Monday, February 1, 2010

SNP Councillor John McNamee defects to the Labour Party, does that mean he is unavailable for leafleting and canvassing at the General Election?













Dear All

The SNP has been hit by the defection of one of its ‘rising’ stars, in fact John McNamee was rising so fast in the party that I never heard of him.

He has packed his bags and wandered over to the Labour Party to pitch his tent.

As part of his conversion to British Labour, he now says he is against independence for Scotland.

In departing the premises, he lists three reasons for joining Labour.

1/ The decision to axe the proposed Glasgow Airport Rail Link.

2/ The impact of the global financial collapse on small nations such as Ireland and Iceland.

3/ The release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi.

All of these ‘reasons’ are pretty weak but let us go through them one at a time to see what value they have if anything.

If the Glasgow Airport Rail Link was reinstated to the Scottish budget, it would lead to severe cuts in front line services and possible suspension of other capital projects.

Would he prefer the SNP Government to put off the building of the new Southern General Hospital?

This hospital is a major capital project; it will be open 365 days, 24/7 and serve 110,000 people each year.

Hospital or train ride, which is more important for the people in the West of Scotland?

It’s the hospital, not the choo choo train.

And it’s £842 million pounds.

His next ‘reason’ effectively is the Labour argument of Scotland being too small, too poor and too stupid citing Ireland and Iceland. The trouble with that is two fold, it has nothing to do with Scotland and the smaller countries invested too much in larger countries aboard.

His third ‘reason’ is Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, firstly, the Labour Party which he is now joining signed a prisoner transfer agreement via Tony Blair. Secondly, this man wasn’t given a fair trial in the first place and lastly he applied for release as any prisoner suffering a terminal illness is entitled too.

In all, McNamee's reasons are unsound and standard Labour Party propaganda themes.

The SNP responded to Mr. McNamee’s defection by saying he was subject of “disciplinary procedures” by the South Lanarkshire SNP Group over various concerns.

People make choices, I suspect in time Councillor John McNamee will realise that his defection was a mistake.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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