Family will give Red Ron 'lively' send-off

Edinburgh Evening News


THE family of the late Leith MP Ron Brown are to stage a "colourful and lively" farewell to the maverick politician.
Mourners will sing the Red Flag at a humanist ceremony at Warriston Crematorium tomorrow to pay respects to the former Labour government whip.
Trainspotting publisher Kevin Williamson, who discovered Irvine Welsh, will read one of his poems and Scottish Socialist Party leader Colin Fox MSP will pay tribute.
The family of Mr Brown, who represented Leith at Westminster from 1979 to 1992, said they wanted the ceremony to be as colourful as the man himself.
The readings are expected to include anecdotes about Mr Brown rollercoaster career which regularly saw him hitting the headlines.
Despite a promising start to his political career, he is probably best remembered for grabbing and dropping the House of Commons mace as he protested against the Poll Tax, and being on friendly terms with Colonel Gaddafi of Libya.
After the funeral service, mourners will be invited to the Botanics, where one of his passions New Orleans jazz will be celebrated in a performance by the band Criterion.
Instead of flowers donations are to be invited to the Retired Greyhound Trust, a cause close to Mr Brown's heart.
His own greyhound, Big Mac, who had previously raced under the name Sir Rochester, was his constant companion for many years.
About 200 people are expected to pack the chapel tomorrow, at 1pm, with more likely to be waiting outside.
Mr Brown's son Gavin, 38, a gas engineer from Leith, said: "It will be a lively service with a number of people giving readings and telling jokes.
"Kevin Williamson will be reading one of his own pieces.
"He was involved in the political movement with my dad, who enjoyed creativity and was supportive of anyone who was creative.
"Colin Fox will also say a few words.
"The ceremony is going to be a flavour of my dad's life, which was a colourful thing.
"It's not going to be dour - it's going to be sad and painful, but we'll have a few laughs. It will be a knees-up to celebrate his life."
Tributes have flooded in for Mr Brown, who was described as a popular and hard-working MP, following his death from liver disease at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary last Friday.
Mr Fox, for whose Scottish Socialist Party Mr Brown unsuccessfully stood as a candidate in 1999, described his comrade as "utterly irrepressible".
He said: "He was a friend as well as a comrade and I will be paying tribute to the fact that Ron Brown changed the world.
"Ron had a wicked sense of humour and he thought nothing of telling a few fibs.
"He lied about his age and his height - he used to wear wedges in his shoes.
"He had mischief in his eyes and it was terrific to be in his company because he had hundreds of stories. He was utterly irrepressible.
"Ron Brown was Mr Leith, he was a Leither. He loved the people of Leith and he had his feet firmly planted in Leith Walk, in Great Junction Street, and in West Pilton where he came from."

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SSP Election Broadcast

SSP plans for free public transport

The Herald

Scottish Socialists yesterday claimed universal free public transport would transform both the environment and lives of the less well-off as they launched their election manifesto.

They cited measures taken by the city of San Francisco to argue that bus, rail and ferry fares for pedestrians and cyclists should be scrapped.

Party leader Colin Fox launched the manifesto at Hampden stadium in Glasgow along with colleague Alan McCombes and some of the party's leading candidates.

They claimed to be ahead of former SSP leader Tommy Sheridan's breakaway Solidarity party in the polls, with Mr Fox saying the SSP was targeting the return of eight MSPs at the election.

The party's transport plans would cost around £1bn according to Mr McCombes - twice the estimate put on the policy by the LibDems transport spokesman, Tavish Scott.

But the SSP says this would be less than one-third of Scotland's contribution to defence spending and a quarter of the combined cost of road congestion, accidents and repairs.

Mr Fox added that it was part of their plans to address global warming. "We've come up with a way that will persuade people to keep their car at home. It's a better alternative than what we have just now.

"I think it's to our immense credit that we've come forward with a proposal which isn't hitting people with a big stick about using the car. It's free, integrated, reliable transport right across Scotland, that's the centrepiece of our election manifesto."

The party claims that San Francisco had announced similar proposals recently in a move to tackle climate change.

Scottish Socialist Party plans:

JUSTICE
Free heroin on prescription to registered addicts, under controlled conditions.

ECONOMY
National minimum wage of £8 an hour for all public sector workers. Confiscation of assets of multi-nationals which switch production to low-wage economies.

TRANSPORT
Universal free public transport to help both the poor and the environment. Scrap all planned major road projects.

