The SSP are holding a public meeting on the war on Wednesday.

Wednesday at 7pm in the DVA Constitution Road Dundee.

The 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow were boycotted in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. Then–U.S. president Jimmy Carter announced the boycott in February 1980, and Canada and dozens of other countries soon followed suit. In his state of the union address that year, Carter made the case against the Soviet war:

“The vast majority of nations on Earth have condemned this latest Soviet attempt to extend its colonial domination of others and have demanded the immediate withdrawal of Soviet troops. The Muslim world is especially and justifiably outraged by this aggression against an Islamic people. No action of a world power has ever been so quickly and so overwhelmingly condemned. But verbal condemnation is not enough. The Soviet Union must pay a concrete price for their aggression.”

Now Canada is part of a coalition occupying Afghanistan whilst hosting the Olympics.

Read the rest of the article at the link for more information.

Dundee SSP are holding a public meeting about the continued war and occupation in Afghanistan on the 24th of February at the DVA.

The main speakers will be

• Colin Fox, SSP co-national spokesperson
• John McAllion, former MP and MSP for Dundee East
• Joan Humphreys, Military Families Against War

followed by Q&A and discussion time.

At the DVA, Constitution Road, Dundee.

The SSPs annual educational weekend is taking place soon.

Friday night will have a rally with international speakers, expected guests include members of Frances NPA, Portugals Left Bloc and Denmarks Red-Green Alliance.

Saturday will have workshops and educationals on a variety of subjects

More details posted soon, or keep checking the SSP site

Dundee East and West branches of the Scottish Socialist party organised a public meeting in the city’s Queens Hotel on the evening of Wednesday, September 23, to protest at the continuing war in Afghanistan, and calling for the troops to be brought home.

It was a particularly poignant time to hold this meeting in Dundee, as two young soldiers from the area, one from Dundee itself and the other from nearby Monifieth, had lost their lives in the fighting in Afghanistan during the previous three weeks, in this pointless and senseless war.

Street stalls were held on the five days leading up to the meeting and the reaction from the public was overwhelmingly against the war and agreeing with the SSP‘s position.

Many of those signing our petitions and pledging support for our stance told us that they were either family or friends of service personnel currently on duty in Afghanistan.

In the two days leading up to the meeting, Dundee West member Angela Gorrie was interviewed on the two local radio stations, Radio Tay and Wave 102, giving her the opportunity to state the Scottish Socialist Party’s case against the continuation of the war in Afghanistan.

The meeting itself was well attended with around thirty members of the pbulic turning out to show their anger at Britain’s continuing involvement in the war in Afghanistan.

Speakers at the meeting were Colin Fox, national spokesperson of the Scottish Socialist Party; former MP and MSP and Scottish Socialist Party member John McAllion; and Mohammad Asif, of the Scottish Afghan Society.

First to speak was John McAllion, who highlighted the enormity of the lies and deceptions surrounding the war, while the next speaker, Mohammad Asif, told of the countless unnamed Afghan casualties who never seem to rate a mention as victims of a war being fought on their own soil.

In the final speech of the evening Colin Fox stated that on the run-up to next year’s general election the war in Afghanistan and the ongoing crisis of captitalism would be the main issues on which the election would be fought.

Following their speeches, the speakers then answered various questions from the floor of the meeting.

As regards further anti-war activity, it was agreed that we should use the time between now and the anti-war demonstration in Edinburgh on November 14 to build for the demo, and we should attempt to get the maximum number of people from Dundee through to Edinburgh for the event in order to keep up the pressure on the government.

SSP Public meeting on Afghanistan – Aberdeen

Wednesday 28th November in Aberdeen Trades Council Social Club, 13 Adelphi, off Union Street

Speakers
Colin Fox, SSP joint national spokesman
John McAllion, Former MP and MSP
Mohammad Asif, Chairman Scottish Afghan Society

Wednesday 23rd September, 7.30pm, Queen’s Hotel.

