Dundee SSP » Accountability

Scabs attack firefighters

alangdundee — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 20:09:35 +0000

Everyone should read this account of Firefighters being run down by scabs.

Utterly despicable.

What are the chances these events will get the same level of coverage as the whining about the fire-fighters striking to defend services?

Liberal Democracts Oppose PR

alangdundee — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 18:42:19 +0000

On Tuesday there was an early day motion in Westminster on a referendum on proportional representation.

Although a small number of MPs from a number of parties voted for it – not a single Lib Dem did!

Anyone who has watched the Nick Clegg video where he pledges to oppose and vote against increases in tuition fees won’t be surprised.

We sincerely hope that all those who voted for the Lib Dems because they were radical and different from Labour and the Tories will have reconsidered doing so again in future.

Calling those in Dundee East

alangdundee — Sat, 15 May 2010 18:10:36 +0000

During the election we did a partial mailout in the Dundee East constituency. Unfortunately a number of people who live within the postcode areas we had leaflets delivered to have reported that they received none of ours.

If you live in Dundee East can you let us know if you did or did not receive an SSP leaflet delivered by Royal Mail. This would greatly help us in tracking where they were/were not delivered.

As one right wing authoritarian government falls

alangdundee — Tue, 11 May 2010 19:12:27 +0000

Another is formed. The misnamed Liberal Democrats appear to be propping up the Tories. Given that Nick Clegg recently praised Thatcher it should come as no surprise. No doubt the 4 key policies of the Lib Dems will be abandoned for a few ministerial seats.

The initial David Cameron speech made it plain that any Lib Dem/Tory pact would be like the old Spitting Image sketch.

We share these policies so come and support us in implementing them (paraphrasing)

Who we should feel sorry for are those tens of thousands of people who believed the media hyped Cleggmania and thought they were voting for a radical liberal alternative to the two main Tory parties.

There is a radical liberal alternative to these three parties, it’s called the SSP. Join us and help make a difference.

US Military murder more reporters in Iraq

alangdundee — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:04:04 +0000

The indispensable WIkiLeaks has released a video showing the pilots of two US gunships murdering reporters and children in cold blood.

To usual form they claimed that it was only Iraqi Insurgents killed etc etc.

Defend Balmossie Fire Station March

alangdundee — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:34:15 +0000

Dundee SSP members were among the hundreds who took part in a march and rally today in Broughty Ferry to defend the Balmossie Fire Station from downgrading.

The Fire Board have for the second year in a row marked it for cuts. It needs to be defended for the second year in a row.

Read about the campaign at the website Save Balmossie

If one of your councillors is on the Fire Board please contact them to ensure they vote against downgrading.

A list of members can be found at the campaign site

They include

Elizabeth Fordyce (Maryfield)
Helen Wright (Coldside)
Rod Wallace (The Ferry)
David Bowes (Coldside)
Andy Dawson (North East)
Richard McCready (West End)
Christina Roberts (East End)

So basically 6 of the 8 wards in Dundee.

There are also other councillors from Angus and Perthshire.

Post Office consultation exposed as sham

alangdundee — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:41:48 +0000

The Guardian has published an article on the Post Office closures and consultations. It details a parliamentary committee criticising the sham consultations and closure program.

When the press are telling us daily about the damage posties are doing to the service they are attempting to defend it’s worth remembering who the privatising parasites really are who are gutting the service by both tiny attacks and huge.

We wrote about the sham consultation at the time.

You call this radical?

alangdundee — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:39:18 +0000

David Cameron has been all over the press today with his sweeping radical reforms as he likes to call them.

These include:

seriously consider[ing] the possibility of fixed-term parliaments
reducing the number of MPs by 10%
Text alerts on progression of Bills.
More publication of expenses
possible curbs on the whipping of votes
backbenchers would get powers to choose the chairmen and members of select committees

These, he claims, will transfer power from the state to the people. Sounds good, unless you realise this is a man who voted for people to be detained by the state without charge for 28 days.

So lets look at the list:

seriously consider[ing] the possibility of fixed-term parliaments.

Not only is it a pitiful reform but it is surrounded by two weasily non-commital caveats. Why not fixed numbers of terms for MPs if you want to fix terms? (The SSP voted for 2 terms at our conference a number of years back)

reducing the number of MPs by 10%

In a parliament which is a representative type this makes the body less accountable, not more.

Text alerts on progression of Bills.

Post a reply if you can name one Bill currently going through parliament.

Yep, thought not.

The bills are available here if you wish to see.

More publication of expenses

Long overdue, but whilst MPs make the rules they then defend themselves by not breaking it is toothless and purely populist.

possible curbs on the whipping of votes

How exactly would this be enforceable? Notice again the weasely caveat.

backbenchers would get powers to choose the chairmen and members of select committees

Well hold me back, that is exactly the demand being made by everyone on a daily basis, the problem with parliament being the backbenchers don’t get to choose chairmen of talking shops. Sounds more like throwing a bone to get the support from backbenchers though.

Reforms which were noticeable by their absence included

Reducing pay of MPs or linking to some measure of wages/income. Might we suggest a maximum of 5 times the state pension? Then there might be some action on pensioner poverty.
Abolition of the unelected and undemocratic House of Lords
Abolition of the unelected and undemocratic Privy Council
Recallability of MPs – by petition of a percentage of constituents or triggered by voting against election promises or by changing their political affiliation
Proportional Representation – deliberately excluded by Cameron
Extending the franchise
Overhauling voter registration to remove the current ease to commit fraud with postal vote registration.

None of these are revolutionary demands. They are basic reforms which are far more radical than anything Cameron has just dreamed up. Of course further reforms would be a real democracy, with the parliament chosen by lot, rather than the oligarchy we have now.

