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EVERY AUGUST REMEMBER HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI & THE ODIOUS WAR CRIMES COMMITTED BY THE UNITED STATES AND THEIR RACIST PRESIDENT TRUMAN – NEVER AGAIN
We marched on Saturday in support of Scottish independence and unilateral nuclear disarmament On Saturday my wife Gail and daughter Gabrielle joined several hundred other marchers in the rain down at Helensburgh to march against nuclear weapons and for Scottish independence. As we walked past the Faslane Peace camp and near to the Nuclear Submarine base South Gate the sun appeared to brighten the day and remind us of the natural beauty of the area which is so grotesquely offended by the existence of a monstrous threat to humanity. The Trident nuclear submarines and missiles they carry are a horrible carbuncle placed in Scotland by the mighty United States of America and controlled by that international bully and primary rogue nation across the planet. The cause of Scottish independence and unilateral nuclear disarmament are integrally linked and marching for both on Saturday was both worthwhile and necessary.
The 6th of August 2022 will mark 77 years to the day since America committed one of the most devastating, deadly, and disgraceful war crimes in human history. A crime against humanity that was fuelled by rancid racism, vile disregard for human life, and nefarious intentions. For 77 years the US has promoted and manipulated a deceitful narrative to justify an abhorrent war crime for which they have never apologised. It is the duty of truth seekers and men and women of peace to explain the real circumstances which surrounded the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6th and 9th August respectively in 1945. The argument of necessity simply crumbles in the face of reasonable and objective examination.
‘Bairns Not Bombs’ encapsulates our movement for independence and peace The decision to unleash hitherto unimaginable destructive force via man-made missiles on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been robustly denounced over the last seventy seven years but from sources roundly ignored, demonised and/or discredited with the full weight of the ‘mainstream Establishment’ deployed to defend it, justify it and protect it from proper and thorough scrutiny. So much so that most schools and colleges across the Western hemisphere still teach the hideous lie that unleashing the literal hell of uranium and plutonium equipped bombs on the civilian populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary to save lives and end the 2nd world war in Japan.
It wasn’t necessary at all. It was in fact a hideous and shocking crime against humanity, a war crime for which no one has ever been convicted.
To better understand the decision let us examine the mind-set of the man who took it after only four months in office as one of the least prepared and generally unqualified Presidents of the United States of America, Harry S. Truman. He owed his political advance to the dark forces within the Democratic Party machine who promoted him not to his own personal skills or achievements as a Senator. He represented a victory for the corrupt practices and nepotism within politics which is commonly nowadays called ‘The Swamp’.
Raised on a Missouri farm the oldest of three children the twenty-seven-year-old Harry Truman expressed his world view in a letter to his future wife Bess in 1911:
“I think one man is as good as another as long as he’s honest and decent and not a nigger or a Chinaman. Uncle Will says that the Lord made a white man of dust, a nigger from mud, then threw up what was left and it came down a Chinaman. He does hate Chinese and Japs. So do I. It is a race prejudice I guess” https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jul-18-oe-kuznick18-story.html.
Even his reverential biographer, Merle Miller, admitted in the Truman biography “Plain Speaking” that throughout his life;
“… privately Mr. Truman always said ‘nigger’; at least he always did when I talked to him. He also often privately referred to Jews as “kikes” https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jul-18-oe-kuznick18-story.html.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t regard the written opinions of a twenty seven year old man to be the over-exuberant ravings of a developing youth. By that age you have formed opinions of your own and what you write should justifiably be held up as a representation of you and your character.
Read the Untold History of the United States for the real story of Hiroshima The excellent and thoroughly recommended ‘The Untold History of the United States’ by Oliver Stone & Peter J. Kuznick exposes the collective mind-set of the nation that racist President Truman was leading. He was on record years earlier as a “Japs” hater while mainstream newspapers and outlets were questioning if Japanese people were actually human. ‘Time’ magazine wrote on July 5th 1943:
“The ordinary, unreasoning Jap is ignorant. Perhaps he is human. Nothing … indicates it” (Stone & Kuznick (2013) p149)
While the British Ambassador in Washington reported to London that “the Americans viewed the Japanese as a “nameless mass of vermin” and displayed “universal ‘exterminationist’ anti-Japanese feeling” (Stone & Kuznick; p149)
Acclaimed 2nd World War correspondent, Ernie Pyle, was transferred from Europe to the Pacific in February 1945 and wrote:
“In Europe we felt that our enemies, horrible and deadly as they were, were still people. But out here I soon gathered that the Japanese were looked upon as something subhuman and repulsive; the way some people feel about cockroaches or mice” (At War with Metaphor: Media, Propaganda, and Racism in the War on Terror; Erin Steuter, Deborah Wills, p48).
This material is the absolutely essential background to the wicked and ghastly decision to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for every objective and reasonable examination of the correspondence, communications and intelligence available to the US Government in mid-1945, especially after the surrender of the German Nazi forces in May 7th, exposes the fact that the Japanese were willing to surrender without the need for a US led invasion and that they feared more than anything else the advance of the Soviet Red Army after they resolved to aid the Americans once Hitler was defeated in Europe.
Japan was a devastated, demoralised and virtually defenceless nation. Their only objection to surrender was the term “unconditional” as they feared it would mean complete destruction of their way of life and existence. They were pro-actively seeking terms of surrender and were in contact with the Soviets to broker such a deal. The US dropped atomic bombs on them not to prevent further loss of life in combat but to establish world hegemony as the only Superpower both equipped and willing to use atomic bombs. That is the hidden truth.
When the B-29 called Enola Gay dropped the uranium bomb with a yield of 16 kilotons of TNT on Hiroshima at 8.15am on the morning of 6th August 1945 it was an act of brutal and unnecessary force which killed tens of thousands instantly as the 5,500 Degrees Fahrenheit heat instantly vaporised those immediately within the hypocentre of the unprecedented blast. Humans were turned to smoking black char in a fraction of a second as their internal organs boiled away into the ether. Over 140,000 perished from the blast by the end of 1945 and over 200,000 were victims by 1950.
The US military official report said 3,242 Japanese troops had been killed in the operation.
President Truman was told of the successful bombing of Hiroshima with the world’s first Atomic bomb while dining on the USS Augusta travelling back from Potsdam. He jumped up from the dining table and exclaimed:
“This is the greatest thing in history.”
Shortly afterwards he said that announcing the news of Hiroshima was the “happiest” announcement he had ever made (Stone & Kuznick, p171).
The brutal, conscious, and calculated crime against humanity in Hiroshima was then repeated without a morsel of justification in Nagasaki three days later on August 9th.
The initial target was Kokura but poor visibility forced the pilot Charles Sweeney to drop the implosive plutonium bomb on downtown Nagasaki instead. It landed two miles off target and exploded over the largest Catholic cathedral in Asia with its 21-kiloton force incinerating anything and everything within several miles. At least forty thousand human beings died immediately, only 250 of them were soldiers. By the end of 1945 the death toll from the blast rose to seventy thousand and within five years the number of victims reached one hundred and forty thousand.
The radioman in one of the B-29’s that accompanied the Enola Gay as it dropped the first bomb over Hiroshima on August 6th was Abe Spitzer. His plane was called the Great Artiste and his commentary on the explosion they witnessed was haunting to the core:
“Below us, spread out almost as far as I could see, was a great fire, but it was like no ordinary fire. It contained a dozen colours, all of them blindingly bright, more colours than I imagined existed and in the centre and brightest of all, a gigantic red ball of flame that seemed larger than the sun. Indeed, it seemed that, somehow, the sun had been knocked out of the sky and was on the ground below us and beginning to rise again, only coming straight up toward us – and fast” (Stone & Kuznick p167).
The view from the ground was very different. It wasn’t just about light and colour but more about searing heat, devastation, charred bodies, and dust.
Sankichi Toge became Hiroshima’s most renowned atomic bomb poet and although he died in 1953 aged only thirty-seven his observational poem, ‘August Sixth’, lives on as a powerful testament to the evil which was committed that day:
How could I ever forget that flash of light!
In an instant thirty thousand people disappeared from the streets;
The cries of fifty thousand more
Crushed beneath the darkness…
Then, skin hanging like rags,
Hands on breasts;
Treading upon shattered human brains….
Crowds piled on the river bank, and on rafts fastened to the shore,
Turned gradually into corpses under the scorching sun….
The conflagration shifts. . .
Onto heaps of schoolgirls lying like refuse
So that God alone knew who they were. . . .
How could I forget that quiet
Which descended over a city of three hundred thousand?
The calm
How could I forget the pleas
Of a dying wife and child
Emitted through the whiteness of their eyes,
Piercing our minds and souls!
(Robert Jay Lifton, Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima (New York: Random House, 1967), p441-442)
Please pause and re-read that poem and then consider the reaction of President Truman on hearing the news of the successful Hiroshima operation. Remember he called it ‘The greatest thing in history’. He was so pleased with the massive devastation and destruction that he gave the go ahead for a repeat exercise three days later. The radioman Abe Spitzer said he and the other crew members of the Great Artiste couldn’t believe the decision was taken to wipe another city off the face of the earth after witnessing the Hiroshima explosion:
“There was no need for more missions, more bombs, more fear and more dying. Good God, any fool could see that” (Miller and Spitzer, We Dropped the A-Bomb, (1946) p57-59).
‘Any fool’ but not President Truman or the military Generals and political fellow travellers who he surrounded himself with.
The chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials which determined the inhumane actions of the Nazis were crimes against humanity and international war crimes was Telford Taylor. He called the Nagasaki bombing a war crime:
“The rights and wrongs of Hiroshima are debateable, but I have never heard a plausible justification of Nagasaki” (Stone & Kuznick, p 173)
The Hiroshima bomb was nicknamed Little Boy and the Nagasaki one Fat Man. Inappropriate nicknames for weapons which caused so much death, destruction and lifetime disease and illness. These two messengers of death and destruction are related to the modern batch of nuclear missiles but only distantly. While one bomb destroyed, and devastated Hiroshima Scotland’s Faslane nuclear submarine base is home to 220 of them each with a destructive force at least 8 times greater than Little Boy and Fat Man.
Nuclear weapons are the most indiscriminate weapons ever created. They are incapable of differentiating between civilians and combatants in any conflict. The rules of war demand that opposing armies target each other and avoid targeting civilians or civilian targets. Nuclear weapons ignore every dot and comma of the Geneva Convention designed to order the conduct of armed conflicts. They are illegal in that respect, and they are immoral in their devastation of innocent civilians.
Every August we have a duty as human beings to remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki and commit ourselves to the earliest possible decommissioning of nuclear missiles. In the cause of unilateral nuclear disarmament, I have been arrested on six different occasions and served two short prison sentences. I am not ashamed or embarrassed by those arrests and prison terms. I am embarrassed I have not done more to stop the evil which nuclear weapons represent. I support all peaceful actions aimed at disrupting the existence of nuclear weapons. They should never be allowed to be normalised. They are immoral, illegal and a shameful scar on humanity.
Every August we must declare NEVER AGAIN and pursue nuclear disarmament as quickly and loudly as possible. That cause is inseparable from the cause of Scottish independence. Our new Scotland is about ‘Bairns Not Bombs’ and ‘Welfare Not Warfare’. That is a future worth marching for, campaigning for and voting for. The nightmare memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should always inspire us to keep going in the pursuit of independence for Scotland. America, on the other hand, should bow their heads in collective shame at the war crimes committed by President Truman in August 1945.
Author Tommy Sheridan: Former socialist MSP & Councillor, NUJ Member
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BUILD THE 19TH OCTOBER MOVEMENT FOR SCOTLAND’S FREEDOM – ENGLISH COURT MUST NOT DENY US OUR DEMOCRATIC RIGHT TO CHOOSE
The following blog is the script used to produce a recent short video in support of Scotland’s right to choose her own constitutional future https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRU81VMyoOQ. The appropriate links have been added.
The date of IndyRef2 has now been set for 19th October 2023 The whole independence movement in Scotland is now obligated to mobilise in support of and in preparation for the 19th of October 2023 IndyRef2 date with destiny
After winning three consecutive UK General Elections in 2015, 2017 and 2019 and two Scottish elections in 2016 and 2020 the SNP, Scotland’s principal party of independence has an unquestionable mandate to call and organise a second referendum on the constitutional future of Scotland
History is very important and demands respect – when the unelected clique acted behind the backs of the Scottish people in 1707 and sold out our independence as a nation, they betrayed our right to govern ourselves but not our sovereign identity as a nation – they agreed to a voluntary union which created a new entity called Britain without extinguishing the nations of Scotland or England https://electricscotland.com/history/articles/treaty.htm.
In July 2018 Westminster debated a motion which recognised the continued effect and power of the 1689 Claim of Right, endorsed by the Scottish Parliament in 1703 and never overturned since, that the Scottish people are sovereign and retain the right to determine whichever form of government they see fit https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2018-0171/.
Scotland is well equipped for independence This continued prevalence of the spirit and import of the Claim of Right was referred to by the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford in opening that debate he said:
“When the Scottish Parliament debated and adopted the claim of right in 2012, it did not endorse, and it was not being asked to endorse, the principle of independence; it was asked to acknowledge the principle of deciding on independence. So the claim of right is not just an historical document, a scholarly debating point or an “obscure document; it is a fundamental principle on which our democracy rests. The UK Government, in accepting this tonight, are making a serious and important point about maintaining the Union as a partnership of equals—they need to understand that.”
He concluded his remarks with reference to the all-party SCC:
“In closing, we, and this Tory Government in particular, should reflect on the famous words of the convenor of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, Canon Kenyon Wright, who said at the opening of the convention:
“What if that other voice we all know so well responds by saying, ‘We say no, and we are the state’? Well, we say yes—and we are the people.”
The eloquent and effective Joanna Cherry intervened during that debate to remind Parliament of the United Nations Charter of Human Rights:
“Earlier in this debate, I intervened on the Secretary of State for Scotland to ask him whether he supported the principle of self-determination in article 1 of the charter of the United Nations, and I was very pleased that he said that he did. For those who need reminding, this is what article 1 says:
“All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.”
Westminster that evening of 4th July 2018 upheld the principle and letter of the 1689 Claim of Right just as the Scottish Parliament did during its similar debate in 2012
Main Question accordingly put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House endorses the principles of the Claim of Right for Scotland, agreed by the Scottish Constitutional Convention in 1989 and by the Scottish Parliament in 2012, and therefore acknowledges the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs.
