Un-usual tactic to regain Labour Party membership; former Labour Spin doctor says Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s colleagues think he is ‘bonkers’ on Brexit, here is some advice for Jeremy Corbyn, support Brexit, steer clear of a second referendum and win back the trust of the voters, Brexit has polarized the country totally, Campbell’s advice will usher in a new Blairite era

Dear All

Having been expelled from the Labour Party, former party spin doctor Alastair Campbell who previous said that the secrets of colleagues are “safe” with him has said Jeremy Corbyn’s closest colleagues think he is “bonkers” on Brexit. He then reeled off a list of names which include Keir Starmer, John McDonnell, Shami Chakrabarti, Tom Watson and Emily Thornberry.

For a man who wants to overturn being expelled, his timing on attacking Jeremy Corbyn rather stinks. Jeremy Corbyn has given muted support for another referendum but although many people think the Brexit Party is a fad, it could end up running all the way to the Westminster 2022 election. If you listened to Newsnight last night you may have caught the slot where Conservatives and ordinary people spoke at length. The message to me seems crystal clear, deliver Brexit, because there is a lot of angry people who feel betrayed.

I think the best course of action is that on 31 October, we simply let the clock run out and leave the EU, earlier would be better but the Conservatives are in a real pickle. They stand to lose Westminster seats which could end up putting the country into hung parliament territory. What Conservative Simon Clarke said last night about being unable to hold his seat has the ring of truth about it,  in a leave area, the people will vote Brexit Party.

The Labour Party had an awful campaign sitting on the fence, now, it seems the anti Corbyn faction wants to push him to a position where he has backed a people’s vote, which is another wrong decision.

If you cannot support democracy the first time round, why should anyone have any faith you will do it the second time?

If the Leave vote wins again, what happens next, General Election in 2020 after another referendum?

The people’s vote really does solve nothing, but it re-enforces the concept that we, the British people who won the previous referendum have been cheated. The new polling puts the Lib Dems and the Brexit Party ahead in the polls for Westminster. This polling doesn’t address the Scottish dimension but it certainly makes for interesting reading. The Labour Party whether it likes it or not must come down on the side of leaving the EU.

The country is polarized on this issue, totally polarized, it will go on until we leave the EU.

Funnily using Labour’s “for the many not the few” slogan, Campbell said Corbyn needs to listen to why his party had been “virtually annihilated” in last week’s election.

The reason was that the Labour Party didn’t back Brexit, but also some people who were Remainers turn their votes towards the Green Party even in Scotland but thankfully no Scottish Green was elected.

Scotland didn’t elect the shrill that is Maggie Chapman.

As well as offering bad advice to Corbyn, Campbell turned to the issue of his expulsion, he said there was “no justification” and he added:

“The reason there is no justification for this expulsion is because, as Shami Chakrabarti said yesterday, a tactical vote is not a reason for expulsion.  The only evidence provided to me were three cuttings covering what I’d said after the event, after the polls had closed, after the results had come in”.

Basically, if you are in the Labour Party, you cannot campaign for another party, this is pretty much standard across the board, if you feel you must campaign, the honourable thing is to resign your membership. When you resign your membership, you are an ordinary member of the public and free to do what you want and say what you want. Given the current state of the Labour Party particularly in Scotland after this election, they have gone from second to fifth in the polling and no MEPs. The Scottish Labour Party needs as much help as possible to recover from a massive defeat which must make the party wonder how they turn this around.

Campaigning for a second referendum isn’t it.

Finally, if you think back to 2016, I was one of the three key people in Glasgow who started the Brexit stall in the City Centre. It was such a success which didn’t go un-noticed, it help poll 80,000 votes in Glasgow, compared to the Remain vote which had every party against us. They took 168,000 votes.

Scotland produced a million votes; we helped carry the win over the line. When we didn’t leave the EU on 29 March, the only vehicle was the Brexit Party. I was head hunted by a serious member of Leave.EU to do the campaign for the Brexit Party. I didn’t join the Brexit Party as a registered supporter but, I became the face of the Party in Glasgow. Due to the work that the Glasgow group did in travelling around, they played their part in getting the first ever Brexit Party MEP in Scotland, and for the second place polling in Scotland.

The Labour Party must support Brexit.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

High Drama in Labour Party; after suffering a massive electoral defeat in the European Elections, the Labour Party have kicked out 'Lifelong' Labour member Alastair Campbell for voting Lib Dem, if the Labour Party wanted to make a statement then a 6 month suspension would have better served their purpose in what is supposed to be a broad church

Dear All

When I heard that the Labour Party had expelled Alistair Campbell, I thought it must be a hoax, if you think back to the Blair years in Government, Campbell was there side by side with Blair, joined at the hip.

So, what got Alistair Campbell kicked out?

Labour Party member Alistair Campbell publicly stated that he was backing another party in this case, the Lib Dems. Technically according to the party rules if you support and declare for another party while in Labour, you’re will be expelled. Did Alistair Campbell have to say publicly he was voting Lib Dem, probably not, but he did and he brought trouble to his door!

What should the Labour Party have done on this issue, ignored it, because if you look at what is going on in the party, the decision looks from the outside as the Corbyn faction getting revenge on the Blairites. In certain issues, it is recognized that national interest overtakes party interest. There is no doubt that some view the current situation in terms of national interest. The Labour Party didn’t have to sit on the fence but they wrongly made that choice, in the wake of defeat, circa 10 MEPs, they are again wrongly making the decision to back a second referendum vote.

Compounding mistakes will not help the Labour Party, imagine if they had backed Brexit stating that they would abide by the democratic decision?

Would they have lost their seats in Scotland?

I suspect not, they would have probably placed second in the polls running a principled campaign. Another gaffe in the Scottish campaign was not appointing a non MSP or MP as Campaign Manager. Let me put it this way, do you know the different between a professional footballer and a five a side player?

Labour MSP Neil Findlay nor any other MSP should have been in that role, the role is to specialized to leave it to a non professional. The other major gaffe was of course the message, unclear and non-committal, and to flag up domestic issues as the way to go was entirely disingenuous to the public.  What is incredible is that the Labour Party didn’t understand this and blindly plodded on. From second to fifth in the vote is the worst ever result, but it comes on the back of previous bad results such as 2015 and 2017 for Westminster.

