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Common Sense Politics With Craig Houston · UK Column Radio

0:07
Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome to this UK Column interview with
0:11
myself and Craig Houston, who is the host of the
0:14
podcast YouTube channel General social media Sensation. I would say
0:19
Craig Houston talks to who comes to us from Glasgow.
0:23
His Twitter profile introduces himself as a far right conspiracy theorist.
0:28
I first met Craig in person at the Bring the
0:31
Noise podcast of event where they were raising money for
0:35
the vaccine injured up here in Scotland several weeks ago,
0:39
and I was really excited to see him in person.
0:42
I had no idea he would be there, but we
0:44
watch him all the time on YouTube and he has
0:48
to us the famous ten minute moans which we like
0:50
to watch all the time, and so I was really
0:52
excited to meet him. So after the event I grabbed
0:54
him and I was like, hey, Craig, we love your
0:56
ten minute moans. Would you like to be on the
0:57
UK Column Because we have a lot of things in common,
1:01
I believe, especially myself being up here in Scotland and
1:03
having a particular fascination with Scottish politics myself, So Praig,
1:09
with that, I'd just like to welcome you to UK
1:11
Column and if you'd like to say anything else about
1:14
yourself that you that I didn't say already, Please.
1:16
Speaker 2: Go ahead, Hi there, Thanks for inviting me on just
1:20
to be a table. What you're saying about my Twitter bio?
1:25
That was a that was a description given to me
1:29
by the first Minister of Scotland, not one that I
1:32
self wrote helped me as a and Islamophobic, far right
1:36
conspiracy theorist. So that was as Pen, not mine.
1:40
Speaker 1: So which one was that? That wasn't Nicola Sturton? Was
1:43
it Hampson?
1:44
Speaker 2: It was almost. I had done a freedom of information
1:48
request which was about the funds that went to the
1:51
U n r w A, which he over overloaded our
1:55
Scottish Minister's decision to give jump one thousand pounds to
1:58
unise F, and he over with that decision then gave
2:01
two hundred and fifty thousand pounds to the un WRA
2:04
And I gave my findings to the Telegraph and can
2:07
Ala Turner, quite good journalist down there. She went and
2:11
wrote story and she gave me a week paragraph explaining
2:16
that this information had came from my freedom of information
2:20
and tom as I got up the next morning and
2:22
wrote a nine page tweet about this and referred to
2:25
it as they couldn't believe that mainstream media outlets such
2:29
as a telegraph excuse me, would take the words of
2:32
our islamophobic far right conspiracy theorists. So that's why I
2:36
came by that title.
2:37
Speaker 1: What did you find out in that freedom of information request?
2:40
What did they come back with?
2:41
Speaker 2: Well, it took six months to get the full response.
2:46
For coming back and forward, I put the had a
2:49
show request in in the January and asked for all
2:53
the emails regarding the decision making process of how we
2:56
came to give this second lot of money. There was
2:58
already a five hundred thousand pounds donation to UNRWA, and
3:03
I wanted to know but the second trunch of money
3:05
because they put out our press release and on the
3:10
press release there was two lots of donations given by
3:14
the Scottish government the same day. And the first one
3:17
I think it was Siria for some disaster, some natural disaster,
3:23
and it told us three bits of information. It told
3:25
us how much the donation was for, where in the
3:28
Scottish government funds it was coming from, and where it
3:31
was going to if the second paragraph discussed this UNRWA money,
3:35
but it only gave us two bits of information how
3:37
much it was and where it was going to, and
3:40
my sort of spider senses were set off. At that point.
3:43
I thought, why they're not telling us what money this
3:47
has came from. So I wrote to them and asked
3:49
them to give me all the decision making process, and
3:55
second question was to justify what funds they used and why.
4:02
So I got a first thing. It came back to
4:04
about sixty or seventy pages from memory, and there was
4:07
some queer things in it, which I then asked them
4:10
to clarify on. So that whole process took about six months.
4:14
But the initial and the first load of information I
4:17
got back was quite worrying, quite eye opening, and that's
4:20
what Kimmeller wrote the story on. And then eventually we
4:24
got you know, I kept asking questions, saying that's not
4:27
really what I asked for, And eventually the last a
4:31
lot of documents I got was about a weeks ago,
4:34
and Kimilla was as follow up story in the Telegraph
4:37
and that was regarding and one of it. They tell
4:39
us that the actual process itself was being investigated by
4:43
the Scottish government, which was quite a good year. So
4:48
she then done a follow up story about the fact
4:51
that uns Up has been investigated for this destination and
4:56
how actually the process and how it went from a
5:01
man studio decision to being overturned and that's money eventually
5:05
going to them. So she what harms yet?
5:08
Speaker 1: Interesting? You know, I got in trouble myself for that
5:11
bit of news because what happened to me was when
5:14
I shared it on social media. It was actually just
5:17
a meme that I had found from someone I know
5:21
in Glasgow and it had the word mosque in it,
5:24
and I got flagged for sharing misinformation because oh it
5:28
wasn't a mosque that it was shared for. Does that
5:31
really matter as much of the fact that wherever this
5:33
money went to, it did go to where it should
5:35
be going to in my opinion, And it was really
5:40
a very telling thing for me, I think, in terms
5:43
of what they're sensitive to and what they're not sensitive to, which,
5:46
of course, for me, as as someone who is frequently
5:50
flagged for sharing misinformation, usually seems to mean that it's
5:54
just not information that they want us to see or
5:56
want the public to know about. Has that happened to
5:59
you as well with any of this, or has it
6:01
just been the first minister correcting you or is it
6:05
anyone else flagged.
6:09
Speaker 2: I've not been flagged at all. But a lot of
6:12
people just want to call me a liar, and that's great,
6:14
and I just remind them that the information I put
6:16
out is all stuff that Scottich government gave me, So
6:18
if there's any an accuracies in it or any lies
6:20
on it, then it came from Scottich government. And the
6:24
biggest thing for me and the whole story was the
6:26
Scottish Conservative Party try to suggest that there was a
6:33
conflict of interest because at that time he's parenting law
6:37
were stuck in Gaza and they came out twenty four
6:39
hours after a second lot of money came but and
6:44
then they attacked it on that and I thought, you're
6:46
getting down the wrong road to here, because to prove
6:50
a conflict of interest is probably open for debate, although
6:53
common sense and logic might suggest there was one difficult
6:56
thing to prove. But I felt the biggest easiest thing
6:59
for or the follow up would have been the fact
7:03
that Humsa asked the Scottish ministers to help Gaza because
7:07
the children in Gaza were not able to get water.
7:10
That was why he asked for a second lot of money,
7:13
so they took advice from our Department of External Affairs,
7:17
and the ministers decided that UNISEF at that time were
7:19
having a fundraiser for a wash campaign, which was to
7:23
provide clean water for the area. So they felt that
7:27
was a good fact because the first minister had asked
7:29
for money for a specific reason, and they suggested between
7:34
one hundred and two hundred thousand pounds. And then there
7:36
was one email which was the sort of silver bullet
7:39
and the whole story where Humsa had sent an email
7:42
to his personal office, his private office saying I'm meeting
7:45
UNRWA next week. We're just going to give them two
7:48
hundred and fifty thousand pounds and totally over Dundlefield thing.
7:52
And as it came to light with other documents that
7:54
are there when you give money to UNRWA, it was
7:58
for unspecified reasons because they had decided to tell the
8:01
world that if you sent them money, it was quite
8:03
difficult for them to, you know, use it for a
8:05
specific purpose. So they just wanted unrestricted donations from anyone
8:12
in the world, and that was just before the world
8:14
then said we ain't going to give you any money
8:17
anymore because there was there was concerns about their connections
8:20
to a mass So that to me was the thing
8:24
that should have been that the opposition party should have
8:27
been going on the fact that he overturned it. He
8:29
asked for money for water. They gave him a perfectly
8:33
suitable way of down that to give them money to
8:36
unit said because they were specifically doing a fundraiser for
8:39
a single purpose, and that was to put clean water
8:41
into the area. And he like that, turned and said no,
8:45
we'll give it to unwr A, which the term meant
8:48
it would need to be an unrestricted the nation, which
8:53
I found incredible. But the people that then took the
8:58
information decided to attack from why the potential conflective interest.