Think of those words: acknowledges the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs
How on earth can those words and that agreed motion be consistent with denying Scotland the right to a second independence referendum after the party of Scottish independence has won five consecutive UK and Scottish national elections?
Are words worthless or do they matter?
Independence is for our children and future generations of Scots The Scottish Independence Referendum Bill has been published – the date of the second independence referendum has been set for 19th October 2023 https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/strategy-plan/2022/06/scottish-independence-referendum-bill/documents/scottish-independence-referendum-bill/scottish-independence-referendum-bill/govscot%3Adocument/Draft%2BBill%2B-%2B27%2BJune%2B2022.pdf?forceDownload=true.
The idea that we, the Scottish people, or the Scottish Parliament, the elected voice of the Scottish people, should allow an English court to rule on our right to determine our constitutional future is outrageous and preposterous https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-62271069.
It makes a mockery of the Claim of Right endorsed by the Scottish Parliament in 2012 and the British Parliament in 2018.
If we truly believe in democracy and the sovereign right of the people to decide we must insist that the 19th October Referendum proceeds with or without Westminster consent.
To those Unionists who bleat about democracy while denying it to the people of Scotland and hide behind the fiction of a ‘once in a generation’ remark that appears in no documents or agreements we must acquaint them with the actual terms of the Northern Ireland Act of 1998, passed in the same year as the Scotland Act
The timescale between constitutional referendums is defined in law – 7 years The question of time between constitutional referendums is unambiguously laid bare for all to read:
Northern Ireland (1988) Act
Section 1
1 Status of Northern Ireland.
- It is hereby declared that Northern Ireland in its entirety remains part of the United Kingdom and shall not cease to be so without the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland voting in a poll held for the purposes of this section in accordance with Schedule 1.
And Schedule 1 is clear for all to see:
SCHEDULE 1
Polls for the purposes of section 1
- The Secretary of State may by order direct the holding of a poll for the purposes of section 1 on a date specified in the order.
- Subject to paragraph 3, the Secretary of State shall exercise the power under paragraph 1 if at any time it appears likely to him that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland.
- The Secretary of State shall not make an order under paragraph 1 earlier than seven years after the holding of a previous poll under this Schedule (my emphasis)https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/47/schedule/1/enacted
There we have it clear as day and agreed by all Westminster parties almost unanimously that a poll on Northern Ireland re-unifying with Ireland will have a seven-year interval – It is written into law.
That is the legal definition of a political generation for the purposes of a constitutional referendum in Northern Ireland. Why on earth would a different timescale be applied to Scotland? A political generation in terms of referendums is not ’25-40 years’ it is, as defined in law, 7 years.
Our 2014 Referendum took place 8 years ago – our new referendum – in the changed political circumstances of withdrawal from the European Union against Scotland’s will and the victory of the Scottish Party of independence in 5 consecutive elections – will take place 9 years after the first referendum
Should the Unionists choose to boycott that referendum so be it – our task will be to ensure a turnout of more than 50% of the eligible Scottish population and a resounding victory for YES to the question of whether we should become independent again
Still YES – Hope Over Fear No ifs, buts or maybes – the mandates are numerous – the will of the Scottish people is clearly expressed in 5 separate elections – we cannot lie down to Westminster bullying – we cannot accept Tory denial of democracy – we must stand up united as one and declare 19th October as our day of destiny
Backing down, shying away, crumbling in the face of Tory tyranny is not an option for genuine democrats and Scottish patriots – the date has been announced – stick with it come what may – build an unstoppable 19th October Movement for Scottish Democracy and unite the whole of Scotland around the Right to Choose our own form of government – the most basic of human rights
This year the annual Hope Over Fear Rally takes place on the 18th of September Say it loud, say it proud and say it often – 19th October is our day of destiny and hopefully our day of freedom – unlocking Scotland’s potential to build a new, fairer, more just and nuclear weapon free independent country – Get involved – unite all the Scottish independence campaigns – Build the 19th October Movement – ASSEMBLE IN GLASGOW ON SUNDAY 18th SEPTEMBER FROM 12 NOON ONWARDS AND CELEBRATE WHAT WE NEARLY ACHIEVED EXACTLY 8 YEARS AGO IN 2014 AND MOST OF ALL WHAT WE WILL ACHIEVE NEXT YEAR ON 19TH OCTOBER – JOIN THE HOPE OVER FEAR YESTIVAL FOR SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE
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TORY LEADERSHIP CONTEST REMINDS US WHY SO MANY DESPISE THAT PARTY AND SOME CONSIDER THEM ‘LOWER THAN VERMIN’
Tories are like snow – They cover up everything and lie everywhere Watching the Tory leadership circus unfold in recent days has reminded me in technicolour why I despise the Tory party and everything they stand for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLe8y7oErkU
It has been a circus of the worst excesses of humanity competing with each other for the right to manage the continued decline in living standards for ordinary people and warfare on workers while cradling and comforting the rich and powerful.
The most ignorant, bigoted, chauvinistic, selfish, narrow minded, and soulless people on the planet get to decide between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss who the next Prime Minister of the UK should be – they are the members of the Tory Party – commonly known as the Nasty Party https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtT8vdptG_w
In 2019 there were 160,000 of them – less than 0.5% of the UK Population – Recent research has confirmed that almost 55% of the Tory Party live in London or the South of England; Over 50% are aged over 60 years of age; and 97% of them are white https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/08/tory-members-over-60-white-male-choice-of-leader.
This tiny, old, white, mostly male and thoroughly unrepresentative collection of chauvinistic British nationalists will get to decide who governs the whole of the UK for the next two years
The same people who up until recently served the lying, racist, incompetent and narcissistic twat Boris Johnson now compete to distance themselves furthest from him and talk about new turns and fresh starts – the reality is they are as stale, sour and putrid as curdled milk and hold not a single mandate to govern Scotland – they haven’t won a general election in Scotland since before I was born in 1964. They won in Scotland narrowly in 1955.
Despising the Tories is a national sport in Scotland and long may that sport thrive – after all what are the Tories?
My friend and fellow Scottish independista Craig Murray summed them up perfectly on Twitter recently:
The Tory Party is of course deeply split between three factions: bastards driven by a ruthless ideology, bastards driven purely by personal gain, and bastards driven by both. https://twitter.com/craigmurrayorg/status/1016372857117577218?lang=en-GB
The late and sorely missed Scottish author Iain Banks applied his wise mind to address the issue of ‘nice’ Tories via a character in his novel The Quarry:
“I’m not arguing there are no decent people in the Tory party but they’re like sweetcorn in a turd; technically they kept their integrity but they’re still embedded in shit”
Iain Banks described the Tories perfectly The writer of the excellent 1996 film Brassed Off, Mark Herman, compelled us all to cheer spontaneously with his spot-on explanation of how the Tory Party was created delivered expertly by Phil, the miner struggling to pay his debts and provide for his family and facing the loss of his job, played by Stephen Tompkinson:
“So God was creating man. And his little assistant came up to him and he said: “Hey, we’ve got all these bodies left, but we’re right out of brains, we’re right out of hearts and we’re right out of vocal chords.” And God said: “fuck it. Sew ’em up anyway. Smack smiles on the faces and make them talk out of their arses.” And lo, God created the Tory Party.”
Phil in Brassed Off reminded us how the Tory Party was created And of course, we should never forget the passionate and angry analysis of the Tories delivered by Nye Bevan in July 1948 after many years battling against that party of the rich which voted 21 times to prevent the life saving and life enhancing National Health Service being born – a health service which gave working class families access to healthcare and medicine for the first time after it was formed in 1946. Bevan despised how the Tories fought tooth and nail against universal healthcare and opposed any measures to address the grinding poverty of the day:
“No amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party… So far as I am concerned, they are lower than vermin. They condemned millions of first-class people to semi-starvation.”
Nye Bevan the architect of our NHS had a very low opinion of the Tory Party Bevan was right in 1948 and that party remains lower than vermin today – the Tories are like snow – they cover up everything and lie everywhere – they reek of death, decay, and inherited privileges.
When you are dead you don’t know you are dead – the pain is felt by others – the same thing happens when you vote Tory – the pain is felt by others – whatever mistakes you make in life don’t make the selfish and stupid mistake of ever voting Tory.
The UK doesn’t need a new Tory leader they need to get rid of the Tories completely. We in Scotland certainly don’t need or want another Tory PM we didn’t vote for. We are fed up to the back teeth getting governments and Prime Ministers we didn’t vote for. We need a clean break from the Tories. The single biggest attraction of Scottish independence is no more Tory governments. Let’s seize that opportunity as quickly as possible.
Tommy Sheridan: Former socialist MSP & Councillor; NUJ Member
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James Connolly – Scottish Socialist, Trade Union Organiser, Irish Rebel, International Freedom Fighter
James Connolly Commemoration Plaque in Cowgate, Edinburgh Mick Lynch the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union leader has not only inspired workers across the UK with his honest, intelligent, passionate and uncompromising commitment to the cause of his members and the whole working class in the just campaign for wage increases which address the very real and financially crippling fall in living standards ushered in by Tory misrule over the last twelve years and an inflation rate running at over 9%, the highest rate in over forty years, he has also struck a blow for working class education by raising the name of the internationally renowned trade union organiser and socialist hero James Connolly and hopefully encouraging a new generation of workers to learn more about who he was and what he stood for.
While being interviewed on the ITV Peston show last month Mick Lynch was asked who is political hero was and the answer was proud and forthright, ‘James Connolly’ https://www.irishcentral.com/news/mick-lynch-james-connolly.
It is a tragedy of Scottish education that we learn nothing of real working-class Scottish heroes and heroines like James Connolly, John Maclean, Mary Barbour, and scores of others who fought against social injustice and poverty for the advancement of ordinary people’s lives and living standards. So few know anything about James Connolly and the role this son of Scotland played in the history of the trade union movement and the attempted emancipation of Ireland from brutal British colonial rule.
James Connolly was a son of Scotland
Even honoured and well recognised scholars of Irish history make fundamental errors when discussing James Connolly. Tim Pat Coogan is an outstanding Irish historian, broadcaster and writer with several definitive books to his name. One such book is ‘1916: The Easter Rising’ which is a treasure trove of information and analysis concerning the context and characters which were at the heart of the Irish rebellion yet pages 39-40 of the 2005 paper edition of the 2001 original hardback makes the following reference to Connolly:
“Connolly was born in County Monaghan in 1870. His parents moved to Edinburgh where he started work at the age of eleven. He educated himself by reading, married and returned to Ireland as a socialist organiser” (‘1916: The Easter Rising’ Phoenix Books, 2005).
Connolly was born on 5th June 1868 in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city, not in Ireland. Due to the number of Irish immigrants who resided there the Cowgate was often referred to as ‘Little Ireland’, but it was Scotland’s capital. James Connolly was Scottish, and we should be very proud of his contribution to Irish and working-class history.
On pages 126-127 the otherwise excellent Tim Pat Coogan account of the 1916 Easter uprising carries the reflections of Michael Collins, a giant of Irish history and historic Irish freedom fighter, on Connolly in the immediate aftermath of the failed uprising:
“Of Pearse and Connolly I admire the latter the most. Connolly was a realist. Pearse the direct opposite. There was an air of earthy directness about Connolly. It impressed me. I would have followed him through hell had such action been necessary. But I honestly doubt very much if I would have followed Pearse – not without some thought anyway”.
James Connolly was an inspirational socialist, trade union organiser and Irish freedom fighter I urge all readers of this blog to be inspired by what follows and the mention of James Connolly by Mick Lynch to read more and learn more about what Connolly stood for, fought for, and ultimately gave his life for at the hands of a British execution firing squad aged 47 years of age.
A few years ago, I was asked to record a short two-minute video for Sputnik UK about James Connolly. I attempted to pay homage to one of Scotland’s finest sons for his role in leading an uprising against British imperialist rule in Ireland. It was a challenge to honour the socialist giant in such a short oral piece but hopefully my admiration for him and the legacy he has left those of us who believe in social justice, national freedom and socialism is clear to all who watch it https://www.facebook.com/SputnikNews/videos/567992340349338/.
Over the five-day period from April 24th – April 29th 1916 James Connolly was one of the key leaders of what became known as the ‘Easter Uprising’ which was dedicated to Irish freedom and the creation of a fairer, progressive, democratic and independent Irish republic.
The 1916 Easter Uprising Lasted Only Five Days But Left A Lasting Legacy
Four main groups were behind the rising; The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), which was formed in the mid-19th century, led by Thomas Clarke and Seán Mac Diarmada; The Irish Volunteers, a military group formed in 1913, whose members accounted for the largest number of men who participated in the Easter Monday uprising; The ‘League of Women’, which organised over 200 of its members to take part; And the Irish Citizen Army (ICA), a socialist militia, formed by James Connolly during the bitter Dock strike of 1913 in Dublin.
The key group was a seven-man IRB military council, drawn from the IRB, Irish Volunteers, and ICA. Together they planned the Easter Rising with complete secrecy. They were, after all, planning a rebellion against the most powerful Empire on the planet.
For hundreds of years Irish men and women resented how Britain exploited their country in the name of that British Empire. Some two thirds of the world was at one time colonised by Britain. Enthusiasts would boast about how the Empire was that big that ‘the sun never set’ at any one time on all of it. Less obedient and more astute observers would reply that ‘the blood never dried’ either. Throughout the world Britain plundered the resources and natural wealth of nations and brutally subjugated the people into subservience. The British Empire was built on the blood and natural resources of colonised lands. From such brutality and bloodshed the description of the British Union flag as the ‘Butcher’s Apron’ grew.
The British flag became known worldwide as the ‘Butcher’s Apron’ such was the brutality associated with it and British colonial subjugation The Irish rebellion of Easter 1916 would send ripples of encouragement to defiant rebels opposed to British colonial rule across the world. James Connolly’s great achievement was to articulate and explain the necessary interspersing of the struggle for national freedoms with the struggle for socialism. His experience of working-class organisation and struggles against the boss class in Britain, America and Ireland linked to his avid reading of the history of the world as articulated by Marx and Engels taught him that national freedom was a prerequisite to the advance of socialism and that both struggles were inseparable from each other.
