Dear All 

The 'civil war' between the Alba Party led by Alex Salmond and the nasty vicious SNP led by led by vile Nicola Sturgeon is getting rather hot. Nicola Sturgeon is seeing her party losing support, losing members, losing resources and importantly elected politicians and senior SNP members who run the party machine. The main goal of Alex Salmond is to suck dry the SNP of money, votes and people, the election is just a backdrop. Salmond has been quite smart with his supermajority strategy, he also played a blinder when he said he would run a positive campaign. I response to his let's all work together for independence, the SNP have reacted badly. They know that Salmond is fishing in the same voting pool as them, and also if Salmond can garner enough people to vote Alba, they won't go the route of voting SNP in the constituency vote. 

It is clear there is a Nationalist civil war happening, and the troops on the ground on either side want to bayonet the wound, up close and personal! 

The 'friendly campaign' of Alba took a bit of a hit, when Economist Dr Jim Walker had to apologised for calling Nicola Sturgeon "a cow" on Twitter. Walker had reacted to comments by Nicola Sturgeon about Alex Salmond being a 'gambler', listening to what she said, I was left with the impression that she was saying that Salmond was a 'gambling addict'. Dr. Walker did what many people would have done, he reacted instead of keeping his powder dry. The SNP tried to leap on this Nicola Sturgeon is a 'cow' statement to take the moral high ground, but failed miserably. 

When you look at this in context, Sturgeon has been quite a nasty character, her usual persona, the cracks are beginning to show. The makeover to make her appear as nice and caring has slipped many times, now the tables have turned, you see the conflict as she tries to suppress her evil. Like a balloon with too much air being pushed in, she is ready to pop. 

It's coming! 

Yesterday, Sturgeon did rather badly in the leader's debate, because her opponents have too much shit to throw in her face on her government record, and too much shit to throw about the Alex Salmond affair. And of course, the SNP is seen as a party of sleaze, a party of the nonce, a party of the sexual predator, a party of the sexual deviant, an out and out freakshow. Now there is a new shiny kid on the block called the Alba Party, independence supporters now have a home. Alba is a home where they wouldn't find male SNP MPs, MSPs, Councillors and staffers trying to touch up a young guy's gentials. You would find their members watching kiddie porn, or trying to take secret recording of a man's penis. It is a place where a mother can let her son campaign without fear that some dirty filthy male SNP politician will try and cop a feel. Nicola can keep the sexual deviants, she can keep woke and she can keep the parasites, she can keep her people! 

As the clock keeps ticking, Nicola Sturgeon is seeing more decent people jump ship, two further SNP figures have defected to Alex Salmond's Alba Party. The list is growing, people realise that Nicola has a bad smell about her over the Salmond affair. North Lanarkshire councillor Shahid Farooq and Dot Jessiman, a member of the SNP's ruling national executive committee [NEC] have joined Alba. The string of defections includes MPs Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey and former SNP MSP Jim Eadie. Salmond has created a momentum, not for independence, that turkey is off the table, but for change. Alba is a rejection of identity politics which has been wielded by Nicola Sturgeon and her lgbt clique. As well as remaining a councillor, one of the lastest defectors, Shahid Farooq will contest the Glasgow regional list which is shaping up to be a pretty crowded affair. The other person who liberated herself from Nicola Sturgeon's sewer of a party, Ms Jessiman will stand on the North East list. 

Mr Farooq said: 

"There is huge enthusiasm for the new party across the communities of Scotland. It has galvanised the national movement. I am looking forward to the election contest since it gives the chance to speak about independence.” 

The old joke to use here is, 'he would say that'! 

The pain to Sturgeon, regarding Shahid Farooq is that he has been a councillor in North Lanarkshire since 2012. And she knows, if someone like him can jump, what about the rest of the SNP Cllr base? To me, the question is, do they jump before their election in 2022, or do they jump afterwards? I think that many will play the waiting game, especially those who's councillor salary is their only source of income, rich people, well they can just jump now. 

In a farewell statement to Nicola, Jessiman, who represented north-east grassroots SNP members on its NEC, said: 

“I am proud to stand with Alex Salmond in the North East of Scotland. Alba is putting down real roots in our communities and opportunity for Scotland beckons. Instead of wasting list votes on the SNP, the switch to Alba opens up the prospect of an independence supermajority in the next parliament. My message in this election is both votes YES; SNP in the constituencies and Alba for the regional list” 

Ms. Jessiman has a lot to learn about politics if she believes what she says, to me, it sounds awfully crafted, we are the good guys speech, trust us, we are nice! 

She added: 

"I’ve now joined the Alba Party to stand in the North East of Scotland and make sure we can get a supermajority for independence in the Scottish Parliament." 

The bigger threat to Nicola Sturgeon lies elsewhere, in the City of Bath, one of the kinbgs of the digital Scottish independence war resides there. Just as Dr. Jim Walker called SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon a 'cow', if you check out the Wings over Scotland website comments section, his readers say a lot more than 'cow' about Nicola Sturgeon. The SNP woke brigade have been keen to destroy the blogger, Wings over Scotland for some time, even SNP MPs join in such as Pete Wishart. Wishart has been dubbed 'cosy Pete' because he has a nice lifestyle living off the British taxpayer. As part of the bunker mentality of the SNP, they have been  highly strung after reading a comment on post about Nicola Sturgeon which advocated “decapitating this witch” on the Wings over Scotland website.  

So, what did Andy the commenter mean? Well, people use similar phrases, like 'cutting the head off the snake', we take such phrases to mean in society and politics, removal from public office. Andy says he is voting Scottish Labour on the constituency vote and Alba Party on the list. He says Glasgow Southside is the seat of the Devil..... Nicola Sturgeon. The SNP trying yet again, and this is a tactic we will see more of from the sleazy SNP as the war against Sturgeon heats up. The SNP will say in this election that Nicola Sturgeon is a wonderful human being, caring, honest, a family person, someone who sacrifices for the Nation, and it will all be a load of shit. Nicola Sturgeon is a horrible nasty vile individual who surrounds herself with the worst stinking human trash in Scottish politics. You can see problem, in order for the Saint Nicola of Dreghorn to work, the SNP has to silence other people's voices who tell the truth.  

The SNP will also try and claim they are the 'moral guardians' of Scotland. The SNP are the political dregs of society, corrupt, nasty, perverted, morally bankrupt and without a shred of decency. When you read the stories of one of Nicola Sturgeon's close allies, SNP MP Patrick Grady accused of alleged groping of young men, you are looking at a cesspool. There is also a story of a former SNP staffer who ended up charged and appearing in Edinburgh Sheriff Court. The former SNP staffer, Nathan Sparling previously worked for an SNP Minister Aileen Campbell among others, he is accused of alleged voyeurism. The allegation relating to the 'Drag Queen' is did he alleged take an image of a man's dick using a digital device? Sturgeon's ally Patrick Grady is in hiding, after what he has been alleged to have done, if there is a redrawing of the Glasgow boundary, he will probably fail vetting. Allegations of sexual harassment of young men is a career stopper. SNP MSP Derek Mackay's career died when he was found to be texting a young boy, Mackay didn't get the opportunity to get his hands on the young 16 old boy. Grady has been accused of alleged groping! 

