There are some vicious people in the world

Some of you may have read my post last week about "M" an asylum seeker friend of mine who is at his very lowest ebb right now, despairing as he has to choose between being murdered in his home country or starving to death here. You may also have read my post about this sad hate filled individual who was (anonymously) having a go at me.

I didn't answer his last abusive message so he's sent another one and I've decided to post it in its entirety. I won't be doing this again but I feel it's important to let you see the attitude and the hate that asylum seekers have to face from some people. Anyway I'll stop talking now and let "Angus" speak for himself ...


Your “friend”, as your Mhango friends, is a lying con-merchant - he and his companion gained illegal entry on a forged document. And why all the way to Glasgow - Glasgow the soft touch - that’s why.

Your “friend”, as your Mhango friends, had his spurious claim for asylum turned down. He should, but will not, be making arrangements to leave Britain.

If he claimed he had no money, how did he pay for the “flat they'd been living in”? - answer, he didn’t have to pay, the furnished flat was free - you bampot / liar. So were his utility bills - the British taxpayer paid for those .... From my area MP ....
/ The level of support is intended to reflect the fact that supported asylum seekers do not have to meet the cost of accommodation, furnishings and utility bills. /

And the temporary accommodation you’ve got them? Would that be the same accommodation you hid the illegal Mhangos in prior to assisting them in their illegal run to .... where? How much is the taxpayer doling out to the lying Florence and how much is it costing us to educate the lying, schooled by her mother, Tionge?

Just think, (are you capable) instead of doling out finance to your lying, scrounging, illegals, we could use that finance, for instance, on providing better cancer treatment to Britain’s sufferers.

And instead of squandering finance on an absolute incompetent (you) and your pointless family members signed up by yourself to siphon off a share of the pot, we could ditch you and yours. Praise the Lord - we will be getting rid of you and yours shortly. Although you will probably unload yourself on to some money-wasting asylum support ‘charity’ and carry on living out of our wage packets.

Aye, "you don't know you're born Hen" ....

Have you ever seen children undergoing treatment in a cancer ward? Their time for operations are kept secret for as long as possible from the child patient - the kids know what faces them, during and after.

Have you ever seen sick kids hooked up to and dragging their mobile ‘trolleys’ behind them - feeds them their drips.

Naw, you’re more interested in ‘seeing Precious' smiling face as she pulled her wee suitcase behind her‘ - aw whit a shame.

I could go on, but I will desist, your bleeding heart is reserved for your poor (lol) wee lying, money-grabbing “asylum seekers”.

Clutching at straws on trams fiasco

Had evidence session for Public Audit committee today on the fiasco that is the Trams!! The brass neck of the Labour and Tory parties was breathtaking. They voted FOR it. The SNP voted AGAINST it at both council and parliament level. But we lost and it went ahead albeit with a cap on spending of £500 million.

Today, instead of admitting they were wrong and should never have voted this complex expensive project through, some of them tried to blame the SNP councillors in Edinburgh and others tried to blame the SNP government. Apparently the fact that the 12 SNP councillors on a council of 58 in total, are opposed to the trams, has somehow led to the dispute between TIE and the private contractors?! Not according to our witnesses who said it made "no material difference".

And the Scottish Government who voted AGAINST it in the first place? Well, it may be an Edinburgh City Council owned event and we know that normally that would mean that the council would manage it but the opposition have decided that Transport Scotland should have broken with common practice and run it for them. And because they (a Scottish Govt agency) didn't, it ended up like this.

Except, I asked the witnesses if Transport Scotland had an open door or a shut door policy and guess what they said? Yes, TS very helpful and always there when advice needed.

Must be terrible having no-one to blame, particularly when it's your default position!

Birthdays

I will turn you inside out!!!

That was the charming "threat" from some pathetic moron who sent me a comment after I published this post about a couple of guys I had the misfortune to be sharing a bus with.

However I'd rather be on the same bus as them and their misguidedness than "Angus the Anonymous" with his heartless and cynical attitude toward fellow human beings although he seems to have missed that last bit.

The post was long and full of nasty stuff about how wicked all asylum seekers are etc. Usual crap you get from BNP types but here's how it ended.

"However, the truth is, you made that wee story up by all by yourself. There were no “ two guys in their 20s eating kebabs, drunk as skunks and only just staying upright”.