9:04
Speaker 1: Well, we're on the subject of Hamsah. I mean I've
9:09
been watching, you know, as your opinions have evolved through
9:12
the last several months and the you know, the changeover
9:15
of the first minister and so on it, you know,
9:19
looking at what happened to Nicholas Sturgeon and then what
9:22
happened to Hamsa and who knows where we go from here,
9:26
But what do you think we're the biggest sort of
9:30
things that caused the changes in leadership over the past
9:34
two first ministers. I mean, I have my ideas, I'd
9:36
like to hear yours.
9:37
Speaker 2: I think Nikola told as our press confidence has just
9:40
woke up one mornent and felt it was time to go,
9:43
and if you want to take off at face value,
9:45
then fair play to you. But it since found out
9:49
through leak successor from scott Scotland that the s MP
9:54
ready knew there was potentially branch form movement and tell
10:00
of getting warrants to properties, et cetera. So you know
10:05
the truth is out there somewhere. But I certainly don't
10:07
believe that Nicolas Sturgeon will up one morning then just
10:10
decided she'd had enough of being Scottish first Minister. I
10:13
don't believe I took it by a pinch of salt
10:15
at the time, and there's nothing that's came out since
10:17
then to suggest otherwise. And then with hums up if
10:23
you remember ironically right, I think that the finally only
10:27
coffin was by I can't remember the name they gave herself.
10:31
I think it was a lgbt Greens or something. There
10:33
was some lgbt QI plus part of the Green Party
10:38
which had a certain amount a number of members, and
10:42
they were pressing the Green Party to pull apart the
10:47
House Agreement and stop being in coalition with the SMP,
10:51
because that was a government up period of time. It
10:53
was a coalition between SMP and the Greens, and I
10:57
can't even remember it was something just stupid that they
11:01
wanted to break up the coalition. So there was pressure
11:03
been put on the Greens to pull and at the
11:06
same time when hums are he eventually he's jumped before
11:10
they departied and he canceled the butt House Agreement and
11:15
then obviously a few days later he was stood down
11:18
because it left the SMP in a funeral position as
11:21
a minority government. So they now need to find favor
11:27
with someone somewhere when it comes to There was always
11:31
this votinal confidence on the table at the same time
11:35
in hums Andy's government, and if the government had lost
11:40
that votal confidence, the Scottish Parliament would have been put
11:42
into an immediate election. So there was obviously people in
11:47
the party that got a wee bit scared of going
11:50
down that route and having a snap election. So that
11:53
then turned into certain people in the party I think
11:56
telling hums that it would probably for the best. If
11:59
he wasn't there and he stepped down, the voting no
12:03
confidence that was in him was no longer valid, and
12:07
the voting no confidence for the government was supported by
12:12
the Greens and that kept from in place. So I
12:14
think there was a few reasons for him to step down.
12:18
Probably a bit of pressure for the Greens as a
12:20
waiting a deal to you know, vote against his photo confidence.
12:24
And also of imagine some MSPs who were probably thinking
12:27
if we go to a snap election, we won't have
12:29
a job. So there's a lot of pressure being put
12:32
on him. And even in the morning when he resigned
12:34
it came to light it was still looking for favor
12:37
within the party, everything in the parliament, and he tried
12:40
to phone Ash Reagan. I think seven am that Morment
12:43
appreciated the one vote as an alba MSP that could
12:49
have saved his party from a voting no confidence.
12:52
Speaker 1: I think, if I remember correctly, what she said was
12:54
something to do with a disagreement of a knit zero.
12:57
It was like once I'd said that NIT zero wasn't
12:59
going to be possible or something, and it could meet
13:02
those targets. I think that was at the basis. I
13:04
think I covered at the time. I don't remember the
13:06
details myself, but I think the net zero thing is
13:09
is kind of It's kind of interesting because you know,
13:11
if Jean Robinson is now secretary for net zero, which
13:14
they've already said is not going to be anything that's
13:18
going to be successful, which in my opinion is probably
13:21
a good place for Soona Robison to be. What's your
13:24
thoughts on her and why do you think that she
13:26
didn't become First Minister.
13:29
Speaker 2: I think crazy thing to say, but I think she's
13:32
one of the most incompetent out of a bunch of
13:34
incompetent people, so she was probably best kept far away
13:37
for that post as possible. But there was something else
13:41
at the time. There was because they had to come
13:43
and say that their next zero target for I think
13:46
it was, was unachievable. So this was all going on
13:49
at the same time, but there was a gender finger
13:51
on as well at the same time, which drove this
13:54
green the LGBT group to a lot of looking at
13:57
pulling an extraordinary General Meeting of the Gain Party, which
14:02
I think they needed fifty signay trees, and they had
14:04
that to then put an EGM and the members to
14:09
vote on pulling the beauty house agreement. So it was
14:11
always this noise was all happening at the same time
14:14
that you know he had as you're right said you
14:16
had the net zero thing, but he also had some
14:19
and I wish I could remember if I knew you
14:20
were going to ask you about beforehand. But there was
14:23
some gender issue as we're well going on at the
14:26
same time, and he'll break a perfect storm and resulted
14:30
in the RUMs are standing down, which I was a
14:33
bit disappointed with. I was looking for to him being
14:35
in the driving seat when we got to the holiday
14:37
elections in twenty twenty six, but SMP being the SMP
14:41
replaced them with someone who seems an easy as easy
14:46
a target did he throw and come twenty twenty six
14:49
because John Swinny is just not either.
14:52
Speaker 1: Now it seems like as well his backpedal and some
14:54
things that he said previously and now that he's responsible,
14:57
he's back peddling. That's been my person so far.
15:01
Speaker 2: Well, Yeah, and there was like there's quite a disturbing
15:05
some facts came out from Module one findings for the
15:09
UK COVID inquiry just recently where there was certain things
15:13
that he was responsible for. Module one is looking at
15:16
the timescale up until the pandemic hit run about March
15:20
twenty twenty. It's about preparation and how things, how systems
15:24
were set up, and it came to light that John Swinney,
15:27
in his role as Deputy First Minister back then, he
15:32
was the guy that was tasked with having Scotland prepared
15:35
for eight pandemic of any type type and there was
15:39
the It's documented in the findings that there was meetings
15:41
that didn't get held and there was responsibilities passed on
15:44
to other people that were never followed up and basically
15:47
done nothing to prepare Scotland for a pandemic, despite it
15:51
being one of his most important roles as First Minister.
15:55
Speaker 1: Have you been following the Scottish COVID and quietly, very closely.
15:59
I'm just wondering. I've seen some of the things that
16:01
have come out of it. In my opinion, it hasn't
16:03
gone far enough to understand the real impact of Scotland's citizens.
16:08
Have you been following there at all?
16:10
Speaker 2: I followed it at some points and when I heard
16:14
that the Scotland was having its own COVID inquiry, I
16:16
thought that that just sounds As I was sham written
16:18
all over it, because it'll obviously be the SMP government.
16:21
I'll set it up so you know, they can set
16:24
up quangos to just do what they want. And I thought,
16:26
I'm not really going to buy that much into any
16:28
findings from an inquiry set up just for Scotland, because
16:34
Scotland was already investigated in the nationwide inquiry and I'll
16:39
pay much more respect to the findings of that than
16:42
the Scottish ones. So I felt that it was going
16:44
to be a bit of a charm and it appeared
16:46
to be. So, I don't know if you picked up
16:49
the Leslie Roberts things. She was the NHS whistle blower
16:52
that was meant to be one of the key witnesses,
16:54
and you know it was. It was a bit terrible
16:56
the way they dealt with her, and that I spoke
16:59
to Leslian fan that on a podcast for Leslie about
17:01
how she was treated by the Scotch COVID inquiry and
17:05
it just looks to me as effits about her, a
17:07
deck close notion and not needed. So no, I've not
17:09
been fall because I just don't buy to be honest
17:13
with me.
