In an unjust society, protecting the system is more important than dealing with abusers within it, majority of Britons believe Black Lives Matter has increased racial tensions, that is what it was meant to do, divert attention away from people who need to be held to account for their industrial scale actions of limiting opportunities for the poor, and as we have seen 'divide and conquer' works

Dear All

One of the myths behind Black Lives Matter is that they are engaged in ‘peaceful protests’, you would think the press would expose them for the violent random acts they engage in, but no. Judging by the press, you would think the BLM was a second civil rights movement rather than what it is a 'black antifa' violence movement. I suppose when you see videos of people being attacked, cars burned and stores looted, is this is supposed to engender sympathy for their cause. But you have to ask a question, why is it that the BLM destroy stores and property in black populated deprived areas? Is it because they like to stay local, is it because they can't afford the bus fare to wealthy areas? Why aren't black lives matter for example, burning down high value white privilege areas like Beverly Hills or in the UK burning down affluent areas like Mayfair? You can't have failed to notice this, well, I have  a theory about this, it's because it is controlled by middle class black people and their social justice warrior allies.

As in any protest there has to be a trigger, BLM came to the forth because of the murder, and it was murder of a criminal by the US cops, a man called George Floyd who didn't deserve to die. A white police officer named Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for a period initially reported to be 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lirHz93qJ50&bpctr=1606752068

Chauvin is a murderer, and he should spend the rest of his life in jail, but because he was charged with three degree murder, the max sentence is 25 years. Did Derek Chauvin know what he was doing when he put his knee on George Floyd's neck? I would say so. Was his intent to kill Floyd, I would say this yes, he should be charged with first degree murder. The Floyd murder was a spark, which set off a firestorm, of course US police brutality isn't a new phenomena. One thing is certain, when Derek Chauvin murdered Floyd, he wasn't doing so as an official representative of the white race. They say when it happens in America, later it gets exported to Britain, and racism under the guise of BLM made it to British shores. But making it to British shores wasn't enough, it had to be stoked up when it got here.

Of course, black people are right to protest about discrimination in the UK, but the reality is the two most discriminated groups in the UK are working class black people and working class white people.

When the violence occurs it's working class black people and working class white people fighting with each other, or being attacked by the Police. Of course not everyone who protests is a thug, that would be too broad a brush stroke. Some people want to change the world peacefully. And some people's decency wouldn't allow them to stand by and see someone killed by a mob regardless of colour, which is why the Patrick Hutchinson's bravery should be called out. He went out to protest about systemic racism in the UK and ends up saving a man's life.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oJ-Gk62W_8

One thing is absolutely certain, BLM protests will always be infiltrated by people whose agenda is not peaceful protest, some go to deliberately stir up violence, some go to destroy property, and others go to rob and steal, and among them, the peaceful protesters get caught up in the middle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWNUu4Q6MzQ

I doubt it is possible to have large peaceful protests in the UK about issues like racism. In order for protests to be safe, they have to small, but that doesn't mean they cannot be multiple across a city on any given day. Smaller protests have the ability to engage people in discussions which larger one simply cannot. That is why I wanted to show you a range of clips because the reality is, these new Black Lives Matter leaders are irresponsible. They are too busy promoting themselves to care about other people's safety, so what is the upshot of this? Well, people see with their own eyes what is happening around them which is why an outright majority of Britons believe the Black Lives Matter movement has increased racial tensions. The price of some people's new found fame is that they are alienating white people, along with a 44 per cent of people from ethnic minorities. According to a survey of over 2,000 people, some 55% of people in Britain believe Black Lives Matter has made race relations in society worse rather than better.  

The proportion of white people who believed BLM had inflamed racial tensions was slightly above the national average, when you break that down to subgroups, you find the proportion of Conservative voters with that believe was an astonishing 70 per cent. One of the things which angers people is that politics has lost its standing in the public life of Britain. It didn't happen overnight but it was an evolution as the middle classes took over political parties . Politicians are more concerned about their personal ratings and insulating themselves from charges of racism, they are unwilling to act, unwilling to speak out and unwilling to really change the status quo.

Discrimination doesn't just apply to minorities, it applies right across the board. I am not surprised that there is a growing gulf between Conservative voters and Conservative party politicians on BLM-related issues. The log jam is fear, politicians are fearful of their future because engaging with the mob leaves them open to being destroyed by the mob. Ironically, doing the right thing now is less important than ensure you aren't the centre of attention in matters concerning race.

All governments having been somewhat limp when it comes to changing society, when Tony Blair tried social engineering by migrants into the UK, it was a disaster. Blair fundamentally got it wrong, and he lied to the British people when he did it, he said increased immigration was because of economic reasons, to grow the country. Tony Blair has done so much damage to this country, instead of making and increasing opportunities for people of colour born here, he increased the minority pool to give them less opportunities. The only thing he did was to give them more hardship, his actions also had a knock on effect with the rest of society which in part came to a head over Brexit. Poverty doesn't have a colour, you can see this if you visit a soup kitchen, there are still some situations in society where people can all be in the same boat.

In this age of gesture politics, Home Secretary Priti Patel declared that “Mandatory training is being introduced for new and existing members of Home Office staff to ensure that everyone working in the Department understands and appreciates the history of migration and race in this country”. Does this make a difference, the short answer is no, but why is the answer no? The reason it is no, is because the same people are still there in the same jobs, some with the same prejudices. If you want to understand institutional discrimination, you have understand that the organisations have no interest in solving it. They only become interested if a unique set of circumstances happen and the light shines on them;

1/ The case ends up in the Courts, taking away their power.

2/ The case ends up in the press and becomes a  'highlighted' cause.

When the organisations lose control, then they act not for the common good but to close down the problem. Here is something to ponder, we know that discrimination happens in education, it's always happened in education, but why haven't the people who discriminate have never been fired?

At some point you must have asked yourself that question whether it relates to education or employment or any other situation. Everyone will know someone who has been discriminated against, and not for noble reasons. It leaves a bitter taste, and it is never forgotten, and it never should be. We don't live in a fair society, and if you don't grasp that, then at some point your illusion is going to be shattered. The Guardian quoted the director of the Centre for Research in Race and Education based at the University of Birmingham, Professor Kalwant Bhopal, as saying the Black Lives Matter movement has made some white people “feel their privilege is being threatened and questioned”.

I am white working class and poor, I don't have 'white privilege', my skin has never gave me an advantage in life. I know this because I have suffered discrimination time and time again. You are reading this blog because I wanted to fight back against people who discriminated against me. Despite having proof, despite presenting that proof to the University of Glasgow, it was easy to protect a bully than to do the right thing. The people who discriminated me against weren't poor black or white people, they were rich middle class university educated professionals in a position of power.

There will always be discrimination, and there will always be racism in the world, and politicians will always ignore it unless it serves their interest. The root cause will never be challenged, a few people may get sacrificed now and again, but the machine will remain intact. Alex Salmond is getting a taste of what it is like to be discriminated against, and it isn't 'joe the workie' who is doing it to him? No, it's rich middle class university educated professionals. Black Lives Matter as an organisation is a failure because they like others aren't looking at how to change the system which can only be done from the inside. They are happy to be on the outside being directed and achieving nothing, if someone asks you to go on a protest just politely decline, they're a nonsense and achieve nothing.

Finally, George Galloway has a wonderful turn of phrase about how certain parties are both cheeks of the same arse; if you care to do the research, once you 'spread the cheeks', you find the filling is rather off putting.

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                        The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Nicola Sturgeon, The New Leper of Holyrood; Scotland is forced to wait for the demise of SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, our country will remain dirty and unclean while she clings to power, and her SNP cult is controlling Scotland's government, the SNP are denying Scots access to the truth, they say you're known by the company that you keep, has there ever been a woman who reveled in the company of such filthy as can be found in the Nationalist ranks as oor Nicola, she is a poison within Scottish public life

Dear All

Yesterday, I wrote how the SNP and its Government is dirty and unclean, when you come into contact with them, you feel the need to bathe afterwards.

