All that's missing is a smiling pic of the Dear Leader

For over a year now people have been gearing up for the potential horror of David the Replicant Cameron’s Tories taking power in May. In the face of this, not much attention has been paid to the many shite things promised by a potential incoming Labour government.

Yesterday Labour launched their manifesto, giving us a peek at their wonderful plans for us all to walk forward into a glorious dawn over a landscape of cartoon fields. Or that’s what the cover of ‘A Future Fairer for All,’ would have you think. Personally my first thought on seeing it was that it looked like a piece of socialist realism, but others have been comparing it to Labour election images from 1923 and 1945. The idea is to make you think you’re getting something pretty left wing, as they try desperately to make you feel like Labour is a decent alternative to the Tories.

When you take a look inside, the first thing that jumps out from the contents page is the fact that Labour obviously have no intention of standing up to the BNP line on immigration. Labour’s strategy for winning back support they’ve lost to the far right isn’t to actually offer support for the working class, but to help push racist ideas. The fact that there’s one section called ‘Crime and Immigration’ says it all.

Just now if you’ve been living in the UK for five years you can apply for citizenship, but Labour promise to break that link and make gaining citizenship based on what skills it’s been decided the British economy needs “making sure we have the amount of immigrants we need and no more.” This is because, Labour  say, “living in Britain is a right not a privilege.”

In other words, immigration is going to be determined based on the needs of employers, and pay no attention to people who have been living in Britain for years, and who’s whole life may be here. It’s going to make life a nightmare for thousands of people. Besides which, how do we define what Britain gains from immigration? I think we can all agree it would be a shit place to live without the contribution of different cultures to our boring society.

Labour are quite willing to along with the racist idea, pushed by the right wing press and unfortunately accepted by many people, that immigrants are all criminals who are out to cheat and steal. they proudly boast of how they’ve made immigrants subject to a high tech police regime of biometric controls enforced by thousands more personnel for the UK border agency, which has faced persistent allegations of racism in how it treats people.

They also promise to “stengthen” the ridiculous Britishness test, where immigrants are forced to prove their knowledge of things

"I totally forgot to put down the Royal Variety Performance!"

supposedly integral to everyday life in Britain, despite the fact that most folk born in the UK probably couldn’t tell you half the answers. Do you know which of these courts uses a jury system: Magistrates’ Court, Crown Court, Youth Court or County Court? Or could you concisely sum up in an exam the Queen’s official role and all her ceremonial duties? More importantly, why would you need to know this stuff just to get on with living your life in the UK? How about if more children live in single parent families or step families?

The ‘All immigrants are sponging criminals’ section also is none to kind for youth, with a return to the ASBO agenda of scapegoating young people for the social collapse caused by neoliberal government policies. They promise to introduce a ‘Preventative element’ to ASBOs, though quite how this Minority Report style promise will be carried out isn’t made clear. They’re also promising to make fines higher for teenagers for those who’ve been caught for minor offences that aren’t worth taking them to court for.

There’s more scapegoating on offer for the unemployed, with the expansion of plans to make the unemployed work for their benefits, which Leftfield has already reported on. They villify the unemployed as “scarred by joblessness”. I suppose that working in a shite job for virtually no wages or rights or you lose your benefit would definitely be less scarring than just being able to get your dole when there are no actual jobs going.

There’s no commitment to any kind of spending to try and alleviate the poverty being faced by the working class that Labour policies helped create. Instead, like their election broadcast of a man trudging along a deserted road, we’re all apparently going to make tough choices. In fact, there’s a whole page of “tough choices”, the toughness seemingly going to be mainly falling on public sector workers who will see their wages capped.

To try and make it seem like they’re doing something leftish, there’s lots of talk about encouraging co-ops and and mutualising public services. In fact, what this is likely to lead to in practice will be more undemocratic bureaucracies like Glasgow Housing Association, and other supposedly “not for profit” provision of things the government or councils used to do, before they spent all their money on giving banks wads of cash. This couldn’t be more clear in their pledge to continue the creeping privatisation of the NHS by turning every hosptial into a foundation hospital.

To try and demonstrate a commitment to the NHS, the manifesto launch took place in a brand new hospital in Birmingham. What they didn’t tell you is that a hospital that should have cost £627 million is actually going to cost the taxpayer a whopping £2.6 billion because it was built under the insane PFI scheme where private companies end up owning public facilities.

