Colin Fox

CHEWING OVER FUEL POVERTY - A NEW SSP POSTER

2012-01-25T21:29:00.001Z

My friend Andrea is a designer and came across some new friends chewing over the exorbitant cost of gas and electricity in Scotland.

5% cut in energy bills is nowhere near enough

2012-01-21T21:16:00.002Z

All 6 energy companies have now announced a reduction in prices of around 5%. So much for claims they don’t act as a ‘cartel’! But anyone who thinks this will have anything other than a marginal impact on the scandalous levels of fuel poverty should think again. Gas and electric bills have gone up 100% in the last 5 years. There remain one million households in Scotland, for example, paying more than 10% of their entire income on energy – the official definition of fuel poverty. That's a fourfold increase in a decade. With bills soaring and incomes plummeting Scotland has a huge fuel poverty crisis on its hands. And like every other crisis it has its casualties. Professor John Hills from the London School of Economics, commissioned by the UK Government to examine the scale of the problem, concluded that 27,000people will die this winter as a result of chronic fuel poverty. This is more than are killed on Britain’s roads annually. At the same time the industry regulator OFGEM has accused the power companies of profiteering and launched an investigation. Company profits rose by 733% between June and October as they made £125 per household compared to £15 earlier. The Scottish Socialist Party has been campaigning against this outrage for several months calling on Governments at Westminster and Holyrood to snap out of their lethargy and recognise the full extent of the crisis. They need to bring bills down much further than 5% and they need to increase the winter fuel allowance paid to pensioners and other vulnerable groups. They also need to invest in household energy efficiency schemes to match those in Scandinavia. But ultimately it is only when this industry is returned to public ownership that guaranteeing adequate supplies of heating and lighting to everyone will be the industry's priority rather than profiteering and pandering to corporate greed which leaves millions out in the cold.

INDEPENDENCE FOR SCOTLAND

2012-01-16T22:19:00.001Z

Politics in Scotland has been utterly transformed in the past week as the long awaited referendum on Independence just got real.
The bells ringing in the New Year had barely stopped chiming when David Cameron strode into the BBC's London studios to declare he was taking charge of the Independence referendum. He insisted it would be conducted on his terms and at his choosing because 'the current uncertainty' over the timing of the referendum was 'destabilising the Scottish economy and bad for business confidence and investment decisions'. His intervention was designed to seize the initiative on behalf of the British state. Uncomfortable with their lack of control Cameron and the British state insisted that Westminster alone had the right to organise any referendum since constitutional matters are reserved to them under The Scotland Act 1998. In using these legal powers he insisted he had the right to see a simple Yes/No question on Independence be put as early as possible.
Cameron sees the current polls suggesting a 60:40 majority for staying within the United Kingdom, and wants any referendum held quickly before a stuttering economy, a populist SNP, or other events alter that ratio.
But Cameron's political weaknesses are all too apparent. The Tories and Liberal Democrats are hugely unpopular in Scotland. The former have just one MP out of 52 and, if anything, the Liberals are even more hated for having gone into coalition with Thatchers heirs.
On the Independence side, where stands the Scottish Socialist Party, the intervention of Cameron is seen as the hand of reaction. Alex Salmond astutely outmanoeuvred Cameron by announcing within hours that the date of the referendum would be Autumn 2014. The polls are seen as a challenge for supporters of Independence, one which can be turned around. And neither side would claim they are at this stage the final verdict of the Scottish people. Perhaps the most interesting of all the recent polls was the one conducted by Ipsos Mori in November which asked people how they would vote if they felt they would be £500 a year better off under Independence. The result was that the 60;40 proportions were completely reversed with a majority this time favouring change.
This news is no surprise to those of us who have argued for 10 years that convincing working people in Scotland that they will be economically, socially, politically and culturally better off if we were able to make our own decisions, control our own economy and shape our own destiny, is they key to winning a resounding Yes vote in Autumn 2014.

Blaming the Victims

2012-01-12T12:01:00.003Z

Zillah bought me a copy of ‘Chavs - the demonization of the working class’ by Owen Jones for Christmas. I realize the book has been out for a few months and many people have already seen the book and raved about it. I also acknowledge that Owen Jones was up in Edinburgh in November speaking at the Radical Book Fair organised by Tarlochan and Elaine at Word Power books. As I was contesting the election for Rector of St Andrews University at the time I missed the chance to meet him.

‘Chavs’ is a book I just couldn't’t put down. I read it from cover to cover in two days and was both angered and energised by it. Owen Jones articulates how working class people have been put upon by politicians, journalists and the chattering classes. Even the term itself has been besmirched, slandered and confused.

I am proud to consider myself working class. I have never seen myself as anything else and nor do I ‘aspire’ to. I was born and raised in the tough environment of a declining industrial town in Lanarkshire. Both my grandfathers were steelworkers although my grandpa Fox whom I barely knew had his life defined more by his experiences as a Japanese prisoner of war forced to work on the infamous Burma railway than by a blast furnace. He died in the early 1960’s but his cause of death had been ‘written down’ back in 1946. My grandpa Mackin was a foreman with the Lanarkshire Welding Company and built ‘most of the bridges in Scotland’ post war – and virtually single-handedly if you were to believe him. Both men were ambitious and determined to build a better life for their kids and grandkids like me.

I found myself both incensed and elated at ‘Chavs’ because it laid bare how millions of such working class people in Britain have been exploited and driven into poverty over the past 25 years and that during a so called ‘never-ending boom’, and then to add insult to injury they were made to feel as if the brutal and obscene failures of the system were their fault.

I had just finished writing a pamphlet for the Scottish Socialist Party on fuel poverty and the consequences of the exorbitant increases in gas and electricity bills when I read Chavs. And it made me go back to my pamphlet and stress the point, for the benefit of one million households in Scotland that the fuel poverty misery they are being forced to endure it is not their fault. This ‘blaming the victims’ culture must be defeated. These energy bills have gone up, income have gone down and energy efficiency schemes decimated because of a failure in the economic and social system we endure.

Our elected representatives, our mass media and the rest of system try to blame the victims of capitalism for its failings and let the real culprits off Scot-free.

CHAVS is a book every socialist should read just before they go out and rebuild the socialist movement in the schemes and communities across Britain. They truly are needed more than ever.

‘Chavs- The Demonization of the working class’ is published by Verso priced £14.99 and is available from Word Power Books, West Nicholson Street, Edinburgh.

EPF Burns Supper 2012

2011-12-22T11:48:00.003Z

Cold Hard Truth

2011-12-12T20:21:00.003Z

This appeared in today's Herald Diary.

Colin Fox, leader of the Scottish Socialist Party, tells us it's 25 years since Margaret Thatcher privatised British Gas.
He was chatting about this with some pensioners in an Edinburgh post office who recalled that the advertising slogan to encourage folk to buy shares always had the line: "If you see Sid, tell him."
One of the pensioners chipped in: "Nobody sees Sid any more. He doesn't get out of bed much as he can't afford to turn on his fire!"

Striking To Secure Greater Dignity In Retirement

2011-11-27T20:30:00.002Z

Wednesday sees the biggest strike in Britain for decades as more than three million public sector workers are expected to join forces in protest at Government plans to severely reduce their pension entitlement.
I fully support all those admirable men and women on strike in Unite, Unison, PCS, EIS, NASUWT and all the other unions involved because they face a three pronged assault on their chances of enjoying some kind of dignity in retirement.
The Government insists the country can't afford public sector workers' 'gold plated pensions'. But I see little evidence of such a thing. The purported generosity in current schemes is a mirage since the average woman in the local government pension scheme for example receives only £3,500 a year when she retires or £70 a week. The Government suggests that is too much for the country to afford! They are wrong.
They want to renege on an agreed pension agreement and force people to pay in much much more contributions over the years, and work much much longer before they can claim it and finally to expect much much less money than currently when they finally retire. Not an attractive proposition at all is it?
This 'triple assault' is necessary, claim the Government, because the country can no longer afford public sector workers pensions.
But I for one am not impressed by the Governments arguments. Tory Pensions Minister Francis Maude appears to justify the changes on the grounds that private company pensions are nowhere near as high as those in the public sector. But instead of drawing the conclusion that we the need to bring them up to an adequate level he proposes the opposite 'direction of travel'. Millions of people across Britain must face poverty in retirement. I prefer the more obvious connection, the one showing that where there is high levels of unionisation pensions are better. If the private sector provides poor pensions there's an answer. Join the union and make employers face up to their responsibilities.
See you on the picket line, Wednesday morning.

Frank's done it again...

2011-11-23T23:29:00.009Z

If there's a wittier cartoonist in Scotland than Frank Boyle (of the Edinburgh Evening News) then they are in hiding, because I've not seen them and I read all the papers.
Frank has won the coveted cartoonist of the year award several times and no wonder. His work never seems to lose its now legendary biting satire, sarcasm, wit and above all its irrepressible humour. To me it is often the wee remarks tucked away in the corner of the scene that crack me up the most and I often ask myself 'How on earth did he get that into the Evening News?'
Frank has joined forces with Argyll Publishing again to present his third compendium of cartoons, curiously entitled 'Boyling Point 2'. As anyone who reads the paper will testify, he is, day in day out, by miles the best thing in the Evening News - apart from those rare occasions when it mentions the Scottish Socialist Party of course. [Are you reading this Evening News Editor Tom?]
The book is now available priced £8.99. With more than 100 cartoon it's the ideal Christmas gift for socialists everywhere, as it pokes fun at all the targets we do, within and beyond Edinburgh. My favourite shows Cameron and Clegg kicking in social services office windows as a couple of frightened elderly bystanders look on and dismiss them as 'Just a hooligan minority'. Then there is the 'Holyrood takeaway' with the 4 party leaders offering food 'with added cheese...pure mince...something fishy and shaky' respectively. It reminds me of a very similar idea the SSP had in its 2010 election material where all four neo-liberal parties offer different flavours of greasy pizza. Mind you, that's Frank Boyle all over, he's forever stealing our cartoons!

SSP 'Day of Action' over gas and electricity bills is a huge success

2011-11-20T23:50:00.004Z

The Scottish Socialist party had one of its most successful days in years on Saturday as branches across the country reported enormous levels of support from the public for our petition to curb fuel poverty.
I was on Princes Street with Paul, Norman, Allan, Eddie, Jim, Sean and Rob [Jim and Sean are new SSP members and couldn't have hoped for a better 'baptism' in party activity]. We were all completely blown away by the fantastic response we got to our call for the power companies to be condemned for recent increases in charges. I have been campaigning on this issue for months but have seen nothing like this level of support before.
Indeed in 30 years campaigning I'd compare yesterday with stalls I have done against the war in Iraq in 2003 and against the Pol tax in the late 1980's. People were queuing up three deep around our table to get the chance to sign our five petitions in the mild November sunlight.
Over a couple of hours we collected more than 800 names [50 petition sheets with 17 names on each one]. We also met Renata and Claire who were so impressed by our efforts and the support we enjoyed that both now want to join the SSP. We sold all the Voice newspapers we had. By any measure this was our best result in many years.
It is clear that our demands - expressed through the loud-hailer, leaflets, notice boards and petitions chime with a widespread public mood.
People are furious both at power companies they see 'profiteering' at our expense, and at Governments who appear to be 'asleep at the wheel'. Government do not appear to understand people are furious at increasing bills and falling incomes. And it might be argued Government is in fact getting off lightly since they have cut the winter fuel allowance to pensioners and cut programmes giving grants towards household insulation and energy efficiency schemes.
With one million Scots families now living in fuel poverty [the Scottish Governments own figures] the situation is now critical.
The SSP has demanded that Government acts to reduce these bills, to increase financial help to the most vulnerable and extends the funds available for household energy efficiency.
But if we are to eradicate fuel poverty in Scotland - and we must - we need to diversify away from expensive and harmful fossil fuels, build 100,000 new homes annually to the latest energy efficiency standards and return the energy industry to public ownership.
As far as the campaign to achieve these objectives is concerned the next SSP EC on December 3rd will discuss the matter in some detail.
In the meantime all credit is due to those SSP members who participated in yesterdays efforts. I want to thank them. Those of us who have been campaigning on this issue for the past 6 months have been vindicated. We, in the SSP, saw this conflict coming and we had the courage of our convictions to stand up to some of the worlds biggest corporations and Government.It's clear the overwhelming majority of Scots are now behind us on this matter.

Gas And Electricity Bills Now People's No 1 Worry

2011-11-06T20:16:00.002Z

I attended Energy Action Scotland's annual conference this week. The conference was entitled 'A Fair Deal for the fuel poor' and it brings together all those aiming to eradicate fuel poverty in Scotland.
Amongst the workshop speakers was Simon Osborn from the consumer organisation 'Which?'. He referred to a study they had carried out in October which showed that energy bills are now the number one concern people now have in Britain. This tied in with a report published on Friday by the British Retail Consortium and Neilson which drew the very same conclusion.
And no wonder.
There are now seven million households in Britain living in fuel poverty, i.e families who do not have £1,500 for combined gas and electricity bills.
One million of those are in Scotland. Most analysts believe the Governments figures significantly underestimate the scale of the problem. Indeed the latest figures from the Scottish Government show the average family here is now paying 14% of its income on gas and electricity bills - 10% is the official definition of fuel poverty! So the average family in Scotland now has very real difficulty heating its home.

Politicians at Westminster and Holyrood are now scrambling to keep up with public anger on this issue. But their empty rhetoric is in such sharp contrast to the 'triple whammy' which confronts working class people. Rising energy bills, falling incomes and Government cut backs - on programmes designed to alleviate fuel poverty- all add up to a very potent anger.
And politicians playacting with figures instead of bringing forward meaningful measures is only likely to 'fan the angry flames'. SNP Infrastructure Secretary Alex Neil for example was caught out trying to deceive the EAS conference with claims he is increasing support for those aiming to install new boilers and household insulation when in fact his Government has cut the funds available from £71m last year to only £49m now.
And what struck me about this EAS gathering of industry professionals was the pessimism they demonstrated about the chances of eradicating fuel poverty in this country any time soon. It's true to say most expect the situation to get worse and worse and worse.

The UK Governments 2012 Green Deal was described by several delegates as a 'car crash' which will do little to help the fuel poor. At a time of record indebtedness and falling incomes this Government scheme suggests people should take on further loans to insulate their homes.
There is of course much to be said for a thorough going public programme of insulation and energy efficiency in Britain. After all we are light years behind the Scandinavians who although they pay more than us for gas and electricity, they consume much much less because their homes are far more fuel efficient. Norman Kerr, Director of EAS, estimates Scotland needs to spend £200m annually to bring our housing stock up to adequate levels of energy efficiency. The Government currently commits only £40m/year to this end.

Governments have repeatedly been caught cold on fuel poverty. In 2000 the Westminster Parliament passed the 'Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act' which included a statutory commitment to eradicate fuel poverty in Britain by 2015/16. Unfortunately this is another promise MPs will fail to honour [just as they have now done with child poverty promises]. Their forecast is now in tatters as they mistakenly calculated that energy bills would rise by 5% between 2005-2010. In fact they have doubled, risen more than 100% and fuel poverty has now reached record levels.

Perhaps the most startling figure to emerge from the conference was contained in Professor John Hills report, commissioned by Government that more people will die of fuel poverty/cold related illnesses in Britain this year than die on our roads.
Derek Lickorish, Chair of the UK Government's Fuel Poverty Advisory Group believes the problem will get worse and worse as prices rocket, incomes fall and Government programmes are increasingly not fit for purpose.

The Scottish Socialist Party National Council in Glasgow yesterday committed the party to a 'day of action' on the issue of fuel poverty on Saturday 19th November and all SSP branches will be offering the public a chance to vent its anger in town centres and shopping centres everywhere.

St Andrews Rector Election 2011

2011-10-29T18:58:00.004+01:00

The result of the St Andrews Rector election announced last night was as follows;
1 Alistair MOFFAT 48%
2 Michael FORSYTH 20%
3 Colin FOX 17%
4 Abeer McINTYRE 7%
5 Pat NEVIN 7%
Turnout 48% [2008 Turnout was 25%]

When the first set of transfers took place it was clear Alistair Moffat had secured a substantial win and I offered him my congratulations.

As the Left candidate in the election I was very pleased to gain such a substantial share of the vote. Almost one in five students at St Andrews gave us their first preference vote and opted for our programme of;
-Opposition to fees and the increasing indebtedness of students Education is a right not a privilege was our slogan [Borrowed from Red Clydeside legend John Maclean]
-For fairer rents and better student accommodation at St Andrews
-Opposition to cuts in University funding and facilities and indeed all public services
-Support for the Universities Wind Farm at Kenly which is under attack
-And support for the ethical investment of University finances

I would like to thank my campaign team - the Left Society at St Andrews - James, Amanda, Callum, Patrick and Ben who did a power of work over the past 10 days and ran a first class campaign. They were always enthusiastic, highly principled, always polite, exceptionally clever and tireless in their herculean efforts in the face of considerable odds.
We did very well to come such a close third, just 100 votes behind the Tory candidate Lord Michael Forsyth in what is after all a socially conservative place. Lets not forget St Andrews is now the most expensive University at which to study in the whole of the UK given the fees, price of accommodation and the cost of living in this small Fife town. That has an inevitable impacts on social background and outlook of those students who can afford to go there. It's not that long since Prince Willie left here after all!

The 'Fox For Rector' campaign can be and are understandably proud of the efforts we put in and the way we raised 'the scarlet standard high' amid 8,000 students at St Andrews and I'm sure the Left Society will continue to do so.

Fox For Rector

2011-10-22T21:09:00.002+01:00

I am proud and honoured to have been nominated by students at St Andrews University this week for the position of Rector.
The post is elected by a secret ballot of all 8,000 students and the Rector's job is to champion students interests on the University Court, its governing body. The successful candidate serves a three year term and chairs the Court meetings.
I stood for the position 3 years ago and we polled a very creditable 28% of the vote, coming second to Kevin Dunnion the Information Commissioner and current Rector.
The students promoting my candidacy have again presented a programme which restates our shared central belief that access to the best possible education should be a right afforded to everyone rather than a privilege reserved for those who can afford it. This principle is particularly important in this election as St Andrews has one of the lowest levels of admissions from the state sector.
The University authorities recently decided to impose the maximum possible £9,000 fee on students from the rest of Britain studying there. When you add in the cost of accommodation and other living expenses it becomes the dearest place in the country to study. That cannot be a good label to wear.
These are serious times for students. Who can forget the anger expressed by hundreds of thousands this time last year when the tuition fees introduced by New Labour were further increased by the CON/DEM coalition. The escalating cost of living, the enormous indebtedness and the immoral package of public sector cuts has inevitably been felt at St Andrews. The University has made cuts to accommodation arrangements and library improvements, all of which makes life harder still for students.
I do support the sustainable energy programme the University has embarked upon and it's ground breaking ethical investment portfolio.
But serious times demand serious candidates and I have pledged to be a 'hands on' working Rector.
I see the role as being very important indeed in these difficult times and I'm committed to standing up for students and improving the quality of life they experience in their time at St Andrews. I have pledged to hold regular surgeries where students can come and raise their concerns directly with me. I also plan to produce a regular bulletin/report explaining the issues developing and the decisions I have taken on their behalf. These are commitments I made [and kept] to my constituents when I was an MSP between 2003-07.
The Rector election takes place online between Wednesday and Friday of this week. The result is declared on Friday evening. There are five candidates standing and I am very much looking forward to the contest.

Eating Away At Your Pension Rights

2011-10-19T22:42:00.002+01:00

I was up in St Andrews today meeting students and staff. Whilst there I was invited to come along and enjoy some cake in a lunchtime protest with a difference. Staff from the UCU [University College Union] were protesting at management plans to eat away at their pension rights.
The University pension fund is made up of contributions from staff and employers. Management are demanding that lecturers pay in more in contributions, work longer before receiving their pension and get less money when they do eventually retire. Its a triple whammy.
The union estimates staff could lose up to £100,000 over the course of an average 20 year retirement through the new proposals compared to present arrangements. To add insult to injury the University hierarchy - Principals and Vice Chancellors etc - would not suffer any such diminution in their pensions. So the overall share of the pension 'cake' [get it] for staff is being reduced, which Marie Antoinette's remains unaffected. 'Let them eat cake' indeed!

Irate Energy Customers At Boiling Point

2011-10-16T22:06:00.003+01:00

This letter appeared in yesterday's Scotsman and Herald

OFGEM's revelation that the big 6 energy firms have increased their profits 8 fold since June will undoubtedly make millions of irate customers even more furious. After all these profits come as the Government tells us there are now one million Scots households living in fuel poverty,i.e. unable to afford the £1,345 now demanded of them for gas and electricity.
And the reasons for their plight are plain to see. Energy bills have doubled in the past 5 years, whilst wages, benefits and pensions have not.
The combined bill for gas and electricity now also includes 20% VAT which means we are paying some of the highest energy prices in the world. And all this at a time when living standards are plummeting.
As readers of this newspaper are well aware the Scottish Socialist Party has been campaigning on this issue for many months. Like millions of Scots we believe fuel poverty is an affront to our society. People are going without the heating they need with bitterly cold weather round the corner. Mothers are foregoing evening meals in order to provide for their children instead. Cold related deaths are set to soar.
We demand the Government acts to cap these bills, that anyone paying more than 9.95% of their income should receive an immediate winter fuel allowance to prevent them toppling into fuel poverty.

The Government must also reverse the cuts made at both Westminster and Holyrood to programmes designed to support people in these difficult times. Chancellor George Osborne may wish to reflect on the wisdom of his decision to cut the winter fuel allowance paid to pensioners. And Alex Salmond should likewise reverse his decision to withdraw help to those trying to install more efficient heating systems and improved household insulation.
The timing of the SNP Government's decision earlier this year to abandon the promise it made in 2007 to eradicate fuel poverty in Scotland by 2015 plainly couldn't be worse. Yet if this objective is ever to be delivered then the industry clearly must be returned to public hands, only then will the provision of essential heating and lighting to everyone again be the uppermost objective, ahead of multinational corporate profiteering.

Me and Tony Benn in Glasgow Again

2011-10-08T11:57:00.005+01:00

I've been on wetter demonstrations, I assured SSP colleagues last Saturday. But actually I don't think I have.
The STUC march through Glasgow attracted 15,000 people, the organisers claimed, in protest at the cuts to public sector jobs and
services being carried out by the CON DEM Government. If it had been dry I'm
sure the turnout would have easily been double the size.

Given the atrocious weather the organisers rightly curtailed the long list
of advertised speakers. In the end Tony Benn was the only one. And
it's fair to say he was listened to avidly by the soaked assembly who hung
on his every word and would have happily listened to him for much longer.
I spoke to him briefly on stage and expressed my continuing admiration for him
and all he has one for our great movement.
I first met Tony 30 years ago as a young socialist when he was running
for the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party against Denis Healey. He was
speaking at a meeting in Glasgow University one Sunday morning and I travelled
in from Motherwell to hear him. He is one of the main reasons I got involved
in left wing political activity. I have kept in touch with him ever since.
Now in his late 80's and increasingly frail he remains one of my heroes.

Fury Grows at 19% Rise in Gas and Electricity Bills

2011-09-25T22:15:00.002+01:00

SSP Public meeting in Bathgate

Together with my SSP colleagues Eddie, Susan and Paul I have been campaigning in Livingston and Bathgate these past few weeks gathering support for our petition against the gas and electricity charges and the need for action to counter worsening fuel poverty problem in the area.
We have all been overwhelmed by support from the public who are understandably furious that gas and electric bills have gone up 19% [almost 4 times the rate of inflation] whilst their wages, benefits and pensions have not.
We have arranged a public meeting in Bathgate on 5th October to draw people together and establish a local fuel poverty action group.
The details are on the leaflet below.
This is an issue which is growing in political significance daily. The anger in the population is palpable and the consequences of such increases are serious as more people will die of cold related deaths this winter than ever before.

