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It shouldn’t happen to a vetter

Posted on April 02, 2016 by

If there’s one thing the Scottish Conservatives love to do, it’s lecture the SNP about vetting its candidates. Here’s Ruth Davidson on Michelle Thomson, for example:

davidsonthomson

And it’s not just her.

Here’s transport spokesman Alex Johnstone on Phil Boswell and Lisa Cameron:

johnstoneboswell

Here’s current deputy leader Jackson Carlaw on Natalie McGarry:

carlawmcgarry

And here’s former deputy leader Murdo Fraser on Paul Monaghan:

frasermonaghan

So this is a bit awkward:

robbiemunro

None of Michelle Thomson, Natalie McGarry, Phil Boswell or Paul Monaghan have been arrested (or as far as we know, even questioned) by the police in connection with any crimes. Mr Munro – who may of course be innocent – has been questioned, arrested and charged with no fewer than three separate and quite serious ones.

(And despite the Record’s headline, he’s still the Tory candidate for the seat.)

The next time the papers concoct a massive smear campaign running for several days over some alleged misdemeanour of an SNP MP or MSP, we’ll be interested to see who the Tories trot out for a comment about the Nats’ vetting procedures.

We’d tentatively suggest it definitely shouldn’t be Alex Johnstone, though.

johnstonemilne

We wish we could say that whoever makes the comments when the day comes, we honestly thought they would be any more measured or self-aware than the previous ones. But we’ll just leave this here for reference anyway.

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Tony Little

How does it go; “Live by the sword, die by the sword”?

The level of latent and blatant hypocrisy among the pro-Westminster’s Managed Dependency parties almost takes the breath away.

Grouse Beater

Fear, smear, queer, beer, it’s all the same to the defenders of Westminster’s agenda hoping to keep public attention off their bankrupt policies and moral corruption.

Chic McGregor

There is always room for improvement of any vetting procedure.

Perhaps the SNP might consider a new opening question of ‘Are you now, or have you ever been, a Tory?’

gordoz

Love it – (GIUY rock throwers!)

Record gets something right for a change.

Croompenstein

Fighting, stalking and assaulting a woman.. FFS how did this guy get on the list… Unba

I would like to see some closure on the McGarry and Thomson ‘cases’ either way get them back in the parliamentary party or expel them it’s dragging on too long.

Stoker

HAW RUTHIE, care to tell us how these Tory scumbags were vetted?

Leon Brittan
Enoch Powell
Peter Hayman(MI6)
Jimmy Savile

Fuck this, i’ll be here all day listing your Unionist scum buddies! Anyone want to know how many Unionist Paedophile scumbags exist, or scummy associates of those paedos, just google it. It’s not only shocking it’s fuckin horrific! SCUM!

Dr Jim

As long as one represents the right people ones background is immaterial don’t you know, and the Plebs should be grateful to have them

Craig Murray

I thought the SNP vetting procedure was pretty tight 🙂

Scott Borthwick

Ah but, you see, they are all guilty. Of being SNP. That’s enough for these zoomers.

However, I am more than a little surprised that the Michelle Thomson issue hasn’t been cleared up by the police yet. That would be handy, particularly given the only unionist campaigning being done in that part of Edinburgh appears to be ‘vote for me because I’m not Michelle Thomson.’

jimnarlene

Wee tank commander’s ammo, is a bit of a dud.

Craig Murray

I agree that it is high time for Michelle Thomson to be rehabilitated. She has not been charged with anything.

boris

Ruth Davidson should look to the many catalogued breaches of peace, public nuisance and racist behaviour of members of her own party.

Cameron, Mundell and the party in Westminster overruled the Scots Tory Party ordering that the (previously rejected) Ruth Davidson would be included on the ballot for the Tory party in Scotland leadership. This effectively screwed poor Murdo Fraser whose ambitions were strangled at birth.

Labour also needs to investigate their own officials. A serving Councillor of the Labour Party (Glasgow District Council) has reputedly bought up in excess of 300 ex-council properties previously purchased under the right to buy scheme. Unbelievable. Who vetted him??

Dave McEwan Hill

The significant part of your expose above is the statement
“None of Michelle Thomson, Natalie McGarry, Phil Boswell or Paul Monaghan have been arrested (or as far as we know, even questioned) by the police in connection with any crimes.”

Yet we keep hearing,even from supposed friends,all sort of statements implying that they are being investigated etc.
Should be cleared up as soon as possible

Valerie

And this guy was a youth coach? Hopefully, that was before he lost the plot.

Sounds a charmer.

JamesCaithness

Geofrey Archer springs to mind.