Wee bit like the asylum supporters who chose to compare asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants with our own unemployed as against the millions of hard-working people who work to provide for themselves - and your asylum seekers.

You should have spent more of the time, we pay for it, getting rid of the illegals, including your failed absconding illegal Mhangos.

Please post this on your blog - I will debate asylum with you - I will turn you inside out."

Turn me inside out? I don't think I can be bothered to be honest. And no, I won't be publishing any more of your lies. If you want to peddle those myths, go ahead but do it on your own blog.

Demon drink, "asylum seekers", kebabs and the 38 bus

I was on a bus a while back and standing at the front were two guys in their 20s eating kebabs. I say "standing" but they were drunk as skunks and only just staying upright. I say "eating" kebabs, more like wearing them - and the sauce! Suffice to say they were in a right state and I was listening in to their chat which was quite entertaining in some ways.

However then a guy with two carrier bags of food got up to get off the bus. He looked like he might have been Sri Lankan but anyway he wasn't white - this becomes relevant later. He was very courteous as he tried to get past them. They were not aggressive but they were put out. They were doing that "who do you think you are?" thing without actually saying it out loud.

They waited till he was actually OFF the bus before they did that. And the conversation went along these lines:

"Did you see him wi his f****ing shopping bags?"

"Aye man, who does he think he is?" (Told you!)

"How can a f***ing asylum seeker afford a' they messages and I cannae?"

"I know man. These asylum seekers pure get everythin don't they?"

"That's not right but man is it? I'm fae this country and I cannae get a job so how come he can?"

"Aye. You cannae get a job and nane of us can afford two big bags of messages. Something no right man. Tellin ye."

OK so quick factfile for anyone who doesn't get why I was compelled to join in the conversation from the comfort of my seat on the bus.

Fact 1 - if he's an asylum seeker, he can't get a job, he's not allowed one;

Fact 2 - these two on the other hand ARE allowed to work but it tends to be harder to get one if you are in the habit of getting so drunk you can barely stand;

Fact 3 - it was Farmfoods carrier bags he was carrying. Farmfoods is dirt cheap. If mums go to Iceland, skint mums go to Farmfoods;

Fact 4 - although you can buy strong alcohol far too cheaply thanks to the opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament, they probably spent more on drink and the kebabs they were dripping down their fronts than he did on his week's shopping;

Fact 5 - HOW ON EARTH DID THEY KNOW HE WAS AN ASYLUM SEEKER? The UKBA have not (yet) introduced branding to the forehead so why were they so sure?

They had no answer to that question. In fact, I was surprised that they got quite sheepish when I continued to question them. I thought they'd get aggressive but no, in fact they looked slightly nervous of me. Oops. All I was trying to do was educate them too!

This guy could've been a doctor, a social worker, maybe he even signed on at the same Jobcentre as them. All of this formed part of the lesson which sadly had to endeth when we got halfway along Ally Parade although I was mighty tempted to stay on till their stop.

They looked to me like they still stayed at home and let their mammies do everything for them so why they were fussing about the prices in Farmfoods I'll never know. Oh dear, is that me judging a book by it's cover ... :-)

The despair of people claiming asylum

A friend of mine who started out as a constituent has just been given bad news by the UKBA. He and his wife are asylum seekers from Iran. They were being hunted down in their own country and their lives were in danger. So they paid someone who said he could smuggle them out of the country and get them to Glasgow, Canada for a sum of money. It would involve travelling on fake Russian passports.


That kind of thing goes against you when you seek asylum but what else could he have done? What would you do? Stay and wait for the police to return and shoot you as they had already done to so many of your friends? Or hand over the money?


When they arrived here they didn't know they were in Scotland, they still thought they were in Canada, where they have family. They didn't speak English but as soon as they got to the arrival airport they admitted they were running away and that the passports were fake. They had been dumped (and duped) along the way by the guy with all the solutions who had promised to accompany them to their new life, new job, new home and safety.


I met my friend when he was at his lowest ebb. He was very affected by the three Russian asylum seekers who'd jumped to their deaths at the Red Road flats. (Chillingly, that tragedy reminded many asylum seekers that they had another option and one that I believe many would use rather than go home.)


