“RIOTING IS THE LANGUAGE OF THE UNHEARD” (MARTIN LUTHER KING)

The Martin Luther King quote which heads this post was referring to riots in America but is relevant here as well. Stop and think why the riots take place in America overwhelmingly among the underprivileged black population and in this country the same happens with a disproportionate number of the black population involved as well as other underprivileged groups. The people in our country whom we have heard blaming the turmoil on criminal behaviour alone are either in denial or they are lying to themselves, for their claims to be true we would have had to be watching the biggest coincidence in history, one where they claim that disorder in society is caused my criminality and factors like unemployment, poverty and racism etc. play no part in any of it, an absurd position to take. "people riot because they are bad" well at least they don't have to waste time thinking about it once they have reached that deceitful and ludicrous conclusion.

Riots don't start spontaneously which they also seem to think, in this case it was the shooting of a black man called Mark Duggan by the Police who didn't bother to tell his family he had been killed which kicked it off, and an immediate investigation found that the gun they claim was his had not been fired as they had initially claimed. This is an area with a high black population where black youths are stopped and searched 5 times more often than white youths; do we need to go on? Were the Los Angeles riots some years ago started of their own volition or was the incident caught on camera and posted on U Tube of a black man Rodney King being savagely beaten by 6 cops with clubs have something to do with it? There are some allegedly intelligent people who are simply telling lies when they say that it was simply criminality, they are lying because they don't want to admit that society is partly to blame and they are the ones who created this society and they also govern and police it.

The slavering reactionary commentators say they should be shot on the streets which sounds rather like an incitement to violence to me but the authorities seem to ignore it while jailing people for using email etc. to incite riots. The Police who are calling for harsher sentences are the same police who are up to their necks in the Murdoch scandal as well as the sporadic killing of innocent people. The Murdoch press are also calling for tough action against rioters that's when they are not too busy hacking the phones of dead soldier's families and the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler etc. and of course the politicians who want to hang and flog were not so long ago doing their own form of looting under a different name. Now I ask you, if you were an unemployed youth living in poverty with no hope of a decent life and being constantly subjected to harassment by the police what would your reaction be if a policeman, Sun Journalist or politician were to tell you to behave? I know what mine would be, I would say something like "I'll behave if you agree to behave as well"

Jailing someone for 6 months for receiving a pair of stolen shorts from a rioter or for 4 years for inciting a riot on facebook is not the answer at least not the long term answer, the long term answer starts by accepting that for far too many in our society there is not much to look forward to and they are condemned to miserable lives while they can always catch the occasional glimpse of great wealth and opulence as it drives past them or appears on their TV screens. Just in case any of you have not heard me say this before I will say it again, this is what you must put up with and indeed expect as long as we live in a dog eat dog capitalist society. Capitalism can do many things but it cannot avoid creating losers and as long as we live in such a system we will have to put up with crime, bursting prisons, no go areas in our cities, feral children, drugs etc. etc. but hey! it doesn't have to be like this there is another way, look up the word Socialism.

SAVE THE BADGERS WITH A SIGNATURE

If like me you are a lover of wildlife and nature you might want to consider signing a petition to try to halt the proposed Badger cull by the Tory/Libdem Government. The petition has been set up by the Labour Party and can be found by contacting (www.campaignengineroom.org.uk) the Government have decided to go ahead with this despite public opinion and the scientific community being opposed to it.

The Government say that a cull will reduce the incidence of Bovine TB in cattle but the scientific evidence says it won't and could even increase the disease as badgers move away from areas where they are being culled. A previous 10 year scientific study concluded that culling badgers is not likely to reduce the numbers contracting Bovine TB and that a long term scientific approach is the best way forward. The petition in line with scientific thinking on this calls for a proper vaccination programme and better management of cattle movements. The quick knee jerk reaction to the problem here is the wrong way forward and we should do what we can to protect one of the country's most recognisable and best loved creatures.