Confirmed speakers include Colin Fox and John McAllion

Afghanistan Public Meeting Leaflet

Wednesday, September 23rd, 7.30 p.m.

Queens Hotel, Dundee

Confirmed Speakers—

Colin Fox,
John McAllion

Midlothian Branch of the SSP, invites all Socialists to join a Socialist picnic from 3pm on the last Sunday in August near to the Golf Tavern on the Meadows Edinburgh (South West Corner between Tollcross and Bruntsfield.

Please bring enough food and drink for yourselves and if possible a socialist symbol, e.g. red flag.

See you there
Regards
Bob Goupillot
Midlothian Branch

In order to answer these questions I’ll begin with a brief chronology of the events which led to Manuel Zelaya being deposed as democratically elected president of Honduras. After that I’ll briefly touch on Zelaya’s politics over the last 4 years, his relation with the so-called Bolivarian revolutions, and the relation of forces within Honduras. Finally I’ll explore those aspects of the crisis which are of greater interest to Socialists: The reshaping of power relations in the region, both with regards to the US, and the efforts for greater regional integration.

José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, to give his full name, is a most unlikely left-wing politician. So unlikely in fact, as to be almost unique. Manuel Zelaya, or “Mel”, as he is known in his country, was sworn president in 2006 following his electoral victory the previous year as the candidate for the centre-right Liberal Party of Honduras. By 2007, however, Zelaya seemed to have completely transformed his political outlook. From the mainstream politician with a privileged background pandering to law and order rhetoric, and wedded to neoliberal orthodoxy, he went on to join ALBA (the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas), the Chavez and Castro inspired alternative to the US led Free Trade Treaty. This move made him a dead man walking in the view of his own class. When asked recently about his conversion he replied, half-jokingly:

I tried to make changes within the constraints imposed by neoliberalism. However, the rich never give up anything, not a penny. They want everything to themselves. The consequence that follows is that in order to change things you need to incorporate the people into the process.

It’s not our business as Socialists to examine the state of his conscience as he made this statement, but it’ll suffice to say that his actions have brought him in an open collision course with the Honduran traditional establishment, and made him what some call the ‘oligarch oligarchs hate’.

Joining ALBA meant access to cheap oil, and the possibility of financing social programs. Nevertheless, given his background, he was unable to create an independent and organised political base. He has, however, gained the conditional support of the pre-existent popular movements and its most politically advanced expression, the Popular Bloc.

Earlier this year, on the back of these modest but undeniable achievements Zelaya proposed holding a non-binding referendum on June 28 on whether to call a National Assembly to change the constitution, to take place concurrently with that day’s election, a proposal that had obtained the support of 400,000 signatories. This was keeping with the wind of constitutional change sweeping other Latin American countries ruled by progressive governments. However, the international press, and the opposition, also in keeping with their habits, tried to present the plebiscite as a populist move towards ‘re-election’. A possibility granted to politicians in practically all Western democracies.

The intended referendum was immediately opposed by the country’s Congress and judicial organs and even declared illegal by the Supreme Electoral Court, which incidentally, the international press keeps referring to as ‘Supreme Court’, as to give gravitas to what’s no more than a Congress designated body.

The Congress, having failed to stop the referendum from being called, tried to get Zelaya impeached, but they lacked the legal instruments to do so.

The crisis came to a head when Zelaya sacked army chief general Vázquez Velázquez, a graduate of the infamous School of the Americas, after refusing to distribute the ballots for the coming referendum. The dismissal was declared illegal by the Congress. On June 28, as the referendum was about to be held, the army deposed Zelaya, held him for a few hours and eventually flew him to Costa Rica. Later that day he flew, this time by his own will, to Nicaragua to join an urgent meeting called by ALBA.

Despite the curfew ordered by acting president, Roberto Micheletti, the next two days were marked by increasingly vociferous protests. Two protesters were reportedly killed at the hands of soldiers. The new government has also shut down a number of TV and radio stations, and those that remained on air limited their schedule to broadcasting tropical music and soaps.