The overarching event which explains the timing of the Easter Uprising was the First World War. In pursuit of more profits through economic market dominance Britain was demanding the blood and sacrifice of its young male subjects on the muddy grounds in Flanders Fields which soon became caked with the blood and guts of young men conscripted into army uniforms. On either side of the trenches stood working class pawns in a ruling class game of war for greater control and influence over the world’s wealth and riches. The sacrificial lambs to the slaughter on those battlefields were fighting for the interests of the rich and powerful not their own class. Britain’s oldest survivor of the First World War, which was supposed to be the war to end all wars, called it nothing more and nothing less than ‘legalised mass murder’.
Harry Patch was Britain’s oldest survivor of WWI and called it ‘legalised mass murder’ Connolly agreed with the position of the First Workers International which represented the leading socialist and trade union groups from across Europe. Such groups were well organised and powerful in Germany, France, Italy, and Britain in 1914 before war was declared. Workers should not enlist to kill other workers on behalf of the boss class was the principled position of the First Workers International Federation. Sadly, many within that movement succumbed to the jingoism and chauvinism whipped up in their respective countries by the ruling elites and ended up on the side of the bosses in support of the war. Honourable exceptions included John Maclean in Scotland, Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg in Germany and James Connolly in Ireland.
To Connolly the First World War was not a just cause but a disaster for workers across the world ordered to kill one and other on behalf of the bosses. He declared;
“If these men must die, would it not be better to die in their own country fighting for freedom for their class, and for the abolition of war, than go forth to strange countries and die slaughtering and being slaughtered by their brothers that tyrants and profiteers might live?”
He also highlighted the hypocrisy of young men in Ireland being enlisted to fight for freedoms in other countries which were denied to them in Ireland.
“For generations the shamrock was banned as a national emblem of Ireland, but in her extremity, England uses the shamrock as a means for exciting in foolish Irishmen loyalty to England. For centuries the green flag of Ireland was a thing accurst and hated by the English garrison in Ireland, as it is still in their inmost hearts. But in India, in Egypt, in Flanders, in Gallipoli, the green flag is used by our rulers to encourage Irish soldiers of England to give up their lives for the power that denies their country the right of nationhood. Green flags wave over recruiting offices in Ireland and England as a bait to lure on poor fools to dishonourable deaths in England’s uniform” (From ‘The Irish Flag’, James Connolly, April 8th, 1916).
The words above appeared in a journal established by Connolly to agitate for a free Ireland and a socialist Ireland, the ‘Workers’ Republic’. Its very name embodied the revolutionary and democratic idea of a republic as opposed to the Monarchy which was head of state in Britain.
What is so inspiring about the life of James Connolly is how he rose from grinding poverty and squalor in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh to become one of the leaders of the Irish rebellion against the British Empire and a socialist revolutionary and trade union organiser of world renown. His writings are a rich collection of educational and inspirational nuggets for those who believe in justice, liberty and equality. Yet Connolly, unlike many other socialist icons, was not of educated middle class stock. He was born into a poor family of Irish immigrants but rose to lead his class and inspire a whole nation.
Connolly rose from the squalor of poverty in Edinburgh’s Cowgate to worldwide renown as a socialist leader, trade union organiser & Irish Freedom Fighter As mentioned earlier Connolly was born into the slum conditions which prevailed in Edinburgh’s Cowgate in June 1868. His mother Mary died as a result of the deprivation they suffered while Connolly was only a young boy. He attended school until he was 10 years of age but was then compelled to work for a newspaper firm cleaning the rollers of dried ink for each day’s production. It was hard and dirty work, but the family desperately needed the income.
Connolly First Entered Ireland In A British Army Uniform
In one of life’s rich ironies Connolly left the newspaper firm aged 14 to join the British army. He forged both his name and birthdate to secure recruitment. He served in it for seven years and was posted to Ireland, mainly around the area of Cork. There he witnessed ill-treatment of the Irish but not just by the army. He also saw how cruel and brutal Irish landlords were against the poor and developed a hatred of them which stuck with him throughout his life. He also developed a deep hatred of the British Army itself and deserted when his battalion was notified of a posting to India.
So, James Connolly, the man at the heart of the rebellion against the British army in Ireland, actually first set foot in Ireland dressed in a British army uniform. He joined the army as a 14-year-old boy but left as a 21 year old man thirsty for knowledge and determined to fight for justice and emancipation for the working classes. After getting married in Edinburgh and moving between Scotland, Ireland and America performing socialist and trade union organiser jobs he returned to Dublin in 1910 to become the Belfast organiser of the Irish Transport and General Workers union.
James Connolly’s life is fascinating and worthy of more detailed study. This blog is designed to merely whet your appetite for more knowledge about him. He supplies the Scottish link to the Irish Easter rebellion of 1916. He and the other Irish socialists and nationalists who participated in the rebellion united in the cause of Ireland’s freedom. The Proclamation of the Irish Republic, which was read on April 24th 1916 outside the Dublin GPO Office which became the HQ of the rebellion, was a visionary and progressive statement with Connolly’s influence evident;
“The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien Government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.
Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of a permanent National Government, representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages of all her men and women, the Provisional Government, hereby constituted, will administer the civil and military affairs of the Republic in trust for the people”.
The above two paragraphs from the six paragraph Proclamation declare for universal suffrage at a time when women were denied the vote and only certain categories of men were entitled to it. There was to be no unelected Monarchy but a democratically elected republic. Such a statement was revolutionary and ahead of its time in historical terms. All seven signatories participated in the rebellion. I encourage you to read it in full and be inspired https://www.tripsavvy.com/the-proclamation-of-the-irish-republic-1542953.
Mick Lynch RMT General Secretary Named James Connolly His Political Hero As the week progressed 106 years ago the fighting in some areas became more intense, leading to several prolonged, fiercely contested street battles. By Friday 28 April, about 18-20,000 soldiers had been amassed in Dublin against about 1,600 rebels while much of the city centre had been destroyed by British artillery fire.
The next day Pádraig Pearse, the acting President of the provincial government, surrendered unconditionally on behalf of the Volunteers and issued orders to this effect.
A total of 450 people were killed during the rebellion, among them 64 rebels. 2,614 were injured, and nine others were reported missing, almost all in Dublin. The rebel leaders who survived would soon be killed by the British state. The men were tried in secrecy at Richmond Barracks in Dublin at a series of field general courts-martial where they were permitted no defence counsel.
Connolly & His Other Irish Rebellion Leaders Were Executed By The British State
The executions began on the morning of 3 May with Pádraig Pearse, Thomas Clarke and Thomas MacDonagh being shot by firing squad at the Stonebreaker’s Yard in Kilmainham Gaol. The following morning Joseph Plunkett, Edward Daly, Michael O’Hanrahan and Willie Pearse were shot, followed by John MacBride on the morning after.
Éamonn Ceannt, Michael Mallin, Seán Heuston and Con Colbert were shot on 8 May, followed by Seán Mac Diarmada and James Connolly on 12 May.
Connolly had been badly injured and was being treated for bullet wounds to his legs in the Red Cross hospital which had been set up in Dublin Castle. He could not walk or stand. He was carried on a stretcher to Kilmainham Gaol where he was tied to a chair and executed.
The state murder of Connolly and all the rebel survivors caused outrage across Ireland and although the rebellion was defeated the spirit of freedom it inspired in the hearts of Irish citizens led to the demise of those who advocated meek Westminster permission for independence and led to the transformation of the electoral fortunes of the Sinn Fein party of 1905 committed to breaking entirely with Westminster.
They stood on a clear independence mandate at the British General Election of December 1918 serving notice that they would not take up seats in the British Parliament but instead set about the building of an independent Irish republic. They won 73 of the 105 seats contested and in January 1919 the Irish Republic was declared.
The defeated Easter Uprising in April 1916 had ushered in the spirit and desire for the new revolutionary republic which was declared in December 1919. So the independent state of Ireland was born and James Connolly and the Easter Uprising rebels were midwifes of that new free state. It is an event which should inspire freedom fighters and socialists across the globe.
The whole of Ireland may not yet be free but the desire for Irish unification and independence from Britain grows stronger. We in Scotland should be proud of our son James Connolly and the values of national freedom, social justice, and trade union organisation he stood for and fought for all his life. The song ‘Freedom Fighter’ by Edinburgh singer songwriter Kevin Gore pays proud tribute to Connolly’s memory and the memory of other freedom fighters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbcZJr3IanE.
Author Tommy Sheridan: NUJ Member & Former Glasgow MSP and Councillor
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JOHNSON IS A NASTY, LYING RODENT BUT THE TORIES ARE THE REAL PROBLEM – JOIN ALEX SALMOND AND I ON SATURDAY TO STAND UP FOR SCOTLAND’S INDEPENDENCE
Come along to the ALBA action for independence meeting on Saturday I was already looking forward to the Glasgow ALBA meeting this Saturday at the Grosvenor Hotel speaking alongside Alex Salmond, Scotland’s former First Minister and current ALBA leader, but after the chaos and shenanigans that have dominated the last 48 hours that meeting now assumes even greater significance. Westminster is in meltdown. The lying, racist, reprobate with the integrity by-pass has been forced to announce his resignation. Yet despite losing support like melting snow off a dyke from within his own rancid party he refuses to leave until October. He is a political zombie. UK incorporated is in turmoil. The need for Scotland to press her case for independence from this shit show is more pressing than ever.
After the unprecedented chaos of the appointment of three different Education Ministers within three days https://www.itv.com/news/2022-07-07/school-is-out-at-department-for-education-with-one-minister-left and 59 resignations from government within 48 hours the state of play by the time Alex and I stand at 1pm to address this ALBA meeting promoting the Wee Alba Blue Book and the case for Scotland’s independence is anybody’s guess. Speculation that Johnson is only refusing to leave just now so he can hold a wedding party in Chequers in a few weeks’ time https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-wife-carrie-host-27422792 is rife and the fact such a story is seriously considered underlines the paucity of substance and completely pathetic nature of Boris the Clown Johnson.
BORIS JOHNSON DISHONEST & DECEITFUL TO THE END
I listened to his wretched resignation speech and the mainstream media comments and punditry afterwards. It was a pitiful spectacle. Johnson was allowed to refer to his ‘Brexit success’, Covid19 ‘leadership’, vaccine rollout ‘triumph’, his perfidious ‘levelling up’ garbage and slavish support for the NATO/US proxy war in Ukraine and not one well paid mainstream media enabler of the Johnson reign took him to task for the web of lies he had just spun.
The Brexit ‘oven ready’ deal Johnson boasted of in 2019 has proved to be nothing but an undercooked and content free illusion with business and family consequences disastrous according to academic studies https://www.thenational.scot/news/20093332.brexit-uk-trade-eu-plummets-year-since-boris-johnsons-deal/ and a very real danger that the fragile peace deal in the North of Ireland could be undermined as the UK Government backed breaching international law and faces consequent EU Court action as a result in their attempt to shore up the lie laden Northern Ireland protocol https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/13/uk-risks-brexit-eu-trade-war-as-northern-ireland-protocol-bill-is-published.
Johnson should have resigned much earlier for his Covid19 failures Not one commentator took issue with his alleged Covid19 leadership. The guy was a disaster. He acted too late, did too little and utilised the global health pandemic as an investment opportunity for his rich Tory backers and friends to rip-off the public purse to the tune of billions through dodgy, illegal procurement deals. Last February one of the most qualified and best-informed health professionals in the UK accused Johnson of ‘social murder’ yet none of these facts were highlighted by the poodles in the mainstream media. Johnson’s real record in office must never be whitewashed.
JOHNSON & HIS TORY GANG ARE GUILTY OF ‘SOCIAL MURDER’
Kamran Abassi the qualified doctor, Honorary visiting professor at the of Department of Primary Care, Imperial College, London and executive editor of the British Medical Journal, one of the most respected medical publications in the world, suggested political failures in dealing with Covid19 could amount to “social murder” making the politicians responsible criminally liable for their actions and inactions https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n314. He drew attention to the two million deaths from the pandemic globally but in particular the acute differences in death tolls according to political choices with the UK boasting the lamentable record for the highest death toll in Europe and the fifth highest death toll in the world, a fact confirmed consistently in grim statistics at the time https://inews.co.uk/news/health/covid-deaths-country-uk-coronavirus-death-toll-countries-europe-worldwide-compared-846159.
In effect a medical professional called out the Boris Johnson government for a multitude of errors which had led to tens of thousands unnecessary deaths and avoidable anguish and emotional pain for hundreds of thousands. Sheer recklessness was the hallmark of the Tories from day one of the pandemic and a death toll that surpassed the ignoble 100,000 mark in January 2021 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/covid-deaths-uk-coronavirus-cases-latest-b1792224.html rose shamefully to over 120,000 only a month later https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-uk-covid-death-toll-23558952 and was the tragic consequence of reckless, irresponsible and incompetent Tory actions and inactions.
Referring to late responses, inadequate responses, and mistaken responses Professor Abassi drew attention to how Fredrich Engels used the term “social murder” in the 19th century to describe the deadly living conditions the ruling classes compelled the working classes to live in and how the use of the term by other academics about the Tories today was entirely appropriate:
“More broadly, we observe that Boris Johnson’s government has presided over a lamentable political and moral failure. The systemic indifference and collective incompetence of ministers, and the evasions and half-truths at regular press briefings, have been legitimated by the pseudo-scientific gloss of many experts and allowed to pass relatively unchallenged by media seemingly committed to working towards some mythical “national interest”. Whatever public inquiries or legal actions follow, many of the 100,000-plus deaths so far officially recorded in the UK condemn the government to being guilty of what Friedrich Engels called “social murder” – forcing sections of the population to live in conditions which have inevitably led to avoidable, premature deaths, and will continue to do so” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/27/the-failings-behind-the-uks-abysmal-death-toll.
CRIMINALITY IS AT THE HEART OF THE TORY GOVERNMENT
The Tories are guilty of ‘social murder’ during the Covid19 pandemic and no amount of media manipulation and coordinated spin operations paid for by taxpayers’ money will hide that fact. The Johnson gang are criminally negligent for the avoidable Covid19 deaths that occurred during their watch, but they are also literal criminals. Lawbreakers who should be exposed for their crimes and made to pay. But not if you have the most corrupt, docile, and slavish mainstream media money can buy.
Covid19 death rates in England were appalling Hapless Matt Hancock, the former Tory Minister for Health and the awarding of dodgy contracts to friends and Tory donors was found guilty of breaking the law in court on 18th February 2021 https://drive.google.com/file/d/19QsmLv8LkAL9EO6D-HSlmOHJ4VpoSPn5/view in a judgement which should have resulted in his sacking and public humiliation prior to criminal prosecution but the cowardly and cosy mainstream media all but ignored the scandal https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2021/02/20/hancock-faces-resign-demands-over-his-unlawful-covid-19-contracts/.