“HISTORY OFFERS COLD COMFORT TO THOSE WHO THINK GRIEVANCIES AND DESPAIR CAN BE SUBDUED BY FORCE” (ROBERT KENNEDY)

The title heading was Bobby Kennedy's response to those who wanted to destroy the American Civil Rights Movement by brute force,

Months ago after the colossal Trade Union Rally in London and after the Student protests I was telling anyone who would listen that we were in for trouble in the coming summer. I am baffled therefore by professional politicians and journalists who appear to be acting as if the recent riots were a surprise. Nor is it a surprise to see the 'powers that be' launching an immediate campaign to portray events as nothing other than criminal thuggish behaviour which happened without any provocation. To accept that there are reasons and catalysts for such things happening would mean that the establishment would have to look carefully at its self and that could be awkward. The Government and the right wing dominated media in this country consider Oliver Twist's mother who died in the workhouse as a scrounger who should have "got on her bike" and found a bloody job instead of sponging off society.

Prior to the last election the loathsome Nick Clegg stated and I paraphrase "the election of a Tory Government with their proposed savage cuts will lead to civil unrest" he now says words to the effect that "this is criminal behaviour and nothing else" the Americans have a saying for people like Clegg they say he is "blowing smoke up your ass" meaning he is a lying con man. The blogosphere and Twitter etc. went crazy with one upstanding citizen posting
"If London riot police had shotguns this would all be over by now, and London would be a better place due to a sudden drop in the number of unemployed people" a radical thinker right? Big question here: is there a reason for what's happening and if there is should we try to prevent it happening in the future? After the Brixton riots of 19 81 Lord Scarman's report stated that "social conditions did not provide an excuse for disorder" and added the caveat that "social conditions did however create a predisposition toward violent protest" he was no friend of the left but he knew that these things don't just happen without cause. The Government cabinet of 29 members has 27 millionaires some of whom including Cameron and Osborne were members of a university group called the Bullingdon club who thought it a jolly jape to get roaring drunk and smash up bars and restaurants which they patronised, then off they would go back to their rooms smashing whatever they could on the way. All of these mindless upper class thugs are now calling the present rioters nothing but criminals and thugs; perhaps it takes one to know one.

We have of course been here before and I'm sure that some people are fed up hearing me say it but, under a capitalist system this is what you must learn to expect and accept because; like playing poker everyone can't win and when the losers don't even get the chance to sit at the card table trouble of this kind is always just around the corner. Add salt to the wounds by tolerating bent politicians, squalid criminal journalists, avaricious bankers, financial spivs and speculators, dishonest cops etc. all topped off by the shiftless unemployable Lords and Ladies, include the festering boil that is royalty sitting highest of all, consider multi millionaire non worker Prince Harry who is a poster boy for badly behaved youth everywhere: a veritable ill-bred drunken brawler of the highest kind. Let these pillars of society all frown, look down and talk down to the surly disaffected kids on the sink estates and guess what? you have a recipe for a lot of angry resentful mainly young people with no real stake in society who see no way out and only years and years of tedium; petty crime and cynicism which makes their situation incessantly volatile. Some might even think surprise, surprise that getting drunk and setting fire to a building is not a bad idea and having done that smashing shop windows and liberating some TV's and fancy trainers is a bonus. "If a banker can destroy people's hopes and cause jobs and livelihoods to be lost and still walk away with millions why can't I nick a pair of trainers" is possibly what they might say, maybe someone will write and explain that. One commentator made a damning claim today when he said that the rioters would have to be out full time working 3 shifts a day for more than a year without a holiday to do as much damage as rich tax evaders do in a week to the British economy. When the poor get the blame for everything wrong with society you get trouble; when they have to pay for the crimes of rich bankers and speculators you get serious problems. For their crimes bent cops and journalists get away with them; the tax dodger and gambling bank bosses get rewarded for it and the teenage rioter gets the jail, go figure.