You may know from the papers that Zelaya announced his intention to return to Honduras on July 2, after meeting president Obama and the UN in New York. In an unprecedented move, the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Rafael Correa, have agreed to accompany him to Tegucigalpa (the country’s capital). In response Micheletti has announced that Zelaya will be arrested on arrival.

Very much unlike the attempted coup against Chavez in 2,002, the international chorus of disapproval has been practically unanimous. It is too early to assess the full significance of Obama’s and Hilary Clinton’s apparent condemnation of the coup. But it is undeniable that the increasing collective strength and independence of Latin American acquired partly through integration in organisation such as ALBA and UNASUR (the Union of South American countries), whose effort was instrumental in thwarting the recent attempted coup in Bolivia, has played a strong part. These organisations are not ostensibly Socialist, but their general aims – independence from the US and integration between equals – and the ideological banner under which these aims are addressed – ambitious social programs and furthering of democracy – are undeniably progressive and as such worthy of our support.

It may well be the case that Zelaya’s conversion was nothing but a strategic gambit upon the assumption of a shifting of power relations. But even this most cynical interpretation of his ultimate intentions pays tribute to the newly found confidence among left-wing democracies in Latin America.

Glasgow: Tuesday 26th May, 7.30pm, Piper In The Square, George Square

Dundee: Wednesday 27th May, 7.30pm, Queens Hotel, 160 Nethergate

Edinburgh: Thursday 28th May, 7.30pm, The Melting Pot, 5 Rose Street

Speakers in Dundee will be Angela Gorrie (SSP candidate), John McAllion and the visitor from the NPA.

We will also be showing our latest broadcast and various other bits and bobs.

Come along.

This Saturday we have an open meeting with Raphie de Santos leading us off on the crisis of capitalism, the recession, the credit crunch and economics.

In two weeks time we will be having a meeting as part of the election campaign. Speakers to be confirmed but we will have a candidate over from Frances new NPA – the New Anti-Capitalist Party. It will be at the DVA, 10 Constitution Road Queens Hotel on Wednesday 27th May at 7:30.

More details will be posted once confirmed..

Dear Colleague,

I write to advise you of 2 important forthcoming events for peace movement in Scotland. I wonder if you would send this letter and the attachments on to your usual contacts.

1. A joint STUC/Scottish CND Conference entitled ‘Trident, Jobs and Scotland’s Economy’ to be held on Saturday 6th June at the STUC, 333 Woodlands Road, Glasgow from 10.30am to 1.30pm. The speakers will include Jeremy Corbyn MP, Bill Kidd MSP, Lynn Henderson, Jackson Cullinane(TGWU/Unite), and Dave Moxham STUC. Among other things the Conference will mark the launch of a new STUC/CND research report providing up to date figures on the job losses associated with the Trident programme. Contrary to other claims, Trident renewal is actually costing Scotland vital jobs now and cancelling it could release resources for new productive investment in its economy. Attached is a leaflet in PDF format. I would be grateful if you could circulate your contacts to inform them of this important event.

2. A march and rally in Glasgow entitled ‘Crunch Time for Trident’ on Saturday 20th June – assemble George Square 11am, march to Kelvingrove Park for a rally. There will be keynote speakers and songs specially commissioned for the event. The event is organised by Scotland’s for Peace. Again, I would be grateful if you could circulate your contacts and encourage them to bring banners etc to the event. I attach a copy of a leaflet to advertise the event. If you would like to receive copies of the leaflets for either event or posters for the latter event, please contact the Scottish CND office at 15 Barrland Street, Glasgow G41 1QH – tel 0141 433 2821.

Yours in Peace

Alan Mackinnon
Chair, Scottish CND

Capitalism in crisis and the socialist alternative

Speaker: Raphie de Santos

12.00 Saturday 16th May

Abertay University
Kydd Building
Bell Street
Dundee

Respected economist and writer, Raphie de Santos was an advisor on derivatives and financial markets to several financial institutions including the Bank of England, the London Stock Exchange and the Italian Ministry of Finance.

