The vigil this evening

The Unity Centre banner

Over the past couple of days, Glasgow’s famous Red Road flats  - situated in Springburn, one of the most deprived areas of the city – have been the focus of huge media attention following the deaths of three asylum seekers, who took their own lives early on Sunday morning. The three family members, believed to be Russian nationals, were said to have been facing deportation after having their asylum application rejected. Much remains unexplained about the case, and rumours abound that immigration officials were at the door directly before the three took the decision to jump.  This remains impossible to verify though, and the Home Office have issued a stringent denial that any UK Border Agency officials were in the vicinity at the time of the tragedy.

What is certain to anyone even vaguely familiar with the subject, however, is that the UK continues to have a deeply inhumane and flawed asylum system. The three tragic deaths at the weekend are not an isolated incident and are only one example among many cases of the desperate measures which those facing deportation can be driven to. As a recent report from Swansea University showed, the vast majority of those seeking refugee status in the UK are not, in fact, here to steal our benefits, our jobs or our taxes, but because they’re genuinely fleeing persecution in their home country. But these er, facts are all a little bit too inconvenient for the government, who’d rather hammer out again and again that they’re the TOUGHEST on immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers… the lot o’ them, in a pathetic bid to appease the right-wing press.

Indeed, the fact is that asylum seekers are usually given the very worst of the stock when it comes to housing – the Red Road flats are used to house dozens of families seeking aslylum, through a lease to the YMCA, yet are so dilapidated that demolition is scheduled to begin in a few weeks. Not to mention that asylum seekers aren’t even allowed to work and forced to survive on £35 a week – which was cut from £42 last November, which pretty much sums up the attitude of the government on this issue.

Recently, we’ve reported on the ongoing hunger strike at the Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre in the south of England, and the lies that the government have scandalously been spreading about it. Meanwhile in Scotland, it was reported only last week that children as young as five continue to be held at the Dungavel Detention Centre in South Lanarkshire. A few years ago, when the dawn raids on refugees and asylum seekers in Scotland were at their height, Dungavel became the focus for huge demonstrations against the horrific treatment of people seeking sanctuary from war and persecution. It’s time that we once again stepped up the campaign against ridiculous asylum laws that see some of the most vulnerable people in society constantly abused and let-down by the system, as the tragic events of Sunday morning only too graphically display.

A protest outside Dungavel in 2003

Earlier this evening, around 150 local residents, community campaigners and those wishing to show their solidarity from across Glasgow held a vigil for the Russian family outside the Red Road flats.  The mood at the rally, where several asylum seekers spoke and told us their own experiences, was sombre, but beneath this grief lay a huge amount of anger at the dreadful way in which they are  treated by the system, and the politicians who do  nothing to help their desperate situation. On Saturday, the Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees, and the Unity Centre - who do loads of really good work helping asylum seekers on a day to day basis, through their centre in Govan – have called a demonstration in support of asylum seekers, and as a memorial to the Russian family who took their lives at the weekend.

NO DEPORTATIONS – SUPPORT ASYLUM SEEKERS! Meet this Saturday 13 March, 11.00am outside the Red Road flats, 63 Petershill Drive (nearest station: Barnhill), before marching into the city centre, with a rally at George Square. Facebook event page here.

Looking shifty: Steven Purcell gets the sweats

After the resignation of the leader of Glasgow City Council Steven Purcell on Tuesday, it’s hard to find someone with a bad word to say about him.

Even SNP First Minister Alex Salmond, who once told Purcell to grow up, has been being nice about him.

So where do you go if you want to see someone be critical of this knobhead? Most of the media are, today at least, keeping cautious about the rumours about his resignation, since it was announced by his expensive high-powered solicitors. We wonder why that could be?

The official reason for Purcell standing down is that he is “exhausted and stressed”. But last week he seemed to be on good enough form to go to a fancy dinner at the Hilton with Gordon ‘Citric Idiot‘ Brown and Rangers manager Walter Smith to raise money for the Labour Party. But over the course of the weekend, things changed, and word started to come out on Monday he was standing down.

