David Beckham and the 2012 London Olympics

I'm sure we all know the feeling. Sometimes something just gets under your skin and you can't get rid of it. It doesn't matter that it might be quite trivial in the grand scheme of things, it just goes on irritating whenever it pops into your head, and this post is designed to get it off my chest, because it has to be said. 

I know I should be condemning the extravagance of capitalism and the unethical behaviour of the sponsors. I should be going on about 'bread and circuses' like the old lefty I am, but the 2012 London Olympics were a spectacular. An unmitigated success. I watched every second of both the main games and the paralympics whenever I could, and I loved every minute of them.

But one thing stuck in my throat. We all saw the way David Beckham worked to bring these games to London, and the fact that a place in the football squad could not be found for him was an absolute disgrace. As a Scot, I'm no Beckham fan, but it's a matter of dignity. The Team GB football selectors put winning before fairness and attacked Beckham's dignity. He should have been the first name in the squad, that would have been the Olympian thing to do, and I've no doubt he must have felt very humiliated. He didn't deserve that. 

I would have raised hell, but to his credit, Beckham retained and enhanced his dignity by working tirelessly throughout the games, proving that not only is he a much better man than I am, he is a much bigger and better man that those who tried to humiliate him by their lack of common decency. You just don't do that to people no matter what, and Beckham proved what a man he is.

Those people are not fit to clean Beckham's boots, at least his right one (because everyone knows he hasn't got a left foot).

Sorry about the last bit, but I'm still a Scot, and I promise never to say anything nice about an England player again.

Tommy sheridan (or who framed Rampant Rabbit)

These are my opinions, nobody else's. As I have stated previously I am a member of a political party, but I hold no elected position in that party nor have I ever stood for any, and do not in any way speak for or on behalf of that party. Only for myself.

The sentencing of Tommy Sheridan today brings to an end a sad chapter for the left in Scotland. It is well detailed elsewhere but to sum it up Sheridan got himself involved in a sleazy lifestyle. Not that uncommon, but he got caught. He tried to turn the tables and obtain for himself £2000,000 by lies and deception and when honest people wouldn't back him up he labelled them liars and scabs. He demanded that comrades conspire together with him to commit this greedy theft, they refused, and the jury decided. So he goes to jail on a three year sentence and I hope they can give him the help he so obviously needs.

If only it were that simple, but there were those who decided that they would support him and that split the SSP down the middle.

Some of his supporters knew exactly what he was doing because they were present at crucial times. They are the low. A self seeking bunch of liars who should never be allowed anywhere near a socialist again.

Others only knew the Sheridan spin and like many charismatic leaders (Jim Jones springs to mind) he was able to shepherd them along a suicidal path. Those I feel nothing for but sorrow. They got it wrong and they live with the consequences.

But there is another group and in my opinion they are the lowest. They are the ones from other parts of the left who said, 'We don't know all the facts so we'll reserve judgement'. They kept their heads down and hid in their bunkers like the cowards they are offering neither words of support nor assistance to those they had worked hand in hand with for years. They may not have known all of the facts, but they knew all of the people, and if when the words 'Scab' and 'Liar' were being thrown around by Sheridan they could not identify the lie then they are not fit to be making judgements on behalf of the working class. They knew all of the people involved and still chose Sheridan to be a candidate to run for election. They knew he was a liar and that the people he had insulted in the worst way were no scabs, but they chose personality over integrity. They thought they saw a short cut to socialism via personality politics, but that is a house built on sand, and we can now see clearly that socialism is built by hard work and not headlines. They embraced a model of personality led socialism that is now seen to be a failed and discredited model. So don't come to me preaching left unity, please. I want nothing to do with the SWP, TUSC, CWI or anyone else with a catchy set of initials. They are only passing through, like Galloway, and their loyalties lie elsewhere. And as for McCrowe. When did come to believe he was the saviour of the Scottish left. Bob, take your 59K plus expenses and go back to wrecking the left across the border. I want nothing to do with you.

The SSP should be fighting for a united left. We should be fighting to unite ourselves with the people who have lost faith in all politics and don't vote any more. We should be fighting to unite ourselves with good honest trade unionists and others who believe in justice, integrity and honesty, often despite their leadership. We should be uniting ourselves with the poor and the soon to be poor and fighting the upcoming war on their behalf. But we should not be sucked into alliances with the cowards who hid themselves away. They are beneath contempt.

There are no short cuts.

Allan Armstrong Speaks on Scottish Republicanism

Renfrewshire Scottish Socialist Party are hosting an open meeting on Tuesday 8th June 2010. Long time republican campaigner Allan Armstrong will be the guest of the branch to discuss the idea of an independent socialist republic for Scotland's future. All members and any others with an interest are invited to this open meeting at 7.30 pm in Paisley Grammar where they can find out more about the republican concept and about the other policies of the Scottish Socialist Party.

Israeli Stormtroopers and the Gaza Convoy

I was speaking to a friend tonight who knows about these things and he assures me that no forces who had spent more than half an hour in training would board a ship from a helicopter down a rappel rope without first clearing their landing area with, at the very least, stun grenades. And these stormtroopers who perpetrated the massacre were supposed to be highly trained marines.