I should not have to say what I am about to say but; because I know what some of the people who read this blog are like and what they are capable of I will state that I do not support rioting such as we have witnessed but let me be clear that that is a tactical statement, I say that not because the rioters are wrong but because I believe there are better ways of winning the battle, fighting fire with fire is a reasonable tactic but the establishment has bigger fires and big sticks to beat you with along with proposals to use water cannon, tear gas, rubber bullets, dogs horses etc. etc. peaceful disobedience is far cleverer The Rev. Martin Luther King and Gandhi taught us that, when the British and American public saw the treatment being used on peaceful protesters of all ages on TV the people started to win big time. History teaches us that a great many advances in people's rights and their futures were brought about by those who were prepared to stand and fight against injustice, those who condemn all protests riots etc. are simply wrong and either ignorant of history, in denial or simply liars. When a dedicated doctor earns a £100,000 a year and a footballer earns a £100,000 a week there is something wrong. The Boston Tea Party was a riot, the Russian Revolution started by riots as did the glorious French Revolution and many more great historical events are similar. The scenes of the last couple of days and nights might not be as huge as these past events but in their own way and at the heart of what has been happening they have similar origins.

The answer? It doesn't take long to explain, a fully comprehensive redistribution of wealth guided by a socialist government.

THE FAMINE APPEAL, THE MATCH AND THE MIGHTY SWEDE.

09/08/11 - 18:30 To Celtic Park to see the game between Celtic and Manchester United Legends being played as the John Kennedy testimonial and to raise funds for the famine in Africa, young Kennedy's football career was lost through injury and last night he donated all the proceeds of the game to the African appeal, there were almost 60,000 people there and they were bursting with pride and rightly so as they sang the praises of this remarkable young man who still to this day: several years after his injury ordeal shows no resentment or self pity, a real gentleman, a credit to his family, his club and Scotland.

The players included old favourites, some younger favourites and a smattering of celebrities, by far the most impressive guy on show was the astonishing Henrik Larsson, at the age of 39 he looked exactly as he always did: like a butchers whippet and just as hungry. He was up against the formidable frame of Dion Dublin and the two of them staged a personal battle which was worth the money to get in on its own, these two: still superbly fit old pros. treated the crowd to every trick in the book as they tried to get the better of each other, it was fun and great entertainment to watch. After about an hour the slightly younger and much lighter and quicker Larsson vanished over the horizon and Dublin never got within ten yards of him after that as the Swede scored a hat trick and ran the Man. U defence ragged.

Patrick Keilty? the Irish comedian was in goal for United and he stunned everyone by putting on a great performance, I actually thought he was an ex pro. Until someone told me who he was, he lost 5 goals but stopped a cricket score. One of United's best players was Ralph Little who plays Joe Royle's son Anthony in the 'Royle family' TV comedy and this guy really can play and he is very fit, another celebrity was Paisley boy and Hollywood star Gerard Butler who for some unfathomable reason was greeted by screaming girls every time he touched the ball he also has played a bit and his level of fitness was good as he tried his heart out, he played with a grin as he is apparently a big Celtic fan. Celtic won 5-2 but the important thing was the hundreds of thousands of pounds raised for a very worthy cause. The game also produced what for me was a collector's item, when any incident happened the giant screens showed the players involved in close up and on one occasion we looked up to see the unmistakeable face of Roy Keane wearing a huge grin and laughing, something that I and I suspect many Man U fans have never seen before, not only that but he didn't commit a single foul or square up to anyone all night, remarkable.

I am not a fan of friendlies but I am so glad that I went to this one, I think everyone involved went home feeling a warm glow for being part of it, the beautiful game came back with a bang last night and it was for the right reasons this time, no fights: no outrageous wage demands: no scandals and a big sum for a great charity. I went with my big cousin from Chicago Arthur Kelly who is here on holiday and whose dad my uncle played for the hoops just after the war and I think he might well need surgery now to get the smile off his face.

THIS CAUSE CAN BE EASILY HELPED BY SENDING MONEY TO OXFAM MARKED FOR THE AFRICAN FAMINE APPEAL – WHAT'S STOPPING YOU?