Scotland's Modern Democratic Republic at Hand at Last!

2011-09-18T11:18:00.001+01:00

This official billboard announcement outside the National Gallery of Scotland at the Mound heralds the great day when monarchy is finally ended in Scotland.
I cant wait.

Gas and Electricity Prices - SSP Public Meeting

2011-09-04T18:00:00.002+01:00

Former MSP Campbell Martin Joins The SSP

2011-08-25T22:02:00.002+01:00

I'm delighted that Campbell Martin the former SNP MSP has joined the Scottish Socialist Party.
I have known Campbell for many years. We were both in the Scottish Parliament together as MSPs. He is a hugely talented socialist activist, widely respected and highly principled. He was expelled from the SNP in 2004 for speaking out against the party's move to the right under John Swinney. A path it has continued to plough under Alex Salmond.
I have been a huge admirer of Campbell's for many years. Like the SSP he is passionate about the need for an independent socialist Scotland. I am sure he will make a great impact in politics in Scotland. I am also sure there are many more people like him looking for a party which puts working people first and champions the case for an independent socialist Scotland, particularly as the country's economy continues to stumble, people's living standards continue to fall and inequalities widen.

Salmond's Cold Comfort to Millions of Scots Facing Fuel Poverty

2011-08-14T22:02:00.004+01:00

Here's the reply I received from First Minister Alex Salmond to my letter containing a 2,000 signature petition demanding action to eradicate fuel poverty.

I thought you should see it.

It arrived on the same day as Britain's Fuel Poverty Action Group told Channel Four News the governments figures on fuel poverty grievously understate the extent of the problem. Mr Derek Lickorish, Chairman of FPAG, revealed there are now 6.6 million households in Britain experiencing fuel poverty [defined as spending 10% or more of household income on gas and electricity] with more than one million of these in Scotland.

Scotland has a significantly greater problem pro-rata than south of the border. But Alex Salmond's letter, as you can see for yourself, offers cold comfort to those facing real hardship. His government, in common with his counterparts at Westminster, have cut funding to programmes aimed at reducing fuel poverty. Indeed the SNP made a cast iron commitment in 2007 to eradicating fuel poverty in Scotland by 2014, but this promise has now been abandoned.

The 'agreement' he refers to in his letter 'to spend up to £10million upgrading insulation and heating systems' is unfortunately a pittance in the circumstances. The average household bill for gas and electricity is now almost £1,500 so £10million, even if it was spent on the one million households in severest need, amounts to very little indeed.

Come on Alex, this isn't what you promised us and it certainly isn't what the people of Scotland voted for on May 5th!

2,000 Sign SSP Petition On Gas and Electricity Bills

2011-08-07T21:02:00.003+01:00

I sent this letter sent to First Minister Alex Salmond, MSP today

Dear First Minister,

Please find enclosed a 2,000 signature petition gathered by Scottish Socialist Party members in Edinburgh in the past few days expressing public anger at the escalating cost of gas and electricity bills. These signatures illustrate the depth of feeling that exists on this issue. With almost one million families in Scotland now suffering fuel poverty that anger has reached boiling point. Scottish Power, British Gas, SSE and Eon have increased prices by 19%, pushing the average bill for gas and electricity up to £1,500/ year.

This was not therefore the time for SNP Housing Minister Alex Neil to be cutting £20m from programmes designed to combat fuel poverty in Scotland. As if this ‘double whammy’ of increased prices and reduced Scottish Government support was not bad enough George Osborne has also cut the lifeline winter fuel allowance to pensioners by £100.

Our enclosed petition urges you to act now and to help those one in three households in Scotland in such dire need. It is time the bills were capped. Wages haven’t gone up, benefits haven’t gone up and pensions haven’t gone up, so power companies cannot be allowed to force more and more people into fuel poverty!

The people of Scotland demand you intervene to provide far greater help to those in need. Doubling the winter fuel allowance to pensioners would help, as would ensuring families on pre-payment cards get a discount rather than paying most for gas and electricity as at present.

I look forward to receiving reassurance from you that working people in Scotland will be given help by the Scottish Government rather than abandoned to market forces and rapacious multinational companies.

Yours sincerely

Colin Fox

Power to the People

2011-07-27T20:15:00.003+01:00

It will have come as no surprise to anyone following the great British energy swindle that the third of our big six energy companies has just announced another 18% rise in the price of gas and electricity.
Scottish and Southern Electric [SSE], formerly known as Scottish Hydro, has followed Scottish Power and British Gas in increasing charges by almost 4 times the rate of inflation for its 9 million UK customers. The company blamed the rising cost of gas on world markets for their decision. However, unlike the previous two companies they also took a swipe at Government legislation which forces them to contribute towards fuel poverty initiatives like the 'Warm Home Fund' blaming such 'mandatory environmental and social schemes' for eating into their profits. Heaven forfend anyone poor should get in the way of SSE's record profits, up 50 % in the past 5 years to £1.3bn or the £8m bonuses paid to its top four Executives for that matter!
No wonder public contempt for the energy companies is now at such unprecedented levels!
These companies have forced more than 10 million families in Britain into fuel poverty and have done so with undisguised contempt. SSE, for example have just been found guilty at Guildford Crown Court of using illegal sales methods to mislead people about their price tariffs in a concerted effort to win 'vulnerable' customers away from other suppliers. In a move only matched in its rapidity by Murdoch's decision to close down the News of the World, SSE wound up its sales division with the loss of 900 jobs before the full implications of this particular 'Pandora's box' could be fully inspected.
Scottish Power's charges go up 18% from August 1st. British Gas and SSE have announced similar rises. It is only be a matter of days now before Eon, EDF and Npower each make the same announcement and force millions more hard pressed families into fuel poverty in Britain.
This situation makes a mockery of the free market and privatised power as the price of essentials like gas and electricity rises beyond the reach of millions of families. And perhaps the craziest news yet is that UK investment in gas fired power stations is at record levels as the so called 'diversified energy policy' with its 'basket of energy sources' is rendered useless by the continued and prolonged 'dash for gas'. The answer to this increasingly brutal situation is of course to invest not in gas but in renewables and for the entire energy industry to be brought back into public hands. But that won't happen under the Tories, Labour or the SNP who persist with an energy policy based on greed not need.

Fuel Poverty Worsens As Prices Rise

2011-07-12T18:31:00.002+01:00

Scottish Power's 19% hike in gas and electricity charges last month has now been followed by British Gas's 18% increase this month. The other four energy companies - EDF, Eon, Scottish and Southern and NPower - are widely expected to announce similar increases soon.

Perhaps the energy companies or the Government can explain how people are supposed to pay these exorbitant bills when wages have not gone up, benefits have not gone up and pensions have not gone up?

According to Edinburgh Council figures, half the pensioners in this city are now experiencing fuel poverty [i.e. spending 10% of their income on this bill] and there are one million households in Scotland living in such dire circumstances. And with the SNP Government cutting £20m from fuel poverty programmes and the CON-DEM coalition at Westminster reducing the winter fuel payment by 25% this shameful situation is unlikely to improve any time soon.

First Minister Alex Salmond promised to eradicate fuel poverty in Scotland by 2015. He is now further away from his goal than ever.As someone who campaigns on this issue regularly on the streets of Edinburgh I can report that people are absolutely furious at this situation. It is time the Government intervened to ensure bills are capped and to diversify away from burning fossil fuels as part of an affordable and sustainable energy policy.

[Letter published in the Edinburgh Evening News 12 July 2011]

Edinburgh People's Festival Programme Unveiled

2011-07-06T23:19:00.007+01:00

The Edinburgh People’s Festival today unveiled our August 2011 programme which has a mixture of history, music, poetry, literature, lectures and comedy.

We are delighted to present this our ninth annual Edinburgh People’s Festival which runs from Sunday 7th to Friday 12th August. Our shows this year contain a mixture of old favourites and new attractions. We have for example another chance to join our popular walking tour of Edinburgh’s radical past taking in those sites in the city not covered by the tourist board. And we again pay tribute to the legendary Hamish Henderson, poet, essayist, folk singer songwriter, intellectual and activist who founded the People’s Festival back in 1951.

As well as those regular features we also present several new shows. We have music from the city’s Spanish community courtesy of ‘Gallo Rojo’ to celebrate protest songs and their spirit of resistance. We gather in the Scottish Poetry Library to conflate poetry and humour in an evening in memory of William McGonagall ‘the worlds worst poet’ who although long associated with Dundee was born here and is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard.

For John Rebus fans we have a literary tour of those landmarks made famous by Ian Rankin’s fictional detective and finally as our ‘grand finale’ we present an un-missable comedy night in Gorgie with 5 of the funniest comics in the city at prices to make everyone laugh.

Most shows are, as usual, absolutely free. And we thank the city’s trades union movement for its ongoing and generous support for making this possible.

Full details of all the shows in this years programme and how to get tickets are available at The EPF website - www.edinburghpeoplesfestival.org

Edinburgh's Tram Fiasco

2011-06-29T17:13:00.002+01:00

The opening of Scotland’s newest motorway yesterday under budget and ahead of schedule, makes painful viewing across the country in Scotland’s capital.

At roughly the same time Glasgow decided to plough ahead with a further 6 miles of the M74 to ease its traffic problems Edinburgh opted for 6 miles of tramlines. Unlike Glasgow the Edinburgh project has grossly exceeded its budget, up from £545m to around £770, is still years behind schedule and is now much reduced in scale from the original plan.

The budget failure and delays are bad enough but it is the utter incompetence of the project management TIE [Transport Initiatives Edinburgh] that has most disgusted people here. After 5 years of disruption, upheaval and contractual conflicts officials from TIE this week supplied Councillors with three options for the future and scrapping the entire scheme altogether- at a cost of £750m- was one of those choices. That’s right, we can choose to spend three quarters of a billion pounds and have nothing at all to show for it!

And it is a strong sign of the antipathy felt towards TIE and the entire project that 37% of people voted in an Edinburgh Evening News poll for that very option.

This issue is set to dominate next years Council elections and the recriminations are flowing thick and fast. The SNP blame Labour for coming up with the tram idea in the first place. Labour in return blame the SNP/LIB Dem coalition in charge of the City Council for the past 4 years of abject incompetence. In truth all 58 Councillors stand condemned as none of them were on top of the project as it veered off course.

And lest anyone think this doesn’t affect those living outside Edinburgh think again because £500m of the initial £545m budget comes from the Scottish Executive. They also face an additional extra demand.

I support trams in principle. I can see the merits they offer in cutting down congestion and CO2 emissions. I have travelled on the very successful and popular tram networks in Sheffield, Manchester and Croydon. But the problem with the Edinburgh scheme is that it was demanded by the city’s ‘business community’ not the people. Business leaders wanted to get to the airport quicker without having to use the bus. For the overwhelming majority of Edinburgh’s population the tram line network offered doesn’t come anywhere near us.

Furthermore the priority for Edinburgh is not a tram, regardless of whether it is £545 or £770. The people of this city need public housing, help with education and training, jobs and economic support as well as better health care. So as well as condemning the city fathers to charges of incompetence the tram fiasco also shows them to be completely out of touch they are with the real needs of the people of this city.

Democracy or the House of Lords

2011-06-23T22:52:00.002+01:00

It's perhaps only natural that the debate on the Governments Bill to reform the House of Lords should further illustrate how out of touch our Peers of the realm remain. When the Tories are cast as the defenders of democracy you can tell how ridiculously skewed the debate has become.

David Cameron proposes that 80% of the House of Lords should be elected. And you might be forgiven for thinking the controversy centres on why only 80%? After all we don't elect 80% of the Commons do we or our Holyrood Parliament or our Councils? But this is no ordinary conflict. No, the Labour Party is against any elections at all!

There are many political issues where you would be hard pushed to spot any difference between Labour and the Tories.They are almost identical and reactionary on imperialist wars, privatisation, neo-liberal globalisation,savage public spending cuts, assaults on the living standards of working people, pensions, political corruption and nepotism. I could go on and on but here's one issue where Labour is substantially more reactionary than even 'the blue rinse brigade'.

In the past the Tories defended hereditary peerages and argued against an elected second chamber. This way they kept their inbuilt and substantial majority there. Labour meanwhile, for almost a century, rightly called for the abolition of the House of Lords. Now in a complete reversal of positions the Tories support democratisation, albeit partial, and Labour opposes it.

Labour's position is almost unbelievable. Ed Milliband's opposition to an elected second chamber is, like Blair and Brown's before him, based on the spurious argument that the power vested in the House of Commons would be undermined by other politicians given a mandate by the electorate. Labour wants to keep an appointed House of Lords in order to prevent it becoming a bulwark against decisions taken by the Commons.

You might think extending democracy would be a better argument, but no. And the Liberals are no better. I heard the preposterous Lord Steel of Aikwood argue on Radio Four this morning, that the public do not want 'politicians appointed by political parties sitting in the upper House'. This from David Steel an old buffer who picks up his £350 per day having been leader of the Liberals and appointed by Tony Blair on a grace and favour basis for service to the corrupt political establishment.

Countries all over the world have bicameral Parliaments with two elected chambers. The extension of such democracy would undoubtedly be a good thing for Britain but of course it rightly sounds the death knell for the nonsensical privilege and unelected placemen and women in the House of Lords.If you think the composition of the House of Commons is completely unrepresentative of the British population, and it is, the House of Lords is another world of aliens altogether.

Salmond Must Act Now To Cap Energy Bills

2011-06-11T22:49:00.002+01:00

Scottish Power has just announced a 19% rise in gas and electricity bills -the whole country is up in arms at this latest hike in charges - and it's likely it will not be the only energy company to do so. But with one in three Scots families already in fuel poverty [up from 293,000 in 2002] the situation is now critical.

Gas and electricity charges have risen more than 80% in 3 years. The average household bill is now over £1,500 a year and Scottish Power wants to raise them by another £200. The SNP Government promised to eradicate fuel poverty in Scotland by 2014. This pledge now lies in tatters.

Shelter Scotland, the housing charity,reports that families living in poorly insulated homes are the worst affected as costly heat escapes through badly insulated walls, windows,doors and roofs. They want the Scottish Government to build 100,000 fuel-efficient council houses each year to reduce energy bills and tackle chronic homelessness. Last year the SNP built just 6,000.

I have written to the First Minister, Alex Salmond, demanding he steps in and caps gas and electricity prices. People in Scotland do not have the money for another 19% rise, not when incomes are being held down. Wages have not risen, pensions have not risen, benefits have not risen and yet Scottish Power wants another 19% out of us!

Well they are not on. This really is the last straw.In the long term the Scottish Government must step up investment in renewable energy in order to diversify away from gas, oil and coal. Taking the power companies back into public ownership must be a priority, in order to ensure the profits this industry makes from the public benefit everyone. But people cannot wait that long, Alex Salmond must act now to cap gas and electricity bills and say enough is enough.

Fond Farewell Karly

2011-06-04T22:12:00.003+01:00

Sadly the Scottish Socialist Party had to say a fond farewell to our dear friend and comrade Karly Oliver [appropriately shown to the left] who this week has returned to her native New Zealand after 2 years with us here in Edinburgh.
Karly was a fantatstic comrade, the branch secretary of the SSP's Edinburgh North branch. She is a highly talented young woman who helped steer the SSP in the city through some fairly rough times. And she always did so with patience, diplomacy, utter professionalism and dedication to the cause she loves.
Karly was a joy to know and to work with. She will be much missed here, fondly remembered and above all warmly welcomed back because of the outstanding contribution she made to advancing the socialist cause in Scotland. New Zealand's gain is our great loss. To all my Kiwi comrades I say 'You have won a watch there, make sure you take good care of her.'

A War To Help The Libyan People?

2011-05-29T23:06:00.001+01:00

Speaking in London this week Barak Obama warned that Qaddafi must ‘stand down and leave Libya to the Libyan people.’ It was another fine example of the doublespeak Obama is famous for. Obama certainly has no intention of leaving Libya to the Libyans. He intends to help BP, Total and Fina steal their oil.

In March the UN Security Council authorized a military ‘no fly zone’ allegedly to protect Libyan civilians in response to reports Qaddafi was about to butcher those in Benghasi who had rebelled against him - inspired no doubt by the uprisings in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia. But NATO’s military action has escalated from enforcing a defensive ‘no fly zone’ to become in effect the armed wing of the Libyan rebels. British, American, Italian and French aircraft have been bombarding and killing Libyans for over two months now flying 6,000 ‘sorties’ and firing more than 250 Cruise missiles. Britain alone is on course to spend £1billion on the conflict.

NATO commanders admit killing Qadaffi and replacing him with a more pliant, pro-western alternative is now their main objective. This is not only beyond the terms of UN Resolution 1973 it is expressly prohibited under international law. Yet ‘regime change’ in Libya is precisely what warmongering Obama has in mind. He has deemed ‘all legitimate military targets’ to include Qadaffi’s official Government residencies. A bloody civil war now looms in a country divided between NATO backed rebels in the east and Libyan Government forces in the west.

Several important questions arise from NATO’s latest war. Uppermost among them perhaps is how Qaddafi has survived in the face of such overwhelming military odds? The continuing loyalty of his armed forces is one factor but his ability to play on the deep-seated hatred for western Imperialism and the United States in particular has been even more crucial. The civilian population of Tripoli for example has predictably been drawn in behind Qaddafi by its hatred for Western Imperialism, NATO and their daily bombardment.

BBC and SKY News reporters go out of their way to deny the seething contempt that exists towards Western Imperialism throughout the region. Thankfully there are superior news agencies which convey how the Arab masses see the invasion of Iraq, the occupation of Afghanistan and the persecution of the Palestinians as an affront to democracy, international law and to themselves.

For half a century the US has backed every tyrant and despot in the area. Obama continued with this strategy until the ‘Arab Spring’ began. Western Imperialism stood full square behind tyrants like Mubarak. The uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Bahrain have rather exposed them. And it ill behoves Obama to claim, as he did in London this week, that Britain and the United States are the worlds ‘moral guardians’.

Britain and the US never saw the Arab Spring coming far less fostered it as Obama tries to imply. Therefore NATO’s support for the rebels based in Benghasi, the self styled Transitional Council, will hardly ingratiate them to the rest of the Libyan population.

The Libyan Transitional Council are in truth a mixed bunch. They have legitimate grievances against Qaddafi having faced years of discrimination and under development. But they belong to

tribes common only in Eastern Libya who have always been hostile to Qaddafi. Many of them call for the restoration of the disgraced King Idris whom Qaddafi overthrew in a popular uprising in 1969. Idris was a corrupt, brutal and above all plaint western stooge every bit as hated as Qaddafi. He was famous for the deals he signed with Western oil companies – British, French and Italian – wherein Libya received the lowest rate in the world for a barrel of oil taken from its deserts. Al Qaeda are also reported to be involved in the rebel group (they have long been sworn enemies of Qaddafi) although not a significant size.

And of course oil is at the heart of all Obama’s calculations. The French have been the most belligerent of all voices on Libya. It’s clear their motivation is not humanitarian but the prospect of securing precious oil fields across the rich Libyan dessert.

Whilst Qaddafi is without doubt an idiosyncratic despot who rules, not through democratic structures as he claims, but via a rigged political system aided by a ruthless police state funded by the country’s huge oil wealth. Nonetheless he has never been tamed by Western Imperialism and they now see their chance. ‘Regime change’ however for democrats remains the sole and inviolate right of the Libyan people alone, not NATO, not the USA, not Britain nor anyone else.

Obama, Cameron, Sarkosy and Berlusconi are not motivated by humanitarian concern for the Libyan people they aim to impose yet another puppet who will promise them access to the huge oil reserves in the Libyan desert. This conflict then is not a war to help the Libyan people its a war to help BP steal their oil.

Scotland's Political Climate Changes Utterly

2011-05-10T22:11:00.003+01:00

As landslides go the 2011 Holyrood election was huge. Scotland has been shaken to its political foundations as voters again voiced their contempt for the Tories, their coalition partners the Lib-Dems and New Labour. The Scotsman described Thursday’s result as a ‘victory of hitherto unthinkable proportions’ for the SNP. Even The Scotsman can be right some of the time!

In truth the extent of the victory surprised even the SNP. They emerged with 45% of the vote [their largest ever], 69 seats [out of 129] and the first overall majority in Holyrood’s history. At counts across the country SNP candidates arrived expecting third or fourth place and walked out hours later ‘as the newly elected MSP for the said constituency’. The front page of Saturdays Edinburgh Evening News said it all. It led with a photograph of the newly elected MSP for Edinburgh Southern emerging from a bookmakers with his £750 winnings after he put £50 on himself to win at 14/1 just a fortnight ago. That former Lib Dem seat was, according to all received wisdom, Labour’s for the taking.

It is impossible to underplay the scale of the SNP victory. Even the ‘certainties’ of the D’Hont PR system employed to distribute Holyrood seats were swept aside. So many people voted for the SNP on Thursday that after wining all the constituency seats in some regions they also got MSPs on the same regional list! Legends are made of this. The SNP’s message, albeit deceitful, that ‘the list vote elects the First Minister’ brought them huge dividends.

The SNP’s sophisticated, multi-million pound election campaign, with its navigational tools for activists and social networking operations completely outstripped the once powerful Labour machine. Pollsters YouGov report that 80,000 Labour voters across Scotland switched to the SNP in the final 36 hours in disgust at its increasingly negative campaign and incessant targeted mail shots. When they had constituency activists on the ground Labour knew when to leave people well alone!

BELEAGERED and BELABOURED

Can it really only be a year since every Labour MP in Scotland increased their majority? This time the all-conquering Labour Party of Lowland Scotland fell to pieces like a Laurel and Hardy car. If definitive and final proof were needed that people vote one way in Westminster elections and another for Holyrood this is it.

In Labour’s Central belt ‘heartlands’ its seats toppled like ninepins. And comparing Thursday’s results with the notional results from 2007 [itself a bad night for Labour] does not sufficiently explain the scale of their collapse. A better comparison would be to look at how Labour’s five figure majorities from last year poured into the SNP corner.

Labour imagined the Lib Dem protest vote would go to them, so why didn’t it? The answer is that Labour like the Con-Dem Coalition also support public spending cuts and tuition fees. They offered no real alternative. Former Lib-Dem voters were also seduced by Salmond’s claims of managerial competency at Holyrood. These SNP’s achievements in wooing disenchanted Liberals should not be regarded lightly. There is little love lost between the two parties, but on this occasion the support the SNP won from the Lib-Dems was the difference between winning and winning an overall majority.

As it turned out even the so-called ‘rogue’ poll of April 21st ,which first suggested the SNP had an overall majority, underestimated their support. And let’s not forget that Labour started this election campaign with a 15% lead!

The fact is Salmond attracted votes not just from disaffected Lib Dems, but also Labour, Green, Tory and SSP supporters too.

EPHEMERAL OR EARTH SHATTERING

The central question is how much of this change is ephemeral, a one off, a freak result, and how much of it has broken the political mould?

Those who tentatively suggest the former must reckon with the 5-year term the SNP majority now has in this Parliament. That’s certainly not superficial. Neither is the scale of Labour’s collapse.

On the other hand those who suggest we are now in permanent new territory must ask how can the SNP keep seats like Edinburgh Pentlands and Edinburgh West when they have virtually no activists there and little natural support as its political opponents wait to pounce? And what will be the consequences in next years Council elections after a year of public spending cuts?

