Anti-War Rally Makes Mark on Conference

Scottish Press Association
Several thousand anti-war protesters marched on the Scottish Labour Party Conference today to highlight their anger at the Iraq conflict.

Several political parties marched together under the anti-war banner including the Scottish National Party, Scottish Socialist Party, Green Party and members of the Labour Party.

Campaign to save youth centre in funding crisis

Evening Times
PROJECT set up to help keep kids off the streets could shut due to a funding crisis, it was claimed today.
Parkhead Youth Project is used by around 500 youngsters aged eight to 24 but it faces the axe amid funding cuts.

Socialist MSP Rosie Kane has tabled a parliamentary motion demanding a reprieve for the project.
Ms Kane, a former youth worker, said: "I was approached by one of the youngsters who uses the centre. She told me there was nowhere else for young people like her to go to.
"The future is bleak for young people if we are going to close a well-used centre like this and at the same time start punishing kids for hanging about the streets, where they often end up in the criminal justice system.
"How are these young people going to find an outlet for their energy and needs if this place is closed?"

Just 5 docs to care for 623,000 patients at night

Evening Times
JUST five doctors will be on duty for overnight home visits to cover more than 623,000 people in Lanarkshire under a new GP contract, it was revealed today.

MSP Carolyn Leckie warned what is happening in Lanarkshire is not untypical.She said patient care throughout Scotland would suffer under the new contract unless there was a substantial increase in the number of hours available for out-of-hours provision and a commitment to maintain locally-based services.
Ms Leckie has tabled a parliamentary motion expressing concern at the numbers and warning the contract, which will allow surgeries to opt out of out-of-hours provision from next year, will lead to a "woefully inadequate" service.

Socialist MSP defends Doctor Wakefield

SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Press Release: 25/02/04

Socialist MSP defends Doctor Wakefield

Scottish Socialist Party Health Spokesperson Carolyn Leckie MSP today lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament in defence of Doctor Andrew Wakefield and pointing up fundamental conflicts of interests in UK vaccination policy bodies.
Carolyn's motion is in response to the propaganda onslaught against Doctor Wakefield and those campaigning for further research into the MMR vaccine.
Carolyn said;
"Our research shows conclusively deep seated conflicts of interest on the Committee on Safety of Medicines, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and the Medicines Control Agency, including direct financial interests in pharmaceutical companies that manufacture vaccines.
"We are calling on the Scottish Executive and the Chief Scientist Office to proactively seek to fund and enable replicative clinical research to identify the cause, or causes, of autism, with particular reference to gastrointestinal dysfunction identified by parents, Dr Wakefield and others."
[ends]

Editors notes

Full text of motion to Scottish Parliament

S2M-00956 Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): Conflicts of Interest and Vaccination Policy - That the Parliament notes the lecture given by Member of Congress, Representative Dave Weldon, M.D. to the Institute of Medicine, of the United States of America on 9 February 2004 in which he cites the in-built conflict of interest of the Center for Disease Control, which "is tasked with promoting vaccination, ensuring high vaccination rates and monitoring the safety of vaccines", which means that "they serve as their own watchdog - neither common nor desirable when seeking unbiased research"; recognises that this same conflict is replicated in the United Kingdom by our system and believes that such a conflict fatally undermines confidence in vaccination policy and is untenable; notes the interests, including direct financial interests in pharmaceutical companies that manufacture vaccines, of members of bodies such as the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Medicines Control Agency; notes that Dr Andrew Wakefield has issued a full statement robustly defending the allegations against him and welcoming any investigation into his research; recognises that his findings have been replicated by, for example, Dr Arthur Krigsman, consultant paediatric gastro-enterologist at Harvard University and Kawashima, Takayuki et al, in "Detection and Sequencing of Measles Virus from Peripheral Mononuclear Cells from Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Autism", Digestive Diseases and Sciences vol. 45, No. 4, April 2000, pp723-729; is concerned to note the lack of government-funded medical research and examination of autistic children; notes with concern the physical findings of persistent measles virus in the guts and cerebro-spinal fluid of autistic children with bowel problems who have been examined, and believes that the Scottish Executive and the Chief Scientist Office should proactively seek to fund and enable replicative clinical research to identify the cause, or causes, of autism, with particular reference to gastrointestinal dysfunction identified by parents, Dr Wakefield and others.
******************************************************************
Members of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation who have declared interests in pharmaceutical companies:
Professor Lewis D. Ritchie: Links with Glaxo Wellcome and Zeneca Dr Barbara Bannister: Educational sponsorship by SmithKline Beecham, holds portfolio of shares including Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham Dr. David Goldblatt: Occasional member of expert panels for SmithKline Beecham, Wyeth and Pasteur Merieux.
Professor Roy Anderson: Directorships of Wellcome Trust, Decode, IBHSC; share holdings in Glaxo, Zeneca and SmithKline Beecham.
Dr. Karl Nicholson: 'Consultant' for Glaxo.
Professor Keith Cartwright: industry part-funding of his team to evaluate candidate meningococcal vaccines.

