Issue91

It’s a plan to gladden the heart of Jean Marie Le Pen, Margaret Thatcher and General Pinochet.
Tony Blair’s latest wheeze is to stamp out crime by stamping on the poor with a pair of size 10 jackboots.
The criminal godfathers must be quaking in their shoes at Blair’s plan to deduct £15.75 child benefit from the parents of truants. After all, Glasgow’s gangland boss, The Licensee, is only worth £10 million.
As usual, single parents will be hammered even harder. A one parent family would be punished to the tune of £17.55 a week. That’s if there’s only one child in the family.
For every additional child, each family would lose another £10.35.
For Tony Blair, whose family income is around £2000 a week, these sums might seem paltry.
But for a lone parent struggling to bring up three children on a pittance, the loss of £38.20 a week could mean starvation. Incredibly, the Cabinet is reported to be split over the plan.
Instead of sending Blair away for a long holiday, half of them actually support his bizarre proposal.
Others, including Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling are not so sure. Not that they disagree with the principle - but they think it may be a little difficult to administer.
New Labour really has lost the plot - if it ever had a plot to begin with.

news

Diamonds aren't the workers' best friend

by Owen Logan,
documentary photographer

Celebrating May Day, and in protest against spurious business 'ethics', activists presented the Lime Blue Diamond Store in Edinburgh with the Titanic Award for Corrupt and Exploitative Business.
Sparked off by a deceptive advertising campaign by Lime Blue who source 90 per cent of their diamonds from South Africa, the award also highlighted the status quo within the international diamond trade.
Conditions in the South African diamond business have changed little since the end of apartheid.
The government is in a weak position to challenge the power of a 'white' global business that is manipulated by DeBeers - a highly corrupt cartel. A collection of middlemen also carves out huge profits on the backs of miners and exploited labour in the world wide industry.
Lime Blue say that their business is 'ethical' and they don't sell 'conflict diamonds' or diamonds produced through child labour.
Very much in keeping with the illusions of our times, Lime Blue chose to advertise themselves using gritty photos of miners who they maintain are South African diamond miners.
In fact the pictures they used show low paid Indian coal miners. But why this sleight of hand?
Is it because black diamond miners are kept behind barbed wire and might not look quite so 'dignified' in their exploitation?
Is it because the right kind of impoverished labour can look good to make luxury consumption seem authentic and hip?
It seems that what's being sold here is not just diamonds, it is exploitation itself.
The protest highlighted the corruption of diamond industry as well as the story of Indian coal miners who became Lime Blue's unpaid models. The miners in the ads earn is $47 a month.
In one day, a model in a similarly large-scale campaign might be paid the equivalent of two year's pay of one of these miners.
Lime Blue obviously thinks that the Indian miners make for a better marketing ploy. It's certainly a cheaper one.
n Titanic Award is part of the OBJECT exhibition at Out of the Blue, 14 New St, Edinburgh, until May 21

Police gain rights and plastic bullets

by Dave Sherry

LAST WEEK the Scottish Police Federation Conference voted to overturn the UK Police Act of 1919 - the act that stripped police officers of the right to strike.
The police's decision to demand the right to take industrial action for the first time in 83 years is not on a par with 1919 but it is an ominous sign for this government.
In 1919, the period of Red Clydeside, police in London and Merseyside came out on strike during the massive explosion of working class struggle that rocked Britain at the end of the First World War.
While the Voice supports the Police Federation's right to strike, we shouldn't forget forget that the force is no friend of ordinary people.
Last week senior Scottish police officers demanded that the government provide them with more arms and rubber bullets.
That's one demand that this government has already conceded.
Grampian Police have become the first police force in Scotland to be given permission to equip some officers with plastic bullets.
Gurudeo Saluja, Grampian Police Board chairman, said the decision had been "more or less unanimous":
"If you go with CS spray, the next option is firearms - so I think it should be welcomed by the human rights people in that at last we have a non-lethal option."

Sex workers to join GMB union

by Jo Harvie

Members of the International Union of Sex Workers (IUSW) have voted to join one of Britain's biggest unions, the GMB.
The IUSW was established about two years ago in London, when workers from various elements of the sex industry united around a strike in Soho called by the English Collective of Prostitutes.
As one of the union's activists explains on their website:
"I was working for a sex phone line.
"Although I liked my job, and did not feel I had been forced into it, I felt we were being economically exploited in that our boss makes millions out of his company and we're being paid just a few pounds an hour.
"After talking with other sex workers, other groups and supporters, we thought we needed to create an organisation to campaign for our labour rights.
"We want to claim the power back and overthrow the half dozen men who own the sex industry."
The GMB's recruitment officer, Lisa Venes, told the Voice why she feels it's important to organise sex industry workers:
"People refer to the sex industry as the oldest industry, and yet it's never been unionised before.
"Some of the conditions that people work in are just outrageous.
"You might think that it just includes prostitutes but there's so much more to it. It's a huge industry.
"There are people working in a call centre environment dealing with sex phone lines, and there are people working in the manufacture of sex toys, in factory conditions.
"People working as table dancers face all kinds of health and safety issues which being in a union can effect for the better."
The IUSW will be taking part in the London May Day demonstration on Wednesday.
They will also hold their own May Day carnival that evening in Soho.

Voice appeal

The Voice would like to thank everyone who has given so generously to the donation appeal.
We've now managed to ease some of the pain of both computers and staff.
However, we are always looking to strive forward in both technology and the paper itself.
More and more often the big business parties and the mainstream press try to attack the Scottish Socialist Party by telling lies.
And while hundreds of people are murdered in Palestine, all the papers seem to talk about is Beckham's broken foot.
So can you help?
Please send a donation TODAY - no matter how big or small, it all counts to help get the Voice out to an even wider readership.
Or can you buy extra copies to sell to friends, workmates and family or encourage them to take out a subscription or make a donation.
Please make all cheques payable to 'Scottish Socialist Voice' and send to SSV Donation Appeal, 73 Robertson St, Glasgow G2 8QD.
If you would like a subscription or to buy extra copies of the Voice, please contact Lisa on 0141 221 7714.

news

Private hospital squanders cash

by Frank Hotchkiss

First Minister Jack McConnell stated recently that it would be "silly" to spend hundreds of millions of pounds of public money buying the private HCI hospital in Clydebank for the NHS.
For once we agree with him. At a time when the health service is struggling to cope with years of Tory and Labour neglect, to contemplate this would be madness.
Jack has not of course ruled out merely squandering tens of millions of pounds in doing so.
This is despite the fact that we have already given over £40 million to the private owners and continue to subsidise them to this day.
When HCI was built, the company received 100 per cent tax relief on profits to be set against building costs.
In other words they paid no tax and got their private hospital built for them using money which should have been spent on health and education for all.
This money was effectively - and sometimes directly - handed over to an overseas group of capitalists, who sought to make the maximum profit from the sick.
Even worse was that the hospital was built in a place with one of the worst health records in the UK and yet would not benefit the health of locals at all. It was built on the site of an asbestos dump!
The private venture hit money problems several years ago when it was put into administration and was yet again subsidised by public money.
Now it operates at only 10 per cent of its capacity, at a time when ordinary people are dying on waiting lists. This is to Scotland's shame in the 21st century.
The SSP believe that the hospital should be brought back into the NHS so that the only deciding factor about who gets treated there is a patient's medical needs.
We paid for this hospital to be built. We paid for it to survive and we continue to pay to line the pockets of those who would prey on misery.
So don't buy back HCI, take it back!

