Scottish independence: Nicola Sturgeon’s handpicked group on welfare have cancelled appearing before Holyrood less than 24 hours after their report is published, Sturgeon looked like a clown on Newsnight Scotland; maybe they should be on benefits!

Dear All

If you are an “expert” you would think that given an opportunity to show off your expertise to the representatives of the masses, you would jump at the chance.

Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister was quick to parrot out that she had assembled "experts" on the rather thorny issue of welfare provision if there was a vote for Scottish independence being successful, they will lay it all out, the nuts and bolts.

In television interviews, she laboured the point as if repeating it somehow would give her little SNP supporting gang ....... gravitas with the public.

The gravitas soon died, much like the incoherent argument put forward by Nicola Sturgeon on Newsnight Scotland.

Gordon Brewer ripped into Nicola Sturgeon as she put her flaccid arguments hoping she would get an easy ride like John Mackay gave her on the STV slot.

Mr. Brewer is a laser; you don’t walk into his studio and talk shit, and then think you will get away with it.

What was Nicola Sturgeon thinking?

Rather than publishing and then making a fool of herself, she should have recognised that the report was incomplete and therefore not worthy of publication.

The welfare debacle is just another in a long line of completely divorced from reality assumptions that have no basis in fact.

We have all been here before, the EU, NATO, currency and on and on, and the best of it, the SNP think this is stella stuff, it is a load of shite, how easily pleased they are with themselves.

In the space of what, about 24 hours, the welfare debate has rapidly moved on, the “experts” far from defending their position have gone into ‘hiding’.

They warned of "serious risks" to pensions and benefits if an independent Scotland set up its own welfare system and the Unionists have stepped in and picked up a free PR victory of epic proportions.

Nicola’s handpicked has pulled out of a scheduled appearance before a Holyrood committee.

The chance to give evidence to MSPs on June 25 has been spectacularly cancelled.

The timeline is astonishing, on Tuesday they published a report which was backed by ministers arguing that an independent Scotland should share the UK's welfare system for a transitional period up to 2018.

And now they are like Lord Lucan, they don’t want to be found or appear to answer the questions.

Scottish Labour's Jackie Baillie said:

"This is remarkable. Just 24 hours after the SNP's plans for welfare in an independent Scotland fell apart, the authors of their plans withdraw from a chance to explain themselves to the Scottish Parliament. The fact they will not now be questioned in detail suggests that the Scottish government is embarrassed by the findings."

Their case rests on an assumption that the English will automatically agree to share services that will not happen in the event of an indy vote saying Yes.

Therefore they have completely gone in the wrong direction, “experts”, any dumb bastard could have done what they did.

The case for Scottish independence is falling apart at all levels, politically, economically, socially, defence, EU, add in the rest, it’s all hollow.

No one apparently was interested in giving Nicola’s wee group evidence, those who did, could have saved their energy, time and breath.

That report is a pile of shite, no wonder they are in ‘hiding’ from MSPs.

Rather than the A Team, it appears that Sturgeon managed to get the ‘less than Gay Team’ together.

She can’t be musical minded because that swan song of indy welfare policy death ended on a rather bum note!    

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University