Ellie Gellard next to the man she previously called for to be sacked

At the launch itself, the show was introduced by one of those totally awful Labour student types who’ve got an eye on a cushy job as an MP in a couple of years. You can see Ellie Gellard’s speech here, which is mainly about how you need to make sure everyone you know watches Labour’s youtube videos. Unfortunately for Labour, journalists were quick to catch on that she hasn’t always been so keen on Gordon Brown, having previously blogged that he should quite as PM.

The sad fact is that both Labour and the Tories are equally committed to cutting the living standards of the working class in order to recoup the money they handed over to the banks. They’re also totally shameless about employing racist rhetoric and encouraging people to blame immigrants for problems which they in fact are responsible for. Peter Mandelson was right to describe the manifesto as ‘Blair Plus’, the plus being an added, pathetic and unconvincing, attempt to look left wing.

The whole of Scotland can breath a sign of relief, as the wait it finally over: the SSP campaign for Aberdeen North is about to get underway. Onlookers can look forward to a banging leaflet, a YouTube video of candidate Ewan Robertson (i.e., me) singing his heart out for socialism and ripping all the main parties, the council, and of course Donald Trump is the process, stalls, lamposters, and lots more socialist/election goodness.

However, until we have anything decent to show, you might as well get on the facebook group and invite all your friends, join the youtube channel in anticipation of said video, and feast your eyes on this picture of some Aberdeen SSP/SSY members declaring Aberdeen University a socialist republic for about five minutes before going to the pub. Yassss!

Also website at: www.aberdeenssp.org and Aberdeen SSP facebook group here.

Last night Labour released their first party election broadcast for the general election.

It features Sean Pertwee, off of that Bo Selecta spin off, trudging along some long country roads. At the very start he looks at how far at he has to go and makes a noise that the rest of us would express as “Fuck’s sake,” before trying to find a bus stop.

The point of all this is to remind us how grim things have been since the economic collapse, and how we need to keep plodding along with Gordon. Although PM Brown doesn’t feature in the video, his heroic actions to help banks “families and businesses” are referenced constantly.

It’s not a very inspirational message, recognising that after all these years in power, there’s not really anything the Labour Party can promise us, apart from of course cuts “deeper than Thatcher’s” and kicking people off the internet in order to protect the profits of record corporations.

So instead of ‘Things Can Only Get Better,’ we get “Now is not the time to change course.” In other words, grin and bear it.

Of course, it’s not quite as scary as Sean Pertwee’s last Party Political Broadcast, seen below. Watching this effort, it makes us wonder how far Labour’s repression of our desire for a better society will go:

Although, to be fair, it’s unlikely that Labour will ever bring us something as exciting as Gun Kata.

The broadcast ends with a little voiceover from none other than recently retired Timelord David Tennant, although he’s not doing the English accent he had to put on to be Dr Who. He promises us that we can make Britain “the country we all want it to be”, which of course begs the question of how government spending cuts will affect the Torchwood Institute.

But we do advise Labour to be careful about accepting Tennant’s support. He’s proven to be fickle in his political alliances in the past, and his support could prove to be a poisoned chalice:

Sean Pertwee is of course the son of Jon Pertwee, himself a former Timelord. If only the Third Doctor was still around he could perhaps have given some much needed advice on how to spice up the film. Here’s how the Labour election broadcast should have looked. If they had put this out as what Labour had planned for the next few years, they may well have persuaded me to stay the course:

But as it is, all they are in fact offering us is “stick with boring Gordon cos he’s not quite as bad as the Tories.” Hardly “I have a dream!” is it? In fact, we think that this video pretty much accurately sums up the promises for 4 more years of boredom and neoliberalism given in Labour’s broadcast.

Bonus: To see how an election broadcast should be done, check out this.

Dodgy graphs. Every else is doing them. We thought we’d join in too.

The Beeb are pure tryin tae kid oan am no staunin in Glesga Centro! Check this page man http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/828.stm

They’ve went n put up mento right-wing UKIP n poshboy Pirate Finlay Archibald, but no the SSP, even tho we’ve stood there hunners ae times. Well, we’ve stood there every election since we were formed, kno?

Am no huvin it. Ah’ve awready bin oan the auld dog n bone tryin tae git thum tae sort it oot. N ah’ve emailed them n aw. Gonnae dae us a favour troops? Please take wan minute tae fill in this feedback form http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_3950000/newsid_3955200/3955259.stm

Last night myself and half-a-dozen members of SSY were in Townhead to deliver leaflets, spreading the SSP’s message: Rage against unemployment, poverty and war. It’s the type of area where you can see the need for investment in jobs, pensions and services, not the cuts and austerity promised by New Labour.