'Funny old game' gets serious as fans lose out

by Eddie Docherty

After four years of attempting to buy its way into becoming Scotland's third club, Motherwell FC have only a £10 million debt, no manager and bemused and demoralised fans.
The only smiles inside Fir Park on Wednesday were those of the liquidators appointed to oversee the club's financial affairs.
How could a club which won the Scottish Cup only 11 years ago get itself into such a sorry mess?
Most blame club chairman John Boyle, who pumped in a sizeable slice of personal fortune in the hope that gates, advertising, corporate hospitality and Motherwell's league position would all go up.
He hoped that when he sold up, he would leave with a tidy profit and the affection of his hometown.
He forgot that he couldn't call on the sickly ingredients of sectarianism that made part of the Old Firms recipe for success and has now had to admit defeat and put the club up for sale.
Boyle's offer to underwrite Motherwell's debt means a buyer probably will be found and that the club will survive. But the same cannot be said for many other SPL clubs.
Dunfermline admitted last week that it is also in possession of a bank account £10 million in the red.
It says it is not in trouble but with no TV money likely next season, its bank manager may agree to differ.
Similarly so with Dundee. The Marr brothers have attempted to do for the Dens Park club what Boyle tried at Motherwell - buy big, talk loud and hope that the punters come down.
Unfortunately for the Marr's, those fans that have turned up have seen a side with more personalities than Alistair McGowan.
Therein lies the problem for these rich trousered philanthropists. They've cast envious eyes towards Glasgow and tried to entice their respective native populations with cheaper versions of star-studded teams.
The result has been disastrous.
Just to add to the problems of Airdrie Football Club there is talk of demotion to the Third division after the pitch invasion on Saturday. The match with Ayr United had to be abandoned and the SFL will be meeting to consider action.
Airdrie are searching for a buyer to pull them out of financial trouble.
Fans group Diamonds Direct Action had warned prior to the game that supporters would be demonstrating against Ayr chairman Bill Barr - whose construction company built their New Broomfield Stadium and who is Airdrie's biggest creditor - but they did not intended to stop the game.
Some fans are accusing outside trouble makers of encouraging the riot and breaking the goal posts preventing the match continuing.

PCS election victory

by Richie Venton

Socialists in the civil service workers' union, PCS, have won a major breakthrough in the elections to the national executive committee.
Scottish Socialist Party member Janice Godrich has been elected as national President. Two other SSP members - Alan Brown and Danny Williamson - are amongst the 11 Left Unity candidates to be elected onto the NEC.
This compares to five Left Unity members on the outgoing NEC. It reflects the growing respect for socialists - specifically including the SSP - amongst the 270,000 PCS members as they face poverty pay, increased workloads and escalating privatisation.
It is no accident that the biggest gains for Left Unity were amongst the lowest paid sections of workers.
The overall balance of the NEC has shifted to the appallingly mis-named 'Moderate' faction - a bunch of extreme right-wingers who gained 24 NEC places, mainly at the expense of their other right-wing rivals, the Membership First group, who only held onto nine seats.
So the union now has a socialist President, a socialist General Secretary, and a big socialist minority on an NEC where brutal right-wingers and Blairites have outright control.
The Moderates stooped to outrageous methods to win their positions, including totally immoral use of the union membership database to post out their glossy propaganda, but still only scraped in with miniscule majorities.
Now according to The Economist magazine, they are threatening to block the elected general secretary - Mark Sewortka - from taking up his post, by keeping the Moderate reject Barry Reamsbottom in place until 2004!
As battles loom around privatisation, workplace safety, pay and other issues, elected socialist leaders will need to build on their increased base of support amongst the union members to overcome the blockage of a vicious, embattled right wing.

workplace news

Posties poised to strike on May 8

by Dave Sherry

Leaders of the CWU postal workers' union have at long last called a national one day strike on Wednesday May 8.
It will be the first official, national strike in the post since 1996.
Around 150,000 union members will walk out in protest over pay and conditions. But the strike will also focus their deep resentment over job losses, speed up and privatisation.
The workforce voted overwhelmingly for strike action against lousy pay three months ago but the union leaders have failed to call any action since then.
While they limited themselves to rhetoric against low pay and privatisation, it's been Royal Mail management who have made the moves - announcing 40,000 job losses and pushing ahead with their plans to dismantle the service.
Royal Mail insists the new pay rise which was due to be paid last October, must be linked to new delivery arrangements.
This means a huge change in working practices with postmen and postwomen working more than four hours without a break and without rest and toilet facilities.
Pilot projects were supposed to test out options for the new system, but management is only allowing one new method to be tried out - its own.
The union won't accept this method.
In February the workforce voted to strike in support of a 5 per cent wage increase for the 12 months beginning October last year.
But the current offer is only 6.8 per cent over two years. Of this offer, 2.3 per cent is for acceptance of the longer delivery spans.
The union now says if Royal Mail don't pay the other 4.5 per cent without strings, the strike will go ahead on May 8.
To date Royal Mail haven't budged and as we go to press a strike seems certain.
Many postal workers are angry that the leadership has taken so long to call strike action. Now they have the chance to strike hard and direct their anger against Royal Mail.
May 8 can start a real rank and file fightback against privatisation, redundancy and low pay.
The Voice urges all our readers to support the postal workers and visit their picket lines.

Fire down below

The Fire Brigades Union is demanding a substantial pay increase for its 52,000 members.
Last week the union lodged a claim for an £8,500 increase and demanded the replacement of the 24 year - old formula which fixes annual pay settlements.
The union wants control staff to get the same increase as fire fighters and is seeking fairer pay and better training for part time staff who provide cover in rural and remote areas.
The FBU's last national strike was in 1977. The Labour government brought the army in to scab and sickened many Labour voters in the process. But it was the TUC, not the army who ended the strike.
The current pay formula was introduced in 1978 and is increasingly out of date.
Fire Brigade pay is falling behind other comparable workers and the union is determined to make a stand.
Kenny Ross, Chair of Strathclyde FBU, told the Voice:
"A fully qualified fire fighter after four years training earns just over £21,000 a year. Many of our members with families have to claim benefits or do additional work to make ends meet.
"Our members don't get paid overtime, so we rely on basic pay. The current pay formula is a joke. It classes us as unskilled and links us to the pay of groups like car workers and miners. But these groups have been hammered out of sight since 1978.
"Our members are highly skilled and have to cope with the growing complexity and mounting risks involved in fire control. September 11 brought this home to millions of people.
"It's not just fire fighters - our control staff work with state of the art technology. They are highly skilled too and deserve equal treatment.
"We are quite happy to have a pay formula - but a fair one that recognises the importance of our members' work and the skill and commitment that goes into it."
The pay settlement has to be decided by November and the FBU is firing the opening shots.
Union members have seen how the employers dragged out the postal workers' claim and how ScotRail drivers eventually had to strike to win wage parity.
Last Wednesday union leaders from every Fire Authority in Scotland met in Glasgow to draw up plans to put across their case and to galvanise the rank and file.
The claim has to be ratified at the FBU conference later this month in Bridlington.
If there is no agreement by August, then there will be a recall conference to decide on a ballot for national strike action.
It could mean a hot Autumn for Tony Blair and New Labour.

UNISON museums staff face up to Glasgow City Council

GLASGOW City Council is facing a strike by museums, leisure and community centre staff over plans to 'modernise' the service.
The restructure means a massive shake-up of museums, community facilities, leisure centres, and libraries.
The present staffing structure will be abolished. Major changes to pay and conditions are to be imposed and staff will have to re-apply for their jobs.
The proposals breach UNISON's national agreements and the union plans to hold a strike ballot of its 358 members.
Regrettably, officials of the Transport and General Workers and GMB unions, which represent most of the other staff involved, have now agreed to the changes.
Originally both unions opposed the plans but their leaders have broken ranks with UNISON and are now recommending their members accept the restructure.
Jimmy Farrelly of the TGWU, said:
"The council has looked again at their proposals and recognised the difficulties we had.
"We believe there is the basis for an agreement. There is still some fine tuning to do, but we're quietly confident this can be resolved."
TGWU members will ballot on whether to accept the new proposals for restructuring.
The compromise recommended by their leaders offers some improvements to the terms and conditions in previous proposals.
But this move divides union members and will encourage the council bosses to launch more attacks.
As George Johnston, of UNISON said:
"The offer may have been better in terms of pay for some staff, but it does not address the core issues of national agreements on pay and re-applying for our own jobs.
"We're fighting here for all culture and leisure staff and not just museum workers. Our position has not changed."
David O'Connor, convener for culture and leisure at UNISON 's Glasgow branch, said:
"Our members have asked for a ballot and we will inform the council, who then have seven days before we ask our members whether they want to take strike action."
BECTU, the entertainments union which represents 20 staff within the service is also opposed to the current plan.
UNISON housing staff at the Hamish Allan Centre in Glasgow - Scotland's biggest emergency centre for homeless people - face a similar threat and may also ballot for industrial action.
City Housing bosses told 54 shift workers that their jobs will be abolished and that they must apply for new ones.
The council is out to impose changes that save £1 million a year and leave workers £5,000 a year worse off in lost shift allowances.
Union members are currently refusing to work overtime to cover for sick colleagues.

