"OH YOU CAN'T SCARE ME, I'M STICKING TO THE UNION" 'THE UNION MAID' (WOODY GUTHRIE)

"Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you
Ye are many - they are few"
These lines are from Shelley’s “The Mask of Anarchy” written as a condemnation of Govt. and it’s actions at the “Peterloo Fields Massacre” where demonstrators were attacked by mounted officers who cut them down with sabres; very topical right? The great radical poet wrote this epic poem which has gone on to inspire millions, including me, my favourite line is “ye are many they are few” that always puts me back on my feet. The heading is from American Woodie Githrie some 150 years later.

Sometimes when things are going bad and politics seems to be dealing me and other socialists a losing hand I read some of these poignant words produced by Shelley and others it helps and serves to remind me why I am involved. Sometimes I draw inspiration from other sources, more modern and more close to home.

All these years after the evil time of Thatcherism and her tyrannical treatment of the unions we see that we trade unionists are still standing; the hand that reaches out to help our brothers and sisters for no self gain is still there; still strong; still brave & willing. Two weeks ago union workers went on strike at the Lindsey Oil Refinery in Lincolnshire when 51 workers were made redundant while 61 workers were simultaneously hired at poorer rates and conditions. Hundreds “hit the cobbles” as we used to say resulting in 647 being sacked; the 51 made redundant; publicly and in a blaze (pardon the pun) of publicity burned their redundancy notices, we watched in wonder on TV, what was going on?

Management demanded that they had to reapply for their jobs; result? The number of strikers grew; result? Management's bottle crashed, the strikers won for the second time, these were the same strikers who won the battle against management in February when they brought in foreign workers with less skills and paid them less. Ever eager to undermine the unions the right wing press tried to label this as an anti foreigner action which it was not; these actions were taken to fight exploitation of every and any worker on these sites that’s why hundreds of Polish trade unionists joined the walk outs.

I am often accused by SNP goons of hating Scotland and never saying anything good about the place; C**p of course for too many reasons to quote but; here is a statement which is unequivocal. I am proud of the workers at Grangemouth Oil Refinery in Scotland and not for the first time, here again they came to stand beside their brothers and sisters from England, Poland and other places who had gone on strike, all Scotland should be proud of them. These are the same Grangemouth union members who went on strike last year; not for more money; not for a shorter week; not for more holidays; what’s left to strike for? I hear you ask; well the next time you hear the unions being described as greedy bullies tell them this.

The strikers last week took action to protect the wages and conditions of all the workers at these plants no matter their origin and ; the Grangemouth workers took action last year because the bosses were going to draw a line under the wages and conditions enjoyed by the Grangemouth work force meaning that anyone employed in the future would be paid less and would not be entitled to the same conditions; these workers; going against every tenet of Capitalism and Thatcherism said no we will not allow that, this needs looking at closely. Their wages and conditions were safe; there was no impact on them, no effect , what happened to “I’m all right Jack”? the truth is that “I’m all right Jack” was never the union philosophy despite right wing press attempts to label them as such, the real union spirit shone through, they were prepared to fight for people whom they had never even met, future workers and fellow trade unionists, greedy? bullies? you decide; Scotland has every right to be proud of the Grangemouth union members and the UK has every right to be proud of all the British strikers who took part.

As an ex striker and enthusiastic picket I was interested in how and why they managed to score such a quick decisive victory and I have come to the conclusion that one of the reasons was the development in modern communication since my days on the picket line. Gaining sympathy and help from other workers took time and great effort, organising across the country was difficult when speed was required now we can all do this with great speed and great ease so I would like to say thank you to comrades: - Blackberry – Text Message – voicemail and the rest of the communications revolutionaries, we are still standing. Remember “striker” is not a dirty word it’s something to be proud of.

I’m off on Hols tomorrow on a big boat which I will try to blog from but; whatever; the smile is back on my face because of the Trade Union Movement.

THE 3 RING CIRCUS THAT IS RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL UNDER THE SNP.

9.30 am Thursday June 25 Th. 09.Renfrewshire Council goes in to session; people who wander in could be forgiven for thinking that they have stumbled on a casting session for extras in a follow up version of Pirates of the Caribbean but it turns out the SNP have enlisted their followers to attend to give them support .

