Vigils were held around Scotland to mark the 100th British soldier to be killed in Iraq.

Pictured above are Colin Fox MSP and John McAllion, joining around 100 protestors reading the names of the dead in Edinburgh's Parliament Square.

SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Press Release: 31/01/06

McAllion issues “action not talk” challenge on eve of council tax debate

John McAllion , SSP candidate in the Dunfermline and West Fife By election , has issued a blunt council tax challenge to his opponents in the contest.

Speaking as the Scottish Parliament prepares to debate Tommy Sheridan’s bill to scrap the council tax and replace it with an income based Scottish Service Tax he said:
“The time for kidding is over. Several parties in the election claim to want to scrap the council tax.”
“Well Tommy Sheridan’s bill would do just that and I challenge my opponents to set aside party advantage and support the scrapping of the unfair council tax.
“Tommy’s Bill has support from a range of organisations including the Scottish Pensioners Forum and the Poverty Alliance.
“Significantly for New Labour who still support the Tory designed Council Tax the Sheridan Bill is supported by the public services union PCS, Rail & Maritime union RMT and the Fire Brigades Union FBU demonstrating that fairness is till a priority in the wider Labour Movement.”

The parliament said Mr McAllion :
“Must have the courage and moral fibre to scrap a tax that hammers the low paid and pensioners but pampers the rich and wealthy.
“It must not ignore the shameful plight of thousands of low paid workers and pensioners who struggle to pay the ever increasing council tax.”

83% of Scottish households living on less than £40,000 are the ones who will gain from the income based Scottish Service Tax while the wealthy will pay more, he said.

“Most importantly those who earn £10.000 a year or less will pay nothing under our proposed Scottish Service Tax.
“While well heeled politicians debate the finer points of the case thousands of people face real hardship in paying this Tory inspired tax.
“I urge every candidate to press MSPs to back Tommy’s Bill and scrap the council tax.”
“The voters in this election will be closely watching the outcome.”
[ENDS]

SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Press Release: 31/01/06

Scottish Socialist Party national convenor Colin Fox today accused Prime Minister Tony Blair of having the blood of 100 soldiers from the British Army on his hands, along with countless innocent Iraqis.
Colin appealed for all Scots who have opposed the Iraq war and all those who have lost loved ones in the war to attend pre-arranged vigils across Scotland tomorrow, Wednesday 1st February.

Colin said;
“Tony Blair now has the blood of 100 soldiers of the British Army and countless innocent Iraqi’s on his hands and for what?
“"We are sending our young people to die thousands of miles from home in a war that does not concern them, a war for oil, a war about which the government have persistently lied to the people.
"Our troops are not in Iraq to keep the peace, they are there as an occupying force, and as such, Iraqis resisting the illegal invasion will continue to target them.
"We demand the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq - no ifs, no buts, no 'maybe next years'.”
[ends]

Vigil to be held Wednesday 1st February 5.30pm, Parliament Square, Edinburgh near St Giles Cathedral on the High Street.
Other vigils will be held across Scotland.

SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Press Release: 30/01/06

The Scottish Parliament faces its biggest test in its 7 year life when Tommy Sheridan’s Council Tax Abolition and Service Tax Introduction (Scotland) Bill is fully debated and voted on this Wednesday, 1st February.
The bill would abolish the council tax and introduce an income based Scottish Service Tax that would see massive wealth re-distribution across Scotland.
At a press conference in Glasgow today, Monday, Tommy Sheridan was joined by the Poverty Alliance and Scottish Pensioners' Forum alongside the public services union PCS, Rail & Maritime union RMT and the Fire Brigades Union FBU in support of the bill.

Tommy said afterwards;
“The Scottish Parliament faces its biggest challenge since it was set up in 1999.
“Do we have the courage and moral fibre to scrap a tax that hammers the low paid and pensioners but pampers the rich and wealthy?
“Do we ignore the shameful plight of thousands of low paid workers and pensioners who struggle to pay the ever increasing council tax ?
“The 83% of Scottish households living on less than £40,000 are the ones who will gain from the income based Scottish Service Tax while the wealthy will pay more.
“It is called income re-distribution and it is long overdue in Scotland.
“The time for rebellion is now.”
[ends]

The Council Tax Abolition and Service Tax Introduction (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament in August 2003, printed in November 2004 and faced committee scrutiny during 2005.

The bill will be debated in the Scottish Parliament at 2.15pm on Wednesday 1st February

SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Press Release: 30/01/06

Rosie Kane MSP today joined Dunfermline and West Fife SSP candidate John McAllion in local campaigning against plans for toll price rises and a new £500 million road bridge.
Rosie worked with John during her lunch break as a member of the Scottish Parliament's Petitions Committee which met in Dunfermline today.
Rosie, a committed anti motorway campaigner, backed the SSP view that current tolls should be abolished and the capital cost of a new bridge invested in public transport.
John McAllion slammed the way New Labour has turned the discussion on the bridge into a power struggle between London and Edinburgh with the toll paying public reduced to spectators.

Said McAllion:
“I am not sure what the Blairite New Labour candidate thinks about tolls since we can’t hear her for the noise of Gordon Brown and Alisdair Darling trampling all over Jack McConnell as they instruct the Scottish Executive and Scottish Parliament on what they can and cannot do.
“However two things are clear. Firstly the existing bridge was paid for years ago and rather than hiking tolls they ought to be abolished altogether as they have been on the Skye Bridge.
“Secondly there needs to be serious investment in high quality cheap public transport as the way to cut bridge use and road congestion.
“The public should also beware of New Labour ministers talk of a new bridge.
This would be certain to be provided by private moneylenders on the Skye bridge PFI model.
“That bridge was half the length of the Forth and cost a motorist £11.40 to cross.”

Backing this view Rosie said:
“Bridge users are forced to commute by job cuts in Fife and the location of work across the Forth. They should not be penalised by high tolls as a result.
“What is clear is that the only way to cut bridge use and traffic congestion is to provide quality, low cost environmentally friendly alternatives through a massive investment in public transport.
“The supposed cost of £500 million for a second congestion generating road bridge would be much better spent on new park and ride schemes and a large scale expansion of rail services”
[ends]