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.

It seems that Fearne ‘talent vacuum’ Cotton got herself into a little bit of bother yesterday morning, with a slightly careless reference to cotton pickin’ in an interview with Morgan Freeman, who as The Sun helpfully reminded us, is a ‘black actor’.
Now, in a Leftfield exclusive, we can reveal Freeman’s quick-fire response which listeners to the show may’ve missed, since, attempting to cover up any awkwardness her remark may’ve created, Fearne quickly bursting into a fit of giggles, before cracking a joke about lynch mobs.

Hard on the heels of a previous post poking fun at the idiocies of the organised, evangelical Christian Far Right in Ireland, Leftfield brings you news of another bout of idiocy from a fundamentalist nutjob.

Calling out the offensive madness of Pat Robertson is a bit like shooting fish in a giant barrel with a satellite laser guided super gun, i.e. it’s not very hard. Researching this article I came across the wikipedia page ‘Pat Robertson controversies,’ which has 20 separate entries, such as ‘Chinese abortions,’ ‘Remarks against Muslims and Hindus,’ ‘Remarks against Asians,’ and ‘Financial Ties to Charles Taylor and Mobutu Sese Seko.’* He also famously called Scotland “a dark land overrun with homosexuals,” and advocated the assassination of Hugo Chavez on live TV.

If you don’t know of this guy count yourself very, very lucky you live in a country where such people don’t have national political influence. People in the US are much less fortunate. Robertson is a famous televangelist, known for spouting his virulent right wing views on his own TV station, the Christian Broadcasting Network. In 1988 he campaigned to become the Republican nominee for US President, and retains a huge following and influence on the US right. He’s really a poster boy for the extreme right evangelical political movement that is basically responsible for two terms of George W. Bush.

But what has he done lately to earn the prestigious inclusion in Leftfield’s roster of knobheads? Well, he excelled himself with this latest outburst, in reference to the Richter 7.0 earthquake in Haiti which has killed around 200, 000 people:

Pat Robertson on Haitian quake

… something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it, they were under the heel of the French, uh, you know, Napoleon the third and whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the devil, they said, we will serve you, if you get us free from the French, true story. And so the devil said, ‘OK, it’s a deal.’ And they kicked the French out, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free, and ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other, desperately poor. . . That island of Hispaniola is one island. It is cut down the middle; on the one side is Haiti on the other is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to God and out of this tragedy I’m optimistic something good may come. But right now we are helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable.

Most people who can be bothered to try and work out what is going on in his fevered mind interpret his comments as relating to the role of Dutty Boukman, a slave in colonial Haiti when the country was still controlled by the French. As a priest of the voudun religion, followed by slaves and derived from their traditional beliefs before they were abducted from Africa, he conducted a ceremony in 1791 that helped spark the Haitian revolution.

The movement he helped start is one of the forgotten moments in the long struggle of humans everywhere to free themselves from exploitation, not as well known as the French or Russian revolutions. It was the first successful slave revolt in the history of the Atlantic slave trade, and it allowed Haitians to found the first state not controlled by a white elite in the whole western hemisphere, and the first post-colonial Black-led state in the world. The revolutionaries, in an unabated streak of ass-kicking, not only beat the French, but then went on to drive out the Spanish and British invaders who saw their chance to grab another colony. Then, with racism clearly clouding his ability to recognise hardcore fighters when he saw them, Napoleon Bonaparte sent MORE French troops in an attempt to reconquer the island. I bet you can guess what happened to them.

The existence of Haiti as a revolutionary base later became a key aid to the struggle of Simon Bolivar to end Spanish colonial domination of Latin America, when Haitians provided the rebels with shelter and aid.

The history of the revolution is famously documented in the classic book ‘The Black Jacobins,’ by Caribbean Marxist C. L. R. James. It’s a great read and is one every socialist should try and make the time for at some point.

