Scottish independence: send in the clowns (don’t bother they’re here) Alex Salmond’s dream collapses as support for independence hits 8 months low, SNP MEP candidate Chris Stephens removed by security at Silverburn shopping centre, unpopular Nicola Sturgeon as ‘face of independence’ isn’t credible, game over!

Dear All

It is hardly surprising but support for independence has fallen dramatically over the past four weeks.

You only have to look at the type of calibre of activists that the Scottish National Party is using to understand why.

Quite simply, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon has created an ignoramus class of activists who are completely out of their depth, they know nothing; they say nothing, and rely on 'Braveheart' rhetoric about 'Freedom'.

What that 'freedom' actually means they can't tell you, false promises and rubbish make up their vision, its buy now and we will tell you later what you have bought. That is quite simply again, not good enough.

As with most party leaders, Alex Salmond is now starting defeat in the face, his star is rapidly falling.

An exclusive poll puts backing for Yes at its lowest level since September last year.

The collapse of support isn't unexpected, but the momentum of the defeat which will be inflected on Alex Salmond and unpopular Nicola Sturgeon will be a landmark in modern Scottish political history.

The ICM survey of 1,003 adults puts Yes support at 34 per cent.

This rapid fall of five percentage points has taken place in the space of a month as the Scottish public start to view what is offered with a critical eye.

The Scottish independence bid by the SNP is entirely bogus.

No smoke, no mirrors, no spin can alter these facts; across the range of key policy areas, there is a vacuum been created.

Worst still for Alex Salmond who has adopted a 'jolly fat man' persona and unpopular Nicola Sturgeon who is abjectly failed in the attempt to be a 'caring politician', the decline in the Yes vote is been accompanied by a rise in those backing a No vote. Speaking to people myself, I see right across the age range that people don't trust Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

And there is no way around that scenario for both of them.

Judging by what I saw on Saturday by Pollok SNP at the Silverburn Shopping centre, and elsewhere online right across the SNP and with their allies, there is a sense of unprofessionalism, lack of personal integrity, nastiness and also lack of commonsense and basic decency.

How the less than mighty have fallen.

This is a Nationalist campaign that has run out of steam and isn't even finding favour with the SNP's own members. Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon are reduced to gimmicks and stunts to try and shore up their position. 

Salmond's even using the race card!

The Pollok SNP branch as I recall had circa 130 members.

Why can't SNP MEP Candidate Chris Stephens get his own members to work for him, tells a story?

Anything you want to tell us Chris?

And it isn't just a single incident, this was what I saw year in year out, no one wanted to turn up for him at every election in Pollok that he stood as a candidate. His record of failure shows that the public will keep rejecting him, hardly impressive, the Pollok members already have by not turning up. 

On Saturday, only 5 people turned up to support independence, two of them I recognised as elected officials, one of whom was the SNP MEP candidate Chris Stephens, a man who hasn't even managed to generate loyalty as the 'stay away' branch voted with their feet. In the SNP, in some quarters he isn't regarded as a force, he is just the guy 'who makes up the numbers', tail end Charlie.

Support for the UK has rallied to 58 per cent.

When the SNP saw a shift in the polls, they thought that this finally was them gaining ground, but they are on quicksand. This isn't them being pushed into this by anything that the Unionists camp has done, this is entirely their botched and warped judgment.

A previous poll result suggested Alex Salmond was on the brink of securing a famous victory as the SNP did in 2011; the high water mark of Nationalism in Scotland as history will record is a political mirage.

Now, there is a sharp reverse, is this second thoughts?

I would suggest that it is rather more than, the 'cult' of the SNP has been opened up and the public are seeing them as they really are, and the look in isn't pleasant, they dupe people in the past, but they haven't been able to fool all the people all of the time.

Better Together has to up their game and start to get better inroads into the undecided people who aren't politically aware by have a more positive of what a new Scotland could mean for ordinary people. The Nationalists have no vision other than wanting power, position and control.

John Curtice, Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University who I met as a guest on white paper day last November said:

“Maybe the gradually improving picture for the UK economy has made some voters think again,”

Better Together campaign director Blair McDougall said:

“This is the lowest level of support recorded by ICM for Alex Salmond’s separation campaign since September and makes clear that his bid to break up the UK is failing. As the referendum gets closer, more Scots are starting to think seriously about the big issues – like what would replace the pound, how our pensions would be paid and what would happen to the funding for our schools and hospitals. It’s no surprise that as people look at these issues in detail they are overwhelmingly rejecting separation. There is a long way to go in this campaign and we need everybody who supports Scotland staying in the UK to do their bit".

McDougall added:

“We will be doing everything we can to get across our positive message that as Scots we can have the best of both worlds – a strong Scottish Parliament, with the guarantee of more powers for Scotland, backed up by the strength, security and stability of being part of the larger UK. Only separation puts that at risk.”

And more bad news came the Nationalists way as

Gerard Butler, the Hollywood movie star, has now revealed that his desire for independence has cooled.

His change of heart is interesting as he now says that he does not believe it would be in Scotland’s interests.

In an interview, Butler said:

“I must admit I am not totally sure about independence. I have yet to be convinced that it will work in our best ­interests. “I used to be totally pro-independence, I was massively in favour of it, but now my feeling is that we should be about coming together ­rather than separating ­ourselves.”

This is a massive blow and a vote of no confidence in Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon's leadership.

More and more previously pro independence people are waking up to the fact that the Scottish National Party doesn't act in the best interests of working class Scots.

The clock is ticking down to the end of Alex Salmond's political life, no one is coming to help; if he can't get his paid Nats of the SNP clique out to work for him you just know that it is all over.

I will campaign for a No Vote in the best interests of Scotland.

On Sunday, I saw Blair Jenkins, the chief executive of Yes Scotland in the Central station with a woman, I was going to complaint about the filming of a female BT activist at Silverburn but I decided not to bother. He is just a proxy for the Scottish National Party and Alex Salmond.

I have better things to do than waste my breath.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University