Dundee SSP

Today Angela Gorrie, SSP Candidate for Dundee East, joined former MP and MSP for the area John McAllion and a number of other SSP members to call for an axe to bankers’ bonuses, not public services. They started the day outside RBS in the city centre and will travel to other areas in the constituency, including Carnoustie and Broughty Ferry, later this afternoon.

Angela said: Despite being told by all the major parties that after the election we must prepare for savage cuts in public services, one group not affected is the greedy bankers, who continue to award themselves large bonuses. A fact made all the more galling because the banks had to be bailed out by the ordinary tax payer.

The Scottish Socialist Party calls for an end to the bonus culture and for all banks to be nationalised under workers’ control.

We also oppose the cuts which are being promised and believe that there is no need for any cuts to public services if the rich were forced to pay their fair share of taxes.

It was the rich who paid for this crisis, make them pay for it!

To track Rod the Robber’s progress throughout the day please see www.twitter.com/dundeessp. Photos will be posted as it happens at http://tinyurl.com/ssp0405

We are holding a public meeting Axe war, not services on Wednesday 24th February at the DVA, Constitution Road, starting at 7pm.

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.

Note: Apologies for the delay, holiday meant there was a backlog of e-mail to sort through and this slipped back a bit.

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.

Following on from the excellent SSP Public meeting in Dundee on the Afghanistan conflict (article coming soon), the SSP have booked a meeting in Aberdeen.

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

Troops Out of Afghanistan

Wednesday, September 23rd, 7.30 p.m.

Queens Hotel, Dundee

Confirmed Speakers—

Colin Fox,
John McAllion

Dundee/Tayside CND‘s annual Walk up The Law, Thursday, August 6th.

Assemble 8.15 p.m. march off 8.30 p.m.

Speakers: John McAllion (confirmed) others yet to confirm.

Bring candles, hand lights, banners, etc.

Also, to commemorate the bombing of Nagasaki, please join Erik Cramb on Sunday, 9th August, at 11.01 a.m. at top of Law.

There will be a speaker from the NPA, French Anti Capitalist Left, at all of these events.

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.