So it's a curious thing - as you may have seen on Twitter, I've been receiving some totally unprovoked abusive DMs from Grouse Beater of all people. I did have problems with him many years ago, but someone interceded to end the rift, I had a long phone conversation with him and we made our peace with each other. Since then, I've gone out of my way to tread gingerly with him, and when I've seen him have blazing arguments with other people (including in the comments section of this blog), I've just stood right back and let him get on with it, even when I thought he was in the wrong. But even those precautions weren't enough, it seems.
So what's his foul-mouthed harrumphing about this time? To be blunt, it's just sheer hypocrisy on his part. As you may remember, he was expelled from the SNP several years ago for alleged anti-semitism. Countless numbers of us defended him at the time, because his words were actually extremely ambiguous and were open to plenty of alternative innocent explanations. But no good deed goes unpunished, as the saying goes, and he seems to now have a visceral loathing of many of those who defended him most strongly, because some of them have since fallen foul of strikingly similar abuses of the Alba disciplinary process and have dared to speak up about it, just as he spoke up about the SNP's ill-treatment of himself. Suddenly he's become a born again Stalinist, saying that anyone who has been trampled on should just shut up and slink away where he doesn't have to think about them or remember their existence, because it's just so darn inconvenient to the party that large numbers of people should actually know that abuses of power have taken place. As long as he isn't the one on the receiving end, and as long as the people being silenced are ones he dislikes and would prefer to shut up, it's all totally fine.
In fact, let's be honest: he would be an enthusiastic cheerleader for someone being expelled for exactly the same reason he was expelled from the SNP, just so long as you first stick a blue Alba rosette on the Conduct Committee.
Bizarrely, what seemed to trigger him tonight was that the people he calls "the Famous Five", which seems to be an alternative name for Shannon Donoghue's "wee gang of malcontents", have been paying generous tribute to Alex Salmond and saying very complimentary things about him.
I asked Grouse Beater if he would prefer them to be making disrespectful comments about Mr Salmond at a time like this. Unsurprisingly, he didn't have much of an answer.
Could I just say to @Grouse_Beater, who has been sending me totally unprovoked abusive DMs and blocking me before I could reply: you, sir, are a hypocrite. You, sir, are a coward. I'm not going to tolerate this behaviour from anyone, no matter what my previous respect for them.
— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) October 15, 2024
Grouse beater is an unstable character. I've seen this from him before.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Alba give him some sort of medal at the first conference? And then Salmond flattered him with an invite to his "TV show". That'll be what this is all about. The SNP gave lots of awards to lots of people, Gareth, but it didn't stop them expelling you, did it?
ReplyDeleteHe's another Stu Campbell
DeleteStu knows what went on inside Alba but chose to say nothing.
DeleteThe Reverend is a Tory.
DeleteThe finest that money can buy.
DeletePolitics has been such a massive disappointment. So many people have turned out to be horrible
ReplyDeleteIt’s ridiculous that the bullying and nastiness continues even after Salmond’s death
I have been positive about Salmond despite the facts of last summer just because I prefer to remember the good times.
And I knew him and I suspect I knew him better than most as I spent so much time alone with him
I experienced many sides of him not just the act he puts on for ‘his public’
On the bigger issue of where we go from here. The bitterness within the movement has to stop. Salmond has gone and Sturgeon will hopefully be out of politics in 2026. I am hopeful that new leadership in the SNP and Alba will find a route to independence. But to do that the Salmond - Sturgeon years have to be left behind.
It’s an even bigger task because so many of the gender ideologues that abused and bullied women in the SNP have got their reward and are councillors or NEC members and even the National Secretary those wounds will also take a lot to heal.
But the movement has to unite or die
This post does not acknowledge the negative experiences that many women have had who had to work for him. I believe them. Nicola Sturgeon was right to listen to them.
DeletePersonally I believe the verdict of the jury. The jury had, after all, listened to weeks of evidence. I believe they are likely to have got it right.
DeleteDenise, I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks for all of your efforts, and particularly recently also for you blog site.
