Sir Bob shows his radical credentials

The world has watched in horror as the outrageously corrupt BBC and Channel 4 has attempted to make the ludicrous claim that there are still problems in Africa.

Sensible people everywhere know that Africa is now a paradise thanks to the efforts of their saviour, multi-millionaire Saint Sir Bob Geldof the Wonderful.

Sir Bob has been on the defensive over the last few weeks, after several different investigations attacked his legacy of work against poverty.

First of all, a BBC World Service investigation received information from several former rebel leaders in Ethiopia that a portion of aid money raised by the Band Aid charity in the 80s was in fact diverted by rebels to buy weapons.

Now, Channel 4 is to screen a documentary next week that attacks His Holiness for distracting attention from the Make Poverty History campaign in 2005.

During the 80s, at the time of Band Aid, the Ethiopian national government was at war with a number of rebel forces in the countryside. Leaders of those rebels are now in power in Ethiopia. However, some former rebel leaders have since fallen out with their former comrade and current Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. They told the BBC that the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) tricked aid workers into giving them money, by disguising themselves as merchants, as well as covering sacks of sand with sacks of food when taking aid cash.

Former TPLF leaders claim that they got $100 million this way, which was spent on weapons to overthrow the government. They also claim that they used front groups, such as the Relief Society of Tigray, to get cash. Band Aid’s own records show they gave $11 million to the society.

His Excellency Sir Geldof has been outraged by the claims, and has threatened to sue the BBC, demanding that the reporters who filed the story and their bosses should get the sack.

“Martin Plaut, [the World Service news and current affairs editor] Andrew Whitehead and Peter Horrocks should be fired. There should be an immediate investigation into what went wrong, steps should be taken to rectify the identified faults and the World Service must work very, very hard to re-establish its trust and hard-won reputation as the world broadcaster of excellence.”

It seems that, according, the His Most Generous Wonderous-ness Geldof, Band Aid should be completely above criticism. How

"Why don't people get that I'm fantastic?!"

dare anyone suggest that a major aid effort in a starving country beset by civil war could ever be affected by corruption?! As BBC journalist Rageh Omaar pointed out in the Guardian, the journalists behind this story were in Ethiopia in the 80s, received serious and credible information, and were right to go ahead with it. There should now be a full investigation. The Most Marvellous Geldof’s response? Omaar is “ridiculous.”

Geldof went on to make the laughable claim that:

“Not a single penny went on armaments. Not one. Not a pound; not a penny. Let me be clear on that. And I’ve also spoken to some of the others, including the Red Cross, who say it is absolute rubbish that any of their money could have possibly gone on arms.”

At this point he really does sound desperate. He could have argued that corruption wasn’t on the scale the story claimed. But to claim that “not a single penny” went astray? As this article on Pambazuka points out, every single aid effort to Africa suffers from corruption. In a continent afflicted by poverty, undemocratic governments and the interference of imperialism in their affairs, it’s impossible to have a completely clean and transparent aid process. In fact, much of the way that aid is given by the western capitalist powers makes things worse.

The vehemence of Geldof’s denial has the opposite effect from the one he intended: it leaves you wondering what it is he’s so desperate to hide.

Meanwhile, in a separate programme, More 4 are screening a documentary called Starsuckers next week which will attack Geldof’s role in the G8 protests in 2005.

At the time, a major coalition of charities, campaign groups and churches came together in the Make Poverty History coalition. This demanded debt relief for third world countries and more aid from rich ones. It organised a mass march through the centre of Edinburgh, all dressed in white. At the time the SSP and SSY took part, but instead of white, we dressed in red, to symbolise our desire to Make Capitalism History. We argued that the structure of the international economy was geared to do nothing else but increase inequality and keep poor countries poor. An appeal to the G8 leaders meeting in Scotland was useless, they must be attacked and defeated.

SSP marching against the G8

However, even this charity campaign was too radical for the All Knowing Genius Geldof, who organised Live Aid, a massive celebrity mutual masturbation fest, were stars both young and has-been got together for a concert where they told the world how great they were.

Starsuckers claims that Geldof hijacked the Make Poverty History campaign for his own ends. After the summit, it became clear that G8 leaders were going to do sweet FA to help third world countries, and that all the talk of progress had just been rhetoric for the cameras. But Geldof said he gave the global political elite “10 out of 10″ for commitments on aid, and “8 out of 10″ for debt relief. He later said the 8 score should be upgraded to 10 out of 10. In the process he showed just how much he himself was part of the PR machine defending the corrupt imperialist governments of the west.

