Scottish Socialist Voice
Issue 276
1st September 2006
Together
for a new
Independent. Scottish. Socialist. Republic.
Sounds
good, doesn’t it?
Without
doubt, more people in Scotland than ever are leaning towards
the idea of independence and next year’s Holyrood elections
will be dominated by the issue, 300 years after a ‘parcel o’
rogues’ parcelled us up to form the UK, whether we liked it
or not.
The
break-up of the British state will not only put an end to a
turbulent and shameful period of our history, but also seriously
undermine the war ambitions of the
Which
is why we must keep up the pressure and step up the fight towards
real independence - the essential stepping stone towards socialism
in
An
independent, socialist
An
independent, socialist
We
could halt our population decline and cultural impoverishment
by opening our borders to all those
seeking asylum, or simply a better life.
Racially
and culturally diverse, environmentally responsible, socially
just - this could be
A
Scottish
independence is on the horizon. If we fight for it, socialism
is there too.
—page two—
news
Poll shows a rise in independent thinking
by Ken Ferguson
New
Labour are now trailing
the SNP by four points in the latest opinion poll
on voters intentions for next year’s Holyrood
election.
And
their fellow North Britons, the re-launched Tories,
are polling a dismal 10 per cent - seven points
down on 2003.
The
shape shifters of the LibDems have put on four points as they continue their ‘talk
left, move right” drive.
Greens
are put at 5 per cent and, perhaps surprisingly
given the events of this summer,
the SSP is still on the radar with 2 per cent.
The
key message to come from the poll is that independence
looks increasingly likely to be a key issue at
next year’s Scottish election, which takes place
on the 300th anniversary of the infamous Treaty
of Union.
The
1707
Nuclear
weapons
From
Culloden Moor to the hills of
It
also highlights one of the most puzzling aspects
of the ‘Solidarity’ organisation proposed by Tommy
Sheridan and his supporters in the
Divorce
However,
these two groups will make up the core of ‘solidarity’,
and will have automatic representation on the
group’s steering committee, it was announced on
Tuesday.
The
‘party’ will surely come under pressure as the
independence issue grows in importance and an
early visit to Relate, if not the divorce courts,
is likely.
The
hard task facing the SSP in this situation of
both crisis and opportunity is to maximise unity
and play a major part in the independence campaign.
As
the independence election looms the SSP and its
socialist message are more vital than ever and
will be heard loud and clear now and in the run
up to May 2007.
Women’s groups protest job ad for lap dance bar
by Wullie McGartland
Women’s
rights groups have pledged to launch a campaign
against JobCentrePlus
after it was discovered they were advertising
vacancies for lap dancers.
This
came to light after a vacancy was put on the JobCentrePlus
system for lap dancers in central
Sandy
Brindley of Rape Crisis
“The
outcome of the Ann Summers case was unfortunate.
However, it is quite a step from advertising vacancies
in Ann Summers shops to advertising for lap-dancing
bars,” stated Sandy Brindley.
She
added: “This is wholly inappropriate. This is
normalising and legitimising what we regard as
the exploitation of women.
“It
is also very concerning at a time when we are
trying to prevent young women from entering prostitution
that job centres have started advertising jobs
in the sex industry, given what we know about
the links between lap dancing and prostitution.”
Ms
Brindley’s position
is backed by Artemis Pana,
of the charity Zero Tolerance, who said: “Women
who work as lap dancers suffer emotional and physical
abuse, which may result in low self-esteem. They
are increasingly likely to take opportunities
to enter prostitution.
Commodity
“Women
become a commodity, so men who pay for that believe
they have a consumer’s right to do what they choose.
“Job
centres are sending out the message that the objectification
of women is acceptable provided they are being
paid the minimum wage. That is unacceptable.”
The
JobCentrePlus stance
on advertising vacancies in the sex industry has
also been condemned by a group from the Scottish
Parliament. Last year the National Group to Address
Violence Against Women
concluded that lap dancing was commercial exploitation
that was a form of violence against women.
Members
of the SSP have pledged to support the campaign
to get these exploitative vacancies removed from
the JobCentrePlus system.
Warning system fails during Grangemouth chemical leak
by Roz Paterson
Did
you hear the one about the chemical leak at Grangemouth?
Me neither.
A host of emergency response teams were called
in yet the local population were only informed
via local media and even then, only sporadically.
