SHERIDAN HAS A WORD WITH THE COPS
SSP CONVENOR TO ADDRESS POLICE FEDERATION CONFERENCE AT PEEBLES HYDRO WEDNESDAY, 11 AM


What's all this then?

Whenever Tommy Sheridan encounters the police, they're usually assisting him into the back of a police van. Today, however, he's made his own transport arrangements and will be meeting the police to refute the charge that socialists run away from serious law and order policies.

Come on, son, we don't want no trouble!

Nor do we. The Scottish Socialist Party has its roots in the working class of Scotland, and it's these same communities which suffer a disproportionate share of crimes. Radical action is clearly called for.

Tommy Sheridan says,
"While the mainstream parties are locked in a battle to see who can strike the most macho pose and lock-em-up the longest, the SSP seeks to tackle the causes of most petty crime - that is, poverty, drug culture, alcohol abuse and lack of amenities. New Labour used to talk about being 'tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime'. Now they don't even talk about the causes of crime. We also want more democratic control over the police so that they can more effectively protect local communities.

As we saw yesterday at Faslane, massive police resources are frequently deployed to counter legitimate political protests. A huge amount of time effort and money will be spent bringing these cases to trial.
We saw the same during last year's Govanhill Pool protests. Many working class communities feel that the police and judiciary are more concerned with defending the rich and powerful than with protecting their
areas from crime and violence."

Let's take down your details

The SSP's key crime and justice policies include:
* Funding youth facilities in every local community, run by young people themselves.
* Replacing the toothless Joint Police Boards with new community boards which would have a real say over how the police are deployed. These would involve councillors, MSP's and directly elected elected community representatives.
* Providing free pharmaceutical heroin on prescription to registered addicts to break the link between drug addiction and the petty crime perpetrated to feed that addiction.
* Expanding Scotland's alcohol rehabilitation programmes.

You have the right to remain silent

But we'd rather not. The Scottish Socialist Party believes that crime needs to be tackled from the ground up, not from the top down. As Tommy Sheridan says:

"Scotland has already has one of the highest prison populations per head in Europe. Yet a tidal wave of crime continues to engulf our communities. We need more than simplistic soundbite solutions from politicians scrabbling for votes.”
[ends]
For further information contact Tommy Sheridan on 07887 795075 or Alan McCombes 07881 988337