Rigged votes in Amicus election

Sir Ken Jackson, arch-right wing boss of the AEEU section of the new AMICUS union, is facing a challenge from the left.
AMICUS is Britain's second biggest union and Sir Ken is Tony Blair's favourite union leader.
Left candidate Derek Simpson is challenging him for the post of General Secretary of the AEEU section. The victor becomes the joint leader of the new union.
Simpson needed 30 branch nominations to stand in the election, but has already won over 100. Nominations close at the end of the month.
The right have mounted a dirty tricks campaign - touring branch meetings to try to swing votes against Simpson.
Union employees have turned up at branches and voted for Jackson.
The right are worried by Derek Simpson's challenge and a victory for the left in this election would strike a big blow against New Labour.

back to index

Read Tommy Sheridan's column in the
Scottish Socialist Voice
available in the shops now

environment news

one
world
Rosie Kane

Pop stars, postcards pollution and prats

Many of you reading this will have made objections and protests against any number of things - and on a regular basis, if you are anything like me.
And, if you are anything like me, you will know all about being ignored and fobbed off.
Well this week a whole load of folk objected to a whole load of things, with mixed results.
Ali Hewson (or Mrs Bono) gave it laldy along with Ronan Keating, Samantha Mumba, The Corrs and others against the Sellafield nuclear plant.
To tell you the truth I would not normally listen to anything produced by these crooners but I was impressed by the postcard campaign and the publicity it attracted.
Tony Blair, Prince Charles and Norman Askew, chair of British Nuclear Fuels which owns Sellafield were targeted.
Even the Irish government supported the postcard campaign - Sellafield sits just 110 miles away, across the Irish Sea.
The postcards were sent out on the 16th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster - to highlight the devastation caused by accidents at nuclear power stations.

Pathetic
Ali Hewson also points out that since September 11 there is increased danger of terrorist attack on Sellafield. She's not wrong.
American or British warplanes could easily accidentally hit the site and make many parts of Britain and Eire uninhabitable.
Sellafield pollutes land, sea and workers on a daily basis and neither accident or terrorist attack need happen for us to oppose and detest these installations.
It's a good way of using your fame and notoriety but I must warn the superstars - Blair, HRH and Askew are not good listeners.
Now if we were to rid the world of nuclear power we would need to move towards sustainable energy. This would be a good move by any standards.
The government has promised that by 2010 it would reach the pathetic target of producing 10 per cent of electricity by investment in renewables. Currently there are proposals for 18 offshore wind farms.
Sadly, a pesky bunch of protesters have complained about the plans and have made formal objections to at least five of the sites.
Who are these protesters? They're not locals concerned about visual intrusion and not sailors concerned about the big construction.
No, the protests and official objections have come from none other than Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The MoD are concerned that the wind farms may interfere with military aviation radar as well as flight paths.
One site, thought to have been earmarked for 30 wind turbines, has already been blocked.
The irony is amazing. The war machine is not content to destroy and disrupt all over the planet.
It's not content with its weapons of mass destruction polluting the country. It's not content twisting minds and creating killers.
It now wants to stick its might in the way of sensible development that will improve lives, create jobs.
And finally (to quote Trevor McDonald), secret papers were released last week warning that a nuclear attack on Britain would be "beyond imagination".
The Strath Report drafted at the height of the Cold War said that a nuclear attack would put "the entire nation on the front line" and that "life and property would be obliterated". Areas deemed most likely to be attacked were London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow.
Thankfully, annihilation from 'the bomb' never happened but each of these areas named, and many others, were eventually battered senseless by Thatcher, Major and Blair - and still we live with the fall out.

Devastation
The dangers from Sellafield are obvious in the local health statistics and the sleekit cover-ups.
And if New Labour are serious about reaching renewable targets then they must turn their back on the war machine. As for the devastation of a nuclear attack, ask the people of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. They know all about it.
However, a hate filled soldier under the orders of a mass murderer can do a horrific amount of damage with a conventional weapon and a bulldozer - for evidence see Ramallah.

Police set dogs on anti-GM activists

by Simon Whittle

Five protestors were arrested at the GM trial site at Munlochy in the Highlands last Friday night (April 26) for damaging the controversial oilseed rape crop.
It's the second time the site at Roskill Farm on the Black Isle has been damaged in one week.
It is understood that one of the protestors was attacked by a dog set loose by police, although a Northern Constabulary policewoman denied this over the phone.
"At least one of those arrested has been treated for dog bites," East Ross/Sutherland SSP branch member Frank Ward told the Voice.
"Friday was a night of rain and snow blizzards. The prisoners have been kept in their wet clothes.
"None have been allowed home and all are being kept in solitary confinement for at least three nights.
"This despite no known previous offences.
"This is disgraceful treatment. The Desk Sergeant at Dingwall Police Station said this was 'policy'."
A police spokesman said three of those arrested were men, aged 21, 31 and 40, and two were women, aged 46 and 47.
All five are due to appear at Dingwall Sheriff Court as we go to press on Monday.
At least three of the five detained on breach of the peace and vandalism charges - Simon Cann, Jill Williamson and Rory McEwan - are SSP members.
Scottish Socialist Party MSP Tommy Sheridan said of the activists:
"Their fight is for the protection of everyone's food and instead of locking them up we should be locking up the genetic food promoters."
During First Minister's Questions last week, SNP leader John Swinney said ministers were treating Scotland as a "live laboratory" by permitting GM trials and challenged Scottish Executive arguments that ministers have no legal grounds for banning the trials.
Stand-in First Minister Jim Wallace rejected the charge and said there was no risk with GM crops - despite his party's call for a moratorium on GM crops at its recent annual conference.
Maybe Jim's been hanging out with LibDem environment minister Ross Finnie too much.
Finnie keeps claiming that he hasn't got the power to stop GM trails.
But the Welsh Assembly has successfully banned GM crops in Wales and a Westminster commission told Finnie he could ban GM crops in Scotland if he really wanted to.
No more excuses - let's ban GM crops in Scotland now!

