The Laird Report - Episode 5 The Russians have a legitimate grievance

Vladimir Putin's Address on NATO, Ukraine, and Recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk with English Subtitles

The Laird Report Episode 4 The Myth of the Final Scottish Referendum

The Laird Report Episode 3 - The moral decline of Scotland isn't solely just about the demise of the political class, my views on why there is no place for ex SNP Minister Derek Mackay not just in Scottish political life but also in Scottish public life at any level, not because of his sexuality but because of his character

The Moral Decline of Scotland Pace Quickens; Disgraced former SNP minister Derek Mackay sets up own consultancy firm after two years away from the public eye, allegedly his firm will teach people “management consultancy activities”, who would be his client base after his fall from grace, former SNP MSP Andrew Wilson of Charlotte Street Partners, a strategic communications consultancy, based in Edinburgh and London says Mackay should be given a shot at redemption, begs the question why isn't he giving him a job?

It is Friday and as the week draws to a close, the final SNP story is that disgraced former SNP minister Derek Mackay sets up own consultancy firm. As I have previously mentioned the SNP is made up of four main groups, LGBT, Muslim, Sein Fein lite and the Rich. In fact, the overall control of the party is controlled by the embedded LGBT group. They are at every level of the party acting as gatekeepers for Nicola Sturgeon, it is a nasty vicious clique operating in Scottish politics. Earlier in the week, I blogged on ex SNP Health Sec Jeane Freeman, another member of the SNP LGBT clique who has now been given at job at Glasgow University at the age of 68 years old. The title which Freeman has been given is the equivalent of the same contrived nonsense that the SNP gave to Scottish Greens Minister Patrick Harvie. The one person who links all these people together, is Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader. It was Sturgeon who was keen to promote LGBT very publicly into her inner circle and Cabinet, not just to support her but also to promote her, and their agenda. 

On twitter and elsewhere, there has been continued speculation regarding the marriage of Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell, as well as their sexuality. Personally I don't know or care if Sturgeon is allegedly a lesbian, or if her marriage is allegedly fake, or why she surrounds herself with a LGBT clique. What people do know is that she is, fully signed up to the agenda to promote an LGBT lifestyle to children in schools, She is signed up to the Trans agenda. Sturgeon is signed up to that agenda to change the Gender Recognition Laws. This allows men to identify as women, and to allow them, access women's personal spaces such as toilets and female changing rooms. One thing that you would have noticed is that Nicola Sturgeon doesn't take a lead in promoting the LGBT agenda. Although she does attend Pride Marches as a PR media managed stunt to show that she is inclusive. What the SNP have done to limit bad PR on the issues of sexualisation of children and trans rights is remove her from the frame and insert John Swinney to run with the ball. John Swinney is the Education Minister, he is also what I term an "enlightened heterosexual", he is the point man for Nicola Sturgeon. You might ask why him, well you might assume this is because he is married to a woman, and has a kid, Sturgeon although married has no kids. Even mainstream media highlights the existence of the LGBT clique in the SNP. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3077590/Fasten-seat-belts-comes-Ayr-Force-One-Nicola-Sturgeon-spends-time-flying-London-RICHARD-LITTLEJOHN-imagines-like-board-private-jet.html 

Given the fight over the Gender Recognition Act, you can see why Nicola Sturgeon and her clique put LGBT Green MSP Patrick Harvie into her Cabinet. This is because down the line the SNP will have majority support. Nicola Sturgeon and her advisors will spin erasing women as not an SNP LGBT agenda but as the 'will of parliament'. I would imagine that come the vote for the Gender Recognition Act to be passed, Sturgeon will say this will be a "free vote" where MSPs vote with their conscious. It will be spun as a victory for civil liberties with Nicola Sturgeon surrounding herself with 'bought and paid' women's groups funded by the SNP government. Some members of the LGBT community are rightly appalled by what is going on, so much so they have setup an organisation LGB Alliance, because they recognise that the decades of progress made on LGBT rights will in the minds of the public be wiped out. If Sturgeon gets her way, a man born male can call himself a woman, simply  walk into a female changing room, strip naked in front of women and young girls, and display their penis. In normal times, if a man walked into a women's changing room and walked about naked, the police would arrest him and he would face a criminal trial. Under the SNP, the police instead of arresting him would protect him from angry women and label them as the 'victim'. What would you think if a guy who claimed to be a woman pulled his dick out in front of your 8 year old daughter? Would you be understanding? Would you be tempted to say anything? Would you just keep your mouth shut because of fear of getting a criminal conviction? Here is a snapshot of what is in store for women once Nicola Sturgeon and her LGBT group who control the levers of power change the law. This story is recent, some people might say this is a scare story, but it isn't, its truth. 

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scot-flashed-penis-used-sex-26256211         

A person who some people describe as a Scotsman flashed their penis and used sex toy in public leaving onlookers shocked. The former soldier was previously placed on the sex offenders' register for assaulting an underage girl. There is another story which made the press in a spectacular fashion from the US. A young boy claim to be a woman rape a young girl at a school in a bathroom. What makes this even worse is that cops to arrested the father after he complained at school board meeting. Later on Police in Loudoun County revealed the same boy who allegedly raped the young 15 year old girl was arrested in October for a different alleged assault. Now, he is in juvenile detention, awaiting a court date on multiple charges. This is a taste of what Nicola Sturgeon's over inflated ego might bring to Scotland, and like most politicians whose policies result in harm, she won't have any time to speak to the press, her advisors will shield her as they already do. Over the years you will have noticed a decline in Nicola Sturgeon's meet the people events, what she tends to do now is limit the public's access to facing off directly against her. Did you notice the shift to stage managed events and interviews? At election time she still has to go do the 'show face' but in the past I know the SNP like to do so to targeted SNP supporters/ members to give the impression that the warm response to her is from the general public. The SNP have a database not just of members but also members of the public who are minded to support the SNP. However that database may prove worthless if there is no indyref 2 and indy voters drift to Alex Salmond's Alba Party. Alba's stand on women's rights is 180 degrees to the stance of the SNP, I would put this down to a lack of LGBT members. 

One person particularly close to Nicola Sturgeon was former LGBT SNP minister Derek Mackay. It was said that Mackay was tipped as Nicola Sturgeon's replacement once Sturgeon stepped down. However Mackay, the rising star flamed out when it was discovered that he pestered a young boy of 16 years old and the parliament turned on him. As the parliament had turned on Mark McDonald , another SNP Minister in Sturgeon's Cabinet over an alleged sex scandal, the convention had already been set. The extend of what some MSPs termed 'grooming' of a 16 year old boy sealed Mackay's fate. When the scandal broke in February 2020 on the eve of the Scottish Budget in Holyrood, Mackay disappeared from Holyrood never to be seen again but didn't resign his seat and kept collect his salary, including a payday for leaving as a Minister from allowances. The SNP kept quiet, much is in the same as the are keeping quiet about the allegations of sexual harassment against SNP MP Patrick Grady who had been accused of inappropriate behaviour towards two male researchers at the SNP’s Christmas party at the Phoenix Artist Club in London in December 2016. He has not been suspended as an MP or SNP member, on his wiki page, his personal life is more or less a blank. Although the SNP claim to take complaints of sexual harassment seriously, they are slow to act against allies of Nicola Sturgeon. Grady isn't listed on wiki as a "gay" MP, In the SNP it isn't unusual that LGBT members mask their true sexuality from the public. This is what happened with Derek Mackay, he was previously married with children. When Mackay betrayed his wife and kids, the SNP effectively painted her and the kids out of the picture very quickly. 