DeleteI can but hope that those who do not do the right thing can be sidelined, and those who do choose to do the right thing can unite to take the movement forward, irrespective of petty personal or party concerns.
We can all but wish that everyone else would take an example from your book.
If you were in my constituency, I would vote for you. I suspect many thousands of others would too.
(p.s. I say this here because of the inability to leave comments on your blog. Can you fix that?)
"But to do that the Salmond - Sturgeon years have to be left behind."
DeleteOnly way that will ever happen will be when justice is seen to be done for Alex. There's considerable anger out there that he's went to his grave before he was able to be vindicated via the current legal action (which will hopefully still continue).
Anon at 9.02. You can believe both the jury on the issue of criminal conduct and the women on the issue of inappropriate behaviour. Please leave this alone, at this of all times.
DeleteWell said Denise
DeletePs. No idea why the Salmond trial was brought into the comments here. A strange pivot from the post.
I think something prob went on but it was exaggerated out of all proportion. Some things just didn't happen at all and were proven so, which ruins credibility over other matters. I also don't think it's beyond the realms for the British state to attempt a fit up. They tried to kill the Irish PM at one point. Complicated story.
DeleteThe guy has an unblemished record both in a court of law and in the work place. Sad times when innuendo rules the roost rather than due process.
DeleteSurely we should all wish for the court action Salmond was pursuing to be continued and hopefully with haste? There's still a dark cloud lingering over the whole affair, several questions left unanswered and as of yet no one has been held accountable.
DeleteIt's obvious many won't be able to move on until more facts see the light of day and justice is seen to be done.
Do the commentators believe that every person that is found not guilty of attempted rape is innocent? Serious question, because if you extend that sentiment to Salmond, you really do have to extend it to everyone else, without exception.
DeleteAnon at 9.49: "Please leave this alone, at this of all times."
DeleteThat sounds like trolling. You're the one accusing a man who has just died of serious wrongdoing, without a shred of evidence, and you're telling the people who don't agree with you to fall silent out of decorum! Sling yer hook.
Anon @ 10:29 AM
DeleteNo, but that also doesn't mean that everyone who has ever been accused of rape was actually guilty and we should presume that the court might have gotten it wrong. Would make a mockery of our whole legal system.
Anon at 10.29. I said nothing of the sort. Stop lying. It is a matter of public record. Disgusting behaviour by you. You are part of the problem.
DeleteNo, I don't.
DeleteI note, however, not even his worst detractors actually give the impression they believe he raped anyone. It's always the inappropriate behaviour line. Something which, in itself, he was vindicated of but which would not commonly be expected to land someone in jail for.
Even if you accept the misbehaving angle, they tried to raise it to a crime which is vindictive. Having sat through all the evidence, most of which was utter hogwash and refuted by several witnesses, a majority female jury acquitted. That should also be part of the story.
Even the misbehaving angle cannot be rained upon him as the whole affair was tainted. They attempted to harden up a flimsy case with fabricated lies and that's unforgivable.
Not to mention the clearly false accusations, the investigation the court ruled was unlawful and tainted by apparent bias and someone in the Scottish Government leaking confidential information to the Daily Record.
DeleteTo this day not one person has been held accountable for any of it.
Thank you alurker
DeleteBoth the Parliament Inquiry ( the Fabiani farce) and the report by Hamilton said people need to be held accountable. Hamilton, quite rightly, wisnae happy that Swinney redacted large chunks of his report without even telling him he was going to do it. Make no mistake John REDACTOR MAN Swinney is up to his neck in it.
DeleteThe movement has to unite or die. Sure, unity with the likes of Grouse beater. IFS, and Peter A Bell in the ranks ? Cannae see that happening.
DeleteWell, we could unité and work towards Independence. Or we could keep rehashing the same tired arguments for ever and ever and ever until we're all dead and, hopefully, a new generation will be able to move forward
DeleteYour choice, commenters
Or we could like go through the legal exercise of revealing all of the facts, shine a light on everything that happened, hold people accountable and then we'd finally be able to draw a line under it and move on?
DeleteWhy are people so resistant to that?
" why are people so resistant to that" - because Sturgeon's gang are evil criminals and shining a light on them is the last thing they want. Impossible to unite behind people like that.
