Scottish Socialist Voice
Issue 277
7th September 2006
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Join the Long Walk for Peace
“...unacceptably expensive, economically wasteful and militarily unsound.”
So
wrote Gordon Brown. In 1984.
These days, the author of this official report on Trident
hopes to lead a government that has all but said yes to
a replacement Trident when the original arsenal of deadly
warheads begins decommissioning in 2020.
Never
mind that it is unacceptably expensive, at between
£25-£40billion.
Never
mind that it is economically wasteful, at a time when
the NHS is being drained of its lifeblood and state education
is wearing out at the knees and elbows and the building
of social housing is almost at a standstill and one in
three children are born into poverty. Never mind that,
as its presence on the
Nearly
60 per cent of us, according to the very latest ICM poll,
don’t want Trident, so let’s make our voice heard and
put pressure on the parliament. CND is staging the Long
Walk for Peace, from Faslane to Holyrood, starting on
14 September.
The
walk will take in 15 miles a day (85 miles in all) and
everyone is welcome to join it anywhere, and for any distance,
from Faslane, through Helensburgh, Dumbarton, Clydebank,
A
single Trident nuclear warhead is capable of wiping out
a city of 1million people.
Yet
each Trident submarine, of which there are four, carries
48 such warheads. Enough to wipe out the entire population
of the
page two
news
Drug death figures only tell half the story
by Wullie McGartland
Last
week saw the Scottish Executive beat its chest
on the release of the drug death figures for
It’s
a very small drop, and in fact there was an increase
in Class A, particularly cocaine-related, deaths.
Cocaine-related
fatalities across the country jumped almost tenfold
in four years, from four in 2000 to 38 in 2004.
The figures for 2005 and this year are expected
to rise again.
In
Their
manager, John Arthur, said:
“Traditionally,
“We
need to be looking at some kind of cocaine strategy
for
“Traditionally
a sudden change in supply conditions does not
affect the quantity of heroin, but its purity.
“When
this last happened in 2004, the purity of heroin
on the streets of
“I
am pleased to see that the figures for drug-related
deaths have fallen but we cannot be complacent.”
He
might not think his government is being complacent,
but the others are not so sure. The Labour run
Executive has been as blinkered to drug use in
The
Scottish Socialist Party has from its inception
called for the supervised medical prescription
of heroin, backed up with full support from health
and social agencies, as a means to tackling
Council workers face pay battle
by Richie Venton, SSP national workplace organiser
Workers
in Glasgow City Council are meeting in anger at
proposals from the New Labour administration on
their pay and benefits review.
In
response to the demands for equal pay settlements,
the council has already carried out brutal cuts
to jobs and services over the past year, disgracefully
trying to lay the blame at the doorsteps of under-paid
women workers who have subsidised the council
for years.
Now
they are proposing a package that includes swingeing
wage cuts.
To
take a few random examples of the impact of their
proposals on average earnings:
A
visitor assistant in Arts and Museums would drop
to an average of £12,091 - an incredible cut of
£1,738.
Library
assistants would drop £225 to £10,433.
General
labourers/drivers in building services would have
their wages cut by £2,181 to £14,823.
Child
development officers stand to lose £3,683 - ending
up on £15,168 a year.
Some
staff in environmental protection services will
lose between £1,261 and £6,785 in salaries.
In
the past we have accused New Labour councillors
of spinelessness, failing to mount a campaign
alongside the unions for extra cash from the Scottish
Executive to fund equal pay for women, without
detriment to any staff’s pay, and without job
losses or cuts to public services. That accusation
stands with full force.
Although
they are good enough to battle over councillors’
redundancy terms as they face the new electoral
system that will dump many Labour incumbents.
Many
of the workers facing wage cuts are women, including
those on pitiful, part-time pay. For example,
the council wants to cut the wage of catering
assistants on six-hour, weekend only work by 27
per cent, from £2,945 to £2,146. Likewise, for
homecarers doing 12 hours at weekends they propose
a 15 per cent cut to £5,671.
This
catalogue of cuts in wages highlights the poverty
pay of council staff already, even before the
cuts New Labour wants to impose.
If
they fail to bring forward equal pay without any
cuts to income for any staff, male or female,
the unions should prepare for united industrial
action, as agreed at union meetings earlier this
year.
Ritalin review delay leaves service gap
by Andrew Gray
It
has been reported that a review of the medical
guidelines used by doctors to diagnose and treat
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
will not be available until March 2008.
The review was launched in 2004 due to worries
about a ten-fold rise in prescriptions for Ritalin,
a stimulant medication used to treat the disorder.
ADHD is a disabling condition characterised by
problems with attention, hyperactivity, and social
functioning. Children who suffer from it do badly
at school, and are at higher risk of accidental
injury.
In the past, the majority of these children, especially
working class boys, were labelled as ‘bad’, excluded
from mainstream education, and condemned to a
life of underachievement.