The incident occurred last Wednesday, when a chemical
called Divinylbenzene,
a known irritant to eyes, nose and skin, leaked
from a tank at
However, it took a full 12 hours for this hazardous
chemical to be identified.
More worrying still, advice to locals to stay
indoors and keep their windows and doors shut
were not issued effectively. Many people heard
only by chance and many others slept in blissful
ignorance with their windows wide open.
And even more troubling than all this is the fact
that the long-term effects of exposure to this
chemical on human health are little known.
What is known is that at high temperatures, in
excess of 70 degrees C, Divinylbenzene
is highly flammable and that the Danish Environmental
Protection Agency has warned of its toxicity to
organisms such as fish and water plants.
As yet, how much was leaked and where is not known.
Duncan McLaren, of Friends
of the Earth (FoE)
He comments:
“It is clear that we need to see greatly improved
information on hazardous chemicals and not less
as many chemical companies would like.”
Local residents remain very concerned that, should
a more dangerous leak occur in future, there would
be no failsafe warning system in place. Even an
announcement over a loudhaler
would have been a significant improvement.
—page three—
news
New care rules could see residents moved hundreds of miles
Elderly
patients in the Highlands and
Thus,
a patient from Caithness could find themselves discharged from
The
new guidelines state that patients should not remain in hospital solely
because their choice of care home is not available.
In
such instances, social work and health authorities have been instructed
that a short-term place in another home be offered.
Accommodation
shortages
But
short-term in the current care provision sector can turn out to be
a very long time indeed, because of accommodation shortages.
The
Highlands and
There
are currently 1300 people in care in the region, and this is set to
rise by over 35 per cent in the next 20 years.
Yet
closures and privatisations, which result in fewer beds and services,
at increased cost, continue unabated.
Trial ends in fine for G8 protest organiser
SSP
member Donnie Nicolson was fined £250 at
Aamer
Anwar, Donnie’s solicitor, said that the police had aggressively prevented
Donnie and hundreds of others from attending a legitimate demonstration
in Gleneagles which he had worked so hard to plan.
Sentencing,
Sheriff McAskill told the court, “I do not accept that the Police
bore any responsibility for the actions of protestors on that day.
As an organiser of that march you had a responsibility to conduct
yourself peaceably. You did not do so.”
Four
other SSP members arrested on the same day stand trial in October.
Tax workers strike over chaotic working system
by Richie Venton, SSP national workplace organiser
Thousands
of tax workers in ten Large Processing Offices across the
“Their
system of monitoring has a terrible impact on individuals; it is hourly
monitoring on individual workers, which even the LEAN experts say
is totally unnecessary.
“There
seems to be no movement from management on the hourly monitoring since
we held the strike action.
“At
the bottom of all this, customer service is deplorable because of
LEAN.
“In
Lothians, for example, there are between 90,000 and 120,000 items
of mail sitting unattended. That comes across as no service to the
public.
“HMRC,
under LEAN, can only promise that 80 per cent of post is dealt with
within 15 working days.
“We
are trying to put pressure on MPs about this appalling backlog.
“We
are also trying to broaden the number of members involved in industrial
action, to include smaller processing offices as well as the Large
Processing Offices. All are involved in tax returns, which would make
strike action a big hit on the employers.
“We
are conducting an overtime ban, working to rule, working to grade.
The employers are offering overtime this Saturday in some offices.
The PCS union will be staging pickets to prevent overtime being worked.
“We
had great support and solidarity on the strike, with tons of messages
from other union branches and the SSP. We really appreciate that.
And we need to get the message out to the public, that this is no
way to run a public service.”
Football protestors could land ten year ban
by Wullie McGartland
The
Scottish Executive’s new initiative to tackle football hooliganism
and sectarianism, Football Banning Orders, was unveiled this week.
If
given a Football Banning Order, supporters could be banned from attending
games across the
“Football
is not an excuse for violence and abuse. The behaviour of fans is
being monitored and anyone indulging in the disgraceful types of behaviour
which we have seen in the past can expect to find themselves banned
from going to games for a considerable amount of time.”
The
Orders have also received praise from
Anyone
convicted of football-related offences could receive the ten year
ban, be forced to hand over their passports to the police and have
to report to police stations during game times.
Chief
Constables will also be able to apply to the courts to ban an individual
from matches involving the national team, SPL or SFL clubs for up
to three years even if they have not been convicted of any offence.