Compare and contrast such behaviour with the hounding of Jeremy Corbyn during his stint as Labour leader and the amplification of any calls on him to resign https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-36693150 despite being elected convincingly by Labour’s members not once but twice.
A Tory Minister was found guilty of breaking the law in relation to transparency and accountability in the awarding of billions of pounds worth of contracts during the Covid19 pandemic. There were no proper notifications, tendering processes, or even contract award notices and the news outlets hardly uttered a word of condemnation and there was certainly no serious questioning of his fitness for office. I can’t stand arrogant and narcissistic Piers Morgan but at least he tried to call Hancock out and challenge him to resign after the court decision https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/raging-piers-morgan-erupts-matt-23548364 only to be ignored, stonewalled and treated to typical sophistry about how wonderful “his team” had been performing so how dare anyone ask about why contracts were dished out to mates without proper accountability or details.
TORIES HANDED OUT BILLIONS IN DODGY DEAL TO THEIR DONORS & CHUMS
This is the guy and team who awarded a £272 million contract to P14 Medical Ltd when the company was technically bust with negative assets of £485,000. But the Director is Steve Dechan a former Tory councillor and friend of senior Tories so there is nothing to see there.
The guy and team who awarded a £253 million contract to Ayanda Capital in a deal brokered by Andrew Mills adviser to Secretary of State for International Trade at the time Liz Truss that delivered £155 million worth of face masks that were deemed unusable. Nothing to see there.
The guy and team who awarded a £203 million contract to MEDPRO UK set up by Tory Lady Michelle Mone’s friend Anthony Page a mere 7 WEEKS before the contract was awarded without any tendering process and despite the fact the new company had absolutely no experience in provision of PPE equipment. Nothing to see there.
If you want to understand just how rotten to the core and corrupt the UK is and why Mr Hancock and his ‘team’ should be in a dock not applauded take the two minutes and seven seconds required to watch the stunning expose of Tory cronyism and criminality which was constructed by the team at Phantom Power which documented the screed of dodgy contracts awarded in 2020 and shames the laziness and puny priorities of the mainstream media https://twitter.com/PhantomPower14/status/1363843017162059777.
Tories always betray ordinary workers – Its in their Nasty DNA Hopeless, hapless Hancock was eventually forced from office for breaking social distancing rules during an office affair with an aide https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57625508 but the serial awarding of dodgy contracts went unpunished. Judge Chamberlain found Matt Hancock guilty of acting illegally in the awarding of scores of government contracts. He said in court:
“The Secretary of State acted unlawfully by failing to comply with the Transparency Policy” … “there is now no dispute that, in a substantial number of cases, the Secretary of State breached his legal obligation to publish Contract Award Notices within 30 days of the award of contracts.”
“The Secretary of State spent vast quantities of public money on pandemic-related procurements during 2020. The public were entitled to see who this money was going to, what it was being spent on and how the relevant contracts were awarded ” https://goodlawproject.org/update/the-judgment-is-in/.
Hancock and Johnson should be in criminal docks for what they did during Covid19 not allowed to distort history with references to leading the UK through the pandemic.
TORIES POLICIES HAVE CREATED MASS POVERTY & OBSCENE INEQUALITIES
On ‘levelling up’ Johnson should have been grasped around his throat and shaken until his hair stood on end. He recently attended hospital for what the public was informed was a ‘routine nasal procedure’ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/boris-johnson-ap-london-british-dominic-raab-b2105028.html but what really happened was tree surgeons were ordered to try and hack some oak from his lying nose.
There has been no ‘levelling up’ under Johnson or during the 12 years of Tory rule. Quite the opposite has happened as the rich have grown wealthier than ever but the poor have suffered terribly.
What there has been is the biggest fall in real wages in a generation https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/saving-and-banking/real-uk-wages-fall-december-pay-rise-cost-of-living-crisis-1461386;
the worst cost of living crisis in sixty years;
inflation higher than at any time in the last forty years https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/uk-inflation-hits-91-may-2022-06-22/;
and poverty levels amongst working citizens and lone parent households which are shameful and unprecedented in modern times;
Whilst the level of child poverty has reached new record levels and completely debunks any notion that the Tories have tackled poverty or the massive opportunity gap which engulfs many parts of the UK.
The late Iain Banks defined the Tories perfectly Tory bedlam and Westminster pandemonium is the perfect backdrop to push for Scotland’s renewed independence. Our three-hundred-year long attachment to the 1707 Treaty of Union which created Britain is holding us back as a nation and stifling the life chances of our children to prosper and realise their full potential. It was a voluntary union of nations that was signed. Scotland retained her sovereignty and under the 1689 Claim of Right which was the basis of the written Scottish constitution at the time and still holds true https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2022/07/07/so-what-do-salvo-plan-to-do-next/ sovereignty lies with the Scottish people not any Parliament and especially not an English Parliament.
My preference in advancing the practical cause and reality of Scotland’s independence is a Scottish Parliament organised referendum at our time and without seeking ‘permission’ from Westminster to hold. If Nicola Sturgeon is serious about securing Scotland’s independence, she would dispense with the futility of asking a British court to rule on the legality of a referendum to free Scotland from British rule. Of course, they will find in favour of British parliamentary sovereignty over us. That is the essence of their unwritten constitution. However, if the 1707 was entered into voluntarily it can be withdrawn from voluntarily if we can express the necessary public endorsement of such a move.
The 2014 Referendum was only ever ‘allowed’ by Westminster because they were certain they would win and years of conditioning Scots into believing we were too poor, too small, and too stupid to run our own affairs would guarantee a rejection of independence. We were at no more than 25% support for independence when Cameron agreed to the transfer of power under the Section 30 mechanism. During the yearlong campaign, we frightened the shit out of the British Nationalists and the rich Establishment. We grew from 25% to 45% and very nearly won. This time around we start at 50% or more and are sure to win after three years of Boris the Clown and the circus of Westminster sleaze, corruption, and utter deceit.
I say we hold our Referendum under our terms and conditions. We don’t seek permission. We inform whoever replaces Johnson of our intentions. If the unionists boycott such a poll so be it. We campaign like never before and push up both participation and the margin of victory. Some will say such a poll is illegal. I say in whose eyes. The eyes of a rigged legal system geared to do all in its power to protect the status quo and existing British Establishment. That is not legitimate legality. It is not legality based in informed consent. It is therefore illegitimate. Our Scottish Parliament Referendum would secure recognition internationally if the turnout is high and the margin of victory decisive.
SNP ROUTE MAP TO INDEPENDENCE ALWAYS INVOLVED MAJORITY OF SEATS AND CONFIRMATORY REFERENDUM UP UNTIL 1997 The Plan B to such a proposal is less straightforward but may be necessary. A plebiscite election in 2024 based on a single election platform of independence. In such circumstances certain conditions must be fulfilled. There needs to be an independence bloc agreed prior to the election committed to a socially progressive Scotland with protection of our publicly owned NHS, rejection of nuclear weapons and promotion of trade union rights and economic fairness and justice at the heart of the independence pledge. Some independence supporters, up to a third who support Labour, may not agree to vote SNP. That is understood. The cause of independence is bigger than any one party or individual. The cause must be primary. Unity around that cause not a particular party is what matters most.
The number of seats won from the 59 up for grabs or securing more than 50% of the votes cast and a majority of seats must be clarified before any poll. Since the inception of the SNP and up to 1997 their manifesto pledge to deliver independence was based on securing a majority of Westminster seats, a 6 month to 12-month period of negotiation and then a referendum based on the negotiated settlement. It would be precarious to suggest now that 50.1% of the votes at a general election were sufficient to withdraw from Westminster and pronounce independence without a vote on any proposed deal. A majority of votes at a general election are clearly sufficient to trigger real and time limited negotiations but the further step of a confirmatory referendum would in my opinion put the question beyond any doubt or rancour.
A further characteristic of a plebiscite election which demands consideration is the question of sitting in Westminster. Every candidate of the independence bloc standing for independence on a single-issue platform must commit to refusing an oath to the Crown and subservience to Westminster, effectively a foreign parliament. Standing for independence must mean what it says on the tin. Taking comfortable seats in the corrupt Westminster Parliament is not part of the plan.
On Saturday at the Grosvenor hotel Alex Salmond and I will encourage a few smiles at the demise of a nasty British nationalist like Boris Johnson but there should be no celebrating yet. He will soon be replaced by someone just as nasty, just as right wing, just as bereft of a democratic mandate to govern Scotland, but perhaps not as blatantly dishonest, narcissistic, and stupid.
However, the Tories are the ‘nasty party’. They represent the interests of the rich and powerful. On the 5th of July 1948 the NHS was created by the post-Second World War Labour government and largely due to the herculean efforts of Nye Bevan. It is essential that we all recall the Tories opposed universal healthcare tooth and nail. They voted against the formation of the NHS 21 times. They couldn’t care less that the poor suffered and died prematurely from easily preventable diseases and illnesses. They were nasty then and they are nasty now.
Nye Bevan described the Tories as lower than vermin When Bevan referred to them as ‘lower than vermin’, he meant it because of their cruel disregard for the ordinary lives of working-class families and children. Independence is not about getting rid of idiots like Boris Johnson its about always getting the government we vote for and consigning Tory governments in Scotland to the dustbin of history. Come along on Saturday and hear our case for an urgent, enthusiastic, radical, and inclusive independence campaign.
Author Tommy Sheridan, former Glasgow MSP & Councillor; NUJ Member
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Referendum, Plebiscite or Power Grab Con?
Ken Ross, Guest Writer
As a Socialist and Trade Unionist, I have stood up for, represented, campaigned and fought for the rights of working class people all my adult life.
I have strongly believed for many years that the advancement of working class people in Scotland, the eradication of poverty, the nationalisation of our public and essential services, as well as many other issues, can be best achieved in an independent Scotland, where the wealth of the country can be utilised for the betterment of all its citizens.
A wealthy independent country with a left leaning population, with a socially just outlook that would never be governed by rancid, right wing Tories ever again! What’s not to like?
On that basis, I have campaigned for an independent Scotland for many years.
Sturgeon’s Announcement
So, you would think that I would have been elated on hearing Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement last week that there will be a referendum on Scottish independence on 19th October 2023.
Well, not quite, as it’s not that a referendum “will” take place, but “may” take place, or more accurately, “probably won’t” take place!
The caveat is that the matter is dependent on a ruling by the UK Supreme Court (SC) as to the legal competence of a Referendum Bill that is enacted by the devolved Scottish Parliament.
Or to put it another way, the Scottish Government (SG) are seeking a ruling from the legal machinery of the very union they are trying to break away from!
It doesn’t take a genius to work out what the outcome of that is likely to be.
And if the SC does find against the SG, there will be no referendum, and I am completely unconvinced that the SC will find that legislation from a devolved Parliament on a reserved matter is competent… and I think Sturgeon knows it!
So, contrary to the emotional euphoria that many people have been getting carried away with since the announcement, I am much more subdued, as I prefer to take a more realistic view.
I have said for the past two years that there won’t be a referendum in 2023, despite Sturgeon’s promises, and her announcement last week has done nothing to convince me otherwise. In fact, I’m more convinced now than I’ve ever been before that it won’t happen.
Plan B
It is interesting that Sturgeon has also announced a Plan B, particularly given the fact that she was vehemently and repeatedly opposed to even having a discussion on a Plan B, despite calls from many SNP members to do so.
So, what is her Plan B? – To use the UK General Election (GE) in 2024 as a plebiscite election, should the SC rule against a referendum.
Again, up until last week, senior SNP figures also rubbished any suggestion to use an election as a plebiscite.
People like Pete Wishart MP has lambasted, belittled and ridiculed anyone and everyone for suggesting using an election as a plebiscite.
For example, he said:
“There are no short cuts to this. The Scottish people would never accept a ‘plebiscite’\GE for such a dramatic change to our nation’s constitution, the unionists won’t engage, the international community would be appalled. Going down this route would end any hope of ever winning”
I wonder if he thinks it’s a great idea now?!
De Facto Referendum
Significantly, within 24hrs of announcing the Plan B, the word “plebiscite” was replaced with the term “de facto referendum“! This is not by accident.
Along with introducing this term, they also determined that the measure for its success is to require over 50% of the number of votes cast, as opposed to a simple majority of seats won.
This is a game changer, with lots of unanswered questions, not least:
• Will the votes of all the independence parties be pooled to give an overall, single outcome, or will it just be SNP votes?
• If it is just SNP votes, is this an attempt by the SNP to force other independence parties to stand aside in order to be the only game in town?
• If it is a pool of all independence parties, will they require to have the same manifestoes in order for the outcome to be legally sound?
It is highly unlikely that the SNP would be able to attract over 50% of the vote on their own. No party has ever managed it before in Scotland. The SNP came close in the 2015 GE with 49.97%, but that wouldn’t be enough and it would certainly be a huge risk to bet on an improvement from an election eight years previous, especially since their vote has dropped in the intervening years.
So the pooling of all independence parties can be the only way to have any chance of success.
What is clear, with so many unanswered questions, is that basing the outcome on the number of votes has already massively compromised its success.
As well as these questions, there are other issues to consider between a referendum and a plebiscite GE:
Firstly, 16 and 17 year olds can’t vote in GEs. The majority of that age group, as the statistics showed from the 2014 referendum, voted Yes. That age group would be excluded in a plebiscite GE.
Secondly, there are a significant number of independence supporters who don’t vote SNP. I am one of them. I once advocated “lending them your vote“, but I have long since abandoned that.
As a Socialist, I just can’t bring myself to vote for a Capitalist Party that has moved steadily to the right – a Party that wants to keep an unelected feudal monarch as the head of state; that wants to retain the obscenity that is nuclear weapons; that wants to maintain an economic link with the Bank of England; that advocates privatisation; and that has thus far refused to work with the wider independence movement, choosing instead to vilify and attack them.
Thirdly, when you consider that the turnout for the 2014 referendum was 84.6%, there is simply no way that the same turnout would be achieved in a plebiscite GE. The turnouts in 2017 and 2019 were 66.4% and 68.1% respectfully. The biggest turnout in recent years was in 2015 with 71.1%. No GE has had a turnout in Scotland of over 80%.