Scottish Socialists election guarantee: we won’t play the expenses lottery.

alangdundee — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:59:52 +0000

Scottish Socialist co-spokesperson Colin Fox has repeated the party’s policy that anybody elected under their banner would refuse the “lottery winners” lifestyle enjoyed by other politicians.

Instead he repeated the SSP policy that anybody elected for the party will live on a skilled worker’s wage.

Former MSP Fox is top of the SSP candidate’s list for the European elections on June 4th.

He said:

The Scottish Socialist Party is entitled to have voters reminded that each and every one of their candidates is pledged to refuse the highly inflated salary of an MP/MSP/MEP and live instead on the average wage of the people whose interests they seek to represent.

And since promises in politics today are seen to be usually worthless it is important to remind voters that the SSP MSPs honoured that promise for the entire time they were at Holyrood between 1999 and 2007.

Each one of us lived on the average wage in line with party policy.

In the forthcoming European elections in June we will once again pledge to live in a skilled worker’s wage and shun the millionaire lifestyle beloved of MPs which has rightly outraged the public.

The entire sleazy episode nullifies any credibility ‘career politicians’ have about their motives for going into politics. It’s a funny way to ’serve the public’ stealing from the public purse and the SSP will have none of it.

Snouts in the trough

alangdundee — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:54:45 +0000

The media for a week has been full of stories of the outrageous expenses claims by MPs.

From tampons (for a man) to moat cleaning there is seemingly no receipt these parasites will not claim for at taxpayers expense.

This is not democracy.

David Cameron: Quick, someone grab a receipt, the peasents can pay for this meal

Democracy is not just crossing a box once every four years, it is also about transparency and accountability.

If the police won't get involved we'll have to catch the leaker ourselves.

The Scottish Socialist Party has a policy we call the Workers Wage. Our elected representatives take home no more than an amount linked to the average wage of working people. This helps keep your elected representatives linked to the life you lead – they know how much a council tax rise affects you because it affects them too.

There is no chance of any of our elected representatives having you pay for their chandeliers or moat cleaning and most don’t own their first home never mind second, third or gated estate.

Come June the 4th vote for a representative who will be representative of the lives of most people in Scotland – vote Scottish Socialist Party.

More from the delusional Labour Party

alangdundee — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:35:55 +0000

Having signed a petition regarding Israels nuclear arsenal the governments reply is mind boggling.

The UK would like to see a world free from nuclear weapons.

By renewing Trident…

We are aware of the widespread assumption that Israel possesses nuclear weapons, but note that the Israeli Government has refused to confirm it.

Are the government seriously suggesting that Israel does not have nuclear weapons?

Perhaps it explains their inaction over the imprisonment of Mordechai Vanunu.

Lets use Occam’s Razor for a second.
Mordechai Vanunu has been imprisoned for being a traitor and a spy. His crime was to tell the world about Israel’s nukes. If he was lying, why would he be imprisoned for being a traitor and a spy?

If someone were to claim that the UK had a unit of sharks with frikkin lasers, would that make them a whistle-blower given that there is no such unit? Only if the UK did have one would they be a whistle-blower, the same with Mordechai Vanunu.

Police pay copensation to demonstrators they assaulted

alangdundee — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:06:29 +0000

No, not from the G20, but another demonstration where obviously the increasingly more common bad apples again behaved as thugs.

Details

The demonstration in question was in 2006 outside the Mexican embassy where the protesters were concerned at the killing of Indymedia journalist Bradley Will in Oaxaca City. They were assaulted and then falsely imprisoned by police officers.

Outrage as SSP councillor suspended

alangdundee — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:40:25 +0000

Jim Bollan has been suspended from Council Meetings for nine months.

Labour tamper with ballot boxes

alangdundee — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 08:18:17 +0000

If they can’t even be trusted to not tamper with the boxes in their own internal elections how can we trust them not to do the same with ballot boxes at local and national level?

SSP members are reminded that the elections for the European candidate list will be taking place over the next week or so. The regional hustings in Dundee and Edinburgh are taking place this Sunday – contact your branch or branch secretary if you have not received details.

Footage of police assault on Ian Tomlinson

alangdundee — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:57:39 +0000

Footage obtained by the Guardian show Ian Tomlinson being attacked by a police officer shortly before he died of natural causes

No doubt it was just a bad apple in the barrel and one of the other decent human beings who make up the majority of the police force will be able to identify the person who has probably committed manslaughter. If not, the CCTV footage from the area may help. Or the footage the police took. Or the other footage the protesters took (which the police were forcing people to delete).

Drama in Dundee City Council

alangdundee — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:42:19 +0000

Following the Maryfield by election the make-up of Dundee City Council changed. Made up of 29 councillors, the SNP now had 14, one short of a majority and with an even stronger democratic mandate to take power. One independent councillor, Depute Lord Provost Ian Borthwick had previously stated that it was undemocratic for Labour (now 9) the Lib Dems (2) and Tories (3) to exclude the SNP from the convenership roles and being in charge.

The rumour mill was in full force and all eyes were on Borthwick to see if he would walk the walk having talked the talk. Distracted Dundonians didn’t expect the resignation of Lord Provost John Letford from the Labour councillors group and the party. This reduced the Labour group of councillors to 8 causing their spokesmen to go into a mud slinging rage.

According to Jim McGovern, Letford has overnight lost all his principles. Ironically he mocks him for previously stating what was at his core – Labour and the Trade Union Movement. He falsely concludes that because he left Labour this can no longer be true. It may be no longer true, but it is also possible that if he still has this at his core that’s the very reason he can no longer stay in the Labour Party. Twenty Four hours later his vitriolic attack had changed into the Labour losing an argument position of Draw the line under it and move on

Kevin Keenan, leader of the Labour group of councillors flip flopped all week long. From publicly requesting Letfords return to the Labour group (now unprincipled or not) to in desperation trying to hold an olive branch to the SNP by pledging to support one of their councillors to be made Lord Provost. Whether both these plans could be carried out at the same time was irrelevant, they were pure spin from the Labour group.