Proud Cybernat

“I would like to see some closure on the McGarry and Thomson ‘cases’…”

If they’re innocent they will be cleared some time after the SE2016 election. If guilty, they will be charged some time, perhaps a week or so, before the SE2016 election.

You know how the Yoon Establishment works.

SNP x 2

heedtracker

Full on monstering Thomson got from BBC Scotland alone was shock and awesome. Will the shyster’s do the same to this tory? Pacific Quay definitely used Thomson to flex their UKOK muscles in their Scotland region, mess with the BBC and we will destroy you style.

link to ponsonbypost.com

Bob Mack

Dunno so much. He sounds suitably qualified for a Unionist candidate. They want to fight with everybody these days.

Breeks

Attacking vetting procedures is just a blunderbus smear intended to demean all SNP candidates.

The Tories of course don’t need vetting procedures for their candidates in Scotland. Heads or tails is usually overkill. Then again, it’s always a good idea to vet potential candidates to make sure none of them is Anas Sarwar.

Dorothy Devine

Ach ! That’s me convinced – I will vote for those lovely conservatives who have just popped a leaflet through my door.

My local Tory candidate is Jezerna and I’m so chuffed!

There is an address but I’d have to put a stamp on the leaflet which boasts that it will” devolve power from Holyrood to Glasgow , reversing the SNP’s centralisation of power in Scotland” – obviously the rest of Scotland is not worth the bother.

And they’re going to “press the SNP to match or better UK funding in the NHS ” presumably by charging the sick for their prescriptions and then telling Scotland it is the sick man of Europe and should take a shake to itself.

By Jove ! They are going to hold the SNP to account and
” get the SNP government to focus on running the country”

And they will oppose democracy by opposing a 2nd referendum so the “SNP cannot drag Scotland back to more division”

Wonder where they got my address? Or do they just blanket post the entire City?

At least it’s a Glasgow printer!

Graham Harris Graham

Labour life peer George Foulkes is a convicted violent criminal & he’s still allowed to sit in the Lords passing laws affecting all of us.

Two Conservative peers, Lord Hanningfield and Lord Taylor of Warwick were jailed for expense fiddles as was former Labour minister Denis MacShane.

David Chaytor, ex-Labour MP for Bury North, was jailed for 18 months in 2011 after pleading guilty to fraudulently claiming more than £20,000 in expenses.

Another former Labour MP, Margaret Moran, was also found guilty but she was spared a prison sentence after suffering from mental health problems.

Former Labour MP for Livingston Jim Devine, was sentenced to 18 months in jail in 2001. His party colleagues Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Eric Illsley were also sentenced for chronic expenses fraud.

Eric Illsley, former Labour MP for Barnsley Central, was jailed, for a year in 2011 after pleading guilty to £14,000 of fraudulent expenses.

In 1976, Labour minister John Stonehouse faced 18 charges of theft, forgery and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud & spent three years of his seven-year sentence.

Bill Walker, formerly an SNP member & MSP recently spent a year in jail for domestic violence.

Vicky Pryce was jailed for putting speeding points earned by her then husband, ex-cabinet minister & Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne, on her licence.

Jonathan Aitken, former Conservative MP was convicted of perjury in 1999 and received an 18 month prison sentence.

Lord Jeffrey Archer, another Tory MP was convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice during a 1987 libel case. He was jailed for four years in 2001.

News this week revealed that two former Conservative MSPs, Nanette Milne and Alex Johnstone, were forced to pay back almost £10,000 regarding bloated office expenses.

Politicians eh? What are they like?

Stoker

The Dirty Redcoat is secretly soiling itself?
Its membership of the Dead Tree Society is irrevocable.
The Titanic has more chance of staying afloat.

call me dave

It’s a shocker that he didn’t mention that he was in a bit of trouble and an indictment of the local tories in the branch that nobody picked it up either.

Still on the voting paper too…popcorn for the other parties 🙂

I have been present at SNP vetting and even passed an interview / interrogation and it’s tough but there are always slips especially if, like the tories and labour, you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel for candidates.

PS: Footie now!

link to myp2p.ec

Peter McCulloch

The Tories should heed the old adage, those who live in glass house shouldn’t throw stones.

I’m sure going through the archives on the internet there would be quite a number of Tory misdeeds that can easily be brought up and questions askes as to how they managed to get through the Tory vetting system.

Borkman

And what about Derek Wann?

Stood for Angus in the UK election but having been put forward for Hollyrood, quietly disappeared. The eventual excuse being to spend time with family.