Outside
of the human rights impact of banning people who have been convicted
of no crime, there are also concerns over the implications of the
sectarianism part of the legislation.
The
Scottish Executive has long condemned sectarianism in
“Nowhere
do [the Scottish Executive] actually attempt to define sectarianism.
You hear a lot about tolerance but you do not get an explanation of
what it is. To address the problem you need to be fairly specific
about what you are trying to address, otherwise it’s open to fans
to define it in their own way, which is what is happening.”
Glasgow
District Council, however, has defined what it considers sectarian
and has banned the sale of material with a “political, racial, religious
or sectarian content or which could reasonably be construed as inciting”
at football grounds in the city.
This
ban includes the sale things like Basque, Palestinian and Lebanese
flags, material featuring socialists like James Connolly and Che Guevara
- in fact, anything political at all.
If
these definitions of sectarianism are taken on across the whole of
If
you are involved in any sort of protest at a football game - such
as the protest against the visiting Israeli football team in 2002
- you could be banned for a decade and have your right to freedom
of movement taken away. In fact even if you don’t but your local Chief
Constable thinks you are a bit too Bolshie he could ban you for three
years, just in case you might protest at something.
—page four—
one world
GIE’S
PEACE
Morag
Balfour
Not making allowances
Oh
God, it’s happening again. The paperwork has come. As always,
I’ll speak the truth although what does it matter? They think
I’m a liar anyway. They always do. If they only knew how painful
this kind of human dissection is then maybe they’d think twice
about their methods.
No,
I haven’t been summoned to a court for any criminal action. This
is much worse. At least in court they have to go through the motions
of building a case against before the kybosh comes down.
The
evil spectre that hangs malevolently over me at the moment is
a re-application form for Disability Living Allowance (DLA). For
now, I’m detailing my bodily dysfunctions and cataloguing pain.
Healthy folk may be wondering what particular problem I have with
this process. Here is part of the problem. I have transcended
much of the negativity that progressively decrepit bodies attract
and NEVER characterise any part of myself as failed, broken, flawed,
inferior.
The
language I have for my body isn’t miserable, but DLA forms require
misery in abundance.
The
second major issue I have with these forms is that only people
who think you are lying about your disability are qualified to
read them. All the way through this nightmare of a process, I’ll
be viewed as a liar. Once I’ve completed the form, detailing everything
wrong from balance to bowel movements, and I’m not joking, I’ll
pop them in the post and then wait.
Then
I’ll wait some more.
If
I’m really lucky, they’ll send round a doctor who will then file
a report saying I look too healthy.
Can
I just interrupt the flow a bit here by saying that I prefer to
look healthier than I am? It’s taken years, and bucketloads of
health supplements, to get me looking this good. I shouldn’t brag,
but I have damn good hair. I have to have short hair because the
weight of longer hair tends to trigger a flare-up of Trigeminal
Neuralgia - reputedly ‘the most painful condition known to medicine’.
I need to have short hair, but I don’t need to have BAD short
hair.
Even
more of an aside, Trigeminal Neuralgia is the only condition capable
of shutting me up. Sometimes I can’t speak - what joy for the
rest of the planet - can’t chew, and even have to ration facial
expressions, which have a tendency to turn up the voltage of the
trigeminal nerve.
On
receiving the ‘she’s too happy to be ill’ report from the doctor,
my application is turned down.
I
am officially a liar and a fraudster. I’ll have a five-week window
within which to appeal the decision. I'll spend the first two
of those weeks in a heavy state of depression. A few months later,
I’ll attend a tribunal. I’ll be faced with a doctor, a lawyer
and a disabled person.
The
disabled woman at my last tribunal was such a cow. She appeared
to enjoy her power a little too much. I like to think of this
part of the process as ‘Trial by Torture’.
The
only way you can actually prove that you are not a fraudster/witch
is by dying during the tribunal. If you do survive but look wrecked,
they’ll reinstate most, but not all, of your benefit.
There
is something very wrong with this system.
My
experience of it is unfortunately repeated in the lives of many,
if not most, of the disabled community. It is only possible to
come away from this process with mental health intact if you are
committing fraud.
I
suppose I should just get on with geeing myself up for more ritual
humiliation and demoralisation.
Gap in understanding
by Roz Paterson
Think
Gap Year Student and you almost certainly think upper middle class
white person ‘helping out’ at a school/orphanage/ hospital in
darkest Africa before going up to
And
now Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO), an organisation that has
been synonymous with the practise of sending skills abroad to
help out struggling communities, has pitched in, warning that
gap years are in danger of becoming the ‘new colonialism’.