The ever furious Geldof has penned a 6,000 word letter attacking Starsuckers and attempting to defend his rapidly-vanishing legacy. The theme underlying all this outrage is that clearly Geldof is pretty sensitive to allegations that show him up for what he is: a completely useless celebrity attention seeker. A man who wanted to do good, but has been completely compromised by working hand-in-glove with the powerful forces actually responsible for third world poverty.

He attacked anti-poverty campaigners as “wankers dressed as clowns”, and said Make Poverty History was “a bit lame and almost entirely ineffectual. . .boring, futile and adolescent.” Again, he says he’s contacted his lawyers.

On the other hand, according to his letter, Live Aid had an acute political vision of the world economic situation and the realistic prospect of ending under-development throughout the global south. Just listen to this piece of stunning analysis from Geldof:

“Richard [Curtis] and Bono came to me and said do another gig. I said you fucking do it if you’re so eager. Bono said he’d play with McCartney and they’d open the gig with “It was 20 years ago today” – a reference to Live Aid. I wanted to see that. Precisely that rock n roll moment I wanted to see, so I said ok. That’s why I did it. Pathetic but y’know …”

Yes Bob, we do know.

The fact of the matter is, the protests against the G8 weren’t as successful as some of the previous mobilisations against international capitalist summits, like the Battle of Seattle. A lot of this was to do with the political confusion-were we against the summit, or asking the leaders to do something for us? Despite the best efforts of the SSP and others, Make Poverty History’s campaign contributed a lot towards stopping a more radical, anti-capitalist approach.

But Geldof knows exactly what side of the power divide he comes down on. In his letter he writes:

“Like it or not the agents of change in our world are the politicians. Otherwise you’re always outside the tent pissing in. They stay inside their tent pissing back out at you. This is futile. My solution is to get inside the tent and piss in there.”

"When we get inside the tent can we piss on each other again?"

Whilst Geldof and the G8 leaders engage in bizarre watersports, those of us who actually know what they’re talking about can unpick what he’s said here. The only way to get any change is to rely on the same global elite who are responsible for creating the situation as it stands, claims Geldof. But rich countries are rich precisely because they have looted Africa and the rest of the third world for centuries now, and it’s still going on. Those people and movements who’ve tried to stand up to this have faced ferocious attacks from the west and their corrupt allies. The G8 leaders will NEVER solve poverty in Africa, because they are responsible for it.

The way forward for poor countries is demonstrated by the handful of examples where the people have won and the government stands up to the rich world. Today, Venezuela and Cuba, which have revolutionary governments supported by the mass of the people, are able to provide world class health and education to their people, and do not suffer from famine as countries like Ethiopia do. The people of these countries, and their allies here, are the real agents of change, not rich politicians.

As for us in Scotland, it’s clear that sitting around watching wanker celebrities on telly is going to change nothing. We have a responsibility to help people in the third world. The best way we can do that is by fighting for socialism here, and trying to take down our own corrupt governments responsible for so much suffering across the globe.

Build a bonfire, build a bonfire . . .

A group of French workers has threatened to blow up their own factory if they don’t get their full redundancy pay.

Workers at the Sodimatex car parts plant near Paris were told last year they were getting laid off, and have been in a row at the level of redundancy payments ever since. Stubborn bosses are offering them just half of the amount their demanding to compensate for losing their jobs.

On Thursday, workers blockaded the road in, and then barricaded themselves inside the factory when riot cops arrived.

And now workers have demanded the bosses take action, or they’ll blow the plant. One of those taking action told French radio (by phone):

“We have a 5,000 litre gas tank surrounded by wooden palettes, and I can guarantee you we’ll blow it up. The whole building and everything around it will be flattened.”

Yet again French workers have made us over here look timid. While Scottish unions aren’t even allowed to march in Glasgow city centre, these workers have obviously been taking their lessons from the action movie school of negotiations.

And here it’s likely that, under repressive anti-trade union and indeed anti-terrorist laws, such actions would have to be condemned by the official union.

But in France, union lawyer for the workers Caroline Substelny said:

“These workers fear that once they lose their jobs they will not be able to find another one. If the management does not take its responsibilities seriously, then workers will use all means at their disposal to get what they deserve.”