The 37 members of the Committee on Safety of Medicines claim 82 "personal interests" in the pharmaceutical industry.
Professor J. Chipman: Research grants from Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham.
Professor H. Dargie: consultancy with SmithKline Beecham.
Dr M. Donaghy: shares in Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham.
Dr B. Evans fees from SmithKline Beecham, shares in Glaxo Wellcome.
Professor J.F. Smyth has carried out clinical trials for SmithKline Beecham and declares "occasional" meetings with the company.
10 of the 37 have interests in SmithKline Beecham.

Scots nursery nurses vote for all-out strike

Edinburgh Evening News
NURSERY nurses across Scotland have voted for an all-out strike after bosses refused to meet their demands for better pay and working conditions.

Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan said: "The nursery nurses deserve a proper national settlement and are having to take strike action to get it. They don’t want to strike but are left with no alternative because of Cosla and Scottish Executive intransigence.
"All Scots should support them. They carry a huge burden in delivering pre-school education and care to Scotland’s kids."

Solidarity with Scotland's nursery nurses

SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Press Release: 24/02/04

SSP attacks COSLA chief's "double standards" and calls for solidarity with Scotland's nursery nurses

Tommy Sheridan today attacked what he called the "double standards" of COSLA boss Pat Watters in relation to the nursery nurses' dispute and remuneration for councillors.
Mr Watters, leader of South Lanarkshire Council and Convenor of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, addressed the Parliament's Local Government Committee last month. He argued for all councillors to receive a "flat rate" payment set "nationally". He also suggested the "flat rate"should be 50% of an MSP salary, resulting in a councillor's wage of £25,000 a year.
Tommy Sheridan, SSP MSP and National Convenor, said today:
"Here we have New Labour double standards exposed.
“Pat Watters and COSLA refuse to negotiate a national pay and conditions settlement for Scotland's nursery nurses, but he demands just such a national package for Scotland's councillors.
“It reeks of hypocrisy.
“Sure councillors should be entitled to a proper salary set nationally, but that's what people like Pat Watters are denying Scotland's underpaid and undervalued nursery nurses."
"The nursery nurses deserve a proper national settlement and are having to take strike action to get it.
“They don't want to strike but are left with no alternative because of COSLA and Scottish Executive intransigence.
All Scots should support them.
They carry a huge burden in delivering pre-school education and care to Scotland's kids."
[ends]

"Come ahead, what do you want to do about it?"

Sunday Mail
Rosie Kane makes a dramatic call for young people to come forward with positive ideas to deal with territorial violence between gangs of Glasgow teenagers.
"I also want to make an appeal to young people who feel left out, who feel like the only thing to do is to kick back, who don't feel part of the community or society to think long and hard before they batter the hell out of other young people.
"You are all in the same boat. If you were able to find a way of getting together, you could make such a difference you could be involved in shaping your communities."

