Campsie Socialist Voice

Campsie Socialist Voice's are being delivered across the Campsie area from Moodiesburn, Twechar, Kirkintilloch, Bishopbriggs, Milton of Campsie, Lennoxtown through to Bearsden/ Milngavie and Torrance.

You can read a copy online HERE

The national version of the Scottish socialist Voice, available fortnightly, can be downloaded HERE

SAVE OUR SCHOOLS IN EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE - Public Meeting

Public Meeting

Wednesday 9th June at 7.30pm

Campsie Memorial Hall Lennoxtown (Hall opens at 7pm)

Chair:

Willie Telfer – local SSP campaigner

Speakers:

Gerry McTiernan – Lennoxtown Primary Parents Council (in a personal capacity)
Richie Venton – Glasgow Save Our Schools organiser
Charles Kennedy – Campsie independent Councillor

Unite and stop all school closures!

Demand smaller class sizes- not fewer schools – 20’s plenty in any class!
Unite and campaign for the funds from Holyrood and Westminster to invest in our schools and other community services!

Attend the meeting to hear a report of what is happening. Help set up a campaign- to make sure we are ready for the next attempt at making our children pay for the bankers bailout.

See below for reports

Over 1000 signatories to the "no to education cuts" petition in Milngavie today...

Milngavie parents still angry.

Today we ran a stall in Milngavie town centre, calling on local people to join with others across the East Dunbartonshire constituency in setting up a "Save Our Schools" Committee and Campaign.

We spoke to many local parents and education workers who are very angry at how the Council launched these proposals on the communities and who were confused by exactly what had gone on in the council Chambers on Thursday night. Local SSP activist Willie Telfer was on hand to explain the minutae of the decision and also to explain why the machinations on Thursday night only mean a temporary stay of execution.


This stay of execution is not even a not principled one - we believe this was engineered by the Lab-servative coalition to save their own political neck. Next year, we have the Scottish Elections and the following year are the Council Elections.

This proposed East Dunbartonshire wide campaign must put councillors on the spot and show them that it is unacceptable to make communities and young people pay for the cuts.

Please follow us on twitter for updates: www.twitter.com/sspcampsie
Please click on the leaflet below and print - let others know in your school when the meeting is:

CAUTIOUS VICTORY TO THE SCHOOLS CAMPAIGNERS

The Labour/Tory coalition has been rattled by real people power.

After the SSP’s call for a demo outside the council chamber at tonight’s planned butchery of our children’s schools and our call for a public meeting next Wednesday (see HERE), over 150 members of the public crammed into the council chamber and overflow annexe. The outpouring of disgust at the planned school closures crossed the constituency as PTA’s, parents and independent councillors joined with us and made sure those who had planned using our children to pay for the bankers cuts knew we were not going to stand for it. The council, because of people power, kicked their own report and planned closures, temporarily, into the long grass rather than risk a split vote which could have brought down the unholy alliance of Tories and Labour.



Local SSP campaigner, Willie Telfer said, “getting so many people out in such short notice has been a victory for working class people in the East Dunbartonshire area. We will not pay for the casino money making that these millionaires have been doing with our savings and tax money. These schools are a credit and an asset to our communities and must stay open!”

He went on, “Although this is undoubtedly a temporary victory through pressure placed on the councillors by parents and parent councils, the majority who listened in the annex were left in no doubt a campaign must remain in place in order to keep vigilant as we know they will try to spring this on us again in the next 6 months- year.”


The meeting in Campsie Memorial Hall at 7.00-9.30 on Wednesday night will be going ahead in order to explain to parents and education workers what happened in the council chambers and what it means. We will also be planning a Save Our Schools campaign - making sure we are ready for the next attempt at making our children pay for the cuts.

Speakers will include SSP activist Willie Telfer; Lennoxtown Primary School parent and campaigner Gerry McTiernan; local Independent Councillor Charles Kennedy and Glasgow Save Our Schools coordinator, Richie Venton.

1/4 of Primary Schools to close in East Dunbartonshire

After the extremely flawed survey sent out to all homes in September last year, the Labour/Conservative coalition in Tom Johnston House have decided to close eight Primary Schools in East Dunbartonshire. (Our response to the "review" is HERE)

There will be a demonstration outside Tom Johnstone House, Kirkintilloch tommorrow (Thursday 2nd June) at 5.30pm to meet Councillors who have taken part in this decimation of provision to our children.