We have in Scotland, despicable people doing a despicable cover up in relation to the Salmond Inquiry, who are they protecting if it isn't Sturgeon and her clique? I think increasingly MSPs sitting in Holyrood must know in their heart of hearts, this poison must be excised. I remember how quickly the parliament turned on SNP Minister Mark McDonald, he became a 'leper' virtually overnight in the building. In the case of Nicola Sturgeon, it seems to me now that a gradualist approach is being taken to either permanently damage her, or better still, get rid of her altogether. Is Nicola Sturgeon, the new leper of Holyrood, is she the new Mark McDonald to be shunned? Time will answer that question fully as it relates to MSPs opinion of her. We could however be seeing some pointers which may condense your opinion towards 'Sturgeon the Leper'.

Before I forget, yesterday, the official twitter account of the First Minister was trawling for a 'young person under the age of 16', some people have opined in the past of various social media platforms that Nicola Sturgeon has an unhealthy interest in using children. Myself, I have watched over the years as she uses them as 'stage props' particularly at election time. The idea as I have previously mentioned is to make Nicola Sturgeon look like an ordinary 'family woman'. The truth is, she has no family of her own, there are no kids, she is one of Europe's band of childless leaders.

When I saw this Government tweet about wanting access to a child under 16, my first thought was 'this is rather creepy'. It's creepy because of the SNP's history involving children. No one can forget recent history of SNP Minister Derek Mackay chasing after a 16 year old boy who he thought was 'cute' or SNP Cllr Mark John Kerr who has been allegedly charged with five sex offences. Both of these people were said part of the SNP lgbt wing of the party which Sturgeon is very close too. If you click on the one of the links you can see Cllr Kerr being taken away by police, put into a police car with a large police escort, and you can hear local people shout repeatedly 'beast' at him.

When the story broke, well known cybernat, Mr. Malky opined to others on twitter in relation to SNP Cllr Mark John Kerr:

"Their vetting process appears to be all about sexuality".

That would be homosexuality.

My view has always been that SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon is a nasty vicious horrible individual, I suppose I am one of the few who is willing to be that outspoken about her. I have of course been targeted by the cybernats because of it. This ended up as a minor court case and conviction five years ago, cybernat Tommy Ball plead guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court. He set up a fake twitter account in my name to brand me a paedophile which several of Sturgeon's southside clique joined the account as followers. Also involved in helping Tommy Ball was disgraced SNP MP Natalie McGarry, her contribution to assisting Ball was to tweet the fake account to her followers.

Natalie McGarry ‏@nataliemcgarry20 Jun

I've made it! At last I've been designated non-Jedi by the great sage that is @georgemlaird Want a laugh? Here ya go:

http://glasgowunihumanrights.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/scottish-independence-natalie-mcgarry.html?m=1 …

McGarry obviously enjoyed herself there, but the real entertainment for the public was to come later when she ended up in court. After she plead guilty to fraud of tens of thousands of pounds, she appealed the decision, apparently prison time didn't appeal to her and the reality of what prison actually means post release. She is currently awaiting a re-trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court, that trial is one I take a personal interest in.  

Tommy Ball spent hours tweeting about sexual intercourse in relation to children. He was also close to the Sturgeon clique which surrounds Nicola Sturgeon at that time, he even socialised with them. Sturgeon, herself had met and actively campaigned with Tommy Ball in Govan, I know because I was the one who took the picture of them on a campaign session. Unlike many people, I have spent time in Sturgeon's company, but despite this my sixth sense always told me she wasn't someone I could trust. So this whole SNP approach is to make her likeable to me is rather bizarre, given her previous history. Suddenly putting a mask on to be 'nice' really isn't her, it really isn't at all folks. Well the whole continual SNP makeover thing smacks of a Goebbels-esque marketing ploy to me, but the latest have a kid do a xmas card for Sturgeon to send out, it's only a small PR primer for the Holyrood election 2021. The Scot Govt tweet is one of series on the subject, 'find a kid for Nicola', and can be found by clicking the link.

https://twitter.com/ScotGovFM/status/1331596072964206600

In light of major SNP scandals, you can understand why the SNP keeps promoting Sturgeon as if everything is normal, but it isn't and it's called 'firefighting'.

There are too many SNP scandals in the works, of which the Salmond affair remains the biggest, and Sturgeon is losing allies by the truckload because of it. Real indy supporters have deserted her and her party over several issues, lack of interest in independence campaigning and work, and the Salmond affair cannot be snuffed out, and increasingly this is looking like it will end up as an open sore. Even her Holyrood 'allies' the Scottish Greens don't seem willing to be too cosy around her of late. The proof of the exodus pudding is that Sturgeon has suffered an unprecedented second Holyrood defeat over her refusal to release Scottish Government legal advice to the Alex Salmond inquiry. There comes a point when someone becomes too toxic, the correct strategy then is to back away from them, Sturgeon is toxic and then some. Holyrood MSPs have backed a Conservative motion demanding the legal advice withheld from the Salmond inquiry be disclosed. The vote was pretty decisive, 65 votes to 55, this falls on from an earlier vote 3 weeks previously in which Holyrood voted 63-54 in favour of release on November 4.

Nothing happened.

Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton has warned John Swinney he could now face a personal vote of no confidence if he continues to withhold the material. In reality, I think Swinney would welcome a vote of no confidence. If there was ever someone who looked uneasy about what they were caught up in, John Swinney is that man. In the long run, if he is replaced there will not be a sea-change in how the SNP operates. Everything is being done to delay the Salmond inquiry, Nicola Sturgeon is playing for time. If it can be delayed enough campaigning will take place pushing the Salmond inquiry onto the backburner, then it will come back after the election in 2021. Increasingly, Sturgeon looks like she can get five more years as First Minister because campaigning is stagnant in pro UK parties in Scotland. That said, the loss of Swinney would be a blow to her credibility, because everything in the SNP is micromanaged by Team Sturgeon. So far Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has also said his party may launch legal action if the Government continues to withhold the material, but he hasn't given them a deadline. He has cocked the gun, he must now pull the trigger, and fire it to seem credible as a future FM. If there is no bullet coming out that particular barrel his credibility will take a hit. He has done the talk now he has to walk the walk, he has to put the SNP to a decision.

Finally, the media has played a considerable part in utterly failing to hold Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP to account. As to political parties, my post on 'Stockholm syndrome' rather highlights their problem of being trapped in the list system with such poor candidates who are like hedgehogs protecting their vested interest. There is so much SNP sleaze, so much SNP dirty, so much that is unclean about the SNP leadership, they are ripe for being challenged and ready for their downfall. Andrew Neil, one of the BBC's most famous political interviewers nails in this clip available on youtube. The press aren't doing their job, the politicians aren't doing their jobs properly, and the end result is a country slowly being destroyed and descending into chaos and despair. The SNP is counting on the news being suppress, which is why it is important to speak up loudly, don't be silenced, evil stalks our land. 

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                        The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

No sense of Decency, No Sense of Honour, Nicola Sturgeon's government continue to withhold evidence from Alex Salmond inquiry, Sturgeon's SNP is also accused of smear against former First Minister in an SNP Briefing Paper, Sturgeon and the SNP make Scotland's public life feel dirty and unclean, they refuse to respect the will of parliament, Holyrood is held in contempt by them, it is time for a new government in 2021, let's make that happen for all of Scotland

Dear All

No democracy can be healthy if the Government cannot be held to account, in a situation where it cannot act with honour, the job of the opposition becomes even more crucial. In Scotland, we are living under a tin pot dictator called Nicola Sturgeon. She is destroying Scotland from both the top down and the ground up. You could argue that she is destroying the country in the belief that Scots with nothing will give her their votes in the same way as many disadvantaged working class people have done in the past. Her government however is a sham, her cabinet is just window dressing, and we find ourselves in a rather odd place. Sturgeon acts as if she was the President of Scotland. In this era, she and her government are destroying small businesses with their 'voodoo mumbo jumbo' science regarding lockdowns and restrictions. There is also another thing which is being destroyed and that is the tiny wee bit of credibly that the Scottish Parliament has. Sturgeon and her SNP advisors are desperate to stop the truth coming out about their role in the Alex Salmond affair. They don't want people to know anything of note, they don't want witnesses to be interviewed, they want to suppress documents and evidence.

