Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Handed his Political Ass, SNP MP Stewart McDonald feels the heat as Michelle Mone brands the Glasgow MP an 'SNP moron', there is no such thing as a smart SNP MP, they aren’t picked because they are the ‘best of the best’, they are picked because they are in the cult, has the ‘Hunter Virus’ infected Westminster?


















Dear All

If you think the SNP select the ‘best of the best’ to be MPs, then you would be entirely wrong, you don’t get the bets, you don’t get the smartest, and you don’t get the representation.

David Cameron made Michelle Mone a peer using the honours list, this is something which PM on leaving office do, it didn’t set the heather on fire to be fair. The House of Lords is stuffed with people who do a great job in holding the government to account, and also some others who sometimes fall asleep on the benches.

If you know anything about Westminster, you will know that it is a matter of historical record accessible by the public on who votes and when. In fact, outside Westminster, you can also find external organisations which tracks all votes, all speeches, all written questions and answers, so there is no need to get something wrong on a person’s contribution.

It seems that Michelle Mone has publicly stated that Glasgow SNP MP Stewart McDonald is an 'SNP moron', apparently she reacted badly to being insulted by McDonald, in an angry and justified exchange on Twitter she let rip stating that she will be a 'baroness for life' and that Stewart McDonald would be kicked out of office “in no time”.

McDonald; represents Glasgow South and is the SNP Westminster spokesman for Defence, a joke appointment by the electorate and the SNP as defence spokesman. So, how did it all start, well, McDonald thinking he was a smart arse decided to have a pop about Mone’s commercial success of her designer jewellery firm and her voting record.

Mone stated:

“It’s official… I am now the No1 best selling designer jewellery brand on OVC!”

Hardly anything to be subject to an unprovoked attack!

In reply, Stewart McDonald said:

“How thrilling. Since becoming a Baroness and legislator ­ for which she is entitled to £300 per day – Ms Mone has submitted no questions to government and taken part in only two votes. Still, she’s sold some jewellery.”

Then came the good bit, and of course facts win out:

“What are u talking about u SNP MORON!I have voted over 78 times, not twice!I’m a Global entrepreneur with 9 biz interests not a full time MP like u!The difference is I’m a Baroness for life,whereas u will be out of ur MP job in no time...”

So, the smear, done as a casual remark to humiliate turned out rather badly for the SNP MP, 78 votes is more than 2 votes if memory serves, and this information is readily available to MPs and indeed anyone else who can do even the most casual research on the internet, its all there in black and white. At times like this, I am reminded of this quote:

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”

Charles William Eliot

It seems that McDonald needs to do more reading before engaging his fat gub below his little piggy eyes.

Of course when you stick the boot in, it is always best to keep going, so Michelle Mone stated that she donates her £300-a-day Lords allowance to charity and asked what Mr McDonald MP spent his £316 Commons salary on.

Mone then finished of by saying:

“Now off you trot and get on with your day job”.

There is no such thing as a smart SNP MP in my opinion, when the SNP descend on Westminster in 2015, they acted like gits, they still are although 2017 saw a clear out, there are 35 of them polluting the pond down there of which McDonald is one of them.

SNP Moron……. has a nice ring to it doesn’t, the thing is, if you shout this at a pack of them walking down the road, they all answer to it!

The ‘Hunter Virus’ strikes again, back a few years ago, I coined that expression to explain the stupidity that infects the SNP.


Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

What's past is prologue, deluded Nicola Sturgeon says case for hard Brexit "dead in water", Sturgeon is a woman with no future living in the past defeats of old battles lost, Brexit is about sovereignty and a decision by the people has been made, there is only forward for the UK


















Dear All

If there is anything that is "dead in water", it is Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP’s attempt to stop Brexit, Brexit is a battle lost, it was lost well before the 23 rd June 2016, and here we are 2018, and still denial of fact.

If you watch the circus that is politics, you can help feeling disappointed, disappointed in the lack of choice, the lack of talent and the lack of vision, in the past in this country, we had great politicians, now we have for the most part a collection of dross.

After WW2; we have seen the greatest achievements in this country in terms of social reforms, like the creation of the NHS and the Welfare. Pretty much at every election, this is celebrated as part of what it means to be British. The question in recent years is what does it mean to be British, there are several constructs, the various parties have political views; the public have different view which I would argue is based on community.

What was Brexit about?

Brexit at its heart about sovereignty, we as a sovereign people making our own choices, electing our own leaders, and importantly holding them to account, and the need to hold politicians to account by the public is more vital than ever. The SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has seized on a leaked UK Government analysis concluded Britain would be worse off whatever deal is struck with Brussels.

So, what is a leaked UK Government analysis means, it is an opinion, and everyone has an opinion, a question you need to ask, what price is freedom? People through-out history have paid the highest price with their lives, we in the UK by gaining our freedom are being off cheap.

Europe is heading for dictatorship, the unelected few will attempt to control the many, the threat is greater than the Cold Curtain in my opinion because the threat that European people face is betrayal by their own elected politicians who have sold them out, sold out the people, sold out their country and sold out their heritage.


Europe’s childless leaders which Nicola Sturgeon is one have no reason to worry about the future much like Angela Merkel, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the French president Emmanuel Macron, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.

German philosopher Rüdiger Safranski wrote:

"for the childless, thinking in terms of the generations to come loses relevance. Therefore, they behave more and more as if they were the last and see themselves as standing at the end of the chain".

For someone like Nicola Sturgeon, she is trying to be a footnote in history, what she doesn’t realise yet, she is already irrelevant, history has moved passed her. There is no “watershed moment” in the Brexit process because of one simple inescapable fact, that fact is money.

Money makes the world go round, and billions command people’s attentions especially when rich people feel that their prospects are threatened. So, there will be a Brexit deal that everyone can live with in the short term, Sturgeon declaring:

“Time is running out and the chaos in Downing Street must end. Theresa May must face down the hard Brexiteers around her and put jobs and living standards front and centre of the Brexit negotiations by remaining in the single market and customs union.”

The single market and customs union are not in the national and economic security interests of the UK, this has been stated time and time again; there will be no EU membership by the back door. If there was chaos as Sturgeon describes, then it is highly unlikely that the PM would be fly out on a three-day trade mission to China. If the chaos is Boris Johnson’s attempt to be PM, then he is in for a long and unfruitful wait.