THE HOMOPHOBIA ENDEMIC IN THE SNP BREAKS OUT AGAIN.

I knew that if we waited long enough someone in the SNP would find a backbone and dare to introduce disagreement and debate in the party over something and it has turned out to be Gay Rights, 'De Ja Vu' how are ye! A fraudulent and creepy silence has long hung over the SNP when it comes to dissent in the ranks and their record and behaviour to the Gay community: the idea that a political party can exist with a total absence of debate and never any apparent argument is to say the least implausible. It suggests a cowed membership and a climate of fear generated by a clique at the top which is all powerful and ruthless; this is of course no surprise to those of us who are involved in politics and equally easy to understand when you look at the SNP leader Alex (the spiv) Salmond. Downright unsavoury events have taken place on his watch which would have caused uproar in my own party Labour as well as other parties but in the SNP nothing is said, he can do and say anything he wants without any opposition or argument from his subjugated members. His list of dodgy actions include selling lunches at Holyrood for party funds, his ingratiating behaviour with Trump, his cosying up to religious groups opposed to abortion, taking money from and refusing to condemn his celebrity supporter Sean Connery who advocates violence against women, his praise and closeness to the very rich homophobic bigot Soutar who bankrolls his party, no one ever takes him on, can they all possibly agree with him?

The SNP is once again being exposed for their toleration of homophobic bigotry and it is no more than they deserve SNP MSP John Mason has moved an anti Gay motion in Holyrood and; at long last we have a couple of prominent SNP members who have decided that they have had enough so, here is a collector's item for you I congratulate Alyn Smith SNP MEP, here he is talking about his fellow SNP member and MSP John Mason "What is in the small, mean, angry heads of bigots is a matter for them. I never asked for their approval, but I demand equality." Congrats also go to SNP MP Pete Wishart who described John Mason's move as a "nasty little anti-gay marriage motion" this repellent motion was supported by SNP MSP's Bill Walker, Dave Thompson and Richard Lyle. The SNP's record on Gay rights is appalling. I have attacked them before without managing to get any of them to stand up and be counted; maybe something will happen this time. It rather begs the question, if Soutar spoke about people's race the way he has spoken about Gay people would the SNP still take his money and give him a knighthood? The things I said about them were true then and are still true now it's time to clean these bigots out. Big hairy tough men and women in the SNP can't possibly be Gay can they, how can a brave heart be gay, is that what drives their attitude?

Can anyone in the SNP tell me if they are still doing business with the homophobic Mormons of Brigham Young University of Salt Lake City?

WHAT DOES RIGHT WING RHETORIC AND RACIST ABUSE LEAD TO? IS THER ANYONE STILL WONDERING?

When the Murdoch Empire spouts it's filth about immigration do some racists take succour from that? When they do the same about paedophiles is it possible that some blameless people will be hurt? When David Cameron makes a speech and finds himself and the Tories being lauded by the odious Nick Griffin of the BNP who claims that Cameron's speech is a "further huge leap for our ideas into the political mainstream" does it give him pause for thought? When Marine Le Pen of the French Nazi National Front (her father's daughter) also praises Cameron's speech and says it "endorsed her own party's line on multiculturalism" is he quite relaxed about it? Can speeches and news stories and campaigns fan the flames of reaction and violence? I say the can and do, Norway and Oklahoma were no accidents, and some people are culpable.

Why would the speech I refer to a couple of weeks ago in Munich by Cameron repeatedly state the lie that "Islamist Extremism" is the cause of terrorism? Cameron is a clever enough man to know that he is not telling the truth so why? Votes and opinion polls that's why and that conclusively leads to the kind of character he is and says it all about the Tory party, famously and truthfully described by the great Nye BevAn as "lower than Vermin" When the former Norwegian Prime Minister, and current chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee Thorbjorn Jagland, chooses the immediate aftermath of the worst racially motivated terrorist attack in Norwegian history to condemn Cameron's rhetoric. He describes it as "playing with fire" and claiming it could be exploited by extremists is it not about time that the hate filled right wingers of politics took a hard look at themselves?