The Scottish Government is tainted, its tainted because there is a sizeable number of Scottish people that believe that the SNP Government attempted to destroy an innocence man using the powers of the State. We know that they acted illegally, that's proven, we know that those who acted illegally are still in their jobs, and we know that in the both 'trials' that Alex Salmond was put through that Nicola Sturgeon was extremely close to some of the women who were Salmond's accusers. How close Nicola Sturgeon was to them is suppressed by the Court of the Criminal Trial who granted these women anonymity. Everything is being done so the public never knows the full extent of what some people openly call a 'conspiracy'. And I think looking at the actions of the senior SNP Government Ministers, it's hard not to simply dismiss their views.

But the truth will eventually come out, like a pebble rolling down a hill, truth as a momentum all of its own. The Alex Salmond inquiry at Holyrood was setup to fail by the SNP, but despite this, their inquiry is toxic for Sturgeon. Sturgeon's advisors are doing everything to limit its effectiveness and shut it down. As the Salmond inquiry plods on, Nicola Sturgeon is facing an unprecedented second Holyrood defeat over her refusal to release Scottish Government legal advice. Already prior to the vote on a Conservative motion, the law firm acting for Salmond has accused the SNP of defaming them and Salmond. This was alleged to have been done in a SNP research briefing circulated among the party's MSPs. This raises many questions such as who is the author or authors of this document? Who do they work directly or indirectly for? Did someone tell them what to write in relation to Salmond and his legal team? Who vetted this document prior to it being sent to the party's MSPs? Did Nicola Sturgeon, her team or any SNP Minister sign it off as ready for publication? These are all questions which just keep on coming in the light of the Salmond inquiry doing its work.

The Scottish Conservatives have put forward a motion to parliament demanding that the legal advice later today, having already voted 63-54 in favour of release on November 4. Nicola Sturgeon's government aren't going to act in good faith, you could tell this when they said that they will release material 'relevant' to the inquiry. They decide what they consider relevant which is so open to abuse, this is why Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has said his party may launch legal action if the Government continues to withhold the material. So, why the delay, of course the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon will use Coronavirus as their shield to hide behind, but the reality covid doesn't stop the Scottish Government working. And never has, although some people say 'conspiracy', I think everyone bar the Sturgeon cabal would recognise 'cover up' as a viable description of what is going on.

This raises the question, who are they covering up for?

The Scottish Labour Party has joined the Scottish Conservatives calls for the release of the withheld documents saying that the three weeks of inaction by the Government since the first vote was "appalling". Despite Sturgeon promising the inquiry they would get access to anything they wanted, this isn't true. Nicola Sturgeon is doing what she is doing best, lying, being deceitful and untrustworthy, but the deeper the SNP dig to conceal evidence, the deep her problems become. Nicola Sturgeon has been called a 'liar' by Scottish MSP Oliver Mundell, but he is only one of many who openly do this, his niche was saying this in Parliament and getting it on the official record. How did Nicola Sturgeon end up in this mess, arrogance and contempt would be high on the list of probable causes, the Nationalists think they are smart, and at the same time they view others as stupid, when this mentality plays out, it's their stupidity which ends up on display. The concept that Alex Salmond would just walk away shows the level of their IQ and thought processes.

The idea that a rigged Holyrood investigation into Salmond would ever be successful defies belief. Using the mechanism of government was the biggest mistake ever because it they had to fight on evidence and within the law. If Sturgeon was smart, she could have simply blocked Salmond as a candidate, instead of evidence and law, Team Sturgeon could have used a panel of stooges to reject him with subjective opinion. But they wanted to destroy Alex Salmond, they wanted him found guilty, and if he had been, a Court would have sent him to prison, but the SNP couldn't rig a jury.

In a fresh motion the Scottish Tories said the Government should “respect the will of the Parliament by providing the legal advice without any further delay”. This is in part comedy, the SNP use the “respect the will of the Parliament” gag all the time, to have it flung back in their face is hilarious. When the SNP talk about “respect the will of the Parliament”, what they are actually talking about is respecting the will of President Sturgeon. Sturgeon is one 'President' who doesn't command respect. When I look at Deputy First Minister John Swinney, I see a man who is effectively involved in something rather dirty that even he seems ashamed to be part of it.

Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said:

“It is appalling that three weeks after the Scottish Parliament instructed the Scottish government to hand over the legal advice, nothing has happened. This is treating the Scottish Parliament and the Committee with complete contempt. The Scottish government has tried every trick in the book to obstruct the work of the Committee, the latest episode of which is to withhold the legal advice they received in their botched handling of the judicial review.

“This cannot continue. The Scottish government must today state its willingness to publish the legal advice. The secrecy must end.”

I think that fighting the SNP on their ground, their court and their rules is a waste of time, I think parties should go the Court route, parliament isn't respected by the SNP and never was, to them, it's a vehicle and platform to promote independence. If you judge the SNP on their parliamentary, what Bills have they brought forth which were a game changer in creating business, or making people's lives better, where are the big ideas? Here is a link to the Scottish Parliament website so you can look at Bills that they have passed, you pick a year a random and ask yourself, is that it? Pick another year, and ask yourself, why is it such low grade pap which is making onto the statute books and why so few Bills at that?  

https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/72402.aspx  

Finally, just as the SNP has no goodwill towards Westminster, all their actions demonstrate clearly no goodwill towards Holyrood either. The Salmond inquiry is toxic for the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon, she is hated by the diehard Nationalists, and the pro UK aren't going to be throwing her a lifeline anytime soon. What does it say that Sturgeon jumps to the aid of buffoon Ian Blackford over what some people was bullying, accusations of 'bullying' an English photographer. I would say, she is so short of allies that she is forced to cling to fools, years ago, I called the SNP a 'rat ship', can anyone say I wasn't spot on in that assessment? As to Blackford, fresh from his "bullying" row, he is back doing what he does best, making a fool of himself publicly. His latest gaffe is to attack Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the UK's contribution in foreign aid, and to be told by the PM, 'We're second biggest donor in G7!' Yet again, we have an SNP MP facing total humiliation because they are arrogant and stupid, and don't know what they are talking about beyond bite size chunks of information. The SNP are noted to have picked bad people to help them, and also bad candidates because they represent no threat to the leadership, in fact for the most part, they are tied to the Sturgeon regime for a living. Anyone who thinks the SNP will suddenly act honourably in the Salmond inquiry is living a delusion, and when the people in charge will not act with honour, like liquid, it will travel downwards to others.

Roll on Court action methinks!

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                        The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

The NeverEnding Story of Political Self Harm in Scottish Labour, why isn't Scottish Labour not treating every by-election as a priority, Clackmannanshire East, 195 people vote for Scottish Labour, does the party need better organisers, how does Anas Sarwar constitutional gaffe help Labour progress, and the Battle for Pollok, Scottish Conservatives Party select Dr. Craig Ross, 25 years in education teaching politics, Nicola Sturgeon's straw man, Humza Yousaf wouldn't like this Conservative selection, especially in a TV debate

Dear All

A couple of stories caught my eye over the weekend, one of them was the Ward by-election result in Clackmannanshire East. The population  according to online data which I found is said to be roughly 8,710, as Wards go, this isn't a big ward by any means. What is interesting about the result is there appears to be a straight sizeable swop from the Scottish Labour Party to the Scottish Conservatives. I would hazard a guess and say this is because the Scottish Labour Party is weak when it comes to defence of the United Kingdom. Too many mixed messages coming out which do the party no good at all and leave voters angry. The Conservatives polled 51% of the vote, up by 9.7%, the SNP came second with 32% and Scottish Labour came third on 8.1%, on a turnout of 35%.