Matted hair; missing teeth; dribbling mouths; filthy beards; scars; fierce stares and fiercer tattoos; growling monosyllabic grunts and the unmistakeable stench of last nights booze; and the men were no better. It looked set to be a promising meeting.

An air of sadness hung over the visitors from South Primary School who were there to show that they were still standing and still fighting; they have been remorseless in their commitment and SNP councillors and supporters were again unable to meet their gaze. A shameful display of buck passing followed while the SNP laid the blame at the door of the education officers, they are beyond redemption; a shoddy bunch of chancers; they grovelled and crawled while the parents stood tall. Everyone knew who won this fight but the SNP stole the prize, they even moved the children’s desks out while they were still in the school, this is what happens when you go up against the thugs of the SNP when they have a majority. This fight is still not over and the parents are exploring other avenues to save the school, good luck to them, I urge everyone to support them in any way they can.

This is not about money they said and then talked about nothing else throughout the meetings which followed, more closures will come, mark my words; this SNP mob have the deadly combination of arrogance and brutality which has characterised tyrants throughout history, they are Scotland’s shame, there is never a trace of pity or kindness to be found in any of them, they see themselves as true and pure and strong, proud of their lack of pity and their ruthlessness, who do they remind you of?

They also introduced a package of measures which will among other things see a new school at Erskine (Labour opened 10) and the closure of swimming pools at Elderslie and Johnstone, Elderslie! I ask you; is nothing sacred? the old blue faced cattle thief Wallace will be birling in his grave at the treachery of the present day Nats. the Victory Baths Renfrew approx. 65 years old are to be renovated: don’t ask me; I’m equally baffled why not ask Council Leader Derek Mackay. Hold on a minute he is the Renfrew Councillor! and wait another minute Johnstone/Elderslie elected an unprecedented 3 Labour Councillors! A stewards enquiry at the very least shoorley.

Another gem emerged from the urbane sophisticated Deputy Provost Cllr. Nicolson SNP ( think Alf Garnett/ Rab. C Nesbitt) he was taken to task by Tory Cllr. Langlands for sneaking good news stories to the press before the councillors from other parties had heard about them, thus gaining the advantage in plaudits for the SNP. His reply? “if yoos ur no fast yoos ur last” this is the man who wanted to send travellers whom he knew nothing about “back tae Ireland” he is deputy provost honest, check for yourselves. This the SNP Scotland’s Party they claim, god help us.

MISSING COMMENT

Someone sent me a comment which said something like "MP's dining at the Ritz" which I inadvertently deleted.

Resend and I will print it.

WOULD YOU AVOID TAX IF YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH IT? RHETORICAL FOR TWO REASONS- YES MEANS YOU ARE DISHONEST AND NO INVITES DERISION.

This blog has been busy with comments about MP’s expenses; mainly from SNP cretins who cant quite grasp the rather obvious; that is that their attempts to damage Labour (never the Tories) are rendered completely worthless when their own MP’s are also involved; in fact their own leader Salmond (the spiv) has been fingered for eating £800 worth of London expenses grub or claiming to have eaten it; when Parliament wasn’t even sitting; this rather negates their silly attempts to blame others and try to excuse themselves. They have however by their clumsy comments kept this going perhaps longer than its blogosphere shelf life which has allowed me to broaden the discussion to include the wider issue of what kind of society we actually live in. My conclusion is that we are worse than some and no better than many others.

Inequality and unfairness lead to envy and on to corruption and dishonesty; society rots from the top down. When the majority of people look up at the privileged and wealthy; many of whom gain such wealth and power by inheriting it or exploiting those who are less powerful they think to themselves; why should I accept that these people have a divine right to these things. I will grab what I can just as they have and I won’t be to concerned about how I do it, this is the template for the ‘devil take the hindmost’ capitalist society, this is why I’m in politics; to change that society to one where everyone is treated fairly and to get rid of corruption, yes I know I’m a saint.

