Two For the Knackers Yard, SNP explode in anger as they stand to lose two SNP MPs at Westminster, the Boundary Commission is set to reduce Scotland's over representation from 59 seats to 57, Ian Blackford, and Patrick Grady are damaged goods, there comes a point in a clean up when you have to 'throw out the trash', Blackford and Grady have stank up Westminster long enough, their removal is justice by other means!

Dear All 

If I said to you the Boundary Commission of Scotland, your first thought, if you aren't a political activist or politics geek, would be who? 

Boundary Commission of Scotland makes recommendations at every level of political representation in Scotland, from polling district to ward, from ward to Holyrood boundary, to Westminster boundary. So, although they might seem a little obscure they do a power to change whether you are in a ward or constituency. Where I live, for the bulk of my time, I was in ward 5, ward 5 is Govan. After a redrawing of the boundaries, my area was put into ward 6 which is Pollokshields. Now, the reason for this transfer was based solely on that my polling district at Craigton being lumped in with Dumbreck. So rather than break up the polling district, and redesign it, the Boundary Commission of Scotland took the path of least resistance and placed my area into Ward 6. There were official protests about this from the local Community Council who collected a petition, this was ignored, completely ignored. You can see the reason on a map why Dumbreck should be include in the Pollokshields Ward, but not the area of Craigton where I stay. If you logically thought matters through, looking at a map, then Craigton should have been placed in Ward 4 which is Cardonald. 

At Westminster, there has been talk over a number of years about reducing the current 650 MPs elected, down to a more manageable 600. The reduction isn't welcomed by political parties for several reasons, less seats means less opportunity. Redrawn boundaries also can shift the political make up of an area, that dynamic could unseat a sitting MP in favour of a rival from another party. In Scotland, given the current make up of Scots at Westminster, this means the loss of probably two SNP MPs. The Boundary Commission for Scotland has launched an eight-week public consultation on the proposals, this is something they must carry out to give the impression that they are 'listening' to the public, it's a sham. They are tasked with lower the number of MPs in Scotland from 59 to 57. So any consultation already knows there is a final answer to the question of reduction, 59 seats will be reduced by 2. There make be a small shifting of a boundary here and there, but for the most part, it's a done deal. Checking the website of the Boundary Commission of Scotland, I download two maps of Glasgow South West in June 2019, the first was produced in 2013, and the second was produced in 2018, both maps radically alter the boundary of Glasgow South West. For example, in 2018, the map shows that GSW loses the Govan Ward entirely. It also takes in areas like Carnwadric, Kennishead, Shawlands and Strathbungo. In a redrawing of number of seats in Glasgow, to me it seems pretty clear that any seat lost will be on the north side of the River Clyde. 

This means that either Glasgow North or Glasgow North West should go, both these seats are held by SNP MPs. In this case, this would normally mean a dogfight between, MPs Patrick Grady, a Sturgeon ally, and Carol Monaghan. Patrick Grady chances took  hit when he made the press when allegations came to light of sexual misconduct towards young men. A letter sent to then Speaker John Bercow in 2017 stated; 

“A member of staff recently left the SNP who was groped sexually by Patrick Grady at last year’s Christmas Party. There was another male staff member who was groped sexually by Mr Grady the same night of last year”. 

After the matter became public, Grady resigned from the SNP front bench as Chief Whip, so far the SNP have been quiet on their investigation surround Grady, but also the investigation of Patricia Gibson whom allegations were also made about. When Grady was outed in the press, Gibson's name was held back due to her apparently threatening legal action against anyone who named her. I have met Patricia Gibson when she was a Pollok Councillor, she never worked with me as an activist in Pollok in the several years I was active there. She is part of the Gibson dynasty in the SNP, a horrible wretched creature. Her husband works as a seal, not a US Navy Seal or action warrior, but one of the rotating dummies who sits directly behind Nicola Sturgeon at FMQ's and bangs the table in support of Sturgeon. As he is a 'seal', I had 100% confidence that both Gibson and Grady (because of his Sturgeon connection) wouldn't be in any danger from an SNP investigation. If you check his wiki bio, when it comes to personal life section, it doesn't exist, Grady up until this episode was a man of mystery. In April 2021, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that she was aware of a concern about SNP MP Patrick Grady before a harassment complaint was made against him. As I have written about many times before, the SNP is controlled by four main groups, the lgbt, muslim, sein fein lite and the rich. So, who will survive the redrawing of boundaries in Glasgow, Patrick Grady, a Sturgeon ally and Carol Monaghan? Whereas Grady can count on the Sturgeon lgbt wing, Monaghan doesn't have the rancid smell of alleged multiple sexual misconduct allegations against young men hanging over her like Grady. 

