tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47883652655688497622024-03-12T17:44:04.231-07:00SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTYWEST LOTHIAN BRANCHwestlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-66149299492620667962011-04-25T05:07:00.000-07:002011-04-25T05:08:30.891-07:00Colin Fox on abolishing the council tax.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8CIKc3V2rQbO6ECKcXunRS6ShgqErbwiIhwtOnxaDms5bKvA4VA1OhgzY1imcCNJpTjB_qs9Agq6m1QfJP3k8I8u0Cijuw4PvF2zRaR1kykcZiul28jIKwJY3faZKCdTFaswy00BkKc/s1600/colinpublicmeeting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8CIKc3V2rQbO6ECKcXunRS6ShgqErbwiIhwtOnxaDms5bKvA4VA1OhgzY1imcCNJpTjB_qs9Agq6m1QfJP3k8I8u0Cijuw4PvF2zRaR1kykcZiul28jIKwJY3faZKCdTFaswy00BkKc/s200/colinpublicmeeting.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.25em; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Time To Abolish The Council Tax - Not Freeze It</h3><div class="post-header" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px;"><div class="post-header-line-1"></div></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8720148439573530438" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The opinion polls suggest Labour and the SNP are neck and neck in the race for Holyrood 2011. Interestingly both parties now support a freeze in Council Tax bills for the next year. They arrived at this 'freeze' via different routes however.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8720148439573530438" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
Like the Scottish Socialist Party the SNP are opposed to the Council Tax in principle, believing, as the majority of Scots do, that it is unfair and hits the less well off disproportionately hard. The Council Tax is indeed a regressive tax that bears no relation to a person's income. Consequently the least well off are hit hardest as the wealthy pay coppers. Since they have not been able to replace it with an income based alternative, the SNP have settled for second be stand 'freezing' the current charges.<br />
<br />
Labour on the other hand has no principled objection to the Council Tax. They argue for a freeze on the grounds that they purportedly want to 'help hard working families in this time of austerity'. Most people believe that it has more to do with avoiding being politically outmanoeuvred by the SNP. Either way freezing the Council Tax does nothing to address it's fundamental unfairness. Indeed it may be argued a freeze helps the rich most of all.<br />
<br />
As things stand the wealthy in Scotland pay a tiny tiny percentage of their income on this bill. For example,Stephen Hestor (the CEO of RBS) was just awarded a £7.7 million pay package for the coming year. Living in Edinburgh his Council Tax bill will again be frozen at £2,338 or 0.03% of his salary whilst some pensioners are paying 25% of their income on theirs.<br />
<br />
The Scottish Socialist Part believes this is utterly unacceptable and this week we will highlight our fully costed proposals for a local income tax to replace the Council Tax. Our plans would mean the burden would be lifted from the shoulders of of pensioners, low paid workers and the poor and at the same time force the wealthy to pay their fair share for a change.<br />
<br />
Here's how it works. Each individual in Scotland will pay towards the funding of local services but the more you earn the more you pay. So, for example, if your income is less than £10,000 you are exempt. That's too low to force people to contribute. Thereafter, on incomes over £10,000 and up to £30,000 you pay 4.5%. So if you are on £200,000 your bill is £450 [4.5% of the earnings over £10,000] If you earn more than £30,000 you pay nothing on the first £10,000, 4.5% on the next £20,000 and 10% on the earnings over £30,000. The next incremental step is to 15% on earnings over £50,000 and 20% on earnings over £100,000. This graduated rate (which the SNP opposes) is fairer and ensures that as your income goes up so does your tax obligation.<br />
<br />
Economists at Paisley University who scrutinised these figures found that 77% of Scots will be better off compared to now. Furthermore, using the latest Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs figures, they are able to demonstrate that these proposals would bring another £1.5 billion into Holyrood's Treasury.<br />
<br />
So, not only would this tax be fairer and redistributive, it would also halt the need for any cuts to public services in Scotland. And that's a freeze we DO need.</div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8720148439573530438" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Taken from Colin Fox's blog @ <a href="http://sspcolinfox.blogspot.com/2011/04/time-to-abolish-council-tax-not-freeze.html">http://sspcolinfox.blogspot.com</a></span></div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-53727645509627546662011-04-16T15:14:00.000-07:002011-04-16T15:14:11.800-07:00SSP MANIFESTO LAUNCHED<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">Colin Fox on SSP manifesto launch.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8CIKc3V2rQbO6ECKcXunRS6ShgqErbwiIhwtOnxaDms5bKvA4VA1OhgzY1imcCNJpTjB_qs9Agq6m1QfJP3k8I8u0Cijuw4PvF2zRaR1kykcZiul28jIKwJY3faZKCdTFaswy00BkKc/s1600/colinpublicmeeting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8CIKc3V2rQbO6ECKcXunRS6ShgqErbwiIhwtOnxaDms5bKvA4VA1OhgzY1imcCNJpTjB_qs9Agq6m1QfJP3k8I8u0Cijuw4PvF2zRaR1kykcZiul28jIKwJY3faZKCdTFaswy00BkKc/s200/colinpublicmeeting.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">The Scottish Socialist Party launched our manifesto for the 2011 Holyrood elections yesterday at a press conference in Glasgow. With me at the launch were the other top of the list candidates from across Scotland. Frances Curran (Glasgow), SSP Councillor Jim Bollan (West of Scotland), and myself briefly outlined the main points in our magnificent manifesto [which can be downloaded from the SSP website] for the assembled press pack.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">We gave the people of Scotland a cast iron guarantee that if they elect SSP MSPs on May 5th we will not vote for cuts to public services, to jobs, wages or conditions. This is a very important commitment because this will be the first Parliament faced with a reduced budget so MSPs will either vote for cuts or fight them.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">The SSP has never, in twelve years, voted to cut public services or the standard of living of working people and we have no intention of starting now.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">Second we stressed that we are committed to scrapping the hated and unfair Council Tax. We intend to replace it with an income based alternative which sees the wealthy pay more and the poor exempted.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">And last, but by no means least, is our support for an independent socialist Scotland, a modern democratic republic. Whilst other parties dilute their commitment to independence we remain passionate about it. And as we will endure the sycophants cooing over a Royal wedding in the last week of this election campaign we felt it important to restate our commitment to a modern democratic republic for Scotland.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">The press conference was well attended as the picture shows. As well as the BBC and STV film crews, several other photographers and journalists were present and their questions reflected their growing recognition that support for the SSP is increasing noticeably.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">The coverage of our manifesto launch has, as usual, been patchy; some good, some bad, some non-existent. STV news carried a full interview and the greatest column inches were found in the Aberdeen Press and Journal. So, hats off to them for fair coverage and Dunces Caps to the BBC, The Daily Record and the other tabloids for ignoring us once again.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXdfAppNxIjlHW24ZWO4LaQumJM09TZ-UQTzvbeU_i2B9uhhg7u_54nOvVGYlHFFB4MyxiJcJeG6kiwRsUgPWi2SCFaw4mYxn6Gqpqa1wGpwt1lPB0nL2nWXV2Z7GcdxngKCuHRt91FKY/s1600/glasgownortheastbanner_300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXdfAppNxIjlHW24ZWO4LaQumJM09TZ-UQTzvbeU_i2B9uhhg7u_54nOvVGYlHFFB4MyxiJcJeG6kiwRsUgPWi2SCFaw4mYxn6Gqpqa1wGpwt1lPB0nL2nWXV2Z7GcdxngKCuHRt91FKY/s200/glasgownortheastbanner_300.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #191919; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Taken from Colin Fox's blog. <a href="http://sspcolinfox.blogspot.com/2011/04/ssps-holyrood-manifesto.html">original article </a></span></span>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-29317849804626193202011-04-12T11:46:00.000-07:002011-04-12T11:46:57.231-07:00Letter sent to local media on prescription charges.<div lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Scottish Socialist Party national spokesman Colin Fox today<br />
welcomed the abolition of Prescription Charges in Scotland after 50<br />
years and insisted it would not have happened without the SSP.<br />
<br />
After his election to Holyrood in 2003, SSP MSP Colin Fox launched a<br />
Private Members Bill to to scrap prescription charges. <br />
He told us<br />
'The SSP's Bill won the backing of hundreds of health groups, unions, <br />
and patients groups across the country and even the Scottish Parliament's <br />
own Health Committee. But it was voted down by an unholy <br />
alliance of Labour, Lib Dem and Tory MSPs. Otherwise this double tax<br />
on the sick would have become law 6 years ago.<br />
<br />
'I am delighted nonetheless that at last our visionary idea has been realised <br />
and that a great injustice has been eradicated. The NHS promised back in <br />
1947, rightly, to provide healthcare free at the point of need and paid out <br />
of general taxation. But prescription charges broke that promise to patients.<br />
Without our Bill, and the SNP Governments decision to pick it up, <br />
prescription charges would be £7.40 per item today as they are in England.<br />
<br />
Ally Hendry (List candidate for the Lothian region) added</div><div lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaLTHePYufuOAhhMgWQUVdapBnUHnS09fqFdCXERdL515UtAcwAZ0TXHDo_6a1RxmP45Bw1JazUBWRj5VbWUgtUOYRKMEMkNu7JM94bCe_9ITp63favSKW-R9tvJBWmp7cjySecyYvUY4/s1600/allycolin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaLTHePYufuOAhhMgWQUVdapBnUHnS09fqFdCXERdL515UtAcwAZ0TXHDo_6a1RxmP45Bw1JazUBWRj5VbWUgtUOYRKMEMkNu7JM94bCe_9ITp63favSKW-R9tvJBWmp7cjySecyYvUY4/s320/allycolin.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colinf Fox and Ally Hendry.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="en">'This achievement shows the people of Scotland what a difference SSP MSPs<br />
at Holyrood makes to their lives and in particular to those of the low paid, sick <br />
and vulnerable. I urge people to remember this on May 5th.</span></div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-22559939821292211382011-04-05T04:10:00.000-07:002011-04-12T11:42:59.623-07:00SSP STANDING CANDIDATES IN ALL REGIONAL LISTs THROUGHOUT SCOTLAND<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"></span><br />
<h1 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">VOTE SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTY ON </span></h1><h1 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">MAY 5TH!</span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/new_images/furniture/votessp_430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="93" src="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/new_images/furniture/votessp_430.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span></div><h1 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Vote SSP for an MSP on a workers wage</h1><h2 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ee3439; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Vote for Scotland's serious and principled socialist party</h2><hr noshade="noshade" size="2" style="color: #ee3439; margin-top: 5px;" /><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">The SSP was founded over a decade ago on the principle of challenging greed and inequality.<br />
All elected SSP politicians are obliged to take home no more than the average wage of a skilled worker.<br />
