Scottish Socialist Voice
Issue 316
23rd November 2007
front page
You Can Bank On The Poor Getting Screwed
Fat Cats Purr while Farepak savers freeze
NOT so much a tale of two cities as a tale of two classes
- that’s the brutal verdict on the treatment handed out to those hit by
the Northern Rock crisis and those ripped off in the Farepak
scandal.
Northern Rock savers have government guarantees that, whatever happens,
their cash will be safe. So far New Labour has pumped an eye watering £24billion
into the failed bank - close to £900 for every man, women and child in the
In contrast
And despite increasingly desperate attempts to sell it off, it is clear
that city fat cats will drive a hard bargain with any return of public money
from Northern Rock.
Indeed so bad is the reality of the Northern Rock crisis that even the pro-market
Liberal Democrats have demanded that it be nationalised to protect the vast
sums of public money poured into its leaky coffers.
In contrast the average loss by the hard-pressed Farepak
customers was £400, plus a crap Christmas, with the total cost of the collapse
put at £50million.
Humbug
However, not for them a parade of New Labour bosses offering to
insure them against any loss no matter how big, but a Scrooge-style ‘bah
humbug’ dismissal of their plight.
No doubt Darling and Brown will put on their best statesmen faces and gravely
explain why it is vital to save Northern Rock to protect ‘British banking’.
But the truth is that shareholders will be saved while Farepak
savers are told to get lost.
Indeed it would be difficult to invent a clearer example of the total abandonment
of its traditional supporters by the pro-market, exsocialists
on the Labour front bench.
For a year savers with Farepak have asked the
key questions - where did our money go, and can we have it back? The response
of New Labour has been confined to pious hand wringing.
The lesson is clear. New Labour is a 100 per cent-owned subsidiary of big
business, and dances to its tune only.
So for postal workers, care workers, Farepak savers, pensioners, NHS patients and thousands of
others, the message is the same - whatever you want, it’s too expensive
and you can’t have it.
But flog a few rip-off PFI schools or mismanage a major bank and need mega
millions, then Alistair will be your Darling and his cheque book smilingly
produced.
page two
New Labour In Meltdown
IN
The stunning revelation that two CDs containing personal data on 25
million people have been lost by the revenue department has sparked
a tidal wave of public anger.
There is real concern that the sensitive information could be used by
criminals, fraudsters and people traffickers to steal identities.
That such key data could be sent, unregistered, in the department’s
mail is bad enough but reports that this was because an official refused
to sanction the £10 registration charge is mind-blowing.
It can safely be predicted that in all the media outrage and political
froth little will be said about the fundamental cause of the crisis.
Make no mistake about it – the culprit is known, as is his whereabouts.
He is none other than Gordon Brown, late Chancellor now Prime Minister,
of
Brown, despite being considered by some misguided souls as a left winger,
has made a political career out of hard-nosed, anti-working class politics
and hostility to trade unions.
In the case of the revenue this saw him crowing about the number of
office closures and sackings he could achieve with this Labour – yes
Labour - Prime Minister demanding 25,000 jobs be axed in the department.
Now it’s a hallmark of the deceitful politics of New Labour that it
harnesses tabloid myths and turns them into policies.
That’s why we are told of wars on the supposed work shy with ‘sick note
The 25 million loss blows a huge hole in the Labour lie that 25,000
revenue workers are doing little or no work and can be sacked without
consequences.
Brown and his hapless sidekick Darling are victims of their own ruthless
cuts agenda which has cost jobs, damaged services and created a climate
of penny pinching which has caused the data disaster.
However it would be a bad ideafor either of the guilty pair to expect
solace at home in
Nowhere is the New Labour myth melting more rapidly than in their one
time Caledonian fortress where they are still reeling from the hammer
blow of the May election defeat.
The supposed super brain leader Wendy Alexander has presided over a
series of crises and consistently failed to land a blow on Salmond.
Top bureaucrat, general secretary Lesley Quinn, was forced to walk the
plank last week in what was widely seen as carrying the can for the
May debacle.
Hardly was the ink dry on her P45 than another top luminary resigned
in disgrace after aiming a foul mouthed outburst at First minister Salmond
at a politician awards bash.
Matthew Marr’s drunken outburst probably put into words what his smart
suited colleagues thought of Salmond with his four-letter adjective.
After all he has ended Labour’s divine right to rule in
Marr is the second New Labour spin-doctor in recent weeks to quit from
the difficult task of turning the thoughts of Wendy into understandable
copy for
Ironically the drama was played out at the same plush
Against this forlorn background brave talk about a pan unionist alliance
to take on the SNP needs to be taken with a shovel of salt.
Tories turning up the heat on Westminster Labour are unlikely to be
inclined to throw Wendy a lifebelt. Expect concessions from Salmond
to silence them.
The squabbling LibDems are rapidly digging themselves deeper into a
hole and seem to think universities can be funded by flogging off Scottish
Water.
In
The supermodel and the global financial crash
GIVEN that Northern Rock’s problems are a direct result
of banks refusing to lend money in the wake of the so-called sub prime
crisis in the
This has seen the dollar plummet in value, oil prices soar and panic
grip the world stock markets.
One interesting straw in this wind has been the financial decisions
of one Gisele Bundchon.
Who she?
Gisele is a Brazilian supermodel and is the public face of such leading
brands as Givenchy, Dior, Zara and Dolce and Gabbana.
It goes without saying that she is an extremely wealthy woman, and pretty
hard headed with it.
So her demand that her first half year fees of $30million in 2007 be
paid to her not in greenbacks but in Euros eloquently spotlights the
depth of the crisis facing the once almighty dollar.
The supermodel’s demand comes as pressure mounts for more interest rate
cuts to stave off the crisis, which has seen petrol cross the £1 a litre
mark and
There is also growing demands for oil to cease being priced in dollars
and switched to Euros - a demand floated by both
Overall you could be forgiven for trusting the views of Gisele over
Darling and Brown.
Indeed maybe it’s time they paid less attention to the sombre Financial
Times and turned to the pages of Vogue for policy advice.
Post Office Anger
THE latest round of post office closures, announced
in October, has been a cut too far for communities across
The Post Office argue that the closures are necessary to create a “stable”
network of branches, claiming the branches earmarked for closure are
underused.
All over, people shake their heads in bewilderment, as they yet again
queue for 15 minutes in an ‘underused’ post office.
The deadline for objections to closures is 3 December, so if you’re
affected let the Post Office know you want your local branch to stay
open by emailing consultation@postoffice.co.uk
page three
ID Cards dealt blow
WESTMINSTER government tough talk about
‘crackdowns’ on terrorism with major extensions on the time that suspects
can be held without charge are in deep trouble.
The normally docile House of Commons inflicted a rare defeat on former
Prime Minister Blair when it threw out his plan to extend the period
for uncharged detention from 28 to 90 days.
As part of his projection of a tough guy image Gordon Brown has signalled
that he intends to force through plans to extend the 28-day limit despite
the opposition of the Tories, Liberal Democrats and many Labour MPs.