Finally, I urge you to jump across to Wings over Scotland and read this article. 

https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-seekers-of-fury/ 

And start laughing, I enjoyed the bit where Stuart Campbell says that pro UK parties are worried about the Alba Party. If you think it logically through, they shouldn't be, Salmond is fishing in the same Nationalist pond as Sturgeon. If he wins seats, it will be at the expense mainly of the SNP and the Scottish Greens. I don't see a quick kill, I see the long haul, Alba fights the council elections in 2022, and Westminster in 2024. You see, it will take time to dig Nicola Sturgeon out of the bunker, unless of course Salmond has a nuclear weapon to deploy.

Yours sincerely 

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

The Comic and the SNP Clown, former Scottish Comic of the Year, Leo Kearse is to contest the Glasgow Pollok seat for Laurence Fox's Reclaim Party, the jokes will be flying thick and fast as Humza Yousaf squeals, but the last laugh could be from the Alba Party in the Holyrood 2021 campaign, if they knock out SNP and Scottish Greens list MSPs, when will Humza play the 'race card', all eyes on the former call centre worker of limited ability

Dear All 

The election in the Glasgow Pollok Constituency is  going to be a pretty crowded affair, it is shaping up so far as having 6 candidates. Five candidates so far declared themselves, and a mystery Scottish Conservative candidate to replace Dr Craig Ross waits in the wings. Craig Ross was removed due to comments made about foodbank users which was blown out of all proportion. At election times, parties become hyper sensitive to any criticism or accusation about a candidate, so rather ignore the opposition, they tend to be appeasers and dump their candidates rather quickly. In the case of Craig Ross, he is standing for the Glasgow Regional list now as an independent. He is a real lost to the Scottish Conservatives, as a politics lecturer, he knows politics and government inside out, his inexperience of political campaigning and how what you say can be turned against you let him down. 

The candidates declared for Glasgow Pollok are: 

Humza Yousaf SNP

Dr Zubir Ahmed Scottish Labour

Dr Christopher Ho Ukip

James Spiers Lib Dems

Leo Kearse The Reclaim Party

(to be advertised) Scottish Conservatives 

If you look back at the last Holyrood  election in 2016, only 4 parties stood in the election, SNP, Scottish Labour, Scottish Conservatives and the Lib Dems. The SNP took the seat with 15,316 votes, in second place with 8,834 votes was Scottish Labour. Third place went to the Scottish Conservatives who managed 2,653, not a great showing for them in a national election. This was due to a lack of long campaigning to cultivate their vote. Fourth was the Lib Dems candidate Isobel Nelson, a seasoned campaigner on 585 votes, and last but not least on 555 votes, a group called the TUSC. I remember the 2016 campaign in Glasgow Pollok, mostly for two things, one being the sole Scottish Labour Party activist doing the Govan ward on the Pollok side. Secondly being treated like shit by Johann Lamont of the Scottish Labour Party. Ms Lamont thought it was rather funny to promise me a ticket to the Glasgow count at a CLP campaign meeting. The second part of her joke was to effectively spit in my face and tell me she wasn't giving me a ticket at a later meeting. Incidentally, it was me who proposed both meetings so that she could maximise her vote in the election. 

I have recounted this story on the blog a few times because, I like to tell people the truth, and how I did get to go to the Glasgow count, despite what she done. After starting campaigning for her, it was quite clear in my mind, there was an attitude towards me. On day one of me campaigning, I turned up, walked up to one of the Govan Councillors waited as he finished talking to someone, after he spoke to me, he gave me a pile of leaflets  and walked off, not exactly the gushing welcome. After dropping my backpack and asda bag off with the rest of the activists's belongings at the campaign table at Govan, I found that they had later moved to another location. They decided to setup on the other side of the Govan Road because it was sunny and warmer. I also found out that they had left my belongings, my backpack and a plastic bag with my personal belongings including my laptop, lying on the pavement. When I asked Lamont's election agent,  Kevin O'Donnell standing at the table at the new location why my belongings had been left behind, he didn't know, he also appeared to not know who had moved the table. 

Leaving someone's personal belongings behind on a pavement so that they could be stolen is a pretty despicable thing to do, I have never came across this type of behaviour before until I joined Pollok CLP. It was the day the Labour Party at Govan stopped campaigning due to Paris terror attacks, Saturday 14th November 2015. The SNP had also turned up campaigning, both Labour and the SNP groups did a group photo together, solidarity which didn't include me being asked to take part. In fact, when Johann Lamont decided to stop campaigning, neither she or any member of her group told me, I had to go up and ask what was happening. When I found out they had stopped, I asked people in charge, are we finished, when they said yes, I just turned around and walked away. At a later campaigning session run by Lamont's election agent, Kevin O'Donnell, I was bite by a dog in Penilee which I ended up in hospital, same day getting an operation, he didn't express any interest in my wellbeing despite being the person in charge. O'Donnell left the 2016 campaign early to take a job in London, so a campaign which was run badly by him, really became an utter shambles. 

As in the best movies, in the final act, I appeared at the count because early doors, I had asked another political party if they could get me a ticket. When Lamont and O'Donnell saw me at the council count, Lamont's first words weren't 'hello', rather it was 'how did you get in'? I assume she had judging by the look on her face just worked out that I had made alternative arrangements. Needless to say if anyone had asked me to work for the Labour Party that night at the count, they would have been told to get lost. And that was the gist of Lamont's 2016 election, if I hadn't campaigned in Govan, delivering to 4,000 homes, the Labour vote would have been much lower than 8,834. I did the largest geographical area of any Labour activist, and that also included me working in Cardonald and Pollok. Post 2016, having got her meal ticket on the Glasgow list, I never saw Lamont again at a Pollok CLP meeting. 

As one comedian leaves, up pops another one in the shape of someone who actually is funny, former Scots comedian of the year Leo Kearse is to stand in Glasgow Pollok, Kearse is standing for the Scottish parliament elections as a candidate for Laurence Fox's Reclaim Party. Laurence Fox comes from the famous acting dynasty of Edward and James Fox, effectively showbiz royalty. Kearse according to 192.com, is registered in North London.

Kearse describes himself as a "right-wing liberal comedian' and stands on the platform of  repeal of the Hate Crime bill. His other pitch if elected or mission depending on where you stand is to "expose corruption, incompetence, and systemic wokeness within the SNP". I would argue this sounds pretty positive, point the finger and say, 'see him, he is a fucking asshole'. 

The problem that the Reclaim Party and Leo Kearse has in Glasgow Pollok is a lack of a track record, no history of campaigning, no database to understand where his vote is, no long campaigning, no track record of short campaigning. And, for the most part, he will have limited name recognition politically, if at all, with the people in Glasgow Pollok. You pay your £500 and roll the dice, see what happens, what is certain, Pollok is a two horse race. The other ideas for the Scottish Parliament is in a package of reforms including strengthening the powers of the Scottish Parliament by giving parliamentary privilege to MSPs, as well as splitting up the prosecutorial and governmental responsibilities of the Lord Advocate. As we have seen, the integrity of the Crown Office is no more. 