In Holyrood, six Scottish Socialist MSPs took only half their salary - and donated the rest to the cause of socialism and equality.<br />
SSP MSPs elected in 2011 will do exactly the same.<br />
Jim Bollan, SSP councillor and Regional List candidate in the West of Scotland region says;<br />
“MSPs are in the top three per cent of UK earners. How can they represent low paid workers, pensioners and people living on the breadline? How can they possibly understand what life is like for millions of Scots?”</div><hr noshade="noshade" size="3" style="color: #ee3439; margin-top: 5px;" /><h1 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Scottish Socialist Party List Candidates</h1><hr noshade="noshade" size="3" style="color: #ee3439; margin-top: 5px;" /><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>Central Scotland<br />
1) </strong><strong>Kevin McVey</strong><br />
<img alt="Kevin McVey" class="alignleft" height="92" src="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/new_images/people/KevinMcVey_92.jpg" style="float: left; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;" width="92" />Kevin McVey is 45 and has been actively involved in politics since 1984. Expelled from the Labour Party in 1989/90 for his involvement in local and national anti-poll tax campaigning, Kevin was a founding member of the SSP.<br />
Kevin worked in the Tax Office for 20 years and PCS branch secretary for 3 years. Kevin is currently SSP National Secretary.<br />
<strong>Also standing</strong>: 2) Cathy Pedersen 3) Lynsey MacGregor 4) Wullie O’Neill 5) Fraser Coats 6) Joan Duguid</div><hr noshade="noshade" size="1" style="color: #ee3439; margin-top: 5px;" /><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>Glasgow</strong><br />
<strong>1) Frances Curran</strong><br />
<img alt="Frances Curran" class="alignleft" height="92" src="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/new_images/people/francescurran2011_92.jpg" style="float: left; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;" width="92" />Frances, 49, was SSP MSP for the West of Scotland from 2003-2007, introducing a bill to provide free school meals which was ultimately voted down by the Parliament. Frances got involved in socialist politics when she joined the Labour Party Young Socialists in the early years of the Thatcher government, eventually being elected onto the Labour Party National Executive at 23 years old. Frances is currently co-spokesperson for the SSP.<br />
<strong>Also standing</strong>: 2) James Nesbitt 3) Daniel O'Donnell 4) Anthea Irwin 5) Carol Hainey 6) Andy Harvie 7) Wullie McGartland</div><hr noshade="noshade" size="1" style="color: #ee3439; margin-top: 5px;" /><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>Highlands and Islands </strong><strong>1)Pam Currie</strong><br />
<img alt="Pam Currie" class="alignleft" height="92" src="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/new_images/people/pamcurrie_92.jpg" style="float: left; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;" width="92" />Pam is 35 years old and lives in Glasgow with her cat, Banjo. She teaches in a Further Education college and is an activist in the EIS teachers’ union.<br />
A Gaelic learner, Pam sings in a choir, enjoying her first trip to the National Mod in October 2010.<br />
Pam is a Quaker, a feminist and an LGBT activist who has been involved in campaigns ranging from the peace movement to the Vigil for a Scottish Parliament. A graduate of the University of Paisley, she has also studied with the Open University and at Ruskin College and believes ‘lifelong education’ should be available and affordable to all.<br />
<strong>Also standing</strong>: 2) Willie Hamilton 3) Ian Hogg 4)Linda Howie 5)Roz Paterson 6) Andi Rossetter</div><hr noshade="noshade" size="1" style="color: #ee3439; margin-top: 5px;" /><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>Lothians<br />
1) Colin Fox</strong><br />
<img alt="Colin Fox" class="alignleft" height="92" src="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/new_images/people/colinfox2011_92.jpg" style="float: left; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;" width="92" />Colin joined Motherwell Labour Party Young Socialists in 1980, beginning a life of campaigning for socialism that continues 30 years on. Colin was SSP MSP for the Lothians from 2003-2007 and is co-spokesperson for the SSP. As an MSP Colin pioneered the campaign to abolish Prescription Charges which has resulted in free Prescriptions in Scotland. Colin co-organises the Edinburgh Mayday Festival and re-founded the Edinburgh People's Festival in 2002. Aged 51, Colin lives in the Inch area of Edinburgh with his wife and two children.<br />
<strong>Also standing</strong>: 2) Catriona Grant 3) Laura Benniston 4) Ally Hendry 5) Andy McPake 6) Barbara Scott</div><hr noshade="noshade" size="1" style="color: #ee3439; margin-top: 5px;" /><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>Mid Scotland and Fife<br />
1) Morag Balfour</strong><img alt="Morag Balfour" class="alignleft" height="92" src="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/new_images/people/MoragBalfour_92.jpg" style="float: left; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;" width="92" />Morag is a Quaker, vice-chair of Scottish CND and a member of the Iona Community. A firm believer in nonviolence, Morag regularly participates in peaceful direct action at Faslane. Morag has been a tireless campaigner for nuclear disarmament and to prevent the building of a massive landfill site in the West of Fife.<br />
She has recently been involved in a pioneering befriending scheme supporting ex-young offenders released from Polmont YOI and is a former national co-chair of the SSP.<br />
<strong>Also standing</strong>: 2) Felicity Garvie 3) Thomas Macaveney 4) James Morris</div><hr noshade="noshade" size="1" style="color: #ee3439; margin-top: 5px;" /><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>North East Scotland<br />
1) </strong><strong>Angela Gorrie</strong><br />
<img alt="Angela Gorrie" class="alignleft" height="92" src="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/new_images/people/AngelaGorrie_92.jpg" style="float: left; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;" width="92" />Angela Gorrie, 23, first came to Dundee in 2005 to study at Dundee University where she was active in the campaign to remove Special Branch from campus and the fight for young workers' rights. Now working in customer services and a member of USDAW, she has recently been involved in campaigns ranging from the retention of local services and calling to end unfair hospital parking charges to highlighting the inequality of the current Council Tax.<br />
In her spare time Angela enjoys walking, football, cricket and music.<br />
<strong>Also standing</strong>: 2) Euan Benzie 3) Alan Graham 4) Soraya Kasim 5) Helen Fortune</div><hr noshade="noshade" size="1" style="color: #ee3439; margin-top: 5px;" /><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>South Scotland<br />
1) </strong><strong>Colin Turbett</strong><br />
<img alt="Colin Turbett" class="alignleft" height="92" src="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/new_images/people/ColinTurbett_92.jpg" style="float: left; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;" width="92" />An SSP member since 2001, Colin was a candidate for the Party in the 2005 and 2007 elections. He has been a qualified social worker since the late 1970s, working with the victims of a system that breeds inequality, racism and poverty. Very interested in rural affairs, he is author of the SSP pamphlet ‘Rural Socialism and Scotland in the 21st Century’ and is an ardent campaigner for the rights of Scottish Gypsy Travellers.<br />
Colin is a longstanding trade union activist, he is currently Chairperson of North Ayrshire UNISON branch.<br />
<strong>Also standing</strong>: 2) Gillian Tyrer 3) Yvonne Dalziel 4) Aidan Simpson</div><hr noshade="noshade" size="1" style="color: #ee3439; margin-top: 5px;" /><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>West of Scotland<br />
1) </strong><strong>Jim Bollan</strong><br />
<img alt="Jim Bollan" class="alignleft" height="92" src="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/new_images/people/JimBollan_92.jpg" style="float: left; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;" width="92" />Jim is SSP councillor for Leven Ward on West Dunbartonshire council. 63 years old, Jim first got involved in socialist politics 40 years ago when shop steward at Babcocks. Jim was at the forefront in the campaign to save Leven Cottage care home and the campaigns to save two primary schools, Christie Park and Renton Primary.<br />
When he has any spare time Jim can be found walking his dog.<br />
<strong>Also standing</strong>: 2) Ann Lynch 3) Pauline Bradley 4) Neil Scott 5) Davy Landels 6) Mary Rocks 7) Roisin Kelly 8) Gerry McCartney</div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-91566261541943928742011-02-08T02:30:00.000-08:002011-02-08T02:30:39.174-08:00Won’t Get Fooled Again or Imagine<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>Letter from a comrade</b></span></div><div align="CENTER" lang="en" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>George Mackin</b></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">Is it just me - or have you felt angry this week? </span><span lang="en">Enraged. Just under third of a million deprived of all benefits this year and worse to come, much worse. What planet are these people on? Tories: lower than vermin; add to the pile the unctuous and venal Liberals. Back to the workhouse, back to the soup kitchen. Targets to be met, after all it is only common sense. George Bush on the perils and joys of water-boarding; a royal wedding; red poppies; student tuition fees; and a certain criminal and less than civil case which shines a whole new light onto the phrase the personal is political. </span></span></span> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">Never mind I’m not in the Scottish Socialist Party any more. I have done my bit. Thirty years of that political stuff. What thanks do you get? Anyway some of the Left are just bonkers.: one party states and would be little Napoleons handing out truth on high in condescending three hour rants. Gerry Healey and… make your own list of snake oil salesman … Want to know the truth? Read this book. Look no further. The stories I could tell of people on the Left treating other people like feudal underlings. </span></span></span> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">Never has political quietism been so appealing. Rock Guitar anyone? Hurry up Harry come on, were going down the pub. Dah Dah Dah.</span></span></span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">So why do I feel enraged? A soon to be fifty year old whose best days are over. Winter’s breath upon me, not much time left, best to enjoy every sandwich. </span></span></span> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">There is a big neo-liberal train that has been a rolling all my adult life, like the Terminator it never stops. It is inexorable and loathsome. Vote Labour? Nah! Just a slower train but the same direction and let’s not forget Jim Murphy. Set Scotland Free vote by voting tweedle dee SNP. Nah just a different flag ( mind you I do detest the Butcher’s Apron). </span></span></span> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">The Labour Party; The SNP; The SSP, I have been in all three. In fact let’s not forget Militant Tendency I was a supporter/ reader of that party/ tendency/paper many years ago.. Another story, comrade. World Prospectus 1981 anyone ? SWP: the non-thinking man’s millenarian cult. That’s the problem with Capitalism : too much choice. </span></span></span> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Which party are you in now? Not a question but a sneer riddled with guilt None. None? </span></span> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">Yet out off all the groups left standing which party to I most identify with ? Easy: The SSP. I’m Pleased that the Greens won a seat in England, though. Political parties, not the battle but the echo of the battle as James Connolly used to say. </span></span></span> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">How do you feel about that? Not being in a political party? Great. Shite. Relieved, Bereft. Depressed. Happy. Bitter. Angry. Enraged. Sad, so sad, what a waste. numb so numb. </span></span> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">Mind you if you think some of the Left are bonkers you should see the SNP.? Another story, comrade. </span></span></span> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">Imagine or Won’t Get Fooled Again? Which sentiment suits me best?