However, despite these issues, for many years lots of people have been calling for elections to be used as a plebiscite, specifically the GE in 2019 and the Scottish Parliament Elections in 2021, but Sturgeon wouldn’t entertain it.
So why after five years, has Sturgeon now decided this to be a viable option? Well, I’m not sure she has.
A plebiscite election based on the number of seats won would make its success a foregone conclusion, as even the SNP would be able to return the minimum of 30 seats required to get a majority in Scotland.
Even Thatcher stated that a majority of Scottish Nationalist MPs returned would be enough to have a mandate for Independence.
Yet, inexplicably, the SNP has chosen to take a route that will more than likely fail than succeed.
On the face of it, it is an act of self sabotage!
Uniting the Independence Movement
There is another important point. Sturgeon and her hierarchy have shown, in no uncertain terms, that they are completely unwilling to work with any other independence Party in elections, in order to maximise the independence vote.
However, working and coordinating with other parties will be crucial if more than 50% of the overall independence vote is to be achieved.
Her SNP1&2 tactic in Scottish Parliament elections ensured that Unionists gained seats, over non SNP Independence candidates.
Indeed, the figures for the Scottish Parliament Elections in 2021 show that the combined SNP / Greens votes were just over 48%. Just over 50% of Indy votes were only achieved by adding the Alba vote.
In the 2017 GE, the SNP returned 35 MPs out of 59; in 2019 they returned 48 MPs. So, the matter could have been resolved years ago if these elections were used as plebiscite elections with the number of seats won as the measure!
Interestingly, despite winning the majority of seats in both elections, they only secured 36.9% and 45% of the vote respectfully, with the Greens only securing 0.2% and 1% of the vote respectfully.
So, these figures show that it will be unlikely that the SNP and the Greens will win a majority of votes on their own in a GE de facto referendum.
So, in order to ensure that the Indy vote is maximised, Sturgeon will have to work with Alba (as well as others like the ISP), but that is something she has already said she will never do.
Splits
For too long, the SNP has considered themselves as the independence movement and the only legitimate independence party. In the process, they have attacked other independence parties and groups, in some cases even more so than unionists. This has only served to split the movement and cause consternation, frustration and anger.
Ever since the SNP was infiltrated with entryists and careerists in the wake of the 2014 referendum, the hierarchy has become far more bullish, elitist and authoritarian, which has alienated many long standing party members and activists, and caused (in many cases) irreconcilable splits in the indy movement. The SNP’s falling membership and the formation of Alba, which is made up of mostly former SNP members, are a testament to that.
They will need to have a significant and real attitude change towards other independence parties, activists and groups in order for any campaign to succeed. I personally don’t believe they have any intention of doing so. It’s their way or the highway.
Real Agenda?
So, why would they want their proposed route to independence to fail?
Well, for a start, they have been in power in Scotland for over 15 years, and they like it. In fact, they like it so much that maintaining that power appears to have taken priority over gaining independence.
There are many (myself included) who have accused the current SNP hierarchy of being devolutionists, with SNP MSPs and MPs in Holyrood and Westminster respectfully, being far too comfy in their seats.
An independent Scotland would see a realignment of politics. No longer would the battle lines be drawn between independents and unionists, but left and right. And in a mainly left of centre, socially just Scotland, the SNP would almost certainly be found wanting.
Under Sturgeon, they have moved further to the right, but this has been sidelined and ignored by many, who prioritise independence above anything else.
If independence was achieved, their record and policy agenda would come to the fore and the electorate would see them for what they really are, without the cloak of independence to shield them.
When a Party’s raison d’être is to achieve independence, what does it do when it is achieved? There is an irony that the SNP achieving independence is akin to turkeys voting for Christmas!
It is also worth noting that, as a Party, the SNP gets more money from the UK Government than Plaid Cymru, Sinn Fein, the Greens, the DUP and the SDLP put together. Almost 50% more, in fact. That’s a lot to give up, and I honestly think they have no intention of doing so.
Can they even afford to, given the fact that despite that influx of cash, they still had to utilise the £600k raised for an independence campaign on Party expenses?
Add to that the fact their membership has been steadily dropping for a good few years, it may help to explain their inaction on independence for so long, despite repeated mandates to the contrary.
They have long been accused of being more interested in maintaining power and using the promise of independence as a carrot to win elections without actually doing anything about it.
Indeed, for a while they were using the old unionist mantra of “now is not the time“! A new low, even for them.
So, it’s not beyond the realms of disbelief to think that last week’s announcement is nothing more than a cynical move to be seen to be doing something in the knowledge that it won’t happen, but will be used to blame unionists for its failure, and use that blame to maintain power in forthcoming elections.
Think about it, even if the votes in a GE de facto referendum falls short of the 50% target, the SNP could still win the vast majority of seats (currently 48 seats with 45% of the vote). It would still be a win for them.
Wasted Years
Another important point that seems to have been missed is if a plebiscite election was part of their game plan all along, why didn’t they go for it in the 2019 GE, in the aftermath of Brexit, when support for Independence peaked at 58%, instead of arguing for another mandate, then another one in the Scottish Parliament Elections in 2021? – mandates they didn’t need, as they already had half a dozen by then!
What were they waiting for? It can’t have been for support for independence to increase in the polls, when there was absolutely no campaign to try to increase it.
The peak of 58% in 2019, due mainly to the Tories’ sleaze and shambles in dealing with Brexit, was perfect timing and they let it pass.
Indeed, polls every April since 2015 (except 2081 & 2020) showed support flatline at 47%, with the SNP doing absolutely nothing to try to improve upon it.
In those wasted years, many people have suffered the real effects of poverty and Tory austerity. Many have died. Our public services are barely coping due to gross underfunding and under staffing. In that time, the resources of Scotland could have been used to help people; to massively invest in our public services; to save lives.
In my view, Sturgeon’s inaction over those years makes her directly culpable!
Not only will the SC route fail, but achieving over 50% of the vote in a GE de facto referendum, when you’re not prepared to work with other independence parties and groups, will make it unlikely to succeed.
Quite simply, given the legal uncertainties of unilaterally calling a referendum, or placing whether or not a referendum takes place into the hands of the SC, they could have just had a proper plebiscite election years ago, where the number of MPs decided the issue, and without announcing it two years in advance, in order to give the Tories and other unionists plenty of time to try to scupper it.
Although, they probably won’t need to do anything, as Sturgeon has appeared to have torpedoed the cause for them.
Official campaigning in any election begins six weeks prior to Polling Day. That’s when they could have announced the plebiscite in previous elections.
Of course, proper campaigning in the run up to an election would have helped to capitalise on the disastrous antics of the Tory UK Government, to ensure that more than 50% of seats were won. But they have failed to exploit and take advantage of the disaster zone that is the UK Tory Government!
Supermajority
In the 2021 Scottish Parliament Elections, if Sturgeon would have dropped her SNP1&2 mantra, and instead urged voters to vote Alba in the second vote, those second votes for Alba would have resulted in there being 99 Independence MSPs (between SNP, Greens and Alba), with only 30 unionists left.
The Scotland Act determines that a Supermajority is two thirds of the 129 MSPs – that’s 86 MSPs. So, having 99 independence MSPs, would have been a colossal victory.
Of course, Sturgeon was having none of it.
Given her inaction over the past seven years and the many missed opportunities, as well as the numerous controversial issues during her tenure as FM, it is no wonder so many people simply don’t trust her.
Tragically, after years of waiting and waiting and waiting, I honestly think Sturgeon has blown it, and probably on purpose.
Of course, I stand to be corrected. Time will tell, but for now, I’m not building my hopes up.
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Ken Ross
Former FBU Scottish Regional Secretary
Former National Secretary of Solidarity
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Corbyn Suspended for Telling the Truth in 2020 and Labour MPs Warned to Avoid Trade Union Picket Lines in 2022 – A New Socialist Party is Required
Jeremy Corbyn Frightened the Millionaires and Billionaires who form the British Establishment An exclusive interview with Jeremy Corbyn was published last week (22nd June) by the outstanding investigative journalism website founded in 2019 called Declassified UK https://declassifieduk.org/exclusive-jeremy-corbyn-on-the-establishment-campaign-to-stop-him-becoming-pm/. I implore you to read this interview. It is informative, educational, inspirational, engaging, enraging, and thoroughly researched all in one package. If you are remotely interested in the anatomy of Britain, the inner workings of the British state and how important relations with the rogue states of the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel are to the British Establishment read and absorb this interview. It should become essential reading in every school, college, and educational institution serious about explaining how so-called democratic Britain works.
The introductory headlines set the scene for an insight into real foreign interference in UK General Elections; the shameful hold the arms industry has within the British Parliament, including large parts of the Labour Party; the malevolent influence of Israel on the Parliamentary Labour Party; the shallow, cowardly and rabidly anti-socialist nature of the British media in hoc to the billionaire owners and millionaire acolytes; and the fundamental undoing of Corbyn rooted in his naivety about the intentions of others supposed to be on his side, primary among them Sir Keir ‘Forked Tongue’ Starmer:
- UK MILITARY: ‘They sent me a warning’
- MI5 and MI6: ‘Deliberately undermined me’
- MIKE POMPEO’S THREAT: ‘A quite deliberate message’
- THE GUARDIAN: ‘A tool of the British establishment’
- UK PRESS: ‘We have a supine media in this country’
- KEIR STARMER: ‘I should have been more aware of his past’
- ARMS TO SAUDI ARABIA: ‘Extraordinary levels of lobbying from Labour MPs’
In October 2020 a thoroughly decent and honest man suffered a grave injustice. A man who has a peerless record in verbally and physically opposing racism and anti-Semitism in all its ugly forms was suspended by the political party he has been a member of for over fifty years, has represented in the British Parliament without interruption since 1983 and was elected to lead from 2015-20. Irony died in Britain when Jeremy Corbyn was suspended by the Labour Party with the consent and probable collusion of the man who succeeded him as leader, Sir Keir Starmer.
We have a Tory leader in Number 10 Downing Street who is famed for his racist views including referring to black Africans as “piccaninnies” with “watermelon smiles” and defending the enslavement of Africa under the brutal subjugation of British colonialism as “not a blot” on the collective conscience but rather something to be proud of as the problem with the African continent in the 21st century is it is no longer under British rule:
“The problem is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not in charge any more”
Johnson the lying, racist buffoon epitomises the political malaise Britain is in A racist Prime Minister nostalgic for the days of slavery and brutal exploitation and ownership of black people was elected by the people of England in preference to a man whose whole life has been dedicated to fighting racism and injustice.
Corbyn Was Betrayed by His Own Party Bureaucracy in 2017
Jeremy Corbyn would have won the 2017 General Election if his campaign had not been sabotaged from within by Labour opponents who hated him more than the Tories and refused to accept the democratic will of the Labour Party membership which elected Corbyn leader not once but twice with a bigger majority the second time round in 2016.
Corbyn led a remarkable 2017 election campaign which inspired millions and confounded all the opinion polls and political pundits as he came within a whisker of winning. He smashed the Tory majority and rocked the British Establishment. A genuine socialist was almost elected to lead the UK. Millionaires and billionaires were petrified that they would be forced to pay their taxes and public services would no longer be up for sale. Corbyn would have won if staff at the heart of the Labour Party had not actively undermined him:
“The senior officials keenly watched polls during the election campaign and hoped that the party that employed them would fare badly. When one YouGov poll showed the party up during the campaign, one said: “I actually felt quite sick when I saw that YouGov poll last night.”
Another official argued that the polling bounce for the party was actually “great”, stating: “I shall tell you why, it is a peak, and the polling was done after the Manchester [terror] attack, so with a bit of luck this speech will show a clear polling decline and we shall all be able to point to how disgusting they truly are” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-leak-report-corbyn-election-whatsapp-antisemitism-tories-yougov-poll-a9462456.html.
Corbyn’s radical socialist manifesto in 2017 was hugely popular and his record is far better than the media would have you believe Paid Labour Party staff expressing disgust for the elected leader of their party and hoping for a bad election result and undermining the effectiveness of the campaign wherever possible is what the right wing did with gusto. And after the close call of the 2017 general election the powerful and rich who make up the British Establishment and mainstream media declared war on Corbyn from every angle but specifically colluded to weaponise the scourge of anti-Semitism and throw every slur and empty accusation against Corbyn that was possible to muster.
After 2017 Close-Call Anti-Semitism Was Weaponised Against Corbyn
An incredible narrative was created whereby a man that had done more in his life to confront and combat racism and anti-Semitism than anyone in British politics was cast as an anti-Semite. It was bizarre, ridiculous, and obscenely unfair and inaccurate but it was effective in creating a wholly false perception.
The right-wing press stuck the boot in and spread their usual brand of lies and distortions with oblivion, but chief peddler of these pernicious antisemitism stories was the Guardian newspaper to their eternal shame:
“From 2016-19, the Guardian published 1,215 stories mentioning Labour and anti-semitism, an average of around one per day, according to a search on Factiva, the database of newspaper articles” https://declassifieduk.org/exclusive-jeremy-corbyn-on-the-establishment-campaign-to-stop-him-becoming-pm/.
An outrageous number of Labour anti-Semitism stories, headlines and even documentaries were produced and by 2018 polls of Jewish voters indicated an incredulous number believed the Labour Party was anti-Semitic while the problem in the Tories and Lib-Dems was perceived to be minor and that perception, on the back of constant and consistent media stories, stretched into 2019:
“The poll, conducted using Survation’s telephone panel of Jewish adults in Great Britain, found that 86% of respondents believe that there are high levels of antisemitism among Labour Party members and elected representatives (4 and 5 on a 1 to 5 scale where 1 represented low levels of antisemitism and 5 represented high levels), the same percentage as in 2018. Only 6% felt there were similar levels of antisemitism within the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, with 46% stating that UKIP had high levels of antisemitism”
The Billionaire Press Barons Feared a Corbyn Government Would Compel Them to Actually Pay Their Taxes Labour Became Huge Under Corbyn – 600,000 Members
Jeremy Corbyn attracted hundreds of thousands of new members to the Labour Party and transformed it into the biggest membership party in Europe reaching an incredible 600,000 signed up to his brand of socialism https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2016/07/labour-membership-hit-600000. The number of party members ever subjected to accusations of anti-Semitic behaviour never surpassed more than 300 so the anti-Semitic ‘problem’ in Labour amounted to less than 0.1% of its membership at most but the coordinated media led campaign aided and abetted by Labour right wing MPs, some who jumped ship to join other parties, created a deeply warped and distorted picture.