Kearse said: 

"The police, the church, the legal profession and even us comedians have all expressed opposition to this hated hate Bill. When once we had freedom, Scots now live under the increasingly stultifying boot of the SNP, where even our ability to speak freely around the dinner table is set to be policed by Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon. With wokeness and extreme nationalism seemingly the only acceptable discourses allowed in Scotland these days, I feel now is the right time to stand up and be counted." 

Another story of interest to get the juices following is, the Alba Party, and as people know, the vote in Scotland is polarised. Alex Salmond's new party is fishing in the nationalist pond. As we have seen the alleged purpose of this new party for PR purposes is to get a supermajority, but given what has happened, if you join Alba, are you really going to cast a vote for a woke SNP MSP in a constituency? Alba has wants MSPs at the expense of both the Scottish Greens and the SNP. Everyone who leaves the SNP as a politician or a member is a political resource gone, money gone, time gone, resources gone, this means that the pro UK parties have a better chance to win First Past The Post constituency seats. This wouldn't be easy but as Alba sucks the SNP dry, it helps other parties. It takes a bit of time to wrap your head round this because you have got to forget the PR pitch and understand what is really going on. When Sturgeon and her crew attack and smear Salmond, it works in his favour, it reinforces the narrative that the real victim in the criminal trial of Alex Salmond was Alex Salmond. You might say, no convinced, so I point you in the direction of a Salmond policy, just one, Salmond supports safe spaces for women. That is a huge fuck you to Nicola Sturgeon personally, and to the lgbt woke brigade. Here is a list of who has bailed out of the SNP: 

Kenny MacAskill MP

Neale Hanvey MP

Cllr Lynne Anderson SNP NEC’s Equalities Convener

Cllr Caroline McAllister SNP its Women’s Convener

Cllr Michelle Ferns SNP councillor in Glasgow

Cllr Chris McEleny SNP councillor in Inverclyde

Cllr Alistair Bews independent, formerly SNP councillor in North Kincardine

Cllr Leigh Wilson independent, formerly SNP councillor in Mearns

Corri Wilson former SNP MP

Eva Comrie  SNP regional list candidate for 2021

Irshad Ahmed SNP regional list candidate for 2021

Cynthia Guthrie  former member of SNP Finance Committee 

I would suggest, this is proof of what the Salmond plan is, drain the SNP of money, resources and people. 

Finally, there are 6 people standing, so in all likelihood, Leo Kearse is looking at being in the bottom 3 of the list. It isn't just enough to send out leaflets, you have to run a ground campaign, that means being rather creative with limited resources. Does Leo Kearse of N2 London have enough contacts to mount a decent ground campaign? We are talking, every day up until election day. Digital campaign can only get you so far, and he certainly will rely on putting out his youtube videos filled with comic observations of him out and about in Pollok. Youtube videos alone however don't an MSP make, so it will interesting to see, if he is a genuine candidate or a paper candidate, time will only tell, much in the same way we will see how the true intentions of Alba will be revealed, once the heat gets turned up.

Yours sincerely 

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

The Scottish Devil's Advocate; SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon celebrates two whitewashed Scottish Inquiries into her conduct as First Minister, is it time the UK Govt sanctioned a judge-led inquiry as probe finds First Minister ‘misled parliament’, the stench of SNP corruption is choking the whole of Scotland, and Holyrood is reduced to nothing more than a poverty porn show for middle class contestants to get enhanced State benefits, The 'Big Giro' Show has a casting call for selections on May 6th

Dear All 

In politics, building your hopes up is a bad strategy, especially when your place your faith in people doing the right thing. We have all sat through the farce of the compromised Salmond Inquiry, an inquiry rigged to fail. We saw how witnesses were barred from giving evidence, we saw how the Scottish Government obstructed the inquiry, and we saw exactly what we expected to see from the SNP Chair Linda Fabiani and the SNP MSPs. The only two people who had a reasonable bash of attempting to get to the truth were Labour MSP Jackie Baillie, and Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser. The reason for the inquiry was the Scottish Government attempted to rig a process against Alex Salmond. When he successfully challenged what they were doing it escalated to a criminal trial. The other inquiry running at the same time was the Hamilton Inquiry, in both these inquiries, the SNP set the rules. Many people put faith in Hamilton to deliver an appropriate verdict but in the end, the Hamilton Inquiry just like the Salmond Inquiry was a waste of time. If you want to understand what really took place, you have to go to websites like Wings over Scotland or the Gordon Dangerfield blogs. 

The nuts and bolts are; 

1/ The SNP Government rigged a process.

2/ The SNP Government fought to stop the rigged process being overturned.

3/ The SNP Government withheld evidence.

4/ The SNP Government stopped witnesses appearing.

5/ The SNP Government engaged in a cover up.

6/ The SNP Government escalated matters to a criminal trial.

8/ The accusers of Alex Salmond came from a group close to Nicola Sturgeon.

9/ The SNP tried to put pressure on witnesses to testify against Alex Salmond. 

There are of course many other points, but these give you a sense of what the SNP corruption entailed. The SNP and the SNP Government had an objective, and that was to jail an innocent man, possibly for the rest of his life. Those involved in the plot, some have been given lifelong anonymity, free to walk among us having lied in Court under oath. The impression that the SNP tried to create was that the 'alphabet women' were people across a vast Scottish Government and SNP network, the truth is the accusers of Alex Salmond came from a group close to Nicola Sturgeon. In fact, one of the lies that Nicola Sturgeon told to the Salmond Inquiry was that the 'alphabet women' that she did know, she didn't know well. The thing about telling this lie to the Salmond Inquiry was that the Committee couldn't probe that claim due to the Court Order. If you had worked with someone in several different organisations at a senior level, I think Sturgeon's inquiry claim would have raised an eyebrow. 

If you expected something from both inquiries like justice and the truth, you were sadly mistaken. The only route to the truth is for an judge-led inquiry appointed by the UK Government with full legal powers and sanctions which is out with the control of the SNP Government. In the past, I wrote that Holyrood is a second rate parliament filled with third rate politicians, the 'pretend parliament' lived up to its name in the Salmond Inquiry. Holyrood is a joke, made that way by the calibre of people who pose as elected representatives. When you vote in Holyrood elections is akin to a show for middle class people to get enhanced State benefits, instead of 'Scotland's Got Talent', you have 'The Big Giro' show. Cast members are called MSPs, they get a big salary and lots of allowances are can set up teams so they can do 'appearances' at various points of the show. For years, the reputation of Holyrood has dropped, and the Salmond Inquiry just made it drop that little bit further. I think the moment that many will remember was during the no confidence vote when both the Scottish Labour and Lib Dems abstain on the no confidence vote. The Scottish Lib Dems leader did a video to try and explain what he had done. I tweeted: 

"The fact you are explaining yourself tells people you called this wrong. You have played politics, and what may have seen as a good idea has blown up in your face. This is your Clegg moment. The real opposition to the SNP is the Scottish public!" 

