SSPeaking up for working people

Press launch for 2010 General Election campaign - 13 April 2010

If the polls are to be believed we are three weeks away from a Tory Government. Even after 13 years of New Labour the thought still sends a shiver up the spine.
Politics in Scotland is about to be turned upside down.
And let's be clear from the outset the blame for the Tories return will lie with the failure of New Labour. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown exploited working people for 13 years with the poorest and most vulnerable worse hit. As the political outriders of a corporate elite they pandered to the culture of greed at the heart of finance capital, the City traders, the billionaire tax dodgers and the profit crazed industrialists who chased cheap labour and expensive pleasures.
Blair is remembered for one thing alone - his warmongering lies on Iraq.
Brown for the worst economic collapse in 80 years and for foolishly predicting 'There will be no return to boom and bust.'
They privatised our NHS with their infamous PFI contracts, they privatised our schools, they even privatised our prisons and they finally tried to sell off the Royal Mail to Deutsche Post.
They redistributed wealth TO the rich FROM the poor and left one in three children in poverty - even more children in absolute poverty than they started with 13 years ago - all this despite the longest period of economic growth in history.
New Labour, good riddance.
But let's speak frankly to the people of Scotland today.
The Scottish Socialist Party believes working people need to gird their loins for there is stress ahead. There is an economic and social tsunami on the way. The Tories intend to make working people pay for the economic collapse and you should expect the attacks to be as bad as the Thatcher years.

Four key issues then dominate this election.
1 THE COLLAPSE OF THE ECONOMY AND THE CUTS
Who caused this economic crisis? The corporate elite in Government and the banking sector.
Britain's debt now at unprecedented levels - £870 billion = 13% of GDP goes on repaying that debt. Tories intend to make working people / the most vulnerable pay the biggest price.
In the so called 'free market' working people are thrown crumbs from the rich man's table in booms. In bad times the full weight of the collapse falls on them.
So where is the 'social justice' now?
What is 'fair' about a future where the poor bail out the rich, where the innocent bail out the guilty, where the frugal bail out the financially reckless?
To Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats such phrases as 'social justice', 'fairness' and 'democracy' are a sham!

What would the SSP do to get out of the crisis? PUT PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT
1. NO CUTS IN OUR PUBLIC SPENDING
Working people and the poor rely on those services. Furthermore they are not good enough as things stand we need far greater investment in housing, social care provision, transport infrastructure, environmental improvement, healthcare and education.
2. TAKE OWNERSHIP OF BANK ASSETS NOT JUST LIABILITIES
RBS, HBOS, Northern Rock, Bradford and Bingley between them they have more than £1 trillion in assets - that is £1000 billion. The profits they make could go towards helping those most in need. The 4 bankers parties talk of various 'levies' on bank profits. This is the banks talking, and it is nowhere near enough. Our proposal reflects the people of this country telling the banks what is to be done for a change.
3. Scrap TRIDENT and save £100 billion.
4. Scrap ID cards and save £billions.
5. Scrap the European Fighter Aircraft project
6. TAX the rich, including the Scottish Service tax - our income based alternative to the Council tax.
7. Recover £130 billions per year tax 'AVOIDED' by the wealthy via the British tax havens.
8. Bring home the troops from Afghanistan.

2 AFGHANISTAN
70% of voters want to see Britain end our occupation of Afghanistan and bring home the troops.
For them and us this is a senseless war, one that see Britain occupying another country, moreover we are occupying a country guilty of no crime, a country that has seen 50,000 innocent Afghan civilians killed, a country that does not want us to be there.
We reject the view that we are there to protect our national security.
This is the second poorest country in the world. Afghanistan has never threatened us. We on the other hand have invaded and occupied their country three times now.
Neither do we accept that we are making the world a safer place by occupying Afghanistan. Quite the reverse in fact, we do enormous damage to Britain's international reputation and increase the likelihood of attacks here by our unwarranted aggression.
We want to see British troops brought home because we believe this is a 'dishonorable' war.
We have a duty to those in our armed services not to deploy them where they ought not to be. We need to protect the lions in the battlefield from the donkeys in the High Command.
Our soldiers are there to serve the interests of the people and the people of this country have made it repeatedly clear they do not want our troops to be in Afghanistan.
The SSP campaigns day in day out throughout Scotland to bring the troops home.