Apparently Campbell revealed his expulsion in a series of tweets and said he would appeal the decision.

So, what sanction should Alistair Campbell get?

6 month suspension for breaching the party rules on publicly declaring for another party.

Campbell said:

'To all the Labour staff, MPs, peers and councillors who told me they were not voting Labour fear not; as I believe in loyalty to the tribe, your secrets are safe with me'.

Campbell added:

'I'm still in the Labour Party as far as I'm concerned and I'll always be Labour. I don't think I've supported another party, I don't support another party, tactical voting has gone on for years.'

To be clear the Labour Party didn’t show leadership in this campaign which is why the voters deserted the party, they lost both Remainers and Leavers; trying to appeal to everyone makes you weak, because sooner or later you have to be put to a decision. Speaking of decisions, Diane Abbott says Labour must now back a second Brexit referendum. She says formally backing a second EU referendum is 'the democratic thing to do'.

Abbott added:

'There is no inherent contradiction between respecting the result of the referendum and having a People's Vote, not least because it's still not sure how a People's Vote would pan out’.

No inherent contradiction?

If you don’t respect the first vote, then why should anyone believe that the political class would respect the second?  This is the same nonsense done in Ireland to cheat the people;, of course a second vote would be respected if the political class won. Luckily there is little chance of the Conservatives taking that path after being smashed in the local elections in England and the recent European Election.

4 Conservative MEPs in the whole of Britain.

This means no Westminster election till 2022 and no Scottish Referendums either during the current Westminster Parliament. The European election was in effect the second vote and the Brexit Party won by a landslide, beating both the Labour and Conservative votes combined. No one is mental enough to throw the country into more chaos from the Conservative government side because the polls stink.

A Labour spokesman said:

'Support for another political party or candidate is incompatible with party membership'.

Short, sharp to the point and no thank you to Campbell for his service to the Labour Party. I don’t know about you but I am looking forward to the appeal by Campbell.  Years ago when I used to teach at University, I used to tell my students that the answer to a problem wasn’t to create another problem. It seems that the Labour Party if it goes for the second referendum will utterly destroy their seats in the North of England which means they cannot get a majority in the Commons come the next election.

Finally given the state of Scottish Labour, those seats which the Labour Party needs to also help secure a majority are looking remote as well because the Scottish Party is also in trouble.

It is a serious mistake to back a second referendum, but the polls will tell the Labour Party this in due course, or if they pop by the blog they can get this info now!

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

The Perfect Storm of SNP Manufactured Grievance; SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon confirms indyref2 legislation will be brought before Holyrood this week, there will not be a Section 30 order granted for another Scottish Referendum, Sturgeon is gearing up for a year and a half of grievance politics in Scotland for the Holyrood election 2021, cat out of the bag Nicola?

Dear All

The European elections have produced a rollercoaster ride on both sides of the Scottish border, in Scotland; the Blairite plotters want to seize the moment to call for the resignation of Richard Leonard as Scottish Labour leader.

They are asking him to consider his position!

The plotters have a spokesman in Labour MP Ian Muarry, he cannot be described as a Corbyn fan, in any way shape or form. Johanna Baxter wants an emergency meeting of the Scottish Labour Executive Committee to discuss and address the causes of their worst electoral result in living memory. Anas Sarwar popped up to say the exact same thing as Baxter citing that fewer than 1 in 20 could go out and vote for us.

Will Richard Leonard consider his position?

Although the Corbyn faction holds the reins of leadership, there isn’t an obvious successor waiting around in their ranks, so I doubt it that Richard Leonard will resign.

The Labour Party in Scotland is still fighting the election contest between Anas Sarwar and Richard Leonard.

Now, on to comedy, after the Euro result, Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed indyref2 legislation will be tabled this week in Holyrood. This is a joke, no matter what is passed, the UK government is not going to grant a Section 30 order, so the legislation is meaningless in terms of what it is trying to achieve.

So, what is the objective of the legislation?

The SNP are trying to create the perfect storm in order to try and win an outright majority in Holyrood as they did in 2011 under Alex Salmond. They want to go into that election attempting to generate a greater sense of grievance with the Scottish public. Their tactic is rather transparent, whip up the mob, deflect from their appalling record in government and spend the next few years solely talking about independence.

You might even see the SNP squander public money on a Supreme Court challenge using taxpayer money. Apparently Sturgeon’s plan is to be held in the current parliamentary term, adding that the "latter half" of next year would be the "right time".

So, basically Nicola Sturgeon will spend an entire year and a half talking about denial of democracy; note her timing, latter half of next year for them to kick off their election campaign. Whoever is the new Prime Minister going forward post Theresa May will not be allowing any referendums and there will be no general election until 2022.

All this charade is about is to get Nicola Sturgeon past 2021 and secure another term as First Minister, at that point she will probably have enough Scottish Roubles in the bank that she can step down as SNP leader.

Scottish Roubles are so important for the women who don’t have job opportunities in Fortune 500 companies coming their way.

One thing that Nicola Sturgeon said in Dublin that the SNP win was a "historic and spectacular victory" in the European elections, it wasn’t, it came on the back of the mainstream parties’ utter refusal to honour their promise on Brexit, not by any crafted debate the SNP came up with.

The fact is that the SNP vote share is still falling in elections!

The newly formed Brexit Party came second in Scotland, with 14.8% of the vote, giving the party one Scottish MEP, Louis Stedman-Bryce. Tonight I am attending a talk given by MEP Lucy Harris and Suzann Evans in Glasgow at the Leavers of Britain meet up. The talk will no doubt be a thank you to those who took part in the Brexit Party campaign and delivered a Scottish MEP for the Brexit Party. If anything is said of interest, I might do a blog on the event but to me this is probably a meet and greet event.

Conservative Chief Whip Maurice Golden said of the SNP victory:

“The SNP went into this election pretending to voters that it was nothing to do with independence. Yet within hours of it being announced, Nicola Sturgeon is specifically using it to argue for separation. That’s fraudulent behaviour from an SNP government that’s meant to be running the country, not trying to break it up. Voters punished Nicola Sturgeon last time she abused the Brexit process for her own selfish aims. They will do so again if this hypocritical deceit continues.”