It’s easy to see why he would be stressed, following a major scandal at Strathclyde Passenger Transport, the public body responsible for running the subway and other public transport in Glasgow. Labour councillors have been in the top posts at this body for a long time, but recently it began to emerge that despite SPT bosses’ huge salaries, they’ve been making ridiculous expense claims, which added up to £520, 000. Free junkets enjoyed by top managers included trips to football games, expensive restaurants, £117,573 in foreign trips around the world, and even a Neil Diamond concert (where they undoubtedly had a few bottles of Red Red Wine).

Back of an SPT train

When this all started to come out several top managers were forced to resign. How this is linked to Purcell’s resignation remains to be revealed. Relations between the council and SPT have been severely strained by the affair. Tensions haven’t been helped by the slow pace of building up transport links needed for the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Almost everyone who has commented on Purcell’s resignation has been quick to praise his role in bringing the Commonweath Games to Glasgow. But was the successful bid such great news for Glasgow as all the mainstream parties would like us to believe?

The current budget for the cost of the games is £288 million, but of course nobody believes such huge projects will ever stay inside their budget. Meanwhile, the race is on to for property developers and lazy rich people everywhere to get their hands on land in the East End and other extremely poor parts of Glasgow. Many know that if they own land they will get huge payouts from public funds for them. And after the Commonwealth Games, the long term effect is likely to be a wave of gentrification. That means that new housing and investment will mean that poor people can’t afford to live in areas they grew up any more.

It shouldn’t surprise us that this took place under Purcell’s leadership. Before he was leader of the council he was responsible for Development and Regeneration Services. What that really means is that he was at the head of efforts to use capitalist economics to transform Glasgow, and make sure it has no future as a working class city.

Purcell’s other greatest achievement was completely pissing off parents across the city when he decided to close 25 schools and nurseries, many of them in less well off areas like the Wyndford. This idiotic decision has been fought all the way by the city-wide Save Our Schools campaign. The fight included parents going into their children’s schools to occupy them.

Many were asking themselves why there was a bottomless pit of cash for the one-off Commonwealth Games, but nothing for the long term educational needs of Glaswegian pupils.

The full story behind Purcell’s resignation will take some time to come out. The announcement that today he came out of a drugs and drink rehab clinic may be the first sniff of the truth, but it’s still unclear why he was there. We do hope however that his recent experience in rehab, surrounded by people with serious addiction problems, will open his mind on the issues surrounding drugs in Glasgow.

Say hello to our new leader, Glasgow.

Glasgow urgently needs more support services for those with addiction problems. But Scotland as a whole needs to take a radical new approach, and recognise that the war on drugs has been lost. It’s time to stop treating people with problems like criminals, and give them the help they need through the NHS.

Unfortunately there seems to be little sign of the Labour Party as a whole taking this on board. The interim leader replacing Purcell is Jim Coleman, a man who has made a career out of being anti-drugs, and opposed several different education and support organisations. Whether this stance has any bearing on his selection as city leader remains to be seen.

The Scottish Trade Union Congress’ annual St Andrews Day march against racism in Glasgow is this weekend, and many SSY members will be going along.

The march assembles at 10.30 on Saturday 28th November at St Andrews in the Square (off Saltmarket), and heads off at 11, marching through the city centre, followed by speeches in the GFT.

Hope to see you there!

I did started getting pretty suspicious when I found out that they don’t even accept cardboard for recycling.
And now, as if we needed any further evidence  that Glasgow City Council LOVE the global rise in temperatures caused by human activity that’s probably going to KILL US ALL, news reaches Leftfield that they’ve gone and denied the annual demonstration against climate change their intended route through the city centre.

The demo, monikered ‘The Wave’, is being billed as Scotland’s largest ever demonstration against climate change, and is taking place on December 5th. However, rather than taking its planned route from Glasgow Green through to Kelvingrove Park, the powers that be at the council parades committee have decided to reroute it to a starting point at Bellahouston Park on the southside, from where it will march the 2.5 miles up to Kelvingrove Park, managing to completely avoid the city centre. The reason?
Christmas, of course! Yes, seems that the annual festival of capitalist consumption, consumerism and um, Jesus (so I gather anyway), is being given greater priority than an issue which the entire planet’s future depends on, all because it might interfere with a few shoppers doing some no-doubt-vital-to-the-planet’s-survival Christmas shopping.
Oh, and because the police are saying that there’s the ‘risk of disorder’ on the route that was initially applied for. What, are we really to believe that the Climate Change Denial Nutcase Brigade are marching the same day? Nah, I didnt think so. Glasgow City Council are just being bastards, and quite clearly sending out a message that they’re willing and able to stop marches in the city centre if they want to, having announced earlier this year that they want to curtail them by 90%. The idea ostensibly being to clamp down on the hundreds of Orange marches that take place each year – but as we’re seeing, they’ll use it against anyone.