To achieve this we must start at the top. It will come as no surprise to some that by ‘the top’ I refer of course to the world’s greatest and most successful parasites, the Ruritanian farce that is the ‘House of Windsor’ (much loved by Salmond the spiv) watching them at the changing of the guard the other day it was easy to imagine that “Christopher Robin and Alice” were watching with me. Standing there; some dribbling; it was a source of wonder that the balcony they were on was able to take the weight of all the toy swords, medals and baubles that they were adorned with, farce does not suffice. Can we honestly expect a clean society with this nonsense going on? The Sunday Observer columnist Gerald Warner calls her majesty a great bulwark for democracy and calls on her to dissolve Parliament while foaming about unelected politicians in cabinet, whit?

Not prepared to restrict himself to cutting ribbons and dressing up like a Gilbert & Sullivan extra; the seriously wandered Prince Charles abuses his position through his contact with a fellow royal from some desert kingdom to overturn the plans for a development at Chelsea Barracks, the desert king owns the land you see. The fact that the architectural design was the creation of a top architect did not stop him from interfering, he thinks he knows about architecture and he is a prince after all. Meanwhile we learn that the cost to you and me the tax payers of protecting Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice while abroad on their gap year was £500,000. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth often referred to as the world’s richest woman applies for and is awarded a grant to repair fencing at Balmoral, does the moat cleaning and duck house MP’s expenses still look as bad? Perhaps there are lots of people out there who don’t take pleas for honesty seriously, why should they when they look around them.

Start at ‘the top’ and then move down through the lords and Barons and the military upper classes and gut out the lot, then we can think about creating an honest society, start admitting the truth.

"HITTING OLD LADIES OVER THE HEAD WITH A HALF BRICK IS A CRIME, EVERYTHING ELSE IS JUST BUSINESS (ARTHUR DALY)

What should happen to people who are paid by the tax payer when they are caught fiddling expenses?

Unfortunately for the mob going after MP's; capital punishment is no longer an option; nor is corporal punishment but; there has to be some kind of retribution right? Well no actually, in our world corruption is a crime but all corruption is not to be punished, it depends on how much the miscreant gained, the principle it would appear has to be linked to the cost, how very capitalist; a bit like the girl who admitted to being "a wee bit pregnant" corrupt? yes M'lud but only a wee bit.

The hysterical reaction to the MP's expenses has been a major exercise in national hypocrisy by millions of people; led by the nose by a right wing Tory Newspaper who deliberately set out to destabilise the Labour Govt. People who seemed shocked to learn that we live in a society where corruption is endemic.


Who then should investigate the accused MP's is that a rather obvious question; surely it has to be the "Harry Margolis - the Polis - the Rozzers" unfortunately we have no alternative do we? can anyone else do this; we seem obviously stuck with this don't we. I bow to no man in my admiration for the overwhelming majority of honest; diligent British Police Officers, the overwhelming majority that is. That does not include those responsible for deliberate miscarriages of justice and criminal activity of their own, can we trust the Police? thankfully the answer to that is 'most of the time.


I don't want to rely on the police offices who sent people to prison for lengthy spells on trumped up charges and I am revolted that they were not brought to justice themselves. I don't want to depend on the officers who shot the unarmed innocent man in the railway station 8 times; or those who caused the death of the guy who happened to be walking past them in London during the recent G8 protests. likewise the uniformed unnumbered police thug; photographed beating a terrified helpless woman with a baton at the same event.


Sunday's news brought a story that you just couldn't make up; 300 of Scotland Yard's elite detective squad have been 'nicked' for suspected fraud, based just along from the House of Commons; as I said you couldn't make it up. The elite nature of their jobs gave them access to a special credit card which they have allegedly been 'bending like mad' a senior officer seems to have spent £40,000 in expenses in a year. This card scheme included officers who dealt with organised crime and bizarrely and ironically officers who investigated the "cash for honours" investigation, honestly.


Three piece suits were bought by officers working abroad in temperatures of 45c in the shade; also fishing rods? presumably to catch crooks! large withdrawals at cash points, blank receipts from restaurants filled in by themselves, women's clothing was also bought but; no mention of the gender of the purchaser; perhaps that would be a scandal too far.


Perhaps now those who are behaving like volcanoes over MP's claims will start to get things into perspective; I certainly don't condone fraud or people stealing from the public purse but when something like this blows up it reminds me of the kind of society we live in. These are the guardians of the law we are talking about here. Condemn them? yes; punish them? yes; but please don't try to tell me you are surprised by them. Our society is obliged every now and then to look in the mirror and it is not usually a pretty sight.