The Tories are never more than a bad poll result or a big Murdoch type scandal away from playing the race card; it was ever thus and they will never change. I am comforted by this man's decision to say in public what millions have known for years and were too cowed by Murdoch and Co. to mention. That is that every action has a reaction and when you stir up hatred of a racist kind someone is going to suffer, invariably a member of a minority group, someone who can be called different from the mob, likewise bogus campaigns to protect children which are really to sell more papers. Clearly to Cameron and the Tories and the repellent Murdoch gang and their like the votes and the sales are worth it, the damage done, the lives lost and ruined are worth it. That's why we can't condemn any other people and why we have no right to, we here in the Capitalist rich west have education communications and wealth and that does not make us better people it only makes us worse.

SCOTLAND’S HEROES OF THE INTERNATIONAL BRIGADES UNITED AT LAST.

"We shall not forget you; and, when the olive tree of peace is in flower, entwined with the victory laurels of the Republic of Spain --- return!"

(La Pasionara) - Farewell speech to the International Brigades. Barcelona November 1St. 19 38.

I am often accused of being harsh on Scotland I prefer to regard what I say as the truth as I see it and as I see it a recent event shows that Scotland has every reason to be proud of a famous episode in its past. The recent event was the release by MI5 of all the names of those British volunteers who joined the International Brigades to fight Fascism in Spain in 19 36. Scotland and Ireland supplied many volunteers, more than other countries going by population; they remain an inspiration to everyone who strives for a better more equal society. As I began to read and learn about politics in my early teens I became besotted with 'Spain' and these events. A statue stands in Glasgow at Custom House Quay of one of the most famous Spanish Republicans Dolores Ibarruri: known as "La Pasionara" a fierce and brave politician who rallied the troops against Franco's fascists with her mesmeric oratory and courage. The legend on the statue says "better to die on your feet than live on your knees" and it is an honour and privilege to have this statue of such an inspirational Socialist Heroine in Glasgow, a place where she would have felt at home.

Spain elected a Socialist Republican Government and the army staged a revolt to bring it down led by General Francisco Franco, backed by Hitler and Mussolini. Britain, France and America to their undying shame did nothing although many French and Americans volunteered as well for the International Brigades the American volunteers were called "The Lincoln Battalion" It is strongly hinted that Cafe owner Rick played by Humphrey Bogart in the classic movie Casablanca was a veteran of the Lincoln Battalion such was the romance which surrounded the cause. The fascists won and the green light was given to Hitler for what was to follow, an estimated 200,000 were killed in the fighting and in the couple of years that followed double that, 400,000 were executed. A male prison in Madrid was converted to a female prison to hold Republican women prisoners many of whom were executed. You can get a flavour of the times when you learn that the prison was run by an order of Catholic Nuns who dragged women prisoners to the Gallows kicking and screaming.

Approx. 4,000 British volunteers went to Spain 534, 65 of whom were Scottish paid the ultimate sacrifice in the fight for the Democratic Spanish Republic. Many artists went such as Orwell and Hemingway who wrote about it and the great Spanish genius Pablo Picasso captured on canvas the terror of unarmed civilians being attacked from the air by German planes in the town of Guernica the painting of that name is now one of the most famous ever painted.

The unfinished lists are now complete and all of the valiant comrades who fought in Spain are at last united in the complete roll of honour. Scotland should be proud of the volunteers who went there and at a time when some people are arguing about the lack of history taught in our schools we should put aside the myths and legends and teach our children about these real flesh and blood heroes. Irish singer Christy Moore pays tribute to the Irish Brigade in a song called "Viva La Quinte Brigada" someone should do something similar for the Scottish volunteers, you can catch it on U Tube.

