Scottish independence: Yes Scotland is looking like an SNP crony ridden pit as another member of the Salmond/ Sturgeon clique gets a job, how many now Alex?

Dear All

It seems that another member of the Alex Salmond/ Nicola Sturgeon middle class clique has climbed aboard the Yes Scotland campaign or as I prefer to call it the SNP’s ATM.

Colin Pyle, a special adviser to Alex Salmond has been appointed to a key role.

Pyle has been advising Alex Salmond on economics and business for the last year, he couldn’t have been doing a very good job because there isn’t any real public sector reform happening in local government.

His new role is head of development; this means he is tasked with developing and communicating the economic case for independence to business.

Pyle said:

“I am delighted to be taking up this position as we enter an extremely exciting and vitally important period in Scotland’s future. I have greatly enjoyed my time working for the Scottish Government and the First Minister and now I am looking forward with great enthusiasm to the challenge that lies ahead.”

Yes Scotland is looking increasingly like an ATM machine for the Salmond/Sturgeon middle class clique to draw an ‘earner’

Yes Scotland chief executive Blair Jenkins who looks just like a front man and a patsy, he said: 

“To have been able to attract someone of his calibre, experience and know-how is a tremendous boost.”

Yes Scotland is becoming more and more like a sick joke, many think it is just an SNP vehicle, the chief executive Blair Jenkins can’t or won’t answer questions; the board is filled with cronies attached to the SNP or in the SNP.

The last time I saw a story of such cronyism it was the Scottish Islamic Foundation set up by SNP members under SNP PPC Osama Saeed.

That was a spectacular failure as I recall.

I think Yes Scotland should drop the name and what many see as a charade and just go with the Yes SNP name instead, Jenkins is effectively taking orders from Salmond and Sturgeon anyway.

How many people attached to the SNP does it come to now making money out of this 'impartial' cross party campaign?

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Vide cor Meum - Patrick Cassidy

SNP Govt get wake up call as unpopular ‘Sturgeon Tax’ on alcohol ruled to breach EU Trade Laws, SNP flagship torpedoed entering EU waters!

Dear All

It was supposed to be a flagship SNP policy but minimum pricing for alcohol which Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon drove through Holyrood has hit a problem.

The EU has put a ‘Brussels’ torpedo into the policy and sunk it as European Officials ruled that it breached trade laws!

It seems that a policy ‘made in Scotland by Scots’ isn’t all that it was cracked up to be.

And the funny side is that it is people in Europe coming to the aid of poor working class Scots who like a drink and don't cause trouble.

In Ms. Sturgeon’s household as revealed yesterday, her family doesn’t have a problem with money since they on £200,000 a year.

The Sturgeon Tax on the poor was estimated to pull in £100 million a year. And not a since penny of that £100 million was going into public services.

The classic case of the rich helping the already rich people get wealthier under the guise of health!

Under Article 34 of the EU treaty which relates to imports and prohibits ‘quantitative restrictions and all measures having equivalent effects between member states', so, plain English, it isn't a runner.

Do you remember I said this was an unfair tax?

George Laird right again.

I even provide a better sensible solution which was to raise the age limit which alcohol can be bought in off sales and supermarkets.

Recently a poster took me to task on my understanding of law and human rights, doesn’t bother me because if anyone is a regular reader of this blog, my judgment is usually 100% correct and ahead of the SNP Ministers anyway, and everyone who puts their views forward should be able to handle criticism.

Do you remember my Cadder posts?

George Laird right again, SNP wrong.

Do you remember the UK Supreme Court row with the SNP Government?

George Laird right again, SNP wrong.

The SNP Government rather than accepting the decision is going to fight, their grounds are to cut short what would have to be a lengthy post are pure bollocks.

Our European cousins have come to their decision after basing it on the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice.

The Scottish Government’s problem is that it is filled with not very bright people, and while they can make decisions in their own backyard and generally get away with it no matter how stupid and ill advised, it is a different story when they face people with power such as Westminster and Europe.

Ms. Sturgeon’s flagship may have looked like the Graf Spee sailing in Scottish waters, but when her flagship headed out into the North Sea it was a different matter.

Ka Boom!

This is another blow to Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister who invested such a lot of political capital in this policy.

The idea of disproportionally punishing the poor for the sins of the few was never a credible policy and with the EU now on the case from their end, this is one flagship that should be allowed to sink.

Only stupid people would fight this ruling, only people divorced from reality would argue this in a European Court.

To argue that Article 36 is correct as their defence, the SNP Government would have to be saying that the people of Scotland are a ‘nation of drunks’.

My advice to 'the stupid' in the Scottish Government, firstly recognise that you aren’t very bright, an important first step, second withdraw the bill and fix it, raise the age limit with a sunset clause. I would start at 25 years of age.

Thirdly, send a thank note to Europe yet again the SNP Government has needed someone externally to come in and wipe their political arse for them, till it is clean and sparkling.

Both cheeks!

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

The Carpenters - Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft

Labour leader asks: ‘Is it fair that Sturgeon household on £200k a year gets free benefits?’, paid Nat reacts badly to the truth being made public at FMQs

Dear All

It seems that Johann Lamont has decided to attack the rich.

In this case; Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and, her husband Peter Murrell.

Ms Sturgeon enjoys a household income of more than £200,000, Johann Lamont told MSPs today.

To be fair that is only because the SNP has recently paid Ms. Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell an obscene 47% pay rise, reported by Tom Gordon of Herald Scotland who took the time to dig in the SNP accounts.

47% pay rise in a time of austerity, patently we are all in this together!

And of course both Ms. Sturgeon and her excessively wealthy husband enjoy a council tax freeze.   

The Labour leader then asked why wealthy people like this should get benefits like free prescription charges.

Well, that is just a bonus of trying to buy the electorate which parties do in their manifestos.