DeleteAs one who only returned to Scotland in 2012, after forty five years elsewhere, there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that Alex Salmond was instrumental in raising independence into the main stream of our politics.
ReplyDeleteHis part in the leadership shambles that we have found ourselves in in recent years is debateable. There seems to be little doubt that there was a concerted effort to stitch him up to protect those who followed him in the leadership of the SNP, and who presided over the series of debacles that lost us the 2015+ opportunities.
How do we want AS to be remembered ? Some will have to maintain the denigration of him to cover their tracks. The rest who have no such shameful motives will, while recognising that no human being is perfect, want to preserve the positives of his life as a legacy of achievement in the struggle for our self determination.
A few who just make sour noises off should simply shut up and go away - to put it as politely as possible.
It would be wrong to present a sanitised version of AS. NS will have been more than aware of his shortcomings when she came to her view.
DeleteAnon at 9.49am - pity Salmond wisnae aware of Sturgeon's shortcomings when he resigned.
DeletePity you didn't join the unionists.
DeletePity you are a cowardly moronic troll at 2.28pm.
DeleteHi Denise. I posted shortly after the death was announced and asked if people could use the tragic death as a catalyst for change and unity, with Indy front and centre. The usual suspects just all piled in with their daily doses of vitriol and disinformation. I have been involved in Indy for over forty years now. I will not even identify myself on line anymore. It’s so sad. I have temporarily withdrawn. May possibly never be back.
ReplyDeleteThe Union is happy so long as the Scots are fighting amongst themselves.
ReplyDeleteSort it out.
Exactly.
DeleteLondon keeked themselves with the sheer unity of purpose previously. Time to sort it out and if that means Alba acting better too, that's what it means. The disciplinaries, needless and cause more harm than they could ever be worth, should be suspended immediately. An olive branch should be extended once the criminal trevailles are done with.
It seems to me the police and court issues need to be brought to a head. The delays are delaying the healing.
I think we can all identify the posters who wish to sow disunity. As a general comment there are plenty instances when “ justice has not been done” whatever that means to individuals. In the case of AS’s immediate family it would for them to decide, not for others to impose their own perceptions or prejudices to “make some sort of point or validation”. That should be respected, surely?
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of disgusting anon shits posting on this thread - 9.49am, 10.29am (the second one), 10.03am, 8.59am.
ReplyDeleteThere was unity prior to Sturgeon becoming FM. That says it all.
More rubbish from the trotsky
DeleteDr Jim at 12.05pm - I'll give you credit for not being a hypocrite like Kavanagh and all the other posters on WGD by not saying anything about Salmond's passing. Nauseating reading your pals on WGD praising Salmond when they had for years posted disgraceful comments about him. You at least were consistent - you were a nasty prick then and still are.
DeleteThis charming man !
DeleteThere is nothing charming about Dr Jim unless you think stoning your Britnat neighbours as he suggested is ok.
DeleteI enjoy the Grousebeater articles and tweets but he has sorely disappointed me on this matter. It seems that political parties tend to bring out the worst in people. As each day passes it makes me more glad I didn't join Alba and stick to my long term thought that political parties are not for me. I am too independent minded to be coralled in to accepting party lines I disagree with and I do not like bullies or trolls.
ReplyDeleteIrony ain't your thing.
DeleteWords ain't your thing anon troll at 2.34pm.
DeleteWhy did you not read them and respond? Irony ain't your thing again
DeleteGibberish from a troll at 1.41pm
DeleteCan't we all just get along?
DeleteProf John Robertson - If you are referring to me why don't you put your comment in the right place or clearly address it to me. Surely that cannae be that hard for a professor to do.
ReplyDeleteIf I could be bothered.
DeleteLooks like James is deleting your posts so why do you bother posting here? Are you normally an anon troll?
DeleteIIS believes when he posts that he is not anonymous. The lack of self awareness is staggering but not surprising.
DeleteSorry IFS - gets really concerned over such errors.
DeleteBut he's identifiable - that's the difference. No one knows which anon is which.
