Red Pepper Review of "Downfall"

Liz Davies, chair of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers and a barrister specialising in housing and homelessness law, has reviewed Alan McCombes book on the Sheridan affair for Red Pepper.

Review HERE

Former MSP Joins Scottish Socialist Party

Article by Campbell on his reasons to join the SSP HERE
Colin Fox welcomes Campbell to the party HERE
Article by Campbell in which he writes about "The Economic Situation," on the Campsie Socialists website from July 2010 HERE

Owen Jones at The Free Hetherington

On Sunday 22 August 2011, Owen Jones, the author of "Chavs; the demonization of the working class," visited the student occupied Hetherington Post Grad Club in Glasgow. This video is an hour of a much longer conversation that was led by Jones.

The SSP on the demonization of our youth (2003)

I unashamedly reproduce this article from the Scottish Socialist Voice about Rosie's Scottish Parliamentary battle against the demonization of our youth:

No votes no rights

by Jo Harvie

After months of election propaganda, veiled threats and open slander, the Scottish Executive launched their crack down on "anti-social behaviour", predominantly aimed at young people labelled by the Executive as neds.Their bill could hand extensive new powers to police and the courts, including the use of electronic tags and fixed penalty fines for children.

Heavy emphasis was also placed on new police powers to "disperse" groups of three or more people gathered in the streets, touted as a way of dealing with young people in gangs.

But the Scottish Human Rights Centre have compared this to the stop-under-suspicion (sus) laws introduced in England and Wales in the 1980s, which caused a huge increase in tension between young people and the police.John Scott told press:

"It created a generation of people who were as suspicious of the police as the police were of them.

"As a matter of principle, I do not think that if there are three young people in the street doing nothing at all the police should have the power to interfere with them.

"This is a radical departure from current police powers. The European Convention on Human Rights guarantees the right of free association, the exception being if you are breaking another law.

"Giving the police such wide-ranging powers that could be easily abused is not the answer.

"We have gone too far on the intolerance current in society towards young people."

SSP MSP Rosie Kane agrees:"Young people are being demonised to promote a really oppressive piece of legislation.

"I don't think a few young people hanging about on the street is a problem - I'm all in favour of pedestrianising our communities.

"Obviously if any person is behaving in a way that is hurting or threatening other people, then we have to deal with that. But the Executive are saying that young people in general are a problem we need to deal with."They are refusing to say if they'll be tagging eight year olds or not.

"Imagine a wee eight year old child who can't go out in shorts in the summer because he's got the bad boy label on. What kind of message is that for young people?

"In the absence of any real, progressive legislation on poverty, they're using a few words that appeal to people's fears and I think will have a really negative effect, not just on young people but on all of our communities."

The Scottish Socialist Party was the only political party to speak out against the proposals, but anti-poverty groups were also critical.

As the Executive launched their crusade, the Scottish Human Services Trust released a report, Staying Human by Gerry Hassan and Sue Rawcliffe, saying that the Executive have failed to address real poverty and inequality.The report says Scotland has become more unequal since the founding of the Scottish Parliament.Hassan also criticised the Scottish Executive's increasing tendency to talk in "morally authoritarian" terms of blame and punishment, especially where young people are concerned:

"The Scottish debate never used to have that punitive language. These young people who are getting tagged better hurry and grow up and vote."

On Saturday, Rosie was in Edinburgh to unveil a mural painted by a group of young people under the guidance of a youth project called Citizen Y.

Angered by the way that young people have been scapegoated by the Scottish Executive, a couple of weeks ago they decided to rename their mural Who are you calling a ned?

Rosie told the Voice:

"The mural has been created by the young people who are viewed, labelled and dismissed by the politicians as 'neds'."The project has given them something to do, and they've made something beautiful out of it."Treating young people positively means you get positive attitudes back from them, just like anybody else."


Further article HERE from the magazine Frontline

Get some Socialist R&B...

I reviewed Thee Factions previous album At Ebbw Vale, HERE and will review their new album Up the Workers OR: Capitalism is good for corporations; that's why you've been told socialism is bad all your life,  in the coming days.

In the meantime, if you would like a free copy - I have one to give away!  To claim it, send me one sentence on how you are fighting capitalism, to eastdunbartonshiressp@hotmail.co.uk.  The winner will judged by me to be the person who has a suggestion that we can all take up and use. Ends 18 August.

Scottish Independence – it’s up to the Working Class.

Huffington Post Blogpost by SSP Campsie member, Neil Scott HERE

Pamphlet's from the past...