There are those of course who argue that the result on May 5th illustrates a certain ‘political promiscuity’ by voters who voted for Labour in huge numbers last year and opted for the SNP equally emphatically this time. This demonstrates, so it is argued, an inherent volatility in politics because there are no ideological differences between the 4 establishment parties. And this is certainly true if you examine Alex Salmond’s economic programme, his business plan, or international policy in regards to say Libya or Afghanistan. And the public spending cuts which he delayed until after this election sit in his in tray awaiting his scissors.

THE CUTS

Above all it is the issue of the cuts which will now test Salmond’s popularity most. Popularity levels like his can only go one way. Ask Nick Clegg! And the SNP has very difficult choices now to make during continued economic stagnation. It faces making severe public spending cuts. And it has as a party no compunction in voting for them, unlike the SSP. It votes through cuts every day in Councils across Scotland and it will do so again at Holyrood. Of course Salmond will try valiantly to pin the blame on Cameron and Clegg. And rightly so, but in the end he will not fight the cuts, he will make them. That brings huge public opposition and with it huge opportunities for the left.

Salmond must make £3bn of cuts over 5 years and these will be severe and unpopular. A shrewd and cunning political operator he might be - look at the way he announced his five year Council tax freeze for example at the same time as he unceremoniously and largely unnoticed dumped the SNP’s commitment to an income based alternative- but he will make them nonetheless.

Neither will an SNP Government confront the employing classes or redistribute the great wealth of Scotland. Salmond may be a populist but he will defend the interests of big business in Scotland as mercilessly as anyone else.

The message from the people of Scotland to Alex Salmond however remains unequivocal - these cuts are utterly unnecessary and indefensible and he must fight them! The economic crisis wasn’t caused by the greed and recklessness of working people and the poor after all.

‘The SNP has been good for Scotland’ boasted Salmond defending his 4 year record at Holyrood. But which Scotland does he mean? The 200 businessmen who endorsed him on polling day? Sir David Murray? Sir Jackie Stewart? Sir Tom Farmer? The Scottish Sun and News of the World whom also blessed him with an endorsement? The Scottish Sunday Express? They all believe the SNP has been good for them and that’s why they backed Salmond on Thursday!

‘Alex Salmond has been good for Scotland’ they said in unison ‘That’s why we support his re-election as First Minister.’ John Swinney welcomed their backing and said ‘Captains of Industry have benefited from the SNP.’

The Sunday Times Rich List came out at the weekend and what’s remarkable about the table of Scots billionaires and millionaires is the number who came out last week in support of the SNP. As New Labour found to its cost you can support the millionaires or you can support the millions. Getting it wrong has devastating consequences electorally.

So there’s the rub. Millions of Scots voted for the SNP to fight the cuts and to stand up to the Tories but the SNP now supports a regressive council tax freeze, cutting corporation tax and cuts in public services, jobs, pay and £3.3bn off the budget over the next 5 years.

INDEPENDENCE

Undoubtedly the most profound impact of last weeks astonishing is made on the likelihood of a referendum on Independence. The SNP did not present the Bill in the last Parliament they said because they had no majority. Now they do. Independence just took a great leap forward as Mao might have said.

There is no doubt that the case for independence took a battering during the election campaign itself as the SNP leadership barely rose to its defence whilst the unionist parties, sensing a weakness in the SNP’s armour, poured endless cold water on it. In these circumstance its little wonder the polls show support now down below 30%.

Supporters of Independence like the SSP therefore have a huge task on our hands to win the argument for Independence outside Holyrood in the pubs, clubs, community centres and workplaces across the land. But it can and must be done. The case for independence must be won before the referendum is called.

This offers an unprecedented opportunity for the left. The SNP is incapable of delivering a majority for independence on its own and to be fair it has acknowledged this frequently in the Independence Convention which the SSP joined.

It remains our job on the left to outline the alternative vision for independence. The alternative to neo-liberalism, warmongering, privatisation and profiteering. How many of the 69 SNP MSPs for example will protest at having to swear the oath of allegiance to the Queen? The party favours independence with the Queen as Head of State.

Alex Salmond is undoubtedly a shrew politician who closely courts popularity but he also supports the NATO attacks on Libya and the British occupation of Afghanistan. He also supports the monarchy and cutting corporation tax for employers and retaining the unfair Council tax. The SSP are better able to persuade progressive Scotland of the case for Independence.

THE LEFT

Given the huge swing to the SNP which swept all before it, taking dozens of seats from Labour, Liberals, Tories and Greens [polls suggested the Greens could get 8 seats] alike it is hardly surprising the left’s vote was squeezed on Thursday. We were also entirely eclipsed in the way the media covers this big money election.

The left was never at the races. In Glasgow George Galloway got 6,500 votes but never looked like winning and he has gone back to where he came from leaving nothing behind pretty much as usual. The Socialist Labour Party got the biggest left vote with 10,000 but they have been unable to coalesce the left in Scotland up to now and that will not change. The SSP vote [8,722] was also disappointing and down from 2007. This was inevitable after the fiasco of the Sheridan trial in January. Solidarity, as expected, were the biggest losers given their disgraced leaders incarceration for lying.

It is also true that nowadays the left’s resources are minuscule compared to the millions spent by Labour and the SNP and this disparity makes an uneven contest all but impossible.

For the SSP and the left as a whole the task must be to build up support for the socialist case again and to act with others to establish new fresh ideas and a potent political base of support in communities, workplaces and amongst those fighting the cuts There will be many opportunities presented to us in the weeks, months and years to come. We need to roll up our sleeves and take the socialist case to new generations of political activists.

The electoral plain is but one of many in politics and the 2012 Council elections offer an opportunity for a breakthrough. But as SSP Councillor Jim Bollan put it to me during the election you have to lay foundations before you put up the walls and take your seat. This time last year I met the team behind Green MP Caroline Lucas’s success in Brighton and asked them what they put their victory in getting Britain's first Green MP elected- down to. They each said ‘25 years hard work at ground level’. After last Thursday, the Greens are the biggest Party on Brighton and Hove Council.

Yesterday I Delivered This Speech At The Edinburgh May Day Rally

2011-05-08T23:20:00.002+01:00

May Day 2011 will be remembered for the SNP's truly historic and extraordinary election victory at Holyrood. Like it or not the implications for the labour and trades union movement and for the prospects for socialism in Scotland are profound.

The overwhelming political issue of the moment remains the appalling cuts planned by the CON-DEM Coalition in London and their impact on the living standards of working people. The question is, can we rely on the SNP Government to fight those attacks, because that undoubtedly means confronting the employing classes and redistributing the great wealth of Scotland.

Our message to Alex Salmond today remains clear - these cuts are utterly unnecessary and indefensible AND HE MUST FIGHT THEM. We do not accept that an economic crisis caused by the greed and recklessness of our banks and global corporations means working people and the poor must suffer a severe cut in their living standards.

And let's make one thing clear. We are not 'all in this together'. Times are not hard for everyone - not when some are paying £25,000 a year for schooling their children at Fettes
- not when the Registers of Scotland reveal houses in Belmont Drive, Murrayfield, sell for £2.3m
- not when the Royal Bank of Scotland awards it's CEO a £7.7 million salary
- not when Edinburgh, with it's stark inequalities, remains the UK's 2nd richest city, with £3 trillion worth of equity managed here.

Yet David Cameron, Nick Clegg and David Milliband insist 'There have to be cuts in the standard of living of millions'. They are wrong. They are ideologically motivated. They intend to ensure the filthy rich keep their excessive wealth whilst the rest of us pay heavily for something we didn't do.

It's our job in this labour and trade union movement to outline the alternative, to explain that the books can easily be balanced by making alternative decisions;
- like ending the tax evasion which robs the country of £20 billion a year
- or raising corporation tax to the same level seen in the rest of Europe
- or scrapping Trident nuclear weapons to save £100 billion
- or ending the occupation of Afghanistan, which costs £5 billion a year
- or taking the banks' profits into public ownership, not just their debts and losses
- or replacing the council tax with an income based alternative to bring in another £1.5 billion.

This issue is about morality and justice. Those who caused the crisis should pay for it.
Not the poor, elderly, sick and disabled, nor the one in three children already living in poverty.
Not the 850,000 low paid workers earning a pittance in Scotland.
Not the pensioners struggling to get by on wholly inadequate incomes.

Alex Salmond is a very shrewd politician, but he supports the NATO attacks on Libya and he supports the British occupation of Afghanistan. He supports the monarchy and cutting Corporation Tax for employers whilst retaining the unfair Council Tax.

Working people have put the SNP on watch; Alex, will you implement Tory cuts or refuse?
Will you stand up for the 1 in 3 youngsters in Scotland living in poverty or ignore them again?
Will you help the 850,000 people struggling to get by on the National Minimum Wage as you tout Scotland around the world as a low wage economy?
How you answer these questions will truly determine whether our country has entered new ground or not.

Last month I joined half a million people in London on the TUC demonstration against the cuts entitled 'There is a better way'. Indeed there is, and the people of Scotland need it desperately.

Time To Abolish The Council Tax - Not Freeze It

2011-04-25T10:32:00.002+01:00

The opinion polls suggest Labour and the SNP are neck and neck in the race for Holyrood 2011. Interestingly both parties now support a freeze in Council Tax bills for the next year. They arrived at this 'freeze' via different routes however.

Like the Scottish Socialist Party the SNP are opposed to the Council Tax in principle, believing, as the majority of Scots do, that it is unfair and hits the less well off disproportionately hard. The Council Tax is indeed a regressive tax that bears no relation to a person's income. Consequently the least well off are hit hardest as the wealthy pay coppers. Since they have not been able to replace it with an income based alternative, the SNP have settled for second be stand 'freezing' the current charges.

Labour on the other hand has no principled objection to the Council Tax. They argue for a freeze on the grounds that they purportedly want to 'help hard working families in this time of austerity'. Most people believe that it has more to do with avoiding being politically outmanoeuvred by the SNP. Either way freezing the Council Tax does nothing to address it's fundamental unfairness. Indeed it may be argued a freeze helps the rich most of all.

As things stand the wealthy in Scotland pay a tiny tiny percentage of their income on this bill. For example,Stephen Hestor (the CEO of RBS) was just awarded a £7.7 million pay package for the coming year. Living in Edinburgh his Council Tax bill will again be frozen at £2,338 or 0.03% of his salary whilst some pensioners are paying 25% of their income on theirs.

The Scottish Socialist Part believes this is utterly unacceptable and this week we will highlight our fully costed proposals for a local income tax to replace the Council Tax. Our plans would mean the burden would be lifted from the shoulders of of pensioners, low paid workers and the poor and at the same time force the wealthy to pay their fair share for a change.

Here's how it works. Each individual in Scotland will pay towards the funding of local services but the more you earn the more you pay. So, for example, if your income is less than £10,000 you are exempt. That's too low to force people to contribute. Thereafter, on incomes over £10,000 and up to £30,000 you pay 4.5%. So if you are on £200,000 your bill is £450 [4.5% of the earnings over £10,000] If you earn more than £30,000 you pay nothing on the first £10,000, 4.5% on the next £20,000 and 10% on the earnings over £30,000. The next incremental step is to 15% on earnings over £50,000 and 20% on earnings over £100,000. This graduated rate (which the SNP opposes) is fairer and ensures that as your income goes up so does your tax obligation.

Economists at Paisley University who scrutinised these figures found that 77% of Scots will be better off compared to now. Furthermore, using the latest Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs figures, they are able to demonstrate that these proposals would bring another £1.5 billion into Holyrood's Treasury.

So, not only would this tax be fairer and redistributive, it would also halt the need for any cuts to public services in Scotland. And that's a freeze we DO need.

For a Modern Democratic Republic

2011-04-19T22:03:00.004+01:00

All across Scotland political parties are vying for votes and spending millions of pounds trying to engage the electorate in the 'democratic process'. Glossy leaflets are being distributed left, right and centre whilst 'hustings' take place in church halls and community centres as political activists strive for most votes. But regardless of who wins the 129 seats on May 5th all the successful candidates must start their new job by defying the democratic principles they have just publicly espoused.
I well remember my first day as an elected MSP, I was legally compelled to tell a lie, a great big lie in front of the entire country. And when I refused I was expelled from the very Parliament I had fought so hard to enter. The reason? The Scotland Act compelled me to swear an oath of allegiance not to the people who had just elected me but to 'the Queen, her heirs and successors'. I refused. My allegiance I insisted was to the people of Scotland. But the Parliamentary authorities made it clear to me, and to my fellow MSPs, in no uncertain terms, that if we refused to take the oath we would not be legally permitted to sit in Parliament. [This requirement also faces MPs at Westminster].
How can our democratic process be so quickly and categorically usurped in this way? What about the declaration made by the Returning Officer that I 'had been duly elected to serve the people' of the Lothians?
The answer is that Britain's constitution has a monarch as our Head of State. Furthermore our unelected monarch and unelected House of Lords help enact laws referring to us as her 'subjects'. The monarch is 'attended' by her Lords, knights, aristocrats and the landed gentry. Our armed forces fight for and express loyalty to their 'Queen and country'. The law of the land upholds 'Her Majesty' as the ultimate legal authority. She is not accountable to, or elected by, anyone. It's no wonder people across the world who know of the UK's antiquated constitution are prone to ask incredulously 'Is this the same country that haughtily lectures the rest of the world about democracy?
Those who defend the Queen's role as our unelected Head of State insist hers is a largely benign and symbolic position. But this is patently untrue. Her powers can hardly be described as 'benign' if, when you don't declare your complete obedience to her, you cannot take up the seat the people elected you to.
But Parliament has the power, insist the monarchy's defenders, adding that the House of Commons is sovereign and the Queen cannot interfere in their political decisions. But strictly speaking she could, that's the point. She could, if she insisted, even refuse to allow a Government to be formed. She could refuse to sign Bills into law. This may appear unlikely in the present circumstances, but what if there was a political or constitutional crisis? We saw a glimpse of this last summer when after a hung Parliament emerged out of the General Election it took quite a while to form a Government. Into such circumstances 'benign' powers are often seen to emerge! Ask the people of Australia. They well remember a greater constitutional crisis in the 1970s when the so-called 'benign powers' of the Queen were evoked to remove the elected Labour Government of Prime Minister Goff Whitlam.
Furthermore Tony Blair infamously took us to war in Iraq by dint of the Royal Prerogatives given to him by the Crown and without a vote in the House of Commons. And the Queen's Privy Councillors exercise powers that outstrip those available to the House of Commons. Their administration of many of the world's tax havens, for example, is beyond the reach of MPs.
Constitutionally, power in Britain doesn't ultimately rest with the people. Britain is not a fully functioning democracy but a constitutional monarchy. As a democrat this worries me. I support a modern democratic republic for Scotland, not an outmoded feudal anachronism. And the polls suggest the majority of Scots agree with me. Our constitutional arrangements are urgently in need of root and branch reform. A modern democratic republic would establish the clear principle that we, 'the people', equal citizens in a free country, are ultimately in charge. We demand the right to elect our MPs and our Head of State in free and fair elections. That Head of State must be accountable to the people alone.
I once watched Alex Salmond get himself into a 'right Royal fankle' trying to explain the SNP's policy of 'a people's monarchy'. Try as he might he couldn't square two contradictory concepts. You can have rule by the monarch or rule by the people, but not both. There can be no place for hereditary privilege in a modern Scotland.
In 2005 the Queen came to open 'her' new £440m Holyrood Parliament. All MSPs and their families were 'cordially invited to meet 'Her Majesty''. But we six Scottish Socialist Party MSPs headed for the hills. Calton Hill in Edinburgh City Centre to be precise, where with thousands of others, we read out a declaration calling for a modern democratic republic for Scotland. To us those three words, 'modern', 'democratic' and 'republic' are inseparable. 'Modern' is something the monarchy is not. And I'm not just referring to the castles, palaces and titles or to their horse drawn carriages, robes, crowns and double breasted suits. I'm referring most of all to their attitudes and principles, their unearned positions, class ridden hierarchies and political controls.
'Democratic' the monarchy can of course never be. You either have the 'divine right of Kings' and their 'hereditary privileges' or you have free and fair elections, you simply can't have both.
A 'republic' is by definition a state in which 'supreme power resides in the people' not a monarch. To me it is the essence of democracy. An elected Head of State is a prerequisite in modern democracies. If you look around the world at other leading economies; France, Germany, Italy, Russia, China and most of the others, they all dumped their monarchies centuries ago. And America never had one, not unless you count Elvis!

SSP's Holyrood Manifesto

2011-04-14T21:14:00.002+01:00

The Scottish Socialist Party launched our manifesto for the 2011 Holyrood elections yesterday at a press conference in Glasgow. With me at the launch were the other top of the list candidates from across Scotland. Frances Curran (Glasgow), SSP Councillor Jim Bollan (West of Scotland), and myself briefly outlined the main points in our magnificent manifesto [which can be downloaded from the SSP website] for the assembled press pack.
We gave the people of Scotland a cast iron guarantee that if they elect SSP MSPs on May 5th we will not vote for cuts to public services, to jobs, wages or conditions. This is a very important commitment because this will be the first Parliament faced with a reduced budget so MSPs will either vote for cuts or fight them.
The SSP has never, in twelve years, voted to cut public services or the standard of living of working people and we have no intention of starting now.
Second we stressed that we are committed to scrapping the hated and unfair Council Tax. We intend to replace it with an income based alternative which sees the wealthy pay more and the poor exempted.
And last, but by no means least, is our support for an independent socialist Scotland, a modern democratic republic. Whilst other parties dilute their commitment to independence we remain passionate about it. And as we will endure the sycophants cooing over a Royal wedding in the last week of this election campaign we felt it important to restate our commitment to a modern democratic republic for Scotland.
The press conference was well attended as the picture shows. As well as the BBC and STV film crews, several other photographers and journalists were present and their questions reflected their growing recognition that support for the SSP is increasing noticeably.
The coverage of our manifesto launch has, as usual, been patchy; some good, some bad, some non-existent. STV news carried a full interview and the greatest column inches were found in the Aberdeen Press and Journal. So, hats off to them for fair coverage and Dunces Caps to the BBC, The Daily Record and the other tabloids for ignoring us once again.

Prescription Charges Abolished in Scotland After 50 Years

2011-04-03T21:17:00.004+01:00

After my election to Holyrood in 2003 I launched a Private Members Bill to scrap prescription charges. The SSP's Bill won the backing of hundreds of health groups, unions and patients groups across the country. It even won the support of the Scottish Parliament's own Health Committee.

It was voted down by an unholy alliance of Labour, Lib Dem and Tory MSPs, otherwise this double tax on the sick would have become law 6 years ago.

I am delighted nonetheless that our visionary idea has, at last, been realised and that a great injustice has been eradicated. The NHS promised, back in 1947, to provide health care free at the point of need paid for out of general taxation. Prescription Charges broke that promise to patients. Without our Bill, and the SNP Government's decision to pick it up, prescription charges would be £7.40 per item today as they are in England.

This achievement shows the people of Scotland what a difference SSP MSPs at Holyrood make to their lives, and in particular, to those of the low paid, sick and vulnerable. I hope people will remember this on May 5th.

Coalition Government Faces Mass Trades Union Opposition to Public Sector Cuts Plan

2011-03-29T10:21:00.002+01:00

On Saturday I joined the protest march through London opposing the Coalition Government's austerity programme. This was no standard march, it's organisers, the TUC, said there were almost a quarter of a million people on it, I could well believe it. Our contingent, from Edinburgh, took nearly 5 hours to walk just three miles from the Embankment to Hyde Park and at no stage could we see the beginning or end of the parade.

It was a magnificent display of strength by the much ignored British trade union movement. It was uplifting to be part of it and illustrated again just what the TUC is capable of when it gives a clear and uncompromising lead.

Not only was the protest huge, colourful and vibrant, it was clear that there were tens of thousands who had never been on such a march before. It was the largest protest of it's kind since 2003 and the outbreak of war in Iraq.

Our message was also clear. These cuts are unfair, they are vindictive and politically charged. The current economic crisis was precipitated by the greed and recklessness of Britain's private finance industry. These self styled 'Masters of the Universe' insist they are so important to world capitalism that they are 'too big to fail'. What they mean of course is that they are too big for governments to allow to fail and therefore public money, vast amounts of public money, must be found to bail them out every time they go bust.

Sadly all four capitalist parties in Scotland agree with them. They all accept that the public purse must be emptied to stop private banks going to the wall. That public money is currently being spent on far better causes - caring for the sick and vulnerable, educating people, housing the homeless and feeding the hungry.

These cuts are both brutal and unnecessary. To balance the books we should stop spending £100bn on Trident, stop allowing the rich to evade taxes, stop occupying Afghanistan and stop bombing innocent Libyan civilians.

Of course, the issue goes far deeper. The Liberals and Tories are ideologically opposed to the public sector. They prefer private individuals and unaccountable companies to deliver services and employ people. They have no qualms about the services being sub-standard and the wages being woeful. They don't use them nor do they work to provide them.

The TUC now has to consider what it does next. Saying 'Wait for a Labour Government' simply wont do. We had one of those before and they were useless. It is pointless and defeatist to repeat that mantra and gets us nowhere, not least because Labour also favours cuts. So it's over to you Brendan Barber!

Poll Predicts SSP Holyrood Advance

2011-03-21T23:31:00.001Z

The latest YouGov poll on voting intentions for the Holyrood elections has the SSP on 4% for the Regional List Vote. Perhaps the most striking element of this is that support for the SSP amongst the over 60s stands at 9% and they are the age group most likely to vote.

The poll comes after Jimmy Kerr trebled the SSP's share of the vote in a Paisley council by-election (compared with 2007).

Both polls indicate that support for the SSP is growing again, and this is most encouraging as the Holyrood campaign kicks off in earnest.

We are asking all our members and supporters to spread this message amongst their friends, family and work colleagues.

We have shown over the past decade that our policies can can make a real difference. NHS prescription charges have now been abolished in Scotland as a result of the ground breaking work the SSP did on the issue between 2003-07.

We are asking our members and supporters to campaign strongly to get out message across over the next 6 weeks.

We are also asking for donations towards the cost of our campaigning. You can donate to the SSP by sending a cheque made payable to the SSP to SSP, 8 Alloway Loan, Edinburgh, EH16 6XH or by paying it in directly to the SSP's a/c.

As the campaign gathers momentum I'll keep you posted on what's happening and how you can support Scotland's Socialist Party.

US Government denies visa to Malalai Joya

2011-03-20T22:01:00.003Z

The United States Government have denied a travel visa to Malalai Joya, former member of Afghanistan's parliament. She was set to begin a three week US tour to promote her memoir 'A Woman Among Warlords'. Joya's publisher at Scribner, Alex Gargaliano, said "We had the privilege to publish Ms Joya, and her earlier 2009 book tour met with great acclaim. The right of authors to travel and promote their work is central to freedom of expression and a full exchange of ideas."

Joya's memoir has been translated into over a dozen languages and she has toured widely including Australia, the UK, Canada, Norway, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and the Netherlands in support of the book over the past two years.

Ms Joya presented herself at the US Embassy and was told she was being denied a visa because she was "unemployed" and "lives underground". Malalai Joya was the youngest woman elected to Afghanistan's parliament in 2005. Because of her harsh criticism of warlords and fundamentalists in Afghanistan she has been the target of at least five assassination attempts. "The reason Joya lives underground is because she faces the constant threat of death for having the courage to speak up for women's rights. It's obscene that the US Government would deny her entry" said Sonali Kolhatkar of the Afghan Women's Mission, a US based organisation that has hosted Joya for speaking tours in the past and is a sponsor of this year's national tour.

