What will I vote for on Thursday 8th June 2017?

I strongly believe in independence for Scotland as this is the normal status for any country.

I have campaigned throughout most of my life for this end. In 2014 I campaigned and voted Yes to Independence because my head said so. I don't want Scotland to continue to be a political backwater hidden behind London.

I would have thought it would therefore be a given that I would be happily going out to vote SNP on Thursday 8th June 2017 in the UK General Election which is largely an irrelevance to Scotland. The result matters immensely to Scotland but that is largely down to Scotland still being in the UK.

There is actually no need for Scotland to have another vote. We voted to stay in the EU. We voted to stay in the UK one of the main reasons being that we were told that to leave the UK would mean leaving the EU. To an old jaded independence supporter I could have told any voter that asked that this was a lie but many seem to have gone out and voted No to independence based on this.

On Thursday I would encourage most of Scotland to go out and vote SNP as whilst we are in the UK that is the best way to protect Scotland from whatever Westminster decides to do to us. This was also one of the reasons I became so Pro Remain as the EU has protected us from some of the worst excesses of the Westminster agenda where Scotland is an afterthought if indeed it is thought about at all. Without the protection of the EU voting SNP in a UK General Election therefore becomes more important as we go into the Brexit process.

In my own constituency however I have a major problem. Please see my previous posts on the goings on in Glasgow Provan SNP which is the personal fiefdom of Anne McLaughlin MP and her cronies. Anne McLaughlin is currently the MP for the Glasgow North East Westminster constituency and is standing for re-election.

A Scottish political fable: Animal Farm seems alive and well in today's political climate, at least according to this facebook reviewer whose name I have not used as I have no desire to get them into even more trouble. 

A Scottish Political Fable continues : Animal Farm 2 - Its not what you know, but who you know.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN TEA AND SYMPATHY - Its not what you know but who you know, who you are pals with and who you are employed by! 

SNP MSP gives official warning to aide who posted pro-IRA messages

Shut the f**k up! Are these the words of a local ned? No they are the words of the recently elected Provan MSP Ivan McKee

SNP Provan - Its not what you know or what your experience is - it is who you know or who you have been employed by

The Glasgow Provan SNP branch was previously run by Anne McLaughlin personally up until the AGM last year when she safely installed one of her best pals to run it on her behalf. Her partner/ fiancee (Graham Campbell) was previously a member of Solidarity but joined the SNP and was less than a month later selected to stand for Glasgow City Council as a councillor (and was elected to GCC in May!). And the list goes on of the nepotism which is rife in this branch.

The cabal of Anne's acolytes who are in general self serving careerists have used harassment, lies, bullying and many more underhanded methods to consolidate their dominance in this area. They are now in full old Labour party entitlement mode.

So what do I do on Thursday?

I can vote SNP but this re-elects Anne McLaughlin who is an embarassment is to the cause of Scottish independence and in many ways undermines it. She is a poor MP who is lazy, noticeable largely by her absence and has proved a largely non existent presence in the House of Commons. She is in charge of a corrupt branch through her pal Joe Brady, and makes sure that her pals are elected to all important positions. She is therefore the epitome of a bad politician alienating activists. She therefore is in many ways worse than what preceeded her as at least then you had the hope an SNP MP would actually be better. She is definitely not what Glasgow North East needs as long as it continues to be part of the UK.

However I can't vote for any candidate who does not believe in self determination for Scotland. So the other 3 candidates are not suitable. And even if the Tories were in favour of independence I still could never vote for them.

So I have 4 candidates to choose from and all are unsuitable! I never thought it would come to this.

Most likely I shall just have to hold my nose and reluctantly vote for Anne McLaughlin. I never thought me voting for the SNP would be so difficult.

SNP Provan - Its not what you know or what your experience is - it is who you know or who you have been employed by

There now follows a party political broadcast on behalf of SNP Glasgow Provan...

