Scottish Socialist Party General Election 2005

SSP responds to General Election result

Scottish Socialist Party national convenor Colin Fox today responded to the SSP's general election results saying that they were disappointing but not unexpected. Colin said; "We were the only party who said from the outset that we had no chance of winning a seat in this election and the Westminster elections are always going to be an away game for us. "As former Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty said; "We got beat four nil and were lucky to get the nil."

Colin continued; "The SSP team is ready for the next game against the leaders of the G8 however. This month we contested 58 out of 59 Scottish Westminster seats, distributing over 3 million election addresses and increasing our membership by ten percent. "In July we will mobilise tens of thousands against the criminal policies of G8 leaders like George Bush and Tony Blair. "In doing that we will link up with all those who used their vote to protest in these elections and explore with them the future of all forces in favour of a collective solution to the future of our planet."

Taking up the question of the voting system Colin said; "The biggest obstacle for smaller parties contesting the Westminster elections is the first past the post system that gives just three establishment parties a monopoly on media coverage and means that not a single Scottish vote for radical minority parties can have any result whatsoever."

Colin went on to thank the candidates, organisers and supporters who had worked hard over the past four weeks to spread the message of socialism across Scotland; "I'd like to pay tribute to all those activists, candidates and supporters who have mobilised more than 42,000 people to come out and vote for the Scottish Socialist Party."

Battle over Pfi demand for £30m extras - The Herald: "Carolyn Leckie, Scottish Socialist health spokesperson, said she feared other PFI operators would attempt similar price hikes.
'Once you sell schools and hospitals to companies which exist to promote the bottom line, you undermine the whole philosophy of public service, and expose the taxpayer to ever more demands for profit.'"

The Herald: "The Scottish Socialist Party stressed redistribution and anti-war activism, while attacking LibDems, who are expected to do well out of anti-war votes. Colin Fox, the SSP's new leader, said LibDems were 'phoney radicals. At election time they claim to be radical but when it comes down to it, they are as right- wing as all the other mainstream parties.'"

Scottish Socialist Party General Election 2005

SSP: Police spying on visitors to Scotland

Scottish Socialist Party national convenor Colin Fox today accused Scottish police of spying on visitors to Scotland after it was revealed that hotels, bed and breakfasts, camping and caravan sites in Fife were being asked to provide details of bookings coinciding with the G8 summit between 6-8th July. The request was contained in a form letter, dated 23rd February 2005, from Supt. Ian Hutton to owners of hotels, bed and breakfasts, camping and caravan sites in Fife.

Colin said; "This is a major assault on civil liberties and amounts to nothing less than police spying on visitors to Scotland. "There will be hundreds of thousands of people from across the UK, Europe and the wider world who will come to Scotland to exercise their lawful right to peaceful protest at the G8 summit and yet the police are treating everyone of them as if they were law breakers and troublemakers. "The people of Scotland will be outraged that our reputation as a country that gives a warm welcome to visitors is being tarnished by Big Brother police and security services."

Scottish Socialist Party candidate for Glenrothes Constituency, Morag Balfour, has raised the issue in her campaigning work in the constituency.

Morag said; "This is a shocking development. "First we get fortress Gleneagles to protect political leaders responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, now Big Brother invades Fife. "The message this gives out is that if you are visiting Fife in early July then you are a possible troublemaker, hardly the traditional Fife welcome." [ends]

Morag Balfour (31) is the SSP's Peace and Disarmament spokesperson, Regional Chair of Mid-Scotland & Fife SSP and a member of the Iona Community. She is on the Executive of Scottish CND and is actively involved in Trident Ploughshares. She has taken part in numerous high profile demonstrations against the illegal Iraq war.

Scottish Socialist Party General Election 2005

SSP calls for radical action to tackle crime at the roots

As Labour turn the election focus to weapons misuse and crime, the Scottish Socialist Party today called for an end to the war on young people, and action to tackle the real causes of crime - poverty, alcohol abuse and hard drug addiction.

Scottish Socialist Party convenor Colin Fox MSP said: "Labour and the Tories both like to say that they're tough on crime. "Cheered on by the media, Labour have declared all-out war on young people - blaming the youth for the problems our communities face. "Scotland's prison population has hit record highs under Labour, yet people still live in fear of crime. "Labour's policies just aren't working. We need to tackle crime at the roots - poverty, alcohol abuse and hard drug addiction. "It costs far more to keep a single young person behind bars than it does to fund an apprenticeship or keep a community centre open. "Yet Labour Councils have presided over the closure of community facilities in some of Scotland's poorest areas - then turned around and blamed young people for having nothing to do. "The SSP would start by reversing this trend, giving young people more to do than hang about outside off licences and empty shops. "The SSP would put more police on the beat, with democratic community control of local policing."

Scottish Socialist Party General Election 2005

Scottish Socialist Party national convenor will this week focus attention on the SSP's support in rural areas as the election campaign moves into its final week. Colin will be highlighting the fact that the SSP's election manifesto contains a detailed section on SSP policy over rural issues entitled `For a new rural revolution'. On Monday night Colin will speak at an election rally in Lochgilphead with Argyll and Bute SSP candidate Deirdre Henderson and on Tuesday night he'll be in Galashiels alongside SSP candidate for Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk, Graeme McIver.

Colin said today; "The traditional, rosy-cheeked image of country life is in sharp contrast to the reality. "Farm and rural workers are amongst the lowest paid sectors in the Scottish workforce. "The Borders and Galloway are the low pay capitals of Scotland. "Rural communities are being run down: local shops driven out of business by giant, predatory retailers; village schools shut down because PPP investors see no profit margin in small-scale construction and maintenance; health services centralised and deregulated by remote NHS bureaucrats; and private bus services abandoning the quieter routes where money cannot be made. "All of this leaves the rural population increasingly stranded, and increasingly alienated from urban dominated politics. "The SSP offers solutions to this rural crisis and our active membership in areas as far apart as the Western Isles and the Borders illustrates the growing influence of socialism in the Scottish countryside."

SSP manifesto rural policies

The SSP stands for:
* Full trade union rights and protection for farm workers.
* Stiff penalties and substantial compensation pay-outs for employers who sack agricultural workers because of the new minimum wage.
* Subsidies, where justified by an independent audit, to support employers upon the introduction of the new minimum wage.
* Public and community ownership of Scotland's vast landed estates and corporately-controlled farms.
* An elected accountable body to safeguard wilderness, natural habitats and other landscape of special interest.
* A construction programme of at least 10,000 affordable new rural homes for rent or part purchase by 2008.
* An end to the right-to-buy policy to preserve remaining rural council housing. * Reinstatement of the full Borders rail link.
* A Road Equivalent Tariff scheme to aid Scotland's island communities, with a special Shetland weighting to compensate for the vast distance between Shetland and mainland Scotland
* Immediate withdrawal from the Common Fisheries Policy with a 25 mile offshore limit, within which only Scottish fishermen can fish.
* Local management of fishing policy, based on the Faroes model, where fishermen, representatives of the local community and environmental scientists work together to fashion a fishing industry that sustains both people and marine life.