Twins of Evil; Irvine Sisters, Clair and Louise Smith steal their gran’s £8k life savings, their disgusted family members call on Sheriff Alistair Watson to put them in jail for their crime, if and when the prison door closes on them the twins will have a long time to reflect that they didn't just destroy their family, they also destroyed their own lives, and for a measly £4,000 each, if Sheriff McFarlane judged their case, their jail cell would already be getting made ready for them

Dear All 

Time for a song, a bit of singing to lift your heart during these depressingly hard times, and if you're going to sing, what better than something everyone can join in with, are you ready? 

Ye canny shove yer grannie aff a bus
Ye canny shove yer grannie aff a bus
Ye canny shove yer grannie
Cause she's yer mammie's mammie
Ye canny shove yer grannie aff a bus. 

Grannies where would we all be without them? 

Granny looking after the weans, giving them sweeties, feeding them up big dinners, wiping their arses, if required, when mum is back at her career toiling away. Aren't they just super duper, and they do like their grand kids, spoil them rotten, they do. So, when a granny is abused, the public mood is stirred, doesn't matter whose granny it is, the public have no truck with demanding severe justice. In Scotland, we are living through an age of un-enlightenment because there is an SNP Government, standards have fallen, and although it is unacceptable, some people still sink to the level of pond life. 

Two such people are Clair and Louise Smith, 25 years old, twin sisters but already a pair of disgusting individuals. The 'twins of evil' have only gone and robbed their grandparents' of their life savings. They managed to get access to their grandparents' money by offering to run errands for them, once got access, they made off with £8000 between them. If you split that two ways, £4,000 each, so the question is, was it worth it? Was the joy of stealing worth breaking up their family, was the heart break caused thought about? At 25 years old, these aren't silly little girls, they are women, you have to laugh at their lawyer saying these pair of arseholes have 'learning difficulties', how many times has that line been spun in a court as a variation of not right in the heid? 

At the end of the first Natalie McGarry Criminal Trial where she plead guilty, there was apparently 'tears' and her lawyer saying she wasn't right in the heid. After carefully listening to this, the Sheriff decided to bang her anyway. A bit of jail time may still be possible when McGarry gets her re-trial, I don't see having pumped out weans as mitigation working for her, after all, did do Tommy Sheridan any good when he was found guilty. Round two of the McGarry affair starts in November in Glasgow Sheriff Court. 

Fingers crossed that justice will be done this time! 

You have to wonder what the rest of the family make of the 'twins of evil', what we do know, so far is that their relatives are disgusted by their actions, and quite rightly are calling for jail time. As it stands, looking at the merits of the case, I wouldn't be surprised that the Sheriff doesn't decide to hit them with a 12 month sentence, plus an order that they pay back the money. As with many when the twins got to court, they decided to throw in the towel and admit their guilt, this was done because the law allows those who do so to get a reduced sentence for not wanting the Court's time. This is the route that ex SNP MP Natalie McGarry took when she did her first criminal trial, will she do the same thing again, well, keep and an eye open for that when her re-trial starts. 

Seeing that they didn't have a leg to stand on, the twins copped a plea of guilty to knocking off £8k in 5 weeks, if they card hadn't been checked by another relative, would the 'twins of evil' kept going? The lure of easy money and to them it was all free and flowing and there for the taking. Although this crime happen in Irvine, Ayrshire, this is a tale that could have happened anywhere in Scotland. Crawford Pirrie, 73, and wife Marlene, 75 didn't deserve what happened to them, Crawford's daughter said she would never forgiven them and who can blame her. Her dad had married the twins’ gran before the twins were born, so he had no idea what future family he was marrying into, and to add to his troubles, he had suffered a stroke just before the twins robbed him off his savings. 

Crawford’s daughter Lyndsey Brown said:

“Their actions have broken this family apart. They are highly manipulative and they didn’t do this to two strangers – they did this to their own grandparents. I hope they go to jail. They are a threat to the elderly and the vulnerable.”

I think Lyndsey is right, jail is where these two charmers belong, and the prison service has room for them. Of course in a post jail world, these two people will now be notorious, they robbed their grandparents, jobs and relationships with decent people might be hard to find. And if there were in front of Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane, well I would put a bet on Liz jailing them but sadly it's Alistair Watson. That said, it seems that Sheriff Watson has called for Criminal Justice Social Work and Restriction of Liberty Order Assessment reports to be prepared. This is apparently done to assess someone ahead of sentencing. The twins return to Court later in the year and Watson made a point of ordering them to appear at the next hearing.

So maybe a Xmas behind bars is in the offing?

Before we get ahead of ourselves here, we have to look at mitigation, this comes into play post verdict by the accused lawyers. Post Guilty verdict allows a lawyer a window to tell the most amazing horseshit on behalf of their client even if it isn't true. Victims of the crime have no avenue to challenge this which I feel should be part of the legal process. This is a flaw in law which should be corrected but for some reason everyone just sweeps past it as they consider a guilty verdict as 'job done'.

Surely lying to get a lesser sentence should be a crime?

Defence solicitor advocate Simon Brown representing said:

“They are both now pleading guilty to the charge and an agreed sum of £8000. They are both girls with some vulnerabilities, it could be said, and some learning difficulties.”

Well, this to me look pretty weak, Simon isn't exactly 'pushing the boat out' here with fantasy tales of sorrow being brought up in rain lashed Irvine, vulnerabilities and some learning difficulties, well they seem to be able to operate modern tech. They also seem to understand right from wrong, and they also understand copping a plea. How disadvantaged could they possibly be?

It seems that there are those in society that have no problem 'throwing their granny aff a bus' but what does that say about the callous world we live in. If you can't trust your relatives and friends, who can you trust? When the chips are down you know who your friends are, as one Alex Salmond found out, but no matter where you are on the social ladder, betrayal isn't restricted by status.

Finally, 4 months ago, something happened to me which caused me to revaluate a friendship, it was something along the lines of trust. After it happened, I just never got back in contact with the person, and won't be in their company again. You see, life is too short for regret or having negativity in it, something we should all know but until it hits you in the face, you are blissfully unaware. What the 'twins of evil' done is yet to fully sink in with them, they destroyed their family and ruined their lives, and for a measly £4,000 each to be spent on what drink, dresses, parties and fancy goods? One thing which I remember from a friend when he was robbed, was him saying something profound, he said he has gotten off cheap. It may not seem it but  Crawford Pirrie, 73, and his wife, Marlene got off cheap as well, and they found out who their real family are.

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University 

The Eternal Flame of Burning in Hell; UK Government Minister Michael Gove delivers a master class in letter writing to failed SNP Minister Mike Russell over Scottish Nationalist 'misleading' and 'invented' Westminster claims, Gove asking to see Russell's Brexit 'homework' sends Russell into a Nationalist trope on Westminster 'attacking of the people of Scotland', Gove is only asking where Russell's Brexit 'homework' is, not circa £600,000 of indyref 2 donations which are supposed to be sitting and 'ring fenced' in the SNP accounts

Dear All 

One thing is certain at the next Holyrood election 2021, assuming there is one, is that Scotland will see the end of SNP MSP Mike Russell. His claim to fame will be the damage he done to Scottish education as the former Education Minister. In his later years, post education, the anchor round Scotland's neck was moved by SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon to head up the SNP Government response to Brexit. Russell has been utterly useless, Sturgeon's administration has been in denial ever since they lose the EU referendum in 2016. The SNP had hoped post defeat that maybe some kind of reversal of Brexit was possible, as their 'remainer' sickness took hold, they then hoped the 'pill' of a bad deal would be a cure, their cure didn't work. Rather than being helpful and shaping the new political dynamic in the UK, they have been in bed with the EU working against us. This type of treachery of course hasn't gone un-noticed by the public and Westminster as the SNP have been quite open about it.

The SNP motto seems to be 'proud to be a traitor'! 