A meeting has been called in Campsie Memorial Hall (see below for directions to hall), Lennoxtown next Wednesday 9th June 7pm-9.30pm - representatives from all schools and communities effected(parents, education workers, PTA etc)are welcome. This meeting will be to help set up a Save Our Schools campaign in the area - a non-party campaign. Introducing the meeting will be local campaigner, Willie Telfer and Glasgow Save Our Schools coordinator, Richie Venton, who will be offering advice in building a campaign - and offering facilities to help with the campaign.

All issues will be discussed, including school rolls, travel etc.

Closures announced :

Twechar Primary School
Auchinairn Primary School
Baldernock Primary School
Gartconner P.S.
St Agathas P.S.
Lennoxtown P.S.
Lenzie P.S.
St Josephs P.S.

Directions to Campsie Memorial Hall (click on "view larger map" for road directions)


View Larger Map

The Scottish Socialist Party are the only socialist party organising in East Dunbartonshire

Campsie Meeting Tonight

Campsie Branch SSP (Covering most of East Dunbartonshire) is meeting tonight in Milton of Campsie Village Hall at 7.30pm.

DEFEND COUNCIL HOUSING

DEFEND OUR HOUSING!

click on map to go to website.

Comrades come rally - to the Mugdock International Music Festival!

SSP Campsie Branch BBQ - Saturday 16th June - starting at 4pm, Mugdock Country Park. Transport details to follow.

Check out the Mugdock website and you will see that our BBQ coincides with an international music festival. Comrades come rally - with your instruments! And we can sing/ play some left wing music to the music fans!

Bring yer own food and drink - we will supply charcoal, fire, paper plates and music! Bring a banner/ flag!

Our next meeting is in Milton of Campsie Village Hall, at 7.30pm on Wednesday 13th JUNE. New members are welcome. We will be giving an update of the fantastic developments in the Twechar Housing Campaign (see below for update). Also, come with ideas on a new branch banner and topics you would like to hear speakers on - or discussions you would like to have in branch in the future.

All comrades in the branch will have recieved this letter from Joint Branch Organiser, Pamela Page. Click on image to read -

TWECHAR REGENERATION MEETING

Twechar Miners Welfare - Monday 11th June 7.30 pm
Since the Q&A session at Twechar Healthy Living Centre, confusion over the regeneration of Twechar has increased.

As one local resident put it - if you asked ten people who were at the meeting the same question you would get ten different answers!

People want answers to such questions as how many houses are being built and how many are being allocated to those being decanted? Where will people be decanted to and will amenities be adequate?

Older people are afraid that they will not be allowed to return to the village once they are moved -one of these a 93 year old woman who has lived in Twechar all her life...

and why is disturbance money being used to pay off rent and council tax arrears?

When one local resident contacted regeneration manager, JOHN GREY to ask some of these questions, she was informed that he did not speak to the public and that she should contact a housing officer. Where is the resident participation and transparency from Edinvar?

People are pleased that the village is being regenerated but are concerned and want answers to basic questions about their future.

Edinvar representatives, local Councillors and MSP's have been invited to this meeting. Come and put YOUR questions to those who should be giving you the answers YOU- THE PEOPLE OF TWECHAR - DESERVE.

TRANSPORT IS AVAILABLE.

For more information: Willie Telfer - 07966 782752

Meeting and BBQ

Our next meeting is in Milton of Campsie Village Hall, at 7.30pm on Wednesday 30th May. New members are welcome. We will be giving an update of the fantastic developments in the Twechar Housing Campaign, a real example of how people can make a huge difference, amongst other things.

SSP Campsie Branch BBQ - Saturday 16th June - starting at 4pm, Mugdock Country Park. Transport details to follow. Bring yer own food and drink - we will supply charcoal, fire, paper plates and music! Bring a banner/ flag!

Click on picture for info on Mugdock Country Park.

WILLIE TELFER MAKES BIG IMPACT AT PCS CONFERENCE

Scottish Socialist Party members who are delegates to this week’s PCS national conference in Brighton have made a huge impact.
They’re speaking on issues like privatisation, and are moving a major motion to commit the union to an £8-an-hour minimum wage for all workers and trainees over 16.
Colin Fox, the Scottish Socialist Party’s national convener, was a guest speaker at the Department of Transport PCS group conference on our case for free public transport - which was then debated and agreed as policy, moved by Campsie Branch SSP member, and Twechar Housing campaigner, Willie Telfer and supported by the union’s Group Executive Committee.


