Naturally the Spanish PM has spoke of ETA’s declaration as a victory over terror and a rebuke to radical Basque nationalists. In reality, the use of shootings and bombings by a group the size of ETA is unable to bring independence to the Basque country, and skews the coverage of the conflict as one between the Spanish state and a small armed organisation. This totally ignores the strength of the Basque radical pro-independence movement, and acts in the interests of the Spanish state by making the dispute about a conflict against terrorism that the Basques cannot win by military means.
The position of the Basque independence left is one the untold success stories of the Socialist movement in Europe. In almost every town and city, the left pro-independence movement -- known as the Abertzale or patriotic left -- controls youth centres, pubs and social clubs. These community facilities are considered such a threat to the Spanish state that one of them was recently demolished, despite public opposition. The Basque Left can also wield a significant section of the popular vote in the Basque country -- almost certainly larger than anywhere else for the Socialist Left in Europe.
In the recent municipal elections in the Spanish State, the Basque Left party Bildu stood and took a whopping 25% of the vote -- the largest ever vote recieved by the pro-independence left, who historically took between 10% and 20%. This makes Bildu the opposition party in the Basque country, to the pro-independence moderate party the PNV which took 30% of the vote. This combined vote shows there is a solid majority in favour of independence for the Basque country.
The vote for the pro-independence left was even more impressive giving the Spanish State had tried to ban Bildu from standing -- claiming that it was a front for ETA and Batasuna, a radical Basque party the Spanish state previously banned that took between 15 -- 20%. This ban was ridiculous considering that Bildu declared it did not support ETA attacks to bring about independence, and that ETA itself had declared it’s intention to end it’s campaign.
Despite ETA’s repeated attempts to engage with the Spanish State in a peace process, both the right-wing Popular Party and the New Labouresque Spanish Socialist Workers Party refused to enter into any meaningful negotiation to end the conflict. Unreported from the majority of the world’s media is the ongoing political repression in the Basque country -- in which political parties like Batasuna were banned, Basque newspapers were shut down, prisoners are tortured, youth organisations are prohibited and radical Basque politicians jailed for insulting the monarchy. This repression hasn’t all come from the right wing of Spanish politics either -- it was the “Socialist” Workers Party who set up death squads to assassinate and torture ETA members and Basque radical politicans, with the authorization and support of Government ministers.
Banned Basque pro-Independence Left group SEGI
The Spanish State refuses to enter a peace process because it knows what the result inevitably will be -- almost every single election since the overthrow of Franco in Spain has produced a majority nationalist administration in the Basque autonomous region. Spain has refused any discussion on Independence for the Basque country -- with the Spanish Parliament vetoing even unofficial referendums on the Basque country’s future, fearing the inevitable yes vote for Independence.
The modern Spanish state never really decisively broke with it’s fascist past -- there were no trials or truth and reconciliation commissions for those who tortured and murdered leftists, trade unionists and Basque and Catalan nationalists under Franco. Instead an agreement was struck between the conservative and centre-left parties not to pursue justice for these people, and to enshrine in the Spanish constitution the illegality of any form of independence for nations that are currently part of the Spanish State. The so-called democratic post-Franco constitution made it illegal for the Basque country to become independent without the sanction of the central Spanish Government. It was for this reason that the majority of Basque voters abstained and voted against accepting this new constitution -- and why despite the overthrow of Franco, ETA continued an armed campaign.
Basque political prisoners are dispersed - this poster demands their return.
Now it’s become clear the Basque independence movement has stronger weapons in it’s arsenal than bombs or bullets, weapons the Spanish State cannot easily quash. With the support of a third of the population, and dozens of community facilities across the Basque country the pro-Independence left is ready to wage a war of the people against the Spanish State.
SSY was proud to host a group of Basque Abertzale youth at our camp last year. One of the motivations they had in coming to Scotland was to observe the possible referendum on Independence here. Unfortunately, we never got a chance to vote for Independence in 2010 because the Unionist parties blocked it. However as you’ve probably noticed, the recent SNP landslide means there will be a definite referendum in the next 4 years. This isn’t just important for Scotland -- it’s a message to the Spanish State and the Basque people as well. If Scots are allowed to vote in a free vote on our future, without being blocked by the Spanish Government, tortured, shot by death squads, having our political parties banned, our newspapers closed down, community centres demolished -- why shouldn’t the Basque Country have that choice as well?