The Nats had hoped to 'win' Scottish independence and then during the transition out of the UK hoped to circumvent the rules of EU membership by staying in. Legally their position was nonsense because the EU rules don't allow this, and their example of East Germany joining West Germany was entirely wrong-headed. In the case of Germany, a member, if another country joins them to former a large German nation, it's a matter firstly of German internal politics, in the case of the SNP, they wanted to legally take a membership which they never had with the EU. If the SNP had won in 2014, they would have left the UK and automatically left the EU. The SNP used the 'transfer' membership narrative to deceive people, their own supporters and the wider public who don't follow politics. Now that the UK has left, now that the transition is coming to an end, the scale of SNP un-prepared is laid bare. Like the kid who dodge school, the SNP is well behind the rest of the UK class, and now crying foul. 

Recently the UK Government has decided to tackle the SNP's narrative which for the most part they have been allowed to get away with un-challenged. For years the UK allowed Nicola Sturgeon to spin her lies and nonsense, but now things are changing. The UK Government is to setup a unit to speak up for Scotland against the Nationalist lies, deceit and fabrication, you could say this unit should have been rocking since 2012, but the penny has finally dropped. UK Minister Michael Gove has started the ball rolling by writing to the Scottish Government's constitution minister after Russell complained of poor communication over Brexit. In his letter the Cabinet Office minister told Mike Russell MSP he was "sorry" he felt that the cooperation between the two governments had "not been all that it might be". This is called 'setting the stage', what comes next was the slap down as Gove outlined a series of meetings attended by Scottish Government officials in the past year. These meetings were on the preparations needed for the end of the transition period. Mike Russell like Nicola Sturgeon have been the kids who dodged school, then complain that it wasn't open as their rationale for non-attendance. Mike Russell, Scottish Government Constitution Secretary, said last week that Westminster's engagement with Holyrood over Brexit had been "sporadic and dysfunctional". 

School was open! 

Gove's letter stated that there had been five meetings of the Joint Ministerial Committee on EU Negotiations (JMC EN) this year, and plans for another meeting this week. Gove added Nicola Sturgeon had been invited to attend several meetings, but it is understood she had not taken up the offer in person. So, the question is why, why did Nicola Sturgeon not attend, my take on her 'no show' is simple, Sturgeon thinks she is the leader of Scotland, when she is in fact a political figure in a devolved administration. She only gets to control bits of Scottish life. To give the appearance she is more than a minor official in the UK administration, she puts on a show, but the reality is that she is answerable to the Prime Minister Boris Johnson. To make her seem important, she doesn't want to be seen attending meetings with UK civil servants and junior ministers. One of the things which should never have been allowed was a UK Prime Minister walking into Bute House as a 'guest', this gave the wrong impression that SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was the de facto leader of Scotland and that a UK Prime Minister was a 'visiting' head of state from another country. I think the UK establishment has now sussed this which is why I think there will be no more 'Bute House' photo ops on the stairs outside it for 'President' Sturgeon. 

Nicola Sturgeon is a minor official in the UK administration. 

A reason for non attendance at Brexit meetings, is Sturgeon wouldn't attend unless Boris is there. She doesn't like the idea she is part of the administrative pack, Sturgeon wants to be the person who merely 'signs off' things which the officials draw up. Basically, everyone else has to draw the water, she just drinks it. What is amusing about Gove's letter is when he in his role as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster urged Holyrood ministers to share their progress on preparations for January 1, 2021. He is basically asking to see Sturgeon and Russell's 'homework' to grade it, which is why I think he will have a bit of a wait on his hands. 

Gove wrote: 

"I am sorry if you feel that the UK Government’s contact with you and others in the devolved administrations has not been all that it might be. I hope I can lay your mind at rest. I have been, and remain, very keen to secure the best possible engagement between us... Turning to engagement more broadly, since the start of October, the First Minister of Scotland has been invited to regular meetings of the XO [Exit Operations] Cabinet Committee, dealing with preparations and operational readiness for the end of the transition period. I would like to put on record my thanks to your colleagues and officials for the valuable contributions they made to discussions in three Committee sessions so far this month." 

To break that down, he is highlighting the non appearance of Nicola Sturgeon, and praising her colleagues and officials for their valuable contributions, which she can't claim credit for. Also in his letter, Gove focused on the Scottish Government's progress citing , the UK Government had yet to receive crucial data or information about how Holyrood ministers are preparing for the end of the transition period. Gove added UK officials had "not been invited to any operational readiness meetings of the Scottish Government". This is the same as the 'schools inspectors' paying a visit which will not go down well with the SNP, bad enough to be incompetent, even worse to have it confirmed in writing by UK officials. 

Gove also added: 

" I appreciate that is your decision but we still lack access to crucial data and have not had papers or other important planning materials shared with us. This includes information on how the funding the Scottish Government received to support readiness has been spent; how many Environmental Health Officers are in place in Local Authorities; and how you are ensuring businesses are aware and taking action to prepare for change." 

Watch out for more 'TV ads' on various media platforms as an ass covering exercise to show the UK Government, obviously educationally lite. 'Are you prepared for Brexit in Scotland...' with a link to a website probably with '.Scot' in the address. 

To highlight the non attendance of Nicola Sturgeon, a senior UK government source told The Herald that Nicola Sturgeon had not attended any of the Exit Operations committees personally, and added that the idea the UK Government had not been engaging with Holyrood was a "invented grievance". What is clear is that the UK see Nicola Sturgeon in her present role as having a limited shelf life or shelf life dogged by controversy till the end of her tenure as FM. They might as well join the party and heap some more coal on the fire and stoke it by letting some 'air' into it. 

The UK Source said: 

"Michael Russell’s claim that the UK Government is not engaging closely with the Scottish Government is just another invented grievance. Instead of playing political games what we actually need from the Scottish Government is clarity on their preparations for the end of the Transition Period." 

In reply to being found wanting, SNP Minister Mike Russell trotted out what is now a staple of his government's excuses were doing "all we can" to mitigate the "appalling situation the UK Government has created". What does 'all we can' mean? All we can means is merely a sound bite because Russell has been cornered, he has been boxed in, he certainly can't explain away Sturgeon's behaviour because the explanation would show how vain she is. He can't show their 'work' because it will be of such poor quality and not on a par with what is produced down south, and he can't simply remain dumb of what the SNP plan actually is. In Russell's fight back, he said: 

"The extraordinary decision of Boris Johnson and Michael Gove to impose a disastrous hard Brexit in the middle of a global pandemic and economic recession shows  they have total contempt for people in Scotland. The job losses and misery their reckless extreme Brexit will cause will sadly not be ‘invented’ but will be all too real for people in just two months’ time.

We are doing all we can to protect Scotland from an appalling situation the UK Government has created but we, the Scottish Parliament and the people of Scotland have all been ignored –  which is one reason there is now a clear majority for independence." 

So, after reading this reply, you can clearly see that SNP Minister Mike Russell cannot defend his or the wider SNP Government's position. His response should have been 'facts and figures', it should have been 'places, dates and times of work', it should have highlighted who has been brought to 'tune up' the finished design. He should have said, 'we are ready to go', but instead we got a feeble attack on Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, a Nationalist trope on the 'attacking of the people of Scotland', and nonsense of Sturgeon will protect Scotland doing all she can. What is 'all she can' translated mean, it means nothing, Sturgeon will do nothing because she doesn't know what she should do. In the end, I suppose the route that will be taken is Scottish officials 'borrowing' the homework of the UK Government and sex it up by making it appear 'Scottish'. 

Finally, the end of the transition period is the closing of the window on Nicola Sturgeon's dream of Scottish independence, EU membership and the death of the narrative 'Scotland in Europe'. Scotland is going to be out of Europe, so any independence bid won't have a fall back of the European Central Bank to bail the country out. Recently I read a huge funny story about money, which I invite you to read too. It is a heart-warming tale of Nationalists entitled: 

'You've Been Robbed' but maybe the title should have been, 'Where's the Fucking Money?' 

It seems a point has been raised that whole lot of money raised to fight indyref 2 generated by ordinary people's donations allegedly doesn't appear in the balance sheet of the SNP's official accounts which were said to be 'ring fenced' by the party leadership. 

https://www.thenational.scot/news/15344728.snp-all-the-money-raised-on-scotref-website-is-ringfenced-to-fight-a-future-independence-referendum/

Those SNP accounts have been submitted to the Electoral Commission to be checked. According to Wings over Scotland, he has for some considerable time has been asking where indyref 2 donation money is, he wrote; 

"As Wings has been warning for most of this year, something in the region of £700,000 in supposedly “ring-fenced” money raised by two crowd funding campaigns has indeed vanished into the maw of the party machine, leaving just under £97,000 in the bank". 

https://wingsoverscotland.com/youve-been-robbed/#comments 

The George Laird view is people's donations should be respected and.... oh dear, more light shining on Nicola Sturgeon's CEO Husband Peter Murrell and of course big questions!