If there is a transition period via the membership of the European Economic Area for tactical reasons then hard Brexiteers need to think very carefully about what they are doing, economic stability is vital to the UK, country before party must prevail. Whether people like it or not Brexit is going to happen, the price is worth paying for our freedom, when chaos erupts in Europe, we will be as we have always been an island fortress.

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme:

"The timing in this is highly suspicious in the sense that suddenly in the midst of all this conversation about the European Union we have a leaked document. But,I would observe that almost every single forecast coming from Government, and most of the international organisations, has been completely wrong. We should take this with a pinch of salt,"

The UK will have a successful Brexit because in the end, the men in the grey suits, the money men want continuity in the markets something which Nicola Sturgeon cannot achieve within Scotland as the country slides under her failed leadership.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Monday, January 29, 2018

Scottish Labour launch investigation into Anas Sarwar racism claims but the real questions which needs to be addressed by Anas Sarwar are has he made an official complaint to Police Scotland, and why did he wait months before reporting this to Labour HQ?















Dear All

If someone is subject to racism, it is a criminal offence, and as such the person has a duty to report this to the Police. A story has popped up that alleges that Anas Sarwar may have been the victim of racism.

Allegedly a Labour councillor said to Anas Sarwar he could not back him in the Scottish party leadership contest because Scotland was not ready for a "brown, Muslim Paki".

In looking at this story as a bystander, I am wondering why I am not reading that Anas Sarwar has been in contact with the Police?

And I am wondering why he has waited so long to make that allegation public since this allegedly happened during the Scottish leadership campaign which he failed to get elected as leader.

Allegedly, another allegation is that a Labour member told the MSP she could not support his leadership bid after she saw a picture of his wife wearing a hijab.

And I am wondering why he has waited so long to make that allegation public?

I didn’t vote for Anas Sarwar during the leadership contest, although I have met him several times in the past, he comes across very well, but he isn’t what the Scottish Labour Party needs as a leader.

Anas Sarwar’s campaign which he looked like the favourite to win was dogged by controversy and disaster, although he tried to present himself as ‘all things to all men’, he couldn’t shake the fact that he was a privately educated millionaire with business interests which he found hard to explain away.

Anas Sarwar’s problem isn’t colour, it isn’t religion, it isn’t his wife wearing a hijab; it’s more simple than that; his problem is his politics.

One thing about the Scottish Labour Party which sums up certain aspects of the party is the quote; ‘there are more snakes in the Labour Party than in an Indiana Jones movie’, as a Labour member, I don’t trust many people, and some people I will never campaign for, not even for money.

What might concern people is the timing of Anas Sarwar making these revelations as he prepares to launch a cross-party group on Islamophobia at the Scottish Parliament. After shouting the odds, it seems that Anas is keen to stress that does not believe he lost due to his ethnic background.

Having made the claims, Scottish Labour has decided to launch an investigation, a spokesperson said:

“What Anas has revealed is completely unacceptable. Labour has a zero tolerance approach to any form of racism and bigotry. This reported behaviour falls well short of what we expect from any member or elected representative of the Labour Party. Labour is taking steps to ensure this issue can be thoroughly investigated, and as part of that the General Secretary is contacting Anas to identify the individual involved and take appropriate action.”

Finally; Anas Sarwar had a disastrous election campaign to attempt to become leader, I wonder if he will have a disastrous complaint as well? When I don’t see a person going to the Police when they alleged racism, I have to ask myself, why, why now go public? If I was Anas Sarwar’s advisor I would have advise him not to go public, because he is launching cross-party group on Islamophobia at the Scottish Parliament.

But the genie is out of that bottle now!

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University 

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Deeply Butt Hurt; First Minister Nicola Sturgeon takes to twitter to deliver an epic rant as her bunker mentality is exposed, angry wee Nat Sturgeon is feeling the heat as her political career fades, and on the back of the awful SNP PPB, not even a staged managed broadcast can cover the fact she remains a horrible, cold and unattractive character

























Dear All

If you ever take the time to listen to Holyrood’s FMQs, you can’t have failed to notice that a very angry and rattled Nicola Sturgeon losing the plot time after time. Such is the anger in Sturgeon that the SNP has run out a new policy to punish SNP cybernats, the ‘stormtroopers of hate’ in the independence movement. Of course, you can plainly see where the cybernats get their hate from; it comes from the top of the senior SNP.

The SNP leaders created the cybernats, nurtured their hatred and then let it loose on Scotland to shout down and smear opponents, the aim of the anti free speech hate mob was to tarnish others in pursuit of independence by any means. You have seen a long history of SNP abuse, coming from the top of the SNP, in the ranks of MPs, MSPs and Councillors, the plebs just got in on the act. Years ago, I blogged these people were the ‘Sons of Alex’, rent a mob, armed to the teeth with grievance and pettiness, on the prowl for victims!

The pettiness exhibited by the SNP leadership knows no bounds, even in the government of Scotland, but after demonstrating it, it seems that they are so stupid that they as the Scottish Government are demanding apology over Union flag row.

The SNP can demand whatever they want, but the reality is that an apology isn’t going to be made. The virtue signalling SNP has drastically reduced the occasions on which the Union flag can be flown from public buildings, so they are in a position to demand nothing.

Of course, as usual, the act of pettiness has caused an already angry wee Nat in the shape of Nicola Sturgeon to go on the defensive, in an epic twitter rant, presumably to try and get some sort of moral high ground, Sturgeon wrote:

“Since the truth doesn’t seem to matter very much to some, let me set out the facts on this ridiculous flag story”.

“There are two essential elements to the story. One, that the Scottish Government has recently changed its practice on what flags to fly from government buildings on Royal occasions; and two, that I ordered such a change. Both are wrong”.

“Since 2010, the Lion Rampant has been flown on Royal occasions – entirely appropriately. Since the Lion Rampant is the Royal Banner, it is not clear to me why anyone would object to that. However, the key point is that there has been no change to this since 2010”.

“Yes, the civil service recently decided to update the published guidance, but simply to ensure that it accurately reflected the long standing practice – the underlying policy has not changed. And why would it?”

“As for the claim that I ordered a change, I have issued no instructions, orders, authorisations – or even expressed an opinion – about changing flag policy. The update of the guidance was an administrative step – albeit a sensible one – and not done at my request”.

“Sadly, the truth will not matter to some in today’s media – and that’s part of a much bigger problem, I’m afraid. But I still believe (hope) it matters to most in the media – and certainly to the public”.