FREEDOM FOR THE BASQUE COUNTRY -- GORA EUSKAL HERRIA!
5000 Basques march in Bilbao against "Hispanity day" in Solidarity with massacred American indians.
Before commencing this article which comments on media coverage of recent events in Norway, SSY would like to express our solidarity with those in who have suffered due to these events, and our condolences to those who have lost loved ones.
In a conversation on Saturday night down my local, a Scandinavian friend of mine noted that as soon as the identity of the killer behind the bombing in Oslo and the attack on a youth camp in Utoeya had been revealed, words such as ‘terrorist’ – which had been bandied about by various people appearing in the media prior to the discovery of the killer’s identity – ceased to be used. In light of this conversation, I was intrigued today by Charlie Brooker’s column, in which he notes that the initial Western response to both tragedies was keen to point the finger at Muslim extremists. When it transpired that the killer was in this case white, Christian and right-wing, the language of ‘terror’ and ‘terrorism’ paled into the background, and in some cases disappeared altogether. This is in spite of the fact that the killer is being charged by Norwegian courts under anti-terrorism laws, which makes sense, since by all definitions of the word ‘terrorist’ he most definitely is one.
Nonetheless, what the sudden drop in frequency of words related to ‘terror’ in regard to the shooting/bombing suggests is that this sort of rhetoric is reserved for particular types of extremism – largely that conducted by extremist Muslim groups such as al-Quaeda. For the western media, the word ‘terrorist’ does not sit well when used to describe a white Christian (with the possible exception of the IRA, but the discourse surrounding them has its own, seperate factors). It is so difficult for the Western media to conceive of a white non-Muslim terrorist that invocations of al-Quaeda and 911 are required in several western tabloids in order to establish some sort of conceivable context: see here for the Guardian’s selected excerpts from the world’s press. In these extracts, taken from a variety of sources in a variety of cultures, there is a clear trend. Western print media constantly feels the need to evoke al-Quaeda and 9/11 when writing about acts of terror.
To continually refer to extremist Muslim terrorism in the same vein as anti-Muslim terrorism has a rhetorical effect which centres the discourse of terrorism around Islam. When Le Figaro prints: ‘it is worrying to see the legacy of Bin Laden taken up by fundamentalism from the opposite end of the spectrum’, it associates terrorism with a ’spectrum’ which ranges from anti-Muslim extremism to Muslim extremism. The killer’s other motivations, such as his desire to purge Europe of what he calls ‘cultural Marxism’ his hatred of the Norwegian government’s current immigration policy, and his hatred of immigration in general, are downplayed in comparision to his views on Islam (an example of this is today’s Telegraph, with its leading headline ‘Norway Killer: massacre was to save Europe from Islam’, where the only mention of the killer’s anti-Marxist motivations are included as a direct transcription of the judge’s ruling). The language of terror and terrorism has become the language of oppression, used to perpetuate a growing and misfounded association of Islam with extremism. The proof that this misfounded conflation between Islam and fundamentalism exists is manifest in the difficulty found by the Western media in conceiving of a terrrorist attack that is not linked to Muslim extremism.
It is therefore left to eastern news sources to point out the obvious: that extremists and fundamentalists are found in every religion and in none.
What is truly sad is that the constant invocation of 911 and Muslim extremism is now the focus of all self-conscious print-journalism – this article included – which thus continues to focus attention on the killer and his fascist motivations, a focus which is of no help or comfort (and most likely no interest) to those who have been affected by the deaths.
Giles Coren – star of food history programme The Supersizers, posh food critic, winner of an award for writing the shittest sex scene of any novel in 2005, “Fuck the Poles” racist and general snobby bastard (see his twitter at any one given time for evidence) – has authored an article for the Daily Mail today. About the sexist comments made by Sky sports presenters Richard Keys and Andy Gray (and his caught-on-camera sexual harassment), two old misogynists unable to accept that women are real people with the ability to work competently, and their subsequent sacking/resignation. Coren starts from the ever-promising position of ‘I’m not sexist, but…’ and from there on blunders into a horrifying public display of loathing for women that would shock even Tommy Sheridan.