Glasgow and the north of Scotland would be the places which would lose seats, the other seat which is rumoured to be phased out, is the seat held by the buffoon, Ian Blackford, he holds the seat previously held by the late Charles Kennedy. Charles Kennedy unlike the bulk of the SNP MPs was universally liked across the board by politicians of all parties. When he was subjected to constant bullying and abuse from SNP activists, Kennedy, a broken man died shortly after. The 'scum' in the SNP in shape of Nicola Sturgeon had the enormous bad taste to turn up at his funeral. I found an article from the Spectator which you should have a read of, to cement your opinion about the people in this party. 

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/ian-blackford-and-the-hounding-of-charles-kennedy 

There are many observations within this well researched article, but this paragraph for me was most striking: 

"Nonetheless, any description of Charles’s political demise without reference to Blackford is a bit like reviewing The Exorcist without mentioning the devil. For this was a campaign of shame which should be neither forgiven nor forgotten; certainly not for as long as Mr Blackford occupies a place on the political stage." 

During the campaign of hate, one man emerged very quickly as a person of interest, he was one of Ian Blackford's closest associates. His name was Brian Smith, his position was convener of the SNP’s Skye branch Through-out the campaign and even up to election day, Smith bombarded Charles’s social media sites with constant and sustained  abuse, describing  him as ‘our own arch-Quisling’. Smith was a leading light in the abuse campaign which attracted many Cybernats. One of Charles’s constituency staff had to work full-time on deleting social media abuse. There were vile anonymous messages attached to Charles’s car and pushed through his letter-box. When he returned home after the confirmation of his defeat, the bins had been emptied across his driveway. The level of sheer cruelty was beyond comprehension, I was of the opinion that this deserved action by Westminster in some form in memory of Charles Kennedy. But nothing was said, nothing happened and no protest came. If Blackford's seat goes, he could be out of politics, or will there be a campaign against some SNP MP who holds a seat that Blackford takes an interest in? Will someone step down for him to just continue on his merry way? Blackford is a clown, but I would like this clown to feel the intense pain that Charles Kennedy suffered in his last few months of life. A wrong has not been righted here, the Spectator article says, 'neither forgiven nor forgotten'. 

As I mentioned above, the answer to the question has already been confirmed, in this case by

Lord Matthews, the deputy chair of the commission. Lord Matthews is the person leading the review, he said: 

“I believe this is a promising start to delivering the requirements of the new rules that mean the number of constituencies in Scotland will reduce from 59 to 57, and that each mainland constituency must have broadly the same number of electors. We have set out proposals today which do that and are, we believe, a good implementation of the rules set by Parliament. Today is the beginning of a process, and we now want to hear the views of the public. We will reflect on responses to the consultation and make changes where appropriate and where the legislation allows us to do so. We strongly encourage voters to make their views heard. We welcome all comments on our proposals on our consultation site at bcs2023review.com. We particularly want to hear suggestions on two aspects, suggestions for alternative boundaries that comply with the legislative requirements and constituency names.” 

The review is already decided, the outcome is already fixed, and the consultation is a sham, and not only that, you have been told the outcome in advance. 

In the SNP, this review which will only impact them in regards to seats, are upset, two of their number are getting removed, and they know they cannot do a thing about it. SNP Westminster deputy leader, Kirsten Oswald MP, said: 

“Tory plans to further reduce Scotland’s representation at Westminster, while increasing the number of MPs for England, underlines the need for Scotland to become an independent country – in full control of our own democratic decisions and with the full powers needed to build a stronger, fairer and greener future. The SNP will strongly oppose any attempt to weaken Scotland’s voice in the UK Parliament but the reality is Scotland will always be outvoted under the broken Westminster system – as we have seen with Tory austerity cuts, Brexit and power grabs imposed against Scotland’s will. Independence is the only way to keep Scotland safe from damaging Westminster decisions and Scotland’s best future lies as an independent country.” 

To break down what she said, she said nothing! 

A UK Government spokesperson said: 

“Reforms to parliamentary boundaries will ensure fair and equal representation for the voting public across the United Kingdom. Every constituency will be equally represented in the UK Parliament, with Scotland’s most rural constituencies continuing to receive special protection.” 

Finally it looks like Patrick Grady and Ian Blackford have possible career ending dates with destiny, both richly deserved. Both these people won't be really missed, except maybe Blackford. Apparently the Conservatives love him, for his stupidity, for being a buffoon, for being an national embarrassment to Scotland. He is constantly mocked and laughed at, due to his political IQ of a handball. Westminster has produced some exceptional people of distinction, charisma and intellect, then you have the 'bargain bucket' politicians who lower the tone of the whole place like Blackford. Westminster is in some respects a seat of learning, it has a lot to teach people about governance, if you are willing to learn, if you aren't, you are just a dummy on a green bench. A dummy on a green bench who is now an SNP Minister is Angus Robertson, who after circa 20 years at Westminster has shown himself to be an absolute dud at Holyrood. Two dummies from the SNP are going to be removed from Westminster, we have provisional names, but there is an election in 2024 which will finally nail it down. Roll on 2024.

Yours sincerely 

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University