Wouldn't it be nice to see the rest of the unreleased footage of the boarding video ?

And what the f*ck were the paintball guns supposed to be about ?

Helmand Province Afghanistan and the British Forces

I see that the British Forces in Helmand Province are to have an American commanding officer. Do you think he might be able to stop the gung ho G.I.s from bombing and shooting us ?

Catholic Church and the Child Sex Scandal in Ireland

It appears that the Catholic Church in Ireland is going to conduct a full investigation into the child sexual abuse perpetrated by the clergy in Ireland. The enquiry will be carried out by priests led by an Archbishop (I couldn't believe it either). The clergy in Ireland are a small gossipy elite (Father Ted is funny because it's so true) and if there was a cover up I would bet my debt that priests who didn't know what was going on were the exceptions and very few. What are the Garda, who should be carrying out this investigation doing. Isn't it a criminal offence in Ireland to conceal knowledge of a criminal offence ? Let's see the whole fucking lot of them in court to answer to man, who I think might be a harsher judge in this instance than their God.

Fergie, Duchess of York on Oprah

Well that explains it. She was pissed and not in the right place. Any suggestions as to the right place for the Ginger Whinger and her former in-laws gladly received.

More Israeli Bullshit

Israel are showing off the weapons used against their Stormtroopers by the Gaza Aid activists. It seems that the best they can come up with (on a boat) is a sailors knife with a 3 inch blade. and a few chair legs. Now maybe I'm wrong but I had been led to believe that the Stormtroopers were part of the elite Israeli special forces. So what went wrong ? They still insist that they were justified in their slaughter of these aid workers. They are replaying a video of a fight on the deck of the ship, but with Israel's reputation for forgery and fakery I don't think I'll be believing that until I see the result of a proper independent international enquiry. In the meantime there are about 500 prisoners left to the tender mercies of Israeli torturers (whoops, sorry, sleep deprivation, white noise and water-boarding aren't torture, the Americans said so) including 30 Britons. So what are Lord Snooty Cameron, his fag Clegg and his token working class accent Hague going to do about it? Well, whatever America says, obviously.

Israel and the U.S.A.

It looks as if the land of the free are unwilling to condemn the piracy, kidnap and murder of the aid workers taking humanitarian aid to Gaza. They are spouting their usual condemnation of the Palestinians and completely ignoring the fact that the ships were crewed mainly by Turkish workers. The official line seems to be that fully armed Israeli soldiers in battledress, body armour and steel helmets peacefully landed on these ships full of terrorists armed with clubs and knives and that the terrorists decided it would be a good idea to take them on. Americans always have a very good grasp of bullshit but if they think anyone is going to really believe that then they have lost it completely. They want to continue to support a country which sends death squads into any country it wishes using forged (U.K.) passports killing anyone they take a dislike to. Israel are war criminals, pirates, kidnappers and murderers and the U.S.A. finances the whole thing.
Are you watching Mr. Cameron and your fag Clegg. That's what you call a 'special relationship.

Israel. A Rogue State with Nuclear Weapons.

I'm drawn back to the blog because I've spent the day listening to apologists for the Israeli terrorist state and their continuing holocaust against the Palestinian people. These holocaust deniers seem to believe that they can commit acts of piracy in international waters by boarding peaceful ships with troops of armed-to-the-teeth commandos and killing any who resist or object whether armed or not. They are a disgrace to the international community and the single biggest threat to World peace. Their whole existence is founded on the belief that the Old Testament is a valid title deed and their Government, born out of terrorism, seems determined to starve to death a whole Palestinian nation. If the U.K. and the U.S.A. continue to support this fascist regime in its ethnic cleansing project then they stand to be equally condemned. 'Everybody hates us and we don't care', is a fine slogan for a band of thuggish football supporters, but thuggish countries present a different kind of danger. The fact that the thugs who govern Israel control nuclear weapons presents a clear and present danger to every bordering state, so Israel should become the pariah of the World and be excluded from every international event from the Olympics to the Eurovision Song Contest. My personal boycott of Israeli goods should become U.K. policy, travel restrictions should be placed on all of their Government representatives including trade delegations, and indictments and arrest warrants for those responsible for the latest and earlier atrocities should be issued by the International Court. Embassies should be closed down and all Diplomatic privileges withdrawn immediately from Israeli representatives in other countries and none of these measures should be reversed until Israel has given up its nuclear weaponry and made genuine progress toward a peaceful settlement with its neighbours.

British Airways Strike

British Airways are bullies. They always have been. They tried to bully Virgin in their dirty tricks campaign, they try to bully all of the other airlines with their virtual monopoly of useful landing slots at Heathrow, and they have bullied most of their staff into accepting a reduction in their terms and conditions.

The terms and conditions enjoyed by their cabin crew are a result of having a strong union in Unison, they are not a negative thing, they are to be aspired to by others who have weak unions.
British Airways under the 'leadership ?' of the arch-bully Slick Willie Walsh, who has lots of form in that department, are now trying to bully the cabin crew by threats and intimidation.