Nothing to do with rumours of bad business, issues in personal life or business activities with some very unsavoury characters?

Why doesn’t Wings look into these RUMOURS.

JamesCaithness

link to dailyrecord.co.uk

You don’t tell someone their shoes are dirty when your shoes are filthy.

Ruby

Piggate!

Ruby

Laim Fox/Adam Werrity!

Connor McEwen

This is obviously aimed at the unionist thick heads, and casual voter. Anybody with half a brain must surely see through it.
ERR???

One_Scot

James, there fixed that for you,

link to archive.is

Not sure the Rev would be too chuffed at the thought of his website helping send traffic direct to the Daily Record.

Macart

I don’t believe that either the Tories or the media do self awareness.

They do however have a gold empire medal in hypocritical bullshit.

Ronnie

‘Stalking and assaulting a woman with a garage door’.

Who had the garage door – him or the woman? Was it still attached to the garage?

If not, are garage doors the new ‘offensive weapon’?

Must have seemed a bit suspicious, going around carrying one.

Is there a size limit? Would a cupboard door be ok?

I think we should be told.

Ruby

Cash for influence!

I could be here all day listing all the Tory scandals going right back to the Profumo affair.

Has SLAB criticised the SNP vetting procedure. Labour have a very long list of scandals.

I could be fun looking at all the political scandals might be more interesting than talking about ‘Carry On Kezia’

‘Carry on Kezia is a Complete Catastrophe’

Paula Rose

Oh dear MPs behaving badly, well while we’re on the subject I’ll just leave this here…

link to byline.com

call me dave

Jolly hockey sticks Ruthie on the hustings:
But they’ll have “131 SNP good things” to overcome says Sturgeon..

link to archive.is

schrodingerscat

link to thenational.scot

snigger

Famous film quotes translated into Scots by Dr Ailsa F Pooly:

“Toto ah dinnae hink wur in Aucterhmucty noo” – Wizard of Oz

“Ahm pure ragin and canna be fashed wi this” – Network

“Ah ate his liver oot a muchbie box wi sum pakora, kebab and ingin rings” – Silence of The Lambs

“Luke, ahm yer da” – The Empire Strikes Back

“Hen, ah couldnae gie a toss” – Gone with the Wind

“Aye, this dinghy might be a bit too wee” – Jaws

Effijy

Croompenstein says:

2 April, 2016 at 11:42 am

Fighting, stalking and assaulting a woman.

What kind of kind of Westminster Tory is this guy?

Doesn’t he know that Fighting, Stalking, and assaulting
is reserved for anyone supporting Scotland?

LiLabaTory animals just stink!

Graham Harris Graham

I see that Liberal Democrat, Alistair Carmichael MP is still under investigation in the House of Commons for alleged breaches under Paragraphs 10,14 and 16 of the Code of Conduct.

10. Members shall base their conduct on a consideration of the public interest, avoid conflict between personal interest and the public interest and resolve any conflict between the two, at once, and in favour of the public interest.

14. Information which Members receive in confidence in the course of their parliamentary duties should be used only in connection with those duties. Such information must never be used for the purpose of financial gain.

16. Members shall never undertake any action which would cause significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons as a whole, or of its Members generally.


Other memebrs under investigation include …

Mr Zac Goldsmith MP – Registration of Interests
Sir Kevin Barron MP – Alleged breach of paragraph 15 of the Code
Mr Ian Lavery MP – Registration of Interests
Mr Rehman Chishti MP – Registration of Interests
Mr Tommy Sheppard MP – Registration of Interests
Mr Justin Tomlinson MP – Alleged misuse of information obtained in the course of parliamentary duties
Mr Karl Turner MP – Declaration of Interests

If only there had been some sort of vetting process at the beginning, all of this grubby, uncertainty could have been avoided.

handclapping

Taxi for Mcletchie?

Big Jock

Carmichael…end of.

Macart

@schrodingers cat

Hulk? Malky! – Avengers

Lenny Hartley

Graham Harris Graham you forgot Lord “fire starter” Watson was sentenced to 20 months reduced to 16 as he plead guilty for Arson.

Ruby

schrodingerscat

These film quotes are brilliant!

Ruby

Lord Sewell & his orange bra!

Clootie

I agree with Scott Bothwick earlier. In the unionist mind the crime of being SNP is the greater evil.

Ruby

Are we doing Labour scandals?

Marie Rimmer referendum assault!

yesindyref2

Ah yes indeed.

“All Creatures great and small-minded”.

But did any of them go to Heriots?

Heather

We’re in for a few laughs between now & 5th May from the opposition parties dredging up anything to discredit the SNP

Anne G.