The vote as I understand came in 65 to 31 in favour of Sturgeon. Both Scottish Labour and the Lib Dems after all their theatre, failed to register on behalf of the people of Scotland, their disgust for what Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP Government had done. In a few weeks they will ask repeatedly for you to give them your votes to elect them back onto the 'show'. I am not really sure what they will use as a narrative, but what do you say to the Scottish public for the lack of grit, the failure to do what is right, just having a bit of backbone for Christ sake? If you think that these people who attack each other in the Holyrood Chamber are moral enemies, you are wrong, they drink and socialise with each other in the bars. The battle for Holyrood, is really the battle for enhanced benefits, big winners get a ministerial salary, and the power to funnel money, real money to people within their sphere.  You vote for the least objectionable, you vote for someone who is willing to give you back some of your own money, either directly or indirectly through services which you may or may not use. 

Holyrood is an expensive farce, it's like a rotten abscess in your mouth, it's always there, it's always causing pain, and you are at the back of the queue to get relief from it. In a new report published today, the Committee on the Scottish Government's Handling of Harassment Complaints states: 

"If she (Sturgeon) did have such knowledge, then she should have acted upon it. If she did have such knowledge, then she has misled the committee."     

Scottish Conservative Murdo Fraser said: 

"To uncover all the details, a judge-led inquiry is now necessary." 

If there is an SNP judge led inquiry, do you want to write the verdict prior to it, if it ever takes place? I have no faith in any SNP judge led inquiry, just as I didn't have faith in the Salmond Inquiry and the Hamilton Inquiry either. 

The Salmond Inquiry report said: 

"The Committee notes that there is a fundamental contradiction in the evidence in relation to whether, at the meeting on 2 April 2018, the First Minister did or did not agree to intervene. Taking account of the competing versions of events, the Committee believes that she did in fact leave Mr Salmond with the impression that she would, if necessary, intervene." 

And, the question of why she kept in contact with Salmond after she alleged she made it clear she wouldn't intervene. Why were no notes taken at a Government business meeting? Why was there no follow up letter to Salmond saying she wouldn't intervene? Could a person think that the reason for continued contact was so that The SNP Government might gleam information from Salmond and his advisors of their strategy for the review? If that was the case, what was the name of the person who would pass information along to the Scottish Government 'working party' fighting to defeat the judicial review? I suppose you have to start with the question, who was in Nicola Sturgeon's house on April 2nd? We know from information in the public domain that; 

1/ Alex Salmond was there.

2/ Nicola Sturgeon was there.

3/ Geoff Aberdein, former Salmond aide was there.

4/ Duncan Hamilton QC, Salmond's lawyer was there.

5/ Liz Lloyd, Sturgeon's Chief of Staff was there. 

If, we discount Salmond, Aberdein and Hamilton, we are left with two people, Sturgeon and Lloyd. 

In the Salmond Inquiry, the report said relating to Sturgeon intervening: 

"This was corroborated by Duncan Hamilton who was also at the meeting. Her written evidence is therefore an inaccurate account of what happened, and she has misled the Committee on this matter. This is a potential breach of the Ministerial Code under the terms of section 1.3 (c)." 

It seems that Alex Salmond and Duncan Hamilton either don't have a good command of English or they have a bad memory, because Sturgeon's view is contradictory. It now seems also that no one will resign in Nicola Sturgeon's corrupt SNP government. So, despite Scottish Conservatives saying Nicola Sturgeon's senior government officials should consider their position if she is not held accountable, not even scraps will be tossed at the parliament. 

Murdo Fraser MSP, said: 

"As James Hamilton said yesterday, it is ‘for the Scottish Parliament to decide whether they were in fact misled.’ The committee verdict is in – Nicola Sturgeon misled Parliament and the public. If she ploughs on regardless, as she did against the advice of lawyers in the doomed Alex Salmond judicial review case, the First Minister will leave the country scarred by the most bitter divisions. It seems clear that Nicola Sturgeon will refuse to abide by the principle of democratic accountability for her government’s monumental mistakes. The committee report indicates that even if the First Minister won’t be held accountable, numerous senior government officials should consider their position. It is time for someone to accept responsibility for letting women down, wasting more than £500,000 of taxpayers’ money, and the abundance of false and misleading statements from senior government figures. At every turn, the committee was obstructed by the SNP’s attempts to shut down scrutiny and keep key evidence secret. We have managed to produce a strong report that uncovers a great deal of what went wrong. But to uncover all the details, a judge-led inquiry is now necessary.” 

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: 

“This report makes for sober reading. Never in my 22 years in Parliament have I witnessed a report such as this, which details the catastrophic failings of the Scottish Government on a matter of the utmost seriousness and sensitivity. Despite the obstruction of the Scottish Government, the committee has managed to get beyond its veil of secrecy. We must never forget that at the heart of this matter are women who were failed by the Scottish Government. Three years on, nobody has yet taken responsibility for this failure. The thread that runs through the rushed development of the harassment policy and the flawed implementation of the handling of complaints is the Permanent Secretary. She was involved in every aspect of the procedure and must bear much of the responsibility. The Scottish Government still does not have a robust and functioning harassment complaints procedure and women continue to be let down. There is an urgent need for reform to ensure that the complaints procedure is fit for purpose and lawful.” 

Baillie added: 

“The Scottish Government’s determination to plough on defending a judicial review, when the prospects of success were minimal, was irresponsible and cost the public more than £500,000. We also believe the First Minister has misled the committee about whether she would intervene, following her meeting with Alex Salmond on April 2, an act which is tantamount to misleading the Parliament. The Hamilton report may have exonerated the First Minister of breaching the Ministerial Code, but the catastrophic and myriad failings this committee inquiry has revealed have called into question her judgement.” 

Both the Salmond Inquiry and the Hamilton Inquiry were two battles rigged by the SNP so they could win. As the Nats cheer how clever they are at getting away with a rigged hearing, a cover up, a criminal trial to put someone in prison, and two ham strung enquiries, they forget one thing. The war against them hasn't ended, it has only started, it has really only started, there is a fifth column in the SNP now, who will undermine Nicola Sturgeon at every opportunity. Sturgeon will have to live in the bunker alongside her SNP Chief of Staff Liz Lloyd for the rest of her political life. They will have to watch everything they do and everything they say, because Salmond's allies and the opposition parties will bide their time. In the meantime, various Sturgeon allies will get picked off due to their own stupidity, whether that be sex, drugs, incompetence or criminality. Nicola Sturgeon reminds me of Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus, the German Commander of Stalingrad, encircling and surrounded on all sides, her troops having to fight in all directions, and above and below. And we all remember what happened to Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus, don't we, capitulation! 

Finally, the best way to sum up what has happened here is to quote from the movie, The Devil's Advocate 1997. As a movie buff, minor, Glasgow region, this came to me as I was written this piece. This is a scene near the end of the movie, where John Milton, the Devil is conversing with his son, you might find parallels with the current situation in Scotland. 

John Milton says: 

"Did you know there are more students in law school  lawyers walking the Earth?       

We're coming out guns blazing!

The two of you, all of us, acquittal after acquittal after acquittal

until the stench of it reaches

so high and far into Heaven

it chokes the whole fucking lot of them!" 