17:14
Speaker 1: No, it has been a complete sham in that you
17:17
know sort of the individual stories I know about how
17:19
it affected all of us, and situations that they could
17:24
not have taken into account that obviously didn't care about.
17:26
I knew someone, for example, whose wife was pregnant, she
17:30
had complications, she lost the baby, she almost died herself,
17:34
but they wouldn't let her husband see her because of,
17:38
you know, the fear of COVID. You know, sort of
17:40
where are the you know, these are young people, these
17:42
are not people that are vulnerable in any way regardless.
17:46
And I don't think those kinds of things were taken
17:48
into account at all ever, Really.
17:51
Speaker 2: No, I think I was concerned when I was announced
17:54
to what having one and of nothing's made me feel
17:58
any more comfortable with the thing. And then the small
18:02
amount of dealings and inter stuff shown in the Scottish
18:05
COVID inquiry that I think it's completely unnecessary. I think
18:09
at least the UK one, at least it's a bit
18:12
further away from them. It's at arms Lend that you've
18:15
got to respect to findings of that one, and I
18:17
thought Scottish one, it's no need for it's just another
18:20
thing that's going to duplication again, that's going to cost
18:23
the Scottish tax we have a big lump of money
18:26
at the end of the day.
18:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, how do you think we relate to the UK one?
18:32
Because I remember the Scottish COVID regulations were much they
18:36
went on longer and they were much more difficult than
18:39
the ones down south. And I don't know if that
18:42
was the reason for the separate inquiry or are they
18:44
just trying to act independent when they're not.
18:46
Speaker 2: And I think the Scottish COVID regulations and stuff and
18:50
guidelines but just purely patronized versions of the UK ones.
18:55
If Boris Johnson got up one day to say we're
18:57
going to have Z levels for different areas, Scotland would
19:01
come out about five different levels for areas in Scotland.
19:05
There was there were suggestions that there was a Cobra
19:09
meeting Cobra meetings that called them down in the Westminster
19:12
that she was involved in, and there was discussions about
19:16
certain things that she knew were going to get announced
19:19
to the UK government and jumped in a day early,
19:23
you know, trying and show that Scotland was fantastic, where
19:27
the early indications from the findings and Module one are Scotland.
19:32
There was actually a porte done to show how prepared
19:39
you are for any sort of pandemic, and the Scottish
19:42
government copied and pasted the figures into a document. She's
19:47
the first figure, which was the amount of people in
19:49
the country, the population, and let us spreadsheet work out
19:53
how those figures would look less instead of having sixty
19:56
million as a population, having five and a half or
19:58
six millions of population. That was the extent of effort
20:02
and the Scottish government to protect the Scottish people from
20:06
any sort of pandemic pre COVID. And you see stuff
20:09
like that, you just it's disgusting. There's no time or effort.
20:13
It's lap serface and if you might pay a lap
20:15
surface to gap protection or I don't know, mouse traps
20:21
regulations that you kind of get that these things, you know,
20:23
not affecting everybody in the country. But when it's something
20:28
serious as preparedness for potential pandemics to pay those sort
20:34
of things total lap service, it's a terrible indictment on
20:36
the SMP in the Scottish government.
20:39
Speaker 1: It seems to me that I'm not sure if it
20:41
was you or someone else that has said this, but
20:44
it really hit me once when I heard it said
20:46
that it is a nationalist party, and one of the
20:49
reasons that they're failing or have failed, is because they
20:51
weren't prepared to take positions on other things that need policies.
20:56
It seems like that, you know, everything has been in
20:58
the direction of independence and out about all these other
21:01
things that affect the population.
21:04
Speaker 2: When I woke up and I didn't go to bed
21:07
until late early the next morning when it was the
21:11
referendum vote back in twenty fourteen, I didn't go to
21:15
bed until I knew the outcome was secure. And I
21:18
actually genuinely thought when I started to watch the results
21:21
coming in that we were going to I've lost that
21:24
referendum and we're going to be an independent country. That's
21:26
just the way I read the situation, which thankfully was wrong.
21:29
But when eventually it was concrete that you know, the
21:34
no vote had won, went in my bed obviously quite happy.
21:37
I got up the next morning after a few hours sleep,
21:40
probably at lunchtime, and I wrote a piece of own
21:43
personal Facebook page saying, look, that's we've gone out of
21:45
the road. Now can we get good people into that
21:49
parliament and take the book of developed devolved pilots and
21:55
don't use that abuse it. Push every single think in
21:58
a limit and get a parliament that will use and
22:02
utilize that Booker rules and give us as good as
22:06
Scotland as possible. And I was probably naive at the time,
22:09
and it certainly turned out to be incorrect because the
22:12
Scottish government didn't. What the Scottish government done from that
22:15
moment forward is continue with a push for independence. We've
22:19
now actually got departments in the Scottish government set up
22:23
about independence. We write white papers every a couple of
22:26
years about independence. There was an article today, I think
22:29
it was a Daily Mail where the journalist had been
22:34
onto the Scottish government's website, not the SMP's website, and
22:38
there was four thousand hats when he searched independence. When
22:43
he searched things like driving the economy, there was like
22:45
three thousand types. So all they've done is try and
22:49
get independence, even after a democratic vote with the Scottish
22:52
people and by the majority said we do not want
22:55
to be independent. And for the ten years since then,
22:59
they and you'd go a drive for independence. And you
23:01
cannot listen to your first Minister's questions in Scotland in
23:04
that time scale and not see at least one answer
23:07
given an excuse where they either blamed Westminster, Brexit or
23:10
the Tory Party, And I see way these people have governed.
23:13
And when you see stats like we now have a
23:17
lower life expectancy in Scotland than we did pre SMP
23:22
having power in Scotland, you would think in the day
23:24
of medical science that that would be near impossible to do.
23:28
Even if that was your ambition, was still lower the
23:32
life expectancy of any you know, any modern country in
23:36
the world. Yet they managed to do that. We have
23:39
got the biggest per head death rates for drug abuse
23:45
in all of Scotland, in whole of Europe. And what
23:49
I was talking about was will blame Tory's Westminster or
23:52
Brexit for that? Joints when he was challenged on that
23:55
subject when these news starts came out and has answered, yeah,
24:00
this is due to Maggie's actuals policies, and as this
24:06
is them happeners now, and you're like, just stop, just
24:10
honestly stop the vote. I want to get off and
24:13
I just want them to be bankrupt, which is why
24:15
I was driving people towards for tactically voting in the
24:19
Westminster election. And if they're still around in the twenty
24:23
twenty six election, I'll be suggesting the same because their finances,
24:27
the party finances are so bad that I believe them
24:30
losing over a million pounds worth of short money alone
24:34
should put these people off the political map, because our
24:38
party must be running insolvently as we stand today.
24:42
Speaker 1: What I said on the UK Calum News on the
24:45
eighth of July, I believe it was after the election,
24:48
is that I heard somebody else say this that the
24:51
you know what happened in the general election. First of all,
24:56
they can't blame Westminster for anything anymore, but any other
24:59
problems peer And also I don't think that maybe people
25:03
realize down south or elsewhere in the UK how much
25:07
this impacted the outcome of the general election. Do you
25:11
have any comments on that for our viewers that are
25:13
outside of Scotland.
25:14
Speaker 2: On the result of the general election, Yeah, and.
25:18
Speaker 1: How Scotland could have how the influence of the downfall
25:22
of the SMP. Essentially, I think it had an impact
25:25
on how many labor seats.