The increased recognition and treatment of the
disorder has undoubtedly improved the outlook
for many children all over
However there is concern that too much emphasis
has been put on relatively cheap drug treatment,
and that insufficient resources have been provided
for the essential psychological and educational
support that children with ADHD, and their parents,
need to cope with the condition.
There is also a worry that children whose behavioural
problems are a result of other factors are being
misdiagnosed with ADHD, due to difficulty accessing
specialised diagnostic services.
All children with behavioural problems should
have rapid access to specialist services which
use the most up to date evidence-based diagnostic
guidelines, and are able to offer a full range
of therapeutic interventions, including psychological
therapy, support at home and at school, and, where
appropriate, modern medication.
Such services are expensive, but essential if
children with ADHD and other problems are to get
the help they need to fulfil their potential.
page three
news
Marching to independence
by
Joe Middleton, of
Independence
First, the non-party political referendum campaign recently
wrote to both the
The replies were swift. The Scottish Parliament replied:
“Schedule 5 to the Act {Scotland Act 1998] defines matters
which are reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament. The
Government of the
The Scottish Office in
Of course these answers are pretty much what we expected.
The Scottish Parliament just wants to pass the buck down
south, while the
These answers are obviously not acceptable. The question
is, what are we going to do about it? In Independence First’s
case we plan to do quite a lot, and we hope Voice readers
will help us.
While Independence First has probably not impinged on the
public consciousness yet, we have been quietly and carefully
doing something very important - uniting the entire independence
movement behind our campaign. We hope that will be obvious
on 30 September when we hold our first march for independence
through the centre of
To attempt to show the enormous latent support for independence
we have also launched an e-petition through the Scottish
Parliament, calling for a debate on how to ensure a referendum
on self determination.
The petition is available at the Scottish Parliament web
site here http://epetitions.scottish.parliament.uk/view_petition.asp?PetitionID=123
This
campaign will call for 1 million Scots to give their support
to parties which support independence in both the first
and second votes. We believe this is enough to swing the
election in favour of independence and is also an amount
which is well within the reach of the pro-independence parties.
* http://www.independence1st.com
Sent
to die in
by Ken Ferguson
Far
from the infamous ‘not a shot fired’ description of the
British operation in
The
Labour ministers greet the news, be it of men killed in
the burning death plunge of the doomed, Moray-based Nimrod,
or of the victims of gunfire and roadside bombs, with much
hand-wringing and murmuring of pious ‘tributes’.
But
for the families who must endure this, it is precious little
consolation to be told that ‘we’ are killing even more of
‘them’, particularly since hundreds of ‘them’ are innocent
civilians.
Now
the story has changed from peace-keeping and ‘hearts and
minds’ walkabouts to debates on whether the ‘war’ is winnable.
Increasingly,
the verdict seems to be that it will take thousands more
men and much, much more equipment.
Yet
neither is readily available and those in action right now
are finding that they don’t have the resources to meet the
desires of the Labour government’s armchair warmongers.
Between
the streets of
The
growing death toll eloquently makes the case for breaking
up the British state that has visited so much death and
destruction since its formation.
Scots
have the opportunity to strike a major blow to that state
by supporting an independent Scottish republic at the 2007
elections.
And
notions that such a policy is somehow ‘anti-English’ are
wide of the mark as breaking the warmongering state and
ridding it of nuclear weapons might, perhaps, finally end
what the great English war poet Wilfrid Owen called the
‘great lie’, that dying in wars is somehow glorious.
Such
needless death is never glorious. Just needless, and very,
very sad.
ANTI-WAR ACTIVISTS HAVE RAYTHEON IN THEIR SIGHTS
As
the Voice went to press Fife Stop The War Coalition were
due to mount a protest outside the Raytheon arms manufacturing
facility in Glenrothes,
These
charges come under anti-terrorist legislation and, as such,
can be heard before a ‘Diplock’, or no jury court.
*
Demonstration:
Raytheon
building, Glenrothes,
450 jobs go as Thomson’s pack up in Cardonald
by Richie Venton
Mug
the public, pack their bags and high-tail it out of
And
their timing was even more brutal in its sharp practices;
if the call centre shut down before this week, they would
have had to hand back the subsidy. But by delaying the official
closure until 12 December, they are not obliged to return
one penny!
The
human cost is a pitiless reminder of the world we need to
change. Stunned workers were told of the bosses’ unilateral
decision in canteen meetings, without prior warning.
Some
of them got news of the vicious Xmas present on the radio.
As
Sheila, one of the workers, said, “The trip to the canteen
was like the walk of death. There were letters waiting for
us and as people read them they were breaking down in tears.”
Eleanor
added, “I feel numb. I have three young children to look
after and I don’t know where to turn now.”
The
call centre was custom-built and opened in 2000, with government
subsidies of £219,000 through zero-rated stamp duty on the
building, plus £1.4m in Regional Selective Assistance grants
from the Scottish Executive.