On one level, you can almost (almost) understand how poor old mad, ignorant Robertson ended up with such wacky views, given the total lack of context that’s been displayed in most coverage of the devastating quake. Most accounts have told us how the infrastructure and government were woefully inadequate, and how unprepared they were for a disaster of this kind. But that’s the end of the story, nobody seems to be interested in how this situation arose.

The fact of the matter is that there is almost never a completely natural disaster, especially in countries like Haiti, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. Since the revolution Haiti has been under virtually constant assault from imperialism. In 1825 France sent another invasion force, and forced the former slaves to pay reparations for the cost of their freedom, a crippling debt for Haitians. This was the beginning of an almost permanent period of political uncertainty, in a country that has had 32 coups in its 200 year history, virtually all of them backed by foreign imperial powers.

This process came to a head in 1914 when British, German and American troops entered the island to prevent rebellion. The US then went on to occupy the island until 1934, completely re-writing the constitution and imposing a financial system that left Haiti in even more debt, and siphoned off the country’s wealth to US banks.

Another little mentioned event is how the US helped establish a firm boundary between Haiti and the neighbouring Dominican Republic. Following this, in 1937, the US trained and supported Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo massacred around 30, 000 Haitians in five days on his side of the border.

Following the US occupation the US supported with significant aid the dictatorship of the batshit-insane ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier as a bulwark against a spread of the Cuban revolution. Duvalier was notable for a reign of terror against anyone he didn’t like, including socialists and communists, carried out by his private army, the Tonton Macoutes. Haiti became his private kingdom, and he continued loot the country’s wealth, as well as getting Haiti into massive debt. Haiti today is still paying off debts amassed by Duvalier, which no one had any say on apart from ‘Papa.’ He created a huge personality cult around himself, and claimed that President Kennedy had been assassinated because he had cursed him. He also liked to compare himself to Christ. In other words, he had about as much of a grip on reality as Pat Robertson. When he died in 1971 he was succeeded by his son, known, imaginatively enough, as ‘Baby Doc’ Duvalier.

In 1986 Haitians finally managed to get the Duvalier family kicked out and exiled to France. Following this Haiti held its first democratic elections in a long long time, and elected former priest Jean Bertrand Aristide to the Presidency. As a priest he had advocated liberation theology, and as leader of the party Lavalas (which means ‘the flood’ in Haitian creole) he argued for redistribution of wealth and the duty of the state to try and alleviate the massive poverty affecting Haitians. In 1994 he also suffered a coup against his Presidency, but it was defeated and he returned.

Re-elected in 2000, Aristide was finally deposed in a US backed coup, the frontline troops of which were drug-smuggling mercenaries. US troops then kidnapped Aristide and dumped him in the Central African Republic. Since then Haiti has hosted a UN “peacekeeping” force, whose troops have been predictably enough been accused of numerous killings and abuses of the Haitian people. One of the most notable crimes to have occurred during the UN occupation has been the kidnapping of Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine. Lovinsky was a member of Lavalas, and a noted human rights activist who fought for the poorest, particularly single mothers and homeless children. He went missing after a meeting with UN forces in 2007. An international solidarity campaign has fought for his return.

In the first elections since the coup, Haitians overwhelmingly elected Rene Preval, a close ally of Aristide. Despite government committed to (as Aristide put it) “moving from absolute misery to dignified poverty,” Haiti has been the victim of decades of neo-liberal capitalist policies. International institutions like the IMF and World Bank forced the government to relinquish its powers to help their own people from the 70s onwards, and harsh trade agreements made sure the prospect of Haiti developing its economy and resources for its own people was just not happening.

Perhaps most importantly, these policies deliberately forced tens of thousands of poor small farmers off their land and into swelling slums in cities like the capital Port Au Prince. This city has grown immensely, and the vast majority live in poorly built makeshift homes that are in no way equipped to cope with disaster conditions, with no electricity, running water or infrastructure of any kind. Around 75% of the population lives on less than $2 per day, and 56% — four and a half million people — live on less than $1 per day. These are the people who have died in the thousands, as much victims of poverty imposed by imperialism as the earthquake.