So, we have Derek Mackay who has popped up like a cork in the bath to setup a consultancy firm two years after he left politics in disgrace. The question is who would want to use his services when he such a documented history of poor professional and personal judgment. Who is willing to pay to use his new venture Lochan Associates Ltd and his alleged expertise to allow him to conduct “management consultancy activities"? Already we have seen people like Andrew Wilson, former SNP MSP who works with Charlotte Street Partners say that Derek Mackay should be given a shot at redemption. Just recently Nicola Sturgeon jumped into the pile on regarding a footballer called David Goodwillie, over his past, I assume this was more to do with her reaching out to women to repair her tarnished self image with women that she is some sort of 'protector' of them. Too many people, it seems redemption seems to be limited to people like Derek Mackay and Patrick Grady who are close to Nicola Sturgeon, everyone else, fuck them, shove them in the fire. I have been talking about the moral decline of Scotland, double standards and the general lack of ethics within Scotland's political class. Why should people rally round someone like Derek Mackay, his betrayal getting caught bombarded a 16-year-old schoolboy with messages, including calling him "cute" and inviting him to dinner wasn't his first rodeo. He betrayed his wife and kids, he hung out and socialised with criminals, he refused to attend parliament but took his salary and expenses, including an automatic grant of £11,945 for “loss of ministerial office”. 

One of the things I welcome is that the Scottish Conservatives are now consulting on a new law that would allow MSPs to be removed from office. The Removal from Office and Recall Bill would see MSPs automatically dismissed if they failed to take part in Holyrood proceedings for more than six months without a valid reason. I would like to see a recall mechanism so that the public can have a say in removing MSPs, I would also like to see the list system abolished entirely and every seat of the 129 seats in Holyrood made first past the post. 

Scottish Conservative MSP Russell Findlay said: 

“After shamelessly milking every last dime from Scottish taxpayers since his downfall, Derek Mackay's legacy is likely to be a new law being brought forward by the Scottish Conservatives that will allow rogue MSPs to be sacked. Perhaps the supposed one-time first minister in waiting hopes to exploit his SNP connections to continue gorging on public funds.

But all public bodies have a responsibility to adhere to the rules and not treat him any differently to others seeking to get a foot in the door.” 

Finally ex politicians' setting up consultancy firms isn't new, many former MPs and Ministers have previously done this, even ex Labour Council leader Steven Purcell. Purcell who like Mackay, LGBT and tipped as a "rising star" had a fall from grace in the Labour Party which was equally dramatic. In many ways, the SNP and Labour Party are a mirror image of each other which is why people like ex SNP Health Minister Jeane Freeman can have a seamlessly transition from one party to the other. Russell Findlay flags up his concerns that Derek Mackay after laying low for two years wants to make a comeback. After all Mackay can't have failed to notice that people like Patrick Grady who is close to Sturgeon is still allowed to operate with no restrictions. If there is a boundary change for the 2024 election which might happen by all accounts given that the Boundary Commission of Scotland has already redrawn new boundaries, Grady could just disappear as an MP. He no doubt would resurface rather quickly I suspect, perhaps in the SNP Government or an SNP funded NGO, who knows maybe he would be allowed to be a special advisor to an SNP Minister. The SNP seem to think that the public don't notice what is going on, they do, they don't however speak out which is perhaps the biggest failure of our democracy, bad people like Mackay, Grady, Freeman and Nicola Sturgeon are allowed to roam about living the high life when they should be booted out of public life an received a life time ban from ever being allowed near it.

The Greatest Fight to Restore Freedom; the world is witnessing a landmark historical event Covid Freedom Protest rank as highly as the great American civil rights protests of the 1960's; across the world politicians have used tyranny and oppression on their citizens, in Scotland, Public Health Scotland will conceal information from the public on deaths and vaccine injury caused by Covid injections by removing the data from their reports, when did PHS become a PR wing for the SNP Government, what is being hidden, is this to protect Nicola Sturgeon?

To start off this piece, we need to talk about censorship, censorship isn't new, and takes many forms, one form is cancel culture, where a person is what is termed de-platformed, this is when they are entirely banned from social media sites. Three of the most recognisable social media sites who censor people are Twitter, Youtube and of course, Facebook. These big tech companies aren't interested in protecting free speech nor are they interested in protecting the truth, they are part of what is now seen as 'corporate media'. Corporate media is a term where social media sites act not in the public interest but in the interest of the government. One thing, I like to do when writing is to reference evidence, I would much rather use the words of tyrants against them so that you can clear in your own mind, that there is no doubt about what is going on and the real agenda. To that end, I found an absolute gem of a video from The Rubin Report which contains a clip of the CEO of Youtube who wants to work hand in glove with governments to bring in censorship laws. And, yes, you did read that last sentence correctly, the CEO of Youtube wants governments to enact censorship of the population so that what you say can be stopped. It is acknowledged that with free speech comes responsibility, sadly some people abuse free speech, they put out disinformation, they lie, they lie by omission, or they put stuff out which is factually incorrect because they failed to do due diligence on their material or they made assumptions not supported by evidence. To accept the concept of free speech as a human right, you have to accept but not approve that it will be abused. There is a famous quote on free speech which you should never forget. 

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". 

I want you to watch this Rubin Report video, it is significant of were countries of the West are heading. 

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

Can you imagine what this means for society if censorship is brought in, human rights would be rolled back, dissent wouldn't be tolerated. People who speak out against tyranny are always targeted by the ruling political and their thugs. These people attack your character, they attack your livelihood by contacting your employer, and they seek to destroy your life and do it permanent damage. That type of thing is called 'Cancel culture' which is on the rise in Western countries, were  self righteous people believe they have the right to destroy you. Cancel culture is just a tool in the over arcing umbrella of fascism. Countries were fascism is developing stronger are Scotland, Canada, New Zealand, France and Australia. As I have mentioned above, supplying you with evidence is the best way to wake you up. Here is a clip of Justine Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada admiring China and its dictatorship, where the individual doesn't matter, but compliance to the State does. The mindset of Trudeau can be found in Nicola Sturgeon, Emmanuel Macron, Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern. What do these people have in common? They are all leaders of liberal or socialist parties, but they are all ill-liberal not by just what they say but in the actions they have taken towards their own people. Watch this second clip of the Rubin Report which shows a clip of Trudeau. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXtwDlWM7bA 

Are you awake yet, in understanding that your government in places like Scotland, Canada, New Zealand, France and Australia doesn't work for the benefit of citizens? There is a fight for Freedom taking place at the moment, it is the biggest fight in the history of mankind. What is that you say, you have seen nothing in the mainstream press? In countries through-out the world, 'Freedom protests' over covid restrictions are growing. You should be aware, these people involve hundreds of thousands of people who are standing up for their freedom and their country against tyrants who hold the levers of power. These protests are in history the equal of the America fight for civil rights which took place in the 1960's. Ordinary people who have been attack, bullied, who have seen their jobs, businesses and communities destroyed by government, and for what end? Who benefits, who is making money from closing down local corner stores which at the same time multi-national supermarkets remain open? Here is  clip of the French police attacking its citizens who are protesting for their freedom from covid passports and restrictions. If you thought you were living in a democracy, you want to question that belief rather strongly. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pLm_NVKERo 

Part of the psyops campaign is to paint Covid protestors as a small group, and a group of conspiracy theorists in order to demonise them, and destroy any support that they would get from the public. While it is true, that there are conspiracy theorists in an element of the Covid protests, the bulk of these people are and always will be ordinary people. The man and woman next door who you pass in the street. Another tactic to discredit freedom protests by governments is to plant people in the protests to act like extremists. This is one so violence can occur, thus giving the police the green light with political support to use violence on the public. In the aftermath, the politicians will cite acting in the public interest. The use of undercover police acting in this manner isn't new, it has been exposed in court cases. When the police do step in to create violence, they do so armed with weapons. In the interests of fairness, not all violence at protests are started by the Police, there are people who join protests for different reasons, most criminals who seek to exploit the situation in the unfolding choas. There is an interesting clip of a man who was attacked at a protest and ha his leg broken. I was wanting to post this clip to show you the extent of how much violence the police are prepared to use on people, sadly, this clip is very difficult to find, if you use google, they can alter their search engine to hide material. 