25:26
Speaker 2: Got in Well, yeah, I mean that was quite it's
25:30
quite a thought provoking thing. Before I decided to do it,
25:33
and that was to ask the people of Scotland to
25:36
follow my many other people's idea on tactically voting SMP
25:41
out because I don't really have any faith in the
25:45
Tories orly, but but the UK government had toys for
25:48
about what twelve years or something, so that I think
25:50
the nation just wanted to change. So when I was
25:53
then going to ask Scottish folks to vote tactically each constituency,
25:58
that would mean a different thing. But the majority of
26:00
Scotland when we're asking people to vote for labor, some
26:03
constituencies were asked to vote for Tory and some constituencies
26:07
yeah Lib Dems. And I thought I could be responsible
26:11
for kir Stamer becoming the next Prime minister. But once
26:13
we started seeing the data, I really didn't matter. If
26:16
no Scott's voted for Labor, your Stammer was still going
26:19
to be the MP they sorread of the Prime minister.
26:23
So that actually gave me a wee back comfort because
26:25
I thought, even if he gets all this is fifty
26:31
seven seats in Scotland, the difference, I think it's not
26:35
he's going to be the Prime minister. If he gets
26:36
fifty seven of them, he's going to be the Prime minister,
26:38
so I was my aged to sort of help that
26:42
helped me drive this notion of tactical voting. But what
26:48
I found really surprising when you consider with the British
26:52
electorate done. Britain and New UK were obviously just fed
26:56
up with the Tory government. They wanted to overturn them,
27:00
and they'd done that in amazing numbers. They switch from
27:03
the Tory majority to what we now have as a
27:07
the othern majority was a phenomenal swing. Yeah, I've seen
27:11
no celebration. Any other country in the world that managed
27:15
to overturn the hated government so much it would have
27:17
seen parties up and down all the major cities in
27:19
that country. There was nothing. There was no even Caroln's
27:24
going off in tweeting. There was zero celebration. And I
27:26
think that tells you all you need to know. We've
27:28
not overturned one poor government for a fantastic government of one, sorry,
27:34
overturned a poor government for one that might be slightly
27:37
less poor. And that was quite significant that there was
27:40
no mass celebrations and that result when the UK electorate
27:43
had actually done quite a phenomenal thing by overturning our
27:46
government in such last numbers.
27:48
Speaker 1: It seems like maybe they most people just wanted to change,
27:51
but they didn't know what that meant. They just knew
27:53
that something different was needed. That was the sense that
27:56
I got at the time. So what do you think
27:59
the means. I know, it's still early, you know, for
28:02
thinking about twenty twenty six, do you think the same
28:04
thing will happen up here? Well?
28:06
Speaker 2: I think the same that that will happen, that we'll
28:08
see a massive reduction in the amount of seats that
28:13
the SMP have. It's slightly more difficult up here because
28:17
we have this two vote system where you have a
28:20
portion of the seats are first past to post and
28:22
then we have a portion of seats that are for
28:24
the regional vote, which going a quite complex mathematical formula
28:31
to decide who gets the seats on what we call
28:33
the list for regional MSPs. So it's a bit more difficult,
28:38
but I think SMP will get a massive smash on
28:43
the constituents the normal first past the post seats, but
28:46
as oddly enough, the less first past to post seats
28:49
you've got, it makes it a bit easier to get
28:50
these other regional seats. So I'm hopeful if they still
28:55
a party come twenty twenty six, that they will see
28:59
a drop in seats, might not be as massive a
29:04
drop as we've seen, as a ratio in Westminster really
29:07
went from whether that forty odd forty eight down a nine,
29:14
you know, that was quite fromatic to a quarter more
29:17
than quarter the amount of seats. I don't see that
29:19
happening in Scotland, just because the way we vote, but
29:21
I'm quite confident that we'll get a vast number less
29:24
than the sixty odd I've got just now. I hope
29:27
that we have a lot of new parties. I would
29:31
love to see a lot of independence. I would love
29:34
to see a bigger spread of parties in all the
29:38
would which would lead to probably a coalition of some sort.
29:44
And I'm more centralized, so we've not got a radical
29:47
Parliament that we've had for the last seventeen years. So
29:50
that's where I hope we end up. And I hope
29:53
that if the SNP are still alive come twenty twenty six,
29:57
they are so insignificant and even if they have some
30:00
seakson enough to create a coalition with somebody, that nobody
30:04
will touch them because of they're so toxic and the
30:10
poor results and actually government a country.
30:13
Speaker 1: Do you want to touch a little bit on Tommy?
30:16
I just thought that was released yesterday. Do you want
30:18
to tell that story?
30:20
Speaker 2: I've wrote that, I've wrote that many after recorded that
30:22
many way Tommy a bit Tommy Shepherd. I think Tommy
30:25
Shepherd winning a comedy club is one of the funniest
30:28
things in the world. We've got a joke shop in
30:31
Glasgow called tam Shepherd's not which has been about for
30:35
one hundred dollars years. It's quite a famous, well known shop.
30:37
So then have Tami shop for Tommy. It's obviously and
30:40
so Tommy I think it's quite apt. And it was
30:45
just video about Tommish Shepherd. What was he saying. I
30:48
can't remember because I think I've done about three in
30:50
the last week about Tommy.
30:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, but the one about the Planner breakup of the
30:54
UK being void.
30:56
Speaker 2: But the funniest thing was he said that we need
31:00
attract three different types of voters to vote SMP. And
31:03
he said the first ones are nationalists that already vote
31:06
for US, The second one is nationalists that I've swung
31:10
away from US. In the third ones unionists, right, And
31:13
I thought, how idotic are you that you want to
31:17
go and try as a separatist party, you want to
31:20
attract unionists to vote for you, like your policies don't work,
31:25
and see if you had the best policies in the world,
31:27
I could understand that. You know, maybe a chunk of
31:30
unionists would think, well, there's not a referendum on the
31:32
table right now, so you know they're going to do
31:34
good things for Scotland. But the history of poor results,
31:38
in their history of having absolutely rotten and idiotic policies,
31:42
why would anybody vote for them that wasn't a mad
31:44
separatist And even you know, I don't know where the
31:48
SNP would have you believe, and I don't know how
31:50
they got to figure, but it's fifty percent of Scotland
31:52
want independence. I've just pulled a figure out there. I
31:55
don't believe that to be so, but let's just used
31:57
their logic. So if they're saying that we'll get fifty
32:00
percent of the Scottish public want are effort one independence
32:04
and the only will partly they've got to gether from
32:05
that right now. As the SMB, well, they've only got
32:09
twenty nine point nine percent of the vote in the
32:10
last Westminster election, A couple of weeks ago. So there
32:15
there's either the number that one independence is either twenty
32:20
nine point nine or there's a big junk of people
32:22
the one independence that even they've gave up hope, one
32:25
that's party. Either way, whatever one of those two statements
32:29
is true, it's a terrible position to be in for
32:32
the people who are there. They deliver independence for Scotland,
32:35
it suggests or a busted flush.
32:37
Speaker 1: So I think something that's really important for those of
32:40
us who think about, you know, everyday issues in Scotland.
32:43
So maybe people that don't pay attention to the kind
32:45
of these bigger issues, but things that affect us locally,
32:48
and I know that's something that we have in common.
32:50
I'm in Edinburgh or in Glasgow, I used to be
32:52
in Glasgow. Is for example, the pat whole problem, right,
32:56
And you had something on recently about the Pride flag
33:01
that was painted was it seventy thousand was it one
33:04
hundred seventy thousand pounds? But they paided in Merchant City, right,
33:08
and they spent fifty seventy thousand pounds in painting a
33:10
flag on the pavement when you can't even drive around
33:13
in our cities anymore because of the patholes because it
33:15
destroys everybody's tires and so on. Do you put the
33:19
blame on things like that, for on to Scottish Parliament,
33:23
to Hollywood or on to the city council's It.