EDUCATION
Maximum class sizes of 20, no school closures, restoration of student grants.

ENVIRONMENT
Carbon rationing covering the use of gas, electricity, petrol and air flights.

HEALTH
Reversal of all PFI projects and a ban on NHS consultants doing private work. Free school meals and prescriptions.

GOVERNMENT
Back a referendum inside one year to create an independent, nuclear-free, multi-cultural Scotland.

Confident SSP pledges free public transport

Edinburgh Evening News

SCOTTISH Socialists launched their election manifesto today, with free public transport top of a list of 450 detailed policies.

And the party claimed it was on course to win a list seat in each of the eight regions of Scotland

The manifesto, entitled People Not Profit, was produced using the latest "Wiki" technology from contributions by party members with specialist knowledge in different policy areas before being approved by an SSP conference in March.

Party leader Colin Fox said:

"We've distributed over 300,000 election newspapers door-to-door, held scores of public meetings across Scotland and spoke to tens of thousands of people on the streets and doorsteps.

"Our call for free public transport, independence and wealth redistribution is going down a storm.

"Polls put the SSP within striking distance of winning a seat in all eight regions and our manifesto is an unashamed socialist programme that would make a massive difference to millions of Scots, not the millionaires that the other parties are attempting to woo.

"You won't find any big businesses backing the SSP."

Scotland's youngest-ever parliamentary candidate

Sunday Mail

CHARLOTTE'S PARLY BID AT 18

TEENAGER Charlotte Cameron is Scotland's youngest-ever parliamentary candidate.

On May 3, while most 18-year-olds are swotting for exams or planning a night out, Charlotte will stand as a Scottish Socialist Party candidate.

Last night, Charlotte, a vegan who doesn't own a TV, said: "I'm just a normal teenager. I do normal teenage things. I like music and cinema and going to the pub."

Brought up in Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire, and now living in Maryhill, Glasgow, Charlotte is a candidate for the south of Scotland. This election will be the first time that 18-year-olds can stand for parliament.

She said: "I want to see young people represented. Older people can talk the talk but they can't really relate to the issues that the younger generation are facing."

Villagers Defend Suspended Councillor

Extract from the Dumbarton & vale of Leven Reporter 21 February 2007:

Shock & Anger: Villagers Defend Suspended Councillor

Disgust and disbelief were the reactions of constituents reeling from the news of a councillor’s suspension. SSP councillor Jim Bollan was handed a six month ban from the Standards Commission for Scotland after a hearing ruled that he acted in a threatening and intimidating way towards a care worker during a six month sit-in at Alexandria’s Leven Cottage care home.
Cllr Bollan denied the claims, stating he was acting to protect the interests of pensioner Annie Cardiff, who had asked him to serve as her advocate. Hours after the verdict, the Reporter’s Kirsteen Paterson visited Renton to ask people for their reaction.

Pensioner Minnie McDonald regualarly spots Cllr Bollan when she stops at the Carman Centre for tea & a chat. Minnie who plays bingo at Leven Cottage with Annie Cardiff & Robert Toole twice a week was stunned by the news. She said: “ That’s ridiculous. Ive been in Renton nearly all my days and he is a good person. The Cordale Avenue woman, who supported the sit-in added. “ I’ve heard about the things he is supposed to have done and I think what has been done to him is harsh. He is a fabulous councillor and I’ve never heard anyone around here say anything against him.”

Jim Liddle thinks the move is inexplicable and says he cant believe the allegations made against Cllr Bollan. The sixty year old who lives in Dumbarton but makes frequent trips to the village said: Jim doesn’t carry on like that, he’s one of the best. I remember way back when he used to work in Dumbarton and they sent him out to Renton to work. He is cool headed, this doesn’t sound like something he would do.” He added: “ A six month ban is too much. They shouldn’t do that its just not fair.”

Voluntary worker Rosemary Brennan blasted the ban. The 63 year old told the Reporter thst she believes Cllr Bollan’s testimony. She said: “This is a disgrace. Ask Jim to do anything for you and he will. He talks to everybody and has time for them. This is terrible. He is very truthful and at that time no-one should have spoken to Annie without him. She needs to have someone with her. I would stand by Jim to the end. Most people would.”

Community activist Archie Thomson also supports the censured politician. But the Renton man said that the suspension was a done deal. He said: “ I was not surprised by the ban or the term. You don’t get fair trials in these situations. Jim was forced into action he shouldn’t be involved in by bureaucrats who wanted to sell people’s home from under them. He was standing up for his constituents when the council was trying to rob them. Faceless bureaucrats from Edinburgh who come here to pontificate do nothing for democracy.”