How do “Daily Record” not does grammar?

katherine hamilton

How the hell do you dig this shit out?
Have you got two brains?
Respect.

yesindyref2

Mmm, all these people do seem to have flop bot of the mouth.

galamcennalath

Clootie says:

“I agree with Scott Bothwick earlier. In the unionist mind the crime of being SNP is the greater evil.”

Yes. In their Yooniverse it is a truly awful crime. Their entitlement of run Scotland to the benefit of anyone but the Scots, has been challenged. Their status quo was just fine before the SNP upstarts dared to change things. They fear their ‘country’ being broken up, their world status diminished, and their gravy trains derailed.

Proud Cybernat

“Anybody got any spare matches?” – Mike Watson.

pussy nancy

Oh dear God…. Ruthie would be better to keep her pie hole shut!

Pig fancier Cameron
Cocaine sniffer/tripper Osborne
Expenses for properties Grayling

and all on the front bench!

NEXT!

gordoz

Latest leak from 290 Bath St is that Kez is oan the way oot !

Labour don’t see her as FM material so after May she is to be replaced by Tom Gallagher .. to bring the faithful back on board.

Famous15

Passing the LibDem shop in Corstorphine the double barralled candidate ,big photy,says Western Edinburgh deserves better. Bloody right and Tony SNP is your man!

Am also certain that I saw a sign saying” LibDems ,whining here”

Proud Cybernat

Stick the heid in you, so ah wull.” – Eric Joyce.

Proud Cybernat

“Lie? Who, me?” – Alistair Carmichael

yesindyref2

Good grief you doubt yourself sometimes and have to go check, but I got it right. So some of the next in the series about some of the current contenders for Holyrood are:

“Let sleeping vetters lie” about the Conservatives.
“Vet doing a spin” about Labour.
“Every lying thing” about the LibDems.
and
“If only they couldn’t talk” about UKIP.

Apart fom that you have: “All Wings wise and wonderful” about this forum, of course.

I look forward to it.

Alastair Ewen

“None of Michelle Thomson, Natalie McGarry, Phil Boswell or Paul Monaghan HAS been arrested ”

Just sayin’….

bugsbunny

“Here come the boy’s, boy’s, boy’s, boy’s, here come boys” HARVEY PROCTOR.

31.27 to 32.57 Harvey Proctor and Schoolboy sex Spitting Image 1987 Election Special.

link to youtube.co.uk

Stephen.

bugsbunny

Try again.

link to youtube.co.uk

Stephen.

sinky

When is Marie Rimmer’s trial date and I wonder how the Unionist press will cover this?

A Labour MP accused of kicking a “Yes” campaigner outside a polling station on the day of the Scottish independence referendum is to stand trial next year.

Ken500

Westminster is full of child abusers, fraudsters, liars, killers and pig abusers. Who vets them.

Phil Boswell was supposed to declare accounts for a Company dissolved in 2011. What’s that about?

Big Jock

Ken so is the BBC!

David Mooney

Paula Rose says:

2 April, 2016 at 1:23 pm

Oh dear MPs behaving badly, well while we’re on the subject I’ll just leave this here…

link to byline.com

This has the potential to be dynamite.

No doubt the corporate media will suppress it at the behest of their Westminster establishment masters. After all it’s probably in their self serving interests to suppress it anyway.

Iain

Here’s a thought. Should every aspiring politician have a responsible person appointed before they can go on a ballot paper?

Muscleguy

@Ronnie

It’s amazing what can be legally defined as an offensive weapon. In the mid ’80s in NZ an old gun collector disturbed a burglar at his fancy pad in Auckland. The burglar got shot dead with an antique weapon. The householder claimed to be in fear of his life because the burglar was armed with, wait for it: Two video cassettes.

The court let him off. Most of the country were suitably shocked. NZ’s Dunblane moment that put paid to handguns etc was the Aramoana massacre. I was in the lab just down the harbour while that was happening. It was an oppressive, dead still overcast day. It completely ruined what had been a lovely place for a walk, along the beach there.

mike cassidy

Ronnie 1.18

According to the full article,

he used a garage door!

His defence – I’m a tory candidate. Of course I’m unhinged!

More worringly, on that same archived page –

100 years on. Looking back at the World War 2 blasts that devastated Edinburgh.

Willie

It’s a case of feed the monkeys lies. Rack up the smears, tell em the SNP are scum. Just like the better together campaign tell Jocko monkey how it is. And then, let us vote SBP 1and 2

JLT

The Scottish media (and pretty much all of the London based ones too) have both a great hatred, as well as a great fear, of the SNP. Chances are; even though to a much lesser degree, they probably detest the Scottish Greens too!