FOR MURDOCH, CAMERON AND THE MET. "OH WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE WHEN FIRST WE PRACTICE TO DECEIVE" (WALTER SCOTT)

Excuse my language, I feel able to get away with it because I'm quoting the great Irish writer James Joyce when he had one of the characters in his famous novel "Ulysses" describe the fictitious newspaper where he worked as "The Arse Wipers Weekly" The phrase comes in to my head every time I hear the name Murdoch. I confess that Rupert Murdoch has been a personal thorn in my side ever since I first heard of him and read what passes for journalism in his papers. You see I made a promise to myself a long long time ago to make every effort never to hate anyone, hence the Murdoch thorn in my side.

The Murdoch Empire the Metropolitan Police and the Government are looking more and more like a sack of rats which have been poked by a stick as each day passes, is Capitalism an abomination or what; does it hold the moral high ground over other political systems; has it not become more difficult to claim that? These shysters are the people who have most vociferously attacked Socialism over the years, what can they say now? We live in times where tens of thousands of people are losing their jobs and their homes and our society is being shown as venal and dishonourable. Driven by a rich and greedy group of rich twisters backed to the hilt by an all powerful Press dictator who is power mad and immoral, how did we get here?

Chances have come and gone for one reason or another. We missed the boat when we watched the French Revolution when we should have been joining in, likewise the Russian Revolution, but opportunities will come again just like this one, why? Because capitalism cannot work, it creates far more losers than it ever could winners and that won't change; not until we make it change and make it change we must.

I have long argued within the Labour Party that we should not try to get along with people like Murdoch. Whatever he and his mob might say or do including backing Labour they are not our friends and no matter what we may say or do they will stab us in the back when it suits them, better to die on your feet than live on your knees. Circumstances have now presented the left with an unprecedented advantage over the people who see themselves as our natural rulers, A financial Tsunami; and now a collapse in the Capitalist Press's credibility must surely give us the incentive to keep going until we have cleaned these crooks and thugs out of Government, Police and Media. Time to show solidarity with what we consider to be justice honesty and decency. Socialism is a good idea, look around you; do you want to carry on like this forever?

Do people really want to have their lives and the lives of their friends and loved ones influenced by the kind of brutes who celebrated when an Argentine ship was sunk with hundreds of lives lost with the Murdoch headline "Gotcha" is that who we are? Thatcher wanted to prevent the Argentinean dead being prayed for at the post war ceremony at Westminster Abbey until the Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie threatened to refuse to officiate at the service, is that who we are? It is the most delicious of ironies that Archbishop Runcie is a holder of the Military Cross for his distinguished bravery in Normandy as a tank commander in World War 11.

I'll tell you who we really are though and Murdoch won't like it, we are the British Sailors who served on HMS Fearless in the Falklands who tore up copies of the SUN and threw them into the sea when they read the Headline 'Gotcha' that's who we are and we will never be Murdoch's kind. When Murdoch ran the headline "bonkers Bruno locked up" when the popular boxer Frank Bruno had a mental breakdown he (Murdoch) was saying quite clearly that that is exactly the kind of people we are, well, are we?

Let's try to make this a fresh start, when we get rid of Murdoch and the rest of the crooks and low lifers who hang on to him as well as cleaning out the Metropolitan Police and their friends in high places we must all be vigilant and make sure that the penny has at last dropped and say in that great Socialist word, 'collectively' we will not let this happen again.

MURDOCH FOLDS AND SALMOND BREATHES A SIGH OF RELIEF

How big a story is the Murdoch hacking scandal? I have been around in political terms for approx 45 years and I think it could well be up there with Profumo, Princess Diana, Peter Manuel and Mo Johnston signing for Rangers etc. in no particular order and it still has to run for a while.

Everyone has an opinion on it except the most opinionated person in Scotland, Alex (the spiv) Salmond who mumbled a couple of predictable platitudes about it and then went uncharacteristically shtum. Scotland's greatest ever 'ambulance chaser' has been struck dumb on this massive issue. He seems to be determined to maintain a 'Trump' like silence over it. Can anyone have a stab at wondering why?