As
a representative of the Transport Salaried Staff Association
(TSSA) trade union - which has members in Thomsons - told
me:
“They
are bumping people at Xmas.
“How
are they meant to get other jobs then? The company are not
interested in consulting with the staff or the union.
“They
want people to work until Xmas, saying they need them! If
they need them, why are they making them redundant?
“This
is a callous decision made the minute their contract with
the Scottish Executive lapsed. It stinks. And the same Thomsons
are creating a hundred jobs in
“Maybe
they plan to sell off the building; Barclays bank are looking
at bringing 800 jobs to
The
Scottish Socialist Party is offering solidarity to the workers
if they decide to fight the closure.
Rosie
Kane, SSP Glasgow MSP, has already lodged a motion in the
parliament demanding the return of these public subsidies
by the big business muggers, to help fund secure jobs.
This
whole disgraceful episode exposes the folly of government
hand-outs to big business subsidy junkies as a means of
securing jobs - the policy advocated by both the Labour
party and the SNP.
Job losses at NTL
The
cable TV company NTL has announced the closure of its customer
care call centre in South Gyle in
The
shock news comes six months after the corporation announced
that 6000 jobs were to go in
The
new conglomeration was seeking savings of £250million, which
required that up to a third of the workforce face redundancy
by March 2007.
This
latest development is on top of the 6000 jobs cuts.
The
March announcement came as a surprise in that the company
had just announced £611million in profits, up £127million
on the previous quarter.
In
that time, it clocked up 25,800 new customers.
page four
one world
THE ICE MELT COMETH
by Roz Paterson
Anyone
clinging to the hope that global warming might transpire to be
a conspiracy dreamt up by energy-efficient light bulb manufacturers
should abandon all hope. We have already entered the era of dangerous
climate change, and the question now is not, “will it be bad?”
but “how bad will it be?”
John
Holden, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
says the world is warming up much faster than anyone predicted
and warns that drastic, immediate action is required to offset
catastrophe.
By
catastrophe, he means the Greenland ice cap, comprising 10 per
cent of the world’s ice, melting, causing seas to rise 6.5 metres
(23ft) by the end of this century, flooding low-lying countries,
from Bangladesh to the Netherlands, and sending temperatures soaring
as dark land is exposed beneath the ice, absorbing more heat into
the planet.
The
earth is now unquestionably hotter than it has been for over 1000
years, going by the evidence of such phenomena as the gas and
particles trapped in ice cores, which date back as far as 750,000
years - to put this into some kind of perspective, the last ice
age was a mere 21,000 years ago.
Oxygen
and hydrogen were trapped when the ice formed, while subsequent
deposits of CO2 and methane indicate periods of global warming.
Nothing in the past compares to what’s been happening these last
30 years, during which the earth has heated up like never before,
despite this being a period when volcanic activity and solar cycles
should have had the net effect of cooling us down a little.
If
we continue as we are, warns Holden, the Arctic ice melt could
reach a point of no return within our children’s lifetime.
Other
factors would then come into play. For instance, there would be
an increase in water vapour that would form clouds, which could
reflect heat away from the planet’s surface, or trap it within
the earth’s atmosphere, making us hotter still. It all depends
on how high they are, making this an area of great uncertainty
and little comfort.
Then
there is the methane that would be released when, for example,
the Siberian permafrost melts, which would trigger accelerated
and catastrophic global warming.
And
closer to home, though a worldwide cataclysm reaches us all eventually,
is that the melting of the polar ice caps could shut down the
Gulf Stream, the mechanism that currently keeps Europe relatively
balmy for its northern latitude.
If
the Gulf Stream failed, temperatures in
Other,
more certain effects of the looming disaster include the rise
in diseases once thought contained. For instance, the freak outbreak
of West Nile virus in
Millions,
mainly in the developing world, are facing starvation, lack of
water, the loss of the very land they stand on. And it is all
the work of mankind, mainly in the developed world.
Thus
the era since the Industrial Revolution is coming to be known
as the Anthropocene, after the creature that now has such an influence
on the workings of the earth, more so than eruptions or erosion,
it has come to characterise an actual geological era.
Carbon
emissions now hold more sway than the incremental forces that
once made ice ages.
The
earth, say an increasing body of scientists, is no longer ‘natural’
and is now more unstable and dangerous than at any other period
in the history of human civilisation.
page five
your voice
Supermarket
monopoly
I
hear that Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and Morrison supermarkets are defending
their aggressive marketing strategies and borderline criminal carving-up
of the UK grocery sector by claiming to offer ‘value for money’ and ‘what
the public wants’.
What
infuriates me is when socialists agree, saying blithely that cheap food
cannot be a bad thing.
But
cheap food, when it’s bulked out with starches and sugars and fat and salt
and chemicals, is a bad thing, ruining people’s bodies while making millions
for the fatcat corporations who produce it.