“Now I’ll leave those who are motivated to do so to argue about flags. I’ll get back to matters health, education, the economy and protecting Scotland’s interests.”

Of course, this isn’t an argument about flags, it isn’t an argument about flying of flags, no at its core, it is an argument about something human, it’s about respect. Oh, and I must mention Nicola Sturgeon’s dreadful sign off:

“Now I’ll leave those who are motivated to do so to argue about flags. I’ll get back to matters health, education, the economy and protecting Scotland’s interests.”

All the departments she has mentioned are in chaos, particularly health and education, and as we have seen time and time again, the SNP tries to confuse, the interests of Scotland with their own goals.

Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser said:

"The First Minister's Trump-style Twitter denial by candlelight last night does nothing to change the facts”.

Just to be clear, facts are the basis of investigation but it rather looks like Nicola Sturgeon in her bunker mentality can only find the time for emotional and angry rants.

Murdo added:

"The SNP issued a dictat on January 10 ordering Union Flags to be flown on one day and one day only. She always stresses her civic nationalism is nothing to do with flags and banners. The events of the last 24 hours prove otherwise."

The flag incident comes on the back of Nicola Sturgeon’s disastrous party political election broadcast which was such a howler for her personally. At one stage when Nicola enters a room to bitch about SNP ‘achievements’, the entire room clears, where did the people run off too?

Obviously if you want someone to end a joyous event quickly, Nicola Sturgeon is the person to hire, that room empty in seconds. You could be uncharitable think this was merely just a vehicle for promoting Nicola Sturgeon, but the bit that I think was interesting was when the guy is sprayed with the can of lager, instead of getting a towel, Nicola Sturgeon stands there with a big smile on her face.

Think about that for a moment!

Finally, the only direction for Nicola Sturgeon is downwards politically, the retread party political election broadcast didn’t work this time, not because it was patently dreadful and unfunny, it didn’t reflect where Scotland is now mentally. So, we have a horrible, cold and unattractive character like Nicola Sturgeon trying to prop up her fading career, it is simply pitiful to watch her trying to stop the slide.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Destructor of Western Civilisation, Angela Merkel has destroyed the social fabric of Europe with EU help, the political elite have given up any pretence of listening to people as they advance their own political agendas, it could be that road to civil war in Europe has already taken its first steps, the backlash is coming, of that I have no doubt



















Dear All

Angela Merkel has inflicted on Europe, the biggest social crisis that it has ever faced since WW2, Europe is heading towards civil war, we have already seen the graphic detail of what has transpired already which is documented, but this will be remembered as the good old days.

Because much worse is going to happen, the timescale of when civil war will break out properly has been judged to be about 30 years if you believe the military, it may be sooner. In countries we are seeing the rise of people power against their politicians, and we have seen in EU countries like Poland and Hungary the unwillingness to bend to German oppression.

We have been here before in history where a minority has seized political control and used it to follow its own agenda not in line with the people’s wishes, politics has been used as a Blitzkrieg to marginalise people and remove from them their voice; specific people have used political office to conquer territory then establish their own fiefdoms.

Under the guise of human rights, kindness and concern politicians have ridden roughshod over its people with the EU providing support and propaganda, the EU has been successful in buying off potential dissent by use of money. Vast sections of our society which under normal circumstances would be protesting are strangely quiet, money can do that sort of thing and it is relatively cheap.

What I want to focus on is the trial that has begun for an Afghan failed asylum seeker accused of killing an Afghan Christian convert woman in front of her children.

Murder!

The 30-year-old Afghan stabbed a woman who converted to Christianity, the killing occurred last year in April outside of a supermarket in the German municipality of Prien am Chiemsee in Bavaria. The Afghan man approached the mother of four and then used a knife to cut and stab her 16 times in front of two of her underage children.

When this goes to trial, he will be convicted, but the fact is this individual should never have been allowed to set foot on German soil or the soil of any other member states. What is needed is detention camps, and camps in Africa to remove these people to. The murder of this innocent woman is the fault of people like Angela Merkel, just as the explosion in migrant crime of rape, robbery and terrorism can be laid at her door.

I see Angela Merkel as a criminal who should be tried, sentenced and should spend the rest of her life behind bars.  

Despite an ambulance and police arriving on the scene a short time later but the woman succumbed to her wounds on the way to the hospital, 16 stab wounds is a lot, the blood loss would have sent her into shock and from there her body shut down. Although the rejected asylum seeker admitted to the murder, he claims that he had done so because he was frustrated regarding his failed asylum application. After his lengthy prison sentence, this guy should be deported back to Afghanistan. This isn’t an isolated case, in Sweden a failed asylum seeker from Eritrea entered an Ikea store, took a knife from the kitchen section, and stabbed a woman and her son to death. He was unhappy after being told his asylum claim had been rejected and wanted revenge so he was quite happy to murder two people.

Although politicians right these cases off by claiming isolated incidents, there is a pattern; part of the deceit of the migrant nightmare is that politicians find an educated migrant usually with a university degree and use this to paint a false image, and of course use this to paint people as racist when they speak out.

The trial of the Afghan migrant is expected to end on February 9th, it will be interesting to see what in terms of a sentence he will receive, if that doesn’t include deportation then the German justice system has failed not just the victim but the German people.

Violence against Christian converts by Muslims has been an issue for German authorities throughout the migrant crisis. It is said that 40,000 Christians were being persecuted in Germany by Muslims, intimidation and violence causing them to flee asylum centres.

If you head over to Belgium, you can experience similar problems to what is going on in Germany, Belgian police shot an Afghan migrant at Ghent station after the man approached officers, threatening to attack them, and ignored orders to drop a knife.

Europe needs to setup detention camps; camps that are a staging post to return failed asylum seekers back to their home country, deportation should mean a life time ban from entry to any EU member state.

Belgian Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws reports that rumours the man quoted verses of the Quran during the attack, two shots were fired by the officers after the man failed to respond to orders to drop a knife. He lives, but like the criminal in Germany, he should be deported after he has served time in prison, what is needed here is zero tolerance, not compassion, not empathy but process.

Finally, another interesting titbit from Sweden, the rape capital of the world is that Number of ‘Asylum Seeker’ War Criminals discovered in Sweden has doubled in two years. This bit will certainly make you think, nine in ten ‘Underage’ Moroccans in Sweden were caught lying about their age, this came to light as Swedes managed to access the Moroccan police fingerprint database. Asylum seekers are often rejected for asylum status for being bogus, and many end up living homeless or getting involved in organised crime.