DeleteWT the anon trolls know that. It has been explained to them many many times. They just like their lowlife trolling. It's as simple as that. As if I would want to display my real identity when there are psycho trolls about. Look at what Cherry had to endure.
DeleteSo you are a pal of Cherry and co. Nuff said.
DeleteAnon troll of limited reading ability at 3.23pm. Where do I say I am a pal of Cherry. To make it easy for dimwits like you I am NOT your pal, never will be because you are a moronic troll. That's how you make it clear as to whether someone is a pal or not.
DeleteOr knew what you were talking about?
ReplyDeleteAre you "standing with Israel" again, Professor John? What a sad postscript to an admittedly less-than-glittering career.
DeleteI do not know Professor Robertson but I would like to thank him for his support of Israel. The suggestion of "genocide" is a modern day blood libel and we are grateful to influencers like Professor Robertson for helping set the record straight. Bibi Netanyahu is not perfect but he is proving to be be a fine war leader.
DeleteI agree the use of the word genocide is overused perhaps the word massacre is more appropriate. I don't think there's anything that can justify the killing of tens of thousands of people, can you?
DeleteMassacre is blood libel too
DeleteWT - I think Prof Robertson is trying to take the piss with his fake Israeli identity.
DeleteIt's a highly inappopriate "joke" if that's what he's doing. Strange man.
DeleteWell, whoever it was they should be ashamed of themselves. Have a look at yourself - massive numbers of children killed and someone jokes about it.
DeleteThe words never used by the Britnat media and Britnats supporting Sturgeon's gang when referring to Salmond:- FALSELY ACCUSED.
ReplyDeleteYou have to be really nasty evil people to make up false accusations about someone to try and send them to jail for a long time. You also have to be pretty dumb as well to make up stories that were easily proved to be false. They obviously felt the British state and the British media would cover up their actions for them. They did but more and more people are seeing through the cover up.
We were Better Together in 2014, and are still Better Together today, and always will be BETTER TOGETHER.
ReplyDeleteOnly the deluded and totally brainwashed think differently.
Eat your cereal.
DeleteWE ARE, , yes , yes , bitter together . . Fool Britannia!
DeleteRule Britannia, God save the King.
DeleteA song to celebrate the glory of our shared Great British heritage.
DeleteMy dear ol' mum's a Pearly Queen,
Take me down to Leicester Square.
Buy me a plate of jellied eels,
At the Albert Hall down there.
I'm going to do the Lambeth Walk
Down to the Bull and Bush.
Three cheers for the Union Jack
And one for Her Majesty's toosh.
'Massacre' seems the right word to me. Never mind how many others have to be slaughtered as long as some are the ' right' ones. Bibi would do well with any of the vile, mass slaughterers of history. May he rot...
ReplyDeleteEvery time the BBC puts up a piece about Salmond they show him going in to the High Court and then coming out of the High Court. This is the disgusting organisation that was ( probably still is ) home to a range of sexual offenders and paedophiles like Stuart Hall, Jimmy Saville, Rolf Harris, Huw Edwards and more.
ReplyDeleteMind when they did a documentary on the whole case and conveniently skipped over the day when defence witnesses refuted all of the claims?
DeleteI remember the BBC show where Kirsty Wark and the Hon. Sarah Smith sent pageboy James Cook running up and down the Royal Mile to see if a verdict had yet been reached. It was a disgusting display of Labour supporting shills vainly hoping for Salmond"s downfall. Cook was like the Head Boy allowed to mix with the adults. I couldn't believe the participants could have imagined their antics did them any favours. The editor and director must have loathed the three Iof them.
DeleteAnon at 4.22pm. Very true, Britnats keep coming out with the lie that it was his word against their word. It wisnae - loads of evidence proving most of them were clear liars.
DeleteWhen did the offence of pinging a hair curl, which was regularly done by men and women in the office as an in office joke, become a sexual offence to be tried in the High court. It happened in Sturgeon's Scotland. Why have all these other offenders not yet been dragged up before a jury in the High court. They weren't Salmond that's why.