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Nicola Sturgeon's 5 Min Doctor Programme; the SNP controlled Scottish NHS wants to shunt responsibility for cancelling patient appointments onto sick people, be your own Doctor, no training or stethoscope required, if you think you're dying or deteriorating, just get in touch, what cretin came up with self analysis for heart patients, is this another SNP "special" akin to shipping plague victims into elderly care homes, can Sturgeon get the Nobel Prize for services to the funeral industry?

Dear All 

As SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon continually talks about Covid-19, it is worth remembering that the Scottish National Health Service is going down the tubes. Scots patients will a wide range of other illnesses can't get the help they need, and as queues get longer, people will serious illness are in danger of dying early. The Scottish NHS needs to deal with Covid, but it also needs to service and reduce the massive backlog of other cases. 

Some people with serious, life-long heart defects are being told hospital appointments as far ahead as 2022 cannot go ahead. Sticking them on a waiting list and calling it  Covid “contingency planning” is utter nonsense. We have already seen the destruction of dental services in Scotland, where poor people face a stark choice, pay to go private or lose your teeth. 

Part of health is quality of life, where is the quality of life if perfectly health teeth are ripped out when a cheap filling could be done? Why is the Scottish Government not pushing for dental services to return to normal? If the issue is PPE, then clearly this protection should be supplied to NHS dental surgeries. If it is not, then the questions should be asked, and raised in Holyrood and at every Sturgeon press briefing. Everything stopping isn't looking like Covid “contingency planning”, it's beginning to look like 'covid cost cutting'. 

If you have cancer or if you are an adult with congenital heart disorders who require life-long monitoring, your odds of survival have been drastically reduced. If you could be saved by treatment, you're facing uncertainty. People who need specialised help like those with congenital heart disorders can't wait, sending them letters from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) stating that scheduled check-ups which involve a range of clinical tests cannot take place is unacceptable. If there are “expected high demands” on the health service in the coming weeks, then why isn't the health service being redesigned, why aren't more nightingale hospitals being brought online? 

The lie being sold by SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon is the service is coping with demand, but being placed in limbo isn't coping, it's serial neglect. 

The letters sent to patients ask them to ineffective 'play' at being doctor, they are to get in touch if they “think their condition is deteriorating”. It takes 5 years to train a doctor, several more years for someone to be a consultant, but 'joe public' with a tin of band aids in the kitchen cupboard is suddenly elevated to being Dr Kildare? How does someone with a heart condition judge deterioration? If you are dehydrated, your heart speeds up, sugars in the body burn faster and you feel fatigued, you get dizzy and feel unwell. How many other imbalances would trigger the heart to act erratically? 

Well here is a un-exhaustive list 

Strong emotions like anxiety, fear, or stress. They often happen during panic attacks.

Vigorous physical activity

Caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, or illegal drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines

Medical conditions, including thyroid disease, a low blood sugar level, anemia, low blood pressure, fever, and dehydration

Hormonal changes during menstruation, pregnancy, or just before menopause. Sometimes, palpitations during pregnancy are signs of anemia.

Medications, including diet pills, decongestants, asthma inhalers, and some drugs used to prevent arrhythmias (a serious heart rhythm problem) or treat an underactive thyroid

Some herbal and nutritional supplements

Abnormal electrolyte levels

Some people have palpitations after heavy meals rich in carbohydrates, sugar, or fat. Sometimes, eating foods with a lot of monosodium glutamate (MSG), nitrates, or sodium can bring them on, too. 

How would the joe public know if they have reached a health tipping point? 

If self diagnosis is the way forward, it will end up as a medical car crash with unnecessary cases causing a log jam in A&E which increases backlog, think of it like a junction where no one has right of way, everything slows down and then stops! 

Is there a case for new nightingales to be opened, I think the answer is yes, but it must be done in conjunction with a bespoke redesign of services during the pandemic. Everyone knows the SNP where late to the party, and their attempts at catch up have been a dismal failure. 13 years of SNP Government have been mirrored by their failure to plan, failure to plan to get more working class Scottish kids into education. This led to smaller nurses of Scottish Drs and nurses being trained to work in the Scottish NHS. 

The impact of a failed SNP education system ripples down the decades, There is a shortage of Drs and other staff and there has been for years, no action taken to fix it. The  medical speciality for heart treatment is also facing major shortages of consultants. Is the shortage because the SNP make Scotland such an unappealing place to work? The person who did my surgery left Scotland to work in the bright lights of London, better job, better prospects and better money, that was a pity, he was bloody good. Nicola Sturgeon bring in Jeane Freeman was supposed to be a big deal after her pal, Shona Robison was way out of her depth. The truth is since Sturgeon panned the service as an absentee minister, the health service has been leaderless. Jeane Freeman's appointment was a joke, she never turned around problems, and when the 'biggie' hit, it was literally a tsunami effect on the whole service, everything was up in the air. 

So, the reality on the ground, one patient said she received an appointment letter for a date in September 2022 and was later told it was cancelled “due to Covid”. Another  patient who has not been seen this year for her annual check-up due to the pandemic said her September 2021 appointment has now been cancelled. Others confirm they are still waiting for tests: 

She said: 

“It’s frustrating that our appointments have been cancelled, as we only get them once per year.” 

A spokesman for NHSGGC said: 

“Currently there are no blanket service appointment cancellations. Individual appointments may have been cancelled for a number of reasons.” 

A spokeswoman for NHS Golden Jubilee said: 

“Waiting times for outpatient appointments have increased as a result of the reduced capacity during the pandemic period and are subject to change as the situation evolves. Appointments will continue to be scheduled based on clinical priority. The service has put in place additional capacity for diagnostic sessions to help reduce waiting times and recover the activity lost during the last six months.” 

One has to wonder does the additional capacity include patients self diagnosing their own condition? 

Finally, years ago, I blogged furiously on the lack of working class Scottish kids getting their chance to go to university. The SNP came up with a free tuition plan which coupled with the interview system closed the door on many working class kids becoming medics. The bulk of those who got places to medical school were the middle classes, and foreign students who could pay the hefty fees, milked on all four tits for their hard cash. Then a few working class kids got places to pad out the diversity quota, and this allowed the universities to continue unchecked and still access the public purse for millions. As I said before, the SNP's failure to invest in Scottish people caused and will impact post covid on health. Covid has killed plenty in Scotland, but the real death toll from halting services and reducing services is still to be paid. 

And it will be paid in blood. 

Is it possible that someone could tackle Nicola Sturgeon about this on her daily freak show, let's make every day a frown day for Nicola!

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University 

The Headless SNP Horseman; Clueless SNP Education Minister John Swinney delivers 'Bad Santa' Nicola Sturgeon's xmas message, if she can't get covid virus under control, the student population of Scotland in halls of residence are to be locked up, the SNP are going to be your jailers, halls of residence are going to be your prisons, isn't it time SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon took a leaf out of the people of Thailand's book on virus control and stopped making a pig's ear out of handling Covid?

Dear All 

SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon has put imprisonment back on the academic agenda for Scottish University students. As the tidal wave of coronavirus infections sweeps across the land, some students will be coped up in little better than a 'prison cell'. Scotland’s Education Secretary says it is a “realistic possibility” if 'Bad Santa' Nicola Sturgeon cannot get the virus under control. John Swinney was trotted out to front the news from Nicola Sturgeon in a mealy mouth announcement, Swinney also held out the fake 'fig leaf' of possible access to other university accommodation at Christmas. One has to laugh at that 'offer' of other university accommodation, what are we talking about here? The Principal's house opened up and everyone getting wrecked in his liquor cabinet? Bedded down in the Chemistry labs brewing your own wine, quiet night in at the university morgue, or is it, hanging out on the wall bars in the uni gym? 