3 CLEAN UP POLITICS AND CLEAR OUT THE MONEYMEN
They say that Guy Fawkes was the only man who went to Parliament 'with honourable intentions'. The Westminster Parliament has never been held in such low regard. And no wonder. The greed and embezzlement exposed there in recent times is the last straw for millions.
Worse than the blatant corruption has been the contemptible attitude many MPs have shown to the public disgust. Their shameful attempts to try and defend the situation has made things worse. It has all highlighted how completely out of touch they all are with the people they were supposed to be 'representing'. This institutionalised corruption poses some profound questions for politics in Britain. What kind of 'representatives' do we now have in this so called 'representative democracy'? Just who is it our MPs represent? Why are they all so motivated by naked self interest and money? Why is it that rich, middle class lawyers, accountants, bankers and businessmen are so over represented and that working people; nurses, firefighters, carers, railwaymen, engineers, office workers and home helps not at all?
The answer of course lies in the identikit politicians, identikit political parties and the greed they defend elsewhere in society and their identikit overriding ambition just to make money out of politics.
That is why they are all in it, pure and simple.
People often say 'Huh! They are all the same.' Well the SSP certainly is not. All our 'representatives' stand as 'Workers MPs on a Workers Wage'.
We heed the advice James Connolly, that great socialist from this quarter of the city, gave 100 years ago to those who sought to represent working people 'Rise with your class, not out of it'.
When everyone is on £66,000 a year MPs can get that too as elected 'representatives'. Until then they should live on the same wages as those they represent.
This example was on the SSP set in Holyrood. It helps MPs remain in touch with those who elected them. It also helps them keep the fire burning deep inside them, impatient to see the improvements working people need now not later.

How do we make sure we elect a truly 'representative Parliament'?
1. We start with the wages. MPs receiving the average wage of working men and women would soon get rid of the lawyers and moneygrabbers.
2. Parliament should provide MPs with a flat they can rent for the period they serve at Westminster.
3. All expenses must be backed up by a receipt and strictly necessary for the job.
4. MPs should be obliged to publish their accounts every 6 months for all their constituents to see - in The Big Issue perhaps.

4 FOR A MODERN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
The Scottish Socialist Party stands for independence, for an independent socialist Scotland.
We reiterate this point here again in this election because we believe Independence is about to climb back up the political agenda.
If the Tories do indeed win the election, without a mandate to govern Scotland, the infamous 'democratic deficit' that led to the creation of the devolved Holyrood Parliament resurfaces. This is not now nor has it ever been a dry constitutional issue for the SSP.
We are clear that working people in Scotland will be economically, socially, culturally and politically better off if we are to determine our own future free from the interference of the British state.
Scotland would be free from nuclear weapons, would not have its soldiers occupying other countries on behalf of British Imperialism. We also believe it would be a modern democratic republic with an elected head of state, no monarchy and no House of Lords wither because that is what Scots want.

The election of an 'alien' Tory Government at Westminster without a mandate to govern in Scotland carrying out savage attacks on public services will put these issues into sharp focus.
That is the forward looking progressive vision for Scotland which we put in front of the Scottish people today.

BBC suggests 'Afghanistan deal in the pipeline?'

Letter sent to The Herald on 3rd of April 2010.

As the joint national spokesman of the Scottish Socialist Party campaigning across the country every week against Britain's military occupation of Afghanistan, I often meet people under the impression 'we are there to stop the evil Taliban returning to power'. This belief is entirely understandable as Labour MPs repeatedly make this claim.
Leaving aside the violation of international law such actions implies - as the Chilcott enquiry most recently made clear 'regime change' is an unlawful motive for military invasion - the BBC's 'Analysis' programme on Radio Four last week provided substantial 'inside' information debunking this myth. Presenter Edward Stourton interviewed senior diplomats, government advisers and informed academics - who pointed out that British Government officials are open to negotiations with Taliban leaders over their phased return to power. Indeed the prospect of Taliban leader Mullah Omar emerging as the next President of Afghanistan was the strong conclusion of Stourton's programme.
Despite the claims of Labour MPs who really ought to know better, Britain and the US are not in Afghanistan to stop 'the evil Taliban' and never have been. Bill Clinton for example was more than happy to entertain his Taliban guests in Washington between 1992 and 2000 as negotiations took place over US oil giant UNOCOL's plan for a lucrative gas pipeline across Afghanistan. The invasion in 2001 was both naked revenge for 9/11 [despite the fact not a single Afghan was involved] and about staking a claim on an area of huge strategic significance bordering Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Iran. Now that the Taliban have popular support again and are embedded militarily in the countryside talks have taken place about returning them to the presidential palaces of Kabul in return for certain assurances. Top of those assurances is a promise to hand over Osama Bin Laden to the US for trial on charges that he masterminded 9/11. Since the Taliban have made this offer three times before it is not considered a 'deal breaker'.
The question plainly arises then why should any more innocent Afghan civilians [50,000 killed since 2001] or British soldiers [280] perish with such a deal in the pipeline? Could it be that, as is often the case, the lives of ordinary citizens and junior soldiers are lesser considerations to securing oil and gas supplies for multinationals and political/military advantages for Western imperialism?