Everyone in my office has become a friend and although we DO feel sorry for him, the relationships are not based on pity. Everyone really likes him and his wife (who we see less often) and he has become a friend to each of us as we have to him.


You only have to read articles like this one and this one with the incredible line from pro government lawyers who called for Iranian opposition leaders:

"to be tried and put to death"


Not sure what the point of the trial is if they're to be put to death anyway! But that is just an indication of the type of thing that goes on in Iran. It is an extremely dangerous country to be a citizen of.


So for that reason, it is highly unlikely that the British UKBA will deport my friend and his wife - I understand very few are sent to Iran. But if it's that dangerous why not grant them refugee status? Without it they are perpetually living in limbo.


Unfortunately for my friend and his wife, it's worse than that. For they have no outstanding claim and if you don't have a claim waiting to be considered, you are not entitled to any of the "largesse" the likes of the Daily Mail or this eejit would claim we dole out to asylum seekers. Thus, last August they stopped being paid the below poverty level benefits they'd been getting. And thus last week they were finally evicted from the flat they'd been living in.


You might wonder how on earth they've managed until now. Five months with no income and I do mean NO INCOME sounds like hell on earth to me. Once or twice the local church has given them payments of around £50. I know some friends who have given them money every so often but it can't amount to any more than £150 from all of them.



And the wonderful Positive Action in Housing, themselves facing funding cuts, gave them £70 at Christmas as well as inviting them to their pre Christmas "shop" where destitute asylum seekers can shop for food free of charge. Even then, we got there and my friend started helping everyone else but was uncomfortable taking anything for himself. We had to "force" him.


I think we often forget in all of this that no matter how poor, how desperate and how utterly helpless people end up in this life, they still have their pride. Can you imagine being starving and living in a rich country where you have no choice but to wait for and to accept the occasional offer of charity? I know all of that slowly eats away at my friend and I can't tell him I'd feel any different because I wouldn't.



Except I can't even imagine it happening to me. Lucky me eh? (At least I appreciate it, unlike this dimwit who seems to think it's the divine right of people in rich countries.)



So anyway, I estimate the MAXIMUM income they've had in 5 months is £270! That's about £10 a week. And it's never been guaranteed, it's just been there if they've been lucky!


And of course last week it got worse when they were evicted. It just so happens that I knew somewhere they could go but even that is very temporary and they just never know when they'll have to leave. We won't allow them to end up on the street but lots of people do.


Do you feel comfortable knowing that we do that to people and they have no legal right to be housed? I know I don't. I feel ashamed.


I know they don't feel right about living where they are. They feel people are doing them too big a favour and they don't want to take advantage. So it's uncomfortable for them but it was only going to be until his fresh claim was accepted by the UKBA and then, with an eligible claim, they would be entitled to housing and financial support again.


Last night I couldn't contact them. This morning was the same. This afternoon, still no answer. And then he texted me. The UKBA have rejected his claim. He couldn't face the world.

I don't blame you M. I don't know how much more of this hopeless situation you can take.



I am writing about this now because he once, at his lowest, asked me if I would make him a promise. He asked if anything ever "happened" to him, would I make sure the world knew that he was genuine, knew that he never wanted his life to turn out like this, knew how dehumanising our system is in the UK. Well I don't really want to wait for something to happen, I want to tell part of his story now. (It IS only part of it.)


It is often impossible, by the very nature of the regimes that people have fled, for them to prove their stories. And often, unless the UKBA has proof, they will reject your claim. M can't get proof, he's given them everything he can, he's told them the truth. There is nothing more he can do.


He's unlikely to be deported as I said, because it's too dangerous (and getting worse if you read the latest reports). So what is the solution? Do they want him to lie down and slowly starve to death? I don't know what to say to him anymore. He looks to me for answers and I am fast running out. It's my job to have the answers, to find the solutions and I cannot describe how it feels to have run out of reassuring words and new ideas. It's ironic to think that M is one of the luckier ones. He has us. But we could all lose our jobs in a few weeks time and although we'll still be there for him, it limits what we can do. Before he had us he told me he felt like a non person and like he wasn't part of society at all.


