Selling out Scotland and the Scots, SNP MP Ian Blackford writes to Conservative leader Ruth Davidson to ‘demand’ she guarantees that Scottish Conservatives MPs vote against no-deal Brexit, while at the same time the SNP admit that they could give back control of Scotland’s fisheries to Brussels in exchange for EU membership, Derek Mackay says Scottish fisheries were an acceptable trade-off, should a party of charlatans really be offering Ruth Davidson advice?

Dear All

During the Conservative leadership contest, I didn’t really comment, to me the winner was already crowned, Boris Johnson with a landslide. Why was he the only option to win as the field was constantly slimmed down?

Was it his debating skill?

Was it his record as London Mayor?

Or was it simply that he fronted the Brexit Campaign?

The correct answer was that Johnson fronted the Brexit Campaign. Having had a remainer Prime Minister in Theresa May, the Conservative membership knew that to save their party, save the country and save future election prospects, they have to make leave happen. 

The question however is what type of leave we eventually get? I have right from the start favoured no deal Brexit, the reason is the lack of good will from the EU in its attempts to thwart our democracy from outside and within. The UK supplies 20% of the entire EU budget; it is however treated not in the same manner as Germany, but as a ‘cash cow’ to be milked.

And milked hard on all four tits, we are paying to rebuild poorer European countries while here in the UK, we struggle to pay for our health services, council services and upgrade our infrastructure. It is quite legitimate that British people want to have control of their own country and see it rebuilt, but for 40 plus years, we have had our money siphoned off to rebuild Europe.

The ‘thanks’ we got is well written in the annuals of history.

Through-out the leadership contest, it was interesting to see Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson appear to back every candidate until they got eliminated except Boris Johnson. I found it odd, every time she publicly backed someone; I just wondered what she was doing. It isn’t unusual to get a choice wrong, but everyone is an eye opener. When David Mundell was sacked by Boris Johnson as Scottish Sec, he hadn’t done a bad job, his sacking to me was wrong, but it signaled that a new relationship between Westminster and Holyrood was coming down the line.

As the meeting between Johnson and Sturgeon showed, less cordial is the new phase of the relationship. In the seated picture of Johnson and Sturgeon in Bute House; did you notice that there was not any National flag behind the leaders? This is in contrast with other politicians from other countries, who visit Bute House; Sturgeon was sending a message, other than the po-faced look she gave on the steps as Johnson first arrived.  

The SNP is all about fostering division, and to that end, they want Ruth Davidson to give a “cast-iron guarantee” that Scottish Tory MPs will vote to block a no-deal Brexit. Given that Ruth Davidson seeks to be the next First Minister, which will require considerably ehlp for that challenge, she should just ignore the SNP. The fact she is fundamentally opposed to leaving the European Union without a deal isn’t a sustainable position, not for someone seeking to be FM in 2021. The problem with being swept in on a tide of voters has a drawback, yes, swept back out on a tide of voters, as always timing is important. Tagging along in the wake of the SNP will not see any opportunities emerge for Ruth Davidson.

In what must be a laugh; SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford wrote to the Scottish party leader demanding she ensures her MPs vote “as a bloc to protect Scotland’s interests” when the Commons returns after recess.

As the Germans say…. Nein!

Blackford maybe seen by many as a buffoon, but he isn’t someone who has occasional sparks of genius, as his speeches in the House of Commons show, he is a poor man’s Alex Salmond. I doubt even media training can improve him other than delivering waffle in a more BBC way with godly hand gestures and pauses.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to have reassured Ruth Davidson by claiming that it was his aim to “leave the European Union with a deal”.

If they weren’t giving Theresa May a deal, how much ground will the EU shift for Boris?

Johnson has also re-affirmed that he is stepping up preparations to leave on October 31 without one. Is this a bluff, is it strategy, is it wishful thinking, or could it be more to do with the electoral survival for the Conservative Party? 31st October remains the significant date to watch because if we are still in the EU, Boris Johnson has a problem both inside and outside his party. The call for an early general election would be a roar in the UK, and who wants to go into that with a record of failing to deliver.

And then get re-elected?

Blackford said Scottish Tory MPs had voted in the past for a no-deal Brexit on every occasion it had been put to the Commons, which at least means they are on the right track. The SNP at every vote has attempted to scupper Brexit hoping their old policy if they ever win independence is to transfer into the EU without going through the proper membership requirements. That will not happen; basically EU members must be allowed the opportunity to veto. There is no way round the veto, plainly, you have to come out to go in.

Blackford added:

“Ruth Davidson must give a cast-iron guarantee that Scottish Tory MPs will vote to block a no deal Brexit – or it will be clear her words are just empty rhetoric. Tory plans to drag Scotland out of the EU against our will, “come what may”, would be devastating for Scotland – threatening to cause a recession, destroy 100,000 Scottish jobs and cost every person in the country £2,300 a year. Ms Davidson once claimed Scottish Tory MPs would vote as a bloc to protect Scotland’s interests – but nothing could be further from the truth. Every time they have had the chance to prevent a no-deal disaster they have instead voted for it”.

All the SNP can do is scaremongering without facts, have you noticed that the SNP appear to think they have the answer to everyone else’s problem but their track record is that they can’t solve their own!

Blackford continued:

“Given all the flip-flops and U-turns Ruth Davidson has performed on Brexit, people are understandably sceptical that her opposition to a no-deal is just another cynical PR exercise – and she will continue to accept whatever form of Brexit is imposed on Scotland”

The SNP fear Brexit because it makes their case for Scottish independence all the more of a farce than it already is. Nicola Sturgeon is peddling fake independence wanting Scotland signed up to be shackled to the EU.

We would be worse off.

If you take fishing as an example, our fishing industry has suffered under the EU. The scale of the SNP betrayal of Scotland can’t be any better put by the SNP’s Derek Mackay. He told the BBC that an independent Scotland could give back control of its fisheries to Brussels in exchange for EU membership. Mackay admitted that the Scottish fisheries were an acceptable trade-off. Nicola Sturgeon would happily sell out Scottish people and put EU membership above Scotland’s own fishing industry and communities.