Other local Labour members from former councillors Jill Shimi, Chic Farquhar and former rent a quote MP Ernie Ross were wheeled out to sling mud too.

What’s interesting about those slinging the mud is only one of them is a Labour councillor. The other seven councillors have been strangely silent on the proposed change in administration.

The last twist in the saga before the council meeting to redraw up power was some claims about an OBE. Letford insists Kevin Keenan had urged him to stand down and he would arrange for him to have an OBE. A series of denials from those involved make it unclear what actually happened, but this would have been a large carrot to someone Keenan described as the biggest unionist I know. That Letford sees his best chance to be the Queens representative in the city has more chance by supporting the SNP than it does Labour says something about both of those parties. For Labour it is the final signpost in their demise in the city. For the SNP it shows how their politics lie on both independence and republicanism if they are making deals with the biggest unionist known to the leader of the Labour Party in order to keep the chains of office.

Ernie Ross had also made the bizarre claim that Labour are a democratic socialist party. Wrong on both counts Mr Ross! Why are the Labour Party fighting over the chains of office rather than trying to break them when in power if either of these propositions were true?

The two independents, Borthwick and Letford were expected to vote with the SNP, keeping their Depute/Lord Provost roles.

At the council meeting Ian Borthwick proposed to delay the meeting to try and have a majority administration of everyone. Apparently the recession means this is necessary. The issue that flagged up this change was not the economy going in to recession but the Lord Provost resigning from his former party. Seconded by the Tories it was lost to the votes of the SNP and John Letford.

The SNP had put forward this idea in 2003 and 2007, as had John Letford in private. Now it looked like the SNP would be in power, the undemocratic coalition who had kept them out of power and looked like losing it suddenly warmed to the idea.

The SNP then proposed John Letford and Ian Borthwick for Lord Provost and Depute as expected. Labour countered with a proposal for one of their councillors to be Lord Provost. Their third preference for the position in a week.

The SNP proposal won through with the support on John Letford with The Tories and Ian Borthwick abstaining.

Immediately all the Labour councillors raised their dissent at the decision. They subsequently opposed the decision to label committees as X Opposition instead of Labour, Lib Democrat etc. It should be pointed out that 20 minutes previously they had demanded the council choose from across the board for the best people for positions but were having trouble with doing that amongst the opposition – showing how unworkable their proposal was in the first place.

What does this mean for the people of Dundee. Well we have finally removed Labour from office, although at what cost? Look next door to Angus to see the actions of the SNP in power. They were one of the longest to hold out to the Nursery Nurses and gave one of the worst offers.

More recently they are attempting to claw back half a days wages from teachers. These teachers left school on an in service day due to the heavy snow. Buses were stopping and schools were closing across Dundee and the surrounding area. People were being advised left and right to get home safely whilst they could. The Council were holding a meeting in Forfar and decided to abandon it and go home as it was too dangerous for them to stay in the town. The teachers in Forfar apparently were in no danger of being stranded and should not have. (see comment below)

Or in other words, as happened in transition nationally between Tories and Labour in 1997, expect no noticeable positive difference.

SNP now run Dundee City Council!

alangdundee — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:45:58 +0000

Beating both the BBC and SNP to the news – the Lord Provost and Depute Lord Provost are staying as John Letford and Ian Borthwick. Borthwick did not vote for himself as Depute!

The proposal from SNP for Borthwick and Letford to stay in their roles and the SNP to take convenership roles won 15 votes, the SNP and John Letford. The Labour proposal with Richard McCready as Lord Provost won 10 votes, Labour and The Liberal Democrats. The Tories and Ian Borthwick abstained.

The people of Dundee can now look forward to an even more anti-trade union administration than the discredited former regime.

Phorm Cook up a Storm

alangdundee — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 20:20:39 +0000

A member of Dundee SSP submitted the following complaint to the Information Commissioner in relation to the story about BT appearing to infringe the privacy of their customers in June 2008.

Having followed the recent articles about Phorm (nee 121Media) in the press I was extremely distressed to see the latest news from today about BT running a secret trial

BBC story about Phorm

Details some of this, of which i am sure you are aware.

I refer you to the articles on the ICO site:

Guidelines regarding processing data

Information Commissioners power

It would appear that BT are in breach of at least these two.

A second related issue around the Phorm advertising is a possible breach of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. If BT have replaced the adverts on a site, or injected an advert into a site before presenting it to a user via their browser it may fall foul of the act by modifying the website without permission of the copyright holder.

A short reply was received stating that they were monitoring it closely. He intends to contact the Information Commissioner to see what monitoring has taken place over the course of the last year.

Maryfield By Election

alangdundee — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:46:44 +0000

It’s been a frantic few weeks of campaigning in the Maryfield by election and the result will be known on Friday. Before you cast your vote remember this is an election using a Transferable Vote, not just a cross in a box.

You can vote SSP 1, Labour 2 or SNP 1, SSP 2 or whatever way you want. You can’t waste your vote. Vote in order of your preference.

You can still vote tactically.

If you normally vote Labour but want them to care more about working class people then mark SSP 1 and Labour 2. Labour will then get transferred the vote if and when the SSP are eliminated. It sends a message to them about what their voters other priorities are. If one party sees their votes coming to them as a second choice behind the SSP it sends them a clear message that their supporters think they are too right wing or authoritarian.

Vote for what you want not against what you don’t want.

See where you are politically at the Political Compass. For reference the SSP would be left wing and liberal (the same square as Gandhi). Labour would be right wing and authoritarian (the same square as the Tories and the Italian Fascists). You can also see the drift to be both right wing and authoritarian by Labour.

Unfortunately there is no Scotland wide table. On this graphic the SSP would be about the same place as the Greens, with the SNP being a bit to the left of the Liberal Democrats.