Labour pulled a similar trick in their council manifesto offering free wifi to Glaswegians.

Free wifi is a great carrot, and you would have to be mental not to vote for that!

Which Glaswegians did overwhelmingly!

A clearly rattled Ms Sturgeon fought back by saying during First Ministers Questions at Holyrood: 

“If Johann Lamont wants to make that the dividing line in Scottish politics, I only have one thing to say – bring it on.”

Do you remember the last person to do the “bring it on” line?

Wendy Alexander, after she uttered that, it was all downhill for her.

At the bottom of the hill was an exit from politics.

Ms Sturgeon of 200k a year household fame who is standing in for Alex Salmond on his latest freebie in the US at the Ryder Cup, said:

“There’s lots of things you can call that kind of approach from Labour – shambolic is the name that immediately springs to my mind. Let me tell Johann Lamont something for free – it’s not brave and it’s certainly not honest. This Government will put forward balanced Budgets”.

Actually her utterance wasn’t ‘free’ because she was doing it in Holyrood which she is paid for.

In continuing her attack Lamont said:

“Is it fair that the Sturgeon household on £200,000 a year gets universal benefits when families on average earnings pay more for childcare than they do for their mortgage?”

200k a year and Nicola Sturgeon and her husband get a council tax freeze and free prescriptions!

I don’t have a problem with Ms. Sturgeon and her husband grabbing as much as possible although it may open the eyes of those who do SNP activism for free.

They say if you can't have the popularity you might has well have the money, I think the numbers who publicly boo her may have an influx into their ranks.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

1000 Glaswegians face losing their jobs at Glasgow City Council as un-flexible SNP Council tax freeze wrecks havoc, public sector reform needed

Dear All

Sometime ago I wrote several suggestions, namely that there should be public sector reform in Scotland.

I have also said it was time to end the council tax freeze.

And I proposed as part of a wider plan, the City Sovereign Fund.

The aim of the fund was to refloat local government by putting a 3% surcharge on council tax. It was a small part of a much bigger idea to firewall local government and communities.

The money would be invested and part of it would be siphoned off to existing emergency council funds.

Nothing has been done in Scotland to improve local government apart from some minor window dressing.

The chickens are now coming home to roost.

Scotland’s largest council is preparing to axe one thousand jobs.

The reason is to balance the budget, so in order to do so they need to save close to £50m over the next two years.

In local authorities job losses are nothing new, already in Glasgow 3000 staff have gone since the 2010 cull of the over 50’s.

And after the 1,000 are put out on the street, expect further jobs to go at Glasgow City Council.

There will be more austerity on the way; effectively the SNP Government has tied local councils’ hands behind their backs, freeze local council tax or see a real terms cut to your budgets.

In freezing the council tax, the result is, reduced services and job losses and heavier workloads for staff and still no public sector reform.

At some point the SNP Government which is currently paralysed and doing ‘tripe’ to tick over will have to come to the conclusion that the freeze isn’t working.

Why should a millionaire get a council tax freeze like Jim McColl who lives in Monaco?

Do you remember Joyce Juszczak?

Joyce Juszczak needed the “miracle drug” eculizumab, I wrote prior to her physical collapse that Nicola Sturgeon should do something immediately and ensure she got the drug she needed.

Nicola Sturgeon, Health Secretary, Deputy First Minsiter and Deputy Leader of the SNP didn’t act fast enough and Joyce Juszczak suffered a relapse, she lost a third of her kidney.

Only after that she was put on the drug.

It was something to do with 'value for money', a real leader in charge of health would have pushed this through, a blind man could see the merits of that case staring them in the face.

Recently Alex Salmond’s Government blew £400k in a matter of weeks setting up his ‘London Embassy’ at the Olympics, more money wasted.

A visit to America to watch a cartoon et al saw circa £50k wasted, every penny of the Alex Salmond's Government ‘freebie’ agenda is a penny less available to care for the sick, vulnerable and disadvantaged.

And still no public sector reform, still no substance, no vision, just jingoism and spin.

In Glasgow, the Scottish National Party spent years complaining about ALEOs, when their ‘Glasgow’ manifesto was handed out at the GRA, not a single word about it or commitment to return ex council departments back to council control.

Apparently the SNP made much about the ‘living wage’ but as we are increasingly seeing people are going to be losing their jobs. The living wage is steadily going to a shrinking workforce right across Scotland.

Hardly an achievement.

Cuts are the easy way out, they require less thought and time to introduce, the trick is to make local government more viable and at present there is precious little talent to drive that forward.

The SNP were screaming about 35 job losses at the BBC in the press, I can only assume that 1,000 people will no doubt attract their attention with claims about how this could have been avoided if Glaswegians had vote the SNP to run the council.

But if you look at their manifesto, it was a much lesser document than Glasgow Labour produced, no weight, no gravitas and not exactly 'goodie' laden either.

Can Glasgow expect additional help?

It seems that the SNP Government is keen to keep money in the North East and East of Scotland; Glasgow will no doubt be thrown some scraps.

The folly of not starting public sector reform will see more cuts as budgets are further reduced, no George Laird radical thinking kicking about the place. 

Will Nicola Sturgeon save these 1,000 jobs?

I think not!

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont presents her case for being the permanent leader of the opposition, must want her weekends free!

Dear All

Did you happen to catch the Labour leader Johann Lamont on Newsnight Scotland being interviewed by Isobel Fraser?

You could see the obvious distress in Ms Fraser’s attitude as she tried unsuccessfully to get a coherent answer from Ms. Lamont.

Having said there was ‘problems’ you might have thought Ms. Lamont had solutions.

But no, not a single one, apparently she needs help to form policy. The interview was effectively a party political broadcast from a woman seeking to be leader of the opposition….. Permanently!