</span></span></span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">A credible Left, a Republican Left, a non-patriarchal Left, a smash up the hated British State Left, a radical Left; not content to live within the confines of capitalist Left, a non-neo-Stalinist Left, a Green left, a non-sectarian Left, an anti-nuclear Left, a non-primate dominance in any form Left. A humanist and sceptical Left.. </span></span></span> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">A big rock fell upon us. Devil and the deep blue sea or A rock and a hard place, call it what you like. Hard choices were made. Ken what I mean? No textbook for those difficult paths. Nobody comes out squeaky clean. There is no one to cast the first stones. But let us not to be too hard on ourselves or on others.: we all could have done things better. We forgive as best we can; we learn our lessons as best we can - we move on. We make history but not to our own making. </span></span></span> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">The struggle continues; </span><span lang="en">we rebuild. Life is green but the truth is grey as they say and life goes on until the end. No consolation for us materialists. One life and one life only. Do we accept? Or do we act? Do we let people exercise power over us or do we challenge their authority? </span></span></span> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en">A Time to r</span><span lang="en">age; a time to grieve; a time for sadness; a time for hope; a time to regroup.;a time for praxical reflection; a time for optimism and pessimism; a time to talk.</span></span></span></div><div align="JUSTIFY" lang="en" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><br />
</div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-39820848729958942612011-02-04T05:22:00.000-08:002011-02-04T05:22:25.662-08:00LETTER TO PAPERS ON BANKERS BONUSES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddI2AkNX4ytKuaHGF_TMyWgcBZTZdArmNIIz9-lQ-KnJMHxDUDNWNo0pnP9vcOWKUBu7kuHiePN9yZFrSfNir0k7JwkEQpPnLgoH2viaZWIkeCLiNexZa-SlmtFfN1x6NqOnydYLbjcs/s1600/fred_1425979c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddI2AkNX4ytKuaHGF_TMyWgcBZTZdArmNIIz9-lQ-KnJMHxDUDNWNo0pnP9vcOWKUBu7kuHiePN9yZFrSfNir0k7JwkEQpPnLgoH2viaZWIkeCLiNexZa-SlmtFfN1x6NqOnydYLbjcs/s320/fred_1425979c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><br />
</b></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><br />
</b></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Whilst the Coalition Government with its ill-judged ‘recovery’ policies must share responsibility for the existing financial mess the country is in, the public should not lose sight of the fact that the previous Labour Government is at least equally if not more culpable. </b> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>We only have to think of Fred Goodwin who under that Labour Government received a knighthood for services to the banking industry. Even though he drove the Royal Bank of Scotland to within twenty minutes of bankruptcy his parting gift from the government-rescued bank was an enormous ‘golden goodbye’ and gargantuan pension. </b> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Also let’s not forget that Tony Blair headed the Labour Government during the time bankers were being given free rein to act recklessly in pursuit of super profits. He is currently amassing millions of pounds from the lecture circuit and for working as an advisor to a number of the companies who are slashing thousands of British workers’ jobs. </b> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Consequently, it is quite rich for the Labour Party, which once upon a time in a far-off land professed to be “Socialist”, to be calling for a ‘progressive front’ to oppose the ‘cuts’.</b></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>As for the Coalition Government, the hypocritical phrase “we are all in this together” which David Cameron and Nick Clegg are peddling has to be placed in its true context. Despite hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs currently being sacrificed or downgraded in a desperate effort to resolve the current financial crisis, the top bankers largely responsible for precipitating the economic downturn are still being awarded obscene bonuses and inflated salaries. </b> </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>The working man and women are “together” in the mire and the bankers and politicians are “together” in the gravy. How long will this cycle of exploitation and abuse continue to be tolerated by the British public?</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Ally Hendry </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">West lothian branch </div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-63979917745071288432010-10-25T04:33:00.000-07:002010-10-29T04:09:16.354-07:00Letter sent to West Lothian courier on Saturday's anti-cuts demo in Edinburgh<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEsVWrSd3LhMSOpoP330B1bdN54xAIZTm1Ck2lMCbr9hITqtrizSMJ11CkS9Onkxe4SQKPrDRoRq54FtDybSxB3p6JBZkgBpBpidqWsKgnWxmatwfPmDPk4Zq4eBok6kmKs2gMBvh6QY/s1600/SAM_0059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEsVWrSd3LhMSOpoP330B1bdN54xAIZTm1Ck2lMCbr9hITqtrizSMJ11CkS9Onkxe4SQKPrDRoRq54FtDybSxB3p6JBZkgBpBpidqWsKgnWxmatwfPmDPk4Zq4eBok6kmKs2gMBvh6QY/s400/SAM_0059.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Last Saturday’s demonstration in Edinburgh against the welfare cuts announced by the coalition Government was a damning indictment against both Labour and SNP. Neither party had a meaningful presence at the demonstration since they both agree with the principle of the cuts differing only with their severity and speed of implementation. </b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2nb8Ekz3E_jfAciwuxBkkIVSw98O_Nmn3Mse5Zy4sjz2bJU8FD8fetQqnipqIiDz5dHZbYusU2Osa5mT2sAky7bDZPrOTIyxGKh8gW54p_VPiGcpBW0OwubxalJXS3_y-Vh0ghtK91ZE/s1600/SAM_0063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2nb8Ekz3E_jfAciwuxBkkIVSw98O_Nmn3Mse5Zy4sjz2bJU8FD8fetQqnipqIiDz5dHZbYusU2Osa5mT2sAky7bDZPrOTIyxGKh8gW54p_VPiGcpBW0OwubxalJXS3_y-Vh0ghtK91ZE/s320/SAM_0063.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><b>However the Scottish Socialist Party had a significant presence with party members from all over the country in attendance. We organised a street stall with thousands of people signing our petition, taking party literature and talking to party members. The majority of people welcomed our alternative approach to the impending cuts.</b></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilyfFP6UuHe4t0D0ZfXZJ_PC8HEFdpstmgJVLltLDZ60B3qWBXRi2HcVPD86PStWibPLg3tNouzvPMUcpR7ZYFDSCzwPvcaIC7c9reB3JxRDpNbYV_Bty8wzrYUObvhxxgos1L8V05Zp4/s1600/SAM_0062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilyfFP6UuHe4t0D0ZfXZJ_PC8HEFdpstmgJVLltLDZ60B3qWBXRi2HcVPD86PStWibPLg3tNouzvPMUcpR7ZYFDSCzwPvcaIC7c9reB3JxRDpNbYV_Bty8wzrYUObvhxxgos1L8V05Zp4/s320/SAM_0062.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><b>As witnessed on Saturday the people of Scotland are opposed to these draconian cuts and the Scottish Socialist Party will be at the forefront of the campaign promoting our Socialist alternative for the people of Scotland.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>MORE PHOTOS FROM THE DEMO. </b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguTWXYG17u_8BLEP2rjVcGnGzBq6ywnDjButqO5ignmImDNExVoL9Uwg73XBUoDZAdDPlD8TMBESnbigd4LDzZ_ugzKE8BlpwqbcBbvnYZhg6sZIIyIubFc211yINbWFjtFHmmXrT6VWI/s1600/SAM_0078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguTWXYG17u_8BLEP2rjVcGnGzBq6ywnDjButqO5ignmImDNExVoL9Uwg73XBUoDZAdDPlD8TMBESnbigd4LDzZ_ugzKE8BlpwqbcBbvnYZhg6sZIIyIubFc211yINbWFjtFHmmXrT6VWI/s320/SAM_0078.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><b><br />
</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDLeUIK_4m1GwNvuxwVEUxVbn-ZQ7qRJIeLYfzFBzMJiV2Wqbkd8nXwdrZXf6CN0FL7O4Nb5ZOVJbM0q9JvgTpFYVjypYHlQkExh_8L9zF0C4umb35b1XO-aGfXvoMEUgDGoOFA5NKPQ8/s1600/SAM_0079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDLeUIK_4m1GwNvuxwVEUxVbn-ZQ7qRJIeLYfzFBzMJiV2Wqbkd8nXwdrZXf6CN0FL7O4Nb5ZOVJbM0q9JvgTpFYVjypYHlQkExh_8L9zF0C4umb35b1XO-aGfXvoMEUgDGoOFA5NKPQ8/s320/SAM_0079.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv-hW6Yy1tufZ8S1JMYB8k1NUdbDWulNdZF4hjLyrk9maYFg4bFvzpWcf9GWCX17oQkwQDveyTLK7a9u2Zb9rWFVSVLzzg3-pd1i_wrZmFLezC7KOonBQkdhL7CK6YK7IftgnZPIVshRU/s1600/SAM_0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv-hW6Yy1tufZ8S1JMYB8k1NUdbDWulNdZF4hjLyrk9maYFg4bFvzpWcf9GWCX17oQkwQDveyTLK7a9u2Zb9rWFVSVLzzg3-pd1i_wrZmFLezC7KOonBQkdhL7CK6YK7IftgnZPIVshRU/s320/SAM_0077.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjebOsIO2tIRWHfCjvRpFaY7azgYzYnrkW6oIryEi1heVPvo0WkXj4IQVAyrZFuyNgPjyggapJL_M9Gp4mQZORocPwFtE9sDuZTB0QsYB7TSgx2ECWz92rmhBUkx67C5QTdpgWsiOrTLw/s1600/SAM_0072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjebOsIO2tIRWHfCjvRpFaY7azgYzYnrkW6oIryEi1heVPvo0WkXj4IQVAyrZFuyNgPjyggapJL_M9Gp4mQZORocPwFtE9sDuZTB0QsYB7TSgx2ECWz92rmhBUkx67C5QTdpgWsiOrTLw/s320/SAM_0072.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JOWbqyfPmxuJ3e7g_54E6lUQfEt4-aTueuX3EBKlhPY73aOmxLDS3tqgDJNIoyf0BFavQJx-qWR4NgaPpt4CK-pktGdBB-Xi5dvma71mecqtHY_BOxmn_znhcvcc7Dk0jvvZxguss2I/s1600/SAM_0070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JOWbqyfPmxuJ3e7g_54E6lUQfEt4-aTueuX3EBKlhPY73aOmxLDS3tqgDJNIoyf0BFavQJx-qWR4NgaPpt4CK-pktGdBB-Xi5dvma71mecqtHY_BOxmn_znhcvcc7Dk0jvvZxguss2I/s320/SAM_0070.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkE6kSs3fiAcXhvNo0qqjpk4PmuNO3RVk1X9vrmHPxxFY4BFDXZpB6DNkwR66seEXG_T2nkS4DHfMPeGdebKZ5xJmsQ9KjFUd9W8xZULhjh9N0XVpiGXhGpOhF7UAtlIkBnU-rc2pCMY/s1600/SAM_0066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkE6kSs3fiAcXhvNo0qqjpk4PmuNO3RVk1X9vrmHPxxFY4BFDXZpB6DNkwR66seEXG_T2nkS4DHfMPeGdebKZ5xJmsQ9KjFUd9W8xZULhjh9N0XVpiGXhGpOhF7UAtlIkBnU-rc2pCMY/s320/SAM_0066.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIr45Id7Kg1TR7OtnSdEZEVudykESAjoDP52osdwzm4Y3315aqbOBiS8xADLsWwkR8aoeyYYDmUpBd7s68GQP7SKDxqVb460KNszfldZ0VsZT3fdvNkdWNiHjvy7YPTTUHvPaioh56jI/s1600/SAM_0055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIr45Id7Kg1TR7OtnSdEZEVudykESAjoDP52osdwzm4Y3315aqbOBiS8xADLsWwkR8aoeyYYDmUpBd7s68GQP7SKDxqVb460KNszfldZ0VsZT3fdvNkdWNiHjvy7YPTTUHvPaioh56jI/s320/SAM_0055.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjviIZY5oWJLYdOlQvSTTjnikD8xBfNRQ7YhuT1RcRq1AYNfpJjSUjMmGrUNmcuuwP76NbIQqBiahOb-WbvjZNl8Hq7_Z8WFRemxg0nBFlqbnjmKUv7R1XcFkPvCdIFdEVkAPI9y8VhsDE/s1600/SAM_0052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjviIZY5oWJLYdOlQvSTTjnikD8xBfNRQ7YhuT1RcRq1AYNfpJjSUjMmGrUNmcuuwP76NbIQqBiahOb-WbvjZNl8Hq7_Z8WFRemxg0nBFlqbnjmKUv7R1XcFkPvCdIFdEVkAPI9y8VhsDE/s320/SAM_0052.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHoKWGLKuID6uHTScfOU_3A-Mr-8yANdOS0RoKCAchKYFeCOPtkkvL6eRDj9vnxjuLotuLFeZuAnJsW6ejn77wGNRTNCRHX0SL-_q5DEaOkU888tg0FY7SJF7LD8MaG6D2w-V-gZwvEQ/s1600/SAM_0047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHoKWGLKuID6uHTScfOU_3A-Mr-8yANdOS0RoKCAchKYFeCOPtkkvL6eRDj9vnxjuLotuLFeZuAnJsW6ejn77wGNRTNCRHX0SL-_q5DEaOkU888tg0FY7SJF7LD8MaG6D2w-V-gZwvEQ/s320/SAM_0047.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gE_661BlAfJxm6EqsMtMzZXgsM1KVkxV62OAaitoB863h9VpslVVv91w_efB8T3tcSGsxnXkJet2QCmRtff3PWBNicasPfdK6zEZ6H7GKoQjKGQqqeM74iOpbG6hs4GUOloOqPXaWdk/s1600/SAM_0056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gE_661BlAfJxm6EqsMtMzZXgsM1KVkxV62OAaitoB863h9VpslVVv91w_efB8T3tcSGsxnXkJet2QCmRtff3PWBNicasPfdK6zEZ6H7GKoQjKGQqqeM74iOpbG6hs4GUOloOqPXaWdk/s320/SAM_0056.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><b><br />
