SNP Watch-Watch

In the last few days a particularly nasty wee blog has been created called ‘SNP Watch’.

It was borne from a number of really rather pathetic attacks on Osama Saeed, SNP Candidate and also Chief Exec of the Scottish Islamic Foundation (SIF).

Jeff of SNP Tactical voting has a number of excellent posts on the subject and a very fair assessment of Tom Harris MP – who has been stirring this up too. Pretty shameful behaviour from that Minister in my own view.

SNP Watch describes Osama as being a ‘Muslim Funda-mentalist’ – which is an impressive effort managing to take a personal attack and combine it with what could be, most politely, described as being laden with religious and mental-health insensitivities.

But who is SNP Watch I`m sure you are wondering? Or should that be WHOIS snpwatch.com.

Step forward Ricky Simpson of Aberdeenshire. You may be familiar with the various comments from ‘Ricky Simpson’ on Richard Thomson’s blog.

Or perhaps you remember him as a candidate for the Labour Party in the West Garioch ward in the Aberdeen council elections of 2007.

I suspect that after this kind of outpouring that Ricky won`t be a Labour candidate ever again.

To be quite clear I wish to highlight this bawheid as an individual. The Labour party as a whole does not and frankly would not endorse the horrible rhetoric that he has employed in defaming Osama Saeed.

Osama Saeed through SIF has worked with politicians of all political persuasions, including Labour, to build relations with Scotland’s Muslim communities.

While many have been involved in this good work (including Annabel Goldie and Nicol Stephen) I`d like to highlight Pauline McNeill MSP for praise (and as a firm SNP supporter I never thought I`d ever write that) for the support she has given to both SIF and the Muslim community in her constituency. I believe that she is a far fairer representative of the Labour party than bamsticks like Ricky Simpson.