On the subject of hiding material, I want to move on to something which is happening in Scotland under Nicola Sturgeon's SNP. A public body called Public Health Scotland will stop publishing data on Covid deaths and hospitalisations by vaccination status. The obvious question to this is why the truth should be concealed from the public? The fact that a body such as Public Health Scotland is doing this is censorship, it should also set alarms bells rings, truth by its very nature stands up by itself. The reason of concealment isn't in the public interest but is said to be that people who are Anti vaccine can use this information to prosecute their case that there is something wrong with the covid vaccines that cause death and injury. The obvious question is, have covid vaccines caused death an serious injury? The answer to this is yes, so why conceal now, perhaps one reason is that the SNP government wants to continue to inject children in lower age groups. If these got harmed then the data would be there to flag up concerns. Why wouldn't a government which claims to act in the public interest not want to be open an transparent especially since there is documented data already of the effects on adults and young children in relation to vaccine induced illness such as heart attack, stroke or myocarditis? 

With the suppression of evidence, this would allow government politicians to claim that people who object aren't basing their objections on scientific data. The politicians would dismiss concerns by "demanding proof" which they have taken steps to have concealed. in others words, 'give me the proof which we have prevented you from legally obtaining'. Is this how a true democracy acts? We don't live in a democracy, yes, we do have elections, yes, we do have on occasion changes of government, but during their term in government, and hold the levers of power, we cannot affect government policy in general. Politicans who are supposed to be the gatekeepers of democracy aren't our representatives, they are more like our 'managers', if they bring forward policies which are harmful, they can get away with it. The democratic mandate is a key to tyranny in the wrong hands, since 2007, Scotland has steadily declined and fascism is on the rise, not by the general public but by the political class which is corrupt. For Public Health Scotland to say that Anti-vaxxer concerns force removal of deaths by vaccine status data from Public Health Scotland reports is a nonsense. Public Health Scotland shows that they are corrupt, bias and malignant by saying officials will focus on publishing more robust and complex vaccine effectiveness data. In others words, you will only get information which doesn't paint the SNP government in a bad light. Why are they do this? Is it because that in the data that they recognise a growing and horrific trend in premature deaths and injury? Given that Nicola Sturgeon and her Ministers have been gung ho in pushing vaccines on the public, if there is a tsunami in the form of a health crisis in the population, the evidence of Public Health Scotland would be proof against them. Since when was it acceptable for public body like Public Health Scotland to be changed into the PR wing for the SNP Government? 

Do you still think you are living in a democracy, all the way through this piece, I have given you sources and facts, I have highlighted censorship, I have linked up the fact that government, politicians, big tech and the press both tv, radio and in print are all working to the same agenda. Only the public is standing up for freedom and standing up against censorship, where are the opposition politicians? Why don't they speak out? If they are the supposed leaders and parties in waiting to form a government why wouldn't they protect our human rights? You might want to ponder these thoughts because these really are big questions.  

For a moment let's read what PHS want you to believe, one PHS official said that focusing on vaccine effectiveness rather than the existing “very simple statistics” would result in “much more robust” data for the public. 

They said: 

“The main important point around all of the analysis is we understand whether the vaccines are working against catching it and against getting severe Covid, and that’s where the vaccine effectiveness studies come in which are a completely different methodology. The case rates, hospitalisation rates, the death rates are very simple statistics, whereas for the vaccine effectiveness studies we use modelling, we compare people who have tested negative to those who have tested positive and match them on their underlining co-morbidities. It’s a completely different method which is much more robust and that’s what we want people to focus on.” 

But despite all that they say clearly that their goal is to get you to focus on the effectiveness of the vaccine, so do you believe their explanation? PHS don't like the fact that their data has been promoted on social media by individuals including The Spectator’s associate editor Toby Young. Is Toby Young a radical, the answer to that is No, Toby Young is involved in the Free Speech movement, a movement which values truth above all else. So, why would  man with a distinguished history and working for some of the prestigious be anything other than scrupulous in how he chooses words and how he presents evidence? Does PHS think that someone like Toby Young is a liar or a bad person, or just plain making things up for mischief? Generally if a person is labelled a crank, there is usually wealth of evidence to choose from, along with a documented timeline which shows a pattern of behaviour. Earlier I mention that the politicians responsible for censorship and oppression all come from liberal and socialist parties, people who are speaking out tend to come from more Conservative or socially conservative backgrounds, the reason that they end up publishing their views on alt media such as GETTR, Brand New Tube, Bitchute and Rumble, isn't because they are right wing rednecks but rather due to censorship, and de-platforming in sites like Twitter, like Facebook, and like Youtube. The alt media sites are them attacked as right wing extremist sites, which isn't really the case. Anyone can join these lat media sites regardless of their politics to express their own opinions. Political parties don't like members having a public profile unless they are part of the accepted group, there is no such thing as a broad church in political parties. A living example of this is the Labour Party, yes, there are left wing members and candidates, but the control and direction of the party is firmly right wing, but not in a good way. If you haven't visited alt media sites like I have listened above, pop along, they aren't as well developed yet in terms of operation like Youtube just yet, but they do offer people a chance for their voice to be heard. 

Finally, I would like to highlight a further part of the explanation by Public Health Scotland to justify censorship, they said: 

“For example we know it (vaccines) is 50 per cent effective against getting infected, but that it is much higher effectiveness against hospitalisations and deaths which is the key thing really as that’s what we want to prevent.” 

Do you remember when vaccine first came out and it was said repeated by governments, printed press, medical doctors, celebs, radio and TV that the vaccines were 95% effective. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Xb61Ik7no 

We know that the 95% effectiveness is factually wrong, it is allowed to stay up on Youtube, and this figure appears on multiple videos, we know the effectiveness of the shot declines rapidly. We are being lie to by government, by big tech, by drug companies, by medias, by NGOs and a whole host of other bit players promoting propaganda, this isn't a theory, it is a proven fact. Things like this raise concerns because in the race to censor the public, those who seek to do research will also face being able to access data in order to make judgments. This represents a scary scenario, if critical thinking and analysis cannot be employed by people in the field of science, then bad products which cause harm will have no external mechanism to be challenged. How do you feel about that? 