The viewers did learn one thing; Ms Lamont hasn’t a creative vision.

This morning, as part of her re-election campaign to lead the opposition, she has decided to position Labour by ditching popular Scottish Government policies including the council tax freeze, free prescriptions for all and free university tuition in a dramatic policy shift.

When the Labour leadership was up for grabs I opined that possibly the worst candidate could win.

George Laird was right again.

Labour will learn that Lamont isn’t going to win Holyrood, she doesn’t have the personality and she doesn’t have the policies.

Her solution if you can call it that on reform is to pass the buck onto the people. On education, she wants to see the introduction of tuition fees.

On that single issue alone it would be enough to cost Labour a win in 2016.

She effectively gives Labour voters the option of sending their vote elsewhere.

Lamont said:

"Scotland cannot be the only something- for-nothing country in the world. I will not tolerate a country where the poorest pay for the tax breaks for the rich."

Holyrood doesn’t have control of tax!

Another aspect for her leadership is the new economic group, chaired by MP Cathy Jamieson and MSP Ken Macintosh and advised by Edinburgh University academic Arthur Midwinter.

Backing singers?

On the Council tax freeze, Lamont argues the "cost" was being paid in job cuts and reduced services across Scotland.

It is, but more important is the lack of public sector reform, which is sorely needed, but nothing of that nature will take place until after the independence vote in late 2014.

Professor James Mitchell, at Strathclyde University, said:

"Labour is in a difficult place – it must either align itself with policies from south of the Border in order to emphasise its Unionism or with the SNP and its own previous policies but thus undermine the Union."

I disagree there is a third way, but it requires more work that the current political parties are prepared to do.

Eventually people will look seriously at these people and wonder if it isn’t time for a vote shift, whoever can create extraordinary policies can only gain from public support.

Last night on Newsnight Scotland, Johann Lamont stepped up to the plate and couldn’t hit the ball never mind score a homerun, Holyrood is looking increasingly poverty stricken for ideas compared to Westminster.

Her new ideas dramatic policy shift, no traction and as popular as the Ebola Virus.

And the interview on Newsnight Scotland pure car crash TV.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Abu Hamza will be extradited to US in the next few weeks; even the Queen expresses an opinion that Muslim Cleric should be deported, time up now!

Dear All

‘I am leaving on a jet plane; don’t know when I’ll be back again’

John Denver!

It seems that Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza is finally leaving the UK and is all set for an American adventure.

Unfortunately he will not have time to see the sites like the Washington Monument or the Grand Canyon or the Statute of Liberty.

But he will get a super max facility with free room and board.

Hamza’s request for an appeal over a European Court of Human Rights ruling that his extradition would breach his human rights was rejected by a panel of judges last night.

His appeal was bogus, but he had the right to exhaust all mechanisms.

The UK Government have been attempting to extradite him dating back to 2003.

Even the Queen who rarely gets involved was moved to say he should be punted out the door.

The Queen has a healthy interest in the life of the nation as documentaries show, well done that woman, bang on the money.

This decision finally means the cleric, who was jailed for seven years for soliciting to murder and inciting racial hatred will now go west.

Go west young man and seek your fortune in a land of opportunity, if you ever get out.

People who come to this country fleeing torture etc are always welcome; people like Abu Hamza seem to think that preaching hate is some kind of biblical right are finding people; are less understanding now than they used to be.

Protest is fine, free speech is fine, don’t like your opinion is fine too, soliciting to murder and inciting racial hatred isn’t fine.

A Home Office spokesman said last night:

“The Home Secretary welcomes today’s decision not to refer the cases of Abu Hamza and four others to the Grand Chamber. This follows the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on 10 April to allow the extradition of these five terrorism suspects to the US. We will work to ensure that the individuals are handed over to the US authorities as quickly as possible.”

A spokesman for the Strasbourg-based court said:

“Today, the Grand Chamber panel decided to reject the request. This means that the chamber judgment of 10 April, 2012, is now final.”

A lot of people think human rights don’t work, they do; it just takes the right people to understand them, Abu Hamza in the end didn’t have a case, he is the architect of his own downfall.

Hamza has been charged with 11 counts of criminal conduct related to the taking of 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998, advocating violent jihad in Afghanistan in 2001, and conspiring to establish a jihad training camp in Bly, Oregon, between June 2000 and December 2001.

If convicted he is looking at dying in prison, American Courts tend to lean towards huge sentences of the 99 years variety.

His extradition is a victory for every man, women and child in this country regardless of their beliefs, colour or creed, he threatened everyone's safety.

And bombs don't care who they kill.  

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Scottish independence; ‘terms of surrender’ Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon buckle under pressure as ‘the allies’ mount winning offensive on devo max

Dear All

After all his bluster and hot air, Alex Salmond is on the verge of ditching the devo max question.

I wonder; how do all the people who were sucked into campaigning for this by the SNP feel now?

Do they feel rather silly?

Do they feel used?

Do they feel like mugs?

Then there was the consultation ‘listening’ to ‘civic’ Scotland, I said it would be a sham like every other SNP consultation, the illusion that your opinion matters to Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

The ‘terms of surrender’ of devo max will no doubt be fully explained in the public domain later, but it seems that when ‘the allies’ mounted an offensive rather than having the ‘mother of all battles’, Salmond and Sturgeon just crumbled.

It just took a wee nudge by Westminster without firing a single shot in anger.

George Laird, it seems was right again, and ahead of the game as usual, just like I was on the SNP getting less than 1% on the independence march.

So, its one question as it should be, how much time, money and effort was wasted?

We will probably never know, it is the stuff of legend.

Alex Salmond is said to want to launch a bid to win over devo-max supporters, can he do it?

What about Nicola Sturgeon in her role as ‘Bobette the builder’, can she do it?

No!