But his plans have suffered a twin setback with both former attorney
general Lord Goldsmith and Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald
attacking the proposals.
Rebuff
Giving evidence to the home affairs select committee’s inquiry
into the need for stronger anti-terror laws, Lord Goldsmith said that
he had seen no evidence to justify going beyond 28 days.
And in what amounts to a stinging rebuff for Brown, the peer, who left
the government in the summer, also said that he had privately opposed
former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s attempts to introduce a 90- day limit.
Stunningly Lord Goldsmith said that he would have quit had they been
approved by Parliament.
“I am sure the reasons for making proposals are based on a genuine belief
that it is the right thing to do in protecting the country,” he told
MPs.
“I do not take the view that, if the proposal was to extend to 56 days,
that is justified by the evidence.”
Despite the carefully crafted lawyer’s language the former top government
lawyer’s defence of civil liberties reflects widespread concern at New
Labour’s authoritarian slide and is a major blow to their plans.
Then in a move which rubbed salt into the wound
Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald attacked the proposals.
Sir Ken told the same committee in a very thinly veiled rejection of
the 56 day proposal that the Crown Prosecution Service “are satisfied
with the position as it stands at the moment.”
This means that the move has been rejected by both the former top legal
adviser to the government and the man who is in charge of prosecuting
supposed terrorists.
Adding to Brown’s woes, Labour MP Martin Salter attacked
Secret
The MI5 director-general instead gave a behind closed- doors
briefing to committee members on Wednesday in what was clearly a desperate
attempt to shore up the crumbling case for longer detention times. The
appearance of the Brit’s top spook at the secret meeting follows his
highly publicised speech about extremists targeting children for terrorism.
Human rights group
“Lord Goldsmith is the new Prime Minister’s citizenship tsar, while
Ken Macdonald is responsible for bringing terror suspects to trial.
“If neither is persuaded of the case for extension, why should Members
of Parliament take a leap of faith?” she asked
ID cards
Meanwhile the other leg of Brown’s programme of spying, the
introduction of ID cards, looks likely to be a casualty of the wave
of anger sparked by the loss of personal data on 25million people by
the revenue department.
The loss blows a gaping hole in soothing New Labour assurances that
the public’s personal data is safe in their hands with the revenue debacle
dramatically proving such assurances worthless.
There is already heavy opposition to the plan on both civil liberties
and cost grounds and the current debacle is certain to harden and increase
opposition to ID cards.
As Brown contemplates a sea of troubles on Northern Rock, identity theft
and a range of other issues he will need to think carefully which battles
are worth fighting.
Taking on Tories, LibDems, Nationalists and increasing numbers of demoralised
New Labour MPs might just be an ID card too far.
Time For Women To Stop Fearing The Night
Women’s Voice
Pam Currie
YESTERDAY a newspaper billboard stopped
me in my tracks outside Central Station. “Body in garden is Vicky Hamilton”,
it read.
Another day, another dead girl - given the high-profile Angelika Kluk
murder trial last year, this case will no doubt hold the media spotlight
for a few days or weeks before slipping back down the news agenda.
I didn’t know Vicky Hamilton, but that doesn’t matter now. She’s lain
dead for over a decade, buried in an unmarked grave hundreds of miles
from the
Vicky was the same age as me and we grew up some 20 miles apart, in
similar small towns in the East of Scotland.
It could have been me standing at a bus stop that evening, eating chips.
It could have been my sister, it could have been any one of my school
friends.
It didn’t matter - she was simply a nameless, faceless young woman.
Any young woman would do.
After her disappearance, the family and police ran a high profile appeal
for information.
Vicky’s face appeared on posters, on leaflets in the hairdressers, on
milk cartons.
A stark warning to girls and women in Bathgate, in Bonnyrigg, anywhere
- you’re not safe.
Stay at home. Don’t talk to strangers. These streets are not your streets.
This case, of course, will have a particularly salacious appeal to the
media - an innocent schoolgirl, pictured immaculate in her uniform -
an evil paedo, the ‘bad man’ we had already learned to fear.
But the bottom line is that we live in a society where, as Susan Brownmiller
wrote in her seminal book on rape in 1975, “all men keep all women in
a state of fear”.
We live in a society where, despite the revulsion we feel for men like
Tobin, men’s violence against women is normalized and accepted as inevitable.
Murders like Vicky Hamilton’s will attract media coverage because she
fits the profile of a ‘good’ victim.
If she was Black, or a sex worker, or hitch-hiking, or in some way ‘asking
for it’, then it would be a different story.
Ditto the respectable family man who beats his wife and abuses his daughters
- he’s not the bogeyman hiding in the park, to be profiled on Crimewatch
and splashed across the tabloids.
Strip away the media spin and it’s the same story: man murders woman.
Not, as David Cameron would have us believe, because of the ‘moral slide’
of society, but because we live in a patriarchal society where unequal
power relations are about more than just class relations - they are
about men’s power over women.
That’s a problem that can’t ever be solved by simply locking up the
‘bad’ men, or even bringing back the death penalty.
It’s a problem that needs a transformation of society - so that women
are as free to stand at bus stops at night as men are; so that for once
in our lives, we can be free from fear.
page four
Save a cow and save the planet
Should we all go veggie to tackle climate change ?
CHRISTIAN Aid’s Cut the Carbon campaign has brought
to the fore one of the most serious implications of climate change.
Namely, that however bad it gets for us here in the (relatively) rich
west, things will be infinitely worse for those in poorer, already struggling
nations and communities.
Climate change is already wreaking havoc in areas, and on populations,
that are least equipped to deal with it. That is, in developing countries
where healthcare is sparse, clean water is a luxury, drought and flooding
are commonplace, and poverty rife.
Some 150,000 people die every year, not here but there, from diseases
that are flourishing as a result of global warming.
Malaria is one such. It thrives on the warmer, wetter conditions that
have become a signature of climate change, and is now encroaching into
pastures new, including the once cool highland areas of
By century’s end, 182 million could be dead from diseases as a direct
result of climate change.
Rising sea levels, caused by melting ice caps and glaciers, will also
devastate populations, displacing hundreds of millions of people in
Asia and
By 2100, for instance, predicted ocean rises threaten to submerge 18
per cent of
Ironically, water will become chronically short.
Disappearing glaciers - and once they’re gone, they don’t come back
– threaten vast regions of Asia and South America which depend on snow
and glacier melt for fresh water, while in Africa, drought has blighted
whole regions for years now, decades in some places, with no prospect
of replenishing rainfall ever returning.
Extreme weather events, another hallmark of climate change, will also
cause turmoil, including more hurricanes on the scale of 2005’s Katrina,
that almost wiped
Christian Aid wants the west to cut the carbon, and fast. To the tune
of 80 per cent by 2050, at a rate of at least five per cent a year.
The campaigning charity also seeks for it to be made mandatory for
Not bad, eh?
So why then is Animal Aid, a Kent-based charity dedicated to stamping
out animal abuse, turning up at Cut the Carbon rallies with banners
calling on Christian Aid to ‘Cut the Crap’?