The Return of The Grim Reaper; Ex SNP Health Sec Jeane Freeman lands new job at Glasgow University as an Ambassador for Community Engagement, Public Health and Innovation, is there no depths, no humiliation, no sense of shame that University of Glasgow won't sink too, it seems the moral decline of Scotland extends to higher education

One thing which the general public may not know is that some ex politicians end up in academia such as universities. Probably one of the most notable ex politicians to move in academia was Wendy Alexander. Alexander who went to Glasgow University at the same time I was there, she was a former leader of the Scottish Labour Party and an MSP, her brother is Douglas, a former Labour MP and Foreign Secretary. It was said that Wendy Alexander was the type of person who had a million ideas, the bulk of which were unworkable or just plain crap. Much was made of her intelligence as being super intelligence. At university, I found her to be a gobby wee shite, self opinionated, and up her own arse. Anyway Alexander found employment at Dundee University, her bio on the Dundee University is designed to make her look impressive, after all they bought a 'pig in a poke' so to justify it, why wouldn't want to attach silk ears. Here is a snippet of her bio for you to read. 

"Wendy Alexander is Vice-Principal (International) and leads the University's international strategy and is a member of the University Executive. Her responsibilities include providing strategic leadership to the University’s global engagement including prestigious international collaborations, providing an outstanding experience for international students and new outward mobility opportunities for all students. She has been a champion of international alumni ambassadors, has led the creation of a Humanitarian Scholars programme, Chairs the board of International College Dundee and was instrumental in the establishment of the School of Business. She also represents the University, and the sector, at the highest levels of Government, industry, higher education and with alumni, both within the UK and internationally. She serves as Scottish Government International Trade & Investment Envoy for Higher Education. She is a member of the Department for Education’s Education Sector Advisory Group. She Chairs the Global Advisory Board for Times Higher Education Student and is a past Co-Chair of UUK Pro-Vice Chancellor’s International network." 

For those not familiar with universities and how this works, this bio is overhyped pudding. One thing which makes me feel for sorry for Wendy Alexander is that Wendy Alexander is married to Professor Elizabeth Ashcroft, who was previously a man called Brian. If I was in her situation, I would have got divorced, but that is just me, old fashioned, anyway, to sum up on her, poor bastard! It seems that even high flyers can end up not smelling of roses in every situation. Universities and Colleges are to ex politicians what 'care homes' are to the elderly. It is just than some politicians aren't as elderly as the normal residents. For the most part in my mind, the only reason for giving an ex politician the title of Professor when they have no teaching experience or some other made up title is to keep connections open with the mainstream political parties who they can influence regarding their funding. If you look at the political class in all parties you shift from ordinary people to university middle class graduates, especially in parties of the left. The route appears to be, university to politician then back to university, of course not all can make that transition. However, another recent ex politician who also took the same path was another ex Scottish Labour Kez Dugdale who end up at Glasgow University.    

Most people don't know much about universities, or how they operate within, it is a multi layered management structure, you have the management, the University Court, and in some cases you have the University Senate as well as a whole host of various subgroups and associations who have various forms of input. For the most part, universities seem quite normal, students go to classes, they sit exams, they go to the bars, they play sports and after a few years, graduate and get a job, much like a production line with various types of degrees and levels of qualifications. Typically, degree, honours degree, masters degree and PhD, is what most people recognise, as well as some further adult education classes and summer schools where applicable. As someone who spent 20 years at Glasgow University, I think I am competent to comment on what goes on in places like this. One of the most famous placements into Glasgow University although not a politician was an ex British spy, Andrew Fulton, he was made a Professor of Law despite having no teaching experience, running no classes or doing no research, he popped up in Lockerbie Trial Briefing Unit. This begs the questions, how did he get a job at Glasgow University, and how did he end up in the briefing unit? The point in mentioning Fulton is that at universities, some people mysteriously get appointed when no job for the post they hold, ever appeared on the university website. Fulton was never a lawyer, never a noted jurist and had no experience teaching Law. 

During  the early days of Covid, the SNP Government had Jeane Freeman, ex Labour advisor turn SNP MSP as the Health Sec. Freeman was a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Carrick, Cumnock and the Doon Valley from 2016-2021, she was part of Nicola Sturgeon's push to promote more women into senior roles in her government, basically you understand, 'jobs for the boys', well Sturgeon operates 'jobs for the girls'. This also tied in with Sturgeon promoting lgbt politicians. One other notable aspect which saw Freeman rise quickly in the SNP was the fact that she was known as a Quango Queen, one such appointment was her sitting on the board of the Golden Jubilee Hospital. The link is to a daily record story which may be of interest to you regarding Freeman's previous history as Chair of the Golden Jubilee. The story is to set the scene for the next and more damaging thing which I want to cover on Freeman and her tenure as Health Sec. During Covid, infected elderly patients were discharged from hospitals into sterile care homes without being tested, the other part of this story is the NHS wanted elderly people to sign DNR notices so that if they died, no attempt would be made to save their lives. Thousands upon thousands of Scottish elderly people who could have been saved died by the incompetence of Freeman as Health Sec. It wasn't entirely a surprise that in the aftermath that freeman decided not to seek re-election. Just like in the aftermath of the Alex Salmond trial, Nicola Sturgeon and her cult have a habit of disposal or moving of electorally damaging people. Freeman , 68 was damaged goods. 

Am I surprised that Jeane Freeman has resurfaced after retiring so soon from being a senior SNP politician and ending up at Glasgow University, in a word, No. Jeane Freeman is to join the University of Glasgow in what they term as a "key role" within the University’s College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (MVLS). The hyping of Freeman by the university is not unusual, when a person cannot be sold on their merit, other people come along such as the university media team to sell as 'pig in a poke'. Freeman takes up the part time role of Ambassador for Community Engagement, Public Health and Innovation for the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences with immediate effect. When I read this, my first reaction was 'whit'? She is said to be playing an active role in a £91m Living Laboratory project in Govan, which, via collaboration with the NHS and industry partners, will see the acceleration of world-changing research into a real-world clinical setting. The first thing which struck me was the title, Ambassador, to me that sounds like bullshit, and the fact it is a part time job just reinforces my opinion on that. The next part which seems much like the nonsense cobbled together for Green Ministers in the SNP Government is 'Community Engagement', my understanding would be, of dialogue with the local people of Govan. But that doesn't sound right, why would Glasgow University need to do community engagement with the people of Govan? Especially when they have no input to whether a £91 million Lab is built in their area, planning permission is a matter for the City Council. And why would the locals object at the planning stage anyway? 

As to being an Ambassador for public health, now that really is taking the piss, especially when you factor in the thousands of people who died in care homes due to negligence under her watch. Let's face it, would you take advice on public health from someone like Jeane freeman with her track record in Quangos and as Health Sec? Or would you rather trust your own gut? If you can read, if you have had education up to secondary school, you don't need anyone like Freeman.  

Freeman said: 

“I am delighted to join the University of Glasgow, and the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, in this new position of Ambassador for Community Engagement, Public Health and Innovation. The University leads many world-changing projects all poised to create real-world impact for people, locally, nationally and internationally. I am particularly excited to play a role in the Living Laboratory project in Govan, where working together with all partners, we can realise health benefits for patients and our NHS.” 

She is basically 'talking up' a meaningless job. 

Prof Iain McInnes, University of Glasgow Vice-Principal and Head of the College of MVLS, said; 

“We are absolutely delighted that someone of Ms Freeman’s calibre will be joining the College. Ms Freeman’s experience will be a very welcome addition to the University, and we are confident that it will help us achieve our ambitious aims across a wide-range of innovative projects to improve the health and lives of the people in Glasgow, Scotland and beyond.” 