As Brian Concannon, the director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, puts it: “Those people got there because they or their parents were intentionally pushed out of the countryside by aid and trade policies specifically designed to create a large captive and therefore exploitable labour force in the cities; by definition they are people who would not be able to afford to build earthquake resistant houses.”

The UN occupation is fantastically expensive, and yet its mission is defined as solely military, in other words keeping the rebellious Haitians in line. The powers that take part, chief among them the US, have consistently voted against any of this money being diverted to help ordinary Haitians.

An important comparison to make if you want to understand what’s happened to Haiti is with neighbouring Cuba, fortunate to have had a socialist revolution in 1959 and so not controlled by the US and its allies. In 2008 storms killed thousands in Haiti, whereas in Cuba they killed only four. A socialist government that is truly in control of the country and its resources is able to take practical steps to protect ordinary people from natural disasters. Meanwhile, refugees leaving Cuba are welcomed with open arms in the US as evidence of how awful socialism is, whilst Haitians fleeing poverty are treated as vermin, kept in detention camps and deported wholesale back to Haiti.

Many places and organisations are raising money for disaster relief in Haiti, and this is of course vitally needed. But socialists reading this could perhaps reflect on how we could best help the Haitians in the long term. What Haiti really needs is imperialism to get off their back so that they can have the kind of pro-poor government that they have consistently voted for. One of the main ways this could happen is if the US and international bodies would forgive some of the huge debt burden, much of which was amassed by a government no Haitian ever voted for. But in fact, quite the opposite is happening right now, as the IMF is actually ADDING to Haiti’s external debt by offering loans for disaster relief!

Perhaps some of this (plus a basic education about geology, and the devil’s non-role in it) could help enlighten Pat Robertson. But then again, it’s unlikely, as he is clearly a knobhead. Inside that knobhead is a brain composed of nothing but 100% pure, weapons grade mentalism.

Bonus: Pat Robertson gets caught saying a caller to the Larry King show is a “homo” when he thinks he’s off air:

Pat Robertson calls viewer a \”homo\”

*Charles Taylor is the former President of Liberia, currently on trial for war crimes in The Hague, who presided over a reign of terror in his country featuring all kinds of horrors inflicted by conscripted child soldiers. Mobutu Sese Seko was the brutal dictator of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which he renamed Zaire cos he felt like it. When he was kicked out the aftermath caused a war which has killed more people than World War 1. Pat Robertson was in business with them both because he owns diamond mines that use virtual slave labour. What a prick.

First Gerry Adams reveals his father was a child abuser and calls for his brother to come out of hiding and hand himself in to the police. Now it’s been revealed a 19 year old toyboy has been firing into Iris Robinson, the Christian fundamentalist wife of Democratic Unionist Party First Minister Peter Robinson. And this is after the Robinsons were revealed to claim 30k in food costs as MP’s earning them the moniker “Swish Family Robinson”. The north is looking more and more like an episode of Hollyoaks every week, albeit with a couple of dodgy looking guys in the background with balaclavas setting off the odd bomb or two.
Its another fantastic step forward for the peace process. It’s now normalised the political set up in Northern Ireland to the extent that proper political scandals now consist of shagging and dodgy money on expenses instead of being former commanders of paramilitary organisations and trying to decapitate the British Government by blowing up hotels.

While folk on the Left enjoy the Swish Family Robinson’s comeuppance, we should take a look at the political situation in Northern Ireland after the Good Friday Agreement. A lot of people have had a distinct lack of sympathy for Iris’ predicament due to her own moralising in the past. She’s denounced gays not just as an “abomination” but also that said they were worse than child abusers, commenting that “There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children”. Her husband defended her, saying she was just echoing Christian scripture. None of this is that much of a surprise though, it was Ian Paisley who led the “Save Ulster from Sodomy” campaign against the legalisation of homosexuality.
The worst folk in the modern Tory party today can’t get away with anything close to the Robinson’s comments on gays and lesbians. Far from it, now they’re speaking at Stonewall demos and apologising for Clause 28. Even Nick Griffin can only shift uncomfortably in his seat and tell folk the gays make him a bit queasy. So why is it, after the supposed success of the peace process the DUP can not just get away with it, but be popular with it?