"let he who is without sin cast the first stone"

WHEN DOES HAVING £40,00 NOT BENEFIT YOU? WHEN YOU ARE ALEX (THE SPIV) SALMOND THAT'S WHEN - THE SPIV'S EXPENSES (PART 4)

6 days and 60 Nat. comments later and I still haven’t heard from a single SNP person of any kind who is prepared to discuss Salmond (the spiv) and his food expenses. Just as a reminder, he claimed full food expenses for the 2 months in London when Parliament was in recess, for this claim to be honest my understanding is that he would have had to be in London on 40 days during those two months on political business while Parliament was not in session, what do you believe? Even the large numbers of anonymous SNP fearties are not prepared to go there but; never fear; I will continue to seek the truth if only for the sake of bonnie Scotland’s reputation which is being traduced by these tartan blackguards. Not only are they not prepared to question him; they are not even prepared to defend him against my accusations; they have made him into a non person they have made him disappear like Scotch mist.

This refusal to engage on the issue of course allows me to run with it further and; to that end we can consider the following. Tory Leader Annabelle Goldie to First Minister Alex (the spiv) Salmond; I paraphrase, “to avoid rumour and speculation about his expenses for the period during the Parliamentary recess will the First Minister publish his diary for that period” The First Minister responds thus (remember he claims his expenses are rock solid) and again I paraphrase “ it is outrageous that David Cameron leader of the Tory Party accuses me of benefitting from two salaries when he knows ‘fine well’ that I donate one of them £40,000 to a local charitable trust, I demand an apology” you might well ask what that irrelevant crock of bulldung had to do with his food expenses for the period mentioned and the answer of course is nothing at all, it was a blustering deception; a red herring, isn’t it strange how the media miss such things.

Anyway since Alex (the spiv) chose to wrap this particularly devious protective cloak around him it’s only fair that we examine it. Salmond comes under pressure for having 2 salaries; much as he would like to keep them he realizes that the situation is unsustainable and like Baldrick he comes up with a cunning plan. He could have given the salary back to the exchequer and the tax payer but there is no gain in that for (the spiv) his character is such that he has to get an angle somehow so; he resolves to donate the money to a charitable trust; the rest is blindingly obvious. All you need is the brassiest of brass necks to carry it through and (the spiv) never goes anywhere without his tin of Brasso does he?

Alex (the spiv) wrestles with his conscience (OK I know but just bare with me) and asks himself; where should that charitable trust be? Why in my own constituency of course, what should I call it? well; I’ll give it a name with Salmond in it; just in case anyone misses the point that it’s me who is providing the money right.

If you are a politician who donates £40,000 a year to a charitable trust with your name on it in your own constituency do you benefit from that?

Anyone in politics who suggests that he or she does not benefit from such an arrangement displays breathtaking egotism and arrogance, he once again assumes his party will swallow it and again he is right; he treats them with contempt. He can only continue to behave in this way as long as there is no-one in the SNP with the courage to stand up to him.

Here is another collector’s item coming from me, David Cameron was right and Salmond was wrong and he is still wrong to try to exploit this, who is being deceived here? The electorate; yes, his members; yes, his party yes; there may well be others; too painful to mention.

Maybe some identifiable SNP person will address these points, what do you think?

WEE ALEX (THE SPIV) - THE WESTMINSTER BERMUDA TRIANGLE - THE EXPENSES AND THE SILENCE OF THE SNP BAMS. (PART 3)

It's now 5 days and 20 comments since my post about Salmond (the spiv's) expenses and my criticism of the SNP members; not one of whom is prepared to say anything against him or even express any doubt about his actions, they make sheep look like dare devils; Either that or every last one of them believes that he is; as he said "rock solid" in his claims well; you believe it if you want but watch you don't step in that rocking horse's s***e there.