If they manage to break the union it will help them to sell off British Airways at a better price and maximise value for their shareholders at the expense of the workers. Under new foreign ownership every member of BA staff will suffer job cuts, a race to the bottom on wages, and new terms and conditions which are substantially lower than they currently enjoy.

The other sticking point in the foreign sale of BA is the pension fund deficit. This is money owed to workers past and present by the owners (shareholders) of BA, and if they can, they will try to walk away from that debt. They will sell off the profitable part of the company abroad and let the rump that remains go under to try to bully the government into taking on the massive pension debt.
This mustn't be allowed to happen. They can't be allowed to give away the silver and leave the debts to the taxpayer, but I suspect that is the plan.

This strike must be won, for all of our sakes, and the unions are trying to save their jobs, not close their company. They have offered concessions and cuts, but nothing less than a completely cowed workforce will suit Slick Willie's plans for a high income, lowest cost base company saleable to the highest bidder so the fat cats can walk away with their pockets stuffed.

New Scotland Sponsor

I'm informed (reliably?) that by the time Scotland play the Czech Republic in March their new sponsors will be Adidas. It's a real shame we can't still have Umbro. They did our uniforms way back when I was a Boy Scout. But I suppose that's the growth of the superbrands. Do you think it will make them play any better?

Renfrewshire Crime Statistics.

Renfrewshire police reported in the Paisley Daily Express yesterday a significant drop in crime in the area. Unfortunately while we were reading it some enterprising thief at the Sheriff Court went into her chambers and stole the sheriff's handbag. How could you jail someone like that, you'd surely have to make them a Cabinet Minister at least.

British Aerospace (BAe) and the Serious Fraud Office

The directors of British Aerospace must be shaking in their boots at the news that the Serious Farce Office is to report them to the Director of Public Prosecutions for alleged bribery.

This will possibly end in another dirty little deal and these death merchants will go on just as they always have, peddling arms around the globe by fair means or foul. More likely, however, is that their lawyers will point out to them

1. that the Serious Fraud Office couldn't catch a cold in an igloo even with their power to suspend the right of silence
   
2. even if they do get it to court, the case will collapse because the crown prosecution service are useless at handling complex cases where the nature of capitalism itself is involved
   
3. even if someone is convicted, the rich look after their own and they'll do little or no jail time. We only have to look at the case of Ernest Saunders to see that. He is still the only person to make a complete recovery fromAlzheimer's disease

Doesn't it make you proud to be British?

The Big Clunking Fist and the Super Soaraway Sun

The big news of the day (yawn) is that the super soaraway Sun (so called presumably because all it's fit for is making paper aeroplanes) has decided to withdraw its support from Big Gordy Brown and give it instead to Big Dave (Pilsbury Dough Boy) Cameron. There's a real surprise.

Except, of course, in the Scottish editions for some unknown reason. Perhaps they don't want to lead with the headline in Scotland after the election, 'It Was The Sun Wot Lost It.', because there is as much chance of the Tories doing anything North of the border as there is of us forgetting the Evil Witch Thatcher.

Still, it's good to see that the tabloids are taking a lead from the electorate. This is as shabby an exercise in cynical hypocrisy as it has been my privilege to encounter in a long while. I always thought that the Sun and New Labour were well matched when it came to bullshit, but we now have an outright winner. Well done Murdoch.

I'm a Luvvie, Get Me Out of Here

More info coming out on Roman 'Paedo' Polanski. His lawyers in Switzerland are trying to get him bail. His new defence, 'It was a long time ago'. Well, it was only a long time ago because he has a history of fleeing to avoid arrest and sentence. Reports on the BBC claim that the US has been trying to get him arrested for some time and he was always tipped-off (by whom?) and changed his travel plans.

It doesn't seem like a good plan to bail him, but as I said before, money talks, and the dialogue has started

The New Labour Project

Has the New Labour Party really learned to love Peter Mandelson or is there a lot of desperation in the standing ovation from the conference? I hope it's just a case of the rats leaving the sinking ship and not the birth of a new found affection for the Prince of Darkness. If it is then it means that the New Labour project is finally complete and we are now a country without even the least semblance of a centre left party. We will be left with the Tories, the New Tories and the Tartan Tories. But what about the Liberal Democrats? Who cares?

Roman Polasnski

In all of the hype over the enforcement of the American arrest warrant on Roman Polanski his media and show biz friends seem to have forgotten to mention at any length that the man is a self confessed paedophile. His excuse that the 13 year old girl he abused was already sexually experienced, far from justifying his crime only makes him the latest in what seems to be a chain of similar abusers. His complaint that he had done a deal with the prosecution and settled for money with the victim so he was justified in fleeing to avoid sentence only makes matters worse. If the judge refused to accept the deal then I have a lot of respect for him, and for the Swiss for eventually doing the right thing.