Finally, it rather seems that the SNP benefit solely due to the failures of others, and as events unfold, the SNP will also experience failure, the clock is ticking on Nicola Sturgeon, her main problem is the ‘enemy from within’. Yes, the good old Salmond faction will be keen to get their pound of flesh. Like a seed the anti Sturgeon faction in the SNP is starting to grow, you can expect bitter infighting, leaking and dissent to come out. Then like a gusher if Salmond gets back in the party, it will be full flood.

So, what do you think of Nicola Sturgeon’s escape plan?

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

European Elections 2019: The Brexit Party storms to success and utterly dominates the election in the UK as Conservatives and Labour suffer badly, in Scotland; Scottish Labour has no MEPs and the Brexit Party wins a seat in a hard fought campaign marred by violence, threat and intimidation

Dear All

The results are in from the European Election 2019, the biggest winner was The Brexit Party who won 29 seats, the Lib Dems came second with 16, the Labour Party both sides of the border had a disastrous night winning only 10, the Greens gained seven, the Conservatives only four, the SNP three and Plaid Cymru one.

In Scotland, the SNP took 3 seats out of 6, but the real upset is that the Brexit Party in Scotland came second in the polls and won their first ever seat. No Scottish Labour MEP was returned which is a continuation of what I said that the Scottish Labour Party needs a new campaigning model. Scottish Labour also suffered from the national position of sitting on the fence, well, they sat and they got left on the fence. Scottish Labour has no MEP in Scotland which when you look at the fact that the Conservatives managed to return their lead candidate, makes their night even worse.

At the start of this election, I was a member of Pollok CLP, I didn’t campaign for the Labour Party, instead I was head hunted the Brexit Party to do their campaign. As some people know, I have a track record in campaigning in elections stretching into double digits, plus two referendums won under my belt. In this election, I was one of the lead campaigners in as well as travelling around the West and South of Scotland taking the Brexit message to the people. You might have picked up online that distain that others held the Brexit Party in, posting pictures of their stalls and saying no one was interested.

The Brexit Party came second in the European Election in Scotland.

As to the Glasgow Brexit Party vote, this was around 15,000; it could have been higher if the Glasgow Brexit Group had solely remained in Glasgow.  They were also tasked with travelling around to places such as Ayr, Largs, Paisley, Gretna and Dumfries to spread the message that they had a serious campaign running.

And it paid off!

The Brexit Party were hampered by the fact that they had no long campaign, little time, resources and people since effectively there is no party structure in Scotland at present. They could also have benefited from a more Scottish message and Scottish presentation but that is something which they will no doubt take into account as they move forward to other elections.

This campaign for me was a doddle, although I never expected to be thrust forward as a lead campaigner but you do what you have to do in order to get the job done. It is nice to be in a winning campaign but you can also learn a lot by losing because losing does focus the mind.

In the aftermath of defeat, it is only natural that some people express their anger, and it seems that some Scottish Labour MPs want to slam the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn saying party may ‘never recover’ from ‘worst ever’ result. The result for the Scottish Labour Party couldn’t have been worse that is true, and the tactics used were questionable.

When you try and appeal to everyone, you end up appealing to no one!

This is why the Scottish Labour Party crashed into fifth place in Scotland, despite attempting to gotv, ‘get out the vote’; their core vote didn’t respond in the numbers they hoped to even get one MEP. Ian Murray and Martin Whitfield said Scottish voters had “delivered an utterly damning verdict” on the party.

Quick question, would you bet on the Scottish Labour Party to be the next Government at Holyrood in the 2021 election?

David Martin had been the UK’s longest-serving MEP, having spent 35 years in Brussels, before being voted out of office. He rightly blames Labour’s failure to take a clear stand on the crucial issue of Brexit for the result.

Mr Martin tweeted:

“We lost not because of lack of effort but lack of clear message.”

I agree with him that there was a lack of a clear message but as to effort, there is a lack of members willing to be activists in the Scottish Labour Party, an issue that the people at HQ and at CLP level seem unable to turn around.

Activists win elections!

The two unhappy Labour MPs insisted:

“The blame for the worst result in Scottish Labour’s history lies squarely with our party’s leadership”.

That is a tad unkind as everything wasn’t rosy in the garden prior to this election, nor the 2017 or 2015 Westminster elections, in fact Scottish Labour hasn’t really addressed looming problems since circa 2006. The blame cannot all be laid at the feet of Jeremy Corbyn, but he has a share of it.

Do you remember me blogging that Jeremy Corbyn is better at domestic issues and not foreign issues?

George Laird right again.

Scottish Labour and the wider party should have taken a principled position to support the democratic result of the 2016 referendum. The party is wrongly moving towards a people’s vote which is a democratic sham in the hope of passing the buck, and that the people overturn the earlier result. Remember what happened in Ireland, the political class betrayed the people.

I don’t support the Labour position of a people’s vote, if they believe that ‘fixes’ their problem, they are kidding themselves on, is the logic that since they can’t win over everyone, they figure that it is better to have pro remain Labour voters? Do they then hope for a return to normal politics and everyone else just wanders back?

If that is their strategy someone should give them a wake up call.

Finally, the Brexit Party success coming second is rather good considering that they operated in a hostile environment during this election. The Labour ad calling for the stopping of the ‘far right’ was a stupid video to make and put out. The Brexit Party lead candidate in Scotland who won a seat is Louis Stedman-Bryce; he is a black lgbt man. This video was about pandering and scaremongering, nicely done in terms of video production values but the wrong message to send out.  Labour came sixth in the Edinburgh City Council area, which rather drives home a message for the party.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

European Elections, Vote For The Brexit Party

European Elections Special; Mainstream Politicians Fear Democracy as polling puts the Brexit Party into second place in Scotland, Scotland is really rallying to the call to support our democracy as Brexit Party volunteers travel the length and breadth of the country, join the fight to save democracy, cast your vote and be ‘Spartacus’, and others will follow

Dear All

In politics, there is a phrase used, ‘there is more to do’, it generally is used as a throwaway line, but in these European Elections marred by violence, intimidation and threat, there is more to do.