Finally, Ruth Davidson would dearly love to be the one to put Nicola Sturgeon out on the street and swan into Bute House, but as with everything, there is a cost. The Scottish Conservatives need to get themselves on track for what is coming post Brexit. The country is pro Brexit and hardening, and it is helpful to be on the right side of history. I saw a PMQs where Boris Johnson tore into Jeremy Corbyn, his face spoke volumes when Johnson attacked his remainer stance. Eventually it may click for Ruth Davidson that a successful Brexit increases her chances for a set of keys for Bute House.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Boris and the SNP Bitter Woman; SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon ‘post BoJo’ accuses Boris Johnson of lacking guts as he dodges SNP street mob, Sturgeon gets turned down for a live TV debate on Scottish independence as she desperately tries to find credibility and enhance her fading political profile, no TV debate and no indyref 2 caps off disastrous visit for SNP

Dear All

Yesterday, Boris Johnson made his visit to Scotland, as if by magic, an uneducated and untalented showed up to boo him outside Bute House, the official home of the First Minister.

To the jeers of a mob, one member kept shouting ‘wanker’!

In the aftermath of the meeting for whatever reason, Boris Johnson then left by the backdoor, to many it would seem odd, but probably someone would cite security reasons. Although there was a hostile mob outside, Johnson missed a golden opportunity, to meet the people. 

And if it was me, I would have been straight across the road BEFORE I met Sturgeon.

I would have let her wait on the doorstep for a while, and wait and wait and wait, then if she came over, I would walk away into Bute House.

Now, in attempting to work up some kind of story from Boris slipping away, Nicola Sturgeon has accused Boris Johnson of lacking the “guts” to meet voters in Scotland. To be clear this was an organized mob, complete with readymade banners. It wasn’t casual people strolling by Bute House.

It was the classic, great unwashed, mostly uneducated and nasty, the stormtroopers of the Nats.

After doing the route of trying to embarrass Johnson with a mob to show he isn’t welcome, Sturgeon has revealed she challenged the new Prime Minister to a live TV debate on Scottish independence. This is needy looking for validation in the case of Sturgeon, there will be no referendum this side of 2020, but the odds on an early general election seem to be higher.

In a post meeting whine, Sturgeon told reporters after the talks which lasted almost an hour finished that the Prime Minister had “set the UK on an almost inevitable path to a no-deal Brexit”.

She said:

“Behind all of the bluff and bluster, this is a government that is dangerous. I think the path that it is pursuing is a dangerous one for Scotland and for all of the UK. He says publicly – and he said it to me again today – that he wants a deal with the EU, but there is no clarity whatsoever about how he thinks he can get from the position now where he's taking a very hard line…to a deal. If I listen to all of that and listen to what's not being said as well as what is being said, I think that this is a Government that is pursuing a no-deal strategy, however much they may deny that in public."

Nicola Sturgeon favours the EU, an anti worker, anti country organization which seeks to turn itself into an un-elected super state run by an un-elected commission with a toothless parliament at it centre. Sturgeon is still peddling the line, that Scotland can be independent in Europe. It is a false prospectus, an outright lie.

She added:

“If he was in this room he would deny this vehemently, but I think he wants a no-deal Brexit.”

If Johnson is for no deal, this is the sensible route, it means that we will have full sovereignty back, and not be ruled by remote control from Brussels. The 31^st October 2019 is the date to watch, if there isn’t an exit by then, Johnson has made ‘a rod for his own back’. If there is a bad deal, again Joihnson has made a rod for his own back, he will have raised the possibility of an early general election which the Brexit Party would contest.

Incidentally, in the upcoming Shetland by-election for despite a field of ten candidates, there is no Brexit Party Candidate standing.

One interesting note which might show that no deal is more than just viable, is that the Prime Minister would refuse to sit down with EU leaders until they agreed to scrap the Irish backstop. Given there is no backstop for Switzerland with EU countries surrounding it, the precedent is all ready there. The backstop was an EU attempt to sabotage Brexit, to force internal division within the UK, and to spread fear and alarm.

Sturgeon said her party and government would do everything they could to “thwart” a no-deal outcome, tells you everything you need to know about her loyalties and to whom.

She added that the Scottish Government's preparations will ramp up as the October 31 Brexit deadline approaches, but warned it is impossible to completely mitigate against no deal. The SNP have been peddling the medicine shortage scare story for sometime as you probably will have read.

Didn’t work then, and won’t work no!.

Boris Johnson flying visit saw him visit three locations, a military base, the Scottish Parliament and Bute House, Sturgeon probably wanted Bute House so the SNP could try and pump Sturgeon up as the leader of Scotland in the minds of the people.

She isn’t.

Around 200 people gathered outside Bute House, this was probably all the Nats could muster but what it shows is that the ‘dream has truly died’, held up like a corpse nailed to a door with big six inch nails.

A Number 10 spokesman said later:

“The Prime Minister said he was a passionate believer in the power of the Union and he would work tirelessly to strengthen the United Kingdom and improve the lives of people right across Scotland. On Brexit, the Prime Minister said that while the government’s preference is to negotiate a new deal which abolishes the anti-democratic backstop, the UK will be leaving the EU on October 31 come what may."

Finally, Boris Johnson missed a golden opportunity yesterday to meet the people, keep Sturgeon standing on the doorstep looking like an idiot and upset many, he dropped the ball on that one. Just think of all the bad press he could have generated against Sturgeon’s mob; and the questions of how these people knew his visit location coming towards Sturgeon. Maybe he might even have had a chat with the guy shouting ‘wanker’, and thanked him for turning up.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Is the tyranny of the minority upon us, the political class is in uproar regarding the Yaniv case, Trans-gender politics puts the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon under the spotlight, how many times has Nicola Sturgeon and Mhairi Black been in a female changing room and seen a stark naked trans person complete with balls and a penis hanging down with underage females in the same area?

Dear All

The case of Jonathan Yaniv has got people’s knickers in a twist, which has led to the many people in Scotland talking about gender recognition. The SNP wants to bring in an Act that allows people to self ID. Jonathan Yaniv was born a male, being born a male, that means he has a pair of bollocks and a penis.

Now, Jonathan Yaniv goes by the name of Jessica Yaniv and declares to be a woman in Canada, a country which has gone right down the shitter under its Prime Minister.  Yaniv’s fame as a trans activist had a boost recently due to the story that Yaniv used legislation to wreak havoc in the lives of 16 B.C. waxologists. These women earn a modest living by performing intimate hair-removal services for other women.

They refused to wax Yaniv’s testicles.

Yes, Yaniv wanted to lie on a table and have these women ‘manhandle’ the balls and penis hanging down.

This refusal has led to a court case which human rights has been used as a stick to beat defence less women with, the pressure Yaniv has brought to bear on them, havs seen some of them abandoned their livelihood.

At the nub of this case is human rights, in order for a human right to be valid, it cannot interfere with someone else’s human right. That is how human rights are supposed to work; basically you cannot coercion someone into doing something by threats. If you don’t then far from enabling human rights, you are actually acting in a criminal manner.