</b></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-63026927600417016452010-10-21T01:57:00.000-07:002010-10-21T01:59:16.672-07:00Letter sent by west lothian branch to local newspapers on upcoming cuts.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtNC3ZQq2M4leim4nn_miYmE0NdN-ICxFUtzp7hFH70WE4dhI0T37-FA7j6p2cE2Zv_E2fzww6VpTggrSul1vlMVROGjReMEXGwkebystjdKEDhkVSyGriVFJruijnGRLAmX27SyRHDwU/s1600/Clegg-Cameron_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtNC3ZQq2M4leim4nn_miYmE0NdN-ICxFUtzp7hFH70WE4dhI0T37-FA7j6p2cE2Zv_E2fzww6VpTggrSul1vlMVROGjReMEXGwkebystjdKEDhkVSyGriVFJruijnGRLAmX27SyRHDwU/s200/Clegg-Cameron_thumb.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">This week the full extent of the proposed Tory-Lib Dems cuts deemed necessary to deal with ‘the economic mess inherited from the previous Labour Government’ have been revealed for ordinary working class and middle income families to ponder.</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Prior to the announced cuts, thousands of jobs, both in the public and private sectors, have already been lost as a result of the economic crisis provoked by the perceived need for the Government to bail out several banks on the brink of bankruptcy to the tune of £350 billion. </div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">However, this latest “crisis of capitalism” can and should be dealt with in a different manner from the Labour, Tory, Lib Dem and SNP politicians who all agree that cuts have to be made to reduce the budget deficit and level of national indebtedness but only disagree on the timetable for said cuts which will result in further job losses, more repossessed houses and reduced living standards. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemlL-Z74P5H271yI_QlOwpJ2hEMc7qSEiS7G18_vbFW7URFfQBDV2jjif3ElV_iD9l28gy9i8Srv9l4yJEYOgAsLZg9VOvIw0q7BQ0_yY7GtEPYBTNC0x99sYosEG2smMT4Ck7LjdoUY/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemlL-Z74P5H271yI_QlOwpJ2hEMc7qSEiS7G18_vbFW7URFfQBDV2jjif3ElV_iD9l28gy9i8Srv9l4yJEYOgAsLZg9VOvIw0q7BQ0_yY7GtEPYBTNC0x99sYosEG2smMT4Ck7LjdoUY/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The truth is there are plenty of alternatives for dealing with the debt crisis that avoid the need to curtail essential services and jobs in the public sector. These include shutting off tax avoidance and evasion schemes used by wealthy companies that cost this country over £100bn annually; taxing the huge profits amassed by the banks and the obscene bonuses given to their top employees; scrapping Public Private Partnership schemes to build our schools, hospitals, prisons and roads at a greatly inflated cost to the tax payer; withdrawing our troops from the senseless war in Afghanistan; and cancelling plans for the multi-billion replacement for the ageing Trident submarines which would not only be beneficial to national finances but also serve to promote the cause of nuclear disarmament and reduce the threat of global annihilation.</div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipcioCr23ldOn4uHVHVlQEIstf7PtN3yXv-aATnN1Wum2GxYnRZISVa3OZV1CdV0MLuAXOylOVdWDApeGrRpZ1giQx5jR3ZQQs5VA1XHxuEmBPB1PVfVLPgjXUUfYKU-64wiRvHRAkSxM/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipcioCr23ldOn4uHVHVlQEIstf7PtN3yXv-aATnN1Wum2GxYnRZISVa3OZV1CdV0MLuAXOylOVdWDApeGrRpZ1giQx5jR3ZQQs5VA1XHxuEmBPB1PVfVLPgjXUUfYKU-64wiRvHRAkSxM/s400/Capture.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The Chancellor of the Exchequer has given notice that the pain and suffering via cuts in services and job losses already endured by many working people in the wake of the current economic crisis are to be amplified and extended much more widely. He claims that his proposed course of action to deal with the budget deficit and national debt is in the ‘national interest’. Not so when there are perfectly viable alternatives that avoid hardship for the vast majority of citizens.</div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-54270088496780308432010-10-20T04:08:00.000-07:002010-10-20T04:08:14.967-07:00FIGHT THE CUTS<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD03KxYxd9NVi3GFZKX4ANik0XK5AjOZFJ5TnqROAFERGLVTcF2VBB1Vhgd4TLbqjdiU_CN7r-XQDAkqd7dW2nmg1MXFv4OdMbZnFS96cPyNEBLWQK5UzeV-Irtosr2xxUarVZ_7PPxwk/s1600/gonnano_300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD03KxYxd9NVi3GFZKX4ANik0XK5AjOZFJ5TnqROAFERGLVTcF2VBB1Vhgd4TLbqjdiU_CN7r-XQDAkqd7dW2nmg1MXFv4OdMbZnFS96cPyNEBLWQK5UzeV-Irtosr2xxUarVZ_7PPxwk/s1600/gonnano_300.jpg" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"></span><br />
<h2 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fight the Cuts ! Demonstrate in Edinburgh, Saturday October 23rd!!</span></a></span></h2><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Called by the Scottish Trades </span></i></span></div><div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Union Congress</span></i></span></div><div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">11.00 am: Assemble East Market </span></i></span></div><div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Street Edinburgh</span></i></span></div><div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">11.30am: March off</span></i></span></div><div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 5px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> 12.30 pm: Rally Ross Bandstand</span></i></span></div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-25616473182956372582010-09-22T08:09:00.000-07:002010-09-22T08:10:13.709-07:00Colin Fox's letter to The hearld on The war in Afghanistan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju4031a-A2W2aGT22DiIlOauQOGQbu-oR0xtb4E6VTht373_R_1N5ajMpnPtHTTW_uzAfSJdWJLycvTx7QX7Dtf61TlLXQfULmuJqxfb63cXLh5423ypOSFai3dycMHWo9J6fziUJp1jc/s1600/afghan-war-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju4031a-A2W2aGT22DiIlOauQOGQbu-oR0xtb4E6VTht373_R_1N5ajMpnPtHTTW_uzAfSJdWJLycvTx7QX7Dtf61TlLXQfULmuJqxfb63cXLh5423ypOSFai3dycMHWo9J6fziUJp1jc/s320/afghan-war-1.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Afghans do not want British and American forces to continue occupying their country!!</span></span></strong></div><div style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">By party co-spokeperson</span></span></strong></div><div style="line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Colin Fox</span></span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguqwoQ1xj95-XN5Rs1RmqOfWljwXJfnxh5rlPOjSjxdrMTlJxYp4So8I0OTOyv-jwrQRixhjSyUDSWNzZ2gK7oK8jNrPdRAuu30Q8tqrS-l3m59vEmSsDvZ6ImKfvxsb6ITILqp2iGEgI/s1600/allcolineddiepublicmeeting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguqwoQ1xj95-XN5Rs1RmqOfWljwXJfnxh5rlPOjSjxdrMTlJxYp4So8I0OTOyv-jwrQRixhjSyUDSWNzZ2gK7oK8jNrPdRAuu30Q8tqrS-l3m59vEmSsDvZ6ImKfvxsb6ITILqp2iGEgI/s200/allcolineddiepublicmeeting.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">David Pratt is correct when he writes: “We are losing the war in Afghanistan … the mission is lost” (“Now civil war looms for the lost cause that is Afghanistan”, The Herald, September 17).</div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The reasons for this defeat have been obvious for some time. Uppermost among them is the fact that the US and Britain are occupying a country which doesn’t want us to be there. The majority of Afghanistan’s 33 million citizens now see British and American soldiers as armies of occupation. The origins of this lie in Tony Blair’s decision to invade Afghanistan in 2001, claiming it was responsible for the 9/11 twin towers attacks. He knew then that Afghans were not involved. So Britain invaded a country guilty of no crime, has occupied it for the best part of a decade and some 50,000 innocent Afghan civilians have been killed.</div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The insurgency is winning in Afghanistan because Britain and the US alienated the population by installing a corrupt, illegitimate and despised puppet regime with Hamid Karzai at its head.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3GX3Ec0dAr4GGPQfWYKV78aUB0KF_iOGTo4s85lVVdPz49pfjCcEaxOmgbBpkDSNlYq_3DXcx7Bz17kyYZChdQxDZpRDdRnQ7GNAWVAnZ5qYF6hgJGnttIp8dlAxpAagJGJNne5Zev0/s1600/8F8378A0-1E66-4236-A0B1-C84E9A43FAD8_w527_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3GX3Ec0dAr4GGPQfWYKV78aUB0KF_iOGTo4s85lVVdPz49pfjCcEaxOmgbBpkDSNlYq_3DXcx7Bz17kyYZChdQxDZpRDdRnQ7GNAWVAnZ5qYF6hgJGnttIp8dlAxpAagJGJNne5Zev0/s200/8F8378A0-1E66-4236-A0B1-C84E9A43FAD8_w527_s.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">All the polls here highlight the lack of confidence the UK population has in the political leaders as 75% want to see the troops brought home. Our soldiers will continue to die until the discredited Afghan army and police can take over. Yet there is, in reality, no such thing as a national army or police force in Afghanistan – only militias and paramilitaries loyal to warlords who pay their wages.</div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">David Pratt is right to suggest that Britain’s legacy to Afghanistan will be the same civil war which followed the Soviet withdrawal of the 1980s.</div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">If Afghanistan is to prosper as a democratic and stable country, the future rests with people like the remarkable Afghan MP Malalai Joya, one of the few actually elected. She campaigns for a democratic, multi-ethnic Afghanistan and she asks of people who share her vision that we first of all withdraw foreign forces.</div><div style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><em style="font-style: italic; line-height: 15px;">Colin Fox,</em></div><div><em style="font-style: italic; line-height: 15px;"><br />
</em></div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-66625485884447541602010-09-06T09:43:00.000-07:002010-09-11T14:11:35.857-07:00CAPITALISM IN CRISIS<div style="margin-bottom: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Capitalism in Crisis</span></span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3oZRSg0VighUBSu6uxlzzUqSvpGCSjNDejZH99QhN_IOp-83ts3CpiNAugw-xjASeAk0VAPoN4h7swz1fFjHHuXGWLVuG-u_DB9c62h13aIaJzXi7MNHzmYfUSkz2me3WqecBI6OAvg8/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3oZRSg0VighUBSu6uxlzzUqSvpGCSjNDejZH99QhN_IOp-83ts3CpiNAugw-xjASeAk0VAPoN4h7swz1fFjHHuXGWLVuG-u_DB9c62h13aIaJzXi7MNHzmYfUSkz2me3WqecBI6OAvg8/s320/Capture.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.49cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br />
</b></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is clear as we enter an indefinite period of ‘austerity’ (i.e. cuts in social services, redundancies, wage cuts, and rising taxes) that capitalism has failed as a system, even on its own terms. For a while the true nature of the system is exposed more clearly for all to see: the so-called wealth generators, the capitalist class, are actually exploitative opportunists, who in collusion with the state are making the working class pay the costs of the crisis which was not of their making. The working class, the overwhelming majority in society, is made up of not just those in paid employment, but all who do not own or control the means of production. That includes the unemployed, pensioners and students.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The current crisis of capitalism is not down to a handful of irresponsible ‘bankers’ making dodgy decisions; it is a crisis of the system as a whole. Capitalism operates according to a trade cycle that involves periods of full production alternating with recessions i.e. ‘boom and bust’ are inherent and unavoidable features of capitalism. In a recession under capitalism, economic logic dictates that much of productive capacity is left idle and workers are made redundant. Nevertheless, the perverse logic of capitalism not withstanding, it is technically within society’s power to provide constantly enough for all and that unemployment and poverty are unnecessary evils because the means are available to overcome them. Yet the lives of millions under the prevailing capitalist system are at the whim of abstract market forces, which take on a life of their own and cause hardship and misery all over the world.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There is, however, an alternative to capitalism. It involves appropriating the means of production into the hands of the majority of society in order to meet human needs rather than to satisfy a tiny wealth owning class’s desire for profit. The alternative is called socialism.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15hYXvtRcZ4otpa5m4udIY6d2PGMfXT8ZC9cY2qlIX8ytc9XivTrQf6AyWkO5U-bU3gesMeare5SmDl9qkiJjNTUF8F5MIqZ27_Az0fah22fFivzSYHgbWrrlEMBRNImw9KIMGgERa4I/s1600/people_not_profit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi15hYXvtRcZ4otpa5m4udIY6d2PGMfXT8ZC9cY2qlIX8ytc9XivTrQf6AyWkO5U-bU3gesMeare5SmDl9qkiJjNTUF8F5MIqZ27_Az0fah22fFivzSYHgbWrrlEMBRNImw9KIMGgERa4I/s320/people_not_profit.JPG" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.49cm; margin-top: 0.49cm;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-271221120738894842010-08-23T09:01:00.000-07:002010-08-23T09:01:26.007-07:00Discussion point from a friend of the west lothian branch of the SSPComrades, I saw a great interview with Professor David Harvey BBC Hardtalk in the wee small hours. I have written something below for discussion arising from the TV broadcast. (See also his books on Amazon.co.uk )<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMqby5h_edNl-ebOqQcKnhLXRv0hwLrx7sWJq4RFUnIZAStf54jP4JQUC6adJNF1iO-U3oyZeNd4jCiyoowdhQ3uabb5mdxBFEGc4BBJrT59uLl6Nhs9AyOUk5fHr5Hcinp0RvhYIAS4k/s1600/David_Harvey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMqby5h_edNl-ebOqQcKnhLXRv0hwLrx7sWJq4RFUnIZAStf54jP4JQUC6adJNF1iO-U3oyZeNd4jCiyoowdhQ3uabb5mdxBFEGc4BBJrT59uLl6Nhs9AyOUk5fHr5Hcinp0RvhYIAS4k/s200/David_Harvey.jpg" width="136" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Just because Stalinism was a monstrous beastie does not mean that capitalism is wonderful...<br />