And that is to defend democracy, I am campaigning hard as I do in the last few remain days before the UK goes to the polls on Thursday to vote in a new raft of MEPs. I am aware, and have seen how people think it is okay to use violence to silence people from the Brexit Party. How wrong minded these thugs are, no one should feel intimidated, and no one should be silenced, either you believe in democracy or you don’t.

Today, Nigel Farage was attacked on two fronts, the physical one with someone throwing a milkshake over him, and politically with Gordon Brown questioning the funding of the Brexit Party. When you are getting attacked it means that your political opponents are scared.

What are they scared of?

They are scared of the people; they fear the people deserting their party causing them to lose power, money and influence. The people gave them all these things and it is by the grace of the people that someone is elected to political office.

The latest polling shows that the Brexit Party is in second place in Scotland, this is a political earthquake in Scotland as it is in the rest of the UK where the Brexit Party is in the lead polling at 34%. This result is even more impressive when you factor in; it has been achieved in such a short time. Clearly the people of the UK want to send a message about democracy to Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Honour the vote of 2016 and leave the EU.

I have been campaigning all around Glasgow and West of Scotland as a lead campaigner, Tuesday sees me travelling to Dumfries to rally support for the election this Thursday. The race to the finish line is spurned on by the drive to get the job done that I started in 2016 when I help setup the Glasgow campaigning to fight the EU referendum.

The news for the Brexit Party is positive, very positive, the same cannot however be said for the Conservatives and Labour Party, they are fighting to even rally their core vote to turn out for them. They are languishing in joint-fourth place in Scotland, their problem is simple; they can’t stand on a doorstep and sell a positive message about betrayal of the people. The upshot of doing so badly is that the Scottish Conservatives are set if things continue as before to lose their one MEP in the European Parliament.

As the old saying goes, ‘that’s gotta hurt’.

Given past record, you think that Scottish Labour would be returning two MEPs, but their news is that only David Martin, the long serving MEP would be returned. One seat for Scottish Labour is beyond disappointing, it is also a blow for Labour leader Richard Leonard, but it does bear out what I have been saying that the Labour Party in Scotland needs a new campaigning model. You know things are bad for the Scottish Labour Party when the Scottish Greens are kicking your arse in the polls.

So, what of Ukip in Scotland?

They are going to get slaughtered, the entire Ukip campaign; North and South of the border has been utterly destroyed by the Carl Benjamin free speech travelling circus. The purpose of standing for election is to get elected, UKIP nationally is on 3%, and here in Scotland that goes down to 2%. When you think about their success in the last EU election, how things have changed for them.

As to numbers

SNP: 38%

Brexit Party: 20%

Green: 11%

Labour: 10%

Conservatives 10%

Lib Dem: 7%

UKIP: 2%

Change UK: 2%

Other: 1%

Finally, as we enter the last few days, you will see a lot of very bad tempered people walking about, try and avoid them. This election is a watershed moment more than previous ones. I stand campaigning with a simple message, ‘European elections, support democracy, vote for the Brexit Party’. This is the type of message that people really click into because we all know what is going on, and what has gone before. If you are minded to vote, and I hope you do, then please vote in this election for the Brexit Party.

Send politicians a message that democratic votes must be honoured!

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

The Fight To The Finish To Protect Democracy; George Laird Speech at The Brexit Party Campaign in Ayr 2019, the people of Ayr gave the Brexit Party a great reception and support for our efforts, make a different politics on the 23 May, vote for The Brexit Party, to Change Politics For Good

Dear All

Firstly, I am sorry about the blogging situation of the last few days, campaigning and illness has burned up a lot of my time. Although the campaigning is going well, on the illness front, it has wrecked me.

In order to make up for it, and to give you my readers a laugh, I have a video for you to watch, most people don't get to see in action as a campaigner, so get the popcorn ready and settled back. The campaign team I am with has been touring around the West of Scotland, the video is us out and about in sunny Ayr.

The reception we received was pretty good, and we found plenty of support to elect pro Brexit MEPs.

In order to do this campaign, I had to cancel my Labour Party membership to finish what I started in 2016 to get us out of the EU.

But there are somethings which take priority over party politics.

I am a lead campaigner for The Brexit Party at the moment and according to polling the party is expected to do well on the 23rd. I am campaigning to trying and get two MEPs from the Brexit Party in Scotland elected in a rather crowded political Scottish landscape, but it is possible.

The speech I done was totally off the cuff, as the organiser just handed me the mic and asked me to say I few words to the voters.

Anyway, due to illness, I am have taken yesterday and today off campaigning, the virus I picked left me sweating and overheating so much you would think I had been in a sauna. I have some hard campaigning days left in order to try to get two MEP seats secured, then a spot of lying down, perhaps on the floor is in order.

Finally, I enjoy campaigning, and in this campaign, I got a real kick out of people coming to the Brexit Party stalls to ask for me by name, which I assume must mean I am doing something right.

The fight to finish ends at 10 pm on 23rd May, so keep an eye out, you may see me milling about at the Glasgow Count.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

The Democratic Revolution is Underway: new EU Election poll has Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party beating Labour and Conservatives combined, Brexit Party in Glasgow gets a terrific response in Buchanan Street as volunteers flock to take part in the campaign to change politics for good!

Dear All

As people know, I have joined the Brexit Party campaign as a lead activist in Glasgow and the West of Scotland.

Why?

Because above all else, I am a supporter of democracy and our democratic institutions, the problem at present is this, the House of Commons via referendum transferred sovereignty to the people.

When the people transferred sovereignty back to Westminster, the politicians who promised to honour the result reneged on their promise, this created a constitutional crisis in our democracy. We should have left the EU on the 29 March, we didn’t; we have been forced by the rules to take part in the 2019 EU elections, disappointing but necessary.

This leaves people with a choice, who to vote for, which party stands the greatest chance of putting pressure on the UK government. To cut to the chase, the mantle previously held by Ukip, has been passed to The Brexit Party. The Brexit Party in Scotland has been making an impact in this election as their campaign travels around generating interest in the election. The press and the mainstream parties have been particularly low key.

Why?

They want their core vote to come out, not the people who voted for Brexit. However, there is a lot of angry people who feel cheated, so the tactic may only be part successful. Last weekend in Glasgow, The Brexit Party stall in Buchanan Street saw more volunteers turn out, it is a sign of change. The response to the stall was very positive, the picture above is me in a debate with a woman who stopped by the stall, she was there with her husband, but he never got a word in. As we chatted a group of people gathered round, the interest was there, and it the debate was lively.