Now, as it happens, the last lot of protestors to be taken out the city centre and abandoned somewhere in the Paisley Road West area were none other than… the scumbag Scottish Defence League. Coincidence? I THINK NOT.
On the bright side, let’s all just be really fucking grateful that Glasgow City Council aren’t in any way involved in the Copenhagen summit. Although, to be fair, they probably couldn’t make much more of a mess of it than Ed Miliband and co will no doubt do…

march with SSY on The Wave – assembles 10.30am, Sat 5 Dec at Bellahouston Park
more info  and a map of the route here: www.the-wave.org.uk/scotland

Image by John Lanigan

Almost two months of organising against the Scottish incarnation of the fascist English Defence League paid off yesterday – the SDL were outnumbered 50 to 1 by anti-fascist demonstrators, unable to march and spent most of the day kettled in a pub in Glasgow. Earlier fears of the SDL marching on Glasgow Central Mosque, attacking anti-war and pro-Palestine stalls on Buchanan St or assembling in George Square were unfounded thanks to the presence of well over a thousand anti-fascist demonstrators.

While the SDL spent their whole day stuck in the Cambridge Bar anti-fascist demonstrators had freedom to march all across Glasgow in what were effectively illegal marches. It was this presence which stopped the police from allowing the SDL any kind of demonstration in Glasgow, bar a pathetic 60 pace “march” outside the Cambridge Bar to police lines. The SDL themselves had to be taken out on double decker buses for their own safety.

Theres lots of things we could have done differently on the day – there was a split in the demo between those who wanted to stay at the Cambridge where the SDL were and those who went to Glasgow Green.

SSY members and GU Left Society members argued throughout the build up to this demo that we should have a mobilisation in the city centre early on in the day, as the SDL planned to demonstrate in the city centre well before the Scotland United rally. Having a rally away from the city centre and after the SDL were due to turn up therefore couldn’t be the only way to confront the SDL. At first UAF opposed the 10am kick off but later came round to supporting it.

The split in the demo between those who went to the Green and stayed at Cambridge is a lesson for any future demos the SDL or the far-right try to organise; many people did not stay at the Cambridge because the SDL presence there was tiny, and it was believed they would try to hold a larger rally later on in George Square. That made getting kettled outside the Cambridge an unattractive prospect, especially as there were rumours 100 SDL supporters would be coming in on the Trains at 12 to assemble in George Square.

As it happened the only SDL presence was in the Cambridge and in retrospect the demo could have stayed there for most if not all of the day. If part of the demo had to split off for speakers etc then in the future it should be somewhere much closer to the SDL – for example George Square.

Despite this the day was a resounding success, the SDL were totally unable to march or advertise themselves or their message. Just take a look at their comments on their Facebook group – http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=search&gid=227558430152
The free march the EDL had in Luton was totally denied to the SDL.

SDL’s tiny “demo” kettled by the police

This wasn’t just down to a large anti-fascist mobilisation but a mobilisation which was committed to meeting in the city centre and confronting them – not simply going to the Green. SSY comrades played no small part in many of the meetings in the build up to this demo in arguing and promoting that city centre confrontation and we should be proud of our role in making sure the SDL had a bad day in Glasgow.

NO PASARAN!