#SortOutProvan

Shut the f**k up! Are these the words of a local ned? No they are the words of the recently elected Provan MSP Ivan McKee

I cannot believe what I heard back from an SNP meeting tonight!! (This has now been corroborated from multiple sources).

Newly elected MSP Ivan McKee (Provan branch), who as you'll recall hired a person who had made inappropriate references to the IRA on his Facebook page, (see this post regarding Allan Casey) told a group of concerned branch members that they could "shut the fuck up" instead of discussing it on social media. It must be stressed that the only reason it was being discussed on social media is that a newspaper link to the IRA story had been posted on a Scottish independence site.

Firstly Ivan McKee should not have hired the person without proper background checks. He seems to have hired him just because he was a best friend or crony of the MP Anne McLaughlin.

Secondly, the people the MSP Ivan McKee told to "shut the fuck up" worked very hard to get him elected and have every right to raise and talk about their concerns. 

The incident reflects badly on the SNP and also on the people who helped get you elected. Nobody has any right to talk to people like that, and swearing at members (especially from a member of government) is inappropriate and unprofessional.

Furthermore, another elected representative Anne McLaughlin who hired all her pals and partner after becoming elected put on the waterworks when accused of nepotism.

nepotism : the practice among those in power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.

The irony!

What's worse is that said partner then told those concerned to "watch their backs". So we now have personal threats in addition to the rest. Shocking!

The things coming out about Provan branch SNP just seem to be getting more and more outrageous. 

Who is running this branch? 

Why would anyone, least of all the Secretary of Provan SNP Ruari Kelly think of putting a pic holding a crossbow is suitable as a profile pic when he is going for office high up in the SNP? Notice he is going for the Disciplinary Committee. Does this mean he is going to use the crossbow on anyone found to have committed anything he deems an infraction? 

Ruari Kelly SNP, Secretary for SNP Provan

Not only do we have allegedcronyism/nepotism (please also see this post), we have alleged bullying incidents at meetings please see myblog (now that I know that this is the branch that was discussed), we have people enthused by the indyref supposedly leaving in disgust after a single or a few meetings, and now we have a person as secretary whose judgement should be called into question at the very least. 

Are we not now getting to resignation territory?

Why is something not being done about this by the SNP? Do they want to attract disrepute and lose the next election and possibly the next independence referendum as a result? They seem to be actively courting bad publicity and for what ends? 

I am strongly pro-independence and pro-SNP (although less so now that I have been hearing regarding this branch, even although at the beginning I didn't know these stories were to do with this specific branch as the information was sent to me anonymously) but I have becoming increasingly worried by the responses to these stories. Why do pro-indy people in general (although not all) react as if this is to do with the messenger being a hostile enemy rather than a concerned but critical friend? It is exactly because this sort of behaviour needs to be nipped in the bud (look at what happened to the Labour Party in Scotland) that it is being raised at this time. Do we want these people being in Government of an independent Scotland? I think the answer to that is, most definitely not!

It seems SNP Provan is starting to attract the attention of the main stream media now after my post a few weeks ago regarding their AGM. Interestingly at that very same AGM the person in the story mentioned below was elected Vice Convenor.

http://thefreescott.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/should-have-been-tea-and-sympathy.html

This is the danger of employing mates without proper background checks and when you don't go through a proper advertising/interview process.

So much for being a left winger and bringing jobs to the community. This new MSP has already taken three people out of well paid jobs to give them jobs in his office. Cronyism at it's worst.

And what's worse is he's not the only one of our elected reps to have appointed their mates to jobs since winning elections. Aye, best mates, partners, the lot - all's fair game AFTER they've seen REAL hard working, passionate campaigners do the donkey-work for them. It's a joke, and a slap in the face to those who genuinely wanted something different.

I still believe in an independent Scotland and the SNP will need to really get the finger out now if this is to happen. No more of stuff like this please!!!