Somebody of her calibre? Did Prof Iain McInnes do a deep dive into Freeman's background or even pay the slightest attention what happened elderly people in care homes? Didn't he notice the decline of the NHS in Scotland under the SNP? Does McInnes have access to newspapers, radio, TV, the internet or the ability to communicate with the general public? In what must be one of the oiliest welcomes yet, the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, who said: 

"I am extremely pleased to welcome Ms Freeman to the University of Glasgow, in what will be an important role that harnesses her expertise in health policy and community engagement. Ms Freeman’s background as one of Scotland’s most prominent and respected politicians, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, will be invaluable in making a success of this new role." 

Finally, here is my opinion why Glasgow University has employed this deadbeat, the ruling party of government is the SNP, they are the ones who control ultimately the budget which goes to the Scottish Funding Council. So tossing a few scraps towards Jeane Freeman could in their eyes be a good marketing strategy. They give a job to Freeman, Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP approved, and it helps to secure university funding. Who knows may be they will give her an office in the lab in Govan to operate out of. As she apparently stays in the trendy West end, it would only be a few minutes travel through the Clyde tunnel to her work.  At 68 years old, her job is billed as part time, but it is also temporary. Once Freeman drops like a stone, I would assume that Glasgow University would look out for another SNP stooge to be hailed as someone of "calibre" obviously depending who the party of government is. 

The Moral Decline of Politics in Scotland, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar's rant in the Street highlights a wider and systemic series of problems on how supposed left wing parties are failing Scotland as a whole as well as the political discourse of the nation, the language of Scotland has moved on, but not for political parties stuck in a rut.

Have you ever wondered why the news is filled with news about Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP, the reason is quite simple. The SNP keep flooding the media with stories thus blotting out real news and other political parties. There is nothing sophisticated about their media operation, instead of producing quality, they produce quantity, which is why periodically they recycle the same stories again and again. The media have either fallen for this gag or they are working in partnership with them. Mainstream media is in a crisis, morally and financially, the moral crisis stems from them lying to the public, not covering real news, being biased, presenting opinion as fact and allowing parties like the SNP to continually lie to the people without effectively challenging them. The SNP as I mentioned aren't sophisticated in how they manipulate the media, they use Scottish Government taxpayer money to shore up the media financially thus buying their compliance, this is true of the printed media as well as TV channels like STV. STV, a regional TV channel is effective SNP TV when it comes to news and political stories about the  SNP and its leadership. There is no real attempt to hold the SNP to account for policy failures or challenge the misdeeds of the leadership. Thousands of elderly Scottish people died in care homes because the SNP leadership allowed infected covid patients into sterile care homes. Did you at any time notice the BBC in Scotland or STV really take a stand against this? The answer is probably no, the then SNP Health Sec Jeane Freeman followed a time honour route of SNP people who were exposed and moved on, in her case, into retirement. Something that many elderly Scots had cut short by her incompetence. There is a pattern of "innocent" people in the SNP who are exposed for either wrong doing or perceived wrong doing disappearing or being moved from the job. Check out the Alex Salmond, and notice that some of the key players in that saga known in the public domain pretty much all being moved. 

Is it all coincidence? I will let you be the judge of that. 

As well as lying to the media, another favoured SNP tactic is attack the Conservatives, you see this being done in the House of Commons, in the Scottish Parliament and in public by the SNP. Because the SNP control the levers of power in Scotland, they get carte blanche to commit what other people would deem as 'hate crimes'. The SNP use the term, 'Westminster' which is a cover for them saying they hate the English, one Englishman they particularly hate is the current Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The reason they hate him is that he destroyed their narrative of Scotland doing a seamless transition into EU membership without actually applying which was a fake narrative that they ran with for several years, and Boris has pointed blank refused to grant a Section 30 order for a second independence referendum. Of course, it doesn't matter who is the Conservative Prime Minister, the SNP would hate the next man or woman to occupy that position. The SNP want to take down the UK Government because they believe that a Keir Starmer minority government if it was hung parliament could be easily blackmailed into a second referendum. Keir Starmer would in my opinion betray Scotland and give the SNP a second referendum, he would also help them by giving the  SNP more powers, including trying to bring in federalism or a version of devo max. Such an action wouldn't win back Labour voters in Scotland who vote SNP, the reason is simple, the Labour betrayed the people of Scotland by not helping them as a nation and not representing them as individuals. This is fact, this is known, and this can be seen by every election result since 2007, the decline of Scottish Labour is the steady decline of a party by the people who ran it which goes back at least  25 years. the decline predates the opening of the Scottish Parliament. 

The SNP seize their chance in 2007 caused by the decline of Scottish Labour as a party operationally and in terms of how their elected representatives, paid lip service to serving constituents complaints, but in 2008 the Westminster expenses scandal was by far a more damaging moment for the party. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_parliamentary_expenses_scandal    

The Westminster expenses scandal involved a few sacrificial goats being staked out for the courts and the public to feast on. Not everyone who stole money via expenses was prosecuted and not all had to pay back money. One man who quickly emerged for all the wrong reasons was Michael Martin, ex Labour MP and then Speaker of the House. His mistake which was entirely wrong was to put covering up the crimes of members before the dignity of the House. Although, he had his critics in Westminster, Martin in the main was a fair Speaker of the House, he wasn't in the class of Betty Boothroyd, but he was decent enough. This error by him would eventually lead to him resigning before he was forced out. Michael Martin will be forever linked due to his stance in stalling information being put into the public domain.   The disclosure of widespread misuse of allowances and expenses permitted to Members of Parliament (MPs) aroused widespread anger among the UK public. It resulted in a huge backlash unseen in modern times and also resulted in a large number of resignations, sackings, de-selections and retirement announcements together with public apologies and the repayment of expenses. But very few MPs and Peers got prosecuted, as I mentioned above, a few goats were staked out for the public to feast on, it was a small feast as the establishment closed ranks. 

The SNP finally had an opportunity to increase their numbers with Scots disillusions by the actions of Scottish Labour MPs and Labour in general, they stood on a platform of being whiter than white. They rode that high horse for all it was worth, but as time would show, when it came to representing people, the SNP were no better than Scottish Labour. In many ways the SNP are identical in nature, they act like they are TV stars in a sitcom, something which parties of the left fall into, in favour of actually doing their jobs properly. I found a video for you to watch from the ever popular, The Rubin Report, David Rubin highlights this point of politicians who think they are TV stars perfectly. Note how he calls out the hypocrites in the Democrats who are the US equivalent of the Labour Party and the SNP. A good source for further research on the Democrats is to watch Dinesh D'souza as he explains the operation of the Democrats. This might prompt you to look at the SNP operation and look for parallels in behaviour and operation. The Democrats lie, cheat and deceive people to get power, they carry out character assassination, they are utter corrupt, and such research many enlighten you. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3REVJf3QMDA 

On the subject of deception, the 2014 referendum by the SNP was built on a foundation of lies, deception and attempts to cheat the Scottish public into believing something which was entirely bogus. In many ways, the people of Scotland will not forget what was said and what was done by the Nationalists to rig that referendum in their favour. If they had been successful, Scotland as entire country would have lived to regret it, our health service would have been destroyed, it could never have coped with covid, our council services would have also been destroyed across a range of services. The public sector wiped out as we know it and Scotland would be a high tax nation which the SNP would sell out to the EU, we would be like Greece, a bankrupt country. So, when Boris Johnson says that Scottish independence would be 'economic disaster', he paints a rosy picture because all the other issues of decline in services both locally and nationally would have to be addressed. Boris Johnson has come to Scotland on a flying visit to Fife, but the fact is that whoever is PM needs to visit Scotland more often, Scotland should not be left to be run by the SNP, they need to be held to account. 