Cheap
food is a bad thing when it comes at the cost of someone’s livelihood, as
is the case with the milk bought by the supermarket cartel at prices below
the cost of production. A practice that is increasingly driving small farmers
to the wall and ensuring that all farming is done by agribusiness who frankly
don’t give a fuck about rural employment, sustainability, what you eat and
how much you pay for it.
Cheap
food is a bad thing when it comes from animals reared in dirty, stinking
cattle factories or suffocating chicken houses, their bodies stuffed full
of injected hormones and other animals’ faeces. It’s not good for them,
and it’s not good for us.
Cheap
food is a bad thing when it comes with free BSE, Salmonella and e-coli.
Come
to think of it, you don’t get any kind of cheap food other than the nasty,
polluting, sometimes even fatal stuff above-mentioned.
And
supermarkets, before you ask, are the chief touts of this indigestible fodder.
For
those on a low income, shopping at farmers’ markets is often too expensive,
local shops are thin on the ground and growing your own for god’s sake is
just something you see in Sunday supplements. Too often, supermarkets are
the only option.
But
it doesn’t mean we just accept their dominance and make a virtue of it by
claiming that, somehow, cheap food is a victory for the working-class. It
isn’t. The cheap food we get on supermarket shelves in the
Glasgow
Solidarity
I
have been a member of the SSA then the SSP since their inception. I intend
to remain in the SSP for the foreseeable future.
I
attended both rallies of the SSP on 2 September and Solidarity on 3 September.
Solidarity’s rally attracted significantly more people than the SSP’s. There
was also a greater media presence.
There
were many people at this rally that I recognised, both older and younger
comrades
There
were quite a lot of speakers from the floor, they were all saying they wanted
Holyrood and Council candidates to live on workers’ wages.
They
were supporting anti-poverty campaigns, and anti-Blair and Bush warmongering.
The same things all socialists want.
The
purpose of my writing this letter is to ask all members of the SSP not to
dismiss Solidarity as a Tommy Sheridan fan club.
They
are a serious rival to us; therefore they should be treated as such.
Mick
Mcintosh,
Stirling
Midges,
socialism and Lanarkshire
It
was my first time at the SSY camp.
I
enjoyed every moment of it starting from the assembly at the George Square
on Friday night and ending with a ride back home (kindly provided by Donnie)
right to the door of the high flats where I stay.
When
we arrived at the campsite it was already starting to get dark. But we still
had to set up tents.
That
was something my tent mate and I had never done before, so it took us a
long time to do it. Just as we were about to start this complex task, evil
enemies whirled onto us viciously attacking and turning us into a scratching
maniacs.
Many
times we were about to give up, but our socialist spirit kept us going and
eventually we bravely defeated our enemies the midges and succeeded on our
mission.
In
the big tent the DJ was already cooking up some groovy music so we headed
for the shake it shake it move it move it splash.
I
really enjoyed stamping on the ground for several hours with the other SSYers.
But
the best was yet to come. It was a cold night in the tent, all right did
have three sleeping bags I’ll admit, but I guess it takes at least one night
to get used to the sleeping conditions of a camp.
Saturday
was really a great day in camp. Lots of different political discussions
were happening all at once all around the campgrounds.
The
one I really learned a lot from was about sectarianism and football. I didn’t
even know such a thing existed before coming to camp.
Both
of my parents and I grew up in communist
What
I really liked was that SSYers are people who care about their country and
society trying to highlight existing problems and find solutions.
And
all this is done in a very nice atmosphere, lots of fun, and veggie lunches.
At
this camp I met lots of new people and really enjoyed spending time with
everybody.
Saturday
night’s the
It
never died. It was always there.
Just
want to thank the organisers and everybody at the camp for inviting me and
sharing the wonderful time together making really unforgettable memories.
Irene,
Glasgow
Gie’s
Peace
– Morag Balfour
- Morag is a long term activist in the peace movement and is the SSP’s peace and disarmament spokesperson
Why so bloody embarrassing?
Have
you ever had one of those experiences where you’ve said something quite
reasonable but everyone else within earshot is shocked to the core?
I’ve
experienced this once or twice in my life but the most impressive one took
place during an SSP National Council meeting in
I
thought this a most straightforward thing, a logical thing even. In the
few months preceding that fateful, shocking day I had become a huge fan
of washable sanitary towels/pads/napkins made by a company called ‘lollipop’.
They
come in a light blue fleece with either large polka dots or flowers on them.
At their inner core is to be found three layers of terry towelling.
They
have ‘wings’ like many high street brands but are fixed with a popper stud.
They look very friendly and would cheer up anyone’s period/monthly/unmentionable.
They
do not contain a plastic liner unlike the majority of disposable ones.
I
went along to that meeting in
Hidden
in my left hand was lovely clean lollipop pad. After working towards the
crescendo of my rant I raised my hand and showed the whole room the most
terrifying thing they’d ever seen, apparently. Oh dear.