Shocking and radical as these moves might seem to some readers, the fact is you just have to look at Greece and elsewhere to see the violence bosses have got planned for us, the working class. They intend to make workers everywhere pay for their idiocy by drastically cutting living standards, and if we don’t like it there’ll be riot cops to stop us doing anything about it. In the face of this, these French workers are ready to take it all the way in the fight for what they deserve.

Good for them!

As Britain is gearing up for the most important election in decades, it’s also the most closely fought. Successive opinion polls have shown that it is unlikely any party will have an overall majority to govern – that either means working as a minority Government, or one in coalition. This has an obvious disadvantage, that at the time when the ruling class in the UK needs a strong Government to enforce public sector cuts, take on the trade unions and face down community campaigns against cuts to their services they may in fact have the weakest Government in decades; a Government that can be undermined by appealing to the opposition or coalition partners with cold feet.

This scenario has caused considerable and obvious disquiet to Britain’s bankers and potential investors. In order to quash this concern, the British state is, according to at least one press report prepared to rely on undemocratic and ancient rules to enforce stability at the price of democracy; that is, the use of Crown Powers.

The Daily Mail reports that none other than The Queen has been approached by leading civil servants to discuss using her powers as a Monarch in relation to a hung Parliament. It outlines a scenario in which no party has a majority, and the Parliament is a hung one. The minority Government could approach the Queen to request another general election to secure a stable majority Government. Leading civil servants are worried this would cause instability in the UK, and are discussing with the Queen the possibility of her using her Crown Powers to deny a request for a second General Election.

This would be designed to force the political parties to form a stable coalition Government, able to make the cuts necessary to make the UK profitable for capitalism again. Such use of Crown Power in the UK would be shocking and controversial, and it may not be necessary but it is far from impossible. Crown Powers have already been used in people’s lifetime – the Governor General in Australia dismissed a left-leaning Government in Australia using Crown Powers. These powers have also been used to overrule a High Court ruling which said the expulsion of Diego Garcia’s indigenous population to make way for a US military base was illegal.

The reality is the Crown still has plenty of power in the UK, if not to be used on the whim of the monarch itself but in the interests of Britain’s ruling establishment of MP’s, civil servants, bankers etc. It is still used in the Privy Council, whose prerogative powers were used to deny justice to the islanders of Diego Garcia and to ban GCHQ workers from being allowed to join a union. And there is of course the undemocratic House of Lords, whose peers are allowed to block laws voted on democratically in Westminster.

All these hang ons from the medieval ages are kept as an insurance policy in case any Government – in the past a feared “ultra-left” Labour one – would go too far, and for any Government to use as an extension of it’s powers beyond the relative transparency of Parliament. Remember that the next time the Monarchy comes up in a debate – tourists they may attract, but Mickey Mouse does not have the power to deny elections to the Senate in the United States!

The Queens Diamond Jubillee will be held in 2012, with public holidays on the 4th and 5th of June to celebrate her glorious reign. The SSP won’t be attending however – and will organise a demonstration for an Independent Republic, like we did at Calton Hill in 2004. We’ll be protesting so that the Queen and all the undemocratic hangovers of the middle ages have no role in politics, and Scotland is a modern, 21st century democratic Republic without inherited privilege or power.

On February 25th a fatal car accident killed two well known gynecologists in Moscow. The crash was caused when their Citroen was smashed into by an armoured Mercedes that contained Anatoliy Barkov, Vice President of Lukoil, Russia’s largest oil company.

Very quickly the police attempted to cover up the accident in order to protect his reputation. They tried to lay the blame for the smash entirely on the two women, Olga Aleksandrina and Vera Sidelnikova, in the Citroen. But their version of events soon unravelled in the face of the facts.

The liberal opposition in Russia, who are so quick to protest the corruption of the government, were strangely silent on this issue. But a wave of indignation from ordinary people has been expressed on the internet, with big numbers of people supporting a demand to ‘Restore Justice,’ in the face of corporate executives who are above the law.

You can read more about this incident in this excellent article by Russian left-winger Boris Kagarlitsky. Also, below is the track ‘Mercedes S666′, distributed by Russian rapper Noize MC. This track gained massive popularity by talking about the incident. I haven’t been able to find a version with English subtitles in the video. However, the comments on youtube do have a translation-obviously it comes with a disclaimer that I’m in no position to check their accuracy, but I’ve copied them below the video.