Well, because of the animals.
Animal Aid’s beef is with livestock farming, one of the biggest contributors
to global warming through its noxious by-product, methane.
Yep, the stuff farted from cow’s intestines is a serious threat to our
atmosphere, being 21 times more potent, in terms of global warming,
than carbon dioxide.
Methane is also released through coal-mining and landfill, but livestock
farming is by far the biggest source, accounting for 100 million tons
parping out into the atmosphere every year.
Since 1850, roughly the pre-industrialisation cut-off point, levels
of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have rise by 28 per cent.
But methane levels have risen by 112 per cent.
It’s not just because there are millions more of us eating. There are
also millions more of us eating more meat, and animal byproducts, from
prime steak to cheap sausages, freshly churned butter to processed cheese
string.
It has been estimated by Dr. James Hansen, a longterm campaigner against
global warming, and NASA’s leading climate scientist, that methane emissions
may account for as much as half observed climate change.
Not, he is clear, that carbon dioxide isn’t dangerous and isn’t something
with which we must deal, radically and quickly.
But methane is the ultimate stealth gas, and it’s time we woke up to
its destructive power
The solution, of course, is blinding in its simplicity, involves little
pain and would, in fact, make us healthier and happier. We should ditch
the meat and animal by-products and opt for a vegetarian/vegan diet.
If we don’t eat it, they don’t rear it. And livestock farms can be converted
to arable farming a lot more easily than carbon economies to non-carbon
ones.
Furthermore, methane cycles in the atmosphere typically last around
8 years, while carbon dioxide cycles take over a century to clear.
Which means that, were we to radically reduce our methane emissions
through eschewing the produces of livestock farming, we could actually
see results, in terms of global cooling, quite quickly.
Of course, Christian Aid is not the only organisation to have failed
to pick up on the implications of livestock farming on our atmosphere.
What incenses Animal Aid is not just that they overlook it, but that
they also, in fact, promote animal husbandry through their Send a Cow
gift scheme.
This isn’t just bad news in the grand scheme of things, it’s bad locally
too.
Grazing livestock impoverishes land, rendering it not only unsuitable
for future pasture or cultivation, but stripping it of vegetation to
such an extent that rainfall simply runs off the soil, causing erosion
and a drop in the water table.
Surely communities trying to survive on already drought-threatened land
would be better served through initiatives promoting the cultivation
of crops to feed people directly, through treeplanting to harbour water
and stave off erosion, through water management schemes, healthcare
and education?
Meat is an intense agricultural product in an age and climate when we
need, above all things, to bring a halt to our resource squandering.
On 8 December, Animal Aid will be attending the National Climate March
in
Meantime, we could all do a lot worse than invest in some veggie burgers.
page five
Break up of
Turkish forces cross the border as a regular occurrence in their pursuit of
the PKK, Kurdish Peoples Party, with the objective of crushing their demands
for self-identity.
The intensity of this war has only recently hit the headlines but is indicative
of the spiralling crisis which is known as
The Kurds’ demands for a separate nation state poses directly the right to self-determination
in
A state dominated in the northern region by right wing forces, such as the PUK
and KPD, who work hand in hand with the
In the battle of ideas the left requires to place demands upon this autonomous
area and at the same time do likewise with its NATO neighbour.
For ourselves, there are similar questions. Do we support the breakup of
John Miller, Cumbernauld
Thanks
I would like to express our appreciation for the fine article by Ken
Ferguson titled ‘The Last Soldier’ about our late patron Dan Keating [Scottish
Socialist Voice, 9 November 2007].
Dan remained faithful throughout his long life to the revolutionary ideals enshrined
in the 1916 Proclamation of a 32 county democratic socialist republic. He is
an example to all of us.
Stevie Coyle, Republican Sinn Fein,
Glasgow
Dis – Uniting the Left
Soap Box
Steve Hudson
The recent crisis within Respect and subsequent
split is being characterised by the leadership of the Socialist Worker’s Party
as a ‘left-right’ split, a battle between ‘reform or revolution’.
Alex Callinicos, SWP guru, says in Socialist Worker that what has happened in
Respect is “very far from being unique. Right across
These lies have been exposed widely by the SSP and this letter isn’t a response
to what happened within the SSP during our crisis.
SSP members who lived through our crisis well remember the SWP’s bonkers attempts
to provide political spin to justify their decision to support and actively
help split the most successful example of left reunification in
We were told, by the SWP, that the SSP leadership, both locally and nationally,
wanted a ‘narrow’ SSP, as opposed to a ‘broad’, vibrant party that would embrace
the anti-war and antiglobalisation movement. What absolute rubbish.
In reality the SWP leadership wanted Tommy Sheridan on board with them because
he was a famous socialist whom they could use to build their campaigns and organisations.
Not only that, he (along with George Galloway and Jose Bove) ‘embodied the movement’,
as the quote went in a now infamous article in Socialist Worker.
In other words we have seen this all before, so-called political and ideological
arguments to justify opportunism, poor decision making and extremely bad leadership
by the Socialist Worker Central Committee.
Looking from
With that in mind, it does look like genuine disagreement exists, but it is
not the disagreement outlined within the pages of Socialist Worker.
The SWP wanted Respect to be an electoral formation, an alliance that was relegated
to a secondary role between elections.
There clearly was frustration from those on the other side of the debate within
Respect, frustrated at the lack of progress of Respect, who felt there was more
potential for the development of a real political alternative to New Labour,
frustrated at the SWP’s unwillingness to put the development of Respect ahead
of their own organisation.
The SWP’s characterisation of Respect as a ‘united front of a special kind’
certainly created tensions with those who wanted to build Respect as a genuine
political organisation first and foremost.
A trend appears to be developing whenever the SWP participate in broader formations.
It appears that unless they can politically and organisationally dominate they
will seek to ruin and destroy that organisation.
Witness what happened to the Socialist Alliance, the Scottish Socialist Party
and now Respect.
This attitude towards both individuals and organisations of the left not from
the SWP tradition suggests a lack of confidence in their own (the SWP’s) ideas
and highlights a lack of seriousness when it comes to building organisations
capable of challenging not only the parties of big business but capitalism itself.
Harsh though it sounds potential collaboration with the SWP should come with
a health warning whilst the present leadership remains.
The criticisms contained in this letter are generally reserved for the SWP leadership.
Many rank and file members are uneasy (that’s putting it mildly) about what
has happened in both
The danger is they just walk and are lost to the socialist movement forever,
thereby undermining further our ability to break capitalism, end war and save
the planet.
I am just hoping this is a ‘crisis’ too far for rank and file SWP members and
they agitate for a change in direction and ultimately a change in leadership
within their own organisation.
centre pages
The Underground fights back
The Voice has enjoyed a close working
relationship with the Labour Party Pakistan and its general secretary
Farooq Tariq.
Farooq’s highly informative articles on
Since dictator General Pervez Musharraf introduced the state of emergency
earlier this month, Farooq has been underground, narrowly avoiding arrest
by the military regime as he continues the struggle.