Take the test, see where you are and vote for the party or parties who most match your views.

Outrage as Police Threaten to Confiscate Strike Fund

alangdundee — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:00:20 +0000

Outside the Labour Party conference there were a number of protests about the organisation’s presence in the city, from those dressed as fat cats objecting to billions being given to the bunch of bankers, to Palestine Solidarity stalls.

Among them were members of the SSP and of Solidarity working together to highlight the Prisme occupation and raise funds for them.

The police, prompted by a complaint by a member of the public (most likely some Labour Party loyalist, approached each of these in turn to threaten them with further action should they not desist from their activities. The Palestine Solidarity Stall were spoken to for a while. The fatcat banker was warned over his possession of clearly fake money – something companies and churches use all the time for advertising and prosthletising respectively.

Most outrageously was the police action over the solidarity with Prisme workers. Those collecting were told that they must immediately stop collecting money. Their names, addresses and work details were taken. They were further informed that if they continued to collect money in a bucket they would be charged and that the money would be seized.

The rest is nonsense and worth fighting for a day in court, but the threat to seize donations raised for workers in struggle was believed to be most serious. The SSP unreservedly condemn the police decision in this case. Surely for one Tayside Police have better things to do such as continually and habitually break the speed limit without penalty, such as their 140MPH+ chief constable. Secondly the money is being raised for workers who have been treated appallingly by their employer.

We will continue to work with the striking workers and to raise money for them. Currently they have no mechanism for receiving donations other than directly in cash, so we will publicise any other ways to do so if and when they are available.

Compass Group say “Case not made” for Royal Mail Sell Off

alangdundee — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:54:58 +0000

The Compass Group have published a report on the proposed sell off of large chunks of Royal Mail.

This report demolishes the case for privatisation put forward by the Thatcherite Labour party.

In this major report they argue that Hooper:

Fails to make the case that Royal Mail is any less efficient than its European counterparts
It fails to take into account the key differences between postal operators in Europe and the UK market
It confuses profits with efficiency and fails to recognise that prices in all EU countries are more expensive than the UK
It fails to understand the problems of the incumbent operator compared to new entrants in a liberalised market – especially when the government has agreed to write off the pension deficit

The case for Royal Mail privatisation is that it is not profitable (enough). The reason the are not profitable (enough) is that Labour have deregulated their most profitable areas and put price controls on the areas they can profit from.

Labour Government Show Hypocrisy Over Royal Mail

alangdundee — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:34:52 +0000

Recently, if you have been watching the news or reading any newspaper you will have noticed the complete failure of whole sections of the private sector. Basing their business plans on profits they were expecting to make, the profits never arrived, but massive debts and write offs came instead. You will also have noticed that Labour threw hundreds of billions of pounds at the failed companies, some of which is being syphoned off by their greedy directors as bonuses, clearly not related to performance.

Now the Labour Party are planning to privatise 30% of Royal Mail. Twice disgraced Business Secretary Peter Mandelson claims that Royal Mail is in danger of running out of money and that the taxpayer could not be expected to fund potential liabilities in the region of £8bn in the companies pension fund. Part of the reason the pension fund is in deficit is that the return on the investment for them is based on Labours glorious Free Market which has just failed, spectacularly, again. The main part though, and this is good, is because Labour allowed the bosses to take a pension holiday for thirteen years!

They encouraged the bosses to not pay money into the pension fund, then use the fact it’s now, obviously, in deficit to attack the service.

Billy Hayes, leader of the Communication Workers’ Union hit the nail on the head:

The government is saying they want a foreign company to run the post office, which is ridiculous. We could be faced with a situation where the Royal Bank of Scotland is nationalised and the Royal Mail is privatised.

This is not an isolated incident, Labour and the Tories freed up the most profitable parts of the Royal Mail to competition, and more recently Labour have been attacking whole swathes of the service. This included disgracefully closing four post offices in Dundee, one of which was in the area they are now trying to convince voters to elect them in. Dundee SSP were out campaigning constantly getting people to sign petitions and write letters objecting to the closures and taking part in the Consultation.

The outcome of privatising the most profitable parts of the service is that Labours demands that the company turn a larger profit is harder than ever, because of Labour gutting the service in the first place.

New Labour for consultation is clearly English for proclamation and farce. The objections of hundreds were ignored. A handful of Post Offices have been saved from closure, only for others to take their place. Showing clearly they were not closing based on popularity or local need but purely because they wanted to close X number. The act of removing one from that list resulted in the adding of another.

There are two petitions on the issue, and the least you can do is sign them. After that write to your MP. There will no doubt be other protests and actions taking place over this issue so pledge to take part in any that do.

CWU petition

Petition on Number 10 site

Democracy

alangdundee — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:56:19 +0000

Democracy isn’t just putting a cross or some numbers on a bit of paper every four years, no matter how much the pro-capitalist parties would have you believe. There are other essential parts such as recallability and accountability. One way of holding elected representatives to account is to challenge them when they stray from their manifesto promises, for example the SNP abandoning pledges to scrap council tax and student fees.

A website has been set up called VoteWise, it’s purpose is to allow a space for people to publicly challenge candidates up for election.

Maryfield by-election page has been set up. So send your questions to the candidate and whoever wins, make sure the stick to what they claim they will do and will not do on it and their leaflets etc.

Scrap the Council Tax

alangdundee — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:02:23 +0000

Unlike the SNP and Lib Dems the Scottish Socialist Party say we are against the Council Tax and do something about it. We launched two bills in Holyrood to scrap the unfair tax.

More details on our proposals to scrap the council tax are here

If you have the inclination the full paper explaining our proposed replacement is here

Reprinted below is an article from 2003 giving a brief explanation of the proposed replacement. If you want to express your anger at the Lib Dem and SNP u-turn over scrapping the despised tax you have the opportunity to vote SSP on March the 12th in Maryfield in Dundee.

