Scottish Socialist Voice
Issue 280
29th September 2006
—front page—
100 richest Scots have a total wealth of
£13billion
1 million Scots are living below the poverty line
On the one hand, you have the soaring wealth of the high-profile entrepreneurial
class, and on the other, the working and workless poor, amongst whom life
expectancy is in freefall and life chances are narrowing to a vanishing
point.
The Scotland where children are growing up to ill-health and grinding
poverty, in condemned housing, where drugs and drink problems spiral out
of control and young people are left behind by or lost in the system,
belies the idea that we are thriving in the union.
Devolution may have provided a marginal extension of democracy, but only
full independence can gain us the control we need to deliver these desperate
households from the half-life of poverty.
Pensions and the minimum wage are reserved matters. Yet a decent pension
could transform the lives of our elderly, a hike in wages could make all
the difference to a young person starting out in life, a parent trying
to give their children a solid upbringing, adults trying to steer clear
of debt and depression.
Independence First, a cross-party organisation calling for a referendum
on Scottish independence, is staging a march through the capital this
Saturday, to raise the banner of a Scottish republic.
The SSP supports Independence First, as breaking up the United Kingdom
not only dismantles America’s most slavish war ally, it also helps pave
the way for a Scottish socialist republic.
Today in Calton, in
In
The consequences of this low wage economy are spelled out in our health
statistics, in babies born with low birth weights, in young children with
advanced dental decay, in obese teenagers, in adults dying of cancer.
To truly address this ghastly and deadly imbalance in fortunes, we need
a
Let’s talk about it. Let’s do something about it. Let’s fight for our
independence, for a republic that is first and foremost a socialist one.
Independence First march
Saturday 30 Sept, 1.30pm, starting at
For an independent socialist
—page two—
Corporate cash-in for Labour
by Davy Landels
‘War protesters banned from Labour conference,’
screamed the headline in The Independent, with news of how Labour
had tried to stamp on any unsightly demonstrations outside their conference.
The report went on to highlight how
After several weeks of protest and defiance, the families were granted
permission at the last minute.
But there is a group of lucky people who are not only allowed into
the conference, they are welcomed with open arms - as long as they
bring their cheque books.
Big business is there by the bucket-load.
From nuclear energy to mobile phones, private medicine to junk food,
they’re all there, ready and willing to catch the ear of any government
minister who deals with their specialist subject.
As the conference begins, UNISON members have embarked on a series
of one-day strikes to defend the NHS from another round of privatisation.
Workers at NHS Logistics, the department that deals with buying and
distribution in the NHS, are to have their second one-day strike on
the Thursday of the conference.
They will be staging a demonstration outside.
It is also widely believed that the Labour National Executive Committee
(NEC) will back a UNISON motion denouncing privatisation in the NHS.
If this goes ahead, it represents a resounding condemnation of the
leadership’s policy.
But meanwhile, back on the conference fringe, private healthcare company
BUPA will host and sponsor a meeting with Health Minister Andy Burnham
on “Regulating Standards in Healthcare”.
Who says politicians don’t do irony?
Given that the Labour government has been throwing billions of pounds
at the private rail companies, the problem solving and economics sections
should be very illuminating.
Kraft Foods - who manufacture overly-processed, packaged foods, marketed
aggressively to children, products like Dairylea
Lunchables and Dairylea
Dunkers - are paying for another fringe meeting.
The audience here will hear Schools Minister Jim Knight address a
theme based on “a whole school approach to nutrition and activity”.
This might give us an inkling of the government’s commitment to healthy
school meals, and whether they are to be provided free to all schoolchildren,
or not.
The Building Societies Association (BSA) are hosting a meeting at
which Housing Minister Yvette Cooper will be speaking.
Members of the BSA, such as Abbey National, have made billions of
pounds from the privatisation of council housing, which has seriously
increased rather than reduced housing debt.
Malcolm Wicks, the Energy Minister, will speak at a meeting paid for
by the UK Petrol Industry Association, whose members include Esso,
Shell and BP, about the environmental cost of producing energy.
But Esso, Shell and BP are some of the biggest
polluters in the planet.
They are the problem not the solution with regards to environmental
degradation.
How ironic that they should ‘host’ such an event.
So while angry workers are kept outside, big business gets its feet
under the table.
Families who have lost loved ones in Labour’s bloody wars are threatened
with a ban for even staging a peaceful protest camp outside.
Meanwhile inside, multinationals who bleed workers dry through exploitation, causing untold
misery across the planet, are welcomed in like honoured guests.
Working people across
As a wise man once said, “You can’t ride two horses with the one behind.”
The SSP is pitching itself against Renfrewshire
council in the battle to save Millarston
playing fields, in
“Local people will lose a valuable amenity, and find themselves surrounded
by yet more houses,” says Iain Hogg, of Renfrewshire SSP.
He adds:
“The council has already presided over the loss of industry and the
loss of shopping facilities in the town; now they are allowing culture
and sport, which are so important for building community spirit, to
fall by the wayside.”
Local doctor Gerry McCartney warns that removing open spaces like
this will only contribute further to Scotland’s obesity epidemic,
as people have fewer and fewer opportunities for exercise.
The SSP is also supporting the Friends of Seedhill Playing Fields in their fight against a similar sell-off
in the East end of
...And
Highlands Against Stock Transfer (HAST) have uncovered
what appears to be a financial black hole in Highland Housing Association’s
business plan, the HHA being the not-for-profit landlord who will
assume responsibility for all council housing in the region if stock
transfer gets the go-ahead after the ballot in October.
The private company has made, it seems, no provision for the upgrade
and building of sheltered housing; a glaring gap of £22million
A feasibility study by the Highland Council found that 549 sheltered
houses required significant structural work if they were to meet current
standards.
And the cost of that is £22million.
HAST chairperson Donnie Kerr comments:
“Authorities such as the Care Commission should not allow the landlord
to ignore vulnerable tenants. The company will have to borrow substantial
private funds, and all tenants will eventually foot the bill.
“The council, if it retains the stock, will have access to central
government funding to help meet these costs.”
* nostocktransfer@yahoo.com
Anti-union laws force hush-up
by Ken Ferguson
Revelations that two sacked Gate Gourmet shop stewards
have received payments totalling £600,000 from their union, the TGWU,
have dramatically highlighted the straitjacket represented by the
Last summer’s Gate Gourmet dispute became a symbol not just of resistance
to hard line managers, but also the restrictions on solidarity action
represented by the anti-union laws.
Gate Gourmet workers took illegal strike action after the in-flight
catering firm announced plans to sack 667 staff members because BA
had cut back on its catering contract.