I am unsure where John Swinney gets this notion of other accommodation available as if there are empty purpose built blocks of luxury flats just lying vacant. So, should not someone ask him what does he mean by "other university accommodation"? Previously, there was a great student exodus from university accommodation, this was due to students not willing to submit to threats by universities using their disciplinary code. If 'forced imprisonment' goes ahead such a measure will ripple down the line for years, future students will opt for private flats. Clearly Education Acts need to be changed to stop Universities being able to act in a threatening manner as bad landlords and de facto jailers. 

If you have watched the news, or just looked out the window, you will have seen crowds of people not obeying the 'rule of six'. You will see them also ignore the two metre rule, and finally, people who clearly not from the same household gathered together in packs. The virus is being spread because the SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon and her team of 'balloons' have lost the public confidence. Nicola Sturgeon opted to make herself the 'face of fighting the virus' in Scotland, and just as she was the 'face of independence', she has categorically failed to deliver that too. The real problems of Nicola Sturgeon fronting coronavirus in Scotland are many, but the key one is that campaigns fronted by negative people don't work. Nicola Sturgeon is a negative person who turns people off. She can stand at her podium playing 'Caesar' all day long but the audience has left long ago. Another problem of Sturgeon's 'me,me,me' approach is the lack of diversity aptly summed up by her sister who called her a 'total control freak'. Campaigns of this nature need many voices, while it is true there are 'bit players' Leitch, Smith and Freeman, and some other sidekicks kicking around, there is a lack of diversity in leadership. 

Actually the reality is there is no diversity in leadership! 

Nicola Sturgeon is like an old faded movie star from the silent era who can't make the transition to the 'talkies'. People want to hear from others, people want to hear different opinions. They want more than just death numbers and the 'noise' of padded out junk to fill an hour in her bland broadcasts. If you analyse her whole show, it is far too long, its partisan in nature and its hardly entertaining. Nicola Sturgeon may think her one woman stand up show has traction, the infection rate in Scotland paints a different picture. If you missed the last episode, don't worry, the format hasn't changed, except some data. If you had to watch your fav movie, how many times could you do so before you wanted to watch something else? The 'Nicola Sturgeon Show', the party political broadcast under the guise of covid briefing is bland, it's bad TV and arguably doesn't fill the need for public broadcasting. 

I mean.... ffs.... Alex Salmond produces a better show and has better props and guests! 

In the chaotic attempts to fight the virus, the fact that John Swinney said there is a “realistic possibility” students could be asked to stay in halls is damning. His 'olive branch' of stressing that SNP Government “want to avoid that at all possible cost” is just risible. It's just a joke, surely to 'lock' students up there must be a localised infection in a student hall? But what about those students and everyone else who live in private flats, where is their lockdown? Do you know of any TV interviews of neighbours in block of flats who found out someone in the block was covid infected and everyone couldn't go out? 

Think about that for a second. 

There is a noticeably lack of brains here on her show, instead of 'solving the problem', it means that Nicola Sturgeon would rather 'manage the problem', even if that means non infected are caught in her net. 

So, is there is a solution to this problem, how do you limit further infections by the movement of “substantial” numbers of students around the country. The answer is simple, mass testing by block, mass testing by halls, those who pass on the prescribed testing day, get their kit and leave for the holidays, those who fail, well they're staying. It would be simple to have mobile units in place and get results back quickly, there isn't any logistical reason to prevent this happening.  

You might ask why this solution is in place, well in a democracy taken over by the 'cult of personality', people like Nicola Sturgeon have to take credit for everything. The bulk of the time in 'new ideas' is the discussion of how would this make Nicola look good in the press and on TV. Already Sturgeon's team will be working hard on how to spin this university story to make her look good. One way is to use a 'fall guy', the comic relief, in this case, Education Sec John Swinney is the big 'clueless oaf', then at the eleventh hour Nicola Sturgeon swoops in and saves the day. The 'fall guy' technique is not uncommon in modern politics, in the event that there is more mileage for Sturgeon politically locking students up, then she will go that route without a second thought. If you ask why, this is her building on her wider developed theme of 'Saviour of Scotland' nonsense. So, what about Swinney if he is being set to play the oaf, will he will act out his part, yes, he will but as you can see by his recent facial expressions around Sturgeon, he doesn't want to be there. And I can't say I don't blame him! 

Swinney said of xmas lockdown: 

“We want to avoid that at all possible cost because we want students to return home. But I have to be realistic that, if we have a situation where the virus has not been controlled, then we will have to look at other scenarios and other plans.” 

Swinney added: 

“There is a lot of thinking and work going on within the Scottish Government, with Universities Scotland, the institutions, with the National Union of Students, and also with the governments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to try to make sure this can be undertaken as safely as possible. But there obviously is a risk that if the virus is not contained, then we may not be able to support the return of students to their homes. We want to avoid that but it is a realistic possibility.” 

As if not enough misery is being spread by the Scottish Nationalists, Swinney offered guidance on how to avoid door-to-door guising this Halloween. Swinney urged families not to leave sweets outside their homes as they could enable the transmission of Covid-19. He said: 

“The interaction of humans is how the virus is spread and that can also be spread by the touching of items like bags of sweeties. So quite conceivably, without anybody knowing that they were doing any harm to anybody else, somebody could give a child an assembled bag of sweeties – my son went out guising last year and from our very kind neighbours he got little bags of sweeties – those bags could be the purveyors of coronavirus.” 

You see what I mean by mealy mouthed? 

What John Swinney should be saying is that Halloween is cancelled. 

What we are seeing here is a weasel tongued explanation about how bags of sweeties could pass the virus on. What about apples, a staple of halloween, oranges off limits, what is safe to pass on? The fact of the matter is that Nicola Sturgeon and the 'headless horseman' John Swinney are out of their depth regarding coronavirus. This is the legacy of their part-time approach to government, their insular mentality and inability to build consensus in the wider community. What is incredible is that we are told there is a 'team of experts' behind Nicola Sturgeon, we get told how qualified people like Jason Leitch and Gregor Smith are, but look where we are now, well and truly in the shit. The coronavirus is raging out of control in Scotland and we are no better or further forward in our quality of life since we started lockdown back in early March. 

9 months have been wasted. 

Finally, I have selected a video from a youtube vlogger who walk around Bangkok, Thailand, this country has one of the lowest death rates from coronavirus, 59 deaths so far. The reason, I keep coming back to this vlogger is that the Thai people have responded to their government health message. You will notice that a lot of people are wearing masks outside, especially in urban areas, this is a measure that I think will have to be adopted in Scotland for people normally moving about day to day. Although some people in the video don't wear a mask, what is interesting is the message that many do. I want you to watch this video as it gives a good cross section of people from different levels of society that you make encounter on the street. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyGiVyA5oeI 

There are 70 million people in Thailand, they have experienced 59 deaths, population of Scotland is circa 5.454 million, corona death rate stands at 2,701 according to a google search. If Scotland had a population the same as Thailand this could roughly translate to circa 37,814, still think Nicola Sturgeon is doing a good job? To give you some perspective here is a grasp on reality. 

70 million Thailand = 59 deaths

70 million Scotland = 37,814 deaths

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University 

'Tiers of an SNP Clown'; 'Absolute Control Freak' Nicola Sturgeon facing serious questions over the lack of details in her all singing, all dancing Covid strategy, Citizens of Scotland are dying as the SNP uses 'media manipulation' and a sick depraved form of one-upmanship to allow Nicola Sturgeon to 'hog the limelight' during Covid, how many times does it need to be said that the SNP Government are trying to 'rig' the Holyrood 2021 election by creating an uneven playing field?

Dear All 

It seems there is no end to the stupidity of SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the 3 tier coronavirus lockdown system, Sturgeon rushes out her version 'Tier 5.0'. So, what is all this in aid of? Are extra tiers needed and if so, why hasn't England came up with extra tiers? The reality of Sturgeon 'Tier 5.0' is all about one-upmanship as she continues Holyrood election campaigning propaganda. This is all done in the open and under the guise of covid briefings. The extra levels are designed to do one thing, get press coverage, to focus the media on her and her alone as the 'Saviour of Scotland'. Well, the truth is, corona deaths are rising in Scotland, the virus is spreading in Scotland and Nicola Sturgeon hasn't done a good job. To me, and others, more effort is being ploughed into her mad 'control freak' campaigning than actually turn things around on the nation's health. 