For more info access Bollan's Blog at http://www.jimbollan.blogspot.com

MSP's set sail for nuke-free future

Morning Star, 20/02/07

SCOTTISH Socialist MSPs Rosie Kane and Frances Curran boarded the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise on Monday as it sailed from Greenock to Faslane as part of the "Trident - we don't buy it" campaign.
Both MSPs are veteran anti-nuclear campaigners and are strongly opposed to new Labour's plans to renew Britain's nuclear missiles based on the Clyde.
Both were arrested at the Faslane nuclear base last month during a peaceful protest against the plans.
"We are pleased to join the Greenpeace protest which adds to the mushrooming opposition to Blair's nuclear weapons madness," the MSPs said in a statement.
"We need more homes, free school meals, free public transport and an end to privatisation - not more spending on war and nuclear missiles.
"It's time to get the missiles out of the Clyde and end our involvement with Britain's weapons of mass destruction."
The Arctic Sunrise trip is part of a week of national protest building up to the massive Stop the War demonstrations in London and Glasgow on Saturday.

(More on this in Colin Fox MSP's Blog)

Parents protest at nursery office

BBC

The Glasgow headquarters of a nursery provider now in the hands of the liquidators has been the scene of a protest by workers and users.

One Plus employs 550 people and provides care for approximately 1,000 children across the west of Scotland.

Scottish Socialist MSP Rosie Kane was among those outside the company's Renfrew Street offices on Saturday.

She has urged First Minister Jack McConnell to intervene with a rescue package for One Plus.

Ms Kane has also tabled a Scottish Parliament motion on the matter.

She said: "What is at stake here are hundreds of jobs, vital unique services and the future of hundreds of vulnerable people.

Public funds

"I am seeking an urgent meeting with Jack McConnell to convince him that well-meaning piecemeal solutions will not protect these vital services."

The Scottish Executive recently turned down a £2m rescue package for the firm.

One Plus, whose largest customer is Glasgow City Council, said closure would cost the Scottish economy £10m.

A company spokeswoman said that the board, senior managers and external consultants had tried their utmost to keep the business running.

The organisation costs about £11m a year to run with more than half the money coming from public funds.

Fears over One Plus's future come just over a month after one of its subsidiary businesses, childcare provider Kid Care, went into liquidation with the loss of 75 jobs.

KANE DEMANDS McCONNELL ACTS IMMEDIATELY TO SAVE ONEPLUS

SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTY
MEDIA RELEASE

KANE DEMANDS McCONNELL ACTS IMMEDIATELY TO SAVE ONEPLUS

JOBS AND SERVICES.

Jack Mc Connell must take immediate action to safeguard vital services for single parents jobs at OnePlus, Glasgow MSP Rosie Kane has demanded to day.

Scottish Socialist Kane is to question the First minister on the crisis which will effect 600 workers and over 10,000 service users in Holyrood this week.

Kane said:

“The Scottish Executive have been aware of this crisis since December 2006 and have failed to act. The first priority must be to safeguard these vital services and that jobs that provide them.

The £2 million pound cost to save the much needed organisation will be dwarfed by the millions a closure will cost but that is to say nothing of the of the devastation this will create for vulnerable service users which includes the elderly, disabled and many thousands of children.

It is ironic that the funding needed to keep one plus in business is £2 million – the same cost as the Executives campaign on how to wash your hands. Does Jack Mc Connell intend to wash his hands of the service users and jobs at OnePlus”

SSP Hit Back At Nuclear Jack's Jibes

The Herald

Jack McConnell yesterday attacked the group of MSPs who protested against the Trident nuclear deterrent this week, accusing them of wasting police time by trying to get arrested for publicity.

The charge led to angry scenes at First Minister's Question time.

On Monday, three Socialist MSPs - Rosie Kane, Carolyn Leckie and Frances Curran - were arrested but not charged after protesting outside the Faslane naval base.

Green MSPs and SNP Holyrood leader Nicola Sturgeon also took part in the Faslane 365 demo, a year-long attempted blockade at the Clyde base which began last October...

After angrily asking the Presiding Officer to be allowed to speak, Ms Curran said she and other MSPs had been protesting within the law, and if the policing costs were high it was only because the security was disproportionate.