In previous articles, I have highlighted that Scottish Labour which had a national vote share of 20% had further to fall if steps where not taken in re-organising how it campaigns. In politics, when parties get either a good or bad result, they will try and put an even more positive spin on it. No one wants to be seen as an abject loser politically. The parties could for example focus on how many votes they got, how much of the percentage share they got, or even if there was a rise in their percentage share. Everything said post result has one objective to make you think they are relevant and worth listening too.

From 20% of the vote, the Scottish Labour Party dropped to 8.1%, only 195 people out of roughly 8,710 eligible to vote thought Scottish Labour was worth their vote. Myself, when it comes to voting, I don't like to deal in spin, or gloss, because putting a brave face on it, isn't a viable long term strategy especially for a party in decline. The brutal truth of the Clackmannanshire East by-election is that the 195 people who voted Scottish Labour is 2.24 % of population of 8710 in the ward. let that number sink in, 2.24%. Given the role that council services play in our lives, that percentage is absolutely staggering, especially for a major UK party such as the Labour Party. I would say that Scottish Labour organisers should be at every by-election to either assist, run it or help out in any capacity the CLP deems fit.

Traditionally council by-elections have low turns, this one was 35%, but the news wasn't all bad, the Scottish Conservative candidate polled 1,226 votes, Denis Coyne 'walked it' as they say. In the bigger elections such as Holyrood and Westminster, voters will turn out in greater numbers, but equal status should be extended to council elections by the public. Sadly, the public view 'the council' as a lesser body despite the wide ranging powers they have in the lives of original people. Although there is much talk about 'grassroots' in Scottish Labour, there isn't enough credit given to the bulk of elected Labour members, the Councillors. Instead the press et all are all wrongly Holyrood fixated. Scottish Labour Councillors are the ones carrying the load for Scottish Labour, not the MSPs and not the sole Labour MP in Edinburgh.

Scottish Labour if you didn't know has a team of paid organisers, and it's about time that Scottish Labour HQ made better use of them, the route out of the party's difficulties is in part one of education. Scottish Labour need better trained activists. Education isn't the only issue plaguing the party, recently Labour MSP Anas Sarwar said as Scottish Labour’s new constitution spokesman that the party will oppose an independence referendum until at least 2026. When I read his statement, my first thought was WTF, this stands for 'What the Fuck', and WTF is right, what does that mean, does it mean after 2026, Scottish Labour may change its mind in relation to a Scottish referendum? Does Scottish Labour not grasp the rank stupidity of supporting indyref 2 and then saying they will campaign against it? How well did that work out for them during the Brexit referendum. I don't think they do grasp it, Scottish Labour is supposed to be a pro UK Party, the only thing which statements like this from Anas actually do is to alienate pro UK Labour voters in Scottish Labour, and make them vote for other parties.

Kezia Dugdale famously made the "mistake" of saying she could see a reason under certain circumstances for voting for Scottish independence. This act of self harm caused so much damage to the party, and her saying it was no small matter as future results at the next council election showed.

Where is Scottish Labour's commitment to the United Kingdom?

There was a vote in 2014, and the Scottish people voted decisively to remain part of the UK.

What we have here is the classic nonsense of trying to 'ride two horses at the same time', Scottish Labour has done this before and well just look where the party is now. People can argue over different opinions, but you cannot argue with a ballot box result. Clackmannanshire East is definitive for Scottish Labour, it's a failure to recognise that every election no matter how small is important to them now, just as a Holyrood by-election would be. Anas Sarwar said it is up to the people of Scotland to decide their future, but added that Labour will not support indyref 2 for the whole of the next Holyrood term.

This prompted a fellow Labour MSP Neil Findlay to ask:

"When did this become policy? Where was the debate? This is just making stuff up on the hoof."

Anas Sarwar's position is incoherent, if his goal is to wreck Scottish Labour's voter base in order to oust Richard Leonard as leader, this is the way to go. Anas was not picked by Richard Leonard when he became leader to be in the Scottish Shadow Cabinet, he was also stripped of his health brief. He recently joined the Shadow Cabinet again and was appointed Shadow Constitution minister. Was Richard Leonard's judgement right to appoint him to this post, well the simple answer is no. If anything, Leonard should have reappointed him back to shadow health sec. The Scottish Labour leader said:

"I am delighted to welcome back my friend Anas Sarwar to the Shadow Cabinet".

Given how bitter the leadership contest was in 2017, how much stock do you put in Richard Leonard saying Anas is his 'friend', especially after he previously fired him and sent him to the back benches?

Leonard added:

"In his new role as Shadow Constitution minister. Anas will be part of a forward looking and united Scottish Labour frontbench at Holyrood, which will hold Nicola Sturgeon's government to account over its failures in handling the Covid pandemic and promote Scottish Labour's transformative programme ahead of next year's election."

Labour's transformative programme?

This must be a secret because nothing I have received from the party during this entire year hints at any transformative programme. I know nothing of, who is running, when it is happening, what the content is, who is going to deliver it locally or online, and when it starts. It seems Scottish Labour leaders fall into a trap of saying they are going to 'fix' Scottish Labour then fail to do so. Jim Murphy famously said he had 'fixed' Scottish Labour then promptly lost to the SNP who won 56 Westminster seats in the 2015 election. I still remember my post 12 weeks out from that election day called, 'fucking it all up', and in the aftermath of just a single Labour MP being elected in Scotland, the title of that post was spot on.   

Everyone knows the right wing of Scottish Labour want Leonard out, they think they can experience a return to the glory days of Blairism. The problem is, Blairism worked because people were ignorant of what Blair was all about, and his lies, the people aren't going to be tricked again. New Labour is dead to the people of Scotland, but the right wing of the party lives in denial, New Labour in Scotland created 'Anti Labour' among people who were traditional core Labour voters. The people want political leaders to stand by them in times of need, Blairism offers elected people as ineffective 'line managers'. The SNP was ideally placed to be the vessel for the Scottish people's protest vote, and over time the protest vote has found no reason to return to the Labour fold. Scottish Labour didn't put its house in order, so people left it to collapse, its historical fact.

The other story which caught my attention was someone being selected as candidate for the Scottish Conservatives, someone smart. Dr Craig Ross has been selected to run as the Scottish Conservative Candidate for Pollok. I have known Craig Ross since my early days at Glasgow University when he studied politics. If Craig gets into a political debate with Humza Yousaf, he will wipe the floor with him easily. Craig was a politics lecturer and we had so many chats on politics, he is quick, knowledgeable and can think on his feet, if elected, I could see him being appointed as Minister of Education if Douglas Ross becomes FM. One of the things which he imparted to me early on when we talked about education was that the core skill to teach young people was how to analyse. He explained by teaching this skill at school, students would become better students with a deeper understanding of the subjects they were learning. By having the skill to analyse a person could break down a subject and therefore learn at a faster rate.

There is of course a big hurdle in front of him, 2016, the Conservative candidate Thomas Haddow was able to get 2563 votes. The SNP won the seat with 15,316 votes, so Craig Ross certainly has a mountain to climb in Pollok. The Scottish Labour vote in 2016 under Johann Lamont was 8,834, a drop of 15.9% from the previous election, this is because she didn't work the area in the long campaign. Another handicap was also the majority of membership of Pollok CLP wouldn't come out and work for her. Her campaign surprised me in that it was very badly run and organised. I had to ask for campaigning meetings to take place so people could have the feeling of being involved, and be part of the process. This is something that her campaign manager should have done but didn't, he ditched the campaign early to chase an employment opportunity. If I hadn't done the Govan part of the Glasgow Pollok Constituency myself on her behalf, no one would have. I personally was surprised that someone who had such a high profile in Scottish Labour couldn't get people to help her out regularly through-out her campaign. I did 31 days of double shift campaigning for her. In Govan alone, I did 15 days by myself and was told no one was available to help out. In fact, if I had another 5 campaigning days, I would have made it down to Govan Cross and nearly would done the entire area.