I think the point in writing this is to ask everyone reading just to be aware (if you weren't already) of how many asylum seekers might be feeling inside. Even better, if you know someone is an asylum seeker, maybe stop to have a chat and just show them that you care, let them know that they are part of YOUR society. If you have the time to befriend someone so much the better and there are ways in which you can offer your friendship, just get in touch with me and I'll let you know how.


My dad used to say to me "you don't know you're born Hen" meaning that I didn't realise how lucky I was. It's a phrase that springs to my mind every time I look at my friend who has done nothing to deserve being where life has landed him.

Poll results sensational or only to be expected?

I'm not sure why people are so surprised that the SNP has shot ahead in the latest opinion polls. In case you don't know, latest polls show that we have come from being 10 points behind Labour to being 1 point ahead in the constituency poll and 3 points ahead in the list poll.



I had no doubt that this would happen although before you think I am getting overly confident I am sure this is just the start of the see sawing of opinion polls - we'll go up, we'll go down but it does put paid to the nonsense that any party has already won the election when there are nearly months to go.

As I said, I'm not surprised the voters are swinging back to the SNP. You see, the thing that the polls don't tell us is how passionately people feel. And whilst I appreciate most people I speak to know that I'm in the SNP, I only ever pick up passion and enthusiasm from SNP supporters. I know many Labour voters, in fact Labour members who are apologetic about voting Labour. The last time I heard anyone express any embarrassment about voting SNP was around 1985 and it wasn't because of our policies, it was just that we weren't that "cool".



I knock on doors and I have people THANKING ME and asking me to THANK THE SNP GOVERNMENT. I swear this happens with some regularity. I feel like crying when it happens and it makes me really proud to be part of it. I even speak to folk who intend voting Labour (often apologetic) but who will volunteer their views that "the SNP government's doing a great job".



Now they might also tell me things they haven't agreed with but their overall impression of the SNP is a positive one and even amongst some Labour voters, their overall impression is that it's something they'll probably have to stop doing one day because it is embarrassing. I don't give people a hard time, that's not why I'm on their doorstep but if they seem happy to engage in conversation I will ask them what it is about the Labour Party that they are so keen on. And 9 times out of 10 they can't tell me. There are vague mutterings about their parents being Labour voters and what the Labour Party "used to" stand for but that link is now pretty tenuous.



It's always been the way in huge swathes of the Central Belt that voters who go to the polls undecided or considering voting for a party other than Labour, find when they get there they can't quite bring themselves to do it. Their conscience won't allow them. I have heard this so many time over the last two decades. "I just couldn't Hen, I wanted to but my mammy would've turned in her grave", that kind of thing.



But gradually, bit by bit that's been breaking down as Labour has shown itself to be very far from the party it was in the days of that voter's mammy. The biggest breaking down of that attitude and that connection has come in the last four years and the difference is that they don't have to choose to believe what the SNP says or what the Unionists say about how we'd be in power. They have experienced it and seen it with their own eyes. That's why that emotional connection with Labour that has seeped into people's psyche is now starting to come away.



And what the SNP has to do is tap into people's consciences in the way that Labour had done, so that when they get to the polling station thinking they're voting Labour, they find they can't bring themselves to do it because they think "the SNP government is doing a great job", they don't remember ever thinking that of Labour / they, like the majority of Scots don't want Iain Gray as FM, they want Alex Salmond, they feel SAFER with him in charge / they know that voting Labour would be voting against the council tax freeze, voting for prescription charges again, voting against 25,000 apprenticeship for our young people.



And suddenly they discover that their conscience just won't allow them to go back, to undo all the good the SNP government has done. They'll still be voting with their hearts but whereas in the past all the Unionist scaremongering stopped them from opening their hearts to the idea of the SNP, now they've experienced 4 years of the SNP in charge and running a government, not an executive, 4 years of policies that make a difference to people's lives. And now they know it's not "dangerous" and the country hasn't ground to a halt, their hearts and minds are open to us





I also have no doubt there will be more polls between now and 5 May that show Labour ahead of us. That's just the electorate making up its mind, reacting to recent events, keeping us on our toes. Underlying trends are far more important than single polls. What this tells us, or rather reminds us, is that it ain't over till it's over and the SNP is in with a shout! The outcome will depend largely on how many consciences we can tap into between now and then. Speaking of which, that's what I'm off to do ...