I
told the aforementioned terrified Townsfolk that I’d used it six times already
and commented on how well it had washed up.
There
were a variety of responses to my actions at this point. Kevin McVey, Regional
Organiser and stand-in chair that day, took a sharp intake of breath and
leaned back as far as he could AWAY from the lollipop pad.
Hugh
Kerr, former member of the SSP, attempted to heckle the lollipop pad, though
poorly, in my opinion.
The
majority of the women in the room were in a state of shock and that, I must
admit, surprised me. Nervous giggling was audible.
I
am of the belief that had the police walked into the room at the time I
could’ve been nicked for breach of the peace. I would’ve been convicted
too, for my actions did cause fear, alarm and/or distress to the public
that day. The big question was why?
Having
pondered this for some time I feel the reasons for this trauma are numerous.
Men rarely like to think, let alone talk about bleeding women.
I
think women are a wee bit grossed out by their own bleeding too. That’s
a real shame because as a cycle of continual renewal it’s actually quite
clever and beautiful, even though it can manifest painfully.
I
wonder if it harks back to ancient times where women were branded unclean
during their ‘monthly’.
We
need to reclaim our bodies AND go green. I mean honestly, what did women
do before everything was wrapped clinically in plastic? We used bits of
fabric didn’t we?
If
lollipop pads are not for you, try a moon cup. Can I just say though, I
would never go back to disposables because they are so uncomfortable next
to my washables. I got my friend Fiz Garvie started on them too and we have
frequent conversations about how cool they are, and I’m not joking.
Women,
take heart and act boldly; Menfolk, take anti-nausea tablets.
centre pages
WOMEN’S PLACE IS IN THE STRUGGLE
‘It’s
wummin’s stuff’ - an oft-repeated phrase which usually comes
with an embarrassed shrug and in reference to both periods
and politics. In socialist politics, every issue we take
up is wummin’s stuff. There are the obvious ones, like the
campaign against violence against women, with as many as
one in three women experiencing violence at the hands of
a male partner or ex-partner at some point in her life.
And
then there are the more general demands, such as those to
alleviate poverty, which affects women disproportionately
because we’re still paid less than men yet bear the burden
of responsibility for feeding and clothing the weans. Sexism
permeates every layer of capitalism, the system we live
under which deems corporate profits to be more important
than people’s lives. Sexism is about subjugating women,
declaring us less important, less worthy, less equal than
men. But, while men are better off than women both economically
and culturally under capitalism, this system also limits
men’s choices, hammering them into the stereotype of macho
provider. Sexism hampers all our possibilities, and men
and women should fight together, as equals, to overturn
it. But realistically, for that to happen, we need to make
space for women to express themselves, and we need to find
ways to help women make a stand.
In
this week’s Voice, Roz Paterson gives her views on how we
in the SSP can empower women in our struggle to make a better
world, and we highlight just a few of the issues, previously
regarded as the wummin’s stuff, which should be at the very
heart of our campaigning.
by Roz Paterson
At
a recent meeting of the SSP National Council, the agenda
was nearly derailed by a complaint about 50:50. Because
of this policy, claimed the delegate, his branch had been
disenfranchised as there were no women willing to take up
the second available NC place and a man was prevented from
doing so.
A
lot of people agreed with him and no-one quite said, ‘It’s
political correctness gone mad, I tell you!’ - but they
might as well have.
But
many others thought, well, why were there no women willing
to take up that NC place? Are there no women in that part
of the world? Or has there been a failure to encourage women
to join the party and not only join, but actively participate?
If
drawing women into politics had easy solutions, it would
have been done decades ago, as the female vote is so crucial
in elections due to its being less party loyal than the
male one. Yet without a healthy quota of women members and
activists, how can we claim to be a truly representative
political body?
How
can we truly claim to understand the issues of exploitation
of women, of poverty (which is visited disproportionately
on women), of childcare and discrimination and sexual violence
if our female members are few and far between?
So
what do we do?
Perhaps
we should start by considering what puts women off.
A
study by the Fawcett society found that women are repelled
by the ‘playground culture’ of politics. These women respondents
were talking about the bear pit that is the House of Commons,
where elderly public schoolboys bray ‘shame’ throughout
each other’s speeches and then all go for gin and tonics
together in some wood-panelled, smoky old boys’ club on
The Strand.
Westminster
- and Holyrood - politics are seen as nasty, spiteful and
self-defeating. MPs and MSPs are so busy point-scoring and
lying and quoting from tedious, biased reports that nothing
gets done and that offends those most practical members
of the species - women.
SSP
meetings are a thousand times more comradely and welcoming
than Parliament but they can be as frustrating, particularly
if point-scoring and long-winded speechifying is allowed
to take precedence over pragmatism and contributions, however
undisciplined and unversed in the language of Marx, from
new members or ones who rarely come forward.
Women
are also discouraged from participating in politics by the
‘Three C’s’ - childcare, cash and confidence.
