The Great SNP Con Trick; SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon relies on 'gullible Scots' to support and fund the party, here is how it works, the Westminster SNP faction calls for Scottish independence referendums to 'rally the troops', while the SNP Holyrood Group stays silent because of their dreadful record in government, every election is based on false promises that Nicola Sturgeon has no intention or power to deliver, it's the same con trick at every single election, whatever happened to the canny Scot?

Dear All

Have you ever wondered why the SNP keeps saying now, that a fresh Scottish independence vote must happen next year? On side of the equation, SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon is dogged by huge political scandals, finance and care homes come to mind immediately. But the biggests of the scandals must be the one that relates to Alex Salmond, this will emerge forefront once the tide of coronavirus subsides. Coronavirus for Nicola Sturgeon has been a godsend, it allows her not to be held to account, it allows her SNP Government to not held to account, and for her importantly, it buys time. Over many months, people have been complaining about the Nicola Sturgeon BBC broadcasts, they are SNP party political broadcasts under the guise of Covid briefings. I mentioned this right from the start, it took other people in politics several months to twig to that idea. The BBC in Scotland has failed to do its public broadcast duty and remit as it relates to The Nicola Sturgeon TV Show. As she dominates the TV, other party leaders are not given parity in air time, next year's election due to this, is in effect being unduly influenced, or you could say, it's being outright 'rigged' to favour one person.

The main theme of the SNP campaign of 2021 will be Nicola Sturgeon, so a question which should occupy you is, when will opposition start normal political campaigning?

Next year's election despite what the SNP say is not a vote for Scottish independence, nor is it a mandate for a referendum, this is the big lie that Nicola Sturgeon and others will be selling to the public ad nauseam until polling day. It's a rather large smokescreen to get her five more years as First Minister, five more years pay, perks and attention seeking. The field of who will contest that election however will not be normal, on both the Nationalist and pro Uk, new players will also take part. What effect these new players will have on the results as it relates to the list, is yet to be determined. As to constituency seats, you will not see much in the way of change such as the political tsunami which happened in 2011. Different people are angry for different reasons with the main parties contesting this election and they have good reasons. They are angry at the SNP, and Sturgeon in particular for pushing independence on to a back burner, and others are angry at the pro UK parties for being an incredibly weak opposition in defence of the United Kingdom. Chuck covid restrictions into the mix and you can't see the opposition parties even making any prolonged efforts to even appear as a 'government in waiting'.

I would like to touch on the issue briefly of Boris Johnson campaign in Scotland, let's say for the exercise, he heeds what some Scottish Conservatives say and stays away entirely. If the Scottish Conservatives lose badly, don't even come close to winning Holyrood, what future is there for Douglas Ross remaining leader? Even if he hangs on to the title official opposition leader but the Conservative vote is marginally up or down for various reasons, where does he go? Does he hang around till 2024 and make a stab at Westminster in the hope of a good showing? And what if that result is shows little or no movement towards progress at that Westminster election? Saying 'no' to Boris Johnson campaigning in Scotland places Douglas Ross as a hostage to fortune. He understands this I am sure, and he has already said he isn't giving up his part time job as a football referee unless he becomes First Minister. Politics is like poker, when you want to 'win the pot', you have to go 'all in'. Can anyone reasonably say that Douglas Ross has gone 'all in' politically for Scotland at present? Douglas Ross hasn't, he fails to understand that he has to commit first to the Scottish voters, not the other way round.            