The PM said during his visit that the nationwide response to the coronavirus pandemic proves how the entire UK had "benefited massively from the might of the UK Exchequer". One of the great policies of the Covid era was the enabling of furlough payments during lockdowns. The unemployed, workers and self employed all benefit from extra help which the SNP did not match. In real terms, the Conservative score card on Covid help scores rather higher than perhaps many people would have thought possible. The fact that his opponents such as Labour and the SNP are reduced to still talking about partygate which is a dead issue with the British public shows the level which parties of the supposed left operated. In reality, although both the SNP and the Labour Party claim to be parties of the left, this isn't true, both these parties are run by right wing authoritarian cliques. Yes, there are left wingers in each party but they are window dressing, designed to portray an illusion of solidarity and 'broad church'. The classic example is John Prescott in Labour as Deputy Prime Minister, this was to dupe people into think the working class mattered under Tony Blair. The modern day holder of that position in the Labour Party is Angela Rayner, she may have a seat at the top table but she doesn't have any power at it. Rayner like Prescott serves a role, a marketing ploy for working class votes. 

In politics, politicians like Boris Johnson are always under attack, so we see the PM being branded a threat to the Union by Scottish Labour. The reality of life is the Labour Party in London is the greatest threat to the United Kingdom. The reason is simple, Scottish Labour has lost Scotland, technically they are the 3rd party of Holyrood, and have only one MP in Scotland, the Alex Salmond Party has more MPs, so do the Lib Dems and Scottish Conservatives. Did you ever imagine a scenario where the Scottish Labour Party would be the 5th Scottish Party of Westminster? Since 2007, the party has been mostly controlled by New Labour with the exception of the tenure of Richard Leonard. During this time, Scots utterly reject New Labour in Scotland. The current leader of Scottish Labour is Anas Sarwar, he isn't ever going to be First Minister of Scotland, he did in part get one thing right when he did an arse covering exercise to explain away his defeat at the recent Holyrood election. Sarwar like most leaders isn't inclusive, you can see already by the Labour Party selections a drive to put New Labour candidates and cronies into seats. This will become more evident as the 2024 Westminster election gets closer, there is nothing remarkable about how Anas operates. 

Let's look at something which Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar claimed, he says that Boris Johnson is "a gift to the SNP". The main problem that Scottish Labour face is not trying to win Conservative voters to their cause, that is highly unlikely, but to try and win back the working class voters who they betrayed and moved over to the SNP. In the years from 2007 to date, the Scottish Labour Party with numerous right wing leaders including Anas Sarwar has never managed to achieve this. Why can't Scottish Labour win back working class voters? The answer is painfully simple, the Scottish public do not want a return of New Labour in Scotland, and that is what Anas Sarwar represents, a return to the bad old days of non representation and punitive policies against the working class. 

It was the Labour Party who brought in the bedroom tax, it was the Labour Party who brought in enhanced benefit sanctions, it was the Labour Party who taxed relatives who visited sick family members and friends in hospital. It was the Labour Party who failed to control immigration, it was the Labour Party by neglect of the working class who seed the fertile ground for Brexit. It was the Labour Party who fostered devolution on Scots and created another tier of government which has turned out to be not just wholly poisonous under the SNP but also ineffective and incompetent. They created an institution which they designed to be rigged in their favour only to find out the system could be gamed as well by others. The damage to Scotland by the SNP can be directly linked to the Premiership of Tony Blair, the right wing leader of New Labour. Speaking about the PM's Rosyth visit, Sarwar said: 

"This visit is a transparent attempt from Boris to save his own skin, but it’s clearly
falling flat. Douglas Ross and the Scottish Tories can hide from Boris all they like, but they can’t hide from the fact they campaigned to make him Prime Minister. The Tories in Scotland and across the UK are a gift to the SNP. They aren’t good enough to lead the UK and aren’t strong enough to take on the SNP. Every day that Boris Johnson remains Prime Minister he degrades the office. That's why Labour will continue fighting not just to oppose the Tories, but to replace them." 

Finally, in Scotland, Scottish Labour is the 3rd Party of Holyrood, and the 5th Scottish Party of Westminster. During his time as leader of Scottish Labour, Anas Sarwar hasn't turned around the party's fortunes, he hasn't changed how Labour operate, in fact the Labour model hasn't changed in the slightest. So what is Anas Sarwar's strategy to win seats? I think it is entirely based on the SNP popularity falling below Labour's core vote and then claim that there has been a revival. Earlier on, I was distracted by a phone call from a friend but immediately after this, I was flicking through twitter and came across something which I highlighted earlier in this is a clip of Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labour leader carrying out a character assassination on Boris Johnson for what I assume is political gain. There is an expectation that political leaders of parties should be above that sort thing, it has to do with statesmanship and perception of a leader being level headed. If Sarwar was First Minister of Scotland, Boris was Prime Minister would Sarwar's comments have a negative effect on their professional relationship, to the detriment of Scotland? I think a reasonable person would conclude the answer to this question is yes. How does this video benefit Scotland? Did Anas Sarwar do this off the cuff? Was this video planned out prior to it being shot? Whether off the cuff or scripted, the Sarwar video encapsulates the problems of Scottish Labour and generally of parties who claim to represent the left and the working class. 

The Laird Report Episode 2 Is Russia invading Ukraine?

In episode 2 of the Laird Report, I ponder whether Russia will invade the Ukraine, with tensions rising, and Ukraine spelling out a commitment to join NATO, invasion seems highly likely. Could this act be the trigger to WW3 or is Putin just bluffing? Already 130,000 Russians flank Ukraine's border, but that would be a drop in a bucket to the true might of Russian military power. The West despite making noises isn't prepared to standby the Ukrainians all the way. Are we weeks or months away from an attack? If you look at your history, if the Russians are going, the earlier the better. I am better on a partial invasion, two prong pincer movement to cut the country in half, create a buffer zone. The US President Joe Biden just gave up the Ukraine, his tough talk seems to centre around sanctions, and Putin doesn't care about sanctions, his focus is Russian security.  

Too Little, Too Late, SNP Finance Minister Kate Forbes announces £150 council tax discount for 1.8m Scottish homes, with energy bills set to rise by 54 per cent from the beginning of April, adding almost £700 for a typical household, why is Nicola Sturgeon providing so little help to the poorest and most vulnerable in society?

One thing I have said repeatedly over the years, if the photocopiers breakdown at the SNP, then effectively they would have no new policies. The basic tenet of the Scottish Nationalists is laziness, laziness in application of policy, and laziness in policy development. The SNP cult work off the principle of copying other people's ideas then putting their spin on it to create an extra bit of "Scottishness" to it. In reality many of their policies aren't driven by a working narrative or vision, they are all short term. They are designed around the principle of creating voter caches at election times, basically they use taxpayer money among other things to 'buy the vote'. The phrase election bribes isn't new in politics, and there are some pretty tedious examples of low ball thinking coming from the Nationalists. Such as classics as 'free bikes', 'free laptops' and free travel for kids are the most recent examples, along with what appears to be the new time honour free cash handout of £150. When the Nationalists think that £150 is the benchmark is beyond me, don't get me wrong £150 when you don't have it is rather handy, but for some Scots facing crippling energy bills, the SNP handout doesn't go far enough. The upcoming new front emerging in politics is the cost of living, or in the case of many people, "the cost of existing" seems more apt. 