If, Salmond (the spiv) is indeed "rock solid" about his expenses would it be reasonable to ask why he does not end the gossip and speculation by telling us why he is "rock solid" it's not like him to be so reticent when he can overturn his enemies is it? He refuses to act on Annabelle Goldie's call to publish his diary for the period in question; why? is there not one person in the SNP asking this question? not one; it's becoming bizarre is it not? when asked about his expenses for this period he responds by attacking David Cameron over an unrelated matter; still no reaction from SNP members, what a bunch eh? still they seem to have kissed and made up as wee Alex (the spiv) was there in the Commons Chamber yesterday to join the Tories in the voting lobbies, some things never change do they?

Some apologists for him say that he was in London during the period that the house was not sitting; there on political business they claim thus entitling him to claim. Reports have him elsewhere namely in Scotland carrying out various visits opening things etc. he could of course have flown to London on political business despite Parliament being in recess; this he would have had to do several times. In addition, his claim was over the 2 month recess so he is claiming that he was in London for 40 days over these 2 months with no House of Commons business being done!

Salmond (the spiv) is regarded as an endangered species at Westminster so rare are his appearances yet; here he is positively haunting old London town like a mesmerised tourist; apparently unable to tear himself away; even to the extent of insisting on travelling down for political business and returning on the same day for constituency events.

40 days on political business in London during the 2 month summer recess when less diligent MP's were swanning around indulging in trivia like taking an annual holiday, we need a statue to this man right away. These are a flavour of the (spivs) activities regarding expenses, this would be a good time to recall his response when asked about this and other SNP members claims he said; I paraphrase; "it is a matter of regret that SNP members were caught up in the failed Westminster system" it was Westminster that forced him to claim expenses when the Parliament was in recess right? As I said earlier his attendance record at Westminster is deplorable; remember we learned this when he tried to pass himself off as one of Westminster's best value for money MP's hubris or what? how many of those many many missed days at Westminster were claimed for as well I wonder, this might run and run.

I appeal again in the interests of the people of Scotland; will anyone from the SNP express any doubt or try to explain the inexplicable or are they still cowering and trembling in (the spiv's) mighty dark, dark shadow.

DID SALMOND (THE SPIV) LIE AND CHEAT? TRY ASKING HIS SNP MEMBERS! (PART 2)

The post about Alex (the spiv) Salmond’s fraudulent expenses which was posted by me 4 days ago stated that he cheated on his expenses, refused to discuss the point raised by Ms. Goldie Tory Leader about this and misled people about the benefits to himself of having 2 salaries.

The main point I raised was that although the country and the dogs in the street know that he cheated and dissembled; no one from the SNP would publicly mention this let alone criticise him. I said then and repeat now that this was not solidarity but; fear and cowardice, it is 4 days later and I’ve had 14 comments most attacking me and Labour (not the Tories surprise surprise) but as predicted not a single voice raised against Salmond (the spiv).

THIS IS REMEMBER EVEN ALTHOUGH HE CLAIMED LONDON EXPENSES AND WASN’T IN LONDON; THAT'S FRAUD - IF WE CAN’T FIND A SINGLE NAT. WHO IS PREPARED TO CRITICISE HIM PERHAPS AT LEAST ONE JUST ONE COULD COME ON AND JUSTIFY HIS ACTIONS, ANYONE?

WHEN DO 2 WRONGS MAKE A RIGHT? WHEN YOU ARE ALEX (THE SPIV) SALMOND THAT'S WHEN.

I suspect that the expenses issue has almost blown itself out as far as headlines are concerned but; now that it has died down a bit we are able to look again at those who have been desperately hiding and hoping it would go away. Chief among them is our slippery old friend Alex (the spiv) Salmond; chief not because of the extent of his fiddling; but because he is the first minister; he continues to display mendacity and hubris but, as the old Ayrshire plagiarist said ‘facts are chiels that winna ding,/An downa be disputed’ The facts are that he put in claims which required him to be in London to make them genuine and he was not in London, the word is fraud.