Willie has also been re-elected as UK-wide Assistant Group Secretary of the union in the transport section.
Meantime longstanding socialist and SSP member John Jamieson has been elected to the PCS national executive committee, as part of an almost total clean sweep for the Democracy Alliance of socialists and democrats.
And our efforts are not restricted to the PCS. At the Fire Brigades Union national conference Scottish Socialist Party members were at the heart of a solidarity collection for the Sunvic strikers, raising £1,500 to help sustain their battle against vicious treatment by scab-hiring bosses.
And in a debate around the FBU and political links, during which a motion to re-affiliate the union to New Labour was overwhelmingly defeated, SSP member Jimmy Scott successfully moved an amendment which re-stated the FBU’s commitment to “a socialist form of society”, a longstanding FBU rule-book clause which collides with New Labour’s whole philosophy and practice.

EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE PLAN

The East Dunbartonshire Council are asking for comments for the new Local Plan.

Please go to their site and read what they are wanting comment on and LET THEM KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FOR YOUR AREA!

Developers will be lobbying the council in order to make as much money as possible, so make sure East Dunbartonshire does not become a place where profit is given more importance than the people of the area. Think about what young people need. Pensioners. Unemployed. What do you think Council policy on Public Transport should be? Health? Town Centres? Housing?

This is an opportunity to lobby the council on issues that pertain to People, not Profit!

Please look up our recent manifesto for help on issues you may want to lobby the council.

Click on the map for the East Dunbartonshire website dedicated to the plan documents. Click on the picture of our manifesto to read what we envisage for Scotland.

LETTER TO SUPPORTERS IN WEST OF SCOTLAND

This is a letter all members and lapsed members of the SSP will receive in East Dunbartonshire. Click on the image to read it...

People Power on Twechar Beach...

Over sixty Twechar residents invaded Twechar Beach and then attended the public meeting on the Twechar “Regeneration” project.


The meeting was a real success for people power in the village. Pamela Page Chaired and said this meeting was not about her coming along to turn it into a political meeting. People knew the SSP record in the area and how they had helped in various campaigns in Twechar and beyond. She said this meeting was about what people wanted done about the issue of good quality, affordable houses in their village.


Willie Telfer, the SSP Council Candidate for the area reminded people how over the years, local government seemingly more concerned with the middle class voters in Milngavie and Bearsden, had let the village down. He also reminded them of the times over the past 25 years when the people of the village had to pull together and fight aggressive policies thrown at the village by Westminster and by Tom Johnston House, from the decimation of their local coal industry, to the campaign to keep the community centre in the community.

He reminded them of how Jack McConnell had cut the ribbon on the new, village run centre the Labour / Lib Dem Council tried to close and do away with. They were reminded that it was not the Labour Party or any other outside force that had won their battles with the bus companies – it was them. It was the people of Twechar.

Willie also made two further election promises. He promised that if the people of Kirkintilloch East and Twechar returned him as one of the three Councillors, within a few weeks he would have chapped on every door in the ward. He said that if people wanted to slam the door on his face, then that was their right. But he said if people wanted to invite him in and give him scones and tea, he would sit with them and unlike the other parties with their meaningless surveys he would ask, “What do you want for your community?” And then he would fight tooth and nail to get what the community see as their priorities. His second promise was that if he WASN’T elected, he would ensure the Housing Campaign would be up and running, and not ran by the SSP – but by the people of the village.

Willie has not waited until election defeat. Already volunteers have come forward from the more than sixty people present to say they are willing to help organise the campaign.

Andy Locke, the SSP Housing Spokesperson is setting up a surgery for after the election at which people can question him on their housing issues. The first of these will be held at 11am on Saturday 5th May – two days after the election. The SSP are committed to helping this campaign and the people of Twechar regardless of the outcome of the election.


Anyone wishing to help the campaign should come along to a meeting on Tuesday 8th May at 7.30pm in the Miners Welfare.

Remember – this campaign can have a voice in Holyrood and East Dunbartonshire Council – Vote Pamela Page and Vote Willie Telfer!

INVADE TWECHAR BEACH!

Twechar SSPCouncillor candidate, Willie Telfer has vowed to fight the council on the beaches -Twechar beach. The council houses beside the infamous Twechar beach are due to be demolished. Willie said, 'When this scheme was announced, we thought there would be great new houses for everyone. It turns out the council figures may mean some families camping on Twechar beach, because they are not building enough!' He went on, 'They plan to demolish over 200 council houses and only rebuild 80 for renting. Another 40 will bepartly sold off to the private sector. This will result in more expensive rents, - an immediate rise of 10% and the scrapping of the two weeks free rent in March and at Christmas. There will be no guaranteed future rent caps, even though every other scheme like this over the past few years in other areas across Scotland have had this promise. A quick look at the sums shows that some local people will be forced to move out of the area. This is not a housing solution to suit the people of Twechar. It is being forced on us without a ballot. Why is the council scared to let people have their say? They are scared we would insist on a better solution to our local housing needs. I am wanting the people of Twechar to come to a public meeting on Tuesday 24th April to voice their concerns about this. This is a Dunkirk like siege. Poor people are being attacked by the local authority and by the developers. The people of Twechar will fight 'em on the beaches!'

