Shaken Not Stirred, Labour Candidate Paul Sweeney on course to win Glasgow North East as the SNP failed to put a worthy candidate up for the seat, when is Anne McLaughlin going to realise that she is fighting the ‘Best of British’, Labour campaign in North East of Glasgow is cruising towards an increased majority

Dear All

Nothing says Xmas more than opening your prezzies, scoffing down a turkey dinner, hearing the Queen's speech and watching the Bond movie on Xmas day. One thing which has been sadly lacking is the spirit of Xmas from the UK for quite some time. It is almost like the TV channels find it a chore to remember what Xmas is about and what is means beyond mere trinkets.

This Xmas will usher in a new government, who that will be depends on what happens between now and the 10 pm on the 12th December. It will be down to two men, Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn, my contribution in this little drama is to support Paul Sweeney, the Labour Candidate for Glasgow North East as best I can.

And, this time round, this is a hard election for me, not mentally but physically, I am physically wrecked, knee and back both gubbed and seeing with only one good eye. I was hobbling along today, I looked up to see the Sun reflect of a building with huge glass panels. The bad eye was looking at the equivalent of a lighthouse in heavy fog where the light when you look at it blinds everything out.

Today, I am resting up because the body sadly is breaking down, quite a bit, so I am having to rest up and pace myself which is not really my style when it comes to campaigning. I am only doing one campaign in this election which is a novelty for me as last time when I did the Westminster campaigning, it was 4. Two conservative and two Labour, which might seem odd, as people are brought up to believe that the fight is between the left and the right. But it isn't that simple, there are shades of grey. Being in Paul Sweeney's campaign is great, the activists are very upbeat and really up for the fight ahead as is the candidate.

In this election, I can see the sands shift from under the SNP despite the polls, despite the hype and despite the bookies odds. I don't think this election will be as good for the SNP as Nicola Sturgeon hopes. You could say that her and her government are carrying to much baggage and people know it. They will still come out as the largest party, because they play the emotional card to whip up people's anger. At some stage in the future, the anger will literally burn out and the those who backed Sturgeon will question why the SNP government are so bad at protecting Scots.

And they won't accept Westminster as an answer.

Madame Shouty will be facing dissent, it is already taking place, Nicola Sturgeon urges SNP members not to campaign for axed Fife candidate, their response is effectively get it up you. It seems rebellion is rife. Sturgeon having had to dump a candidate wants SNP members to shore Stephen Gethins who is slated to lose his seat. SNP activists are standing by their suspended candidate, Neale Harvey. He is fighting to win Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath from Labour's Lesley Laird. Harvey is suspended in the event he wins, he will get back into the party, the investigation will be a memory.

To leave politics aside, I want you to watch the Bond trailer as well, it is great, and it highlights why Daniel Craig must continue as 007. The new Bond trailer is just a taste of great British action at its best. The film will be released in the UK on April 3, 2020, at that time, equipped with two good eyes, I am going to see it at Cineworld. When Daniel Craig was first proposed as Bond, many people didn't think he was up to the task, I thought differently. When Casino Royale came out, the critics were silenced and dumbfounded by how good Daniel Craig is. In the other movies, you will find a line by Moneypenny, where she says, 'it looks like you are just getting started'. I would like to see Daniel Craig in at least another 3 movies. The new movie is titled 'No Time to Die', and I would venture that for Daniel Craig, no time to quit. James Bond is king, other action heroes come and go, but Bond is forever.

What Bond does is make people feel proud to be British, the best of British, and takes us back to an era when all the values of what that means run deep in our national psyche. The franchise started in 1962, the year of my birth with the incredible Dr. No. Sean Connery was 007, he set the style of movies and is so iconic in the Bond universe and rightly so. Many others have played Bond, but no one at that time in 1962 could have done a better job than Sean Connery. In the present era, Daniel Craig raised the bar in 2006. I remember buy the DVD in Asda when first released for £7, what a bargain, next day they put the price up.

Finally, tomorrow, I will be limping back out to campaign, shaken but not stirred, because the people of Glasgow North East need Paul Sweeney back as their Labour MP and people's champion. Not something which you could associate with the SNP candidate Anne McLaughlin, being a people's champion.

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/13839545.snp-mp-gives-office-job-to-boyfriend/

Mind you, I could see an opening for Anne as a minor Bond villain given that she wouldn't be getting elected on the 12th December 2019, obviously she would have to play the part of someone doing an admin role. She isn't up to being a star nor an MP.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University