And stupidity the West lets them live among us to rob, murder and rape.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Unsafe SNP led Scotland: Nicola Sturgeon’s failed SNP government has botched up our legal system protections, now suspects accused of serious crimes will be set free under new custody rules, where is the accountability, where is the Justice Secretary, where is the duty of care?

























Dear All

Prisons, do we need them?

The answer is yes, but the age old question of who do we lock up and for what crimes is always a bugbear.

Prison is expensive, it is said to cost the state about £42,000 a year to lock someone up after they have been convicted. This is a huge cost but on top of that figure, everyone who is locked up isn’t contributing to society in terms of production, taxes and having the opportunity to be part of our community.

The greater good is served by locking some people, people who murder, maim and commit other serious offences need to be removed from society because of the danger they represent.

At present, there is a suggestion that only those accused of the most serious crimes will be held in police custody after being charged, this leads to the question, what is serious and where will the bar be set. The move is said to be part of a radical overhaul of the justice system, the SNP love using the word ‘radical’ but it doesn’t have the same meaning for them as it does in the dictionary. Radical in the SNP means a PR gimmick to create a scenario in the minds of the public which may or may not exist. At present, if arrested by police, officers have the option to bail suspects to appear in court at a later date. This is sensible, because we don’t want to clutter up police stations and prisons with people charged with minor crimes such as mentioned like traffic offences.

In 2016, we saw the SNP pass the 2016 Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act, now this is being extended so police to “take every precaution to ensure a person is not unreasonably or unnecessarily held in police custody”.

A spokeswoman added:

“The police will continue to have the option to liberate individuals charged with an offence on ‘undertakings’, which sets a date for a person to make their first appearance at court. The act also introduces ‘investigative liberation’ as a new power for the police to facilitate a suspect’s release from custody, with conditions, allowing the police to continue to conduct their inquiries whilst realising the person’s right to liberty.”

You might want to have a gander at this if you are baffled by the term, ‘investigative liberation’ because basically it sounds to me like, ‘police continuing their enquires’!



Legal sources have raised concerns that only those suspected of murder are expected to be denied police bail, although police have to deal with people who use crime as a funding mechanism to earn money, even repeat offenders will get the chance to get out. One thing which I don’t think will sit well with the public is those suspected of offences like rape being released pending a court appearance.

At present as we keep reading there is a crisis in justice because hundreds of private practice solicitors pull out of providing advice to suspects ahead of the legislation coming into force. Denial of right to a solicitor could see guilty people walk free which isn’t a situation which is tenable. In the past, it took the Supreme Court in London to ensure that the SNP granted accused people the right to legal representation. The SNP fought against this citing ‘safeguards’ as an excuse to deny human rights to people, that argument fell flat.


Here is a blog post I did from 2011; the Cadder Case was a clear cut case of human rights being suppressed, why the SNP went ahead with a case when it was patently a loser is beyond me, they were always going to get stuffed. That being the case, justice in Scotland grinds slowly and as of Thursday anyone in custody will have the right to ask to speak to a solicitor at any time, this is important.

For your entertainment, watch this, informative and funny and I would say relevant to guide you through the mysteries of life.


If you fall foul of the law either deliberately or as an innocent, you might find yourself locked up, if so the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) runs the duty rota scheme, so that you can get access to legal advice.

A source said:

“If you are in custody you have a right to access legal advice. If the police can’t provide suspects with the lawyer they have the statutory right to, then they’ll have to make sure the suspects are not in custody.”

Clearly it is in the interests of society that we have duty solicitors on call so anyone in custody will have the right to ask to speak to a solicitor at any time. The problem at present which has slipped off the SNP radar is that some solicitors who cover the duty rota overnight have withdrawn from the scheme, this begs the question why the SNP haven’t ensured that Defence Solicitors’ Office (PDSO), which has bases in Ayr, Dundee, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow, Inverness and Kirkwall is fit to cope with increased demand.

If Edinburgh Bar Association president Leanne McQuillan is right that her association could not “responsibly advise our members to undertake to service the police station duty scheme as we simply do not have the resources to do so”. It stands to reason that the bulk of this work should be done by a public defender service so that a person’s human rights are respected through-out the entire process.

If later a person wishes a preferred solicitor or firm that is entirely their decision. The important thing is that justice is done and seen to be done so people know our legal system is beyond reproach.

If you have watched the legal system in passing you will see we always get a situation where Solicitor groups across the country have raised concerns about the sustainability of the legal aid system regarding fees at their current level. This is an issue that runs, and it will always do so. Last week solicitors in Banff, Peterhead and Orkney voted to come off the rota, with 50 solicitors in Dundee withdrawing as of yesterday, this isn’t acceptable, this is a problem and it is a problem which the SNP have left to fester, well the chickens are coming home to roost now.

Glasgow Bar Association (GBA) decided not to vote on whether to withdraw from the scheme at this stage; they of course do a roaring trade as Glasgow has a busy court system.

GBA president Ron Mackenna said:

“Our position is that the majority of our members were in favour of coming out but we’ve agreed to make an attempt at open dialogue. If that fails we will put it to the vote.”


A SLAB spokesman said:

“It is vital there are arrangements to provide advice to those in custody and appearing in court.”

One thing which the SNP justice sec has managed to do rather well after being appointed is to be anonymous, in fact, if he was a pensioner in a flat you might think as no one sees him that he has pegged it on the living room floor.

Justice Sec Michael Matheson is alive!

The salary he earns is still getting drawn, so the people of Scotland should have the right to tell him to fix the problems with the duty rota scheme, if that means having it out in Cabinet with Nicola Sturgeon to get more money, then that is the case he should be fighting.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Monday, January 22, 2018

The Labour Party; when you join a political party, you expect certain standards, certain goals to be adhered to, what you don’t expect to do is ask what exactly does equality mean in the Labour Party, one standard should apply to all, if you can’t even do that can you be surprised so few people are willing to be activists?




















Dear All

One thing you can count on in the Labour Party is diverse opinions, in the party you have all sorts, the extreme left and the extreme right in among the vast membership. At present, the leader of the Labour Party is Jeremy Corbyn, his election, then re-election was a response to having what some termed the extreme right dominating the party.