The invasion will take place at 7pm and will be followed by a Public Meeting at 7.30pm in Twechar Miner's Welfare Club.

Speakers: Frances Curran MSP; Willie Telfer, SSP Council Candidate; Pamela Page, SSP Scottish Parliamentary candidate for the West of Scotland; Andy Locke, Housing issues expert.


PHOTOS OF THE CAMPSIE DO!

Ron on Saxaphone



Lesley and party



Liz and Dubya



Frances Curran MSP and party



Mairtin struts his stuff...




VIDEOS (click on icons):

COLIN FOX ON FREE PUBLIC TRANSPORT:





COLIN FOX ON TIMES ONLINE:

Willie Telfer - Kirkintilloch East and Twechar

"WE'LL FIGHT 'EM ON THE BEACHES!"
Willie Telfer and Pam Page on the infamous Twechar Beach...

Scroll down to read how Willie and Pam are fighting for Twechar - and the rest of the West of Scotland!

Pamela's Diary! Part 1

99's in Saltcoats, Benny Hill and the Red Flag in Milngavie...

it is a holiday, isn't it...?

Follow Pamela the length and breadth of the West of Scotland...

Saturday 24th March

Giffnock Question and Answer session with West of Scotland community councillors.

This was attended by about 60 community councillors from all over the region. The parties represented were Tory, SNP, Labour and ourselves.

Questions were wide ranging and local in focus, however the thread was obvious and that was people's concerns with how their communities are being privatised. Whether it be schools, hospital services, losing public land to developers protected by confidentiality agreements and the lack of democratic accountability/ transparency in decision making. There was real anger directed at the labour MSP in attendance.

The first question asked was what we thought was the most important issue facing humanity today. The poor wee disorientated Tory thought it was political correctness?! Perhaps more people than I had thought are worried about the repeats of Benny Hill on telly...

I said Climate change and explained how the SSP's radical Free Public transport policy would help tackle poverty and global warming. This was very well received and the man who asked the question spoke to me at the end to say that he had been given our leaflet by activists in Milngavie (hotbed of radical socialism, let me tell you!) on this issue and was very impressed with the policy.

Sunday 25th

Allan, Wullie and I leafleted Twechar with West of Scotland Bulletins. Much to the delight of my students the next day at school!


Monday 26th

I was interviewed by Strathclyde University's paper 'Strathclyde Telegraph'.

They were particularly interested in the SSP's policies on Education, namely scrapping tuition fees, reintroducing the student grant and truly making higher/ further education accessible. We also discussed wealth redistribution in terms of our Scottish service tax policy and national minimum wage of eight pounds an hour. Housing is a major issue for students and we discussed our policy commitment to providing quality social housing as a solution to the housing crisis. I was really impressed by their questioning and thought their questioning was much better than some of the mainstream press I have been in contact with recently.

Saturday 31st

Sunny Saltcoats for a stall on 'Axing the Tax'. People were very supportive and it wasn't lost on them that we have been consistent on this issue of sharing out the wealth. Other parties had the chance to vote for our proposal of a progressive scottish service tax in parliament but refused to do so whatever they may claim now. But hey - I guess they are going to copy innovative,progressive ideas when they huvnae a scooby themselves.

We had a 99 and managed to avoid the puggy machines in “Nonsuch…”

Monday 2nd

Clydebank to campaign on free school meals. the support we got from the bankies was brilliant. We were very warmly received both on the stall and when we were bulletening in the afternoon.

The lack of support we received at the Parliament for this was appalling. I sometimes wonder do the other parties think by supporting our policy on feeding we'ans does it mean we are one step further to the gulag or something? Or are things ok to go ahead only when the billionaires have said so (when they are sure their accountant has made sure they don't have to pay any tax....)?

It's time that lot of self serving bananas were shook up and stopped handing our money to the billionaires and the money was used for the good of Scotland's people.

