Polling Day is upon us. Today is YOUR chance to help MAKE GREED HISTORY by voting for the SSP. We have a brilliant team - all with principles that would shake Europe - none of our candidates want to join the gravy train that has seen Gordon Brown's Government rocked - and the Tories exposed as the money grabbing party we all knew them to be.
Read the post below to see how YOU can help!
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
HOW TO MAKE GREED HISTORY!
Registered voters should have received a polling card with polling station details.
Mark Callaghan is the local candidate in the Bishopbriggs South by-election. Let the greedy "main parties" know what you think of them by voting for CHANGE!
Mark on Woodhill Road, Bishopbriggs South on Wednesday during a whole day of campaigning.
Mark's Press Release as featured in the Kirkintilloch and Bishopbriggs Herald:
I'm a 43 year old activist, who will challenge the greed agendas of the main parties.
YOU CAN STILL VOTE WITHOUT A POLLING CARD.
The ballot paper is made up of party lists; name of party and list of candidates.
You vote ONCE for your choice of party
Once you have been given a ballot paper, look for the Scottish Socialist Party.
Listed next to the party name are our candidates;
1. Colin Fox
2. Angela Gorrie
3. Johanna Dind
4. Nick McKerrell
5. Raphael De Santos
6. Felicity Garvie
Vote ONCE for the Scottish Socialist Party
If you have any time to spare on Today it could potentially make a big difference to our vote if you can encourage and possibly facilitate members of your family, workmates and friends to vote. If people haven’t voted before it can be quite an intimidating experience and having someone on hand who knows the procedure can be helpful.
Whatever the result, due to be declared in Edinburgh on Monday 8th, the SSP would like to thank all of our members and supporters who have made the Make Greed History campaign a huge success, particularly those socialists in USA, Switzerland, England, Wales and the North of Ireland who have contributed to the fantastic response to our financial appeal (we are not a party of or for millionaires - so donations from ordinary people keep us able to fight FOR ordinary people - to donate, please text a pledge to 07810205747).
Mark Callaghan is the local candidate in the Bishopbriggs South by-election. Let the greedy "main parties" know what you think of them by voting for CHANGE!
Mark on Woodhill Road, Bishopbriggs South on Wednesday during a whole day of campaigning.Mark's Press Release as featured in the Kirkintilloch and Bishopbriggs Herald:
I'm a 43 year old activist, who will challenge the greed agendas of the main parties.
Privatisation con-tricks -PPP/PFI -have been used to build several local schools. Bishopbriggs now has fewer schools and the school buildings are owned by private firms.
This means EDC is hugely mortgaged. For the next 30 years WE will pay millions to giant companies. I am committed to ending this rip-off. I want big business out of schools and hospitals.
This would free up millions to invest in health, housing and education.
I support a wealth tax that will create 80,000 jobs in Scotland with an average wage of £25,000; insulate Scotland’s homes; ensure no schools close; upgrade existing schools; reduce class sizes to 20 and less and pay for free school meals.
The Labour Party and it's Councillors are closing schools - tearing the heart out of communities and cramming children into huge "superschools". The SNP seem powerless to stop this -or don't want to. I will fight this wrecking of our education system.
I will fight the privatisation of Royal Mail. It’s profits (2008-£323m) should be for hospitals and schools and not for shareholders in private companies like TNT.
Friday, 29 May 2009
Be part of the party that represents YOU!
Big Parties like the Labour Party, Tories and Lib Dems are funded by big business and millionaires, so they in turn serve the rich.Our campaign to get Mark elected in Bishopbriggs South - and our Euro Election campaign, as in all of our campaigns, are funded by ordinary people - you and me, so the Scottish Socialist Party is a true party of the people.
Any elected representatives of the SSP, as when we had six MSP's, vow to take only the average workers wage - around £24,000 a year - not the £64,000 + £000's of expenses the main party representatives have chosen to take from our taxes.
If you would like to have a representative who is truly answerable to you - AND NOT BIG BUSINESS OR MILLIONAIRES - vote SSP next Thursday.
To pledge support/ money to help the party, please text "How can I donate/help?" along with your name to -07810205747
For more details on our Euro Campaign, click on the MAKE GREED HISTORY campaign banner:
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
There Must Be An Alternative
Bill Newman, a retired City of London Banker, witnessed the greed and corruption of the Capitalist system at first hand. He explains why the greed MUST be made history…
The media continues, with total justification, to forecast more economic doom and gloom to come. And many commentators, with equal justification, identify these economic woes with a collapse of our current version of the capitalist dream (or should that be nightmare?). But if, as so many now agree, the overwhelming greed of financiers was an inevitable result of the capitalist system, then why do none of our major parties offer a socialist alternative?