As far as I am aware, no candidate has been selected to stand in Pollok for Scottish Labour just yet, there has been no hustings held, no information of any kind to members that anyone has put themselves forward. If Johann Lamont stands as the candidate, I will not be doing her campaign, back in 2016, she made me a promise then reneged on it. I put a lot of stock in trust, if a person doesn't hold up their commitment by accident or misfortune, I don't hold bias against them. I demonstrated goodwill to Lamont in campaigning for her, she effectively spat in my face. Well, lesson learned about Johann Lamont and her integrity, to be clear since 2016, Johann Lamont has never apologised for her conduct towards me. On election night 2016, she was shocked to see me in counting hall, five months earlier, I had arranged to have an alternative plan to get a ticket to the count. That said I wanted to give Johann Lamont every benefit of the doubt to prove me wrong, but she acted as I predicted.     

So, what about Dr Craig Ross, I found a link to a video he made, it gives you a sense of the depth he will bring to the Scottish Conservatives. I think when you listen to him, you will readily understand that he has a sense of where Scotland is politically and what is needed to basically drag us back out of the mud. He has a depth which many of our political class lack, and 25 years of teaching politics makes him well suited and well read to speak on a wide range of issues.

https://twitter.com/Craig4P/status/1330177466120491011

In a debate between Dr Craig Ross and Humza Yousaf, you will see how out of his depth Humza really is, Humza isn't someone who can talk about issues of substance. We can only hope that this encounter is on TV, you can then at least enjoy it with the rest of the family. Politically, Humza Yousaf is a man of straw, his use to the SNP is limited, he is tied firmly to Sturgeon's apron strings. He operates in a very limited narrative, ask him questions and you will soon see how shallow he is on policy. I have no idea who Scottish Labour will have as a candidate in Pollok but they will be faced with a three way fight for the seat, and not an easy ride. On one side the SNP dominate with numbers on the ground, on the other side the Scottish Conservatives have a formidable candidate in Dr. Craig Ross who has lived and breathed politics most of his life, and can fight his corner. In the middle will be the Scottish Labour candidate who won't be able to equal the numbers of the SNP or the intellect of  Dr. Craig Ross. On an operational level, the Scottish Labour candidate will have to cope with a CLP which has effectively crashed in terms of activism. I know all this because I spelt out the changes which need to happen to Pollok CLP prior to covid closing everything down. One of the changes which I said need to happen was the outright rejection of any candidate who is also a list candidate.

Finally, it could be a very lively campaign in Glasgow Pollok in 2021.

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                        The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

'Stockholm Syndrome' in Scotland, senior Scottish Conservatives have branded Boris Johnson a 'liability' after the PM has said 'devolution has been a disaster', why should it take the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to say publicly something which everyone knows and has known for years, certain Scottish Conservatives have spent too long in a broken Scottish political system that they have become normalised to it, they appear to misunderstand what their business is, and what product they are selling, and to whom

Dear All

It has always been said that the Conservative Party is the party of business, I think most people would acknowledge that point even if they don't like the relationship between the Conservatives and 'big business'. I have never been a businessman, never own a business so my view is of someone who is on the sidelines. In business, you need to understand several things, you need to know your product, you need to know how to price, market and deliver your product so that your business 'flows'. This isn't rocket science, some items require specialised advertising if they target a niche market. You want as large a customer base has possible, and of course, you want repeat business from customers. If all this sounds plausible then we are on the same page mentally, there are other factors to be sure to take into account such as location and other variables, but in general, you should have a business plan which appeals to your 'core' market and build on that base.

So, what happens, if a new team takes over and trashes the plan of appealing to your core market?

The best example that I can come up which shows how disastrous thinking can ruin a business model is 'Star Wars'. Certain types of movies achieve an almost zen like quality among its followers, they allow the customer to extend beyond the cinematic experience of watching the movie. Star Wars does this, Star Trek does this also and so does The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The first Star Wars movie set a tone which had an almost mystical quality to it, a story of good versus evil, a story of a journey leading to self sacrifice and public service on behalf of others. George Lucas, the creator and director understood his 'product' because he could immerse himself in a world he created. Star Wars was a collaborative process involving many people, but undoubtedly it was George Lucas vision.

When Disney bought the rights to Star Wars, they failed to recognise or understand what the vision was. The last three Star Wars movies not only were bad, they were awful, and the people who made them showed utter contempt for the 'core' base. Rian Johnson who changed the franchise didn't understand his market, and he didn't understand his duty to the source material.   

https://deadline.com/2019/12/star-wars-rian-johnson-defends-the-last-jedi-as-fan-debate-churns-on-1202815123/

One guy who 'gets it' in the Star Wars universe is Jon Favreau, his series called The Mandelorian, it is starting its second series, it's a fan favourite, and Favreau achieved all this because he knew he had to cater for the 'core' base. Simply put get them and everyone else will follow because the product is so good. Why will they follow, because even if they don't respect the lore, they can appreciate a well made and crafted storyline, and show. This is a quite a long intro but I want you to get is how important it is to understand business and the various aspects to market for success. The same principles apply to any business, and politics is a business, the products are parties, policies and people, that is what is being sold to you as a 'customer'.

Recently, Boris Johnson said that 'devolution has been a disaster' for Scotland. So, is he right? If he is right, why has his remarks caused such an upset, and the next question is his claim backed up by proof? If we take it we aren't relying on his opinion, we're therefore forced to look at facts as they relate to the party in charge of Scotland, the SNP and the people involved in running it and the SNP Scottish Government. At this point, it would be easy to just type of a mountain of information, all of it freely available in the public domain. I have chosen one website to give you a taste of the disaster that Boris Johnson has been alluding to which could have more added to it.

https://www.effiedeans.com/2020/10/the-snp-hall-of-shame.html    

And like any good movie, there is a sequel.

https://www.effiedeans.com/2020/10/the-snp-hall-of-shame-part-2.html

Devolution under the SNP has been broken, the Scottish Government has been corrupted and has been used as a battering ram to attack Westminster. The real purpose of devolution was to make the lives of Scottish people better, by the notion that decisions taken locally would be better managed to suit local issues. Under the SNP, and assuming you clicked on the links above to read about the carnage caused by them in public office and life, you can see this is not so. Devolution isn't just a disaster as Boris says, it has failed and failed miserably, we have a second rate parliament that is filled with third rate politicians. It's a clown's circus which needs abolished, it's a parliament that cannot provide an effective opposition, it can't hold the SNP Government to account, and it is ultimately held in contempt by the SNP because they control the levers of the Scottish Government. One thing the Salmond inquiry teaches us is how much the SNP are willing to ignore the will of parliament to allow it to function properly.

What I find incredible is that senior Scottish Conservatives claim that Boris Johnson is a liability for saying something which they should have said years ago. In truth, it's the senior Scottish Conservatives who don't understand Scotland, if they did, they wouldn't have spent 40 years in the political wilderness. The party became viable because people, voters gave them a chance after the decline of Scottish Labour under Kezia Dugdale. Kezia made the Scottish Conservatives a vessel for the pro UK vote after saying she could see a reason under certain circumstances to vote for Scottish Independence. It wasn't good marketing that uplifted the Conservatives in Scotland but rather right place and right time. The fact that there appears to be several senior party sources willing to say that the Prime Minister was “making life difficult” for them ahead of the Holyrood election is interesting. It begs a question, why haven't you been making life difficult for the SNP over the past 13 years that they have been in power?