Briefly the Gate Gourmet workers were the heroes of the hour at last
year’s TUC conference, even addressing the TGWU’s annual leadership
dinner.
But when the chips were down, the union leadership, faced with the
prospect of draconian legal sanctions, blinked and signed a compromise
deal which saw workers sacked, but with enhanced redundancy payments.
Two former shop stewards, Pat Breslin and Mark Fisher, receive the six figure payout after
claims they were following union policy by organising the illegal
action as part of the TGWU’s campaign against Gate Gourmet.
Lawyers believed that the action put the two men at risk of being
sued by BA under the anti-union laws.
Both men were among the workers sacked in the compromise deal that
ended the dispute.
The union also faced being sued for the cost of the strike, £42million,
if BA could prove any involvement of its officials in urging the baggage
handlers to strike.
The affair spotlights the legal minefield which unions risk if they
attempt to do the very job that they exist for.
And it’s a minefield for which the bosses have the map.
The sacked stewards have signed a gagging order barring them from
talking to the press.
Any future disclosure will have to be approved by the TGWU general
secretary.
A TGWU spokesman declined to comment on the grounds that the deal
was confidential.
—page three—
- or, how we win, even when we’re losing
SSP national convenor Colin Fox is in
Sitting beneath the magnificent Table Mountain in the heart of Cape Town,
listening as South African President Thabo Mbeki formally opens the proceedings,
amidst the vivid colours of 48 national flags and assorted South African
others, and the uproarious cheers of the football fans, it is all too
easy to forget that all 400 players on display have nowhere to stay when
they get home.
Behind the Homeless World Cup (HWC), a highly organised operation with
multinational sponsorship and global news coverage, lies that very important message.
Millions of people are homeless across the world and this homelessness
destroys dignity, self-respect and all sense of inclusion.
The tournament was the brainchild of Scots ‘social entrepreneur’ and street
newspaper editor Mel Young and his Austrian counterpart, Harald Schmidt.
In 2001, they attended a conference of the International Network of Street
Papers, here in
They hit upon the shared language that football holds for so many people
across the world and the Homeless World Cup idea was born.
Five years and thousands of individual successes later, the 2006 HWC is
back in
Such is the extent of the event’s success that a bidding war has broken
out amongst various cities as to who should host future tournaments.
The prize for the next two has been won by
But the real achievement is the changed lives of the homeless participants.
According to an impact report, compiled to measure the experience of participants
in last year’s HWC in
Nearly 40 per cent were able to gain employment afterwards; indeed 12
players now earn their living from football, as coaches or semi-professional
players.
The
For all the glamour of this great sporting tournament, the reminders of
Whilst the crowd revels in the presence of Eusebio, the first great African-born
footballing superstar - of Benfica and Portugal fame during the 1960s
- and the players from Sowetan giants Kaiser Chiefs, not to mention endorsements
from the likes of Real Madrid, poverty stalks Cape Town.
There is a very strong Scottish presence at this event, from Mel Young
himself to the Scots comperes and referees, to civic dignatories, including
the Provost of Edinburgh, Lesley Hinds.
We met as she handed over the baton from last year’s hosts to Thabo Mbeki.
But the most important Scots of all are the gallant
Unfortunately, this was not to be their tournament and they went out after
the opening qualifying round.
But the seven men and women in the dark blue played magnificently despite
the rain, a pitch breaking up beneath them, and the loss of the Flower
of Scotland CD for the national anthem.
They did themselves proud and being people who have endured some troubled
times in their short lives, you could see the pride in their eyes and
a spring in their step at being part of this immense occasion.
A survey by No2ID has revealed an overwhelming rejection
of the government’s ID card plans.
Over two thirds of the respondents, covering all ages and social background
across
That 70 per cent of young people expressed concern about the security
of their biometric data, which includes fingerprints, iris and facial
scanning, must surely cause concern in government circles.
More worryingly still is the finding that 100 per cent of civil servants
questioned by No2ID expressed doubts that the government could store data
securely.
Pensioners were also anxious, 64 per cent of them expressing strong opposition
to the scheme, for which Labour hacks have been cheerleading since 2002,
claiming it will cut crime and reduce terrorism.
Neither claim is true, as both police bodies and anti-terrorism experts
have made clear.
Interestingly, the cost - £93 - was the least of people’s worries, with
only 58 per cent citing price as a reason for their opposition.
Most are worried about losing their civil liberties and their details
becoming more, rather than less, vulnerable to identity theft.
Warns Geraint Bevan, No2ID spokesperson: “We will all be issued a national
identity number, which will follow you your entire life. If someone were
to steal your number then they could pretend to be you.”
But the Labour Party is undaunted, Tony Blair stating that the ID scheme
would form a ‘major plank’ of the next manifesto.
* www.no2ID.net
War is bad - and that’s official!
by Ken Ferguson
A heady combination of Harvard academics,
military elites, policemen and policy-makers have just published their startling conclusion on the
They have come right out and said it: the
Now many Voice readers may think they knew this already but isn’t it nice
to have it confirmed by proper experts?
The impressively-titled National Intelligence Estimate, which draws on
the work of 16 US spy agencies, has concluded that the 2003 invasion and
subsequent occupation has fuelled radicalism, spawning a new generation
of terrorists.
As such, it serves as yet another hammer blow for the increasingly incredible
Bush/Blair ‘War on Terror’.
No doubt the sub-imperialist rhetoric about our brave boys from the well-fed
suits of New Labour will continue.
But battlefront reports confirm the bloody truth,
that huge amounts of ammunition have been fired as British forces face
24/7 attacks in a situation where, they were told, they would not have
to fire a shot.
Now Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the British Army, warns that it can
‘only just’ cope.
The fact that the death toll is rising while equipment, food supplies
and support to
And don’t expect to hear much about how those much-lauded brave lads are
doing Blair’s bidding for a shameful £2.45 an hour.
It was Sir Richard, not union-sponsored Labour MPs, who reminded everyone
that the military were never brought under minimum wage legislation, and
that private soldiers risking death daily in our theatres of war often
earn half of that minimum.
It’s an age-old story, this.
Poet Hamish Henderson, who fought with the 51st Highland Division against
Nazism and was a bitter opponent of British imperialism, demanded a different
course for
Next year is the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Union which set the
imperial ball rolling.
It provides a key opportunity at the Holyrood poll to begin the process
of its liquidation. Now there’s an anti-imperialist act to get excited
about!