When people are publicly booing you in the street, its over!

Given their record, they may take some people, but there are many obstacles, the bad decisions of their right wing government, the issue of trust, the lack of vision, assumption portrayed as fact, secrecy and lack of transparency, the contempt for working class people and their legal rights.

The clock is ticking, and Salmond and Sturgeon are losing support, the idea of votes for 16 and 17 year olds has run ground as the majority of young Scots want to remain in the UK.

It boils down to many things, particularly more opportunities for the many, not the Salmond/ Sturgeon few.

As news of the ‘surrender’ without a fight emerged Alex Salmond is away on another freebie paid for by the British taxpayer, since he can’t really command a decent audience at home, he is forced to go aboard.

And of course there is Disneyworld if he wants a go on the roller coasters.

Shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran MP said:

"It would appear Alex Salmond has finally admitted defeat in his campaign for a second prize in the referendum but he doesn't even have the decency to tell the people of Scotland first."

Curran also raised the issue that "now he tells the US press there will only be a single question before his consultation has been published. The First Minister continues to treat the people of Scotland with utter contempt by refusing to be open about the referendum process and misrepresenting their views."

Professor John Curtice, of Strathclyde University's politics department, said:

"Mr Salmond has been playing the devo-max game for as long as he can. He has picked up, correctly, there are a lot of people wanting more powers for the Scottish Parliament. But it's been apparent for some time the SNP Government is not going to go for a second question and now he is trying to maximise appeal for independence. He will announce that; yes, there exists support for more powers but insist the UK Government is not willing to allow Scots to express their full democratic voice."

I wonder, has Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon ever seen the movie Battleground?

There is a little song which is sung at the end by iconic actor James Whitmore, ‘I surrender dear’.

Filmed in black and white, 1949, it is a stella cast and influenced Steven Spielberg in his movie ‘Saving Pte Ryan’, worth a watch.

‘I surrender dear’ seems just as relevant in 2012.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Scottish independence; 1.5 million people march in Spain, in Scotland only 5,000 people take to the streets, Alex Salmond's vision remains unattractive, millions of Scots turn their back on him!

Dear All

Here are some statements from Alex Salmond:

‘My problem is that I have too many talented people and not enough Cabinet positions’.

And:

‘Nicola Sturgeon has formidable talents’.

Keep that in your head while reading this.

Recently in Catalonia, 1.5 million people march for independence.

On Saturday, there was an independence rally and march in Scotland.

Did Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon get 1.5 million?

No!

Did they get a 1 million people to march?

No!

500,000?

No!

250,000?

No!

100,000?

No, No, No! 

The truth of the independence march was that according to Police only 5,000 people turned up.

For Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, it was a personal and utter humiliation.

It was the day that Scotland publicly turned its back on the Salmond/Sturgeon vision of non inclusive nationalism.

In stark contrast, just along the road, 9,908 gathered together to Hibernian and Inverness Caledonian Thistle play.

At Tannadice, Dundee United entertained a crowd of 11,512.

If you attend one of the big car boot sales where people are selling ‘tat’ you can get a decent crowd each week and possibly pick up a bargain. Anyone think the 5,000 would march every week?

I don’t!

Catalonia, 1.5 million people march for independence, Scotland under Salmond and Sturgeon 5,000 people.

So, what is the problem?

The problem is that there are many problems and most of them are all self-inflicted.

There isn’t a vision, there isn’t a plan, there is contempt for ordinary people and the Salmond/Sturgeon clique has been found wanting.

The march had on paper everything going for it, independence is a just cause, the sun was shinning and Edinburgh is a nice city.

But the whole thing turned out to be a shambles, however the SNP and Yes Scotland distanced themselves by saying this wasn’t their event.

SNP Cabinet Ministers and Yes Scotland members all took official roles.

So, it’s a massive flop, not unexpected and not unsurprising.

As far as I can tell the Salmond vision is that instead of Scots being abused by people from England, we can be abused by people with a Scottish accent and have less rights than we do at present!

And for that privilege we also pay them huge sums of money.

Is that a vision?

I think not!

The SNP say that independence is 50% plus 1, the reality is at present according to the figures of the march, the SNP can't get 1 percent plus 50 of the Scottish population to turn out!

This morning already the SNP HQ has spent 2 hours 48 mins 50 secs on this blog because apparently I am not entitled to free speech and I am not entitled to my legal rights.

/H:/disciplinary%20committee/george%20laird/The%20Campaign%20for%20Human%20Rights%20at%20Glasgow%20Uni.htm

Salmond's people seem to be able to take time out to continue discrimination, maybe they should take a long hard look at themselves, because it is easy to figure why working class Scots are turning their backs on them.

They don't stand for fairness, equality and social justice, they are a nasty poisonous vicious clique which the people of Scotland will have no part of.

So, what would I say to Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell after the way I have been treated?

Stupid people deserve what they get and what goes around comes around.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

SNP Minister branded ‘Osborne in a kilt’ after disastrous draft budget is condemned; right wing SNP Government out of touch with ordinary people

Dear All

The wheels really are falling off the right wing SNP Government, yesterday saw the draft budget announced; straight away it has been condemned by opposition parties and the unions.

John Swinney has been branded “George Osborne in a kilt” after his proposals for a one per cent deal on wages in the public sector are exactly the same as the UK government’s plans.

Now, both right wing governments are following the same agenda.

With such a miserable deal on the table, the prospect of a wave of public-sector strikes in Scotland draws nearer as unions gear up to fight what many people describe as the ‘Tartan Tories’.

Didn’t George Laird, thee George Laird highlight before this happened the lurch to the right by the Scottish National Party leadership?

George Laird right again!

Thousands of workers in the public sector have had a two year pay freeze and now they are getting a below-inflation pay rise.

The reason for this, effecting thousands of workers is that the SNP Government hasn’t started public sector reform.