She was 13, and 'She was up for it' shouldn't be a defence in a civilised society. This pervert should have been jailed then and he should be jailed now, but money talks so I'm not sure he will be, and that would be a disgrace.

Kenny McKaskill, al Megrahi and Lockerbie

My views on the SNP are fairly well known, and in Renfrewshire these crypto-facists under Iron Man McKaskill and his protege Beau Derek Mackay have given us, in addition to the police and the special constables, litter wardens, dog shit wardens, taxi rank wardens, traffic wardens, taxi drop off wardens, smoking wardens, street wardens, anti social tenant teams, licenced doormen, street CCTV and a host of other forms of social control, all ostensibly to keep us safe, presumably from each other. All of these strutting uniformed little Hitlers make me despair and what I really want is someone to keep me safe from the increasing tendency of the SNP to impose good behaviour by force instead of education.

You will understand therefore how reluctant I am to give any credit to the Iron Man for anything just in case it encourages him to stay in his post any longer than necessary, but in the matter of the release of al Megrahi I think he has done a good thing.

Leaving aside the question of al Megrahi's guilt or innocence, to release a dying man to see his family on compassionate grounds, to reasonable people, seems to be a no-brainer. The brutality of the Lockerbie bombing isn't a factor. He was released because we are compassionate, not because he was, and I believe that this is important.

My Muslim friends tell me that the Koran is a book of compassion not violence and I have no reason (not having read their holy book) to disbelieve them. The extremist (and I speak only of the extremists) followers of Saudi Wahabi Islam, educated in hate throughout the Muslim world in the Saudi sponsored Madrasahs promote world wide terror and violence. If we can make it clear that their beliefs are a corruption of true Islam and that we can be more compassionate, in the spirit of the Koran, than the hate filled butchers who advocate amputation and stoning for what are social crimes such as adultery and fornication, then we weaken the grip of the Wahabi on the minds of young Muslims and perhaps we can help the more moderate Mullahs to counter the deep divisions which the Saudis promote.

Obama the First has caved in to the right wing Christian fundamentalists in his own country. He knows that the Saudis are the real sponsors of terror, but I don't see him or any of his countrymen calling for a boycott of Saudi oil. The Saudis have much more oil than the Scots, so they boycott Whisky and Harris Tweed. What a bunch of hypocritical cowards.

So although it pains me greatly, credit where it is due, well done McKaskill

First Things First

Red Mist is much less anonymous than he used to be so I'll remind everyone of the basics of the blog.

No comment will ever be censored unless it is positively sick or something I wouldn't like my grown up kids to be reading.

My political sentiments are fairly well known but the views expressed in Red Mist are entirely my own and not those of any political party. I have no mandate express or implied to air the opinions or policies of others and wouldn't claim to do so.

Red Mist will only answer for his views on the Red Mist blog itself and not in any other place, unless I want to.

Having cleared all that up let's get on with it

I'm Back Again, Again

Did you miss me at all? I've been away dabbling on Facebook, but everybody's just too nice and I need a place to shout so I'm going to try to keep the blog up to date again with my twisted rage on a more regular basis. I'll still dabble in Facebook, even I need to be nice sometimes, but not often.

Binyam Mohamed and Princess Diana

So Binyam Mohamed has been released from the concentration camp at Guantanamo without charge or trial having lost 7 years of his life. Well done the good old US of A.

Mohamed is alleging that he was tortured at the request of the Americans with the complicity of British intelligence, all denied of course. So the question must arise, if you have a handwritten confession, before the witnesses who saw you write it -- for corroboration--, why aren’t you standing in a dock facing a charge? The answer is, of course, that the confession was tortured out of you and it’s just stupid for the US and British governments to deny it. We are asked to accept identity cards on the basis that if we have nothing to hide we have nothing to fear, so why won’t the papers in the case be released. If it’s good enough for us it’s surely good enough for them. So never mind the judicial enquiry. The judges work for the English Establishment (which includes far too many Scots for my liking). Just admit what has been done to this man, sack the bastards who procured it, and worse, the bastards who turned a blind eye to it in the hope that their hands would be thought to be clean. These are the people who are the real threat to democratic rule in this country.

But there’s a problem there also. The English Establishment are a very powerful force in our semi-democracy (only half of our legislative chambers have electoral legitimacy). There is a preponderance of ex-military types in the Establishment who eke out their pensions by consultancies to arms manufacturers or who sit in the Lords, or on the boards of major companies (or all three), and the intelligence services are their enforcement wing and international sales force. So anyone who dares to try to shine a light on the intelligence services and the fact that they account to nobody is a threat to the fabric of privilege and has to be nullified. Any one who tries to blow the whistle suddenly finds that they have either a sudden urge to take their own life (e.g. Dr. David Kelly) or has a tragic accident (e. g. Princess Diana). All of the theories about marrying a Muslim and disgracing the royal family are complete bullshit, but she didn’t last long when she took on the English Establishment in the form of the arms manufacturers in her campaign against the bread and butter of British barbarism, the anti-personnel land mine, which they were selling to anyone with money, irrespective of reputation.