Muslims condemn Reid’s racist rant
The Labour government has once again tried to scapegoat
Last week, Home Secretary John Reid lectured Muslims on the dangers of
their children becoming involved with Islamic extremism, effectively blaming
them for this, rather than his pal Tony Blair’s murderous military campaigns
in
Speaking in
“There is no nice way of saying this. These fanatics are looking to groom
and brainwash children, including your children, for suicide bombings.
Grooming them to kill themselves in order to murder
others.
“Look for the telltale signs now and talk to them before their
hatred grows and you risk losing them forever. In protecting our families,
we are protecting our community.”
His words have been condemned as inflammatory, driving an ever larger
wedge between his government and Muslims.
Osama Saeed, Scottish spokesman for Muslim Association of Britain (MAB),
comments:
“The insinuation that Muslims are [standing by and] watching their own
families engage in terror... is offensive.
“Every few weeks the government pop up and tell the Muslim community to
do more, ensuring the narrative is about us, rather than their own botched
up foreign policy.”
Mr Saeed pointed out that Muslim parents actually stop their children
getting involved in any political activities, let alone terrorism.
“(P)arents are scared of letting their children
out for anything remotely political for fear of harassment from the police
or ending up on a CIA watchlist.”
He cited the
“Whatever happens, young people will feel angry about foreign policy.
There are two options - to engage politically or to go down the Al-Qaeda
path. The former needs to be encouraged and bolstered, but the government’s
own repressive terror laws are stifling legitimate protest.”
—page four—
Fuelling global warming
California takes car-makers to court
The state of
In an unprecedented attempt to make the polluter pay, California’s Attorney
General filed suit on Wednesday 20 September against General Motors, Toyota,
Ford, Honda, Nissan and DaimlerChrysler AG, alleging that the vehicles they
manufacture have emitted harmful greenhouse gases that have damaged the
health of the people and the environment and cost the state dearly in terms
of monies spent trying to redress these harmful impacts.
California is seeking compensation for these costs, which run to millions
of dollars, and for the damage wreaked by ever-rising vehicle emissions.
California is one of the leading lights in the emissions-curbing game, having
passed a bill this August to limit emissions from industry.
Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar is due to sign this into law at the end of
October.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer intends to cite greenhouse gases as a ‘public
nuisance’, as has been done in a similar case, brought by seven states,
including Connecticut and California, against five power companies, in a
bid to force them to reduce emissions.
So far, one District Judge has thrown the case out on the grounds that it
is too political.
The
The car industry is likely to fight back, and hard. Its initial responses
have bristled with hostility as they argue that this case “opens the door
to lawsuits targeting any activity that uses fossil fuel for energy.”
When
Vermont, the “green state”, is feeling the heat from global warming. Its
economy is dependent upon tourism, particularly ski-ing, and maple sugaring,
all of which are affected by climate.
California too is suffering, from the reduction of the snow pack in the
Fuel emissions have risen 85 per cent in
Rhode Island has similar issues.
Thus the three states felt federal laws were too weak to address the environmental
catastrophe that is already being visited upon them, and took the initiative.
The car industry, however, insists that states have no right to set their
own emissions targets.
They say it is up to national government to do something, not industry.
Funnily enough, the government says its up to industry to do something, not government.
The lawsuit guys just want something done. But curbing fuel emissions is
an uphill struggle in a country that, according to a report by the US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) published this summer, has made no progress on fuel
economy regulations in a quarter of a century.
Auto manufacturers are prioritising technologies that make cars go faster
or tow more rather than ones that do more miles to the gallon, thereby encouraging,
if not actually creating, a trend towards gas-guzzling Sports Utility Vehicles
(SUVs - the US equivalent of 4x4s), culminating in the ridiculous tank-like
Hummers that are now hitting the streets.
Indeed, the EPA found that 2006-year model vehicles were the heaviest, fastest
and most powerful in any year since the agency began collecting data.
The 1970s oil crisis, and subsequent high prices, sparked a drive for fuel-efficient
cars in the
By 1982, the industry standard was 21.1 miles per gallon.
It still is.
Progress stalled because oil became cheap once again, and successive governments
could make short-term political gains giving endless leeway to the hydro-carbon
industrialists.
The
But if
If not, at least someone’s stuck their finger in the stream and started
to make waves.
Hummin’
You think 4x4s are ridiculous? You ain’t seen nothin’! Get a load of the Hummer!
Adapted from the US Army Humvee, this urban monster is celebrated for its
“excellent ability to handle uneven terrain”. Hence its popularity in cities.
It costs over $100 to fill the tank, which you have to do often as
it only manages 11 miles to the gallon.
Nor will it serve you well in a war zone, as the armour plating does not
come as standard. However, air con and stereo-surround system does; just
in case you were worried you weren’t burning up enough fossil fuels.
Amongst the Hummer’s fans are McDonald’s, those purveyors of fine foods
and wholesome values, who recently ran a Happy Meal promotion in which they
gave away toy Hummers.
Yes, the perfect marriage of pollution for the body and pollution for the
environment.
The irony that vehicle emissions-related illnesses, such as asthma, hit
children hardest as their developing bodies cannot cope with all those airborne
particles of nastiness is just lost on these guys.
* See ronaldmchummer.com and sierraclubplus.org/hummerdinger/
Gie’s Peace – Morag Balfour
Morag is a long term activist in the peace movement and is the SSP’s peace and disarmament spokesperson
Rise of raunch
I took a train journey at the weekend. I
was on my way to the wedding of a close friend. My train was delayed and
I missed my connection to
One young woman stepped off the train to smoke and then proceeded to flirt
with a guy in a shell suit (it was white and hadn’t seen a washing machine
for some time) and the train conductor, who I’d struggle to find even a
little attractive.
She wore skimpy shorts, a revealing top, high heels and some bling around
her neck.
I took a book on my travels, Female Chauvinist Pigs - Women and the Rise
of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy.
In it, she talks primarily about American women, but the parallels here
at home were numerous.
She spoke of the objectification and exploitation of women, by women. Some
of these women claimed to be in the feminist vanguard but were unable to
give a logical explanation of their practice other than ‘we can be like
men’.
It seems that the new ideal for many of these women were the plastic perfect
porn stars now seen in mainstream culture.
Levy makes mention that sexual abuse is a regular story in the early lives
of the majority of those in the sex industry.
Her discussions with young women of school age drew out some catastrophic
news about the state of our youth.
A person is valued if they are ‘hot’. One is expected to dress provocatively
to look hot. You can only judge how hot you are by the feedback given to
you by males you are attempting to turn on.
Some of these young people based their sense of self-worth solely on the
approval meted out by hormonally-raging teenage boys, and were engaging
in sexual activity that they neither wanted nor enjoyed in order to gain
this approval.