Judith
Brodie, director of VSO, says:
“There
seems to be a colonial attitude whereby it is assumed that just
because a young person is from the
Thus,
would-be volunteers find themselves in situations where, yes,
they can get hammered every night thanks to their travellers’
cheques being so valuable against the local currency, but no,
they can’t be of any use.
Which
is bad news for everyone.
One
young woman was sent to
Other
volunteers describe being left to essentially babysit a classroom
of children, with no guidance on how to teach them and no professional
knowledge of their own to fall back on.
Abbie
Fulbrook, also of VSO, comments:
“We
would not expect young untrained people to come here and teach
our children.
“So
why do we send untrained people to other countries to teach English?
“Volunteers
need to question whether what they are doing is of any use to
the country they are travelling to.
“Should,
for example, a local be doing that job instead?”
But
companies who trade in this kind of confidence trickery should
be placed under scrutiny too.
Being
naive is not a crime, but exploiting this, and in so doing, causing
potential harm to already impoverished communities, perhaps should
be.
As
Richard Oliver, CEO of the Year Out Group, which covers 38 organisations
sending some 30,000 students to 80 countries, admits, creating
packages for volunteers abroad is a “competitive and commercial
business”.
Which
serves as just another example of how the free market trashes
every consideration other than profit.
In
some cases, students arriving clueless and untrained can become
a drain on already precious, local resources.
That’s
the extreme.
But
the ‘success’ stories are also troublesome.
Is
it really so desirable that schoolchildren in a remote school
in, say,
Dialects
are disappearing off the planet faster than wildlife in the Amazonian
rainforest, while traditional cultures are giving way to the mores
of globalisation.
Is
this something we should be proud of perpetuating?
And
for what?
To
say we’ve seen a bit of the world?
Another
issue is that of the innate sense of superiority that still informs
the Western outlook.
We
may not have colonies in Africa anymore, but we still believe
that, simply by buying some Bob Geldof-endorsed CDs, we can save
the people of
Just
as we fall for the idea that, by spending a summer patronising
some kids in
Furthermore,
one look at our society and it’s clear we don’t have all the answers.
Remember the study that found that, though we haven’t the abject,
starving poverty seen in some third world countries, we have examples
of much more advanced poverty of community?
VSO
are onto this.
In
conjunction with the British Council and Community Service Volunteers
(CSV), they set up Global Xchange, whereby young people from developing
countries come here to lend their skills and perspective to areas
where help is desperately needed, to destinations including Glasgow
and Bradford.
However,
all is not lost for the ethical gap year student.
There
are ways in which travel can be combined with real, helpful voluntary
work, from nursing to teaching to building to farming.
But
you have to navigate your way carefully.
Research
the company you travel with or better still, go with VSO.
Learn
about the country to which you have been assigned; respect is
a mutual thing, so learn enough of the language to get by, and
get versed in the politics, history and culture.
Be
professional; if you’re going to teach English, take a TEFL course
and give more than you get.
And
take out health insurance; if you get sick and your host community
has to pay, then the net value of your visit plummets into negative
figures.
Don’t
be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
n
See: ethicalvolunteering.org
—page five—
your voice
Public
cash for public transport
During
a short visit to
The
existing buses are frequent, and run on natural gas, as elsewhere in
‘Where’s
the business case?’ they bleated, oblivious to the fact that
But,
as an impartial observer, you cannot escape the conclusion that precisely
the opposite is the case.
As
we have seen,
Dumfries
Concern
over cancelled NC
I
am writing to you concerning the Scottish Socialist Party executive committee’s
(EC) decision to cancel the national council (NC) meeting of 27 August.
The
NC is the highest democratic body of the SSP between party conferences.
The
meeting of the 27th would have been an opportunity to have a full representative
discussion of the crisis in the party.
It
would have been a chance to unite the party around the need to build a
democratic SSP to take the cause for socialism forward in
However,
they disagree with the way the EC have handled the crisis from day one.
The decision to cancel the NC meeting reeks of more of the ‘leadership-knows-best’
and members cannot be trusted which is similar to their attitude at the
NC immediately after the controversial November 2004 EC meeting.
An
NC meeting would have helped build a broad platform for the 2 September
Unity, Integrity, Socialism rally and would have helped to start to heal
the wounds in the party.