Ian Swanson on the council tax

Evening News
A new opinion poll shows 77 per cent of Scots think the council tax is unfair, with only 12 per cent disagreeing.
And the Scottish Socialists, who want to replace the council tax with an income-based public service tax, are promising a grassroots campaign to mobilise opposition.
The Scottish Socialists’ public service tax would be raised at a uniform rate across Scotland but distributed to councils according to need, while the Lib Dems and the SNP favour an income tax set locally by each authority.

Anti-Council Tax Supporters Out In Force

Press & Journal
There was wide support for proposals to scrap the council tax at a public meeting in Aberdeen last night.
About 40 people turned out to hear Scottish Socialist MSP Colin Fox during a visit to the city to discuss the party's campaign to abolish the council tax in favour of a tax based on income and ability to pay.

ANTI-WAR PROTESTORS NOT FREE TO SPEAK OUT

ANTI-WAR PROTESTORS NOT FREE TO SPEAK OUT

A council was accused last night of putting a price on freedom of expression over plans to bill demonstrators for a protest during a visit to Scotland by Tony Blair.
Highland Council has infuriated anti-war groups by threatening to charge them for any road closures caused by their protest during the prime minister's visit to Inverness.
The Highland Coalition for Justice Not War and its parent body, the Scottish Coalition, said billing protesters for the march and rally near the Scottish Labour Party conference in the city later this month would set a worrying precedent and could damage freedom of speech.
...
Scottish Socialist Party spokesman Steve Arnott said the charge threatened to undermine democratic rights.
"This would be the first time any group has been charged in this way," he said.
"When we raised this with Highland Council, they said they didn't have a contingency fund to cover this kind of thing.
"We suggested they establish a fund because, if people want to exercise their democratic right and carry out a peaceful protest, the council should accommodate that." Press and Journal

Mother's Day protest planned

Caithness Courier
CAMPAIGNERS fighting threats to downgrade local maternity services have announced plans to stage a mass protest outside Caithness General Hospital on Mother's Day.
The action was endorsed at a public meeting organised by the Scottish Socialist Party and attended by more than 70 people in the Assembly Rooms, Wick, on Saturday.
Registered midwife Carolyn Leckie, an SSP MSP and her party's health spokeswoman, was guest speaker and told the gathering the current review of local maternity services is a sham.
Ms Leckie told the meeting: "This is an absolutely horrendous prospect to contemplate in the 21st century when we are the fourth-richest country in the world. We shouldn't be talking about setting back our maternity services, we should be improving them and making them fit for the 21st century.

£7 BN profit for Royal Bank Slammed

Daily Record
THE Royal Bank of Scotland are set to announce the largest ever profit by a British bank.
Their figure for 2003 will be a whopping £7 billion when it is announced to city money men later this week.
That's £221 per second. It will be seen as a triumph for bank boss Fred Goodwin, dubbed Fred the Shred because of his ruthless cost-cutting skills.
But the sheer scale of the profit nearly double Barclays' £3.8 billion earlier this month means the bank are bracing themselves for an angry backlash.
Barclays' profits were described as 'outrageous' by politicians, trade unions and anti-poverty campaigners.
Yesterday, Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan said: 'The Royal Bank are set to announce their figures days after council taxes were increased and Scottish Power put their prices up.
'Ordinary working people are toiling and struggling while the banks make excessive profits.'

Council tax: Why reform is back on agenda

The Herald
RIVAL parties which support local income tax have given the Scottish Socialists' plans for a public service tax short shrift, but even they sat up and took notice yesterday at figures showing that voters are overwhelmingly supportive of reform of the current council tax.
Tommy Sheridan, convener of the SSP, hailed the results of the opinion poll yesterday, saying: "The poll clearly confirms the growing opposition to the unfair Tory council tax and the demand for an income-based alternative.
"It is an enormous boost to the Scrap the council tax campaign."