He has been challenged by the redoubtable Tory leader Annabelle Goldie to publish his diaries for this period and he is “outraged” here is his bizarre and brazen defence; He said: "I have never claimed I was in London during all of these two months - any such suggestion is absurd, and the Tories' trawl irrelevant. He wasn’t there but claimed expenses which required him to be there and he describes that as irrelevant! Apparently with him so is the truth! He digs himself in deeper with the following :-

"I am delighted to have my expenses judged by the independent audit of all MPs' claims, and make all information available to them, and am entirely confident that the position is rock solid - how many Tory MPs can say that?” Can your position be “rock solid” when you have made false claims on your expenses? What Salmond (the spiv) is really saying is when it comes to his involvement in false claims 2 wrongs do make a right. You can draw no other conclusion, he is guilty as charged but his Tory accusers were at it as well so that’s all right then! thanks for clearing that up Alex.

His shifty reply throws up another cracker; he now demands an apology from Tory leader Cameron for accusing him of benefitting from 2 jobs with this gem of rat like cunning "I wrote to David Cameron on 20 May calling on him to apologise for his misleading claims about me benefiting from two salaries, when he should know fine well that I donate my gross Holyrood salary to an independent charitable trust - now worth nearly £40,000, and which has benefited over 40 youth and community groups in North East Scotland. "I am still waiting for a reply, and in light of this recycled attack am stepping up the demand for a public apology. Absolutely ‘he haw’ to do with Ms. Goldie’s request or indeed the accusations about his expenses, I can think of a reply for him O.K. So in Alex (the spiv’s) world a politician donating large sums of money to a charitable trust bearing his mother’s name; also Salmond of course, does not benefit him in any way or; put another way £40,000 of good publicity on his own doorstep is not to his advantage” “at’s a cracker” as Frank Carson would say, the stench from (the spiv) is becoming overwhelming.

What does this tell us? 1/ he cheated on expenses. 2/ he benefitted from 2 salaries. He put forward devious; deceitful excuses designed to hide his culpability oh, and he’s Scotland’s First Minister. Lots of heads have rolled for less than this which tells us something quite disturbing about him and his party. Quite simply he is content in the knowledge that he can say and do anything he pleases; pull any stunt; he can treat his party with unconcealed contempt and there is not one single member, Councillor, MP, MSP or MEP who would dare to stand up to him, is this a healthy political party? Labour right now; warts and all; right here today is in far healthier long term shape than the SNP the comparisons could not be starker. Far better I think and far more healthy to belong to a party where members are not afraid to criticise and dispute with each other in public than be like the SNP members obsequious camp followers, terrified of the leader (the spiv) Salmond.

THE BNP ARE HOPING THAT THE MP'S EXPENSES SCANDAL WILL SEE THE PUBLIC TURN TO THEM - CRUSH THE EVIL NAZI BASTARDS.

Think carefully about Thursday’s election; the mood at the moment is dangerous as it leans toward voters either not turning out or voting to punish the establishment parties, both of these responses might see people acting in haste and repenting at leisure, think about the devil you don’t know before acting.

Should the MP’s who broke and bent the rules be punished? Absolutely! Is this the time to do it? Absolutely not! The embarrassing stories are already claiming careers and destroying reputations so there is no fear of action not being taken, like any other situation where there is this much evidence and argument it will take time to sort out and a rush to judgement can cause the innocent to suffer, that would compound the felony.

Best to let the matter be investigated properly and then make rational decisions about the future, like Tam O Shanter’s wife Kate; you can “nurse your wrath to keep it warm” before acting on all the facts. If you react on Thursday you will be doing exactly what the right wing Tory Telegraph has set out to do which is of course maximise the damage to the Labour Govt. If you want to punish Labour or anyone else then do so but don’t be lured into acting by the biased reporting of the “Torygraph “

MORE IMPORTANTLY there is another evil presence involved here; that of the NEO NAZI BNP and their apprentices in UKIP they are lurking under their stones hoping to capitalize on voter anger over the expenses scandal. They are evil parasites who would introduce the policies of Hitler if they got a chance, we must be vigilant against these morons and make sure they are destroyed.

Are you prepared to allow your frustration at the behaviour of the big parties to push you into giving succour in any way to such evil? Racism, Anti Semitism, the Culling of the handicapped (their language) these and a lot more are the policies of the BNP and their rancid followers, think again, and again before letting this happen.

Do you want to see a society where your children and your children’s children come under such influences, it’s not hyperbole; history tells us that it can happen.

The BNP dream of a society where the rumbling sound of punctual trains and the accompanying smell of burning books is ever present; crush their hopes on Thursday.