We live under an evil corrupt SNP government run by lawyers, the people who are threatening to put people into prison who speak out about SNP corruption are lawyers, the head of the snake is Nicola Sturgeon, she is a lawyer, and the acquittal after acquittal after acquittal of her is the shit that chokes the lungs and minds decent people in Scottish society.

Yours sincerely 

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

The Rude Awakening Facing Anas Sarwar; the Scottish Labour Party is a broken machine, where it's operators are normalised to it, 11 Labour officers of Glasgow Kelvin CLP quit over removal of the Labour candidate for comments on indyref2, if the rules allowed members of the selection panel or CLP officers to sit in at re-vetting, everyone could see a fair process had taken place, and was picking a Sarwar ally as replacement candidate just salt into an open wound?

Dear All 

In politics, only a few things really surprise me, usually the surprise is someone doing the right thing. 

When Labour MSP Anas Sarwar took over the leadership of the Scottish Labour Party, I was pretty sure he would do as most Labour leaders from the right wing previously done, and not be inclusive. Of the top four Glasgow Labour List candidates, the only one which didn't get a shadow cabinet post was Paul Sweeney. He, despite being a proven parliamentarian ended up with a shitty, and it is shitty, spokesman position. Paul Sweeney sits on the left of the party, and his 'appointment' begs the question, is this supposed to be Sarwar's idea of reuniting the party, is this supposed to be unity? Do you think anyone watching this from the outside would suppose throwing Paul Sweeney scraps would be a catalyst to bring together people on the left and right to work in common cause? 

In politics, you are judged by what you do, and what you say. 

One thing that Anas Sarwar had going for him in the Scottish Labour Leadership contest was that he wasn't Monica Lennon. Ms. Lennon's stint on the front bench as Shadow Health Sec was like watching a slow motion car crash unfold. She should never have been picked as Shadow Health Sec, she made no impact and her presentations were lousy. Monica Lennon isn't someone who should be allowed anywhere near a leadership position  After she came out with her support of a second Scottish independence referendum but would campaign against it comments, I was seriously considering not voting in the leadership contest. Neither the two candidates represent me or my beliefs. Faced with a choice, I opted for the least worst option, I voted for Anas Sarwar to be leader. I am on record, on this blog as having no time for race card playing politicians, I don't follow them, I don't support them, and I have no desire to work campaigning for them. 

After failing to win the leadership previously from Richard Leonard, Anas carved out a career raising health matters despite being removed as the Shadow Health Sec by former leader Richard Leonard. That made me sit up and take notice, because Anas showed he wasn't willing to be a team player. Monica Lennon was God awful as Shadow Health Sec and her story of banning her drunk dad from her wedding because she couldn't take any chances of him spoiling her big day. Well that really didn't amuse me at all. In fact, her relating that story was really cringe worthy stuff. Imagine going on national media and effectively trashing a member of your own family because he has a problem. The correct solution to that dilemma would be to keep your mouth shut, and say nothing ever. If she is prepared to treat her father like that on her wedding day, and years later treat him like trash relating the story, I don't know about you, but I think idiot. 

The real issue which will effect Anas Sarwar as leader will be his campaign on racism and perceived discrimination. In politics, you have to be seen as statesman, and Sarwar's continual racism campaign will not endear him to the public. White people don't take kindly to anyone who singles their ethnic group as somehow being institutionally racist. When Sarwar did his infamous Holyrood speech as he ran through various Scottish positions in public life telling people the holder was "white", he failed to point out something rather important. Do you know what that was? I tell you, he failed to mentioned that all the positions he talks about were held by middle class people. Not only where they held by middle class people, other middle class people put them into those positions as well. So, because his narrative is to say that there is a problem of structural or institutional racism, he fails to mention what many would consider a key factor. Of course, and less we forget, Anas Sarwar went to a private middle class school, he sends his kids to a private middle class school, he went to a private middle class university, he did a medical course which is generally packed with middle class students, and is taught by middle class tutors. He like his father joined a middle class controlled Labour Party. Anas Sarwar has never experienced poverty, he has never had to do without, he has never suffered real discrimination, he is a multi-millionaire, and he stays in an up market exclusive middle class area. Rather than tackle the real issue of middle class protectionism in society, he opts for the emotive message of, it must be racism that is the problem, it is because of the colour of a person's skin. 

Tell me about your suffering brother Anas!  

The video above is a speech that he gave in the Scottish Parliament, he will live to regret it. I want you to notice his tone, notice the language he uses, he might have thought at the time, this was great speech to do but this will be his albatross. In previous posts, I have previously listed on the blog how Anas Sarwar and Humza Yousaf were acting like a 'double act' on racism. Playing the race card however is a niche market of the middle class or those seeking power, the market becomes even more reduced. Especially when you try and find like minded souls to help you out such as at election times. There is a thing in politics, where some people expect that you should ignore their past speech, deeds and actions.They wrongly presume they have an expectation of you working for them for free. In political parties, you will find there are those who feel they are 'the entitled', not because they got there on merit, but because the rules were adapted to get a specific outcome that favours them.   

In the case of Anas Sarwar's rise being a poster boy for the right wing has been very useful to him. Now he is leader, he has a new set of problems. After the disgraceful way the right wing of the Labour Party in Scotland treated Richard Leonard when leader, the left will be supporting 'left' slate candidates only. This means that party resources, and that means human capital, will not be fluid in the party to assist others in seats where additional help could turn the election for the person standing for Labour. You got a sense of what is to come when former leader Richard Leonard turned down flat an offer of a Shadow Cabinet position. I can only assume that Leonard decided that previous deliberate and active undermining of his leadership was something which couldn't be healed by tokenism.  

In the upcoming Scottish election Anas Sarwar as Scottish Labour leader is living in hope, hope that Scottish voters desert the SNP. You will remember in past posts, I said this isn't a viable strategy to becoming the ruling party. He lives in hope that by default he wins more seats, at that point, he will do what politicians always do, claim a revival. A couple of council by-elections happened in Glasgow just recently, Patrick and Baillieston, Labour won only one seat, the seat they did win had a poor SNP candidate, and the seat in Baillieston where Sturgeon lives, was taken by a former SNP Cllr David Turner. You would expect give how badly the SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon is doing in the press, that these should be both be first round votes wins for Labour. In Patrick, it took till round six of redistributing votes for the Labour Party to win it. If that was a test of 'judge me on my record' as leader, Anas Sarwar didn't do well, to scrap in at round six is embarrassing, especially in the current state of Scottish politics. In the Holyrood election, the SNP is expected and will lost votes, but the other indy minded parties are better positioned to get them than Scottish Labour, especially on the list. Although 4 list seats in Glasgow could in theory go to Scottish Labour. 

This isn't guaranteed. 

The fourth person on the Glasgow list is Pam Duncan Clancy, a well known disability campaigner, she might not win a list seat. I would say that the party has basically 3 solid chances in Glasgow. Can Anas Sarwar beat Nicola Sturgeon in Glasgow Southside, well if you look at the previous results, Sturgeon polled 3 votes for every vote Scottish Labour in 2016. Does Anas Sarwar have a spare 10,000 votes lying about, well to be more accurate, does he have 12,000 addition votes lying about. Sarwar needs a minimum target of 16,000 in this election. Does he have a campaign team which can find these votes, because the size of team will have to be extensive, and highly experienced. How many highly trained activists can Anas Sarwar count on helping him in this election against Sturgeon? Well, nip into his twitter page, and scroll down his tweets so you can judge the level of interaction he receives. As leader, I would have expected that he would receive hundreds of replies to his tweets. But he hardly receives a significant number, of course he has lots of followers, but lots of followers doesn't translate to lots of activists.  