Everyone is off chasing the independence dream, desks abandoned as Salmond’s paid Nats want to try and get their place in history.

Civil servants and NHS staff now have to accept another year of real-terms pay cuts.

SNP Ministers are quick to pass the blame onto Westminster citing the tight spending squeeze on the Scottish Government’s £28 billion departmental budgets.

The reality is that it is their political decisions and not Westminster that is responsible, they aren’t doing public sector reform, they are just managing decline.

For the SNP who want to see people get and march for independence, people will be marching, as the cuts will be a focal point for an anti-austerity march set to take place in Glasgow by the unions next month.

Presumably a judgment call will be made whether Alex Salmond will march with the workers given he has publicly booed at events.

The SNP Government is flash point for a third year of falling salaries for many public sector staff. As well as pay freezes, people aren’t getting replaced in the public sector putting more pressure on staff with increased workloads.

The SNP Government ‘no redundancies’ policy doesn’t mean those who leave will get their post filled by someone else!

Lynn Henderson, the PCS union’s Scottish secretary said:

“It is George Osborne in a kilt. The 1 per cent cap on pay increases announced by Mr Swinney is the same 1 per cent cap announced by George Osborne with a tartan cover over it.

“This is woefully inadequate to redress the lost income and hardship our members have suffered after two years of a pay freeze. It is time for Mr Swinney to pay up and time for the Scottish Parliament to utilise the powers it has to invest in the economy and protect public services, not rob Peter to pay Paul.”

Scottish Trades Union Congress general secretary Grahame Smith said:

“The STUC has consistently acknowledged that the UK coalition government’s dangerously irresponsible economic strategy has placed the Scottish Government in a very difficult position and that Mr Swinney has endeavoured throughout the crisis to do what he can to stimulate the Scottish economy. However, it is disappointing that Mr Swinney has followed George Osborne’s public sector pay policy almost to the letter. A third year of significant real-terms wage cuts for hundreds of thousands of workers puts Mr Swinney’s attempts at stimulus into perspective.”

Just recently I said that David Cameron was Alex Salmond’s boss, George Laird right again.

Mike Kirby, Unison’s Scottish secretary, said:

“Unless local government is funded to pay even this limited increase, there is no guarantee the largest group of public sector workers, in local government, will receive an increase.”

On the prospect of strikes, Unison’s Scottish organiser, Dave Watson, said:

“The local government unions will now consult and then come to a judgment about what they are going to do.”

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT in Scotland, said:

“It is deeply disappointing that the Scottish Government has chosen to follow the coalition’s flawed economic policies by imposing another year of pay freeze on public sector workers. Teachers and other public servants are being made to foot the bill for the economic downturn at a time when their pensions are also being attacked and the cost of living is accelerating.”

If the unions decide to run with a ‘Winter of Discontent’ then this will seriously hinder the independence vote.

Yesterday saw John Swinney put back money he took out of budgets previously, but as many point out, this isn’t new money but a partial return of money already taken.

As you can see by the look on John Swinney and Nicola Sturgeon faces, they have nothing to smile about, things are collapsing around their ears, the government is paralysed; there is no radical vision and no blueprint or roadmap to get out of the hole.

They are just moving the deck chairs on the Titanic.

This is the road to Freedom?

I think not!

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon seem to be looking for indy exit strategy using Westminster as fall guys at London talks, ‘Mind the Gap’!

Dear All

It seems that First Minister of ‘Skintland’ has got on his high horse after Iain Duncan Smith claimed that if Scotland broke away from Britain it would not be able to afford its welfare bill.

The claim led to an exhibition of ‘anger’ as Salmond and Sturgeon sought to reassure poor working class people that the SNP can be trusted on welfare.

My opinion is that I don’t trust Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon on welfare; this is because they showed utter contempt for me as a working class member of the Scottish National Party.

I see both these people as opportunists willing to say anything to secure independence.

Where are the SNP’s detailed plans on welfare?

Where are the SNP’s guarantees?

They don’t exist!

The claim by Iain Duncan Smith has led Salmond to warn that "nonsensical" comments could derail talks between Westminster and Holyrood on the independence referendum.

Are Salmond and Sturgeon running scared and looking for any excuse to cancel?

Looks that way to me, poll after poll shows that Salmond and his middle class clique are being rejected by ordinary working class Scots when the issue of leaving the UK is brought up! Salmond and Sturgeon are looking increasingly desperate, their middle class clique are a dry hole for solutions and the Yes Scotland crowd, well they are just flapping about trying to justify their existence.

The pair where in London for talks with Prime Minister David Cameron and Michael Moore, the Scottish Secretary, the meeting was part spent on economic matters as Salmond and Sturgeon want extra money for ‘shovel ready’ projects to boost their independence campaign and create the image that Nicola Sturgeon is driving independence forward.

The latest poll after her appointment was a disaster, no momentum and no popular surge after her securing the post as ‘independence minister’.

Across the other side of the table, Cameron and Moore aren’t so stupid to not understand what is going on. There then followed 15 minutes on the independence referendum, which amounted to the ‘forward and making progress’ routine which incidentally is getting pretty old now.

The independence referendum isn’t moving forward and any ‘progress’, is limited to going backwards as poll after poll demonstrates. It seems that the independence vehicle has more reserve gears than forward. Alex Salmond said the talks were positive and good-natured as he tried to play the statesman role as a potential world leader.

Didn’t he look remarkably uncomfortable and unconvincing getting interviewed later, you could see it in his face as he was interviewed by the press.

Salmond said:

"We could still be blown off course, of that there is no doubt, but we're hoping for a positive conclusion in the next few weeks."

One question then!