He has been a guest lecturer on derivatives and financial markets at Harvard and New York universities and the London School of Economics and has spoken at the annual Nobel Foundation conference in Stockholm.

Raphie is co-author of recently published Socialists and the Capitalist Recession which will be available at the meeting. He is also a committed socialist and a member of the SSP and is a candidate in the European elections in June.

How can we stop Israeli human right violations

By: Manawel Abdelal
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions

Wednesday 22 April 2009 @ 7:00pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Tower Building
Dundee University

Event Organised by: Dundee Trades Council, Dundee University Islamic Society and Tayside for Justice in Palestine

• Wednesday 15 April 2009 – guest speaker Ken Ferguson, editor of the Scottish Socialist Voice
• Wednesday 29 April 2009 – no main topic decided yet
• Wednesday 13 May 2009, guest speaker Gerry from the SSP Cuba Delegation

If you would like to come along, please contact us

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.

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.

We had 3 visitors address conference:

Luis Marron

The first was Luis Marron from the Cuban Embassy in London. He addressed conference on changes happening in Cuba. A recent official delegation from the SSP visited and gave reports previously on some of the political and social changes that have been taking place over the past 10 years or so. We hope to have one of the delegation come to speak at a meeting in Dundee.

The second was from the NPA in France inviting conference to participate in the European wide developments taking place in the left influenced by moves from socialists in France to set up a new mass party which has had a phenomenal start. (can’t remember speakers name, will edit should I find out).

The third was Seamus, a Scottish Gypsy Traveller campaigner who highlighted the institutional racism directed at Scotland’s oldest ethnic minority.

Conference decided that we should stand in the European Elections. We also launched a new pamphlet focusing on and pulling together some of the issues affecting rural communities.

Viva La Revolution St Andrews

Students at St Andrews University were in the headlines last week for occupying their College Halls in support of the Gaza Palestinians and in particular against the University’s links with Israeli defence contractors. Last Wednesday as their week long occupation drew to a successful conclusion they asked me to come up and address them. Many of the 200 or so protesters had organised my election campaign to become Rector of the University last October.

These are my remarks to them

I am very proud indeed to be back here at St Andrews tonight. I am especially proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with you at the end of this remarkable occupation. I am proud to see so many of the students who led the campaign ‘Fox for Rector’ in October involved in furthering the cause of the Palestinian people.

I am sure Kevin Dunnion [the successful Rector candidate] is delighted to see you take this action and demonstrate the strength of feeling on campus. – Kevin Dunion was, unbeknown to me, sitting in the meeting as I spoke!

I wish to congratulate you all on behalf of the people of Scotland and indeed the vast majority of the peoples of the world who like you share the view that a terrible injustice has befallen the people of Gaza in recent weeks. You have done both them and yourselves immense credit by the principled and dignified way you have conducted your protest.

You are a credit indeed to us all, to the people who have gone before you at this University and the spirit of learning which this place exists to promote. You have learned that it is right to stand up to tyranny and abuse. It is right to resist injustice and to rebel against exploitation. Read Shelley, read Oscar Wilde, read Malcolm X.

In my experience over 30 years now as an active participant in the international class struggle your actions do matter, they do affect change, you will give huge encouragement to the Palestinian people by this action this past week. News of your protest will have given great encouragement to hundreds of millions of people throughout the world who support the Palestinian cause.

Furthermore your action will have severely irked those who wish you hadn’t done it; the UK Government, the US Government and of course the warmongering Israeli propaganda machine.

They would have rather you hadn’t had this occupation. They would rather you had stayed in the bar drinking and mind your own business or stayed in your halls with a joint getting stoned. In fact they would have far rather you were protesting on their side in favour of BAe’s links to the Israeli military.

I see the Palestinians in 2009 as the black South Africans of the 1950’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s – facing down the barrel of a gun and overwhelming military intimidation for their basic democratic and human rights.