33:25
Speaker 2: Doesn't matter really ultimate blame life for the amount of
33:28
potholes in Glasgow. The country's Scotland is managed by the SMP,
33:34
and so as Glasgow City Council. So you know it's
33:38
some Plasmo City chambers as an SMP stronghold, So it
33:42
doesn't matter to be the liability lands. It's the lands
33:45
at the door of the SMP regardless. But Scottish, I
33:49
mean scott at Glasgow. I genuinely don't know what's going
33:53
on with Glasgow City counts. So it just seems ridiculous
33:57
the things that they feel are important and the things
33:59
that are weigh and important to them. But yeah, the
34:03
suggestion was that the Pride flag that was painted my
34:08
handkibs are about on hundred and thirty meters long. It
34:11
was cost seventy thousand pounds and that beggars belief. For hey,
34:15
how you would managed to spend seventy thousand pounds and
34:19
a few pots of pain and why how you were
34:22
able to justify it when anybody going to the Pride
34:25
March would probably ruin the car alloys if they drove
34:27
more than three miles to get there because the potholes
34:31
and barsquageous. They're bad all over the place. But I
34:34
would problem. Maybe it's just because I spend more time
34:37
driving about Glasgow, but I would prepare to put good
34:40
money on it. The aid of buston Scotland might be
34:42
because I've used more. You know, they've got all these
34:44
factors to take in, but absolutely dediculous. But there's no
34:48
potholes and the bidelines that nobody uses.
34:53
Speaker 1: You've had the LAZ longer, the low emission Zone LAZ.
35:00
We've just had that come into effect in Edinburgh here
35:02
in June. I've heard that they've put that into effect
35:05
in Dundee, which I can't really see traffic being that
35:08
significant in Dundee, And it's just amazing to me. It
35:13
seems like their goal is to get people to just
35:15
stop moving around, to stop driving, to stop using cars
35:19
at least, if not something worse, just to get people
35:23
to stay at home. And you know, get might get
35:26
a little conspirat to oil here, but I don't know
35:29
if you watch some of the other channels down south
35:31
that talk about, you know, these kinds of issues. Jeff
35:34
Buys Cars is another one of my favorite YouTube channels.
35:36
It talks about the twenty mile an hour speed limits.
35:39
I'm just wondering if there is a reason why they're
35:42
prioritizing things like pride flags and not prioritizing things like
35:46
making the roads fit for purpose anymore. It's a bit
35:49
disturbing to me. I don't know if Glasgow they've had
35:53
the bus lanes the ellis because I used I lived
35:55
in Glasgow for several years before I moved over to Edinburgh,
35:57
so I remember watching all that come in and how
35:59
it kind of is in the process of destroying the
36:02
city center, which is very sad. Used to be a
36:04
beautiful place when I first moved there, and now everything's closing.
36:07
The shops are closing, they're replacing it with student housing.
36:11
There's sort of closing saying ed Act, They're closing Buchanan Galleries,
36:14
all of those those places that people used to come into,
36:16
So you know, what is the ultimate goal here. I
36:19
don't know if you have any thoughts on that.
36:22
Speaker 2: Well, listen if I would rather politicians like common sense
36:26
and logic, and they certainly don't because Glasgow City Center.
36:31
I don't know how long ago you lived here, but
36:33
it used to be a five in city center, both
36:35
during the day for shop and at night for restaurants,
36:38
barsand clubs. But now you just don't go in. And
36:43
I spoke to a parent, I Aronakas Football Club is
36:49
a volunteer, and I was talking to one of the
36:52
parents four months ago and she was a managers in
36:56
one of the shops in New York Center and she
36:59
was like, at night time, it's an ogle area for
37:01
normal people because it's just hoodies and kids causing chaos.
37:09
And you know, you probably going into the seat House
37:11
car park, which is always you know, was busy, but
37:14
you could always find a space, so it was a
37:16
good usable option when you rove in. Probably there it
37:19
is probably a ghost town now at night. So you
37:22
come over all these air brain schemes that you think,
37:25
you know that will be nice and cuddley and green friendly,
37:29
but the knock on effect to all these other businesses
37:33
is just crazy. And then you know every empty shop
37:36
is a loss of income to the council through rates,
37:39
and you you know, you expect people to use a
37:45
transport network that's that's rubbish. And the underground in Glasgow
37:49
is a good example. It's a decent facility, but it
37:52
now is slower since they redeveloped the new trains on
37:56
it and it was in Victorian era. That takes some
37:59
down right, So you're actually making a decent thing even
38:03
you know, you managed to make that worse than it
38:05
was over one hundred years ago. But so again at
38:10
Glasgow's no the easiest thing with public transport unless you
38:13
happen to have close to one of the dozen underground stations,
38:19
so that you know, it was easy ten years ago
38:21
to jump in, find a car part somewhere, go for
38:23
a mule and go home, or get a taxi if
38:27
you want to have a drink. Even that's more difficult
38:30
now because there's taxis in Glasgow who were unable not
38:33
because they didn't want to, because it wasn't possible for
38:37
them to get a taxis lsy complying, so the taxis
38:40
and there going into city center, the buses are rotten,
38:43
buses are full of nets traveling for you skame to
38:46
skim of gang fights because we'll give kids that are
38:49
under twenty two three bus passes now, and I'm not
38:51
going to art galleries and museums and make themselves more intelligent.
38:54
All they've done is they've made the gang fight culture
38:57
easier to go to different areas. So you really want
39:00
to use a bus in Glasgow When it was done,
39:03
the taxis are getting lesser able to go into the
39:05
city center and businesses are getting hurt. So it just
39:11
seems absolutely chaoti and there's no common sense and logic
39:15
and I don't think anybody has been able to justify
39:20
what benefits, if any, to pollution and Glasgow City center
39:25
since the laz came out. Now, I'm probably willing to
39:28
put good money on there'll be no difference, or it'll
39:31
be such a minute school difference that it wasn't worth it.
39:34
And what they've done in this drive to do China's
39:40
worked for it by somehow, you know, Scotland or Glasgow
39:44
producing its carbon footprints going to somehow counteract all the
39:47
stuff that's going on in China. But what it's done
39:50
is it's wrecked the city center and it will wreck businesses.
39:54
But they don't want to listen. They just they're not
39:56
interested and it's just another and it's also another stuff
40:00
because anybody that does going there with a checking that
40:03
engine fast ends up. We finds it going here. Awfulness
40:08
of local changels.
40:12
Speaker 1: When I first moved here Scotland, I was recruited to
40:15
work at the University of Strathclyde and the Glasgow City Center.
40:19
At the time, this was over ten years ago now,
40:22
but it was one of the things that recruited me
40:26
sold me on the idea of moving to Glasgow and
40:29
it was a very long move for me across the ocean,
40:31
but thinking of the city's amazing. There's so much going on.
40:34
I was walking around, I was waiting for my interview
40:37
the night before everyone was out, I had a nice meal.
40:41
It was coming up on Christmas, i remember, and all
40:43
the lights were up in George Square and it just
40:45
seems so alive and it just really broke my heart
40:49
to see where it ended up. And we ended up
40:51
leaving in twenty twenty two, and that's when we moved
40:53
to Edinburgh, which isn't much better in some counts. In
40:57
some places, but it really is a very sad story
41:01
and from what I've seen that's happening in cities around
41:04
the UK, it's unfortunately, not just in Glasgow but city
41:08
sounds out as well that are experiencing similar situation. It's
41:11
because of these policies where they're saying you don't come
41:14
in with your car, don't you know, and then the
41:16
trains aren't working well and you just you don't give
41:19
up because it's too hard to get in, because you
41:21
don't know, you feel get home by the end of it.
41:23
It's it's really a very sad situation.
41:26
Speaker 2: I'm actually trying to sit in here, trying to think
41:28
the last time I was in the city center. Oh,
41:33
I know, I had my watch, was in for a
41:35
service in the neatest places in Buchani Street and to
41:38
take it to the media shop to drop it off,
41:40
and then I went back something rediculously ten weeks later,
41:42
but how long it took to fix it. So that
41:45
would have been over a year ago the last time
41:50
I was in Glasgow City Center. And that's incredible, Whereas
41:54
previously i'd've been in a number of times per month
41:57
because it was a decent experience to go in for shopping,
42:00
you know. That's particularly the Cannon Street and I run
42:03
up towards a Girl Street and then from a Girl
42:05
Street up to Sofy Hall Street. It's a nice place
42:07
you could go for lunch. And you know, living in
42:10
a merchant city once or twice a month for a
42:12
nice meal wasn't you know, difficult? But I think I could.