Munlochy Five appeal
Legal fees and fines for the Munlochy Five are likely to be high. Donations are needed as soon as possible.
These will be forwarded to the Legal Fund as soon as it is established. Send cheques/postal orders, payable to 'East Ross/Sutherland SSP', to: F. Ward, St Barrs, Dornoch, IV25 3LJ

Fife Against GMO protest march

"Stop the Crop"
Assemble Tay Bridge South Access Car park, 10.30am, Saturday May 4.
The march will then join the joint May Day demo in City Square, Dundee

back to index

editorial
comment

Scottish independence and global solidarity

May Day is a day for celebrating socialist internationalism. "Workers of all countries unite!" proclaimed Karl Marx 150 years ago.
Written in the days before air travel, telephones, TV or radio, this call for worldwide solidarity of the exploited was an extraordinarily visionary statement.
Back in 1848, the planet Earth must have seemed as mysterious as the solar system appears to us today.
But in the age of satellite TV, cell phones, the internet and space travel, working class internationalism can no longer be ridiculed as a romantic dream.
As capitalism has become a multinational system, the forces opposing capitalism have also learned to overcome international borders.
Since the start of the new millennium, movements against global capitalism, against the war in Afghanistan and against the national oppression of the Palestinians have assumed a truly multinational character.
This new internationalism from below should instill confidence in socialists everywhere.
The anti-capitalist demos of the past two years provide a glimpse of the political reverberations that would greet a socialist breakthrough in any part of the world.
Far from being isolated, any country that dared break with capitalism in the 21st century would become the focal point of a worldwide mass movement with the conscious aim of transforming society.
Socialist internationalism is not just about convincing people of the arguments against war, or the arguments against global capitalism.
'Think Global - Act Local!' proclaims one of the slogans of the environmental movement.
By far the most decisive contribution that Scottish socialists can make to the world-wide struggle against exploitation and injustice is to build a mass socialist movement here in Scotland.
Such a movement will be built out of the local day-to-day battles in the workplaces and the communities as well as around the big international issues.
By inspiring ordinary people to participate in workplace and community struggles on bread and butter issues, we can begin to broaden support for our wider vision of a socialist world free from oppression, exploitation and war.
Socialists in Scotland also have to spearhead the fight for democracy and national rights.
For the past 20 years, the UK has been the most subservient disciple of the USA in its crusade to turn the world into a profiteers paradise.
And in the past eight months, Britain has emerged as America's most reliable and fanatical military ally.
Across the Third World the two most hated symbols of oppression and exploitation today are the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack.
The Scottish Socialist Party and the Voice support the break up of the British state and the creation of an independent socialist republic.
The neutered semi-parliament in Holyrood cannot prevent Scottish regiments from being sent into Afghanistan, Iraq or any other country.
It cannot close down the nuclear arsenal on the Clyde, which is ultimately controlled by George Bush.
It is unable to seriously tackle economic inequality in Scotland: it has no powers to raise the minimum wage, to boost pensions and benefits or to increase the top rates of taxation on the rich and big business.
It is powerless to free trade unions from the most repressive anti-strike laws in Europe. It is powerless to modernise the antiquated drugs laws that have assisted criminal drugs gangs cause mayhem in working class communities.
It cannot even prevent the inhumane incarceration of refugee children in Scottish detention centres.
The break-up of the British state is not a narrow, nationalistic demand. The removal of Scotland from the United Kingdom would be a devastating blow to the forces of reactionary conservatism, including Bush and Blair and their hangers on.
It would also help clear the way for the defeat of capitalism in Scotland - which in turn would have global repercussions.
The forces of socialism in Scotland are in a more favourable position than in most countries of the world.
The Scottish Socialist Party - which unites most of the left - has grown spectacularly, in terms of both organisation and influence, over the past three years.
It has achieved that by fighting fearlessly on local, national and international issues. It is important to take a stand against imperialism, globalisation and war. It is equally important that we involve working class people in politics by fighting for immediate reforms that can be won.
That means, for example, building action in support of the free school meals bill, and campaigning to replace the Council Tax with a local services tax that will soak the rich and benefit the poor.
And linking these local initiatives with our broad international vision is our strategic goal of an independent socialist Scotland which will wage war on poverty and inequality at home while standing up against globalisation and militarism abroad.

Power of Scotland

Who really controls Scotland? Here we look at economic and political power in Scotland in the year 2002.
They are the 129 most powerful men and women in Scotland.
They control tens of billions of funds and employ hundreds of thousands of workers.
The decisions they take day in, day out have a profound effect on the lives of millions.
So who are they? "Scotland's MSPs," most people would confidently reply if they were asked that question. But they would be wrong.
These 129 people are far more powerful than the people who sit at Holyrood. They are also far richer. And none of them were ever elected by the public.
In fact, with one or two exceptions, their names would mean nothing to 99.99 per cent of the Scottish public.
Virtually all of them could walk along Argyle Street or Princes Street on a Saturday afternoon without being recognised by a single soul.

Turnover
So who are they? They are the directors of Scotland's top ten companies.
By coincidence, their numbers are identical to the numbers that sit in the Scottish Parliament.
Few of them are women. Few are under the age of 50. Few have ever lived in a council house.
The ten companies they run had a turnover last year of over £50 billion.
This is two and a half times more than the Scottish Parliament has to spend on hospitals, schools, universities, transport, local government, emergency services, social services and the environment for a country of five million people.
The ten companies that they control employ 330,000 people - which, if you include their families and dependents, means millions of people's lives can be devastated by decisions made by this tiny bunch of profiteers.
Just five of these companies made over £12 billion profit last year - more than double the amount that was spent on the whole of the NHS in Scotland.
To put that figure in proportion: there are 1.2 million people in Scotland suffering poverty yet profits made by these five companies could give every man, woman and child living on the breadline an extra £200 a week.
n The above figures are extracted from Scotsman 250 - a report on Scotland's top 250 companies compiled by the finance analysts Deloitte & Touche.

back to index

Closing the gap between rich and poor
the case for a Scottish Service Tax

In this week's Voice we explain the Scottish Socialist Party's radical proposal to redistribute wealth and income in Scotland - scrap the Council Tax and establish a Scottish Service Tax.
Felicity Garvie also shows why the Scottish Parliament's own proposal to alter the Council Tax will increase the financial burden on people on the lowest incomes.

The Scottish Parliament does not have control of direct taxation. But it does have the power to change the way local governemnt is financed.
Based on indpendent research carried out over two years by Mike Danson and Geoff Whittam of Paisley University Business School, the SSP has devised a detailed alternative to the Council Tax.
The new system would not end inequality. But it would at least shift the burden of local taxation from the poor to the rich.
The rich now pay a lower proportion of their income in taxes than at any time in the past 60 years.
Under the old rating system before the poll tax, people paid in line with the size of their home.
In 1988, the differential between the highest and lowest rates was 14 to 1 in Glasgow.
The Poll Tax abolished this differential in favour of a single flat rate per person, determined by local councils.
The Council Tax was hurriedly introduced by the Tories following the defeat of the Poll Tax.
Although a differential was reintroduced, it is of the order of around 3 to 1, where those in the largest, most expensive homes now just pay three times more than those living in the poorest, most run-down tenement flats.
The Scottish Service Tax would put income redistribution, through a fairer tax system, at the heart of Scottish politics and tax citizens according to their ability to pay.
The gap between those on £100,000 and those on £10,000 would be widened from 3:1 to 185:1.
Someone earning £12,500 a year would pay just under £110 Service Tax, while someone on £100,000 will pay £20,000.
The introduction of a Scottish Service Tax would effectively increase the top rate of direct taxation on those earning upwards of £90,000 a year from 40 per cent to 60 per cent - which is the level it was at under Thatcher between 1979 and 1988.
At the other end of the scale, everyone earning less than £10,000 a year would be automatically exempted from local taxation.
This would exempt most pensioners, benefit claimants, students and low-paid part-time workers.
Often it is the poorest in society who lose out on rebates due to the complicated red tape.
The Scottish Service Tax would eliminate the need for a humiliating means test and complicated rebate form.
The tax would be collected via the PAYE system and would only begin at £10,000 a year and above.
As well as replacing the Council Tax with a new method of paying for local services, the SSP is proposing an overhaul of water charges - which are currently collected along with Council Tax.
Our new policy on water charges would again exempt all those on less than £10,000 a year.
Those earning between £10,000 up to £40,000 would pay 1.5 per cent of their income.
And those on £40,000 and above would pay an extra 3 per cent.
As well as redistributing income from wealthier to poorer households, a Scottish Service Tax would redistribute resources from wealthier to poorer geographical areas of Scotland.
When the local government re-organisations took place, three of the poorest areas in Scotland - Glasgow City, Dundee City and West Dumbarton - suffered drastically from reduced funding.
Within Glasgow City for example, 70 per cent of households come into the lowest property bands (A and B) due to poverty.
In contrast, in some of the more prosperous rural and suburban council districts, properties tend to be in the F, G and H bandings.
These wealthier councils are able to generate more income to spend on services while keeping the Council Tax low.
The Scottish Service Tax would be established at an all-Scotland level.
All revenues collected through the Scottish Service Tax would be administered centrally then allocated to local authorities on the basis of need.
This would be done in consultation with COSLA, local authority unions, and tenants and residents organisations.
If the Scottish Service Tax was applied in the current financial year, more cash would have been generated for local government.
At the same time, the Scottish Service Tax would increase the disposable income of well over 1.3 million Scots.
The number of winners from the Scottish Service Tax far outnumbers the losers.
As the winners will be the poorest and the losers overwhelmingly the better off, the Scottish Service Tax would achieve substantial income redistribution, improving the quality of life for the majority of people in Scotland.
The Scottish Service Tax would include four other components of local government funding:
n The Uniform Business Rate would be scrapped with councils given back control over the level of local business rates. This would compensate for any loss of fiscal autonomy by local authorities resulting from the introduction of a standard Scottish Service Tax.
n The Council Tax would be continued as before for owners of second, third and fourth homes and sporting estates.
n A 'Land Betterment Tax' would be introduced to enable local authorities to levy additional taxation on landowners whose land has increased in value through no effort on the part of the landowner.
This may be as a result of rising demand for land (eg as a result of the local economic boom in Edinburgh); or because the government or a local council have introduced improved amenities such as a railway station. As well as generating extra cash, a Land Betterment Tax would help curb land speculation.
n The money that is now directed to local authorities from the central government in Council Tax would be retained by councils.