In the upcoming cutting of the Scottish Budget cake controlled by the SNP, it has been deemed by Nicola Sturgeon and her cult to hand out the equivalent of some "crumbs". Three-quarters of all Scottish households are to receive £150 cost of living support. As I mentioned above the Scottish Nationalists aren't thinkers, they are drones, earlier in the Covid pandemic, they gave £150 in Covid support to people on low incomes. And here again we have the same number £150 for living costs, it begs the questions, how was the £150 number arrived at, and given the new hike in electricity and gas, why is this number not higher? This is an example of laziness, laziness in application of policy, and laziness in policy development. Does Nicola Sturgeon think that every problem for working class Scots on reduced income is solvable by handing out £150? Should the sum be higher given that energy bills are set to rise by 54 per cent for millions of Scots? In the past, like many failed SNP policies, Nicola Sturgeon triumphantly proclaim that there would be a Scottish energy company which would provide cheap low cost energy to Scotland. Like all SNP grand plans, the idea was announced to make SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon look like a "hero", because to the SNP, crafting her image as caring is all too important. Like a drunk behind the wheel of a racing car travelling at high speed, the idea of an energy company crashed and died, much like other expensive failures of policy. 

Why isn't the Finance Secretary Kate Forbes doing more for Scots who are poor and vulnerable? Her 'Nicola Sturgeon' approved plan announced, is a three-point plan to assist with soaring energy bills, increasing food costs and rising interest rates. This is all bumpf, you get £150, the SNP wash their hands of any further involvement in the plight of millions of vulnerable Scots and just carry on. Like a workie on a building site who has done his job which then interferes in the work of others, their attitude is, 'I have done my job, fuck the lot of you'. This type of attitude isn't mutual exclusive to the building trade, but it is an example that most people readily understand. This mindset of the SNP shows that they aren't mentally capable of understanding that they have to build infrastructure, bricks and mortar to change the landscape of Scotland to be a prosperous country which is full of opportunities. The point I would make here is that the SNP isn't interested in two things, the well being of the people, and the uplifting of Scotland as a country. They are in a process, that process is to run down the entire country, lock stock and barrel, while doing the bare minimum. In many ways, if you study politics over time, you can see the 'crumb' approach in the SNP mirror image, which is Scottish Labour. If you think back to the 2015 election under the then Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy, you can see a manifesto which was lite on substance. In fact, I wrote a blog post on my blog, The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University aptly titled 'Fucking it all up', which was pretty much on point that Scottish Labour didn't get it when it came to Scottish desires. It was their agenda and nothing else.   

Here we are in 2022, nothing has changed for Scottish Labour, and nothing has changed for the SNP, both are fishing in the same voter pool, and both tossing 'crumbs' towards the electorate. The SNP Finance Sec Kate Forbes, is woeful, but she has to be seen to be doing something because the Conservatives in Westminster have a gust of wind behind them to move their agenda forward. Hence we see Nicola Sturgeon, yet gain playing catch up, Forbes confirmed a £290 million support package following similar moves by UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak last week. Pre Covid, the SNP as I mentioned numerous times just lift other people's policies, make slight alternation and tag on the word Scottish, and then remarket it as their own vision. In many ways, the SNP is like a kid playing with lego, building a house, no plan, but they keep building using material left lying about. The SNP aren't building a nation because they don't understand statehood, they don't want to learn it, but they think holding power and doing everything by diktat solves everything. It doesn't, Nicola Sturgeon's £150 hand out isn't enough to solve people's energy bill short falls. It is like you can have the choice, heat or eat, but you can't overall have quality of life, that people like Nicola Sturgeon and her ministers enjoy. The SNP get angry when people point out their incompetence, they market themselves has having all the answers, but for a government who claim to be doing their best, they cannot escape they are riddled with dogma, bad policy decisions and abject and outright failures.  

Kate Forbes says additional energy costs could move a further 211,000 households into fuel poverty, and around 235,000 households into extreme fuel poverty. I am one of the people in extreme fuel poverty band, and it isn't funny. In the 14 years of SNP power at Holyrood, the SNP have moved vulnerable people further into poverty, they are like anti Robin Hood, they rob the poor to prop up the rich. This isn't just about money, it is about routes out of poverty such as education. free education for all primary benefits the rich and the middle class. The lie of inclusion can be seen by the numbers of working class kids who gain entry into higher and further education. And if you're shut out of education, unless you can access finance ,your prospects are extremely limited. £150 doesn't solve anything, it just means that there will be a few less nights to sit in your freezing household. 

In trying to 'big' herself up as some kind of saviour while speaking in Holyrood, Forbes said: 

"Firstly, we will provide £150 to every household in receipt of council tax reduction in all council tax bands. The council tax reduction scheme already identifies households in greatest need and will allow us to target this intervention. Secondly, I will provide local authorities with funding to pass on £150 to other occupied households in Bands A to D in Scotland. In total, combining these elements, 1.85 million, or 73 per cent of all households, will receive £150 of support." 

I think if you understand politics and society, the correct response to Nicola Sturgeon and Kate Forbes largesse is, 'is that it'?  I find it sadly funny in a gallows style humour that with a straight face, Forbes said councils will have a choice to deliver the latter as a direct payment or a credit to council tax accounts. Basically either way she is handing you money and at the same time, telling you that she is going to claw it back, whether you want to or not, you're paying your council tax. Personally, I think people on benefits shouldn't have to pay council tax, but the idea isn't something which finds much favour with the political class.

Forbes added: 

"This is clearly an imperfect scheme, it will reach some households who may not need this, but it is the only route we have to make sure we reach those for whom it will make a difference, quickly and simply." 

Finally, so much public money has been wasted by the SNP in expensive failures and cost over runs in various projects, it begs the question, how long can the people of Scotland afford the circus of Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP? Diverting money towards free bikes and free laptops is bad policy. Scotland needs a shift towards making the ground fertile for a reindustrialization of the country so that it can generate wealth. The SNP has always been anti business or indifferent to it, this is because they don't understand it, they aren't wealth creators. They don't spend taxpayer money to help create wealth thus lifting people out of poverty or lifting up the entire country is so alien to them. I would urge everyone to take the £150, if you can, but don't get sentimental about it, you will soon lose it paying your council tax, or buying a few Chinese or Indian takeaways. If you are feeling brave, or you could go mad and order a few dominos pizzas, turn the heating on and spend a few evenings being happy for a while.      

The Laird Report Episode 1

One of the things which I am keen to do is to branch out from blogging, so after a bit of thought, I have done my first 6 minute Scottish politics episode. This is test material, I am going to create a proper intro and end credits eventually, but I wanted to do this today to see how my setup worked out. I hope you like it, in time, I will get better and have more understanding about the process, so bear with me.

