The SNP Candidate and the Sex Worker; SNP hopeful Osama Bhutta, cousin of SNP Justice Minister Humza Yousaf seeks nomination for Cunninghame North, surely natural justice will see activists reject his attempt to unseat Kenny Gibson, is it time to ask Osama detailed questions about his chequered past and his previous links to a self-employed sex worker, working under the name Mistress Magpie, what on earth caused the SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon to allow him to be passed?

Dear All 

One thing about the SNP which you might not be familiar with, it is not a proper political party. 

Four distinct groups make up the modern SNP which I have described many times in the past. Lgbt, Muslim, the rich and Sein Fein lite, each of them fight to enlarge their power base within the party. When it comes to candidate selection, the SNP could be described as utter subservient to promoting those people who are part of the clique surround various leadership. This is why so many bad people got selected and then went on to prove that publicly. As well what some see as a ‘rigged’ system of candidate selection, you also have to focus on another aspect of main stream SNP operation, nepotism, the SNP really is the Scottish Nepotism Party. 

Nepotism is the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving these people jobs. In a way, this is why so many people with complaints find that they get no help at SNP surgeries. Nepotism isn’t new in the SNP, it goes back for years. It is done by those elected at the top of the party and further down the chain. 

As SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon grows weak, and many of her SNP Cabinet are deserting at the next election, just as chancers go, so a new batch of the same calibre stand waiting in the wings to fill MSP slots. One person who has floated to the top is the cousin of Humza Yousaf, his cousin is Osama Bhutta or Osama Saeed; he is a former aide to Alex Salmond. When I was in the SNP back in 2010, he stood and lost in Glasgow Central. At a Glasgow Regional Association meeting, I attended he spoke about the need for ‘local champion’ which was a slogan punted by the SNP at that time, ironically many of the SNP candidates in Glasgow, were neither ‘local’ or ‘champions’. 

At that time he was connected to Alex Salmond, I used to remember during by-elections that Osama Bhutta used to turn up with kids in tow. This meant he couldn’t go campaigning, in fact it happened so much, I commented on this to other people. Being connected to Salmond, he maybe felt he was a superstar too good to get his hands dirty with the rest of us. The only thing Osama Bhutta was interested in was Osama Bhutta in my opinion. And actions speak longer than words, don’t they?  

Now, as seats are up for grabs, Osama Bhutta has crawled out of the woodwork, this time, he isn’t using the SNP slogan, ‘local champion’, he is peddling “fantasy economics”, he is arguing an independent Scotland could “literally create money” instead of levying taxes. As he rolled out his idea, he focused on the idea that state doesn’t need tax revenue to spend. He said in a post independent Scotland: 

“Once we have our own currency, we will have the ability to create money and spend it on the things that are needed. The state literally creates money. It does not need our money.” 

To be clear, business creates money by selling goods and services that people want to buy, the state takes money in from various forms of direct and indirect taxation to pay for it. 

After losing in Glasgow Central in 2010, Osama Bhutta skipped the country to go work aboard for Al Jerezza abroad, he spent five years there. Now 10 years after his defeat of 2010, he resurfaces, so what makes him special, is he a super activist? Well, he is the cousin of Humza Yousaf, that’s it, Humza is a Sturgeon ‘ally’ until she stands down, then Humza will be someone else’s ‘ally’. Nicola Sturgeon is weak, as well as fighting Alex Salmond externally with her husband Peter Murrell, the SNP Chief Executive; she is also fighting a civil war within the SNP. The Salmond trial is a watershed moment in the politics of the Nationalist movement. At the next SNP Conference, Salmond’s allies will seek to remove Sturgeon’s husband from power. Once he goes, you can expect to see others follow in his wake, I would say Ian McCann is high priority on the list for ‘services no longer required’. 