Why haven't the Scottish Conservatives been making life difficult for the SNP, why has it took Boris Johnson and the UK Party to do that for them?

Again, and for the avoidance of doubt, devolution has been a "disaster" and was the “biggest mistake” of former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Blair thought he could set up a rigged parliament that the SNP could take part in but could never win, in order to quell support for independence. The reality is that his planners didn't notice the flaws in the rigged system which has led to the current constitutional crisis. Although Boris Johnson’s official spokesman has attempted to clarify what Boris meant when he made the remarks at a meeting with northern English MPs, he added Boris will “be the voice of the majority of Scots” and said he “fully supported devolution”. Personally, I wouldn't have backtracked, devolution can never work if the SNP controls the levers of power in the Government and Parliament of Scotland. It is unlikely that the SNP is ever going to change its modus operandi of preaching hate and division, in this climate, how is devolution going to work?

Boris' spokesman said:

“This government continues to put the union at the heart of all that we do. Now more than ever is the time for the United Kingdom to be pulling together to focus on defeating this virus. The PM has been clear that he thinks the four corners of the UK are stronger together and he will be the voice of the majority of Scottish people who voted decisively to keep the UK together, and he will always stand against those trying to separate the United Kingdom. He is very clear that he rejects the SNP’s call to break up the UK”.

So, where does that leave Douglas Ross as Scottish leader, well if you read online comments, the people that Douglas Ross needs to reach out to the 'core' pro UK vote aren't happy with him. I think unhappy rather dilutes the strength of feeling they currently have towards him, some people have even gone onto contact him directly on twitter. There is a thing called the 80/20 rule, 20% of your customers buy 80% of your product, to me it seems that Douglas Ross thinks like Rian Johnson, who was more interested in the 80% who only buy 20%. If Douglas Ross loses his 'core' vote, he will be in trouble at the next Holyrood election. It's the 20% who are the magnet to pull in other votes because they 'believe'. I believe that Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross is wrong, and he is wrong to have communicated his anger over the remarks directly to Boris over something he should have said himself. Is there anything that Holyrood is doing which couldn't have been done if the Scottish Parliament didn't exist and Westminster had control? I would venture very little indeed, all the services that currently operate like the Health Service, Education and law would also still operate.

Ross did say:

“Devolution is not the problem, the nationalist administration in Edinburgh is the problem because they use the tools of devolution and the levers of power, not to benefit, every single individual in every single community right across Scotland, but to further their aim to separate Scotland from the rest of the United Kingdom. The SNP will use anything they can to further the ambition to separate Scotland from the rest of the United Kingdom, and to take the focus away from their domestic record.”

Nothing he said there is unknown to the Scottish public.

A Conservative source said:

“This is not what we need right now, six months from the elections. Boris is turning in to a liability, and he needs to stop talking about issues that he clearly does not understand. Devolution has not been a disaster by any means, and while I think he is talking about the way it has been weaponised by the SNP, it isn’t coming across like that.”

If the Scottish Conservative pitch at the next Holyrood election is not a platform to fix a broken system, then could someone let me what it is, in the comment section. Devolution from 1999 to 2007 didn't work properly either, so what is Douglas Ross' plan? If it is change the deck chairs and seating, and remove constant indyref 2 from the Scottish Government, yes, he can halt that if he wins. But people will be looking beyond that and prior to the election, they are looking for "proof", the ten foot big as shit, balls in your face truth. If the proof isn't forthcoming or no one can grasp what the public needs, then it won't be Boris who failed to win Scotland at the election, it will be Douglas Ross. A bad 2021, and a bad 2024 for Douglas Ross will make his position as leader untenable. He has already had a public argument with his boss which his core customers didn't like one bit. He also fails to grasp that his customers can take their business elsewhere, there are other viable alternatives as it relates to the Holyrood 'list' in 2021.

Finally, I hope that the way I have framed this blog post has some educational value to you to ponder on. As someone who can step back and look at things as they are, some things are emerging which I am sure pro UK supporters didn't expect. There are senior Scottish Conservatives who have spent too much within their political bubble.They have lost perspective. They might know the 'ins and out' of the Holyrood system but they seem blinded by reality both socially and politically. The cause is having spent too much time in a broken system, it has become normalised to them. I have previously talked about the Holyrood 'list' system having created in effect a 'hostage' mentality for parties MSPs, I stand by that opinion. I read what senior Scottish Conservatives have said about Boris and I think 'Stockholm Syndrome'. Boris is right, devolution has been a disaster because when it was setup the concept was wrong. Maybe the senior Scottish Conservatives need a refresher course in business, and then a course in, 'who votes for you' and they better learn quick, six months till an election! 

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                        The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

A SNP Fool and his Mouth; SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford angers die hard Nationalists as he spouts indyref 2 in 2021to Lesley Riddoch, Blackford let's slip his real aim is to get people to vote for Nicola Sturgeon's SNP in the next Holyrood election, there has been an awakening, the SNP clique have used people as cheap labour and skimmed them of their cash, how long till SNP members realise that they need to vote against Sturgeon, and then drain the SNP swamp?

Dear All

Yesterday's timely post was all about how certain sections of the SNP are wheeled out to galvanise people to be voters and activists, then to con them, to use them, to treat people who support Scottish independence as 'MUGs'. As far as I understand it, there is no term for those whom Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP have duped into work for them as activists. These activists have expectations, chiefly they want the SNP to get a Section 30 order for another referendum. So, let's give these 'gullible' people a term, a term which they can rally round, 'Yes Mugs'. Yes Mugs need to to learn that they're walking on a one way street, the SNP will continually take from them. as much and as long as possible, of their resources.

Before we continue, where is the indyref 2 cash donated to the SNP by ordinary people?  

There are two speakers in this youtube video, I am not fans of either, but in this exchange, Lesley Riddoch tries to nail 'jelly' to a wall without little success. You wonder after watching SNP MP Ian Blackford in action did Riddoch have a 'material change' as regards the SNP leadership?

I find it interesting how people are 'getting it' now, as I have previously written about how the SNP has been 'playing' people over years. In the interview on youtube, Blackford was unable to answer even the most basic questions, his theme was clear, beg people to work for the SNP at the Holyrood election in 2021. Why should he even have to ask this? What has happened, well, one thing he steered clear of, is that rather a lot of SNP members aren't willing to support the leadership of Nicola Sturgeon. When people leave so goes their free labour to do the campaigning, and so too goes their money. There seems to be a mood that the exodus from the SNP is now a real thing, of course many things drive it, firstly, people know that Nicola Sturgeon and the rest of the leadership aren't campaigning for Scottish independence. It took them awhile to figure that bunny out but they got there eventually. Secondly, Alex Salmond and what people term 'the conspiracy' to destroy him, his reputation and career.

The 'Alphabet women' haven't been forgotten by the Yes movement, or by Salmond's allies of senior SNP, and the rank and file SNP movement. No one is forgetting what happened because there is burning and pressing need for justice, and in those of a lesser IQ who aren't willing to do the deep dive beyond the glitzy headlines, they just want 'revenge'. They want revenge on Nicola Sturgeon, Leslie Evans, the cabal in the SNP Government and every 'alphabet women', they want removed from public office whether they be an elected politician or a civil servant. You see people who back a 'cause' all have a common belief, they believe in in the 'purity' of it. Nicola Sturgeon and the 'Alphabet women' have been effectively accused of polluting the purity of the Yes movement. Sturgeon has certainly in the eyes of diehard Nationalists crossed an unforgiveable line which no apology can ever be accepted. In the eyes of diehard Nationalists, Nicola Sturgeon must fall, she has to resign as First Minister and as SNP leader. But Sturgeon has a problem, in her post FM world, she wouldn't be welcome in Scotland, and she wouldn't be welcome in the rest of the UK, maybe the Welsh would or possibly 'keep a light on' for Nicola due to her 'woke credentials'.