The evidence cited by Levy suggests that this behaviour is becoming the
norm, especially where abstinence-only sex education is being prescribed.
Little advice is being given to these young people that will actually help
them negotiate their way through the early stages of their developing sexuality.
The lassie I saw in the railway station looked fairly young. As I am now
an ‘old’ person, I thought she looked cold, rather than hot, and a little
bit vapid.
I wonder if she too now looks to strangers to give her the identity she
needs. What a waste.
Women ought to find out for themselves who they are. I fear that the Americanisation
of almost everything is too rife to withstand.
Sex is often casual - the cliched, but often unfairly termed, ‘way that
men do it’.
I don’t see this as liberation. We have the right, all of us, to meaningful
sexual encounters, where we choose to have them.
We have the right to feel good about who we are, no matter what we look like.
Girls have the right to grow up with age-appropriate clothing and age-appropriate
experiences of the world they inhabit. Our bodies are not a commodity available
for exploitation.
My goddaughter started school recently. She already has a strong sense of
self and I adore her.
I worry now that she will be crushed and manipulated into some horrid monster
none of us recognise.
Thankfully she has enough old-school feminists around who are very vigilant.
Others are not so lucky. We either defeat this cultural imperialism now
or face the death of ‘woman’ as some of us, at least,
still know her.
—page five—
letters page
Free school meals now!
Don’t take no for an answer when nation’s health is at stake
by Frances Curran, SSP West of
First Minister and former teacher Jack McConnell recently
got his ten-year report card from the Scottish Diet Action Plan on improving
the health of Scots.
He scored a bottom-of-the-class one out of ten.
Jack should be sent back to policy school for revision because some
of the answers to the question ‘how do you improve the health of children
and young people’ are easy-peasy.
Get them to eat healthy, nutritious food, and do this by introducing
free, healthy school dinners.
The Scottish Executive and Labour MSPs are childishly putting their
fingers in their ears and sticking their tongues out at the growing
evidence that free, healthy school meals works.
They should stop throwing their toys out of the pram, grow up and support
my Free Healthy School Meals bill which has huge support in Scotland
and which began its journey through the parliament on 28 September,
on its way to becoming a law if it gets a majority of MSPs to vote for
it.
Proof that it works and could help change the lives and health of our
children can be summed up in one word -
The foresight of Hull City Council puts to shame all the naysayers in
the Scottish Parliament.
Every day in
It’s enough to make a Health Tsar do a double back-flip in celebration.
How did they manage such a breakthrough, given that only 34 per cent
ate healthy meals two years ago?
Did they force-feed the little darlings broccoli and carrots?
Or administer intravenous doses of vitamins, and nutrients?
No. Nothing so drastic. They just introduced healthy, free school dinners
(and breakfasts and after-school snacks) for all primary school kids.
Kind of blows a great big polystyrene hole in the argument that ‘kids
won’t eat healthy meals, they’ll still go to the chippy’.
So, what would it cost the Scottish Parliament to introduce free school
meals throughout
Last year the Scottish Parliament underspend (money they fail to spend
in any given year) was £235million. In previous years it’s been much
higher - three times that amount in 2001.
So £74million is nothing to
A nation of kids who eat healthily will take their eating habits with
them into later life, and pass them on to their own children. Heart
disease and obesity levels will plummet, saving millions for the NHS.
For kids today, it will also mean higher concentration levels, higher
academic achievement, and less tantrums and less bad behaviour in class.
Holyrood has the chance to make Scots healthier and smarter for years
to come.
But first, its MSPs need to pass the free school meals bill...
Vox Pops
Neil Scott
As a long-term A supply teacher working in primary
schools in
Today’s world has meant parents across the social spectrum are struggling
to feed their children healthy, nutritious food.
This can be for reasons of deprivation, or because both parents work
and rely on the school to provide healthy food as well as input into
education for healthy eating and lifestyle. The reality of bringing
up children in today’s competitive world is made apparent in the classroom
when children cannot concentrate because they are full of sugar or are
hungry. In some schools I have been in, I have brought in breakfast
bars for children who, for whatever reason, have not had breakfast.
I see the differences in the concentration of the children when they
receive the free fruit supplied by Glasgow City Council.
People have said that there will be no uptake for healthy food. I beg
to differ. When fruit was first introduced into the classrooms a few
years back, the uptake was low.
Nowadays, children who refuse the fruit are few and far between. I think
the
It offers not only healthy food to all children, but also levels the
field of educational opportunity a fraction for those children who are
being left behind by today’s fast-food reliant society.
Mhairi McAlpine -
Mhairi lives in Govan, Glasgow, and is a mother to two boys. Her eldest
has just started primary school
The campaign for free, nutritious school meals is very important. It would increase the uptake of school dinners and reinforce the healthy eating messages, making sure all children get a good meal at least once a day, free from the pressures of the marketing and advertising of junk food that’s so heavily pitched at children and parents.
by Felicity Garvie
When the Scottish Socialist Party tried to get our
first Free School Meals Bill through Parliament four years ago, the
bill’s opponents complained that making healthy meals free would not
encourage school pupils take them. We had to look as far a field as
Scandinavia for evidence to the contrary, where in
In 2004 we brought the headteacher of a Finnish school to
When she was asked why her government decided to make meals free for
school children, the question left her bamboozled! To her it was just
obvious - if school meals are free for all, everyone takes them.
Now, with
There, a progressive, Labour-majority council decided to provide healthy
meals free in all primary schools, initially, for three years. Their
main motivation was the recognition that poor diet was seriously reducing
their children’s life expectancy, their attainment in school and their
chances of getting a good job in adult life.
Statistics showed that a child born in Kingston-upon-Hull was likely
to live 12 years less than one born in affluent
In November 2003 they phased in healthy meals in all their primary schools.
At first, the kids turned their noses up at the new dinners and uptake
dropped drastically, from 45 per cent to 36 per cent.
But when the dinners were made free in April 2004, uptake recovered.
Two years later, it has doubled, with 64 per cent of pupils taking their
free, healthy school dinner. In some primaries, where teachers have
actively bought into the council’s ‘Eat Well, Do Well’ programme, 98
per cent of kids eat the meals .
Make no mistake,
Choice isn’t really choice if we’re expecting young children to decide
between healthy and junk food, when they’re the targets of relentless,
aggressive advertising, peer pressure and they’re just not used to eating
vegetables.
It also removes the onus on parents to provide a packed lunch, most
of which, Jamie Oliver recently showed, are less than nutritionally
balanced. And it relieves hard-pressed parents of the need to give their
children dinner money, which takes up a substantial chunk o flow-waged
families’ income.