If you haven’t comes across Yaniv before, here is an interview to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3wGIQ49FHQ

In Scotland, the trans debate has seen opposition to the Scottish Government’s reforms, even within the SNP with ‘Joan ‘moan’ McAlpine among those leading the charge. On the other side is Mhairi ‘manky’ Black, the lesbian SNP MP who is reported to have called people who don’t like the reforms allegedly cunts. What is missing in the Scottish debate is an apparent unwillingness for the trans supporting lobby which includes bitter Nicola Sturgeon to answer questions.

Having messed up in politics, Nicola Sturgeon is trying to redefine the meaning of sex and gender. People like her dismiss biological sex as nothing more than something casually assigned at birth, based on whether a baby has a vulva or penis. And the kicker io all this and their argument os that a person’s lived identity,  their gender at any given time is all that matters.

If you disagree with this new doctrine and definition of humanity, largely defined by “transwomen” with penises, then you cannot call yourself a feminist, or even a woman. You are a dismissed as a terf, a trans-exclusionary radical feminist.

The very basis of feminism is supposed to be that  women have been, and continue to be, economically, socially and politically oppressed because of their biology, although this isn’t true because of current laws, we find this has been tossed aside like an old pair of boxer shorts to be replaced by the killer heels of trans activists.

You have to wonder, how many times have Nicola Sturgeon and Mhairi Black been in a female changing room and seen a stark naked trans complete with balls and penis hanging down?

How many times has Nicola Sturgeon and Mhairi Black been in a female changing room and seen a stark naked trans person complete with balls and a penis hanging down with underage females in the same area?

Can Nicola Sturgeon and Mhairi Black explain if there is any difference between a trans person using a female toilet and trans person using a female changing room?

What space would Nicola Sturgeon and Mhairi Black deem as female biological sex only?

None?

It is said that there is a backlash building towards the LGBT movement; this is despite politics being over represented by LGBT people in all parties at senior level who push their LGBT agenda. The effect of this in politics and among society is seen the emergence of an old group with a new twist ‘Straight Pride’.

https://superhappyfunamerica.com/parade/

Apparently this type of event angers some member of the LGBT community.

And it seems that Straight Pride may catch on with California joining in.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/07/25/straight-pride-parade-modesto-california-may-get-approval/1824843001/

Will Yaniv win the case at the Canadian Tribunal?

When you try to force someone to do something against their will you leave the safeguard of human rights protection and enact tyranny. Also, you may find that another concept enters the debate, the difference between ‘Tolerance and Acceptance’. When people are forced by law to tolerate something by remaining silent, they usually end up point blank refusing to entertain the idea of acceptance.

Finally, time for a joke,

A guy get locked up in prison,

He is put in cell with another guy

Later that night the other guys asks

Want to play a game?

The guy says okay

The other guy says mummies and daddies

Thinking quickly the guy says,

‘I will be daddy’.

‘Okay, come over here and suck mummy’s cock’

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Helicopter flying away from danger - A George Laird Production

Remember his Name; Dutch actor Rutger Hauer dies aged 75, Hauer passed away after a short illness, he will always be known for being Roy Batty in Blade Runner, but his list of films was extensive, including the 1987, Escape From Sobibor which he won an Emmy for best supporting actor, a great actor lost to the world

Dear All

One of the best known European actors has died.

Blade Runner actor Rutger Hauer has passed away at the aged 75.

He will always be remembered for his role of Roy Batty in the sci-fi epic which made him into a sensation. For me the best film which I enjoyed seeing him in was the 1986 movie, The Hitcher. In this movie, Rutger played a seemingly suicidal and homicidal maniac and C. Thomas Howell as his primary victim. Although this movie didn’t do as well as it should, it was a great horror movie played well.

The scene in the diner between Rutger and C. Thomas Howell as the younger man threatened to shot him and his response was classic Hauer. The cast also featured the rather talented actor Jennifer Jason Leigh playing a waitress who comes to the aid of C. Thomas Howell. Her death was pure Hitchcock, tied to a truck tractor unit and trailer and pulled apart, off screen.

Another movie, a favourite of mine was the film he done in 1987, with Alan Arkin, Escape from Sobibor, a tale of the biggest mass escape from the Nazi death in Eastern Poland. In this movie, he played a Russian soldier caught by the Germans and sent to Sobibor to do hard manual work.  

This movie was a British television film, however it had a great supporting cast of talent. One of the actors who delivered a powerful performance was  Hartmut Becker, the German actor who was born in Berlin. His scenes as SS-Hauptscharführer Gustav Wagner spreading fear and killing without conscience elevated this movie considerably.

Escape from Sobibor won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Hauer in his role in the gritty drama which is worth seeing.

One film which also might make your list was the Sly Stallone movie Nighthawks, where Rutger Hauer played a terrorist operating in New York.

Director Guillermo Del Toro tweeted:

"RIP the great Rutger Hauer: an intense, deep, genuine and magnetic actor that brought truth, power and beauty to his films. My personal favorites: Flesh + Blood, Eureka, The Hitcher, Blade Runner, Ladyhawke and Blind Fury."

Rutger Hauer had an impressive list of screen credits.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutger_Hauer_filmography

Surviving the Game in 1994 was another good movie for him alongside ICE-T and Charles S Dutton. The movie also stars Gary Busey who plays a total fruitcake who just loves killing people. As Doc Hawkins, a CIA psychologist and the founder of the hunting team when he gets bumped off, you know he deserved it. It is a film with both humour and horror. The scene near the end when Hauer dons a disguise as a Priest to escape and meets an old lady begging for money is a hoot.

Hauer did some great movies, real blockbusters, but also he did some lesser movies on the cheap such as Salute of the Juggler aka Blood of Heroes. One of the real turkeys he did was a film called Omega Doom which was truly awful. In life you sometimes pick the wrong thing to be in and certainly Omega Doom was one of them.

Finally, Rutger Hauer was a big talent who worked continuously through-out his career, he deserves the recognition as a superstar.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Uss Enterprise leaving Space dock - A George Laird Production

Risk it for a Biscuit; Scottish Labour Party loses candidate Rhea Wolfson in Labour HQ designated top Scottish target seat of Livingston, given party HQ picked East Renfrewshire in 2017, you would think they would be more careful in their choice

Dear All

As I have found out in my political adventures if you stand for election, you may not win, elections aren’t about electing the best candidate, it is about who can ringdence the votes. If you are an independent, then you face a hard time than someone with a party machine behind them.

For those in political parties going through bad times, if the party is doing bad, it can really affect your chances of success. At the present moment depending where you look, the Labour Party vote in Scotland is trailing at 15%.