So, please stop treating us as if we were fucking fools. We know that in the Wilson years, (and still today) when such things were nearly possible, if the lurch to the left were to have been realised these people would have prevailed upon the Crown (which heads up the forces of the English Establishment, and is completely ruthless) to declare a constitutional crisis and move to martial law without a single moment of hesitation. They have admitted they were spying on the elected representatives of the people and were ready for action. They still are, because their privilege is at stake.

So no doubt we can ready ourselves to read shortly about how Binyam Mohamed is suffering from severe depression as a result of his imprisonment and is having treatment for suicidal feelings, either that or he has been given a lift home by a drunk. That’s how they operate.

Salmond's Blatant Cowardice on Council Tax

Statement by the Scottish Socialist Party is reproduced below. More mutual back scratching between the main Parties and their robber baron friends. When will working people say, 'Enough's enough' and get rid of the lot of them in favour of a completely new approach to economic, social and political organisation? This is a complete betrayal of their manifesto promise, and for what? So they can go on arse-licking with Soutar, Trump etc.

The Scottish Socialist Party today accused the SNP government of a cowardly manifesto u-turn, abandoning pensioners and low paid workers in favour of the rich and business interests who bankroll their party after Finance Secretary John Swinney told MSPs that legislation to introduce a local income tax would not be introduced in the current parliament.

This is not the first time the SNP has abandoned opposition to the Council tax and watched hundreds of thousands of pensioners and low paid workers who stood to benefit most from abolition of the Council tax lose out.

SSP national co-spokesperson Colin Fox said today;

“The SNP’ cowardly manifesto u-turn means that the super rich businessmen like Brian Souter who bankroll the SNP with their bonuses will continue to benefit while pensioners, low paid workers and millions of those worst affected by the current economic recession, like the thousands of sacked Woolworths workers who would have at least enjoyed some financial relief with the reduction in their Council tax bills, will continue to be hammered by this unfair Tory tax”

“The SNP has again failed to capitalise on the majority support across Scotland for abolishing the Council tax. They have now given up the idea without a fight or even a vote in Parliament.”

“How different their approach to that of the Scottish Socialist Party on this issue.”

“The SSP, with just 6 MSP's, were able to make far greater headway. Our Bill to abolish the Council tax, a bill which incidentally the SNP voted down [on Feb 1st 2006] attracted considerable support across civic Scotland.”

“The SNP's subsequent local income tax plan with its regressive 3p across the board charge attracted much less enthusiasm. Our local income tax replacement by contrast was graduated to ensure the better off paid more as their income went up and the poorer were exempt.”

Treasury Select Committee and the Robber Barons

I think one of the most telling things to come out of the Treasury Select Committee hearings is the fact that not one of the 4 heads of HBOS or RBS had any sort of banking credentials or qualifications. This was the 'Old Boy Network' exposed for what it really is; a completely self-serving systematic robbing of both staff and ordinary shareholders by a greedy elite. One of the sacked heads is being retained by his former employer at £60k a month as a consultant. It runs across the whole of the sector, sitting on each others boards as non-executive directors playing you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours in each others remuneration committees while forcing down wages for junior counter staff in the name of cost cutting and efficiency, and getting more bonuses for the savings they make. Well, they have shown us efficiency in action and they shouldn't only be apologising to the Commons, to their staff, or to their shareholders. They should be apologising to the whole country which they have forced to the point of bankruptcy with their greed, and especially to the minimum wage workers who will lose their jobs in every sector of the economy, not just the financial sector, because of their greed. They should be barred from holding directorships, because the morally bankrupt are much more despicable than the economically bankrupt. It's sick.

Financial Crisis Notice of Meeting

YOU ARE PAYING!
WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE?
THE FINANCIAL CRISIS
—your questions answered.
THIS GREED WAS BEYOND IRRESPONSIBLE!
Kirkintilloch Leisure Centre Conference Room
Saturday 7th February, 10.30am– 12.30pm
Facilitated by the SSP co-convenor,
Frances Curran
Speakers—Raphie de Santos— was head of Equity Derivatives Research and Strategy at Goldman Sachs International. He was an advisor on derivatives and financial markets to the Bank of England, London Stock Exchange, London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange and the Italian Ministry of Finance. Raphie has been a guest lecturer on derivatives and financial markets at Harvard and New York universities and the London School of Economics and has spoken at the annual Nobel Foundation conference in Stockholm.
Bill Newman spent most of his working life in banking, latterly as head of economics and then as Assistant General Manager of a City of London bank. For some 15 years he was also editor of and wrote for a journal on international monetary economics.
Bill was also on the Executive Committee and the Management Committee of the Banking, Insurance and Finance Union (BIFU) and a delegate to the TUC.

THE CAMPSIE BRANCH SSP invite your participation in this important discussion. How will this crisis effect YOU?

About the Scottish Socialist Party
While it fights to defend jobs, working conditions and living standards and for houses and health the SSP also demands a new economy.
Such an economy would start the task of harnessing the stupendous technological and material resources which already exist to meet the needs of society rather than the greed of the few.