The struggle for justice for the Palestinians today is every bit as important as the anti Apartheid campaign. The treatment of Palestinians is no less brutal that that meted out to the black majority in South Africa. The injustice is rife, the military odds stacked against them virtually insurmountable. Yet the international support is as it was for Nelson Mandela and the ANC.

And lets not forget they won and so will the Palestinains.

Your occupation this week has played its small part in bringing the day the Palestinians achieve the rights the rest of us already take for granted that bit closer. I salute you , you should be proud of yourselves and each other. Thank you.’

Open Branch Meeting
All welcome
DVA,
10 Constitution Road
Thursday 5 MARCH, 7.30 p.m.
Speakers—Colin Fox, SSP Co-Convenor,
Angela Gorrie, SSP candidate for the Maryfield by-election

Come along to the meeting and find out about the radical alternative to the council tax.

Tuesday 13th January, 7:30PM, Queens Hotel, Dundee

Chair: Mike Arnott (Dundee Trades Council)
Speakers:

• Keir McKenchnie (Chair, Stop the War Scotland)
• Nadia El-Nakla (Tayside Justice for Palestine)
• Louise Whiteside (Student Activist)

This meeting is to organise support for the Palestinians and get people active in the movement against it.

The following week Dundee SSP will be having an open branch meeting on the situation to discuss the politics behind the situation. Supporters and friends of the SSP are welcome to attend, more details will follow once confirmed.

Chapterhouse, St Ninian’s Cathedral, Perth (entry via courtyard to the North, reached through small lane off Atholl St, near Dunkeld Rd traffic lights)
 
Chair: Bishop Michael Hare Duke
 
Speaker: from Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign
 
Aim of Meeting: to create a context for concerned people in Perth to consider ways we can work together to ’raise our game’ in response to this ratcheting tragedy.

Among responses we will be discussing together are:

• self- and other-education
• writing to public officials and organisations
• soliciting humanitarian donations
• encouraging solidarity actions such as consumer boycotts (NB helped change the other Apartheid).

Sunday 12 October:
10.00; Showing of BBC documentary, The Guernica Children, Cinema 1, Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre (DCA), 152 Nethergate,

13.00; Unveiling of Basque Children’s Colony plaque, 17 Mall Park Road, Montrose (a bus to Montrose leaves from the rear of DCA at 11.20)

14:30 Bus back to Dundee.

The events today were terrific, a good turn out of over 200 for the march and rededication and 100+ for the public meeting in the Steps Theatre.

There is an exhibition at Dundee Library on Dundees contribution to the International Brigade which will run for a wee while.

There was a range of merchandise available including the excellent t-shirts and the Trades Council publication on Dundees International Brigadiers. T-shirts were £6 and the publication was £3. If you would like any of these let us know and we will pass on Mike Arnotts contact details for you.

Millions of people stand to lose their jobs, homes and their livelihood because of the economic crisis. If you’re worried, come and take your chance to put your questions about the economy to a leading socialist economist.

Speakers: Raphie de Santos, formerly head of equity derivatives research and strategy at Goldman Sachs, advisor to Bank of England and Italian Ministry of Finance
Frances Curran, co-convenor Scottish Socialist Party
Jack Ferguson, Scottish Socialist Youth

Thursday 9th October, 7:15pm.

Renfield St Stephens Church, 260 Bath Street, Glasgow

This economic crisis, in which millions will suffer, is a direct result of the economic policies of Labour, but pioneered before them by Margaret Thatcher’s Tory Party.

We were told that industries like shipbuilding and steel were old fashioned, obsolete.

Replacing them would be new industries; the bankers would build call centres and everyone would own shares.

The Tories and Labour deregulated the financial markets and allowed them to build mountains of debt into a casino economy while they paid themselves multi million pound bonuses.

But they bet everything on black and now it’s come up red… and they want the tax payers to bail them out!

We are urged to hand over billions of tax payers money, without any analysis of whether this will work, or how exactly it will help ordinary people.