Margaret Curran, the Shadow Scottish Secretary, said:

"Alex Salmond seems to be looking for any excuse not to have the referendum. For months we've heard he's been waiting to meet the Prime Minister to hammer out an agreement. Now he had that chance and still nothing is agreed."

Alex Salmond better start trying to live within his means once his First Minister ‘giro’ payments stop, maybe he will wangle a top up allowance via the House of Lords.

Where is the beef on welfare?

We haven’t had anything on the table, and when people have mouths to feed they look around and ask themselves who do they trust?

Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon are going to win the trust of the poor and disadvantaged, sorry I just can’t get there anymore after the way I have been treated, people will see right through them as they did with Wendy Alexander.

I don’t trust Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon; my personal experiences show that when their help is needed they are found to be wanting at every level.

It really is a sick joke Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon standing there with their 'concern' about the poor, it turns my stomach, where was their concern about my rights as an SNP member, where was their concern about my legal rights about my DSAR?

Talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words, and I have already seen what Salmond and Sturgeon are capable of, they are capable of allowing discrimination, they are capable of doing nothing about smearing, they are capable of doing nothing about bullying of poor working class members.

Different story it seems when one of their middle class clique seeks help, then it is a different standard of service entirely.

Dr Whiteford SNP MP all help in a matter of hours, George Laird no help at all, which one is the poor person?

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

‘Too stupid to know’, Alex Salmond shows utter contempt for ordinary Scots by eroding their legal rights, right wing government adopts secrecy

Dear All

Are you a dumb bastard?

There are two possible answers to that question either you are a dumb bastard or you aren’t a dumb bastard.

Under Freedom of Information the public has a right to know what is going on in government, however it seems that Alex Salmond wants to shroud his government in secrecy.

Apparently we can’t handle complex issues or so Alex Salmond and his middle class clique think, its back to the old argument that Scots are ‘too poor, too wee and too stupid’.

Information Commissioner Rosemary Agnew has hit out at the erosion of citizens’ rights under the SNP Government.

She says that the Scottish Government under Salmond has presided over an “unacceptable” erosion of the public’s right to information.

Complaints about secrecy among SNP ministers have almost trebling according to Agnew.

The most damaging thing about Salmond’s right wing government is that Scots now have fewer rights to know about the way public bodies operate than they did when the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act was passed ten years ago.

Is Alex Salmond clever?

My personal view is no, he is not clever, he is an opportunist who makes knee jerk decisions and gets a lot wrong, his popularity is based on the public disliking the Labour Party.

He was in the right place at the right time, its called luck, and his luck is running out.

We now see Alex Salmond undertakening a court battle to fight against ordinary Scots seeking information.

Recently Alex Salmond was publicly booed.

The court case is another nail in his political coffin and also that of the independence cause, ‘you can’t trust Alex Salmond because Alex Salmond doesn’t trust you’.

You are not smart enough, its just him and his nasty poisonous little clique who have the tools to run Scotland, people like you and me have to be ‘managed’.

Unfortunately for Salmond, Information Commissioner Rosemary Agnew takes a different view and wants him to reveal whether his government has received legal advice about the status of an independent Scotland’s EU membership.

As well as the current court case, she highlights the growing number of quangos and PFI (public finance initiatives) that are funded through public cash, but exempt from FoI.

For the opposition parties, they have been handed genuine political gold as they claim that the SNP is treating Freedom of Information with “utter contempt”.

Ms Agnew said:

“An ever-growing concern is the loss of rights occurring through the delivery of public services by arm’s-length organisations and third parties. FoI was introduced for a reason: to ensure that the delivery of public services and the spending of public money is transparent, open and accountable. It is simply not acceptable that citizens’ rights continue to be eroded through complex changes in the delivery of services. This must be looked at as an immediate priority.”

Appeals against FoI decisions by public bodies have risen 24 per cent in the past year.

Labour MSP Paul Martin said the SNP Government had an “obsession with secrecy”.

He added:

“The Freedom of Information Act is a pillar of our democracy and the SNP is treating it with utter contempt.”

Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said;

“The fog of secrecy enveloping the SNP government grows thicker by the day.”

Only stupid people conceal the truth to protect their own embarrassment, this is a government that many will be glad to see the back of, their majority created arrogance among genuinely untalented people that they were the ‘new establishment’.

More and more people are turning against Alex Salmond and his government, if he thinks people are too stupid, perhaps he should ask his officials to draw his list of failures.

He can then see his catalogue of failures on how he was unable to make the right judgment calls, time and time again.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Westminster Government hardens its position on single question regarding Scottish independence referendum, Salmond and Sturgeon under pressure now!

Dear All

It seems that the Westminster Government is determined to ensure that the Scottish independence referendum is legal, fair; decisive and not open to legal challenge.

The issue is simple for the people of Scotland, do you want independence or not.

So far the Scottish National Party has been dragging its heels as Alex Salmond wants to hedge his bets and put a second question on the ballot paper.

The second question is devo max, what devo max actually is the Scottish Government haven’t managed to articulate, it is also something they can’t deliver and have no authority to do so.

Power remains at Westminster.

Last night on Newsnight Scotland, Blair Jenkins of Yes Scotland did a rather toothless interview when asked by Glenn Campbell what an independent Scotland would look like; he said that was for the SNP Government to answer.

Jenkins then spent the rest of the interview talking up devo max which he isn’t campaigning for; Jenkins is looking increasingly like a stooge without independent thought.

His job at Yes Scotland is Chief Executive, fancy title for a man with no leadership qualities; still the money must be good, and maybe he might learn about political campaigning from his adventure!

Westminster is going to step in and lay down some ground rules; in a significant hardening of the Coalition's position, Moore is effectively ruling out a second question on the ballot paper.

No devo max means No lifebelt for Alex Salmond to show to his supporters, it seems that it is all or nothing. Devo max is a separate issue which has no place on this ballot paper; it also has no mandate and no legal basis.