Gripping accounts of his narrow escapes and the steps he must take to
avoid capture can be read on the LPP website. Large numbers of his comrades
have already been jailed by the general’s regime.
Below, we reproduce a recent account by Farooq of a key meeting aimed
at rallying the democratic forces against the dictatorship which we
hope readers will find informative, both on the conditions within
In publishing, we extend full solidarity to the LPP and other democrats
opposing the dictatorship.
The editors
I received a call at 7pm on 16 November
from Asma Jehanghir’s office, telling me: “You must come tonight, at
9pm, for an important meeting.”
The location was Asma’s house. Asma is the chairperson of the prestigious
social institution, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
Only the day before, she had been released from house arrest.
I had many reservations about going there, as the police would surely
be present, but I decided to go in any case, come what may. I knew that
it must be a very important event for me to have been contacted at such
short notice.
When I reached Asma’s house, a police constable stopped me, demanding
to know why I was there.
If I had drawn up in a car, he would probably not have asked me anything.
But I was on a motorbike, and had my helmet on.
I told him to open the gate, that I had been personally invited by Asma.
He reluctantly let me through.
Inside were all the signs that an important meeting was about to take
place. Private guards, HRCP staff and others were all there to check
new arrivals.
I was immediately informed by Nadeem Anthony, Asma’s public relations
officer, that Benazir Bhutto was due to attend, in order to meet civil
society activists.
Inside the meeting room, I saw several close friends.
Dr Mehdi Hasan, a radical professor at a private university, who was
instrumental in the radicalisation of journalist and leading LPP member
Farooq Sulehria. Rabia Bajwa, the women advocate who has made headlines
with her commitment to the advocate movement.
My colleague and teacher in journalism from the 1970s, Hussain Naqi.
Fareda Shaheed, Gulnar and Mumtaz Khawar of Shirkat Ghah, a radical
women’s NGO. Neelum Hussain from Seemorg, another women’s NGO.
Journalist Abbas Rashid. Imtiaz Alam of
Afrasayb Khatak of the Awami National Party. Leaders of Punjab Union
of Journalists were present, and a number of others.
Prior to Benazir Bhutto’s arrival, we were seated as arranged by Asma
herself, and I was amongst those sitting in the front row of twelve.
Asma then distributed a letter that was to be handed over to Benazir
Bhutto, entitled ‘Road Map for Democratic Transition’.
Discussion of the letter followed, and a nine-point agenda was approved,
as follows:
1. A democratic transition and a free and fair election are not possible under a government headed by General Musharraf in any capacity. He must resign from all offices forthwith, along with the caretaker administration put in place by him.
2. The country must return to constitutional rule, for which the immediate lifting of the state of emergency and restoration of fundamental rights is a prerequisite.
3. The judiciary must be restored.
4. All curbs on media must end.
5. All detainees, including judges, lawyers, political activists, students and human rights defenders, must be released and charges dropped.
6. Amendments made to the 1952 Army Act by Musharraf must be immediately withdrawn.
7. An independent and credible Election Commission must be constituted.
8. The spread of violence by non-state actors across the country must be effectively countered through all possible means within the ambit of the law.
9. An independent commission must be established to investigate widespread incidents of disappearances, torture and arbitrary detentions during the Musharraf period.
Further analysis of the present situation
ensued. Though there was some discussion relating to the conditions
of the working class and the policies of the current regime, we were
urged to stay focussed on the current crisis, as we did not want to
present a lengthy letter.
Ultimately, the letter was unanimously accepted as a representative
missive from civil society organisations and individuals.
When Benazir Bhutto arrived, the media wanted to talk to her first.
She spoke to them briefly. I was meeting her for the first time since
1998, when a similar group of civil society organisations met her briefly
in
We asked her to lend her support against this bill.
It was a good meeting and we had a quick chat between the two of us
as she recognised me from my days of exile.
Benazir Bhutto is now an aging politician with some white hairs and
she looked tired.
The meeting began with an explanation by Asma of the reasons for this
meeting.
Benazir Bhutto then spoke, stating that she had come here to listen
rather than to speak and wanted to hear what
During this brief speech, she described the formation of a new political
alliance against the military regime. She also spoke of the different
aspects of the 1973 constitution that need to be reviewed.
She told us about her contacts with different political parties’ heads
and her difficulties in forming an immediate alliance.
“I had two hours’ talk with Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister,
yesterday and we agreed on many points,” she said.
She also declared her commitment to democracy and
She read the letter and said that she will respond with a detailed reply,
though she agreed with most of it.
She made a categorical statement in favour of the restoration of the
judiciary, saying, “they have shown a way forward and we must be with
them. We cannot leave it to the advocates (however)... we must have
a political movement as well.”
There then followed nearly an hour and a half of questions, contributions
and her responses. All mostly focussed on policies and the building
of the united movement.
I welcomed her ‘detour’ and told her that it is very welcome one, saying
that we had all been unhappy with and critical of her talks with the
military regime. We are glad that they are over. She smiled at my use
of the word ‘detour’.
I told her about the levels of sheer corruption under the present military
government, described the plight of the working class and peasantry,
the price hikes, the land mafia, the Okara struggle of the peasants,
the arrests and fight back and the need for a broader alliance to fight
the regime.
I said we do not trust the Americans at all, and we have to build a
movement to overthrow this government.
I also said that, so far, she has failed to prioritise issues of poverty,
unemployment and labour conditions. She has only reached the middle
class, and must take due cognisance of the working class.
They are not part of your movement, I told her, because there is not
much in your programme for them.
She heard me patiently and said yes, I agree with you on these points;
bread and butter issues must be to the fore.
There were several others who picked up on these points and there was
a lively discussion.
I left just as Benazir Bhutto was summing up, to meet Naheed Khan, her
secretary and a former member of parliament, who was outside the meeting
hall taking telephone calls.
We had a brief chat and she was happy to see me again. We spent some
time together in exile during the early 1980s.
She invited me to a meeting of political parties on 21 November in
I told her that over 200 activists from AJT, the Left alliance, had
been arrested and jailed. While I was still talking to Naheed Khan,
someone asked her to rush to
Benazir Bhutto’s car as she was already inside it.
The road outside Asma’s house was blocked by the police vans that were
there for Benazir Bhutto’s security.
As to the meeting, it seemed that most of the participants had been
reading my underground life stories, published on the internet. Everyone
I spoke asked me not to be arrested and to organise the fight. Many
references were made to my great escapes.
Earlier the same day, I went to attend a meeting of the Lahore Social
Forum but arrived as the meeting was ending.
People were surprised to see me there, but we went on to discuss the
present situation.
Several political activists and advocates had been released on bail
the day before, but the campaign goes on, not least as the arrests continue.
There was one pleasant surprise, from the
For the second day running, thousands of students have been demonstrating
against the behaviours of Islami Jamiat Tulaba (Islamic Association
of Students), linked to Jamat-IIslami.
The IJT leadership kidnapped Imran Khan and then handed him over to
police. There is rebellion at the campus after 30 years of religious
fundamentalist occupation. We discussed some measures to intervene in
this movement.
