Good, clean, wholesome family fun
CHECK out the apologia for Councillor Jahangir Hanif (pictured above during a family day out) over at SNP Tactical Voting. I’m a fan of this particular blogger, but on this occasion I think he’s letting his devotion to the nationalist cause edge out his common sense.
According to Hanif’s 17-year-old daughter, she was taken to the site in Pakistan in a vehicle with blacked out windows. But according to SNP Tactical Voting, this was the same as clay pigeon shooting. No, seriously.
In his defence, Councillor Hanif, a founder member of Asians for Independence, did at least explain: “I don’t think all the children fired it.” Well, that’s all right, then.
The gun-toting nationalist councillor has now been suspended from his party pending an investigation. But, bizarrely, SNP Tactical Voting actually makes the case for not expelling him. Presumably he’s needed in the party so that he can continue giving Alex Salmond tips for his speeches.
It will be interesting to see if SNP Tactical Voting is representative of wider separatist feeling on this issue. Will the whole party rally to Councillor Hanif, or wipe its hands of him?
In the meantime, if anyone has a picture of Councillor Hanif with the First Minister, please let me have it. Or would that be asking too, too much?
UPDATE AT 3.10 pm: Well, no thanks to you lot, but I’ve managed to get my hands on a picture of Alex Salmond with his favourite councillor, courtesy of the Mail Online.
"And you can re-assemble it in HOW many seconds?"
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Friday 8 August 2008 at 12:13 pm
Have you never heard of a search engine?!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk_politics/2001/conferences_2001/snp/1554784.stm
Friday 8 August 2008 at 12:36 pm
Ha, I’m glad I could help you out with a post there Tom and I enjoyed the light-hearted ribbing you gave me.
I like to think if this was a story about a politician from any party I would come to the same conclusion. Who cares? There’s nothing tangible in this story that should cause the Councillor any harm though I do accept, given the glossy world we live in, it’s bad PR for the man and for the party. (Much like Gordon Brown’s photo shoot with a helicopter rifle in his lap and a big cheesy grin on his face.)
Anyway, I get the impression that Councillor Hanif is far from a “gun-toting” person as you put it. You know how hard it is to entertain kids these days? He was merely over-reaching in his role as a parent…
We need to all loosen up a bit and not go overboard when someone steps out of the increasingly narrowing parameters of what is ok to be a politician. If you fraudulently claim public expenses you deserve to get fired. If you once fired a gun at a mountain it’s not really a big deal.
Anyway, keep up the fine blogging work good sir.
(And no, i’m not alone in my opinion:
http://stillnotgrownup.blogspot.com/2008/08/foolish-and-inappropriate-only-decision.html)
Friday 8 August 2008 at 12:37 pm
Presumably, therefore, if I can produce a picture of Gordon Brown with Mike Watson, it means that the Prime Minister condones arson, yes?
Friday 8 August 2008 at 1:04 pm
Mark,
If that is the case, would a picture of the First Minister and Kenny MacAskill mean that Alex Salmond condones drunk and disorderly behaviour?
Friday 8 August 2008 at 1:05 pm
His spin doctor should have pointed out that if you really want to look credible with an AK47 you should have a spare magazine gaffa taped to the one in use. and the version with the folding tubular stock is even more warry.
So not impressed. What’s your weapon of choice?
Friday 8 August 2008 at 1:21 pm
You’re a strange and disturbing man, Captain.
Friday 8 August 2008 at 1:25 pm
Um, Jim, I was satirically commenting on Tom’s request for a photo of Cllr Hanif and the First Minister.
I don’t think a photo of two people together means they condone anything and everything that the other person has done, especially if it isn’t something they know about.
Oh, and still no sign of the whisky Tom, maybe there’s a drunken postie out there somewhere…
Friday 8 August 2008 at 1:28 pm
It’ll get there, Mark, eventually. I’ve been busy being on holiday…
Friday 8 August 2008 at 1:42 pm
Mark,
Sorry, I was being satirical also.
Apologies for hijacking the comments Tom.
Jim
Friday 8 August 2008 at 4:37 pm
…and, as any fule kno, an AK is almost never fired from the shoulder with aimed shots. Normal practice is to spray rounds towards your target in the vague hope that you’ll hit something. Hence upset in sandy places when AKs were replaced by M16s which do require aimed shots.
Friday 8 August 2008 at 6:47 pm
Whilst this is deplorable, im not sure we in the Labour party have much to shout about when we have a shameful manifesto commitment to shooting millions of birds each year for so called ’sport’, all this endorsed by Ministers and headed by the appalling Martin Salter. Not to mention snares being still legal so these same bloodsports fanatics don’t have their ’sport’ interfered with by our wildlife.
Saturday 9 August 2008 at 12:34 am
Don’t get sniffy over doing a bit of work, Tom; some of us have had a right headache over whether to watch the cricket or Princess Anne waving to the Murray brothers (for it was them she used up her airmiles to see, we all know).
Sunday 10 August 2008 at 6:48 pm
Chris,
Shooting birds is an important part of land management and is less cruel than many of the factory farming methods used to put food on most people’s plates.
On the AK47 thing, I’m not sure that it’s any more controversial than the toffs that drive up into the grouse moors ’round my way for a bit of sport at this time of year. In fact, it may be less controversial and ‘deplorable’ if it is just targets being shot at targets rather than at fluffy animals.