This is a major success story in the fight to combat our children’s
horrendously poor diets. It was done by Labour (yes, you read that right!)
councillors with vision and the courage of their convictions. It is
supported in
So why is the Scottish Executive steadfastly ignoring
It’s time to get up close and personal with your Labour MSP. Get a few
parents together with their kids and arrange to speak to your MSP about
school meals. Ask them if they’re aware of
Tell them that their vote next year depends on whether they are prepared
to support
And if they’re not, let them know you will be telling your community
about your little chat.
* To get the info and campaigning tools on the Free
School Meals bill, attend a seminar/workshop in the Scottish Parliament
on Saturday 4 November. A DVD from
—centre pages—
—page eight—
people not profit
Food for thought
Roz Paterson looks at international projects which have examined the impact of healthy eating in schools, and discovers that nutritious school meals can help transform life in the classroom, and the health of the whole population.
In 1997, the
The students, noted an incoming member of staff, were “rude, obnoxious
and out of control.”
The police had been called in several times, to deal with kids taking
drugs or in possession of guns.
Youngsters were dropping out, truanting, failing, and the teachers were
at their wits’ end.
Walk through the corridors now and you’ll be struck by how quiet the
place is during lessons, how cheerful the majority of students are.
Look closer.
Note too that there are no vending machines purveying Coca-Cola or 7-Up.
And no burgers or fries for sale in the canteen.
So what happened? Good, nutritious school dinners
is what happened.
In 1997, Natural Ovens of Minitowac, Wisconsin, who catered for state schools throughout
Wisconsin, kicked off a five year project designed to establish whether
good, fresh, nutritious food would lead to improvements in children’s
health, learning ability and behaviour.
Replacing the usual suspects, the greasy meats and chips, the fizzy
drinks and chocolate bars, were salads and vegetables, meat stews and
lean cuts, whole grain breads, fresh fruit and plentiful water.
Almost as soon as the programme began, the effects were noticeable.
Expulsion rates and drop-outs began to dwindle. Weapons and drugs violations,
and suicides, reduced to zero.
Teachers were astounded. Suddenly they didn’t have to spend their working
lives being disciplinarians; they could actually teach. And be more
ambitious in what they taught, as their pupils were taking it all in.
As for the students, they were calmer, more motivated, and happier.
One teacher noted how some teenagers, who had been on the fast-track
to juvenile detention, had turned themselves
around and become hard-working pupils.
Furthermore, said Deb Larson, the high school counsellor, as general
indiscipline went down, there was space to identify real problems.
“I don’t have the angry outbursts, so instead, we got to deal with the
real issues that were underlying and causing some of the problems in
the kids’ lives.”
Good food works like this... as they say on those hair ads, here’s the
science! The brain is an organ of the body. Like the liver or the heart,
it needs nutrients to work properly. It needs water, proteins, carbohydrates,
fats, vitamins and minerals.
The neurotransmitters which ferry signals to and from the brain need
amino acids to function; these are found in meat, fish and cheese.
To convert the amino acids into neurotransmitters, you need a diet rich
in vitamins and minerals, which means a diet as varied as you can manage,
including plenty of fresh fruit and veg, but also seeds, nuts, eggs, fish and pulses.
Fat is essential. In fact, half the brain is fat, as each neuron is
encased in fat molecules.
This fat layer helps conduct nerve impulses faster. It also regulates
circulation, inflammation, memory and mood. Thus a fat-free diet for
a growing child is a disaster.
Carbohydrates are essential too, as they give the brain energy.
Grains, fruit and veg contain carbohydrates
which break down to form the sugar glucose. They do so steadily and
slowly, which is important.
A sugar jag, from chocolate or coke, will give you an energy spike,
followed by a dip. Bad enough in adults but for youngsters, this can
lead to dizziness and confusion manifesting as a lethargic, distracted
attitude.
Finally, think water, think blood. Blood keeps everything moving and
working. It is 83 per cent water, so hydration throughout the day is
vital if you are to concentrate properly.
There has been plentiful research in this area, showing, for instance,
that iron deficiencies can lead to shortening of the attention span,
irritability, fatigue and poor concentration.
Low protein levels have been linked to poor exam results.
Said one teenage girl, “Now that I can concentrate, I think it is easier
to get along with people.”
Said Dr Thomas Scullon, supervisor of schools
in the district:
“It can take several years to make the transition. The program will
sell itself on its own merits, given the time.”
He continued: “I think instead of looking at the food program as a ‘break-even’
we have to take a look at what do we have to put in to make it really good for kids.
“If it results in a happier kid, improved learning and ultimately a
better community, then it’s a cost we cannot avoid. It’s something we
must do.”
School principal LeAnn Coenen agrees:
“I can’t buy the argument that it’s too costly for schools to provide
good nutrition for their students.
“I found that one cost will reduce another.
“I don’t have the vandalism. I don’t have the litter. I don’t have the
need for high security.
“We’ve got to stop using our most precious commodity - our kids - to
make extra money.”
How free school meals turned
round
School meals are free in
Thirty years ago,
The government realised that the problem could not be tackled with educational
material alone.
A major public intervention was required, and one of the most important
theatres of change was school.
School meals had been free since the late 1940s. But the North Karelia
Project, as this major public intervention was known, required that
they also be highly nutritious and made, as much as possible, from locally
sourced produce.
This dovetailed nicely with an initiative to downscale the nation’s
vast dairy industry, which was contributing to the heart and fat problem
by loading supermarket shelves, and therefore people’s tables, with
full-fat milk and cream and cheese.
The government paid farmers to switch to growing veg
and fruit, to ease the transition, and the nation’s eating habits began
to shift.
The government was thinking long-term.
School lunches in
Dr Pekka Puska, director general of the National Public Health Institute
of Finland and one of the founders of the North Karelia
Project, says that making school lunches free and of such a high nutritional
standard has enabled “(us) to bring about changes in what children eat
- ensuring that they eat a lot of vegetables - and this then gets back
to families.”
In 30 years, the percentage of overweight schoolchildren in
The number of premature deaths amongst working age people has dropped
82 per cent.
That didn’t happen through healthy eating helplines and a couple of Jamie Oliver TV specials.
—page nine—
voice mail
LETTERS
Protection for the environment
I was heartened to see Morag Balfour raise the subject of environmentally
friendly sanitary protection in the Voice (see issue 278).
In addition to washable towels, mooncups - which collect the blood rather
than absorbing it - are also environmentally friendly.
They can be ordered online from www.mooncup.co.uk/wc.php?u=340 with 20
per cent of the sale going to the SSP.
Mhairi McAlpine,Glasgow
We salute your democracy, equality and accountability!