Joya has also become an internationally celebrated critic of the US-NATO war in Afghanistan.

Events featuring Malalai Joya are planned, from March 20 until April 10, in New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington and California. Organisers of her speaking tour are encouraging people to contact the Department of State to ask them to fulfill the promise from the Obama Administration of "promoting the global marketplace of ideas" and grant Joya's visa immediately.

Noam Chomsky said "Malalai Joya leaves us with hope that the tormented people of Afghanistan can take their fate into their own hands if they are released from the grip of foreign powers"

The Irish Times described Joya's book as " A fascinating account of Afghanistan's political reality...Malalai Joya has been compared Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi"

The Daily Telegraph commented that Joya was "Unwavering in her mission to bring true democracy to her country...Women have been known to walk for miles just to touch her. For them, she is their only real hope for a better future"

Ken Loach's Route Irish

2011-03-18T22:28:00.003Z

I had the very great pleasure of meeting the acclaimed and prolific film maker Ken Loach on Wednesday, when he was at the Cameo Cinema in Edinburgh showcasing his latest work 'Route Irish'. Ken is a very good friend of the Scottish Socialist Party and has been for many years now. Many people will have seen him on Newsnight recently where he tore Michael Hesletine, former Deputy Leader of the Tory Party, to shreds over the attacks on working people being made by the Con Dem Government. He was superb and I'm sure he lifted the spirits of every Socialist in Britain who watched the programme.

The film, 'Route Irish' focuses on the role of private security companies in Iraq and tells the story of two Liverpudlian friends, Frankie (John Bishop) and Fergus (Mark Womack). Frankie dies in highly suspicious circumstances whilst travelling along the most dangerous road in the world - the one between Baghdad International Airport and the city's diplomatic 'Green Zone' - which is known as Route Irish.

The film is a powerful piece of work and is again a collaboration between Ken and screenwriter Paul Laverty. It is well worth seeing for the dexterous way it exposes how the murky world of modern imperialist warfare and private profiteering connect within the 'military industrial complex'.

Route Irish goes on general release today.

[picture : Craig Maclean]

Dont 'freeze' the Council tax, shovel it away

2011-03-13T18:51:00.002Z

This weeks u-turn by Labour's Iain Gray in favour of a Council tax freeze may put him on a par with Alex Salmond but it does little to challenge the essential inequity of the tax itself.
The overwhelming majority of Scots want to see the Council tax swept away altogether like the unwelcome snows of the weekend, not kept and frozen.
Since the tax bears no relation to one's income or ability to pay it is the poor who are inevitably hit hardest. Some senior citizens for example must pay 20% of their entire income on this one bill.
Iain Gray would therefore be well advised to examine the Registers of Scotland report published this week showing how the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer when measured via house sales in the past year. Houses in Belmont Drive, Edinburgh, for example, currently Scotland's most expensive street so we are told, were sold for £2.3million in 2010. Householders in that part of Murrayfield pay just £2,338 in Council tax whereas those householders in the city's average Band F properties, valued at less than 1/10th of the price, face a bill of £1,688 or 70% as much. Clearly neither Labour nor the SNP's Council tax 'freeze' does much to help the poor and the low paid who continue to shoulder by far the heaviest burden.
In 2007 the SNP manifesto for Holyrood accepted the fundamental injustice of the Council tax and pledged to scrap it altogether in favour of an income based alternative. They have moved far from such a commitment insisting the better off face up to their responsibilities, to simply 'freezing in' the unfairness. Its no wonder then that industrialists like Sir David Murray are happy to back them in May. Not only did the SNP not deliver on their 2007 election promise they didn't even put up a fight. They chickened out of submitting a Bill to Parliament replacing the Council tax for fear it would be defeated. This attitude is in stark contrast to the record of the Scottish Socialist Party which presented 2 Bills in consecutive sessions.
The SSP remains committed to an income based alternative to the Council tax which shifts the burden from the shoulders of pensioners and the poor onto those of say Mr. Stephen Hestor the now £6.6million richer CEO of RBS and his neighbours in Belmont Drive and elsewhere who can plainly afford to pay more.

Edinburgh Divided

2011-03-12T14:09:00.002Z

Registers of Scotland published a report this week showing 15 of Scotland's 20 most expensive streets are in Edinburgh. Houses in Belmont Drive, Murrayfield, the country's most expensive street start at £2.3million. There are seven of them.
These figures remind me of a speech I made in the midst of the 1990's housing boom to the Edinburgh Tenants Federation AGM. 'Million pound houses are ten a penny now in Edinburgh' I quipped. It appears the the luxury housing market has barely been effected at all by the 2009 financial crash as prices continue to soar. Far too much money is still chasing too few houses. And since its 25 years since Edinburgh built council housing in any meaningful numbers the chronic shortage is unlikely to disappear any time soon.
Working class people have long been forced to leave the city in search of more affordable locations in West Lothian and Fife.
Last year The Guardian, looking at the impact of the 2009 financial crash,concluded that Edinburgh remained the second richest city in Britain. With almost £3trillion worth of equity managed here on a daily basis this city of 460,000 sits behind only London with 7 million people in the UK wealth league table.
But Edinburgh, as anyone who lives here will attest, is a city of shocking contrasts. Geographically compact, enclosed by the Firth of Forth to its North and East and the Pentlands Hills to its south, Edinburgh's affluent never live far from its impoverished. Life expectancy i Belmont Drive for example is 10 years higher than Craigmillar [East], West Pilton [North], the Calders [West] or Burdiehouse [South].
Last week more than 300 families on the Council's waiting list applied for a modest three bedroom house in Saughton under the tenant transfer scheme. The 299 unsuccessful families must therefore continue to endure unsuitable and overcrowded conditions a while longer. Belmont Drive although only a stones throw from Saughton might as well be on the moon for them.
An it is not only housing inequalities which feature starkly in Edinburgh's deep social divide.
Nearly 25% of children here go to private school, paying up to £25,000 for the privileges. Tony Blair, Alistair Darling and Iain Gray all went to them. Edinburgh City Council meanwhile whether Labour, Liberal or SNP controlled, has closed dozens of state schools in he past 10 years and forced class sizes in the remainder to levels twice that of the private sector.
So claims that 'We are all in this together' made by those other private schoolboys Cameron, Clegg and Osborne ring hollow in these parts. We have heard such noises many times before.
Neither the Con-Dems, Labour nor SNP [with the backing of industrialist Sir David Murray, himself a resident of one of Edinburgh's richest streets] has the slightest intention of challenging inequalities, indeed they are part of the problem not its solution. So the question remains how do we turn round this obscene wealth divide?
The Scottish Socialist Party knows how. We can start by insisting the better off pay their share of tax for a change. Look at how the Council tax exacerbates the grotesque wealth inequalities in Edinburgh, and beyond. The residents of Belmont Drive in their £2.3million houses pay a Band G Council tax of £2,338. Those city residents living in the average Band F property pay £1,688. That's right 70% as much as their richest neighbours who are likely to be people like Mr Stephen Hestor the CEO of RBS. The country's biggest publicly owned bank this week awarded him a salary of £6.6milion for the coming year- for running our bank!
The SNP's much vaunted Council tax freeze- now backed by New Labour-means people like Stephen Hestor benefit most. The Scottish Socialist Party's plan to replace the Council Tax with a Scotland wide income tax means the owners of Belmont Drive face a much more realistic bill- 20% 0f their income over £100,000 a year. Meanwhile those struggling to get by on low wages -850,000 Scots- we be exempt from obligations until their incomes rise. That's the enlightened attitude Edinburgh was once famous for across the world before the city became synonymous with obscene social divisions and indefensible inequalities.

Libyan Confusion

2011-03-09T13:22:00.003Z

Last weekend I attended a rally for democracy in Libya. It was, to be honest, a rather Chaotic and confused event. We were all there, I suppose, in support of the uprising against the Gaddafi dictatorship calling for democratic reforms.

There were people calling for the restoration of King Idris, whom Colonel Gaddafi deposed in a military coup in 1969, waving the Libyan flag of that time. I don't support the restoration of monarchs. I prefer democratic republics.

There were also people calling for Britain and NATO to enforce a No Fly Zone to stop Libyan Government planes attacking the rebels in the oil rich east of the country. I don't support Western Imperialist interventions either.

Thankfully there were also some people who supported the introduction of democratic rights and a secular progressive government in Libya and, indeed, throughoutNorth Africa. Admittedly these are in short supply.

Each of the revolts we have witnessed this winter has had one thing in common in that they are spontaneous uprisings of the masses against brutal, out of touch, governing regimes. But whereas in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen protestors shared at least an agreement on what they were against, even though there was not much evidence on what they were for, in Libya that is not the case. Things are somewhat different there. First of all Gaddafi has clearly retained a large measure of public support, perhaps even the majority, particularly in the west of Libya around the country's capital city Tripoli. Secondly, the armed forces have, by and large, stayed loyal to him. Thirdly the divisions in Libya are largely tribal. Benghazi, Libya's second city, has long been a centre of opposition to Gaddafi, and not without reason. But the tribal leaders have not managed to link up with Gaddafi's other opponents, like those angry at his corruption, his neo-liberal economic policies and his pro-Western stance.

The confusion I witnessed in Edinburgh is nothing, however, compared to that in Whitehall. British Foreign Secretary William Hague has raised it to an art form. He was the one who told the world in the first few days of the revolt that Gaddafi had fled to Venezuela. He initiated the call for NATO to impose a No Fly Zone, only to be informed that Britain had no planes with which to enforce it. And this weekend Hague secretly ordered the SAS into Benghazi in helicopters, only to have them shot down by the very Libyan rebels he was trying to help. The elite British unit were lucky not to have been shot. Perhaps Hague got his No Fly Zone after all, even if it wasn't the one he wanted.

Relief For Scottish Patients After 60 Years Of Pain And 7 Years Of Trying

2011-03-02T22:42:00.002Z

Today I sent my congratulations to the Holyrood Parliament for finally agreeing to abolish NHS prescription charges. Seven years ago as SSP MSP for the Lothians I introduced a Bill to scrap these charges, believing them to be both an injustice and in clear breach of the promise the NHS made in 1947 to provide care, free at the point of need, to all patients.

In the spring of 2005 the Parliament's Health Committee backed my Bill.

In my letter to Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon I welcomed the fact that this 'tax on the sick' is finally history in Scotland. I am particularly delighted for those 60,000 patients who will now get the medicine they need rather than go without because they can't afford to pay. Prescription Charges were introduced in 1951 as a temporary measure, a tax on patients deemed necessary by the Government during an economic crisis and the escalating cost of the war in Korea. Today a promise to patients, broken in Scotland, for more than half a century, is finally kept.

In 2007 I received the acknowledgement from the SNP Government for the work I did in pursuing this proposal. Today I am delighted to reciprocate by passing my compliments to Nicola Sturgeon, the Health Minister, for recognising the wisdom and justice in this proposal and for her determination in implementing it in full. For me it was always more important for the measure to be implemented than to haggle over who finally achieved it. The NHS in Scotland can be proud today, and the country too.

For A Modern Democratic Republic With An Elected Head Of State

2011-03-01T21:51:00.002Z

And so to Oman. The game changing 2011 revolt that began in Tunisia and spread to Yemen, Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Bahrain has now reached the Gulf state of Oman.
How tremendously uplifting it is to see the downtrodden masses in all these countries rise up in courageous revolt against their unelected heads of state. Leaders who live amid stark and obscene excess whilst the people in contrast face a daily struggle to obtain the bare necessities.
Remind you of anywhere close to home?For all the 24 hour news coverage and wall to wall analysis of 'the revolution in the Middle East' not one programme editor or TV producer, far less their airhead presenters, have ever asked if we should be looking to our own constitution and its absence of democracy. No reporter or journalist has, as yet, made the $64 million connection that we here in Britain also have an unelected head of state just as far removed from the daily life of the population as Hosni Mubareak or Muamir Gaddafy.
And this is strange because our head of state's family are also seldom out of the news. Whether it is the manufactured and excruciating references to the minutiae of two royal weddings this year or to the orchestrated sympathy for the stuttering of a previous king in our cinemas, it seems that you can't move for monarchical PR these days.
Britain's royal family are perhaps the richest in the world, as far removed from the day to day realities of life as it's possible to be. Prince William and Kate Middleton need not worry about repaying their university debts. The poverty of 1 in 3 children will not impinge on their household in any way. There's no chance of any of their palaces being repossessed. The brutal economic crisis will not affect their pomp or circumstance. They will continue to reign over us as 'subjects' with apparent impunity.
Our feudal monarch is, of course, every bit as ridiculous as the Saudi Crown Prince and the barmy Bahraini royal family. And it may well be argued that since the people of Egypt (in the 1950s) and the Libyans (in the 1960s) threw out their hated monarchs to establish their own republics, they are a step ahead of us and probably feeling sorry that we do not have their courage to rise up and rectify this glaring oppression and insult.
Isn't it time we took a leaf out of the Arab people's book to establish a modern democratic republic of our own with a head of state we elected? What's the odds on this revolt reaching Britain?

Severe Child Poverty Shames Scotland

2011-02-24T09:02:00.002Z

The charity Save The Children this week published a report disclosing that there are 90,000 children in Scotland living in severe poverty. That's 90,000 youngsters growing up in households where the income is less than £134 a week. So, when the fridge or cooker, washing machine, electric shower or gas fire breaks down it doesn't get fixed. These are the kids who can't afford to go on the weekend school camp to Abefoyle or Dunoon or even outings to the zoo, the museum, the sports stadium or the cinema. They are the ones who will not meet their educational or social potential. They will not be our future doctors or nurses, teachers or firefighters. One in three children in Scotland now live in poverty, 90,000 children - the equivalent of a city the size of Paisley - re punished for being poor in a country which is one of the richest countries in the world.

In Glasgow almost 20% of children live in severe poverty. What does this say about a city which is spending a small fortune on the Commonwealth Games? How bitter to see those children most in need of help from the 'common wealth' again be denied it.

To make matters worse Save The Children's research covered 2009/09. This means it does not take account of the current economic downturn. The rise in unemployment and the cuts to lifeline public services will have made matters even worse.

Save The Children is to be congratulated for bringing the matter to our attention but as a charity it's limitations as an agency of change are laid bare. 'The Scottish Government must' STC say, 'set out a clear commitment to end child poverty in Scotland'. Must they? STC admit the Government have done nothing about eradicating child poverty in 12 years. And of course it never will. Labour, the SNP, the Tories or Liberal Democrats don't give a damn about child poverty in Scotland. They all share the neo-liberal belief that rich corporations are the priority in this country. These political parties, all in the pocket of big business, argue that the rich must be allowed to pay miserable wages, exploit the poor and pay negligible taxes [as Barclays did this year - 1% tax on it's profit of £8 billion]

So STC 'milk the cow and kick over the bucket'. They highlight how terrible the situation is but plead with King Herod not to keep murdering the first born. Karl Marx observed that 'Philosphers have merely interpreted the world, the point however is to change it' - it is also thus with charities.

And so it is to those with no illusions in neo-liberal 21st Century capitalism that we must look for solutions to severe child poverty in Scotland. We owe it to all those 90,000 youngsters and the millions more who will follow to eradicate the causes of this blight in our society.

Speaking Up For An Independent Socialist Republic At My Old School In Motherwell

2011-02-20T21:16:00.003Z

After speaking at Fettes College (the fee paying school in Edinburgh that Tony Blair attended) last week I now get the chance to meet pupils at my old school; Our Lady's High School in Motherwell.

This Wednesday's visit will be the third time I have been asked to address the pupils and I'm really looking forward to it.

Not only is Motherwell my home town and Our Lady's my old school but this is heartland territory for the Socialist movement. It is the birthplace of Labour's first leader - James Keir Hardie - and nearby lies the UNESCO World Heritage site of New Lanark. Here the Utopian Socialist Robert Owen established a world renowned cotton mill in the early 1800s with enlightened attitudes to work, education, health and social conditions. Motherwell also elected Britain's first Communist MP back in the 1920s, one of only four ever to win a seat at Westminster.

Those sSocialist pioneers believed in a democratic republic and, with two Royal weddings to suffer this year, it is surely time to remind people of the need for an elected Head of State to replace the feudal relic that is the British monarchy. The Socialist movement's founders firmly believed in putting the interests of the people ahead of those of rich aristocrats. Those beliefs are today carried on by the Scottish Socialist Party. The record of the modern Labour Party, on the other hand, is of course light years behind Keir Hardie, Robert Owen and other founders of the labour movement. Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Ed Milliband and Iain Gray would be hard pressed to spell Keir Hardie, much less have anything in common with his views! They have long since turned their backs on such ideas in order to pursue their own privileges, high living and fat cat expenses. By contrast the SSP believes, as Keir Hardie and Robert Owen did, in the need to end exploitation and to provide full employment, decent wages and conditions, educational access for all, the redistribution of wealth and the establishment of a democratic republic.

Those values are as important today as they ever were. Lanarkshire once led the world in fighting for them. Now Labour's dismal record at local, national and UK levels would shame the county's progressive pioneers.

At Our Lady's High on Wednesday I intend to remind all the students of this past and to outline the case for an Independent Socialist Scotland today and a modern democratic republic.

Lothians SSP delivers

2011-02-17T20:28:00.002Z

SSP members across the Lothians will this week deliver 50,000 of these newsletters [below] as the first salves in our Holyrood election campaign.

Abdelbasset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi - Bywords for miscarriage of justice

2011-02-09T21:34:00.001Z

Today's announcement by Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell that the British Government did all it could to assist the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing adds further weight to the suspicion that the greatest miscarriage of justice in Scottish legal history involved the British state.
Why was Al Megrahi released?
The question brings forward many competing explanations. According to Sir Gus O'Donnell he was freed because British oil interests demanded it. He was handed back to Libya so that BP could gain access to their huge untapped oil reserves.
The SNP Government are apparently appalled at this suggestion and the inference they had any part in this grotesque affair. But there are those of us who think they doth protest too much!
Arguing, as the SNP do, that he was released because the Scottish Justice system is known for its compassion and humanity, recognised he had terminal cancer and wished to see him spend his last few days with his family, is of course utter twaddle. The Scottish justice system has no such qualms. And it is an insult to our intelligence to suggest it has. People die in Scottish prisons all the time. If the SNP believe he was responsible for the worst mass murder in modern Scottish history then why did they insist, as a condition of his release, that he abandon his legal appeal against conviction. His case was being sympathetically examined by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission. The idea that such a reactionary outfit as the SNP would show him the mercy he apparently never showed his victims is offensive nonsense.
The truth is itb suited both the Scottish legal establishment - of which the SNP is part- and the British state to prevent the full facts of this case coming out. Al Megrahi's hearing was widely expected to conclude that this was, to put it mildly, an unsafe conviction. It is now a matter of public record that Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny McAskill met AL Megrahi privately in his cell in Greenock prison and told him he could have his his freedom only if he agreed to abandon that appeal.
So Alex Salmond may be absolutely right to accuse Gordon Brown of rank hypocrisy in regard to his public statements following the release of Al Megrahi. But he is equally guilty of such a charge. The First Minister Salmond is taking us for mugs if he expects us to believe he is not also complicit in covering up the worst miscarriage of justice in Scots legal history.
Officially the SNP believes Al Megrahi was responsible for the bombing of Pan AM 103.
Officially the SNP believes the Scottish Justice system reached its verdict in possession of all the facts. Officially they also believe the Scottish Justice system is based on values of compassion and humanity and that this is exercised so liberally that the man convicted of cold blooded killing 300 people deserves mercy in abundance.
This is the same SNP who opposed compensation to those denied their human right to toilets in their cells, to those denied a lawyer at police interrogations and against offenders having the vote. Are we really to believe they are so liberal and compassionate as their release of Al Megrahi suggests?
I accuse the SNP of complicity in this cover up. The worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history also denies the victims of Pan Am 103 and their families the justice they deserve and the SNP knowingly plays its part.
I sat on the Scottish Parliament's Justice 2 Committee between 2003-2007.

Whither Egypt? - Reform, Repression or Revolution?

2011-01-31T19:17:00.001Z

It began in Tunisia, then spread to Algeria within hours before reaching Yemen in the East and settling in the most important revolt of them all in Egypt. The January 2011 uprising of the Arab masses has been fermenting for a long long time. Millions across the region bravely faced down their hated security services and brutal regimes. The scenes are reminiscent of those beamed around the world 20 years ago from Eastern Europe. The revolt of the Arab peoples has the potential to be just as earth shattering.
We've seen nothing like this before there. Not on this scale. The raw voice of the people with all its confusion and political divisions is nonetheless agreed on one thing, change has come and the dictatorships have to go.
But what changes are being sought and which won? These revolts are economic, social and political in character. The standard of living across the region is falling dramatically as food and other basic necessities cost more and more. The social conditions in Egyptian society for example with 12million people living in Cairo alone have been hellish for many many years. The issue here is not whether or not to fight for change but how.
If the dam burst in Tunis it became a tsunami by the time it reached Cairo. The scent of democracy is in the nostrils of tens of millions in dozens of countries.
President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, fearing the enormity of this unprecedented political revolt, was forced to make unparalleled changes to the Egyptian constitution within minutes. So much then for the oft repeated line of political reactionaries the world over that 'things cannot be changed overnight'. Revolutionary moods seldom stand on ceremony. Mubarak realised this entirely and within hours installed a Prime Minister to listen to the demands of the protesters. This despite the fact Egypt has had no such position before. In turn his manoeuvre was treated with contempt by protesters sensing his weakness. Their boldness was further encouraged when
they learned he had appointed Sulieman his hated head of security services to the post. He also gave new powers to his former Air Force Chief. Mubarak has gambled on the loyalty of the military and at same time challenged his critics to a waiting game. He hopes the protesters run out of steam. The stakes are high on all sides.
Of course the other remarkable feature of this piece of history, watching it from the comfort of a Scottish armchair, is the response of British and American Imperialism. Foreign Secretary William Hague and US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton both insist the people have 'legitimate grievances'.
No, really? Could this be the same countries who have done more than any other in the world to bolster Mubarak and assist his brutal military dictatorship. Where does he get his guns and instruments of repression from Mr Hague? Now that Cameron and Obama see the writing on the wall they change horses, flash their 'democratic credentials' and speak about the 'legitimate grievances of the people' before warning Mubarak not to put down the revolt.
The hypocrisy of these people! Mubarak has been a hated dictator for 30 years in Egypt. Yet he simply could not have survived to repress the Egyptian people without US and British complicity. In return for his backing of Israel's maltreatment of the Palestinians for example or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Mubarak was showered with privileges by the US and Britain
such as the latest military hardware with which to suppress his own people. This is well known in Egypt and it is therefore little wonder they express such hatred for his British and American 'handlers'.
What happens next depends on the political balance of forces, the decisions of the leaders of the key parties and the strength of will on both sides. Mubarak will not stand down voluntarily, he will have to be removed. Equally if the protesters lose momentum he will survive. The political struggle is not just between the Muslim Brotherhood on the one hand and the Wests preferred standard bearer Mohammed El Baradei on the other. There are many other forces out there seeking to direct the political unrest and frustration and seeking to improve the lives, standard of living and political rights of tens of millions.
One thing can be said with certainty the sands have shifted in Egypt now. The radical mass protests of the past 7 days have changed Egypt for ever.

Afghanistan 2011, the year withdrawal begins?