<br />
History is not immutable. There is no Bus Station at the end our journey. Nothing endures but the land. And even then.. <br />
<br />
Despite our hurt , our anger. our bitter disappointments we owe it to our own humanity to come together and discuss what needs to be done. It is our very essence. It is a cry deep within our heart. <br />
<br />
We seek clarity. From clarity flows ineluctably hope and from hope we can begin engaging with the world, giving shape to our dreams.<br />
<br />
To make a pot we need to work with clay. To change things we need to work with others. Human beings are the raw materials of all political movements. We should seek to nourish and cherish all who are seek a world which is based on people's need not individual greed. <br />
<br />
We seek transformation. We give our time freely. The fate of all humanity falls on all our backs, not just the chosen few. We need to live our life with purpose and joy.<br />
<br />
We reject all who claim to be gurus. The monopoly of truth resides in us all. We listen. We learn. We question. We do not believe something just because others do. Not even Professor Harvey. <br />
<br />
We dare to imagine but at the same time we won't get fooled again. We do not worship states nor political parties. They are but the echo of the battle. All authority is to be questioned. <br />
<br />
We seek change always from below. We reject the reducers and the traducers, the vulgarians and the charlattans. Language by its very nature is imprecise. We think carefully about meaning and the purpose of language. <br />
<br />
Leaders follow they do no lead. <br />
<br />
We break things down. We seek simplicity and elegance in thought. <br />
From Africa we emerged and humanity's journey has not yet ended. From whence we have come from and from whence we go we do not ken. We are all Jock Tamson Bains. We all humans inextricably to the land and all that lives on this blue planet of ours. <br />
<br />
Harvey's work for me is a clarion call for a new humanity <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Slange <br />
<br />
George Mackinwestlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-18614891071856648702010-08-16T09:45:00.000-07:002010-08-16T09:45:14.181-07:00Jimmy Reid's "Rat Race" speech<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Jimmy Reid’s Glasgow University rectorial address delivered on 28th April 1972 (aka as his ‘Rat Race’ speech)</span><br />
<br />
<br />
Jimmy Reid<br />
<br />
<br />
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<br />
<br />
"Jimmy Reid (9 July 1932 – 10 August 2010) was a Scottish trade union activist and journalist born in Govan, Glasgow. His leadership of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Work-in attracted international recognition. He served as Rector of the University of Glasgow and subsequently became a journalist and broadcaster."<br />
<br />
<br />
‘Alienation is the precise and correctly applied word for describing the major social problem in Britain today. People feel alienated by society. In some intellectual circles it is treated almost as a new phenomenon. It has, however, been with us for years. What I believe is true is that today it is more widespread, more pervasive than ever before. Let me right at the outset define what I mean by alienation. It is the cry of men who feel themselves the victims of blind economic forces beyond their control. It’s the frustration of ordinary people excluded from the processes of decision making. The feeling of despair and hopelessness that pervades people who feel with justification that they have no real say in shaping or determining their own destinies.<br />
<br />
Many may not have rationalised it. May not even understand, may not be able to articulate it. But they feel it. It therefore conditions and colours their social attitudes. Alienation expresses itself in different ways by different people. It is to be found in what our courts often describe as the criminal anti-social behaviour of a section of the community. It is expressed by those young people who want to opt out of society, by drop outs, the so-called maladjusted, those who seek to escape permanently from the reality of society through intoxicants and narcotics. Of course it would be wrong to say it was the sole reason for these things. But it is a much greater factor in all of them than is generally recognised.<br />
<br />
Society and its prevailing sense of values leads to another form of alienation. It alienates some from humanity. It partially dehumanises some people, makes them insensitive, ruthless in their handling of fellow human beings, self-centred and grasping. The irony is, they are often considered normal and well adjusted. It is my sincere contention that anyone who can be totally adjusted to our society is in greater need of psychiatric analysis and treatment than anyone else.<br />
<br />
They remind me of the character in the novel, Catch 22, the father of Major Major. He was a farmer in the American Mid West. He hated suggestions for things like medi-care, social services, unemployment benefits or civil rights. He was, however, an enthusiast for the agricultural policies that paid farmers for not bringing their fields under cultivation. From the money he got for not growing alfalfa he bought more land in order not to grow alfalfa. He became rich. Pilgrims came from all over the state to sit at his feet and learn how to be a successful non-grower of alfalfa. His philosophy was simple. The poor didn’t work hard enough and so they were poor. He believed that the good Lord gave him two strong hands to grab as much as he could for himself. He is a comic figure. But think, have you not met his like here in Britain? Here in Scotland? I have.<br />
<br />
It is easy and tempting to hate such people. However it is wrong. They are as much products of society and a consequence of that society, human alienation, as the poor drop out. They are losers. They have lost essential elements of our common humanity. Man is a social being. Real fulfilment for any person lies in service to his fellow men and women.<br />
<br />
The big challenge to our civilisation is not OZ, a magazine I haven’t even seen let alone read. Nor is it permissiveness, although I agree our society is too permissive. Any society which, for example, permits over one million people to be unemployed is far too permissive for my liking. Nor is it moral laxity in the narrow sense that this word is generally employed – although in a sense here we come nearer to the problem. It does involve morality, ethics, and our concept of human values. The challenge we face is that of rooting out anything and everything that distorts and devalues human relations. Let me give two examples from contemporary experience to illustrate the point.<br />
<br />
Recently on television I saw an advert. The scene is a banquet. A gentleman is on his feet proposing a toast. His speech is full of phrases like “this full-bodied specimen”. Sitting beside him is a young, buxom woman. The image she projects is not pompous but foolish. She is visibly preening herself, believing that she is the object of this bloke’s eulogy. Then he concludes – “and now I give ...” then a brand name of what used to be described as Empire sherry. The woman is shattered, hurt and embarrassed. Then the laughter. Derisive and cruel laughter. The real point, of course, is this. In this charade, the viewers were obviously expected to identify not with the victim but with her tormentors.<br />
<br />
The other illustration is the widespread, implicit acceptance of the concept and term, the rat race. The picture it conjures up is one where we are scurrying around scrambling for position, trampling on others, back-stabbing, all in pursuit of personal success. Even genuinely intended friendly advice can sometimes take the form of someone saying to you, “Listen, you look after number one”. Or as they say in London, “Bang the bell, Jack, I’m on the bus”.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
‘To the students I address this appeal. Reject these attitudes. Reject the values and false morality that underlie these attitudes. A rat race is for rats. We’re not rats. We’re human beings. Reject the insidious pressures in society that would blunt your critical faculties to all that is happening around you, that would caution silence in the face of injustice lest you jeopardise your chances of promotion and self-advancement. This is how it starts and before you know where you are, you’re a fully paid-up member of the rat-pack. The price is too high. It entails the loss of your dignity and human spirit. Or as Christ put it, “What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?”<br />
<br />
Profit is the sole criterion used by the establishment to evaluate economic activity. From the rat race to lame ducks. The vocabulary in vogue is a giveaway. It’s more reminiscent of a human menagerie than human society. The power structures that have inevitably emerged from this approach threaten and undermine our hard-won democratic rights. The whole process is towards the centralisation and concentration of power in fewer and fewer hands. The facts are there for all who want to see. Giant monopoly companies and consortia dominate almost every branch of our economy. The men who wield effective control within these giants exercise a power over their fellow men which is frightening and is a negation of democracy.<br />
<br />
Government by the people for the people becomes meaningless unless it includes major economic decision making by the people for the people. This is not simply an economic matter. In essence it is an ethical and moral question for whoever takes the important economic decisions in society ipso facto determines the social priorities of that society.<br />
<br />
From the Olympian heights of an executive suite, in an atmosphere where your success is judged by the extent to which you can maximise profits, the overwhelming tendency must be to see people as units of production, as indices in your accountants’ books.<br />
<br />
To appreciate fully the inhumanity of this situation, you have to see the hurt and despair in the eyes of a man suddenly told he is redundant without provision made for suitable alternative employment, with the prospect in the west of Scotland, if he is in his late forties or fifties, of spending the rest of his life in the Labour Exchange. Someone, somewhere has decided he is unwanted, unneeded, and is to be thrown on the industrial scrap heap. From the very depth of my being, I challenge the right of any man or any group of men, in business or in government, to tell a fellow human being that he or she is expendable.<br />
<br />
The concentration of power in the economic field is matched by the centralisation of decision making in the political institutions of society. The power of Parliament has undoubtedly been eroded over past decades with more and more authority being invested in the Executive. The power of local authorities has been and is being systematically undermined. The only justification I can see for local government is as a counterbalance to the centralised character of national government.<br />
