Scottish independence: Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond urged to sack the worst Justice Minister in Scottish legal history, Kenny MacAskill does a U-turn on corroboration, sham review by former High Court judge Lord Bonomy is about the SNP closing down debate on human right to a fair trial in Parliament

Dear All

Last night I was talking to a Sheriff.

No, I wasn’t in America; I didn’t get to ride a horse or tote a six gun.

This Sheriff is a Scottish one.

Anyway, I was asking their opinion about the U turn by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill since they jail people and I have an interest in law.

I was saying MacAskill has kicked the need for corroboration in criminal trials into the long grass, and that the SNP were using the law as a political football for the women’s vote.

The Sheriff said to me that MacAskill must think that women are mugs!

And also there was many problems with the botched attempted to get rid of corroboration.

Like the need for a fair trial.

Funnily enough, I was saying the exact same thing on this blog!

George Laird right again.

Kenny MacAskill should be sacked, in fact he should never have been appointed as Justice Minsiter in the first place; he is of course Alex Salmond’s pal.

That is the criteria for Cabinet appointments, that and gesture politics as a fob to women.

Although Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is calling for more women in the Cabinet to attempt to con women, she singly fails to recognise that in MacAskill, Scotland has the ‘biggest fanny’ ever to hold a Cabinet post.

Now, Salmond is facing calls to replace Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill after he shelved proposals to end the need for corroboration in criminal trials.

That won’t happen, Salmond and Sturgeon need to present a united anti working class, anti UK, anti human rights front.

Salmond is on the back foot on justice; he can’t put up a credible defence of MacAskill and doesn’t have the balls to sack him.

The kicking of corroboration into the long grass is all about not having a running argument leading up to the referendum, the Sheriff agree with my point this was about a delaying action.

Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont used First Minister's ­Questions yesterday to attack Mr MacAskill's "disgraceful" handling of the Scottish Government's Criminal Justice Bill.

Presumably the tactic is to keep mentioning the ending of the right to a fair trial as prescribed by Article Six of the Human Rights Act.

Lamont asked:

"Given Kenny MacAskill's approach and his expressed ­hostility to those who raised genuine concerns about what he was doing, does the First Minister really believe that it is possible for this Parliament to reach that ­critical consensus on corroboration with Kenny MacAskill as Cabinet Secretary?"

She should be calling for a vote of no confidence.

Asked if Salmond retained full confidence in his Justice Secretary, Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ said:

"Yes."

More inept judgment, akin to warped thinking!

Salmond then went on to defend the indefensible:

"I'll tell you why I have got confidence in this Justice Secretary, because we have 1000 extra police on the streets and in communities of Scotland thanks to this Justice Secretary”.

Actually, it was the Tories who helped get the 1,000, seems Salmond wants to re-write history.

Salmond added:

"Recorded crime in Scotland is down by 35% thanks to this Justice Secretary, violent crime is down by almost a half under the office of this Justice Secretary and crimes of handling offensive weapons are down 60%, and above all, people's fear of crime in Scotland is dropping for the first time."

This isn’t because of MacAskill, this is because of the Police, and as the SNP keep saying they have no control over operational matters.

As to the delay to win wider support, the SNP won’t get it, using rape as tactic to ‘win’ over people is pretty disgusting and backward thinking.

As I have previously said, the Crime Bill is utter rubbish much like the Fitba law which clearly shows that the SNP don’t know what they are doing.

Lawyers represented by the Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates have voiced staunch opposition to the proposal, warning it would lead to wrongful convictions, and other sections of the legal establishment like Sheriffs aren’t signing up to MacAskill’s ‘get the women’s vote ploy’.

As the Sheriff said last night:

“Women aren’t mugs”!

Kenny MacAskill can't outrun the stigma of Al Megrahi, no matter what he does.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University