SNP MSP Invites Group Named After 1980s Animated Series

From Better Together, an SNP MSP identifies with a group called “Ninja Militant Turtles” and advocates heckling a public meeting of pro-Union supporters. David Torrance, who arrived from nowhere with a majority just 150 to win the Kirkcaldy Holyrood seat from Labour; and would appear to be another of the untested candidates whom the great panjandrum will have to contend with over the next few years.

The public meeting is to be co-hosted by Gordon Brown and Tom Devine, and Torrance provided the contact details for the former’s Westminster office. If anything, any public appearance by Brown should be allowed to proceed for sheer novelty sake.

Benefits Cheats are Mugging the Taxpayers…

 

… says George Osbourne when announcing anti-fraud initiatives including a three year suspension of benefits rights following a “three strikes” conviction (apparently based on an American sporting term), and £50 fines for deliberately or inadvertently providing misinformation of claim-forms.

An acquaintance of mine obtained menial work at a supermarket which barely surpassed the money he was receiving through benefit.  He carried on claiming for a few weeks, with the intention of clearing one outstanding debt, but was rumbled.

A court trial followed, with full repayment demanded and community service (although, unlike some, this did not presage failure which puts in mind of the Protocols of the Elders of Capel Seion).

Another acquaintance is on the minimum state pension, and has just been informed that some £600 have been overpaid.  It looks as if he will be required to repay this through reduced payments, despite having accepted it in good faith.

Fortunately, I live in the Calvinistic Republic of Scotland where Alex Salmond has promised a two year freeze of rises in council tax, believes in “bobbies not boundaries” and finally has found a small (semi)-independent country which offers a credible promise of economically viable self-rule.

How Dare Anyone Ask Alex Salmond Questions???

As I discussed before, every small business’ nightmare, Alex Salmond was happy to chow on delicacies provided by Wilde Thyme Catering and Party Design at a function for the badly run Holyrood-funded private business, The Gathering Ltd.  Although, not so badly run than the spiv-in-chief, Lord Sempill acrued losses himself; whilst businesses like Wilde Thyme still are owed almost £12,000.

The Holyrood Public Audit commitee has convened a public inquiry, and requested a meeting with Salmond.  The response, however, was a tactit refusal and passing of responsibility to Mike Russell, Culture Minister.

Like most of Scotland, Salmond is a disagrace to Scotland.

When Iceland and Ireland Fail, Alex Salmond Turns Attention to Basque Country

Having shown his economic savvy, when calling on Scotland to follow the arc of prosperity seen in Ireland and Iceland, to be as much use as titties on a tom-cat, an official visit to the Basque Country has caused Alex Salmond now to see benefits there.

“During the financial crisis, the Basque Country outperformed Spain as a whole and during 2009 the Basque economy contracted by 3.3 per cent compared to 3.6 per cent in the rest of Spain. This visit will help us identify and enhance the opportunities for real, practical collaboration between us and bring investment and jobs to Scotland.

“This economic performance is to be praised and there is no doubt there are lessons to be learned from the Basque economic model which could further help to make the case for Scotland to have more levers and powers to improve economic performance.”

 Normally, I would cut out my tongue with a rusty spoon rather than agree with the LibDems, but if Robin Purves MSP is correct, then yet another economic dream is turning to crud:

“ Official Basque Government figures show that the region has had lower GDP growth in 2010 than Scotland, lower economic activity than Scotland, unemployment rates are considerably higher than Scotland and inflation is running higher than in the Scottish economy.

“If the Basque country is the example we should be following right now, then Salmond’s economic judgement is as sound as his political judgement over the last week concerning independence.”

And that is before we get onto another thing which has made the modern Basque Country.

Twat.

Duncan McNeil MSP Makes An Arse Out of Himself

The Labour MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil has responded to a triple infanticide with an attack on the concept of home-schooling as supported by the SNP.

This related to the presuming stabbings in a Slateford flat of eight year old twins, Augustino and Gianluca Riggi and their five year old sister, Cecilia. All had been home-schooled by their mother, Theresa who has since been arrested for their murders.

Their father, who is not being sought in connexion with the horrendous events, identified their bodies yesterday.

McNeil said:

“Any inquiry should try to determine whether the home-schooling of the Riggi children led to any delays in the authorities picking up on the danger they were in.

“Whether it was a factor in this case or not, parents who educate their children in this way have to be accountable. Work has been carried out in England as part of the Badman review to tighten up home-schooling laws, and if there is a perception that the Scottish system is weaker than the English one then we must act.

“So I was disappointed by the complacent response from Schools Minister Keith Brown, when I raised concerns about home-schooling six months ago, and I would hope he would look again to see if we can make our system more robust.”

Most cases of family annihilation are carried out against non-home schooled children. In fact, all cases are carried out by parents. I think we should investigate the fecundity of unsuitable parents.

Alternatively, McNeil can fecund off.

Jahangir Hanif: the Peter Mandelson of the SNP? But Without the Acumen.

CROSS-POSTED AT HARRY’S PLACE.

In August 2008, millionaire SNP member and councilor, Jahangir Hanif was suspended for two months after taking an AK47 to the spirit if not the letter of Party policy on firearms (six months after he previously had stood as the SNP candidate for Central Ayrshire during the 2005 General Election).