Scrap the unfair Council Tax

This week the Scottish Socialist Party launched its campaign for the 2003 Scottish Parliament elections, with the fight to scrap the cruelly unfair Council Tax at the heart of its manifesto.

Countless numbers of ordinary Scots get into huge debts every year as they struggle to pay enormous Council Tax bills. Here Alan McCombes looks at how the SSP‘s proposed new Scottish Service Tax would shift the burden of local taxation onto the shoulders of the rich rather than Scotland’s lowest paid workers.

Why the Council Tax is unfair

John and Anne live in a modest semi-detached home in Glasgow with their three young children.

Anne stays at home to look after their three-month-old son. John works as a porter in a local hospital where he is paid £5 an hour.

John has to work for six weeks to pay his annual Council Tax bill of £1,141.

Jack and Bridget live in a detached home with their two children. Bridget is a high-flying council executive earning £90,000 a year. Jack is the First Minister of the Scottish Parliament with a salary of £118,000 a year.

Jack has to work five days to pay his Council Tax bill of £1,545.

Then there is Ian who lives in a mansion in Aberdeenshire. Ian – or Sir Ian as he is now known – was Scotland’s top earner last year, raking in £600 million in salary, bonuses and stock market wheeling and dealing.

Ian has to work for 50 seconds to pay his Council Tax bill of £1,838.

The Council Tax is a blatantly unfair Tory tax, which reinforces Scotland’s grotesque divide between rich and poor.

It was concocted by the last Tory government as a fallback for the hated Poll Tax, which was destroyed by people power in the early 1990s.

It was like mugging an old woman, then giving her back a few coins for her bus fare home. Under the Council Tax, the maximum differential is three to one.

Someone living in a mansion in Pollokshields or Murrayfield will pay just three times more than someone living in a rundown flat in Possil or Craigmillar.

Beaufort Castle near Inverness is one of the most lavish private homes in Europe. Set in 180 acres of beautiful countryside, the 24-bedroom baronial castle is stuffed full of priceless paintings, ornate furniture and exquisite tapestries.

The castle used to be the family seat of one of Scotland’s most powerful clans, the Frasers. Now it is owned by Scotland’s richest woman, Ann Gloag, whose personal wealth runs to hundreds of millions of pounds.

In 1995, Ann Gloag bought Beaufort for £1.5 million. Today, it’s valued at £3 million.

Ann Gloag’s total Council Tax bill is £1,878.

It’s hard to imagine a more startling contrast between Beaufort Castle and the Scaraway flats in Glasgow. Here hundreds of families are packed into a few tower blocks.

Helena Duffy lives in the flats with her teenage daughter, who is a student. Helena earns £170 a week for 45 weeks as an ancillary worker in Stobhill Hospital. For her two-bedroom flat, 14 floors up, Helena pays £761 a year in Council Tax.

Ann Gloag’s home is worth 150 times more than Helena Duffy’s home. Ann Gloag earns 100 times more than Helena Duffy. Yet Ann Gloag pays just two and a half times more in Council Tax.

As well as discriminating directly against the poor, the Council Tax also discriminates against people who live in the poorest towns and cities.

For example, Council Tax for a Band D property in Glasgow is £1,141. In prosperous Wandsworth Council in London, Council Tax for a Band D property is just £402.

That means that a Glasgow family living in identical accommodation are forced to pay almost £15 a week more.

Even within Scotland, there are variations. People in the poorest urban areas such as Glasgow, Dundee, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire can pay hundreds of pounds a year more than those living in similar properties in more prosperous rural areas.

These variations lead to some extraordinary absurdities. For example, even though the Council Tax is supposed to be based on property values, some three-bedroom semi-detached homes in Glasgow are liable for higher Council Tax than the 100 apartment Balmoral Castle, set in 50,000 acres of prime land.

A radical alternative

The Scottish Socialist Party has launched a radical new alternative to the Council Tax.

The Scottish Service tax developed by Paisley University economists, Geoff Whittam and Mike Danson would be based on income.

It would redistribute wealth from high income households to low and average income households.

The Scottish Service Tax would be set at a uniform rate across Scotland, with the revenues allocated to local councils on the basis of need.

Over 77 per cent of Scottish homes would be better off. Many low income households would stand to save between £20 and £30 a week from the change.

At the other end of the scale, the wealthiest 16 per cent of households would pay more.

Many of these households have benefited from a cash windfall totalling tens of thousands per household since the abolition of the old rates system.

The bill for that windfall was picked up by low paid workers.

There are a a small number of households – around 7 per cent – who would neither gain nor lose from the Scottish Service Tax.

There are six compelling arguments for replacing the Council Tax with the Scottish Service Tax.

It would redistribute wealth and income by shifting tens of millions of pounds from the rich to the poor.
It would automatically exempt the lowest income households without a degrading and complicated means test.
It would generate some extra, desperately needed cash to improve local services.
It would be uniform throughout Scotland, which means that people who earn the same would pay the same, irrespective of where they live.
It would be easy to collect and administer, in contrast to the bureaucratic minefield of the Council Tax.
It is based on income rather than property, which means it does not discriminate against larger families.

How the Scottish Service Tax would work

The Scottish Service Tax would be levied on individuals according to their income. Each individual in the household would be assessed.

There would be five ascending rates of SST based on income.

Rate 1) Nil. All income under £10,000 is exempt from Scottish Service Tax.
Rate 2) 4.5 per cent. All income between £10,000 and £30,000 will be taxed at a rate of 4.5 per cent.
Rate 3) 15 per cent. All income between £;30,000 and £50,000 will be taxed at a rate of 15 per cent.
Rate 4) l8 per cent. All income between £50,000 and £90,000 will be taxed at a rate of 18 per cent.
Rate 5) 20 per cent. All income above £90,000 will be taxed at a rate of 20 per cent.