Given
that
Gesticulating
goalies!
So,
it seems Celtic goalie Artur Boruc, that most unusual of Poles in that
he is a practising Catholic, was not cautioned for blessing himself. Oh
no, it was for something far more serious... What could it be? What could
he have done to merit such a caution?
It
appears that he “smirked” and “laughed” - well, michty me, ahm black affronted
- and apparently made ‘come on’ gestures.
I
have to add such behaviour was done in the direction of Rangers fans,
some of whom are a gentle and timid bunch not used to the robust language
of the football terrace.
So
hang on, some people who are happy to sing sectarian nonsense are now
complaining about a player giving them a wee reply? People who are happy
to give it out at football, it seems don’t like players giving it back!
For years fans across the world have sung songs that range from the comic,
to the serious to the frankly disgusting.
And
yet here we have a player who, it seems, has found out that laughing,
smirking and making ‘come on’ gestures at opposing fans is a cautionable
offence.
People
have a right to go to football without having to suffer racial, sexual
or religious abuse, and players should be no different to the rest of
us.
Have
they to ignore what they hear from the stands? Are they not allowed to
take part in the wind-ups? Is ‘smirking’ really that worthy of a caution?
By
the way, has anyone heard a rumour that Jim Farry is now a polis?
Mairtin
Gardner, Glasgow
Thanks, Kev!
Since
the Scottish Socialist Party was founded, Kevin Williamson wrote a regular
column in the Voice, causing much debate, anger and laughter amongst anyone
who picked up this newspaper. Whether you agree with him or not, Kevin
is an asset to socialist journalism in
Today
the British state has become the war-mongering lieutenant to the interests
of the New American Empire. The representatives of the British state,
representing no-one but their rich and powerful imperial masters, seem
to think that there is nothing wrong with having its citizens despised
across the Middle East; being a target for desperate terrorists; and being
the subject of the most intrusive internal surveillance operation of any
people in the so-called free world. They’re so wrong.
Being
part of the so-called
Don’t
take shelter... (Issue 194, 22 October 2004)
If
you’re in the neighbourhood of Govanhill check to see if anyone has had
the good sense to knock the shit out of that annoying bus stop yet.
(n
The News of the World ‘exposed’ the Voice for printing this article advocating
non-violent direct action. Kevin told us: “I’d like to thank the News
of the World for the publicity it’s given the Voice and the need to attack
corporate advertising in our communities.”)
Manufactured
Grief (Issue 215, 14 April 2005) Despite a concerted attempt by the mainstream
media to inflict on us a dubious mixture of both genuine sadness and manufactured
grief I can’t say I was moved one way or the other by The Pope’s death.
He waved at me once, in 1982, when I was standing on the corner of
Then
on comes a make-up encrusted Nicky Campbell faffing about with his mike...
Eventually the show ended... Bob stood up at the front of the set and
loudly proclaimed to a stunned presenter, panellists, studio audience,
and production staff: “This is the worst TV programme I’ve ever seen in
my life. It is absolute gash. Complete drivel. It’s got no substance whatsoever.
It’s a total joke. It’s mindless pish.
“And
as for you [pointing at Nicky Campbell] you’re a weak, insipid, inane
and totally rubbish presenter. This is just pointless crap that says nothing.
What a complete waste of everyone’s time and money.”
...As
far as I’m concerned, that’s The Last Word on this insulting mess of dumbed-down
political dross.
—centre pages—
SSP grows new, red shoots
Aye,
it’s been a tough old time for the Scottish Socialist Party.
But we’ve made it through.
The
SSP’s rally on Saturday will give activists from all over
Our future’s bright, and it’s in our hands.
Lindsay Keenan is a longstanding environmental activist. He joined the SSP this week.
I’ve
thought about joining the Scottish Socialist Party for a long
time.
I’ve
researched the policies of all the parties in
I
found the people who have gone on to form the SSP to be dedicated,
honest and willing to stand up for their beliefs.
Having
seen the recent situation develop, I was more convinced than
ever of the integrity of the SSP.
Now
seemed like an important time to show my support and commitment,
and I’m looking forward to being
a member of the most important political party in
I
like the SSP’s policies on the environment, and I’d like to
work to strengthen and help implement them.
But
my interests are also in social policy - it’s about people
and planet.