Very
few of our meetings cater for women who have to take care
of children. Crèches are an obvious solution, but unless
they are staffed by trained professionals, it’s not the
most comfortable option if your children are infants.
And
in any case, most political meetings happen at night, which
rules primary carers out.
Cash,
in the context of the Fawcett study, referred to women actually
standing for political posts as this meant leaving jobs,
or devoting time to canvassing which could be spent working.
Women earn so much less than men that these things matter
in triplicate.
Confidence
is not as self-explanatory as it appears. Yes, women tend
to be in the minority in political meetings, so speaking
up does require a bit of self-confidence and women, particularly
women in low-paid jobs, who maybe miss out socially due
to child or parent care, and who have been the victims perhaps
of casual discrimination and sexism throughout their lives,
may not have natural confidence in abundance.
But
on top of that, women expect to be discriminated against
in politics.
They
expect men to be treated more favourably when it comes to
the selection of candidates, men to get more votes during
an election itself, and women to be the targets when the
press turns nasty.
All
of which makes the challenge of encouraging women to participate
seem insurmountable. Surely it isn’t. After all, research
has shown that, though it may often be men who get an industrial
dispute started, it tends to be women who keep it going.
Think of the Miners’ Wives. Furthermore, it is women who
are joining trade unions in far greater numbers now than
men.
And
across the world, more times than not it is women at the
forefront of community, grassroots campaigns, be they environmental
or anti-poverty or anti-war or anti-exploitation.
So
what are we doing wrong? One answer maybe lies in what some
people are doing right.
Scottish
Socialist Youth (SSY) organises autonomously, holds its
own meetings, sets its own agendas and runs its own campaigns.
This approach has led to a vibrant and hugely active body
of people whose energy and talents feed into the wider party.
Without SSY, would the SSP be so in touch with youth issues
and have so many young, politicised, active members?
Perhaps
we should take our cue from them and organise autonomously
too. The SSP Women’s Network holds meetings, many well-attended
and interesting and (some!) very joyful occasions.
Women-only
meetings may seem like a hark back to the consciousness-raising
days of the 1970s but that may be no bad thing. In such
an environment, with no chest-beating alpha male in sight,
women who have never spoken up about their own experiences
of poverty and marginalisation often find their voice.
Others
who truly prefer to listen don’t need to worry about being
hectored into saying something.
These
meetings create the space for issues that impact on women
more than they do on men, ensuring that considerations of
equality or respect aren’t just tacked onto the end of policies
that already exist.
Also,
whether it’s nature or nurture, women do tend to move forward
more consensually, which augurs well for SSP women in that
pushing ahead with plans rather than just talking about
them is a real possibility.
Women-only
meetings in no way detract from mixed meetings. In practice,
women who got active initially through the Women’s Network
would almost certainly also take part, at some stage, in
the work of the party as a whole. The whole idea of networks
is to reach out as well as draw in.
Daytime
meetings would certainly enable many women with family responsibilities
to take a more active role in the party, and it also cuts
out the problem of having to get home alone in the dark.
Another
possibility is twinning or mentoring, where women with different
experiences and political backgrounds (including no political
background at all), pair up and either meet regularly or
email each other, to discuss socialist politics and their
take on it.
As
fewer women attend meetings than men, women are underrepresented
in such fields as branch organisers too.
Again,
confidence plays a part here, and the fact that branch organisers
are often elected to the position then left to get on with
it.
Branch
organisers need guidance and training. Perhaps we could
put together a resource pack for branch organisers, plus
contact numbers of people who would help out, or be there
to talk through problems.
Encouraging
women into the workings of the party means offering support
and comradeship. That’s something we should offer all members,
regardless of their sex, and it would pay dividends.
You
see? Gender equality really is good for you!
Women and justice
by Carolyn Leckie
It’s
difficult to find anyone in the justice system, civil service
or government who’ll defend either the number of women in
prison, or the sending of the vast majority of them there
in the first place.
Despite successive ministers and prison chiefs saying they’ll
bring the numbers down, district magistrates, sheriffs and
judges keep packing them in.
The number of women in jail in Scotland has gone up a third
since 2002. There are now 365. The year before it was 318.
Nearly all will be vulnerable, drug-addicted and victims
of violence and crime themselves.
Alternatives to custody, like the progressive 218 centre
in Glasgow, only scrape the surface. The rest of Scotland
has no provision of alternatives at all.
Behind the stats, there is deep-rooted misogyny at work
throughout the system and from the beginning of these women’s
stories. The majority have a history of physical, emotional
and sexual abuse. They’ve been punched and pimped by men.
When they commit a crime, get the fine and do the time,
they’re more likely to get jailed, get jailed for longer
and suffer loss of privileges when they’re locked up. This
despite the well-known fact that women are less likely to
commit crimes in the first place.
Our society believes that ‘bad girls’ deserve greater punishment
than bad boys and the system makes sure they get it.
