Unpopular Nicola Sturgeon travels halfway round the World to China to carp on about non-event indyref 2, Sturgeon isn’t a ‘statesman’ and never will be, she is a failing politician leading a miserable failing SNP Government committed to robbing the poorest in society of life chances

Dear All

In politics, it is rather stupid to ask for things you cannot get, if you do you end up look weak and ineffective, people start to question your leadership or lack of it, and of course judgment.

Scotland’s unpopular First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said:

"no politician has the right to stand in the way" of another referendum if ‘Scotland’ votes to have a re-run.

What she is actually saying is that given the fall of unionist parties, anytime the SNP win and include they want a re-run is just cause.

It isn’t.

A new Scottish Referendum is effectively a non-starter legally and politically,  it is beyond the SNP to decide.

If Sturgeon does stick it in her 2016 manifesto, it will be a promise that she cannot deliver during the next term of the Holyrood Parliament.  

It would be better for unionist parties to just ignore completely the SNP agenda and set their own.

Given polling, it is possible that the Labour Party will face a difficult time at the next Holyrood election because of past failures which they are aware of. In bygone days, Labour could take people for granted regarding their votes, they now find themselves in the position that they will have to go through a long hard slog to win back trust.

People have been let down and when that happens they look elsewhere, the trouble is by looking at the SNP they have misplaced their trust.

Poor working class people have been conned by the Nationalists who are robbing them by creating middle class welfare-ism. Services that are vital to the poor are being cut as the SNP use public money as an election tool.

The SNP have no interest in helping poor people beyond gimmicks, a current gimmick is the foodbank scam to draw attention away from plan to trap working class people into poverty.  

Sturgeon knows that if she tries to go for another referendum in the 2016 manifesto, it won’t happen, and it won’t be legal, so there will be no Better Together 2 campaign. The only reason Sturgeon may put in for indyref 2 in the Nationalist manifesto is a unsophisticated con trick on her own members to keep them working as activists.

Nothing more!

Prime Minister David Cameron has made the UK Government clear, no second referendum, as he says it would not be legitimate.

So Sturgeon can con her members than cry, ‘it’s not my fault, it is the fault of Westminster’ which is code for the English.

  

Scottish Secretary David Mundell pipped up to say he does not believe "it is for the SNP themselves to determine whether the people of Scotland are in favour of having another referendum".

And it isn’t, it is solely at the discretion of the Prime Minister, there is no appetite for a ‘neverendum’ at Westminster just because the Nationalists want to try and bully the majority of the people in Scotland into back it.

When politicians are in trouble, they disappear abroad, interestingly, Sturgeon is doing exactly what other failed politicians who failed to deliver for their people has done, ‘get out of Dodge’.

Political parties need to highlight the failures of the Sturgeon Government in painful and graphic detail and turn up on people’s doorsteps and ram that message home and how it relates to ordinary people.

Laughingly, Sturgeon said the UK Government has blocked SNP, Labour and Liberal Democrat amendments to the Scotland Bill.

Apparently, the SNP think the Bill should adjusted by a minority at Westminster to suit the SNP agenda, that idea fell rather flat rather quickly.

Amendments need a majority to be passed!

Another farce which the SNP are trying on will fail on is the 'double majority' provision in (the EU) referendum.

This will never happen, if a majority of the people of the United Kingdom vote to leave the EU that is the matter settled.

It is highly unlikely that the EU vote will be in favour of leaving the EU unless there is a more substantial opposition and groundswell, at present there isn’t a tipping point in the UK for that bunny to run.

One thing highlighted by Sturgeon is when she says Scotland has an "enlightened" attitude to human rights.

This is the politics of the student union, the SNP aren’t human rights champions that is a farce as demonstrated by their actions in the Cadder Case.

Human rights denial concerning the right to a fair trial in Scotland!

Sturgeon didn’t speak out about that Human Right abuse.