Politicians are not being asked about specific help for ordinary people, like guaranteeing the value of pensions or re-scheduling mortgages so people can stay in their homes.

Public meeting

For 30 years socialists have struggled to resist public assets being plundered.

We said bankers are playing roulette with workers’ pension funds, insurance funds and privatisation.

We’re fed news stories where we’re urged to view protection of the rich as in our own interest. Just like when they claimed Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction.The media have failed us. This time we won’t be fooled again.

Real economic solutions the government should use now:

• Take HBOS and other banks into common ownership with no redundancies. Use them to create a social bank providing social loans and mortgages.
• Provide affordable social housing for rent. The £110 billion that was spent on Northern Rock would pay for 2 million homes!
• Freeze food and heating prices.

I’m writing to request a big turn-out from Trade Unionists, especially with banners, for the parade up Reform Street from City Square to Albert Square at 11am on Saturday 11th October (assemble 10.45am). The event is to mark the rededication of the City’s Memorial to those who died in the Spanish Civil War, and the unveiling of a new plaque.

It is hoped that Jack Jones, the 95 year old former leader of the TGWU, and who fought in Spain, will be present.

The ceremony will be followed by a public meeting in the Wellgate Steps Theatre where former FBU leader Ken Cameron will be speaking, along with the Spanish Consul.

Tickets for the evening social, in the Apex Hotel City Quay suite are also available at £5 each, as are commemorative t-shirts at £6.

An exhibition entitled Dundee and the Spanish Civil War will be running in the Wellgate Library from Oct 7th – 25th.

Banners are important seeing as Dundee Trades Council banner was seized by Police whilst on an anti-G8 march.

IBMT T-shirt design

IBMT website

Saturday 18th October (11-5.30)
Sun 19th October (11-2)

Edinburgh Students Union, Teviot Building

For all who want action not just targets

Key speakers:

• Sian Berry London Mayoral candidate, Green Party
• John MacAllion, Scottish Socialist Party

Workshop Strands will include:

• 1. WHAT are the causes of climate chaos?
• 2. HOW can we reduce carbon emissions fast?
• 3. WHO can change Policy not just light bulbs?

While the Arctic is set to be ice free and absorbing rather than reflecting heat by 2013, scientists argue that this could be just the start of the feedback loops which will drive temperatures higher and potentially drive us to extinction.

People from a range of environmental and political groups (and from none) are meeting to ask: how we can work together to challenge this system of insatiable economic growth that drives greenhouse gas emissions up daily?

If governments won’t act to tackle the causes of climate chaos, then how can we create a community based, nationally effective, internationally connected political movement to deal with peak oil and avoid climate chaos?

Come along, learn and share views on the issues that need to be addressed and the action that can be taken.

Organised by activists from Democratic Left Scotland, from the Scottish Green Party and from the Scottish Socialist Party

contact: justinkenrick@yahoo.co.uk

DVA 10 Constitution Road
Dundee

Tuesday 1st July, 2008. 7pm.

Following the AGM of the International Brigade Memorial Trust held in Belfast this weekend, I can confirm that Dundee has been unanimously agreed as hosts of next year’s AGM on 11th October 2008. I will be in touch in due course to ask for your help in squeezing every possible ounce of assistance out of the Dundee labour and democratic movement (and beyond), to develop a full programme of events and activities for the evening of Friday 10th, Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th.

Mike

If you can assist, please contact Mike at: dundeetuc at hotmail.com

The hit of the day was a walking tour of parts of Dundee by Mike Arnott, Secretary of the Dundee Trades Council. Not only did he have to add a second tour later in the day but there was still demand, including from the Dundee SSP members who knew they ask Mike to do one again. We hope to in future have Mike do a tour as part of a locally held Day School so keep checking back for details.

On another note, an SNP member who was elected as both a councillor and MSP made the difficult choice of keeping the job with 4 times the salary of the other. Due to this a by-election will be held in Lochee on Thursday 22 November.