BBC News Online
Three branches of Britain's biggest rail union are attempting to switch their allegiance from Labour to Tommy Sheridan's Scottish Socialist Party.
The executive committee of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will be asked to endorse the move next week.
The branches are in Glasgow, Edinburgh and in Motherwell and Wishaw - First Minister Jack McConnell's constituency.

The Guardian: Rail union cuts Labour funding

The Times: Labour link with rail union may be broken

THE Labour Party is facing a breach with one of its founding trade unions after a move by three branches of the left-wing Rail, Maritime and Transport Union to support the militant Scottish Socialist Party.

The branches, in Motherwell and Wishaw, Glasgow, and Edinburgh, have applied to a meeting next month of the RMT national executive to disaffiliate from Labour and back the SSP. The RMT is Britain’s biggest rail union.

Labour Party sources in Scotland said last night that if the move is agreed by RMT leaders it would mean that the whole union would be regarded as having disaffiliated from Labour — the first such move by a trade union in decades.

In the One to Watch category, the winner was Rosie Kane, the outspoken Glasgow socialist, who was chosen for her sudden impact on the political scene. The Herald

Rosie was also nominated for campaigner of the year. You can read Rosie's weekly column in the Sunday Mail on their website here.

7:84 under threat after funds cut

THE future of 7:84, one of Scotland's best-known theatre groups, was in doubt last night after the Scottish Arts Council withdrew its core funding from 2005.
It stands to lose about £225,000 a year half of its annual income as part of a package of cuts, worth nearly1m, from nine organisations. The list also includes Borderline Theatre, the Crawford Arts Centre in St Andrews, and the Glasgow Jazz Festival...
Lorenzo Mele, 7:84's artistic director, said: "It is a massive blow. We have been given the same grant that we always get, but only for another year.
"We are quite shocked because we are Scotland's leading political theatre company and do incredible outreach work in different communities...
Tommy Sheridan, Scottish Socialist party leader, said the demise of 7:84 would mean the loss of an important voice.
He said: "It is very regrettable. These theatre companies are the lifeblood of performing art, taking art into the community and giving youngsters the chance to develop their confidence and abilities.
"Such stringent cuts are shocking and I will be contacting Frank McAveety (the culture minister) to find out what's going on." The Herald

Reasons to be cheerful

Mele thinks, because "in England there’s no real left alternative to the Labour party; in Scotland we have a stronger left-wing tradition and also left alternatives to the Labour party like the SSP and the Green party. I think there’s this sense things can be pushed further." The Scotsman

The Student
LAST WEDNESDAY thousands of students from all over Scotland marched through the streets of Edinburgh to oppose the arrival of the President of the United States to Britain.

Rosie Kane of the Scottish Socialist Party summed up the mood of the day, saying: “Get out of our country, you’re not welcome.”

Socialist MSPs dig deep to aid party DONATIONS to the Scottish Socialist party of more than £200 have come entirely from the party's own MSPs, official figures show. Statistics from the Electoral Commission reveal that in the third quarter of this year, the SSP, led by Tommy Sheridan, received £34,876. Colin Fox gave £6500, Rosemary Byrne £6400, Carolyn Leckie £6111, Rosie Kane £6082, Frances Curran £5883 and Mr Sheridan himself £3900. The Herald

Sheridan rounds on SNP own goal The Herald

SCOTLAND: `Bush' thrown out of parliament Green Left Weekly

A very different parliamentarian Green Left Weekly, Australia.

Scottish MP struck by the similarities Otago Daily Times, New Zealand.

Independent On Sunday
As usual, the sharpest parliamentary occasion came from Scotland. The Scottish Socialist Party proposed that Bush and Blair should be brought before an international court for war crimes. They are in breach of the UN charter, made war illegally, have used cluster bombs and depleted uranium and are responsible for thousands of civilian deaths. They should be bought to trial.
Oh to be in Scotland, now that Tommy Sheridan and his five comrades are there!

Dominican Post
Feel like winding up a radical Scottish socialist? Tell him that you watched the Rugby World Cup final with a woman from Edinburgh who supported England.
Och aye. Not only is rugby not the game for the working class, explained visiting Scottish Socialist Party MP Colin Fox, but a Scot supporting Her Majesty's team? It cannae be countenanced.
This is a man who was kicked out of the House in his first day as a member of the Scottish Parliament after refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen. Instead he sang a refrain from Robert Burns' ode to equality A Man's a Man for a' That.
Singing in parliament, the gangly 44-year-old republican discovered, is not allowed - no matter how nationalistic. Nor are a few other radical stunts he and fellow SSP members have pulled since they were elected this year.
They were issued their final warning on Friday after loudly protesting against United States President George Bush's visit to Britain.
Mr Fox is on a tour of New Zealand and Australia to talk about the Scottish socialists' success in the last election - they won five extra seats - and encourage New Zealand's Left-leaning movement to pull itself together too.