They were made up offences by women to curry favour with their bosses with the hope of advancement as a reward and then a bit of bullying by certain people to hold the line as they worried about the consequences of perjuring themselves in the High Court. One of them currently being investigated for perjury by the polis.
All of these SNP people working with the hated BBC to bring down Salmond. Yousaf showed what a snake he is in the more recent programme made by the BBC. Yousaf (the brief ) the guy who had an affair with a younger SNP office girl whilst married, who rewarded her with an SNP councillor job and also rumoured to have had another affair ( whilst married to his current wife) and got her an MP position. He had the brass neck to go on about poor morals in the programme. Strange how the BBC turned to him for moral guidance. Yousaf still doing Sturgeon's bidding to the end even though he has got his nice FM pension to look forward to for the rest of his life for his one year as FM.
Did Yousaf ex FM ever ask Sturgeon where the missing £600k is?
Did Yousaf ex FM ever ask Sturgeon why was a motor home purchased that nobody knew about and it was kept sitting for years in a driveway?
Did Yousaf ex FM ever ask Sturgeon why the Treasurer and other elected officials who wanted to see the SNP books resigned when Murrell said no.
These are questions I would think the polis will get around to asking him if they haven't already.
As Fergus Ewing said recently a major scandal. Only the British secret service assets will have protection.
Fergus Ewing Lol
DeleteIfs -has to be Donald Trump. Complete nut-job.
DeleteAnon troll at 11.11pm/11.29pm has to be coco the clown 🤡🤡🤡
Delete" one of them currently being investigated by the polis for perjury"
DeleteThere will quite a few of Sturgeon's gang sweating heavily as they know the character of this person and they know the person may decide to do a deal with the polis and turn on them.
I have some personal experience with Grouse beater. He's very much a 'my way or the highway' sort of dude. As James has discovered, you can completely ignore him and yet he'll still start an argument with you in an empty room. Best advice I could give to anyone is just to pre-emptively block him and avoid the hassle in the first place.
ReplyDeleteA unionist tosser in the pub earlier claiming the latest indy poll had No 12 points ahead. He named the company but it didnae ring a bell wi me.
ReplyDeleteA think the prick was jist on the wind up. No couldnae be that far ahead surely.
Your suspicion is absolutely correct, KC, there's no such poll. Delighted to be able to set your mind at rest.
DeletePossible campaign headlines for 2026 Holyrood election.
ReplyDeleteLabour - " Vote Labour to freeze your granny."
SNP - " Eat your carrots, they're delicious."
Aye, and no doubt plenty independence nonsense being spouted too. The SNP should concentrate on the day job of running the country, instead of that crap that the majority of the country are sick fed up of.
DeleteHow about coming soon:- " Vote Tory to remove your maternity/paternity rights" or vote Tory to remove all your human rights.
DeleteA Silver Lining for Sturgeon's Gang
ReplyDeleteMarie Le Penn has also been charged with embezzlement and faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to one million euros.
So luckily for Murrell the Scottish legal system is unlikely to have such severe punishments if found guilty. They may even give him his motorhome back.
These are just allegations and nothing has been proven. Suspect NS household will be cleared as i am sure she and Peter are innocent. They are good people.
DeleteAnon@12:18,
DeleteIndeed they are.
Ifs really should wind his neck in.
Why don't we let the courts decide?
Delete" Why don't we let the courts decide." Yes why are the courts not deciding this matter? Why are COPFS dragging their feet? Get Sturgeon's gang in to court to answer for their actions.
DeleteAnon at 12.36pm - where is the missing £600k 'ring fenced' money?
Anon at 12.18pm - " they are good people" - perhaps you can answer the above question. Do you have evidence they gave away the £600k to good causes/charities. 🤣🤣🤣
Maybe they are worried about complainants veracity? Where this , where's that? Accounts are verified and signed off by external auditor's. You know that of course, but continue your nauseating bad mouthing. Are you a key witness?
DeleteAnon at 1.45pm.
DeleteIts the polis who have charged Murrell so are you saying that the polis are corrupt? I suggest you take your complaint to the polis then.
Still no answer to the questions I pose. Want me to repeat them for you - I'll get you a sick bag if you want - post your name and address and I'll send you a batch of them.