The Survation poll of Jewish adults referred to above indicated a belief that anti-Semitic ideas affected 61.7% of Labour Party members and representatives and 87% of the polling sample believed Corbyn himself was anti-Semitic. This gigantic chasm between perception and reality is the result of a well-coordinated media campaign led by the BBC to traduce the character of Corbyn and the Labour Party under him. The poll sample think almost 62% of party members are anti-Semitic when in fact no more than 0.1% are subject of such complaints.
Feeding from the false narrative and whipped up hysteria created by the media the Equality and Human Rights Commission (ECHR) decided to launch a formal investigation into claims of anti-Semitism within Labour to establish if they had breached the Equality Act 2010 and were guilty of acting unlawfully in relation to anti-Semitic actions. This decision was taken in May 2019 amid the Brexit crisis and talk of an early general election. The fact the ECHR acted because of complaints from vehemently anti-Corbyn organisations indicates just how loaded the dice was from the outset.
JLM and CAA Are Stridently Anti-Corbyn and Wholly Biased
The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) and the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) were strident critics of Jeremy Corbyn and consistently attacked his expressed sympathies for the Palestinian people and his reasonable condemnations of Israel for refusing to comply with international law in respect of occupation of Palestinian territory and the erection of illegal settlements.
Condemning Israel’s illegal actions in Palestine did not make Corbyn an anti-Semite but rather reflected mainstream opinion given the fact Israel became the most condemned nation in the world at the UN in 2018 for their multiple breaches of international law and consistent violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/in-2018-israel-became-the-most-condemned-nation-at-the-un-22899.
The former Labour MP and staunch Corbyn supporter Chris Williamson was disgracefully suspended by the Labour Party during Corbyn’s tenure as leader in February 2019 for suggesting the anti-Semitic smear was much more to do with silencing criticism of Israel and their human rights abuses than anti-Semitism and the party should push back and fight the politically motivated campaign against them. He vowed to clear his own name and he did and his response to the ECHR Report is required reading for anyone who is remotely interested in the real story behind the investigation and the anti-Semitism claims:
“The CAA has not been shy about making its political motivations clear, and their conduct has been suspect to say the least. In 2018, the Charity Commission required the CAA to amend a petition calling for Jeremy Corbyn to resign. They responded to this by amending the petition title to ‘Jeremy Corbyn is an antisemite and is unfit to hold any public office’.
The Charity Commission is also investigating the CAA about its campaigning during the 2019 general election and comments made afterwards.
Joe Glasman, Head of Political and Government Investigations at the CAA, posted a bewilderingly explicit video message after the 2019 general election. He offered his personal thanks to “every single person out there who actively resisted the anti-Semitism of Corbyn and the Labour Party and say well done – mazel tov – […] the beast is slain”. He also described Corbyn as being “slaughtered” “ https://www.campaignforchris.org/ehrc_response.
Very inappropriate language for a ‘charity’ but indicative of the nature of the organisation whose complaints formed the basis of the ECHR investigation into the Labour Party.
Opposing Israel’s Apartheid Regime Makes You Human NOT Anti-Semitic Anti-Semitism is Abhorrent, but Jeremy Corbyn is Not an Anti-Semite
All anti-Semitic behaviour and opinions should be condemned and confronted unreservedly. Of that there should be no doubt or debate. But what Chris Williamson did in 2019, and Jeremy Corbyn did in 2020, was to merely point out an indisputable fact based on all available evidence. The accusations of anti-Semitism against the Labour Party have been ‘overstated’ and used politically to undermine Labour and Corbyn.
Anti-Semitism is a problem in society. An ugly and repulsive problem. But to suggest Labour has a bigger problem than other parties or that Jeremy Corbyn is an anti-Semite is patent nonsense and lies. From a membership of 600,000 the number of anti-Semitic behaviour complaints against Labour members was tiny and under Corbyn and his chief of staff Karie Murphy those tiny number of complaints were being dealt with more efficiently than prior to Jeremy’s leadership.
I know Karie and believe her to be a sincere, honest, and fierce advocate for equality and justice. I believe her when she said:
“Dealing with the EHRC, and getting input into the investigation process, has not always been easy. So, as someone who was at the centre of dealing with these issues, in parliament and at Labour HQ, I want to set the record straight. Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, antisemites were removed from the Labour party more quickly, transparently and effectively than ever before”
Unlike the Corbyn detractors Karie is able to draw on facts to back up her statements and the 2020 ‘No Place For Antisemitism’ Report provides a detailed refutation of media and ECHR allegations that Labour under Corbyn did not address anti-Semitism complaints. Read it alongside the ECHR Report to illustrate just how biased and unbalanced the ECHR Report is:
“As a result of increased resources, improved practices, and investigatory techniques:
• The Labour Party expelled 45 members in relation to antisemitism in 2019, compared to 10 in 2018 and 1 in 2017.
• After rule changes passed at Conference in September 2019 gave NEC panels the power to expel, twice the number of people were expelled in two months than had been expelled during the whole of 2018.
• NEC Disciplinary Panels heard 274 cases relating to antisemitism in 2019, a tenfold increase on the 28 cases heard in 2017.
• In 2019, 149 members were removed from the party as a result of disciplinary processes relating to antisemitism, either being expelled or quitting the party as proceedings progressed.
• The Labour Party suspended 296 members in relation to antisemitism in 2019, compared to 98 in 2018 – itself a big increase on the previous year”
Once you have read the facts contained in this Report and considered that the lengthy ECHR Report which took almost 18 months to compile concludes that Labour is guilty of “unlawful acts of indirect discrimination and harassment for which the Labour Party is responsible” based on the conduct of TWO Labour Party members, Ken Livingston and a Councillor called Pam Bromley, you can reasonably conclude that when Corbyn said the allegations of anti-Semitism against Labour were “overstated” https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/29/turmoil-in-labour-as-corbyns-allies-strongly-object-to-suspension he was stating a fact.
From a membership of well over half a million and after conducting a high profile, well-resourced eighteen-month long investigation the ECHR finding of unlawfulness in relation to the Equality Act 2010 amounts to the conduct of only two people:
“We found that the Labour Party, through its agents, committed harassment against its members in relation to Jewish ethnicity in the case of two individuals, Ken Livingstone and Pam Bromley” https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/investigation-into-antisemitism-in-the-labour-party.pdf.
Despite the plethora of stories, news bulletins, political pundit analysis and skewed documentaries there is not a morsel of credible evidence that Jeremy Corbyn is an anti-Semite or that the Labour Party under his leadership was anti-Semitic. It is simply untrue. It is a media manufactured lie which was always to do with his anti-capitalist agenda and the desperate need to undermine him lest he ever won an election and got the power to legislate on behalf of the millions instead of the millionaires.
Jeremy Corbyn Supports Boycotting Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia – That Made Him a Dangerous Man to the British Establishment Corbyn was a clear and present danger to the rich and powerful British Establishment and his sympathy with the Palestinian people and willingness to call out Israel’s human rights abuses made him dangerous on an international plain also. America and Israel could not tolerate a pro-Palestinian British Prime Minister. The anti-Semitism campaign was a conscious and dishonest scheme to undermine his electoral credibility and the BBC played a blinder in promoting the lie at every available opportunity, aided slavishly and shamefully by the Guardian newspaper.
A New Trade Union Supported Socialist Party is Now Urgent
The suspension of Jeremy Corbyn from Labour is an attack on him and every single socialist still in that party. Jeremy is now suffering the consequences of being popular on the one hand but being far too pliable on the other. The day Jeremy stood back and allowed socialists like Chris Williamson be suspended was the day he succumbed to the right-wing bullies within the Labour Party hierarchy. Chris was a loyal lieutenant of Corbyn. A very capable and popular crusader for socialism. When the right wing went after him with the anti-Semitism slur Jeremy should have resisted and stood with Chris. Instead, he sought to avoid an internal battle and that was his ultimate undoing. Jeremy had the backing of the members but not the comfortable and right-wing bureaucracy who used their influence to stifle Corbyn and undermine his 2017 election campaign.
People like Starmer were tolerated and promoted while people like Williamson were abandoned. Starmer was the architect of the disastrous Labour Brexit approach which was to ignore the democratically expressed will of the people. Now he is the Labour leader and is determined to turn the party back into a Tory second eleven like the red Tory Tony Blair days. His pledge to honour the policies contained in the 2019 socialist manifesto have been abandoned and his continued purge of all left-wing policies and individuals has exposed him as the feeble, spineless, and dishonest politician he is. When he warned Labour MPs not to join RMT picket lines last week and his shadow cabinet golden boy David Lammy was encouraged to appear on Sunday’s politics shows to categorically rule out support for the British Airways employees who suffered a 10% wage cut last year https://labourlist.org/2022/06/labour-accused-of-new-low-as-lammy-says-he-does-not-support-ba-strikers/ Labour sunk to a new low and became even more toxic for organised workers and others committed to real social justice to support.
Starmer is Determined to Turn New Labour Back Into a Tory Mark II Party Deeply Embedded in the Same Shit The challenge to other socialist Labour MPs and the trade union leaders who support socialist policies which will actually improve the lives of their members is clear. If you can’t fight for the former leader of your party who raised the hopes of millions and came so close in 2017 to winning, then you are not worthy of the description socialist. The time has come for a party of workers that promotes socialism with guile, enthusiasm, and pride. Instead of funding Starmer’s Tory Party Mark II the trade union movement should fund a real socialist party committed to changing the lives of millions for the better.
Starmer and his cronies are lackeys of the British Establishment and Labour under him will be tame and obedient to the demands of big business and the millionaire minority. The suspension of Corbyn and refusal to back striking trade union members must be the crossing of the Rubicon for the whole socialist and trade union movement. Labour is already irrelevant in Scotland. It will become irrelevant in England as well soon. The time for a new force backed with trade union organisation and resources is now.
Author Tommy Sheridan: NUJ Member, former Glasgow MSP & Councillor
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We Can Still Rise Now and Be A Nation Again – The Bannockburn Spirit Lives On and Scotland Will Be Free Once Again
Scotland Will Soon Be Free Once Again Tomorrow, Saturday, 25th June, thousands of ordinary Scots will assemble in Stirling and march to Bannockburn Heritage Centre in central Scotland to pay their respects to, remember and honour the patriots who fought and died for Scotland’s freedom 708 years ago in the historic Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. It is right and fitting to remember that battle not to glorify war and the inevitable bloodshed which war entails but as a constant reminder that Scotland was once a free and independent nation, and many ordinary Scots were prepared to give their lives to secure and defend that freedom.
Scotland’s unofficial national anthem is called Flower of Scotland and was inspired by the Battle of Bannockburn of 1314. It was written in the mid-1960’s by Roy Williamson of the famous Scottish folk group, The Corries, and was first performed publicly in 1967. The song recalls the famous battle in powerful lyrics which pay homage to those who defended Scotland from a huge invading army from England:
O Flower of Scotland,
When will we see
Your like again,
That fought and died for,
Your wee bit Hill and Glen,
And stood against him,
Proud Edward’s Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tæ think again.That first verse refers to the leader of the English invading force, Edward II. But some background to the Bannockburn battle is necessary. The Wars of Scottish Independence between England and Scotland began in 1296 and initially the English were successful under the command of Edward I, having won victories at the Battle of Dunbar (1296) and at the Capture of Berwick (1296).
The capture of Berwick in the South of Scotland on 30th March 1296 was the first significant battle in the First War of Scottish independence and it was followed up four weeks later by the even more significant Battle of Dunbar of April 30th when English troops crushed inferior Scottish numbers on the battlefield.
Since 1291 England had ruled Scotland from afar after Edward I had ordered all Scots to pay homage to him in person or at a designated centre by 27th July that year. However, the failure of Scottish King John Balliol to support English military action in France infuriated Edward I and he chose to invade to punish Balliol and humiliate Scotland further.
William Wallace Fought and Died for Scotland’s Freedom Now under actual military occupation instead of being ruled from afar many Scots rebelled against excesses of power and subjugation imposed by English troops who acted with brutality confident that no reprisals would be forthcoming.
One man who emerged to organise and unite those willing to fight was William Wallace (1272-1305). His life is immortalised in the Hollywood blockbuster Braveheart and although it is a work of fiction it did manage to capture many of the abuses of power practiced by the English occupying force and the characteristics of bravery, boldness and fighting skills which Wallace undoubtedly possessed.
Against all the odds Wallace led his loyal band of rebels to victory at the Battle of Stirling Bridge on 11th September 1297 but within a year it was Wallace himself who was routed when Edward I used superior numbers and equipment to decisively crush him at the Battle of Falkirk on 22nd July 1298. Wallace survived and fled to the hills to try and re-group and continue the fight for freedom from English subjugation, but his small army had been decimated.
Unwilling to compromise, William Wallace refused to submit to English rule, and Edward’s men pursued him for many years until August 5, 1305, when they captured and arrested him near Glasgow. Wallace was betrayed by a Scottish Knight loyal to Edward I. His name was John de Menteith.
He was taken to London and condemned as a traitor to the king and on 23rd August 1305 in Westminster Hall he was tried for treason. When asked for his response to the charge of treason Wallace was defiant, courageous, and dignified when the 33 year old rebel declared:
“I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject”.
Unsurprisingly he was found guilty and condemned to death. But his death sentence was to be an exceptional one. Edward I despised Wallace and the spirit of rebellion he embodied. He wanted to kill him and send a warning to any others who dared to defy his rule.
After the trial Wallace was taken from the hall, stripped naked and dragged through the city at the heels of a horse to the Elms at Smithfield. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered–the most terrible execution in English law.
It meant he was strangled by hanging but released while he was still alive, his body cut open, and his bowels burnt before him. Then he was beheaded, and his body cut into four parts. His preserved head (dipped in tar) was placed on a pike atop London Bridge. It was later joined by the heads of the brothers John and Simon Fraser, who had been colleagues of Wallace.
William Wallace the Scottish Patriot Wallace’s limbs were displayed, separately, in Newcastle upon Tyne, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Stirling, and Aberdeen.
As far as cruel Edward I was concerned the public and barbaric state murder of William Wallace and the display of his severed limbs would frighten others from ever daring to rebel against him or his English rule again.
He became known as The Hammer of the Scots and Edward Longshanks. By 1304 Scotland had been fully conquered. He was anxious to deter any future rebels. He never lived to witness it fully, but his heirs and acolytes soon learned an axiom of life later expertly articulated by Martin Luther King Jr several hundred years later:
“You can kill the dreamer, but you can’t kill the dream.”
