Scottish independence: Boris Johnson takes a dig at David Cameron for refusing to debate with Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond, you don’t throw a lifeline to a politically drowning man, you watch as the fear and panic sets in without emotion

Dear All

Boris Johnson, the London Mayor wants to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, it is one of the worst kept secrets in politics.

Known simply as Boris, he has carved out a name for himself on the political landscape.

He opines that Margaret Thatcher "would comfortably see off Alex Salmond" if she were Prime Minister today.

This isn’t true, because Margret Thatcher doesn’t have a vote in this referendum and also the Conservatives and Unionist Party in Scotland is still a toxic brand.

In a bit of self serving publicity seeking, Boris Johnson says Thatcher would be "fighting like a lioness for the union" during a lecture to the Centre for Policy Studies.

The topic of the lecture is entitled ‘What would Maggie do now’?

People have their time in political history but it doesn’t mean they can forever span time, for example Churchill after the Second World War was removed by voters.

Boris said she put "the 'great' back into Britain" after a century of decline, many working class people both sides of the border would strongly disagree with that statement. She literally torn the guts of this country, she made greed acceptable, callousness and lacking in empathy was seen as her trademark.

In Scotland, she was hated with passion, after her death, some people celebrated the event, most trendy students doing socialism before they leave University and join a merchant bank or equivalent enterprise.

As part of his lecture Boris reminds us that she defended "the Falklanders' right to self-determination."

Well, at present Scots are doing an exercise in self-determination.

Would she defend that?

No? Hmmm!

As well as been seen to be firmly in the pocket of the City of London financial establishment, he also had a pop at nobel laureate Joe Stiglitz who advises Salmond under the guise that those "on the left" have failed to find an alternative to capitalism.

Capitalism is fine, the problem isn’t that, it is the unacceptable social policies that hard right wing bring in to restrict opportunities for the poorest in society, that is the problem.

Something that Boris does touch on is that according to him, Thatcher would have ended "the madness" of the immigration system.

It is true that there is an immigration problem, the more people that are here the less life chances people at the bottom get in many key areas of society.

David Cameron has declined to take part in a televised debate with Alex Salmond, Cameron has got it right, why debate with an idiot who wishes to use it as a platform to rehash grudge and grievances, when someone is making a mistake don’t interrupt them.

Boris should know this concept.

And Salmond and Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon have made so many, they are firmly stuck, can’t go forward and the only way is downwards. Alex Salmond has produced utter trash as a white paper, it doesn’t help him, isn’t a game changer and was a total non event.

If Thatcher was in power, she would still be a major hate figure, and would drive people to vote Yes in many cases, however, we should remember it would be a case of who do you hate least!

Boris Johnson also said of Thatcher:

"She would now be fighting like a lioness for the union, and she would comfortably see off Salmond, as she saw off so many smart alecs, because she would have instinctively identified the heart of the matter. This isn't about whether or not the Scots will be £800 per year worse off per head. This is about the demolition of Britain, about taking the blue background from the union flag, lopping the top off the most successful political union in history. It would diminish both Scotland and England, and it would be no consolation to her that the loss of Britain, as a concept, might also mean the end of the BBC."

The SNP made a major misjudgment when they said they would replace the BBC in an independent Scotland, as I stated repeatedly real lack of genuine talent in the SNP.

Pro immigration Boris concluded his lecture:

"By 2060 we will have more people than Germany. I don't know exactly where they will all go; though when I drive through the cities of the north I see plenty of depopulated space. By the middle of this century we will still have a crown and we will still have a union."

The reason is a lack of jobs, I am sure his lecture was entertaining, however the value of it leaves me to believe it was more about show than substance, something that Boris and Alex Salmond have in common.

Scottish independence is off!

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow