SSP PREPARES TO LAY SIEGE TO BLAIR ON 15 FEBRUARY

Following a very successful meeting of the Scottish Socialist Party's membership in the Glasgow Region, it was agreed that as part of the Scottish Coalition for Justice not War, the SSP will lay siege to the Labour Party conference at the SECC as Tony Blair addresses it on 15 February.

SSP Regional Organiser, Richie Venton said:

"Tony Blair has the brass neck to speak in our name as he prepares to obliterate the people of Iraq in a war of mass destruction. The SSP is a vibrant part of the massive anti-war movement in Scotland - the only party opposed to Blair's war for oil, even if a bunch of unrepresentative capitalist governments in the United Nations back it.

Just as the people of America laid siege to the 1968 Democratic Party Chicago Convention and helped end their war on the Vietnamese people, so too the people of Scotland should besiege Blair's rigged war rally at the SECC.

We are confident of at least 20 - 30,000 in a human sea of opposition to Blair's butchery on behalf of the oil multinationals' carve-up of the Iraqi oilfields."
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For more information, contact Tommy Sheridan on 07887 795075 or Richie Venton on 07899 732068

SSP PUTS WAR ON POVERTY, NOT IRAQ ON PARLIAMENT AGENDA

Tommy Sheridan, Scottish Socialist Party MSP and National Convenor, will next week promote a war on poverty in Scotland, not against Iraq in the course of the SSP’s annual 90-minute debate slot.

Next Thursday morning Tommy Sheridan will propose two motions. The first will call on the Scottish Parliament to support the replacement of the unfair council tax with a redistributive and progressive Service Tax based on individual income. This radical tax measure would effect a wealth transfusion in Scotland from the millionaires and the wealthy to the low paid and pensioners.

Tommy said,
“Our Scottish Service Tax proposal would improve the disposable income of 77% of Scots. Pensioners and low paid workers would benefit most. Instead of being hammered by the unfair council tax, they would be taxed according to their income and those on less than £10,000 a year would be exempt. The wealthy and millionaires in society would pay more. This measure is a radical assault on poverty and delivers significant wealth redistribution throughout Scotland. This is what the Scottish Parliament has failed to do in the last three years.”

Tommy’s second motion will urge support for the Scottish Coalition for Justice Not War’s demonstration on 15 February.

Tommy Sheridan said,
“The overwhelming majority of Scots are opposed to the Bush-driven war for oil. They know this war has nothing to do with justice, weapons of mass destruction or the war on terrorism. It has everything to do with Bush’s desire to control world oil and extend the American empire.”

For more information, contact Tommy Sheridan on 07887 795075 or Hugh Kerr on 01620 890518/07713 063647

SHERIDAN WELCOMES SUPPORT FOR FREE SCHOOL MEALS

Scottish Socialist Party MSP Tommy Sheridan today welcomed the highly influential U.K. Public Health Association Report published today which calls for free school meals as part of a Healthy Start programme.

The UKPHA is an independent organisation representing all the leading professionals in public health. They are critical of the U.K. government and the Scottish Executive’s Healthy Start initiatives describing them as “a nutritional sticking plaster for the gaping wound of poverty-related health inequalities.”

Tommy Sheridan said,
“I welcome today’s report. These are the people who know how to improve public health in the U.K. and they are fully behind the idea of free school meals as an essential part of changing the nation’s diet. The SSP will be bringing back the Free School Meals Bill as a priority after the May election and with six – eight MSPs, we hope it will be passed next time.”

NOTE: Copies of the UKPHA report can be obtained from Tommy Sheridan’s office
For more information, contact Tommy Sheridan on 07887 795075 or Hugh Kerr on 0131 348 5631/07713 063647

SHERIDAN SLAMS NEW LABOUR CRUDE COMMERCIAL CRONYISM

Scottish Socialist Party MSP Tommy Sheridan today condemned the endorsement of the Scottish Executive for Sainsbury’s Food Challenge 2003.

Tommy Sheridan said,
“This is a blatant example of New Labour cronyism. Lord Sainsbury gives the Labour Party £2 million and in return the New Labour Executive endorses a blatantly commercial campaign which attempts to link Sainsbury’s to Scottish schools and no doubt promote their sales. Can we expect ministerial endorsements for other supermarkets or don’t they give enough money to Labour? This is a clear example of a supermarket engaged in improving its brand profile by linking it with schools and supposedly healthy eating. The truth is Sainsbury’s, like all the supermarkets, is responsible for the poor Scottish diet by selling junk food and removing the choice of small shops from working class areas. The Scottish Executive would be better advised to promote free, balanced, nutritious meals in schools and removing commercial influence from schools instead of promoting it.”
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For more information, contact Tommy Sheridan on 07887 795075 or Hugh Kerr on 0131 348 5631/07713 063647

SHERIDAN AND BOB CROW UNITE IN SUPPORT OF FIREFIGHTERS

Scottish Socialist Party Convenor Tommy Sheridan MSP and Bob Crow, General Secretary of the RMT Union visited the firefighters’ picket lines at the McDonald Road Fire Station in Edinburgh.