The New Kid on The Block, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has moved the agenda on from partygate, angry Nicola Sturgeon and her SNP Cult reject UK Government 'Levelling up' plans to tackle the decline of Scotland under SNP misrule, the SNP want levelling up money to go through them which UK Minister Michael Gove has rejected flat out, Scottish people will now see projects right across Scotland with a UK flag so they know that Westminster hasn't abandoned them and is firmly on their side

The relationship between the SNP and the UK Government is entirely broken, it isn't just been broken, it was never friendly to begin with. You could say looking at it, it is a hate based narrative which the Scottish Nationalists have generated to win voters. There are of course countless incidents of the SNP displaying their hatred in the House of Commons, they don't respect the institution, the people who work in it or any elected government at the dispatch box. In Boris Johnson, they have found someone who they especially dislike. They see Boris Johnson as a good way to secure their position in power with made up stories of Scotland being a constant victim. Scotland is not a victim of a UK Conservative Government, we get more than our fair share already in terms of head of population than England. We also get additional money from Westminster to improve services in Scotland, the reason we don't see it, is the SNP siphon money off for their pet projects. The effective of the siphoning off money is particularly noticeable in areas such as Glasgow. We have a First Minister who was elected to a Glasgow Constituency but we don't have a First Minister who stands up for Glasgow. Nicola Sturgeon has never stood up for Glasgow, she has never stood up for any area where she was elected. Her own constituency of Glasgow Southside which she doesn't live in, and never did, is a slum. To show my point of the hatred towards Boris Johnson, the Conservatives, and even the institution of the House of Commons, an incident happened just recently at PMQs, the weekly questioning of the Prime Minister. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmlJn35-xxg 

In the House of Commons, there are rules laid out which all MPs must follow, these rules are quite specific and they are there for the good order and running of parliament. These rules are the bedrock in which debate, but not abuse can flourish. SNP MP Ian Blackford, the Westminster Leader of the Nationalists doesn't care about the rules, or the institution. Blackford isn't doing anything new, his behaviour is just a more extreme version of what has passed before. It doesn't matter if you are the PM or a waitress at Westminster working in the parliamentary estate, there will always be some Nationalist who will abuse you. I suppose what makes the Nationalists even more angry is that the Conservatives keep pointing out their failings and their stupidity on a regular basis, so anytime that there is even a sniff at revenge, the SNP dive straight in with both feet. Their outrage is a mixture of faux outrage and just outrage. Does anyone really think the SNP MPs give a monkey's about the suffering of ordinary people? If they do, clearly they don't study enough on actual politics, policies or actual events caused by their actions. 

Partygate is over, it died a death remarkably quickly, in politics, momentum is important, especially if it relates to supposed or alleged scandal. I think when the 'party' to oust Boris got into full swing, the first weekend was the crucial period. The Sunday papers to me seem lacklustre, we had the resignation of  Christian Wakeford, a Conservative politician serving as Member of Parliament for Bury South since the 2019 general election who jumped ship to the Labour Party. In my mind, this was a turning point for Boris, at this point, I knew his job was safe. Of Christian Wakeford, I can only say this, he is one of the most stupidest people in British politics, as I pointed out ordinary members wouldn't welcome him, and guess what local members in Bury South don't want him, don't like him, and probably won't work for him come 2024. In politics it helps to understand the mindset of activists, there was no doubt in my mind that Christian Wakeford would be a pariah, instead of exercising loyalty to the man who gave him his chance to be elected, he betrayed him. 

Now, to the future, obviously the Conservative Government and Boris has moved on, as I predicted and as has turned out, the focus is now on 'levelling up'. Levelling up is a small offshoot of a wide plan called Global UK, a restructure of the country where instead of money coming via the EU, money comes from the UK government. This policy has two main effects, firstly, it helps to regenerate places in the UK which have been run down, and secondly in places like Scotland is shows that there is now a different revenue stream for people to access which is not controlled by the SNP. This is an important step, and something which has enraged the Nationalists who use government money as a weapon against people speaking out against them. The days of the Nationalist in Edinburgh being in full control of Scotland's purse strings is coming to an end. It is entirely no surprise that already levelling up plans have been rejected by Scottish Government before being formally announced. Whether the SNP in Edinburgh get onboard or not, plans by the UK Government to radically close the income and prosperity gap between the richest and poorest areas in the UK will go ahead. Instead of seeing projects with an EU Flag, we will see projects with a UK flag, this will no doubt enrage the SNP. How can more money for Scotland and its people be rejected as “unacceptable” by the Scottish Government? 

SNP Ministers flatly rejected the UK Government deciding how to spend money in Scotland. You see in part if, Nicola Sturgeon rejects the money, she will be shown as being nasty and petty because the money is for the poorest in society. I would expect strings attached on accountability so that the money isn't siphoned off. Nicola Sturgeon has crafted an image that she is the leader of Scotland, that isn't true, she is the leader of the SNP leading a Scottish Executive which delivers devolved services. The leader of Scotland is Boris Johnson, Sturgeon isn't Boris' equal, she is Boris' de facto employee, although she is in effect self employed. Nicola Sturgeon gets the bulk of money to run Scotland from Westminster, not only does the money come from Westminster, so does the rules which the entire Scottish operation is run. She has day to day control, but the real power lies in the Scotland Act, and lies in Westminster. Levelling up is a good thing for Scotland, but it is only the start of a process which has other strings to its bow, and in due time when the 400 pages of leveling up are worked through, you will see more Westminster influence coming to Scotland, something which many including myself have been calling for. Calling for UK influence to be more active in some cases for years!   

Glasgow city region is said to be one of three new so-called ‘Innovation Accelerator’ areas, and as such will receive a share of £100 million of UK Government funding. This extra money should be used to improve council services which under the SNP have been in decline for many years. The new money is to be used for encouragement of innovation and research and development work, and boost local opportunities. The proof of the pudding will be, who gets it, if it goes to well to do organisations like Universities etc and doesn't make its way down to small community grassroots who have suffered under the SNP, the levelling will only be partially successful. Levelling up must be about raising opportunities for the least well off in society. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has a unique opportunity to make levelling up the “defining mission” of his government in a manner which has never been achieved by any Prime Minister previously, he just has to grasp this moment with both hands. In levelling up, I personally think there is no value including the SNP in the plans were they exercise any positive control of the process of who gets money, this would be a mistake. We have already seen how the SNP reacted to the idea regarding the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. 

In a statement, a spokesperson said SNP ministers were not consulted “in any way” around the plans for Glasgow, they were also quick to say that bypassing Holyrood in deciding where money is spent as “unacceptable”. The SNP want sole control of money coming from Westminster, this is so they can manipulate Scottish society for their own ends. In a half hearted statement, they said: 

“We welcome all additional funding for Scotland but it is unacceptable for the UK Government to again be deciding how money should be spent in areas of devolved responsibility without any meaningful consultation or engagement, despite continued assurances that relations will be reset with devolved governments. Similarly, we have not been consulted in any way on plans for an innovation accelerator in Glasgow. It is the Scottish Government that should decide how this policy and funding is delivered in Scotland, in line with the devolved settlement. That position is supported by recent assessments from the House of Lords, the Scottish Affairs Committee and the Institute for Government on the need for the UK Government to engage the devolved governments in the design and delivery of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and related levelling up activity.” 

It is my belief that although levelling up Minister Michael Gove should have the devolved regional administrations at the table for input, there should be no control passed to them at any stage of the process. The announcements in the white paper will be welcomed by the bulk of the House of Commons, after all, any additional money is seen as free money. You can expect people in the SNP to cause a stink about levelling up, and they will push for control of the money to go through Holyrood which is controlled by the SNP. The SNP use Holyrood and the Scottish Government as campaigning tools, for years I have said that the Scotland Office which the SNP want closed down should take a more active role in Scottish political life. I can't remember when I first mentioned the need for an enhanced Scotland Office, but it is necessary and long overdue. The Scottish Sec Alister Jack needs to be on Scottish TV more on a par with Nicola Sturgeon, the new money is great, but what is also needed is a huge ongoing PR campaign to let the people of Scotland that the UK Government is the new kid on the block raising new opportunities for their benefit.