The free school meals campaign was wholeheartedly supported by parents with children off on school holidays as well as a dinner lady who agreed that nutritious free school meals would have a huge positive impact on our children's health. There might not have been enough support in the parliament for this bill to be passed but it'll be back because people overwhelmingly support it.

Tuesday 3rd

In Greenock we were swamped by locals angry at the council for a multitude of reasons. People were literally queuing up to sign our axe the tax petition. We had a lot of positive feedback.

Wednesday 4th

We took our campaign to Paisley High Street where we did a stall on the council tax and getting sunburnt in the process! Who needs Benidorm?

Later I attended a European hustings with Frances at the Caledonian university. Frances was well received and it was obvious that we are the only party campaigning on People Not Profit.

Thursday 5th

Home Territory! We campaigned in Kirkintilloch on free School meals and took advantage of our resident photographer Moira to get some photies taken at various locations with the Free public transport ticket.

In the late afternoon we set off to leaflet the village of Campsie.


Saturday 7th


We set off to join the Renfrewshire branch on their stall on free school meals. We were very well received with Frances and Iain Hogg (our council candidate) on the P.A. and selling out of papers very quickly.


Sunday 8th


We bulletined in Balloch and leafleted hundreds of car windscreens on free public transport.

Introducing West Of Scotland's SSP Candidate, Pamela Page

Read below to find out what Pamela Page and the SSP propose for the West of Scotland and the rest of Scotland!
Scroll down for the East Dunbartonshire Council candidates.

PAMELA PAGE- FOR THE PEOPLE OF WEST OF SCOTLAND - NOT THE
PROFITEERS!

Pamela Page is the SSP’s Top of List candidate for the West of Scotland. She lives in Kirkintilloch where she works as a Modern Studies teacher. She is a union rep in the EIS. As a community activist, Pamela has battled to save local bus services and is a determined opponent of the privatization of facilities through PFI.

"If elected I will strive to emulate current SSP west of Scotland MSP Frances Curran’s tireless fight alongside local communities in West Scotland against hospital closures and the privatization of our services.

I joined the SSP because it is Scotland’s anti-poverty party. This is the 21^st century yet parts of Scotland remain scarred with near Victorian levels of poverty. Scotland is not an impoverished 3^rd world country. There is no excuse or justification for poverty.

We in the SSP believe in taxing the rich, redistributing wealth and curbing the power of big business in a move towards a society where our wealth and resources are harmonized for the benefit of the people rather than plundered by an elite.

There are no career politicians in the SSP. We are the only party that insists that its MSPs live on no more than the average wage of a skilled worker. All four SSP MSPs donate half their salaries to aid the fight for a socially-just independent Scotland. If elected Pamela will do the same. “ Politicians are among Scotland’s privileged elite. Their 50,000 salaries – plus perks – puts them in the top 5% salary bracket. Which possibly explains why they are so out of touch with the real world!”

To this end I will wholeheartedly campaign for the SSP’s five flagship policies.

1) An Independence referendum within one year.

The 2007 election marks the 300^th anniversary of the union. Let’s make it the last anniversary!

Our call is for a Scottish Socialist republic, in which the people are sovereign, not monarchs or multinational leeches. We will fight for a nuclear free Scotland that is outside of NATO.

2) A Scotland Wide Free Public Transport Network

Dramatic and radical action is needed to move hundreds of thousands from private cars to public transport in the fight against climate change.

Does it sound too ambitious? Possibly, but in the 1930s/40s, the idea of a free National Health Service sounded like ‘pie on the sky’.

Many of us in the West of Scotland are all too aware of the cost of bus/ rail travel in our daily commute.

It is a matter of priorities. A free public transport system would cost 500 million pounds. This is less than a sixth of Scotland’s share of military spending.

Free public transport has been a resounding success in the Belgian city of Hasselt where since its introduction in the 1990s car use has plummeted and bus passenger numbers have risen by 1000%.

Instead of tax handouts, which mainly benefit the wealthy, the SSP will fight for the Scottish parliament to phase in the biggest pro-environment and pro- social inclusion measure enacted in Scotland for generations.

3) 100,000 new houses for rent

A million and a half Scots do not own their own home. For them the housing boom is a cruel mirage.

Decades of government cuts in housing support to local authorities, combined with the disastrous right to buy policy, has condemned hundreds of thousands of families to a life sentence served out in dilapidated crime ridden housing schemes.

Last year 11,200 council houses were sold off – but there was not one single new council house built in Scotland.

The SSP wants to redress this imbalance between private and public by building 25,000 new homes for social rent every year.

It is a myth that we can’t afford high-quality social housing.