<br />
Local government is to be restructured. What an opportunity, one would think, for decentralising as much power as possible back to local communities. Instead the proposals are for centralising local government. It’s once again a blueprint for bureaucracy, not democracy. If these proposals are implemented, in a few years when asked “Where do you come from?”, I can reply: “The Western Region”. It even sounds like a hospital board.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
‘It stretches from Oban to Girvan and eastwards to include most of Glasgow conurbation. As in other matters, I must ask the politicians who favour these proposals – where and how in your calculations did you quantify the value of a community? Or a community life? Of a sense of belonging? Of the feeling of identification? These are rhetorical questions. I know the answer. Such human considerations do not feature in their thought processes.<br />
<br />
Everything that is proposed from the establishment seems almost calculated to minimise the role of the people, to miniaturise man. I can understand how attractive this prospect must be to those at the top. Those of us who refuse to be pawns in their power game can be picked up by their bureaucratic tweezers and dropped in a filing cabinet under “M” for malcontent or maladjusted. When you think of some of the high flats around us, it can hardly be an accident that they are as near as one could get to an architectural representation of a filing cabinet.<br />
<br />
If modern technology requires greater and larger productive units, let’s make our wealth producing resources and potential subject to public control and to social accountability. Let’s gear our society to social need, not personal greed. Given such creative re-orientation of society, there is no doubt in my mind that in a few years we could eradicate in our country the scourge of poverty, the underprivileged, slums, and insecurity.<br />
<br />
Even this is not enough. To measure social progress purely by material advance is not enough. Our aim must be the enrichment of the whole quality of life. It requires a social and cultural, or if you wish, a spiritual transformation of our country. A necessary part of this must be the restructuring of the institutions of government and where necessary, the evolution of additional structures so as to involve the people in the decision making processes of our society. The so-called experts will tell you that this would be cumbersome or marginally inefficient. I am prepared to sacrifice a margin of efficiency for the value of the people’s participation. Anyway, in the longer term, I reject this argument.<br />
<br />
To unleash the latent potential of our people requires that we give them responsibility. The untapped resources of the North Sea are as nothing compared to the untapped resources of our people. I am convinced that the great mass of our people go through life without even a glimmer of what they could have contributed to their fellow human beings. This is a personal tragedy. It’s a social crime. The flowering of each individual’s personality and talents is the pre-condition for everyone’s development.<br />
<br />
In this context education has a vital role to play. If automation and technology is accompanied as it must be with full employment, then the leisure time available to man will be enormously increased. If that is so, then our whole concept of education must change. The whole object must be to equip and educate people for life, not solely for work or a profession. The creative use of leisure, in communion with, and in service to our fellow human beings can and must become an important element in self-fulfilment.<br />
<br />
‘Universities must be in the forefront of development, must meet social needs and not lag behind them. It is my earnest desire that this great University of Glasgow should be in the vanguard initiating changes and setting the example for others to follow. Part of our educational process must be the involvement of all sections of the university on the governing bodies. The case for student representation is unanswerable. It is inevitable.<br />
<br />
My conclusion is to reaffirm what I hope and certainly intend to be the spirit permeating this address. It’s an affirmation of faith in humanity. All that is good in man’s heritage involves recognition of our common humanity, an unashamed acknowledgement that man is good by nature. Burns expressed it in a poem that technically was not his best, yet captured the spirit.<br />
<br />
In “Why should we idly waste our prime,” he writes:<br />
<br />
“The golden age, we’ll then revive, each man shall be a brother,<br />
<br />
In harmony we all shall live and till the earth together,<br />
<br />
In virtue trained, enlightened youth shall move each fellow creature,<br />
<br />
And time shall surely prove the truth that man is good by nature”.<br />
<br />
It’s my belief that all the factors to make a practical reality of such a world are maturing now. I would like to think that our generation took mankind some way along the road towards this goal. It’s a goal worth fighting for.westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-81065484742130131672010-06-22T07:56:00.000-07:002010-06-22T07:56:35.591-07:00HUGO CHAVEZ<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">HUGO CHAVEZ ON THE BBC's HARDtalk!!!!!</span></strong><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4pC6Vi8ywn8q9usKCbzXUHE4BjmYMhiOlZjVHVYhlsgyopSiBeJ-jBM9Ttrftd5JvG6IaVIEkhUAloAihTciqdYpFgi84t6STTjIuR8OjewnxazzqukUpvYDVYBc_ruD_g-WEQDHAcVw/s1600/hugo-chavez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ru="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4pC6Vi8ywn8q9usKCbzXUHE4BjmYMhiOlZjVHVYhlsgyopSiBeJ-jBM9Ttrftd5JvG6IaVIEkhUAloAihTciqdYpFgi84t6STTjIuR8OjewnxazzqukUpvYDVYBc_ruD_g-WEQDHAcVw/s320/hugo-chavez.jpg" /></a></div><br />
CLICK HERE TO WATCH <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00stbv6/HARDtalk_Hugo_Chavez_President_of_Venezuela/">CHAVEZ INTERVIEW ON BBC IPLAYER</a>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-22224148780455370642010-06-11T07:48:00.000-07:002010-06-11T07:48:58.632-07:00FREE GAZA MARCH 05/06/2010<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkmDGXX5dawD4MKHgE9TKTLMrhD-TzlDF2FE-_nDYG9q6S-rJMNUDO3411oeU_wqyrC3osbU8KqaNtw_gakWqGp0AMUVIDbNPzW55EjG6GY1P6aBu8EPjUI0YUw0lhy8I5tQhYE2untgk/s1600/n524177649_1905803_5575.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkmDGXX5dawD4MKHgE9TKTLMrhD-TzlDF2FE-_nDYG9q6S-rJMNUDO3411oeU_wqyrC3osbU8KqaNtw_gakWqGp0AMUVIDbNPzW55EjG6GY1P6aBu8EPjUI0YUw0lhy8I5tQhYE2untgk/s320/n524177649_1905803_5575.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Last Monday the 31st of May saw Israeli force attack a flotilla carrying aid to Palestine. At least 19 people were killed and dozens injured when troops intercepted the convoy of ships dubbed the Freedom Flotilla early on Monday, Israeli radio reported. The flotilla was attacked in international waters, 65km off the coast of Gaza.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Following these attacks the <a href="http://www.scottishpsc.org.uk/">Scottish PSC</a> and other Free Palestine organisations organised a whole range of protests and demonstrations to bring this story to the attention of the masses. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The West Lothian branch of the SSP and other branches throughout scotland along with various other groups and organisations took part in a mass demo and march in Edinburgh on the 5th of May. 3000 individuals turned up to let the goverment know that israeli attacks will no longer be tolerated. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">click here to read the SSP's statement on the attacks <a href="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/new_stories/issues/israel-murders-aid-activists.html">SSP statement on aid flottila massacre</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4flEfnLsZHxxxxS42dxf6_qj4x_8MNTvE8Rmvi8NLVr_V3qjFc8y9oYGoXDQXLyIHbmvIa6iDpEDDOzpDQCCJllbFo0maqkQ9Wkgcki6P5pDwfgu3U4G8AFDZgBvknx1cmdHBs0VFiA/s1600/colin@palestinemarch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4flEfnLsZHxxxxS42dxf6_qj4x_8MNTvE8Rmvi8NLVr_V3qjFc8y9oYGoXDQXLyIHbmvIa6iDpEDDOzpDQCCJllbFo0maqkQ9Wkgcki6P5pDwfgu3U4G8AFDZgBvknx1cmdHBs0VFiA/s320/colin@palestinemarch.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">SSP co-Spokesperson Colin Fox speaks to the gathered public on the murder of the flotilla activists</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBe4rOGhMYZjetjIdDhaVxw2KhSreTJl16D2ua9o4VM3jXMf58Pe_u9gPaMpFHhiccKQ7-cIWdRZGqZbmehrmCdGKJVrKzf4LTnlDEJ43Aws50qv-46AZCOeEBTmNcgjWJNaDOojWplrs/s1600/SSPbanner@palestinemarch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBe4rOGhMYZjetjIdDhaVxw2KhSreTJl16D2ua9o4VM3jXMf58Pe_u9gPaMpFHhiccKQ7-cIWdRZGqZbmehrmCdGKJVrKzf4LTnlDEJ43Aws50qv-46AZCOeEBTmNcgjWJNaDOojWplrs/s320/SSPbanner@palestinemarch.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi998HxpF4yxZkWWQbjH-0Ud45kIlQxNFTFVpZutizFE9x_xrao-w1ASsMl9wVixoya5NRjSuPDJtSSRQPowyTPuqq9sBKNQHBlIjXorB1CkAMtJGUxovO6iWHFJRuFHiiau0KNnxhCtwE/s1600/SSPlargejusticeforpalestine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi998HxpF4yxZkWWQbjH-0Ud45kIlQxNFTFVpZutizFE9x_xrao-w1ASsMl9wVixoya5NRjSuPDJtSSRQPowyTPuqq9sBKNQHBlIjXorB1CkAMtJGUxovO6iWHFJRuFHiiau0KNnxhCtwE/s320/SSPlargejusticeforpalestine.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Yd704hRhuemZJiKBQnI3Vwwzm901jYKc_dt9gmfNue2Ggp3wI3dZksqNSYjAI-xhp_EAlnKEGIbNBmLrzdKrt77YlCdEOO4pDKoZYuk0FfsFWgOYIXIG9Ury30q9r3pJ-HKOoryQOhg/s1600/palestinefistwithendseigeposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Yd704hRhuemZJiKBQnI3Vwwzm901jYKc_dt9gmfNue2Ggp3wI3dZksqNSYjAI-xhp_EAlnKEGIbNBmLrzdKrt77YlCdEOO4pDKoZYuk0FfsFWgOYIXIG9Ury30q9r3pJ-HKOoryQOhg/s320/palestinefistwithendseigeposter.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-5175774397664189762010-05-05T19:41:00.000-07:002010-05-05T19:41:34.758-07:00POLLING DAY IS HERE!!!!<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">Time To Really Vote For Change.</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Vote Scottish Socialist Party!!! </span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Today the 6th of May 2010, sees the British public take to the polls to decided on who runs our next government. We at the Scottish Socialist Party have 10 candidates in various seats around Scotland. </span><br />
Whilst the media talks about the 3 main parties and the 3 main parties all talk of change. But a vote for these parties is not real change it's still the same. If one thing the prime ministerial debates showed us was that there is very little difference or variety of choice by voting for the any of the big 3 or even SNP who will quite happily jump into bed with any of the potential prime ministers. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsSeam0no04K2ZWe9l5nlGIBjVrSn3BPw81KQQSSOE7O1aVidVybF4xWrjrxg30INw5MByuT7ydihxpdNMaUmPl4Guu1tRVOLlLd-B6MxCpFVje-GqnEx6HH4CP8RstLM00ADg88aFSiA/s1600/ssp3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsSeam0no04K2ZWe9l5nlGIBjVrSn3BPw81KQQSSOE7O1aVidVybF4xWrjrxg30INw5MByuT7ydihxpdNMaUmPl4Guu1tRVOLlLd-B6MxCpFVje-GqnEx6HH4CP8RstLM00ADg88aFSiA/s320/ssp3.png" tt="true" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">We at the Scottish Socialist Party represent <span style="color: red;"><em>Real </em></span><span style="color: black;">Change.</span></span><br />
We represent the real alternative option to the mainstream capitialist parties. We are a party that promotes a real fairer future. We are the only party commited to bringing a <span style="color: red;">Free Scottish Socialist Republic.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">11 point plan from the Scottish Socialist Party </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul><li><span id="goog_809773296"></span><span id="goog_809773298"></span><span id="goog_809773300"></span><span id="goog_809773302"></span><span id="goog_809773304"></span><span id="goog_809773306"></span>We want Scotland's wealth shared out equally</li>
<li>The rich will pay higher taxes</li>