Link to Campsie Branch of the SSP in the sidebar

Alistair Darling (of the City)'s Second Bank Bail Out

It's like deja vu and so very predictable. Having concealed the true extent of their gambling losses in the hope that there would be a resurgence in confidence the major banks have now, with results due to be published and the previously incompetent regulator taking a close interest, been forced to admit the real depth of the shit they are in and come to government (me and you) for more money.

This looks more and more like more than just incompetence and it is really time that the Serious Fraud (Farce) Office took a much greater interest, but that would damage confidence and confidence tricksters like New Labour and their big business cronies depend on confidence.

Capitalism is crumbling due largely to its own values of greed and inequality.

I've posted a link to The Red Banker in the Sidebar for a socialist analysis.

Douglas (Duggie) Alexander's Annual Survey

I got a leaflet through my door yesterday from Douglas (the chosen one and future anointed) Alexander asking me to complete an 'Annual Survey' of my worries.

As part of the questioning he asks, 'How satisfied are you with my work as your local MP.'

He offers a range of responses from 1 to 5 where '1=very satisfied' and '5=very satisfied'.

He's either as smug as he looks or he still hasn't mastered the basics of a voting system so Ive dropped him a wee email to help him out.

I'm Back Again

I've been too busy lately but I'm back, so a quick review and then I'll move on.

SNP have introduced free school meals (nearly).

SNP have ended privatisation of hospital ancillary services (except for the ones they have already privatised).

Ian Bliar has gone (but he shit in the sink before he left by allowing searching of the Commons without a warrant).

The de Menezez affair rumbles on (I think there is more to come out come the damages trial).

The banks I bought took all the money I gave them to lend to keep the economy afloat and said, 'Fuck you, we're keeping it.'

The VAT cut isn't being passed on to consumers (surprise, surprise).

Employers are using the excuse of the 'credit crunch' to cut staff and reduce working conditions it took years to achieve for working people.

And finally, for the moment, the Government are seriously considering giving an enormous cash bail-out to the UK car industry now that it is all foreign owned. I have to ask why that couldn't have been done when they were awash with monopoly money and it might have allowed the UK car industry to survive without all of its income going abroad? Why wasn't it important to save jobs then?

Big Dave Cameron and Consensus Politics

I just saw Big Dave Cameron on the telly saying that there is no alternative to Big Gordy's master plan. As I suspected neither he nor the Prime Minister seem to have heard of socialism, even although they seem to be in favour of nationalising banks hand over fist.

Capitalism was failing the people of this country for years before the Iron Woman (she's no lady) finally took away all semblance of restraint. It has finally failed completely. The more freedom the market has to steal the more it will steal from the people of the country. Senior executives will get no bonuses this year, but they will be allowed to retain the bonuses the received while they were seriously failing to do their jobs properly. No doubt bonuses were based on results, but we should go back now that we know better what the result of their greed really is.

Shame.

Resignations and Sackings in the UK Banks

Since my post earlier today it appears that heads are starting to roll in the major banks that I bought yesterday. Not before time.

Jean Charles de Menezez

As the inquest into the death of this poor young man continues another Senior Policeman is found to have tinkered with the truth.
The Met. is rotten to the core and the new man, whoever it might be, is going to have his work cut out coping with the vested interests and the culture of casual lying which pervades the police service. It appears that they will never tell the truth when a lie will do.

One of the unproven allegations about Bliar was that he had interfered in the allocation of a Public Relations contract for the Met. My question is why they try to change the public perception of the force instead of trying to change the attitudes and practices which gave them such a poor public profile. If they were what they are supposed to be then the need for a multi-million PR contract would be eliminated. Why are they wasting public money trying to give the public the impression that what they see with their own eyes should not be believed, but instead we should believe the hype that a PR firm produces? Public bodies should not be allowed to indulge themselves in self-serving, expensive media exercises for the sole purpose of misleading the public when the public have eyes and ears of their own and are quite capable of examining what they see and hear and making sound judgements. Unless they think that the public are too stupid..Heaven forbid.

Sir Ian Bliar and the Metropolitan Police

Goodbye Sir Ian, and good riddance.

Credit Crunch, Gordon Brown and My Money

The whole financial system has been changing faster than I can post, but just to update myself, it appears I have bought a number of dud banks which were being run by a squad of disreputable self-seeking gamblers who lost all the country's money. The solution to the problem is obvious, let's give them more money?? As far as I can see only one banking head has had the decency to resign so we should be pressing for the dismissal of the other culprits. Big Gordy, the big clunking fist, is being re-cast as the saviour of the known universe (he has a plan!).

So let's ask the uncomfortable questions.

Who is going to be sacked for their obvious negligence?

Why was there no money to eliminate fuel poverty, because pensioners will die this winter again?

What will be sacrificed to provide the money Big Gordy is going to use to feather bed the rich and greedy who chased the fast buck all over the known world (and Iceland)?

What's to stop the same greedy bastards doing the exact same thing again now that they know that they are so big governments can't let them be losers in the world casino?