42:19
I think the time it was it's once in the
42:24
last year. Twice last year because I had to go
42:26
in and drop the watch off and had to go
42:27
and pick it up, so that was twice maybe before that.
42:32
So you probably told about eighteen months, to be honest
42:34
with you, that is incredible. I mean I literally love.
42:38
I can jump the subway from my house and be
42:40
in the city center in twelve minutes, even less than
42:45
that probably, and that's when the thing stopping four or
42:47
five times. But I just don't go into the city center.
42:50
That is mental.
42:51
Speaker 1: Yeah. I used to be in there every day obviously
42:53
for work, and then I could stop for the shops
42:55
after work. We used to go on on Fridays to
42:57
the pubs with my colleagues. You know. It was so great,
43:00
and then something happened while I think partially twenty twenty
43:03
happened and everything shut down and it just never really came.
43:07
Speaker 2: Back after that.
43:07
Speaker 1: I think that was how I've that's how I experienced
43:11
it anyway, But prior to that, there was so much
43:14
to do. It was just a very really cool place
43:16
to be, and I didn't live in the city center.
43:18
I was glad to get out of it at the
43:19
end of the day, but I was also glad to
43:21
go in in the morning. And I'm just afraid that
43:24
that's going to keep happening more and more in the
43:26
cities I see here a bit in Edinburgh. I've heard
43:29
as well with other cities down south, but that's again
43:32
the same situation. So I'm not really sure. They keep
43:36
blaming online shopping for it, and the fact that people
43:39
prefer to shop on Amazon than they do to come
43:42
into the city center, and people are kind of missing
43:44
the point of having a nice day out anyway.
43:46
Speaker 2: I think unfortunately, I've been to America three times in
43:50
the last four years or five years, shot my hear
43:54
seem busy. It didn't seem to get any quiet after
43:59
you know, COVID, et cetera. So these places, I mean,
44:05
have managed to navigate the world pandemic and still survive.
44:10
But you touched on something earlier on which I find bizarre, right,
44:13
And it's conspiracy theories, right, and I don't. I don't
44:17
consider myself a conspiracy theories, but I'm quite sure I
44:20
have some theories that could be considered quince erictorial. And
44:24
one of them that's bothered me the now is if
44:26
you think of el Z's, you think of the twenty minute,
44:29
fifteen minutes, thirty minute cities, whatever name you want to
44:32
give them, you think about plans rights, I think you
44:36
other things. These are quite bizarre thoughts, right, These are
44:40
quite bizarre policies. They're not central, right, they're quite out
44:45
there theories that governments have implemented. Yeah, countries all over
44:52
the world surprisingly had all these exact same thoughts at
44:54
the exact same time at Tom's Privy World. Right, because
45:01
if you I can imagine somebody somewhere saying, you know what,
45:05
we need to start teaching kids in primary school age
45:08
about trans rights. We need to start doing that. And
45:12
that was someday in Australia, and ten years fifteen years
45:15
later that it was seeing that that was a successful thing,
45:18
then other countries started adopting the same policies. I could
45:21
understand that what we're facing today is things like I've
45:26
just mentioned, Suddenly people having the same the exact same
45:31
light bulb moment in countries all across the world that
45:35
are almost identical. I find that completely bizarre.
45:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, especially these things that are so dangerous around, like
45:42
the trans issues, and I'm hearing the same thing from
45:46
I have colleagues and friends both in America and in Canada,
45:49
because I'm both American and Canadian, and then they're all
45:51
seeing the same things in their countries that we're seeing
45:53
over here, with the trans issues and the LGBT rights
45:57
and the essentially you know, me coming to this as
46:01
an educator in my background anyway, teaching children about these
46:05
things which seem to be more important than actually teaching
46:07
subjects and actually teaching the ability to do things when
46:10
they get out of school. There seems to be a
46:12
change in priorities. And that's true in all three countries
46:15
that I know about. It's very disturbing. So see, you
46:20
went to America three times. I have to ask where
46:22
in America were you?
46:24
Speaker 2: Very boring Florida three times. But I love the state
46:29
of Florida and I hate they be batting the middle
46:32
called Orlando a log. Being a tourist, that's where you
46:34
tend to fly and to and be based but I've
46:36
managed to see as far north as Saint Augustine and Etona,
46:42
as far south as the Keys, as far that side
46:46
as Miami, and his father other's side is they, et cetera.
46:49
So I do love the state. I'm a names Houston,
46:52
so I've got on the desire to go to EXAs
46:55
and visit Houston at some point, just to take for
46:58
I think it's just been nice thing to do. And
47:01
I've got a wee buman desire that she's California in
47:03
New York before them too. So yeah, there was visits
47:06
of all, but not I've not just spent fourteen days
47:09
cudling Mickey Mouse and Orlando managed to go in and
47:13
see about awfully state.
47:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's my experience. When I talk to people who
47:18
are from here, it's usually either Florida, California, New York
47:21
are potentially Vegas, if you know. Kind of seemed to
47:24
be the main American destinations from over here. I was
47:28
on a plane once. It was on American Airlines, flying
47:31
to New York, and then I connected from there, and
47:34
I was sitting next to a woman and her son.
47:38
They were Scottish and they were completely perplexed by the
47:42
idea that this airline didn't have iron Brew available. So
47:47
I had to translate because the flight attendant didn't even
47:49
know what they were talking about. And I said, I
47:51
promise you, they don't have Ironbrew, just order a coke.
47:56
So it's interesting, you know, being kind of a person
47:59
who's lived in three countries and been here for several years,
48:02
it's it's really interesting to see the differences and kind
48:05
of try to be a translator for people when they're
48:07
when they go abroad. So what's your thought on the
48:12
American elections, the current status of things in the past
48:17
two weeks.
48:18
Speaker 2: There's things about America that I really do Like I
48:22
went for the speedway race and I saw how they
48:27
celebrate their enforces out there. I think it's tremendous respect
48:31
to show. I was in a cigar shop the same trip,
48:36
and when I went to tell it was about fishboat
48:38
for gals and I was buying by others I was
48:40
having and I said to the guy, was on special
48:43
offer or something? He says, no, that's for the troops.
48:45
It was like, what do you mean, She's once ione
48:47
her customers donate cigals and we go the troops that
48:50
are seven overseas. Fantastic snow, got a couple more cigars. Stuff. Man,
48:56
these things I love. I was very fortunate to be
48:58
in Miami for the fourth of July one year and
49:02
the celebrations and how patrioti the country as I think
49:05
these are things both to do, things that the United
49:08
Kingdom could could take and learn lessons from her cousins
49:14
in America. But I just laughed that if I was
49:20
in America, I'd probably vote for Trump, and that's just
49:22
based on personality more than probably anything else. Right, I
49:24
quite liked him. I quite liked in having Boris Johnson
49:27
were the two he does. There are two countries. Not
49:29
for their political views that some of them are good
49:32
and some of them are bad, that's politics, but just
49:34
the fact that they are non politician, right, They're just
49:37
guys that are going, we're going to do this, and
49:39
they were you know that, it was they were very
49:41
It was a personality driving thing. Then you look right
49:44
and you go right. So the Americans up until a
49:47
couple of days ago, had the choice of Biden or Trump,
49:52
and it now looks as if they're going to get
49:54
another choice, which looks as if it might be Harris right,
49:57
and you look at these people and you think, yeah,
50:02
the population's work three hundred million, and that's that right.
50:06
You think you should have six times as much chance
50:09
of having a good choice of politicians, and we have.
50:12
We've got some crackpots that get these jobs, right, But
50:14
that's because we'll get quite a small population and relation
50:18
to America. And although I'd quite like Trump, right, he's crackers, right,
50:22
it is absolutely crackers. And he's the choice or Biden's
50:26
a choice, and you're thinking, seriously, is that the best
50:28
we can do? And now you've got this Kamila Harris.
