Dear All
Deary deary deary me, what is the world
coming too?
Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond has
been told to overrule Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill by the Tories and Lib
Dems.
The issue is the plan to scrap the need for
corroboration in criminal trials.
As most people know the SNP Government is
effectively run as a one man band, the ‘bandmaster’ is Salmond and the backing
group is his ‘pals’.
His ‘pals’ for the most part got the Ministerial
posts in Government.
Should corroboration in trials be scrapped?
The answer is no.
Has the SNP Government put in enough
protection to safeguard miscarriages of justice?
No!
The SNP don’t do law well as we have
plainly seen.
So, will Salmond agree to the Tory and Lib
Dems demands that the controversial part of the Criminal Justice Bill is
removed, at present it is currently going through the Scottish Parliament.
If he agrees with the Tories and Lib Dems,
it is akin to saying publicly Kenny MacAskill is incompetent and should be
removed as Justice Minister.
Personally his arse should have been fired
after Al Megrahi.
These changes by the SNP don’t guarantee a
fair trial, they lower the bar towards more miscarriages of justice happening.
You could make a case that since the SNP
are hiding behind the shield of this is to ‘help’ rape victims, it is nothing
but a ploy to try and win votes from women in the Scottish independence
referendum.
With ‘safeguards’ being flagged up by many
people, MacAskill said former high court judge Lord Bonomy will lead a special
group looking at what might be needed to prevent miscarriages of justice.
Presumably Lord Bonomy was picked because
he is already on side with the scrapping but is tasked in trying to make it
more palatable to opponents.
MacAskill’s announcement of a special group
came as Holyrood's Justice Committee said the case has not been made to ditch
corroboration.
It seems everyone has their nose out of
joint on this one.
Tory leader Ruth Davidson said:
"This is now about the integrity of
this Parliament."
That is the extent of the damage that Kenny
MacAskill has done as Justice Minister.
Davidson added:
"What we as members are being asked to
do is to vote through a Bill which we know to be deeply flawed on the grounds
that Kenny MacAskill says he'll sort it later. There is an obvious solution
here. Leave the scrapping of corroboration out of the Bill. Ask Lord Bonomy to
report on the whole issue and then let us look at it again. Surely it is better
to make good law later than bad law now."
Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie supported Miss
Davidson, adding that the Scottish Government's approach is
"crackers".
Well if you put a ‘crackpot’ in charge who
wants to find something, anything to remove the stigma of Al Megrahi, you can
expect ‘crackers’ to be produced!
Rennie said:
"Appointing Lord Bonomy doesn't
restore justice; it simply papers over the cracks with a veneer of
respectability. Isn't it better to work out the fix before you deliberately
cause the problem? Law making in reverse is a shoddy way to expect Scotland's
Parliament to act."
Salmond’s response is that he doesn’t get
it, and the attack is unfair.
It is unfair because MacAskill is his pal!
Salmond said:
"It's not a quick fix, it's a
distinguished judge who's looking to make absolutely certain that as this
change is made, appropriate safeguards are there to prevent miscarriages of
justice."
Funny, the SNP have a habit of appointing
‘experts’ who then turn out to be wrong.
Salmond added:
"That is a substantial point and any
recommendations before implementation would have to come back to the committee,
back for discussion, and back to this Parliament for approval. By definition,
this change cannot take place unless and until this Parliament is satisfied
with the proposals that come forward."
Given the SNP control the Parliament, they
can push anything through they like, on this issue like many others, they have
gotten it entirely wrong.
But, what do they care if Scots can’t get a
fair trial?
This is the tip of the iceberg, but it
shows clearly why Scots should vote No to independence, we need the protection
of the UK Supreme Court, Alex Salmond cannot be trusted to safeguard Scots or
Scots Law.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow
University
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