The more Sturgeon talks about indyref 2 the more voters will turn away from her and nasty little party; hopefully working class people will click on to the fact that Nicola Sturgeon is destroying their future and that of their children.

Yours sincerely

George Laird 

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Labour MP Ian Murray, the Edinburgh South MP says Labour need to look to a new generation of politicians and activists to bring back their fortunes, activism like puppies aren’t just for Christmas, they are all year round events, Labour need to be more pro-active in communities to win back voters, not just talk but also more importantly by deeds

Dear All

It cannot be fun being a Labour member at present given the result of Westminster 2015, the worst result since 1918, and in 2016, the party is preparing for possibly its worst performance since Holyrood opened.

In the past Labour had towering figures and great orators, they also had something which is just important to any political party, elected members who worked hard to serve the needs of their constituents.

Over decades the party changed and people got elected who were only ‘careerists’ whose sole interest was being part of the establishment. These people who lacked a work ethic simply drained away Labour’s core support.

People wanted two things, change and to get rid of elected members who didn’t represent them, the malaise in the Labour ranks of those people who didn’t want to work for the people reached a tipping point in 2015.

Good MPs were swept away with the bad, as to the Lib Dems in Scotland; they were cooked as far back as 2010 when Nick Clegg lied on tuition fees; that killed the Scottish party stone dead. Since 2010 every Lib Dem MP in Scotland’s future was in doubt prior to that election.

Afterwards when the result came in there was no doubt.  

The Scottish Labour like every other party needs to rebuild, politics is like football in some respects, when the team isn’t able to perform, the party has to look elsewhere to find new ‘strikers’ who can help lift the entire team and give the supporters something to cheer about.

Ask yourself; how many Labour MSPs can you name off the top of your head just now and write that down on a piece of paper. Then do online to the Scottish Parliament and see how many others you couldn’t get.

Labour needs elected members to speak up and get noticed, but noticed for the right reasons.

In the past, the Labour Party had political giants such as John Smith, Donald Dewar and Gordon Brown is there an MSP who comes even close to them at present?

Most people would say no, there isn’t anyone of that calibre, in politics, the real talent of Labour wanted to go to Westminster, and who could blame them, Westminster is so much more than Holyrood.  

Now, Scottish Labour can no longer turn to the party’s “big beasts”, it needs to have new blood if it is to move forward, new blood doesn’t mean youth, or Labour chairs of University Party clubs.

It means people who have a focus, a drive and ambition to be single minded to get the job done.

Like football in need of star players, a new generation of politicians and activists is needed to work in communities so that people know that if they have a problem, their local elected member is there for them.

All the way!

It is highly likely that Scottish leadership contender Kezia Dugdale will become party leader, ahead of her MSP rival Ken Macintosh, although Macintosh stood before for leader, he is has been very noticeable by his lack presence since that time.

Ian Murray the sole MP in Scotland said:

“We will elect a new leader in a matter of weeks and the hard work will begin. A fresh team, a fresh approach, a new generation. I’ll play my part in whatever way I can. A party which takes inspiration from those who went before - Smith, Dewar, McConnell, Brown. All of them made their own unique and lasting contribution to our party and to our country. But the Scottish Labour Party can no longer turn to the big beasts. It falls to a new generation to take the Scottish Labour Party forward. I want us to look back 20 years from now, in government in the UK and in Scotland, and be able to say that when the burden of responsibility passed to the next generation we were up to the challenge.”

Although a standard speech to the party members, it will all boil down to grassroots, Labour made the mistake of not listening to the people in Scotland, they can’t make that mistake again.

Murray added:

“This was Labour at a low ebb, at a time when we could have easily descended into chaos”.

Interestingly but not new, Murray also added that Labour needs a “community-based approach” if it is to win again.

But it also needs a cull, some elected members think they are too important to be activists and work in the community; that will have to change; these people need a new directive which states they must be active in their local area instead of leaving it to others to carry the load for them.