To calculate your – or anyone else’s – Scottish Service Tax:

Step 1: deduct the first £10,000 of income. (If you earn below £10,000 you will be automatically exempt without having to deal with complicated red tape or form filling.) If you are on £10,000 you will pay NIL.
Step 2: divide all additional income from £10,000 to £30,000 by 100 and multiply by 4.5. Thus, if you are on £15,000 you will pay £225 (4.5 per cent of £5,000 = £225). If you are on £30,000 you will pay £900.
Step 3: divide all further income from £30,000 to £50,000 by 100 then multiply by 15. Add on £900, the amount you will pay up to £30,000. Thus, if you are on £50,000 you will pay £3,900 (£900 plus 15 per cent of £20,000).
Step 4: divide all income from £50,000 to £90,000 by 100 then multiply by 18. Add on £3,900, the amount you pay up to £50,000. Thus, if you are on £90,000 you will pay £11,100 (£3,900 plus 18 per cent of £40,000).
Step 5: divide all income over £90,000 by 100 then multiply by 20. Add on £11,100, the amount you pay up to £90,000. Thus, if you are on £120,000 you will pay £17,100 (£11,100 plus 20 per cent of £30,000).

Scottish Service Tax as a proportion of total income

Percentage of income paid in Service Tax within each income range. (The figures are an average within each range. Those at the lower end of each range will pay less; those at the higher end will pay more; those in the middle will pay the figure cited.)

Under £10,000: 0.0%
£10,000-£15,000: 0.9%
£15,000-£20,000: 1.9%
£20,000-£30,000: 2.6%
£30,000-£40,000: 4.4%
£40,000-£45,000: 6.6%
£45,000-£50,000: 7.2%
£50,000-£70,000: 9.2%
£70,000-£90,000: 11.8%
Over £90,000: 16.1%

Winners and losers

Those who would gain:

Laurie, a self-employed actor, lives with her teenage son in a Band C tenement property in Edinburgh. Last year, she earned just under £10,000. Her Council Tax bill, including a 25 per cent single person’s discount is £667.50. Under the Scottish Service Tax she would pay NOTHING.
Saving: £55 a month.

Sarah and Ken live in an owner-occupied Band E property in Glasgow. Sarah earns £15,000 and Ken earns £17,000. Their Council Tax bill is £1,395. Under the Scottish Service Tax they would pay £540.
Saving: £71 a month.

Wullie is a call centre worker in Glasgow who earns £11,000 a year. His partner Jackie earns £8,000 a year. They live in a Band B flat and currently pay £887 a year in Council Tax. Under the Scottish Service Tax, they would pay £45.
Saving: £70 a month.

Dave is a firefighter in Dundee who lives in a Band D property with his partner Angela and their three children. Dave earns £21,500 and the household Council Tax bill is £1,079. Under the Scottish Service Tax they would pay £517.50.
Saving: £47 a month.

Those who would lose:

John and Fiona live in a Band G property in the Highlands. John is a GP who earns £62,000. Fiona is a part-time teacher who earns £13,000 a year. Their Council Tax bill is £1,565. Under the Scottish Service Tax they would pay £6,195.
Loss: £386 a month.

Nicola is a high-flying lawyer who lives on her own in a Band H property in Edinburgh. Last year she earned £143,000. Her Council Tax bill, including single person’s discount came to £1,500. Under the Scottish Service Tax she would pay £21,700. Loss: £1,683 a month.

Frederick is one of Scotland highest paid chief executives, earning £1,200,000 last year. He lives in a Band H property in Edinburgh with his partner and their children. Their current Council Tax bill is £2,002. Under the Scottish Service Tax they would pay £233,100 a year.
Loss: £19,258 a month.

Try the War Criminals

alangdundee — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:11:58 +0000

A new campaign has been launched to indict Tony Blair in the Hague as a war criminal.

The petition text is below, follow the link to sign it.

To: President of the United Nations General Assembly and the UK Attorney General

BWCF – THE BLAIR WAR CRIMES FOUNDATION

To The President of The United Nations General Assembly, H.E. Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, and The Attorney General of the United Kingdom, and their successors in office.

RE ANTHONY CHARLES LYNTON BLAIR

We, the citizens of the United Kingdom and other countries listed, wish to uphold The United Nations Charter, The 1998 Rome Statute of The International Criminal Court, The Hague and Geneva Conventions and the Rule of International Law, especially in respect of:-

1949 Geneva Convention IV: Article 146
The High Contracting Parties undertake to enact any legislation necessary to provide effective penal sanctions for persons committing, or ordering to be committed, any of the grave breaches of the present Convention.
1907 Hague Convention IV: Article 3
A belligerent party which violates the provisions of the said regulations shall, if the case demands, be liable to pay compensation. It shall be responsible for all the acts committed by persons forming part of its armed forces.

We therefore call on you to indict Anthony Charles Lynton Blair in his capacity as recent Prime Minister of the UK, so long as he is able to answer for his actions and however long it takes, in respect of our sample complaints relating to the 2003 Iraq War waged by the UK as ally to the United States of America.

We are concerned that without justice and respect for the rule of law, the future for us and our progeny in a lawless world is bleak, as revealed by recent US declarations about the use of torture and the events of December 2008 in Gaza show.