Robert the Bruce (1274-1329) soon lifted the banner of freedom and would eventually meet with more success than Wallace. Initially he paid homage to Edward I but perhaps inspired by the rebellions led by Wallace, the injustice of English rule, personal ambition to rule Scotland or a combination of all three motivations he withdrew his allegiance and by 1306 declared himself King of Scotland with the support from some in both the highlands and lowlands of the country. Edward I was furious and swore vengeance, but he died in 1307 and the English Throne passed to his fourth son Edward II.
By 1313 Robert the Bruce had organised his troops to liberate nearly all the Scottish Castles held by the English. One last remaining fortress was the strategically important Stirling Castle as it controlled the existing routes to the Highlands of Scotland. By early 1314 the English occupiers of the Castle were warned to leave or face forcible eviction. Edward II was incandescent with rage at the insolence of Robert the Bruce. He resolved to raise the largest army ever assembled and invade Scotland to deal with the rebellious Scots once and for all.
Robert the Bruce Led the Outnumbered Scots to Victory at Bannockburn Recruiting soldiers from Ireland, Wales and throughout England a massive invasion force under Edward II marched north to vanquish the Scots. By June 22nd, the battle lines had been drawn and Robert the Bruce positioned his troops on high ground in and around Bannockburn to try and claim some strategic advantage. On the morning of the first day of the battle it became clear that the English army outnumbered the Scots by up to three to one and were much better equipped with both better armoury and many longbow archers. It seemed inevitable that the insubordinate Scots would soon be slain.
On the morning of the first day of battle, June 23rd, a legendary confrontation took place which probably influenced the eventual outcome of the ferocious fight. Sighting a group of Scots withdrawing into the wood, the English vanguard, made up of heavy cavalry, charged. As they clashed with the Scots, an English knight, Sir Henry de Bohun, spotted Robert Bruce.
If de Bohun had killed or captured Bruce, he would have become a chivalric hero. So, spurring his warhorse to the charge, he lowered his lance and bore down on the king. Bruce did not panic. He was by now an experienced and skilled warrior. He mounted his own horse and sped towards the advancing English knight with his large lance pointed towards Bruce’s heart. Bruce dodged the deadly lance and simultaneously brought his battle axe down on de Bohun’s helmet, striking him dead. Elated, the Scots forced the English cavalry to withdraw.
The engagements that followed were inspired by that early individual duel involving Robert the Bruce. He was a warrior leading from the front. He was not asking his troops to risk their own lives without first risking his own. His soldiers were vastly outnumbered and much less equipped than the English forces, but their spirits were lifted by the Bruce victory, and they forced the English cavalry to retreat on that first day of battle.
According to witness stories passed down through the years there was an equally significant event on the eve of the 2nd day of the Battle of Bannockburn.
Overnight a Scottish Noble on the side of the English decided to defect to the Scots. Perhaps he feared he was on the wrong side after the success of the Bruce’s troops on the first day. Whatever the motivation, the defecting Noble brought with him detailed accounts of the number, nature and positioning of the English troops which enabled Bruce to organise his forces accordingly. This information was extremely helpful.
At dawn, the Scots ate their breakfast and advanced out of the wood to face the larger English army. Medieval battles were seen as the judgement of God; it was important to have the saints on your side, and so, amid the Scots schiltroms, which is the description given to the Scots troops as they joined into compact groups wielding their spears, Abbot Bernard of Arbroath carried their ancient lucky talisman, the Breccbennach (or Monymusk Relquary), which held the relics of St Columba.
Bruce himself made a speech invoking the power of St Andrew, John the Baptist, and Thomas Beckett.
Then, according to the chronicler Walter Bower:
“At these words, the hammered horns resounded, and the standards of war were spread out in the golden dawn.”
Abbot Maurice of Inchaffrey walked out in front of the army, led mass, and blessed the Scots as they knelt in prayer.
On seeing this, Edward II is reputed to have said:
“Yon folk are kneeling to ask mercy.”
Sir Ingram de Umfraville, a Balliol supporter fighting for Edward, is said to have replied:
“They ask for mercy, but not from you. They ask God for mercy for their sins. I’ll tell you something for a fact, that yon men will win all or die. None will flee for fear of death.”
“So be it”, retorted Edward https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/articles/battle_of_bannockburn/.
By the end of the battle, it was Edward II who was forced to flee with his defeated and broken troops following behind him. Despite the overwhelming odds and better equipped foes, the Scots troops under Bruce’s leadership triumphed and laid the ground for the declaration of Scotland’s full independence which was formalised and recognised 14 years later in 1328.
The Bruce continues to inspire Scottish patriots Robert the Bruce himself was immortalised on screen in the film named after him and launched at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2019 https://www.thenational.scot/news/17651566.robert-the-bruce-sequel-to-premiere-at-edinburgh-film-festival/.
Another war for independence was fought and won between 1332-1357 but the Battle of Bannockburn serves as a reminder that for many hundreds of years ordinary Scots have possessed a desire for freedom which has been passed down from generation to generation.
We are lucky today in that we only have to raise a small lead pencil to secure our freedom not a battle axe. To those who assemble in Bannockburn tomorrow I salute you and the memories of the giants whose footsteps we follow.
Scotland was a free and sovereign nation for many hundreds of years before its sovereignty was signed away in a secret and grubby Act of the Union deal in 1707. We will be a free and sovereign nation again soon.
In my address to the rally organised by the grassroots independence campaign All Under One Banner (AUOB) I will appeal to the independence warriors in every corner of Scotland to raise their banners once again, look out the placards and iron the T-shirts. We have been frustrated by the lack of action from the SNP leadership despite the seven mandates for IndyRef2 they were entrusted with by the people of Scotland at elections in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 and three Scottish Parliament votes in favour of holding IndyRef2. But the announcement from Nicola Sturgeon last week that the commitment to an IndyRef2 vote next year would be honoured has changed the landscape of the movement and renewed our collective enthusiasm.
Scotland is big enough, rich enough and smart enough to be an independent nation The First Minister is expected to deliver an important update to Parliament next Tuesday https://news.stv.tv/politics/first-minister-nicola-sturgeon-to-lay-out-plans-for-indyref2-next-week when the proposal for an October 2023 vote is widely anticipated. Our broad and diverse independence movement must set aside political differences and concentrate on the one cause which unites us all, the cause of Scottish independence. We need to take to the streets once again and unite the progressive forces of the independence movement. In 2013 we started the first referendum campaign at around 23% support for independence. Now we sit at 50% or thereabouts. During a committed, united, and enthusiastic campaign we will take the 50% to over 60%. Of that I am confident.
Scottish independence is not about the past it is about the future. It is not just about flags it’s about higher pensions, living wages and fairness. It’s not the end of our journey but about starting the journey to a new, better, more socially just independent Scotland. Symbols and songs are important to movements for change. The past we inherit but the future we build. We draw inspiration from those in the past who made the ultimate sacrifice to secure Scotland’s independence and freedom. Independence is normal. Being part of an exploitative and harmful Union is holding us back and we as a nation must choose to decide our own destiny and reject the rotten chains of Westminster once and for all. As the final verse of our national anthem says:
Those days are past now,
And in the past
they must remain,
But we can still rise now,
And be the nation again,
That stood against him (against him?),
Proud Edward’s Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.
Hope Over Fear – Scotland Will Be Free Author Tommy Sheridan: NUJ Member, Former MSP & Glasgow City Councillor
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WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON? CHOOSE THE SIDE OF THE WORKERS ALWAYS – BACK THE RMT STRIKERS 100%
RMT Strike Bulletin makes compelling case for supporting the action RMT members have voted to take part in strike action tomorrow (Tuesday 21st June), Thursday and Saturday to defend their jobs, their living standards, and the whole rail service. These workers deserve 100% support from other workers and anyone else in society who believes in fairness and economic justice.
There is no place for neutrality amid strikes and industrial disputes. The working class should always be on the side of the workers. It is a simple fact of life. A guiding principle. You are either with the workers or you are with the bosses. I implore you to stand with the workers and express your support and solidarity in whatever fashion is available to you. Join picket lines if you can. Sign petitions of support. Toot your horn if you are driving past a picket line. Under no circumstances do you ever cross a picket line.
The Tory Spivs and Posh boys have been in government since 2010. They have governed at every turn for the rich and powerful. Profits, dividends, and executive pay have rocketed with the assistance of top rate tax cuts, business subsidies and Covid19 bailouts. Meanwhile the Office of Budget Responsibility has confirmed the current cost of living crisis is causing the biggest reduction in household incomes since records began away back in 1956 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60846951.
Tory imposed wage freezes and associated austerity measures have devastated millions of families across the UK and resulted in record levels of child poverty, in-work poverty and reliance on food banks to make ends meet. If trade unions are not prepared to fight now to defend wages, jobs and working conditions when will they?
Workers backs are against the wall. The increases in energy, food, fuel, transport, and clothing costs reflected in a rate of inflation reaching 11% by this autumn according to the Bank of England means a fightback is both necessary and justified. Workers must not be forced to suffer the consequences of Tory misrule and misplaced priorities. The boss class and their MP friends are not struggling to make ends meet. They grow richer by the day while workers struggle to maintain what little they have.
Tories have governed on behalf of the wealthy since 2010 Make no mistake the rail strike is entirely justified, and the widespread disruption is the fault of the bosses and Tory government not the workers. The Train Operating Companies (TOCs) were already receiving £6.4 billion in public subsidies to run the rail service before Covid19 and received several billions more during the pandemic. The workers who kept services going and risked their lives during the pandemic were called ‘key workers’ but now face pay cuts, job losses and detrimental changes to working practices. However, the companies who repair the tracks made £235 million in profits, the companies who operate the trains made £300 million in profits and the companies who own the trains made £949 million in profits. And because of the privatised nature of the fragmented rail service permits foreign ownership 80% of the profits generated flow overseas.
As Mick Lynch the RMT General Secretary made clear during a recent Sky News interview the private train operators are regularly siphoning £500 million a year out of the service. If the public owned and ran the service that would be an extra £500 million a year available for investment in wages, service improvements and infrastructure https://twitter.com/SaulStaniforth/status/1538437638616662016?s=20&t=jKpq2tE5ahSVryHRw4TbYA.
Speaking at the mass TUC rally in London on Saturday in support of workers fighting against wage cuts across the UK Mick Lynch also issued a challenge to Labour MPs to back his union members and other trade unionists forced into struggle. ‘Which side are you on’? was his question to well heeled and publicly subsidised MPs who are supposed to represent workers not the bosses. We know Tory MPs support the bosses. That is part of their DNA. They don’t care about ordinary working people and especially workers who join trades unions. They hate workers who get themselves organised. Labour on the other hand was formed by the trade union movement and should be standing up loud and clear in support of the striking RMT members. Will Labour MPs answer Mick Lynch’s call and support the strikers? https://twitter.com/RMTunion/status/1538223197212090369?s=20&t=jKpq2tE5ahSVryHRw4TbYA. Time will tell but I wouldn’t count on it.
Former Scottish branch office leader Richard Leonard issued his public declaration of support for the RMT strikers the other day https://twitter.com/LabourRichard/status/1537760380155580417?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet but I’ve yet to see the current millionaire leader Anas Sarwar take a similar stand and Sir Keir Starmer’s inability to show the backbone required to do the right thing and back the RMT is symptomatic of the deep malaise Labour finds itself in. Faced with the most dishonest, incompetent, and untrustworthy Prime Minister in UK history it is incredible that more people believe Boris Johnson is a better PM than Starmer in opinion polls. The guy is as useful as a chocolate teapot and as spineless as a snake. Surely his days are numbered. Corbyn was far too soft on his internal traitors and not strong enough on Scotland’s right to choose independence, but he was 100 times the leader Starmer will ever be.
MPs have looked after themselves well over recent years of austerity Of course, Mick Lynch of the RMT and other good and decent trade union leaders and members know full well that relying on cosseted MPs for support is a dead-end strategy. MPs willing to fight for workers’ rights and against the obscene poverty and inequality which scars every part of the UK are the exception to the rule.
We must always remember the MPs who have allowed our energy bills to climb 54% get their energy paid for by us.
The MPs who have allowed our rail fares to climb 49% get their rail tickets paid for by us.
The MPs unwilling to support a £15 p/h minimum wage to radically attack the scourge of low pay get their whopping £82,000 per annum salary and very generous expenses packages paid for by us.
The truth is most MPs are part of the problem not part of the solution. They benefit hugely from the rigged free market system they cling to and defend daily. We need workers MPs on workers’ wages fighting for public ownership and decent pay for all workers if we are ever going to deliver change via Westminster. No wonder most socialists and progressive thinking people in Scotland back independence as the means to an end of a much fairer and more socially just society.
We know the mainstream media is a propaganda tool of the rich and powerful which does whatever is required to promote the interests of big business and the British Establishment at every turn. They will move into top gear over the coming days trying to turn ordinary people against the strikes. One of the most popular themes is the one parroted by Tory MPs at every opportunity and championed by the Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey who preaches the need for ‘wage restraint’ to prevent inflation while taking home a wage packet of £575,538 last year https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/bank-of-england-outrageous-call-for-pay-restraint-branded-a-sick-joke. No struggling to make ends meet in the Bailey household.
Never Be A Scab – Don’t Cross Picket Lines The truth about inflation is hidden from the public by the compliant and obedient mass media. Inflation approaching 11% has nothing to do with the wages of ordinary workers and everything to do with excessive executive pay and greedy profiteering by the big companies who run the UK.
An excellent report commissioned by the trade union UNITE blew the tired old lie about workers’ wages fuelling inflation out of the water but received no media coverage as it fundamentally undermined the lies of the bosses and MPs in their attack narrative against striking workers.
This thoroughly researched report should be widely disseminated and featured on every major news report and discussion show. It should be discussed and dissected in every workplace and community across the UK. It illustrates conclusively the cost-of-living crisis is really a cost of Conservatives crisis as the spiralling rises in the goods and commodities required to live are due to the obscene profiteering and shameful wage packets of the bosses not the reasonable wage demands of workers merely seeking to secure inflation matching wage increases.
Unite Report Must Be Widely Shared and Discussed The key findings of the Report deserve presentation here:
“The UK is facing a “cost of living crisis” as working people’s incomes fail to keep up with soaring inflation. This is often presented in the media as something out of our control: prices are going up and there is nothing we can do about it.