Most Scots 'oppose' council tax

BBC News Online
Seven out of 10 Scots think council tax is unfair and should be scrapped, according to a survey.
The System Three poll found that 77% of Scots believe it should be replaced by a tax based on ability to pay.
Of those surveyed for the poll commissioned by the Scottish Socialist Party, 12% said they believed the tax should be retained.
The SSP plans a demonstration in Glasgow on 24 April and has launched a petition for the tax to be replaced.
The SSP claimed the results of the survey were a huge boost to its recently launched Scrap the Council Tax campaign.

Scots 'Oppose Council Tax'

Scottish Press Association
Nearly eight out of 10 Scots think council tax is unfair and should be scrapped, according to a survey today.
Some 77% of Scots believe it should be replaced by a tax based on ability to pay, the independent poll by TNS System Three showed.
Only 12% of Scots interviewed wanted to keep the tax, the poll – commissioned by the Scottish Socialist Party found.
The SSP said the results of the survey were a huge boost to its recently launched Scrap the Council Tax campaign.
The party is planning a demonstration in Glasgow on April 24 and has launched a nationwide petition demanding the council tax be replaced.
SSP leader Tommy Sheridan said: “Almost 80% of Scots now believe the Tory council tax is unfair and should be replaced by a system based on ability to pay.
“If the Scottish Executive doesn’t heed this they will be cast aside by the tidal wave of opposition that will grow over the coming months.
“We will march in our thousands in April and demand action by an Executive that seems more interested in protecting the wealthy than caring about Scotland’s army of pensioners and low paid workers.”

DITCH THE COUNCIL TAX Unfair system needs overhaul, says poll

Sunday Mail
EIGHT out of 10 Scots think the council tax is unfair and should be overhauled, according to a survey.
The opinion poll reveals the vast majority of Scots want the system changed to take income into account.
The findings emerged in a TNS System Three poll, commissioned by the Scottish Socialist Party.

Scots face fuel bills hike of six per cent

Evening News
Tommy Sheridan, leader of the Scottish Socialist Party, said: "The sooner gas and electricity are back where they belong, in public ownership, the better because ordinary customers are paying for the massive profits of the private fat-cat owners."

Socialist MSP exposes environmental scandal

BBC News Online
Planning regulations are set to be tightened after a row broke out over proposals to dump sewage from England on an opencast mine in Scotland.
Deputy Environment Minister Allan Wilson pledged to take action following a debate in the Scottish Parliament.
Locals have reacted furiously to the proposals for the site at Dalquhandy in Lanarkshire.
Socialist MSP Rosemary Byrne called on the Scottish Executive to take urgent steps to ban the practice.
Ms Byrne said sewage spreading was already happening in other parts of the country.
She said planning permission was not needed and that local communities were kept in the dark.
"We must find a way to treat and dispose of our sewage that is environmentally friendly and poses no risk," she said.
"But it must be done in a manner that is democratic and transparent.
"The communities of Scotland cannot and must not be used as a dumping ground."

On wrong track with drug fight

Edinburgh Evening News
WHEN the Evening News ran a front page story a few days ago confirming that the number of heroin injectors in Edinburgh had doubled in the last five years, a collective shiver must surely have run up the spine of the Scottish capital.
• Kevin Williamson is SSP drugs spokesperson and the author of Drugs and the Party Line