In contrast to the mainstream parties, the SSP believes that high quality; low rent social housing holds the key to averting a future housing calamity in Scotland.

4) Nutritious Free School Meals for Scotland’s school children

According to a new report by Save the Children, nearly half of all families are living in poverty.For 6 years the SSP has spearheaded the fight for nutritious free school meals as part of a serious onslaught against obesity, junk food culture and child poverty.

The cost of free school meals is negligible when set against the overall budget of the Scottish parliament. Frances Curran’s bill would cost just 74 million pounds – one third of the Scottish parliament under spend last year.

Our politicians get subsidized meals at the parliament; surely our kids deserve the same!5) The replacement of the council tax with a progressive income tax.

The SSP wants to replace the council tax with a new system of taxation that truly reflects income differentials within Scotland.

Our alternative is the Scottish service tax. It is unashamedly redistributive. It would be based on annual personal income, thus shifting the burden of local taxation from the low income to the high-income households.

All earnings under 11,000 would be exempt. Earnings over 11,000 would be taxed progressively. Over two thirds of households would be better off, and the top 15% would pay more.

It is about time that the poor stopped subsidizing the rich!

In short we are for people not profit!"

EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE SSP ANNOUNCE THEIR COUNCIL CANDIDATES!

Scottish Socialist Party East Dunbartonshire Council Candidates

WILLIE TELFUR - TWECHAR CANDIDATE WITH PROVEN RECORD OF GETTING THINGS DONE!

FREE PUBLIC TRANSPORT FOR ALL

The people of Twechar have suffered for years from a privatised transport system that puts profits before people. We have had to campaign time after time just to keep the irregular evening bus service. We are a prime example of the shortcoming of Scotland’s expensive and inadequate public transport system.

With congestion and pollution choking our towns and cities and scientists ringing the alarm bells over global warming, we need radical action.

By scrapping the £4 billion of prestige transport projects such as M74 and the Edinburgh airport rail-link, we could fund the infrastructure for an expanded, publicly-owned transport network. And by imposing a modest payroll tax on big business, we could run our buses, trains, ferries and underground free of charge.

A vote for the SSP is vote for fare-free transport.

HOUSING

East Dunbartonshire council says they want to modernise housing in Twechar. Sounds good except they plan to demolish 185 council houses and only rebuild 80 for renting. Another 40 will be partly sold off to the private sector. This will result in more expensive rents, - an immediate rise of 10% and the scrapping of the two weeks free rent in March and at Christmas. There will be no guaranteed future rent caps, even though every other scheme like this over the past few years in other areas across Scotland have had this promise. A quick look at the sums shows that some local people will be forced to move out of the area.

This is not a housing solution to suit the people of Twechar. It is being forced on us without a ballot. Why is the council scared to let people have their say? They are scared we would insist on a better solution to our local housing needs.

Nationally, the SSP promise to fight to for 100,000 new homes for rent - bringing house-building in the social rented sector into line with the private sector. Sky-high property values mean misery, overcrowding and even homelessness for hundreds of thousands of young people and low paid workers.

We want to build flats for young people and houses with gardens for young families. To fund that ambitious programme, we will campaign for the cancellation of all local authority housing debt, and for councils to be allowed to levy a ‘millionaire’s tax’ on all land and property worth over a million pounds.

A vote for the SSP is a vote to build high quality housing for low-cost rent.

SAVE STOBHILL HOSPITAL

We only have to look at the two closest General Hospitals to Twechar, Stobhill and Monklands to see that the NHS is no longer safe in new Labours hands. As regards Stobhill, the arrogant Labour Party turned it’s back on huge campaigns to keep it a General Hospital whilst shovelling piles of your money into the long discredited and very poor PFI alternative. The SSP over a number of years have been to the forefront of campaigns to keep emergency services not only at Stobhill but also at Monklands.

With nearly 500 beds at Stobhill due to disappear, where will people go when they need treatment? The Royal in Glasgow is already overcrowded and just think of the problems getting there in an emergency.

Sure, Stobhill has been starved of funds in recent years. But the answer is to invest in the NHS for the future. New Labour only offers closures and privatisation. Stobhill has a pleasant environment and plenty room for expansion.

It was Socialists who set up the NHS – only Socialists can save it.

It is time to put people before profit. It is time to vote Scottish Socialist Party.

MOIRA BROWN - FIGHTING FOR LENZIE AND SOUTH KIRKINTILLOCH

TIME FOR CHANGE

Moira Brown is a self-employed photographer who spends her spare time campaigning for social justice. Married to Eric, she has been living in Lenzie for two years. She believes that the Scottish Socialist Party provides an important voice for the people of Scotland and hopes you will become convinced of this too.