The article is actually so offensive it makes the rest of the Mail’s content look like it’s been written by the Teletubbies loved up out their bins on MDMA. I can practically see the eternally offensive Jan Moir, Bel Mooney and Richard Littlejohn hugging each other and intently discussing how they totally now really get why hate and fear is just a media ploy to keep us from joining together in happiness and song. Coren’s article is THAT bad. Yes, I know it’s in the Daily Mail, so I shouldn’t expect better. That doesn’t make it okay for something this sexist to be published, especially as Giles Coren often presents himself as some kind of average liberal middle class guy whose opinions educated people should listen to. It’s like he’s tried to pack every offensive trope out there into the one piece. How bad the article is really can’t be explained adequately second hand, so we’ll just have to show you exactly what he said. And demolish his pish line by line.
Representatives of ETA, the armed wing of the Basque independence movement, yesterday issued a permanent ceasefire annoucement. This represents a clear message, calling an end to the movement’s decades-long armed struggle. Today’s pledge follows on from September’s commitment to pursuing independence through non-violent means, as blogged about by Jack.
Incredibly, the response of the Spanish state has been to dismiss the ceasefire announcement… AGAIN. You would think they’d be encouraging the Basque national liberation movement to put down the guns, but no, they’ve simply said it doesn’t count as “an irreversible end to violence”, while talking trash about ETA being “arrogant”.
The national liberation movement has made a big effort in recent years to take account of the current political situation and new events in other oppressed nations. In particular, they have closely studied what has been going on in Ireland, with the IRA decommissioning weapons and Sinn Fein now forming part of the coalition government at Stormont. The ETA leadership has said the process will be open to mediation by other countries — they are happy to be scrutinised, as they are sincere in wanting a democratic solution. However, this suggestion was rebuffed by Spain’s deputy prime minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba. He took a bold/ludicrous stand: “There is no way we are going to allow someone to place conditions on peace or impose the intervention of international mediators.” This is daft, as any meaningful peace process will naturally involve neutral arbitrators.
DEMO IN BILBAO
Here is the point where Spain’s ‘democratic’ mask starts to slip. Despite their ‘anti-terrorist’ rhetoric, the Spanish state is still committed to a campaign of state terror against the pro-independence Left, with over 400 Basque political prisoners having been arrested in recent months. The Spanish government is pursuing a policy Franco would have been proud of — they don’t want a peaceful solution; they want total victory, with the Basque claim to self-determination airbrushed from history.
Despite Spain’s intransigence, the streets of Euskal Herria have recently witnessed some of the biggest solidarity demonstrations in living memory, e.g. 64,000 marching in Bilbao last Saturday, in support of the jailed comrades. Such events must have the authorities in Madrid shaken, as it shows the potential for a peaceful revolution in favour of independence. The ETA leadership deserve credit for recognising the need for mass struggle rather than vanguardism.
As with the Provo struggle in the North of Ireland, there has recently been a sense that small paramilitary groups had become ineffective, if indeed they were ever a viable means of achieving national liberation. I hope that the comrades can maintain a meaningful commitment to socialist revolution — the experience in the North of Ireland has left a bitter taste in the mouth, with the old radical McGuinness heading up a neoliberal regime based on a sectarian division of power, with Irish reunification no closer to becoming reality.
This situation is different as it is not about coming to some kind of power-sharing arrangement. There is still a clear demarcation between the stateless nation and the oppressor. ETA ending the armed struggle helps to boost the general struggle for freedom, with key demands which should be supported internationally. Firstly, the ban on Batasuna and associated political parties must be lifted — the Basque people must be allowed to vote for who they want to. Secondly, the Basque nation should be allowed the freedom to control its own destiny; there is now a new opportunity for a debate on what type of country the people want. Ultimately, the right of the Basques to declare an independent state if (they choose to do so) must be made explicit and protected.
The constitution of the Spanish state currently forbids any ‘region’ from declaring independence. This makes Spain a prisonhouse of nationalities. And historically they’ve never hesitated to use violence to back up what they say: stories of extraordinary rendition, torture and assassination are sadly not uncommon amond Basque activists. Information of such state crimes does not often reach us -- Spain is an ally of the UK and in the past few were able to break through the imposed media blackout.