On behalf of the Irish Socialist Network, I wish to express our
solidarity with the SSP at this challenging time. In recent years, the
SSP has been a source of encouragement to radical socialists who are working
to build new parties of the working class.
Like many, we are dismayed by recent attacks, both personal and political,
on SSP members. We are glad to see that the SSP has rebounded from recent
setbacks, to continue challenging capitalism in
While closely following the development of the SSP, we have never tried
to slavishly follow a particular model, and we know the comrades in the
SSP respect the right of socialists in different countries to chart their
own road towards liberation. True internationalism is based on an equal
cooperation and respect between parties, not dictation from distant ‘centres’
or instructions from all-powerful leaders.
As a participatory, democratic and revolutionary socialist organisation,
we share with the SSP an anti-war, anti-imperialist outlook firmly grounded
in class politics and a commitment to working class unity.
We salute your firm stand in favour of internal democracy, equality, and
accountability. Our mutual commitment to principle is not the same as
dogmatism and we know that all of us must learn new ways of organising,
including a commitment to participatory educational processes and democratic
structures.
We look forward to working with comrades in the SSP, and throughout the
world, in building societies controlled from top to bottom by working
people.
Paul Moloney, National Secretary,
Irish Socialist Network, Dublin
* www.irishsocialist.net
New Ideas – voices from the SSY
Lynsey MacGregor
At this moment in time, the Scottish Catholic Education
Service (SCES) are preparing to roll out their ‘Called to Love’ pilot
in Scottish high schools.
According to the SCES website, sex education should have some core principles.
These include the sanctity of human life; the virtues of modesty and chastity;
the importance of marriage and the family and the value of abstinence
outside marriage.
It’s all written in nice flowery language, but let’s be honest about what
these core principles mean for school students. It means getting anti-abortion,
heterosexist sex education that reinforces traditional gender roles and
promotes heterosexual marriage as the absolute pinnacle of relationships.
This isn’t guesswork; abstinence only sex education programs are already
going on in the
In one school, classes were divided by sex and sent to different rooms.
The young women were sat down in a circle and had a rose handed to them.
They were told to pull a petal from the rose and pass it around the circle.
Eventually it got to the end and had been stripped bare.
The reason for making them do this? Well, as
the ‘educator’ told them, that’s what happens to you every time you have
sex with someone outside of marriage - they’re taking a part of you away
that you can never get back.
If you sleep with too many people, then nobody will ever want to marry
you and your relationships will always be worthless.
As well as being full of nonsensical misogyny like this, the projects
have been an utter failure. In many schools where this style of sex ‘education’
is used, the rate of unwanted pregnancies has actually risen!
The SSY Women’s Group believe that denying young people truly informative
sex education that is free of bigotry and sexist bias is utterly irresponsible,
as well as being tantamount to sticking your head in the sand.
Whether the SCES like it or not, young people will have sex. They need
to be properly informed about methods of contraception; how to protect
themselves against Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and what their
reproductive rights are.
We want to see sex education being given from a young age in state schools.
We want sex education that recognises women’s right to bodily autonomy
and does not attempt to make women feel guilty about having abortions.
We want sex education where all relationships are given equal respect
so students will no longer have to deal with the underlying homophobia
that leads to so many LGBT young people leaving school without having
had decent sex education.
AAbstinence only education projects are an utterly irresponsible and useless
approach to sex education which, if adopted on a wider scale, will only
result in a generation of uninformed young people and rising rates of
STIs and unwanted pregnancies.
SSY will not stand idly by and let young people be failed by their schools.
We are producing and distributing ‘reproductive rights cards’.
The cards are a handy size, well designed and give young women vital information
about their rights to contraception, abortion and sexual health services.
Soon we will have fuller information packs ready.
If the schools wont get young women informed,
the SSY Women’s Group will. We will actively counter the ‘Called To
Love’ project with information, real education and feminist, socialist
action.
Speakers unite against Apartheid Wall
Since 2002
However, the construction of this ‘barrier’ might very well prevent any
remaining chance of Palestinian self determination and meaningful peace.
Its construction constitutes collective punishment against all Palestinians
and a transparent land grab, as it cuts its way through Palestinian farmland
and communities.
The International Court of Justice at
Sarah Assouline and Saif Abukeshek are an Israeli and a Palestinian who
have dedicated themselves to the popular struggle against the wall.
They arrive in
They are speaking together as partners in this struggle and in the larger
struggle against Palestinian dispossession.
For several years, AATW has participated in direct action and demonstrations
against the wall. The principle that guides the activities of AATW is
that of taking part only in joint struggles led by Palestinians.
AATW activists have destroyed parts of the wall, forced open gates in
the wall and removed road blocks. They marched together with Palestinians
to their lands and stood in front of bulldozers with farmers whose olive
trees were threatened.
Their contribution to the struggle has been recognised by all those involved.
The group’s work has also been recognised by the Israeli authorities,
who have rewarded it with violent repression, hundreds of arrests and
about 40 indictments.
The legal costs of defending these charges are around $20,000 and counting.
AATW is now seeking the support of communities and organisations in
* Public meetings in Glasgow and Edinburgh
Friday 29 September, 7.30pm, Lecture Theatre A,
Saturday 30 September, 4pm,
Admission £2 at both venues
—page ten—
international news
UN official: ‘Torture worse now than under Saddam’
A senior United Nations (UN) official has said that
incidences of torture in
“The situation as far as torture is concerned now in
Now, says the UN’s Manfred Nowak, abuses are being committed by security
forces, militia groups and anti-US insurgents.
The human rights office of the UN Assistance Mission in
Such wounds confirm reports given by Iraqi refugees, said Mr Nowak. “The
situation is so bad,” he said, “many people say it is worse than it has
been in the times of Saddam Hussein.”
Detainees’ bodies frequently show signs of beating using electrical cables,
wounds in heads and genitals, broken bones (back, legs and hands), electric
and cigarette burns, the UN report states.
Outside
The UN report goes on to say that bodies at the
Countless bodies have missing skin, missing eyes, missing teeth and wounds
caused by power drills or nails. Those not killed by these abuses are
shot in the head.
The UN report says victims come from prisons run by US-led multinational
forces as well as by the ministries of interior and defence and private
militias.
The report also states that the regularity of sectarian violence in
The report concludes that torture endangers “the very fabric of the country”
as victims take their own revenge, adding to the cycle of violence.
Mr Nowak based his information on autopsies and interviews with Iraqis
in neighbouring
One former Iraqi government minister told The Independent that some ministers
have never even been to their ministries “but get their officials to bring
documents to the Green Zone where they sign them”.