Ken and Sandra Glass live in the tiny Highland village of Milton, in Easter Ross.
With their two children, aged 9 and 15, they live in a detached cottage, which puts them in Band B for Council Tax.
The annual Council Tax bill comes to £730.33, add water charges and it rises to £1,002.69.
Ken works as a fish fryer in Invergordon, for which he is paid the minimum wage. A 32 hour week gives him a take-home pay packet of £121.
Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) and Sandra's part-time job means their total income is £245 per week, £19.28 of which goes straight out again for Council Tax and water charges.
"Because we're working and getting the Working Families Tax Credit, we can't claim any rebate on our Council Tax," says Ken.
"Basically, the Council Tax is eating into the government's flagship policy - WFTC - designed to get people out the poverty trap."
Being in receipt of WFTC also makes their children ineligible for free school dinners.
"So that's another £15 a week.
"Plus, the Council Tax goes up every year, so we're just getting pulled down all the time. It's a crazy situation because we'd have a better income on benefit."
Under the Scottish Service Tax Ken and Sandra would pay no more than £150 a year, significantly improving their family's income.
The enormous financial burden of the Council Tax doesn't even provide the kind of services the Glass family could benefit from.
Many local playgrounds, deemed unsafe by a recent report, have been dismantled and the local authorities have made it clear that, if they want them, local people should apply for grants or lottery funding themselves.
Highland roads also leave a lot to be desired, as do transport facilities - absurd really, given that the Highland region is one of the most scattered communities in Europe and many people have to travel miles each day to work.
"There aren't many job opportunities here," says Ken.
"In fact, many of my friends have felt that their only option, if they want to make good money, is to work abroad, leaving their families behind."
He feels that the Council Tax only serves to make the situation worse.
"Someone earning £30,000 or more, living in a Band B property, would pay exactly the same amount as me. The guy at the bottom gets hit the hardest."
For Iain Ferguson, a social work lecturer at Stirling University and Glasgow southside resident, Council Tax eats up some 10 per cent of his income.
Being rated a Band E, his monthly payments come in at around £170, for which he feels he gets little in return:
"I think we're all just getting used to a decline in public services, most obviously in council housing stock, but also in terms of an increasingly run down health service, poorly maintained roads, run down swimming pools - or closures, as in the case of Govanhill Pool.
"When I last went to a parents' night at our local secondary - which I remember as being a good place - I was shocked at the state of it now.
"If you compared it to somewhere like Hutcheson Grammar, with its big playing fields and great buildings - it just shows up how dreadful state schools have become."
As well as a conspicuous absence of quality public services, Iain's other gripe with the Council Tax system is that it hammers those on average incomes, while failing to adequately tax the seriously wealthy.
"I live in a relatively small terrace house and I'm Band E - yet someone living in one of the huge southside mansions may only pay £100 more than me."

Scotland's richest person is Sir Ian Wood, owner of the John Wood Group and JW Holdings. He is one of the richest figures in the oil industry with a personal fortune valued at £661 million.
The group has revenues in excess of £1 billion or, put in some perspective, a turnover that no more than ten other Scottish companies exceed.
Profits topped £72 million last year, up more than 50 per cent despite a global economic slowdown that many others have blamed for tumbling earnings.
The Wood Group is about to be floated on the stock market. Conservative estimates reckon this will raise in excess of £1 billion.
Scotland's top fatcat saw his wealth grow by £436 million last year - the equivalent of a jackpot lottery win every single day.
He lives in a mansion in the exclusive west end of Aberdeen and so currently pays a Council Tax of £1,868 a year.
This is just two and a half times as much as the Council Tax on a one bedroom flat in the run down Tillydrone area of the city.
Under the SSP's Scottish Service Tax proposals Sir Ian Wood would have to pay, according to his vast income last year, something in the region of £87 million.
This might sound like a lot but would leave Sir Ian Wood with £349 million - or almost £1 million every single day of the year.

The Scottish Parliament's Local Government Committee recently produced a report with proposals for increasing local authority finance by making changes to the Council Tax system.
They propose re-evaluating property values and shuffling the Council Tax bands around.
The outcome of the proposals would be to increase the inequality of the entire Council Tax system.
The revaluation of properties would result in increased revenues in some areas, for example Edinburgh or Aberdeen.
But while the value of a house might have increased, the occupants income will not necessarily have kept step.
Additionally, this would lead to a decrease in Council Tax revenue in places like Glasgow, Dundee and South Ayrshire.
So the areas of greatest need would lose out and would require even more funding from the Scottish Executive.
Any increase in Council Tax revenue due to rebanding would not be significant. Revaluation of properties would yield more revenue, but be more unfair.
This makes clear the fundamental inequality of the Council Tax system as a whole.
It bears no relation to people's disposable income but is based on notional property prices. It cannot be used as a tool of progressive taxation for the benefit of the majority of tax payers.
You may have inherited a house worth £50,000 or bought a more expensive one when times were better,
But if you're a single parent, a low income couple with two children, a pensioner or you've lost your job, the Council Tax penalises you.
The Local Government Committee has opted to tweak the edges of the basically unfair current system.
This is why the SSP's Scottish Service Tax and Water Charge proposal is a truly radical alternative.
It would introduce a progressive method of local government taxation and start to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor.

cultural resistance

Rebel
ink
Kevin Williamson

No platform for fascists?