As Leftfield reported last month, the so-called ‘Scottish Defence League’ are planning to hold a ‘demonstration against Muslim extremists’ in Glasgow this Saturday, 14 November.
With past English and Welsh Defence League protests being marred by racist violence, provocative chanting, fascist salutes and general far-right hooliganism, we can probably assume the Glasgow demo will try its hardest to follow in this proud tradition.
Anti-fascists are mobilising to stop the SDL. A broad alliance of trade unions and various organisations and individuals are holding a rally in Glasgow Green from noon, with a march through the city centre taking place later in the day.
SSY is supporting the call-out for mass action to stop the SDL when they arrive – and with that at present remaining unclear, anti-fascists will be mobilising for an early doors convergence outside St Enochs subway station at 10am.
We’re urging everyone to come down and make sure there’s a huge anti-fascist presence in the city centre from early on.
Anyone coming is strongly advised to arrive in groups and to stick together! SSY will have a visible presence from 10am.
It’s very hard to predict how events will unfold on the 14th – the police are treating the day very seriously and have reportedly cancelled all leave, so expect stop and searches, and don’t carry anything illegal!
Above all, we want to stop the SDL fascists from being able to freely organise and operate on our streets. If they are decisively defeated on the 14th, chances are they’ll think again before they appear elsewhere in Scotland – they’re already claiming to have an Edinburgh event in the pipeline. Mass, militant action has defeated the fascists in the past – and we can do it again.

See you on the streets! No pasaran!

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

After a bit of wrangling with the council and the police, SSY/SSP has confirmed details for the March for Jobs we are organising.

The march will take place on the Saturday the 7th of November, assembling at 12 outside Springburn Shopping centre

We will be marching through Springburn to Springburn Park, where we should have a few bands and DJ’s playing.

With youth unemployment predicted to reach one million we hope you will join us in fighting for jobs for every young person in Scotland who wants one, and stopping another generation being sacrificed on the altar of the free market.

When I wrote a thing on here a few weeks ago about the English Defence League, the far-right football casual cum ‘we’re not racist we just hate muslims’ group, I made a passing comment that if they ever do come to Scotland, we better be ready for the fight back. I didn’t seriously believe they were about to announce their first demonstration north of the border a couple of days later, though.

Balaclaved Nazis holding a swastica? SHOCK HORROR. Hang on… they’re setting it alight? Cause they’re most definitely NOT RACIST, that’s why. Why they had the fucking swastica in the first place remains unknown. Hmm…

But so they have. From what Leftfield understands, they’ve applied to the council for a route which will, on 14 November, see their demonstration assemble at Clyde Street, then go over the bridge at Gorbals Street to Glasgow Central Mosque . Sorry, did I say demonstration? My mistake. The Scottish Defence League (for that’s what their calling themselves) have made it clear that they are ‘not asking for a parade’  but will ‘walk around on the pavement’.
Walk around on the pavement? Yeah, if that doesn’t show those pesky extremist terrorist muslim bombers to get back to their own country and stop enforcing that sharia law stuff onto us, stealing our women and wearing those burqas, I don’t know WHAT will. And to really emphasise the point about not covering faces, we’re all gonna wear balaclavas, right lads!

Of all the streets the SDL could have chosen to assemble their wee fash protest on, they chose the street with a fucking statue of La Pasionaria. No Pasaran on Clyde St!

It’s still not known whether they’ll actually get permission for their march, sorry, I mean, ’peaceful pavement excursion’, from the council. In Manchester, for instance, they have - for what looks likely to be the EDL’s biggest show of force yet. The intinery goes something like this: meet in Wetherspoons at 12, drink for 5 hours, and then have what I’m sure will be a peaceful pavement-based saunter to Piccadilly Gardens (as ever, the UAF demo will have fucked off by then – they’re holding it 5 hours earlier in the same location). Islamophobia, racism, nazi salutes and muslim-baiting will not be tolerated, the EDL website reassures us. Yeah… right.
Back to Scotland… so they, the SDL/EDL/combat 18/UDF/scum are coming, and whether they get council and police permission or not, they’ll almost certainly show up, whether that’s in Glasgow, or, as the rumour goes, Kilmarnock. Probably not Edinburgh though, where there’s a massive anti-NATO demo going on that day, so at least we can rule that one out..

The newly formed Left Society at Glasgow Uni are calling for mass, militant action to stop the SDL march from going ahead. The far-right must be prevented from taking to our streets. And our pavements.
This week, we’re holding an open meeting with representatives from a number of different student groups and trade unions, to discuss how we can oppose the EDL and organise actions to stop them on the day. 

OPEN MEETING —- organising to oppose the Scottish Defence League:
Tuesday 6 October, 7pm, Boyd Orr building: room 412, Glasgow University. ALL WELCOME.
Meeting initally called by Glasgow Uni Left Society – contact leftsociety@gmail.com

Let’s stop them crossing the fucking river! No pasaran!

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!