<li>Our public services, including oil, fuel and transport, will be publicly owned</li>
<li>Our minimum wage right now would be £8 an hour</li>
<li>Wages, benefits and pensions will rise by £50 a week, across the board</li>
<li>All school children will receive free school meals</li>
<li>Women will get equal pay for equal work</li>
<li>Young people will get the same national minimum wage as everyone else.</li>
<li>The abolition of nuclear arms in Scotland and the continued campaign for the worldwide abolition of nuclear arms.</li>
<li>The council tax will be scrapped in favour of a local tax where the rich pay their fair share</li>
<li>Free public transport will be brought in to ease congestion, pollution and global warming</li>
<li>Our troops will be brought home from the killing fields of Iraq and Afghanistan.</li>
</ul><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxdhMAenTv0_sjxFnAFdSp8X_TNBSSLvJn6ow2sMiuYiua_Av-g87Tm8aeMCkmTxBs3UFxYvAQds5y4OwSOOI6YAHgtfEliK9cBYApI0uRVt08E5YUC-Lzz3caO3mKUiYvX7PNEvIAcM/s1600/allycarryingbanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxdhMAenTv0_sjxFnAFdSp8X_TNBSSLvJn6ow2sMiuYiua_Av-g87Tm8aeMCkmTxBs3UFxYvAQds5y4OwSOOI6YAHgtfEliK9cBYApI0uRVt08E5YUC-Lzz3caO3mKUiYvX7PNEvIAcM/s320/allycarryingbanner.jpg" tt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglwjNJZKMUpt3yWRTfn8b4MkNXe7K2gbQVU6pXDVgs_DCM4_Q-JRJbJhjP0PhhBnRht956XE55LfovmgGgzFLs9SPUYgROH97Wuqru4otJhjp5BI4REBTgDBeTjmn1HHsE85m3yBXOnJU/s1600/anti+afghan+war+protest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglwjNJZKMUpt3yWRTfn8b4MkNXe7K2gbQVU6pXDVgs_DCM4_Q-JRJbJhjP0PhhBnRht956XE55LfovmgGgzFLs9SPUYgROH97Wuqru4otJhjp5BI4REBTgDBeTjmn1HHsE85m3yBXOnJU/s320/anti+afghan+war+protest.jpg" tt="true" /></a></div>We are the only party to have constantly campaigned against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We<br />
are the party that will NOT only abolish the £100 billion Trident nuclear system but we would continue to campaign against Weapons of Mass Destruction on an international level. We are the only party that opposes all publice sector cuts. We are a party that will support a fairer and cleaner political system based on real proportional representation in which politicians will take a workers salary and we will continue to campaign on these issues. To be the real voice of change in Scotland, <span style="color: red;">on this day the 6th of May we ask you</span>, when it comes time to vote. Vote for a party that will give us a true champion voice for Scotland in Westminster. A party that is on the street listening to the needs of the Scottish people. <br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">This 6th of May vote SSP. <a href="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/new_stories/election2010/SSP-candidates-westminster-2010.html"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Check Out All SSP candidates here</span></a></span>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-62913263501382991372010-04-29T13:51:00.000-07:002010-04-29T13:51:11.822-07:00Letter from Ally Hendry Printed in West Lothian courier 29/04/2010<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"></span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvHjvBLptUb-DGffH1nDmoTc60nN3mPYgARSUrldI5X0v_iFiAvU_rA8Idxs8JT348ZrrnP2RQ2huMRc4mgPtnLyB3F__5HT1mLmH4jiqrmFUn6sAdmouHjjl5iVEse8Kc6ek1PMxXm_k/s1600/allyhendry_96.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvHjvBLptUb-DGffH1nDmoTc60nN3mPYgARSUrldI5X0v_iFiAvU_rA8Idxs8JT348ZrrnP2RQ2huMRc4mgPtnLyB3F__5HT1mLmH4jiqrmFUn6sAdmouHjjl5iVEse8Kc6ek1PMxXm_k/s200/allyhendry_96.jpg" tt="true" width="186" /></a></div>As a socialist, I want the current capitalist economic system to be replaced by a socialist system based on equality and social need rather than private greed. This would involve taking control of the banks, insurance companies and the major industries and placing them in the hands of ordinary working men and women. The creation of a socialist society would help bring an end to poverty, injustice and war. <br />
Socialists wish to see everyone being given the opportunity to fulfil their true potential and not having to spend their lives as ‘wage slaves’ in the capitalist system. How many great musicians, skilled doctors, great scientists and engineers etc have there been amongst children of working class families who were never able to realise their goals because economic constraints forced them to take lesser paid jobs to augment the family income?<br />
If elected to Westminster, I would oppose cuts in Government spending which, it has been reported, in West Lothian would result in a minimum of one thousand compulsory Council job losses and drastic reductions in our vital public services.<br />
To encourage small and medium sized companies to locate in West Lothian (and other areas), I would propose a policy of offering a rates moratorium for a period of 1-3 years and a financial contribution to the wages and training costs of long-term unemployed people given jobs by the incoming companies. <br />
Although a devolved issue, another of my priorities would be to highlight the campaign for the full reinstatement of all services to St Johns Hospital. The reduction in services was part of the policy of the previous Labour-led government in its insidious drive to privatise the National Health Service.westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-7149016449980058542010-04-26T13:24:00.000-07:002010-04-26T14:56:03.616-07:00Scottish Socialist Party election broadcast<span style="color: red; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">PARTY ELECTION BROADCAST FOR 2010 GENERAL ELECTION</span> <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTffIj9L0kBR34ivO262wcnJ3JXdWVnPROplOEAHs_ENwg1ziru2xds2F9FGqB5Q59EUK_NtEnMkkHThF28t68G69cgvN827LMBRQAFyna5HvC0aSoyFwhcUPfH4BeTztgqAYrAetgNw/s1600/logo_310.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJTffIj9L0kBR34ivO262wcnJ3JXdWVnPROplOEAHs_ENwg1ziru2xds2F9FGqB5Q59EUK_NtEnMkkHThF28t68G69cgvN827LMBRQAFyna5HvC0aSoyFwhcUPfH4BeTztgqAYrAetgNw/s400/logo_310.png" tt="true" width="400" /></a></div>The Scottish Socialist Party's Westminster election party political broadcast was shown on the 23rd of April on BBC1 and BBC2. To watch the video please click on the link <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00s5p7t/Party_Election_Broadcasts_Scottish_Socialist_Party_General_Election_2010_23_04_2010/"><span style="color: red; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Scottish Socialist Party 2010 general election broadcast</span></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIHqSPwffxykEhdtZURAyFizrCiBHouE06yHoMQ6IGSssLjwgSV-7JxEoFAjJOE4aux4dQ0j0MfGmZDKjGn7muIAF0mA0xsUmDz_lpWziv1ThhaQsDgiVrkRzikjZ78LUaj26dDHBLhg/s1600/people_not_profit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIHqSPwffxykEhdtZURAyFizrCiBHouE06yHoMQ6IGSssLjwgSV-7JxEoFAjJOE4aux4dQ0j0MfGmZDKjGn7muIAF0mA0xsUmDz_lpWziv1ThhaQsDgiVrkRzikjZ78LUaj26dDHBLhg/s320/people_not_profit.JPG" tt="true" /></a></div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-58693654603438942472010-04-24T06:27:00.000-07:002010-04-24T06:27:01.589-07:00Ally Hendry on televised leaders debate.<span style="font-size: large;">Reflections on the Party Leaders’ Debate on domestic policy</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHKIgoiFfRA06h2CJJ0VM23MbpkxO9J-In6kccjt76j80DeSH331VjGEuBJCZQAKT-euSFgPmvSQqkyS51UzqPSO_QND6TClejXJLB-0cshS1jJlf1esMmX1zhvL6wFbFTz10dEI-iL8/s1600/3615147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHKIgoiFfRA06h2CJJ0VM23MbpkxO9J-In6kccjt76j80DeSH331VjGEuBJCZQAKT-euSFgPmvSQqkyS51UzqPSO_QND6TClejXJLB-0cshS1jJlf1esMmX1zhvL6wFbFTz10dEI-iL8/s400/3615147.jpg" tt="true" width="400" /></a></div><br />
The most striking impression I got from the Party Leaders’ Debate was how similar the so-called ‘major parties’ are when it comes to economic policy. They all agree that there will have to be deep cuts in government spending as a result of the economic recession which will severely affect public services. However, during the debate all three leaders sought to disguise what is in store for families the length and breadth of Britain by putting forward schemes that will supposedly shield the public from hardships.<br />
<br />
We in the SSP, unlike the ‘major parties’, maintain that the general public do not have to bear the brunt for an economic recession which was none of their making. There are alternatives to the cuts that would in fact mean an increase in public spending to improve public services and create jobs. These include:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Taking control of the UK banks assets and capital, estimated to be in the region of £5 trillion and £560 billion respectively. </li>
<li>Taxing the rich by for example imposing a 90% tax rate on income over £100,000.</li>
<li>Raising corporation tax which has been cut by successive governments from 45% to 28%. A doubling of corporation tax would yield about £45 billion annually</li>
<li>Reducing defence spending by withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and scrapping nuclear weapons would save over £30 billion every year.</li>
</ul>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-82347919717563771092010-04-17T03:12:00.000-07:002010-04-17T03:15:15.779-07:00Scottish Socialist Party launches 2010 election manifesto.<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jDrf8IoeHMhXBbPSHeKmULK42dSXH9z0ihsOwtdYY-5GwVHeq7SPdhYKC-m2Xd7OC8y-rV5TUzQkqSNop2g-y2C4-fejBSvNdXaUuWc6A8XZ2df8XS1LhsdOqUjNck0mXTNtYI6fWrg/s1600/DSC_0042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jDrf8IoeHMhXBbPSHeKmULK42dSXH9z0ihsOwtdYY-5GwVHeq7SPdhYKC-m2Xd7OC8y-rV5TUzQkqSNop2g-y2C4-fejBSvNdXaUuWc6A8XZ2df8XS1LhsdOqUjNck0mXTNtYI6fWrg/s400/DSC_0042.jpg" width="400" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">from left to right; Ally Hendry, James Nesbitt, Frances Curran, John McAllion and Colin Fox</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Last Tuesday the 13th of April saw the launch of the Scottish Socialist Party's 2010 election manifesto. The manifesto focuses on 5 main points</div><ul><li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Public sector cuts</li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Employment (focusing on youth employment.)</li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The continued occupation of Afghanistan</li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The reform and clean up of the process' of government</li>
<li>The formation of an independent Socialist republic in Scotland. </li>
</ul><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhvOgpccsqr7ZybXwOIRX8Q9z8XJsLptTVoB5ZjqIp4kEvvHQHKSSzeGTFxHfintp16QrDjIBFHtVgFpduzI8HK0WmwMBE4AE_YxjcIgwgTrCv6ySrr4o0MRwWk1O2-EmYOMG3P3_80w/s1600/DSC_0021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhvOgpccsqr7ZybXwOIRX8Q9z8XJsLptTVoB5ZjqIp4kEvvHQHKSSzeGTFxHfintp16QrDjIBFHtVgFpduzI8HK0WmwMBE4AE_YxjcIgwgTrCv6ySrr4o0MRwWk1O2-EmYOMG3P3_80w/s320/DSC_0021.jpg" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Colin Fox party co-spokesperson and John McAllion</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Party co-spokesperson Colin Fox said: "After 13 years of New Labour, the thought of a Tory government still sends a shiver up the spine. </div>"But it's clear to anyone who's watching this election that politics in Scotland is about to be turned upside down. <br />
"Let's be clear from the outset, that if the Tories do return to power at Westminster, the blame for that lies with New Labour and the failure of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown these last 13 years, who have quite frankly exploited working people, with the poorest and most vulnerable being hit hardest." <br />
<br />
To read the 2010 election manifesto please follow the link below<br />