This crew are known by many names, the ‘Blair Faction’ or ‘Progress’, these are the middle class people who preach endlessly about their love for a fair society and wanting to end injustice and inequality for the poor and disadvantaged. At present, these people are railing against all kinds of government policy, conveniently for getting about the fact that some of the current policies were introduced by a Labour Government. Under the Labour Party, the poor found out the ‘joys’ of ATOS assessments and everyone’s all time favourite, the bedroom tax.

One thing, I see as a Labour member is a striking lack of people in the party as members who aren’t active for the party, this is the real legacy of the post Blair era. I love pictures because a picture tells you a story, if you know what you are looking at. So, to educate you on the health of the party, have a look at the picture which accompanies this post.

What do you see?

This is the people who turned out at Glasgow South West for the Labour Action day, sadly I wasn’t able to go as I had studying to do, planar tracking (don’t ask)! Most of the people in this picture are either elected or connected to the party, you might think that the 27 people seen there were Pollok CLP members, this wasn’t entirely the case.

It seems that the Labour Party has a lot of work to do to win back voters and their own members. Interestingly, the Times says 60% of people feel their views are not represented in British politics, something which the Labour Party needs to tap into on both sides of the border, if they want to form a government.

I notice some people in the Labour Party are saying ‘General election in 2018’ to the membership……….. bollocks!

I have to say, that I have never been a fan of Labour peer, Lord Mandelson, he was to me, everything which was wrong about the Blair era….. for the few, for the rich and his own personal agenda. I find it no surprise that Mandelson apparently wants to stab the people of the UK in the back with his alleged secret vow to help Brussels in Brexit talks.

It seems the Labour peer is more 'deeply committed' to the EU than his own countrymen, in a letter to Michel Barnier Mandelson, he is offered to brief him on current pressures facing the Europeans. Mandelson was a former EU commissioner. One thing we know is that the EU project is dying; it isn’t just the UK leaving but the disquiet of other people in member states.


The Hungarians have been in the forefront of being vocal about what has gone wrong in Europe.

Anyway, Barnier has said however that he didn't have time for a meeting but expressed his 'sincere thanks' for offer; Mandelson is in line for an annual pension of £35,000 from Brussels. European commissioners must remain loyal to Brussels to guarantee a generous pension. EU rules also state that they have to maintain a 'duty of loyalty to the Communities... both during and after their term of office'.

Annual pension of £35,000….. not enough for bought loyalty I would suggest!

The Labour Party has many issues to address and it better start soon, people like Mnadelson are sailing their own ship.


Personally, I would remove him as a Labour Peer; however the problems at ground level are even more important for the party, particularly in Scotland. Seats are won by hard graft and commitment on a week in and week out basis; so far I have seen polls saying support is falling, not a recipe that wins Westminster.

Finally, here is an example of bullshit in the Labour Party.


Wrong, wrong, wrong!

This part struck me as relevant, Citizens Advice suggests that “Someone providing goods, facilities or services must not … provide any of these things on less favourable terms or conditions because of your race”, suggesting the Labour Party’s decision to financially penalise white people in Loughborough may well be illegal.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University  

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Nicola Sturgeon’s utter contempt for the people, SNP fail to report EU migration to Scotland increasing since the Brexit vote, scaremongering, fear, lies and deceit haven’t worked for SNP as she calls to "change the narrative" on migration as majority of Scots are against her policies, Scots want to remain with UK wide border controls















Dear All

Here is a laugh, “We need to "change the narrative" on migration in light of Brexit”, says Nicola Sturgeon. Staring laughing any time, there is no ‘we’ in this situation because the majority of Scots don’t want immigration to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

They want immigration cut.

The fact Nicola Sturgeon has called for new national debate on immigration is entirely meaningless, the fact she uses scaremonger tactics shows clearly she doesn’t have a case to present. I object to her using scare tactics of long-term harm to public services and the economy because, we have a surplus of labour in this country.

This surplus is currently known by the term unemployed.

God forbid that someone like Sturgeon might manage to come to the conclusion that there should be a change to the narrative to help them get the skills they need. Education isn’t just an investment in the individual, it is an investment in the nation; this is why any developed or developing country must prioritise educational attainment for its citizens. During the SNP tenure in government, they have destroyed circa 140,000 college places, 140,000 life chances lost.

The SNP aren’t really interested in anything other than independence so immigration is just a tactic for them to attempt to advance their cause; and with Nicola Sturgeon at the helm of the SNP, doomed to failure. No one in their right mind is going to allow two immigration systems to operate in the UK, this is madness, and unworkable. What Sturgeon is doing is trying to gerrymander any attempt at a future independence vote, clearly we all see through her nonsense.

Should Brexit cut the flow of EU migrants to Scotland, yes and no, there is already legislation on the books which allows for skilled workers to come to Scotland. This means that in areas like medicine gaps can be filled easily. In previous posts I related how no government would stop the traffic for medical personnel due to the nature of how closely medicine is tied to higher education. At present, we are still in the EU and guess what our health service is in crisis, so Sturgeon’s argument isn’t valid, in fact it is just pitiful.
  
Nicola Sturgeon can’t “change the narrative” on migration, and persuade people it was vital to the national interest because people already know her concern is fake and more importantly, it’s a ploy. Although Sturgeon admitted it was not an easy subject for politicians because people know that their concerns have previously been ignored. I find it abit rich that now she says that people’s concerns "cannot simply be dismissed" when she had no problems doing this in the past.

Oh, and if you want to find out how bad immigration is when it spirals out of control, just google or use youtube to look up Govanhill, I think the place now can best be described as a ‘shithole’.

Of course, in Sturgeon’s immigration plea places like Govanhill are completely forgotten as they don’t fit the narrative. When it comes to migrants, the SNP tend to find one that is academically qualified, preferably a doctor so that they can sell their pitch. If you walk around Glasgow, you can see EU nationals, the Roma Community which come into the city centre in gangs to beg. Of course, it isn’t just organised begging which this community is doing; they are also involved in crime.


Nicola Sturgeon’s constituency!

Ms Sturgeon faces an uphill struggle to sell her message which is bogus. The National Centre for Social Research reported a majority of Scots want to restrict immigration for EU citizens after Brexit, along with leaving the European single market. So, on both counts, the SNP aren’t in step with Scottish public opinion.

And haven’t been for years, they don’t think, they don’t listen, they don’t see things through.