This story appeared in the Herald/ Sunday Herald a few days ago...

SNP MSP gives official warning to aide who posted pro-IRA messages

Ivan McKee: Recently elected MSP for Glasgow Provan

An SNP MSP has given one his aides an official warning after being alerted to a raft of pro-IRA messages on the staff member’s social media account.

Allan Casey, who works for MSP Ivan McKee, repeatedly wrote “Up the Provos” and praised former members of the terrorist organisation.

He is also linked to a flute band that honours former IRA volunteer Martin ‘Doco’ Doherty.

In a statement released yesterday, an SNP spokesperson said: “The posts in question are from several years before Mr Casey joined the SNP or worked for any parliamentarians.

“Mr Casey acknowledges that these posts were in extremely poor taste and has deleted them. His employer has reminded him of the high standards expected of staff. Mr Casey has been warned about his behaviour and understands that any repeat would be unacceptable."

McKee was elected as the Nationalist MSP for Glasgow Provan in May, while colleague Anne McLaughlin represents a similar seat at Westminster.

Casey, who was a Yes campaigner in Glasgow during the referendum, used to work for McLaughlin and is currently employed as McKee’s “parliamentary assistant”.

He has uncompromising views on Northern Ireland and his Facebook account contains a range of pro-Republican messages.

Allan Casey: Tweet from 14.04.2012

In April 2012, he flagged up the “Annual Volunteer Martin Doherty Commemoration Weekend Events”, which included a set by the Republican Flute Band (RFB) he is linked to.

In the same month, he wrote: “volunteer martin Doherty rfb no1 real pride of govan, up the provos – sinn fein abu [sic].”

Doherty was an IRA volunteer shot dead in 1994 by the loyalist terror group the Ulster Volunteer Force.

Allan Casey: Tweet from 29.01.2012

Casey also posted comments reminding people of “band practice” for the pro-Doherty group and asked for help in raising the organisation’s social media profile.

In February 2012, he paid tribute to IRA volunteers Declan Martin and Henry Hogan: “Killed on active service 28 years ago today while engaging in a gun battle with undercover SAS scum.”

Allan Casey: Tweet from 25.02.2012

Earlier that year, he again wrote “up the provos!” and posted: “Your deeds would shame all the devils in hell – f**k the brits, remember bloody Sunday 30th January 1972.”

In another posting, Casey remembered “Vol [volunteer] Pearse Jordan”, who was killed by a Royal Ulster Constabulary officer in 1992: “A brave son of Ireland We Will Not Forget You.”

All the messages were on Casey’s public Facebook site, which includes pictures of him with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her predecessor Alex Salmond.

A YouTube account in the name of “Allan Casey” also features videos of the flute band.

A minute of a meeting of the Dennistoun Community Council in June stated that Casey attended on behalf of McKee and McLaughlin.

The SNP has long avoided commenting on Northern Ireland and has not taken a position on whether it should be part of Britain.

A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: "It is not acceptable for MSPs to employ people who support terrorists. This is highly embarrassing for the SNP - a party which is never slow to complain about standards in opponents. People who voted for the SNP in this area will expect swift action to be taken."

SHOULD HAVE BEEN TEA AND SYMPATHY - Its not what you know but who you know, who you are pals with and who you are employed by!

Not tea and popcorn at Provan SNP's AGM where recently appointed friends of their MP tried to organise a coup.

Anne McLaughlin failed to have her fiancee Graham Campbell elected Political Education Officer. Mary McCabe got it with a resounding vote.

Joe Brady was elected Convener with Allan Casey Vice - Convener. Both are employed by the MP.

This is the ugly face of politics where foot soldiers who chapped doors and held open-air stalls to elect three MP's and three MSP's are forced to take a back seat.

The picture clearly shows the MP with her fiancee snapping their supporters.

I am reassured however the activists have not gone away, despite the problems in this branch, having resurrected Yes Provan to push for Scottish Independence.