About eleven years ago I took part in a memorable anti-fascist march in Edinburgh.
It was a hot summer's day, the poll tax was in tatters, Thatcher had resigned, the invisible nazis were supposedly routed and a few beers had been consumed. Lovely.
Then a rumour circulated that the BNP leader, John Tyndall, was standing outside Haymarket Station. The whispers turned out to be true.
There was no discussion or thought involved.
A mob of us broke away from the main body of dispersing protestors and sped straight through the Saturday traffic, bouncing off car bonnets in our haste to get to the guy.
We spotted the wannabe Fuhrer and his bodyguards inside the station, and as one, bulleted towards Tyndall, heads full of blind hatred, fists clenched.
Only the miraculous appearance of Lothian's finest stopped me personally making a complete chump of myself as I'm incapable of punching a hole in a wet paper bag.
It was a typically cartoon escapade in trying to enforce the hallowed leftist strategy of 'No Platform For Fascists'.
In this case not even allowing them access to Platform 3 at Haymarket Station.
It's a strategy that has rarely been questioned by many in both the left and centre of politics, having enshrined itself in popular history through the events that took place in London's Brick Lane in 1936.
This was when the collective mobilisation of the might of the labour and trade union movement, alongside what seemed at the time like the entire community of London's East End, virtually destroyed overnight the rise of Oswald Mosley's black shirts in one of the most powerful examples of anti-fascist unity this country has ever seen.
If it worked back then why not apply it now with equal vigour to every organisation and individual who fans the flames of racism?
Beat them off the streets with force as well as banning them from every public place and public office.
In a modern democracy like ours, where already our civil liberties and human rights are being injudiciously eroded, this is dangerous ground to even contemplate treading on. Apart from anything else, the fascist disease thrives in the shadows, growing like fungus in the dark.
It would be a much more effective strategy to flush them out of their holes, stand them in front of the cameras, engage them with ideas and debate, in order to let them condemn themselves out of their own mouths.
In such dangerous circumstances, where organised racism raises its ugly head, it needs to be understood first in order to deal with it effectively.
Surely now is the time to do some simple social arithmetic.
What does poverty, inequality, and a lack of opportunities for all add up to in any multicultural society?
That's right, David: jealousy, scapegoating and racism.
It's called putting one plus one together and coming up with the same answer that's on your precious national curriculum. It's not the cartoon boneheads of the BNP nor the old-time demagogues like Le Pen who are stoking up the fires of racism.
They are extreme manifestations of a more insidious and unacknowledged disease.
The foundations of racism have been laid, nurtured and encouraged by the cosy white liberal consensus in the mushy white centre of mainstream politics.
The three main parties can take a bow - for these are the people who have squandered precious resources on corporate tax avoidance, tax cuts for the rich, nuclear weapons, wars abroad, privatisation...
And other such reactionary ephemery the very resources which could have averted racism in its infancy by providing jobs, education, decent homes and a pleasant living environment for all. That's not to say fascists shouldn't be challenged if they start organising on our doorsteps.
Communities like Sighthill in Glasgow have shown in practice that getting organised and tackling racism together, head on, can be more effective than running around like headless chickens after phantom fascists.
n This is an edited version of the article which first appeared in The Herald

Desertion in the desert

The Warrior (cert 12). Directed by Asif Kapadia. Opens May 3 in selected cinemas. Also part of the ImagineAsia film festival at the Glasgow Film Theatre
(May 3-16)

by Carolina Perez

Loosely based on a Japanese folk-tale, The Warrior has a simple storyline whilst skilfully depicting almost every aspect of human nature. Set in India, we follow the epic and spiritual journey of Lafcadia, the central character.
As ringleader of a band of warriors under the command of the local warlord, he heads a wave of terror and tyranny on a nearby village that's unable to keep up with the warlord's financial demands.
The village is burned to the ground and its inhabitants displaced. In the midst of this slaughter, a mystical encounter with a young girl convinces him to renounce his violent life.
He escapes to the mountains, putting himself and his son's life in danger.
The strength of Asif Kapadia's first film is the absence of dialogue - the story is told mainly through visuals and facial expressions. The silences say much more than words.
The sword fight sequences are stylish enough to make you gasp, as are the stunning shots of the deserts of Rajasthan and the snow capped Himalayas.
Seeking revenge for his disloyalty and desertion, the warlord's men ruthlessly pursue Lafcadia. This is a constant reminder of his past life and is now confronted with the persecution he used to inflict upon others.
He is a broken man but with a little help from some fascinating characters, he finds his way to his native village to face one final challenge. Although some scenes are distressing, the ending is emotionally charged and uplifting.

back to index

page eleven

cultural resistance

All hail the real iron lady

by Jo Harvie

Friends who are involved in politics quite often give me a hard time for my hopeless addiction to EastEnders.
Soap operas are lowest common denominator television, they tell me, insulting to the intelligence and politically reactionary.
I pity them and their BBC Four documentaries on the Ukrainian potato harvest - they're missing out on a rich cultural expression of the political and social values of 21st century Britain.
Well, England anyway - I've tried to watch Take the High Road and it's shite.
Soap operas do play a role in shoring up prejudices with dollops of mainstream ideology.
But they have to reflect the reality of working class life in order to achieve their massive audience figures.
The characters have to be recognisable and believable, without descending too far into irritating stereotypes.
They have to reflect the problems that people face in their everyday life, our opinions and our beliefs.
At the same time, they have to mix in some of our hopes and aspirations to create the kind of escapism that people want from their TV after a long working day.
EastEnders is probably the most watched programme in Britain because it is best at combining these elements.
The trial of Little Mo Slater for attempted murder, after battering her abusive husband Trevor with an iron, has so far been an example of EastEnders at its best.
Actor Kacey Ainsworth has done brilliant job as Little Mo.
Although admittedly I tend to get a little over-involved in the telly, I've been both infuriated and inspired by this story of a woman who, after years of accepting abuse, finally fights back.
It's been edge of the seat stuff, culminating in battered, timid Little Mo finally working up the courage to talk in court about being raped.
Although the episode devoted to the deliberations of the jury was relatively poorly acted by a bunch of extras from The Bill, it was a Ken Loachesque examination of the issues surrounding domestic violence and self defence.
All through the plot, EastEnders writers have kept the audience's sympathies firmly in Mo's corner.
That her innocence has never really been in question is an indication of our society's shifting opinion towards a victim's right to defend herself against domestic violence.
The jury, however, obviously hadn't been watching and found her guilty.
As the Voice goes to press, I am anxiously awaiting confirmation of Mo's fate.
Will she go to jail or will some barely-plausible plot twist set her free?
Like it or not, soap operas are relevant to socialists because it's relevant to ordinary people. People talk about them at work and rush home at night to catch the next instalment.
So get the petitions and posters out - free Little Mo!

A good kick up the arts

Mick Parkin talked to Nikki Milican, Artistic Director of New Moves International.

So what is it that you do, then - basically?
Well, we're a company that produces Live Arts events, so that's the best work we can find, work that's pushing back the boundaries and has something to say for itself.
Mainly, it's the New Territories Festival which happens every year in Glasgow, and that incorporates the National Review of Live Arts, as well.

Is it mainly dance based?
No, it can be anything that gets under your skin and makes you react. In fact, I have a lot of problems with the traditional idea of a dancer as someone who's just there as a tool for the choreographer.
The people we work with aren't like that at all - they tend to be very up-front and have their own opinions about things.

New Territories mainly happened at the Tramway and The Arches...
It did this year, but that doesn't mean it will next year - it's not like we follow the same formula every year.
In fact we're probably going to move away from the kind of big event that we did at the Tramway.
Instead there'll be more workshops from the performers, so that they can pass on their skills to people in Glasgow.

It's a funny venue, The Tramway. I mean, I live near there, and it has got better since they refurbished it, but at one time they used to have this slogan, "A little bit of the West End on the South Side." Outrageous.
Shoot the architect, I say, and whoever designed their cafe.
It needs to be a space that lives and welcomes the public in - the Tramway's just too sterile for a lot of people.
There was a time when we were able to organise every aspect of our events - down to the music even - but now it's different when you're going into other people's venues.

The whole idea of an artist being able to create a complete experience for the people who come along - that seems to have gone out the window.
Yeah, and there's far more number-crunchers involved now. You wouldn't believe the number of boxes you have to tick when you're applying for funding.
Obviously you need some kind of accountability, but anyone would tell you that it's gone too far now.

Maybe we could do with more people like yourself who used to be performers, so you understand what that involves, but then you can stand back and think about the total event.
Yeah, well, I've got to be just as passionate about what I do as the artists are about their work.
It upsets me that a lot of people think being an arts administrator is some kind of soft option, something time you do when you've got time to spare.
You know, people who've got a bit of money behind them and you want to mingle in a certain milieu.

Wendys. They always seem to be called Wendy, people like that.
Or Sophie. No, the Sophies tend to open a little Fine Art Gallery.
They're just looking for a way to be part of that world, be a bit artistic, but without taking the sort of risks that a real artist has to take.