At the start of the year, I was rather busy doing campaigning/admin for the Labour Party, and its members. The first event was helping someone with their campaign to get selected high up on the Glasgow list. I put a lot of effort into that campaign, and it was successful. The downside of the campaign for me, was that there was an incident during it, where someone effectively tried to link me to the Scottish Defence League. Because of the nature of the allegation, I was informed about it, and I ask for any evidence so that I could understand and comment on it. I won't get into the nuts and bolts of what happened, but needless to say, I have a pretty fair idea where the smearing came from. I didn't make public during the Glasgow list campaign, that I was actively campaigning, neither on the blog or on social media. In fact, prior to being asked to do the campaign, I expressed stepping back from Holyrood campaign in any capacity in a blog post. The second campaign which I was involved with, was more an administration task, rather than campaigning for a set individual, I was procedures secretary to try and find a candidate to stand in Glasgow Pollok. 

When the call went out asking for volunteers to be part of vetting, I thought given my extensive knowledge of campaigning, I would be able to help the Pollok CLP find someone suited to the task. Due to internal Labour Party elections and Covid, the process prior to my involvement had been abandoned several times. I became the head of the selection panel, voted in by a unanimous decision of those who attended the initial meeting. Because various unfortunate setbacks, I tried to get the process back on track and also legal within the CLP. In Pollok, in the past, a previous selection had ended up a Court matter, and I was determined that this selection of a candidate would be free, fair, and conform to due process. Due to the lateness of restarting selection, and not find a suitable candidate, the Labour Party wanted to extend the process. They also wanted to change the format after the selection date had been closed. 

I refused on several technical grounds relating to due process. 

I informed the party, a new process must take place, and I had the backing of the entire panel in this matter, people were keenly aware of what had happened previously. When I was delivered a new format for the election, I sat down and tried to figure how I could make this work, and conform to party rules and a legal footing. After a long hard assessment, I was left with two options, option one, run a process which I knew to be unfair, or option two, return the selection to a better legal framework by passing on the process to the next level up. The next level was the Scottish Executive Committee of the Scottish Labour Party. The party put out an email for a candidate, and eventually a decision was reached to appoint someone called Zubir Ahmed. In an ideal world, the selection panel of Pollok CLP should have chosen their own candidate, but for reasons which I won't get into, this wasn't possible due to time and technical reasons out with the panel's control. 

As I mentioned above, and have repeated over many posts, the Scottish Labour Party needs overhauled. It needs a new campaigning model, and it needs a review of its staff and HQ operations. After my experience of how it operates selection, it also needs a review of that as well. I would say that everything, every single aspect of the Scottish Labour Party needs to be reviewed, the lot. This brings me to the case of Hollie Cameron, Ms. Cameron is someone I have met on the campaign trail, she is a former employee of Paul Sweeney when he was the MP at Glasgow North East. In the past she was an independence supporter which to me shouldn't count against her. But, and here is the but she applied to be the candidate for Glasgow Kelvin at Holyrood and was successful. When it came to light she was an indy supporter, this caused some stir and she was re-vetted by a panel because of concerns whether she would follow the party whip and vote against indyref 2 if it came before the Scottish Parliament. She failed re-vetting according to party bosses, she had failed to give assurances she would follow the party whip. Any candidate must follow the party whip, this is what you agree to when you put yourself forward, its basic stuff. 

After failing re-vetting, nearly all officers of a local Scottish Labour Party, Glasgow Kelvin CLP have resigned in protest at her removal. In cases like this, when a candidate is brought in for re-vetting, a member of the former selection panel and officer of the CLP should have been brought into the re-vetting to act as observers. This way the CLP could see everything was above board and that they could have confidence in the system. If the candidate wanted during re-vetting input from the selection panel member, this should be an option which is allowed. In the case of Hollie Cameron, it would have shown the CLP that she had been treated fairly. As I wrote above, the rules of Scottish Labour need revisited and so does those who apply those rules. Normally, I don't do admin, my time is more than taken up with campaigning, but after my selection panel experience, I take the view that change is needed. If people from Glasgow Kelvin had viewed the re-vetting then possibly eleven officers at Glasgow Kelvin Constituency Labour Party (CLP) including the chair, vice-chairs and secretary may not have resigned. After she was removed, I contacted Anas Sarwar and asked to be considered as a possible candidate, he never had the decency to reply back. Cameron, was replaced by an Anas Sarwar ally, Pam Duncan-Glancy, given her position on the Glasgow list, she will be getting two bites of the cherry for Holyrood. My personal view is that a candidate standing on the list should not be allowed to stand in a constituency. 

A statement issued yesterday by 11 Glasgow Kelvin CLP members said: 

“In light of the decision by Scottish Labour’s SEC to impose a candidate on Glasgow Kelvin CLP for the Holyrood elections in May, displacing the democratically selected candidate Hollie Cameron, the following officers of Glasgow Kelvin CLP have decided to resign their offices immediately. We are resigning because we believe the reasons offered for removing Hollie are unjust and contradictory. Further, the CLP and the executive have been entirely side-lined. Hollie’s treatment in this process has been ­unacceptable and we fear will deter future candidates putting themselves ­forward. We cannot commit to campaigning in this constituency when our democratically selected candidate has been removed, but we want to stress that we wish to see all ­Labour candidates ­succeed ­throughout ­Glasgow and across Scotland.” 

Responding to the resignations, a Scottish Labour spokesperson said: 

“We will be running a positive c­ampaign in Glasgow Kelvin which focuses on what unites us, not what divides us, and prioritises a national recovery plan for a fairer and stronger Scotland.” 

Well, the first thing to note is the spokesperson doesn't address the issues, and glosses over a rather startling fact. No one will be able to run a positive c­ampaign in Glasgow Kelvin because of what happen. What has been created is bad blood, ill will and I would suggest an easy SNP victory. 

Scottish Labour regional MSP for Lothian Neil Findlay also criticised the decision as “absolutely outrageous”. 

He tweeted: 

“Hollie Cameron was selected by members of her constituency, her views chime with many Labour voters and with the views ­expressed my myself, Monica Lennon and many members.” 

Declan McLean, a Scottish ­Labour activist, who also worked in Paul Sweeney's office, and is a friend of Ms. Cameron wrote: 

“That means we should not deny Scots the opportunity to discuss independence if it is the desire of the majority. We may disagree on the timing, but we should not be seen to be standing in opposition to democratic wishes. While we might hope and expect that under a new, federal relationship, most Scots would vote to remain within the UK, we should also be prepared to address the feelings of many that this issue is unending. We could do this by approving the Welsh Government’s ‘voluntary association’ stance and providing the Scotland Act with a provision which allows the Scottish Parliament to hold a referendum, which could then be caveated by the inclusion of a time bar that would prevent a referendum from being held more frequently than is desirable, or in contrast to a majority’s opinion against one.” 