<a href="http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/new_stories/election2010/ssp-mini-manifesto.html">2010 General Election manifesto</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRnZivGomlcIZbrCm45FrsIgOhPefL2LDIT7lAeOFH8aJehgtQqf63qDF3BYiVg-OgEVcGg8hmj898wzC9vdmukmso_tSbTh0KPoJFRv5eEubDgd3kooS3qIZcvZG1Mx7HNPTt_2Xlrk/s1600/DSC_0012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRnZivGomlcIZbrCm45FrsIgOhPefL2LDIT7lAeOFH8aJehgtQqf63qDF3BYiVg-OgEVcGg8hmj898wzC9vdmukmso_tSbTh0KPoJFRv5eEubDgd3kooS3qIZcvZG1Mx7HNPTt_2Xlrk/s320/DSC_0012.jpg" wt="true" /></a></div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-12151115675160283012010-04-11T08:40:00.000-07:002010-04-11T08:42:19.264-07:002010 Election campaign begins.<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1QYReD_t_KZ3Piov64_Afj4mGAQJUsvpEgdtzFJfF_YGiml-kyTAUuvuvZTXfdE1lqS0B3q4OB3_QgwWejUqpDTPKpOH84cllzQGgAwOC79g-zF1EC2dtl9RRlQ3moi9Da0o_fHmT80/s1600/election%2520box-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1QYReD_t_KZ3Piov64_Afj4mGAQJUsvpEgdtzFJfF_YGiml-kyTAUuvuvZTXfdE1lqS0B3q4OB3_QgwWejUqpDTPKpOH84cllzQGgAwOC79g-zF1EC2dtl9RRlQ3moi9Da0o_fHmT80/s320/election%2520box-2.jpg" wt="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The West Lothian branch of the Scottish Socialist Party have started their 2010 election campaign. We have been out on the streets of West Lothian posting leaflets in various areas of the county, West Calder, Polbeth, Addiewell, East Calder and Stoneyburn and we had a very successful stall at Livingston centre on Friday the 9th of April. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjodkzzNUz-Npv0MQrlD6cBXNlu8fbZwhAFNM1YraJPXYA-z5Bw1oFIpH5T9yhzgBttQU6BmrPNk2x4UwvnnPLUozSOwKrWHDm2-mk6tkf0QvAH0wXPYuWf2FLsFppoXRDA16lP6_hG7w/s1600/SANY2264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjodkzzNUz-Npv0MQrlD6cBXNlu8fbZwhAFNM1YraJPXYA-z5Bw1oFIpH5T9yhzgBttQU6BmrPNk2x4UwvnnPLUozSOwKrWHDm2-mk6tkf0QvAH0wXPYuWf2FLsFppoXRDA16lP6_hG7w/s320/SANY2264.JPG" width="320" wt="true" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">We will be throughtout the county over the next few weeks and will be holding stalls throughtout the Livingston constituency. All our members are willing to answer any questions anyone will have so please feel free to approach us. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-49286122698126507902010-04-06T18:01:00.000-07:002010-04-06T18:02:33.691-07:00ELECTION CALLED FOR 6TH OF MAY<em>Today Gordon Brown asked the Queen to dissolve parliament. This signals the start of the election campaign in which at it's penultimate end the country will go to the polls to decide who will next run the country. This is a short statement from Ally Hendry the candidate for the Scottish Socialist Party in Livingston. </em><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBiGNPCJMqGRjWVBre6IAQpKSQTOPPk0mx4sfFNzp1ToY7Qi8C1ESvhUs2sSBPkoDYloBpHMLuWqhtuFMGCDZBKyXJFV5yvIdyPQb5P8VXcsRrGBsEGciBF8M0t3dJl4O06L4itQbykAQ/s1600/pleasekeeptotheleft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBiGNPCJMqGRjWVBre6IAQpKSQTOPPk0mx4sfFNzp1ToY7Qi8C1ESvhUs2sSBPkoDYloBpHMLuWqhtuFMGCDZBKyXJFV5yvIdyPQb5P8VXcsRrGBsEGciBF8M0t3dJl4O06L4itQbykAQ/s320/pleasekeeptotheleft.jpg" /></a></div>This election presents a massive opportunity for the Scottish Socialist Party to present a viable alternative to the current mainstream parties who will once again attempt to solve the problems of capitalism at the expense of the ordinary working men and women. They will once again churn the same old ingredients of tax rises, cuts in public services, increased privatisation and anti-union polices and present it to the people as the only solution that will get the country out of recession.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This election gives the party publicity both nationally and locally to present a vision of a fairer and just society with peoples at the heart of our policies. We will be campaigning on a number of issues from the illegal wars which has placed our troops and civilians in the firing line and has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Afghanis.</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ally Hendry and party Co-spokeperson Colin Fox</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIt8_JYSJflHrj6LzfxJRRjs5Q7eoBXkiuqW6HVoY5eimsD6OVZ3OzXNGLy8zsDc0yGMe7r4mrD_DF06YGb3pMAvOoaXdOjGpDpFZGRHdvRrauHN-u33Ho8vBtiOH3oXZpcxviRpKnpKA/s1600/allycolin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIt8_JYSJflHrj6LzfxJRRjs5Q7eoBXkiuqW6HVoY5eimsD6OVZ3OzXNGLy8zsDc0yGMe7r4mrD_DF06YGb3pMAvOoaXdOjGpDpFZGRHdvRrauHN-u33Ho8vBtiOH3oXZpcxviRpKnpKA/s320/allycolin.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The country is currently experiencing the deepest recession in 80 years as a result of the reckless greed of high earning bankers and of neoliberal economic policies designed to benefit the rich pursued by successive Labour and Tory governments.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The response of the mainstream parties to this crisis has been to plan savage cuts in jobs, wages and essential services but the SSP vehemently opposes such action and believes that working people like nurses, postal and council workers did not cause the recession and should not have to suffer the consequences.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhihD9a8-Zv3i3Sa7uSyPj4eW5zXx7NzvlgCDiXdHKenT8fkEUJRBFAZXUAlPEquxj5fgK_y4P01WpryTlANx6hof_OQ5hpP2X6Xu8lsDk2ia09ip9WN86aHGWO-C0SQH6esU04CHMGmBM/s1600/Ally+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; cssfloat: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhihD9a8-Zv3i3Sa7uSyPj4eW5zXx7NzvlgCDiXdHKenT8fkEUJRBFAZXUAlPEquxj5fgK_y4P01WpryTlANx6hof_OQ5hpP2X6Xu8lsDk2ia09ip9WN86aHGWO-C0SQH6esU04CHMGmBM/s320/Ally+2.JPG" /></a>Instead, the SSP believes those who have accumulated great wealth as a result of neoliberal policies, including those bankers who bear great personal responsibility, should pay for the economic crisis by means of higher taxes. To cancel the new Trident missile system which has a reported cost of £100million and to collect the lost revenue of tax avoidance and evasion this costs our country a reported £100million annually.</div><br />
<br />
Our vision is for a fair and just society structured to provide for the needs of the many not the greed of the few. This can only be achieved when working people unite and demand change. We would ask you to vote for the Scottish Socialist Party at this election. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8eqDQdsttGCczYQ6GI1ofU5RObGbD7LHOLf2ZHf_2mgw90QAvtbRvhk9bDvY1LMyvPM8dCSdiX4uASDiqqsehVSyDapBn6qaQmepM7OzmMI9HxMXIJ6_aOl-axLcAGc2vStDohajl8MI/s1600/election%2520box-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8eqDQdsttGCczYQ6GI1ofU5RObGbD7LHOLf2ZHf_2mgw90QAvtbRvhk9bDvY1LMyvPM8dCSdiX4uASDiqqsehVSyDapBn6qaQmepM7OzmMI9HxMXIJ6_aOl-axLcAGc2vStDohajl8MI/s320/election%2520box-2.jpg" /></a></div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-18583233214301110432010-03-30T02:41:00.000-07:002010-03-30T02:41:12.764-07:00<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">Conference 2010</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9MPQPS6JOuWNkOgwBP7XViNcA2M2bvUk6vPsWRaN8dgUEs4-Nzjo5l0LD6D9I2wBcowQvKDW6ny4-BWgZU_VPLehclNpvQqHPdbupRopsOKfDIwYrcja-_IIYV0unDVyfp9HTwunKY0/s1600/people_not_profit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9MPQPS6JOuWNkOgwBP7XViNcA2M2bvUk6vPsWRaN8dgUEs4-Nzjo5l0LD6D9I2wBcowQvKDW6ny4-BWgZU_VPLehclNpvQqHPdbupRopsOKfDIwYrcja-_IIYV0unDVyfp9HTwunKY0/s320/people_not_profit.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The national conference of the Scottish Socialist Party was held on Sunday the 28th of March in Dunblane. The West Lothian branch of the SSP sent delegates to the conference. The conference was a huge success and showed that all the branches in the SSP are on the same wavelength. We understand that the road may be long and hard. We understand that we need to grow. It was discussed that there has been a recent increase in the number of new members and it is obvious that we are a party on the rise. A party that has the working class majority in mind. A party that stands for a Scottish socialist republic. A party opposed to all public sector cuts imperialist wars.</div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-77351057020318915092010-03-27T06:56:00.000-07:002010-03-27T06:56:08.017-07:00<span style="font-size: large;">Once again Anti-fascists find themselves on the wrong side of English police. </span><br />
<br />
Once again Anti-fascist groups come under attack from English police. Around 1,500 UAF members had descended on Bolton to oppose an EDL rally in the city's Victoria Square. But they found themselves the main target of police - and even UAF organiser Weyman Bennett was held, on charges of conspiracy to commit violent disorder. Mr Bennett said: "Officers came up to me as soon as I arrived and said they would arrest me. "I have been to more than 200 demos and never been arrested.". <br />
This raises the question about English police forces and their attitude towards peaceful protest. As both Edinburgh and Glasgow marches went off without much trouble and a minimum number of arrests. Why can the same groups of people have such a different reaction? Why do our police forces respect political and social protest yet police forces as large as greater Manchester are constantly creating violent and tense situations? What is it our police have that they don't? <br />
Read more here <a href="http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/88242">http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/88242</a>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788365265568849762.post-71733089564008601582010-03-20T07:49:00.000-07:002010-03-20T07:49:55.562-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWdPPF1RxgPry8F0lKzdMbX-OB-lbjvnXlX8g2FnagkGbHJAaaeKxWiQQ3GoCHyNOFywCAQFzJb9DNcK8-5bcoyjAt2OMgp48S7BoSCRVFhFiYHcNafoS2Ddz36yuGQNOe4sNOzvhoYTY/s1600-h/ssp3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWdPPF1RxgPry8F0lKzdMbX-OB-lbjvnXlX8g2FnagkGbHJAaaeKxWiQQ3GoCHyNOFywCAQFzJb9DNcK8-5bcoyjAt2OMgp48S7BoSCRVFhFiYHcNafoS2Ddz36yuGQNOe4sNOzvhoYTY/s320/ssp3.png" vt="true" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">As we near the 2010 general election the three main political parties in the United Kingdom all agree that major cuts in public spending are needed to clear the reported £178 billion deficit. These cuts will hit the poorest people hardest and will see institutions like St John's hospital have to cut already failing services. Whilst at the same time willing to spend, a reported £100 million on the upgrade of the Trident nuclear system, based in Scotland.</div><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkUwwH2_ZwrJ5VljDIeeXVY-X-c1bjtxd35-wIXSpM2j_q-1ySChgGQO72FkSQd9zGURVQSF6-G8PQuDoxJunSnsCWnm2gaZQMzxcvIqrTlfKZ3B-cUlPOmgol_pJlD9Fpw188mkm5YUw/s1600-h/stjohns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkUwwH2_ZwrJ5VljDIeeXVY-X-c1bjtxd35-wIXSpM2j_q-1ySChgGQO72FkSQd9zGURVQSF6-G8PQuDoxJunSnsCWnm2gaZQMzxcvIqrTlfKZ3B-cUlPOmgol_pJlD9Fpw188mkm5YUw/s320/stjohns.jpg" vt="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Recessions</strong></span><br />
<ul><li>In recessions, government borrowing will tend to increase. This is because:</li>
<li>Higher unemployment means less people will be paying income tax.</li>
<li>Lower consumption levels mean lower VAT and excise duties.</li>
<li>Lower company profits mean lower corporation tax.</li>
<li>Higher unemployment increases cost of social security payments - unemployment benefit, income support, housing benefit etc.</li>
<li>Falling house and asset prices reduce stamp duties.</li>
<li>Furthermore, in a recession, governments often try to stimulate the economy using expansionary fiscal policy This could involve:</li>
<li>Cutting taxes so people (hopefully) spend more</li>
<li>Increasing public sector spending to stimulate aggregate demand</li>
</ul><br />
<div> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">As the government have failed to institgate any kind of stimulus package for the UK -A move that has been condemned by many economists. The Scottish Socialist Party vow to fight all public spending cuts. We vow to stand up for the ordainary working class majority living in Scotland. We vow to change Scotland into a free Socialist republic, that has the majority's needs in mind not the needs to multi-national capitalist companies.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3tbYuHCmmqE/S6TgWKbn5hI/AAAAAAAAAJw/w2kW4GXdiPo/s1600-h/people_not_profit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3tbYuHCmmqE/S6TgWKbn5hI/AAAAAAAAAJw/w2kW4GXdiPo/s320/people_not_profit.JPG" vt="true" /></a></div>westlothianssphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12739889639133909821noreply@blogger.com0