One fly in the ointment of Osama Bhutta’s Holyrood dream is that the seat that he wants is currently held by Kenny Gibson, Cunninghame North is in North Ayrshire. As Gibson has been around the SNP a long time, he should hold the nomination, the Gibson dynasty is well known despite being a lesser one than the Ewings or Sturgeon Empire. In this contest, that selection may come down to who is the least objectionable. Gibson has the edge, he has tenure, he was known when a Glasgow Councillor to work his patch in Mosspark, and he probably lives in the area. His wife is also an MP, but she isn’t a political force, she is just an arse. 

An opinionated arse! 

In trying to sell the ‘Osama brand’ in a campaign video to members, he is offering ‘curry’ so that activists can be well fed. I suppose if you haven’t got bright ideas, food may tempt some people. Who knows, maybe he might also splash out on the chicken pakora and soft drinks. In 2010, his Glasgow campaign was notable by the fact that it he had Esther Sassaman in his corner as his campaign manager, her past and current history is also worth looking into. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7766617/Dominatrix-Labour-councillor-suspended-anti-Semitic-slur.html 

The best way I would describe Esther Sassaman is that she is a fucking nutcase! 

It also appears she operates under many different names like Osama. She has admitted she was a self-employed sex worker, working under the name Mistress Magpie, she also is a Plymouth Labour Councillor called Margaret Corvid, as well her original name, Esther Sassaman. Whoever passed this fuckwit for the Labour Party needs permanently removed from candidate selection! Interesting how like Esther Sassaman, Osama Bhutta or Osama Saeed feels the need to operate under different names. You would wonder; what else do these people have to hide from public view? 

One thing which Osama Bhutta isn’t publicising in his election bid for Cunninghame North is his links to Esther Sassaman. 

Osama Bhutta is no stranger to scandal, in February 2010, Humza’s cousin, Bhutta was at the centre of a cash-for-access row when Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon auctioned lunches at Holyrood to raise funds for his campaign. Humza Yousaf was the auctioneer at an event which raised more than £11,000. When the scandal broke, Salmond and Sturgeon cancelled the lunches after a backlash at the parliament. The Scottish Parliament cannot be used for political purposes, and that includes party funding raising, it is in the rules. As well this sleazy episode, Bhutta was also the founder and chief executive of the Scottish Islamic Foundation, a lobbying group set up in 2008 with £400,000 of grants from the SNP Government. This discredited organisation also had Yousaf and his previous wife connected to, some people saw it as a vehicle to give both Osama Bhutto and Humza Yousaf status, which in my opinion neither deserved, but Salmond was cultivating the Muslim vote hard in Scotland.        

The Scottish Islamic Foundation promised to hold Scotland’s biggest ever celebration of Islamic culture in Glasgow in June 2009, but the project collapsed, and ultimately, half the £400,000 grant was withheld or repaid. The SNP Government has form in backing Muslim candidates who set up Muslim organisations with tax payer funded money. They did it with Osama Bhutto and they also did it with Tasmina Ahmed-Shiekh, one may think that there is a pattern here. One thing both organisations had in common is that neither became successful before or after their involvement, which doesn’t surprised me in the slightest. I saw each in my opinion as a sham for SNP candidate promotion. 

Finally, I suppose someone has to mention the fact, it seems Humza Yousaf seems to having many family and friends standing for the Scottish Parliament. The tally so far for standing is Humza, his wife, his multi named cousin and his former assistant, North Lanarkshire Councillor Junaid Ashraf. Ashraf who wants to challenge James Dornan but I don’t think he will dislodge Dornan. I personally have my doubts that the SNP activists will be willing to back Osama Bhutta, especially if they access his back story. You might conclude someone maybe empire building, or could it be that Yousaf’s relatives and friends want their first hand access to a Holyrood salary and expenses? Something is really rotten in the state of SNP Scotland which allows people like Osama Bhutto to access to the Scottish Parliament. I don’t know about you but this is the type of story that reporters need to be asking Sturgeon to explain during her party political broadcasts on the BBC.

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University