The auditors flagged up the fact in their audit that details of donations have not been retained. I posted previously the exact words they used but some numpty wisnae happy with that - was it you anon - who knows because you hide in the anon crowd.
Complainant veracity - what are you rambling on about - it's a charge of embezzlement. Not fictitious false charges made by the alphabetties.
There has been no Indyref2 and money was raised specifically for that purpose so therefore it should all be there. So where is it then?
The missing money is the key witness. Thought that would have been obvious to even dimwits but a troll like you disnae do facts and evidence.
Good to see you have full confidence in the polis. Same confidence when they arrested AS? Im sure they are good and bad. Just as their are frauds on this site pretending to be pro independence. You get paid on how many times you repeat numpty? You are a wee (small/ petite) stalker trying to dig up dirt.
DeleteI suspect you haven't done anything to the cause of independence, ever. Are you just a wee fraud on this site?
Note to anon at 1.45pm you may or you may not know that standard account auditors do not do investigative fraud work. When fraud has been subsequently proven in organisations the auditors point out this fact.
DeleteAnon at 2.51pm - just where do I say " I have full confidence in the polis" - nowhere - so that marks you out as a liar right from the start of that post. The frauds are Sturgeon's gang and they are liars just like you. The frauds are Britnats like KC/ TartanTam who falsely took on the persona of an independence supporter.
I have no idea what you support or what you believe because you are just another prick of an anon troll who posts nothing but abuse.
Troll says I am "trying to dig up dirt" - the dirt has been dug up a long time ago by the Polis. What a numpty.
Its people like you protecting Sturgeon's gang that are preventing Scottish independence. That makes you a Britnat Mr anon troll or a dimwit. Take your pick.
Alba Conference has been postponed. This e-mail has just gone out:
ReplyDeleteI write to inform you of the postponement of our upcoming conference, which was scheduled to take place in November. Given the sudden and tragic passing of our party leader, it is only right to pause and allow time for reflection and mourning during this difficult period.
The party understands the importance of this event and the anticipation many of you had, but we believe that in light of recent events, the postponement is the most respectful course of action.
An update on the rescheduling of the conference will be provided, once a suitable time has been determined. For those who have already registered, we are happy to offer a refund if you prefer not to wait for the rescheduled date. Please contact corri.wilson@albaparty.org if you would like to request a refund.
In the meantime, our thoughts are with the leader’s family, friends, and all those affected by this profound loss.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support during this time.
Kenny Macaskill
Acting Leader
Alba Party
Thanks for posting that. Because Mr McEleny has arbitrarily suspended me from the party, and with no rescheduled date for the "disciplinary" hearing in sight, I'm no longer receiving emails and I'm blocked from viewing the website, so I'm pretty much in the dark about what is going on.
DeleteIn Alba you can get suspended for advocating more democracy in the party.
DeleteIn the SNP the ex party leader cannae get suspended when her husband the ex SNP Chief Exec gets charged with embezzlement of party funds and both her and the Treasurer are being investigated. Instead she gets flowers from the party. The flowers indicate the current total control the Murrell's have over the SNP.
Both situations do not reflect well on either the SNP or Alba.
Non party members supporting independence (like me - despite what moronic trolls post ) are very poorly served by these parties.
Since trolls will probably say well you never put forward any constructive suggestions I say the following:
1. SNP members kick out Sturgeons gang from the party. They have turned it into a party of devolution with a cloud of criminality hanging over it. Restore member democracy and tell the truth to your members.
2. Alba introduce member democracy and focus 100% on independence.
We also have the issue that there isn't really any other alternatives.
DeleteISP have flown so far under the radar you can be forgiven for forgetting that they still exist, and the 'independents for independence' effort isn't worth even mentioning as at best it'll just mirror the success of RISE.
Isnt ifs in charge of his 1 man party?
ReplyDeleteYou clearly cannae read well anon at 10.14pm as I have posted many times I am not a member of any party. I have noticed a low reading age is a common factor in trolls along with only having the intellect to compose one line of text without their brain hurting.
Delete