Mary
McGregor,
There
are very important lessons to be learnt from the current crisis,
and the October conference must be seen to be addressing these
seriously if the SSP is to regain the trust of its members
and the working class in
n Socialism is about a mass movement, not a personality cult of the
leader. The image of the SSP as a one-man band was not only
fostered by Tommy Sheridan but also by sections of the current
leadership. We require collective leadership and a highly
participative membership. Socialist education within the party
has been sadly lacking and often left to the platforms to
provide.
n No SSP documents should be kept secret from the membership. Minutes
should be taken carefully and to a formula agreed by conference.
n All internal struggles should be conducted via the party itself or
the socialist press - not the bourgeois courts or gutter press.
n There must be greater support for those branches that are not in the
central belt and have no full-time support from the party.
n The SSP must stand firm against parliamentarianism, reformism or nationalism.
David Green, Shettleston Branch
Like
most members, my SSP activity focuses around branch work,
stalls and selling the Voice. Whilst these activities have
and will continue to play a vital role in building our party,
I think we need to re-assess the role of our branches.
Primarily,
they have always been to coordinate activity rather than forums
of debate or education. Day schools are far more appropriate
(and enjoyable) when discussing issues compared to branches,
where things are half discussed and the result of any discussion
fails to go beyond the meeting.
Fortnightly
meetings may suit most comrades, but for too many of us, attending
our branch enables us to call ourselves ‘activists’. We should
ask ourselves: are we really being ‘active’? Would most branch
meetings not be better spent leafleting, being involved in
community councils or canvassing those we seek to win over?
Rather
than call for a new ‘approach’ to our branch work, I would
like to see us have new ‘approaches’- we should be far more
flexible and responsive. Branch work should include all that
it has done until now, but should also mean cooperation does
not end at boundary lines with other branches and regions,
and where we truly connect with local community.
Jimmy Scott, firefighter, Maryhill, Glasgow
We
need to work on gender and minority equality issues. I have
a concern about that. We need to actively do something to
make that happen because it’s still the case that you go along
to SSP meetings and it’s men doing
most of the talking. We need to find ways to get women to
participate more fully in the party structures. It is the
responsibility of us all to ensure there is the space for
women to vocalise.
Women
are used to sitting listening to a lot of men talking; it’s
a reflection of wider society. But if we’re going to create
a socialist organisation, with a view to creating a socialist
society, we need to create something where everyone’s opinion
is of equal value.
We
need to get rid of this thing where a man stands up, says
he’s been in the trade union movement for 150 years, and gets
treated as more important than other people.
Another
thing I would like to see is the twinning of branches, of
city ones with rural ones, for example. That way, comrades
can share experiences, ideas, campaigns and concerns. It also
means that people in remote branches have channels of communication
with the SSP other than just their regional organiser. Communication
shouldn’t be left to just one person.
Steve Johnston, Edinburgh
The
traumatic events of the last two years ask serious questions
not just of the SSP but of the wider movement, democracy and
socialism.
There
have been deep cultural changes within Scottish society. The
old authoritarian culture dominated by dour white men clutching
bibles and preaching moral outrage against women and minorities
that challenged the status quo has been broken asunder.
We
are a society in transition with a population suspicious of
old authoritarians and none too eager to accept new authoritarians.
There is no future for any political party that does not accept
and understand this new reality.
The
new party perhaps called Solidarity has failed to learn this
lesson. Dominated by the personality of Tommy Sheridan, supported
by the SWP and CWI, they are a throwback to the politics of
the 1980s when the left was dominated by one political ideology
- my old party, the Militant Tendency.
The
CWI’s main boast is they are the least changed amongst my
old comrades; my old adversaries the SWP hopes to achieve
a seat at the top table for the first time in the Scottish
left.
King
Canute like they stand against the tide of modernity and the
inexorable rise of anti-authoritarianism visible in Scottish
society.
They
hanker for simpler times when slogans constructed in private
by gurus of the left found their way to the masses via the
party machinery and uncritical foot soldiers of the rank and
file.
Those
times are gone and while the new party will rely on the old
ways buttressed by the current media love for Tommy, the rest
of the society will follow a different trajectory.
The
SSP will follow the trajectory laid out for us by our fellow
citizens. We are peers not leaders and followers, adults and
children. We are socialists who build grassroots democracy
in the communities and workplaces accessible to all, free
from bullying tirades by ideologues.
Our
greatest strength comes from understanding and accepting these
profound cultural changes and aligning ourselves with the
people, not over the people.