2011-01-17T17:00:00.003Z

2011 will be a critical year for Britain's occupation of Afghanistan.
Canada has already announced the withdrawal of its troops this year concluding that 'a decade at war is long enough. Neither the Canadian public nor the troops themselves have any appetite to stay longer'. The Canadians follow the Dutch who ended their deployment in 2010. Their military chief General Peter van Uhm expressed grave doubts about the entire military strategy handing the base in Uruzgan back to the US.
David Cameron has repeatedly stated that a phased British withdrawal begins this summer. Like Barrak Obama he has staked his political reputation on this promise. So will he keep it? The precedents are not good. Such promises have been made for the past ten years. Who can forget John Reid, Blair's Defence Secretary, in 2001 casually announcing that 'British troops will be home by Christmas without a shot being fired'? Former communist Reid today sits, ermine clad, beside his peers in the House of Lords, honoured by the Empire for services rendered whilst the carnage escalates. Obama and Cameron realise the stakes are enormous but privately are advised the prospect of meaningful withdrawal is remote. US Commander General David Petraeus has repeatedly warned them the Taliban cannot be defeated militarily. Interviewed by BBC Foreign Affairs Editor John Simpson recently he again conceded that a political solution had to be secured. Consequently 'back channel talks' with Taliban leaders continue. Whilst the misnamed International Security and Assistance Force [ISAF] talks up paltry military advances and promise to 'hand Afghanistan over to a 'National Army and Police Force'' they are under no illusions about either objective.
Meanwhile the Pentagon admit in their annual report that 'Efforts to reduce insurgent capacity, such as safe havens and logistics support from Pakistan and Iran, have not produced measurable results.' With characteristic understatement they add' The Taliban's strength lies in the Afghan population's perception that coalition forces will soon leave and a Taliban victory is inevitable. The Taliban is not a popular movement but it exploits a population frustrated by weak governance.' In other words Afghans have no love for the Taliban but they are even more disgusted by the catastrophic failure of Karzai's government to provide economic support or security of any kind. Unemployment stands at 70%. Patrick Cockburn reported [The Independent 13/11/10] that $52billion in economic aid pumped into Afghanistan in recent years has made no difference whatsoever to the endemic poverty there such is the rampant corruption and racketeering at all levels. Of 23million people more than 9million live in abject misery. A further 5million survive on £23 per month. Tens of thousands are dying of starvation. This shocking picture is only matched by the political poverty. Obama has witnessed a staggering loss of support. His inability to defeat the Taliban is seen as part of a wider incompetence. A large majority of Americans oppose his ongoing involvement in this conflict. The same is true in Britain.
Pro rata British military casualties in Afghanistan have been heavier than anyone. Some 350 British soldiers have been killed and countless others maimed and injured. This compares to 950 US fatalities. [Of course both figures are tiny compared to 50,000 civilian losses]. The US has more than 100,000 troops but the British with 9,000 have a casualty rate twice as high.
'Our strategy is to train up the Afghan National Army and Police Force to take over. Only then can we leave' says David Cameron echoed by the entire UK political establishment. This strategy is both dishonest and bogus. There is no such thing as the 'Afghan National Police Force or Army'. Those men in uniform masquerading as ANP/ANA officers are paid by local warlords, it is to them they pledge their loyalty and take instruction. Karzai's authority barely reaches Kabul city limits. Taken collectively the ANA/ANP are simply not fit for purpose. Drug addicted, demoralised and infiltrated by the Taliban each is utterly despised by the civilian population for its brutality and corruption. It is no match for the incorruptible, drugless, death defying, better equipped and highly motivated Taliban resistance.
Plans to install a puppet President and develop a pliant, police force and army are as old as the occupation itself. They were part of Blair and Bush's exit plan when they invaded in 2001. Cameron and Obama's political fiction is therefore nothing new.
So in 2011 the ISAF strategy amounts to a muddled mixture of ongoing military skirmishes, controlling Taliban-lite regions of the North and West, back channel talks to Taliban leaders and fitful efforts to turn a 'pigs ear' of a National Police Force/Army into a silk purse.
This muddle will undoubtedly continue through 2011 to produce further pointless carnage with numerous British and American troops and countless Afghan civilians killed. And for what?

Fuel poverty reaching crisis point

2011-01-14T15:42:00.002Z

Carolyn Churchill's article in Wednesday's Herald 'More energy bill misery ahead' [12/1/11] sent shivers down my spine and I suspect I wasn't the only one. On reading further my blood began to boil as details of further gas and electricity price rises were forecast.
In November the Scottish Government released figures showing a threefold increase in 'fuel poverty' levels. More than 770,000 households in Scotland are now in this position paying more than 10% of their income on energy bills. Worse still was the enormous rise in those experiencing 'extreme fuel poverty' [spending 20% of household income on keeping warm]. And all this before the bills arrive for the coldest winter in living memory.
In a largely unreported section of the Scottish Government announcement was the revelation that Alex Salmond has abandoned his 2007 manifesto commitment to eradicating fuel poverty in Scotland by 2014.
So with the average combined gas and electricity bill now £1,300 a year and, as Carolyn Churchill's article warns, another rise likely and the situation fast reaching crisis point the population is to be left to the mercy of profiteering power companies.
The human misery behind these figures is appalling. What's the number of cold related deaths going to be this winter? Millions of Scots are now unable to pay these exorbitant gas and electricity bills amid an economic downturn with spiralling prices and tax rises?
In an energy rich country like ours this is nothing short of a national disgrace. It doesn't have to be like this.

Tommy Sheridan guilty of perjury

2010-12-23T21:01:00.001Z

Tommy Sheridan’s conviction today for perjury was utterly inevitable.
Six years ago, as leader of the Scottish Socialist Party, he proposed to sue a tabloid newspaper over stories he knew to be true and demanded that I and our party went along with his lies. All his closest friends and political allies of 20 years urged him not to take such a reckless course of action.
All those who have been falsely denounced by him and his allies as liars, plotters, perjurers and political backstabbers have been cleared.
The idea that there was a conspiracy involving Rupert Murdoch, Lothian and Borders Police and the SSP is complete nonsense. Yet this is the narrative that Tommy Sheridan and his supporters pedalled for the past 4 years.
By his actions over the past six years Tommy Sheridan has disgraced himself and negated his political contribution to the socialist cause. History will now record that he did more harm to the socialist cause in Scotland than any good he ever did it. And that astonishing conclusion would not have been thought possible at the height of the poll tax struggle he led so well, or during his early period in the Scottish Socialist Party and Scottish Parliament.
The SSP reaffirms that our aim is to defend the interests of working people, the millions against the millionaires and to work for a socialist transformation of society in the interests of the majority. We can at last now draw a line under this awful episode and move on. In this time of savage attacks by the rich against the poor, Scotland more than ever needs a strong left wing socialist party that can be trusted.

Burns Supper January 2011

2010-12-22T20:30:00.002Z

Letter to The Herald on Afghanistan's occupation

2010-12-08T17:53:00.001Z

Here's a letter I sent to The Herald on 4/12/2010:

Dear Sir
David Pratt's excellent article on Britain's occupation of Afghanistan in Fridays Herald [3/12/2010] records that 'Our forces have now outlasted the Russians'. This is of course no cause for celebration. We have after all missed a dozen previous deadlines for withdrawal during the last nine years and 57 days.
The first was set by the UK Defence Secretary John Reid, now of this parish, who famously forecast we would be out, and home, uninjured by Christmas 2002. Worse than that failed promise, as David Pratt rightly acknowledges, our occupation is now hated by 33million Afghans every bit as much as the Soviet one before it. And why?
Perhaps figures released last week by Channel Four News provide some clue. They showed a 163% increase in the number of civilian war wounded in Afghanistan over the past year. The second poorest country in the world is suffering excruciating misery and chaos with no end in sight. No wonder then the old man whom David Pratt interviewed screams out such hatred for UK and US forces occupying his country. They 'come, shoot, kill and destroy' just as the Soviets did before them he said.
It is impossible to under state the scale of our failure in Afghanistan if as the British Government claim we 'went in with the best of intentions hoping to deprive Islamic terrorism of a base and sanctuary and bring some kind of peace and stability'. It is not good enough to conclude as David Pratt does however that only 'political blundering stirred up resentment towards the occupying foreigner'. The truth is we invaded a country guilty of no crime. We have occupied it now, against the express wishes of its people, for nearly 10 years. We installed one of the most incompetent and corrupt regimes in the world to run it. Some 50,000 innocent Afghans have been killed and countless wounded and severely injured. So where is this peace and stability? Rather than deprive Islamic fundamentalism of a base we now provided it with a 'accelerant' to fuel its fires. Millions of civilians provide daily sanctuary for the Taliban who are rubbing their hands waiting for a US military defeat just as they did with the Soviets.
It is clear Britain and America paid little heed to the Russian experience. Their arrogant imperialist attitude with its lingering and misplaced belief in technological military superiority are leading inexorably to the same painfully obvious retreat of the Soviet experience in 1989.
The people of Scotland meanwhile have continued to make it clear in poll after poll after poll that they want no part of it and wish to see our troops brought home now and this senseless occupation brought to an end.

Well done to Susan Philipz on winning this year's Turner prize

2010-12-07T19:18:00.003Z

I don't know many artists and I cant really relate to the Turner Prize. To be honest I don't really understand the art that is exhibited in it.
But I was absolutely delighted to watch this years award ceremony on Channel Four News live from the Tate Museum in London. Delighted and thrilled because this years winner is my old friend Susan Philipz. She is now a world renowned artist.
Susan and I were in the Labour Party Young Socialists and Militant together in the West of Scotland in the 1980s and 90s. She certainly doesn't fit the image I have of Turner Prize winners and that's a good thing. The last time I saw was at a branch meeting in Pollok. She was with her then partner Gary Stevenson aka Gary Lewis the actor. [He played Billy Elliot's dad in the film]. She and Gary were exceptionally talented artistically. I am thrilled to bits for her in winning this award.
I understand she lives and works in Berlin now but I feel happy to know her and to see her enjoy such success. Well done comrade Susan.

Scotland bill: further concessions on the road to independence or buttressing the union?

2010-12-01T20:36:00.002Z

While I welcome all the extra powers the Scottish Parliament can wring out of Westminster I remain convinced that only a fully independent republic will serve Scotland’s needs.
The Calman Commission recommendations which underpin the Scotland Bill published this week are in truth little to do with extending Holyrood's powers - they do allow monies raised in Stamp Duty and any new landfill taxes to remain here, but the additional powers are indeed very minor extensions - as their central purpose is to make Holyrood more accountable to the electorate for its expenditure decisions.
The power to raise income tax, the Bills central proposal, already exists via the referendum held in 1997. They have of course never been used and the reasons are simple enough. The prospect of paying higher taxes in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK is not something voters would relish. Indeed in the last decade only the possibility of reducing taxes here by 3p in the pound have been contemplated by the four neo-liberal parties in control of the purse strings at Holyrood.
The recent fiasco over the SNP's decision to let the current 3p income tax varying power lapse was like watching two bald me fighting over a comb as none of the major parties in Holyrood have any intention of using these laws.
What is required is a Scottish Government which takes on the wealthy, that raises the taxes of the super rich through measures such as the Scottish Service Tax - the SSP's income based alternative to the hated Council tax. Of course the Scotland Bill traps any Government at Holyrood intent on implementing such measures as it cuts the current block grant from Westminster by up to 35%. So Westminster giveth and Westminster taketh away. And that of course is the rub. Indeed it was always the aim of the Calman Commission.
The SSP meanwhile supports an economic policy which meets the needs of the millions not the millionaires. We recognise that in this day and age only a fully independent Scottish republic can deliver that.

SSP leaflet in Polish - Szkockiej Partii Socjalistycznej

2010-11-29T20:10:00.002Z

Szkockiej Partii Socjalistycznej
Powiedz NIE cieciom budzetowym!
NIE dla ciec Konserwatywnych Demokratow (CON/DEM)!
NIE dla ciec Partii Pracy (Labour)
NIE dla ciec Szkockiej Partii Narodowej (SNP)
Poinformowano nas, ze UK jest na skraju bankructwa. Dlugi panstwowe siegaja 1-go
tryliona funtow, a roczna splata bedzie dochodzic do 46 bilionow. Wszystkie partie
rzadzace mowia nam, ze ten poziom pozyczek nie jest precedensem i ciecia sa konieczne.
Nie sa. Poziom dlugu jest nizszy ni1 w innych krajach o podobnym stopniu rozwoju.
W okresie bezposrednio po II Wojnie Swiatowej dlugi UK były du1o wyzsze od obecnego,
ze wzgledu na koniecznosc ogromnych inwestycjii w Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia (NHS) i
niezbedna pomoc socjalna.
Kto wpedzil nas w kryzys?
W kryzys 21-go wieku nie wprowadzili nas ludzie pracy. To nie sektor publiczny splajtowal.
Doprowadzila do niego zachlannosc bankierow sektora prywatnego. Gonili, jak w amoku,
za wlasnym sukcesem finansowym, nie liczac sie ze skutkami. Pazerni, bogaci
moznowladcy, zyjacy w swiecie innym od naszego, wpedzili nas w gigantyczne,
korporacyjne dlugi, poniewa1 stracili poczucie rzeczywistosci.
Jak szaleni ciagneli korzysci, wsrod chaosu spekulacji, rosnacych cen na rynku
nieruchomosci, zamknieci w zlotej klatce-twierdzy, która sami dla siebie stworzyli.
Ale rzeczywistosc zburzyla twierdze, jak zawsze to robi. Teraz okazuje sie, ze to my, zwykli
ludzie, mamy za to placic.
Kogo partie rzadzace proponuja ukarac za te zachlannosc, glupote i
lekkomyslnosc?
Sprawcow? Bankierow, którzy obdarowali sie sami kolosalnymi bonusami z publicznych
pieniedzy? NIE! Torysi i Liberalni Demokraci chca zabrac 83 miliony funtow z uslug
publicznych (które chcieliby sprywatyzowac). Nowa Partia Pracy sugeruje ciecia wysokosci
43 milionow, równie1 w sektorze publicznym. Szkocka Partia Narodowa proponuje rabunek
podobnej kwoty , jak powyzej, z uslug publicznych. Zamiast zmusic do placenia winnych
kryzysu finansistow, rzadaja pieniedzy od zwyklych, szarych obywateli. To znaczy, ze
najbiedniejsi,czesto potrzebujacy pomocy w podstawowych aspektach zycia, maja placic za
balagan, którego nie zrobili.
Ciecia oznaczaja deprawacje biednych, destrukcje lokalnych spolecznosci i
dezintegracje spoleczna!
Powiedz NIE cieciom! Twój głos jest wazny! Walcz przeciwko niesprawiedliwosciom
poczynionym przez bankowych i politycznych kryminalistow! Stan razem z milionami
brytyjczykow, , którzy chca odeprzec atak na ich poziom zycia! Niech zainspiruja Cie
przyklady Francji, Hiszpanii, Grecji, Niemiec, USA!
Wstap do SSP – Szkockiej Partii Socjalistycznej !

Guess what cuts in public services the Scottish Socialist Party will make?

2010-11-24T18:54:00.000Z

BlindCraft workers win six months reprieve

2010-11-19T17:57:00.001Z

I was delighted to attend the Blindcraft lobby of Edinburgh City Council this morning particularly as it resulted in a partial success for the workers/campaigners involved.
The SNP Group backed down over plans to close the factory and send 70 blind and disabled staff onto the dole. Edinburgh City Council officials had prepared a report recommending closure. Their decision was based on trying to save £700,000 a year from the subsidies it presently makes to Blindcraft's Craigmillar operations. Late last night however the SNP Group, which runs the administration in coalition with the Lib Dems, decided to opt for short time working at the factory instead of complete closure. Their decision came after they had learned the Labour Group was to table such an amendment to the officers report.
So today at 9.30am we had the spectacle of both SNP and Labour Councillors leafleting the lobbyists -rather than the other way round- with details of the same amendment/alternative to closure.
SO why the eleventh hour change of heart by the SNP? Could their decision to move to a three day week for six months at the Craigmillar site be anything to do with the terribly damaging PR such a closure decision might bring and the imminent Scottish Parliament elections?
Either way the workers at Blindcarft and their union The National League for the Blind and Disabled/Community welcomed the reprieve. At least it lifts the immediate threat of closure they reasoned. However they are under no illusions they will have to return to a campaign footing after Christmas as they come to terms with 3 day working and gear up for the battle ahead.

* Come and hear Blindcraft campaigner Hannah Lister outline their case at the SSP public meeting on Monday.
Public meeting - 'Fight Back against the cuts'.
Monday 22nd Nov at 7pm
Kirkgate Community Centre [Foot of Leith Walk]
Speakers Colin Fox, SSP national spokesman,
Raphie De Santos, socialist economist,
Phil McGuiness, Edin Univ student
and Hannah Lister, Blindcraft.

Join the Blindcraft lobby

2010-11-15T18:00:00.002Z

Workers from the Blindcraft bed factory in Craigmillar will be lobbying
Edinburgh City Council on Thursday morning in protest at plans to close the
facility and sack 70 people. Blindcraft employs people with visual
impairment and other disabilities. The company has suffered falling sales in
recent years as the recession bites and fewer beds and mattresses are being
bought. They have enjoyed considerable funding support from the City
Council. However this year the Lib Dem/SNP Coalition wants to cut £750,000
from Blindcraft's budget. This would leave them unable to trade. A Council
report, to be considered on Thursday, will recommend closure of the factory
and sacking all 70 employees.
I visited the factory in Peffer Place, Craigmillar, on Friday and spoke to
Marlene and Nicky who work in the sales department. They explained their
anxieties for the future and I pledged the full support of the Scottish
Socialist Party to keeping the place open and saving the nobs. I also
spoke on the telephone to Fraser Queen who is the spokesman for the campaign
to keep the factory open. He has been working for Blindcraft for 22 years.
He explained that some people have been there for more than 40 years. He is
understandably concerned about the future for all 70 employees. His union
'Community' has been busy examining alternative options to closure. He
pointed to the rapidly deteriorating employment market and stressed that
people with disabilities face a far harder chance of securing employment
than most. That's why it is so important these jobs are protected at
Craigmillar.
I assured Fraser and his colleagues the SSP would help in any way we could.
He welcomed our offer to come along to the City Chambers on Thursday morning
to support their lobby of Councillors and to ensure these jobs are saved.

SSP to hold series of public meetings in Edinburgh against the cuts

2010-11-06T20:03:00.003Z

Both Edinburgh branches of the SSP have asked me to speak at public meetings they have arrange this month against the Governments public spending cuts.
The SSP is committed to public services. We see the current levels of public service provision to be inadequate to cater for the needs of the population and so we certainly will not support any attempt to cut back these services nor sack public sector workers. As far as I am concerned the Governments plans to hack £85bn off our public service budget and sack 500,000 public sector workers are utterly unacceptable. The naked class attacks by public schoolboys like Cameron, Clegg and Osbourne who want to make working class people pay for a crisis caused by greedy bankers must be resisted. As usual both New Labour and the SNP are about as much use as a chocolate tea pot. Instead of opposing the Tories cuts agenda both these parties propose alternative cuts of their own!
The greedy bankers and the rich refuse to accept responsibility for a crisis they caused and they wish to inflict severe pain on working people. My experience today campaigning on Princes Street against the cuts showed me the huge public opposition there is to this deceit of the bankers. Its not a question of will working people fightback against the unfairness of all this more a question of where it begins and when.
The SSP in Edinburgh will be taking our case to the public with open meetings in St Leonards on Thursday 18th November [7pm in Nelson Halls Community Centre] and in Leith on Monday 22nd November [7pm in the Kirkgate Community Centre]. Further details of speakers etc will follow soon.

Scotland: a serial human rights offender

2010-11-04T09:50:00.001Z

Don't believe a word Kenny McAskill says, the Scottish Justice system doesn't get human rights. It ignores judgements of the European Court of Human Rights [ECHR] with abandon. I remember sitting in the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh in 2003 I think it was listening to the case Napier vs The Lord Advocate wherein a former remand prisoner at Glasgow's Barlinnie jail successfully argued that the Scottish Executive had breached his human rights by forcing him to 'slop-out' [urinate and defecate into a plastic bucket] despite a ruling some years earlier by the European Court of Human Rights that such practices were now illegal. Only the prospect of paying out tens of millions of pounds of public money in compensation to thousands of other prisoners led the then Justice Secretary Jim Wallace to finally end this sickening practice.
You would have thought that lesson would have taught Scotland's legal establishment they needed to comply with international human rights legislation but not a bit of it.
Last week a ruling in the UK Supreme Court in London summarily rejected pleas by the Scottish judicial establishment to deny legal representation to suspects held in police custody. The Cadder case forced Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny McAskill to introduce emergency legislation to the Scottish Parliament the next day - legislation, it must be pointed out, which the Scottish Human Rights Commissioner Professor Allan Miller was not even consulted on and which he believes actually makes things worse and is a further breach of ECHR articles. These new laws were not introduced by McAskill because he was keen to ensure everyone gets legal advice, no, they were hurriedly enacted for fear of millions more compensation being paid out.
This week - I wonder if you can see a pattern forming here - Scotland suffered its third European defeat when via Westminster David Cameron this time had to anounce that 70,000 citizens in Britains jails [including 7,000 in Scotland] would now have their democratic right to vote returned to them because the current practise of denying them it is another breach of ECHR.
Of course all this extension of human rights has been just the signal the reactionaries in the Tory Party, Labour Party and SNP needed to start screaming 'blue murder' about Europe interfering in our wonderful justice system. Aye right! No wonder so many people stress the need to get SSP MSP's back into Holyrood!

* I was a member of the Scottish Parliaments Justice 2 Committee between 2003-2007.

'The case for socialism' returns to Fettes

2010-11-03T19:18:00.001Z

Three years ago I was invited to speak at Fettes College in Edinburgh the prestigious private school. I was asked to deliver a lecture on 'The case for socialism' to the schools 5th and 6th year pupils. As I recall I took my SSP colleague Johanna Dind with me as I was keen to show her round the 'alma mater' of our then Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Edinburgh has the dubious distinction, I remember telling her apologetically, of sending more of our youngsters to private school than any other city in Britain. The rest of the UK struggles to believe it but a quarter of all pupils here attend fee paying schools. I assure you it is true, 23% of primary and 25% of secondary school kids attend the dozen or more private schools like Fettes to be found here.
I always jump at the chance to present the SSP's case for socialism at schools throughout Scotland. As regular readers of this blog will know I particularly enjoyed speaking to students at my old school Our Lady's High in Motherwell this year. With private school visits I always feel like I am bringing news from the outside world.
This week I received another invitation from Fettes to return in February an give another lecture. Mr McDowall, the teacher who arranges my visit, was kind enough to say the first lecture was very popular indeed and he'd like me back to again deliver the case for socialism. It's certainly not something Tony Blair could do.

Say no to cuts; Tory cuts, Labour cuts or SNP cuts. Protest this Saturday

2010-10-16T22:40:00.001+01:00

The Scottish Trade Union Congress [STUC] has arranged a protest march and rally against the £86bn of cuts to our public services which Tory Chancellor George Osbourne will announce on Wednesday.
The STUC event entitled 'There is a better way' will take place in Edinburgh this Saturday [23rd October]. The march and rally will offer people the opportunity to come together and protest against the austerity measures proposed by all 4 of the establishment parties, but principally the CON DEM Government coalition. Tens of thousands of trade unionists and other are expected to attend.
The Scottish Socialist Party is opposed to all these cuts. We simply do not accept they are necessary. They will have a devastating impact on the lives of millions of working people who rely on those services. Working people are being held responsible for crimes they did not commit. There are better ways of tackling the national debt than cutting services to the vulnerable. These debts were, lets not forget it, run up after the Government bailed out reckless and greedy bankers.
Come along and join the SSP contingent on Saturday. We will be there with our banners. The march assembles at 11.00am in East Market Street [beside Waverley station] and proceeds along Princes Street to a rally at the Ross Bandstand at 12.30pm.
www.thereisabetterway.org

The blatant injustice behind the cuts will be resisted

2010-10-15T20:57:00.001+01:00

The British people have a long and proud history of defeating repression, tyranny and injustice. They stood up to Hitler in World War Two and defeated Thatcher’s poll tax in 1991 by invoking an inspiring spirit of resistance against seemingly insurmountable forces. And it’s just a well because they need to call on those traditions once again to defeat those behind the unprecedented and brutal cuts proposed for our public services in these countries.

