Scottish independence: Kenny MacAskill the most inept and incompetent Justice Minister in Holyrood’s history on brink of bring lawyers out on strike, chaos in courts!

Dear All

When Kenny MacAskill was appointed Justice Minister few knew what to expect, within a short time they found out to their horror.

MacAskill, a Salmond crony was totally out of his depth and pissing on justice in Scotland, the greatest failure has to be Megrahi; he released the biggest mass murderer in Scottish history.

This is his legacy, a legacy he can't outrun.

I don’t have a problem with people making a judgment call, however in the Megrahi case, we saw how inept, incompetent and warped his judgment became.

Then other notable blunders, the Cadder Case row, the UK Supreme Court and the steady denial of rights both legal and human, this shows he is unfit to hold the Office of Justice Minister.

In my opinion MacAskill is the worst Justice Minister in the history of Holyrood.

Whether it is a big problem or a small problem, this individual isn’t up to the task, his portfolio is a disaster, the worst in government despite being hard pressed by Mike Russell in education.

The latest evidence in the case for his removal, I prefer sacked myself is that Scotland is facing its first national lawyers’ strike.

This is in response to controversial legal aid proposals, in a move which could bring widespread disruption to the courts.

In trying to save pennies, MacAskill will cost us all pounds, wasted court time and severe disruption and breakdown of good will.

And all because Alex Salmond went for his ‘best pal’ instead of the ‘best man’ for the job!

Bar associations and faculties have backed industrial action as tensions­ between the legal profession and the Scottish Government continue to mount. MacAskill is killing justice in Scotland due to his outright stupidity.

In previous articles I made the suggestion that Scotland need two deputy justice ministers, one to deal with day to day problems like this and another to operate as a reviewer of law and special projects.

Lawyers have opposed SNP Government plans to make an accused pay a contribution to their defence costs, if the individual has more than £68 a week of disposable income.

This means that innocent people are fined at the start of their trial.

Lawyers are also angry that law firms would collect these fees, rather than the Scottish Legal Aid Board (Slab).

This makes lawyers, in effect ‘debt collectors’ under the plans, if their clients are found guilty and jailed having no money, they are f*cked!

You can understand why the plans are so unpopular, and badly thought-out.

These plans are staggering incompetence of a level undreamed of; we are climbing ‘Mount Stupid’ here, the highest plane of ignorance and ineptitude.

The call for action came the day after justice secretary Kenny MacAskill offered some ‘concessions’ on the level at which payments would begin and on how the contributions were collected.

Free Legal Aid is essential, why he thought tampering with this is beyond me, clearly out of his depth and clearly he needs his a**e sacked immediately.

Scotland will vote for independence with him as Justice Minister, forget it.

The recent moves by MacAskill are not enough to persuade lawyers to reject industrial action.

These proposals should be scrapped!

To show the level of contempt against the SNP Government, no prior warning will be given of the date or manner of the action, however Salmond and MacAskill will be getting the message before Christmas unless ministers change course.

Sadly as we have seen all too often MacAskill isn't very bright, he needs to restore the system and restore it now.

Cameron Tait, president of Edinburgh Bar Association, said:

“There will be further industrial action and it’s going to involve numerous bar associations across Scotland. We are not going to advise when it is going to be, but it will be in the near future.”

Tait added:

“The government advised in Tuesday’s release that Kenny MacAskill is going to move an amendment to increase the eligibility level. Without an indication of what that will be it’s meaningless”.

More evidence of incompetence!

Tait:

“If if goes up by £1 it is not going to make any difference to people seeking access to justice. It’s of no worth. It’s not about contributions. It’s funding for people in Scotland who are on the poverty line.”

As Scots are finding out to their cost; when the wrong person is appointed to Justice, chaos ensues, MacAskill should have been removed years ago, Salmond never had the courage to get Scots a proper Justice Minister.

Salmond was just filling his pal’s pockets with ministerial cash when he should have been doing his job properly.

In the name of God, MacAskill go now!

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University