BBC News Online
Scotland's first minister has rejected a claim that he should call for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq.
Scottish Socialist leader Tommy Sheridan asked Jack McConnell to admit that military action in the Gulf had been "wrong".
He said that the UK should follow Spain and withdraw its forces.

The SSP leader asked Mr McConnell to admit he had been "wrong" to tell MSPs that an attack would be justified if the Iraqi regime remained unwilling to relinquish weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Mr Sheridan then challenged Mr McConnell to accept recent poll findings which, he said, showed a majority of ordinary Iraqis viewed US and UK troops as an occupation force rather than as liberators.
"These are the opinions, now, of the Iraqi people," Mr Sheridan said.
"Will you be honest and consistent enough to call on Mr Blair to follow the example of the Spanish Socialists, and withdraw troops from an illegal occupation of Iraq?"

The Herald: Rise in asthma cases brings calls for fresh approach

A FRESH focus on asthma was demanded yesterday in the wake of worrying reports about the disease.
Opposition politicians in Scotland called for a new strategy to try to combat the epidemic which has become more prevalent over the last 40 years.
Carolyn Leckie, the Socialist MSP, said there needed to be a radical shift focusing resources on preventing the spread of the condition rather than cure....
Ms Leckie, whose daughter has asthma, added: "There is so much money being spent on treatments and there are queries about how cost-effective these treatments are. Surely it would be better to invest in housing conditions in society as a whole to stop people developing asthma. With the difference in asthma rates across the world it is clearly an environmental problem. We need prevention rather than cure."

The Scotsman: Coalition fights off moves to alter PR council poll plans

BBC News Online
TOMMY SHERIDAN. LEADER OF THE SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTY
Scotland's communities suffer the brutal legacy of Margaret Thatcher to this day.
Just as she gave the order that sent 323 young Argentineans on the warship General Belgrano to their grave, so Thatcher carried out the wholesale decimation of Scotland's industries.
Factories, shipyards and thousands of associated workplaces closed their doors.
The hopelessness and despair as a generation were sacrificed on the alter of a creed of greed still echoes through Scotland's communities.
The poll tax marked a turning point, it's introduction in Scotland a year earlier than the rest of the UK both a calculated insult and a monumental blunder.
From the grassroots uprising against the poll tax was born a new spirit in Scotland, a determination to re-forge a spirit of co-operation and human solidarity.
In that respect, six Scottish Socialist Party members of the Scottish Parliament are also a legacy of Margaret Thatcher.

Scotland Today: Suspended SNP MSP says he would consider joining Socialists

Suspended SNP MSP Campbell Martin says he would consider joining the Scottish Socialist Party. Mr Martin is due to face a special disciplinary hearing next weekend which could result in expulsion from the SNP.

The move to suspend him came after he said he would consider leaving the party if John Swinney remained as leader. He told Scottish Television's Politics Now programme he had more in common with Tommy Sheridan than the SNP leader.

He said: "I have a lot in common with the Scottish Socialist Party. I get on well with a number of the SSP members in the Parliament and I'm good friends with Lloyd Quinan who left the SNP and joined the SSP. But I'd like to think my future's in the SNP."

Asked who he had most in common with, either Tommy Sheridan or John Swinney, he said: "On a personal basis I would say Tommy Sheridan."

SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Press Release: 01/05/04

Scottish Socialist Party: Withdraw Iraq troops now

One year to the day after President George Bush proclaimed the war in
Iraq won, Scottish Socialist Party national convenor Tommy Sheridan
has appealed for all Scottish political parties and individuals who
opposed the war to unite together and demand the immediate withdrawal
of coalition troops from Iraq.

Mr Sheridan and the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) were leading
voices in the anti war movement that swept Scotland a year ago, with
over 100,000 people demonstrating in Glasgow on February 15th 2003.
Following the SSP's vocal and determined opposition to the war, its
Scottish Parliament group increased from one representative to six in
the elections that took place on May 1st 2003.

Mr Sheridan said;
"The nauseating photographs of bestial torture committed by US and
British troops in Iraq are an affront to the civilised peoples of the
world.
"Millions of people around the world took to the streets in
opposition to the war before it was launched and they have been
proved absolutely correct.
"The resounding majority of the Iraqi's want the coalition troops
withdrawn and we are calling on all those political parties and
individuals who were opposed to this bloody and futile war to unite
in demanding troops out of Iraq now.
"If the troops are not withdrawn immediately from Iraq the situation
can only get worse.
"It is clear that there is no military solution in Iraq, the troops
are fighting an unwinnable war.
"There has to be a political settlement in the middle east that
brings justice to the peoples of the region.
"There has to be an end to the plundering of the oil wealth by
Western companies while millions live in abject poverty and a
settlement that brings justice to the peoples of Palestine.
"The Scottish Socialist Party calls on all political parties and
individuals in Scotland who opposed the war on Iraq to join together
and demand that British troops are withdrawn from Iraq immediately."