“Let me introduce myself,
My name is Anatoly Barkov
I do not have any wings or any vampire eyeteeth.
In my position I do not need these stupid accessories
Let the hard rock musicians to have these silly, satanic things
You know, being a vice president of Lukoil  is not only-only
I have to look solid without any rubbish
I do not look like evil at all
I am a person of a quite different level, a creature of a really high power
do not know problems, which could not be solved by corruption. I do not know of people, which lives are more important than my interests,
It does not touch me what the media will write about me.
If you are on the way for my Mercedes- does not matter- YOU will always have a blame in case of a traffic accident
Ref: MercedesS666, get out from my way, Plebeian, do not try to stay on it!
Silly Plebeian, shake! Patricians are on the road! Hurry! We are late on a way to a Hell…
In a Hell I will be boiled next to Evsukov (a policeman who shot and killed innocent people in a supermarket in Moscow in April 2009)
But now I am OK and wrapped up with everything
I am insured 100% from any troubles
By the way I am in touch with Vova (V.Putin)
I have an ability to change even TIME and SPACE
Suddenly all the video cameras are off
If they content some proofs of my crime
And just put meaning of people deep in your..
Ordinary people talking and talking, and so they will be quiet after all
Like a little dog yapping at an elephant
But he will always have a good reputation in any case.
I honestly admit that I do not really remember, Who are Vera Sidelnikova and Aleksadrina Olga
R: Mercedes S666, get out from my way, Plebeian, do not try to stay on it!
Silly Plebeian, shake! etc….. We are late on a way to a Hell, Keep away from our carriages!
Mercedes S666, get out from my way, Plebeian, do not try to stay on it!
Silly Plebeian, shake! Patricians are on the road!
Hurry! We are late on a way to a Hell,
Keep away from our carriages!”

For the past week Thailand has been engulfed in a massive wave of protest by the anti-government ‘Red Shirts‘, who all dress in red to symbolise their support for the immediate dissolving of parliament and new elections.

The current government of Thailand was installed by a military coup in 2006, that overthrew former telecommunications tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra’s government.

Thaksin Shinawatra

Shinawatra is one of the richest men in Thailand, and came to power as leader of a populist party. (He was also briefly the owner of Man City.) However, his policies in government were extremely popular with the rural and urban poor of Thailand, and included the first ever attempt to create a universal health care scheme, and microcredits to try and alleviate poverty in the countryside.

The mobilisation of the poor threatens the traditional elite in Thailand, which until the 1930s was ruled by the king, and the monarchy still retains a lot of power. Today, nobles and bureaucrats continue to contol a lot of the political process.

Shinawatra was deposed in a military coup in September 2006, and the military junta then wrote a new constitution and appointed the current Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The Red Shirt movement, known formally as the National United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), was formed to protest the junta, and this year has been stepping up activities dramatically.

The UDD is seen by many as simply a movement aimed at returning Thaksin Shinawatra to power, and many protesters are his supporters. They demand his return from self-imposed exile, and an amnesty for the 2 year prison sentence for corruption he’s received in his absence.

But the supporters of the UDD, who’ve been in the streets in their hundreds of thousands, are overwhelminngly the poor and working class. Most people outside Thailand see the conflict as being about who will control Thailand-the monarchy and the traditional nobility, or modern capitalists.

But to get power Shinawatra built an alliance with the people who are now in the street, and, in the absence of a major organised challenge by socialists or the left for power, his policies inspired millions of people.

Now, in his absence, the movement has the potential to grow beyond his control. Some leaders of the movement within Thailand have begun openly talking about a “class war.” But there remain a lot of contradictions. Some protesters wanting to keep to a narrow agenda of new elections, but still supporting a constitutional monarchy. Others want to go further, and confront the whole traditional power structure that keeps the elite in power and the majority poor.

A lot will depend on how the reaction of the current Thai government, how far they are willing to push things, and if they are willing to negotiate. If they remain as stubborn as they’ve been so far, they may end up pushing the Red Shirts to go further than the limits of Thaksin Shinawatra’s politics.

For anyone that would doubt the seriousness of the commitment of people to the Red Shirt cause, check out this video-protesters actually en masse donated their own blood for the sake of the movement. Huge quantities of their blood were then oured into the streets in symbolic locations. Next time you cant be bothered getting up early for a demo, just be glad you’re not part of a movement that demands this level of commitment from it’s members!