What the ‘Socialist’ government in Madrid (effectively the Spanish version of New Labour) do not understand is the erosion of the basis for their methods of ruling. The internet means that we are now able to see and hear about what is really going on. A resurgence in awareness of the Basque situation will take place, in fact it has already started. With the excuse of ‘combatting terrorism’ gone, Spain will have to recognise the Basques’ right to self-determination or be damned.
It is now the duty of all socialists, progressives and democrats, in Europe and around the world, to support the movement in Euskal Herria and help make sure that justice triumphs.
I spent last weekend up in the metropolis of Menie and its near neighbour, a wee place called Aberdeen. It may be a 7-hour round trip and it may cost £26.50 (!!!?!) just for a single ticket on the bus from the ‘Deen back to Gleska; but it was worth it for the 2 great events I attended.
The first was the magnificent ‘March of Menie’ organised by Tripping Up Trump, protesting against Donald ‘The Chump’
i wish that wig would blow off
Trump’s plans to evict local residents and wreck a Site of Special Scientific Interest, just so he can build a new golf course. His project will, I imagine, be enjoyed mainly by an elite group of fat rich men, who use cat-o-ninetails on their caddies and light giant cigars with $100 bills.
A report of the demo will follow as soon as ‘pride of Aberdeen SSP’ Euan Benzie gets his finger out and indulges his blogging skillz. But I can tell you that there were up to 300 people on the march, representing a good balance of locals and visitors, from a vast array of backgrounds. Very impressive for rural Aberdeenshire, disproving Trump’s claims that his plans are opposed by “three men and a dog”. There was a good 15-20 dogs, actually. It is a truly amazing place, with beautiful coastal scenery, amazing sand-dunes, and wild stags frolicking all over the shop. It’d be a shame to wreck it by turning it into a playground for rich bastards.
Back in Aberdeen, there were a few beers (and ciders and rums) at a comrade’s house, followed the next day by a meeting of SSY’s National Executive Committee. This was the first time in a long time we’ve had a meeting like this up in the North-East and it was overdue considering there’s been a good number of active members up there for a few months. It was a really productive day and we planned loads of exciting stuff, some of which I’m gonna unveil RIGHT NOW!
First of all, we’re getting right behind the STUC’s new campaign, There Is A Better Way. Expect to hear more about this is coming days, as there’s gonna be a big demo in Edinburgh on the 23rd October. More about that on the Better Way website.
march against cameron and clegg's cuts
The gist is that they’re providing a focal point for widespread opposition to the ConDem cuts, which, as everyone knows, are ideologically-driven rather than economically necessary. They’re calling for Jobs, Services, Fairer Taxes and a Living Wage. Quite right. Different unions are running free buses to Edinburgh on the day, so get in touch with the STUC to get yourself on one, or drop us an email at scottishsocialistyouth@gmail.com and we’ll keep you in the loop. I think it’s gonna be a big demo.
Also in October (probably) is gonna be an SSY Glasgow Halloween extravaganza fundraiser thing. This will (probably) involve booze, dancing, great costumes (NB ‘HILARIOUS’ KKK/NAZI UNIFORMS NOT ALLOWED!) and all the usual Halloween fun, which will (hopefully) make us loadsa money. Muahahahaha.
Back to Aberdeen again, and we’ve got plans for a mega dayschool entitled ‘Silver City Socialism’ on the 4th of December. Expect workshops on Palestine Solidarity, What Socialists Stand For, organising against racists & fascists, feminism and the aforementioned TuT campaign. If you live in the area or just like the sound of it, then make sure to get yourself along. There will be an afterparty including vegan mince pies, mulled wine and an Alternative Xmas mix CD. Full details to follow, this one’s gonna be a cracker.
Finally and perhaps most excitingly, we decided to make a big fuss of ourselves and organise a tour to publicise the launch of the SSP’s pamphlet on Afghanistan (buy it here!), written by SSY members Andy Bowden and Jack Ferguson. The Party has been consistent in opposing imperialist intervention, and the pamphlet examines Afghan history and some of the geopolitical reasons for the invasion and occupation. Despite sounding heavy, it’s actually really well put together and easy to read; a good one for people who know nothing about the issue and seasoned anti-war activists alike. It’s a bargain buy and all profits go to the Revolutionary Association of theWomen of Afghanistan. Expect a forthcoming announcement on dates for the tour which will be coming to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, St Andrews, Dundee and possibly Stirling. We’ll have a range of different speakers and plenty of space for debate and discussion.