But analysis of data from company accounts and the Office for National Statistics suggests that this is to a large degree a profiteering crisis: both our wages, and what they can buy, are being squeezed by companies pursuing runaway profits.
While the likes of the Governor of the Bank of England call on workers to show “wage restraint”, our analysis confirms what most people already know: wages are falling behind inflation.
Recent high inflation was initially sparked by supply chain shocks. But there are strong signs that “price gouging” – where businesses hike their prices above supply costs – is now pushing “second round” inflation.
So while the pandemic, energy demand and the invasion of Ukraine have undoubtedly caused ruptures in company’s supply chains, any “inflation spiral” is being pushed by profits.
This report investigates this crisis of inflation profiteering, with the following key findings: ¾
Profit margins for the UK’s biggest listed companies (FTSE 350) were 73% higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019. ¾
UK-wide company profits jumped 11.74% in the six months from October 2021 to March 2022, according to the most recent ONS data. ¾
In the same period, labour income only rose 2.61%; and fell by 0.8% after accounting for inflation. ¾
This recent profit jump is responsible for 58.7% of inflation in the last half year – as opposed to just 8.3% due to labour costs. ¾
The UK appears to be following the pattern of inflation profiteering noted in the US, albeit some months behind the curve. ¾
This isn’t just about oil companies or a few “bad apples”. Even excluding energy firms, FTSE 350 company profits increased by 42% between 2019 and 2021”.
Company Profiteering and Bosses Greed has Caused Inflation Bosses’ greed not worker’s needs have driven inflation to its highest level in over forty years and led to the most severe fall in household income for over sixty years. Workers striking tomorrow and over the coming weeks and months to secure cost of living wage rises and resist job cuts are reacting to a Tory and boss class inspired crisis. They deserve support and solidarity. It really is a time to decide whose side you are on. Unite leader Sharon Graham is spot on:
“The Governor of the Bank of England and Boris Johnson want workers to think it’s irresponsible to demand better wages to pay for crippling food and energy prices. But Unite’s report exposes the truth. It’s not hard-pressed workers who are driving inflation, it’s whole swathes of corporate Britain. In the last six months company profits were responsible for almost 60% of inflation.”
“It’s not just energy companies. There are businesses right across our economy and their directors who have made vast sums of money from Covid 19 and the inflationary pressures that have followed.
“Those who have profited from the crisis should pay for it. Unite makes absolutely no apologies for demanding better pay for our members. Wage restraint? It’s time to demand profit restraint.”
Four Simple Rules of Life – Never Scab or Vote Tory are 3 & 4 Think about it and let these statistics sink in. Average executives’ pay in the top 350 UK companies has risen an incredible 29% in the last period from £2.01 million a year to £2.59 million a year but workers should refrain from inflation matching wage demands and accept continued falls in their living standards… Aye right…
If you are not on the side of workers in these struggles you are in effect on the side of the multi-million-pound bosses. It is often said a Militant is merely a Moderate who gets up off their knees. Well, more and more workers need to become militant over these next few months or face disastrous cuts to their family budgets and living standards. Don’t cower in silence. Rise in rage. Support the workers always.
Tommy Sheridan: NUJ Member & former Glasgow MSP and City Councillor
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Honouring War Criminal Blair Confirms Yet Again Just How Dishonourable the Putrid Honours System Is – Scrap the Honours System & Abolish the House of Lords
Dishonourable War Criminal Blair Has Bloody Hands In Recognition of your 100 million album sales
In Recognition of your popularity
You take your gaudy prize from people you said you despised
You wear your self-respect upon your bended kneesSometimes words are woefully inadequate when you wish to express your utter contempt and disgust for someone or something. Tony Blair is a yet to be convicted war criminal. He was prepared to lie to and deceive the British public and the whole world to justify an invasion of Iraq in 2003 which has proved to be the most de-stabilizing act of folly in global politics over the last 19 years https://www.csis.org/analysis/americas-failed-strategy-middle-east-losing-iraq-and-gulf. His devious collusion with and submission to the American plot to effect regime change in Iraq upon a false concocted premise has cost over a million innocent lives in Iraq https://web.mit.edu/humancostiraq/ and millions more across the middle east in the blow-back from that disastrous and illegal invasion. It is fitting that he was ‘honoured’ by the British Establishment today. He and his blood-soaked hands deserve to be in that shameless, reprehensible, and thoroughly contemptible British Club.
Stinking like an overflowing sewer is the stench which emanates from British Honours lists. Blair is the latest sordid name ‘honoured’ by the decrepit and noxious system of rewarding loyal lieutenants and useful idiots who have performed ‘services’ within or for the Empire and whose acceptance of the tainted trinket enhances the disreputable class infused system of privilege which spawns the award but debases the person who accepts it.
In spite of all your claims
It looks like you’re just the same
As every other clown, who likes to put the crown
Before or after their nameA few years ago Theresa May’s outgoing ‘Honours List’ also provoked controversy https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/10/theresa-may-accused-of-cronyism-over-resignation-honours. It is in the gift of outgoing Prime Ministers to reward flunkeys, friends and failed and flawed individuals with wee baubles or peerages which bestow letters after the names of the chosen ones or titles before them.
Lord or Lady Muck. Sir or Dame. Whatever the title the individuals who accept them deserve nothing but disdain for their consent to association with such a perfidious and brutal Empire. The Honours System and the House of Lords epitomise and prop up the decaying and decomposing corpse which the British Empire represents. The Honours system needs to be scrapped and the House of Lords abolished.
Phillip Green Is One Of The Long List Of Dishonourable ‘Sirs’ The biggest controversy over Malevolent May’s decision to dole out 41 awards and peerages in 2019 was the Knighthood conferred on former English cricketer Geoffrey Boycott. The guy played cricket for a living. He apparently enjoyed playing cricket. It is a sport. He was well remunerated for his efforts. Why the hell was he, or any other sportsman or woman, made a Sir, a Dame or being given an Order of the British Empire?
There is a CBE, an OBE and an MBE which are ranked Commander, Order and Member of the British Empire. They are all pompous baubles of privilege and rank. No one should be awarded them but May decided to display her cronyism by rewarding her favourite cricketer even though he was convicted in 1998 of a serious assault on his then partner. He was fined £5,000 and given a 3 months suspended sentence. He only narrowly avoided a jail sentence. Many believe he should have been imprisoned https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/10/geoffrey-boycott-i-dont-give-a-toss-about-criticism-of-knighthood. He was found guilty of repeatedly punching a woman. Yet another woman decided to make him a Sir? No wonder Women’s Aid and other opponents of domestic abuse were so angry:
“With increasing awareness of domestic abuse, and a domestic abuse bill ready to be taken forward by government, it is extremely disappointing that a knighthood has been recommended for Geoffrey Boycott, who is a convicted perpetrator of domestic abuse.
Celebrating a man who was convicted for assaulting his partner sends a dangerous message- that domestic abuse is not taken seriously as a crime” https://www.womensaid.org.uk/womens-aid-comments-on-the-knighthood-of-geoffrey-boycott/.
Women’s Aid made their objections well but some more context and condemnation are necessary. The UK honours system is an absolute disgrace. The worst examples are the knighthoods given to the child abusers Jimmy Savile and Cyril Smith, but there are plenty of other examples of the honours system being used to reward disgraced businessmen who went on to destroy their companies through their greed (Fred Goodwin and Philip Green being only two of the best examples) and a whole host of political cronies.
In Recognition of your service to the working class
In Recognition of your party loyalty
You get an ermine robe and you declare when you are probed
You only took it so the missus would be pleased
The whole honours system, including appointments to the bloated unelected House of Lords, is an affront to democracy. In his six years as Prime Minister David Cameron stuffed unelected cronies into the House of Lords at a faster rate than any Prime Minister in history. He thoroughly deserved his ‘Dodgy Dave’ nickname. He stuffed so many establishment insiders into the unelected upper house that the House of Lords is now the second biggest legislative chamber on earth, second only to the Chinese parliament.The fact a Chamber of 800 failed politicians, retired Bishops and Archbishops, assorted do-gooders from the professions and 92 Hereditary Peers, who are there because of birth right, can delay and amend laws is an unacceptable anachronism which makes a mockery of ‘British democracy’.
In 1910 the Labour Party General Election manifesto was crystal clear. Under the statement:
“The time has come to put an end to their power to override the will of the Commons.”
It declared: THE FEUDAL AGE IS PAST. THE LORDS MUST GO.
That was 112 years ago during which time Labour has been in power for several decades. They were right in 1910 under Keir Hardie but were wrong in 2019 under Jeremy Corbyn to nominate three worthies to become Labour Peers. For crying out loud it is a bloody oxymoron – a Labour Lord. They shouldn’t be nominating anyone to sit in the Lords and pick up their £305 a day attendance allowance at a cost to the taxpayer of £70 million a year they should make good on their 112-year-old promise to abolish the place.
Now the British Establishment has cleansed Labour of socialists and witch hunted the most socialist leader they have had since Keir Hardie the chances of honouring the 1910 pledge are non-existent. They are led by a poodle of the British Empire not a leader willing to dismantle it in the name of greater equality, justice, and modern democracy. Sir Keir by name. Sir Keir by nature.
The Kinnocks Epitomise the Rank Hypocrisy Which Pollutes New Labour Of course, it is difficult to honour election pledges when you attract so many hypocrites and class traitors to your ranks. Here’s what former Labour leader Neil Kinnock said about the House of Lords on November 19th, 1977, in Tribune:
“The House of Lords must go. Not to be replaced, not to be reformed in some nominated life-after-death patronage paradise, just closed down, abolished, finished. They are unelected busybodies and descendants of brigands, muggers, bribers, and gangsters.”
Welsh socialist firebrand Neil Kinnock MP was right in 1977 when he wrote the statement above and sat alongside his comrade Dennis Skinner on the House of Commons benches while the other MPs slithered off to the Lords to listen to the Queens’ speech. It was a protest against the Monarchy and the House of Lords. Today he sits as a disgrace to his class and proof of his empty rhetoric as Lord Kinnock alongside his wife Lady Kinnock. He was made a Lord by Tony Blair, she by Gordon Brown. Between them they rake in several hundred thousand pounds a year in tax free allowances and get to wear the red ermine cloaks of shame.
In spite of all your claims
It looks like you’re just the same
As every other clown, who likes to put the crown
Before or after their namesHundreds of other former Labour politicians and trade union leaders have walked that shabby and unprincipled path to park their contemptible arses on those rotten red benches.
Corbyn’s Labour said they would abolish the House of Lords. They had to understand why many were so sceptical about that commitment. Sadly, the Greens also nominate Peers to the Lords as do the yellow Tory Lib Dems. With distinction the SNP has never nominated anyone to sit in the House of ill-repute and democratic illegitimacy and stands for its abolition. It is yet another attraction to fight for independence. No House of Lords and, if the grassroots get their way, no Monarchy either.
The truth is anyone who accepts a British Empire Honour or Peerage demeans their life and achievements. They buy into the vile class system and odious British Empire, which was built on the blood of conquered, enslaved, starved, tortured, and murdered peoples across the planet. By accepting a British Honour, you become part of the collective shame that the British Empire represents. Is it really worth it to secure a tarnished title or letters after your name?
Ohhhhhh Vanity
It gets them one by one
Patronage and Monarchy
And all they entail, rarely fail
Principled, Honest and Talented Ken Loach Declined Membership of the Dishonourable Honours Club Ken Loach is a remarkably talented film director. He is one of a very honourable group of individuals who have turned down a discreditable British bauble. He told the Radio Times in March 2001:
“It’s all the things I think are despicable: patronage, deferring to the monarchy and the name of the British Empire, which is a monument of exploitation and conquest.
“I turned down the OBE because it’s not a club you want to join when you look at the villains who’ve got it” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1217962.stm.
Spot on the button Ken. Well said brother.
Benjamin Zephaniah, the celebrated black British poet, was similarly strident in 2003 when he referred to why he turned down a British Honour offered by war criminal PM Tony Blair who accepted his own sick and ironic British Order of Chivalry today while victims of the illegal Iraq war protested outside Windsor Castle https://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2022-06-13/protests-expected-at-windsor-castle-as-tony-blair-is-set-to-receive-knighthood:
“Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear the word ’empire’; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds me of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised.”
“My obsession is about the future and the political rights of all people. Benjamin Zephaniah OBE – no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs Queen. I am profoundly anti-Empire” https://web.archive.org/web/20100616162002/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/benjamin-zephaniah-declines-an-obe-in-protest-against-colonialism-737107.html.
In Recognition of your bravery up on the stage
In Recognition of your bank ability
You get to wait in lines with soldiers crippled by land mines
And you think it’s the yanks that don’t get ironyThe powerful and appropriate words of Benjamin Zephaniah were eloquently echoed in December 2016 when the eminent Professor of Criminology, Phil Scraton, who had worked so hard over many years to seek justice for the Hillsborough disaster victims and families who had been besmirched, deceived, lied about and ignored by Thatcher and successive governments and the mainstream media before finally securing a proper public enquiry and some justice against the wishes of the British Establishment:
“I could not receive an honour on the recommendation of those who remained unresponsive to the determined efforts of bereaved families and survivors to secure truth and justice.”
“These awards are made without recognising ties to an imperialist history or its legacy. I could not accept an honour tied in name to the ‘British Empire’. In my scholarship and teaching I remain a strong critic of the historical, cultural and political contexts of imperialism and their international legacy” https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/dec/29/hillsborough-prof-phil-scraton-turns-down-obe.
In spite of all your claims
It looks like you’re just the same
As every other clown, who likes to put the crown
Before or after their namesAnyone who wishes to retain their integrity and credibility should think long and hard before accepting a British ‘Honour’ or House of Lords robe. The sooner the Honours system is scrapped, and the House of Lords is abolished the better for society as a whole and democracy specifically.
The Proclaimers are an outstanding Scottish rock duo who have entertained us, inspired us, moved us, and educated us with their songs and lyrics since 1983. Throughout this blog I have presented the words of their 2007 song ‘In Recognition’ because it superbly takes down the British Honours system. Please listen to it and share it far and wide https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0FHEEuMvuI.
Tony Blair is rotten to the core. His honour today confirms conclusively how rotten that whole honours system is and always has been.
Tommy Sheridan: NUJ Member, Former Glasgow MSP & City Councillor (1992-2007)
A Time To Rage
Blog of the Solidarity Socialist Network
A Time To Rage 