She later accused Mr McNeil of being "Tony Blair's nuclear mouthpiece".

She said: "Far from protesters apologising, he should say sorry to pensioners, low-paid workers and those facing cuts in health services for taking their money and squandering £76bn on useless weapons of mass destruction.

"With his New Labour colleagues he hasn't the guts to tell Blair to scrap missiles and spend the cash on schools, hospitals and desperately- needed houses."

MSP's Kane and Leckie Arrested at Trident Protest

BBC

Trident protest politicians held

Eight people, including two Scottish Socialist MSPs, have been arrested during an anti-nuclear protest.

Two Plaid Cymru politicians were also arrested after three people chained themselves together at the main gate of the Faslane base on the Clyde.

SSP MSPs Rosie Kane and Carolyn Leckie, and Plaid Cymru's Jill Evans MEP and Leanne Wood AM were protesting against the renewal of Trident.

UPDATE: MSP Frances Curran has also been arrested. Check the SSP website for developing information.

On The death of a Tyrant - End the Bloody Occupation of a 'Sovereign' Nation

SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTY
MEDIA RELEASE

FOX REACTS TO SADDAM EXECUTION
On The death of a Tyrant - End the Bloody Occupation of a 'Sovereign' Nation

SSP National Convenor Colin Fox commenting on the execution of Saddam Hussein today suggested Britain and USA examine their own consciences at this time.

“As some one who campaigned against the tyranny of Saddam Hussein for decades I shed few tears for his passing. But this is no time to let the fact that the British and US governments made it him what he was sink into silence. Saddam Hussein was their 'muscle in the middle east' for two decades. They funded him and armed him throughout, in the barbaric war with Iran and when they turned a blind eye to the massacres of his own people.”

“The statements by Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett in London and from White House infer that this execution was a matter of internal Iraqi politics and the independent decision of a 'sovereign nation”

“Unfortunately this smacks of a continuing duplicity from two governments which illegally invaded this sovereign nation in 2003 and occupy it still.”

"The execution of Saddam Hussien changes none of that. And neither does it change the horror that is the day to day reality for millions of ordinary IRAQI's. It is surely something to reflect upon that the Iraqi population will openly admit they preferred the days of Saddam to the miserable life and death they face now.”

“The key question facing the world today remains, was the US/UK invasion in
2003 the right way to get rid of Saddam Hussein's tyranny in Iraq. And the emphatic and inescapable answer is no it wasn't. “

'”Looking at the sectarian carnage in Iraq today, with more people dying each season than were killed on 9/11, the illegal invasion remains morally repugnant and Saddams execution even politically irrelevant amidst all that."

"The sickening sectarian carnage of violence which the US and British invasion unleashed is the daily reality for thousands of ordinary Iraqis and will continue and perhaps even be accelerated by Saddam's execution in the short term."

"The brutal truth is that the war and the occupation launched by Bush and Blair has spawned a horror against which the execution of Saddam is likely to be little more than a further bloody footnote."

"The SSP believes the war in IRAQ to be a catastrophic failure of policy by Bush and Blair and will define them forever more. “

“The longer the illegal US/British occupation continues the greater the bloodshed for the Iraqi people and the greater the defeat for Britain and America.”

'Today it is appropriate to repeat again the need for the immediate withdrawal of all UK and US troops from Iraq and bring this nightmare to an end"

Make Women Safe

The following motion has been put to the Scottish Parliament by Carolyn Leckie MSP.

Date of Lodging: 13 December 2006

Short Title: Make Women Safe - Stop Male Violence

S2M-05317 Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): That the Parliament

is deeply concerned by the discovery of five women’s bodies in the Ipswich area and offers its condolences to the friends and families of the murdered women, Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton and of Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls who are currently missing, noting that all are, first and foremost, women, daughters, sisters, mothers and friends who may have been murdered by a predator who has preyed on their vulnerability as women abused through prostitution; is appalled that violence against women is endemic in our society and manifested most brutally in such murders; recognises that in Scotland many murders of women remain unsolved and believes that society and all agencies must take responsibility for bringing the perpetrators to justice and making women safe from male violence against them; believes that society, government and all agencies must work towards the eradication of abuse of women through prostitution and the harm it causes; believes that protection for women must be increased in the short term and that vulnerable women, many of whom are addicted to drugs, must be given the support and services needed within the NHS including, importantly, prescribed medications such as the Diamorphine substitute for heroin, in order to remove their need to raise money through prostitution and to ensure their safety; expresses concern about some public and media statements that place the responsibility on women to avoid being murdered rather than on those men who perpetrate the violence; believes that telling women to be safe when they have little control over poverty, drug and alcohol addictions and mental health issues is an abdication of responsibility; further believes that there should be an amnesty for all women involved in prostitution so that they can seek and access services free from fear and that there should be a zero tolerance approach to the men who buy the use of women’s orifices and who are violent to women and that the emphasis of the discourse on these issues must switch to the swift identification of men who present a risk to women rather than on the lifestyles of women; calls on women and men throughout the country to unite against men’s violence against women, and calls on government to ensure that all agencies and services have adequate resources to make and keep women safe, believing that women should have the right to go about their lives free from fear.