At a time of failing military missions and impending Tory attacks on our class’s living conditions, there is a helluva lot for young socialists to be out campaigning on. SSY is right in about it like a dog eatin hot chips.
Naismith stoops to head home and complete a great move
3-2. Another game, another glorious failure for Scotland’s national football team. Losing bravely seems to be what we do best. Well, some of the time at least. The less said about the recent dismal defeat in Prague, the better.
Of course there is no shame in losing by such a narrow margin to the reigning European and World champions. Before the match, Scotland manager Craig Levein had described this Spanish side as “the toughest opponents we’ve ever faced” in Scotland’s history. It would be silly of me to mention the much tougher historical battles and wars fought against English invaders, because he was obviously just talking about football.
No-one apart from the most deluded of optimists could really have expected much more from the game. At kick-off, I had decided I was going to remain emotionally detached and just try to enjoy watching masters such as David Villa and Andrés Iniesta at work. You can compare and contrast my mood then compared with the moment when Gerard Piqué put through his own net to level the scores at 2-2. I was absolutely elated. It’s a real shame that we were unable to hold out for a draw, but the performance will be more important than the result, by restoring some belief and hopefully encouraging Levein to confine his 4-6-0 formation to the dustbin of history.
Prior to the match, I joined with several other members of the Basque Solidarity Campaign to help raise awareness of the dark side of the Spanish state. We also had the objective of building support for the Basque independence movement in general and the plight of political prisoners in particular. We were able to hand out hundreds of leaflets and engage with many members of the public. Hopefully this activity will be the launchpad for a continuous program of solidarity actions throughout the year.
This is really important because, at a time when sporting triumphs have brought Spain international attention, many people in Europe are seemingly unaware of the situation in Euskal Herria (the Basque-language name for their 7-province homeland). While there has been a concerted effort to promote the concept of a New Spain – where all the constituent regions and nations are able to celebrate their identity and enjoy equality under the rojigualda – the Francoist policies of internment, torture and extraordinary rendition remain in place.
Scottish-Basque solidarity
Despite ETA’s ceasefire announcement, which declared an end to armed struggle and commitment to peaceful methods (confirming in words what has been happening in practice for a good while now), the Spanish PSOE government continues to use a false terrorist threat as an excuse for arresting pro-independence activists, often detaining them in the south of Spain or even North Africa. Their ‘crime’ is to campaign for an independent socialist republic. The punishment is often long periods in jail, under conditions which have changed little since Spain’s transition from fascism to democracy.
Sporting events can sometimes be difficult places to raise awareness of international problems. A lot of fans don’t want to be distracted from simply supporting their team and enjoying the occasion with friends and family. Despite this, we received some really positive responses. Many people seemed supportive or interested. When I said “stop Spanish oppression against the Basques”, there was a lot of “quite right” and “aye mate, definitely”. One guy, sticking his thumb up, shouted back at me “…and the Catalans!” There was a crowd of young Celtic fans hanging around the ground (I suspect they were looking for a way to sneak in!) who all happily took leaflets from us and seemed to have some prior knowledge of the Basque liberation struggle.
However, to leave it there would not tell the full story. Apart from the standard number of people who aren’t interested in any politics, there seemed to be a significant amount of people who just did not know what we were referring to. I think some people deemed us misguided for printing pictures of Spanish police wielding huge coshes, masked up in balaclavas. After all, surely democratic EU-member states don’t do that kind of thing. But this one does. “The Basques?” some asked, apparently genuinely not knowing that these people even existed.
Freedom for the Basque people!
For this, I do not blame the fans. The Spanish state propaganda machine has been at pains to suppress information getting out about their repressive practices, and to stop people from knowing about the mass struggle for an independent Basque homeland. They have cynically taken advantage of the post-9/11 ‘War On Terror’ to ratchet up repression against the pro-independence Left. For such practices, they have even been critcised by Amnesty International, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at the media in Spain or allied states such as France (which currently controls 3 of the Basque provinces) and Britain. With our media collaborating in covering-up the crimes of the Spanish state, it becomes all the more important for those of us in Scotland who are for human rights, peace, independence and socialism to break the media embargo and let people know what’s going on.