Northern Ireland is now the most right-wing part of the UK in terms of the politicians it elects. It’s the only part of the UK where full on Christian fundamentalism, the likes of which you get in the USA, can make hay. The gay bashing is just the tip of the iceberg. The Democratic Unionist Party, who Iris represents also have also called for teaching materials on creationism to be available in schools. Another of their MP’s, not to be outdone by Pete or Iris in the nutter stakes opposed letting Catholics become the Monarch as they owe their first allegiance to the Vatican. Which is of course in the same vein as Ian Paisley denouncing the pope as the antichrist in the European Parliament. If nothing else the DUP should be thanked for reminding Catholics in Scotland how they were treated when they were immigrants.

Alongside this favourable environment for the right is an extremely unfavourable one for the Left. While the SDLP and Sinn Fein have left of centre programmes (and in Sinn Fein’s case, anti-war and anti-imperialism) they make zero headway among the Protestant half of the working class in Ireland. This is in stark contrast to the movement in the Republic, which has seen success for former Socialist TD Joe Higgins in winning a Euro seat and decent votes for other Left groups like People Before Profit and the Unemployed Workers Group. Northern Ireland is also one of the few (if not the only) statelet in Western Europe not to have a mainstream political party which has it’s roots in the trade union movement.

You can see what the lack of a trade union based party means for US politics, and the same goes for Northern Ireland. Even if every party in Western Europe which used to give genuine political representation to Trade Unions has betrayed them, they at least contributed to the development of some basic progressive, Socialist and Left ideas in their countries, which the radical Left has in some cases been able to capitalise on. The lack of a political party representing trade unions in Northern Ireland is largely due to the fact that national and religious divisions are unfortunately much more important than class divisions when people take an interest in politics. Ultimately a political party in the North has to decide whether it is for a United Ireland or for the UK, and whichever decision is made will leave it isolated from one half of working people in the province.

Irish Socialist and Republican James Connolly had it spot on when he said that dividing Ireland “would mean a carnival of reaction both North and South, would set back the wheels of progress, would destroy the oncoming unity of the Irish labour movement and paralyse all advanced movements whilst it endured. To it labour should give the bitterest opposition, against it labour in Ulster should fight even to the death, if necessary, as our fathers fought before us.”
Creating Northern Ireland meant that one half of workers, Catholic and Republican would be pitted against the other Protestant and Loyalist half. Any attempts to foster class unity are made very difficult by an institutionalised sectarianism in Northern Ireland, which the peace process has not changed. Contrast this with the position in the Republic where the voting lines are not broken down between Catholic and Protestant, but where religion is largely irrelevant and left wing politics have an opening.

If Socialists are going to have an impact in Northern Ireland and roll back the power the DUP has it’s not just necessary to argue for a United Ireland so the political environment becomes more similar to that of the Republic. There needs to be some way of working with Protestant workers who the Left has not been able to attract because of its position on a United Ireland.
Connolly called Socialists who didn’t want to talk about the national question in Ireland were “Gas and water Socialists”, who only wanted to fight on issues surrounding the economy and poverty. But there should be some organisation uniting working people from both backgrounds in Northern Ireland even if it is just on those “gas and water” issues . Large sections of Protestants in the North will never agree with a United Ireland but many could support a campaign alongside Catholics for a decent minimum wage, defence of public services and workers rights. If even a small minority of Protestants came round to backing a United Ireland on a platform of workers rights, it would fundamentally change the political situation in the North.

