The Herald, 30/08/03

Murray Ritchie's article on the SSP's support for an independence convention has a very significant error.
In relation to the 2003 Scottish Parliament elections and the SNP's poor performance, Alan McCombes paper for the SSP's National Council does not contain the phrase;
"By no stretch of the imagination could this be credibly interpreted as a swing from Unionism to Nationalism."
The correct quote is in fact quite the opposite and the analysis is quite clear; the failure of the SNP is not a reflection of a resurgent Unionism within Scotland, the success of smaller pro-independence party's and individuals an indication that support for independence and the ending of the Union is finding new forms of expression in the Scottish political system.

Eddie Truman
SSP Research, Policy & Media Unit
Scottish Parliament

SSP moves to put convention on independence into action

Alan McCombes, national policy co-ordinator of the SSP, has produced a 5000-word policy document - to be debated on Sunday at the SSP's national council - outlining the socialists' proposed strategy for hastening independence. Mr McCombes argues the most obvious vehicle is a convention based on the Scottish constitutional convention of the 1990s which heralded devolution.

It would be encouraged by the fact there are more MSPs in favour of it now than before the May 1 elections, despite the SNP's disappointing showing.

The Holyrood results produced three parties open to independence - the Greens are also well disposed - and a clutch of minority MSPs including Dennis Canavan and Margo MacDonald who support breaking the Union.

Tommy Sheridan, the SSP leader, and Mr McAllion will address a meeting of those pushing the convention idea on the fringe of the SNP conference next month.

Mr McCombes' move will give that meeting new impetus if, as expected, the SSP endorses his paper. It argues one reason the SNP suffered in the elections was a shift by voters away from the "grey mainstream" towards more anti-establishment forces.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Freed Sheridan remains defiant

Mr Sheridan rejected criticisms from opponents of placing an additional burden on the criminal justice system and of wasting taxpayers' money.

He said: "I think it is the height of hypocrisy for anyone to accuse me of wasting taxpayers money when I am in there in protest at the waste of taxpayers' money.

"The biggest waste of taxpayers' money is the £1.5bn a year that we spend on the maintenance of weapons of mass destruction in Faslane."

Economist.com | Scottish socialists: "Jailing a Scottish leftist will not dent his popularity"

ic Wales - Splitting headache for Plaid Cymru - but it could work

: "In Scotland, the Scottish Socialist Party is attracting those who see socialism and the national question as intrinsically linked; proportional representation offering the bonus of fairer representation in the Scottish Parliament too.

Those coalescing around John Marek's alliance seek a similar way forward in Wales. This is unlikely to happen unless the left in Wales, inside and outside the mainstream parties, is prepared to acknowledge and act upon the complexities of the national question in its modern manifestation.
"

Voting change 'would turn back clock' The Herald

The Mirror August 27, 2003, Wednesday

Tommy Sheridan MSP

THIS week's column is brought to you from the infamous Bar-L. I'm serving a seven-day sentence in Glasgow's Barlinnie Jail for refusing to pay a pounds 200 fine. That was my punishment for joining a peaceful protest against the inhumanity of nuclear weapons. These are the most destructive weapons ever created by man. If I disarmed someone on the rampage with a machine gun in a town centre I'd be awarded a medal for bravery. Yet the nuclear submarines protected by the razor wire at Faslane carry bombs capable of wiping out all human, animal and plant life.

During the Iraq war, we heard military experts endlessly drone on about so-called "smart bombs". These were bombs that supposedly could be guided around corners and up narrow alleyways. Certainly, these bombs sound like they have more brains than the President of the USA, who gives the impression he could hardly find his way around the Oval Office. Yet countless thousands of Iraqi civilians perished.

I don't know how many were killed by smart bombs and how many were killed by the cluster bombs and the depleted uranium shells that are deliberately designed to spread death far and wide. But who knows what would have been the death toll if the Trident submarines which were sent out to the Gulf had been used.

Iraq today would almost certainly be uninhabitable for generations to come. Even the International Court of Justice has declared the Faslane nuclear arsenal illegal. That's because they are indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction capable of wiping out entire continents. I've been attacked by Tory politicians for costing the taxpayer money by going to jail.

Funnily enough, these are the same politicians who are always calling for more jails to be built and more people to be locked up.

And they're the same politicians who've already squandered pounds 30billion of taxpayers' money on Trident. Neither I nor any other peace campaigner relishes the thought of a jail sentence. Not everyone is in a position to refuse to pay their fine and go to jail.

BUT sometimes dramatic action is needed to turn the spotlight on the monster lurking on our own doorstep. Imagine the outcry if a nuclear arsenal capable of destroying the planet was stationed on the Hudson River on the outskirts of New York, or at the mouth of the Thames.

In the dangerously unstable world that George Bush and Tony Blair have created, the west of Scotland must now be a serious target for a terrorist revenge attack. But for the people who run the Western military machine from their bunkers in Washington and London, the natives of Caledonia are almost as expendable as the people of Iraq. It's time for the people of Scotland to say no way. In an independent, socialist, nuclear-free Scotland we would find plenty of other uses for the £1.5 billion a year it costs to maintain the nuclear submarines at Faslane.

HIGHER pensions, for a start. New hospitals and decent public services. What about better pay for ordinary workers? Sure, closing Faslane as a nuclear submarine base will lead to a loss of jobs. So did the decision to stop public hangings. Gallows manufacturers everywhere went out of business. But, with the money saved on scrapping nuclear weapons, the 5000 workers at Faslane could continue to be paid the same salaries while retraining. Economists have calculated that the amount of money spent to sustain 5,000 jobs at Faslane could create 30,000 socially-useful jobs. What a mixed-up world we inhabit.