While out and about we bumped into Labour candidate Anas Sarwar. Clearly impressed with the size and youthfulness of the SSP crew, he commented “now that’s a team”. He is astute like that. It was an ideal opportunity to dig him up about not replying to the email I sent him over a week ago, in which I challenged him to make a pledge to refuse to share a platform with the BNP.

To his credit, he categorically stated that he would not share a platform with a representative of a racist, neo-fascist organisation. Well done.

I sent the same email to Osama Saeed, the SNP candidate. Unfortunately he is yet to respond.

Feel free to get in touch with him to ask for a straight reply to a simple question. Email him at blog@osamasaeed.org

No platform for the nazi BNP!

sometimes pixels speak better than words:

join the campaign facebook group: tinyurl.com/nesbitt4gc

As I explained in a recent blog post, I decided to write to Osama Saeed and Anas Sarwar, to encourage them to take a stand against the BNP’s freedom to stir up racial hatred. Below is the text of an emailed letter I sent to anas@sarwar4glasgow.com and blog@osamasaeed.org

Dear fellow candidate,

First of all, allow me to congratulate you on being selected by your party to run as a candidate in Glasgow Central. It is shaping up to be a hard-fought contest and I am ready to fight as hard as anyone in delivering my party’s distinctive message of peace, justice and socialism. This election is particularly important because of its context – the worst economic crisis in living memory, sharply rising unemployment and the threat of swingeing cuts to public services, wages and pensions alike.

My reason for writing is one of concern for the future. Throughout history, candidates of the extreme Right have sought to utilise economic downturn and the misery it causes the majority of people, in order to divide the people; focusing blame not on those in power nor the system they uphold, but on minorities, organised workers and all those who they consider ‘deviant’.

In past times, Britain has witnessed periods of growth for fascists such as Mosley’s blackshirts in the 1930s/40s and the National Front in the 70s/80s. Their role has been to terrorise minorities including Jews, Blacks and Irish. Today’s manifestation of this scummy tradition is the British National Party, whose main role is to act on the anti-Muslim climate whipped up by reactionary sections of the mainstream press. Without wishing to overstate their importance, they do represent a serious danger which cannot be ignored.

Despite their attempts to rebrand themselves as a non-violent electoralist party, you only have to scratch the surface to discover their true character. Many of their members have been convicted for racially aggravated assaults. The ranks of their organisation, all the way up to the top level, are full with Nazi sympathisers and white supremacists. It is no coincidence that some of the racist English Defence League’s biggest and most violent recent gatherings have occurred in areas of BNP growth, e.g. Stoke (recently abolished elected Mayor for fear that the BNP would win it) and Bolton (part of Nick Griffin’s North-West England euro constituency). Wherever they are able to gain a foothold, there is an inevitable subsequent rise in attacks on non-white people, religious minorities, homosexuals and radicals.

I raise all this to support the idea that far from being a legitimate political outfit, they are a menace to any vestiges of democracy and a threat to the safety of many members of our society. It is not unreasonable to suggest that if they came to power, I could be discussing them with you within the confines of a concentration camp. The 1 million votes they received in May, alongside some crafty PR spin, has tricked some into allowing them access to public service broadcasting and a place in the official political sphere. This is a dangerous practice and one which we should not simply stand by and allow to happen.

In the coming campaign, we will likely be invited to participate in debates or forums where members of the public engage with the candidates. The BNP are yet to declare a candidate, but will probably do so as they will seek an opportunity to cause division in a multi-ethnic ward with 2 prominent Muslim candidates. They should not be allowed to exploit these opportunities to spread their bile. I am asking you to take a brave stand and pledge that you will not share a platform with a representative of the BNP. For those who are organising such events, the pledge that major parties are united in unwillingness to allow fascists to take part will deter them from inviting BNP representatives.

I would be grateful if you could reply, confirming your position on this matter.

Yours sincerely,
James Nesbitt
SSP Candidate, Glasgow Central
30/03/2010

bigup LT for the design

I’ve recently received the honour of being selected as the Scottish Socialist Party candidate for Glasgow Central. As a Yoof I’ll be keeping Leftfield updated with all the juicy goss and scandal from the campaign trail.