Recently to support her drivel, Sturgeon’s government published a new Scottish Government analysis on Brexit which she thinks that paper will influence debate ahead of the next phase of Brexit talks on the transition period and future UK-EU trade relations.

It won’t, the reason is simple; no one cares a hoot about Sturgeon’s opinion or that of her minority administration, Brexit is moving forward and the SNP have no role in it, they aren’t influencing anything at any level. Already Ruth Davidson has dismissed the report as a sham.

Finally, as they say, the devil is in the detail, which is why I want to highlight this point made by Conservative MSP Adam Tomkins, he mentioned the SNP has failed to report EU migration to Scotland increasing since the Brexit vote.

Do you see how much utter contempt Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP hold you in as a Scot?

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Monday, January 15, 2018

Counting down the days till SNP defeat; Nicola Sturgeon attempts to use Brexit as a lever for a second independence referendum are doomed to failure, the SNP needs something which it can’t get a majority in Holyrood after the 2021 election, Sturgeon’s ran out of time















Dear All

It must be clear to you by now that Scottish independence bids don’t hold any interest with the majority of the Scottish public. 2014 referendum came and went and the result was no surprise. The deeper the SNP get into government, the more they prove that they are incapable to manage Scottish affairs. It isn’t enough for them to shout, ‘Stronger for Scotland’ when the reality is clearly the opposite.

Nicola Sturgeon’s career is on the slide, the faster she tries to save it the less traction she gets, what will finish her off is her record in government which is pitiful. In order to try and keep people on side, Sturgeon will use any excuse to attempt to call a new referendum, the current excuse is as we all know Brexit. Such is the contempt for democracy and the Scottish people that she now has to use ‘will of the parliament’ as a mandate when in fact the mandate should come from the voters.

The voters of Scotland do not want independence, especially independence which endangers our national and economic security.

In order to try and appear relevant, Nicola Sturgeon insists she will decide whether to hold a second independence referendum by the end of the year.

Let us be absolutely clear, she doesn’t have the authority to a second independence referendum, nor does she have a mandate from the people. In 2021, the most important election possibly in Holyrood history takes place; the outcome of that election should end the independence question for quite some time. 2021 is the looking like the year of a hung parliament at this stage as people desert the SNP as either voters or party members.

One thing which is taken by many as a ‘given’ is that no matter how good the UK Brexit talks are Nicola Sturgeon will still try to justify a new referendum. What Sturgeon is doing is trying to keep onside her own wee bitter nationalists who will probably end up turning on her for a failure to deliver. I would say that the way things stand at present even if Sturgeon gets the Scottish Greens on board she won’t have enough votes to get a majority.

No majority seems to be the state of play, and has been for some time now!

Scottish Conservative MP John Lamont said:

“Nicola Sturgeon has no interest in securing a successful Brexit deal, all she cares about is a second independence referendum”.

He is right and he also added:

“She has created a damaging distraction when her priority should be working with the UK Government to get the right deal for Scotland and the whole of the UK. She should take the threat of a second independence referendum off the table. Instead she has put it front and centre - which is the last thing Scots want or need.”

In politics, the rule of thumb to get elected is to give the people what they want and clearly since the debacle of 2014, the public don’t want to know, they want to get on with their lives and have some sense of security.

And that isn’t what Nicola Sturgeon is providing, our national and economic security is paramount importance to Scots, we have seen what happens to countries when this is out of kilter…… chaos.

Another interesting but doomed ploy was the SNP trying to get the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn on board for a majority in the House of Commons for staying in the single market.

If you don’t know what that in the electoral sense, allow me to explain, it means political suicide for the Labour Party and its leader. Although I have blogged that Jeremy Corbyn in the past hasn’t handled foreign affairs well, on this issue, he is smart enough to realise the concept that the people have made a decision.

There is no question of Labour gets its act together to join a coalition of the damned because Sturgeon’s nonsense isn’t the bigger picture. To refresh your memory, parliament agreed to abide by the decision of the Brexit vote.

In grasping at straws, Sturgeon said:

“The vast majority of Labour members want to see the UK stay in the single market, so if we can bring that consensus together then I believe there is an opportunity. Jeremy Corbyn has to decide where he stands on all of this. I think most of his supporters will be deeply disappointed that he appears to be only slightly less in favour of a hard Brexit than the Tories are and many will find that completely inexplicable.”

Jeremy Corbyn has said:

“the single market is dependent on membership of the European Union.”

Recently SNP MP Ian Blackford tried to urge Labour to join a cross-party bid to keep the UK in the single market and customs union, with his SNP group, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and Greens, that was ignored, and rightly so.

A UK Government spokeswoman said:

"We are seeking a deal that works for the whole of the UK, that delivers on the result of the EU referendum. Rather than trying to undermine the result of a democratic referendum, we urge the Scottish Government to work with us to ensure, as we leave the EU, we protect the UK's vital internal market. Scotland trades four times as much with the rest of the UK as it does with the EU, so it is vital that we ensure that market continues unimpeded."

Finally, when you play games, there comes a time when the games must end, when Sturgeon’s game ends, the SNP will have to finally accept that they are just a minority administration going nowhere, and more importantly have nothing to offer the people of Scotland

Then the people who have been ignored will get their opportunity at the ballot box and decide what they want, they want better health services, better education, better law and order, improvements to infrastructure and economic growth, all of which is beyond the limited ability of Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP as a whole.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Thursday, January 11, 2018

City Destruction Tutorial by the incredibly talented Andrew Kramer, if you ever wondered how do the professionals do that, this tutorial will open your eyes



Dear All

As a long time movie buff, I was always knocked out by special effects in movies, the skills you see exhibited today are truly mind blowing. Today instead of a politics post, I would like to highlight a company called Video Copilot which makes products for motion graphics.

http://www.videocopilot.net/

What makes this company a market leader is that as well as selling top quality products, they create tutorials which give people ideas how to use their products. Of course Video Copilot isn't the only company to do this but Andrew Kramer, who owns it is generally regarded as a 'rock star' of the After Effects community and each year he does a presentation for Adobe at the NAB show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIEdhlS-zYA

Andrew Kramer passes on knowledge which has helped many people learn cgi, and what is incredible is that he was self taught. Self taught and he ended up doing the titles for the revamped first Star Trek movie starring Chris Pine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htLJKZFit28

Anyway, the tutorial I selected is called City Destruction, it is a step by step indepth tutorial which combines several elements of motion graphics such as 3d tracking, and creating an illusion of looking inside a destroyed building when in fact you are looking at 2D pictures.