Throughout this interview, Blackford is a man who came across as bland, he had nothing to say of note, he had no vision, and his offer to work with the Yes movement sound all rather hollow to me and interestingly to indy supporters. His real pitch was about keeping an SNP clique in power so as to not alter their luxury lifestyle. Blackford is also smart enough to know that a fall from grace from Holyrood by the SNP happens, it is also a fall from grace eventually for those who occupy a Westminster seat. Blackford's interest to me came across as self preservation, it is clear that Blackford has no plan to make indyref 2 happen, neither does Nicola Sturgeon. And if you want the clues, to follow the breadcrumbs all the way home, you look at the agenda of the SNP Conference. It's a Conference designed to dodge issues, to give the appearance of unity, and to firefight, the flames of indyref 2, which have already been snuffed out by Nicola Sturgeon's 'cold water' approach. Never ask for something in politics that you cannot deliver or get, but Sturgeon is forced to ask for a Section 30 order in 2021, and she will be publicly humiliated when the answer is no!  

Do you think that in the wake of 'No' that the SNP will be open to Boris Johnson's love in? What the SNP plan to do in 2021 is drama, they won't be indyref 2 campaigning on the doorsteps, and Blackford said as much as he touted the 'new campaigning', it's all to be done digital. Digital campaigning does play an effective part but did Blackford let slip that Holyrood 2021 is doing to be a political restricted campaign, I think he did. I think the SNP wants a digital election because Sturgeon intends to keep lockdown in Scotland doing well into next year. I think she will try to ban normal campaigning which could see a legal challenge from smaller parties who would suffer most. Scottish Labour certainly doesn't want to go the route of a digital campaign given the state of their polling which is under 20% depending on where you source information.  

In order to rally decline in support, the only option the SNP will have to resort to is crisis, they will manufacture grievance with Westminster in a rather public way. Of course, mass walks are out as the SNP at present have only been allowed 3 people in the Chamber of the House of Commons. 

2021 is the year of SNP public dramas!

The real drama however will not be seen, Salmond's allies are a pipeline of info out of the party, we could see them pulling out all the stops as the SNP becomes a leaking vessel. It will drip drip drip, because it is probably likely that the SNP will still be the largest party in Holyrood. Whether they gain a majority is a source of speculation because recently pro UK parties particularly the Scottish Conservatives have received blowback due to the comments of their Scottish leader Douglas Ross. People are angry with Douglas Ross, some people call him an appeaser of the SNP, are shades of Neville Chamberlain about to be pin on him? The mood is growing in pro UK ranks for what I would describe as 'endless political war', people have had enough and they want a fight with the Nationalists, not a couple of political punches by politicians and then let them all be friends in the Holyrood canteen. They want new people in the Chamber at Holyrood not willing to back down to Nicola Sturgeon and the rest of her puppet cabinet.

Finally, there will no indyref 2 in 2021, Blackford is rallying the troops because Holyrood MSPs are seen as compromised, if you wait at the 'political bus stop', you will see Angus McNeil and Mhairi Black come along with the same garbage. You can sense the angry of die hard nationalists is real, you can see the rejection of the SNP leadership as a slow process which is like the pebble on the start of its journey down the mountain. Given enough time the pebble hitting off others causes a momentum which will be hard to get out of the way. Nicola Sturgeon is a woman playing for time, and time is against her, if she ends up as a minority leader of the Scottish government, her mode of operation will be to do the 'foreign countries' circuit, failed leaders do this so as to not face the public. But before all the chaos starts, someone needs to find a pebble, find a mountain, find the path they want the pebble to take and then wait. They  are waiting for the SNP leadership to be in the descent path and then drop it, and wait and watch. 

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University   

The Great SNP Con Trick; SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon relies on 'gullible Scots' to support and fund the party, here is how it works, the Westminster SNP faction calls for Scottish independence referendums to 'rally the troops', while the SNP Holyrood Group stays silent because of their dreadful record in government, every election is based on false promises that Nicola Sturgeon has no intention or power to deliver, it's the same con trick at every single election, whatever happened to the canny Scot?

Dear All

Have you ever wondered why the SNP keeps saying now, that a fresh Scottish independence vote must happen next year? On side of the equation, SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon is dogged by huge political scandals, finance and care homes come to mind immediately. But the biggests of the scandals must be the one that relates to Alex Salmond, this will emerge forefront once the tide of coronavirus subsides. Coronavirus for Nicola Sturgeon has been a godsend, it allows her not to be held to account, it allows her SNP Government to not held to account, and for her importantly, it buys time. Over many months, people have been complaining about the Nicola Sturgeon BBC broadcasts, they are SNP party political broadcasts under the guise of Covid briefings. I mentioned this right from the start, it took other people in politics several months to twig to that idea. The BBC in Scotland has failed to do its public broadcast duty and remit as it relates to The Nicola Sturgeon TV Show. As she dominates the TV, other party leaders are not given parity in air time, next year's election due to this, is in effect being unduly influenced, or you could say, it's being outright 'rigged' to favour one person.

The main theme of the SNP campaign of 2021 will be Nicola Sturgeon, so a question which should occupy you is, when will opposition start normal political campaigning?

Next year's election despite what the SNP say is not a vote for Scottish independence, nor is it a mandate for a referendum, this is the big lie that Nicola Sturgeon and others will be selling to the public ad nauseam until polling day. It's a rather large smokescreen to get her five more years as First Minister, five more years pay, perks and attention seeking. The field of who will contest that election however will not be normal, on both the Nationalist and pro Uk, new players will also take part. What effect these new players will have on the results as it relates to the list, is yet to be determined. As to constituency seats, you will not see much in the way of change such as the political tsunami which happened in 2011. Different people are angry for different reasons with the main parties contesting this election and they have good reasons. They are angry at the SNP, and Sturgeon in particular for pushing independence on to a back burner, and others are angry at the pro UK parties for being an incredibly weak opposition in defence of the United Kingdom. Chuck covid restrictions into the mix and you can't see the opposition parties even making any prolonged efforts to even appear as a 'government in waiting'.

I would like to touch on the issue briefly of Boris Johnson campaign in Scotland, let's say for the exercise, he heeds what some Scottish Conservatives say and stays away entirely. If the Scottish Conservatives lose badly, don't even come close to winning Holyrood, what future is there for Douglas Ross remaining leader? Even if he hangs on to the title official opposition leader but the Conservative vote is marginally up or down for various reasons, where does he go? Does he hang around till 2024 and make a stab at Westminster in the hope of a good showing? And what if that result is shows little or no movement towards progress at that Westminster election? Saying 'no' to Boris Johnson campaigning in Scotland places Douglas Ross as a hostage to fortune. He understands this I am sure, and he has already said he isn't giving up his part time job as a football referee unless he becomes First Minister. Politics is like poker, when you want to 'win the pot', you have to go 'all in'. Can anyone reasonably say that Douglas Ross has gone 'all in' politically for Scotland at present? Douglas Ross hasn't, he fails to understand that he has to commit first to the Scottish voters, not the other way round.            

So, where is the mantra of indyref 2 next year coming from? Well predictably, it comes from a source which has no power to implement anything. It comes from someone who is an even bigger fool that SNP candidate, and Sturgeon ally, Angus Robertson. SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford has 'demanded' a fresh independence referendum next year, Blackford is a man who has no credibility or respect from his peers at Westminster. He is what working class people would term in layman's terms a 'banger'. Ian Blackford can insist all he likes that a victory for the SNP at May Holyrood elections would be a mandate, but legally it isn't. None of the pro UK opposition parties are also making his ridiculous claim on mandates, no one is buying into his illusion because it's a simply a mere rallying cry to get people to work for the SNP. As it stands at present, pro UK opposition parties are set to do badly, because the people who are elected in the main parties are weak, ineffective and cannot get or hold public trust. There has been abject failure of pro UK opposition parties to build trust with the public, they have effective retreated into a political bubble making clichés remarks to anyone who will care to listen to them. Can you name the Shadow Cabinets of either the Scottish Labour or Scottish Conservatives, I suspect you cannot. The reason you can't is for the most part, their lack of ability to get themselves noticed, and secondly to produce policies that stir your imagination and thirdly, you have stopped taking an interest in them.