So, taking a risk - that's a big part of it?
I'd say so. It's about creating a live experience, something that just exists for a moment, but that doesn't make it any less real.
You know, it's easy to see why people need hospitals and schools and all that.
But what we're doing is important as well if people are going to be more than just cogs fitting into a machine.
There's so much stuff out there that tends to shove people back into the established ways of dealing with things, but what we do is stir them up a bit, get them thinking outside the box.
Some people think that we should just become part of the tourism industry - Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism - but there's a lot more to it than that.
It's not just a bit of entertainment that you go to for an hour and then forget all about it.
Ideally, culture should be about raising people's expectations, about stirring them up and making them see everything else that goes on in their life in new ways.

back to index

page twelve

back to index

page thirteen

Give us your opinion
YOUR VOICE is your chance to give us your opinions on any issues we’ve covered. Letters should be kept to around 200 words. We can accommodate longer articles but, due to space, these should be discussed with the editorial staff first. You can contact us by fax, phone, letter or email. Tel: 0141 221 7714 Fax: 0141 221 7715 Email: ssv@ndirect.co.uk Address: SSV, 73 Robertson Street, Glasgow, G2 8QD Letters, columns and signed articles which appear in the Voice do not necessarily represent the editorial view of the Scottish Socialist Voice or the Scottish Socialist Party

British forces scrap Standard Grades
In September 2000, I was a 16 years old and awaiting the results of my Standard Grades. That June my Dad had been posted from Scotland to Germany.
The day after my final exam I was uprooted from all my friends, and a home I'd grown to love over the six years I'd lived there, then dumped in some foreign country with no friends and a considerable language barrier.
I was anxious to be awarded favourable results so that I may enrol in the local British Forces School and hopefully meet people my own age while working towards a place in university.
With five '2's and three '3's I was understandably pleased.
My first day at this strange new school immediately threw up problems. None of the teachers were familiar with Standard Grades and I was requested to write the 2s as Bs and the 3s as Cs.
When I applied to sit English - the main subject I was interested in - the head of English and the Deputy Head of Sixth Form noticed that I'd previously studied in Scotland. The two then set upon me, accusing me of lying about my exam results because I'd written, as requested, letters as opposed to numbers.
The Head of English sent a letter to my parents suggesting that I sit the English GCSE instead as I'd sat English in Scotland which they claimed was not of a high enough standard.
Incidentally, my parents took out a red pen and highlighted 27 grammatical and spelling errors in the letter.
After continuous victimisation of this kind, ending in their all out refusal to recognise my Scottish exam results, I was forced to leave the school and seek employment. I learned that after a further two weeks the six other Scottish based pupils were forced to leave under similar circumstances.
Ironically, it is the policy of Service Children's Education that no pupil coming from another school be at a disadvantage. The system failed us because we were educated in Scotland.
Liam Pritchard,
Germany

Blair, Bush and Palestine
The Scottish Socialist Voice should be commended for its clear support for the Palestinians.
Importantly it makes a clear distinction between the violence of the oppressed Palestinian people and the violence of the oppressor Israeli state.
We also need to provide solutions to the current conflict. The European leaders, Blair and even George Bush now talk openly of a Palestinian state.
Yet the solution they now are prepared to countenance is exactly the solution that has created the massacres of Jenin and elsewhere in the West Bank and Gaza.
The West's support for a separate Palestinian state while at the same time supporting the continuation of the Israeli state, the so called 'two-state solution' will not bring peace.
Israel will continue to be a militarised state based upon a racist ideology and the oppression of the Palestinian people. It will continue to be backed by the US and the Western powers and, as the last fifty years has demonstrated, time and again will be prepared to unleash its military force on the Palestinian people the moment it argues its interests are threatened.
It is important therefore for socialists to argue that there can be no peace without justice, the right of return of the 3-4 million refugees to all of Palestine.
We should also reject the notion that Jew and Muslim are somehow incapable of living together. We should argue for, as does Scottish Socialist Party policy, a democratic secular Palestine in which all peoples and all religions can live.
Finally we should be clear that such a solution will not come from any carve up that Bush, Blair and Sharon may invent but from the actions across the Middle East of the Arab masses. Demonstrations of millions across the Arab world over the past two weeks has shown this is possible.
It is precisely this solution which the imperialist powers in the West and the corrupt Arab governments fear the most.
As they well know, when the working class makes a revolution it won't simply create a state for the Palestinians but will overthrow their own governments and put the question of socialism firmly on the agenda.
Carlo Morelli,
Auchtermuchty

Two sides to Asda story
I am writing in response to Alan Rorrison's letter (Voice issue 90), regarding his plea to restore the life of Raymond Brown by giving him the right to once more shop in Asda Clydebank.
I can assure you, as a non-management member of staff in Asda, that Raymond was allowed to shop in peace. The problem was he would not allow the staff to work in peace.
The staff of Asda went out of their way to help Raymond when he would spend five hours at a time in the store, talking incessantly to staff distracting them from their work.
At the same time he would slander other staff members and topped it off by writing a letter of complaint saying disabled customers were being treated like second class citizens.
He basically used and abused the store and the colleagues, and Asda finally made the right choice of barring him.
So in future I would suggest you get both sides of the argument before writing a story, however good the sensationalism may sound.
John Low,
Clydebank

Number crunching
On your coverage of the recent demonstration in Aberdeen (see Voice issue 90) I feel I must complain about the numbers quoted.
Although I agree that it was one of the biggest demonstrations the city has ever seen in no way were there as many as 1,000 people present.
By exaggerating the size of this demonstration it calls into question the amount of bias and spin you put in reporting numbers on other such events.
I acknowledge that numbers at these events can only be estimated and they will all be rounded up.
But I feel it is a mistake to overplay it in order to balance out the traditional media's negative bias.
Apart from that, good job and keep up the good work - just mind those figures.
Scott Bamford,
Aberdeen

Evidence of slaughter uncovered in Jenin
The Israeli army has "literally buried the evidence" of "mass killings of civilians and combatants" in Jenin refugee camp.
The words of Professor Derrick Pounder, head of the Forensic Medicine Department at Dundee University and part of an Amnesty International delegation that visited the camp.
At a press conference in Dundee he revealed how Israeli troops committed major breaches of humanitarian law in an assault "decided upon after considerable deliberation by the entire Israeli cabinet".
Jenin camp is UN run and the Israeli army was legally required to protect its inhabitants. Yet they attacked the camp without warning, using American helicopters gunships.
They sent in armoured bulldozers to demolish the homes and civilians were given no opportunity to escape.
Professor Pounder described how he could "smell the corpses underneath the rubble". One elderly man found ten members of his family buried in the rubble of his house.
For 13 days Jenin was sealed. No water, food nor electricity was allowed in. International aid agencies and independent observers were denied access.
Ambulances were not allowed in to treat the wounded or take them to the hospital nearby.

Wreckage
According to Prof Pounder, there were no seriously injured people in the hospital - the Israelis had denied them medical treatment and they died in the wreckage of their homes.
As a result, it is impossible to estimate how many died. Of the 13,500 camp inhabitants half were elderly or under 15, making it "inconceivable that children have not been killed".
The Israelis rounded up all the men between 15 and 50. They were stripped in the open air and held for two days outside in the rain, with little water, no food and no toilet facilities.
They were then released and told to walk to the nearest village. Prof Pounder's delegation was obstructed by the Israelis and had to get a court order to enter the camp.
They had three days to conduct their investigation. It took them one day to travel three miles because of Israeli roadblocks.
The Israeli's refused to allow a UN mission into the camp unless vetted by Israel.

back to index

page fourteen

back to index

page fifteen

international news

Murray Smith in Paris reports for the Voice on the backlash over the French elections results.