I hope you will watch this tutorial, I have many times, it is truly excellent in terms of quality and teaching.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University



Wednesday, January 10, 2018

SNP Childish Pointless Games; Nicola Sturgeon left looking like a complete fool as most Scots want to curb EU immigration and not be part of the single market after Brexit, the SNP myth is blown apart as the majority of Scots don’t subscribe to her views, the downward spiral of her political decline has taken firm root now















Dear All

One of the problems in politics which is major in my opinion is the complete disregard for public opinion. Politicians are elected to ‘serve the public’, but because of the fractionalisation of politics in this country, and the rise of ‘vested minorities’ who operate to their own agenda, the public have been disenfranchised and more or less shut out of the political discourse.

In politics, the political elite tread their own path while preaching they are acting in your best interests, it is a lie which has been sold to the people time and time again, which is why we have the unhealthy see saw politics, we kick one set of people out of public office only to get rid of them to allow the others back in, whether that be through election bribes or us being plain sick of what the incumbents have been doing with our democracy and money.

Scots are in the main socially conservatives, which means they value community, social cohesion, fair play and a just society. Society by its very nature must work for all citizens or that will lead to the breakdown of community. Over the last few decades, we have seen the disastrous consequences of ‘social engineering’ that have been inflicted on the UK, we are told this is a good thing, but the reality is very different depending on which level of society you find yourself at.

I was heavily involved in the Brexit campaign back in 2016, my reason for joining the campaign was based on the fact that the people of the UK needed to reclaim their sovereignty back from the EU which is spiralling out of control. To me, the sovereignty argument was crucial because although we are told how ‘great’ the EU, as events in Europe have shown, the continent is heading towards a dark place.   

In a recent poll, information has come forward that the majority of Scots want to curb EU immigration after Brexit.

This is because most Scots whatever shade their political beliefs take understand that social cohesion and community is a priority for them, people want to believe that everyone in society should get the opportunity to progress, but sadly we know otherwise. If you walk by any street in a major city, you see our citizens sleeping rough in the streets…….

Our citizens failed by our politicians in our society.

A survey by the National Centre for Social Research shows that most Scots agree with the George Laird view that we should leave the European single market and restrict immigration for EU citizens after Brexit. It is time to rebuild our society, fix our problems; help our citizens and those who have been granted the legal right to stay here.

An aspect of the survey which is bound to anger the SNP; is that Scottish voters believe powers on immigration and trade should remain UK-wide and controlled by Whitehall, a staggering 63 and 67 per cent respectively. The news also kills the SNP narrative that more liberal attitude towards the European Union and freedom of movement than residents in England. If you live in Liverpool, Manchester or Glasgow, chances are you have the same social outlook as anywhere else in the UK, shared common experiences.

Another nail in the coffin of Nicola Sturgeon who leads the SNP has been the chaotic way that she has systematically destroyed the support for the party since she took the reins of power from Alex Salmond, her incompetence both on domestic issues and external matters has caused a “swing against independence”. The less then serious attitude to major problems, disregard for the views of ordinary people and just plain bad judgement have started the rot which is truly spectacular, all through self harm!

One thing in the survey which, I have strongly advocated for years is an end to freedom of movement, the EU while smaller could cope with such a measure as most countries in the block were of similar economic status, now the EU is 28 members States; the policy is no longer feasible or desirable.


In a previous post on EU reform, I advocated that there should be an EU internal immigration policy for EU citizens, a policy which is sorely needed within the block. The EU is in crisis which is why “majority of people in Scotland would prefer to see an end to freedom of movement with the EU”, by getting out of the block, we have been sensible which in due time will be common knowledge. I think immigration is a good thing, I have always said so publicly, there are various reasons why such as transfer or knowledge, skills and of course diversity, but the problem arises when we don’t get the balance right.

When we don’t get balance right we end up with ghettos such as Govanhill in Glasgow!

59 per cent of voters in Scotland thought potential EU migrants to the UK should have to apply to come here, this should be the policy through-out the EU if someone wishes to transfer to another member country, not having this measure is a mistake.      

Sir John, Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University, said:

“Our results suggest that both the UK and the Scottish Government may need to do some rethinking of their plans for post-Brexit Scotland. The UK Government’s proposal that EU responsibilities for devolved areas such as fishing and farming should in the first instance at least be given to Westminster appears to be out of tune with the public mood north of the border. But equally, the Scottish Government appears to have made little headway in persuading voters that Scotland should have a closer relationship with the EU post-Brexit. Most still think the rules on EU trade and immigration should be the same in Scotland as in the rest of the UK.”

I see no problem in allowing farming to be transfer, however, I am not convinced and I think this hasn’t been fully explain the ramifications of transferring fishing to the Scottish Government, I think this should remain a reserved matter because under the SNP I can see this being problematic.

Finally, although the findings are extremely bad news for the SNP, they are still clinging to this research showing people in Scotland believe decisions on all devolved issues should continue to be made here in Scotland. What they are failng to grasp is that the movement away from them in terms of support is showing that their grasp on power is ebbing away, each and every day.

Although you might not realise, the 6 May 2021 is going to be the most important date in Scottish electoral history since Holyrood opened its doors!

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Nicola Sturgeon’s Bitchiness: unpopular First Minister snubs Alex Salmond's Kremlin TV show by claiming she has never watched the show, is this tedious predictable jealously as Salmond has replaced her with Tasmina Ahmed-Shiekh as the new buddy, there is nothing dignified in a woman of a mature age like Nicola Sturgeon resorting to this type of foul behaviour, time to grow up!



















Dear All

Isn’t it sad when ‘buddies’ fall out and out comes the bitchiness, after being dumped by the electorate, Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond embarked on a tv career.

No one in the UK from the main stations such as BBC, Sky or ITV were biting, so Salmond ends up doing the Alex Salmond's Kremlin TV show.

Oh how the mighty have fallen!

Along with Salmond, he was joined by Tasmina Ahmed-Shiekh as a ‘roving reporter’ (you may laugh at this point if you wish). 

It seems that the Salmond/ Sturgeon double act has been replaced by the Salmond/ Shiekh double act, this may explain the public bitchiness of Nicola Sturgeon as she boldly declares that she is snubbing the show. 