The greatest health crisis facing Scotland in decades should have been an united from by an all parties, it wasn't, right from the start, the SNP setup to politicise everything to do with handling of the pandemic. You might have thought that in a time of nation crisis, Sturgeon would have rallied the country, she didn't, she didn't rally the political parties either. It gets worse, when you realise that the health secretary and the public health minister were effectively sidelined. The health Sec became a bit player, and the public health minister, Joe Fitzpatrick, he might as well be dead or on permanent holiday. The only recorded evidence of his existence is he is still drawing his ministerial salary, as long as the ATM's work, we know Joe is 'alive', either that or someone else has his pin number! 

The first thing about the 'Tier 5.0' plan to note is there is a lack of details, so why is this, why is 'Tier 5.0' so educational lite? 

It's a bit like designing a single storey bungalow with a lift in it. The details or the finer details don't matter, what is important is the 'design', the concept, the idea that the broad brush stroke is more important than the details of functionality. 'Tier 5.0' is just a version of the 'square wheel' which someone else will have to redesign for the production model. But for reference, the redesign will incorporate some element of the square so that Nicola Sturgeon can claim what is termed 'ownership'. The prototype will be conveniently forgotten about as the production model is Sturgeon 'customised'. 

Having announced the 'launch' of 'Tier 5.0', the opposition is less than impressed after it was laid out to Holyrood leaders, the Scottish Tories and Liberal Democrats both said they were concerned and frustrated at the lack of details. Like all things that Nicola Sturgeon has control of, or a hand in the view around is to be skeptical. Sturgeon's career in government is one of failure to manage, the health brief stands out particularly as a catastrophic failure. She was moved to another brief just as the SNP PR machine couldn't hold back the tide of her failings. In her next government post, it was a nonsense because she was abandoning her desk to the run and be the face of the indyref campaign. Two solid years of non achievement in the brief, and at the referendum, and all of that wasn't unexpected. 

No matter how many tiers that Nicola Sturgeon is bring in, the people have moved away from her and her delusional ravings at the podium. You can walk down Glasgow streets and see people bunched up together in groups larger than six. Just as she has failed to control the virus, the expensive PR campaign is now just 'background' noise. There is a total disconnect between her and the people, yes, she can force businesses to close, she can disrupt social and civic life, but in the wake of all that, people are finding new ways to meet up and socialise. Nicola Sturgeon isn't seen as being part of their lives, or as an influencer, despite her cramming our television screens at every opportunity. She is like an old faded movie star who has lived beyond her shelve life and couldn't adapt, clear signs of this are evident in a number of ways such as the SNP attempting to rig candidate selection to try and market her as a star. The growing disquiet of ardent Nationalists on pro indy sites, and the 'late to the party' press coverage of anti Sturgeon stories breaking through. 

If you announce a plan, and there is little clarity on exactly what the public could expect in each tier, or the support to people and business from limited Scottish Government funds, it isn't a plan. When you can define what the tiers are, and how they differ from the rest of the UK, that isn't a plan. When you conceal the broad framework that isn't a plan, it is a sounding exercise to 'test the water' of the concept, nothing more. Will the 'plan' from this date be altered before it gets to the Holyrood chamber, I think many will suspect it will, there seems to be a lot of blanks, deliberately kept hidden or perhaps not fleshed out. 

Sturgeon has said clearly that her government, rather than MSPs or councils, would make the final call on which tier applied in which area, saying "the bucks stops here". Reading between the lines, you could presumably come to the conclusion this is more to do with politics than health. The Aberdeen lockdown was denounced as political, whether SNP controlled areas weren't subject to the same restrictions. As history shows, the SNP government doesn't engage or collaborate with councils, the council tax issue highlights that, the SNP operate by threats and diktat, they're not interested in opinion unless it confirms their own. Sturgeon effectively says this by her own mouth. 

"ultimately we (meaning her) have to be able to take the decisions". 

There isn't much in the Sturgeon plan going forward, everything appears designed for press conferences such as the quarantine system for international travel, the tiers would be reviewed weekly. You see the hour long Sturgeon party political broadcasts need what is called 'fillers'. This is a well known approach used in television, when a news broadcast puts on a clip which has no significant value other than amusement or passing interest. You know the type, 80 year old granny does parachuting, or the cat catches golf balls like a goalie. My personal 'filler' is the six year old Irish girl that wants to go to the pub. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uiEHHGXmEU 

Her own mother won't let her go to the pub, life is tough! 

As Nicola Sturgeon continues to wreck the hospitality trade, hinting the current circuit breaker restrictions could be extended, you are seeing what political interference can do when passive interest of governance is employed. In times of trouble, the Romans' would appoint someone to deal with crisis, their job was to get on with the job full time. In 2020 Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon refuses to appoint someone to manage that task, she thinks her part time method is sufficient, you could add in that as her cabinet is so weak, who could she appoint to do the job anyway. The weakest of the Sturgeon regime is the cult of personality, everything must be about her, the spotlight must never be taken off her. She is the paint as I have mentioned covering the rottenness of the SNP structure she runs. 

Although officially the Scottish Cabinet will decide whether to roll-over the rules today, it is Sturgeon and her advisors who will decide. Cabinet government ceased a lot time ago in Scotland, it is kept to give an air of collective responsibility. You see Nicola Sturgeon has to be able to say that she has a team behind her all pulling in the same direction. 

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: 

"While we will scrutinise the proposals closely when they are published, we are concerned about any proposed extension to the current temporary restrictions with no consultation and before businesses have seen a penny of the funding that they were promised." 

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: 

"People are making big sacrifices, and for them to keep doing that, they must be persuaded by evidence: much better evidence than provided at the moment. For any new strategy to work we need to see the establishment of a much better relationship between central and local government, the full involvement of Parliament and the consent of the people." 

Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie called for mass testing for Covid. 

He said: 

"I am very concerned with where this is going. People made great sacrifices for months and are frustrated the government did not keep its part of the bargain on testing, quarantine checks and planning for the return of schools and universities. The public need to be treated like adults which means sharing the science and the modelling so they can see whether the new sacrifices they are expected to make have a good chance of working." 

Once the SNP see that 'Tier 5.0' has lost it marketable value, they will come up with 'Tier 5.5' or  'Tier 6.0'. This would be handing councils the ability to make local decisions in a prescribed area, but with a backdoor to remove or revert those powers back to her. You see giving powers away lets her claim openness which generates a story, and taking powers back also generates a story, no doubt padded out with extra cash help to councils. If you can what Sturgeon and her clique are doing, they are using media manipulation which I subject they have already modeled on how they can use this to win the next Holyrood election. If they can curtail political campaigning on the ground in certain areas, it could boost their chances. 

Finally; Nicola Sturgeon isn't interested in people getting elected unless she can control them, she has no interest in assisting those who stand under the indy banner. You should take a keen interest in what is happening around mid February because it may give you an indication of what the future of political campaign will look like. Political parties have already cried 'foul' over the covid briefings by Sturgeon which she hijacked as SNP party political broadcasts, they will resume their objections in due course next year. Can the BBC allow Sturgeon to continue in an election doing what she is doing, no way, they should have taken over the daily briefings but that was their mistake. If they do freeze Sturgeon out, then you will see a change in the 'Tier 5.0' rules as if by a miracle.

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University 

The Weight of Sturgeon’s Guilt; ‘Friends’ of SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon claim to be “worried” about the toll the Alex Salmond affair is having on her, as the trickle of ‘poor Nicola’ stories ramps up, we shouldn’t be concerned with the supposed angst of a nasty bitter twisted individual like her who has done so much harm to Scotland, we should marvel at why the SNP continues their PR campaign which has continually failed to make her likeable, what a waste of money, people are deserting Sturgeon!

Dear All 

Here are some examples to test your sympathy level, end of the Second World War, Hitler blows his brains out, Himmler and Goering poison themselves. Did the public suffer angst in Britain or in any of the former occupied countries? I don’t think so, but what about other figures in history, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, Moors Murderers, did you feel any sympathy for them when they got locked up? What about the Yorkshire ripper or Harold Shipman, I take it you didn’t see them as ‘free spirits’? 