When you stand back from discussions like the one BBC Scotland broadcast last night where Glen Campbell quizzed an invited studio audience on where the axe should fall you realise there’s an enormous injustice at the heart of this debate. It is the people, the masses, the vast majority, who are being forced by the elite, the rich, landowners, factory owners, bank owners and those who ‘own’ our politicians to pay for this crisis. As usual the hired ‘commentariat’ cannot see ‘the wood for the trees’. They are apparently oblivious to the fact the victims of this economic crime are again being punished by its perpetrators.

Neither Glen Campbell nor Brian Taylor asked the one question on everyone’s lips, namely, ‘who is in favour of these cuts?

I mean who says they are inevitable, who says ‘there is no alternative’? Lets look at the facts.

The UK Government ran up debts, we are told, of £580bn after spending £1.3trillion bailing out the banks, £100bn on a second generation of nuclear weapons [of mass destruction], £100bn invading and occupying innocent countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, £600bn on ill advised Private Finance Initiative [PFI] contracts which mean for example that a £300m hospital such as Edinburgh’s new Royal Infirmary actually costs £900m and in granting tax cuts to the obscenely wealthy. All these decisions were hugely unpopular. None of them enjoyed the support of the public yet we, the people, our opinions apparently counting for nothing in this debate, must pick up the tab.

The economic recession [the possibility of which Gordon Brown foolishly claimed to have banished forever] occurred alongside an unprecedented financial collapse. Together they led to the current political crisis. All four establishment parties in Scotland backed those decisions to one degree or another and all four now clamber for cuts in the very services working people rely on.

So those who caused the crisis are forcing those who didn’t to pay for it. That's the blatant injustice at he heart of this debate. It is a con, a 'Con-Dem con'.

The rich and all their kept politicians now insist on two ‘fundamental truths’. First that there is no alternative to inflicting lacerating cuts in our vital public services like health, education , transport, housing and care if we are to reduce our debts.The second is equally false that ‘we are all in this together’.

We could self evidently do much to avoid the cuts. We could own the banks profits, not just its losses. We could take their huge profits and obscene bonuses and invest them in services for us all. We could cancel plans to threaten the world with nuclear annihilation. We can bring home our soldiers from Afghanistan and end our pointless occupation. We could, and should, part company with the private firms who own our hospitals, schools, prisons and roads. We can make the rich pay their fair share of tax for a change.

But we don’t hear any politicians on Glen Campbell's panel make such suggestions, do we? No they all say we [but not them] must make sacrifices. Working people must be paid off. Jobs must be surrendered, houses repossessed and living standards must plummet.

The fact is there are plenty alternatives to making millions more unemployed, denying students the chance to study by enforced indebtedness. Homelessness, increased violence and crime and social disintegration are all avoidable. But only if we jettison Labour, Tory, Liberal and SNP politicians who say the cuts are inevitable and working people must suffer. They are all defending the indefensible. Their system got us into this mess and it now insists the victims not the perpetrators must be punished.

It is not a matter of ‘if’ the British people resist but ‘when’, ‘how’ and ‘where’. Watch this space.

Greetings to the new Mayor of Lima: Susana Villaran, Fuerza Social

2010-10-11T19:36:00.001+01:00

The Scottish Socialist Party sends greetings and congratulations to comrade Susana Villaran of 'Fuerza Social' on being elected by the people of Lima to serve as their new Mayor. We feel sure you will allow us to share this important victory for the left with you.
We were delighted to learn of your success from comrade Jorge Aliaga who is both a founder member of our party and a rich source of information about the struggle for socialism in Peru. Jorge is our 'Peruvian Scot' and we are delighted to have him. He is here with us in Edinburgh for the next few weeks until he returns again to be with you in Peru.
We were particularly interested to hear of the high regard in which Susana is held in Lima and the success of the 'vaso de leche' programme from some years ago. We had a very similar campaign here in Scotland when, as members of the Scottish Parliament, we introduced a Bill to provide all children in the country with a free school meal. Through this reform was important to us in several ways. It highlighted the dreadful child poverty and social inequality in this small but rich country of Scotland.
BUt equally we were able to show what real tangible difference the SSP can make to the day to day reality of working class life.
We wish Susanna and Fuerza Social every success in the future and look forward to hearing of further improvements you are able to make to the lives of the people of Lima who depend upon you most of all, its poorest and most vulnerable.

In international solidarity

Saludos para el nuevo alcalde de Lima: Susana Villarán, Fuerza Social

El Partido Socialista Ecocés envía saludos y felicitaciones a la camarada Susana Villarán de 'Fuerza Social' al ser elegida por el pueblo de Lima para servir como su nuevo alcalde. Estamos seguros de que nos va a permitir compartir esta importante victoria de la izquierda con ustedes.

Estuvimos encantados de saber de su éxito por el camarada Jorge Aliaga, quien es miembro fundador de nuestro partido y una rica fuente de información acerca de la lucha por el socialismo en el Perú. Jorge es nuestro 'escocés peruano' y estamos encantados de tenerlo. Él está aquí con nosotros en Edimburgo por las próximas semanas hasta que nuevamente regrese a estar con ustedes en el Perú.
Estuvimos particularmente interesados en escuchar de la alta consideración que tiene Susana en Lima y el éxito del programa del 'vaso de leche' desde hace algunos años.

Hemos tenido una campaña muy similar aquí en Escocia cuando, como miembros del Parlamento Escocés, introducimos un Proyecto de Ley para proporcionar a todos los niños en el país, almuerzos gratuitos en los colegios. A través de esta reforma era importante para nosotros denunciar la pobreza y desigualdad social en este país pequeño pero rico que es Escocia. Pero igualmente hemos podido mostrar la diferencia real, tangible, de lo que el Partido Socialista Escocés puede hacer en realidad para mejorar la vida de la clase trabajadora.

Deseamos a Susana Villarán el mayor de los éxitos en el futuro y le deseamos que implemente las nuevas mejoras, capaces de realizarse, para beneficio de la ciudadanía de Lima y sobre todo para los más pobres y vulnerables.

En solidaridad internacional

A senseless war begins Its 10th year ...an address to the nation from President Barack Obama (as reported by Michael Moore)

2010-10-08T17:57:00.001+01:00

A Senseless War Begins Its 10th Year ...an address to the nation from President Barack Obama (as reported by Michael Moore)
Thursday, October 7th, 2010
My Fellow Americans:
Nine years ago today we invaded the nation of Afghanistan. I’d just turned 40. I had a Discman and an Oldsmobile and had gotten really into LiveJournal. That was a long time ago. It was so long ago, does anybody remember why we're even there? I think everyone wanted to capture Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. But he got away sometime in the first month or so. He left. We stayed. Looking back now, that makes no sense.
Needing to find a new reason for the mission, we decided to overthrow the religious extremists who were running Afghanistan. Which we did. Sorta. Unlike Osama, they never left. Why not? Well, they were Afghans, it was their country. And, strangely enough, a lot of other Afghans supported them. To this day, the Taliban only have 25,000 armed fighters. Do you really think an army that tiny could control and suppress a nation of 28 million against their will? What's wrong with this picture? WTF is really going on here?
The truth is, I can't get an answer. My generals can't quite tell me what our mission is. If we went in there to rout out al-Qaeda, well, they're gone too. The CIA tells me there are under 100 of them left in the whole country!
My generals have also admitted the following to me:
1. There is no way we can defeat the Taliban. They enjoy too much popular support in the rural areas, the majority of the country.
2. Even though we've been there nine years, the truth is the Taliban, not us, not the Afghan government, control the country. After nine years, we’ve only completely run the Taliban out of 3% of Afghanistan.
3%!! (Just for reference, it took us only ELEVEN MONTHS after D-Day to entirely defeat the Nazis across all of Europe.)
3. Our troops and their commanders are still trying to learn the language, the culture, the customs of Afghanistan. The fact is, our troops are simply not trusted by the average people (especially after they've killed numerous civilians, either through recklessness or for sport).
4. The Afghan government we installed is corrupt beyond belief. The public does not trust them. President Karzai is on anti-depressants and our advisors tell us he is erratic and loopy on many days. His brother has a friendly relationship with the Taliban and is believed to be a major poppy (heroin) dealer. Heroin poppies are the #1 contributor to the Afghan economy.
The war in Afghanistan is a mess. The insurgency grows -- and why wouldn't it: foreign troops have invaded and occupied their country! The people responsible for 9/11 are no longer there. So why are we? Why are we offering up the lives of our sons and daughters every single day -- for no reason anyone can define.
In fact, the only reason I can see is that this war is putting billions of profits into the pockets of defense contractors. Is that a reason to stay, so Halliburton can post a larger profit this quarter?
It is time for me to bring our troops home -- right now. Not one more American needs to die. Their deaths do not make us safer and they do not bring democracy to Afghanistan.
It is not our mission to defeat the Taliban. That is the job of the Afghan people -- if that is what they choose to do. There are many groups and leaders of countries in this world who are despicable. We are not going to invade 30 countries and remove their regimes. That is not our job.
I am not going to stay in Afghanistan just because we're already there and we haven't "won" yet. There is nothing to win. No one from Genghis Khan to Leonid Brezhnev has been able to win there. So the troops are coming home.
I refuse to participate in scaring the American people with a phony "War on Terror." Are there terrorists? Yes. Will they strike again? Sadly, yes. But these terrorist acts are few and far between and should not dictate how we live our daily lives or make us ignore our constitutional rights. They should never distract us from what our real priorities are in making our country safe and secure: Everyone with a good job, families able to own a home and send their kids to college, universal health care that's coordinated by your elected representative government -- not by greedy, profit-hungry insurance companies. THAT would be true homeland security.
And what about Osama bin Laden? Nine years and we can't find a 6'5" Arab man who apparently is on dialysis? Even after offering $25 million to anyone who will tell us where he is? You don't think someone would have taken us up on that by now?
Here's what I know: Osama bin Laden is a multi-millionaire -- and if there's one thing I've learned about the rich is that they don't live in caves for 9 years. Bin Laden is either dead or hiding out in a place where his money protects him. Or maybe he just went home.
Just like we should do. Now. My condolences to the families of all who died in this war. Most of them signed up after 9/11 and wanted to do their duty because we were attacked. But we were not attacked by a country. We were attacked by a few religious extremists. And you don't defeat a few thugs by shipping halfway around the world thousands of armored vehicles and hundreds of thousands of soldiers. That is just sheer idiocy.
And it ends tonight.
God be with you.
I'm not a Muslim.

When do we get Labours apology for Afghanistan?

2010-10-03T16:39:00.001+01:00

Now that New Labour leader Ed Miliband has apologised for Labour's decision to invade Iraq on a pack of lies will he now also concede that their declaration of war on Afghanistan was also grievously mistaken? After all he knows that Tony Blair repeatedly misled us. Blair said Afghanistan was responsible for the 9/11 bombings when he knew there were in fact no Afghans involved. And the new Labour leader will also be aware that the Taliban offered to hand over Osama Bin Laden to face charges but George Bush refused preferring a US military solution instead.
Labour certainly has a great deal to apologise for on Afghanistan. Over the last 9 years some 50,000 innocent Afghan civilians have perished. We continue to occupy their country against their wishes having imposed a hated and corrupt Government upon them. Some 340 British soldiers have also been killed in a conflict which not only shows no sign of ending but which we were assured would 'make the world a safer place.'!
Our Generals all repeatedly warn that this conflict will last for many years to come. There is surely no one who is taken in by David Cameron or Barack Obama's claims that we can begin bringing our troops back home in 6 months? US General David Petraeus told the BBC's Foreign Affairs Editor John Simpson last month on 'Hard Talk' this claim was at best wishful thinking and at worst simple deceit by two western leaders desperate to appease the huge opposition that exists towards the occupation in both Britain and America.
I know from campaigning on this issue on a weekly basis that public opinion in Britain - already registered at 75% against the war - will not stand for any further deceit. Like David Petraeus I do not expect any meaningful 'draw down' of International Assistance and Security Forces [ISAF] in the immediate future not unless 'the back channel talks' with the Taliban, which Western diplomats have freely admitted they are engaged in, have been making a great deal more progress than recent reports would suggest. Either way if we truly are in the politics of a 'new generation' Ed Miliband should quickly add to his apology over Iraq, and use his new position to push for the withdrawal of British forces from another dishonourable war one which grievously damages Britain's international reputation.

The lost cause that is Afghanistan

2010-09-21T18:01:00.006+01:00

Herald foreign affairs editor David Pratt is correct when he writes 'We are losing the war in Afghanistan. The mission is lost' ['Now civil war looms for the lost cause that is Afghanistan' Herald 17/9/10] and the reasons for this looming defeat have been obvious for some time. Uppermost among them is the fact that the USA and Britain are occupying a country who doesn't want us to be there. The majority of Afghanistan's 33million citizens now see Britain and American soldiers as armies of occupation. The origins of this view lie in Tony Blair's decision to invade Afghanistan in 2001 claiming they were responsible for the 9/11 attacks. He knew then, as we know now, not a single Afghan was involved. He also knew the Taliban had offered to hand over Bin Laden for trial three times but George Bush preferred 'a military solution'. So Britain invaded a country guilty of no crime, has occupied it for the best part of a decade and some 50,000 innocent Afghan civilians have now been killed. No wonder they don't want us to be there!
The insurgency is winning in Afghanistan because Britain and the US, in time honoured colonial fashion, alienated the population by installing a corrupt and illegitimate puppet regime with Hamid Karzai at its head, despised by its citizens.
All the polls in this country highlight the lack of confidence the UK population have in the political leaders as 75% want to see the troops brought back home. Why, people increasingly ask, should another 340 British soldiers die in this shameful war. They will die, we are told, until the thoroughly discredited Afghan army and police force can take over. There is in reality no such thing as a National army or police force in Afghanistan only local militias and paramilitaries loyal to the various warlords and gangsters who pay their wages. All the parties at Westminster who prop up this futile 'handover strategy' are well aware of the 'back channels' opened up to the Taliban leadership just as they were with the IRA in the 1980's. So the conclusion David Pratt rightly poses is that Britain's legacy to Afghanistan is the same blood curdling civil war which followed the Soviet withdrawal of the 1980's.
The Scottish Socialist Party in contrast to the Westminster parties campaigns to bring home the troops. If Afghanistan is to prosper as a democratic and stable country the future rests with people like the remarkable Afghan MP Malalai Joya -one of the very few actually elected. She campaigns for a democratic, multi-ethnic Afghanistan and she asks of people who share her vision that we first of all withdraw all foreign forces from her country.

SSP recruitment- four new members welcomed into SSP in Edinburgh

2010-09-19T12:08:00.004+01:00

I had the thrill of welcoming four new members into the Scottish Socialist Party this week. Alan, Justyna, Jon and James attended their first branch meeting in Edinburgh on Thursday and it was great to have them along. The picture above shows them discussing the situation in the West Bank which was introduced by Robbie and Lynn from the Midlothian branch who have just returned from a Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign delegation there.
Alan and James live in the Liberton/Gilmerton area and joined as a result of our work in the Council by-election there. Justyna and Jon approached us - on different days - at our city centre stall which we conduct weekly against the occupation of Afghanistan.
Each of them had their own different reasons for joining the SSP of course but they all mentioned how pleased they were and favourably impressed by the fact that I had contacted them within hours of them expressing an interest in the party.
This approach to each new 'contact' is vitally important for the SSP. If someone expresses an interest we must treat it with the utmost urgency. For me the future of the SSP depends heavily on the people who have not yet joined the party. As soon as I hear someone wants to join I give them a call. I explain to them how delighted we are to hear of their interest and I ask what it was that led them to contact us. This is vitally important intelligence for the SSP not least because it shows what aspects of our message are being heard.
I then arrange to meet them as soon as possible to discuss what the party is doing, our immediate priorities and how best they can get involved.
This is the approach that has led me to recruit scores of people to the socialist movement over more the years. I want people who contact us to feel wanted and important, because they are absolutely vital to the rebuilding of the SSP. We need their help urgently and we are determined to find a place for them in our party.
The SSP has recruited more than two dozen members in Edinburgh this past year and for me that is not all there is, it merely hints at the enormous potential that is out there.

Unmistakable signs of progress for SSP in Edinburgh by election contest

2010-09-11T21:26:00.001+01:00

The results of the Liberton / Gilmerton by election for Edinburgh City Council, where I stood as the SSP candidate, were declared on Friday :-
[1st preference votes] LABOUR 2,974
SNP 1,382
TORY 1,020
LIB/DEM 722
GREEN 201
SSP 169
Ind 128
Ind 43
Turnout was just 28%.
The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Labour councillor after he became the MP for Edinburgh South in May.
Labour's resounding victory was very much what we expected and the low turnout was no surprise either. Labour's success is explained by two important factors. First they benefited from the overwhelming anti-Tory mood which has gripped Scotland since May and second the SNP /Lib Dem coalition which runs Edinburgh City Council is profoundly unpopular after closing a very popular primary school in the area. Labour, somewhat hypocritically it has to be said, toured the ward campaigning on a 'NO Cuts' programme. I say hypocritical because Labour ran Edinburgh Cuty Council for 20 years until 2007 and carried out more cuts to services than any other party. Furthermore if they were in charge at the City Chambers today there is not a scintilla of doubt they would be making cuts every bit as vicious as their SNP/Lib Dem colleagues. But the fact is it's the SNP /Lib Dem coalition who are in charge and are making the cuts. They have also threatened to privatise the refuse collection services and cut other public services here with hundreds of jobs to be axed.
Support for the Lib Dems and the SNP has plummeted accordingly. The SNP topped the poll in this [multi-member] ward in 2007 now they are miles behind Labour. Most of the Lib Dems support also went to Labour in the by-election although about a third went to the Tories.
The Scottish Socialist Party vote [at 2.5%] was not great. We were entitled to hope for far more. However, it was where we expected it to be and is actually higher than we got the last time I stood in 2007. We fought a very creditable campaign. We deliver three excellent leaflets to each one of the 10,000 households in the ward. We festooned the constituency with lamp posters and we recruited new members to the party. Additionally we were able to give dozens of party members invaluable experience in contesting elections ahead of next years Holyrood poll. We can certainly be pleased to have accomplished our central goals of raising the party's banner and programme in this area. Whilst we were not able to persuade people that our opposition to cuts in services in this city is, unlike all our opponents, unblemished. Neither were we able to compete with the financial resources of the other parties. On the other hand we did make significant advances in many ways and just as I would not want to be accused to talking up a very low vote neither will I be found guilty of underestimating important advances. The truth is there are several reasons to be optimistic about the future for the SSP not the least of them being the enormously encouraging sight of hundreds [yes hundreds] of Labour second preference votes [where they were expressed ] which we saw going to us at the count on Friday morning. Whilst it is certainly true that many Labour 2nd preferences went to the SNP there was nowhere near as many as went to us. This was enormously encouraging because if we can persuade Labour voters to give us their second preferences next May in the Holyrood elections - still a big if I realise across the Lothians - then we have more than a fighting chance of winning back our seat in the Scottish Parliament.
So to all those SSP members who came to Liberton/Gilmerton to help in the campaign these past three weeks I say a big thank you, I appreciate your help and above all keep your eyes on the prize!

Salmond's surrender on Independence opens the door for the SSP

2010-09-06T21:45:00.002+01:00

My dad used to say 'if you have a reputation for getting up at 6am you can sleep in until noon'. I am reminded of that advice when I hear hired media 'luvvies' extol Alex Salmond apparently unassailable political 'shrewdness'. Today he 'threw in the towel' on his long awaited Bill promising a referendum on Independence. The decision is even admired in some media quarters as 'statesmanlike and strategic' as it avoids certain defeat. However his announcement comes the same day a BMRB-TNS opinion poll shows the SNP trailing New Labour by 10 percentage points. This would see Iain Grey, sorry that should be Gray, become the next First Minister!
When you look at the mess the Labour Party in Scotland got into on the referendum issue, being against it, then for it, and then against it again under three consecutive leaders, it is perhaps even more remarkable how poorly Alex Salmond has played his hand here.
Last year he 'pulled' the Bill to abolish the Council tax in Scotland despite having a majority of public opinion behind him. And this year SNP Councils across Scotland have made cuts to services as bad as any other party despite being elected on a 'no cuts' platform. His claim in 2007 to be Scotland's 'progressive' alternative to New Labour lies in tatters.
Salmond's abandonment of the referendum comes as no surprise of course. It was certainly long anticipated 'in this parish', but it is still a humiliating climbdown. The polls suggest only 30% of Scots support independence, it's true, but that's not the point. Salmond did little these past 3 years to inspire and lead that constituency preferring a 'managerial' reign as First Minister. Nicola Sturgeon [tipped to take over as SNP leader within the year] is today left to claim that dumping the referendum allows for even greater democracy. Her blusters that now 'the people get to decide' the matter in the 2011 elections are palpably ridiculous. The referendum was supposed to offer the 'people' their chance to decide the matter free from all other competing issues.
The 2011 election will be dominated by the impact of the most savage economic recession in 80 years and the consequent cuts to jobs and services. The unionist parties will claim that Scotland will again be 'bailed out by the UK Treasury.'
All this affords the Scottish Socialist Party the chance to make the case for independence with renewed vigour and to tap into the mood for independence, albeit a majority, with a vision and a passion for a socialist Scotland where Scots have control of our own finances and destiny and where working people will be economically, socially, politically and culturally better off.

SSP selects Lothians list for Holyrood

2010-09-01T18:42:00.004+01:00

SSP members in the Lothians this week became the first in the country to select candidates for next year's Scottish Parliament elections.

I am delighted and proud to be leading a strong list of candidates; myself, Catriona Grant, Laura Bennison, Raphie De Santos, Andy McPake and Barbara Scott. We were elected at a selection conference in Edinburgh last weekend.

Each of us accepts we face a daunting challenge to get an MSP elected from the Lothians in 2011 but we are convinced nonetheless that Scotland needs Socialist MSPs more than ever. And who is to say that the election success will not happen when such dramatic changes to the country’s political landscape are clearly now under way. Most people accept that the Scottish Parliament has been a poorer place without the SSP these past 3 years. There has been no one there standing up for the most vulnerable in society as we did. There has been no one explaining that the worst economic crisis in 80 years was caused by the greed and recklessness of finance capital. Neither has there been anyone speaking out against Britain’s senseless occupation of Afghanistan and in favour of bringing home our troops.

With the Tories lacerating the public sector in Scotland it takes the SSP to point out that these services are barely adequate as it is without slashing billions of pounds from their budgets.

Edinburgh is the second richest in Britain after London and the real scandal concerns the distribution of that wealth. We intend to redistribute the enormous wealth of this city and this country to those most in need first of all and all our policies are designed towards that priority. That’s what makes the SSP unique and so vital for Scotland’s future well being. Our vision of an independent socialist Scotland is increasingly supported by significant sections of society.

