.

Nicola isn’t very bright, even with a crew behind her doing the ‘thinking’.

Jenkins said:

"If you are sick and fed up of the corrosive and cynical world of Westminster, then next year we can be rid of all of that. It really is that simple. Vote Yes and we can say enough to the remote House of Commons and the ridiculous House of Lords: enough of the warmongers and the job-cutters; enough of the asset-strippers and the mortgage-flippers; enough of the welfare-bashers and the bedroom-taxers."

Speaking of the ridiculous House of Lords, they have time and time again proved their worth at Westminster, maybe Jenkins should watch the BBC who cover parliament.

He added:

"Let's make our own decisions and live by our own values. It's time to speak up for Scotland. It's time to stand up for Scotland. It's time to vote Yes."

Actually, he needs a new watch, it isn’t time to vote Yes; as Jenkins says, it is the wrong time, the SNP have attempted to con the Scottish people, they have done no work and their leadership cannot be trusted, no one is backing Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

At the SNP ‘hatefest’, apparently there was no place for Yes Scotland chairman Denis Canavan, he wasn’t granted a platform.

Poor Dennis, tells a story, the ‘gathering’ of the clique was all about boosting their morale and drum banging, no ex Labour required, so much for the 'all together' campaign.

Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond said during the rally that public trust in his government was the campaign's "ace card".

We trust you to empty the bins; wash the windows, do some ‘limited’ thinking and donkey work; but big politics, which is too rich for the SNP.

He said:

"The trust comes because we are a government elected by the Scottish people, that is the connection, people trust the government because it is their government. That is the key."

People voted for a five year council tax freeze!

He added the Nationalists had a "passion to improve our nation" which was also an "ace card".

Was it “passion” that saw Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minster Nicola Sturgeon leaving Joyce Juszczak to die in Inverclyde?

Was it “passion” that saw Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minster Nicola Sturgeon leaving people like Anne Fisher and June Rankin in the lurch regarding cancer drugs?

Alex Salmond opened his big Conference speech and immediately started talking about the dead in the SNP, how apt, a man who is politically dying who sees his own death at the ballot box swiftly approaching thinking about morality.

Oh, gosh, I never forgot, I am doing a piece on Mr. Jenkins, you know, you could easily forget he existed at all, once the independence defeat happens, he will disappear pretty damn quick along with many 90 minutes Nationalists.

The SNP will implode because Salmond and SSturgeon are running the SNP as a ‘rat ship’, someone is going to have to fall on their rubber sword; Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ is a prime candidate.

Or maybe Jenkins is being lined up as ‘sources’ do an ‘I told you so’ briefing against the SNP front Yes Scotland while at the same time forgetting their role in control the organisation.

Eventually people will come round to the George Laird view regarding the SNP; the party needs a strong Nationalist leader, not some guy who married to a woman old enough to be his mother.

Salmond ‘wrote’ his speech about a fairer and more just society and he opted for a luxury suite at the five star Gleneagles Hotel.

The guy is an utter buffoon.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

SNP conference: dead man walking, Alex Salmond says independence 'an act of self-belief', at Govan by-election, SNP member tried abuse and intimidation tactics on me, then they came mob handed, out-numbered 7 to 1; my ‘self belief’ was total, the SNP can go fuck themselves

Dear All

The SNP Conferencne is in full swing as delegates and members to listen to messages of political suicide from Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond and Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

If you are a delegate then slitting your wrists maybe the preferred option because so far, the event is all about the SNP leadership trying to cheer up the SNP members.

At present Team Salmond and Team Sturgeon are in free fall like someone falling down a lift shaft, there is a long way to go before 2014 but this only means the speed of the impact into the deck will be more severe.

In a Conference speech Alex Salmond has decided to play to emotion by saying a vote for Scottish independence would be an "act of national self-belief".

Is he taking the piss?

Scots already have national self-belief, what they don’t have is belief in him and Nicola Sturgeon.

Because no one trusts them!

Yes, trust is an issue, and if you don’t have trust you don’t have anything, I guess the lying and deception strategy wasn’t so great an idea as it first sounded.

Presumably the SNP leadership thought they were being ‘clever’ when the truth was that they became a hostage to fortune when it all came out, drip by drip, they were sunk.

Let’s talk about self –belief since the SNP leader has touched on it, recently I stood for political office, on polling day, I was subjected to SNP abuse at the polling station, then the SNP filed a malicious complaint against me, and other members turned up on mass at the gate I was standing at.

7 people all from the same party at a single gate, could this be seen as intimidation tactics by outsiders?

Possibly yes!

But what was the George Laird view on Nicola Sturgeon’s ‘pals’, seven of them and one of me.

Go fuck yourselves!

Total self belief, you see it doesn’t matter if it was 20 to 1, I still won’t have changed what I did, not for a load of knuckle draggers of limited intelligence.

Salmond will tell the SNP conference devolution has made Scotland better; presumably the families of Scots women left to die of cancer would disagree with that statement.

If the country was independent under Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, it won’t be better; these two have a track record of leaving the poorest in society in the lurch.

That’s their track record, full powers only mean that the safety blocks would be removed, the SNP don’t listen to ordinary people, far from it, so independence won’t change that, they think they are our rulers not our public servants.  

A "yes" vote says Salmond is not about victory for the SNP, but for the whole of Scotland, two thirds of the country has already rejected him and Nicola Sturgeon as unsuitable to lead an independent country.

Short version… too stupid!

And in a sign of desperation, he has latched onto the phrase common sense, which is the last chance saloon, we already have common sense and common sense dictates telling Salmond and Sturgeon to fuck off!

That is right, fuck off, they may have kidded their way into political office but it is time up, the detail of their tenure is now being looked at and it doesn’t make pleasant reading, rather than running a successful government, they engaged in a massive cover up.

Freedom of information requests are routinely blanked as part of the cover up, it’s any excuse to not tell the truth, the people according to the SNP don’t have the right to know.

The four day SNP Confernece is all about the SNP talking to the SNP, no one else really, things are going so bad that people are now saying that Nicola Sturgeon is a liability in private, guess what?

George Laird said this over a year ago, I said, it was a mistake to move her from health, personally if I was leader I would send her back there to do the job she was paid for and botched, if she failed to do so, I would fire her arse on to the back benches without a second thought.

This conference is all about trying to prop the SNP’s morale, as to who needs it more, I will leave that for you to decide.

One thing is absolute, the clock is ticking down to disaster for Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, you can’t escape destiny and judgment, soon people in the SNP will wake up to ask why there isn’t a nationalist leader in the SNP.

Time for a quote by Alex Salmond:

“My problem is that I have too many talented people and not enough Cabinet positions”!

Like a lot of what Alex Salmond says you can take that with a pinch of salt, the steak he has already eaten, as to the ‘veggies’, they will be running up and down streets the fear racing out of them.

Panic will set in fully by mid-summer 2014, it is already too late; I guess the ‘talent’ already know that or do they?

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University