Activism like puppies aren't just for Christmas, they are all year round.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Chancellor George Osborne says Britain must fix EU relationship, ‘when you call down the rain, you have to deal with the mud’; his piecemeal reform package doesn’t address the real issues of change that the EU must embrace, if he turns up with ‘titbits’ to the people of Britain, he could possible lose votes rather than gain

Dear All

Everyone more or less agrees that the European Union needs reform, the question is what reforms are needed and how to establish the political will between the 28 members states to do so.

One thing that is certainly needed is change, not tinkering as has been done in the past but a new vision. The European Union has reached a stage where it has to re-invent itself.

I would suggest that several items are worthy of consideration.

The Euro needs an opt-out mechanism to allow a member state to re-establish its own currency when it runs into real economic trouble; such a mechanism would certainly benefit Greece who has suffered greatly due to inflexibility.

Due to illegal immigration from places like Africa, I would also like to see the establishment of a permanent EU border force, member states would contribute manpower and resources to areas such as the Med or other problem areas working under the direction of the member state in that area.

George Osborne says that Britain must fix its economic relationship with Brussels to persuade the voters it is right to remain in the European Union. Despite the problems, I don’t think that the people of Britain have reached a tipping point yet in their relationship with the EU. I would say the deal which the Conservatives are trying to get as their centre piece of remaining in is rather meaningless.

Although George Osborne is leading talks, there really would be much in the way of concessions; however, I am sure that he will walk away with something which will be played up as something worthwhile.

The EU at its core should be all about trade; this is the central attraction of having the membership. Access to the EU as a “single market of free trade” is important, however recently you may have noticed that David Cameron has been talking about Britain trading more with the rest of the World.

This maybe a gambit on his part or it may be that this is part of the new political landscape which is emerging since the political upheaval of late. One way of telling what’s what is where the establishment of UK military bases in the World are, and if they are being upgrade and refurnished.

Osborne, is working on plans to give national parliaments a “bigger role” in EU laws and regulations, I don’t think he will get much headway on that front. A British veto should only be used if there is an issue of genuine national security and not based on whether someone doesn’t like a measure.

The Chancellor said:

“I’ve always thought the mainstream bulk of the British public wants to be in Europe, not run by Europe.”

He also added which is important the issue of returning Britain to a trading relationship with the EU. This isn’t Britain in Europe but rather an outsider just trading with it, I see this as a mixed message, one thing is certain, he and David Cameron won’t get their cake and eat it.

Especially not from the Franco/ German block!

As to his other concerns and climate change, security as it relates to illegal migrants, this is him just ‘padding’ out his argument.

Reform in Europe must involve all 28 member states, the EU has grown too big; membership should be capped until a new plan for the Community has been worked out and agreed. This will take years to sort out, it would be better to cap membership for a minimum of 10 years which the work is carried out.

Osborne also added:

“There is a deal to be done ... it’s not going to be straightforward, it’s not going to be easy ... but it is absolutely do-able.”

That’s because he will get tat and try to dress that up as major concessions because of the referendum which is probably getting held in 2017.

Although there will be a referendum, I suspect it wouldn’t be as high profile as the Scottish referendum of 2014 as all the main parties will be pro-European Union and I doubt that Ukip has the resources and people to mount an effective UK wide campaign to the degree necessary to pull off a win.

What the Conservatives need to do is push for all 28 members to grasp the nettle of reform rather than the continued ‘me me me’ concession mentality which is just reactionary to domestic politics.

I am sure George Osborne will get something; the trouble is that it would really be worth the effort.

What the EU needs is really big ideas such as an internal EU immigration policy, but that won’t happen because the political will just isn’t there, and to most people the EU as an entity is seen as too remote from their daily lives.