15%  is terrible, people aren’t giving the party a hearing let alone interested in what the candidates have to say. 2015 was an odd election in Scotland which saw the SNP swept the board because people in Scotland who came out to vote were angry. 2107. The snap election of 2017 saw the SNP reduced from 56 to 35 seats at Westminster, with some others having on with less than a hundred votes.

No matter how close you get in an election, a loss is still a loss due to First Past The Post system. You could spend years, day in day out campaigning and on the night of the count, all your hard work could count for nothing. Imagine, working every single week with no guarantee of success, such a thing can crush you especially if you are in a main party.

One person who doesn’t want to put the time in as a candidate for the Scottish Labour Party is Jewish Scottish Labour activist Rhea Wolfson. The seat she was selected for was Livingstone. The constituency has been held since 2015 by the SNP MP Hannah Bardell, not classed by anyone of note as an Einstein. Her claim to fame is wearing a Scotland football shirt in the House of Commons.

Yes, that is what Rhea Wolfson had as opposition.

With job security in doubt, I suppose that it isn’t surprising that Wolfson stepped down as the candidate for Livingston to concentrate on her job as a GMB Scotland organiser. At least in her job she gets a return, probably paid monthly and if she keeps her nose clean a return when Scottish Labour’s fortunes improve.

In 2017, the Jeremy Corbyn supporter increased Labour’s vote in the seat, as the SNP’s majority fell from around 17,000 to 4000. Given the 2015 election was odd; the fall in the vote in any seat cannot be attributed to the candidate or the party. Of course that doesn’t mean she didn’t work hard, just that the national picture and other factors had played themselves out. You see trying to sustain voter anger because it is based on emotion and not logic.

In stepping down she wrote:

“Today I stepped down as PPC for Livingston to focus on the work I do with the amazing GMB Scotland. I'm grateful for everyone's support and can't wait to support any future candidate taking on Boris Johnson's Government”.

That means there is a vacancy in sunny Livingston. This is an interesting seat previously held by Robin Cook and Jim Devine for Labour. While Cook was well regarded, Jim Devine was involved in the Westminster expenses scandal and got slammed up in the pokey.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12918742

Sentenced to 16 months

Wolfson’s exit leaves Scottish Labour with a vacancy in the target seat as speculation grows that Boris Johnson may be forced to hold an early election because of the continued Commons impasse over Brexit. We have a unique situation in that both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party don’t want a general election because the outcome is so unsure for either.  If anything an early election suits the minor parties, such as the Lib Dems, the SNP and Brexit Party.

In a letter to Scottish General Secretary Brian Roy, Ms Wolfson said her union job required “huge dedication in terms of time and energy”.

Presumably she knew this before standing as a candidate?

She said:

“Given the value I place on my GMB work and the competing demands of running for parliament... I feel I must make the choice to stand down as the Labour candidate.”

In her tweet, she added:

“I can’t wait to support any future candidate taking on Boris Johnson’s Government.”

The value being; paying her bills and having a career chugging along nice!

If you are standing for Westminster or Holyrood, then effectively you have to do so as a full time gig, especially when your party is down in the polls. Yup, you have to stick in double digit hours. If you don’t treat it as a full time job, you lower your chances of success seriously.

Rhea Wolfson could be under the impression that the input by her will not deliver desired result. 4,000 votes is still a hill to climb because the 2017 evened out the political landscape for the foreseeable future. Whether it is an early election or 2022 for Westminster, I doubt chances of success are much above 70/30.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

A Bitter Twisted SNP Woman Scorned, bad serial loser Nicola Sturgeon reacts extremely badly as Boris Johnson wins the Conservative Party leadership and becomes the new PM, in an act of pettiness, Sturgeon voices "profound concerns" over Johnson, anything to take the shine of his day in the spotlight, anything to try and dominate the media agenda, Sturgeon’s EU plans going up in smoke

Dear All

No matter who won the Conservative leadership contest, you would have found that SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon poking her nose in to say that she has “profound concerns”. In this case, her “profound concerns” focus on Boris Johnson who has now claimed the top spot to be PM. The truth is her concern is all about spoiling his day and attempting to grab the media spotlight. Although her story made the press in Scotland, the reality is that that the rest of the UK doesn’t give a hoot about her opinion. If you want to know who agrees with it, look at fringe regional parties and cranks.

What is hypocritical is Sturgeon congratulating Johnson when it is clear these are hollow words, she doesn’t mean it, in the world of politics; there are certain soundbites that have to be rolled out at certain times.

This is one of those moments.

So, having badmouthed Boris, Nicola Sturgeon then sets out to give him some unwanted and unwelcome advice which is to urge him to rule out a “deeply irresponsible” no-deal Brexit. So, why pro EU, well think of it as pro bail out, yes, if you watched the news the SNP is so incompetent that it had to be bailed out by the UK government. Sturgeon wants her own financial backstop of the ECB. And of course the extended opportunities of jobs and influence being part of the European elite brings.

But she is too late, the boat sailed on Scottish independence in 2014.

As to Sturegon warning SNP MPs would be at the forefront of efforts to keep the UK in the EU, the feeble 35 have as much chance of stopping Brexit as they would a runaway train. You see what the SNP can’t influence is the 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit in 2016, their resolve is hardening. The rise of the Brexit Party is proof that people aren’t willing to be robbed of democracy like Ireland.

What I find funny is Sturgeon saying:

“Mr Johnson should be in no doubt about the gravity of the situation he is about to inherit. I will do everything possible to ensure that he respects Scotland’s views and interests. However, I have profound concerns about the prospect of his premiership and it would be hypocritical not to be frank about these. These are concerns that I am certain will be shared by the vast majority of people in Scotland who, had they been given any say, would not have chosen to hand the keys of Number 10 to someone with his views and track record.

She added:

“Mr Johnson should be in no doubt about the gravity of the situation he is about to inherit as Prime Minister nor, in particular, about the strength with which I and others will oppose his threat of a No-deal Brexit. His public pledge to leave the EU by October 31st – ‘come what may’ and ‘do or die’ – flies in the face of logic, common sense or any basic regard for the well-being of the people and nations of the UK. It is a deeply irresponsible threat, and not one that should be contemplated by any serious political leader. It should now be taken off the table without delay or equivocation. A no-deal Brexit would do huge damage to jobs, investment and living standards as well as posing serious and totally unnecessary questions on critical issues such as medical supplies."

Firstly note the claim that; “I and others will oppose”, well that isn’t anything new is it? And of course as per usual, the SNP leader who is morally bankrupt chucked in the issue of medical supplies in danger. Guess what medical supplies aren’t in danger, they never were which begs the question, why the scaremongering? The answer of course is Sturgeon’s plan which is to attempt to gain a second EU referendum.