The constituency is pretty big and covers areas with widely varying demographics, including Pollokshields, Govanhill and the Gorbals in the area south of the river, Calton to the east and my old stomping ground of Anderston and Finnieston in the west. Some sources describe it as the wealthiest seat in Glasgow, which to me simply means it is the most unequal ward, as the riches never seem to have trickled down to many of the people I know

I’ll be standing on the following platform:

• Say no to cuts, invest in public services
• Troops Out of Afghanistan NOW
• Give Youth a future – create new green jobs and end unemployment
• Defend asylum seekers and refugees
• For an independent socialist republic
• Free public transport for all
• Re-introduce student grants, abolish the loan system
• Tax the rich, make them pay for their crisis
• Start a massive program of building homes that are good quality and affordable for all
• Nationalise the banks and all previously privatised industries

The contest itself is looking like being a big battle between Labour and the SNP, with both standing fairly high-profile candidates. Labour have selected Anas Sarwar, son of the current MP, Mohammed Sarwar. Nothing dodgy about that, eh!? I cursed the (un-)democratic culture within the Glasgow Labour Party when Paul Martin was being lined up to replace his corrupt dad Michael (you know, that idiot who was the Speaker of the House of Commons for a while) and I am equally contemptuous about the Sarwar succession. It reeks. My only previous experience with Sarwar Junior was when I attended a 2007 event at the Carling Academy, entitled Y*Vote. Itwasn’t advertised who was organising it, but whoever it was got a couple of crap bands along – the McDonald bros were the main event and the Zutons did a DJ set, zzzzz – and they banned all parties from handing out literature. Then up pops Anas, revealing it was a Labour front, looking every bit the polished career politician-in-waiting, pleading for our vote. Well he never got mine.

appealing for your vote, totally no nepotism here

In the yellow and black corner (eh, the SNP one) is Osama Saeed, who is nowhere near as bad as the Labour guy, but is unfortunately still standing for a party committed to protecting the interests of their millionaire benefactors. I’ve encountered him a few times recently, as we were both organising protests against the fascist Scottish Defence League, a nasty wee group who tried to take to the streets of Edinburgh and Glasgow. In the end the good guys won (i.e. the SDL got chased away) but I had a big problem with Osama instructing people that all they should do is stand in a park and listen to speeches by establishment politicians, because the polis would deal with the fash. That’s woeful logic in my book and not a reliable way of stopping the rise of 21^st century Nazism.  But I still have a fair bit of respect for him, which I wouldnae really say about the Labour guy. Although the recent scandal about the charity he was running has had me scratching my head a bit.

saeed and salmond: thick as thieves

Despite any reservations I may have about Sarwar and Saeed, they would surely be in full agreement with me that the British National Party represent something more than just a wee misguided party who we disagree with. The BNP are the latest form of a long and shameful tradition of British fascism. They are yet to announce a candidate for Glasgow Central, but there is a distinct possibility that they will. They stood here in 2005 and may try to cause tensions in a multi-ethnic constituency with 2 prominent Muslim candidates. Their recent relative success should send a chill down people’s spines. They are a threat not only to ethnic minorities, homosexuals and trade-unionists, but to anyone who values free speech and democracy.

I do not believe that the BNP should be treated in the same way as any normal, democratic political party. If they ever came to power they would install a violent, authoritarian state, and people like me would probably end up in concentration camps. As Anas and Osama will surely know, the BNP are Islamophobic to the core and wherever they make progress, the number of attacks on Muslims and all non-white people increases greatly. I do not think that any democrat should treat them as a legitimate party.  In fact I will stick my neck out here… I do not believe that any of the other parties – socialist or capitalist, revolutionary or moderate – should sit on a platform alongside them and allow them to spread their bile.

There are things we can do to stop them being given an audience.  If the Labour and SNP candidates make it clear that they will not share a platform with the BNP, then organisers of debates/hustings will not invite them. I will be writing to the 2 main candidates to ask them to stand up and make a brave commitment – to pledge not to share a platform with the BNP. None of us should passively allow the fascists to spread their propaganda and build up support. The future is too important, let’s take action to stop them now.

Millions – okay, maybe nearer hundreds – of protestors marched through Springburn on Saturday 7 November, for the Youth March for Jobs, organised by the SSP and SSY.
The demonstration provided a sharp dose of reality in a by-election otherwise dominated by ex-Big Brother contestants (two of them!), tabloid columnists, former newscasters and the ever reliable Charlie Baillie, of creepy youtube videos and being a nasty Nazi fame .
The march wound its way from Springburn shopping centre through the housing scheme to Springburn park, where it finished in a rally and speeches from SSY’s Andy Bowden and Kevin McVey, the SSP by-election candidate.
With youth unemployment reaching 1 million – and reputedly at 30% within the Glasgow North East constituency – it’s proving to be the most pressing issue in the election, as reflected in the overwhelmingly positive response local people have given the SSP’s recent campaigning, and Saturday’s demo.

bottom two photos: eddie truman