We
will explore deeper democracy within our ranks ensuring we
are better equipped to assist in the establishment of a genuine
and durable grassroots democracy that is fit for the 21st
century.
Proud to be with the SSP
Colin Fox, Scottish Socialist Party national convenor
Those
of us who set up the Scottish Socialist Party eight years
ago saw the huge potential for a party based on democratic
socialist values in the modern age. The re-positioning of
Labour and the SNP as parties of the right has continued unabated
every day since.
The space to build a mass party of the left based on a fusion
of genuine democracy and genuine socialist ideas is as wide
today as ever.
The Scottish Socialist Party remains the likeliest vehicle
to do so.
The bloody experience we have gone through recently has changed
the SSP completely. We are not the same party we were three
months ago. We are wiser, tougher and more determined.
The Scottish Socialist Party’s demand for an independent socialist
The growing unpopularity of Blair and the possibility of a
Tory government at
Even during the often miserable last few months, every single
day someone somewhere in
The worst days of the Scottish Socialist Party are behind
us, and that which motivates us to give of our time, money
and, most important of all, our abilities, to promote our
common goals remains as strong and as relevant today as ever.
Comrades, come rally
This
weekend, the SSP is holding a rally, open to all party members
and members of the public, in
Not
a bit of it. This is our way of proclaiming that we remain
a coherent political force in
We
are fighting, as we always have, for a better and fairer society,
where people come before profits and everyone has an equal
chance in life, and the support needed to take that chance.
Our
speakers include John McAllion, a former MSP and tireless
campaigner for social justice, and Carolyn Leckie MSP, trade
unionist and feminist.
The
left is not ‘split’ in
SSP RALLY
Unity Integrity Socialism
Sat
2 Sept, 4pm-6pm
Central
Station Hotel,
Speakers:
Colin Fox MSP, Carolyn Leckie MSP, John McAllion, trade unionists,
artists and activists
—page eight—
people not profit
Victims of an unwinnable war
Its
people and infrastructure are shattered, yet
UN
general secretary Kofi Annan has visited the region, to see for himself
the destruction and carnage wreaked in the 34 day war, allegedly provoked
by Hezbollah’s abduction of two Israeli officers but in truth an attack
made at the behest of the US, seeking an excuse to attack Iran in the
bid to ‘create’ a ‘new Middle East’. That is, a
Yet
there is little outrage amongst the American public who are becoming
rapidly desensitised to reports of atrocities committed by American
boys in uniform on Iraqi civilians.
The
horrendous stress of this unwinnable ‘war’ is clearly a factor in these
terrible affairs, but so too is the lowering of recruitment standards
to an army that, according to Loren Thompson, a military analyst at
Virginia-based think tank the Lexington Institute, “95 per cent of our
citizens have elected not to serve.”
One
of those charged with the rape has a personality disorder. Yet he was
sent to the frontline of Bush’s war on terror.
Meanwhile
in Iraq - have your calculator ready - 50 gunmen and 20 Iraqi soldiers
were killed in Diwaniya, a town south of Baghdad; 16 were killed, and
62 wounded, in Baghdad itself, when a suicide
bomber detonated outside the Interior Ministry; four bodies were discovered
in the city, bearing gunshot wounds; four US soldiers were killed by
a roadside bomb, also in Baghdad.
In
Saturday
23 September is another day - one in which to register our anger at
and abhorrence of these brutal, brutalising wars and to express solidarity
with those at the sharp end, in
Healthy food for thought
Children
in nurseries should be given decent food to eat.
This
astounding recommendation came during the charity Children in
Currently,
one in three children in
Last
year, it issued guidelines to nurseries, state-run and private, urging
them to provide examples of a healthy diet and make nutritional recommendations.
But
if nurseries choose to serve chips and biscuits every day, it is up
to them, as there are no regulations in place regarding children’s diet.
A
healthy lunch every day would provide children with a blueprint of good
eating, even if their diet at home remains poor.
It
would also make them less likely to snack on high calorie, high fat
but nutritionally poor junk foods between meals.
Furthermore,
as the free school meals system in Finland proved, eating a midday meal
with peers encourages children to develop their social and emotional
skills, helping them gain confidence and establish better relationships.
The
SSP has been campaigning for free school meals for every state school
child in Scotland since the party’s inception, and SSP MSP Frances Curran’s
Free School Meals bill, due to be heard in the lifetime of this parliament,
is a great rallying point for all those who want to see serious, long-term
change in the way we nurture our children.