Watch this space for further updates on what’s happening over there and what we’re doing over here. Meanwhile, I hope we can build on our recent success in establishing deeper links between the movements for self-determination and socialism in Euskal Herria and Scotland. Let’s not be divided just because it was a Basque striker who killed our hopes last night!
Yesterday, the Women’s Support Project and Zero Tolerance revealed the findings of their latest study regarding the reality of prostitution and pornography in Scotland.
One of their most hard hitting statistics is that not only that 90% women involved in prostitution in Scotland want to get out of it immediately, but that they had also never made the voluntary choice to enter the industry in the first place.
Thanks to the radical feminist tradition in Scotland, we are blessed with many agencies working with women engaged in prostitution. The evidence is mounting up, and all of their work points to one thing – prostitution is a crime against women.
As socialists, we believe in equality for all. Equality cannot be achieved without sexual and bodily autonomy – which does not exist for women when so many of us are forced to barter sexual favours in exchange for survival.
It doesn’t seem to be about education, providing insight into global events or speaking truth to power. These days it’s not even really news at all…it’s just crime.
Yesterday, a day where as far as we can tell precisely zero new developments in the latest media spectacle that is Raul Moat we still get blanket “news” coverage. Channel 4, usually less guilty of sensationalist antics, dedicated around 50% of its broadcast to bringing us “the latest”…last night someone had robbed a fish and chip shop nearby (but not the guy they are looking for.)
We had an exclusive report about his Facebook page (he might be checking his messages apparently.) If he watches the news he ‘ll be glad to see a criminologist offering some tips “start putting demands on the police…a time barrier” he suggests, before saying its a bit “Rambo-esque.” Yes, the criminogist came on TV, gave him advice and then compared him to Rambo! Next up, local MP (well ex-MP and from a wee bit up the road) enlightened us with “there seems to be a lot of stuff, certainly in the press.” Quite. The evening was rounded off by local fly fishing instructor Kevin Dawson who said “fishing…midgies…police officers…with their wotnots…they’re doing their best as long as everybody’s OK.” Truly compelling journalism.
But why is the media so obsessed with this kind of crime. Are we supposed to be scared? When David Cameron stands up in parliament and lies about violent crime that’s about fear. Crime should be worse than it is. It’s a miracle its so low and who knows maybe as the ConDem cuts start to bite we can have ourselves a crime wave. Politicians and the media love lying about crime in order to create fear of ourselves. We don’t go out onto our own streets making them more dangerous because the papers tell us not to. We don’t meet people on the street, do stuff on the street, talk about stuff on the street because we’ve been told by the media that the streets are full of…erm…us.
The BBC: Clarity on Crime
Fear also helps them push through things like stop-and-search, the useless anti-social behaviour legislation and the new brand of elected Robocops. Electing police is quite possibly the worse thing we could POSSIBLY do. The person who stands to be a police chief saying “well actually crime is a bit more complicated than just clubbing young people to death and hating gypsies” will get my vote…and no-one elses votes. And we also know why the media love this kinda crime. But really we don’t live in fear that the more grizzly of recent tales will befall us. Rather something more sinister is going on.
Sometimes people do bad things. Thats pretty much it. Yesterday loads of people could have done whatever they liked and got away with it. When you go into work tomorrow everyone will still be talking about this one fanny. These stories are really just horrific filler to distract us, their morbid details give people in offices something to witter about in the months between Britain’s Got Talent and the X-Factor. That’s the real point…Crime replaces news, debate, any kind of content or space and once again the tabloids have themselves a celebrity best seller.
Tory Chancellor George Osborne lets the capitalists know where he stands
Today was the announcement of the first round of cuts by the UK government, with £6 and a quarter billion coming out of public spending. It’s been a busy day for SSY, as we took direct action at several points throughout the day to oppose the ConDem savagery. But first, let’s have a look at what’s been announced.
Posh boy Chancellor George Osborne, and his Lib Dem henchman, the former senior banker at JP Morgan and Barclays, and current Chief Secretary to the Treasury, David Laws, were as chummy as the two rich pals they are announcing the cuts.