Edinburgh South council by-election

2010-08-26T17:58:00.001+01:00

An Australian Republic and a Scottish one too

2010-08-19T07:07:00.001+01:00

I was struck by this story on the radio and newspapers today.
'Australia should drop its ties to the British monarchy when this Queen dies and move to a republic' said Prime Minister Julia Gillard campaigning in Queensland today ahead of next weeks General election.
What a good idea and something Scotland should emulate.
Strange as it may seem the issue is highly contentious in Australia. Gillard's opponent in the election, Liberal Party leader Tony Abbot, is a staunch monarchist. He supports the existing constitutional arrangements which have, according to him, 'worked well in the past and can continue to work well in the future.'
I say strange because it highlights how much Australia, despite recent strengthening of relations with South East Asian, has not shaken off her colonial past.
It all reminds me of a speaking tour I undertook in Australia during November 2003 shortly after being elected to the Scottish Parliament. I was struck then how ridiculous that year's referendum on the monarchy must have seemed to millions of Australian Aboriginals, or citizens of Melbourne living within the world's second biggest Greek population after Athens, or the huge population from the former Yugoslavia to say nothing of the Irish. And in Sydney, Australia's biggest city, with its burgeoning Chinese and South East Asian communities, how ludicrous it must have seemed to hear how they should 'tug a forelock to the feudal Queen, her heirs and successors'.
In 2003 Australia's crafty monarchists were able to stir up more contempt for the new Constitutional proposals to counter the huge majority for a republic.
I remember telling audiences from Hobart to Brisbane that on behalf of the people of Scotland I was instructed to say if they wanted the Queen so much they could have her. They were mightily impressed by the 6 SSP MSP's refusal to swear an oath of allegiance before taking our seats at Holyrood.

Dumferline Public Meeting - 19 August

2010-08-15T12:36:00.002+01:00

EPF 3rd Annual Hamish Henderson Memorial Lecture

2010-08-08T12:15:00.001+01:00

By-election in Edinburgh South

2010-08-02T06:33:00.002+01:00

I am delighted to have been selected as the Scottish Socialist Party's candidate to fight the forthcoming City Council by-election in the Liberton/Gilmerton ward of Edinburgh.
I live in the area and have been an active campaigner here for the past 15 years. This ward is amongst the poorest in the city and it has been deprived of investment and support for many years. If Edinburgh is the second richest city in Britain then you wouldn't know it living in the Liberton/Gilmerton ward.
SSP activists were out across the constituency this afternoon delivering the first of our election materials. The by-election arises because the sitting Labour Councillor was elected as the MP in May.
Labour are hot favourites to retain the seat at this stage but it will be interesting to see how the SNP and Liberals do given the fact they run the City Council and have implemented many unpopular cuts in services in this area recently. Uppermost was their disgraceful decision to close Burdiehouse Primary School against the wishes of local parents and thus ripping the heart out of this already disadvantaged community.
Of course further interest will also focus on how much anger is directed at the Liberal Democrats for going into coalition with the Tories at Westminster. This by-election is the first test of public opinion since Clegg 'rowed in' with the Tories.
For the SSP the key issues will be our commitment to scrap the hated Council tax, to oppose the cuts agenda of all other parties and to re-iterate the need to distribute the enormous wealth Edinburgh has from better off to those most in need.
Finally the SSP will not shirk from making the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan a central issue in this election. I believe Edinburgh City Council could do much to reflect the democratic wishes of the majority in this area who want to see our troops brought home from Afghanistan and this pointless occupation at last brought to an ends after 9 years.
I am looking forward to pressing the socialist case in this by-election over the next 6 weeks and I am confident our message is increasingly falling on fertile ground.
I intend to keep regular readers of my blog fully informed of all the twists and turns in this selection.

Get along to the Edinburgh People's Festival Saturday August 7th - 14th

2010-07-19T20:38:00.002+01:00

It's astonishing to think that this is our 9th Edinburgh People's festival. Over the years we have presented some absolutely wonderful and ground breaking shows. Our first evening in the Jack Kane Centre in Craigmillar back in 2002 still fills me with huge pride as it clearly proved to be the engine for future progress and development. Our scintillating concert inside Saughton prison which featured comedian Mark Thomas and Paddy Hill of the Birmingham Six also springs quickly to mind as does Nancy Cartwrights afternoon entertaining the kids in the Royal Infirmary with our 'Bart Comes to the Simpsons' show stopper. Then there is our Hamish Henderson Memorial lectures, our award winning exhibition telling the story of the original People's Festivals back in the 1950's, our fine arts competition and not forgetting our superb sell-out comedy nights at the BMC Club in Gorgie.

We continue to challenge the official festivals to come out into the real world, into Edinburgh's indigenous communities instead of clinging desperately to 4 mega venues in the city centre and to present shows everyone can afford.

This years People's Festival programme again breaks new ground. We open on Saturday 7th with a remarkable film premiere. It's a drama set in Edinburgh's schemes and featuring local actors. ‘MORTICIA’ is the story of a little girl whose only ambition is to be a vampire. Written, produced and directed by the highly acclaimed and multi talented local film maker Nabil Shaban this film will be shown inside the graveyard of St Cuthbert’s Church off Lothian Road. The film starts at 9pm. Tickets are £4.00.
On Sunday [8th] we again present local historian Allan Armstrong leads a sedate walking tour around Edinburgh’s remarkable, radical past. This is the side of Scotland's Capital that no other tour reveals. It's revolutionary underbelly, the Edinburgh of Thomas Muir, of James Connolly and the political Robert Burns plus many other less well known but equally important radicals. Tour starts at 2pm from outside ‘The Last Drop’ pub in the Grassmarket. Returns 2 hours later.FREE
And on Monday [9th] we continue our walking tour theme this time 'Investigating Rebus’s Edinburgh'. Colin Brown’s award winning tour of those places made famous by Ian Rankin’s fictional detective John Rebus begins outside The Royal Oak public house at 6.30pm and ends- unless unforeseen and villainous events ensue - 2 hours later at the same location.FREE
Tuesday 10th sees us open 'The bad and the beautiful' a photographic exhibition introducing the arresting images of Edinburgh’s rising photographic talent Paul Jordan from Oxgangs. This is the official opening of Paul's most recent exhibition. The show runs from 1st August to 5th September and our official opening is at ‘The Wash’, at the top of the Mound 7pm.FREE
In 2008 we initiated the Hamish Henderson Memorial Lecture and this year we are delighted to announce that the third annual lecture will be delivered by the former West of Scotland MSP and independence fighter Campbell Martin. He will contend that the themes Hamish Henderson believed in most of all, internationalism, independence and anti-imperialism continue to be central causes in today's world. Event takes place in 'Word Power' Book shop in West Richmond Street at 7pm. FREE
And to show that Hamish's internationalism and anti-imperialism is not something we simply pay lip service to we present on Thursday night [12th] our 'Aid for Afghanistan' concert. Musical entertainment is provided first by the fabulous David 'Brucey' Bruce and then The Irresistible Urges. The evening is part of the campaign to bring home British troops from Afghanistan and all proceeds go to the Malalai Joya Foundation which is a democratic, secular and progressive organisation in Afghanistan opposed to both imperialism and religious fundamentalism. Concert takes place in the Valley Park Community Centre, Burdiehouse and begins at 7pm. FREE [Donations on the door]
Friday 13th sees us back in Gorgie at the comedy night to beat them all. Friday the 13th! Unlucky for some perhaps but not for those with tickets to this fantastic night at the BMC Club in Gorgie! This will be our 6th consecutive year at the BMC and this evening was booked for us last August and promises to be better than ever. Featuring 4 of the best comics in Edinburgh courtesy of The Stand Comedy Club our advice is to get there early as it was a sell out in 2009. BMC Club, Westfield Street. Show starts 7.30pm Tickets £4.00.
And our grand finale this year is certainly grand, a stage show on Saturday 14th with Spartaki Theatre Company. Four wonderful pieces of drama from Dalkeith playwright Cecilia Granger. Produced by Karen Douglas and set in the wonderfully atmospheric location of Inch House. This dramatic programme in full costume represents a first for the People's Festival, a full scale theatrical production.
Inch House, Inch Park, off Gilmerton Road. Doors open at 7pm show starts at 7.30pm.Tickets £4.00

For further details of all the shows and to buy tickets visit our website at www.edinburghpeoplesfestival.org

Cameron's catastrophic cuts: only the acquiescence of New Labour and SNP is 'inevitable'

2010-07-18T11:31:00.002+01:00

I can't make my mind up whether I am angrier at David Cameron and his savage cuts to public services or the equally useless New Labour/SNP opposition.
It really should be a clear cut decision I admit after all posh boy Dave is behind the most grievous assault on working people seen in decades. Not since the days of his 'beloved Margaret' [Thatcher] have we witnessed such naked class brutality and destruction of working class communities. The latest Eton schoolboy ensconced in Number Ten intends to protect the privileged elite who continue to enjoy the spoils the British economy incessantly provides them. Not for them the hardships planned for the 'proles'!
But you would have to have a heart of stone not to be equally furious at an inept opposition North and South of the Border who, in the face of such Tory and Liberal brutality, declare 'These are the wrong cuts at the wrong time.'?
My god almighty! I mean it would be one thing if they were suggesting an end to the senseless war in Afghanistan or the obscene nuclear weapons stockpile or cutting tax evasion conducted by the rich or better still ending pensioner poverty and child hardship. But they are not. The words above were uttered by SNP Finance Minister John Swinney and could easily have belonged to any one of the 5 Labour 'leadersheep' contenders.
Cameron's crime is clear cut. He is out to strangle much needed and essential services with the most vulnerable bearing the brunt as usual. But instead of going for his jugular so to speak by rallying people around a 'no cuts' campaign Labour and SNP politicians simply go along with his onslaught. They are Cameron's accomplices in this criminal injustice. And I suppose we have no right to be surprised. They did tell us they would make the same cuts if they were re-elected. I sat alongside Alastair Darling for example on five hustings podiums in our Edinburgh South West contest and heard him state his own cuts case repeatedly.
No wonder millions of people are angry at this political stitch up. Labour continues to fail working people. Perhaps that is inevitable, but the indisputable fact is these cuts to our essential public services are not. If Britain does have to pay back the £866bn debt run up by New Labour and the bankers then let them pay for it. That's right lets force the banks who continue to run the financial economy on their own terms but with our money make socially just and fair decisions instead. They continue to serve the rich elite who have so far got off scot free for their recklessness and greed these past 25 years. And lets build the real opposition to Cameron and his Con Dem coalition on the kind of programme above, improving the lives of those most in need most of all. It's that kind of approach that Scotland is crying out for not the mutually self serving consensus developed by MPs in the public schools, Oxbridge unions and Palaces of Westminster.

Is NATO finished in Afghanistan?

2010-07-04T18:10:00.002+01:00

Below is a copy of the latest article written by Mohammad N Asif, Chair of the Scottish Afghan Society, on the situation in Afghanistan.

"The latest NATO debacle over Afghanistan takes place against the whole background of brute military failure, proving how intractable the crisis really is.
The national security adviser of the world’s greatest superpower is a “clown,” its vice-president a nobody and its president “uncomfortable and intimidated.” With those words the officers around General Stanley McChrystal, the American commander in Afghanistan, engulfed America in a storm as damaging to its war effort as any Taliban raid.
The recent interview in Rolling Stone magazine with General McChrystal and his subsequent sacking only demonstrate the disarray of the US’s Afghan policy. Indeed the implementation of the Obama policy was always doomed to fail. This latest debacle takes place against the whole background of brute military failure, proving how intractable the crisis really is. According to NATO, June has been the worse month for international forces since 2001. The 91st soldier was killed on Sunday and 311 young British soldiers have already died as a result of the lies of Bush, Blair, Obama, Brown and now David Cameron.
Cameron believes that Afghanistan is the source of terrorism and as such, Britain should stay for another five years, killing more soldiers and innocent Afghans. Earlier this week the Afghan President met with Sirajudin Haqqani of the Haqqani Group, who is believed to be the strongest man of the Afghan Taliban and who also controls the Pakistani Taliban in Waziristan, with the help of Pakistan’s Army Chief and the ISI Chief. The aim of the meeting was to discuss peace, reconciliation and also safe passage for American and NATO forces from Afghanistan.
President Hamid Karzai has distanced himself from the British and Americans and does not trust them as partners in peace. He openly talks to the Taliban and other resistance groups to strike deals, because he does not believe that the US is willing to do what it takes to defeat the Taliban.
The US and its allies are actively looking for an exit strategy. But this search is fraught with difficulties, for the following reasons. Firstly, the imperial powers would have to explain to their citizens that their power and might are intact and that they cannot be beaten by a bunch of tribesmen. The problem is, the exit itself, unless plausibly linked to political and military progress, would prove the opposite.
Secondly, withdrawing “empty-handed” would mean having to explain the deaths of thousands of soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan and also the financial losses in Afghanistan. At present the Taliban and other resistance groups have a presence in more than 80 percent of Afghanistan. International forces are not even able to control southern Afghanistan. Out of 34 provinces and more than 360 districts, only eight towns are relatively safe in the whole of the country.
The central contradiction is that while they talk about exiting—because all the evidence points to the failure of NATO in Afghanistan—they are planning escalation.
What have NATO and other illegal occupiers achieved so far in Afghanistan since 2001? Have they killed Osama, Mullah Omar and others? Look at the state of the reconstruction effort, hospitals, schools and other development projects for ordinary Afghans. If the West brought democracy, prosperity, jobs and employment to the Afghans I am sure the Afghans would have hugged them and kissed them for helping to rebuild their lives.
Instead they bombed ordinary and helpless people and turned them into enemies. There was never any respect for their culture, religion and way of life; they have been driven out of their houses. NATO then expects them to welcome them in their country.
It is no longer a fight between the West and the Taliban and other resistance groups. The fight has shifted to the national level, where now almost 80 percent of the population want the US and NATO out of Afghanistan as soon as possible.
It is no longer a Taliban struggle but has become almost similar to the Russian occupation, where nearly every Afghan sees you as their enemy. The best example of this is the Kandahar operation which was planned to take place this month, but now seems to be in shambles as the Afghan President and most importantly the people of Kandahar do not want it to happen.
According to a US army survey, more than 86 percent of people are opposed to the plan and almost 80 percent think that the Taliban are their brothers. People do not want a repeat of the Marjah operation in Kandahar, where people were driven from their homes and Taliban not defeated.
The only option which is open to the West is to negotiate with the enemy and save face in an honorable exit. The British Army Chief openly supports talks with the enemy, after killing more than 80,000 innocent Afghans and also 311 British soldiers. General Richards said we must negotiate with the Taliban and other groups in Afghanistan: “From my own, and this is a purely private view, I think there’s no reason why we shouldn't be looking at that sort of thing pretty soon.” The time for this exit has not only arrived, it is overdue."

Scottish Socialist Party vindicated as predicted job losses reach 120,000

2010-07-01T18:02:00.003+01:00

During the recent General election campaign the Scottish Socialist Party warned that all our political opponents were planning job cuts in Scotland on a scale not seen in 25 years. We accused Labour, Conservatives, Lib-Dems and SNP candidates of concealing their intention to make ordinary working people and their families pay terribly for the economic and financial collapse the banks and government had precipitated. Of course all four of these neo-liberal, warmongering, capitalist parties vehemently denied this charge and the electorate was left to make up its own mind.
Now a study of the Scottish economy published by the highly influential Fraser of Allander Institute at Strathclyde University in Glasgow has reported that 120,000 jobs will go in Scotland over the next 5 years as the economy again contracts and the new CON-Dem Governments swingeing cuts in public spending take effect. Professor Brian Ashcroft the Institutes's chief economist concludes today that Scotland will fall back into recession this year and remain there throughout 2011. He forecasts the Scottish economy will stagnate for another year with growth in 2011 barely reaching 0.1%. Some 97,000 people in the public sector will lose their jobs and a further 37,000 in the private sector will join them in the ever lengthening dole queues.
'These cuts are absolutely inevitable' say the four neo-liberal capitalist parties in Scotland. New Labour appears to condemn the CON-DEM cuts but is in fact involved in a masquerade which sees them try to fool those gullible enough not to listen closely to what it is actually saying. Look at this quote attributed to Finance spokesman Andy Kerr in today's Glasgow Herald regarding the Fraser of Allander conclusions. 'This report' he says 'is absolutely damning. It confirms that the Thatcherite cuts agenda being pursued by the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition is dangerous, unnecessary and unfair.' Indeed they are Andy, however Labour 'speaks with forked tongue' here because neither Kerr nor Alastair Darling are against slashing jobs and brutal public spending cuts. They argue 'the Thatcherite cuts agenda' is 'dangerous, unnecessary and unfair' but suggest similar swingeing attacks of their own!
I sat beside Alastair Darling several times at hustings in the Edinburgh South West election campaign. I heard him repeatedly and specifically warn audiences that there would have to be cuts, should his party be re-elected, as vicious as anything Mrs Thatcher introduced in the early 80's. So lets be absolutely clear here Labour are not against annihilating public services in this country and throwing millions of people across Britain onto the dole. Oh, they would rather not do so, I'm sure, but since the country's capitalist economy demands it they will do it and do it loyally as the lackeys to the so called 'free market' they are.
What a dreadful bunch of hypocrites New Labour are then. But surely then the SNP will be able to exploit that political position after all they trounced Labour in the Scottish Parliament elections of 2007 and the Euro elections of 2009? But no, the SNP are also in favour of making working people pay for the financial and economic collapse they had nothing to do with. The SNP also aim to perpetrate the same dangerous, unnecessary and unfair attacks on working people. John Swinney their Finance Secretary in the Scottish Government in the same Herald article quoting Andy Kerr says 'these spending cuts are too early and too deep'. Too early and too deep! So he is by inference in favour of annihilating our public services and the jobs of 120,000 people but not just yet and not so quickly!
Surely only those who don't want to see can't make out the very obvious conclusion here? Scotland needs the party that says no to cuts in public services more than ever. The vast majority of the population are now waking up to the odiously unjust and criminally unfair political con that is being worked on them. Apparently all 4 neo-liberal capitalist parties in Scotland intend to ensure those who made the most money out of the reckless, greed motivated short sighted gambling of decades just gone by are to be inoculated from the brutality of the economic recession they caused whilst those who gained nothing throughout are to pay the severest cost via prolonged unemployment, repossessions, appalling levels of public and social service provision, more hardship and misery.
Well I for one have more regard for and faith in the self worth, pride and resistance of the Scottish people.I do not expect them to meekly accept this criminal deceit now being carried out upon them.

Osborne, Clegg and Cameron punish the innocent to let their guilty friends off the hook

2010-06-25T06:50:00.001+01:00

I attended a protest on Tuesday evening in the centre of Edinburgh against the blistering assault on the living standards of millions of working class people and their families unveiled in the Government's Budget.
George Osborne is the multi millionaire Chancellor in multi millionaire Prime Minister David Cameron's Government. He sits next to multi-millionaire Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg - public schoolboys all three of them. Their Eton upbringing prepared them for occasions just like this. They will ensure that the living standards of millionaires are protected by sticking the boot into those who didn't go to public school, to Oxbridge, to the city or to the Palace of Westminster, born with a silver spoon in their mouths.
If you don't understand the Budget let me simplify it for you. The rich are working a con on the rest of us. Clegg, Cameron and Osborne propose to protect the bankers and financiers who made a killing on the markets over the past 25 years from being held to account for their reckless,greedy and selfish actions which led to the collapse of the British economy.
The Budgets purpose is to protect those guilty of bankrupting the economy by making all the rest of us pay and pay heavily through unemployment, house repossessions, reduced social and welfare services, financial pain and social deprivation.
Unfairness is not the word to describe this behaviour and political approach, as its criminal.
Capitalism in Britain is in a profound crisis, morally poisoned and rotten to the core its intends to make working people pay.
The die is by no means cast in this conflict it will be a test of the rich and their resolve as well as the resolve of the labour, trade union and socialist movement to stand against the stream.

SSP announces 2011 Holyrood bid

2010-06-14T17:12:00.000+01:00

The Scottish Socialist Party National Council yesterday voted to contest the regional list seats in the Scottish Parliament elections next year and to begin the process of selecting candidates, shaping policy priorities and gathering in the necessary resources for the contest immediately.
The decision to contest next year's Holyrood elections underscores the SSP's determination to put our socialist policies before voters. We were successful in getting six MSPs elected in 2003 but the party lost them all at the last Scottish Parliament elections in 2007.
The regional list uses a form of proportional representation to "top-up" the number of MSPs elected through the traditional first-past-the-post constituency system.
As well as adamantly opposing job and service cuts, we will also be campaigning for free public transport, a massive boost to council house building and the scrapping of the hated council tax and its replacement by an income-based Scottish service tax.
As far as we are concerned there has never been a more urgent need for socialists in the Holyrood Parliament as the four big business parties conspire to slash jobs and cut services.

Article on Free public transports

2010-06-12T22:28:00.003+01:00

Here below is an article I wrote on Free Public Transports for the Voice.

The Scottish Socialist Party’s National Council meets this weekend to consider proposals to establish a broad based free public transport coalition in Scotland aimed at making it a centrepiece of next years Holyrood election.
Progressive opinion is united as never before on the threat global warming poses to the peoples of the world. It is also agreed on the need for radical united action to deal with the danger and accepts we have to consider far reaching changes to our way of life if we are to defeat it.
We must find ways to generate electricity and power our various modes of transport without burning vast quantities of fossil fuels. The biggest producers of harmful emissions in the world today are coal, gas and oil fired power stations that spew out billions of tonnes of CO2 gases annually. The most pressing challenge then is to develop cleaner ways of generating electricity. Of course finding those solutions is not going to be easy, not when China opens a new coal fired power station every few months, and both Australia and the United States continue to defy demands for greenhouse gas reductions.
Recent set backs with ‘carbon capture’ technology make the prospect of making fossil fuel plants largely inert much less likely. It had been hoped that the Longannet power station in Fife would become the worlds first coal fired plant to store its CO2 underground - under the Forth estuary – but plans were dashed when it emerged the space required had been severely miscalculated and would need storage capacity ‘the size of a small US state’ to be viable. The focus is very much centred on the need to reduce consumption and to develop alternative sources of power from wind, tidal, solar, biomass and other ‘green’ technologies.
Whilst that debate is ongoing attention has shifted to reducing vehicle emissions. Transport is the 2nd largest producer of CO2 emissions and 90% of it comes from cars.
The Scottish Socialist Party has been examining the issue for some time. We are hugely impressed by the experience of the Belgian city of Hasselt, in Flanders. In 1997 the authorities there faced chronic congestion, poor air quality and pressure from the car lobby. But instead of building more roads they decided on a more radical approach. They abolished fares on their entire public transport system. Critics scoffed at them, said it was madness and forecast people would never leave their beloved cars just because the bus was free. Yet in the space of three years passenger numbers in Hasselt increased tenfold from 330,000 in 1996 to 3.7million. The new scheme led to lower pollution as air quality improved. Road accident rates fell, billions were saved on road building programmes and repairs.Social inclusion rates improved markedly. The Mayor of Hasselt Steve Stevaert was so impressed he famously concluded ‘We don’t need any more new roads, we need new thought highways.’
The SSP advocates replicating the remarkable success enjoyed in Hasselt on a nationwide basis by introducing free travel on all buses, trains, Glasgow’s underground system, Edinburgh’s trams and for foot passengers on our ferries. We believe this measure, never conducted on a national basis before, will provide a huge incentive for people to leave their cars at home and in doing so emulate the Hasselt success.
Implementing our proposal would require re-regulation of the buses and establishing a Scottish Bus Group to ensure the system was wholly integrated. Next we’d take our railway network into public ownership and legislate to abolish fares.
The cost of introducing free public transport throughout Scotland would be £1bn; £500m pa, the current income from fares, plus the cost of the new buses, trains and extra infrastructure needed to cope with the greatly increased demand. Of course £1billion is a lot of money. However, these costs would be greatly offset by several factors. The CBI in Scotland for example estimates congestion costs the economy £1.2bn a year. The NHS would save substantially from reduced levels of respiratory illnesses and road traffic accidents. Furthermore 850,000 low paid workers who pay between £50-£100 per month in bus and train fares would also clearly benefit. And this does not even quantify the improvements in the quality of life that follow these outcomes.
However even these financial advantages are outweighed by the climatic benefits to be gained by substantially reducing our CO2 levels. Sir Nicholas Stern chaired the Inter-Governmental Conference on Climate Change and in his conclusion he famously said that ‘The cost of doing nothing is the greatest of all.’
Last month’s Public and Commercial Services union conference in Brighton voted to endorse free public transport as a way of reducing global warming. I addressed the conference and outlined why the Scottish Socialist Party supports the measure as a way reducing CO2 emissions and persuading people to leave their cars at home.
A wide range of organisations now backs the free public transport initiative internationally. The endorsement of Britain’s biggest civil service union is a significant addition.