As it is just now the Christian Right parties like the DUP are able to take them for granted largely on the basis that they are fighting for their communities interests against the Catholic community. One example of this was during last years Euro Elections were the DUP faced a challenge from Traditional Unionist Voice, a splinter of the DUP who split because the party went into Government with Sinn Fein. The DUP tried to maximise it’s vote by raising the danger of Sinn Fein topping the polls for the first time in Northern Ireland’s history (which they did). As the TUV pointed out, how could the DUP raise this as a nightmare when they were in Government with them?
The DUP didn’t try to defend their coalition with that argument, they fought to get more votes by raising the fear that the other community’s representatives would benefit. Now there are fears Sinn Fein could nominate a First Minister for Stormont if the DUP vote collapses due to the scandal. Expect the DUP to raise that nightmare a lot more than actually trying to defend the actions of their representatives.

The North is one of the poorest parts of the UK, with the spectacular levels of poverty, unemployment, crime and low pay. The DUP’s Christian fundamentalism do nothing to change or improve the lives of working class Protestants. All they do is keep them locked into a battle with the other half of the people, desperate to hold on to privileges they once held over Catholics – instead of demanding an increase in the quality of living for everyone in the North. As difficult as it is, the Left can improve the lives of working people if it is able to challenge the DUP on these issues without dropping a commitment to a United Ireland.

Knobheads Korner is back! After spending the summer holidays sitting about watching cartoons and eating instant noodles, it’s time to get back to work, pointing out knobheads and putting them in korners.

So who’s in the korner today?

No, not Jordan.

Just every other fucker who’s been using her as a punchbag over the past few months.
Katie Price has gone from being the nation’s sweetheart and Celebrity Mum of the Year to being attacked and spat at in the streets; branded ‘vile’ and ‘disgusting’ by most newspapers and magazines; accused of not caring for her children; and of the few people that believe her when she talks about having miscarried, been abused as a child and raped multiple times as an adult – most of them treat her like it’s her own fault.

And what did Katie do to deserve this barrage of hatred? She got dumped by her husband. And instead of becoming celibate, she got back on her feet and started meeting new people. What a scandal!

No woman deserves to be blamed or disbelieved when talking about rape. The fact is that 1 in 4 women have experienced rape or attempted rape. No woman is immune to this fact – it doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, ugly or beautiful, virgin or not.

Katie Price’s former career as a glamour model and her reputation as a ‘promiscuous’ woman are absolutely irrelevant when it comes to discussion of her rape. Current or former glamour models (or indeed sex workers of any kind) can be raped in just the same way as any other woman. Agreeing to be photographed naked or to have sex with someone in exchange for financial or any other benefit does NOT mean that you have now automatically consented to all and any sexual activity in the future.

Most of us know how devastating it is to be dumped – I think Katie Price has been amazingly brave just being able to get on with life in the public eye after a blow like that, let alone being able to be strong in the face of people disbelieving or blaming her for having been raped.

It’s an awful fact, but the majority of rape survivors (if they even do report it – it’s estimated that 75-95% of rapes are never disclosed) do have to face being disbelieved or blamed for their ordeal. In Scotland, a 17 year old girl committed suicide after the humiliation of her interrogation at the trial of her rapist.

Katie Price deserves our support at the moment, and all the journalists, editors and people on buses, school canteens, student unions and staff rooms across the country who’ve been vilifying her belong in KNOBHEADS KORNER.

Peace loving anti-extremists provoked into
xenophobic violence by MILITANT ISLAMISTS!!111

Listening to Radio One at work the other day, I can’t really say I was expecting their lunchtime news to be Newsnight in terms of incisive political analysis and debate . If anything, it was a welcome 15 minute respite from listening to fucking Fearne ‘talent vacuum’ Cotton attempt to juggle inane phone ins, playing records AND being the most irritating person (ever) all at once.
But, I can’t really say I was expecting the news to feature what basically amounted to a 2 minute promotional spot for the English Defence League either.