Angry backlash against Le Pen

Over the past week, French towns and cities have been the scene of massive demonstrations against racism and fascism.
Last Thursday April 25, 330,000 people, overwhelmingly youth, took part in demonstrations all over France.
On Saturday April 27 100,000 people took to the streets of Paris, joined by over 100,000 in other cities.
The Paris demonstration was a real rainbow coalition: socialists, communists, trade unionists, immigrants, gays and lesbians - all those who have a lot to lose if Le Pen ever gets anywhere near power.
The biggest demonstrations are expected on May 1. The fight against racism and fascism is now the main theme of the traditional demos organised by the trade unions, which will be swelled this year by hundreds of thousands of anti-fascists. On the same day the National Front is organising a demo in Paris.
The big subject of debate is what to do in the second round on May 5. Some demonstrators carried placards saying "hold your nose and vote Chirac" or "vote Chirac and then throw up".
And many workers and youth will indeed vote for the incumbent president to try and stop Le Pen. Others will abstain or vote blank, refusing to support a president who will have no hesitation in using his victory to push forward his own reactionary and anti-working class agenda.

Chirac is part of the problem

Le Pen's breakthrough is part of a general resurgence of the fascist and racist right across Europe.
In Austria, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, far right parties have successfully cashed in on discontent with Blairite-style governments.
The result in France did not so much reveal an explosive growth in support for Le Pen, but rather a collapse in support for Jospin.

Priority
Le Pen's vote rose modestly, from 4,573,200 - 15 per cent of the total in 1997 - to 4,805,300 - 16.86 per cent.
However among young people, Le Pen's support fell from 18 per cent to 12 per cent.
In contrast, his support among pensioners jumped from 9 per cent to 19 per cent.
Much of that vote appears to have been based on sympathy with his hard-line law and order policies rather than his pro-nazi sympathies.
Le Pen's vote also soared among the middle classes - among small businessmen and women it increased from 13 per cent to 30 per cent.
What was less widely reported internationally was the advance of the socialist left.
Candidates to the left of Jospin took 25 per cent of the vote. Especially significant was the vote for two revolutionary socialist organistaions, the LO and the LCR, who took 10 per cent of the vote between them.
The LCR had not contested a presidential election for almost 30 years. Yet its candidate, 26 year old postal worker, Oliver Besancout, won 1.2 million votes, 4.3 per cent of the total.
Among young voters, Oliver took 14 per cent of the vote - which put him in second place among this age group, marginally behind Chirac.
Responding to the result the LCR said:
"The first priority now is to build a demonstration of force against Le Pen and the bosses' politics on May 1 in every town in the country.

Rampart
"The LCR will mobilise so that Le Pen scores the lowest possible vote on Sunday May 5.
"We understand those electors who will vote for Chirac to oppose Le Pen, but we do not think that Chirac is a rampart against the new rise of the far right.
"On the contrary, he is among those responsible for it. There is no doubt that following his election he will take measures against wage earners, youth and immigrants.
"It is a time for a united mobilisation against the far right and the bosses."
At the same time, the LCR has raised the call for, "a new anti-capitalist political force, a new party of workers and youth".

Police baton charge Pakistan socialists

More than 30 activists of the Labour Party Pakistan were arrested while holding a peaceful demonstration against General Musharraf's rigged referendum.
Police had earlier baton-charged the peaceful demo outside Lahore Press Club.
The LPP and other left and progressive organisations are calling for a boycott of the referendum, which is being held as we go to print.
General Musharraf, who seized power in a coup three years ago, had promised to step down and allow an election for a new president in October.
But Musharraf has instead called a referendum to allow himself five more years in power.
His name will be the only name on the ballot paper - and to ensure he will win the referendum, Musharaff has banned other political parties from campaigning, while spending £20 million promoting his own campaign.
His uniformed thugs have also beaten up journalists and political opponents.
With no electoral roll in Pakistan and with no local constituencies, the miltary are expected to carry out mass vote-rigging in support of the dictator.
The government has comanded thousands of private buses to take supporters to the polls.
They have also ordered tens of thousands of government officials to pull out the stops to ensure a resounding endorsement of Musharraf.
In contrast to the international furore directed against Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, there has not been a whisper of protest from the West at Musharraf's annihalation of democracy in Pakistan.

Business man charged over deal with Cuba

by Ken Ferguson,
development worker with the Scottish Cuba Solidarity Committee

Cuba has sharply criticised the conviction in Philadelphia of Canadian citizen James Sabzali on a charge of trading with Cuba.
Mr Sabzali sold water purification chemicals to be used to treat water used in houses and schools.
As a result, he was convicted in the US of "trading with the enemy" and conspiracy under laws designed to enforce the 42 year old US blockade of Cuba.
Mr Sabzali is now awaiting sentence in June.
The prosecution is pressing for a three year sentence. In the meantime, Mr Sabzali has to wear an electronic tag.
His wife Sharon says:
"It's so dehumanising. You're on a leash.
"Big Brother really is watching you."
Mr Sabzali thought what he was doing, as a Canadian working in Canada, was perfectly legal.
But the firm he worked for, Purolite Canada is a subsidiary of US Bro Tech. In 1995 Mr Sabzali moved to work in the US and it is this move which has resulted in him being subject to US law.
The case highlights the dispute between the US and Canada over trade with socialist Cuba. Canada opposes the US blockade (in common with 167 countries across the world, including all EU countries) and is a major a major trading partner with Cuba.
The case underlines the importance of the call made recently by the STUC conference for respect for Cuba's sovereignty and independence and for an end to the US blockade.

back to index

page sixteen

Stand against racism

"Shock Poll Lifts Lid On Racist Scots," screamed the front page headline in Scotland on Sunday.
Inside, over two pages, a banner headline proclaimed:
"BNP Message Of Hate Takes The High Road."
This sensational speculation was based on a small sample opinion which actually revealed some confused and contradictory attitudes towards immigration.
Scotland on Sunday and other newspapers highlighted the disturbing finding that 46 per cent thought there should be "a repatriation programme for immigrants".
But less widely publicised was the fact that only 27 per cent answered No to the question "Do you think immigrants make a positive contribution to Scottish society."
In contrast 47 per cent believed that immigrants do make a positive contribution
Scotland on Sunday is a right wing newspaper which has consistently ignored the emergence of a strong socialist left in the shape of the SSP, which now commands the support of 6 per cent of the electorate.
Yet it regularly provides extensive publicity for the nazi BNP which failed to muster enough support in Scotland to stand in a single seat in last year's general election.
Last Sunday, the paper suggested the BNP might win seats on Scottish councils and in the Scottish Parliament.
This is sheer scaremongering which can only bolster the morale of the handful of psychopaths who make up the BNP in Scotland.
In the 2001 elections, the Scottish Socialist Party won over 100 times more votes than the BNP have ever achieved in a general election in Scotland.
The Scottish Socialist vote in that election was 20,000 higher than the BNP managed to muster across the whole of Britain.
However, no socialist or trade unionist can afford to be complacent about racism.
Day in, day out, respectable politicians together with the mainstream media insidiously stir up prejudice and division.
Last summer the Daily Record disgraced itself by slurring a murderd asylum seeker as a "greedy con-man", implying that he deserved to die.
Since September 11, the media has subtly demonised the Muslims in this country.
And now the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, steals the language of the neo-Nazis to suggest schools are being "swamped" by the children of refugees.
As we go to press, it appears the BNP could win a few seats in the North West of England.
In the future, the BNP may use successes in England to try and establish a foothold in Scotland.
There can be no compromise with racism and fascism.
Socialists, trade unionists and all progressive forces have to confront racism and expose fascism at every turn.
At the same time, we have to step up the fight against poverty and neglect in working class communities.
The role of the SSP in scrapping warrant sales, defending public services, fighting for free school meals, opposing the Council Tax, and challenging poverty and inequality has been decisive in blocking the path of the ultra-right, which feeds off disillusionment and discontent
In Scotland, the left is strong and the fascists are weak.
Let's keep it that way

back to index