When fast forwarding to modern and recent times, what about ex SNP MP Natalie McGarry, did her Court room plight move you to tears? Will you be moved when she is re-tried in a court of law again? Do you think you will join a Natalie McGarry is innocent campaign? When you heard about SNP MSP Derek Mackay who was ‘outed’ for texting a ‘cute’ 16 year old boy, did you think, this was on a par with the Robert Redford movie, ‘The way we were’ or did you think Mackay was a dirty sleazy bastard? Have you ever noticed that you and the rest of joe public generally have little or no sympathy for bastards?  

I suspect that the list which I have put above, none of them moved you to sympathy, which begs the question, why? Is it because you are basically not a very sympathetic person or is it as I believe, you genuinely don’t like bastards? Not only do you not like bastards, you don’t hang around with them either. You avoid their company because being around them makes you feel uncomfortable and uneasy. Hanging around vile nasty fake people unsettles us, especially when they want to use us for their ends. 

Political parties in Scotland, when someone is elevated to leadership sometimes have to do what is called a ‘makeover’ of a politician. Makeovers are done on people because their personality is so bad and their demeanour is so toxic. It is done to win votes and cover up their flaws. A makeover was done on SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, she had the media training, she had the dress makeover and she had ‘myth’ continually shoved down people’s throats that she was a nice person. 

Her makeover was concentrated on the ‘nice person’ persona, so periodically; we saw ‘Nicola with kids’, the message if you didn’t get it was simple. Nicola is with kids, Nicola is smiling, kids are smiling; therefore kids trust Nicola. And if kids trust Nicola, then you should trust her too. There is a problem with the ‘nice person’ persona, you see unless you are actually are a nice person, under pressure you revert to type. You know it as ‘the mask slips’. When the mask slips, the true nature of the person is revealed, in Nicola Sturgeon’s case, it is of an angry bitter vicious individual who is a control freak. 

As a casual observer of the SNP ‘civic war’, you can see one thing emerging; clearly, Nicola Sturgeon’s close allies have lost two key battles in the attempt to destroy Alex Salmond. You have seen the Sturgeon faction continue their campaign against him from the shadows. You have seen Sturgeon and her government being called ‘liars’, you have seen how the Sturgeon faction is blocking Salmond supporters from progressing within the party. You will have also noticed how quickly Nicola Sturgeon turned on one of her own SNP MPs for an act of stupidity, who was also a Salmond supporter. Nicola Sturgeon is being attacked from inside the SNP and from outside the SNP. She really is fighting a losing battle because she is fighting on two fronts. As a fan of the series, The World at War, this quote from it was used from Mein Kampf in the series, it sticks out, ‘never fight a war on two fronts’. It uses up too much time, too many people and too much resources, a few blog posts ago, I commented that Sturgeon was in retreat as Alex Salmond’s ‘armour’ rolls ever westward. Comrade Salmond is as cold as a Siberian winter, his troops are fresh and aren’t in the mood to take prisoners. They want their chance for revenge; they want to bayonet the wounded. And prior to that, they want the allies of Sturgeon to know, they will be getting bayoneted too. 

As the circle tightens around SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, the bunker mentality is noticeable. She wants to buy time which is why so many ‘woke’ SNP candidates are coming out of the woodwork. Sturgeon’s ‘Volkssturm’ is a rather oddball collection of characters. You will see more of them if anyone is dumb enough to make them the candidate in a constituency or high on the regional lists. In the Sturgeon bunker, you can almost feel the pressure buckling the walls, which is why we get one of Nicola Sturgeon’s ‘alleged’ oldest friends and a member of the SNP hierarchy talking about the toll of the ongoing Alex Salmond saga on her. 

Poor Nicola, is that a joke, is everyone expected to suspend belief and forget about what has happened, all that has happened? Regardless of what the ‘believer’ says, how many people have trouble wrapping their heads round the concept of Nicola Sturgeon having ‘friends’, never mind having an ‘oldest friend’? If that person was in Margaret Ferrier’s covid shoes, would Nicola have thrown them under the bus? If your answer is no, then you need to catch up on your Scottish politics, you really do. Nicola isn’t loyal to anyone, she is a user, and when she can’t ‘use’ someone like Ferrier, she has no problem abandoning them. In Sturgeon’s mind destroying Ferrier’s career and income is simply the right thing to do. 

Anyway, an alleged friend said: 

“Privately, my main worry is that it (Salmond affair) becomes so exhausting for her that she just throws in the towel.” 

You see; Nicola Sturgeon is the ‘paint’ covering up the festering black mold that is the SNP, her ‘friend’ maybe looking at one eye on the future, which means a ‘clear out’ in the SNP for some. Who knows if their face will be suitable to the new order? I can imagine that there are a lot in the SNP who are connected to Sturgeon at the hip, fearful of their future job prospects. The hint of this angst is the admission that they’re not the only confidante or party insider troubled about what the Salmond inquiry is doing to Sturgeon personally. 

So, what is Nicola Sturgeon worried about, what causes her so much pressure? Well to cut to the chase, its …. the truth! Yes, sadly, Nicola Sturgeon is worried sick by the truth coming out. She is worried what public opinion will be when this whole sorry mess is laid bare before the public. She is worried what the public will think when it is revealed how close some of the ‘alphabet women’ are connected to her. 

You know, there is a saying, the truth shall set you free, but in the case of Nicola Sturgeon, no one would believe that truth will reset her image with the public. The press seem to be doing a lesser job of holding her to account, which is why they publish ‘puff’ pieces about how ‘fragile’ she is. How the mounting pressure is intolerable on her and what that means for the SNP, the future of independence, and the governance of Scotland. To be blunt, the SNP as I have always maintained is a ‘rat ship’, second, there is no future for Scottish independence, that boat sailed in 2014. As to the governance of Scotland, pre Salmond ‘fit up’ and ‘cover up’, the governance of this country was woefully incompetent and down right awful! 

The Salmond inquiry is wonderfully toxic for Nicola Sturgeon; she is getting a taste of what her and her nasty party have doled out for years to other people and organisations but doesn't enjoy it, she'd rather kick than be kicked it seems. 

It’s not just politically damaging, it’s also dripping poison all over Sturgeon, and everyone associated with it within her clique. The press played a part in building up Nicola Sturgeon, an image based on a lie, but when you note how reporters drift between political parties and press for jobs, you can see why certain ones swing between them easily, they work in some cases hand in glove. Nicola Sturgeon, it is said won incredible levels of trust from the Scottish public during covid pandemic, this is because the Scottish public were ignorant of what truly was going on. 

Did Nicola Sturgeon stand at the podium and tell you that she and Health Sec Jeane Freeman cleaned out infected elderly patients out of hospitals and stuck them in uncontaminated care homes? What would you have thought if you had known this was the SNP Governments agenda? What do you think now that you have this information, are you overflowing with ‘trust’ for Nicola? Thousands of elderly people are dead because of what the Nicola Sturgeon and her SNP Government done, as she said, she is making the decisions in Scotland. 

When I read the press saying something along the lines that ‘the average punter, Sturgeon seems a pretty decent woman with her heart in the right place’, all I see is a myth to place reporters in two camps, current employment and possible future employment. How can anyone serious write that ‘Sturgeon seems a pretty decent woman with her heart in the right place’? Interesting, when Dr Harold Shipman was doing his mass murdering, he had a tremendous write up by people who were blissfully unaware that he was killing off his elderly patients. Post fighting out the truth, Shipman's reviews tanked! 

What a difference does knowledge make in our lives, the truth is black and white. You, get a greyed out version, meaning you have to join up all the dots, very few are handing you the truth in the press. They built up Sturgeon, they were complicit in her rise, they never did their job properly because it was so easy to join the gravy train, and in return the SNP fed those flotsam stories for their papers. Did you know the SNP pump out so many stories that the quality is like sewage, all done to bump other stories off the front page. 

The real story of the press being fed Nicola Sturgeon is ‘worried’, isn’t the interwoven yarns spun by ‘close friends’, and colleagues in the SNP hierarchy, or their current fluffy version of the toll the Salmond affair has on her. It is watching her reaction to questions on the Salmond affair, look past her pre-scripted answers and see the look in her eyes. The mask increasingly slips, the mouth tightens but occasionally a nasty comment flies back at the questioner as it can’t be contained anymore. Media trained Sturgeon rarely appears rattled by tame questioning, but Salmond has rattled her. Salmond isn’t walking away; he and his followers want her destruction for what they perceive as an ‘injustice’ that must be righted.