That isn’t happening, no Conservative Prime Minister of the UK will go that route, suicide both internal in their party and externally with the public.

Joining Sturgeon’s attack on Boris Johnson was the new Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson, she said

Boris Johnson wasn’t fit to hold the highest office in the land.

She added:

“Boris Johnson has finally got his hands on the keys to Number 10, but he has shown time and time again that he isn’t fit to be the Prime Minister of our country. Whether it is throwing people under the bus or writing a lie on the side of one: Britain deserves better than Boris Johnson. If we want to defeat nationalism and populism, we need to give people an alternative vision for our country. It’s the Liberal Democrats who can lead the renewal our country needs."

“It’s the Liberal Democrats who can lead the renewal our country needs."

Maybe she should have taken the statesman route and just shut up, just a suggestion, just throwing that out there.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard took the tact of saying that Mr Johnson’s “dangerous form of English nationalism” threatened the Union.

He added:

“The one certainty of his election as leader of the Tory party is more uncertainty for the future of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Johnson some time ago abandoned the unionist tradition of the Conservative and Unionist party. The Tory Party he now leads is a real and present danger to Scotland’s place in the UK. A no-deal Brexit led by Boris Johnson spells disaster for our country, and it is unforgivable for the Scottish Tories to back him.”

Elected at dinner time; and everyone in other political parties against him in under two hours, that also includes Patrick Harvie, who Boris Johnson doesn’t even know exists. This isn’t a record, but still worth noting, myself, I expect nothing as I have mentioned so doubt I will be disappointed, because we need to wait, watch and see.

That would be wait, watch and see what happens on the 31^st October 2019, the Brexit deadline.

Pamela Nash, chief executive of the anti-independence Scotland in Union campaign, said:

 “Boris Johnson must prioritise keeping the UK united, which means making the country work for all of its citizens and ensuring the people of Scotland want to remain part of the UK. Predictably, Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP are already using his victory to launch yet another attempt to divide us, and the new Prime Minister must not rise to the Nationalists’ desperate grievance tactics or stoop to their level. Whatever your views on Boris Johnson, the very last thing Scotland needs is another divisive independence referendum and more constitutional chaos. Let’s hope that Mr Johnson becomes the Prime Minister the country needs at this vital time.”

Finally, I think the ‘honeymoon period’ for Boris Johnson will be remarkably short, possibly the shortest in political history. But he has a job to do, Theresa May failed, he cannot afford too. Time is short because post 31^st October, I would expect the Brexit Party to be at the fore calling for a general election if there is no deal.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Doom and Gloom peddlers, ex PMs Tony Blair and Gordon Brown say no-deal 'would push us off a cliff' if Boris Johnson becomes PM and honours his 31st October promise, given there will be no second referendum, what are the odds on an early general election, hazard a guess and say slightly good?

Dear All

Tomorrow it appears is the big day, for who will be our new Prime Minister, but before the person is elected, the former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have issued a warning. The warning is about the dangers of a no-deal Brexit, but is no deal Brexit something to be worried about?

I don’t see that it is myself.

Why do Tony Blair and Gordon Brown want us shackled to the failed EU project?

The EU doesn’t serve countries, they subvert them at every turn, and they don’t serve the people as the recent EU elections which the people didn’t get a vote in show. That was the elections of the EU Presidents, in a totally un-democratic way as highlighted by Ann Widdecombe.

Her maiden speech at the EU Parliament rather puts things in perspective.

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

Maybe Tony Blair and Gordon Brown missed that?

No, they didn’t miss how the EU operates, in fact, Blair is such a cheerleader and mover and shaker, he was tipped as wanting to get in amongst them for a cosy job. Tony Blair sold out the UK to George W Bush, his track record shows no problem in selling us out to the EU.

What do I expect of a Boris Johnson premiership?

Hopefully Brexit, but the key date is not tomorrow but is and remains 31^st October 2019, on this date if there is no Brexit, Johnson’s goodwill or honeymoon period will be over. The country will be pressing for another early general election. Boris Johnson might risk it if the Labour Party can’t turn itself around from recent troubles. But everything would be a gamble politically, certainly a raft of current MPs would lose their seats, but the question is to whom?

Labour?

The Lib Dems?

The Brexit Party?

Are we staring a bigger hung parliament in the face?

Boris Johnson made a promise to to leave the European Union on October 31 come what may, even if that means a no-deal exit but remember we have heard such promises from Theresa May.

And that didn’t turn out well for her or the country!

Despite being alleged ‘allies’, Boris Johnson needs to neutralize Nigel Farages’ Brexit Party, and any deal that isn’t no deal doesn’t do that. In fact, any deal which isn’t no deal gives Nigel Farage a platform and a big stick to beat Boris Johnson with rather badly. Johnson’s advisors planning a possible election early need to take note of what the coffee smells like.

I don’t agree that a break from Brussels without a deal could be "catastrophic" or see the British economy "pushed off a cliff" because of one simple fact called money. The people who deal in money have a lot invested all over the place and so the UK will not be getting pushed off anything. One thing that the ‘money men’ like is an uninterrupted flow of cash because they have their fingers in a lot of pies on a global basis.

And woe anyone who attempts to screw that up!

The recent election of corrupt failures and crooks into senior places of the EU is to ensure that puppets are in place to have their strings pulled.

Writing in The Times, Blair said another referendum was the best outcome for Mr Johnson, he favours the Irish option; cheat the British people out of our democracy.

Blair added:

"Even before he becomes prime minister this week, Boris Johnson has boxed himself in to a no-deal Brexit. If he doesn't back down from his stated negotiating position, he will fail. No-one knows with certainty the impact of no-deal for the simple reason that no developed nation has ever left overnight its preferential trading arrangements in this manner. It could be merely very difficult or it could be catastrophic."

The key word in his spiel is ‘could’ and likewise ‘could not’ is another possible outcome, he doesn’t know, he has no inside knowledge, he is having a guess.

Given where we are and how we got here, a second referendum is a non starter for the Conservatives; they know the dangers of that betrayal are extreme both inside and outside their party. A general election remains an option but the no love lost between the former prime minister and the left-wing Labour leader doesn’t seem that strong a reason to go to the polls. It would be madness to go into an election without a successful Brexit outcome behind you because you would be fighting on two fronts.