Council Tax Protests

Inverness

The Scottish Socialist Party staged a protest in Inverness yesterday to demand an end to the council tax.
About 40 campaigners held the lunchtime demonstration outside Highland Council's HQ in Glenurquhart Road after the authority approved its council-tax rate for the coming year.
Councillors yesterday announced a rise of 5.1%, as predicted.
The SSP has now vowed to step up its campaign, both inside the Scottish Parliament and on the streets, calling for replacement of the tax by a fairer system based on income.
The protest was part of a series of synchronised demonstrations outside council chambers across the country by Scrap the Council Tax groups, pensioners' forums and others who complained that the tax is regressive and an unfair burden on senior citizens, workers on low-to-medium incomes and their families.
It marked the launch of what is promised to be an ongoing campaign that will involve a large-scale national demonstration in Glasgow on April 24.
Highlands and Islands SSP spokesman Steve Arnott said yesterday: "We are calling for council tax to be scrapped altogether. People are dismayed that, once again, council tax has gone way up beyond the rate of inflation.
"Council tax was introduced 12 years ago and, for the past 11 years in Scotland, rates have risen above the rate of inflation. Pensioners and people on average incomes do not get big enough wage increases to cope with it.
"However, this is just the start of our campaign to put the nail into the coffin of council tax." Press and Journal


Aberdeen Press and Journal

Frank Boyle on RMT affiliation to SSP

MP'S COAL £10K

Daily Record
Yesterday, Scottish Socialist MSP Rosemary Byrne led a debate on the issue of sewage dumping in Lanarkshire and across the country.
She said: 'The more that we find out about this murky business, the more concerns we have about transparency and accountability.
We are asking all those involved to come into the open and tell us the truth about what is going on.'
Opening the debate, Byrne called for more openness from Scottish Coal and Thames Water, who are supplying the sewage.
Byrne said: 'The disposal of sewage is being carried out in communities without their prior knowledge or consent and with little regard to the potential environmental hazards involved.
Why is this material being transported from England all the way up to Scotland to be dumped? We don't know.'

Council tax rises to be unveiled

PROJECTED COUNCIL TAX INCREASES

Aberdeen - 8%
Aberdeenshire - 5%
Angus - 5.6%
Argyll and Bute - 2.9%
Clackmannanshire - N/A
Dumfries and Galloway - 4.9%
Dundee - 5%
East Ayrshire - 4.9%
East Dunbartonshire - 5.6%
East Lothian - 5%
East Renfrewshire - 5%
Edinburgh - 4%
Falkirk - 5%
Fife - 3.5%
Glasgow - 5%
Highland - 5.1%
Inverclyde - 5%
Midlothian - 5%
Moray - 9.7%
North Ayrshire - 4.9%
North Lanarkshire - N/A
Orkney - 4.5%
Perth and Kinross - 5.5%
Renfrewshire - 5%
Scottish Borders - 5.4%
Shetland - 7.2%
South Ayrshire - 5%
South Lanarkshire - 3.5%
Stirling - 4%
West Dunbartonshire - 2%
West Lothian - 4.5%
Western Isles - 5.1%

Meanwhile, a non-payment campaign may be launched by the Scottish Socialist Party.

Leader Tommy Sheridan said the move was not imminent, but had not been ruled out.

"We are starting a campaign, we are trying to inspire a rebellion, and in the course of such a rebellion every tactic will be examined," said Mr Sheridan. BBC News Online

Ministers "Above the Law"

"ACCUSING MSPs and ministers of lying was yesterday ruled out of order in Holyrood.
George Reid, the Presiding Officer, said any member of the parliament who used the term would face a "two strikes and you’re out" procedure.
The offending MSP would first be told to apologise - "the yellow card", as Mr Reid put it. If no apology is forthcoming, they would then face expulsion from the chamber for up to one day after the offence.
Any expulsion for a longer period would have to be voted on by MSPs.
Mr Reid’s ruling came after Tommy Sheridan, the leader of the Scottish Socialist Party, repeatedly accused Jack McConnell, the First Minister, of lying - first over the SSP’s drugs policy and then over Iraq.
Yesterday, Mr Sheridan immediately complained that the procedure gave no right of appeal, putting ministers "above the law". "Scotsman

Football Crisis

Scottish Socialist MSP Colin Fox called for greater 'mutualisation' of the game, with fans being given a chance to have a greater say in the running of their clubs. Daily Record

Socialists warn of non-payment campaign against council tax

The Herald
TOMMY Sheridan's Scottish Socialist party yesterday said it was considering a mass non-payment campaign in order to stir up a nationwide "rebellion" against the council tax.
Launching plans for a Scrap the Council Tax rally later in the spring, Mr Sheridan said the option was under active consideration by his party, although he and his fellow MSPs were paying the tax for now.