These streets stalls are important, they let people, they haven’t been forgotten, and people care about our democracy. In a recent poll for the EU election, the Brexit Party is beating the Labour Party and the Conservatives combined. This is of course a good sign for the Brexit Party but also for the changing state of politics in the UK. New polling for the upcoming European Parliament elections shows an astonishing surge in support for Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, in contrast the governing Conservatives have crashed to fourth place on just 11 per cent.

11 per cent!

In ten days, we will be voting, nothing can stop this now and the political earthquake seems to be unstoppable. Despite Theresa May’s efforts, she hasn’t taken her Cabinet, her Party, her government nor Westminster with her. If there is a simple fix to stem the ebbing of support, it must be WTO Brexit.

Nothing can restore support for Theresa May, sadly, she is minded to travel this path, which means her legacy will be damaged as PM.

A Opinium poll of 2,004 people, conducted online between the 8th and 10th of May, showed support for Mr Farage’s weeks-old party up 6 points to 34 per cent. This is in line with the feedback that people are getting in Scotland campaigning. There is huge support for Brexit, and anger, the mainstream parties are looking at their core vote, and live in hope they won’t desert them.

I think the result will be a surprise and a shock.

The Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour is down seven points to 21 per cent, having played a reasonable attempt to sit on the fence; that strategy had to end, it outlived its time and usefulness.

The Labour Party should have back WTO Brexit!

It didn’t and now as opinions harden so they have to prepare for the backlash alongside the Conservatives. If I was in the Conservatives sitting on 11 per cent, I would be gutted, and let us not forget, some Conservatives Associations have told Theresa May, they won’t campaign for her and the party.

Another new party is the  Change UK (CUK), their message of a new politics, is basically support the EU and the status quo, they are polling a mere 3 percent.  In a nutshell, the Change UK, formerly the TIG Group was a stupid idea, well more than stupid, doomed to disaster, totally unprepared, no network, in the wrong and amateurish.

Nigel Farage said of the new poll:

“Accurate or not, these are great numbers and our movement for democracy is gathering pace.”

Another poll around the same time which appears to show that the public are not only willing to swing behind the Brexit Party to send a message to Brussels and Theresa May. They seem willing to attempt to break with the two-party establishment when electing national lawmakers to the House of Commons. Could you imagine 49 Brexit Party MPs sitting in the House of Commons?

In the aftermath of that earthquake, a swathe of senior Conservatives heavyweights including Cabinet ministers, europhile party chairman Brandon Lewis, and even Boris Johnson would be gone.

But, let’s not get ahead of the real issue now and present which is the EU election, people need to trust our democracy, and the people elected, The Brexit Party is after a huge majority of MEPs, and rightly so, this is about changing politics for good and the better. I was really proud, I fought the 2016 Brexit campaign, a tough campaign with little time, money and people, but despite that, we got a million Scots to vote leave.

The job isn’t finished, so I came back to fight! 

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Tired Old Rhetoric And Nothing To Say; SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon launches her miserable SNP EU Election campaign with an attack on the Conservatives, and the broken record collection, the moment of truth in Scotland will be electing a Brexit Party Candidate called Louie Stedman-Bryce

Dear All

You can’t have failed to notice something rather odd, the mainstream parties and the media have been downplaying the European Elections.

There is two weeks to go of the short campaign which only now the parties are having their party launches. If you wanting or expecting a positive agenda you can forget it, there is an elephant in the room. In this case ‘Nelly the elephant’ is betrayal, the people voted to leave the EU in a referendum, and their votes have been ignored.

One thing parties will not be able to hide behind is that they did what they did, which is expected to lead to a backlash, and the place for the ‘peaceful revolution’ is The Brexit Party. The Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has been travelling around the UK hovering up support and votes like no one’s business.

People are disgusted and rightly so.

Prime Minister Theresa May has made a rod for her own back and her party are not happy, 1300 cllrs lost in the local elections in England, the worst defeat since 1995, and the main event isn’t till the 23^rd May. The political elite made a massive mistake in not delivering Brexit.

Theresa May could have left on 29^th March and been a hero, secured a legacy and then bowed out with grace, that part of the history books is still to be written, the Conservatives are pretty ruthless with the removal of their leaders who have failed them.

In Scotland, the sham party of SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon is back to the same old story, using the same target as ammo to spearhead her campaign, she is accusing the Conservatives of treating the Scottish Parliament with contempt. This is the centre piece of fluff as the SNP launch their European election campaign. The launch in Edinburgh is expected to be a quiet affair because the SNP other than taking the money and perks don’t make any real difference at the EU.

They just enjoy themselves!

In a dire speech to whip up support of anyone careless enough to hear it; Sturgeon is expected to say:

“Westminster is paralysed by Brexit with its two main parties broken by infighting and indecision.  These European elections are Scotland’s chance to make our voice heard”.

In a parliament of 751 MEPs, the SNP can only realistically expect to get 2 seats.

Sturgeon added:

“The Tory Government has ignored the people of Scotland, and treated our Parliament and our Government with contempt. But they can’t ignore us forever, we must continue to fight to stop Brexit and the damage it will inflict on everyone, in every walk of life. Scotland’s future belongs in Europe – let’s make it loud and clear on May 23.”

Two seats, two seats in a parliament that considers Scotland a region, that is right, the real name for Scotland in the UK is UKM, not Scotland. Sturgeon is right about contempt; she has contempt for the people and must think we are all daft. She can expect two seats because the SNP will be rely on their core vote who just vote SNP regardless.

Voters in Scotland will elect six of the 736 members of the European Parliament who are responsible, along with the Council of Ministers from member states, for making laws and approving budgets.

The EU makes 70% of our laws, and the laws come from unelected people who control the EU Commission.

If you are looking for anything positive in this election, then vote forThe Brexit Party, there is a positive message there, it is that our democracy matters, the people’s votes matter and honeymoon is well and truly over.

Scotland has a chance to send a Brexit Party candidate called Louie Stedman-Bryce to the EU Parliament; if they get 330,000 votes we can send 2 pro Brexit MEPs from Scotland. One thing is certain; they will be far more effective that than anything that the SNP will send or has ever sent.