It is hardly surprising that the Conservative Party and the neo-conservatives of New Labour should want to protect their chums in big business. Given Vince Cable's capable analysis of the stupidity and avarice of the bankers who got us into this mess, it might be expected that the LibDems would offer some radical alternative for the future. Not a chance! Nor is any alternative on offer from the Scottish National Party. It might reasonably be thought that with a substantial swathe of our financial institutions on nominal public hands, at least some modification of banking philosophy and behaviour would be evident. No such evidence exists and all New Labour wants is to hand ownership back to the very kind of people who bought their institutions to disaster. Almost unbelievably, in this context, privatisation of Royal Mail is still being pursued.
So will it be business as usual for bankers and financial traders once their bail-out has enabled them to continue to print their own money again? Tighter domestic and international banking regulations (incredibly slow in emerging) might curb some more outlandish financial gambling, but the very nature of capitalism will ensure that greed will be resumed with merely a tactical nod towards the common good. There may now be few who will proclaim openly that "greed is good", but the basic operation of capitalism rests on such greed.
Of course, politicians and financial supervisors are guilty for letting bankers feather their nests with an absolute minimum of interference. Senior bankers were naturally more than happy to be left to their own devices. Indeed, in my own experience in banking, I witnessed the progressive diminution of risk analysis. Both those with responsibility for credit analysis and the structures within which they worked were steadily down-graded, while internal auditors changed from being individuals feared by colleagues to unnecessary irritants.
The obvious alternative is socialism, and the Scottish Socialist Party offers such a rational alternative for a Scottish public proud of its radical political history. Nor could it be thought that the SSP in anything but internationalist in its outlook, for strong links continue to be forged with burgeoning socialist parties throughout Europe.
An alternative is available and a vote for the SSP in the European elections gives an opportunity to reject the incompetent opportunism of the mainstream political parties, none of whom are willing to challenge the system which got us into this crisis.
The media continues, with total justification, to forecast more economic doom and gloom to come. And many commentators, with equal justification, identify these economic woes with a collapse of our current version of the capitalist dream (or should that be nightmare?). But if, as so many now agree, the overwhelming greed of financiers was an inevitable result of the capitalist system, then why do none of our major parties offer a socialist alternative?
It is hardly surprising that the Conservative Party and the neo-conservatives of New Labour should want to protect their chums in big business. Given Vince Cable's capable analysis of the stupidity and avarice of the bankers who got us into this mess, it might be expected that the LibDems would offer some radical alternative for the future. Not a chance! Nor is any alternative on offer from the Scottish National Party. It might reasonably be thought that with a substantial swathe of our financial institutions on nominal public hands, at least some modification of banking philosophy and behaviour would be evident. No such evidence exists and all New Labour wants is to hand ownership back to the very kind of people who bought their institutions to disaster. Almost unbelievably, in this context, privatisation of Royal Mail is still being pursued.
So will it be business as usual for bankers and financial traders once their bail-out has enabled them to continue to print their own money again? Tighter domestic and international banking regulations (incredibly slow in emerging) might curb some more outlandish financial gambling, but the very nature of capitalism will ensure that greed will be resumed with merely a tactical nod towards the common good. There may now be few who will proclaim openly that "greed is good", but the basic operation of capitalism rests on such greed.
Of course, politicians and financial supervisors are guilty for letting bankers feather their nests with an absolute minimum of interference. Senior bankers were naturally more than happy to be left to their own devices. Indeed, in my own experience in banking, I witnessed the progressive diminution of risk analysis. Both those with responsibility for credit analysis and the structures within which they worked were steadily down-graded, while internal auditors changed from being individuals feared by colleagues to unnecessary irritants.
The obvious alternative is socialism, and the Scottish Socialist Party offers such a rational alternative for a Scottish public proud of its radical political history. Nor could it be thought that the SSP in anything but internationalist in its outlook, for strong links continue to be forged with burgeoning socialist parties throughout Europe.
An alternative is available and a vote for the SSP in the European elections gives an opportunity to reject the incompetent opportunism of the mainstream political parties, none of whom are willing to challenge the system which got us into this crisis.
SSP European Election Rally - Glasgow
Date: Tuesday 26 May 2009
Time: 19:30 - 22:30
Location: Piper in the Square (previously Chambers Bar)
Street: George Square
Town/City: Glasgow
Scottish Socialist Party candidate Nick McKerrell (see Video below) will be speaking alongside a Glasgow Save Our Schools Campaigner and Joaquim Reymond, a member of the recently formed New Anticapitalist Party NPA, French Anti Capitalist Left
Time: 19:30 - 22:30
Location: Piper in the Square (previously Chambers Bar)
Street: George Square
Town/City: Glasgow
Scottish Socialist Party candidate Nick McKerrell (see Video below) will be speaking alongside a Glasgow Save Our Schools Campaigner and Joaquim Reymond, a member of the recently formed New Anticapitalist Party NPA, French Anti Capitalist Left
Friday, 22 May 2009
How would a "Greed" Tax work?