Yours sincerely

George Laird 

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University 

3d car with shadow beneath

Prime Minister David Cameron wades into the indyref 2 row and says ‘No need for second independence referendum’, it is time to move on politically and stop listening to Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond’s constant carping, the boat has sailed on independence, time to shape the new political landscape of the United Kingdom

Dear All

You may have heard the phrases ‘the party is over’ and ‘the boat has sailed’, that is exactly what has happened in regard to Scottish independence.

It was a botched campaign lacking in substance and all about spin.

On the 18^th September 2014, the people of Scotland said no to independence, the vote was decisive, 55% in favour of staying in the United Kingdom.

Why did the people of Scotland not back Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, it came down to a simple concept, trust, the majority people don’t trust the SNP with their future.

At the Westminster 2015 election, the minority who voted for independence backed the SNP because they thought this was another route to independence.

It wasn’t, like much of what Nicola Sturgeon does it was another false dawn.

In Scotland, there is a political vacuum which needs to be filled; Scotland needs a new centre party which can encapsulate the best aspects of policies of what are termed ‘the left’ and ‘the right’.

Although the Conservative Party is a centre right party, it has failed in Scotland.

The evidence isn’t the result of Westminster 2015 but over circa 35 years, Ruth Davidson like most leaders of parties takes comfort from saying that the Conservative vote went up. The reality for the Conservatives is that Ruth Davidson did fail her first real test in Westminster 2015, and things look bleak in 2015.

Ruth Davidson is ‘holding the fort’, what she isn’t doing is making progress, eventually that will click with party bosses, post Holyrood 2016.

This is just an observation from the sidelines.

Down the road at the Westminster village, the real decisions are still made by David Cameron. The Nationalists at present are trying to keep the independence dream alive but everything has a shelf life. The SNP cannot keep their momentum and importantly the commitment of their new SNP members going indefinitely. Sooner or later these people will wake up and discover, not only is nothing happening on the independence front but also nothing is getting done by the SNP Government.

When they grasp the SNP isn’t a party of government but solely of protest, they will fade away, hence we have Salmond being bizarre and grasping at straws, it doesn’t matter what the excuse is, it is in their eyes reason for a second vote.

As I wrote at the top of the post, ‘the party is over’ and ‘the boat has sailed’, and it has, there is a new political landscape emerging, not just in Scotland but also in the rest of the United Kingdom.

English votes (for) English laws is a symptom of the new concept, although I don’t agreed with Evel in principle, and see it as an affront to democracy, it probably will be pushed through, no Scottish MP should have lesser voting rights than any other MP.

It is a sledgehammer to crack a nut and I seriously doubt it will fix anything let alone the mood of the English public who see Scots get things they don’t in England and that has stoked up resentment.

What should be remember is that political choices were made in Scotland, and there has been a knock on effect which is unseen by the English public at large. They are just reading the headlines, they aren’t doing the research and importantly they aren’t asking the right questions.    

Salmond said recently:

“I think a second independence referendum is inevitable. The question is not the inevitability, it’s the timing and that is very much in the hands of Nicola Sturgeon.”

Firstly, a second referendum isn’t inevitable and it is very much in the hands of David Cameron, not Nicola Sturgeon, she doesn’t get to sanction a second vote because this matter is reserved to Westminster.

David Cameron said:

“I think it is important that a referendum is legal and fair and properly constituted and that’s what we had and it was decisive so I don’t see the need for another one.”

If Nicola Sturgeon decided to have a second illegal referendum without a section 30 order from Westminster, she will find rather quickly that legal action would see the Scottish Government and Parliament shut down.

And she won’t risk losing that platform.

Do you know what time it is politically?  

It is time to look at a new construct of the United Kingdom which appears to be emerging albeit slowly.

Finally, it can’t have escaped SNP members notice that the Scottish Government run by Nicola Sturgeon not only is doing nothing, but they are making matters worse.

There comes a point when you have to walk away and find a new party of government because the protest thing has no place in administration.