Finally, Scottish Labour leaders have all at some stage claim to have "fixed" Scottish Labour, the most famous in my mind being Jim Murphy. The fact is, that Scottish Labour leaders don't know what they are looking at when they look at the party machine. They can't wrap their heads around the fact that the Scottish Labour Party machine is broken. And it's not just a case it is broken, it also a case that those who operate the system aren't up to the task. This is because they are used as small cogs in a machine which is so damaged that everyone who operates it is normalised to it. Anas Sarwar isn't off to a great start as leader, planting his allies in constituency seats shows this, in fact he should have supported a 'left of slate' replacement candidate in Glasgow Kelvin. Glasgow Kelvin won't produce an effective campaign in this election, so many key players are missing. Clearly the rules of selection matter, but also the spirit of the rules matters, justice must be done, and seen to be done. In the case of Hollie Cameron, this could have been achieved if the party had allowed members of the Glasgow Kelvin CLP into the re-vetting as observers. It didn't happen so everyone is left with a bad taste in their mouths, and a lot of goodwill has been lost needlessly.

Yours sincerely 

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

The Day the Scottish Ministerial Code No Longer Exists; Disgraced SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon refuses to resign after Holyrood Inquiry says she 'misled parliament' over the Alex Salmond affair, her corrupt Crown Office, the 'Wolffe Pack' is actively hunting down publishers on the internet and threatening them with legal action if they don't remove evidence against her, the emergence of a legal Waffen SS to censor the press shows Scotland is a failed State and that UK Government intervention is vital, necessary and urgent

Dear All 

The SNP answer to being exposed in the Salmond scandal is to bring forward measures for more oppression, and injustice. To give their diseased policies, the appearance of being legitimate, they have roped in third parties to help do their dirty work. Organisations which they effectively control by funding. Scotland is becoming like Europe, not the Europe of 2021, but the Europe of the 1940's under Nazi occupation. Dissent is not tolerated against the SNP, free speech and free expression is being banned, and the Crown Office, the corrupt legal Waffen SS of the Sturgeon regime is on the march! Just had Hitler and Karl Donitz had their 'wolf packs' patrolling the shipping lanes in the North Atlantic, Sturgeon has her 'Wolffe pack' patrolling the internet, like the Nazis, the 'Wolffe pack' based in the Crown Office is looking for vulnerable victims. 

The victims' crime, telling the truth! 

So far, due to budget constraints, it is highly unlikely if Sturgeon's corrupt legal Waffen SS get you into court and fitted up, you will be put into a political re-education camp. You will have to make do with prison as a 'prisoner of political conscience'. It is entirely reasonable to expect a slew of political and press convictions will be coming down the pipeline as a warning to others. I think everyone who has watched the Salmond scandal is clear that the Scottish Government is corrupt, the Crown Office in Scotland is corrupt, and both work hand in glove. Just recently, an oppression story in Scotland, and in a university caught my eye, a female student was banned from Aberdeen University's union for two weeks for 'discrimination'. Her crime was saying 'Rule Britannia' during a debate on the British Army. The crime of free speech is now in place in Scotland's Universities, at least at Student Union level. How long before this moves from the student union into the main university campus and becomes policy is anyone's guess. Elizabeth Heverin, 19, received the ban after quoting the historic anthem prompted another student to complain.  

Miss Heverin (the victim) said: 

'It feels like I've been prosecuted for the crime of being patriotic, it's scary to think where freedom of speech at the university will go from here.'  

Over the years, we have seen the growth of anti English and anti UK rhetoric flourish in Scotland, the storm troopers being the cybernats, the personal SA of the SNP leadership. The SNP's Sturmabteilung which translates as literally "Storm Detachment", is the SNP's original paramilitary wing who march around in big groups waving flags, and abusing anyone suspected of being pro UK. They patrol social media checking up on the disloyal, the enemies of the Sturgeon regime, they sit, they watch, they record, they wait. They are always there in the light and in the shadows, like a secret subsection of the SNP movement. 

In the Aberdeen University debate, we get to learn the mindset of the changing face of oppression, students discussed renewing a union policy on a de-militarised campus. This measure would actively bar military personnel from recruiting students. As someone who taught students at university, why should a minority impose their will on the majority just because they hold a small unrepresentative position of power. The Armed services of the United Kingdom represents not only a career path but also a chance to serve our country and stand ready to help others. Why should a minority seek to deny people of all colours and faiths this opportunity. This is the problem in modern Universities intolerance of others to amass power, common known as student union bullshit. One can only hope that those who have banned Miss Heverin get outed and that any future employer finds out as well, and makes a suitable decision on whether someone so intolerant has any place in their business. 

Another gem of intolerance with more potential for harm is the idea of specialist courts in Scotland that should be set up to deal with the most serious sex crimes. But here is the rub, there is a suggestion that cases will be heard by a single judge with no jury. We have a corrupt Scottish Government, we have a corrupt Crown Office, the last piece of the puzzle for a foolproof setup for convictions is a corrupt judge. Can you wrap your head around SNP Judges? How are judges picked, well they are appointed by the Queen, on recommendation of the First Minister. The Queen is just a rubber stamp, you see the real work is done by  the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland (JABS). And who appoints the members? The board is chaired by a lay member, who is appointed to the position by the Scottish Ministers. It might take some time but in theory over time, we could see SNP Judges on the benches, loyal to the SNP. This is because of the input of the First Minister, and we already know that Nats are in public bodies and the legal profession. 

You could have a situation in criminal trials in Scotland where you are accused by an SNP member of a sex crime, you get charged and fitted up by Sturgeon's corrupt legal Waffen SS of the Crown Office. In cuffs brought before a court in front of an SNP judge with no protection from a jury. Do you think if Alex Salmond was retried under this system, he would walk free? I don't think so, to me the system would be open to abuse. Here is a video clip of 1940's German criminal trial by one of the most famous Nazi Judges Roland Freisler. You might think, that couldn't happen here, after seeing the attempted stitch up of Alex Salmond by people close to Nicola Sturgeon, are you so sure? In order to get a fool proof corrupt system in place, you need the three key parts. False witnesses, corrupt Crown Office and an SNP Judge with no jury. Only two parts where available to Team Sturgeon. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNi5256dhvM 

To get a foolproof system akin to a witch trial where accusation equals guilt takes time, so what they have to do is say that a review is needed as part of a shake-up of how Scottish courts deal with rape and other sexual offences cases. Then the SNP talk to what is termed Stakeholders which is code for people that will support their views. One thing we seen in the Salmond case was how quick Rape Crisis Scotland funded by the SNP Government was used as a platform to smear Alex Salmond by the 'alphabet women'. Under proposals, you might see the presumed use of pre-recorded evidence and sentencing powers of up to 10 years imprisonment. Any evidence in a criminal trial must be open to challenge does this mean that pre-recorded evidence will be assumed to be indisputable fact? I don't know but it is worth asking the question now surely? 