[1]
For regular updates from socialists in
Here you will also find the details of an urgent financial appeal, which
the LPP intends to use to help the families of political prisoners,
and continue the struggle for democracy.
page eight
What a right Divvy
Tory leader fools no-one with his claims on society and co-operatives
Thomas Swann
David Cameron, during a speech in
What surprised many on the left, and I imagine many on the right too,
was that among his well-spun words, lay sentiments of “social responsibility”,
“neighbourhoods acting collectively and voluntarily”, and “the idea
that we’re all in this together, that there is such a thing as society.”
Is this David Cameron really the same David Cameron who is the leader
of the Tory Party?
The same Tory Party of Margaret Thatcher who proclaimed just the opposite,
that society is an illusion?
Apparently, Cameron now recognises the value of not only social unity,
but also, as he made clear in
He used his speech to launch a new Conservative Co-operative Movement,
aimed primarily at giving parents democratic control over the schools
their children attend.
“I want to explore how we can create a new generation of cooperative
schools in
Unions and the Cooperative Party have hit out at the proposals in
Cameron’s speech, arguing that on the one hand, co-operation in education
is nothing new, and that on the other, such a stance is wholly unnecessary.
General secretary of teachers’ union NASUWT, Chris Keates, said: “The
majority of parents don’t want to run schools and don’t have the capacity
to do so.
They want a good local school and there are already plenty of those
to go round.”
Peter Hunt, general secretary of the Co-operative party noted: “This
is really a complete contradiction for the Tories, who are the party
of the individual.”
Indeed, in 1978, a similar organisation to what Cameron is proposing
was given life by the Callaghan government and called itself the Co-operative
Development Agency. It was Thatcher who in the 80s abolished this
movement.
The notion that Hunt alludes to, that this is a contradiction of Conservative
philosophy, is something that must be picked up on and examined.
Cameron puts forward the argument that, despite cooperative ownership
and control falling traditionally within the sphere of left-wing politics,
there is no contradiction between capitalism and co-operativism.
“Conservatives”, he says, “have always argued that free enterprise
and the co-operative principle are partners, not adversaries.” He
holds up “the role of strong independent institutions, run by and
for local people” as centreright ideals.
However, even a cursory glance at the nature of cooperative enterprise
shows that, while many have attempted to harmonise with the capitalist
world, they are diametrically opposed to the ideology that drives
such a system.
Co-operatives do stand in contradiction to the liberal economic philosophy
that both the Conservative Party since Thatcher and the Labour Party
since Blair have promoted.
In 1995, an accepted definition of a co-operative was drawn up by
the International Co-operative Alliance. It was composed of seven
elements.
1) voluntary and open membership
2) democratic member control
3) member economic participation
4) autonomy and independence
5) education, training, and information
6) co-operation among cooperatives
7) concern for community
In a paper presented at the 8th conference
of the European Sociological Association on Conflict, Citizenship
and Civil Society, held in
In short, a co-operative is built around the twin goals of achieving
economic democracy for employees and the wider community, and encouraging
concern for social issues.
The co-op movements in
Fair-trade, organic produce, and ethical and environmental activism
have come to characterise modern co-operative enterprises such as
Suma, which aims to provide ethical food to consumers, and the Co-operative
Bank, which abstains from investing in the arms trade, unlike many
high street banks.
This approach stands in contrast to the profit motive that drives
capitalist enterprises.
The dominant paradigm of freemarket capitalism is spelled out nicely
by economist Milton Friedman in an often quoted phrase: “The one and
only responsibility for business is to make as much money as possible
for it’s shareholders.
Executives who choose social and environmental goals over profits
are acting immorally.”
Within a capitalist economy, therefore, where the interests of individuals
who possess capital (capitalists) take precedence over the interests
of communities or the environment. Noam Chomsky notes, in On Power
and Ideology, that under such a system, it is capitalists who “command
resources, based ultimately on their control of the private economy.”
The type of radical democracy and decentralisation which is found
at the heart of co-operative thought, goes completely against the
central and, as many including Chomsky have argued, authoritarian
rule over economic decision making found within capitalism.
Of course the same could be said of state control over the economy
and the independence and autonomy of co-operatives is directed at
avoiding this as much as it is at avoiding capitalist ownership.
However, it is not obvious, based on this criticism of capitalist
and state centralisation, that cooperatives cannot operate within
a purely market economy.
That is, an economy where the mechanisms of a traditional liberal
system are intact but ownership is not confined to the capitalist
elite.
Namely, supply and demand and competition are upheld. An economy based
on small businesses would be one example.
This type of structure has been the aim of many of the existing co-operative
movements: to tolerate the market and work within it.† This is not,
however, without its own contradictions.
Any system where cooperatively owned and managed enterprises are competing
for profit, precludes the existence of co-operation between those
enterprises, and this is central to co-operativism.
It is not simply an approach that aims to end one of the ills of freemarket
capitalism, non-democratic control, but all of them.
The notion of co-operation entails human individuals meeting in equality
to discuss the best way the economy should progress.
Human reason is to triumph over market forces.
The democratic process involved in co-operative decision making is
supposed to extend over the entire economy, not to be confined within
enterprises, which will then go on to compete irrationally as before.
As an economic model, a precedent was set by the anarchosyndicalist
organisation of revolutionary
So when David Cameron asks that “the Conservative Party take the lead
in applying the co-operative ideal to the challenges of the 21st century”,
we must prove him wrong by pointing to the fact that, for the reasons
discussed above, co-operativism has its true home within the theoretical
territory of the left and the anti-capitalist movement.
Cameron is right when he says that “profit is not the organising principle
of a healthy society.”
And he is also right, contrary to Chris Keats’ words of caution that
‘centralised control’ of education must end.
But he is wrong if he thinks that the Conservative Co-operative Movement
will provide the alternative to existing structures of power.
page nine
A Riot Of My Own
Eddie Truman
“White youth, black youth
Better find another solution
Why not phone up robin hood
And ask him for some wealth distribution”
White Man In Hammersmith Palais
30 years ago a social revolution was
in full swing that had burst onto the scene a year earlier in 1976.
In ‘The Future Is Unwritten’
Using film footage of Strummer’s youth and from the pre-Clash day’s
of the 101’ers, the squatters movement in London in the mid 1970’s,
through the early years of the Clash, the heyday of punk and onto the
break up of the Clash and Strummer’s tragically short renaissance, The
Future Is Unwritten is a highly emotional film, leaving this viewer
in tears towards the end.
Politically the 1970’s had been a decade of enormous upheaval; the miners
had been in battle repeatedly and the 3 day week during the Heath government
of 1970-74 gave a sense of a country in crisis.
Generally speaking though, this had not been reflected in pop and rock
music.
The ‘heavy rock’ of bands like Led Zeppelin and Cream had evolved into
pompous and over elaborate ‘progressive rock’ of Yes and Emerson Lake
and Palmer with American bands like Rush and Blue Oyster Cult also hugely
popular in the UK.