Yours sincerely

George Laird 

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond is becoming a figure of fun, deluded Salmond should get booked to appear on the Jeremy Kyle show, he has become irrelevant politically as of 18th September 2014, trash TV is all he is good for, his time like his independence bid has passed

Dear All

It seems that Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond cannot stand being kept out of the limelight, to that end he is now like a punter on the Jeremy Kyle show who makes a spectacle of themselves for public entertainment.

Of course he thinks like the Kyle punters that they are becoming a ‘star’.

Alex Salmond lost the vote on the 18^th September 2014 by a wide margin, 28 out of 32 areas voted against him and unpopular Nicola Sturgeon.

After Scottish Labour’s disastrous Westminster campaign this year, the Nationalist think if they can rush through another independence vote with the opposition badly fragmented they could win.

The plain simple truth is that the people of Scotland won the vote on the 18^th September not the unionist political parties.

That being said, Alastair Darling, Gordon Brown and George Galloway should be mentioned for their contribution which was miles better than anything coming out of Holyrood. George Galloway in my mind did the best speech of the campaign at a Spectator event in London.

Darling and Brown showed that they were in a totally different political class to Salmond and Sturgeon.

So, we now have Salmond pitching that indyref 2 is inevitable. At some stage in the future, there will be another vote so Salmond isn’t the fountain of all knowledge or wisdom, he is just panicked. He knows that momentum is slipping away from the Nationalists as are people like Kevin Pringle.

One thing that is inevitable is there will be no granting of a section 30 order to allow a new referendum in this term of the Westminster Parliament or indeed the next, independence is off the table completely at Westminster.

Salmond “bullyboy tactics” hinge on three issues,

‘the Vow’ which has been delivered by the Smith Commission

An EU referendum vote going badly for the Nationalists and the United Kingdom leaves the EU, incidentally watch out for David Cameron talking more about ‘trade’ with the rest of the world.

And the SNP’s new favourite gimmick, latching onto the ‘austerity bandwagon’ regards cuts and how they affect the poor. Given the SNP is a cult, you will probably find out in due course that new elected SNP MPs really care for ‘the poor’ or as some people may say ‘relatives, partners and cronies’.

Already people are noticing.

In a weak piece of rabble rousing, the fallen idol Salmond said:

“A second independence referendum is inevitable. The question is not the inevitability, it's the timing and that is very much in the hands of Nicola Sturgeon.”

Sturgeon knows that she cannot win a referendum, she probably wants two or three terms as party leader before she disappears, interesting, Ms Sturgeon who is rather common has decided to snuggle up to the Queen. If she thinks that post FM that the Westminster establishment will welcome her, she is rather deluded.

Salmond added:

"Instead of getting devo to the max we're getting austerity to the max and that divergent view of what's right in social terms between Scotland and England is another issue which is moving things towards another referendum."

Blah blah blah, really, he should change the record, its old now and like music, the public has moved on.

Rather than focus on indy, Sturgeon should focus on the failures of the SNP Government in health, education and law and order. By chasing indy all the time they have betrayed the people of Scotland.

£1 billion pounds removed from GPs over the last 10 years, Salmond and Sturgeon have been cutting for nearly a decade even before David Cameron and George Osborne became Prime Minister and Chancellor.

Then there is the mess at Police Scotland which Sturgeon has done nothing about except complain, news flash, your problem, you sort it out.

As much as Salmond tries to re live old glories, his time is over, the only thing that is inevitable is that he has become irrelevant politically as of 18^th September 2014. Returning to Westminster isn’t a second career; it is just a staging post before he leaves politics.

The clock is ticking, not for a new vote, but for the collapse of momentum of the new SNP members who will wake up and realise that Salmond and Sturgeon don’t represent them and never did.

That’s why the Nationalists are panicking.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

be back soon, illness at present

hi folks

unwell at present after op.

hope to be back soon.

sorry for the quality of this post.

george.