Alex Salmond has wrongly decided to send in Nicola Sturgeon to be the face of independence and lead the charge.

Her next meeting with Moore will be less rosy in the garden, when the heavy political artillery starts falling on her position, she will realise that the troops and reinforcements won’t be coming over the hill for her. Ms. Sturgeon does very well when everything is going her way, but she is now meeting people who aren’t interested in her problems.

First Minister Alex Salmond and Prime Minister David Cameron will come face to face for the first time in months during a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee in Downing Street soon and Salmond will have to get used to the word no.

In truth Salmond needs to be told publicly that Holyrood answers to Westminster, not the other way round.

Cameron is Alex Salmond’s boss.

In order to get Westminster approval for the referendum, a section 30 order must be granted by Westminster, and that will only happen if agreement is reached on one question.

Moore says he hopes agreement will be reached on October 22nd “with a fair wind".

A spokesman for Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:

"This is Scotland's referendum, and the arrangements for it should be made in Scotland, not dictated by Westminster. All of the relevant issues governing the referendum, including that of a second question, must be determined in the interests of the Scottish people."

Keep flapping son, no one is listening to tripe and bleating on your supposed 'rights', the law doesn't work that way and neither does responsible government.

Maybe if you believed in your own product you won't spend so much time and effort trying to organise a face saving exercise.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Leading defence expert Dr. Phillips O’Brien and old gym buddy of George Laird speaks out on SNP nuclear and NATO problems, small world isn’t it!

Dear All

NATO!

It seems an old friend of mine from my Glasgow University days has been looking at the Scottish National Party’s problem.

Dr Phillips O'Brien claims nuclear weapons would be staying on the Clyde in an independent Scotland.

Phillips is an American, and does a bit of summer teaching down in Oxford when not in Glasgow doing his thing.

When I was at Glasgow, many people knew me at allsorts of levels as I was a prominent fitness coach.

Dr Phillips O'Brien from the Scottish Centre for War Studies at Glasgow University is pretty much a straight arrow; he has also taken the time to appear before the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee.

There is no SNP representation on the committee due to a dispute between Ian ‘the deerhunter’ Davidson and a member of Salmond’s middle class clique who made unfounded allegations and had no witnesses.

The door for her return has been left open, if she so decides to return to front line politics and fight for SNP interests.

When asked by Commons Scottish Affairs Committee if being in Nato would make it more likely nuclear weapons would stay in Scotland longer.

Phillips replied:

"I would say yes. I would say if Scotland were to go independent and leave Nato, both the domestic pressures within Scotland to get them out and the strategic need of the rest of the UK to rebase them would be raised."

Dr O'Brien suggested Nato membership was central to the independence debate.

At this point, I would like to declare an interest; George Laird is pro NATO and pro Faslane.

Of course the scenario of an independent Scotland is looking less likely, Phillips appearance is much more of a ‘what if’ expedition discovery by MPs.

Phillips also:

"It would be easier for the rest of the UK to negotiate the security arrangement if Scotland remained in Nato - If Scotland is outside Nato, a lot of bets are off. That's why no-one in the US State Department and Defence Department will go on the record about this. They are very worried about a non-Nato Scotland."

The SNP stance on being anti NATO is a policy that was completely wrong for over 30 years.

During this time, the SNP never grew up as a political party should have, it is now facing the reality of what being independent means.

It means adopting a world view.

Alex Salmond is facing a growing revolt over his plans to drop the SNP's historic opposition to Nato.

Ironically or maybe not, the rebels picked the wrong issue to rebel against, Scotland is a key strategic location; there are good reasons why the deep water fleet is based at Faslane.

The NATO issues should have been dealt with decades ago, but a strong republican anti British movement exists in the SNP, with links to CND, funny little people with no world vision.

No NATO means No independence, the acceptance will not in itself win independence but is a key plank in removing some of the increasing doubts. As to the Angus Robertson proposition, that is a half way house, in NATO but still against nuclear weapons.

If you are going to do appeasement then read the works of Neville Chamberlain, it didn’t work out too well for him.

As to Dr Phillips O'Brien, he needed to do more speed work on bench press by using a lighter weight to build up deeper conditioning, but a very likely guy, one of the decent ones at Glasgow University, but his defence analysis is pretty good, someone Salmond should have review his 'cut and paste' SNP defence plans.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Scottish independence, Alex Salmond publicly booed by thousands of Scots in Glasgow, Scots youth lead the protest against right wing government leader

Dear All

I have been commenting on the decline of the Scottish National Party during the leadership of Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

The latest outburst of public disapproval was the public booing of Alex Salmond in Glasgow at the Olympic celebrations.

This was Scotland making its voice heard, as thousands of people spontaneously booed the First Minster.

The SNP were seen to less than enthusiastic about the Olympics, SNP ministers it has been said have been models of gripe and grievance, complaining of a lack of contracts going to Scottish companies, of Scotland missing out on lottery funding and of too much being spent on London and the South East.

Then there was the truly awful Scolympians episode and a video by SNP Ministers wishing only Scottish athletes success, ill-judged, ill-timed and seen by many as utterly appalling and petty.

The trouble is they thought what they had done was alright, but the people of Scotland didn’t, this was a time for Alex Salmond and the SNP Cabinet to be statesmanlike and they just couldn’t rise to the occasion.

There was the ‘Scottish London Embassy’ fiasco were Alex Salmond held court, trouble was it seemed no one wanted to attend it and reports say no deals were signed.

Dover House was offered for free but instead Alex Salmond’s Government opted for spending £400k of taxpayer’s money.

When people went to George Square to celebrate the achievements of the athletes, it should have been a time of joy, but as Alex Salmond’s name was announced, it was met with a loud “boo”.