Gordon Brown added something which I don’t agree with, he said that Mr Johnson may be fated to be remembered by history “not as the 55th prime minister of the UK but as the first prime minister of England”. This is a reference to the SNP winning a second Scottish independence referendum, which I seriously doubt. Although people have deserted other parties, it is because of their domestic social policies, not a desire for Nicola Sturgeon’s brand of incompetent government.  Unionist Parties need to get their act together especially the Labour Party in Scotland which is doing rather badly.

Finally, I expect nothing of a Boris Johnson premiership, he is the cuckoo in the nest, he got to be PM because other people wouldn’t do their job. The date to watch which tells a story isn’t tomorrow but the 31^st of October, so mark that in the calendar.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Sturgeon’s Ultimate Betrayal of a Nation; Scotland has highest drug death rate in the EU, SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon’s failure to govern, failure to lead and failure to accept responsibility is at the heart of the problem, money is there, people are there, services are there, but the will to act isn’t, shamefully the SNP blame Westminster, it is time for new leadership, new government in Scotland

Dear All

In tragedy, there is opportunity, as Scotland’s drug deaths soar to a record breaking 1,187 in a year under SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP are busy trying to blame Westminster for their failures.

The SNP run the Police, they run the health service, they run social care, we know this because when the cuts came to vital services, the SNP MSPs to a man and woman voted them through.

No fights, no questions asked!

The least vulnerable were an easy target, they had no SNP Champion. Do you remember the SNP pledge of a few years ago, ‘Elect a local Champion’. Sick joke then and it still remains a sick joke now.

So, let’s nail something down, the SNP under Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon have had control of the Scotland Government since 2007 till present day.

12 years!

During this time, they have given us election bribes sure, but that was so people would vote them in, targeted bribes at targeted voters.

One group, that doesn’t appear on the SNP voter radar is the disenfranchised, the people at the bottom of society who don’t vote because they don’t feel part of society. In Glasgow, you don’t see the SNP elected representatives at the soup kitchens, or the traditional places like Glasgow City Mission, or Lodge House Mission or the Wayside in central Glasgow.

Apparently Mhairi Black allegedly did a stint at Glasgow City Mission prior to being an MP.

Once elected never to be seen again!

Where’s Mhairi now?

Where are the legendary SNP Campaigns for foodbanks?

Did you notice how that all dried up post Westminster elections?

Pulling on people’s heart strings is something that the SNP have developed into an art form.

Find a victim which suits their SNP agenda then "champion" them for mileage because everything is always about Scottish independence. Once done, drop them to move onto the next cause célèbre, then milk that to death.  

You can be sure that some of the 1,187 people who died of drugs used places like I have mentioned above, but what you don’t see Nicola Sturgeon visiting them. You don’t see the Health Sec Jeane Freeman visiting them or indeed any senior SNP figures of note.

The local soup kitchens don’t get any real support or help from the SNP Government; and recently even the homeless saw their chances of getting a bed for night slashed by the SNP Council. That “gift” to the poor and disadvantage came courtesy of Nicola Sturgeon’s pal, SNP Cllr Mhairi Hunter.

What we are really talking about in a blunt and brutally honest fashion is SNP neglect for the poor under Nicola Sturgeon. So, no money for food, no beds for the night and because of a party committed to grievance at Westminster, no goodwill.

The cause and effect principle!

The effect of bad will has rippled between Holyrood and Westminster for sometime, instead of learning to shut their mouth, the SNP have made a vacuous campaign of grievance putting people’s noses out of joint. The upshot is shocking total of 1,187 people dead in a year, people who gave up hope, in everything, for them there was no tomorrow. There was no future, no prospects and like a tsunami, when things got so bad, drugs washed away their pain. Living while poor is not living, it is existing; it is a life spent in fear and uncertainty.

You don’t know poverty really until you experience it first hand. It isn’t just lack of money, it is a lack of everything, hope, opportunities, help, justice; every door is barred and every ‘right; and ‘entitlement’ has to be fought for, again and again…… because it is withheld.

A ready example is higher education; we have millions to pay for rich middle class foreign students at universities but not a lot for working class people from the most disadvantaged background.

So, whether you like it or not, the poorest working class students and potential students suffer because the SNP leadership want to be seen as internationalists. The attack on the poor is further compounded by the SNP with their nonsensical immigration policy. Everything is done by the SNP to put downward pressure on the poor, given the SNP won’t deliver fairness in devolved government, what do you think will happen when they are free of UK oversight?

Out with Scottish Enlightenment and in with Scottish Mugabe-ism.

In previous posts, I blogged I favour drug legalisation, and although a supervised drug consumption facility in Glasgow sounds like a good idea, the idea is short-sighted. You see what is needed is a bespoke facility which can offer alternatives, services and structures to effectively reset a person’s life.

But I would make a point, not everyone can saved, life isn’t that simple, some people aren’t going to be able to be turned around, not in the manner you might expected. The mental impairment caused by drugs in some is just too much damage to repair. We can see of course see the physical signs like people dead or losing their limbs, but the mental side can be as equally damaging.

The Scottish Secretary David Mundell has said the Commons Scottish Affairs Committee was currently undertaking an inquiry into drug use in Scotland and the Government would want to consider its report. Then perhaps there maybe an opportunity for a pilot of supervised drug consumption facility.

Finally, given the traditional Conservative response to drugs and crime, this coupled with SNP hostility, this may kill off prospect of that pilot happening. Rather than holding the traditional view and line, I would like to see Scottish Conservative MPs take a proactive lead and push this through. It is said that there are about 13,000 addicts in Glasgow, in theory 13,000 chances to turn people’s life around. I think it is worth taking a chance and making the investment for vulnerable Scots who have lost their way.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

The SNP Scottish Armada; SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and her incompetent Scottish Government 'cannot guarantee medicine supplies' under no-deal Brexit, plans to sail to the EU to pick up aspirin, rubbers and KY Jelly remain on high alert, the SNP will stoop to anything to try and make Nicola ‘dinghy’ Sturgeon look like a leader, even using the sick as a stepping stone for Scottish independence

Dear All

We all like a good horror story, but to sell the fear factor, it has to have an element of truth, sadly truth and the SNP appear to be complete strangers. In the senior ranks of the SNP, unpopular Nicola Sturgeon has appointed her men with a proper job. Keith Brown, depute SNP leader is a prime example, ‘the man who walks indy marches’. There is another lump of flesh appointed by Sturgeon, Mike Russell, Scottish Govt Brexit Secretary. He is in full scaremongering mode that supply of vital medicines cannot be guaranteed in the event of a no-deal exit.

Anyone seriously think that the EU or the UK would stop medicine supplies in either direction?