Definitely time for a change

Scottish Mirror editorial, 10/02/04

THE Council Tax is a bit like a nasty cold.
Nobody wants it - but nobody's quite sure how to get rid of it either.
So the Mirror welcomes Tommy Sheridan's campaign - launching today - to scrap the Council Tax.
Everybody knows you don't get something for nothing. And local services - like schools and street lighting - have to be paid for somehow.
But, under the Council Tax, pensioners and the low paid get hammered while the rich pay a pittance.
So hopefully the Scottish Parliament will see sense and get rid of it.
But, like everything else at the Scottish Parliament, there is a problem.
The SNP want to scrap the tax, so do the Greens and the independents like Margo MacDonald.
Even Labour's coalition chums in the Lib Dems want to get rid of it.
But the parties who want it to be scrapped can't agree on what to replace it with.
The Scottish Socialists want a Scottish Service Tax, based on ability to pay and making the rich pay more.
The SNP, Greens and Lib Dems all want different kinds of local income tax. And they are all falling out over which system is the best.
So we could end up stuck with the council tax even though most people want it to be ditched.
The Mirror today calls on those opposing the council tax to bury the hatchet and unite on one thing - scrapping it.
Backroom bickering on what to replace it with can come later.
For now - just get rid of it and give Scotland's pensioners and low paid a break. That's medicine worth taking.

Socialists plan anti-tax campaign

BBC News Online
A campaign aiming to "overthrow" the council tax is to be launched by the Scottish Socialist Party.
Last year SSP leader Tommy Sheridan put forward a member's bill at Holyrood proposing to replace the system with an income-based alternative.
The party plans to hold a demonstration in Glasgow in April, and will also launch a petition and a website.
Mr Sheridan said: "We will take to the streets in our thousands to scrap the unfair council tax."

We must change course or lose workers' support

Scotland On Sunday
By Bob Thomson, former Associate Scottish Secretary of Unison and a former chairman and treasurer of the Scottish Labour Party.
He is co-editor of Scottish Left Review

THE rail and seamen’s union (RMT), as the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, was one of the founders of the Labour party in 1899. That is why it’s called Labour - it is the party representing workers.
New Labour’s decision to expel the RMT from affiliation marks a watershed for the party and the Labour movement. Either Labour goes back to its roots and re-engages with the mass of workers or it will go into decline.
The five RMT branches affiliating to the Scottish Socialist Party give that party a credibility and respectability it has lacked. And there is intense pressure from firefighters and postal workers for their unions to do the same.

Rail union breaks with Labour

BBC News Online
The link between Britain's biggest rail union and the Labour Party has been broken after more than 100 years.
It follows the Rail, Maritime and Transport union's decision on Friday to continue to allow branches to affiliate to other political parties.
The union rejected an ultimatum from Labour to stop supporting the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP).

Scottish Socialists welcome RMT decision as ‘new era’

SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Press Release: 07/02/04

Scottish Socialists welcome RMT decision as ‘new era’

Tommy Sheridan, the National Convenor of the Scottish Socialist Party, today welcomed the decision of the RMT trade union to affirm support of political parties other than Labour.
Tommy said;
“The RMT decision ushers in a new era of development in socialist politics.
“For over 100 years trade unionists have supported socialist policies but New Labour’s big business agenda is the enemy of socialist politics and more and more trade unionists are willing to admit this reality.
“The Scottish Socialist Party is a young party and small in comparison to Labour but we mustn’t forget that Labour started life as a small party as well.
“We make this appeal to every trade unionist in Scotland: should the members hard earned cash be poured into the coffers of New Labour to support their big business and millionaires agenda ?
“New Labour represents the millionaires in society, the SSP aspires to represent the millions.
“In the words of the RMT banner at the special conference;
The past we inherit, the future we build.”
[ends]

