I Am Not Buying Joanna Cherry's Crap; SNP MP Joanna Cherry says she contemplated leaving politics due to abuse and threats, no one cares if she does, Cherry tries to pitch an idea that all MPs should never see constituents, face to face, citing protecting democracy, if you want to see a MP, MSP or Cllr, you can join a political party and see them at meetings, see them at street stalls, see them canvassing, or leafleting, so how does she overcome circumvention of this security flaw, isn't the reality she doesn't want to do the job she is paid for handsomely, £81,932 a year, plus pension and expenses, I don't feel her angst!

Dear All 

SNP MP Joanna Cherry has said she 'contemplated' leaving elected politics due to the level of abuse and threats she receives. I suppose the most obvious question to ask, is she saying that she didn't know the nature of the SNP before signing up to them. Cherry is a lesbian, normally as lesbian, part of the lgbt group, she would be part of a protected group. However in Cherry's case, she is seen as a threat to Nicola Sturgeon, she is a supporter of Alex Salmond, and she is a supporter of women's rights over the current SNP dogma of trans rights. Some people would say that the SNP has been hijacked by a vocal minority over trans rights, as if this just happened. The truth is more historic, several minority groups such as the lgbt group saw that embedding themselves in political parties was a way to push their agendas. If you take the SNP, the lgbt group embedded themselves s Cllrs, MPs, MSPs, MEPs, staffers, committee members at various levels and HQ staff. Four groups make up the SNP, lgbt, muslim, sein fein lite and the rich, the controlling group leading the party is lgbt. The upshot of this is, well look around you, the country of Scotland is in decline as are its people because minority groups are always pushing their agenda that they are a discriminated group. 

Over the last 5 years, two MPs have been murdered, one just recently, the murder of Conservative MP Sir David Amess shocked the nation and the political class. He was stabbed multiple times while meeting his constituents in Essex on Friday in what Police say was a terrorist incident. A 25-year-old man, Ali Harbi Ali, was arrested at the scene and remains in police custody. If found guilty, he will die in prison, he will never be released, the nature of the crime, and the victim will ensure his case is in a special category of killer. Sir David Amess had been an MP for 40 years, during his time as an MP, he helped many constituents, his death is all the more painful because he was very well liked by constituents. The same however cannot be said of every elected politician. The other high profile murder was of Jo Cox, a Labour MP murdered in Batley and Spen, she was replaced by her sister in the by-election, which was a pretty nasty campaign. 

Joanna Cherry rise in the SNP meant that she became a high-profile SNP MP very quickly, just as she rose up quickly, her demise was equally as swift downwards when she was seen as a threat to Nicola Sturgeon. The press however seem to have marked her out as a 'go to' politician for a story, and for watching incase she was to eventually become leader of the SNP. The same lgbt minority who act against her because they are hitched to Nicola Sturgeon's star would reinvent themselves as 'Cherry supporters'. And presumably she would do what most leaders do when they inherit a nest of vipers, bring in her own top team, and use her enemies as drones. If I take you back 20 years and work forward looking at Nicola Sturgeon, you can see that she has had a 'makeover', she went from being a wretched horrible nasty little woman to a wretched horrible nasty little woman who wears a mask. During my first ever attempt to stand for public office, in October 2013, I met many people who considered Nicola Sturgeon a horrible bastard, some of whom were disabled whom Sturgeon had failed to help. One old boy was particularly angry about how Sturgeon and her staff failed to her help him over a mobility issue. 

After her 'makeover' from wretched horrible nasty little woman, we, the public were asked to believe that Nicola Sturgeon was a warm caring human being, the mother of the nation, a superwoman, a family woman, and all the general horseshit that the press chuck in. The lie was carried into government when Alex Salmond made Nicola Sturgeon, the Health Sec to boost her image of being 'caring'. Nicola will take care of you and family in your darkest hour. Well, if you check her law career, you will find on google, that Nicola Sturgeon was reported for leaving a woman in the shit. At the time this was done, the press who are supposed to hold politicians to account never ran the story. Why? The same reason that if Cherry becomes leader, her enemies will reinvent themselves as 'allies', and all for self advancement. I am sure the press is sitting on many stories about politicians which could be described as being in the public interest but they steadfast refuse to publish them. The press like to build people up, and in the case of Sturgeon protect them by keeping back stories or running 'puff' pieces of feel good stories. 

The press is grooming Cherry who represents Edinburgh South West because the press and politics have become fused. You can see this by the fact reporters become PR spinners for parties, advisors and spads. The press see politics as a career route, which is why they are so reluctant to break major stories on senior politicians. Writing in the Daily Record, Joanna Cherry, talks about the death of Conservative MP Sir David Amess but then switches the story to be on her, this begs the question, did she approach the Daily Record or did the Daily Record approach her? Cherry said; 

Sir David's tragic death "has prompted us all to think about the safety of people in public life and the way debate is conducted in our society. I am acutely aware from my own personal experience of the threats to the safety of MPs and our staff." She then went on to say on one occasion a constituent "behaved in such a menacing and threatening manner I and my office manager were in fear of our lives". Sir David's tragic death was said to be a terrorism incident, which is entirely different from any story that Cherry has to relate about her safety. The reason many people get upset with MPs, MSPs and Cllrs is simple, they go to see them for help, and in many cases, they don't get it. If they do get help, the quality of the help and the length of time it takes to resolve a problem is a disgrace. I remember a Patrick Grady story where a constituent's representative went to see him because Grady's had done 'fuck all' to help him, this had gone on for weeks, and weeks. Not only the staff member, a little bastard wasn't just unhelpful but he was also rude and gobby. Is it a surprised that people get annoyed and upset. 