The following are our sample complaints relating to the Iraq War 2003-2009:

Deceit and conspiracy for war, and providing false news to incite passions for war, causing in the order of one million deaths, 4 million refugees, countless maimings and traumas.
Employing radioactive ammunition causing long-term destruction of the planetary habitat.
Causing the breakdown of civil administration, with consequent lawlessness, especially looting, kidnapping, and violence, and consequent breakdown of womens’ rights, of religious freedom, and child and adult education.
Failing to maintain the medical needs of the populace.
Despoliation of the cultural heritage of the country.
Supporting an ally that employs ‘waterboarding’ and other tortures.
Seizing the assets of Iraq.
Using inhumane restraints on prisoners, including dogs, hoods, and cable ties.
Using Aggressive Patrolling indiscriminately, traumatising women and children and wrecking homes and property.
Marking bodies of prisoners with numbers, writing, faeces and other degrading treatment.
The use of cluster bombs and other indiscriminate weapons including white phosphorous on shake and bake missions.
Supporting indiscriminate rocket attacks from F16 fighter planes on women and children in Fallujah in Nov 2004
Supporting the shooting up of ambulances and medical personnel in Fallujah in Nov 2004
Supporting the expulsion of the entire population of Fallujah save for young men of military age, for a reprisal attack on that city in Nov 2004.

New book by Dundee Uni Rector Craig Murray

alangdundee — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:34:54 +0000

After his spineless publishers gave in to legal threats from mercenary Tim Spicer, Craig Murray has pushed his latest book online for free.

The Catholic Orangemen of Togo and Other Conflicts I Have Known is his autobiography from 1998 to 2002. It is also available to buy online through links on his site.

How Israel brought Gaza to the Brink of Humanitarian Catastrophe

alangdundee — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 10:11:42 +0000

Oxford professor of international relations Avi Shlaim describes the situation in Gaza and the political conclusions it made him draw.

The only way to make sense of Israel’s senseless war in Gaza is through understanding the historical context. Establishing the state of Israel in May 1948 involved a monumental injustice to the Palestinians. British officials bitterly resented American partisanship on behalf of the infant state. On 2 June 1948, Sir John Troutbeck wrote to the foreign secretary, Ernest Bevin, that the Americans were responsible for the creation of a gangster state headed by “an utterly unscrupulous set of leaders”. I used to think that this judgment was too harsh but Israel’s vicious assault on the people of Gaza, and the Bush administration’s complicity in this assault, have reopened the question.

I write as someone who served loyally in the Israeli army in the mid-1960s and who has never questioned the legitimacy of the state of Israel within its pre-1967 borders. What I utterly reject is the Zionist colonial project beyond the Green Line. The Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the June 1967 war had very little to do with security and everything to do with territorial expansionism. The aim was to establish Greater Israel through permanent political, economic and military control over the Palestinian territories. And the result has been one of the most prolonged and brutal military occupations of modern times.

This article has been circulating around left e-mail lists and discussion boards but really should be read more widely.

I Accuse

alangdundee — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 10:06:59 +0000

There is an excellent article on the situation in Gaza at the http://ssprenfrewshire.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/i-accuse/ defunctSSP Renfrewshire blog

The full story of Israel and Palestine has very little to do with Qassam Rockets fired from Gaza into Sderot as the Cartoon Papers would have us believe. The current crisis, does not have its roots in the election of Hamas in the Municipal Elections of 2005 as some of the so-called Quality Press would have us believe, certainly not in the conflict between Hamas and Fatah. This current crisis is the latest stage in an old conflict, a conflict that reaches way back, passed the Second Intifada and the First Intifada in the eighties, passed the Yom Kippur War in the 70’s, passed the six-day war in 1967 and the infamous United Nations Resolution 242. It reaches passed the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, passed the incompetent and disastrous Post WW1 British Mandate, destructive as it was. The roots of this conflict, this death and this destruction, including the bombing today of a UN run school only today, stretch way back before any of us were even born, right back to an idea that festered in the latter half of a 19th Century Europe plagued by an unspeakable anti-semitism.

Follow the link to read the entire article.

Wi Cannae Afford it

alangdundee — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:59:34 +0000

You’ve heard it all before

2000
Brown gives 75p rise to pensions at the time claiming we couldn’t afford more.

2001
MPs award themselves £2000 pay rise months later.

2003
War given blank cheque as Brown pledges as much money as it takes for the slaughter in Iraq.

Chancellor Gordon Brown says the UK will spend what it takes to tackle Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.

Money well spent then seeing as they didn’t exist. In 2001 the Ministry of Defence put the costs so far at £3.1 billion.

Estimated cost of Free School Meals rejected by Holyrood: £100million per year.

2008

Labour agitate for £20billion to pay for replacement for the Nuclear weapons at Faslane.
The poorest have their Income Tax bill increased to pay for a cut for the middle class.

2008 October 4

Labour councils claim there’s no money for free school meals

2008 October 8

Brown gives £500billion to bail out banks.

At every step money is found to pay for weapons and wars and pay rises for MPs. Low paid council workers are told there’s no money to even give them a pay freeze at inflation, never mind a rise, there’s no money for school meals for children but £16,000 from every person in the UK is found to bail out banks.

This after years of being told the bankers bonuses were justified because of the risks they take with their capital. Of being told privatisation is the only game in town and nationalisation is some bizarre old idea.

Recent events show these words to be as hollow as we have being saying they are for a decade. Money is there. Those in power lack the political will to help the poorest in society.

What Do They Know?

alangdundee — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:08:55 +0000

The people who make the excellent write to them have created a new tool what do they know.

This project automates the process of writing Freedom of Information Act requests by:

Detailing bodies you can make request from
Showing what requests have been made to bodies
Showing the responses from those bodies if there is one
Automates the process of complaining to the Information Commissioner if they have not replied

Go nuts!

Picket of U.S. Consulate in Edinburgh

alangdundee — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:47:49 +0000

Reproduced letter below.

There is a picket of the Edinburgh U.S. Consulate (Regents Terrace) for Thursday October 9th from 4pm to 6pm. This has been called by the Scottish Cuba Solidarity Campaign.

This is timed to follow the visit of Olga Salanueva and Adriana Perez (wives of two of the Cuban Five) to Holyrood. They will attend the picket and speak. Both have been denied visa’s to visit their husbands in jail.

