With a media circus about to descend on Glasgow North East, for a by-election triggered as the consequence of political and personal corruption in Westminster its time to remind the politicians about the communities they have abandoned.

Youth unemployment in the UK has now risen to a staggering 20% for 18-24 year olds, and is 30% for 16-17 year olds. These are only the national averages. In hundreds of housing schemes, estates, towns and cities the levels of unemployment will be much higher.

One such area is Glasgow North East, where unfortunately its not just been disgraced Speaker Michael Martin whose been put out of a job in the last 6 months.

All of this is taking place is one of the poorest areas in Scotland, with a lack of social housing, a lack of facilities for young people, a lack of public transport and one of the poorest life expectancy rates in the UK.

There is no reason for anybody to be unemployed in Scotland when there is so much need to resolve issues of housing and poverty.

The only reason there are millions on the dole and millions without decent, affordable housing is because the market doesn’t find it profitable to use the two to resolve each other.

Thats why the Scottish Socialist Party, and its youth wing Scottish Socialist Youth is organising a MARCH FOR JOBS – NOT ANOTHER LOST GENERATION in Springburn, on October 31st. Details have still to be finalised on the route and rally points for the march.

Make the bankers pay for their crisis, not working people

The SSP/SSY is calling for a 10% greed tax to be levied on everyone in the UK with “liquid assets” of £1 million – that is a million quid lying in the bank, not in property etc.

This would raise £7 Billion for Scotland, which could provide decent, unionised, socially valuable jobs for thousands of young people in places like Springburn, Ruchazie, Carntyne and hundreds of other communities Labour and the Tories have ignored.

The march is demanding the greed tax be enacted to fund,

* Apprenticeships for young people, to build social housing in Glasgow North East, and improve existing housing,

* A massively expanded free public transport system across the constituency,

*Facilities like sports clubs, discos, parks etc for young people to enjoy in the constituency,

*An expansion of health services to improve the quality and length of peoples lives across Glasgow.

New Labour and the Tories are busy fighting over who can cut the deepest and the harshest into public spending.

The SSP says communities like Glasgow North East have had enough stolen from them for the bankers over the past 30 years, its time to provide a voice for working class people who have been abandoned and betrayed by the mainstream parties.

GIVE YOUTH A FUTURE – NO TO ANOTHER LOST GENERATION

SUPPORT THE MARCH FOR JOBS IN SPRINGBURN ON OCTOBER 31ST!

The Glasgow Festival of DIY Culture is currently underway with loooads of good shit happenin’ before it finishes on Sunday. What’s even better is that everything taking place is free slash not-for-profit!
The organisers have taken over premises on Renfield Lane (opposite Stereo) for the duration of the festival, with other events taking place at the new Glasgow Social Centre (on Osbourne St, near Mono), at Glasgow Sculpture Studios, and across the city.
There’s hunners and hunners of stuff happening, from knitting workshops to guerilla gardening and film showings and gigs to a subway ‘flash musical’ and a fair amount of pretentious arty stuff. There’s a bunch of activistey goings-on too, with workshops and a critical mass bike ride through the city this Friday.
the full programme can be viewed here:  http://www.diyglasgow.co.uk/explore/

All this info is taken from Tripping up Trump website.

Trumpland Clearances

Donald Trump has asked the council to use their power to forcibly clear people from their homes, all in the name of a private golf course.

Below are just a few of the locals that are threatened.

David and Moira Milne first met in 1992, the same year he finally managed to buy the old coastguard look out. He began immediately to turn it from a disused, unloved coastguard station to a family home, a process that has taken a great deal of time, effort and emotional energy.

All the couple want is to be is left alone to enjoy their home in peace, but with the increasing aggressive attentions of the Trump Organisation that seems unlikely.

Michael Forbes has been happily living and working on his croft for 40 years, where he bides with his wife and elderly mother. He works as a foreman at a local quarry but when at home can always be found working around the croft, whether its farming, fixing machinery or fishing in the nearby sea. Michael has voiced on many occasions that he won’t sell to Trump because he wouldn’t just be losing his home but his way of life.

You can protest against the Trumpland clearances in a few weeks time, on the first of October, outside the AECC conference centre in Aberdeen.

After the Government made its humiliating and stupid u-turn last year, making cannabis a Class B drug, up from a Class C drug* SSY had a successful march/minor jog (thanks strathy police) in Glasgow, from George Square to Kelvingrove Park.

A lot of the opposition to legalising cannabis comes from concerns about mental health, and tries to back it up with science. But the reality is that the governments scientific panel of advisers on drugs didn’t want the law toughened up on cannabis.

The government ignored them so they could look tough on drugs, regardless of what the facts are.

The reality is that most mental health problems caused by cannabis inflame pre-existing disorders, or are caused by “skunk” – super strong cannabis. If weed was legal we could stick warnings on the packets and regulate the content the same way we do with tobacco.

Even though cannabis causes social harm in terms of mental health in some cases, these aren’t being prevented cos the drug is kept criminalised. No one can seriously say that cannabis – even if ALL the stories on it are true, which they aren’t – does more harm to society than alcohol, tobacco, or deep fried king ribs in rolls but we don’t ban them.

We don’t ban them because we know it doesn’t work. People don’t take stuff which is always healthy for them, have taken drugs and will always take drugs.

This hasn’t stopped the media scare campaign though, with the Daily Mail running a story that folk who had injected (!!!) THC had “transient psychotic symptoms” – ie paranoia.

Wow, folk who get stoned get paranoid for a wee bit, shock horror. The Daily Mail also covered a story saying 40% of teenagers knew someone who had been damaged by cannabis.

Lets get them to do the same survey about alcohol – if it’s not 100% and includes themselves, they’re lying bastards.

It’s about time we had a worked out drug policy in Scotland that dealt with ALL drug abuse in an adult manner, took cannabis out the hands of drug dealers and stop criminalising folk for smoking a drug that is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco.

If you want to show your opposition to hypocritical drug laws, there is only one place to be,

LEGALISE CANNABIS MARCH

AUGUST 22nd
ASSEMBLE GEORGE SQUARE 12pm
MARCH TO KELVINGROVE PARK                                                           FOR  DJ’s AND BANDS!

* A class B drug is a drug which is treated more harshly by the law than a class C drug, and class A is treated harsher than class B. Has no relation to actual quality of drug itself.