This is nothing new to any Scottish nationalist, or to a greater degree, any person that is enlightened enough to know that the British State media is so powerful and influential, that it has the ability to corrupt and even place the fear into the local national and regional outlets too. Any sense of dissent from these outlets is quickly crushed or openly mocked.

However, sites like Wings, Bella, and a few others are the very few that stand against this ‘Pravda-esque’ control of state media and news coverage. And it is thanks to those sites, as well as social media apps such as Facebook and Twitter that openly contradict the state media. It’s probably the only reason that I actually use Facebook, because it is an application that the British State probably finds literally impossible to control, let alone shutdown.

And thanks to it …it’s the key to spreading not only the hope and dreams of Scottish independence, but also a silver-plated bullet in gunning down British State manipulation of the truth, as well as making a mockery of the state itself as it tries to impose the ideals of ‘Britishness’ on a nation that is now slowly rejecting it.

Thepnr

@Craig Murray

“I thought the SNP vetting procedure was pretty tight :-)”

Ah well, you would, loser!

Just kidding Craig, I’d have given you a place but what do I know of the ins and outs in “political circles”(tips hat to Ian B).

Suzanne

The Yoons froth at the mouth about the SNP “vetting process” because they have nothing else. They have to dig up things like a mistake in filing accounts from four years ago because there is nothing else. When you’re on your knees fighting to survive, you clutch at anything.

In other news, I see #WhittingdaleCoverUp is racing up the charts. Awkward.

Drumalban

Perhaps the Scotsman and the Daily Record ought to tighten the vetting procedures of their journalists. These ones are obviously ought of their depth and only revealing their own personal prejudices.

Rock

Dave McEwan Hill,

“Yet we keep hearing,even from supposed friends,all sort of statements implying that they are being investigated etc.
Should be cleared up as soon as possible”

They are only interested in smearing them, and for as long as possible.

They will probably be quietly cleared after the election.

Michelle Thomson might not have anything illegal but I am strongly opposed to the likes of “Business for Scotland” and “Lawyers for Yes” getting into the SNP.

These sort of people are capitalist exploiters.

They will only hinder the development of a fair and just society in an independent Scotland.

Dorothy Devine

Rock , Scotland needs good business heads , Scotland needs good lawyers just as it needs good teachers , plumbers , electricians ,doctors ,nurses ,cleaners ,engineers and uncle and auntie Tom and Tomasina and all.

Maybe we even need journalists – though I reserve judgement on that.

woosie

Love this! We sit and take the ukok slurs and insinuations, quietly waiting for their various petards to be hoisted. These examples are no doubt the tip of the iceberg.

Politicians are generally normal people, who occasionally get things wrong, or associate with many others, some of whom are bound to make mistakes too. It’s fair to report such instances, but only if they’re ALL reported with equal vigour. But the activities of the current occupants of nos 10 and 11 Sesame Street shock and disgust us all, even though the press feel it’s not in their interests to discuss their doings.

I’d add that I was disappointed that Craig Murray was considered a hot potato by the SNP. He’d have shaken Westminster Museum for sure!

gus1940

For anybody who missed it – excellent interview of Eck on Murnaghan this morning.

Professional as usual – answered every question without evasion, everything he said made sense.

Compare and contrast with the woffling, lies and evasion of politicos of the other parties.

They must tear their hair out in frustration every time they see and hear Nicola ,Eck, John S, Angus R,S.Hosie, Mhairi B and plenty of the other SNP members.

It’s like 2 different worlds when it comes to comparing the quality and ability of SNP members with the rabble that makes up the opposition parties and their fan club at the BBC and in the MSM.

SNPx2 on 5/5.

Bill Fraser

It seems the rubbish press will dig deep to obtain ant light misgiving on SNP candidates.Are the Tory etc all angels??

Brus MacGallah

Latest breaking Tory scandal.
Culture secretary and hookers

http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk

Haggishunter

How’s the case coming along against the LabServativeDem child molesters in Westminster?
Oops, forgot, they are protected by the British establishment.

How do the LabServativeDems and British establishment vet themselves?
Oops, forgot, they are above the law.

The SNP have a whole department of M15 snooping and digging on them.
The LabServativeDem / British establishment protects its own evil child abusing monsters, that’s the dividend of the Union folks.

Cactus

Howsabout the above for perspective then eh?

Know your media.

WILL YOU go forward to the future..?:
link to wingsoverscotland.com

Morning.


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