Tommy Sheridan said at the picket,
“The Fire Brigades Union have a hard struggle on their hands. Mr Blair is determined to crush you as an example to all public sector workers, but I believe you can win. Your struggle now is not just for pay but to defend the Fire Service and all public services. The Scottish Socialist Party will be giving the FBU full support both in the Parliament, on the picket lines and at the elections.”

Bob Crow said,
“The railway workers will be giving full support to the firefighters and we will be asking the STUC to step up their backing. I also want to say I shall be speaking at SSP rallies during the election. The Labour Party can no longer expect trade unions to loyally trot out their support at election times when they kick them in the teeth the rest of the year.”

For more information, contact Tommy Sheridan on 07887 795075 or Hugh Kerr on 0131 348 5631/07713 063647

SHERIDAN TO MEET BOB CROW TO DISCUSS TAKING SCOTRAIL BACK INTO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP

Scottish Socialist Convenor Tommy Sheridan MSP will meet with Bob Crow, the left-wing leader of the RMT rail union on Tuesday (21st January) at the Scottish Parliament.

Bob Crow is in Parliament to meet with Transport Minister Lewis McDonald, but has asked to meet Tommy Sheridan to discuss matters of mutual interest.

Tommy Sheridan said,

“I am delighted to be meeting with Bob Crow. I have shared many platforms with Bob in the past, at anti-war rallies and Edinburgh May Day. The SSP has many RMT members and supporters, and I want to discuss with Bob how we can help the campaign to return the rail industry to public ownership. Also, the RMT will be considering breaking its links with Labour this year, and I want to discuss how it could help the SSP at elections in the future.”

TOMMY SHERIDAN AND BOB CROW WILL BE AVAILABLE TO MEET THE PRESS – contact Tommy Sheridan on 07887 795075 or Hugh Kerr on 0131 348 5631/07713 063647

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Socialists unveil election pledges

The SSP, which will fight every seat at the Scottish Parliament elections in May, is predicting that it could return as many as eight MSPs.

Mr Sheridan said that his party could hold the balance of power in the parliament after the elections.

"The price of our support will be the implementation of our six pledges," he said. BBC Online

The Scotsman - Politics - SSP play up their anti-war stance TOMMY Sheridan yesterday predicted his Scottish Socialist Party could benefit from the tide of anti-war feeling in May?s Holyrood elections.

The SSP leader claimed that the party was seen across the country as "the peace party", and predicted that voters would opt for them as a protest against military action in Iraq. The Scotsman

Wage war on poverty, not Iraq, say Socialists

THE Scottish Socialists yesterday said they would fight under the slogan "wage war on poverty, not Iraq" and would make a real difference to the parliament when they gained a bloc of several members in Holyrood in May.

Tommy Sheridan, convener of the party, said their anti-war stance would continue right through spring no matter the turns in events in the Gulf and even if an anti-war stance became unpopular. "Regardless of the opinion polls, we will be opposing the war. This is not about electoral gain, this is about peace and belief," he said.

The SSP yesterday joined other parties in launching a medium-term campaign and floating the broad thrust of its manifesto. This will be built around six pledges.

The main policy is the replacement of the council tax with a Scottish service tax based on income, which would mean those earning less than £10,000 being exempt, and those earning up to more than £90,000 being taxed at 20% on a sliding scale.

Mr Sheridan said that this pledge, in common with all his party's others, could be achieved within the powers of the Scottish Parliament. Free school meals, a £7.32 minimum wage rate and 35-hour week for public sector workers, an end to public-private partnership deals, and total public opposition to the "war for oil" make up the other planks of the manifesto.

He said: "These six pledges are radical, exciting and achievable by the Scottish Parliament. They will make a real difference to the people of Scotland, unlike the pale, soggy policies of the four main parties."

The SSP had 300 members in 1998 and claims 3000 today. "We expect to have six to eight members in the new parliament. We could hold the balance of power, and the price of our support will be the implementation of our six pledges," Mr Sheridan added. The Herald