My abiding memory from the mid 70’s is my school friends with denim
jackets that their mums had carefully embroidered with the logo of their
favourite heavy metal band or even the artwork of an album cover.
The music and ethos of the heavy metal fans was incredibly conservative
and hostile to new ideas, this was the era of the spectacular guitar
solo and, incredible though it now seems, the drum solo.
When The Clash, Sex Pistols and Damned arrived it was a blessed relief.
Fast and furious, songs stripped back down to 3 minutes 30 seconds and,
in the case of Joe Strummer and Mick Jones’ songs, a musical reflection
of the turmoil and anger of the late 1970’s.
The Future Is Unwritten documents the explosion of punk rock and the
social context that it took place in; the advent of mass unemployment,
industrial disputes, the rise of the National Front and the opposition
in the form of the Anti Nazi League.
Joe Strummer became the spokesperson for a new generation of left wing
and militant youth and through his lyrics and interviews we were educated
in the politics of protest and more diverse forms of music.
It was The Clash who inspired us to start attending the Edinburgh reggae
club with their cover of the Junior Murvin song ‘Police and Thieves’
and the off beat chops of what is surely one of the great records of
all time ‘White Man In Hammersmith Palais’.
“If Adolf Hitler flew in today, they’d send a limousine anyway” bawled
Strummer, an observation that appeared frighteningly real at the time.
The contract that The Clash had with CBS records was little more than
bonded labour and throughout their existence Strummer and Jones battled
with the company on behalf of the fans.
The group insisted that CBS sell the double and triple albums London
Calling and Sandinista for the price of a single album each, at the
time £5.
In the case of Sandinista the band compromised on £5.99 and had to forfeit
all royalties on the first 200,000 sales.
The band was constantly in debt to CBS and only began to break even
around 1982.
The contradiction of being in a rock and roll band with principles and
the commercial realities of success in the huge
For anyone with an emotional investment in the band, the look on Joe
Strummer’s face as he explains how he felt when the
“ha you think its funny, Turning rebellion into money” Strummer had
sung in White Man In Hammersmith Palais’.
With the Clash no more Strummer entered a period of loss and uncertainty,
haunted by the past.
Gradually he emerged from the dark and started to make music again,
along with some involvement in films.
In 1999 his new band The Mescaleros issued their first album and in
2002 they played a benefit gig for striking fire fighters in
On December 22nd 2002 Joe Strummer died at home of an undiagnosed congenital
heart defect, he was 50 years old.
The Future Is Unwritten documents the life of a rock and roll singer,
an inspirational figure and the spokesman for a rebel generation. Watch
it if you possibly can.
The Wild Brunch
Keef Tomkinson
If you had to encapsulate socialism in
an advert, how would you do it?
Sexy models would be out as the movement ain’t sexy unless your idea
of eroticism is male cadres abusing their positions or drunken conference
social fumblings.
What about a musical number? Arthur Scargill, Tony Benn and Teamster
Sheridan could black up as a chorus line for Dr ‘Colin’ Fox and perform
the classic anti-racist polemic, Ebony & Ivory.
Ok, what about a Socialism
All three don’t work for me. I think you gotta go down the Dairy Milk
Gorilla road.
An autumnal evening - a small knoll - surrounded by a moat of ‘the people’
(a nice mix of ages, sex, races). On top of the knoll is a big bloody
steak dripping on a grill, eight members of ‘the people’ step forward,
up to the steak where they help turn it, add herbs and oils.
The smell wafts down, children smile, the clouds darken and rumble,
four puppies appear from ‘the people’, reaching the summit they dance
between those with the steak - in a flash they transform into wolves.
Tearing at the steak. One piece hits the screen. As it slides down in
a trail of fat and blood, the catchphrase appears - “SOCIALISM, GETITBEFORE
ITGOES OFF!”
Unfortunately not only are most modern adverts unimaginative, they are
all on at the same time. With the conflagration of digital TV most channels
have got some agreement where they break at the same time.
Previously if you were watching Buck Rogers on Bravo, you could jump
to Friends on E4. Not now.
Unless you can find a reason to get of the sofa you get adverted.
Worse still are the adverts that take lying to a new level. Take all
the get a loan/clear your debt ads. They all have actors playing real
people really badly. The people they play all seem to live in big, well-furnished
houses with gardens, garages and money.
There’s a woman who starts as a Geordie and goes through a concoction
of Welsh, Afrikaans, Australian, Dutch and Dundonian. Her house is a
palace but she still needs a loan.
There is a guy who sounds like he has met his soul mate at the call
centre and is followed around his mansion by a wife filming him with
a state of the art digital camcorder. Lying bastards.
If the companies were that good they would have real testimony from
their customers.
However, most of them are probably in temporary accommodation or too
busy working three jobs since they failed in their repayments.
But our venom must go to one specific line of advertising. “The People’s
Post Office”. A utopian consumer experience where every requirement
can be met, were the products compete with the best, a place whose history
demands that it be there for us, ‘the people’.
Fuck right off. You don’t count as people if you live in a rural community
or urban scheme where your local
If you tried to advertise a 1930s Ferrari with a ferret on a wheel under
the bonnet rather than a motor you’d get lynched. My tip? Cbeebies.
page ten
French Workers Pile The Pressure on Sarkozy
FRESH from his love-in at the Bush White
House, right wing French President Sarkozy was facing a challenge from
hundreds of thousands of workers at the Voice went to press.
Sarkozy has spent the months since he took office furiously signalling
that he plans to echo the politics of his mentor Margaret Thatcher, both
at home and abroad.
In this he represents an important break with the more nationalist approach
favoured by the French right since 1945.
It was this approach that placed France in opposition to the US on key
questions of foreign policy, mostly notably in its opposition to the illegal
war in Iraq.
In contrast Sarkozy has almost outdone ex Premier Blair in his sycophantic
sucking up to Bush and the US neo-cons, winning applause on Capitol Hill
and making it clear that he is standing four square with the globalisation
agenda backed by Bush and Brown.
At home the pursuit of this agenda involves the usual neo Thatcherite
guff about free markets, working harder and putting the bosses at the
helm.
In reality it is a thin cloak for an all out assault on workers rights,
pensions, wages and jobs and that is why the current confrontation represents
a critical moment.
As a stoppage by transport workers continued they were joined in a one
day strike by hundreds of thousands of French teachers and civil servants,
turning up the heat on the arrogant Mr Sarkozy.
The teachers and civil servants walked out to press for pay increases
and job security.
In a right-wing refrain, familiar to
Alongside this his plan to extend the retirement age for train drivers
has sparked crippling strikes on the railways and Paris public transport
that entered their seventh day on Tuesday.
More than 300,000 teachers, nearly 40 per cent of the total, were on strike
on Tuesday, the Education Ministry confirmed forcing some schools to close.
Postal services were also affected.
National newspapers were unavailable as printers and distributors also
walked out.
Strike-hit France-Inter radio broadcast music and a message of apology
instead of its regular programming.