Moira believes that “we are already experiencing extreme capitalism in this country. Do we really want to be like the United States where a baby is more likely to die in New York than in the city of Beijing?”.

She also says: “If elected I will work hard to promote the rights of the community and individual constituents. I will also work to:

• Promote the SSP’s programme for an integrated FREE PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM. And to campaign for the reopening of the rail line from Glasgow Queen St to Aberfoyle via Kirkintilloch, Milton of Campsie, Lennoxtown etc. (closed in 1966)

• Promote the provision of free school meals for every child in East Dunbartonshire.

• Oppose the current council tax system and promote a fairer income-based tax.

• Oppose the sale of land to developers unless there is an adequate provision made for social housing.

• Oppose the renewal of Trident as this could pay for sorting out all of the above! “

ACTION TOWARDS GAINING HEALTHY SCHOOL MEALS FOR ALL CHILDREN

We, the Scottish Socialist Party have supported the Free School Meals campaign (www.freeschoolmeals.org) from the outset. The Executive has already made a concession which is the extension of free meals to children of families on maximum Working Families Tax Credit. This could mean that 70,000 – 93,000 more children from low-income families will become entitled to free school meals. This initiative was introduced in Hull in 2004 and has been a resounding success (according to teachers and health professionals alike). The cost of this? Pennies compared to the cost of hosting the Olympic games in London which is of no benefit to the people of Scotland whose taxes are helping to pay for it.

In the long term this policy will actually save money on:

(1) teaching time spent dealing with the consequences of hyperactive and/or undernourished children.

(2) improving every child’s chances in life so fewer fall by the wayside.

(3) NHS resources by forming good eating habits when children are young.

(4) social work time spent dealing with challenging children.

(5) administration (systems to collect money cost money).

THINKING THAT WOULD SOLVE THE CAR PARKING PROBLEM AT LENZIE STATION –- without building a multi-storey car park or introducing parking charges!

How could people in the 19^th and much of the 20^th century live without cars in Kirkintilloch and it’s environs, yet today the norm is that we need one each?

The answer to this question is threefold. Firstly, prior to the 1960’s if you lived in Kirkintilloch, Milton of Campsie or Lennoxtown, you could hop on a train into Glasgow. Secondly, train fares were a good deal cheaper then in comparison to the average wage. Thirdly, our ancestors did not have to worry about making a reservation for their bicycle! And these were the days when congestion and global warming were not even issues.

This railway branching off to Kirkintilloch from Lenzie is just one of the valuable railway routes that has been denied to the people of Scotland since that short sighted idiot Beeching had it closed. He is long gone but we are still suffering (those who have to finance a car just to have it sit all day at Lenzie train station and those living near the station who feel the parking is disrupting their lives). And the problem is getting worse.

Huge areas of Scotland could be regenerated if all the old railway routes/stations were reinstated and fares reduced to NIL. People could travel to work more easily, consider jobs that would otherwise be unfeasible and Scottish families could explore Scotland at the weekends. We live in a beautiful country but at present it cannot be explored properly without a car.

So how much would it cost to have a great, free integrated public transport system in Scotland? Well, it would cost a lot less, for example, than renewing Trident!

This is not a pipe dream we are talking about – this is something our great-great grand parents once took for granted and so should we.

BILL NEWMAN - THE ALTERNATIVE TO THE TORY PARTIES IN MILNGAVIE!

Bill Newman has lived locally for some 12 years and has been active in politics and trade union activities throughout his adult life. He firmly believes that only socialism can bring about a fairer society locally and nationally. The Scottish Socialist Party is determined to challenge the self-seeking, business-friendly agendas of the LibDems, New Labour, Conservative and SNP at all levels.

He says, “In Milngavie, as elsewhere in East Dunbartonshire, I will:

__ Oppose the Council Tax and promote a fairer income-based tax.

__ Oppose the building of schools and hospitals by PFI (private finance) methods which raises costs to the local community, limits the facilties available and prioritises profits to private companies above the interests of pupils and patients.

__ Oppose the sale of land to private developers unless adequate provision is made for affordable property for rent.

__ Promote the provision of free school meals for all school children.

__ Promote the Scottish Socialist Party's programme for an integrated FREE PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM locally and nationally.

__ Protect and extend local facilities and the surroundings for all citizens, not least to improve the deteriorating condition of Milngavie town centre.

Public Transport in Milngavie could be greatly improved. The SSP propose a Free Public Transport System.