Just five minutes later, the First Minister was invited on to the stage to address the crowd – and was once again met with a chorus of boos.

The people of Scotland have turned away from the SNP and the series of mistakes they are committing as a government is alienating more people with each passing day, latest poll on independence, another disaster for the SNP and Yes Scotland.

Alex Salmond is good at show and good at spin, however, his record of lack of substance and ill-will, will be the SNP’s downfall.

As news spread of Alex Salmond’s treatment, it became the talk of Twitter, with one user writing:

“Maybe Alex Salmond should stop appearing at every media event in Scotland. Too much glory bathing causes booing. Give the smile a rest Eck.”

After the landslide of 2011, the SNP effectively abandoned the consensus style of government that had served them so well and acted as a break. 2012 was supposed to see the SNP sweep in and do the same with the councils. But it all has gone wrong for Salmond and Sturgeon with them even turning on people who helped secured their victory such as me.

It seems that the SNP policy of fairness, equality and social justice is just a lie spun to get votes, my personal experience and treatment led me to step back and withdraw after the disgusting treatment I received from supposedly 'decent' people.

Glasgow along with other major cities refused to fall into SNP hands as people thought better, Glasgow was a key target and the people returned a Labour Council and that showed that what Team Sturgeon put up as candidates and as a manifesto was unappealing.

Being booed is unpleasant especially in public office at a public event, but it is a wakeup call for Salmond, his government is in decline, he can’t motivate people such as myself anymore, his party is run as a nasty vile poisonous little clique were people’s legal rights aren’t respected and the law is not observed.

The public humiliation of Alex Salmond is a game changer but the signs were plain to see and were forewarned when Nicola Sturgeon was publicly booed. If you caught a look at the photos and footage of the event in Renfrew, it showed SNP Ministers looking very uncomfortable in their chairs.

Glasgow still remains the most Labour city in Scotland and also the most anti-SNP city in Scotland as well.

The First Minister does not command universal popularity in Scotland far from it, in fact, and with poll after poll saying no to independence, it is looking increasingly likely we are witnessing political death by a thousand cuts of him and his government.

Two years to the vote and no one to work for him and Nicola Sturgeon, Yes Scotland seen as an SNP front, bad government decisions, no ideas, no vision and time pressured.

The public booing of SNP Ministers is the start of a trend of public anger which is set to grow as this un-listening and unintelligent government goes face first into the deck.

Scotland turned up to boo Alex Salmond, and they will do so again.

We saw a moment that truly was a real game changer in Glasgow.

If the SNP is interested in my help, I want the resignation of William Henderson as SNP National Sec and a full public apology on the website.

Then I'll listen to your offer, and you should think quickly, your campaign is sinking and is on its arse as the latest poll shows.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Scottish Independence: Alex Salmond says EU membership clarity to come; it seems the public have a right to know after all, George Laird right again!

Dear All

There always certain landmark events that show the decline and downfall of a Government, in this case the Scottish Government led by Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

Yesterday; saw Braveheart Alex Salmond having to go through the humiliation of a public climb down and publish the EU advice that he sought to withhold from the people of Scotland.

The issue of trust in government must be absolute for the public and the fact that Alex Salmond tried to belittle the Scottish people by saying their right to know wasn’t in the public interest speaks volumes.

I was there when the Scottish Government was put back into power and I will be there when they collapse.

Salmond says that EU advice would be made clearer next year, that’s not good enough, its time to publish now.

The advice will be included in a Scottish government's referendum white paper to be published in 2013.

I used to think Alex Salmond was bright, but now I realise he isn’t that all the hype suggests by a very long margin. If by next year he doesn't publish this legal advice, but tries to give a version, we will all know that trust has completely gone between him and the public.

Salmond has lost my personal support and I call on him to resign since he has made that statement public previously, if you aren't going to act like a leader, you have no business being the leader of the SNP.

Why did you refuse to act on discrimination?

The Scottish Government is heading in the wrong direction under his leadership, independence is already lost, the strategy seems to be that independence can be bought hence we see the attempt to buy the Hall’s plant using public money to try and prevent 1,700 job losses.

Only really stupid ignorant people would think independence can be bought.

Labour leader Johann Lamont said that the delay was not good enough and it isn’t.

Johann Lamont made the point he had so far failed to provide "a single shred of evidence" on the subject.

The Labour leader raised EU membership after President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso told the BBC:

"A new state, if it wants to join the EU, has to apply to become a member of the EU, like any state."

That means if Scotland leaves the UK, it doesn’t carry any part of the UK treaty with it, and that means Scotland would be forced to join the Euro which is an unstable currency.

Given the SNP claim that Scotland would be a rich country, our wealth could end up paying for bailouts in southern European countries. That means austerity for working class Scots beyond belief.

Next year sees a white paper, it takes a whole year to write a white paper, is this the most incompetent government ever to be formed since the creation of the Scottish Parliament?

Mr Salmond has always said that Scotland would remain a member of the EU if independence became a reality which is now regarded as fantasy politics.

When it came to publication of the legal advice Salmond said he would be breaching the ministerial code by disclosing legal advice on the issue.

As Alan Cochrane of the Telegraph aptly put it, Salmond will say anything to get independence.

All polls show that support for independence is dead, it has been killed off by the Scottish Government, when the history of this period is written, close examination of the policies and actions of Salmond and his government will take place.

That will show how he lost the trust of the Scottish people, he really is yesterday’s man.

Someone in the SNP once said:

‘it isn’t where you come from that is important, its where you are going’.

Someone buy Alex Salmond a ticket to political oblivion, he has paid that himself in full and in advance.

I used to wonder why so few members of the Scottish National Party were willing to come out for the party, now I know, and I am glad to join the majority that have better and more important things to do.

Alex Salmond isn't worth my time, I don't even see him as a leader of anything other than a clique.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University