If they can't be interested to promote their Shadow Cabinet jobs and policies, why would you as a member of the public be interested?

In response to the SNP mantra of second mandate next year for indy, ex PM Gordon Brown has entered the fray and insisted Nicola Sturgeon should be focused on coronavirus crisis. What we are seeing as members of the public is an 'echo chamber' in operation which has no relevance to the people of Scotland. Politics in Scotland has been reduced to a TV soap opera in which we are invited to buy into the everyday lives of rich middle class folk. It's River City on steroids, they want you to hear their opinions when in fact they should be listening to yours as a member of the public. The era of public service has long since died, can you name a 'people's champion' in Scottish politics?  No, you can't because these people weren't selected because they want to stand up for the people, but rather they were selected because they are 'cogs'. They are little people who fit into a party machine. As 'cogs', they haven't moved Scotland forward, one person who has expressed this notion of the rich middle political class failing the working class is Andrew Neil, formerly of the BBC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P68kbF6t18

After listening to what he said, and the response of the Sturgeon's ally, Alyn Smith, you see what the priorities of the SNP are, and it isn't the people of Scotland. For the SNP, an anti English party which someone people have dubbed, the 'Yes Racists', it's all about money, power and status. Here is an example of how an SNP Government funded NGO operates which has angered ordinary people.

The SNP isn't an independence party, they want to leave the UK to immediately hand over power and Scotland's resources in return for a seat at the European Union table. One thing that Blackford has said is that indyref 2 has been delayed, this is a lie. It's a lie because permission was never given by Westminster to hold a second referendum, you can't delay something you have no power to do. All of what Blackford says is a smokescreen to galvanise what I would describe as the 'gullible'. The SNP need the 'gullible' mainly working class to knock doors and deliver leaflets, they need to given the impression that they are a community based and community orientated party. If you look at various parts of Glasgow, you will know this is a lie, in poor areas, the SNP solely link to local organisations to infiltrate and exploit them for publicity, they say the 'support'. This is like a football fan supporting a football team, all the big decisions and direction, they have no part of.

I am surprised that 'alarm' is said to be suddenly growing in Westminster, because the main opposition parties have had over 13 years to get their act together. They had 13 years as it relates to their operations in Scotland to change. Scottish Labour has an ongoing pressing need to reform, but they steadfastly refuse to do so. Why haven't they done so? The same people who the public have rejected time and time again remain in situ. If you are a failed Scottish Labour MSP, you just become a failed Scottish Labour MP candidate, or future Councillor candidate if you need the money and are confident the system will get you in. The lack of effective opposition is appalling in this country. The lack of organised campaigning is appalling, the lack of resources which should be supplied to people in order to campaign is appalling. Why is it that Scottish Labour thinks that poor people who are activists have the resources to do phone canvassing and run up a high telephone bill? If people are supplying their labour to effective do an office job for the party, then shouldn't they be supplied the equipment? Cheap labour is hard to find, free labour is nearly impossible, so shouldn't Scottish Labour value unpaid activism more, after all, it's their most important campaign resource.

For some time, the Scottish public have been bombarded with polls commissioned by Nationalists to generate inter4est in indyref 2. These polls are running in a 'culture of hate' which the SNP have generated against the English, and particularly Boris Johnson. Instead of believe the lie that the English Tories are to blame for all Scotland's ills, focus on the people responsible for the destruction of Scotland. Who are these people? They are Nicola Sturgeon, Jeane Freeman, John Swinney, Humaz Yousaf, Shirley Anne Somerville, Fiona Hyslop, Kate Forbes, Fergus Ewing, Michael Matheson, Roseanna Cunningham and Aileen Campbell, along with other people who are laughing called 'Ministers', the full list of these people can be found here. Everyone of them played a part in Scotland's demise as a nation both economically and socially, but the press don't tell you that in depth, they skim the surface of the Nationalist septic tank without diving in.

To be clear, Nicola Sturgeon doesn't have grounds or the power to hold a referendum 'quickly'  or in the medium or long term without a Section 30 order from Westminster. There will no Scottish referendum in 2021, or during the next term of Westminster or Holyrood. So, what will there be, there will be SNP propaganda and one sided Nationalist polls to attempt to keep a flow of money to the SNP coffers. The SNP based their election strategy on 'hate the English', so Boris' attempted and ultimately futile love in with Nicola Sturgeon will as I previous wrote be doomed to abject failure. The SNP fear the changes of Brexit, they fear Westminster delivering for Scots, and they fear being cut out of the equation, they want to be the middle man between Westminster and Scots. Westminster needs to start direct funding and contact between them and ordinary Scots as it relates not just to business but other areas of opportunity. While the SNP control everything, Scotland can't breathe, the new paradigm must take that into account so it can destroyed. Westminster needs to downgrade contact with Nicola Sturgeon, Boris should never again, meet her on Scottish soil on her terms, and on her ground.                                

As I have mentioned before also, we have a weak opposition in Scotland, it has been identified as well by others who noticed the continual inability of unionists politicians to mobilise people, and their own members, and their inability to get across their messages about the benefits of keeping the centuries-old alliance. The United Kingdom isn't perfect, it has faults, but those faults pale into insignificance when stacked up against Scotland out of the UK family of Nations. The lack of suitable people to promote the UK benefits in Scotland has also been identified as a recurring problem. The solution to that problem is that new people must come forward and promote 'Global UK' in Scotland, Westminster must prime Scotland to be a land of opportunities for investors and Scots, something that the SNP has no interest or ability to do. 13 years of power by the SNP has led to the gaps in education and wealth becoming wider. Not once has the SNP under Nicola Sturgeon ever closed or narrowed that gap despite her meaningless pledge that education is a priority.

Finally, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said:

'To be able to be respectful to those who are not currently with us that we're appealing to join us; about that denial of democracy that is currently taking place and to affirm that it is the sovereign right of the people of Scotland to determine their own future; and come what may, we will prevail.'

During the last indyref in 2014, the Nationalists and their fan boys and so called allies rather a hate campaign which set the tone for the campaign. Scots who had been ignorant to the ways of the SNP got an educational experience of what lurks under the surface of the Nationalist cause. No one will be 'joining' the Nationalists, and if you look at SNP beyond looking for £600,000 indyref 2 cash donations, you will see  why some have extrapolated that tens of thousands of people have left the SNP. As the SNP bleeds members, you can see why they are shouting about a quick referendum, it's to stir up interest, protect Nicola Sturgeon and stem the loss of donations from a party that is morally bankrupt. The SNP clique will use any dirty trick to stem their losses and hold on to power at Holyrood. Calling for 'indyref 2' is now akin to crying 'wolf', it has been done too many times now by the SNP Westminster Group, but do you hear the same volume from the SNP MSPs? You don't, the reason why is that the SNP are duping their voters. They are relying on the 'hate' they manufactured to make people make an emotional vote in their favour. Imagine what will happen when the voters wake up and understand the concept of how they were played for fools? When the sea change happens, you will see less and less of Nicola Sturgeon appearances with ordinary people, she will revert to stage managed appearances were her audiences are handpicked and pre-vetted. Post Covid, expect to see Nicola Sturgeon travelling around Europe and elsewhere, when this happens as it previously did, you will know that Sturgeon is in trouble again in Scotland.

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                              The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University