I don’t, if there is one think which would never be forgotten or forgiven is people dying due to one or other side holding back medical supplies. The people of the UK would take that issue to heart and the anger generated would see no goodwill available to the Europeans. In order to try and pad out his scare story as having any credibility, Mike Russell said arrangements were previously in place, but the situation had “changed” following the Brexit deadline being pushed back to October 31.

Change meaning the date had changed, is this a climatic event?

Hardly, but such is the poor arguments that remainers have, they have to plum the depths to find anything, even fluff and dross to try and make themselves meaningful to the public, in this case, the SNP in their eyes are the ‘heroes’.

Look, look, Nicola Sturgeon is securing medical supplies!

And of course in future releases, we will be treated to how ‘tirelessly’ the SNP have worked because of a date changed, including the ‘Scottish armada (hired) sailing to the EU to pick up aspirin, rubbers and KY Jelly. Mike Russell insisted ministers now cannot “absolutely guarantee” all medicines will continue to be available if the UK crashes out of the European Union.

Such a statement is nonsense, Sturgeon’s ministers probably cannot guarantee anything, but at a UK level, government is more stable, more reliable, and more expert.

So, why do the SNP fear no deal?

Because when links are severed, there will see less opportunities for the SNP in terms of jobs and advancement, you cannot have failed to notice that every SNP leader in the past has post leadership, not gone onto better and lucrative pastures. Swinney ended up demoted back to MSP, and Salmond, well his future has been a rollercoaster to the bottom, via RT, the Russian channel. You don’t see the SNP going anywhere of note once they step down, no fortune 500 companies in their future. It is also doubtful that things will get any better for Sturgeon post FM.

If anything, her future might be a spot in the education sector like Wendy Alexander!

No chance in my opinion of a United Nations top post, no EU top post, no job in Nato, no ambassador job with the UK Government, not even a sniff at ‘our man in Mongolia’. 

Back to Russell’s horror story, he said:

“There are bigger difficulties in preparing for a no-deal in October than there were in March. For example, the availability of warehousing towards the end of the year, towards the Christmas season, becomes much more difficult”.

Christmas season puts lives in danger?

I mean, c’mon, is that really the best he can come up with, one thing that the UK has is space, and plenty of storage space to boot, this is him reaching.  One jokey part I liked is when Mike Russell said:

“Those preparations are not finalised south of the Border. We’re working with the UK Government to make sure they are finalized”.

Do you get the impression that Mike Russell thinks he is overseeing the UK Government, and that they are jointly working together? The UK government is doing the work, and the SNP is standing about waiting for that to be complete.

A UK Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said:

"Our priority is for all patients to continue to have access to medicines and medical products when we leave the EU.

We are working with industry and other stakeholders to continue robust no-deal contingency planning for supply after 31 October. We are confident that if everyone does what they need to do, the supply of medicines and medical products should be uninterrupted."

The key part of this statement is that” the supply of medicines and medical products should be uninterrupted."

Finally, how sad is that the SNP are reduced to being so low as to attempt to put the ‘frightens’ on patients. Of course, this is all about the SNP trying to dominate the media on a daily basis. The side benefit for them is hoisting up Nicola Sturgeon has a heroine who at the 11^th hour rides to the rescue, perhaps they will have a patient all lined to be exploited for political purposes. Everything the SNP do is about independence, except government, their record is appalling.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Right at Glasgow University

SNP’s distorted world view; Everything revolves round the SNP, everything revolves around the leader, in a political party that doesn’t work well with others, it isn’t a surprise that the Citizens Assembly was doomed to failure, the SNP aren’t open, balanced, transparent, and inclusive, and they don’t want ideas unless they are seen as the instigator which is why Scotland is held back, they don’t have vision

Dear All

If you think back to what I and others have said about the SNP, it is a cult, a party within a party made up primarily of 4 sub groups, Sein Fein lite, LGBT, Muslims and the rich. All headed and fronted by someone who uses the cult of personality as their instrument to exercise total control.

If you are not a member of the cult, you are not a member of the cult, that doesn’t mean you can interact with them, but you are seen as someone to ‘used’, whether that be as a foot soldier or an outsider who supports a cult idea. The SNP don’t work well or play well with others, they don’t build bridges; they use and attempt to subjugate people into groups.

The old saying of ‘divide and rule’ applies!

The problem with the Citizen Assembly is that the SNP couldn’t allow the body to be a non-partisan assembly of ordinary Scottish citizens because if you discuss problems, you by default have to talk about who caused the problems. As the SNP has been the devolved government in Scotland for over a decade; the injustices, whether it be health, education or social come right back to their door. When I was an SNP member, I saw close up how they operated when it came to responsibility, the ‘leaders’ would foster their work onto someone else.

This is why the SNP is and always will remain a party of protest and not of government, the day job comes last. Government maybe their meal ticket in terms of perks and money but it is a bother, a part-time exercise, something to be done as quickly as possible. Then they can ‘party’, network and get their ‘selfies’ while standing up for various aspects of identity politics, while they engineer their place as a defender of rights.

The truth is that they in practice aren’t defender of rights but rather a sinister crowd who practice oppression using the resources and funding of the State. If you are a charity, you have to bow to the SNP or see your funding cut or dry up….. as if by magic.

The fate of the proposed Citizens Assembly is now in doubt, there is no cross party support as the Conservatives and Lib Dems are out for boycotting it. The Assembly is seen as a propaganda unit for a second Scottish independence referendum after SNP MP Joanna Cherry opened her big gub to vent. In some respects, the Citizen Assembly is much like the SNP’s National Assembly which I attended on 4^th September 2010 in Perth, round table discussions to look at policy ideas.

I pushed for Police Scotland and a national Fire Service, but my main focus was Police Scotland at that meeting, with my trusty ham sandwiches and cans of pepsi, I set off for Perth. As the SNP don’t work well with others, and also as they don’t do the ‘day job’, is it a surprise that the SNP made a mess of the planned Citizens Assembly?

I would say; not a surprise but par for the course.

The SNP really at the heart of the cult, don’t want ordinary people gathering information on the biggest issues facing the nation. They don’t want information that would then be used to guide both parliament and the people on the best way forward unless they are the instigator of the ideas. They have to be centre stage, they have to take all the credit and they are so insecure that only they can hold the limelight.  These traits exhibit should in some respect explain the lack of quality legislation which comes out of the Scottish Parliament and Government.

Holyrood is 20 years old, but the institution is a failure, in terms of vision, output and leadership. There is no going forward together as a nation under the SNP, there is an ‘us or them’ mentality which haunts everything they do.