If you go to an SNP elected politician for help, your case needs to be very simple to fix, because these people want to push you off to CAB or some other organisation. They really don't want to do that part of their jobs. Instead, they want to focus on other aspects, like research, producing PR and spin. The double insult of course, is when you get the full time Cllr who also works in the same area, as they represent working but also works as a constituency office worker for an MP or MSP, they get paid twice for the same job. It is a racket that many parties are involved in, and should be viewed as corruption or at the very least unethical. So, what you have is an incestuous with people in a small political bubble milking the system. Part of the reason for this, is that Cllrs are paid too low a salary, many have external full time jobs, when they should be full time Cllrs. I believe there should be a law that bans Cllrs from working in the office of any MP or MSP, and they should get £30k if they commit to full time, 9 to 5, Monday to Friday. Some people are using being a Cllr as a route to being an MSP or MP, which is why we get such a poor service, others work elsewhere full time, which is why we get such a poor service. There isn't enough hours in the day, when you play at being a Cllr part time, you aren't squeezing a week's work in a few hours. 

As Cherry relates her tale, presumably to draw sympathy, she said

"We were so terrified that after he left we pushed all the furniture against the door of the room in the suburban library where my surgery was being held while we waited for the police to arrive. Subsequently we had to go to court to give evidence against him. He was convicted.

Earlier this year another man was convicted after he threatened me with sexual violence." 

Here we have Cherry lumping everyone in who she sees as a threat, but the press aren't asking the right questions. Why was the person who saw her at a surgery angry? Why didn't the press highlight that the rape threat came from within the SNP? Why haven't the press asked why the SNP don't investigate Sturgeon supporters? Why don't the press ask for updates on SNP investigations? Why do some SNP investigations of seriopus misconduct take years? Why do some SNP investigations apparently not happen at all? Cherry says the UK needs to consider whether MPs "can continue to meet total strangers at vulnerable locations such as libraries and church halls". This question is stupid, if a person wishes to continue as an MP, the public will simple vote for someone who will see them. If this term of Westminster is Cherry's last, she can enact her 'no see' policy at time she wishes, but it appears that Cherry wants everyone to adopt a 'no see' policy, as a cover. When elected, it is said that Candidate X is elected to serve as the member for Y, as the people's representative. If Cherry doesn't want to meet the public, she should resign as MP, one thing we know, is that her 'no see' the public policy would be lifted at election time. So, she would be willing to see the public if it benefits her, but not if it can be a benefit to them. 

Are you feeling all warm and fuzzy towards Joanna Cherry or do you think you would say to her face, 'look, just fuck off'? 

Cherry points out: 

"During the height of the pandemic we took our surgeries online or by phone. We may need to return to doing this while Parliament and the police look at what should happen in the long term." 

What you don't see is the total number of complaints, the number of complaints accepted as case, and the resolution of complaints and how long it took. You see this data isn't published, and it is also not open to scrutiny. You shouldn't just accept the narrative that any elected politician is doing a good job. When I was in the SNP as a high profile activist, I case a case to Anne McLaughlin, she is now an SNP MP. She chucked the case in the bin, her staff never contacted the disabled woman who I knew who had heart problems, and need a stair lift. The woma was fucked about by Glasgow City Council, and told there was a two year waiting list. In 2017, I went to campaign against McLughlin in Glasgow North East, and helped throw her out of Westminster. Sadly she got back in 2019, I had several operations which limited my ability to campaign against her, and there was other problems in the campaign which I joined, she got back in. What a fucking joke! 

When Cherry speaks about the debate around trans rights, she said "concerted efforts" are being made to remove women from public life "simply for our belief in the importance of biological sex and the importance of preserving the sex-based protections which the Equality Act affords women and the same sex attracted". This isn't a bunch of straight white heterosexual men and women banding against her, it is a vicious nasty minority who are embedded in the lgbt community who the ear of Scottish Government funded groups like Stonewall and various others. 

Finally Cherry said: 

"Recently I contemplated leaving elected politics due to the level of abuse and threats but I’ve decided to stay and fight my corner. We must not let the bullies win. Our democracy is at stake." 

You will have to forgive me if I don't appear overwhelmed, maybe it is because Cherry gets a lucrative MP salary, pension and expenses. You shouldn't be overwhelmed either, many times in your life, you have had to fight against some despicable people who wish to deny you your rights in one way or another. When you did your fight, you probably had to do it alone, and without the basic annual salary for an MP of £81,932, or without a high profile or without access to people in power. I have to say, I am not impressed by Joanna Cherry piggy backing her 'pain' on the back of the Conservative MP Sir David Amess. I am not moved to sympathy of her angst about having to do her well paid job. I am not moved in any way shape or form unless I see firsthand proof of her record of achievement of total number of complaints received against total number of complaints accepted and resolved to the satisfaction of the constituent. There are people in the SNP who are elected to political office at every level who should be removed, who are a liability and a burden to the areas they got in. The puff piece in the press to make SNP MP Joanna Cherry out to be some courageous plucky heroine doesn't impress me at all. We have all seen it done before, manipulate the public to think that finally they are getting a diamond when in fact they are getting a lump of coal. Cherry's final sign off is the line, " Our democracy is at stake." My question to that is, what version of democracy is she talking about, her party has destroyed democracy in Scotland over the last 14 years, where was her outrage when that was happening, and why was she silent? Is it that unless something affects her personally she is deaf, blind and stupid?

Yours sincerely 

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University