SSP Joins Farepak Protest

Suzy Hall of the unFarepak campaign speaks at the demo.



SSP convener Colin Fox MSP speaks out at a protest called by victims of the Farepak collapse outside a champagne reception of the bankers HBOS.

Frances Curran MSP Campaigns for Free School Meals

Campaigners for free school meals have declared their intention to use every possible opportunity in the Scottish Parliament to secure legislation giving all Scottish primary school pupils the right to a healthy school meal without any charge.

Here Frances Curran MSP outlines why we need free school meals and how we will fight for them at a meeting in the Inch area of Edinburgh last week.



See the rest of her speech here:

SSP MSP Frances Curran- Free School Meals Bill Part 2

SSP MSP Frances Curran- Free School Meals Bill Part 3

Student protest at police unit presence

Dundee Evening Telegraph

Students today lodged a letter of complaint with Dundee University over a decision to allow a controversial police unit on to campus.
Tayside Police’s Special Branch community contact unit was set up to gather intelligence from sources such as community leaders so they can identify possible extremists.

The unit was originally set up on a trial basis last year, but Tayside Police soon decided to make it permanent.

A range of student and non-student organisations, such as Dundee Scottish Socialist Youth and the Dundee Student Socialist Society, signed a letter asking to meet with the Student Advisory Service about the activities of the SBCCU.

Angela Gorrie, from Dundee Scottish Socialist Youth said, “Hopefully this will be the start of a dialogue with the Student Advisory service to find out how and why they made the decision to allow the SBCCU on campus.”

Ms Gorrie said the SBCCU would not just target Muslim students and could put students off from getting involved with any political organisations.

“People are afraid they are going to be reported and don’t know what information is being kept on them,” she said.

She said campaigners would now be starting a petition against allowing the SBCCU to carry out its investigations on campus.

A spokesman for the University of Dundee said, “We are aware of the campaign being run by the student socialist group.

“We are aware the Tayside Police community contact unit liaises with a range of faith groups on campus and those contacts are entirely voluntary on the part of those faith groups.

“The university will continue its attendance at Tayside Police’s lay advisory group.”

CURRAN SLAMS “DEMOCRATIC OUTRAGE” AS FREE SCHOOL MEALS BILL BLOCKED

SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTY
Media release

CURRAN SLAMS “DEMOCRATIC OUTRAGE” AS FREE SCHOOL MEALS BILL BLOCKED

Frances Curran MSP tonight slammed as a “Democratic outrage.” A decision by the Scottish Parliament’s communities committee to block the progress of her Free School Meals Bill claiming there is not enough time to deal with it.

Said Frances “The letter may be signed by Karen Whitefield communities committee convenor but it has the fingerprints of Jack McConnell all over it.”

“I have not the slightest doubt that this is the work of a Scottish Executive running scared of an idea whose time has come. The Bill has the support of scores of children’s, educational and other bodies and the support of thousands of Scots.”

“This crude blocking makes a mockery of the claims that Holyrood is an open democratic parliament and is a shameful denial of democracy.”

“I warn Jack McConnell and the Scottish Executive that they have bitten off more than they can chew and that they will face a massive backlash on this issue.”

“I will be urgently raising this with Presiding Officer George Reid who has duty to guard the rights of the parliament from this type of crude manoeuvring.”

“I am also urgently seeking to convene a meeting of the campaign groups supporting the Bill which takes in a large range of campaigning and expert opinion and am sure that they will be as angry as me about this shabby move.”

“I can promise that there will be major public campaign to reverse this crude attempt to subvert democratic discussion of the Bill and force the politicians to listen to the people on this key issue.”

Colin Fox Blogs

Read SSP Convener Colin Fox MSP's blog here!

Unity