The Cornton Vale Visiting Committee has done work that shows
when women in jail are cheeky to prison officers or fight
or do very trivial things that primary school children would
get away with, very quickly they lose their tellies, leisure
time and other privileges.
They do things like this less often than men in jail but
they’re punished faster, harder and for longer for the same
misdemeanours.
Pregnant and sick women are taken to hospital in double
handcuffs. This year a woman spoke out that she was double
hand-cuffed throughout her labour! The idea that a woman
is a risk during painful labour is farcical. This wholly
unethical practice should never happen. There is now a ‘review’
of the procedure.
It’s time to stop the platitudes and set free all the women
who present no danger to society. It’s time to put money
into providing 24-hour support instead of 24-hour incarceration.
Open the gates.
Food for thought
by Frances Curran
There
I was, munching on my toast and banana, when Westminster
Education Secretary Alan Johnson pops up on the breakfast
news, telling the nation how wonderful the new healthy meals
in English schools will taste.
He
starts bumping his gums about how Hull City Council has
proved primary school kids will eat healthy meals and, over
breakfast, quotes percentages about how Hull have proved
you can get a high take-up of healthy school meals.
And
there I was shouting at the telly: “Yeah, but tell the story,
tell them the rest!”
Hull
City Council introduced healthy meals in all primaries and
the take-up fell. They then introduced free school meals
across the city and take-up soared. End of argument. Free
School Meals works. Kids eat healthy meals - d’oh! My Free
Healthy School Meals Bill has huge support.
Tony
Blair is always talking about helping working parents. This
bill doesn’t just help our kids to be healthy; it helps
parents, especially lone parents, and working mums.
Knowing
your kids are getting a healthy, cooked meal at lunchtime
is very reassuring. It also takes off some of the pressure
to cook the main healthy meal at teatime.
Families
will also get money back - it costs £24-a-month to send
one child to school dinners, £48 for two children; families
would be better off.
Even
if you’re not sending your kids to school meals you’re still
having to provide dinner money - and you don’t have any
control over whether this is spent on healthy food, unhealthy
food or indeed if it is spent on food at all.
The
government need to tell the whole story about the success
of Hull City Council’s healthy school meals project - and
stop hiding the fact that it’s universal free provision
of these meals which has led to that success.
Equal pay: a battle we’ve already won?
by Pam Currie
One
of the less inspiring aspects of being a feminist and socialist
in the 21st century is that much of our time seems to be
spent fighting battles our mothers thought they had won.
The
right of women to receive the same pay for the same job
- or for ‘work of equal value’ - came into effect over 30
years ago, yet full time women workers across Scotland still
earn only 88 per cent of men’s wages, while part time women
have an average hourly rate amounting to just two-thirds
of the full time male equivalent.
In
2005, a survey found that nearly a third of women didn’t
believe they would ever earn the same as men.
The
fight for a living minimum wage of £8 an hour would overwhelmingly
benefit women workers, particularly the growing army of
part time women workers in the ‘C’ jobs - cleaning, catering
and caring (aye, there’s another ‘c’ word for them as well)
- and those concentrated in low-paid jobs in the public
sector.
Under
the current system, hundreds of thousands of women workers
are forced to claim tax credits and benefits to subsidise
low-paying bosses - including low-paid civil servants who
end up claiming the benefits they’re paid to administer.
The
SSP was at the forefront of the fight to introduce a national
minimum wage, and have proudly participated in struggles
by low-paid nursery nurses, medical secretaries and civil
servants demanding decent wages and pensions.
There
was much gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands in council
chambers around
In
many areas, women have signed up to agreements giving them
far less than their due, under hype from Councils claiming
that it would cost millions, that they would have to cut
services or cut the pay of male workers - all to pay women
money that was theirs to start with.
As
the fight for equal pay for council workers has shown, neither
our bosses nor our unions are immune to the sexism pervasive
in our society - all too often the pay gap is overlooked.
It’s time we demanded our due.
page eight
people not profit
Taking stock in Renfrewshire
by Gerry McCartney, Secretary of Renfrewshire Defend Council Housing and Renfrewshire SSP
Renfrewshire
council intends to ballot council tenants later this year on the issue
of Housing Stock Transfer. This is yet another attempt by the government
to put profits before people in the provision of public services.
Tenants
have been told that transfer of the council housing stock to Renfrewshire
Housing Association “is the only option open to us for investment”.
This is simply untrue, since the money to bring the housing up to standard
is currently sitting in the government’s bank account.
They
are effectively blackmailing tenants into privatising their homes to
fulfil an ideological hatred of publicly-owned and accountable
services.
If
tenants vote NO to stock transfer in the next few weeks, the government
will have to make the money available for investment to meet its own
targets.
There
are many reasons to keep social housing in public ownership, even though
the Labour-controlled Renfrewshire council has sought to reduce the
quality of service to council tenants in recent months, at the same
time as hiking up rents.