His intellectual giant of a Justice Minister; the fool MacKaskill has also been maintaining a monastic silence over this, can anyone understand it? I look forward to hearing from you.

NEWS INTERNATIONAL BECOMES A CORNERED RAT.

The article below is copied from a reader's comment and shows Murdoch and Co. as the liars and thugs that they really are. "Don't imagine this act of defiance will be painless or without consequence. Already a senior Miliband aide tells me they received a "very hostile" threat, not veiled at all, from a News International journalist warning: "You have made it personal about Rebekah, so we'll make it personal about you." Braggadocio maybe, but as the recipient of the threat said: "That's how they operate." And it can be terrifying. Bugging, blagging and Benji the Binman send shudders down many a spine. The spell is broken, but the terror may not be over" The above is a quote taken from the most recent Polly Toynbee article on this scandal. Even now News International are still trying to bully people and even now people still fear them. This is unacceptable and now is probably our last chance to bring Murdoch to account. I would call on every member and supporter of the Labour Party to contact the party leadership and offer their full support and solidarity to anyone threatened in this manner and ask that the aide concerned make a full public statement which details who made the the threat and when. For members and supporters of other parties I would urge you all to contact your party leadership and offer your full support to anyone threatened in this way by News International and demand that they name names and make full public statements on every threat they receive. Everyone has to stand together on this. We can beat Murdoch and the disgusting rags he publishes. link to Toynbee article http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/08/ed-miliband-broken-omerta-old-monster

I KNOW, I KNOW, I SHOULDN’T GLOAT.

At this very difficult time for himself and his family Rupert Murdoch has issued a statement asking that the public and news media respect their privacy stating that they need space to themselves to get through these trying times, it's only fair right?

DO YOU KNOW ANYONE INCLUDING YOURSEF WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN HACKED BY MURDOCH ? READ ON!

We now have reports that the News of the World offices in Scotland are to be investigated by Strathclyde Police as it has emerged that phone hacking is likely to have taken place there. I intend to write to my MSPs, MPs and Euro MPs urging them to do whatever they can to ensure that this is properly investigated and that we do not have a repeat of the previous failed investigations by the Met. And I would urge everyone from every background and every political persuasion to do the same. No doubt Wapping is the centre of this scandal but it's important that a light be shone on all parts of Murdoch's rotten empire.

Everyone who thinks that they or someone they know has been hacked as well as anyone who can think of any situation where someone has been hacked should speak to the Police about their suspicions.

Would you like me admit to being a slave trader before admitting to working for Murdoch?

The late great author Dennis Potter was interviewed by Melvin Bragg at a time when his life was ebbing away because of terminal cancer, he was in constant pain and during the interview he would stop and sip from a flask containing liquid morphine he did this he said "to keep Rupert under control" when Bragg asked him to explain he said he had named his cancer Rupert in honour of Rupert Murdoch. This interview came to mind when I was reading about the exploits of Murdoch's paper 'The News of the World' It still hasn't sunk in properly what these people, yes they are people; were doing. The tabloid press and most of the so called quality broadsheet press in this country deserve the often used insulting description of 'the gutter press' I can think of no other profession except journalism which has the ability to demonstrate mankind at its best and at its worst. For every James Cameron we get a Kelvin Mackenzie and for every Orla Guerin we have a Kay Burley and it's no coincidence that McKenzie and Burley are tainted by their association with Murdoch.