There’s lots of attempts to buy people off with headline grabbing measures like removing chauffeur driven limos for ministers (although even then they can still get one if needed for “security.”) But in reality things like this will be a drop in the ocean of the cuts announced today, which themselves are just the first taste of the brutal axe that the ConDems plan to take to public services, wages and benefits.
One of the biggest pieces of news is that child trust funds are to be scrapped. This was a scheme that gave all children born after 2002 an account with £250 in it to be saved and invested, that belongs to the child and can’t be touched until they turn 18. The idea behind it being that it gave an opportunity to people from lower income families to have a little bit of the advantage that rich kids have when they go off to uni or want to buy a house etc. It’s being phased out and scrapped entirely in January. No doubt private school boys like Cameron or Clegg won’t be that bothered, having plenty of Daddy’s money to back them up.
The PCS union for civil servants has condemned the proposed freeze on recruiting more people to work in the civil service. PCS members have been forced to repeatedly strike already against the huge attacks they’ve faced from Labour, and now their jobs are set to get even harder. The union has agreed to mount a major national campaign against the cuts, arguing that the money can be found from other sources, like making the rich pay their fair share of tax. General Secretary Mark Serwotka said:
“We have serious concerns about the staff in many government agencies who will have read in the media at the weekend that their jobs could be at risk, but have been given little information since.
“We do not accept that huge spending cuts are necessary or desirable, and we do not believe it is credible for the government to say it can protect public sector jobs and services while taking the axe to departments in this way.
“A recruitment freeze now, when tens of thousands of civil service posts have been cut in the last few years, will further add to workloads and put at risk the services our members provide to the public. We would welcome the opportunity for a full and honest debate about the public sector and its role in the economy, but the government appears intent on short-circuiting that by cutting first and asking questions later.”
In further attempts to make what they were up to look not that bad, the ConDems also have pledged not to cut “frontline services” in this round, for example by leaving out schools. However, for education this means that the cuts have hit hardest in further education. There’s going to be 10,000 fewer places at unis available this year than was previously planned, at a time when demand has skyrocketed by 16.5%. It’s going to get harder for young people to get into education, increasing the numbers forced to survive on benefits. Overall £200 million is coming out of higher education.
Where the ConDems send you with your UCAS form
Something that will hit the most vulnerable people in society the hardest is the £1.2 billion cut to local government grants. This is politically helpful for the ConDems, because local councils will be the ones that have to make the choices about which services that people depend on will be axed. But the people who depend most on the services provided by local councils are overwhelmingly the poorest and most vulnerable.
They’re also axing the future jobs fund, which helps people on job seekers get a job for six months on the minimum wage. It’s far from perfect, and can force people into a pretty crap job compared to what they could be doing, but it is at least the minimum wage. What will come next will be workfare – forcing the unemployed to work for their pathetic dole money, at far below the minimum wage. In other words, slavery.
There’s other stuff too, such as the decision to seriously delay the building of a major centre for medical scientific research in London. We’ll update you with more info as it becomes clearer.
In Scotland, the actual cuts are deferred until next year. That doesn’t mean we’ve escaped unscathed though. The Scottish budget is losing £332 million, but it will be next year’s budget that the Scottish Parliament will be asked to axe, because this year’s has been set already. If the SNP Scottish Government was serious about standing up to cuts, they’d say they intend to resist this reduction, but we won’t hold our breath. The need to elect socialists to the Scottish Parliament next year has never been greater, to try and push for defiance of cuts imposed by a UK government that wasn’t elected in Scotland.
The ConDem government is composed of the parties that came 3rd and 4th in the last election. They have absolutely no mandate to attack the poorest Scots in this way. That was the message that SSY and SSP members took to the streets to spread today. We’ve already reported about our successful banner drop this morning, that was seen by thousands of rush hour commuters, and drew a lot of appreciative honks from drivers.
Later in the day, SSP Red Shirts took direct action to show our anger that an unelected government feels it has the right to ruin Scotland. We were inspired by the actions of the poor and working class in Thailand, who have faced the full force of the military as they demand the resignation of an unelected government. We decided to do the same in Glasgow.