50:31
It looks as if she's just probably a pre geriatric
50:36
version of Biden. You know, anything, I've watched the I'm sorry,
50:40
I listened to either the Senate or the other one
50:44
where they had the Security Service women yesterday and the
50:48
we're getting the question her on the attempted assassination of Trump.
50:51
You know, these people in the Senate or the of
50:54
our chamber, it was that I've questioned in as women.
50:56
They seemed quite prepare right and the knowledgeable the topic.
51:02
And I thought these people sound all right, But I
51:05
just I think it's incredible. I think the whole Biden
51:08
thing I don't. I don't how if he's got COVID,
51:12
I'd be shocked and stunned. But the fact that anybody
51:15
could see before they even got to that CAF crash
51:18
Trump debate, you could see that that guy was unelected, right,
51:23
and it was going to probably lose an election based
51:25
on his He's wherewith all this, the stuff that you've
51:28
seen over here at the Day Day Landing commemoration and
51:31
stuff like that, it's actually unfair to expect him to
51:35
be in that job. Then when you figure out he's
51:38
got he's got the passwords to the button that could,
51:40
you know, blows all up the stuff you think as
51:42
is just insane. And then even after that, you would
51:46
think the Trump debate thing, that's got to be the
51:48
end of the road. They still let him go in
51:50
the road after that, and you're like, it reminded me
51:57
of a lot of the stuff that are politicians do
51:59
when you look get their decisions and you think you
52:01
actually cannot read the room, and you know, I can
52:05
understand it. If you're the president of the United States
52:07
or you're Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, you're in
52:09
quite a protective bubble and you don't really get, you know,
52:13
to sit in a bar or going to a local
52:15
pub and get the feedback from normal people. I can
52:18
kind of understand how that does. What are we But
52:22
they pay mountains and mounions of pounds and probably tens
52:25
of millions of pounds across the point for advisors and
52:28
pr people that surely these people must be able to
52:32
read the room. But they don't. They all And that's
52:35
regardless of whether it's a White House or Westminster or Hollywood.
52:39
Totally annected reading a round. And I just hope I
52:43
think Scottish Hollywood, the Scottish panel of Hollywood, it is
52:47
probably the easiest place where we can make a difference
52:52
and we can hopefully touch would get people. I mean
52:56
up already said I'm going to stand for election for that.
52:59
I want to encourages many normal people, people that have
53:03
loved about, people that have managed about, people that may
53:05
be a bit of entrepreneurial, people that are community leaders,
53:08
people that have got skills and knowledge that are more
53:13
grounded than some of these crackpots that are doing it
53:16
just now. You know, these career politicians that have never
53:18
worked a day in their life, or you know they've
53:20
been as bad for I mean you look, it comes
53:24
with you. So for example, that guy came out a
53:26
college or university, get a job and a call center
53:29
for a wee while, then ended up a special advisor
53:31
to Alex Salmon to start with, and started climbing a ladder. Totally.
53:38
You take them out of that and put them in
53:39
the private sector. We've almost unemployable when you're look, what
53:44
have you done a lot the call center? No disrespect.
53:47
I've worked in call centers, no disrespect. The people have
53:49
done it. But we've done sort of other things as well.
53:53
And I would just love a Hollywood that was full
53:56
of people, regardless of their party or whether they're in
53:59
the ending or whatever, they were just there. They apply
54:03
common sense, logic and a better experience and just said,
54:07
you know what, we ain't going to accept bullshit. We
54:09
ain't going to accept a first minister standing up and
54:12
asked a question three times and no getting an answer
54:15
and just saying, hold on the man, where's that button?
54:17
Can I call a point in order? That guy has
54:20
asked that guy a question four times, and I'd love
54:22
to his must speaker just make sure that they answer
54:29
the question. I just feel like we're with people care
54:33
do you know what I mean? And if they lose
54:36
their seat in five year, the end of the world,
54:37
because they're perfect, get a job in the private set.
54:41
So what you're going to do is hopefully they'll do
54:45
as much as possible for the Scottish people and give
54:50
us a better job. And then you've got this other
54:53
thing that I don't really want again. But you know,
54:55
inspired about a new world order and you know globalism
54:59
and all that. Well, if that is true, then the
55:01
globalism is in parties that are traditional parties. Well let's
55:05
just fill it with people for non traditional parties and
55:07
independence and just cut that off at the past as well.
55:11
But I just don't care how some it does cure Stammer. Right,
55:18
one of the first things he's done, he's gave eighty
55:21
seven million pounds to a load of foreign countries, hoping
55:26
that that will make these countries do something whatever as
55:29
in their country to make it less likely that people
55:31
will try and be asylum seekers for their country and
55:34
company us. Right, you think, well, how is that going
55:36
to work when you've got no control on what these
55:39
countries do with their money, And then you go, oh,
55:42
what on a minute, these people don't leave their country
55:46
and come straight to the UK. They actually come from
55:49
their country any of the EU somehow, and then nine
55:52
times out of ten illegally for a boat for the
55:54
north of Fans to the south of England. So it's
55:57
really no problem that the bit getting them from the
56:00
country around there now into the EUS that he used. Problem.
56:02
So if anybody should be given any country money, if
56:04
that actually would work in the first place to make
56:08
the citizens of that said country less likely to become
56:12
illegal immigrants, then that's the real job. That's he used job,
56:15
because it's then that's getting them in in the first place.
56:18
And you go, how much common sense and logic did
56:20
you apply that decision before you spend eighty seven million
56:23
pounds of money? You go, do you know what you've
56:27
done there? You've done that whole political thing. But it
56:29
doesn't matter what the guy before you've done. You've got
56:32
to say that's rotten regardless it was a good idea
56:34
a bad idea. So the last lot said we're going
56:36
to send folk to ORLANDA you're saying, well, I'm not
56:39
going to do that because they wanted to do that.
56:41
So I'm just I really need to come up to
56:42
something that's going to work, and you think that's never
56:45
going to work because you work at this eighty seven million,
56:48
which is a big figure for the UK taxpayers to lose.
56:52
But by the time you divide it into the countries
56:53
that he's going to give it to, I think the
56:55
biggest recipient is going to get twelve million quid. Do
56:57
you tell me what a country and Africa can do
56:59
with I can do the twelve million pounds. It's going
57:02
to make their residents decide not to leave. It just
57:08
beggars belief. Why would you do it? Travid And the
57:11
Scottish Parliament is probably the one maybe you can make
57:13
the biggest difference in and get normal people that just
57:19
don't accept excuse my French bullshit and just want to
57:23
go in and get a job done, and try and
57:25
make her community, which you know is Scotland her part
57:28
of the UK's as good as possible. The rest of
57:31
are all bonkers.
57:33
Speaker 1: No, I agree completely. Will be running as an independent.
57:37
I can't see you joining a party.
57:40
Speaker 2: I did have a thought of running. There was two
57:42
parties in mind, and that one of them had asked me,
57:44
another one hadn't. The one that hadn't was Reform and
57:48
I thought they make they might be suit me better
57:52
than any other. But unfortunately, in the twenty four hours
57:55
before the election, I found out some of the stuff
57:57
that they'd done in the Scottish electorate and I thought, well,
58:00
not a chance. I couldn't even recommend anybody to vote
58:04
for you now, because you were selling the notion that
58:07
you were a uber unionist party. But you had four
58:11
candidates that Arma used to find out in the space
58:13
of two hours that are actually Scottish nationalists sitting his
58:15
candidates in Scotland, you had just second in command who
58:18
had been with the party for a number of years.