Europe: The Greediest Corner of Our Planet
By Raphie de Santos
By Raphie de Santos
Europe has been officially declared the greediest continent on the planet. A report* published in 2003 showed that Europe had more US dollar ($) millionaires than any of the world’s continents. Europe had 2.6 million (m) such individuals followed by the United States with 2.2m and Asia pacific with 1.8m. These are individuals who have over $1m in liquid wealth – essentially assets that can be disposed of at short notice which excludes homes.
A modest, one-off wealth tax of just 10 per cent on these millionaires would generate a trillion dollars to create eight million jobs across Europe.
Scotland’s share of that tax would amount to £6.5 billion – enough to create and sustain 80,000 jobs over the next three years, with an average annual salary of £25,000.
We could build tens of thousands of new homes to rent and turn empty buildings and homes into social housing. We could reduce class sizes by employing thousands more teachers and learning assistants. We could insulate every home in Scotland.
Call it a ‘Wealth Tax’, call it a ‘Crisis Tax’ – or even call it a ‘Greed Tax’. It would be a mighty step out of recession, paid for by those who caused the crisis.
The one off wealth tax could be repeated with annual tax of 5% on the liquid assets of these millioniares. This would give them 20 years to adjust to a more normal lifestyle!
Is such a tax justifiable? Most of this wealth has come from goods and services. These goods and services have been made by the majority of the population with their manual and mental labour. The millionaires can then only make money if we the majority buy these goods and services. Essentially through a greed tax we are only getting our money back.
Of course greed does stop at the super wealthy rich. There has been a massive redistribution of wealth in favour of the top half of society. In the UK the bottom 50% of the population has gone, in three decades, from owning 12% of the liquid wealth to owning 1%!
Tax all household incomes over £50,000 a year at 100%. A fundamental of capitalism is privilege, authority and deference, and behind personal power is economic power. This measure would collapse luxury industries like high fashion, grotesquely expensive restaurants and the market for Mercedes – in other words undermine obscene waste and conspicuous consumption. More rational forms of green consumption would follow.
In the UK the richest 10% of households have an average income of £100,000**. Such a wealth tax would generate an extra £9 billion pounds per year for Scotland. Across Europe this would be a trillion Euros!
In Scotland the extra 9bn is equivalent to a third of the entire Scottish budget for 2009/2010. It could fund a whole new health service for Scotland. Alternatively every year with the money we could build 600 new schools or 150 new hospitals or provide 100,000 extra homes. What we would do with the money would be decided by the needs of the majority of the population in a democratic fashion. It would be a society based on meeting people’s needs and not the obscene greed that we now have.
*World Wealth Report, Merrill Lynch Global Private Client Group New York.
** Office of National Statistics.
A modest, one-off wealth tax of just 10 per cent on these millionaires would generate a trillion dollars to create eight million jobs across Europe.
Scotland’s share of that tax would amount to £6.5 billion – enough to create and sustain 80,000 jobs over the next three years, with an average annual salary of £25,000.
We could build tens of thousands of new homes to rent and turn empty buildings and homes into social housing. We could reduce class sizes by employing thousands more teachers and learning assistants. We could insulate every home in Scotland.
Call it a ‘Wealth Tax’, call it a ‘Crisis Tax’ – or even call it a ‘Greed Tax’. It would be a mighty step out of recession, paid for by those who caused the crisis.
The one off wealth tax could be repeated with annual tax of 5% on the liquid assets of these millioniares. This would give them 20 years to adjust to a more normal lifestyle!
Is such a tax justifiable? Most of this wealth has come from goods and services. These goods and services have been made by the majority of the population with their manual and mental labour. The millionaires can then only make money if we the majority buy these goods and services. Essentially through a greed tax we are only getting our money back.
Of course greed does stop at the super wealthy rich. There has been a massive redistribution of wealth in favour of the top half of society. In the UK the bottom 50% of the population has gone, in three decades, from owning 12% of the liquid wealth to owning 1%!
Tax all household incomes over £50,000 a year at 100%. A fundamental of capitalism is privilege, authority and deference, and behind personal power is economic power. This measure would collapse luxury industries like high fashion, grotesquely expensive restaurants and the market for Mercedes – in other words undermine obscene waste and conspicuous consumption. More rational forms of green consumption would follow.
In the UK the richest 10% of households have an average income of £100,000**. Such a wealth tax would generate an extra £9 billion pounds per year for Scotland. Across Europe this would be a trillion Euros!