UN report on civilian casualties in
*
* 3,590 reported civilian deaths in
* More than 100 deaths a day in
* Initial US military claims of a ‘dramatic drop’ in fatalities revised
upwards because figures for people killed by bombs, mortars, rockets and
other mass attacks were omitted
* 300,000 people displaced in
* UN’s figures likely to be ‘on the low side’ because of difficulties
of collecting accurate figures
Oxfam report on global military spending
* Global military spending expected to hit $1.06trillion
(£840billion) this year, topping the record set during the Cold War era
* Arms sales ‘fuel and lengthen’ conflicts
* ‘It is time the world stemmed the uncontrolled flood of weapons into
the world’s war zones’
* 192-nation UN General Assembly expected to vote next month on whether
to draft treaty banning arms sales to those intent on genocide, human rights abuses or UN arms embargo
violations
Next time you buy a can of Coke, think on this. Some
of the profits you help to generate are used to pursue legal actions,
such as the recent (successful) attempt to overturn the Coca-Cola ban
in
The ban came into effect only in August this year, following confirmation
by the NGO the Centre for Science and Environment, in Dehli,
that the Coke sold in this region was contaminated with harmful pesticides.
Tests on 57 samples from 11 Coca-Cola products found pesticide residues
were 24 times higher than the legal safe limit set by the Indian government.
The toxins are believed to enter the products through contaminated groundwater
used in their manufacture.
The pesticides could, if ingested over a long period of time, cause cancer,
damage to the central nervous system, birth defects and disruption of
the immune system.
Other Indian states have banned Coca-Cola - and Pepsi - from schools,
colleges and hospitals, but the Kerala government
is the only one to have imposed a state-wide ban, ensuring that Coke is
not available anywhere.
Predictably, Coca-Cola, famed for its aggressive marketing, were
having none of it - and the court, this time, agreed. Coca-Cola claims
that, in banning their product, the state government was acting outside
its remit as only the national government has the power to ban foodstuffs.
The company also insists that its products are safe and, John Gummer-style,
that “our families and friends” drink it.
Events:
Fife Spanish Civil War commemorations
Music night: 27 Sept, 7-10pm at Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy;
Memorabilia display: 27 Sept until 8 October, Adam Smith Theatre;
Film night: 3 Oct, Adam Smith Theatre, 7pm. Ken Loach’s
Land and Freedom;
Spanish Civil War memorial re-dedication ceremony: 7 Oct, 11am. Assemble
at Kirkcaldy Town House.
—page eleven—
international news
Referendum votes for toughest asylum laws in Western world
by Roz Paterson
The supposedly neutral nation, home to humanitarian agencies including
the Red Cross and the UN refugee agency UNHCR, now has one of the
toughest immigration and asylum laws in the Western world.
The new law also denies financial assistance to failed asylum-seekers,
and detention of up to 24 months for those who refuse to leave.
Further, migrants from within the EU are also hit hard, as only those
with professional skills will be granted work permits.
Right-wing justice minister Cristoph Blocher led the charge, claiming
the harsh new legislation was needed to stem ‘abuse’ of the system.
Though passed by parliament, opponents to the law, including socialists,
aid agencies and church groups, managed to muster enough signatures
to force a national vote. But the Fortress Europe mentality, bolstered
by fraudulent scare stories of cultures being ‘swamped’ and welfare
systems ransacked, proved too strong a foe.
In ratifying the legislation,
The UNHCR, which is based in Geneva, were ‘disappointed’ by Sunday’s
vote, saying that the passport requirement, for instance, is a blunt
instrument that will harm those genuinely fleeing persecution, as
many actually destroy their ID papers in order to escape, and contacting
their home government for confirmation of identity can be a dangerous
business.
“The law is racist and xenophobic. It is horrible... [and] a violation
of human rights,” says Jean Ziegler, UN Special Rapporteur on food
and a Swiss national himself.
“These laws practically abolish the right to asylum and the right
to immigration by people who aren’t doctors or nuclear physicists.
I am Swiss and it is an embarrassment.”
Fortress
In the
The act also extends and consolidates the inefficient and stigmatising
voucher system for failed asylum-seekers who are, incongruously enough,
unable to return home safely.
The Terrorism Act 2006 also has implications for asylum-seekers in
its ‘glorification’ of terrorism clause, which could result in people
legitimately opposing despotic regimes being excluded from the asylum
process. The New Asylum Model, which includes the provision of a case
owner to each asylum case, is designed, says the Refugee Council,
simply to improve speed rather than accuracy in the asylum process.
And finally, the Memoranda of Understanding, which the
Other nations are joining the anti-asylum bandwagon.
Decisions are reached within two weeks and those who fail are usually
deported before their appeals are heard.
In 2005, legislation came into force allowing asylum-seekers to be
detained as a matter of course, for up to 60 days, in ‘Identification
Centres’, where poor standards of hygiene and healthcare, and physical
abuse, are rife.
Welcome to the new
Native Australians win hunting rights
Native Australians have won hunting and fishing
rights in the state capital of
The Nyoonga are the first indigenous people to win title of a state
capital and it has set a precedent for further rulings in other urban
conurbations, notably Sydney and Melbourne.
But the local and federal governments seem intent on launching an
appeal. Prime Minister John Howard, an ally of Tony Blair’s over the
war on
This native title, say right-wingers, could mean people being charged
for the use of parks and waterways.
“This really could have quite profound and significant implications
and change our way of life,” insists state senator Alan Eggleston,
a member of the Liberal party. In fact, the ruling means that the
Nyoonga people can use the land, 6000 square kilometres including
Furthermore, with regards to Mr Egglestone’s statement, Glen Kelly,
head of the South West Aboriginal Council, says the Nyoonga would
seek a say in the management of parks and state forests, but that
“in general, life will go on as it currently is.” The Nyoonga won
the title because they were able, incredibly, to prove that there
remains a “continuing Nyoonga law and culture, which is understood,
which still binds them to the country, and which regulates their relationships,”
according to Fred Chaney, deputy chair of the National Native Title
Tribunal. He continues: “It’s an amazing example of cultural survival
under extremely adverse circumstances.” The Nyoonga, from the dawn
of European settlement in the 18th century, have been shifted around,
exploited, killed, imprisoned, and torn apart from their families.
The very basis of Nyoonga culture is a respect and reverence for
the land the lived on.
European settlement began the process of severing them from the land,
through land appropriations, and the imposition of British law. A
British law under which they had rather fewer rights than whites.
For over a century, thousands of Nyoonga were herded into penal colonies,
or state-run ‘concentration camps’ such as Moore River Native Settlement,
135 kilometres north of Perth, and the subject of the film Rabbit-Proof
Fence.