Today some members of SSY and assorted other pro-choice activists held a picket of the anti-choice ‘International “Pro-Life” Youth Conference’ held by the UK’s largest anti-abortion campaigning group, the ‘Society for the Protection of Unborn Children’ (SPUC).

We had a successful and peaceful day of highlighting our opposition to their anti-woman views. Unfortunately, although we only wanted to show the members of SPUC that their views would not go unopposed and make them think about exactly what their anti-choice ideas mean in reality (such as the fact that over 200 women die every day because they can’t access legal abortions), they seemed to be a bit timid and chose not to venture beyond their hotel, which was insensitively placed right beside a hospital.

Protestors begin to gather

SSY thinks it’s important to continue to defend a woman’s right to control her own body. If the potential next Tory government thinks that they can get away with eroding women’s rights over the coming years, we hope you’ll stand with us in defence of choice and safety for vulnerable women.

On a related note, American filmmaker Michael Moore, a pro-choice Catholic, has written this piece condemning his anti-choice Michigan Democrat Congressman who has attempted to halt the Obama administration’s health bill on the basis that it doesn’t erode women’s rights quite enough for his liking.

It contains some pretty shocking facts about the state of abortion rights in America – such as that regardless of it being technically legal, in 71% of American counties it is impossible for a woman to find a doctor who will be willing to perform an abortion, such is the strength of the anti-choice Right in America. You can read it here.

SSY standing up for choice

As Leftfield reported a couple of days ago, Greece right now is the frontline of the European wide assault on the working class.

The bankers who fucked up the economy royally are now determined to make ordinary people pay through wage cuts, job losses and slashing public spending.

In Greece, the government is trying to impose an austerity package so harsh the country has risen up in a general strike and massive demonstrations. Greeks need our solidarity today, because if they lose it’ll be us tomorrow.

In the video above, strikers and demonstrators talk about why they’ve gone into the street. (via Monthly Review zine.)

Anti-abortion nutjobs SPUC are holding their “International Youth Pro-Life Conference” this 19-21 March in Clydebank.

We’ve fought the racists and fascists on the streets of Glasgow and Edinburgh -- now it’s time to fight the woman-haters.

SPUC not only want to stop women getting abortions -- they’re also against condoms, the pill, and sex education. WTF?!

A woman’s right to control her body is a fundamental human right. Women should have total control over their reproductive system, being able to make free and informed decisions about how they live. Every undermining of a woman’s right to choose whether, when and how to have children is an attack on all women.

Every day, 200 women die because they couldn’t access a legal abortion.

After the general election in May there’s the very real prospect that abortion rights will come under heavy attack. Tory MPs want to make it more and more difficult for women to access abortion. If enough of them are elected there could be a majority in the Westminster parliament for gradually taking women’s rights to control their own bodies away piece by piece. That means we need to get organised now, and start undermining the ability of anti-abortionists to meet and organise against women. Just as we do with racists, we also need to do with misogynists.

Women’s abortion rights need to be defended.

FUCK SPUC!

Protest! Saturday 20 March, outside Beardmore Hotel, Clydebank. 8.30am.

No, not that Europe

When what is possibly the worst economic crisis since the 30’s got going in 2008, a lot of people looked back into history. They pointed out that when the Wall Street Crash happened in 1929, it took a couple of years before we really began to see political implications, like the rise of Hitler or the Spanish Civil War.

In recent weeks a wave of protests and strikes has engulfed Southern Europe, bringing people on to the streets of Greece, Spain and Portugal. It looks like for some countries at least, we won’t have to wait much longer to see consequences of financial meltdown.

The Euro as a currency is in crisis as a result of what’s happening. The fate of countries like Greece puts serious doubts on its long term viability.

Many people support the European Union, because they think it is a big club where everyone helps each other out and prevents wars. The EU’s own rhetoric has often talked about solidarity across Europe. But the response to the financial crisis in Greece has shown that the EU is no different than any other part of the capitalist world-the strong exploit the weak, and the powerful have no interest in solidarity with those who are relatively powerless.

Hyperinflation made money cheaper than jenga

The biggest power in the EU is Germany. The German elite have learned from history, and since the war they’ve wanted two things: sound money and European integration. In the 30’s hyperinflation made the German Mark worthless, causing misery for everyone and spurring the rise of the Nazis. And following the destruction of the war, the only way France and Germany could ever hope to match up to the global power of the US was by teaming up.