SSP Red Shirts outside Robert Brown's office
Unfortunately, the only real public premises of either of the ConDem parties in the city centre is the constituency office of Lib Dem MSP Robert Brown. While he isn’t personally part of the UK government, he is a public representative of a party that is propping up the Tories. Without Lib Dem support the Tories wouldn’t be in a position to take power, and we think that all Lib Dems shouldn’t be allowed to forget their complicity in government butchery.
SSP organiser Richie Venton, who helped make the protest happen, said:
“In faraway Thailand an unelected dictator, educated at Eton school for the very rich and privileged, is facing determined opposition from the urban and rural poor, organised as the Red Shirts movement.
Meanwhile, an Eton-educated Tory Prime Minister who was rejected by 85% of Scottish voters is out to rule and ruin Scotland without a mandate.
Cameron plans to commit carnage against public sector jobs, workers’ pay and pensions, and the vital local public services they provide. He is only able to launch this Tory butchery because of Lib Dem treachery.
The Lib Dems posed as an anti-cuts party during the general election and conned a minority in Scotland into voting for them; now they have formed the Twin Tory government that will cut taxes on the rich and big Corporations, whilst slashing up to 100,000 Scottish jobs.
The Scottish Socialist Party is determined to unite workers and communities to resist, defy and defeat these cuts. At noon, the SSP Red Shirts marched into the offices of Glasgow Lib Dem MSP Robert Brown to conduct a polite, peaceful dialogue with him, putting him on the spot about the treacherous role of the Lib Dems in propping up the vicious Tory government.”
Robert vs Red Shirts
To be fair to Robert, he took the whole thing mostly in good humour, although when we told him we were the Red Shirts his crack that we’d “get shot” rang a bit hollow considering the Lib Dems, through their membership of the international Liberal Alliance, support the violent, pro-monarchy, anti-democratic Yellow Shirts in Thailand. He also at one point got into a bit of fairly heated debate with James N, telling the SSP’s Glasgow Central candidate to “shut up.”
Apart from the cuts, and our refusal to accept his assertion that the Lib Dems would make sure they were “fair” when they refuse to tax the rich, and make the poor pay the cost, we also took up a few other issues. We demanded he explain why the Lib Dems, who won so many votes by pretending to be against nuclear weapons, are now part of a government that will replace Trident and build new nuclear power stations.
And we also challenged him on the Lib Dem claim to have ended the detention of the children of asylum seekers, just after Nick Clegg and Liberal ministers stood by and allowed Sehar, and her baby Wania, Shabaz to be deported back to Pakistan on Saturday, where they face violence and ostracism. Whatever happens to them there is on the hands of the ConDem government. Robert claimed the government was “making progress” on the issue, but the progress only seems to be families progressing down the motorway in the back of a van to incarceration in Yarl’s Wood instead of Dungavel. He might call it progress, but to us a baby in a private prison is still unacceptable, whether the prison is in Scotland or England.
Once we’ve edited them we’ll update the article with the video highlights of our exchange, so keep checking back. As you’ll see, we remained respectful and peaceful, and left without having disrupted his day’s work too much.
In the big picture, the cuts today were carefully handled by the ConDems. The politics behind today’s announcement was all aimed at proving to the rich and the international markets that they have a government in Britain that is unequivocally on their side. Their plan clearly was to try and make a small amount of their overall planned cuts today, trying to minimise it to the public while showing their bosses and colleagues in the financial elite that they’re serious about making the poor pay for the rich’s mistakes.
Expect as the months go on for them to slowly bleed us with cut after cut, until we’re faced with hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs, benefits and services. For us, today’s actions were only a beginning to a rolling programme of resistance. The ConDems are desperate to make people believe there is no alternative to making us pay for a crisis we didn’t create. But there is. The huge wealth of the banks and the super rich is what should be used, not money taken from the poorest and most vulnerable. That’s the message we’ll be taking again and again to the streets and picket lines. One of the biggest next steps will be building action against the emergency budget, due to be announced on June 22nd. Watch this space!
One of their most hard hitting statistics is that not only that 90% women involved in prostitution in Scotland want to get out of it immediately, but that they had also never made the voluntary choice to enter the industry in the first place.
“We do not accept that huge spending cuts are necessary or desirable, and we do not believe it is credible for the government to say it can protect public sector jobs and services while taking the axe to departments in this way.
Entries (RSS)