National weather service Meteo
Thousands of people joined marches in
The
Employees in energy utilities Electricite de France and Gaz de France
joined the strike and a walkout by air traffic controllers caused delays
averaging 45 minutes at
Despite talks between unions and transport bosses the government was sticking
to its hard line with government spokesman Laurent Wauquiez saying that
a state representative would not be at the negotiating table, as unions
demand, unless there is action towards a return to work.
“We have always been very clear about this,” he said. “If we want talks
with everyone at the table, each must do his part.”
The government says that the transport workers’ action is costing the
French economy between 300million euros and 350million euros (£215million
and £250million) a day and could dent economic growth if it lasts.
Colleges are also bubbling with discontent with students blocking classes
at dozens of state universities to protest against a law allowing them
to seek nongovernment funding.
Critics charge that the change will mean schools closing their doors to
poor student and scrapping classes that cannot attract private funding.
The Struggle For Kurdish
Bill Bonnar
THE long standing conflict in eastern
The Kurds are perhaps the largest stateless nation in the world numbering
around 25 million. They mostly inhabit parts of
The modern history of the Kurds begins after end of the First World War
and with the break-up of the
Major uprisings in the interwar years, particularly in
The fiercest struggles for independence have taken place in
Following a military coup in 1980 repression against the Kurds in the
south-east of the country reached new levels with the banning of the Kurdish
language the changing of Kurdish place names. In 1984, the Kurdistan Workers
Party, tired of waiting for the outside world to come to their rescue,
launched a guerrilla struggle against the government. The PKK are a left-wing
movement committed to the establishment of an independent Kurdish state.
In the more than 20 years since launching their campaign more than 30,000
civilians, security forces and combatants have died. Most of these civilians
have been Kurds killed by the security forces.
The government’s strategy has been one of intense repression with thousands
being arrested, torture widespread, villages being destroyed; all with
the blessing of western governments.
The existence of an autonomous Kurdish state in northern
Like the struggle in
Battle On Over Venezuelan Constitution
Patrick O’Hare
THE past few weeks has seen a heating up in the campaign for reforms to the Venezuelan constitution. After being passed by the national assembly, a package of reforms will be voted on in two parts in a national referendum, which will take place on 2 December. Some of the main changes proposed are:
*
The shortening or the working week to 36 hours
*
The lowering of the voting age from 18 to 16
*
Gender Parity in the setting up of candidates for public office
*
Removing the independence of the central bank
*
An extension of the presidential term from six to seven years
and the elimination of the two-term limit on presidential
election
*
Guaranteed funding and legitimization of the Communal Councils
*
Prohibition of foreign funding in Venezuelan political
activity
*
The president being able to name special development
and military zones and revise political boundaries of municipalities.
The proposed reforms have already
caused splits within the pro-Chavez movement with the social
democratic PODEMOS party splitting from Chavez’s coalition
and joining the opposition. An even more dramatic development
followed last week when Raul Issias Baduel, Minister of
Defense up until three weeks ago, came out strongly against the proposed
reforms. At a press conference to which only opposition
media were invited, Baduel described the reforms as tantamount
to a ‘Constitutional coup’, urged Venezuelans to vote against
them and stated that “the capacity of Venezuelan military
men to analyse and think should not be underestimated”.
Baduel’s defection has caused much anger within the Pro-Chavez movement
given the popularity and status that he had formerly enjoyed.
Baduel was a close friend of Chavez and a fellow founder of the
Revolutionary Bolivarian movement, the clandestine group formed
within the Venezuelan Armed forces which was behind the 1992 coup attempt to bring down
the neo-liberal government of Carlos Andres Perez. More recently
Baduel became a hero in the eyes of the Venezuelan people when
he almost single-handedly coordinated the military response to
the 2002 coup against Chavez.
As Commander of Chavez’s former parachute regiment, Baduel refused
to recognize the interim government of businessman Pedro Carmona
and his loyalty to Chavez was crucial in securing the return of
the elected President.
So why has he suddenly come out so emphatically against the reforms?
Some suggest personal bitterness at his recent replacement as
Minister of Defense and the fact that he wasn’t given another important
ministerial post. Yet the roots of Baduel’s discontent are probably
of a more political nature; his utter loyalty to the 1999 constitution,
which he claims “does not in any way impede the exercise of
a socialist government, with high levels of inclusion and broad social
content”, shows that he thinks the Bolivarian Revolution has
gone far enough. In his earlier retirement speech he struck a cautious
note, distancing himself from the view that “the division of powers
is merely an instrument of bourgeois domination”.
Chavez himself has claimed that he expected that some leading figures
would move over to the opposition as the deepening of the revolution
exposed their conservatism, stating that “It is not strange
that when a submarine goes deeper the pressure is increased and
can free a loose screw, the weak points are going to leave, and I
believe it is good that they leave”.
Nevertheless the defection of such a popular high profile figure is
a gift to the opposition who have been trying to step up protests against
the reform. Violent clashes with police have been reported as opponents
try to create a climate of instability and force the police into repressive
measures. In particular, Venezuelan and international media reported
a violent clash which took place at
The opposition students also destroyed and set fire to the school of
social work which is a pro- Chavez enclave in a university which
has a history of elitism and whose students (who come mostly from
the upper classes) are overwhelmingly anti-Chavez.
Because of the law of autonomy which governs
Part of the constitutional reform aims to ensure fairer university selection
procedures (which are often biased against poorer students)
and include a proposal to equalize the worth of professors and
students votes in internal elections: currently the vote of a professor
is worth between 10 and 30 student votes depending on the university.
Yet any attempt to reform to structure of the universities
is decried by opposition students and university staff as
an attack on university autonomy.
Meanwhile at a press conference given to the international press, President
Chavez defended the proposed constitutional changes, describing
them as strengthening the Venezuelan state against imperialism.
He also emphasised the democratic nature of the reforms
such as the removal of the autonomy of the central bank, which
previously was unaccountable to any public institution.
He said that the autonomy of the central bank was a neo-liberal
idea and that “The reserves of the country (some $32 Billion)
do not belong to the Central Bank, they belong to the people
of
Chavez noted that the parts of the reform most criticized by
the opposition, regarding term-limits and the state of emergency
were already in place in most western democracies and that
the most important aspect of the reforms was the “transfer
of power to the people” through the larger role given to
the communal councils.
According to a recent poll reported by
Farmers’ suicides highlight
human cost of
IN the ceaseless battle to convince
a sceptical public that globalisation is the greatest thing
since sliced bread, capitalism’s PR men desperately need
attractive examples of its benefits.
It is this need to constantly sell the shiny wonders of the multinational’s
products which flow from globalisation that sees our TV
screens filled with a tsunami of stories with capitalist
bosses as their heroes.
Top of this league is the flow of breathless tales about
Opponents and sceptics of globalisation have labelled countries
used in this way as ‘poster’ countries and while
Increasingly we are told the same tale in both countries.
Old-fashioned state regulation has been swept away and replaced
by thrusting entrepreneurs producing shed loads of shiny,
cheap, desirable consumer goods.
