Unionists are individuals whose minds and actions are dominated by the retention of the UK union at any cost
Many of them pursue successful careers in politics fully supporting the aims and aspirations of any Party of their choosing, always provided that their primary motivation is never compromised.
Others are deployed to media manipulation with a guarantee of a long and well numerated career, promoted well beyond their capabilities and fully protected from public exposure.
The John Smith Centre
Founder member, Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill: Is a British Secret Service agent of long-standing and a powerful political figure in the UK. She is the widow of the late John Smith, Labour Party Leader, and high heid yin of the Zionist, Biderberger, movement. She also retains membership of a number of organisations with political interests at variance with Russia and other Eastern bloc countries.
Smith was a member of the Hakluyt Foundation which was set up by former MI6 executives after the end of the Cold War to provide intelligence for many FTSE 100 companies and UK, US and European clients. The directors include many ex MI6 agents, diplomats, journalists and former special advisers to government ministers.
Following an extraordinary libel trial in which former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind gave evidence, there were question marks over the quality of the intelligence Hakluyt provided.
A report produced by Hakluyt on Czech oil tycoon Karel Komarek and his father, which contained allegations of corruption and murder, led to Scottish oil company Ramco being sued for libel. Ramco had employed Hakluyt in good faith on the recommendation of its consultants, Mr Rifkind and Baroness Smith.
The Board
The activities of the John Smith Centre are overseen by a Board comprising members of the Smith family, University of Glasgow alumni, political and public service practitioners and academic staff and is accountable for the conduct, leadership and management of the Centre.
It sets the priorities; benchmarks best practices, and reviews performance to enable the Centre to achieve its aim to promote trust in politics and public service and to empower and attract more people to contribute to public life.
The Foundation is operates as a charitable organisation under the auspices of Glasgow University and is not required to publish or make available any sources of income or expenditure to the public.
The Board
Catherine Smith: Daughter of Baroness Smith. Vice-Chair of Justice Scotland. An organisation involved in work promoting the rule of law and human rights in developing democracies and sustainable development in societies in transition.
Ed Balls: Is a neoliberal former member of the Labour Party government who attended the secretive, annual Bilderberg conclaves of the richest 1% of the world financiers.
Dr Matt Carter: Was General Secretary of the Labour Party, overseeing political campaigns and organisation in the period running up to and including the 2005 General Election, which saw Tony Blair win a successful third term in office. He has spent the last fifteen years advising political leaders and others on campaign strategy and messaging, with a particular focus on corporate communications, reputation management, politics and polling.
Professor Sarah Carter: Is Vice-Principal and Head of the college of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow. She holds a number of external appointments, as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers to the First Minister of Scotland, the Enterprise & Skills Strategic Board, and the Women in Enterprise Action Group and as a Non-Executive Director of Women’s Enterprise Scotland. and is a member of the UK Government’s Women’s Enterprise Taskforce.
Ruth Davidson: In 2011, Conservative Central Office in London decided to take control of the party in Scotland and run it from London through a proxy leader. The Tory Central Office and Party Chairman, a former senior British Secret Service officer selected her for the post and created the Ruth Davidson appreciation society giving her free rein as the Party Leader in Scotland (albeit strictly monitored by senior officers in the party) to rebuild the Party from scratch. She lead the Party for around eight years before surprisingly resigning from politics to take up a position in the House of Lords.
Resham Kotecha: Was a Tory candidate in the 2015 general election, where she was the Party’s youngest BME candidate. Stood for office again in the 2017 election. Presently serving as the Head of Engagement for Women2Win. A strategy and policy specialist she is currently the Head of Policy & Government Affairs, EMEA at Wise. She is the founder of the Conservative Policy Network, designed to increase accessibility to policy-makers, and is a Trustee of the Fawcett Society, the UK’s leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women’s rights.
David Muir: Was the Director of Strategy to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Possesses a first class degree in politics and economics from the University of Glasgow, and has served as a visiting fellow of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University. Also serves on the advisory board of the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago.