The English Defence whaaat..? Oh, nothing to worry about… it’s just yr local friendly neighbourhood VIOLENT SKINHEAD FASCIST GROUP, that’s all, or as Radio One managed to put it… ‘the group who’s organisers say are peacefully demonstrating against militant Islam’.
The report went on to say how the group got permission to march through Birmingham City Centre on Saturday, but trouble ’started’ when they met anti-fascist protestors… many of whom ‘were young Muslims’. Before long, ‘men from boths sides were attacking the Police’, while shoppers looked on in horror.
Next comes a history of the EDL: set up following the incident where ‘Muslim extremists booed soldiers coming back from Afghanistan’, and an interview with one of the group’s organisers, named as Tommy: ‘blabla bla we’re not anti-islam we’re anti extremist innit cause muslims bombs immigrants TERRORISM ISLAM.’
He continues: ‘We’re against a small minority, the larger muslim community should actually be backing us in what we’re saying’ (!!!!)
What the fuck, Radio One? At no point did this piece mention the BNP, the EDL’s links to far-right football hooligan firms or in fact, racism. The closest we got was when we overheard the anti-fascist protestors shouting ‘Nazi Scum!’. And, according to the report, the protestors were ‘mostly Muslim’? And they obtained this information how? Because some of them looked Asian, basically?

EDL get a kicking from Birmingham youth

The EDL are fascist bigots, and it’s worrying that the mainstream media’s falling for their ‘anti-extremist’ facade and giving them coverage which certainly comes out more favourable than that given to their opposition.
The EDL claim not to be racist or linked to the BNP. The fact is, they are both, and most likely represent a new strategy from the party to reach out to disaffected white working class youth and football fans, and ramp up racial tension in certain areas – from which the BNP can gain electorally.  This Friday evening, the EDL are planning to descend on Harrow Mosque, one of London’s largest. And this is the group who claim that most Muslims should SUPPORT them?
At the moment, the EDL have not extended their reach beyond England and Wales. This doesn’t mean we in Scotland should be complacent though. In the run up to the Euro elections earlier in the year, we saw the BNP out on an almost daily basis across Scotland, the first time this has happened. However, the BNP in Scotland are, at the moment, a bunch of old men who by stepping outside probably represent a greater physical risk to themselves than anyone else. Nevertheless, any attempts by militant fascist organisations to set up in Scotland or take to the streets to spread their message of hate and division must be resisted and organised against: both by offering real, socialist solutions to counter their Nazi politics, and, where necessary, confronting them on the street to counter their Nazi posturing. The working class in East London united to beat Moseley’s Blackshirt fascists in the 1930s, and we can do it again.
NO PASARAN

extremists 4 anti-extremism

Noted hip hop artist and twat Sean Combs

While Diageo is still set to close it’s bottling plant in Kilmarnock, rip the heart out of the community, condemn hundreds of families to unemployment it’s comforting to know it’s not all doom and gloom for the employees of Diageo’s multi billion food and drinks empire.

Sean Combs, Aka Puff Daddy, aka P.Diddy is set to make a cool $100 million in an advertising deal with Diageo

“Diddy has agreed to take on responsibility for Diageo’s Ciroc vodka brand in the United States, as part of a 50-50 joint venture with the London-based multinational that could net the hip-hop entrepreneur over $100 million. Ciroc is made from grapes in France, which is unusual given that vodka sources are traditionally starch-based such as potatoes or corn.”

Lets not forget that the bottling plant in Kilmarnock is not inefficient or unproductive. It has created massive wealth for Diageo. The reason the plant is threatened with closure is to protect “future profit levels” for Diageo.

Profit levels that have been consistent at £2 Billion a year for them in the past decade.

20,000 march to defend jobs from Diageo’s greed

If Diageo can afford to lavish $100 million on P.Diddy they can afford to maintain an already profitable plant in Kilmarnock – if they refuse to stop the closure, the plant should be taken over with the jobs and profits secured for the local community – not Diageo or massive celebrity advertising!