However the downside of the story, such as the privatisation of
state industry and resulting unemployment, industrial deaths
in sectors such as mining and terrifying pollution, seldom
get anything like the same publicity.
Now from
Prof. K Nagaraj of the Madras Institute of Development Studies
has produced research which examines one of the most dramatic
consequences of financial squeezes, rising indebtedness
and falling farm subsidies which are part of the so-called
economic reforms - soaring suicides among farmers.
The study reveals close to 150,000 Indian farmers committed suicide
in nine years from 1997 to 2005, according to official figures.
Although farm suicides occurred in many Indian states, nearly
two thirds of these deaths are concentrated in five states
where just a third of the country’s population lives. These
states are largely those which concentrate on growing cash
crops.
It is this sector that the growth of subsidised western competition,
pressure on credit and the growing dominance of capitalist
farming has trapped thousands in a
cycle of deprivation, debt and desperation.
Just as in
And although you wont see them on CNN
or the bosses press workers and peasants are organising
and resisting the arbitrary power driving globalisation.
Now as stock markets crash, the dollar slides and oil prices
soar the pressure to put the costs on the poor will surely
intensify as, just as surely, will the resistance.
page twelve
Six Weeks and still standing
By Richie Venton
“PEOPLE need to remember why 260 Day
Care workers in
“It is because we are in the wrong Role Profiles, face pay cuts
of £3-6,000, and we are out to win recognition for the skills
and years of experience we have in working with disabled people
and those with the most complex needs.”
So says Alison Kelly, secretary of the UNISON stewards in Day
Care, as these workers complete six weeks on the picket line.
The Day Care workers are displaying remarkable courage, unity,
determination and fighting spirits. Their strike remains rock solid,
with only half-a-dozen out of the 260 drifting back to work.
They have inspired and helped to organise the active support of
other trade unionists, who have conducted numerous workplace collections, union
branch donations and shown up for rallies in support of the strikers.
The rally on Saturday 17 November had banners and speakers from
UNISON branches from across
Thousands of shoppers and football supporters heard the strikers’
message , as the rally became a march round the rain-drenched
city centre.
Fans at
People who have never been on strike in their life before this
are now speaking at union and workplace meetings, holding bucket collections
on the streets, at football matches and workplaces, and giving
Labour councillors a richly deserved hard time.
Labour councillors’ surgeries have been cancelled to avoid the
hot breath of strikers’ anger - so much for the Labour council’s
lies about wanting to meet with the union. In fact the council
has only just conceded a second meeting with UNISON in the
first six weeks of the strike.
Council leader Stephen Purcell can’t find the time to meet with
UNISON but he has sent out a letter to carers spreading the lie
that the council want to find a settlement but the union won’t
cooperate.
What council worth its salt would sit back and make no effort
over six weeks to negotiate a settlement that got workers back
to work, if they gave a damn about the vulnerable disabled people who
rely on this service?
As one parent, Mary McArthur, told demonstrators, “I am not a
striker, I’m a carer... The staff deserve every penny they get
for the job they do, and in fact should be getting a pay rise, not
pay cuts.
“People are stuck in their houses, many are getting depressed,
but the council are doing nothing for us.”
Her daughter Cheryl, a service user, has told rallies: “I really
miss my centre and the staff. I feel lonely for all my friends.
I hope the council sort this out and get my centre open again.”
A sizeable portion of the carers are elderly people, caring for
middle-aged offspring.
One striker told me how a client is 53, being cared for by his
100-year-old father!
Yet the stone-hearted council ignores their plight, as it tries
to crush the staff and their union,, as part of their plans to
cut and privatise lumps of the Day Care service.
Labour’s lies know no bounds. They call their plans ‘modernisation’,
when they want to shut down half the Day Care centres and get
rid of at least 50 of the 260 jobs.
They claim to be consulting ‘all stakeholders’ about the ‘modernisation’
plans. Not a single member of staff has been consulted. There
has been no general meeting of carers to consult them.
In a crude attempt at divide-and-rule, they have held ‘consultation’
with about 5 per cent of the carers who are in the Planning & Implementation
Group. When 30 other carers turned up to their so-called consultation meeting,
council officials told them they were not invited and not welcome.
The council’s consultation is a complete sham. Management have
shown staff in one housing association their computer designs of
how they intend to use the nearby Day Care Centre building.
Clearly, the council has already told them it is available, no
longer to be used for the care of the disabled.
The support of carers and service users remains critical to the
success of the strike against pay cuts and service cuts. UNISON
stewards have begun to hold weekly meetings for carers to inform
them of the truth. These are called by word of mouth amongst carers
themselves, and are getting bigger each week.
Often a minority of the carers attending their first such meeting
have started out hostile to the strike, based on the lies fed
to them by the council, but left the meeting unanimously in support
of the strikers.
Big numbers of carers have joined the strikers’ lobbies of the
council and the city centre rally. They are not falling for the
lies. Council workers from
What the hell has that got to do with ‘community based’ care,
when the Day Centres themselves provide the basis for a real community of
service users and professional staff? These Day Centres should
be upgraded and improved, not downgraded or closed.
The council makes much of their desire to get disabled people
into employment. But apart from the fact staff already help that
process, horror stories of totally inappropriate placements are
rife. Strikers have told me of the disabled man left rattling
a collecting can outside a charity shop. Of a client employed
in Asda but then sacked after the Scottish government ended grants
after three years, and left without full disability benefits.
Alison Kelly believes the secret draft document (PIP 2007-10)
written by the council to justify their plans to the Scottish
government is reason enough to be on strike.
The document spells out a series of achievements and skills, roles
and qualifications gained from 2004-7, but then deny the workers have
these and/or say they do not intend to recognise them in future
- which is what has led to the strike.
Alison Kelly told us, “They put us through SVQs, say that’s great
in the document, but now say they don’t intend to recognise SVQs.
“They admit big numbers with the whole autism spectrum are coming
through, but refuse to recognise the years of experience it takes to
even learn to communicate with these people, or the difficulties
in taking them into the community.
“It doesn’t work to just shove them into a job. And if the council
shut centres, where are these people to go?...
“What I find most frightening for the future is their plan to
‘prioritise access’. They will only give places to people with
complex needs, but those who can walk will be put out on the streets, with
carers putting their hands in their pockets for a trip to the
pictures, instead of having Day Centres at no cost to them.”
Support for the strike is growing. The UNISON national leadership
has given backing to continuation of the strike. That should
be a signal for the Scottish UNISON leadership to build a ferocious campaign
of pressure on the Labour councillors to retreat from their cuts.
The STUC could do likewise.
The strikers have been through great hardship, but they remain
united, determined, and very spirited in their campaign to stop
these cuts.
After all this time without wages there is no way they are going
to crawl back defeated. Labour grossly underestimated their fighting spirit,
just as they degrade and downgrade their professional skills.
They deserve the unqualified support of fellow-workers and a stepping
up of action by the Scottish trade union movement leadership. Councillors
should be individually targeted with angry demands to stop their
horrendous attacks on caring workers and