Free
school meals for every state school child in
—page nine—
Those cartoons were racist, folks!
by Simon Whittle
‘It’s
political correctness gone mad,’ cried parents up and down the
country as Tom and Jerry had their paws slapped by Ofcom following
a viewer’s complaint about scenes featuring the animated characters
puffing on fat cigars, no doubt after striking matches on their
furry behinds. Kids’ TV channel Boomerang will now edit out the
offending scenes from the old animations where smoking is “condoned,
acceptable or glamourised”.
But
some problem cartoons are beyond editing. Many early Tom and Jerry,
Warner Bros and Disney cartoons feature scenes and characters
which are so unacceptable that even their profit-hungry company
owners have disowned them. (But why jeopardise merchandise sales,
right folks?)
Such
is the racist legacy of mid-20th century cartoons.
Although
you won’t see some of the worst racial stereotypes on the likes
of Cartoon Network or Boomerang, some of these shorts were still
being shown on BBC and ITV at least until the end of the 1980s.
Many
episodes of Tom and Jerry being shown now are already heavily
edited due to racism. The black maid caricature aside, nearly
every exploding cigar wound up with Tom staring ‘into camera’
with a blacked-up surprised expression, every frying pan in the
face ending with a Chinese caricature and soundtrack to match.
There
are countless examples. Remember Bugs Bunny’s Second World War
propaganda flicks? When he wasn’t selling US war bonds (what did
this mean to a kid in the 1980s?), he was defeating bucktoothed
Japanese soldiers by serving-up hand grenade-ice creams accompanied
by racist wisecracks in Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips.
Bugs
foiled spear-throwing aborigines in Bushy Hare, called a bucktoothed
(again, coming from Bugs!) Eskimo a “big baboon” in Frigid Hare,
and won a dim, black guy’s clothes in a game of craps in All This
and Rabbit Stew.
And
Bugs didn’t stop at racism. In Bewitched Bunny, he fights a witch,
falls under her spell and heads into the sunset with her, winking
to the viewer:
“Ah,
sure, I know! But aren’t they all witches inside?”
Disney’s
Fantasia was self-censored for the recent DVD release, although
it was advertised as the full, uncut and “original theatrical
version”. Scenes featuring black centaur servants assisting white
‘centaurattes’ were censored, panned or even entirely reanimated.
Even
a song in Disney’s 1992 feature film Aladdin had to be rewritten,
as one line went:
“Where
they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face. It’s barbaric,
but hey, it’s home.”
Warner
Brothers’ cartoonist Walter Lantz said of TV censorship: “The
first thing that happened was the elimination of all my films
that contained Negro characters. There were eight such pictures.
“But
we never offended or degraded the coloured race and they were
all top musical cartoons, too.”
Good
job he didn’t do it on purpose, because without thinking about
it his cartoons (for instance, Scrub Me Mama With a Boogie Beat,
1941, set in ‘
Although,
at the time, the film was almost unique in portraying US army-uniformed
black characters performing heroic deeds, it’s still undeniably
racist.
These
cartoons can never be shown to kids ever again. They can only
serve as a shocking reminder of what Western society was like
only a few decades ago, how far we’ve changed for the better,
and how much we still need to fight for change.
Bush’s
lack of response to the black victims of Hurricane Katrina, just
one year ago, and the
New CD compilation’s underground launch
Chem087 CD/DVD launch party, CCA, Glasgow, 11 August 2006
by John Moffat and Ian Smith
Normally,
when bands release compilation albums, you can bet they have reached
the end of their creative life cycle.
However,
that convention can’t be applied at this free launch party marking
the release of a second Chemikal Underground retrospective - even
if it does have the underwhelming title Chem087.
Just
compare it with their first label sampler, the wonderfully titled
Out Of Our Heads On Skelp! Although it fails to better ...Skelp’s
moniker, it certainly makes amends in terms of quantity, with
a 17 song/28 promo video playlist to savour.
Like
...Skelp, Chem087 features both local bands such as Arab Strap,
Mogwai, and Aereogramme alongside those from further afield such
as
The
Delgados, one of John Peel’s favourites, alas called it a day
recently after 12 years, now concentrating more on label responsibilities
such as finding new artists and promotion.
Their
musical talents haven’t been totally sidelined however, with singer
Emma Pollock pursuing a solo career and the three male Delagados