‘Hug a Paedo’ Part 2, SNP MSP Christine Grahame does massive U turn over supporting hiding rapists and paedophiles in mainly working class deprived communities, public outrage to the idea was massive and instant, we have an SNP Justice Convenor in Grahame who is a political liability, how much longer must Scots suffer these fools in power?

Dear All

Do you remember the lyric; “What a difference a day makes”!

No, well it is from an old song, with old age we generally expect wisdom, but that isn’t always the case, some times we get rank stupidity or feeble mindedness thrust upon us by someone in a position of authority.

And rank stupidity was no more ably displayed than by 6 SNP MSPs who called for rural sex offenders to be moved into towns and cities where they could be hidden and have anonymity.

If you took the time to read my ‘hug a paedo’ post, you will know that I am against this, it was badly thought-out, dangerous and irresponsible. So people as they get older lost the plot entirely, SNP Justice Committee convener Christine Grahame Holyrood motion calling for the privacy of rapists and paedophiles shows she needs replaced as Justice Committee convener.

Her judgment is badly warped!

This is one of the failures of Holyrood, it is full of second class politicians who are plainly out of their depth, when I say ‘second class’ I am using this as an expression, their ranking in my eyes is much lower than second class. Holyrood motions have been somewhat simple minded in the past, people wanting to raise trivia as something meaningful.

It now transpires that outrage stirred up by the opposition politicians and the public has forced Christine Grahame into doing a U turn faster than Nicola Sturgeon knocking back taking in a Syrian refugee into her home.

I am not opposing Christine Grahame based on her politics, I am opposing her because she is wrong, utterly wrong. The stupidity is bad enough but what she advocated was putting the lives of children and women in danger.

Why couldn’t she see this as an outcome of her Holyrood motion?

In law there is a human right to privacy, where does that human right stop?

Is it privacy everywhere?

Is it privacy in your home?

Is it privacy in a public place?

Is it privacy on private property?

You have the right to privacy in your home; you have no expectation of privacy in a public place. This doesn’t mean that you to identify yourself to anyone, unless of course you are driving a motor vehicle or you are being arrested by Police. You can lawfully wander about the place doing your own thing as long as it is legal and doesn’t infringe the rights or property of others.
When high-risk registered sex offender Stuart Leggate was dumped in a neighbourhood, the residents and their children had no protection, Leggate did; he had the social workers on his side. 8 year old Mark Cummings who was beaten, strangled and sexually abused was failed by their system; Leggate previously had abused a toddler and attacked two other children.

Leggate should have never been placed near children.

Margaret-Ann Cummings told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland yesterday:

“He moved somewhere where he could mingle with families and, obviously, he picked his victim. If they’re wanting to move sex offenders in to protect them, they should give the community a heads-up. They can’t dump them in a community and not let anyone know. We aren’t out for vigilante attacks; we just want to protect our children.”

In doing her U turn, SNP MSP Christine Grahame says now she wants SNP Ministers to review how registered sex offenders are dealt with across Scotland.

It appears after screwing up; Grahame has run out of ideas, her last one rather panned quickly due to massive public disapproval.

Lots of people say this is a difficult issue, but is it?

Putting these sex beasts with people unaware of their past is unacceptable, and having them live beside their victims is untenable. These people should remain in the areas they commit their crimes, in another part of the constituency away from their victims. If sex beasts know that they cannot escape to another area and have anonymity, it may deter some crimes from happening.

No system will ever be perfect because of the predatory nature of these people.

Lots of people with flag up chance of vigilante attacks against these people, but we should remember that there is a justice system and people who set themselves up as vigilantes will face the full weight of the law against them. There are some crimes that society which means the public cannot and will not forgive. When I asked people today, would they like a rapist or paedophile housed next door to them, the answer was a universal No!

Not surprising is it?

SNP MSP Christine Grahame said:

“It’s a terribly difficult area. I think we have to look at how we deal with these people when they’re released so that communities feel safe and it’s not working completely just now.”

Could that be to do with bad judgment on the part of the people managing offenders?

Grahame added:

“What I was looking at was an instance in my constituency where Robert Greens, a rapist, was released from prison. He had to be returned to Midlothian, where he had committed the offence. The community were in an uproar and couldn’t do anything about it because the rules are such that he had to go there. I never mentioned
vigilantes in my motion. I’m looking at what would be in the best interest of communities.”

How is having a rapist or paedophile hidden in a community, in the best interest of community?

What kind of bullshit logic is this?

Do you see what I mean about my claim of a genuine lack of talent in the Scottish National Party, forget law, forget human rights, leave aside due process, take it right back to the bone, is having a rapist or paedophile hidden in a community right?

The answer is no!

It doesn’t matter what spin, clever argument you stick up or fling together, it always comes out as wrong.

The fact that 6 SNP MSPs got behind this Holyrood motion should be an eye opener to Joe Public.

I guess ‘Hug a Paedo’ will flung on the back burner by SNP Ministers until after Holyrood 2016, given the paralysis of Nicola Sturgeon’s government, she will probably farm it out to as wide a body of experts as possible for a range of options.

The SNP have a history of kicking problems into the long grass in the hope they go away or someone else solves their problem for them.

Finally, I also guess that Nicola Sturgeon will continue with her staged managed photo ops with children now there has been a U turn, a key part of the attempt to make her likeable to women and children.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University