Tony Blair and George Bush kill thousands and maim hundreds of thousands to get rid of fictitious weapons of mass destruction. Then some peace campaigners sit down on the road to get rid of real weapons of mass destruction. But who is it who goes to jail? As Tony Blair's political heroine, Margaret Thatcher, once pointed out, "It's a funny old world."

Press Release 27/08/03

The Scottish Socialist Party today accused Labour and Lib Dem politicians of running scared of the Scottish electorate and demanded that Westminster get its own house in order before rewriting the voting rules for Holyrood.
Party spokesperson, Alan McCombes, said:
“The Labour-Lib Dem political establishment is panic-stricken at the success of socialist, green and independent candidates in the recent Holyrood elections.
“The voting system for the Scottish Parliament was developed over years of deliberation by the Scottish Constitutional Convention.
“As a result, the parliament is now vastly more representative than either Westminster or local councils. If anything, small parties are still under-represented in Holyrood.
“Any changes should be designed to increase rather than diminish proportionality.”
The SSP accused Westminster of arrogance and hypocrisy and suggested that those proposing change are motivated by fear of a pro-independence majority in Holyrood in 2007.
“The most recent polls show that Scotland’s pro-independence parties could win a majority in Holyrood in 2007.
“Foremost among those clamouring to rewrite the rules is arch-unionist Brian Wilson who was elected to Westminster with a minority of votes in his Cunninghame North constituency.
“It is breathtaking arrogance for a Westminster MP to demand change for Holyrood.
“The real disgrace of politics in this country is that we persist with an outrageously undemocratic first-past-the-post system, in which Labour has 76 per cent of Scottish MPs with just 43 per cent of the vote.
“The UK electoral system is half a century behind the rest of Europe. If there is urgent need for change, it is for Westminster and local council elections.”
The Scottish Socialist Party will today table a motion calling for no change in the Holyrood voting system without wide consultation with civic organisations throughout Scotland.
“The people of Scotland voted for a proprtional electoral system in a national referendum. It would be an outrage against democracy if a Westminster government – elected by a minority of voters - were to rush through legislation which oled to an abandonment of genuine proportional represenatation in Scotland.”

Solidarity messages can be sent to:

Tommy Sheridan MSP
HMP Barlinnie
81 Lee Avenue
Riddrie
Glasgow
G33 2QX

The Herald: Sheridan trip to the cells a family affair

Daily Record: YOUR USUAL ROOM MR SHERIDAN ?

The Scotsman: Call for new law as unpaid fines total over £1.4m

Birth of baby renews calls for asylum seeker to stay in Glasgow

: "THE Scottish wife of an Algerian asylum seeker has given birth to his daughter, leading to new calls that he should be allowed to remain in Glasgow.

Karen Serir, 31, was three months' pregnant when her case was highlighted after their arrest in February during a dawn anti-terrorist raid by armed police.

Ali Serir, 28, was detained for four months despite never being charged, and released only after campaigns led by Aamer Anwar, his solicitor, and Tommy Sheridan, the Scottish Socialist party leader." The Herald

ic Wales - Socialist leader jailed for failing to pay protest fine

: "Welsh Assembly member Dr John Marek last night offered his support to Mr Sheridan.

The independent AM for Wrexham is planning to launch a Welsh sister party to the SSP and earlier this month invited Mr Sheridan to the Principality to speak at a meeting.

Dr Marek said, 'I have the utmost respect for Tommy Sheridan. He has put his principles behind his rhetoric.

'We delude ourselves into thinking that we are more secure having nuclear weapons, but they should be scrapped and the billions of pounds used for improving our health and education services instead.'"

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Scottish party leader jailed

: "Sheridan, dressed in jeans and tracksuit top, was then led from the dock at Glasgow district court to begin his sentence at Barlinnie prison.

As he left, his mother, Alice, shouted, 'Keep walking in the light son,' while his father-in-law raised his fist in a socialist salute from the public gallery. "

Telegraph | Scottish Socialist leader jailed for week

The leader of the Scottish Socialist Party has been jailed for seven days after refusing to pay a fine for his role in an anti-Trident protest.

The Scotsman - Top Stories- Socialist leader ready to go to jail over non-payment of fine

Ahead of his incarceration, Sheridan said: "I refuse to recognise that opposition to the inhumanity of nuclear weapons is a crime.

"The real crime against humanity is the existence of nuclear weapons and it’s the duty of all socialists and those who want to contribute to a more peaceful society to do what they can peacefully to oppose nuclear weapons." The Scotsman

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Sheridan jailed after protest

Speaking outside the court, his 65-year-old mother said: "I have utter contempt for the verdict and I am very proud of what Tommy has done.

"What enrages me is that people like Tommy are campaigning for peace and the individuals who make these weapons of mass destruction are rolling in money.

"It costs £5,000 million a year to keep Trident going. Imagine how many hospitals, houses and homes for the elderly we could build with that money." BBC

Dungavel detainee: immigration said they’d deport me … without my baby

Scottish Socialist Party MP Rosie Kane said: “The imprisonment of the Ikolo family is staggering. It is indescribably cruel and nothing but child abuse. To lock up a woman simply because she is from another country is just racist.”

Kane also attacked the Executive for failing to take on Westminster over the detention of children. Immigration is a power reserved to the Home Office, and Executive ministers have refused to speak out . “By failing to speak out the Executive is encouraging racism,” Kane said.