As the question stands, who would replace Sturgeon? There’s nobody to fill her shoes because she engineered it so, done with one simple objective, that no one could threaten her leadership. No heir in waiting, no one replacing Derek Mackay. Colleagues are standing well back from her, because they want no part of her. Why aren’t her supporters, friends and colleagues not publicly coming out to support her? Why are they in the shadows? If they believe everything was done correctly, why hide? 

Finally, you will  have heard about Nicola Sturgeon’s tales of woe recently, you have seen the other breadcrumbs of she is “depressed”, you have seen her slumped in her Holyrood chair. 

Are you moved to sympathy yet? 

I mean how many breadcrumbs do the SNP think they need to feed you to get you to change your opinion about her? Do they seriously think they can make you her ally? I don’t think there is enough grain in the silos to make enough breadcrumbs to lay a big enough trail for you to swallow. You cannot have any faith in Nicola Sturgeon because of what she has done not just in the covid crisis but in the response to the wider problems of the governance of Scotland. One close ‘friend’ of Sturgeon who obviously wants to remain nameless said that the idea of a woman falling on her sword as the final act of the Salmond saga would be intolerable. Well, it seems that Sturgeon has two options, one fall on her sword, or two, wait around till she gets stabbed in the back by her ‘friends’, Julius Caesar style. 

Either way the blade is going in!

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Never be Scared to Speak out; pro UK blogger George Laird walks into the Nationalist lion's den of Wings over Scotland, here is a record of what I wrote on one of his blog posts, will it pass moderation or will Wings delete and stick it in the electronic trash?

Dear All

Today, I thought I would write in the comments section of Wings over Scotland, well, its hardly likely he is going to give me a guest post! So, for your entertainment, here is my comments on the article:

https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-seizure-of-the-means/

"Hi, George Laird/Unionist 

Surely the whole point of a rigged system is so that Nicola Sturgeon can further insulate herself against attack from Alex Salmond and his allies? I had a look at the candidate list, after the point was made that, one of them objected to the way the hustings was being conducted. From what I read, the event setup seemed fair to me, everyone gets their opportunity to speak. 

After reading the article and the comments to get a rounded view, if I was a member I would like to know, is the complainer Toni Guigliano? 

For years, I blogged on how four main groups make up the SNP, which is a party within a party. Lgbt, Muslim, Sein Fein lite and the Rich, so while these people operated their little schemes; it took ‘woke’ to finally push people over the edge. 

Alex Salmond took his eye off the ball which is why the party ended up the way it is. How many SNP MPs and MSPs had their ‘trophy’ lgbt or Muslim employee? Some others just opted for family or relatives, everyone was happy to keep their mouth shut, and let’s not forget, you get what you pay for. People are calling out ‘woke’ now, but really it is a skewered variation of lgbt. 

I enjoyed the ‘guy in a dress’ post, Mr. Mridul Wadhwa posing as a woman and working in a rape crisis centre; classic, and also eligible to be a SNP candidate under Nicola. I then think about how people like Craig Murray previously were seen to be not good enough. 

I am supporting his acquittal just like I did with Alex Salmond. 

I met Salmond on many occasions while campaigning for the SNP, most notably David Kerr’s campaign in ‘Glasgow North East’, still got the T shirt, 11 years later. I also did other SNP campaigns that no one remembers, like David Cassidy Glasgow Baillieston November 2008, and Denis Johnston Bishopbriggs South June 2009. Johnston was an okay guy but his wife was a better candidate in terms of presentation.  

David Cassiday on the other hand, the night before his election wanted to watch the Celtic v Man U game on his brand new 42” TV. So he turns up late in track suit, which angered the activists. Cassidy then worked for the wise group, didn’t campaign during the day, and was only in the SNP three months before he put himself forward. After a talk with me, he didn’t go campaigning, because he really wanted to watch the game on Sky, footie and beers, his preference, as opposed to creeping around Baillieston in the dark. 

I left the SNP after two things, one being smeared, the Nats love calling people ‘sex pervert’. The second incident was when they attempted to set me up to call me homophobic. I wouldn’t play their game so Patrick Grady as Nat Sec kicked me out after a hearing which I didn’t attend, and which they put their meaning to words which I wrote on my blog. My accuser was William Henderson, the then Nat Sec, so I outed him to Daily Record stating that he was running a rigged hearing, he disappeared as Nat Sec after that bit of free publicity. He was my accuser, also in charge of setting up the hearing, and talking to the judges outside the process. Imagine if a Salmond accuser was talking to the judge outside his hearing, what would the reaction of the public and press be? 

When it comes to setting people up, the SNP has form using sex allegations or ‘phobia’ as a basis to attack and discredit people. This is why I say Salmond is partly to blame for the current state of the SNP. Of course, he never expected that Nicola Sturgeon’s allies would crawl out of the woodwork to take him to Court. 

But wasn’t the writing on the wall? 

I see the current selection process as an attempt to deliver as many ‘woke’ candidates by any means possible for Nicola’s political safety. No one from the Court of King Alex from Westminster stands a snowball’s chance in hell getting in. Angus Robertson is a backstop just in case Nicola Sturgeon needs support, just in case her allies like John Nicholson and Alyn Smith can’t hold the ‘cheerleading fort’. 

And let’s not forget Humza’s relatives and former employees, the smell of a freshly raised MSP salary, ah bisto. Even Cllr AK47, part of Sturgeon’s southside clique wants to stand in Ayr, a guy who put a loaded assault rifle in a child’s hands. 

Finally, if Toni Guigliano does get in, all that means is a larger lgbt group. Does anyone have a list of all the lgbt people at SNP HQ, Westminister, Holyrood, constituency offices and working in the Scottish Government for the SNP? 

Maybe someone should find out? 

Maybe someone should be asking the questions. If people feeL now they can ask questions about the ‘wokes’ then I am sure, it must be about time that the make up of the SNP was laid bare. I don’t know about you, but as an adult, I don’t think men should be allowed in women’s private spaces, or kids taught about anal sex at school. Another thing which I noticed is the emergence of what I term the ‘enlightened heterosexual’, in the case of the SNP, the task falls to John Swinney, who looks uncomfortable when being questioned by parents. My concern is not because I am old fashioned but because there should be common decency in society, politics and certainly in schools."

Well there you have it folks, tossing a bit of George Laird wisdom to the Nationalists, since I took the time to pop in on occasion for the light hearted comedy and madness, I felt compelled to return the favour with wisdom. Will my comment be posted, will it get Wings approval, who knows, but never shy away from walking into the lions den!

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Nicola Sturgeon’s FMQ Nodding Dug; SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson accused of ‘aggressive and abrasive’ bullying, ‘especially of women’ by SNP Party Members, in an ugly 3 way fight to secure the MSP candidacy for Cunninghame North, the front runner appears to be Corri Wilson, the other two candidates, Kenny Gibson and Humza Yousaf’s cousin, Osama Saeed have a rather bad smell about them, is Nicola going to be in need of a new yapping poodle at Holyrood?

Dear All 

In the drama that is being played out with Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell about their involvement in the Alex Salmond case, it is easy to forget the minnows swimming in the stream that support Sturgeon. The SNP at present are keen to take the spotlight off Peter Murrell, as witnessed by Sturgeon’s recent covid actions. This for them isn’t enough because the SNP tactic is when it comes to media manipulation is to keep pumping out stories. The Kate Higgins story about being unhappy with the UK flag on M&S meat is a prime example of sludge, Higgins is a Sturgeon special advisor. In herself, she isn’t newsworthy, one deluded Nat is much the same as any other deluded Nat, what gives her status is her role in the Scottish Government. You can expect more stories about SNP fools to appear, planted by the SNP to move the focus off Murrell, but don’t get swayed, all roads lead back to Sturgeon and Murrell, and this is the real show in Scottish politics. 

Can Alex Salmond destroy both their careers? 

SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon has many ‘little helpers’ as part of her act, one such helper is MSP Kenneth Gibson; this oaf sits behind her at FMQs playing the role of the ‘nodding dug’. Why was Gibson selected, well it could be that he ‘nods’ better than anyone else in the SNP MSP group. He isn’t much good for anything else as his parliamentary record shows; his motion congratulating his daughter shows the strength of this individual. He thinks it is nothing to waste parliamentary time, but then Holyrood is a massive joke, a failed parliament and an expensive mistake every year for the last 20 years. While in the SNP nearly a decade ago, I met the Gibson’s, the mother (Iris), the son (Kenny) and the daughter in law, Patricia (now an MP). The Gibson’s where a wee family dynasty starting out as Glasgow Councillors before Kenny got his MSP spot. The daughter in law, Gibson’s wife was a particularly horrible bastard, during my time as an activist, she was a Councillor for Pollok, but I never saw her come out to work with the branch. 

Fast forwarding to 2020, and SNP MSP Kenny Gibson’s future doesn’t look secure, he faces a challenge to his MSP slot from two other people. One, the discredited, Osama Bhutta aka Osama Saeed, Humza Yousaf’s cousin, and the other more credible candidate in the shape of Corri Wilson. The only real contender for the seat of Cunninghame North increasingly looks like Corri Wilson. I have blogged before about Osama Saeed, the incredible name changing man and his previous election agent, the sex worker, Esther Sassaman (she uses multiple names too). His name in the mix is barely credible as a potential candidate to represent that part of the world. 

What make take out Kenny Gibson is the fact that 21 councillors, activists and members have signed a letter of complaint to the SNP chief executive Peter Murrell  detailing Mr Gibson’s ‘aggressive and abrasive’ bullying, ‘especially of women’. So far, it seems that Murrell isn’t interested, maybe Nicola doesn’t want the trouble of breaking in another ‘nodding dug’ at FMQs. Gibson also represents no threat to her, another reason why possibly the SNP HQ is slow to act. Clearly those who run the party in Gibson’s area want him gone, two party officials have resigned in protest at his alleged behaviour. It is said that Gibson is only on speaking terms with two of the seven North Ayrshire SNP councillors in the constituency. Why did it all go wrong? Something must have happened to have turned 21 members against, and who knows that number may rise. Gibson’s reply is to say of the allegations that he is a victim of ‘vicious and mendacious smear campaign’. 

In the same voice as protesting his victimhood, he said: 

He said: 

“I’m no angel but any actions that may have offended are done in the passion of the moment and not calculated, whereas the actions by this group are deliberate, vicious and spiteful.” 

To me, this is a key statement in which, Gibson excuses his actions because he was what, angry? If you read my view on his wife, I described her as ‘a particularly horrible bastard’.  So, I don’t see why I or anyone else should support Gibson’s claims of victimhood or indeed support him continuing as an MSP. 

Gibson added: 

“Any accusations against a member should first be raised with the individual concerned, his/her branch, the Constituency Association and only then HQ.” 

This is nonsense, we have Gibson’s admission, we have 21 people willing to sign a letter saying his behaviour is unacceptable, and he thinks, a meeting with him firstly to discuss his alleged ‘aggressive and abrasive’ bullying would happen, would it happen over tea and a biscuit? Branch and Constituency level investigation couldn’t sanction Gibson, so the point of that is what exactly? As to complaining to SNP HQ, they are the portal to the party within a party, and clearly since they have been ignored by Murrell and presumably the other staff, this route is as meaningless as all the other ones offered up by Gibson. 

Kenny Gibson is ruffled because the SNP Officials and members have decided to go public. One can only imagine the mentality of Gibson when he says that the complainers have gone to a ‘unionist paper’. He also is quick to accuse people of acting underhand and willing to use sneaky tactics during the selection process. He made the statement, so far, he doesn’t seem to have been able to produce evidence, but he knows how to muddy the water. These sneaky tactics, would that be telling the truth? Would it be sneaky to point to Gibson’s confession that he says offensive thing in the heat of the moment? Just exactly does Kenny Gibson define sneaky? How many would consider that Gibson would hope that selection is taken away from the branches and the candidate is appointed by SNP HQ? Is that how this little scenario will eventually be played out, the members won’t get a say? 

As to the discredited Osama Bhutta, he has since suspended his campaign citing rule-breaking, no one will care, and I doubt he would appeal to the members anyway. 

Bhutta said: 

“Office bearers in one of our largest branches last week circulated a motion to all their members in support of the incumbent MSP. This contravenes rules 8.5, 9.2 and 9.3 about using member data, using party meetings, and the role of office bearers. I lodged a complaint with SNP headquarters about this exactly one week ago. My message and follow ups have not been acknowledged.” 

Maybe SNP HQ is busy trying to fire fight for Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell? 

So, what does the opposition to Kenny Gibson say, well Cunninghame North constituency organiser Dr Malcolm Kerr said the allegations against Mr Gibson include bullying, harassment and abuses of parliamentary expenses rules. If there have been abuses of parliamentary expenses rules, then this is a matter for the Holyrood Parliament and not SNP HQ. One way to sink people in public office who do wrong is to follow the money trail. 

Kerr said: 

“There is widespread disbelief across the Cunninghame North SNP branches that Mr Gibson has been passed as fit to stand for election.” 

Councillor Ellen McMaster and Mr Gibson’s former election agent Linda Nicholson have resigned their party roles Cllr McMaster said: 

“Members increasingly won’t work for the party, have left the party and, in some instances, have also left the independence movement. HQ is aware of this problem and you would think it would set alarm bells ringing.” 

SNP HQ doesn’t care about either people’s views, whether they remain members, or leave the independence movement, they have got their paid jobs and regular money coming in. Cunninghame North SNP Councillors said they are aware that the allegations are being investigated by the party’s national secretary. 

A Nat Sec spokesperson said: 

“Any concerns raised are passed to, and considered by, the national secretary, who treats any such matters seriously. Some evidence of the claims being made is, however, required and that’s been made clear to those raising concerns here.” 

Anyone think this is stalling? Surely the Nat Sec would want to have a meeting with the complainers? How many people would think that McLeod is simply stalling for time? The real test for Gibson is as I have mentioned from Corri Wilson for the SNP's nomination. The complainers would be better advised to ‘seek’ their justice by backing her campaign and use their time to canvass for her. 

Corri Wilson said: 

“I am very sorry to learn that my colleague, Osama Bhutta, has felt it necessary to suspend his nomination campaign. I was approached to stand in the Cunninghame North constituency by a large number of SNP Party members who wished a positive nomination contest to take place. I have no doubt that the SNP will address the issues of conduct that have been identified and will ensure that a fair and friendly contest now takes place, with breaches of party selection rules by the incumbent candidate being appropriately addressed.”

So, how do you properly address breaches of party selection rules by the incumbent candidate, Kenny Gibson? Tell him off? Sit him on the naughty step? Well, to me there can be only one sanction; removal from the selection process. Anything else is meaningless in my opinion. If the complainers still feel aggrieved, surely they should take a pragmatic approach, get rid of Gibson as an ongoing project, if that doesn’t work, then turn and focus on getting rid of his wife as MP. Have you heard of the notion of ‘transferable guilt’, it is being used by the Crown in the case of Craig Murray, his explanation is a must read. 

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/10/lord-advocate-launches-war-on-twitter/ 

Finally, another version of this tweaked concept which could be applied in the Gibson case, that is to take Gibson’s ‘confession’ and transfer that to his wife, and then use that as a basis and motivation to get rid of her. Transferable guilt isn’t a new concept as Alex Salmond found out. He took Sturgeon’s Government to court and got their ‘show trial’ annulled, the Scottish Government were mad keen to find him ‘guilty until proved innocent’ in their process. It was a carefully crafted rigged process, a lot of time spent on it. Sturgeon’s Government’s second bite of the cherry in the criminal trial didn’t account for the jury, they had the numbers but best laid plans and all that! The SNP uses the same system, ‘guilty until proven innocent’ on people, something I have experience of myself, when they tried to fit me up, but I wouldn’t play their game to brand me homophobic. When I expose the National Sec William Henderson to the Daily Record for what he was doing, he later stepped down rather quickly from his post. You see you can get rid of bastards; you have got to be willing to take the hit and do what is necessary.

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University