Turning point: The ‘cat is out of the bag’, unpopular Nicola Sturgeon really is economically illiterate, Sturgeon forced to backtrack on full fiscal autonomy, what happened to the rubbish that Scotland is a ‘rich country’ and ‘Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands’ Nicola?

Dear All

To be absolutely clear, I have said for years that there is a genuine lack of talent in the Scottish National Party, from top to bottom. As a former member I used to sit and listen to some of the elected members and wonder, how could anyone so stupid, lazy and still get elected to public office?

And I campaigned for some real ‘warmers’ in my time.

I could probably do a list on the dense, but a bit of googling and it is all laid out for you. Some elected SNP members realise they are just cannon fodder and have the good sense not to burden the public with hair brained ideas.

But sadly, some think they are clever, and foster on the rest of us the most unbelievable garbage which they themselves don’t know what they are wittering on about.

I am not talking about the detail, I am talking about the overview concept, in 2012; I was sitting at an SNP meeting in the City Chambers in Glasgow, where the SNP council manifesto was trotted out; I was given a copy. Mhairi Hunter, a Sturgeon crony was doing a presentation, I started scanning the document, it was mince; it looked like it had been cobbled together on the back of a fag packet.

Anyway as I was scanning, Ms. Hunter started speaking, never before had I had to stop reading to look up in politics with a ‘WTF’ crossing my mind. I thought I had stumbled into an 8 year olds reading class, it was so bad; I want to start shouting out the next word in the sentence on the page, to speed matter along. You know how you find yourself in a situation and wonder how long the rubbish has to go before it comes to its painful end? To top it off in the Q & A when others asked questions about what they would be campaigning on, the Hunter clan had a stock answer, ‘we’ll get back to you’, why did they need to get back to anyone, they were supposedly the ‘authors’ of this steaming piece of horseshit.

Unpopular Nicola Sturgeon has been portrayed as a kind of ‘superwoman’; this is all the more remarkable given her failures of epic proportions in politics. Here are a couple to ‘wet the appetite’.

In 2012, Sturgeon was pretty much bragging that the SNP would win control of Glasgow City Council.

That was a massive fail.

Through-out her tenure as Health Sec, she was spun as being the most successful health sec, as news reports show, right up and down the line; the health service is in crisis.

That was a massive fail.

Between 2012 and 2014, she was pushed onto the public as the ‘face of independence’, and she lost that referendum in the most dramatic fashion, 28 out of 32 areas rejected her and Alex Salmond.

That was a massive fail.

Nicola Sturgeon has spent her whole adult life screaming that Scotland is a ‘rich country’ in between blaming the English in the shape of Westminster. In fact, she in this Westminster election, was going full pelt saying, no, demanding that Scotland get full fiscal autonomy now!

Remember the SNP stock line of the referendum, ‘Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands’, well it seems she doesn’t believe that anymore, now it seems its ‘Scotland’s bills paid by English hands’ with her as the ‘middle man’.  

If Scotland had full fiscal autonomy, it would create a black hole in Scotland’s finances to the tune of £7.6 billion. £7.6 billion which wouldn’t becoming to Scotland from Westminster, after realising that, anyone with half a brain would point out, this is utter financial incompetence by the SNP, enter the U turn.

Sturgeon has U turned on a number of major issues which all add up to the ‘tampax’ campaigner looking like even more of an opportunist than Tasmina Ahmed-Shiekh.

In politics, it helps to have principals, but what does Nicola Sturgeon stand for other than independence?

She is a one trick pony, the ‘tampax’ campaign is just a passing phase; it isn’t even politics in my opinion.

Ukip have launched their manifesto with a pledge to scrap the Barnett formula which provides 20 per cent more funding for Scots than England and Wales, Scots are about £1200 better off because of the Barnett formula.

It should be pointed out although Scots get more; there are specific reasons for this arrangement. Having had her bluff called Nicola Sturgeon now wants to keep the Barnett formula like a kid’s comfort blanket, someone to bail her out when she wrecks the country and then blames Westminster.

Did I hear clucking from Ms. Sturgeon, did someone bring a chicken in here?

Having been forced into a U turn, she said in the most insincere and oily fashion:

“So for as long as Scotland’s funding is still determined by Westminster then the Barnett formula should stay in place. Obviously if Scotland was to become in years ahead fiscally autonomous then we are in a different position but the Barnett formula should stay until that time.”

If pigs could fly, there could be a market for flying bacon butties!

And as per normal with her failing memory, she said new tax powers could “take years”. This is all the more remarkable as opponents pointed out that the SNP claimed independence could be achieved in just 18 months.

Why 18 months, this is so the SNP could link the timetable with the 2016 elections were they would play the ‘conquering heroes’ card.

Labour’s shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran said:

“Another day, another financial policy from the SNP. They want rid of the Barnett formula but really they recognise how important it is for Scotland so claim they could keep it until they introduce their damaging full fiscal fantasy.”

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said:

“Nicola Sturgeon wants all the benefits of controlling all taxes but none of the risks that go with that responsibility.”

The more the Scottish National Party speak, the more people will realise that Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t have a clue what she doing, she is just lurching from soundbite to soundbite, saying anything which she thinks will attract a vote.

This revelation and the SNP U turn should be the wake up call for Scots who have been duped by her, £7.6 billion isn’t chicken feed or ‘irrelevant’ as the SNP would have you believe, it would create austerity max, lead to suffer and cuts the like of which we haven’t seen in Scotland. This really is a major gaffe for the SNP, money is still money, and if the SNP get their way, we would on the road to Nordic taxes with none of the benefits, I wonder how those in the Govanhill ghetto that Sturgeon represents feel about this?

Yesterday, an under pressure cybernat copied in SNP MSP Bob Doris into a tweet, when we were ‘debating’, well actually, we weren’t debating at all, we were doing what was called ‘trolling’ each other, I assume their impression was that Bob would ‘sort me out’ as they couldn’t raise their game to the task. One of them even called me a ‘hunnibunni’ and said in effect I was a ‘smart arse’, I was only playing with the little fish, catch and release. This wee episode just reinforced to me that there are those in the Nationalist community that can’t see a deadbeat when they pop up in front of them. If they have to rely on Bob Doris they are just as well running up the white flag.

So many in the SNP using their mouth to write cheques that their brains can’t cash; much like Ms. Sturgeon!

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University