One should have sympathy for his doubtless surprise at having been suspended, as being a millionaire member and councilor who was campaigning against poor rented accommodation had previously not been thought relevant to his owning ‘slum’ properties. Or being somewhat loose with his tongue at community events.

During the Party investigations into his firearms-training, this millionaire member was also going through an unpleasant divorce (which should not be treated with mirth) made all the worse by his 17 year old daughter writing a letter to Alex Salmond questioning his original suitability to have been allowed to stand as a councilor or MP.

This letter was referred to by Salmond on the floor of Holyrood, but it was its publication by Scottish blogger, Kezia Dugdale which resulted in legal by Hanif’s solicitors.

After his period in purdah, and with intellectual heavyweights of the Party dismissing further criticism as being borne from racist and colonial mentalities, Hanif presumably felt it was now safe for millionaires to remain members of the Party.

Attempts by the Party to woo other wealthy supporters of South Asian background, and bring in bloc votes, were seen in Deputy Leader, Nicola Sturgeon’s plea for leniency for a constituent convicted of serial benefits fraud. Her judgment was called into question when it turned-out, the un-wealthy (and un-regarded amongst local Scottish Asians) individual had a previous conviction for embezzlement.

With recent boundary changes to Holyrood constituencies, Sturgeon’s constituency of Glasgow Govan (where, in 2007, she received barely a 1% majority over the Labour candidate) will become effectively no-more; and reformed as Glasgow Southside, with inclusion of a significant number of Scottish Asian voters.

With any sub-state nationalist movement tending towards political idiocy, I have little faith in the SNP’s ill-formed brand to see non-European voters as easy bloc votes. Consider an unawareness at just who has a racist and colonial mentality with regards to support for Councilor AK47.

And, here the Baillie Bang-Bang returns. In a sign of the paucity of suitable MSP candidates or the Party’s commitment to including ethnic minorities (take your pick), Hanif recently was chosen as a list-candidate for the regional Holyrood seat.

My principal objection to this voting system (as opposed to AV) is that beyond a core of local Party members, constituents have little choice over the individuals put forward by their preferred Party. We oiks definitely have no role in ranking list-candidates.

In my case, the absence of it in the recent Westminster elections allowed me to vote for a LibDem candidate which I personally preferred despite being closer in spirit to the war-mongering, economically inept, Cromwellian Labour Party. This is a decision I still do not regret.

This followed strong suspicions of fixing by then unnamed activists in the West of Scotland, when there was a last-minute spate of membership applications for Party membership. The Scotland on Sunday reported that many new members had Asian names. This was averted by the Party, which nullified votes in list-selection for memberships after the commencement of the sudden rise.

Hanif has been highly successful in recruiting new members in his Govanhill area (which will form part of Sturgeon’s new constituency), who will be involved in ranking the list-candidates. So much so that, last week, the Daily Record reported that many were… how to put this delicately?… completely made-up, and raising alarm in the local constituency Party.

Scotland, wha’ like us? None, thank fuck.

Alex Salmond Demands Courtesies From Others

Cross-Posted At Harry’s Place.

Despite previously having being willing to galavant abroad to where he neither was requested nor required, the President of the Calvinistic Republic of Scotland has appealed to propriety and rules when declining a request for him or ministers to be questioned by the US Senate on the early release of Abdul Bassett-Baby.

Reasons included there being “no new information” to provide: such as his revelation that US authorities prefered compassionate release to a prisonor transfer scheme. Other reasons no doubt included a desire not to be turned into haggis, like Tony Hayward: a fate far worse than being called a “sap” on the floor of Holyrood.

In addition, Salmond is calling for the release of all relevent files by the UK and US Governments. Given that, unless persuaded otherwise, I assume that pertinent documents already have been made public within the letter of the law, this strikes as a courtesy.

I do not think you are in any position to demand those of others, Alex.

Another Dodgy Scottish Government Loan…

… and former regional organizer for the Muslim Association of Britain, former SNP PPC and former director of a failed quango, Osama Saeed is nowhere in sight.

As Audit Scotland’s investigation into the Scottish Government funding of the Scottish-Islamic Foundation chunters on (subscription only report available from DeHavilland), calls for investigations into another Scottish Government not-so-public loan are being made.

Homecoming Scotland 2009 was touted as celebrating Scottish culture worldwide, or summat like that. A private company, The Gathering Ltd 2009 organized the keystone event, a pseudo Clan Gathering in July (more on my impressions of it in a moment).

In January 2010 it went into administration, despite having received a £300,000 bail-out from the Scottish Government, leaving unpaid fees to dozens of small companies reaching five figures.

Alex Neil MSP Psalm 116:11

Alex Neil MSP on the “public  sector junket culture”, October 2008.

Alex Neil MSP in the “public sector junket culture”, June 2010.

Alex Neil MSP Could Buy a Lot of Caravans for £100,000

During the expenses scandal at Westminster, the LibDems and SNP were keen to present a pious public image of themselves. As the former now are discovering, one reason for this was their then lack of any importance in the political landscape.

Despite representing Central Scotland, SNP Housing Minister, Alex Neil used Holyrood rules to purchase an overnight home in Edinburgh when he was elected in 1999. Paying only an initial deposit of £4,720 from his own pocket, mortgage repayments (not counting other sundries) were paid for by Holyrood. The Sunday Herald reports that he sold the property earlier this month for £200,000: thus securing a pre-tax profit of over £100,000, and escaping an increase on CGT imposed by the emergency budget.