On the tenth anniversary of their arrest progress has been made in the UK in breaking the silence on the Five. See the links following for reports on their visits to the TUC and Labour Party Conference:

Miami Five and Cuba50 get union and TUC backing

TUC delegates pack Cuba fringe meeting

Miami Five wives at Labour Conference

Unions fight for justice for Miami Five on 10th anniversary of imprisonment

This picket is an opportunity to broaden the numbers in action who defend the five, which ultimately will be the key to securing their freedom.

Please forward this to all others you can : union/political/campaign/ organisation lists, newspapers, etc and urge a large attendance. Please also take any steps you can to get labour movement banners to this too.

regards
Peter Clifford

Support SACC Against Bullying Mercenaries

alangdundee — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:38:59 +0000

SACC have been threatened with legal action by the organisation who have the contract on the next Scottish Census.

SACC initiated a Petition against this and issued a statement which CACI International Inc, have taken offence to.

CACI are the organisation who ran Abu Ghraib, the prison in Iraq where torture images were proven to originate from.

According to SACC they have bullied the media in the United States into silence over their involvement and they are now doing the same here after two articles were published in the Sunday Herald

Scottish Government hires firm accused of torture in Iraq and SNP face backlash for hiring firm accused of Iraq torture.

Ninewells Parking Charges

agorrie — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:42:45 +0000

Members of Dundee Scottish Socialist Party were again be outside Ninewells hospital
this morning to continue the campaign against unfair parking charges within the hospital
grounds.

Seeing a friend or relative in hospital can be stressful enough without this unfair
added burden says local activist Helen Fortune.

These charges are a galling example of
profit being put before people when the sick, their visitors and staff have what is in
effect an extra tax placed on them. This situation, brought about purely by private
involvement in public services, clearly shows the lack of control the Holyrood government
have when they enter into such partnerships.

Dundee SSP Members Outside Ninewells Hospital

Banners read (left to right)

Abolish all car parking charges at Ninewells
Parking Charges: If you want them oot then give us a toot!
Abolish all car parking charges at Ninewells
Parking Charges: If you want them oot then give us a toot!

Post Office Ignores Objections to Closures in Dundee

alangdundee — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:05:26 +0000

The Post Office today confirmed they are to close the 4 Dundee Post Offices.

Evening Telegraph

Their sham consultation resulted in no change of mind in Dundee, and they disgracefully boasted of the number of public meetings their representatives attended, whilst not organising any themselves in the areas affected.

From partial privatisation to massive bonuses for their bosses whilst attacking their workers pay & conditions the Post Office bosses have shown themselves to have no regard for anything but their own pay packets.

Do they not realise the Post Office network is a public service, run for the public, not them?

Press release to follow.

SNP Government Giving Contracts to Torturers

alangdundee — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:21:17 +0000

According to a report in the Sunday Herald, the Scottish government has given the contract to conduct the census to a subsidiary of a company involved in torturing people in Abu Ghraib in Iraq.

This is absolutely abhorrent.

Contact your MSPs to object to this, particularly SNP MSPs

Craig Murray on Glasgow East

alangdundee — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 06:56:28 +0000

Craig Murray (Rector of Dundee University) made a short post on Glasgow East

Hurray for Glasgow East

Apparently some commenter objected to his personal attack on Margaret Curran. He then responds explaining why he gave up civility on party politics, particularly in relation to the Labour Party. Why Margaret Curran is the cheerleader for a party which supports torture.

Margaret Curran is a lot better off than thousands of very real women, who were just as human as her, and whose lives the illegal wars of New Labour have destroyed.

It is worth remembering that Labours appalling policies haven’t just attacked the poorest members of society in Glasgow East or Dundee East, but throughout the world too, mainly in the name of “The War On Terror”.

How Local Councils use Anti-Terror Laws to Spy on People

alangdundee — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:08:15 +0000

Given the recent new anti-terror laws it is worth highlighting the flaw in the government’s “if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear” argument. The main one of course being that the laws are used against everyone, not only those they suspect of being terrorists*

*terrorists not being the dictionary definition of course, but New Labours makey upey definition.

A local political activist, Alan Hinnrichs had submitted a request to every Scottish Council about their use of the “Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act” to spy on members of the public and has compiled his results. These have now been printed today by the Sunday Herald today.

SACC article detailing his investigation

Sunday Herald Article detailing his investigation

SACC claims councils are abusing the civil liberties of the Scottish public and says civil servants and bureaucrats should not have such wide-ranging powers. The watchdog believes that spying on ordinary citizens should only be a power granted to the police or the security and intelligence services in cases of extreme danger such as threats to national security or to prevent major crime.

Of the councils which replied to the FoI requests, Edinburgh was found to be using the Ripa laws the most excessively, authorising spying actions 1252 times.

Votewise Page

alangdundee — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 20:15:17 +0000

VoteWise is a site where you can grill candidates on their policies. Have a look at the page on the Lochee by election where Alan Graham is standing for the Scottish Socialist Party

What is Paranoid Jim McGovern Afraid of?

alangdundee — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 20:12:33 +0000

It was reported in the Courier today that Jim McGovern doesn’t want you to know what he’s spending our money on.

Apparantly he thinks us knowing how he’s spending our cash means that if this reaches its logical conclusion, it will be easy for anyone who wants to kidnap, injure or assault an MP because they’ll know their exact movements,

Never mind that we already know when he will be holding surgeries etc, where he lives (from the electoral register), where his offices are and when he’s going to Parliament, if we know that he got a taxi somewhere 3 years ago how would that assist some mythical kidnapper in the future?

That’s if you manage to look at his argument and actually mistake his “logical conclusion” for being logical rather than paranoid fantasies.

Never mind that he’s supported Labours ID Card and Anti terrorism laws which mean the state can find out where you are.