So, where is the mantra of indyref 2 next year coming from? Well predictably, it comes from a source which has no power to implement anything. It comes from someone who is an even bigger fool that SNP candidate, and Sturgeon ally, Angus Robertson. SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford has 'demanded' a fresh independence referendum next year, Blackford is a man who has no credibility or respect from his peers at Westminster. He is what working class people would term in layman's terms a 'banger'. Ian Blackford can insist all he likes that a victory for the SNP at May Holyrood elections would be a mandate, but legally it isn't. None of the pro UK opposition parties are also making his ridiculous claim on mandates, no one is buying into his illusion because it's a simply a mere rallying cry to get people to work for the SNP. As it stands at present, pro UK opposition parties are set to do badly, because the people who are elected in the main parties are weak, ineffective and cannot get or hold public trust. There has been abject failure of pro UK opposition parties to build trust with the public, they have effective retreated into a political bubble making clichés remarks to anyone who will care to listen to them. Can you name the Shadow Cabinets of either the Scottish Labour or Scottish Conservatives, I suspect you cannot. The reason you can't is for the most part, their lack of ability to get themselves noticed, and secondly to produce policies that stir your imagination and thirdly, you have stopped taking an interest in them.

If they can't be interested to promote their Shadow Cabinet jobs and policies, why would you as a member of the public be interested?

In response to the SNP mantra of second mandate next year for indy, ex PM Gordon Brown has entered the fray and insisted Nicola Sturgeon should be focused on coronavirus crisis. What we are seeing as members of the public is an 'echo chamber' in operation which has no relevance to the people of Scotland. Politics in Scotland has been reduced to a TV soap opera in which we are invited to buy into the everyday lives of rich middle class folk. It's River City on steroids, they want you to hear their opinions when in fact they should be listening to yours as a member of the public. The era of public service has long since died, can you name a 'people's champion' in Scottish politics?  No, you can't because these people weren't selected because they want to stand up for the people, but rather they were selected because they are 'cogs'. They are little people who fit into a party machine. As 'cogs', they haven't moved Scotland forward, one person who has expressed this notion of the rich middle political class failing the working class is Andrew Neil, formerly of the BBC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P68kbF6t18

After listening to what he said, and the response of the Sturgeon's ally, Alyn Smith, you see what the priorities of the SNP are, and it isn't the people of Scotland. For the SNP, an anti English party which someone people have dubbed, the 'Yes Racists', it's all about money, power and status. Here is an example of how an SNP Government funded NGO operates which has angered ordinary people.

The SNP isn't an independence party, they want to leave the UK to immediately hand over power and Scotland's resources in return for a seat at the European Union table. One thing that Blackford has said is that indyref 2 has been delayed, this is a lie. It's a lie because permission was never given by Westminster to hold a second referendum, you can't delay something you have no power to do. All of what Blackford says is a smokescreen to galvanise what I would describe as the 'gullible'. The SNP need the 'gullible' mainly working class to knock doors and deliver leaflets, they need to given the impression that they are a community based and community orientated party. If you look at various parts of Glasgow, you will know this is a lie, in poor areas, the SNP solely link to local organisations to infiltrate and exploit them for publicity, they say the 'support'. This is like a football fan supporting a football team, all the big decisions and direction, they have no part of.

I am surprised that 'alarm' is said to be suddenly growing in Westminster, because the main opposition parties have had over 13 years to get their act together. They had 13 years as it relates to their operations in Scotland to change. Scottish Labour has an ongoing pressing need to reform, but they steadfastly refuse to do so. Why haven't they done so? The same people who the public have rejected time and time again remain in situ. If you are a failed Scottish Labour MSP, you just become a failed Scottish Labour MP candidate, or future Councillor candidate if you need the money and are confident the system will get you in. The lack of effective opposition is appalling in this country. The lack of organised campaigning is appalling, the lack of resources which should be supplied to people in order to campaign is appalling. Why is it that Scottish Labour thinks that poor people who are activists have the resources to do phone canvassing and run up a high telephone bill? If people are supplying their labour to effective do an office job for the party, then shouldn't they be supplied the equipment? Cheap labour is hard to find, free labour is nearly impossible, so shouldn't Scottish Labour value unpaid activism more, after all, it's their most important campaign resource.