In the Belgian city of Hasselt, which covers an area double the size of Dundee, congestion was eliminated in the late 1980s after the introduction of a totally free public transport system. Within a year, bus passenger journeys rose by 870 per cent and have now increased by over 1000 per cent. In dismal contrast, the Scottish Executive has set a target for an annual increase of one per cent in bus journeys and two per cent in rail journeys.

In recent months, the Danish government has commissioned a research group to examine the feasibility of a free public transport system (Copenhagen Post November 22, 2006 ).

The Melbourne Age newspaper, edited by Andrew Jaspan (a former editor of the Sunday Herald, The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday) has called for state-wide free bus travel in Victoria (A radical idea, The Age, May 5 2006)

Matthew Parrish, a Tory MP under Margaret Thatcher, who played a key role in destroying South Yorkshire’s cheap fares policy, now admits he was wrong and has called for London-wide free bus travel: “I was wrong. I have changed my mind…Never mind the ideology, it just makes sense.” (It’s big, it’s red, and it’s free – and it will save London; The Times. May 8 2003)

Visit Scotland (formerly the Scottish Tourist Board) recently published a report which set out the policy implications of global warming by 2015: “In order to reduce dependency upon the car, we will see a number of measures to move people onto public transport. These will include free public transport for all in Scotland, whether this is buses or trains”. (Visit Scotland report: Tomorrow’s World, May 2006)

Neil Scott, Bearsden North -

GET KIDS OFF THE STREETS—GIVE THEM SPACE!

Neil Scott is a husband, a father and a Primary School Teacher who lives in Castlehill, Bearsden. He has lived in Bearsden for seven years.

One of the few places children have to play football or other active games in the Courthill and Castlehill Areas is in front of the Courthill shops. There are plans to take this away from them.

I recognise the need for affordable housing, but affordable housing should not mean cramped housing. Cramming more houses into Courthill is going to ensure more teenagers on the streets with nothing to do. It wont be long until the only green to be seen in the area will be the empty bottles of buckfast.

The Council have a fantastic opportunity to build affordable housing and good facilities for children and teenagers on the huge space left vacant by St Andrews College - but seem to have gone down the path of minimal facilities for Bearsden Academy and more land for developers.

If elected, I will fight for facilities for children and teenagers in the Castlehill and Courthill area - and for affordable housing for our children when they leave home- built on freed up land instead of giving community owned land away for a song for more expensive flats and cheaply built, but expensive to buy housing for the gain of no-one only the developers.

BETTER PUBLIC TRANSPORT FOR BEARSDEN NORTH

Public Transport in Bearsden is horrendous. For example, if you want to go to Clydebank (10 min away by car) you have to change bus -either getting a bus from a different company (negating the cheap tickets the journey can cost £4.50) -or waiting for the bus from the same company which can make the journey last over an hour if you don't time it right (one bus an hour). If you want to go to Milngavie then you have to walk to Baljaffray - not ideal if you are from Castlehill or Courthill and you've got a disability or have children.

Those of us commuting into Glasgow find tickets by train are £12.50 a week—there is no incentive to leave the car at home.

I recently had this letter published in the Evening Times:

I notice the Times photographer was outside the school I work in as a teacher today to take photographs of parents parking on the zig-zag lines.

Could I suggest that the newly announced SSP policy of FREE PUBLIC TRANSPORT would help combat the congestion and dangerous parking in the mornings outside most schools?

In my opinion this will take people out of their cars and give our cities - and in turn our children- the pollution free breathing space they need.
I noticed this article in the Herald about this policy -
http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/news/display.var.1149157.0.0.php

I promise to fight for a national free public transport system to turn Scotland into the clean, green capital of the world. With congestion and pollution choking our towns and cities and scientists ringing the alarm bells over global warming, we need radical action. By scrapping the £4 billion of prestige transport projects such as M74 and the Edinburgh airport rail-link, we could fund the infrastructure for an expanded, publicly-owned transport network. And by imposing a modest payroll tax on big business, we could run our buses, trains, ferries and underground free of charge. A vote for the SSP is vote for fare-free transport.

For more details on joining the S.S.P. and your local branch please contact our national offices below. Make sure to leave your name, address and phone number. Or you can email ssp.membership@btconnect.com

eastdunbartonshiressp@hotmail.co.uk

East Dunbartonshire SSP,

70 Stanley Street
Glasgow G41 1JB

tel: 0141-429-8200

fax: 0141-429-8040

http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/

www.scottishsocialistvoice.net