Andrew Wilson: Founding Partner of Charlotte Street Partners, the strategic communications firm based in London and Edinburgh. Began his career in the civil service in the Government Economic Service then worked as researcher and economist for the SNP and as a business economist at Royal Bank of Scotland.
Elected to the first Scottish Parliament in 1999 he served as Shadow Minister for, variously: Finance, Economy, Transport and Lifelong Learning. In 2003, he re-joined the RBS working in a number of roles including as Deputy Chief Economist.
During the banking crisis, he served as Head of Group Communications and was intimately involved in the bank’s high-profile engagement with the City, UK Government and media during those tumultuous times.
In 2012, prior to launching Charlotte Street Partners, he joined global marcomms group WPP Group in a client strategy role working with agencies and group across the full range of services including media and advertising. In September 2016 he was appointed to chair the Sustainable Growth Commission, which reported to the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, in May 2018.
Other Board Members and Associates
Stephen Gethins: Former SNP MP for North East Fife and shadow SNP Spokesperson for foreign affairs. Worked with Craig Oliphant in Eastern Europe before entering politics for the SNP. Very close politically to Nicola Sturgeon.
Prof. Lord Alderdice: Liberal Democrat member of the Lords since 1996. Currently Director of the Centre for the Resolution of Intractable Conflict at Harris Manchester College, Oxford.
Craig Oliphant: Integrity Initiative leader.
Lord Duncan: Appointed a Tory working peer by UK Prime Minister in 2017, he is currently Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords. he was a Tory UK Government Minister, serving in each of the territorial departments (Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland) and laterally as Minister for Climate Change with responsibility for international negotiations.
Kezia Dugdale: Former leader of the Labour Party in Scotland is the Director of the Centre.
What it claims to do
The Trust runs intensive, four-week Fellowship Programmes twice a year in the UK for emerging leaders from 12 of the countries of the former Soviet Union. The Programmes are built around three pillars – unique insight into UK institutions, personalized meetings and leadership skills development – which together offer both a broad picture and an individual focus.
The reality
The political psychology programmes delivered by the Trust are designed to influence the thought processes of individuals confronted with a wide range of political situations so that they select options that most reflect the political system chosen by the Trust. Achieving success means that it has imprinted on the minds of course participants that the ideal is the western-style democracy, with its human rights legislation protecting individual and minority rights and good governance. Shades of “The Manchurian Candidate”..
Organisations closely linked to the Trust
The Integrity Initiative:
In 2006, NATO Special Advisor Chris Donnelly co-founded a fake charity, the “Institute for Statecraft and Governance” (IFS) together with Daniel Lafayeedney, previously condemned as untrustworthy in business matters by a judge. The IFS which authored and published articles on threats to NATO imperialism, the biggest being Russia, was registered to a semi-derelict mill in the Fife constituency of Board member and ex-SNP MP Stephen Gethins.
In 2015, the IFS established the Integrity Initiative, an organization described by the British government as a counter-Russia-disinformation campaign that received many £millions from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In typically language a U.S.-British disinformation campaign.
This is what the Scottish Charity Regulator thought of the organisation:
The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator conducted an inquiry into the activities of the Institute for Statecraft and found that “its most significant activity the project “Integrity Initiative” did not provide public benefit in furtherance of the charity’s purposes”.
It also found that trustees had “breached their trustee duties to act with care and diligence in the interest of the charity, some of them to a serious extent”.
The 77th (CYOPS Brigade
A Black Watch soldier, Brigadier Alastair Aitken, formed the 77th (CYOPS Brigade, referred to in the media as ‘Twitter troops‘ or ‘Facebook warriors‘, which he described as the largest integrated government communications organisation in Europe. Additional links to Scotland include Scottish Labour Party candidate and former “Better Together” boss Kate Watson who refused to explain her links to the “military propaganda unit” within the British Army.
A Scottish government official commented: “In any future Scottish independence referendum will the 77th Brigade be neutral or see the yes campaign as a threat to national security and conduct a campaign to protect the constitutional status quo? The SNP leadership needs to ask these questions and get answers before it’s too late.”
caltonjock 
Leave a comment