The say all elections are important, but this one really is, so get involved because this is a democracy fight, something alien to the SNP.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

‘Pennies From Heaven, I Think It Is £20 Notes’; Scottish Labour donor and long time party member Alan Massie quits Scottish Labour and endorses Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, when you drop the ball in politics, someone needs to pick it back up, the Scottish Labour needs to create a high profile pro UK speaker, a Scotland Czar to reassure people to its commitment to the UK

Dear All

In some respects, the next fight for Holyrood, is more than just party politics, it is a fight to remove the SNP from power. As the chess pieces move around the board, so do people and their money it seems. One of Scotland’s biggest Labour donors has quit the party after 30 years and endorsed Ruth Davidson as the best leader to defend the Union.

How did Scottish Labour get into this pickle, it comes from the time when Kezia Dugdale was leader and dropped the ball as the party most able to sucure support to save the union. She said she could see circumstances to back a referendum on Scottish Independence. After she well and truly put her foot in it pro UK supporters and voters in the Labour Party withdrew their backing.

This eventually led to the Scottish Labour Party being kicked down the road to being the third party of Holyrood.

Pretty much all Kezia’s fault, she open the floodgates and Labour votes simply poured away from the party.  

The latest person to leave is Alan Massie, an Aberdeen property tycoon who has given Labour £400,000 since 2011. What might also might not be known is he sponsored a pro-Union fringe at last week’s Scottish Tory conference in the city. In the Aberdeen area there is a strong pro uk support, and that is headed up by Allan Sutherland who has created a group called Scotland Matters.

Scotland Matters is a group that wants the opposition to the SNP to develop policies, long term policies to move Scotland forward, not just catchy sound bites of policy on the hoof to make the six o’clock news. Mr Massie last gave a recorded donation to Labour in 2016, when he backed Owen Smith’s leadership campaign against Jeremy Corbyn. He has also backed former Scottish leaders Kezia Dugdale and Jim Murphy in the past. So, I think it is safe to say where his politics come from, the centre right or Blairite side of the party.

Now that Alan Massi has switched his support to Ruth Davidson, it will give her and the Scottish Conservatives a real boost, at present the Scottish Conservatives are in poll position to attempt to win Holyrood 2021 and with the constant rumours that Nicola Sturgeon is preparing a ‘getaway plan’ it is game on.

Massie told the Times:

“Ruth Davidson, in terms of central, middle-of-the-road stuff is what the Labour Party should be doing but this is not what we are doing. I think Corbyn will sell out Scotland.

I am impressed by Ruth and in terms of the Union; I think she is the only credible voice, because I don’t think Labour can be trusted with the Union.”

Well, I am sure that this will give Scottish Labour leader food for thought, but a quick question for you to mull over, who is seen as carrying the pro UK standard for Scottish Labour?

Can you name that person?

I would say you probably can’t because the pro UK voice isn’t forefront, it is lost among other issues and the day to day matters.

Scottish Labour needs to make a high profile of a pro UK Scottish czar in the party, the ‘go to person’, the person to face off the SNP.

During the  Scottish referendum of 2014, Massie gave £13,729 worth of premises to the Better Together campaign, his contribution was extremely valuable, so why wasn’t someone in Scottish Labour watching out for his interests?

Massie added:

“unsupportive wreckers” were now running Labour, so there is a challenge for Scottish Labour right there, finding out how and why the party has come to present this impression to people such as Massie.

Conservative MSP Maurice Golden said:

“Ruth Davidson has always, and will continue to, oppose another divisive independence referendum and the damage it would cause.”

A Scottish Labour spokesman said:

“There is no evidence that the people of Scotland want a second independence referendum and the next UK Labour manifesto will oppose one.”

Finally, you make remember I wrote on the blog that Scottish Labour needs to restructure in order to win power; that is right across the board, the party is too Holyrood focused and that is part of the problem. The tunnel vision, the blinkers on has made the party unable to look at the bigger picture which is Global UK. Too much time on tat and inaction has led the Scottish Labour Party into a cul de sac.

The proof of the pudding is the ballot box results, the polls, and the work currently being done by the party, they need a new agenda, because Scotland Matters.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University 

Well That Joke Died A Death, Ukip candidate Carl Benjamin investigated over Jess Phillips ‘rape’ video after complaint lodged to West Midland Police, is Carl Benjamin prepared for a ‘knock knock’ joke from the Police?

Dear All

The general rule of thumb in standing for election to public office is to observe the Nolan Principles, run a decent proper and clean campaign, kiss babies, smile, talk to little old ladies, possibly eat fish and chips, and talk sense.

Carl Benjamin, you is a youtube vlogger is taking a different tact, his approach has led him to being investigated by police after releasing a video suggesting he might rape Labour MP Jess Phillips. One thing that the vlogger who goes under the name Sargon of Akkad on youtube is that he is against Political correctness. Being against political correctness is fine, but this isn’t a free speech election, it is a political election.

To say further continuing to talk about his Phillips spat, he posted a video online suggesting that “with enough pressure I might cave” and rape Labour MP Jess Phillips. This is extremely bad taste; it is also incredibly stupid, even to put that out as a ‘sick joke’.

In comedy timing is everything; this however is the wrong time, the wrong subject and the wrong tact to get elected. Although people in the past have voted for a guy in a costume to political office, once elected he did the job.

Can the same be thought of Carl Benjamin?

We have all seen political careers fail but to do so by your own gob before the election is novel, let your opponents attack you but don’t hand them the ammo.

West Midlands Police said they had received a report of a malicious communication and were investigating whether an offence had been committed. So, it is possibly that Carl Benjamin will get a visit from the police.

Is that what he wants in an election campaign which is in full swing, the short campaign is running, a time to get all your ducks lined up in a row, know what you are talking about and look the part. Being seen being put in a police car or visiting the police station to be question sends the wrong message.

Ukip made a mistake here, too late now to do anything about this problem.

Politics is this country has never been more toxic, just as we had Wings of Scotland saga, where Campbell played out the role of a victim, Carl Benjamin has provided the same opportunity to Jess Phillips, she said broke down in tears after being told of Mr Benjamin’s comments.