Solidarity with Gaza demo

2010-06-07T06:18:00.002+01:00

The picture below was taken by Edddie at the demonstration on Saturday 5 June in protest at Israel's killing of 9 innocent peace activists on board the Mavi Marmara humanitarian aid to the Gaza Palestinians. It shows me asking people to come and sign the SSP petition to hold Israel to account for her actions and to lift the siege of Gaza.

The world must hold Israel to account for killing peace activists

2010-06-04T18:48:00.003+01:00

The world is outraged that peace activists carrying humanitarian aid - food, fuel, medicines and wheelchairs - to Gaza were killed in cold blood aboard their own ship in a premeditated attack by heavily armed Israeli commandos. The deadly assault on innocent civilians is an affront to humankind. The Israeli Government claimed the flotilla of ships were carrying rockets and other ammunition that would be used to fire on Israel. This claim is not only false, it is an insult to peace activists who, unlike the Israeli military, are motivated by a desire to bring peace to all the people's of the Middle East. People throughout the world were rightly horrified at what they saw.
The Scottish Socialist Party demands:
*The Israeli Government is held to account for its actions
*The blockade of Gaza must be lifted forthwith
*The British Government must press Israel to stop building in the occupied territories, this land belongs to the Palestinians
*Justice for the Palestinian people is a prerequisite for peace in the Middle East

Join me on the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign protest this Saturday 5th June 2pm at the foot of the Mount, Edinburgh.

Longstone After School Club Saved

2010-05-27T06:43:00.002+01:00

I received the good news that the Longstone After Schoold Club has been saved! This letter below is addressed to me but I would like to extend the thanks to all those who supported this campaign.

Dear Colin
As you have no doubt already heard, our After School Club has been saved!
We have agreed to take on the annual expenditure of £500 which relates to the alarm system and phone lines, and the maintenance of the building shall continue to be under the council's remit.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all of your support over the past few months, it has been greatly appreciated.
Kindest regards,
Lynsey Nairn
Longstone After School Club

Governements irresponsible public transport strategy

2010-05-24T06:38:00.002+01:00

On Friday The Scotsman reported on Government plans to increase train fares by 6% in January. Since the newspaper has a bad habit of not printing my letters here's my reply in full.

I read your transport correspondent Alastair Dalton's report about train fares rising 6.3% ['Rail tickets set to rocket despite 'fair fares' pledge 21/5/10] with a mixture of incredulity and disgust.
On Monday I travelled to Brighton to speak on behalf of the Scottish Socialist Party to the annual conference of the Public and Commercial Services union PCS. My standard class return ticket, booked online and in advance, cost £220. Furthermore with Edinburgh Airport closed on Monday because of the volcanic ash the 10.30am London train resembled those seen only in third world countries. Hundreds of passengers, young and elderly, left crouching in the aisles and in any other available space they could find because there were no seats available. I was one of them. I reserved a seat but gave it up to a young French woman and her infant son who, having visited Edinburgh, were on their way back home.
Despite paying £220 to the Government owned East Coast train company they couldn't even provide me, or hundreds like me, with a seat during the 400 miles journey.
As it happened the speech I gave to the PCS conference outlined the case for free public transport as an effective way to combat the greenhouse gases emitted by motor vehicle exhausts. Described by one learned commentator as 'the boldest and most imaginative response any party has yet suggested to combat climate change' our proposal follows the example set by the Belgian city of Hasselt.
The union voted unanimously to support my proposal.The Governments aim meanwhile is to pass the cost of running our railways to passengers instead of matching the subsidies provided by all our European neighbours. This approach is downright irresponsible and does nothing to persuade people to leave their cars at home.

SSP advocates free transport plan

2010-05-19T20:25:00.002+01:00

I was invited at the PCS conference on Tuesday in Brighton and an article appeared in yesterday's Morning Star newspaper regarding my free public transport speech at PCS.

Tuesday 18 May 2010
by Paul Haste

PCS conference 2010: Scottish Socialist Party leader Colin Fox took his party's "groundbreaking" proposals for free public transport to the PCS conference before debates later in the week on the union's political stance under the new government.
The former Lothians MSP informed delegates that the SSP was "pioneering the policy of free public transport as a way of reducing harmful CO2 emissions and combating social exclusion." Mr Fox explained that "almost 90 per cent of our transport-generated greenhouse gases come from the cars on our roads and, if we are to meet our target of reducing CO2 emissions by 2020, we need to persuade people to leave their cars at home. "The best way to achieve this is to offer people a better alternative and the evidence shows that free public transport will do that if it is reliable and interconnected," he emphasised. Mr Fox pointed out that, in the Belgian city of Hasselt, progressive politicians had "introduced free public transport in response to traffic gridlock, environmental pollution and anxiety over social exclusion as far back as 1997. "Within three years of offering free travel on buses and trains, the city witnessed a tenfold increase in passenger numbers and, moreover, they met rigorous targets for traffic reduction, CO2 emissions and increased social mobility," he explained. And he emphasised that the SSP "firmly believe that the same multiple successes can be replicated in this country," adding that such a "groundbreaking policy can go on to lead the world by example."

Those who have the gold write the rules

2010-05-15T09:58:00.004+01:00

On a daily basis 1,000 times more money is traded on the world's bond markets than in the goods and services bought and sold by all the nations of all the world. In other words if you added up the entire trade in oil, cars, wheat, coffee, fruit, vegetables, minerals, fuel, manufactured goods and human labour it would still not amount to 0.1% of the finance capital slushing around the money markets.
And the bond markets in particular are scrutinised as never before in Michael Lewis's fascinating new book 'The Big Short'. The staggering truth behind the 2008 financial collapse is unveiled as an uncomplicated tale of greed, recklessness, deception and bullying. Michael Lewis, himself a successful trader turned author, strips away the complicated financial products and practices to reveal the simple and inescapable truth behind Wall Street that 'the people who have the gold write the rules'. The self styled 'Masters of the Universe' as they rather modestly described themselves thrived not in a free market but an utterly corrupt and woefully unregulated casino economy. He patiently reveals how huge institutional investors like pension funds, merchant banks and governments trade trillions and trillions of dollars. This is a world where a single bond trader can 'earn' 47million dollars a year and another can lose $9billion dollars in a single transaction. This is the world the richest men inhabit, people like Warren Buffet and George Soros, where financial 'products' like 'credit default swaps' and 'collateralised debt obligations' are invented to gamble ever more greedily on every possible permutation of the financial markets.
Lewis superbly explains the essential greed behind the subprime mortgage scandal which led to the collapse of 'Masters of the Universe' like Lehman Brothers, Bear Sterns, Merrill Lynch and AIG the world's biggest insurer. He shows how the CEO's of these merchant banks hadn't the first idea about the where their mega profits came from and cared even less just as long as their obscene commissions kept pouring in. They gambled on the 'certainty' that house prices in the US would rise in perpetuity. So crazy had their system become that by the end Goldman Sachs was even betting against itself. One half of the company was selling 'credit default swaps', in effect insurance policies against mortgage repayment failures to the other half and the CEO's were delighting in announcing the record profits made from commissions on every trade. Their clients or investors meanwhile were losing trillions as these defaults swaps went 'toxic'.
Lewis outlines the utter contempt which Wall Street has for working class people and for government bodies charged with regulating the bond markets in any way. He offers a brilliant insight into the logic of 'subprime mortgages' themselves. Strange as it seems they were initially designed to supply credit to 'the little guy' in America those whose only access to credit was at punitive rates companies like Provident over here provide. But the greed in this 'philanthropy' quickly took over and the consequences were unbelievable. Lewis cites the example of Long Beach Savings [Building Society] who loaned $724,000 to a Mexican strawberry picker in Bakersfield California to buy a house despite the fact he was earning just $14,400 a year. The mortgage broker would then advise the poorly paid strawberry picker that he could 'opt' for the 'teaser' rate which allowed him to spread repayments out over 50 years and even defer the interest payments due in the first 2 years by simply adding them onto the capital sum borrowed. So the initial $724,000 loaned would rise to $813,000 at the end of year two[724,000 plus 6% for year one and 6% for year two]. The 'teaser' rate of 6% of course rose to 11% after 2 years but they didn't highlight that small print much! You can see where this transaction was headed but Wall Street, mesmerised by rising US house prices, reasoned that even if the strawberry picker couldn't make the repayments he could still sell the property and walk away unscathed. At least that was the theory! When house prices fell in 2007 just as the famous teaser rates disappeared well hey presto, it was armageddon for Wall Street. And yet in many ways the collapse of the mortgage bond market invented by Salomon Brothers was the least of it. It was the 'credit default swaps' - essentially insurance policies that covered the threat that the borrower would fail to make repayments - which made the collapse 1,000 times worse. But why on earth would anyone be foolish enough to insure against the risk of mortgage payment failure by Californian strawberry pickers for example? You might well ask! Step forward the world's biggest insurance company AIG [known to all football fans as Manchester United's shirt sponsor]. AIG were assured by Goldman Sachs, one of the world's most prestigious merchant banks, that these loans were triple A rated with 'cast iron guarantees' they couldn't fail. So in those circumstances AIG were only too keen -and greedy- to take insurance premiums on that basis. Of course it turned out that the ratings agencies Moody's and 'Standard and Poor' had no idea what they were assessing because the 'Masters of the Universe' would not let see these towers of mortgage bonds. In fact 95% were 'delinquent' i.e. virtually worthless. By the time AIG worked this out their goose was cooked!
As every socialist on the planet now knows the collapse of western capitalism was only staved off by the intervention of capitalist governments like New Labour. Gordon Brown poured in unheard of sums on money to bail out these 'Masters of the Universe' and they did so because the politicians belong to the bankers too. Like Don Corleone says these politicians he owns' like so many nickels and dimes'. Those who have the gold continue to write the rules. And a mere General election changes none of them!
* THE BIG SHORT-Inside the Doomsday Machine' By Michael Lewis. Published by Penguin [2010]

Many congratulations to Caroline Lucas

2010-05-11T06:33:00.001+01:00

James Mackenzie has rightly been in touch via this blog [see comment under the previous posting] to remind me that there was in fact one spectaular winner in last weeks General election and that was Caroline Lucas the leader of the Greens' who secured a famous victory in Brighton Pavilion.
I am happy to stand corrected. I am a big admirer of Caroline and her victory in a first past the post election is a huge achievement. Her victory is even more impressive in that she defeated Labour in a seat where people would be very keen to keep out the Tories.
Brighton Pavilion is a seat I know well. I visited the area many times on political work when I lived in London. The election of Britain's first Green MP, and an excellent 'red green' at that, is terrific and a fitting reward for the many, many years of hard work by Green Party's activists. There are already several Green Councillors in the city.
I have made amends James by emailing Caroline today at Parliament -lucasc@parliament.uk- to offer her my congratulations on behalf of the SSP.

The election everyone lost

2010-05-10T07:40:00.002+01:00

Did you hear the one about the election everyone lost?
Labour the party in power lost 100 seats and with it the chance to continue in Government after 13 years.
The Conservatives lost the victory all the polls had been promising them for the past 18 months.
The Liberals suffered perhaps the most devastating humiliation after Cleggmania turned out to be a complete and utter mirage. The man who apparently wowed us so much in the great TV Leadership debates actually lost a significant number of seats rather than gaining any.
The Nationalists also lost seats. Instead of going from 7 to 20 as Alex Salmond confidently predicted they actually went back to 6.
Scottish Socialist candidates lost all their deposits. We averaged around 1% of the votes cast,which was just as we expected, but the increase in Labour's vote in Scotland was not anticipated!
Mind you to all extents and purposes 'Scotland is a foreign land' for Westminster elections. For one thing there was no swing to the Tories whatsoever. For another the 'grate' TV Leadership debates were largely irrelevant here since so much of what was discussed didn't apply to Westminster for us. The Scottish Parliament at Holyrood retains responsibility for most of the things Cameron, Brown and Clegg argued over -health, education, criminal justice, transport.
The people who lost out most however were undoubtedly working people as usual. The neo-liberal warmongering Westminster parties concocted a deal ahead of the election not to spell out what £100bn of cuts in lifeline services looks like for working people. They ignored the very real concerns of the unemployed - with unemployment at a 16 year high. They ignore the plight of the poor - with income inequality now wider than at any time since records began in 1961. Since all three stand for the same thing there was no mention of the fact 77% of working people are opposed to the ongoing occupation and slaughter in Afghanistan.
The overwhelming conclusion the 2010 General election pointed up in Scotland was the revulsion there is at the thought of a Tory Government being returned. 'Nice Boy Dave' has been rumbled. With his odious remarks on public services and cuts, immigration and withdrawing benefits from the jobless his mask slipped badly in the course of the campaign and his vile Thatcherite soul was exposed.
Tactical voting was employed across Scotland with the candidate most likely to stop a Tory gain seeing their majority rise. This was evident in Labour seats certainly but also in SNP seats like Perth where Pete Wisharts majority more than doubled as Labour voters opted for him as the optimum anti - Tory vehicle.
Chancellor Alastair Darling, the man at the helm during the worst economic collapse in 80 years, saw his majority over the Tories double in Edinburgh South West. This was the seat I contested on behalf of the SSP. To be honest I had anticipated the charge that standing against him might 'let the Tories in' but it was never mentioned once. Had it arisen I had a response prepared - 'Which Tory did you mean like?'
We had a thoroughly enjoyable campaign with 4 weeks of active politicking, holding 5 public meetings in various parts of the constituency on our opposition to the cuts and the occupation of Afghanistan. More than 30 new people signed up to join the party. More than 75,000 SSP election leaflets were delivered door to door. The four hustings attracted nearly 700 people between them. Mind you taken collectively they were a mixed bag. No one at all turned up to the PCS event whilst 500 people packed into a church in Juniper Green to attend the Question Time arranged jointly by 3 local community councils. The SSP was widely regarded to have won the debate, however the audience were in the main 'dyed in the wool Tories'
The canvassing we conducted in Stenhouse provided us with very important intelligence about what people think of the SSP, our strengths and weaknesses. Chief among the criticisms were a sense that we are unrealistic about what we can achieve and we lack the strength to deliver on what we promise. On the other hand voters we talked to were full of admiration for our commitment to working people and the interests of the poorest in society. Our irrepressible resilience in the face of the dreadful events of recent years was also greatly admired.
As far as the result of the General election is concerned I think all the possible outcomes look unstable. The Conservatives and Liberals are in talks as we speak but proportional representation or 'fair votes' is not on the table. It seems to me most unlikely then the Liberal Democrats will ever enter a formal coalition with the Tories. Perhaps Cameron will opt to Govern as a minority in the way the SNP has done at Holyrood? The problem with a more feasible Labour/Liberal coalition is that they simply do not have the numbers to pull it off and a 5 party coalition [Lab, Lib, SNP, Plaid and SDLP] is most unlikely.
Meanwhile the SSP will continue campaigning against the economic injustice behind the cuts and the ongoing military repression in Afghanistan. These issues may have not been discussed much by the myopic media these past 5 weeks but they remain the most important features of politics in Scotland today.

A fight for the left in Darling's back yard

2010-05-02T09:31:00.003+01:00

Article published in the Morning Star on 28 April 2010.

Edinburgh South West, currently held by Chancellor Alistair Darling, looks like 'Labour's Britain in microcosm.'
The constituency was created under boundary changes with his old Edinburgh Central seat being fused together with that of Edinburgh Pentlands represented by Tory top dog Malcolm Rifkind.
Some of the most affluent suburbs in the city are in this seat. People in Colinton, Craiglockhart, Juniper Green and Baberton have done very well indeed out of New Labour. Typically these areas contain large suburban houses in heavily manicured grounds with two cars in the driveway usually a Mercedes, BMW or Porsche.
At the heart of this wealth is the fact that Edinburgh is Europe's 5th biggest financial centre after London, Paris, Frankfurt and Milan. More than £3 trillion worth of equity is under management here.
Those who benefit from this 'management' may not be natural Labour voters but they have been well looked after by Alistair Darling’s government. Edinburgh is now Britain's second richest city after London. Quite an achievement for one with a population of only 440,000.
Of course the vast majority of the electorate don’t inhabit that world. Life expectancy in working class areas like Wester Hailes, Oxgangs, Broomhouse, Sighthill, Parkhead, Stenhouse, Gorgie, Dalry, Fountainbridge and Clovenstone is ten years less for males than it is in the wealthier neighbouring suburbs.
For them this election offers a grim choice of spending cuts and sackings or spending cuts and sackings with the only questions being how soon will they come and who will implement them.
Unemployment in Edinburgh South West has doubled in the last year. At 5.9% its not the highest in Scotland by any means. On the other hand Edinburgh had a chronic labour shortage for most of the past decade.
Employment in the public sector—the local council, NHS,civil service and the Royal Mail—is vital to working class communities and independent figures show that, on any likely outcome after May 6th, a 100,000 public sector jobs would be at risk in Scotland from cuts.
That’s why the SSP has opposition to cuts at the centre of our campaign. We challenge the pro business and anti public sector agenda of Alistair Darling.
Nor can the supposed alternative of Liberal Democrats and SNP offer much to working class voters.
The SNP/Liberal Democrat Council has announced £80m of spending cuts this year and has targeted a number of community facilities in the working class districts of Edinburgh South West for closure including Longstone After School Club, Colinton Mains Community Centre, Gorgie Memorial Hall, Sighthill Community Centre and the 'Platform' Adult Learning Project in Wester Hailes. Needless to say people in these areas are disinclined to vote SNP or Liberal Democrat – Nick Clegg or no Nick Clegg.
Labour Councillors who turn up at protest meetings offering support are invariably treated with suspicion since they ran the Council until 2007 and have a record of cuts as bad as anyone.
The constituency also contains the city's two army barracks Redford and Dreghorn. Hundreds of military families live in nearby accommodation. Afghanistan therefore remains a huge issue. And in two important regards; first hundreds of young boys are recruited from working class communities into the army and second military personnel themselves frequently approach SSP campaigners on Princes Street to sign our petition for withdrawing the troops. This suggests the recent Independent on Sunday poll which found 77% of people believe the war to be unwinnable and want the troops brought home tallies with our daily experience on the doorstep and city centre stalls.
In contesting this election therefore we are highlighting the need for an alternative to cuts, sackings and warmongering. Our alternative puts the people and the planet before profits and bonuses for bankers and not just in this election but in the battles which will surely follow May 6th.
Specifically we are highlighting the urgent need to unite trade unionists, communities, campaign groups and service users in opposition to cuts which will be worse than those Thatcher implemented in the 1980's.
Elections, including those on May 6th and for next year’s Scottish Parliament, can play an important part in this process of unification but for the Scottish Socialist Party a mass movement of resistance needs to be built around this issue. That was why our recent national conference called for such a movement with delegates recalling how, 20 years ago, a similar movement defeated the poll tax.
Faced with attacks to vital public services we in SSP will put all our resources into building such a resistance.

SSP Election Communication

2010-04-24T19:29:00.003+01:00

Dalry SSP Public Meeting

2010-04-24T18:56:00.000+01:00

Scottish Socialist Party Election TV Broadcast

2010-04-24T17:19:00.002+01:00

Click on the title to view the broadcast.

Fox claims big four parties 'failing voters' on Afghanistan

2010-04-20T17:49:00.003+01:00

Press release sent on 19 April.

Scottish Socialist Party leader Colin Fox will tell a public meeting in Wester Hailes on Thursday that the four main parties in Scotland are now 'completely out of touch with public opinion on Afghanistan.'
His remarks come after an opinion poll published at the weekend showed 77% of people want British troops to be brought home and believe their presence in Afghanistan makes UK streets less safe from terrorist attack.*
The former Lothians MSP believes the four main parties in Scotland are failing to represent voters wishes on the matter.
'This poll in the Independent on Sunday simply confirms what we already know, namely that Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem and SNP MPs who support the continued military occupation of Afghanistan do not speak for the people of this country. They are completely out of touch with public opinion on Afghanistan. The vast majority of voters simply reject the view of our elected politicians on this issue as with so many others. People are sick of the warmongering of Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg. They see this as an unwinnable and senseless war that involves Britain occupying another country. Moreover we are occupying a country that has seen 50,000 innocent Afghan civilians killed as well as 281 young British soldiers.
'The Scottish Socialist Party supports the immediate withdrawal of our troops because we believe it is time to give Afghanistan back to the Afghans and we clearly have the backing of 77% of voters.'

Notes
*The poll referred to was published in the Independent on Sunday 18/04/2010
**Public meeting details: 'Bring Home he troops from Afghanistan', Murray Suite, The Westsider, Westside Plaza, Wester Hailes, Edinburgh. Thursday 22 April, 7.30pm.
Speakers: Colin Fox, National Spokesman, SSP and John McAllion, Former Labour MP and now SSP

Public Meeting on Afghanistan

2010-04-19T19:05:00.000+01:00

Darling rich on rhetoric, poor on performance

2010-04-18T12:19:00.004+01:00

Press Release sent on Sunday 18 April 2010.

SSP leader Colin Fox used World Poverty Day to slam Alistair Darling for failing to keep promises he made to the world's poor.
Campaigning in the Wester Hailes district of the Chancellor's Edinburgh South West constituency, Mr Fox told us 'Here in one of the poorest areas of Britain's second richest city the evidence of Alistair Darling's failure to keep his promises to children and pensioners in need is all around us.
In June 2005 as the huge 'Make Poverty History' protest snaked through this city the eyes of the world were on Edinburgh. Alistair Darling made grand rhetorical promises that day about combating primary deprivation and lifting the burden of debt. Today on 'World Poverty Day' our attention is drawn to how little he has made on what were in fact very modest promises made at the G8 in Gleneagles. Gordon Brown admits the shortfall in the aid actually delivered to the world's poor was £13.5billion. Oxfam tell us that money could have saved the lives of 2million women in the developing world who have died in childbirth since 2005 or sent another 72,000 children to school.
For his part Alistair Darling provided the City of London with £200bn in 'quantitative easing' in 2009. This money could have wiped out the entire debt of the developing world in one fell swoop. Choices like these tells us everything about New Labour's priorities. They are not my priorities, not those of the 250,000 who joined me on that march through Edinburgh back in June 2005.
Labour clearly has no intention of combating poverty in West Africa or Wester Hailes. They prefer to bail out bloated, blackmailing bankers. The malnourished and impoverished women and children of the 3rd world and here at home they abandon to the markets.
On World Poverty Day I ask people to think carefully about who is to be trusted to help lift the world's poor and deprived out of hell because Alistair Darling and New Labour have made it eminently clear they are not.'