Although the idea to rule out juries isn't fleshed out, among the panel's other ideas is for juries to be given "plain language directions". This is to be done with a pilot programme looking at how jurors can be told about rape myths and stereotypes. To me, this is bullshit, it isn't evidence, and as such has no place in any trial. What are rape myths and stereotypes, I found an article for you to read which explains the thinking, but trials are about evidence, we shouldn't allow unrelated opinion to replace it. One idea is that the right for the complainer not to be identified should also be expressly set out in legislation, so should the right be extended also to the accused? In the Salmond scandal, how does Lady Dorrian's review deal with malicious complainers? Should a malicious complainer be allowed to walk away and hide behind court anonymity? What provision has the review put in place for that? I can see how the proposals would improve the way cases are handled for complainers, but it doesn't appear to be weighed in fairness for the accused and witnesses. Is it that the accused and witnesses are only entitled to second class justice? 

Dorrian said: 

"We decided that we really needed to start from the ground up. If we started afresh what would the court to deal with these cases look like? We have made recommendations which we believe will fundamentally change and improve the way sexual offences are prosecuted in Scotland." 

Lady Dorrian said increasing conviction rates in sex crime cases "was not a driving force" behind the group's recommendations, so why does it appear that all the stakeholders are women's advocacy groups? Of course there is no advocacy groups for rapists, but where and who were the stakeholders brought in to put a counter view to Rape Crisis Scotland, Scottish Women's Aid, Victim Support Scotland and the Crown Office? The role of the Crown Office is to convict people in a trial, not support the accused, just ask Alex Salmond. The Crown Office used the 'moorov doctrine' because they thought quantity would see them get a conviction on the basis so many charges would secure at least one or more convictions. If you throw enough shit maybe some of it will stick or at least leave a smell. In the funny article by Craig Murray called First Yes Minister, he mentions this in part of a well written piece, well worth a read. 

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/01/yes-minister-fan-fiction/ 

I like the bit in the middle, I enjoyed that a lot: 

"Minister I don’t have that many friends, Permanent Secretary. I spend all my time reading books. (Canned Laughter).
Perm Sec Oh really, Minister, think. You must have some women very close to you.
Minister Well, there is Miss Barclay, my own Private Secretary.
Perm Sec Perfect, Minister perfect! Miss Barclay should be good for at least four allegations! Get her to say he tried to kiss her. Often.
Minister But surely nobody will believe my own Private Secretary – and she was involved in putting the dossier together and in discussions on handling the case. Nobody is going to believe her. And (gasps in horror) it really leads straight back to me being behind it, doesn’t it?
Perm Sec It can’t be traced back to you, Minister.
Minister Phew, that’s a relief. It can’t be traced back to me you say. How does that work?
Perm Sec Accuser anonymity, Minister.
Minister Accuser anon… oh yes! Oh yes! I am beginning to see!! They are sexual allegations so…
Perm Sec The identities of the accusers can be kept hidden by the court under penalty of severe jail sentences for anybody who reveals them so…
Minister …the accusers can just be my closest political cronies and the public will never be aware of that! That’s brilliant, Perm Sec!
Perm Sec Thank you, Minister (Canned Laughter)" 

Comedy where would be without it? 

In the last 24 hours, something dramatic has happened, akin to someone blowing off the shithouse door with someone sitting inside. There has been a leak from possible someone inside the Salmond Inquiry, the question to ask before I get to the contents of the leak is, who does the leak benefit? This should occupy your thoughts a few minutes, the leak is said to be that the Salmond Inquiry has come to the conclusion that  First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had been found to have “misled Parliament” about her role in the Alex Salmond investigation. The leak benefits Nicola Sturgeon, and that bring me to a sky news interview of her being doorstep. In the clip, Sturgeon jumps right out of the car and straight into what seems to be a prepared narrative, something which others all over twitter have taken up. Look at the clip and the way she gets out of the car, rips the mask and goes straight into her narrative, where was the lag, where was the down time to consider matters? To me, all of this had the hallmarks of prepared strategy. The denial, the accusations, the blaming of others, contrast that grasp of facts with her performance in front of the Salmond Inquiry, 'couldn't remember', 'don't know the answer', 'not that I can recall'. 

The headline Nicola Sturgeon 'misled parliament' over Alex Salmond affair, inquiry although accurate doesn't tell you the whole picture. A better headline, more accurate is that the entire SNP membership of the Salmond Inquiry all sided with Nicola Sturgeon. The fight back by Sturgeon and the SNP has already begun, for example the #IstandwithNicola nonsense, like a ready meal, it was popped onto twitter and started trending really quickly. So, what is it the people are who are backing Nicola Sturgeon are actually backing? 

1/ That Nicola Sturgeon can lie as First Minister

2/ That the Scottish Government is corrupt.

3/ That the Crown Office is corrupt, and a tool of victimisation

4/ That evidence can be withheld from a Parliamentary Inquiry

5/ That witnesses can be withheld from a Parliamentary Inquiry

6/ That evidence can be withheld from a Court

7/ That the ministerial code doesn't apply to the SNP

8/ That innocent people can be stitched up at a Governmental level

9/ That innocent people can be taken to Court to be stitched up 

That's what the #IstandwithNicola brigade are backing, too stupid to protect their democracy, because of a simpleton notion that Nicola is their 'pal' and she wouldn't do it to them. That type of thinking in my mind makes them, the dumbest bastards walking the face of the earth. You can already see the way things are going, Nicola Sturgeon won't resign, effectively the ministerial code to regulate the behaviour of ministers no longer exists. Sturgeon has declared herself innocent, and her corrupt Crown Office is actively engaged in trying to force people to take down evidence of what actually happened in the Salmond scandal. Guido Fawkes was threatened by the Crown Office to take down evidence in the public domain on his website, he took the tack to tell them to shove it. This was one kill that the 'Wolffe pack' wasn't going to be able to make in the murky waters of the internet. 

Finally, Scotland has become a failed State, the signposts between it and Nazi Germany are glowingly obvious now. Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: 

"We cannot set a precedent that a First Minister of Scotland can mislead the Scottish Parliament and get away with it. We have to trust that the First Minister will be truthful. We no longer can. We have called out the First Minister based on the overwhelming evidence that she misled Parliament. We will continue to hold her to the same standards as previous First Ministers of Scotland and demand that she resigns." 

The precedent Douglas Ross speaks about has already been set, it was set when Nicola Sturgeon jumped out of her Ministerial car outside her home in Baillieston, Glasgow, and laid the foundations of the denial, the accusations, the blaming of others. What is needed is UK Government intervention, not letters of concerns, appeals to decency, appeals to conform to public standards, it's too late for that option. The way to go is to have a full UK investigation and an external judge led inquiry with sanctions, this means control returned to Westminster. Removal of civil servants both in the Scottish Government and Crown Office pending external investigation. That is where we need to be, not just tinkering with the Scotland Act, not just granting parliamentary immunity, root and branch reforms coupled with full UK investigation and an external of Scotland judge led inquiry. Let's stop thinking that the house can remain on a foundation of sand, let's pour the concrete in so that there is no way that this scandal can ever happen again. And for the record, let's make sure guilty people cannot walk away from this one either! It is time to restore justice in Scotland, and when we do, 'let's give it laldy'!

Yours sincerely 

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University