Labour, SNP and Liberals vie for cuts 'Badge of Dishonour' as SSP challenge grows

I am looking forward Thursday evening's SSP public meeting in Gorgie. 'Bring Home the Troops, Say No to Cuts in Public Services' will see me sharing a platform again with Joan Humphreys from Military Families Against the War and with Aidan Murphy from the Save Gorgie Memorial Hall campaign.
Many people in Gorgie and Dalry noticed the glaring contrast in Alastair Darling's Budget statement last week where he announced another £4 billion to pay for Britain's senseless military occupation of Afghanistan whilst at the same time cutting £100 billion from frontline public services.
Darling's Labour Party colleagues have been turning up at public meetings in his Edinburgh South West constituency these last three weeks to condemn the SNP / Lib Dem Council for making 'irresponsible' cuts in community facilities throughout the seat. Whereas they are quite right to condemn the 'Nats and Libs' for making these disgraceful cuts what they are not so honest about is Labour's own shameful record. Since they are so reluctantly to admit it I should point out that not only will Labour make cuts the likes of which we have never seen before in this country if they win the General election, in Edinburgh they cut more services that any other party in the past 20 years.
If you want to stop spending on wars and start spending on public services, then there is only one party to vote for in Edinburgh South West and indeed across Scotland, and that is the SSP.

Stopping the Council cuts in Edinburgh

Last night I attended a packed meeting in the Gorgie Memorial Hall where the local community came together to oppose the SNP/Liberal Council's plan to close the centre together with 5 other facilities in the area as part of their latest cuts package.
I was able to offer campaigners the full support of the Scottish Socialist Party in their efforts to retain the facility for Gorgie.
I also made it clear that it will figure highly in my election campaign in Edinburgh South West since we, the SSP, oppose these cuts in community learning and development as well have consistently oped all others. Indeed we are the only party in this city who for the past ten years have opposed all the cuts carried out here. Until 2007 it was Labour Councillors who were shutting down our schools and community centres. Now it is those hypocritical SNP/Lib Dem Councillors elected 3 years ago on a 'No Cuts' promise. only the SSP has 'clean hands' because as a matter of principle we will not allow a rich city like this to claim it does not have the money to provide community support for our citizens.
Gorgie Memorial Hall is a well used local facility. More than 8,000 people used it last year, ranging from Mums and toddlers groups to senior citizens. Jim Aitken from the centre's Management Committee explained to the meeting that thousands of residents in the Gorgie area have already signed the petition to keep the Hall open. He also explained that the Hall has been in use as a community facility for 120 years and there are no other community facilities in the area which all the local groups can use. Since no SNP or Lib Dem Councillors were prepared to attend the meeting, campaigners decided to go up to the City Chambers next week to press officials into keeping the premises open.
The Education, Children and Families and Communities Committee meets in May to make the final decision.
In the meantime the SSP will host a public meeting in Gorgie on 8th April as part of our election campaign in South West Edinburgh and we will have campaigners from the 'Save Gorgie Memorial Hall' on our platform.

Laugh? I nearly voted!

EDINBURGH PEOPLE'S FESTIVAL
Benefit Night

LAUGH?
I NEARLY VOTED!

Starring Bruce Morton, Jojo Sutherland,
Keir McAllister and Mark Nelson

The Stand Comedy Club
Tuesday 23 March - 7.30pm

Inverness Public Meeting

Campaigners step up opposition to comunity education cuts in Edinburgh

Hundreds of people in South West Edinburgh in particular are up in arms about plans announced by the SNP/Liberal Democrat led City of Edinburgh Council to close 6 community centres in the area.

I was invited to join 50 of them last night at a heated 'consultation' meeting held in Wester Hailes Community Education Centre [WHEC] and I must say I was inspired. The audience, mainly women, told City Council officials from the Community Learning Department in no uncertain terms what they could do with their plans to close community centres in Colinton Mains, Longstone and Sighthill, the Gorgie Memorial Hall and the adult literacy programmes 'Platform' and 'The Number Shop'.

I was less than inspired to see Labour and Tory Councillors in the meeting playing a less than honest game with the protesters. These two parties have a record of cuts going back decades in Edinburgh but here they were suggesting they could be trusted to defend vital community services in this city.

Thankfully I was able to set the record straight, that there is only one party in this city whose hands are clean, only one party which has opposed all these attacks on community centres and programmes working people depend on for the past 10 years and its the Scottish Socialist Party - no one else!

Of course none of the SNP/Lib Dem Councillors elected in May 2007 on a 'NO CUTS' programme had the courage to turn up and defend their decision last night, or indeed at any of the other so called 'consultation meetings'. Instead they sent along their staff to explain why £120,000 was to be cut from these vital community facilities.

Under the SNP/Lib Dem plans the number of community centres in Edinburgh is to be further cut from 43 to 37. Adult literacy and youth work budgets will face attack.

I have visited Colinton Mains and Gorgie Memorial Hall in the last couple of days to see for myself the work they do and to listen to their case for ongoing support. I have been very very impressed by how popular and busy these two centres are and I have promised my support as SSP national spokesman and candidate for Edinburgh South West. They provide vital services to local communities and support local people and its right and fitting we offer them our backing.

I also look forward to meeting Lynsey and the other women running the Longstone After School club next Wednesday.