A West Midlands Police spokesman said:

“Police have received a report of malicious communications relating to MP Jess Phillips. Officers have spoken to Ms Phillips and the comments are being investigated to establish if an offence has taken place.”

In this case, the police will have to decide whether a crime has been committed, however as Carl Benjamin didn’t send the communication directly to Jess Phillips, I think a prosecution is unlikely.

Carl Benjamin has let his mouth run away with itself, he announced a list of spoof Ukip policies, including invading Spain and restoring the British Empire, before he said:

“There’s been an awful lot of talk about whether I would or wouldn’t rape Jess Phillips.

I’ve been in a lot of trouble for my hardline stance of not even raping her. I suppose with enough pressure I might cave. But let’s be honest, nobody’s got that much beer.”

Given he is standing to be an MEP, you would think Ukip would provide him with advice and access to a press officer so that he could conduct a decent campaign rather than being a runaway train.

In Scotland, his counterpart Count Dankula is a comedian but I think he has a lot to learn despite his brush with the courts.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-48094266

Despite having no chance to be elected, Mark Meechan is on the radar of the BBC investigative crowd.

But his defence is that he is a comedian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPrCkxGEKg8

The European election is looking likely to go ahead, how long this batch of MEPs sit in the EU Parliament is debatable but one think that is certain is the fight to leave the EI isn’t over and is no laughing matter.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Kezia Dugdale’s ‘Jungle Fever’ Master Class: Kezia says Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard 'needs a second Independence referendum' to prove his talents, given that a major event is underway, Euro elections, clearly that type ‘advice’ is being avoided by Scottish Labour, and its leader like the plague, internal reform should be the ‘item’ on his agenda

Dear All

One thing which was noticeable when Kezia Dugdale was the leader of the Scottish Labour was being wrong and out of touch on the major issues of our time. She had a history of backing the wrong horse in the race, from Trump to Brexit, she was always on the losing side of the debate.

As leader, her tenure wasn’t marked by renew of the party in Scotland but more with the chaotic race to the bottom. It cannot have escaped your notice that Scottish Labour has slipped to being the third party in Scottish politics.

Third party at Westminster and third party at Holyrood, you could also see under her tenure that the seeds of destruction were sowed that led to Glasgow Labour losing the Council to the SNP. The full blame for this defeat cannot be all hers, others played their part as well.

Now that Kezia Dugdale has decided to leave Holyrood for a job at Glasgow University's John Smith Centre for Public Service, she presumably wants to hang Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard some ‘advice’ on how to showcase his talents. Before we get to the advice, it isn’t unusual for ex politicians to move into the University sector, the same happened with Sam Galbraith and Wendy Alexander, and also with Gordon Matheson, he went to Strathclyde as a visiting professor.

Now, let’s see what advice Kezia is dishing out, she says Scottish Labour leader needs a major political event like a second independence referendum to showcase his talents and give him a chance to beat his rivals. If you sit for a moment, you might come to the conclusion that Kezia isn’t pro UK and wants to see Leonard go down the tubes. Richard Leonard at this point in time doesn’t need a showcase event in anything; he needs to reform the Scottish Labour Party to rebuild it from the ground up.

Scottish Labour really isn’t a position to go campaigning much beyond social media and press releases and interviews on TV. Of course there are some people who are working way on their Westminster campaigns like Labour MP Paul Sweeney and Kate Watson in Glasgow East, but there isn’t a surge coming through from the membership base to be activists on the ground.

If you understand the political economy, you know that Scottish Labour needs to gel the three most important things to achieve success, people, money and resources. When the equation is out of balance, the political machine breaks down, like an engine which has ran out of oil. It overheats, blows a gasket and seizes up.

Have you seen or heard much of the Scottish Labour European Election campaign?

Do you know what their policies are?

Do you know who is standing?

Had a leaflet, seen a street stall; even seen a party launch?

17 days till the vote!

Nothing!

The Labour Party like all the mainstream parties and the press has deliberately kept a low profile because they know the public are angry at fact that Brexit hasn’t been delivered. The local election defeats in England are a major wake up call to the political parties. 1300 Conservatives Councillors lost their seats at the recent election in England, the worse Conservative result since 1995. With this single piece of information, anyone think that Theresa May will comply with Jeremy Corbyn’s wish for an early general election?

Corbyn may want an election but doesn’t look good for Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard where a recent poll showed no gains and one lost; ending up with just six seats; worse still for him, the SNP according to the poll would go from 35 MPs to 51 MPs. If you understand that that Scottish Labour and the SNP fishing in the same voter pond for the working class vote.

Anyone really think that Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard needs a major event to showcase his talents at present?

Or, do you think a major event would lead to a major defeat?

One of Kezia Dugdale’s pals is Scottish Labour MP Ian Murray, both he and Kezia aren’t Corbyn or Leonard supporters. Mr Murray recently gave an interview that espoused that: 

My party is full of 'thugs and incompetents'

Anyone really think that Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard needs a major event to showcase his talents at present?

Regarding Leonard, Kezia also said:

“He has had a lot of time and space to do some of the policy work that I never had. At the same time he's in a difficult position because there haven't been any elections, it's not the same chance to put his face and name forward to the electorate and be better known than he is. The polling I have seen shows it's not that people do or don't like him, they just haven't met him yet. That's a blessing and a curse. In not knowing who he is, they haven't formed any opinion of him so he still has a blank piece of paper to build on and that's a real strength”.

So, to recap, no track record, no policies, no public rcognition for Leonard, party campaigning needing restructured, activist base needing an overhaul from the bottom up, people leaking private conservations, and in some places briefing against ‘comrades’, clearly no unity at all, plus the Corbynites and Blairites still at war, yes, that hasn’t gone away.

Finally, Kezia Dugdale said that she has been a ‘friendly critic’ but you always come back to that the fact that in her eight years as a list MSP for Lothian, she had many  U-turns when she got it wrong, held up by her opponents, most notably her criticism of Jeremy Corbyn. When she backed Owen Smith for leader, I didn’t, I thought it was wrong for her to publicly support anyone for leader. In the end, Owen Smith lost; fell from grace, just as Kezia did herself, now she leaves for another job. I met Kezia Dugdale once, it was at the European Election count in 2016, she was in Glasgow for the result; we chatted for a few minutes, and then said cheerio. I think she will like her new job at Glasgow University, less hassle and an opportunity to step back and see things for what they really are.

