Consigned to the Dustbin of History, ex SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Shiekh pushed off the radar and news agenda as Nicola Sturgeon wants the spotlight on her, the attention seeking SNP leader won’t be announcing a specific date for indyref 2, the trailer was a damp squib, now the main event is anti climax, is that it?

Dear All

Yesterday was all about Tasmina Ahmed-Shiekh and her journey into the political wilderness, to home in on the major problem, she has been removed as an approved candidate by the SNP. Today, we get a laugh; we have a Sturgeon spokesman said Sturgeon would "strike an inclusive tone" while "setting out a path forward for Scotland".

But not with Tasmina Ahmed-Shiekh!

The SNP are well known as a pack of liars, cheats and charlatans, they are not about inclusiveness, they are all about minority identity politics, since they can’t get the mainstream support for their cause, they have used minorities. Whether the cause was right or wrong, the SNP ‘welcomed’ people as members as a way to increase their activist pool.

A form of cheap labour!

Tasmina Ahmed-shiekh served a purpose, now since her fall from grace, how quickly she has been cast aside or put on the ‘backburner’. Having been anointed by Winnie Ewing, Tasmina was cast as the professional successful Muslim Asian woman, now she has the fined and being found guilty of professional misconduct, not so marketable. Tasmina fitted in rather well at the SNP after being hailed by Alex Salmond, and her very public bust up with the Conservatives. As a Conservative, she lamented the lack of support when she fought Govan for them, on her way out the door, she played the race card against the party. I thought that was stupid, the Conservatives gave her a chance to shine, but to win Govan, a staunch working class area was a very very tall order indeed.

As is the way with the SNP when they want to push the news agenda on from bad news, and looking at the SNP candidates for election, not a single Asian person selected, the SNP have moved on from Salmond’s promoting minorities to Nicola Sturgeon’s new ‘pet project’ promoting women based on a 50/50 spilt.

Given the lack of original thinking to push Tasmina further onto the backburner, an SNP MP has claimed Scotland does not 'sit in a partnership of equals' within the UK. Oh yes, Stephen Gethins, a Michael Matheson clone has uttered the old fable as he spoke to Adam Boutlon on All Out Politics ahead of the First Minister's announcement on a second independence referendum.

Can you feel the tension in the air waiting for Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement?

No?

Well if you don’t it is because Nicola’s announcement is an anti climax, hype after hype after hype has left people bored senseless. The main focus of course is deflection from Sturgeon’s problems, rather than her members looking at her for her failures, she wants them to look at Indyref 2. This is a joke, a time and face saving measure as Nicola steers herself towards her own exit. In this scenario, Sturgeon gets turned down by Theresa May thus, getting her through this parliament as a ‘complainer’ seeking a mandate for a new term in 2021. The ‘mugs’ will all buy this, they fell for it before, they will fall for it again, you may ask why?

The gullible will be fed Nicola’s version of outrage and the ‘supporting cast’ of MPs such as Gethins along with others will be trotted out again and again to back up her story. As per the norm, Gethins, the SNP's EU spokesperson, did not speculate on what the First Minister planned to announce.

Why not?

Because Nicola Sturgeon is the star, the spotlight light must be solely focused on her, Gethins is a bit player with a nonsense title. Gethins represents the trailer, the main show is Sturgeon delivering a “grievance speech”. In the trailer, Gethins said he wants Scotland to be the same as other European countries.

Obvious broke then!

Most of the EU countries get money from the EU pot because they aren’t doing well.

Gethins told Sky News:

"Within the United Kingdom, we do not sit in a partnership of equals. The European Union is a partnership of equals”.

Remember the EU threatening members states with cuts if they didn’t sign up to the migrant quotas?

Exactly how does that represent equality?

He added:

"What I want to see in terms of independence is us having the same relationship with London that Dublin has, that Oslo has, that Copenhagen has. I just want to be the same as other European countries, and I’m not sure that’s a whole lot to ask."

It is a fact that politically and socially we aren’t like Norway or Denmark, and if you remember Ireland going bust, we are much more aligned like them.

In the SNP script, the Conservatives are always the ‘bad guys’, which is why Gethins said:

"We know that the direction that this Tory government is taking us in will lead to decades of economic loss and social loss. This is about building better public services and is about what people really care about. It’s about building economic prosperity for the future."

The SNP can’t run the health service properly, can’t run the trains properly, they can’t run education properly. Given all the natural resources allegedly lying about why isn’t there a massive jobs boom in Scotland?

Governments don’t build economic prosperity for the future, business do, a fact that shut up Nicola Sturgeon on TV when she was gobbing off.

Today’s big announcement is just an exhibition of self publicity for Nicola Sturgeon as it is she won't announce a specific date for another vote. Just like Sturgeon is unable to deliver Government services, she isn’t capable of delivering a date. The irony is that her efforts to set out steps to protect her existing referendum mandate don’t exist because there is no mandate.

Finally, it is all smoke and mirrors of a defeated SNP politician who can’t accept her time is over, the signs are there, she is cutting ties, as Tasmina Ahmed-Shiekh found out, she knows she is secure this term. She knows she stands in poll position to lead a minority government post 2021, and then expect her to make way or bail out.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University