BBC NEWS | Politics | New cannabis approach urged in Scotland : "Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan said the guidelines should be issued to Scottish police forces too.

He said: "In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the police are to be issued with new guidelines that will effectively decriminalise cannabis for personal use.

"The police in Scotland must urgently draw up similar guidelines to end the needless prosecution and criminalisation of cannabis users north of the border.

"In England, Wales and Northern Ireland they are at least beginning to address the issue, here in Scotland we are sadly lagging behind.

"The Scottish Socialist Party will continue to fight for the full legalisation of cannabis within a licensing framework similar to alcohol and tobacco that enables the setting up of Dutch style cannabis cafés."

SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Press Release: 12/09/03

Sheridan demands the end of criminalisation for cannabis possession

Tommy Sheridan today lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament calling for The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland to issue the same guidelines in relation to the possession of cannabis as the ACPO has done for England, Wales & Northern Ireland which will effectively decriminalise the drug for personal use.
Sheridan said;
"In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the police are to be issued with new guidelines that will effectively decriminalise cannabis for personal use.
"The police in Scotland must urgently draw up similar guidelines to end the needless prosecution and criminalisation of cannabis users north of the border.
"In England, Wales and Northern Ireland they are at least beginning to address the issue, here in Scotland we are sadly lagging behind.
"The Scottish Socialist Party will continue to fight for the full legalisation of cannabis within a licensing framework similar to alcohol and tobacco that enables the setting up of Dutch style cannabis cafe's."

United calls to end children’s detention The Herald

SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Press Release: 11/09/03

Today the Scottish Executive announced its funding priorities under the partnership agreement and yet again rather than tackling poverty the root cause of crime they go for the quick fix of demonising the young.
Frances Curran said:
“Mr Kerr has indicated the Executive is allocating £65 million to reducing crime and combating anti-social behaviour. A key target in the budget is to reduce persistent young offenders by 10% by 2006 i.e. from 785 to 707 a reduction of 78. This is at the cost of £833,000 per offender.
"Rather than spending money on improving facilities for young people the Executive is continuing to stigmatise them and waste money on draconian measures which do nothing to provide a rich and rewarding life for our young.”

SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Press Release: 11/09/03

The Scottish Socialist Party today responded to the release of Statistics which show the Scottish prison population reaching record levels.
Figures published in a Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin show that Scotland’s average daily prison population is up 4%.
SSP Justice spokesperson Colin Fox MSP said;
“Scotland already has the 3rd highest prison population in Europe and this has now increased by 4%.
Cathy Jamieson is saying that we must find out what is going wrong and fix it. But her only plans seem to be to build more private prisons. Rather ironic from a politician who made her reputation on the Labour left opposing privatisation.
"I’ll tell the minister responsible for this parlous state of affairs exactly what is going wrong and how to fix it.
"Stop jailing so many Scots, it’s as simple as that.
"Stop jailing them for non payment of fines and stop jailing them for possession of cannabis. Change the drug laws so addicts don’t have to commit crimes to feed their habit. Over half the prisoners are in for drug related crimes. Unless you deal with this the prison population will continue to grow"

The quality of mercy is plain to see: "Ah, she's only doing it for the publicity. It's just a cheap political stunt. It is gesture politics of the worst kind, and not a serious solution to the asylum crisis. So it goes on. The fact that Rosie Kane, the Scottish Socialist Party MSP, has welcomed an asylum-seeker, complete with daughter, into her home has met with predictable sneers...." The Herald

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Dungavel schooling deal dashed: "In an impassioned speech, Scottish Socialist MSP Rosie Kane made clear her opposition to Dungavel.

She said: 'Detention of innocent people is wrong. Dungavel and other detention centres all over the UK are wrong.

'Innocent people are being kept in new family units and we have to oppose that. We cannot shut up in this parliament.'"

STUC leader agrees to deliver SNP lecture: "Mr Speirs said: 'The general council over the past few years has taken the view that we would engage with all of Scotland's democratic political parties. We have met with the first minister, with the Conservatives, and with the Liberal Democrats, so this invitation fitted neatly with this policy of engagement with all. That will also include the Scottish Socialists in a month's time." The Herald

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Ministers in gay rights opt-out: "The Scottish Socialist Party also accused ministers of 'washing their hands' of the issue and vowed to continue to support Mr Harvie's bill. "

SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Press Release: 09/09/03

The Scottish Socialist Party today reaffirmed its support for the closure of Dungavel and backed the move by the SNP to end the imprisonment of children.
Rosie Kane MSP said:
“The Scottish Executive constantly hide behind constitutional walls while children are locked up behind prison walls.
“The psychological damage inflicted on the Ay family after a year locked up in Dungavel can never be undone.
“But we can prevent other children being damaged in the future.”

Letters to The Herald



Why Dungavel is worse than a prison

Many people have compared the detention centre in Dungavel to a prison. They are wrong. In prison - I speak from personal experience -

no-one is punished for having food in their cell. In Barlinnie your cell is where you eat (and slop out). Where a canteen system operates, as in Greenock, you help yourself to bread, and can take it back to your cell for later on.

In Dungavel, for feeding her child one Weetabix in her cell, a woman is punished with the loss of her weekly allowance of £3.50. Dungavel is not like a prison. It is worse than a prison.