Furthermore, between 10 and 25 per cent of Nyoonga children were taken
away from their parents and forcibly adopted, in a bid to ‘breed out’
the black blood. This was based on the belief that Europeans were
simply a more advanced version of indigenous peoples such as native
Australians, and thus it was just a matter of ‘encouraging’ mixed
marriages to fast-track the uncivilised genes out the human system.
The ‘stolen generation’, as this abduction of children became known,
remains the subject of enormous rage and anger. Many families have
never recovered, many communities remain shattered, and many children,
scattered as far afield as orphanages in
Laughter and applause at UN as Chavez brands George Bush ‘Devil’
by Wullie McGartland
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez compared George
W Bush to the devil and accused him of trying to impose “dictatorship”
on the world, in a speech to the United Nations (UN).
The day before President Chavez’s speech, Bush had also addressed
the UN. The Venezuelan leader denounced George W’s appearance.
“The Devil came here yesterday,” he said, to laughter and applause.
“Yesterday The Devil was here, in this very place. This table from
where I speak still smells like sulfur. Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen,
in this same hall, the President of the
He added: “As the spokesperson for Imperialism, [Bush] came to give
us his recipes for maintaining the current scheme of domination, exploitation
and pillage of the world’s people.”
President Chavez, who brandished a copy of American writer Noam Chomsky’s
Hegemony or Survival:
“It wants to impose its model of exploitation and plundering and its
hegemony upon us under threat of war... The people want peace, and
what is happening in
“[Bush] spoke to the people of
“The bombs in
Chavez urged all present to read Chomsky’s book - it seemed to work
as two days later it went to the top of Amazon.com’s best seller list.
Chavez upset the
He had told the
“We don’t accept the kind of development the International Monetary
Fund and World Bank want to push on us,” Chavez said.
—page twelve—
Thousands march against warmongers
Around 50,000 people descended on
The Time To Go demo attracted activists from
across the country and all kinds of organisations and none, from Muslim
associations to youth groups to socialists to trades unions.
The march began at 2pm on an unseasonably warm, early autumn afternoon
in
The contrast between the spontaneous show of spirit and human solidarity
on the streets and the stage-managed fakery within the conference confines
could not have been more pronounced.
Rose Gentle, whose 19 year old son Gordon was killed in
At this point the noise from the already lively crowd grew to a crescendo.
But if the Labour hacks were listening, that would be a first.
Shoppers along the route stopped to watch the endless stream of people
pass by, and clap and shout encouragement. This was the biggest protest
demonstration the city has seen in over a century.
The march then proceeded to Deansgate for a mass ‘die-in’ to symbolise the untold numbers
of dead in
Amongst the protestors were the pall-bearers of a coffin containing a
grim reaper wearing a Tony Blair mask. Another,
protestor, dressed as a butcher, brandished a placard denouncing George
Bush, the Butcher of Baghdad.
Now that the incidence of torture, human degradation and death within
The rally included contributions from veteran (and former) Labour MP Tony
Benn, a staunch opponent of the war, Craig Murray, the former British
ambassador to Uzbekistan, and Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, the
medical journal which published the report stating that 100,000 civilians
had been killed in Iraq as a result of the US-led invasion.
Jimmy Scott, a firefighter from Maryhill, travelled
down from
“All different kinds of people came, and we were entertained all the way
by a group of kids who taught us Urdu. We learnt to say hello and count
from one to 33. I’ve no idea why we stopped at 33!”
On arrival, the mosques of
However, at the rally, Jimmy noted how many different socialist organisations
were represented, “all saying virtually the same thing.”
It made him realise, he said, “why voters get so confused and why uniting
the left into the SSP was so important.
“I think it was important too that we were there, to show that the SSP
is alive and kicking and still fighting.”
Jack Ferguson, co-organiser of Scottish Socialist Youth (SSY), was also
there.
“It was an impressive march, with people having come from all over
“But I was dead pleased to see that there were other things going on as
well, that the Manchester contingent had organised events for the whole
week, including a rally of resistance, socials, a Palestinian solidarity
meeting - all making the link between opposition to war and the defence
of public services, the rights of asylum-seekers and the case for council
housing.
“Socialists and grassroots activists had thought beyond the march, which
was great, because you can only go to so many marches and hear the same
chants and the same songs.”
Carolina Perez, from
“There were lots of community groups, fighting to keep maternity services
open, for more money to be spent on public services rather than on wars,
and for better council housing.
“There were also loads of trades unions banners and placards from groups
like Hands Off Venezuela.
“There was a lot of local support, and support from towns and communities
all across the country.”
Families on peace manoeuvres
by Jack Ferguson
In the days running up to the start of the Labour Party
conference Military Families Against the War
mounted a controversial and colourful protest against a government that
had sent their children to die for a lie.
The idea was that Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was killed by a roadside
bomb in
But Manchester City Council, supposedly the administrators of a ‘City
for Peace’, had other ideas and tried to ban the camp. Unfortunately for
them MFAW would not be moved, declaring they would come anyway and set
up camp.
The council were faced with a barrage of bad publicity, and even the police
were trying to distance themselves from what was clearly a political decision,
despite the council’s claims it was about health and safety.
After all the publicity and a flurry of emails from anti-war activists
demanding MFAW were given their right to peaceful protest, the council
were forced to back down.
Commenting on the decision, Rose Gentle said: “I think it’s because they
came under so much pressure. We wrote to them asking for a compromise,
and in the end we met them and were offered the peace gardens, on the
other side of the town hall from
“Since then the people of
I took part in the camp on Thursday night, and found it an interesting
and eye opening experience. It was really good to get a chat with parents
from across the UK who are part of MFAW, hear about their experiences
in the campaign and how they think we can step up the fight against the
occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It was also great to meet grassroots
anti war activists from
Interacting with the people who were curious about what people were doing
with tents in the centre was also important. Late into Thursday night
a young guy who had been on a night out came up and congratulated the
campaigners on their stance. He then told us he was on leave from
While his attitude was as a soldier he would do what he was told, it was
still eye opening to hear his views on the situation there. He said it
was a terrible place to be, and nobody understood what they were doing
there. He was stationed further north than most of the fighting, and showed
us pictures of their camp and its ruined surroundings on a digital camera.
He also really disliked the American troops and their attitude to others.
I asked Rose about what the camp was all about, and pointing to Tony Blair’s
hotel, she answered:
“We want to ask Tony Blair while he’s in
When I asked her about what MFAW planned next and how folk in
“We want to get a meeting of military families up in
* www.mfaw.org.uk