For some time, the Scottish public have been bombarded with polls commissioned by Nationalists to generate inter4est in indyref 2. These polls are running in a 'culture of hate' which the SNP have generated against the English, and particularly Boris Johnson. Instead of believe the lie that the English Tories are to blame for all Scotland's ills, focus on the people responsible for the destruction of Scotland. Who are these people? They are Nicola Sturgeon, Jeane Freeman, John Swinney, Humaz Yousaf, Shirley Anne Somerville, Fiona Hyslop, Kate Forbes, Fergus Ewing, Michael Matheson, Roseanna Cunningham and Aileen Campbell, along with other people who are laughing called 'Ministers', the full list of these people can be found here. Everyone of them played a part in Scotland's demise as a nation both economically and socially, but the press don't tell you that in depth, they skim the surface of the Nationalist septic tank without diving in.

To be clear, Nicola Sturgeon doesn't have grounds or the power to hold a referendum 'quickly'  or in the medium or long term without a Section 30 order from Westminster. There will no Scottish referendum in 2021, or during the next term of Westminster or Holyrood. So, what will there be, there will be SNP propaganda and one sided Nationalist polls to attempt to keep a flow of money to the SNP coffers. The SNP based their election strategy on 'hate the English', so Boris' attempted and ultimately futile love in with Nicola Sturgeon will as I previous wrote be doomed to abject failure. The SNP fear the changes of Brexit, they fear Westminster delivering for Scots, and they fear being cut out of the equation, they want to be the middle man between Westminster and Scots. Westminster needs to start direct funding and contact between them and ordinary Scots as it relates not just to business but other areas of opportunity. While the SNP control everything, Scotland can't breathe, the new paradigm must take that into account so it can destroyed. Westminster needs to downgrade contact with Nicola Sturgeon, Boris should never again, meet her on Scottish soil on her terms, and on her ground.                                

As I have mentioned before also, we have a weak opposition in Scotland, it has been identified as well by others who noticed the continual inability of unionists politicians to mobilise people, and their own members, and their inability to get across their messages about the benefits of keeping the centuries-old alliance. The United Kingdom isn't perfect, it has faults, but those faults pale into insignificance when stacked up against Scotland out of the UK family of Nations. The lack of suitable people to promote the UK benefits in Scotland has also been identified as a recurring problem. The solution to that problem is that new people must come forward and promote 'Global UK' in Scotland, Westminster must prime Scotland to be a land of opportunities for investors and Scots, something that the SNP has no interest or ability to do. 13 years of power by the SNP has led to the gaps in education and wealth becoming wider. Not once has the SNP under Nicola Sturgeon ever closed or narrowed that gap despite her meaningless pledge that education is a priority.

Finally, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said:

'To be able to be respectful to those who are not currently with us that we're appealing to join us; about that denial of democracy that is currently taking place and to affirm that it is the sovereign right of the people of Scotland to determine their own future; and come what may, we will prevail.'

During the last indyref in 2014, the Nationalists and their fan boys and so called allies rather a hate campaign which set the tone for the campaign. Scots who had been ignorant to the ways of the SNP got an educational experience of what lurks under the surface of the Nationalist cause. No one will be 'joining' the Nationalists, and if you look at SNP beyond looking for £600,000 indyref 2 cash donations, you will see  why some have extrapolated that tens of thousands of people have left the SNP. As the SNP bleeds members, you can see why they are shouting about a quick referendum, it's to stir up interest, protect Nicola Sturgeon and stem the loss of donations from a party that is morally bankrupt. The SNP clique will use any dirty trick to stem their losses and hold on to power at Holyrood. Calling for 'indyref 2' is now akin to crying 'wolf', it has been done too many times now by the SNP Westminster Group, but do you hear the same volume from the SNP MSPs? You don't, the reason why is that the SNP are duping their voters. They are relying on the 'hate' they manufactured to make people make an emotional vote in their favour. Imagine what will happen when the voters wake up and understand the concept of how they were played for fools? When the sea change happens, you will see less and less of Nicola Sturgeon appearances with ordinary people, she will revert to stage managed appearances were her audiences are handpicked and pre-vetted. Post Covid, expect to see Nicola Sturgeon travelling around Europe and elsewhere, when this happens as it previously did, you will know that Sturgeon is in trouble again in Scotland.

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                              The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University