Maybe she is suffering from 'jungle fever?

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

The Painful Dawn of Realization, former SNP MP Natalie McGarry tries to take control of her trial process, application to change her guilty pleas spectacularly backfires, the haunting spectre of prison looms, in mitigation, McGarry claims she has been treated unfairly, is a mother, ill, on meds, seeing a psychiatric nurse, is that really the best she can come up with after doing a law degree?

Dear All

At present, there is a ‘sea of Nationalist’ madness doing the rounds, we have the SNP Cllr Susan Aitken story, we have Pete Wishart throwing in his hat in a bid to be the next Speaker of the House of Commons, and of course the saga of ex SNP MP Natalie McGarry. If you are looking for comedy, it has to be Pete Wishart’s bid to be Speaker, his majority is 21 votes. 21 votes is rather slim, but tradition is that major parties don’t stand against the Speaker due to the nature of their role.

Is Pete Wishart, the right man for the job, does he carry a sense of destiny about with him, has he earned the respect of his peers across the House of Commons?

No, no and no!

As to Susan Aitken, her ‘story’ is even less appealing than her looks, part of the Sturgeon clique. How she became leader is a mystery but when you have no talent, you can walk into anything it seems in the SNP. Her current trek is being reported to the Standards Commissioner, it seems on trying to stir up a bucket of shit against Labour Cllr Frank McAveety has attracted a storm of protest.

The award for a ‘Greeting Tragedy’ however must go to former SNP MP Natalie McGarry. It seems that after pleading guilty, and getting two of the charges against her dropped, she has lost a bid to withdraw pleas of guilty over embezzling more than £25,600 from pro-independence organisations. It could be that having pled guilty; the former law graduate has woken up to what guilty means?

Guilty means guilty.

Guilty in her case should also mean severe curtailment of social life, early to bed, no pubs, no clubs, no holidays, no gym, no internet, limited TV and no hubby, no access to power assisted comfort, and before anyone says ‘lightsaber’, I meant the other ‘toy’ that buzzes.

When McGarry appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court, instead of being sentenced to a lengthy spell in prison, her brief, Allan MacLeod, representing her applied to withdraw the plea to a not guilty; His rationale was to claim there was "undue pressure" on her to admit the offences.

So, where did this alleged undue pressure come from?

Apparently from the action of her former solicitor, former counsel and the Sheriff, in Court you can hear almost anything, Natalie McGarry’s pitch is that she is a victim but felt she had no choice other than to tender a plea of guilty. Can you imagine what the Sheriff must have thought about this tact, apparently he was not happy. The Sheriff Paul Crozier rejected the motion spun out over almost an hour-and-a-half, and said he had "listened very carefully to what was said".   

Sheriff Paul Crozier said the court had "bent over backwards" to help her.

Her brief, Allan MacLeod also added something to the proceedings when he said:

“Her position to date is that while she accepts that her financial organisation may have been lacking, somewhat haphazard, at no point has she ever accepted that she dishonestly appropriated any of these funds.”

Natalie McGarry, pleaded guilty to two charges of embezzlement when she appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on April 24. To be clear that would be embezzlement from two organisations. But now with a trusted legal eagle beside her, she is saying she is innocent…… remarkable.

Given her past history of a loud mouth and unable to shut her gob, does her next defence tactic appear to be that she has a clone running about the place?

The petrol on the flames wasn’t helped by McGarry’s lawyer saying he wanted the sheriff to remove himself from the case, which her lawyer later withdrew presumably as that panned rather badly with the Sheriff.

Apparently Sheriff Paul Crozier didn’t say, ‘we are all in this together to the bitter end’.

Natalie McGarry pleaded guilty to embezzling £21,000 from Women for Independence in her role as treasurer of the organisation and also admitted embezzling £4,661.02 in the course of her role as treasurer, secretary and convener of the Glasgow Regional Association of the SNP. Given her background in law which presumably covered business law, are we to believe that she is a cretin, given she passed a law degree?

I have to say that through-out this case, the highlight that sticks out for me is failing to transfer charitable donations to Perth and Kinross food bank. The online commentary from ordinary on various news outlets is one of anger and contempt.

The most poorest and vulnerable people suffered due to Natalie McGarry’s actions, not my take, the director of the foodbank which is why the calls for sympathy are bizarre.

Natalie McGarry didn’t come from a hard up family.

In law, you have a thing called mitigation post verdict which gives your lawyer a chance to tell a sob story, her lawyer said McGarry lived a "very isolated existence".

I don’t know about you but according to the press, Natalie McGarry lives in Clarkston, last time I checked, it wasn’t anywhere near Mongolia. Plenty of buses, trains, taxis going through there, nice parks, libraries, shops. So “very isolated existence”, does her husband put her in a box under the stairs when his pals come round?

We have also learned that she allegedly suffering from post-natal depression, always good to stick in ‘I am a mother’, pulling on the old heart strings on two fronts, motherhood and illness. I bet Sheriff Paul Crozier has never heard that before, still to cement the illness claim, she is said to be on medication, and is seeing a psychiatric nurse. Luckily for Natalie, if she gets prison, she will meet plenty of people she can continue with her medication, and get help for post-natal depression and access a psychiatric nurse, so that takes care of these issues.

I think basically what Natalie McGarry is saying is that she doesn’t want to go to jail.

Finally, I have said all along that ex SNP MP Natalie McGarry deserves to be put in prison, I never got to name her in open court regarding the case against Tommy Ball, but her downfall is overdue and self-inflicted.

Sheriff Paul Crozier rejected her bid to withdraw the guilty pleas saying “there can be no doubt what she was pleading guilty to”, I would have allowed her to withdraw the guilty pleas and go to trial.

The Sheriff is within his rights to issue his ruling, and he has clearly cited the time this case has gone on and that the court had "bent over backwards" to help her. Natalie McGarry goes back to Court on May 10^th to find out her fate from Sheriff Paul Crozier. Natalie McGarry shouldn’t get special treatment nor should she get beyond what the law prescribes; just treated the same way as anyone else. I know a Sheriff in passing; they said to me that the public would have a high expectation of McGarry being jailed.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University