In fact, to get as much bitchiness out as humanly possibly she has revealed she has never watched any of Alex Salmond’s TV shows on a Russian propaganda channel.

Why the public bitchiness?

Her excuse and it is pitiful is that Salmond’s programme is on at the wrong time of day, hasn’t she heard of Youtube? 

The main problem with the Alex Salmond's Kremlin TV show is it is a pile of low level dross with Salmond as the ‘ringmaster’ of this circus. In a TV special, Salmond wore a kilt which during a chat with Tasmina Ahmed-Shiekh, he sat with his legs wide open!

Maybe there is room for change perhaps a desk!

Ms. Ahmed-Shiekh on the other hand decided to keep her legs shut wearing a lime green outfit opting for a more stylish traditional approach rather than Salmond dressed like a reject from a wedding reception.

It seems the great partnership of Salmond/ Sturgeon which saw numerous hugs and kisses when he was leader at SNP Conferences has faded, Sturgeon says she only tunes into his radio output “occasionally”.

Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t like the fact that her mentor struck a deal to host a weekly show on the pro-Putin outlet RT, personally, what is the big deal, Salmond is like a limelight addict, he can’t bear to be out of the spotlight, and Sturgeon never gave him a job.

It seems to me that Nicola Sturgeon is under pressure lashing out as anyone and everyone as the polls show she is leading the SNP down the drain politically, fails at every turn, fake concern at every crisis, and mealy mouth apologies becoming a predictable routine.

Alex Salmond has let it be known that if there is a by-election for the Aberdeen Donside Constituency at Holyrood, he wants to be the candidate, with this statement, the alarm bells for a Salmond comeback must have gone off in Nicola Sturgeon’s head, and let’s face, does she really want him back, she is quite happy ‘milking that FM salary on all four tits’ before the jig is up.

So, what should Alex Salmond do now that Nicola Sturgeon has reared up with the bitchy comments, well the rule of thumb would just to ignore her, Salmond has a new pal, a new follower in Tasmina Ahmed-Shiekh. Nicola Sturgeon needs to ‘calm down’; she needs to stop ‘overreacting’. 

There is nothing dignified in a woman of a mature age like Nicola Sturgeon resorting to this type of behaviour, she has been left out of the 'party', she needs to accept it and move on.

Maybe Nicola Sturgeon needs to do a ten minute bitch-fest in the morning before she goes out the door to work, that might, just might fix her being the cold and unattractive character that she has become. 

Finally, I think that Tasmina Ahmed-Shiekh should give Nicola Sturgeon some style tips, her awful choice of clothing and footwear makes her look like a fright. Although Ms. Sturgeon has recently said she is going to take up exercise she really needs to do something major about her sagging body parts, gravity isn’t being kind, she needs to learn to suck in her stomach.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Monday, January 8, 2018

The SNP Fat Boy Mysteries; unpopular Nicola Sturgeon refuses to put timescale on SNP sleaze probe into former minister Mark McDonald, Sturgeon gets a lot wrong but hanging onto Mark Donald who doesn’t even attend parliament is the wrong decision, festering cancer must be cut out

























Dear All

It seems that Nicola Sturgeon is refusing to say much how longer the sleaze probe into one of her former ministers will last. Apparently there is an SNP ‘investigation’ into sleazy SNP MSP Mark McDonald who had to resign in disgrace as a minister.

One has to wonder how an investigation can take two months and still not produce a result.

Nicola Sturgeon is saying that the investigation would “take as long as it takes”, so, what about the alleged female victims, apparently the women who complained about him can just wait for answers.

She said:

“It will take as long as it takes. I’m not going to put artificial timescales on things. It’s important that things are looked into properly, extensively, due process is followed, and when an investigation concludes then the outcome of that investigation will be made known. This is the right way to go about these things.”

Doesn’t sound too hopeful for the women, more for Mark McDonald who must be desperate to hang onto his seat, also, I wonder if Nicola Sturgeon wants to keep McDonald in the fold so as not to have Alex Salmond possibly back at Holyrood in the event of a by-election.

Usually in matters relating to sleazy sex stories, the party who has the rat faces a rather uphill to retain the seat. 

The SNP as pundits know is administered by Sturgeon’s husband, party chief executive Peter Murrell, my experience of him is that he isn’t interested in investigating complaints and neither are the other staff. If the women victims aren’t high profile SNP Cult members then they can expect no help, in the case of Bill Walker, because of the Sturgeon connection, the SNP had to disown him to protect Sturgeon.

SNP MSP Mark McDonald has been absent from Holyrood since he quit as childcare minister on November 4, I suspect that this means he has more hiding to do because of the type of “inappropriate” behaviour. Having been caught out like a rat in a spotlight, McDonald tried to downplay the scandal as misguided attempts at humour.

In a show of bravado, he even suggested he might return as a minister in the future but let’s be serious, he is cooked, and Sturgeon trying to hold onto him as an MSP is a big mistake, there comes a time when you have to cut deadwood adrift.

The full extent of Nicola Sturgeon’s contempt for this situation was summed up as she said about McDonald:

“He's a good MSP and he will continue to be so.”

Nicola Sturgeon gets a lot wrong; SNP MSP Mark McDonald is a political liability who threatens the fake narrative that the SNP crafted that they support women.  McDonald admitted his action had caused “considerable distress and upset” but after November 16, further allegations against him popped up, that led the SNP to finally removed the party whip followed by suspension from the party which makes McDonald technically an independent MSP for the Aberdeen Donside constituency.

The SNP don’t want a by-election because although they have a huge margin compared to the other two possible contenders, the stench of having to fight a by-election where the allegations of McDonald are at the fore doesn’t really appeal, even if they get the win. Mind you if Alex Salmond stands, this might impact the 17,339 votes to such a degree that a short term win could lead to a long term loss down the line.

It rather looks like the SNP want to bury this investigation or produce a result that says they don’t have enough evidence to proceed in order to get Mark McDonald and Nicola Sturgeon off the hook. So far, the investigation has produced nothing for the female victims, it remains to be seen if they can get justice.


Anyone up for a by-election in the Donside, lovely area, just the place for strolling about talking to the natives!

Finally, when it comes to sexual matters, the SNP senior elected representatives don’t have an impressive track record, we have seen wife beating, adulterers and people with failed marriages make it through the ranks as candidates to become elected representatives, hardly Stronger for Scotland.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University