These two objectives came together with the establishment of the Euro, the aim of which was to give Europe a strong currency that could stand up to the dollar on world markets. But the idea was also that the Euro would help political integration, with the EU becoming more like a state of its own.

But closer integration has proved difficult, and in the meantime the EU has mushroomed outwards to take in a bunch of countries in Eastern Europe. Now 16 different states, many with very different economies, are tied together economically by using the Euro. Some of these countries, like Germany or the Netherlands, export a lot of products and as a result have surplus money. Others, like Greece or Spain, have huge debts. In the past, if a country had a surplus the currency would increase in value, making it more expensive to buy their products. If another had a deficit, then its currency would fall in value, having the opposite effect. This is the way, traditionally, that imbalances got sorted out.

But now, with so many countries locked into one currency, it’s nearly impossible for a national government to take action to try and deal with an economic crisis. Richer countries like France and Germany have been able to pump some of their own money into the financial system, but the banks and capitalists don’t trust the poorer countries like Greece, and won’t let them do the same.

EU members today

Germany has the second largest trade surplus in the world, after Saudi Arabia. It exports a lot more than it imports. Its relationship to the rest of Europe is a bit like China and the US-Germany provides goods and finances, and the rest of Europe buys those goods and takes the investment. The difference is that other European countries aren’t nearly as economically powerful as the US. Germany has invested and traded heavily with poorer countries like Greece, Spain and Portugal. These countries companies just can’t compete with German ones.

On top of this, it’s now clear that there was a lot of bullshitting going on by European governments in order to keep the Euro working, and get more countries as members. An investigation is being launched into how the former Greek government conspired with banks to hide the true extent of their debts. But more generally, many of the European governments have been breaking their own rules and covering it up.

PIIGS: shocked by hidden debt

This hasn’t been money that has been spent to the advantage of workers, but is the result of massive corruption and mismanagement, along with huge tax evasion by the wealthy. Without cooking the books like this, it would have been impossible for countries like Greece to join the Euro.

Before the crash, governments were able to cope with their debts by playing financial games and borrowing more money. But that option is closed off now for most of them after the collapse of the financial system, and several countries are left with huge debts that are causing a huge problem for the Euro. The worst problems are in the countries that have been rudely dubbed “PIIGS”-Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain.

In these countries the governments are now forced to desperately try and cut spending, meaning wage cuts, job losses and general misery, whilst at the same time raising taxes. In other words, they are trying to force the working class to pay the cost of the crisis that was created by financial speculators, banks and badly-managed governments.

In Greece, the government has a few months to raise £20 billion through cuts. If it doesn’t they could face the serious possibility of a Euro member going bankrupt. The German and French governments have been less than willing to come to the rescue, although they may yet be forced to. In the meantime the government is trying to force through an unprecedentedly harsh package of cuts.

Greek protesters: handy with a stick

The good news is that the Greek working class is one of the most militant in Europe, and is refusing to accept the government’s programme without a fight. From midnight tonight (Wednesday) Greek workers are walking out to start their second national strike. In previous strikes protestors have been fighting in the streets with riot police, and attempted to storm the parliament.

In other parts of Europe resistance is starting to heat up as well. In Portugal civil servants shut down courts, schools and hospitals in protest at government wage freezes. In Spain, where the government wants to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 to keep people working longer, tens of thousands have been on the streets protesting. And in Ireland 4,500 porters, caterers, security guards and other low paid workers are set to go on strike against wage cuts in Dublin hospitals.

These Greek protesters bricked up a bank entrance to demand the government takes action against them!

In the UK, with the PCS already on strike and the prospect of more savage cuts after the election whoever wins, it couldn’t be more important to learn about what’s happening across Europe. We aren’t yet looking at a real revolutionary situation, but there’s no doubt that if we let European governments implement their plans it will mean poverty and misery for the European working class on a scale not seen since the 1930’s. The only way we can stop that happening is by defeating our governments across the continent, through mass action, strikes and people on the street. There’s an urgent need to link up the struggles across borders and understand the international nature of what’s going on, and Leftfield will do its best to keep you informed in a clear and understandable way in the months to come.

Footage of last month’s general strike in Greece.

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.

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.