Our comrades from the down and dirty Socialist R&B group, Thee Faction, have drawn our attention to this Pamphlet from the Past.  Definitely worth a read, comrades.

Read Thee Faction's introduction to the pamphlet and click on their link to read it here- GDH COLE ON GUILD SOCIALISM

...and buy their album...

Swinson- increasingly divorced from realities of living in East Dunbartonshire

I have been finding our local LibDem/ConDem/Tory MP, Jo Swinson's "e-consultations" and online presence are becoming less and less about her constituency, and more and more about her want to make an impact with the "federal party" she is part of, and building a CV for the inevitable crash of the Lib Dems.


  Lately, Swinson has replied to me via email to pronounce her support of Nuclear Weapons and "an alternative" to Trident being the imperative - 


"A non-nuclear defence is not currently a viable option and the EDM does not recognise that we continue to live in an uncertain, unpredictable world where proliferation of nuclear weapons is still a priority for some countries. We also cannot assume that current nuclear states will remain stable and pose no threat to our country and its interests. The risk may be low, but so long as a risk exists, we cannot leave ourselves vulnerable and so some minimal deterrent is needed."


I would like to know what this threat she is hinting at is - and why reacting to this threat with a nuclear deterrent is a necessary and positive response.  Would we really attack another country - killing many innocent families, children and workers - if some deranged terrorist or dictator launched an attack on us?  


If you would like a copy of her response to my request for her to sign EDM 1924 regarding the Trident Review, please email me at eastdunbartonshiressp@hotmail.co.uk 


Anyway, her latest e-consultation asks the question, 


"Do you agree that the government should invest in high speed rail between London and the north of England?"

I felt this question was not only far removed from her "localism" campaign to be elected in the past two General Elections, but also shows her as a career politician, making sure of her place in the decimated LibDem Party after the next General Election (which, the way this coalition are going, could be sooner rather than later).  Positioning herself as Vince Cables PPS will, perhaps after the election give her some sort of political position or at least a great entry in her CV.  

Remember - between her and her MP husband, their family income is over £120,000 a year - not bad for two career politicians who have never had to struggle.  The least she could do is fight for working families and poorly paid people in her own constituency.  East Dunbartonshire is a place where we are reliant on public sector jobs - teachers, nurses, doctors and other "civil servants" commute daily to Glasgow and other cities and large towns for a diminishing return thanks to the VAT increases, increase in transport costs, increase in food prices and increases in fuel prices to name a few - alongside frozen wages.  The median wage is £21,000 - far removed from her wage of over £64,700 plus allowances, including travel.  How many East Dunbartonshire working people get transport allowances into Glasgow or Edinburgh or elsewhere?  How many East Dunbartonshire people get their subscription the the Bearsden Milngavie Herald as a work expense?  Or their mobile phone bill paid?  As a teacher, I am in contact with my Head Teacher and other colleagues about work quite a lot - perhaps Jo should fight for ALL workers to have their mobile phone, travel to work and subscription to a local paper paid for through company expenses?

Swinson is increasingly being seen as the well off young person who has never had to work or struggle for her income she is.  And increasingly as someone divorced from the present day hard realities of living in East Dunbartonshire. 

This is my reply to her current anglo-centric consultation:

A fully integrated, updated public transport system is vital to our country - and indeed to East Dunbartonshire, which this question, and more and more of your "consultations" seem to forget about.

As the economy slumps and as more and more of your constituents have less and less money to help the economy grow due to the Lib Dem policy of support for the Tory plans to make the poor and working pay for the crisis of capital created by millionaires and billionaires, a free public transport system for the huge amount of commuters from East Dunbartonshire would be a policy that would not only help poor and working families financially; it would be a boost to the local economy as people would be left with more of a disposable income.  It would also help clear our streets from  the curse of the car (and ensure the predicted one hour travel time from Milngavie to Canniesburn DOES NOT happen post-Kilmardinny development).

Our policy of Free Public Transport - a policy that has been successful in other parts of the world in boosting economies and in creating a cleaner environment, can be found here along with links to articles in the Herald praising this "audacious" plan.  

http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/transport/index.html

Neil Scott

Organiser, Campsie Socialists.


Open Letter to Swinson HERE
Criticism of her so called feminism HERE

To the Tory/Liberal Democrat coalition...

...The Diary of a "Benefits Scrounger."

HERE

Doleman's Downfall

Article by Campsie SSP member Neil Scott on James Doleman and Philip Stott's strange view on the events leading up to Tommy Sheridan's incarceration HERE