How is the taxpayers money going to be ring fenced so that every greedy bastard who has lost money and has a passing acquaintance with an equally greedy lawyer wont be jumping up and down with a writ claiming negligence on the part of some other greedy bastard now that they know the banks have some money?

Financial Institutions and Toothless Regulators

It looks as if they might just about stopped the financial world from unravelling but recent events make my previous comments (12th September) look strangely prophetic. The banks with the most money are gobbling up the lesser banks and we all know the consequences of that for the workers in the financial services industry. The corridors of the Parliament (both in Westminster and Edinburgh) are awash with crocodile tears as the Capitalist system creaks under the strain of unfettered greed. Apparently 'Greed is good' doesn't apply any more.

Meanwhile the regulator issues a toothless ban on short selling of the shares of banks and insurance until the end of the year. The whole system of share trading has turned into a giant casino where no-one really knows the rules, because there are no effective rules. Big Gordy and Smirky Salmond might try to scapegoat the short sellers, but they were acting completely within the law, and it is Governments which still make the law. The fact that there are too many financial institutions in the USA and the UK which have grown so large that if they are allowed to go down they take the country with them is a national disgrace. It means that they can indulge in massively risky behaviours in the knowledge that the taxpayer will cover the losses should they fail.

The real answer is to break them up, and sooner rather than later and preferably put them into public ownership so that the workers who generate the profits share in the success of the enterprise, rather than the present situation where the greed generates massive losses, the workers lose their jobs, the bosses walk away with all the remaining assets, and the taxpayer bears the loss.

This crisis was avoidable, and had the regulators real powers to stop abuse then the people would have been better protected.

Coming Soon ... A New Prime Minister

It looks like the end for Big Gordy, the big clunking fist. The self destruction of New Labour continues apace. Scotland Office Minister David Cairns has put another nail in the coffin of the New Labour project. When ministers of his status (as opposed to his ability) start to resign then it is time to go. Rats and sinking ships spring to mind. Still, I don't suppose he will be on the breadline. Labours big business pals will rally round and get him an earner as usual.

But we still don't know who is orchestrating the coup.

We should remember that he who wields the knife never wears the crown ! Come on, show yourself.

Paddy's Market

The proposed plans by Glasgow City Council to re-develop the site of Paddy's Market should be a source of some sadness for the people of Glasgow, even if it has become a run-down area. I presume it is going to become another gentrified city centre development for the middle classes to occupy while they consider where they really want to live when city centre lifestyle becomes too fraught (when they have kids).

Paddy's market has a long history. It was where the immigrant Irish of the East end of Glasgow went to buy second hand clothes for themselves and their children after they had been evicted from their lands and suffered from the potato famine. They were welcomed in Glasgow but found the same sort of poverty for working people there as they had left. Paddy's market was a necessary evil. The real sadness is that it still exists today for nearly the same purpose. Among the rip-off DVDs and CDs there are still stalls selling second hand clothes for the really poor. On a recent visit my son remarked that it was terrible that people had to sell this kind of stuff to live, but it is worse that people have to buy this kind of stuff to live.

Re-develop Paddy's Market by all means, but re-develop it as a memorial to the plight of working people. It is a piece of working class history, you might even call it an International Working Class Heritage Site, but there was never a member of the aristocracy living there so it won't count, will it?

The Heilan-man's umbrella (under the bridge at Central Station, for my foriegn readers) also served as a dossing down place for Highlanders dispossed in the Highland clearances, hence the name, and it is still in use by the homeless whenever Strathclyde's finest don't move them along.

Just more working class heritage messing up the post-modern image that Glasgow tries to promote by completely invented heritage like the 'Merchant City'. Real heritage is far too 'gritty' for them.

Douglas Alexander and Hugh Henry (Shuggie and Duggie)

Following the fall from grace of Wendy (second trumpet in the Alexanders' rag time band) Alexander (for it is she), it seems as if Hugh (the hammer) Henry and Douglas (the golden one and future anointed) Alexander are getting some training in for new careers, presumably in anticipation of the result of the next Westminster elections. Shuggie and Duggie have little to commend them to the voters next time round. Shuggie has been virtually invisible, no doubt not wishing to associate himself with the rest of the duds in his party. Duggie, on the other hand seems to have his own personal photographer who follows him around while he is grinning and gripping the hand of anyone who still feels that they want to be seen with the man who reduced our electoral system to Zimbabwean levels. One sycophantic Labour placeman described duggie to me as 'one in a million' and my immediate thought was 'Christ, how unlucky can you get?' Still, at least he and his cronies are on the way out.

I think the bin bag might be filled with pictures of Big Gordy, the big clunking fist.

New Leader for Scottish Labour

Andy Kerr, another po-faced humourless clone, long on talk but short on talent. I'm very much afraid Smirky will eat this guy alive. Remember when Scottish Labour had some socialists in it ? Better days and better people.