In late February, I laughed as SNP MP Joanna Cherry wrote in favour of CAs. She said that “Citizens Assemblies could be used to great effect as Scotland moves towards its second independence referendum”, and that “Citizens Assemblies would have a transformative potential in the independence debate”.

Her cat out of the bag comments completely destroyed the credibility of the Citizens Assembly and damaged the reputation of former Labour MEP David Martin because she created a stigma about it. David Martin has since attempted to defend the idea but the idea is now damaged beyond repair. Anything that it produces will be seen through the prism of it being an SNP idea.

Does anyone seriously believe the assembly will be independent of government?

That it will be open, balanced, transparent, and inclusive?

Naw to the first and naw to the second, especially when you think back that SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon unveiled her plans for an assembly while revealing her intention to pursue a second independence referendum before 2021.

No referendum before 2021, just like there will be no Westminster General Election before 2022, well anyone with any sense in this country won’t be wanting to go to the polls early while there is such flux in politics at the UK level.

Brexit is the on;y political game in town, it dominates all political thinking in the UK.

If I was in the business of offering advice to co-convener of the assembly, former Labour MEP David Martin, it would be to bail out, and that same advice would also apply to Dr Oliver Escobar, the Scottish Government’s adviser.

You don’t sell’ damaged goods’ as ‘new’ when you know that everyone knows it is damaged.  The main and underlining problem is that no matter how hard David Martin and others try, the damage is done and the assembly is utterly tarnished in some people’s eyes as another wing of the SNP.

Just like Yes Scotland!

I wrote about Yes Scotland as ‘run by the SNP, staffed by the SNP for the benefit of the SNP’ back in the day. Then like now, the SNP fronted that organization with another former Labour politician, how things don’t change in the SNP mindset. The SNP don’t have ideas, they just rehash and repackage the same ones under different packaging, fronted by different people but the goal is always the same, allowing them to control power either directly or indirectly.

Finally, you should read up on the cult of personality, then you will understand the SNP better.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_personality

Then look at the tenure of Salmond and that of Sturgeon, now what do you see? Do you see people who are open, balanced, transparent, and inclusive?

Of course you don’t!

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

What Price Labour Democracy; Labour Party takes a 'significant step backwards' as Jeremy Corbyn calls for new EU referendum, Corbyn said on TV that he had ‘listened’, well if he is in ‘listening mode’, ears back, betraying the 2016 EU referendum result is the most stupid thing possible that a party can do, this position is a ‘welcome gift’ for the new Conservative PM

Dear All

If you could think of the worse possible scenario to hinder the Labour Party’s attempt at winning the next General Election, you would be right if you said back the UK staying in the EU. Jeremy Corbyn has been under pressure to change Labour's position on Brexit and it seems the right wing of the Labour Party is getting its way. At the same time; the right wing of the Labour Party have also gave themselves a massive boost in their attempts at killing off Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

Although this has been dressed up as a 'Significant step forward', what it actually is without a doubt is a 'Significant step backwards'.

When I was a kid, I thought politicians were super smart, mainly because they seem to come from university backgrounds, but I have realised, they aren’t smart as they appear, and they don’t have all the answers, quite the opposite it seems. The demise of the ability of the political class is getting well known with a sceptical public. SNP MSP Alex Neil has mentioned today this issue as he lamented that the lack of independent thinkers, people selected because they are in effect like better than drones, or as Neil terms its ‘robots’, this is now causing a major problem.

A problem which goes right across all parties to various degrees!

For the Labour Party to jump on the bandwagon of ‘Brexit Betrayal’ is astonishing in my opinion, given that this stance is going to divide the party and effectively rip the guts out of it. Jeremy Corbyn has been a Euro Skeptic all his days. Now is wiling to go down the road of making the Labour Party a party of ‘remain’ and campaigning for a second referendum.

As people are aware in politics, the momentum crowd are busy trying to get certain Labour MPs de-selected to be replaced by their members, but it could be those who get de-selected that get the ‘last laugh’ come a General election. From a Scottish view point, this change doesn’t help the Labour Party win seats, earlier, the Scottish leader Richard Leonard already made his position clear of his direction of travel.

Some Labour supporters of a second EU referendum have hailed this as a "significant and very welcome step forward" after Jeremy Corbyn called on the government to stage a public vote on any Brexit deal, and confirmed his party would campaign to Remain.

I don’t, this folly is worse than Nick Clegg and his disastrous betrayal over tuition fees, and we all saw what the upshot of that decision had on the fortunes of the Lib Dems. Because of lack of progress on Brexit, the Lib Dems managed to find a way back but this is solely due to their Brexit stance as a ‘remain’ party.

One of the things which won’t happen is that following a meeting of the shadow cabinet at Westminster, Jeremy Corbyn said that whoever wins the Conservative leadership contest should have the confidence to put any new deal they negotiate with Brussels or no-deal to the public.

This is never going to be a serious option.

The Labour Party was wrong to support remain in 2016, the Labour Party was wrong to break its promise to honour the vote, the Labour Party was wrong to position themselves as a ‘remain’ party, the Labour Party is wrong to want a second referendum.

I think the classic line, #you couldn’t make this shit up’ is more than perfect for what has happened, this tactic now strengthens whoever becomes the next Conservative leader which is increasingly looking like Boris Johnson. Brexit-backing Labour MP John Mann agrees with me saying the move will lead to the loss of Leave-voting voters and be a gift to the Tory leadership front-runner.

Mann said;

"The one person who will be smiling at today's announcement is Boris Johnson. I think it gives him quite a boost when he wins the Tory leadership. And I think it makes it slightly more likely that he'll be tempted to call a Brexit election."

Just to be clear, whoever wins the leadership contest in the Conservative Party, they won’t be calling an early General Election for Westminster[ neither Johnson or Hunt are that silly. Either candidate will in my opinion run down the clock because both of them know that they will need to present a proven product to the electorate of success. As well as that they need to build their personal ‘brand’ and publish their version of Global UK in the post Brexit world.

Anti Corbyn Labour MP Ian Murray said:

“This is a significant and very welcome step forward. It’s taken a huge effort to get to this point, and I pay tribute to party members who have helped secure this policy position. A confirmatory vote with a campaign to remain in the EU is now official Labour Party policy, in line with the Scottish Labour Party. We must now get out there and tell voters that the only way to stop Brexit and remain in the EU permanently is to vote Labour.”

George Laird, member of Pollok CLP said:

“What a betrayal of the working class which will come back on the party in both at Holyrood and Westminster”.

Finally, give that the Labour Party needs to win back Brexit voting Northern England and of course Scotland to form a majority government for Westminster, do you think the betting odds just got better or worse for Jeremy Corbyn?

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University