To the mean-minded minority who have written to justifying the indefensible - the detention of the innocent children and innocent parents in prison - I have only two questions. How would you like a child of yours to be subjected to this treatment? And do you imagine that the children locked up in Dungavel are less worthy of love or less infinitely precious than your own?

To all who are nauseated by the antics of Three Monkeys McConnell and his cohorts of spineless tonyclonies mugwumping on the Mound, may I suggest a practical way of communicating your contempt? Send one individual Weetabix, carefully wrapped, to the first minister. Get your friends to do the same. Perhaps this will give Jack something to chew on while he looks the other way.

Brian Quail, 2 Hyndland Avenue, Glasgow.

Rosie Kane has indeed sheltered the homeless

Chuck O'Connell (Letters, September 8) wonders if Rosie Kane would show the same generosity to a "homeless Scot" as she has to Mercy Ikolo and her daughter. The short answer is yes. I have personally witnessed Rosie taking a homeless family into her home to prevent them having to sleep on the streets or in hostels. People in Scotland perform such acts of decency all the time, even if they escape the glare of publicity.

As in the case of Mercy Ikolo, it was the injustice of the situation and the suffering of the people involved that prompted Rosie to act, rather than some idiotic idea of racial precedence. I will leave Mr O'Connell to judge for himself what the PR value of helping people in need may be, although the chances are we would never have publicised this act of principle and kindness unless he had asked about it.

Mick Eyre, constituency caseworker to Rosie Kane, MSP, 73 Robertson Street, Glasgow.

IN reply to Chuck O'Connell, I know it has become inevitable that every time a true socialist stands up to be counted someone will pop up and question their motives but the anger over children incarcerated in Dungavel detention centre is an entirely different issue from homelessness on our streets. The fact that Rosie Kane has taken direct action over the former does not mean that she or the SSP are not concerned about the latter. As Mr O'Connell seems so concerned about the latter, can he inform us what he intends to do about it? Joining the SSP might be a good start.

Allan Johnston, 23 Dudley Terrace, Edinburgh.


Having read Chuck O'Connell's snide comment about Rosie Kane, I would not be surprised to find that his living-room wall bore a plaque with the homily "Cynicism begins at home".

David Stevenson 47 Cairns Road, Cambuslang.

More than 2000 people came to Dungavel detention centre for asylum seekers, in Ayrshire, to demonstrate. They were calling for the closure of the centre and for an end to the barbaric practice of detaining children, in prison conditions, with poor access to education. There were speakers from refugee campaigns, the STUC, the Greens and the SNP as well as individuals from Labour and Liberal-Democrats who were opposing the line of the Scottish Executive. Rosie Kane MSP spoke on behalf of the SSP and the biggest cheers of the day were for Mercy Ikolo, who was recently bailed from Dungavel and is now staying with Rosie Kane.

To see more photos of the demo to shut Dungavel, Click here

sundaymail - SHUT IT: "Mercy Ikolo, 32, who was released on bail, described the restrictive conditions imposed at the centre.

She said: ``We're not allowed to go out when we want to go out. Our children are not allowed to eat when they want to eat. They're only supposed to eat at certain times surrounded by people. They cannot eat when they are seen by so many people.

``We are not allowed to speak to our solicitors, so how can we make a case for our freedom? We are monitored everywhere we go -when we go to the library, when we go to the shop.

``It's a really, really bad place.'' Mercy and her daughter Percile-Liz have moved in with Socialist MSP Rosie Kane after being granted bail.

She described the firebrand politician as her ``new friend and mother''.

Kane told the rally: ``I would rather be silenced screaming for justice than silenced with Blair's foot on my throat. I am disgusted and ashamed at what the Home Office has done.''
"

Scotsman.com News - Immigration and refugees - Protesters call for Dungavel to be shut down: "POLITICAL and religious leaders last night demanded the immediate closure of Dungavel asylum detention centre during a mass rally.

Around 2,000 protesters gathered at the centre near Strathaven, Lanarkshire, opposing government policy on detaining the children of certain asylum seekers along with their families.
"

Scotland on Sunday - Top Stories - Home sweet home for MSP and the asylum-seeker she has given a bed EVEN though the 14-month-old baby has just crumpled up a picture of her two teenage daughters and put the silver frame on her head, Rosie Kane is still laughing.

As the child, who belongs to asylum-seeker Mercy Ikolo, lunges for her handbag and empties the contents around her cosy sitting room, the Scottish Socialist MSP just smiles and keeps on talking.

"I wish I had more space to offer them but there’s a lot of warmth and fun here," she says.

It has certainly been a welcome move for Ikolo, 32, and her baby Percile-Liz, who had been detained at the Dungavel Detention Centre since August 17. Last week Kane invited mother and baby to stay at her two-bedroom Glasgow flat until their asylum cases are processed.

Sunday Herald: Executive duped over Dungavel SCOTTISH ministers who now refuse to speak out on the detention of refugee children at Dungavel were so worried about the problem in 2001 that they wrung promises from Westminster that they would only be held there as a last resort and for no more than a few days.

The 2001 pledge to Executive ministers was almost immediately broken. Some children have been held at Dungavel for more than a year; others have been held even though they have not been issued with deportation orders.