Inquiry into First Minister lies claim

The Scotsman
Andrew Denholm
AN INVESTIGATION is to be held into allegations that Jack McConnell, the First Minister, lied to the Scottish Parliament.
George Reid, the Presiding Officer, announced the inquiry after Mr McConnell was repeatedly accused of lying by Tommy Sheridan, the leader of the Scottish Socialist Party.
Mr Reid stepped in after a simmering feud between Mr McConnell and Mr Sheridan, which has run for several weeks, boiled over during yesterday’s session of First Minister’s Question Time.
Mr Sheridan accused the First Minister of lying to parliament over the war in Iraq just a week after making similar accusations over comments by Mr McConnell about the Scottish Socialists’ policy on drugs.
The SSP leader based his claims on claims by the First Minister made in the run-up to war when he referred to intelligence material that suggested Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Sheridan said: "I know you have a problem with honest answers, but in light of recent comments ... in relation to weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, will you now be honest and mature enough to admit that you were wrong? Will you apologise for misleading parliament, or is it the case that you think lying in parliament is now an acceptable practice, as you did last week in relation to the SSP drug policy?"

Liar claim sparks McConnell anger

BBC News Online
Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) leader Tommy Sheridan is at the centre of a political row after he accused the first minister of being a liar.
Presiding Officer George Reid launched an investigation after Mr Sheridan accused Jack McConnell of "lying" to parliament over the war in Iraq.
The clash came a week after Mr Sheridan made similar claims over comments Mr McConnell made on the SSP drugs policy

Postal staff vote to back RMT in link-up with Scottish Socialists

The Herald
TOM GORDON, Scottish Political Correspondent February 05 2004

THOUSANDS of postal workers have voted to affiliate to the Scottish Socialist party in support of the RMT union if the latter severs its ties with the Labour party.
The Scotland No 2 branch of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) voted overwhelmingly to back the SSP in sympathy with the RMT earlier this week. The branch represents about 4000 delivery staff, counter staff and mail sorters in Edinburgh, Lothians, Fife, central Scotland and the Borders.
The move comes on the eve of a meeting in Glasgow tomorrow when the Rail, Maritime and Transport union in Glasgow will decide whether to reverse an earlier decision to allow five Scottish branches to switch from Labour to the SSP.
Labour has warned the union it breached the party's rules by allowing the change. Last week, Labour's national executive committee (NEC) said that if the RMT did not reverse its decision, the union would be viewed as being outside Labour and the split would be final.
Derek Durkin, secretary of the CWU branch threatening to switch, said: "Our members are angry at the recent decision of the NEC of the Labour party to expel the RMT from membership should they uphold their decision to allow their Scottish branches to affiliate to the SSP.
"We view this as an attack on the principle of free trade unionism in this country."
He said the affiliation threat applied only to the No 2 branch level, and ties with Labour would be maintained at local constituency level. This would give the SSP only a few hundred pounds a year, he said, but the symbolism of the switch was more important.
Mr Durkin also said the move could cause a fight with the CWU's London headquarters, and could result in expulsion from the Labour party.
Tommy Sheridan, leader of the SSP, said: "I hope the RMT decide to support branches that have democratically debated and decided to affiliate to the SSP. However, it is their union, it is their rule book, and it is their political fund."
A Labour spokesman said: "We would urge the CWU branch to rethink its decision, just as we would urge the RMT to rethink its decision. They are both far stronger within the Labour party than outside it."
The CWU's London HQ said union policy stated branches could not affiliate to parties other than Labour.