Hacking in to the phone of the murdered child Milly Dowler is a loathsome thing to do even by Murdoch standards and we are now left to wonder how many other times they have done this. Cases mentioned are the young girls murdered in Soham, The missing McCann girl and the victims of the London Bus bombings, we now know if we ever doubted it that all are suitable grist for Murdoch's mill, what indeed would they refuse to exploit on moral grounds after this? I can't think of anything, can you? Like most things in life this reminds me of a brilliant film with a nasty story line it's called "the Ace in the Hole" and it is so like the News of the world today that it is spooky. A low life journalist stumbles into a situation where a miner is trapped underground and he manipulates the situation by slowing down the rescue attempt to allow him to file heroic copy to daily newspapers to make money, it ends, no I won't tell you how it ends, try to see it, suffice to say that if the News of the World ends up like the villain played by a brilliantly vicious Kirk Douglas then I will cheer up. There is a criteria for people who build business empires part of which is the question put before Governments grant permission for expansion it is simply this "is the person involved a suitable person to acquire this business or to gain greater control of something" Murdoch is in hot pursuit of gaining total control of B SKY B which would give him a vice like grip on the news in our country. Is this man a suitable person to gain control of this amount of influence? It sounds rhetorical I know but today in Parliament and in news studios I listened to people making his case for him, I don't want to politicise this so I won't name them, go look for yourself.

Politicians and political parties fear his lash so much that they will do anything to avoid upsetting him but today we saw the rare sight of the House of Commons almost completely unified in their condemnation of Murdoch and what he stands for, is it too much to hope that they will stand up to him and cut him down a bit? Probably not but I can certainly say as someone who found his support for Labour sickening that I am glad we no longer have his support. I feel cleaner and more decent now that he supports the Tory/Libdem Government, I say to decent people of whatever party that support from someone like Murdoch is too high a price to pay for power, we all have to sleep at night. Do we have bent politicians? Yes, do we have bent coppers? Yes and do we have bent Journalists? Yes. The politicians now have the chance to clean out 'the Augean Stables' let's hope the revelations to come strengthen their resolve. If I had to choose between politicians who were vilified for expenses fraud and journalists and cops who can do things like this the politicians win every time and they have a chance now to redeem themselves by doing the right thing.

SALMOND THE ROYAL FLUNKY BETRAYS HIS PARTY FOR THE QUEEN.

When is SNP policy not SNP policy? Apparently when the (wee spiv) Salmond decides to change it, he does not need a conference decision it would seem, how else can we explain his utterances on the Queen. Going by what he is now saying the Queen under independence will be de facto the Scottish Head of State. The Salmond line is now the following, "since the creation of the Scottish Parliament the policy is for an independence referendum which will include the long standing policy for the Queen and her successors to be the Scottish Head of State" OK I'm not a member of the SNP but; I take an interest in such matters and I knew nothing of such a policy and I'm sure I would have had something to say about the hypocrisy of such a position.

Rewind to 1997 the scene is the Rothesay Pavilion the occasion is the SNP conference the debate is the future of the Monarchy under an independent Scottish SNP Government, the decision was and I quote "a referendum will be held on the question of whether or not to retain the Monarch as Head of State for Scotland" Party leader Salmond spoke against the motion and lost he then said "the leadership will respect the view of the party" quite unequivocal eh? no shades of grey eh? the party took a democratic decision to hold a referendum on the Monarchy and the leader endorsed the decision. So that's that then isn't it? well, remember this is the SNP where democracy is a sham and only exists when Salmond (the spiv) agrees to it, I do hope you braveheart SNP members are reading this and sharpening your pencils to attack me, I can hardly wait to hear from you. The fraudulent party response is that it has been party policy to keep the Queen since its formation in 19 34 or put another way the SNP conference in Rothesay in 19 97 did not actually take place so says the leader and what the leader says goes right?

A leader overturning a policy decision because it doesn't suit him or her would be a dangerous thing to do in any party except the SNP under Salmond (the spiv) that is the embarrassing truth about the SNP members, he knows he can do anything he wants because his membership is completely spineless he can and does hold the ordinary members in contempt and he is right to do so. OK I might be wrong but I see no evidence of it. The abolition of the hated Windsor Monarchy is one of the main reasons that a lot of people were attracted to the SNP, where are they now, if they are not prepared to speak out on this betrayal then why are they still in the party, just what do they mean by independence? Is it not about time we heard from at least one or two of them, my guess is that they will all come to heel behind their lord and master Alex (the SPIV) Salmond. 'such a parcel o rogues'