Scottish independence: SNP MP Angus Robertson calls for UK General Election delay, the suggestion is ridiculous and divorced from reality, 55 million people in the rest of Britain will not be put on ‘pause’ for Alex Salmond and unpopular Nicola Sturgeon

Dear All

Talk about deluded, in a failed attempt to seem relevant, SNP MP Angus Robertson has called for the Conservative-led Coalition to stay in power for an extra year.

Is this because he genuinely believes that the SNP are going to win?

He wants the Tories to complete independence negotiations, is that because he thinks they will give Scottish people a better deal?

This is spin!

Angus Robertson is what is termed the leader of the SNP group at Westminster; he runs the ‘feeble six’ who don’t do the full range of debates in Parliament. He is also laughingly referred to as the SNP defence spokesman.

So, not a leader of men and very poor on defence, a flip flopper!

This ill judged stunt will be ignored by Westminster politicians, the timing of the next General Election in the UK will go ahead as normal.

Robertson arguesMinisters should not be diverted in the middle of that process, assumption on his part presented as a de facto event.

His stunt however is great ammo for Labour who accused the SNP of calling for another year of "the bedroom tax, austerity and David Cameron".

Smart move Angus Robertson, not a man who can look at the big picture!

The SNP Government has set a deadline of just over a year and a half to complete independence discussions; this is because they want an extended election campaign for Holyrood which shuts out other parties from the process.

This timetable is nonsense and is utter incompetent on their part, it shows what I keep saying about a genuine lack of talent in the SNP which is run as a clique for the rich few surrounding Salmond and Sturgeon.

Britain is going to the polls for the next UK General Election around the half way point in May 2015, that’s a given, it is what parties have been planning for at Westminster.

Due to the introduction of five-year fixed term parliaments at Westminster, May 2015 is now set in law.

To change this date would require legislation to allow it to be moved, that means white paper and no one is going down that road.

55 million voters in the rest of the UK will not stand for it either, not to accommodate Alex Salmond.

And there is real opposition against the current Tory-LibDem government; it would also be political suicide for the Conservatives to give any ground.

Their line is that Scottish independence is a matter for Scots, and only for Scots.

Unsurprisingly both sides of the Coalition have rejected the idea out of hand.

And it was stupid to ask, it is another substance lite stunt which shows the SNP is all about spin and gimmicks.

Did Angus Robertson think this rubbish up himself or did it come from SNP HQ?

One senior Coalition source described the SNP idea of a change of date as ludicrous.

Robertson said:

"Will there be a UK General Election in 2015? That is actually an issue for the UK government to consider. I think there is a very good case for putting the UK General Election back by a year. The reason why I say that is because of course a Yes result in Scotland will lead to a very, very intense period of negotiation between the UK government and the Scottish government - transitioning Scotland from a position within the UK into the EU, Nato, the United Nations and agreeing a whole series of other important measures.

He added:

"I think it is going to be very important for decision-makers at Westminster to wake up to the consequences of the Yes vote and why it will be in their interests to have a grown-up relationship with the government and the people of Scotland. And perhaps being diverted by a General Election in the middle of that process is certainly something one should be thinking about."

I think David Cameron put it best when he silently mouthed off to Angus Robertson at the dispatch box, ‘will you fuck off’!

Margaret Curran, the Shadow ­Scottish Secretary, said:

"The Scottish National Party want another year of the Tories. Another year of the bedroom tax, austerity and David Cameron and if they win they'd rather ­negotiate with David Cameron than Ed Miliband. If any election should be moved it is the Scottish election which should be brought forward, so we can have a government which takes Scotland off pause and addresses real issues while the SNP revels in its irrelevant obsession."

When exactly is Scotland coming off pause?

This term of the Scottish Parliament has been totally wasted, it is one of the worst terms in Holyrood history; nothing has been achieved of note other than Scottish National Police Force and the Scottish National Fire Service.

I proposed both these ideas at the SNP National Aseembly in 2010.

A UK Government spokesman said:

"Parliament has legislated for fixed term parliaments and the next General Election will be in May 2015. The Scottish Government knew this when it chose the ­referendum date."

This is a point well made, Alex Salmond and Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minster Nicola Sturgeon jumped the gun; they put the referendum back because they didn’t have any people to work for them more or less than their own small activist base. The Greens and SSP are irrelevant to the debate.

I can’t take Englishman and SNP MP Angus Robertson seriously, and neither does anyone at Westminster, as a member of the ‘feeble six’, he has been an asset to Westminster, his view of defence is amateur, it appears in the SNP the ‘cut and paste’ work is the major factor in policy.

Change the date of the UK General Election?

Finally word from David Cameron:

“Will you fuck off”!

Angus Robertson should go for a walk round London, it’s lovely, so much to see and do, and while he is out, he should think seriously about whether he should get involved in politics as a career.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University