Gordon Brown and the Pensioners (but only some)

He's not helping himself, is he? Big Gordy has fumbled the football again for the sake of childish spin. He was always going to get caught so why does he keep on doing it. He makes an announcement and the next day we find out that it was just half of an announcement intended to mislead us into thinking that the disaster was being addressed when in fact it was just a papering over of the cracks.

He's no different from Bliar

Gordon Brown, the end is nigh !

You know that when you have lost control and discipline in your party then the end of your leadership is in sight. You also know that when junior ministers call for a leadership election to 'clear the air' you have lost control and discipline in your party. Siobhain McDonagh is only saying what the rest are thinking, but the real question is 'Who Convinced her to fall on her sword and what was she promised in return?'.

New Labour is not so much in meltdown as in self-destruct mode. How long can this lame duck Prime Minister soldier on?

My own opinion is that he will take the country into the next election, whenever that may be, and take the battering that Labour will get, so that the replacement dud will not commence the job with the stench of a massive defeat all over him. His Presyterian upbringing would ask that of him, but we'll see, soon.

Racism and the Metropolitan Police Continued

Christ Almighty, Sir Ian, you must have a skin like a rhinoceros. You just keep on trying and failing in everything you do. This is your second try at this guy . For god's sake go and let someone come in who can clean up the mess that is the Met.

Legal Fees and Greedy Solicitors

The legal profession are at it again. Fees for solicitors in litigation with the NHS can be as much as £600 an hour. That money is being directly sucked out of patient care and represents one of the worst and least principled attacks on the Health Service I have ever heard of (and I lived through the reign of the evil witch of Grantham).

We simply have to move from a culture of litigation to a system of 'no blame' compensation for medical accidents. Doctors (no shrinking violets themselves when it comes to bleeding the NHS) could then possibly learn from the errors of others who would no longer have an interest in denial or cover up. Patients and relatives desperate for answers could be dealt with honestly and openly, and the greedy sods would just have to go and rob someone less vulnerable.

Nationalisation of Financial Institutions

Now that the UK has effectively nationalised Northern Rock (almost the first birthday of the nationalisation) and the USA has effectively nationalised both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, we can only applaud this new spirit of public ownership. It's just a pity that the taxpayer always seems to get lumbered with the losers rather than the shareholders who were paid large dividends rather than creating reserves to see their companies through financial crises. It's also a pity that the same spirit of providing a safety net for investors couldn't have been brought to bear on the problems of Farepak, but then their investors weren't already the rich so they don't count for much to Big Gordy.

Just a further comment on the global financial meltdown. Money doesn't just disappear, so if everyone is going to get poorer, who is going to get richer? Capitalists are fighting like ferrets in a sack each trying to save his own arse at the expense of the rest and, as usual, the poorest will pay the price and the rich will get richer. Banks are queueing up to buy each other at bargain basement prices and it's about time the national and international regulators stepped in and sorted out this fucking mess they have allowed to be created by pure greed.

Racism in the Metropolitan Police

Once again we have allegations of racism in the Met. but this time the allegations come from a senior officer in respect of himself. The reaction of the Met is as usual, try to gag the victim, suspend him from employment and give time for the cover up to swing into place. My views on the Met are well known and uncomplimentary. The nominal leader (inasmuch as the Police Federation allow him to call himself 'Chief') should really stand down. He is only making a bigger fool of himself every time he opens his mouth. He increases the shame of the name 'Bliar' and that's not easy.

Legal Fees and Greedy Barristers

I see that the greedy bastar, whoops spell check error, barristers are up to their usual tricks again. £91 an hour is being described as derisory. Well I must admit it certainly makes me deride them. I've posted about these greedy people before and have yet to see reason to change my opinion. They should grant rights of audience in the High Courts to ordinary solicitors as well as solicitor advocates and make the pompous elite compete for wages like the rest of us.

Gordon Brown and Fuel Poverty

I must admit that, despite my severe misgivings, when Gordon (the big clunking fist) Brown followed Bliar I thought that there might be a slightly increased opportunity for some sort of anti-poverty measures. Today's announcement on measures to relieve fuel poverty show that he is as big a coward in the face of big business as ever Bliar was. Brown/Bliar, it's like a choice between the pox and the clap. Both are awful but one is worse.

Pensioners will die of booty capitalism this winter because power generation and distribution is in private hands and a toothless regulator can do nothing to control price increases. Shame!

Free Public Transport

On Thursday 19th the SSP launched its week of action on free public transport by leafleting and posting around stations and other transport hubs.

I've put a link to the site in 'Some other views from the left' in the sidebar.

Public reaction was very positive, as you might expect from people who are about to have to buy a ticket for an inferior service at an extortionate price to feed the fat cats who operate and mis-manage public transport for their own and their shareholders benefit.

Perhaps more surprising was the number of people who took the opportunity to express their support for our other policies on abolition of the council tax and its replacement by a fair system of taxation, on ending our involvement in American wars, on council housing, and on independence in a socialist Scotland.

It seems that it has taken a global financial meltdown to get across the message that capitalism is destroying itself through its own greed and to make people seriously consider an alternative 'not for profit' system which puts people before profit.