In Scotland the extra 9bn is equivalent to a third of the entire Scottish budget for 2009/2010. It could fund a whole new health service for Scotland. Alternatively every year with the money we could build 600 new schools or 150 new hospitals or provide 100,000 extra homes. What we would do with the money would be decided by the needs of the majority of the population in a democratic fashion. It would be a society based on meeting people’s needs and not the obscene greed that we now have.
*World Wealth Report, Merrill Lynch Global Private Client Group New York.
** Office of National Statistics.
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Scottish Socialist Party stand in Bishopbriggs South By-election
Click on leaflet for a clearer view.
This leaflet will be delivered to every home in the ward.
Promoted by Pam Currie on behalf of the Scottish Socialist Party, Suite
308/310, 4th Floor Central Chambers 93 Hope St, Glasgow G2 6LD.
This leaflet will be delivered to every home in the ward.
Promoted by Pam Currie on behalf of the Scottish Socialist Party, Suite
308/310, 4th Floor Central Chambers 93 Hope St, Glasgow G2 6LD.
Save Our Schools Moves to Holyrood...
GLASGOW SAVE OUR SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN CALLS ON 129 MSPs TO SIGN DECLARATION IN DEFENCE OF EDUCATION IN COMMUNITIES
Glasgow Save Our Schools Campaign has taken nearly 100 parents to the Scottish Parliament today, met with a group of MSPs, and started the process of getting a parliamentary majority of MSPs to sign up to a Declaration calling on the Glasgow city council to suspend its hasty attempts to close schools and nurseries by June, and asking for an urgent parliamentary investigation into the impact of these closures.
Glasgow Save Our Schools Campaign organiser, Richie Venton, today said:
"We met with a group of MSPs from the Lib Dems, SNP and Labour. Two-thirds of them agreed to sign our MSPs' Declaration on the spot, and to pursue other MSPs to do likewise.
"Glasgow Save Our Schools Campaign will now write to and speak to every MSP to seek their backing, to further isolate the cost-cutting councillors in their George Square bunker. "Our aim is to pound the council into retreat with the help of the Scottish parliament.
"The issues involved are of grave concern for the whole nation, as well as traumatising 2,000 young children in its biggest city.
"The Labour council's closures will mean bigger classes and less teachers -
both of which completely contradict the declared aims of the Scottish
government and the advice of educational experts.
"The so-called consultation procedure, where over 96 per cent opposition to
the closures was ignored by Steven Purcell and his puppet councillors,
undermines the whole idea of democracy and the Scottish parliament's own
guidelines for public consultation.
"We appeal to the Scottish parliament to not remain silent on such key
issues, but to shout its opposition to these regressive, cost-cutting
closures from the rooftops.
"Our MSPs' Declaration calls on the Scottish parliament to hold a thorough public investigation into the impact of the threatened closures on education, children's health and safety, social inclusion, jobs, and the implications for the democartic process of consultation with communities.
There is no reason why any MSP of any party would not sign up to this Declaration."
For more info contact Richie Venton on 07828 278 093 or at
richieventon@hotmail.com
Glasgow Save Our Schools Campaign has taken nearly 100 parents to the Scottish Parliament today, met with a group of MSPs, and started the process of getting a parliamentary majority of MSPs to sign up to a Declaration calling on the Glasgow city council to suspend its hasty attempts to close schools and nurseries by June, and asking for an urgent parliamentary investigation into the impact of these closures.
Glasgow Save Our Schools Campaign organiser, Richie Venton, today said:
"We met with a group of MSPs from the Lib Dems, SNP and Labour. Two-thirds of them agreed to sign our MSPs' Declaration on the spot, and to pursue other MSPs to do likewise.
"Glasgow Save Our Schools Campaign will now write to and speak to every MSP to seek their backing, to further isolate the cost-cutting councillors in their George Square bunker. "Our aim is to pound the council into retreat with the help of the Scottish parliament.
"The issues involved are of grave concern for the whole nation, as well as traumatising 2,000 young children in its biggest city.
"The Labour council's closures will mean bigger classes and less teachers -
both of which completely contradict the declared aims of the Scottish
government and the advice of educational experts.
"The so-called consultation procedure, where over 96 per cent opposition to
the closures was ignored by Steven Purcell and his puppet councillors,
undermines the whole idea of democracy and the Scottish parliament's own
guidelines for public consultation.
"We appeal to the Scottish parliament to not remain silent on such key
issues, but to shout its opposition to these regressive, cost-cutting
closures from the rooftops.
"Our MSPs' Declaration calls on the Scottish parliament to hold a thorough public investigation into the impact of the threatened closures on education, children's health and safety, social inclusion, jobs, and the implications for the democartic process of consultation with communities.
There is no reason why any MSP of any party would not sign up to this Declaration."
For more info contact Richie Venton on 07828 278 093 or at
richieventon@hotmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)