58:20
Second command in Scotland a video in January and his
58:24
personal Facebook page saying that he voted independence in twenty
58:27
fourteen and if you had the chance again in the future,
58:31
then you would vote for independence again. It was also suggestion,
58:34
as the second in chance of the Scottish branch of
58:38
Reform that we should have a referendum Scottish National independence
58:41
referendum in twenty thirty nine. I then found out that
58:44
that was actually on the UK Reforums website for a
58:48
number a piece of time before one of their members
58:52
from Aberdeen. I not I don't know if you remember,
58:54
somebody in Aberdeen came to me and said that contacted
58:57
Reform about this. It was on their website. They were
59:00
telling the Scottish Unionists and the union it's all over
59:02
the UK that there was a super Unionist party A
59:05
far from it, just codology. And that's I kind of
59:08
like Nigel Frage because he's a personality politician. I don't,
59:12
you know, most of his thoughts and most of these
59:14
policies I don't disagree with, which is why I was
59:16
considered going to them and asking them if they would
59:18
allow me possibly to stand as a candidate. And he
59:21
just thought, you know what, that was just a whole scam.
59:23
That was just a whole scam to get forrash In
59:26
four or fivey his buddies in the Parliament. And they
59:29
don't care about Scotland for what I've seen. And I
59:32
might take some amount of arguing arguing to make any
59:37
change my mind, but I think the party at his
59:41
heart is a decent thing. But I thold both think
59:43
they actually give a toss about Scotland. And I've been
59:45
a Unionist in Scotland over the last ten years has
59:48
been a ha roughy place to be because every party's
59:50
passed up a leg at some point and none of
59:52
the No party is actually understood that if you're a
59:56
Unionist in Scotland for the last ten years, you live
59:59
through a f endom where you genuinely thought you were
1:00:01
going to lose your place in part of the United Kingdom.
1:00:06
You're told you were a traitor. You've been told that
1:00:08
you're a boot licker. You've been been told that you
1:00:12
serve that the Butcher's apron, which is the United Kingdom flag,
1:00:16
which I hope quite dear, And there has been no
1:00:20
party in Scotland. It's actually so far being an actual
1:00:26
home for you. It was a Labor party that gave
1:00:30
us a Hollywood parliament that doesn't do anything. It was
1:00:34
a Tory government that gave us a referendum that split
1:00:37
the country and have dore'sn't just nothing up here. There's
1:00:41
an actual home. So I thought, after election, I'll spend
1:00:44
a bat time or maybe because I was asking people,
1:00:47
and after election, I'll have a look at these parties
1:00:50
and I'll see the two what one it's my politics best.
1:00:57
But reform just blew that notion right now the door
1:01:00
with what I saw in the last twenty four I
1:01:01
was as a Scottish Unionist. I take it very personal
1:01:04
the way, and I wished them well in England. I
1:01:06
genuinely do. I think they've got a place in politics.
1:01:09
But anybody that wants to tell me that they've got
1:01:13
any concerns about Scottish Unionists, no you don't. I proven
1:01:20
that you don't. And that's where the people infiltrating their
1:01:23
party plannedestinely, this is people. And I spoke to one
1:01:26
of them. I said, what did they ask you when
1:01:30
there were interviewing a candidate? And they told me they
1:01:32
asked me how I voted the referendum, what my views
1:01:34
were in the Scottish constitution, and I told them I'm
1:01:36
an asterist. I will how did there is a crackpot
1:01:40
for going right? Because why would anybody's a nationalist want
1:01:43
to join us Rouper he's only doing it because he
1:01:46
saw maybe clanging their coat tails and get a ninety
1:01:49
thousand pounds job in Westminster. So he's as much a
1:01:52
crackpot as arrested parliamentarius right, but that partly allowed that well,
1:01:58
pretending to the Holy United kind uber union and reality
1:02:03
is totally different.
1:02:04
Speaker 1: Well, I wish you luck. I really do. I'll be
1:02:06
watching you and seeing what happens in the next couple
1:02:09
of years. I think it's just the position that I
1:02:13
took in the election, and I think I can speak
1:02:15
for the UK column in general that our recommendation was
1:02:18
for people to vote for independence if they had the
1:02:20
option in their area to vote for independent. In ps
1:02:27
we saw how it turned out anyway, but I think
1:02:29
I don't know, maybe over the next five years or
1:02:32
two years up here, maybe we'll see that the people
1:02:35
aren't seeing that the change that they want to see,
1:02:37
that they wanted to see has happened, and maybe they
1:02:39
will start to look for alternative options. So that that's
1:02:42
my hope anyway. I think we're just about a time
1:02:45
here though. Is there anything else that you wanted to
1:02:48
mention to our viewers that we didn't get a chance
1:02:51
to talk about before we wrap up.
1:02:54
Speaker 2: I'd just like the Scottish people that are half sensible
1:02:57
and care about the nation and get involved. It took
1:03:02
Michael Matheson to try and stay eleven thousand pound out
1:03:05
of Scottish person. It wasn't even that, it was the
1:03:07
fact that you lied about it ignited a passion in me.
1:03:11
Just in November last year. And I'm not suggesting people
1:03:15
can go out and do what I've done and end
1:03:16
up with a load of people watching your videos on
1:03:18
a regular basis and getting a big platform and social media.
1:03:21
I understand that's not for everyone, but anyone who's got
1:03:25
a concern for the country and are part of the
1:03:29
country Scotland, then get involved. And you don't need to
1:03:33
be involved by putting a camera in front of your
1:03:35
face and going and standing up and talking to demonstrations
1:03:37
and doing podcasts as I guess that I'm doing just
1:03:40
now and all these things I've done in the past.
1:03:42
But you can do something. And if you do feel
1:03:45
you've got the ability to serve Scottish people as ourn
1:03:49
MSP in Scotland and go research look at it. Some
1:03:55
of the smaller parties and newer parties consider being an
1:03:57
independent and if you can do it, then go and
1:04:01
do it. And if anybody doesn't know how to do
1:04:03
it intact mean I'll help you. And whether we end
1:04:06
up helping each other or you can find a home
1:04:08
and it's a party that you're like, well, that'd be great.
1:04:11
And I just want as many normal people being available
1:04:15
for the Scottish electorate to vote on twenty twenty six.
1:04:18
It's possible. So we will not get one hundred and
1:04:21
thirty MSPs that are all normal people and you know,
1:04:24
common sense and logic driven. But we can do a
1:04:28
damn sight better I've got just now. And if you're
1:04:30
not that type of person, then find an independent person
1:04:33
or find a smaller, newer party that takes the boxes
1:04:37
for you, Go and be a member, Go and help them,
1:04:40
be a canvas or put leaflets, so share stuff in
1:04:43
social media so that the time we get to twenty
1:04:45
twenty six, a far better chance of having at least
1:04:50
a third or a half of Parliament be normal people
1:04:54
that can make a difference because they'll know there it's
1:04:58
career politicians don't know they are up the party, up
1:05:02
the country apart about a separatism and they just want
1:05:06
what's best for Scotland. And if we can have five
1:05:08
years of good people, regardless of rest are not and
1:05:14
that building, then we can make a difference. And if
1:05:17
you can be that person and support that person, find
1:05:20
a party, are an independent that you agree with, and
1:05:24
support them, help them chapters, help them fill town hall
1:05:28
meetings and you know, get a batter support for them
1:05:32
and challenge these people that have had controllers Scottish Parliament
1:05:37
and Westminster for far too long and far easier around.
1:05:41
Speaker 1: Thanks very much, I really appreciate this has been really
1:05:43
interesting and enjoyable, as I knew it would be, so
1:05:46
thank you again and once again, This is Craig W.
1:05:47
Speaker 2: Houston Tact two.
1:05:49
Speaker 1: You can find his podcast. You can find him on
1:05:51
Twitter and YouTube and anywhere else you look for podcasts.
1:05:55
This is Diane Rasmus and mccarny with UK Callum and
1:05:58
thank you all for joining us today. Thank you very
1:06:00
much Craig for your time.
1:06:01
Speaker 2: I appreciate it. Thank you for inviting me. It's been
1:06:04
good fun as I knew it would be. Thank you
1:06:06
for that platform.
1:06:07
Speaker 1: Thank you