They
have even sought to portray the housing department as “failing” - even
going to the extreme of hushing up positive reports by the auditors!
Tenants
should be mindful when returning their ballot form that stock transfer
is nothing short of the privatisation of council housing
Renfrewshire
Housing Association is a company, limited by guarantee.
Huge
profits will be made by the private lending banks and by the private
contractors employed after the housing department is axed.
The
directors will benefit from fat-cat wage hikes, all at the tenants’
and, ironically, the Treasury’s (and therefore the taxpayer’s) expense.
Stock
transfer will lead to increased eviction rates as housing associations
are less tolerant than the council.
This
means that tenants who run up short-term debts on their housing will
be vulnerable to losing their tenancies.
Thus,
stock transfer means more homelessness.
Transfer
from council housing to housing association also means that the interface
between the council’s social work department and housing department
is lost. Additionally, housing associations are less inclined to take
on ‘difficult’ tenants‚ as they are more time-consuming and costly to
cater for.
These
problems will not go away because the housing association is created,
and it is unclear who will clear up the mess left behind.
Delays
will occur in trying to re-house people, and this inevitably leads to
higher homelessness rates and hospital bed-blocking.
Stock
transfer also means higher rents.
Although
the government has pledged to cancel the council’s housing debt, and
to provide monies for investment under transfer, in the long run rents
will be higher under a housing association.
Governments
benefit from reduced borrowing rates as compared to housing associations,
and so financing investment directly through councils is cheaper.
Thus
it costs more to invest in housing with housing associations than through
the council, and eventually rents will need to go up to cover this.
However,
there are no guarantees that housing benefit levels in the future will
cover these increased rents, as the housing association has autonomy
over rent levels, and often introduces service charges‚ over and above
the standard rate.
But
if tenants can go bankrupt, so too can private companies, such as housing
associations, for instance, as a result of financial mismanagement. If this happens, the banks could repossess all of the housing owned
by the housing association to repay the debts.
Yet
huge sums of money will be spent on setting up the new housing association
and clarifying its new legal framework, as well as on the ‘consultation’
process and campaign for the tenants’ vote. These monies could have
been invested in housing directly.
On
top of which, the new housing association will not be part of the council
and so will no longer be accountable to the councillors of Renfrewshire
and ultimately the electorate.
There
is little we can do if the promises made by the new housing association
are not met, and so the housing association is free to downgrade its
investment plans.
Council
workers who worked in housing will have their jobs transferred to the
housing association, threatening their pensions, pay and job security.
Clearly,
the council no longer sees itself as a provider of public services,
despite this being its primary function.
Instead,
it is acting like a lost traffic warden - directing big business around
it, trying to force companies to provide services without having any
control over their direction.
I
would urge tenants in Renfrewshire to vote NO and
force the government to invest the funds directly.
“
by Jo Harvie
“We
are a family facing deportation, our fresh
claim for asylum has been refused. They say
After
the refusal of their most recent asylum claim, the family is fighting
imminent deportation.
Ahlam tells me that Rayane has learned to fear
brown envelopes - when one falls through the letter box he panics, shouting
‘no deportation’.
The
last one was addressed to Rayane, warning him that his failure to appear to sign on
at Brand St immigration Centre could result
in his detention.
He
is four years old.
Ahlam and her family and friends are up in arms, and doing everything they
can to secure their future in
And
Ahlam isn’t short of friends, after five years
of community activism that would leave anyone breathless.
“When
we first arrived here, I was isolated.
“I
didn’t speak the language.
“But
I was surrounded by good people. I didn’t stay at home with my arms
crossed.”
She’s
worked with the Refugee Council and Integration Networks in Pollok and
Maryhill, the two communities who’ve been proud to call her one of their
own.
She
also teaches French in primary schools, and she works with the Fire
Brigade to spread the fire safety message round immigrant communities
- something she’s now helping other asylum seekers to train to do.
After
approaching the police with an idea, she worked with them to set up
an awareness project through which she and other refugees share their
experiences with school kids.
“It
helps reduce racism,” she says, “to give us the opportunity to live
normally and safely with our neighbours.
“I
feel part of this community, part of
“They
have no idea what
The
Souidi family have a lot to fear in
“I
feel like the
Ahlam wants to finish the last two years of her legal studies here, become
a lawyer, and pay her taxes just like everyone else.
She’s
had to turn down many job offers already, because her status as an asylum
seeker means she’s not allowed to work.
She
doesn’t understand why she’s not allowed to contribute financially to
the community that she’s already given so much to.
“
moment.
No
Dawn Raids!
No Deportations!
Defend Asylum Seekers in Maryhill!
PUBLIC
MEETING
Friday
8 September, 7.30pm
Community
Central Halls,
page nine
Remember the Common people
by Roz Paterson
Twenty-five
years ago this week, a contingent of women, under the banner Women
for Life on Earth, marched from