COMRADE TONY BENN R.I.P.

A bad couple of days, we have lost two giants of the political left, Bob Crow and now Tony Benn, we are still standing though and the struggle will go on. 

A couple of years ago Tony Benn was doing a book tour and was to speak at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, 3 invites were sent to Renfrewshire Council to attend as invited guests as our constituency of Renfrewshire is where Glasgow Airport who were sponsoring the tour is located, I got one of those tickets because Labour leader of the council Jim Harkins found himself dealing with some emergency or other and had to drop out, lucky coincidence number 1. We, (provost Ronnie Burns, Cllr. Tom Williams and myself) turned up at the venue over an hour early by mistake, lucky coincidence number 2. We were shown in to the invited guest reception area where we took the only table there to wait, it was a stand around and mingle affair and we were first in and it was the only table and it had 5 chairs. Minutes later in came Tony Benn with his assistant and we sat there mesmerised as he looked over and we realised he was coming over to ask if he could join us, happy coincidence number 3.

We then spent just short of an hour talking to one of our great political heroes and it was like a personal tour of most of the twentieth century, Churchill, Ghandi, Lloyd George, JFK, Khrushchev, Mandela, Nye Bevan, Clem Atlee, Kings, Queens, Presidents were all included in the discussion and of course he had met them all. He was the most modest and genial of men, highly intelligent and kind and a great Socialist. He gave us copies of his book and I still treasure mine which has written on the inside cover "to Terry in unity Tony Benn". When people attack the Labour Party I think of people like Benn, Foot, Bevan etc. and I am encouraged that I am part of what they stood for.

I take what some might consider to be a simple stance when I say ‘if the Labour Party is good enough for Tony Benn then it is good enough for me’. Tony Benn is by no means unique in this regard, there are a great many fine Socialists like him in the party but he is famous and as such he’s a good example to use. I watched a tribute programme last night on Tony Benn and was struck by the twisted logic that was used by some of his opponents like Healey, Kinnock and Hattersley, essentially what they were saying was that his opposition to them was divisive and their opposition to him was not divisive?. I think there is great anger and jealousy now among those who fought these bitter battles with him, it was never anything else but left V right and the latter are regarded as the people who let the party down while the former Tony Benn, is regarded as a Labour hero. Be prepared for more settling of old scores over the next while as the right wingers regroup to traduce his memory.  

Politics is a funny old game. Tony Benn R.I.P.

COMRADE BOB CROW - RIP.

I wrote a post to the Glasgow Herald comments page yesterday (Monday) and in it I was very complimentary about Bob Crow The leader of the RMT union. I described him as being in the tradition of Arthur Scargill, Mick Mc Gahy, Len McCluskey and Jimmy Airlie, men of the utmost integrity and true warriors for the working class. It’s now Tuesday at 12.28 pm and I read an hour ago that Bob Crow had died of a heart attack, I am reeling at the news, firstly because he was a man I admired greatly and also because of the coincidence of writing about him less than 24 hours ago, the fact that his death was so sudden and him not being unwell adds to the shock.

Some of the names I have mentioned above were members of the Labour party and some were not but I regarded all of them as union brothers and political comrades, never enemies, opponents occasionally but never enemies. Crow was a giant, intellectually, politically and physically as well, he was very popular with his union members not least because they enjoy good wages and working conditions because of his efforts on their behalf, but also because they knew he was 100% on their side and he would never ever sell them out just like the people I mentioned above. One of my great pleasures in recent years was to watch Bob Crow on TV or listen to him being interviewed on the radio, he was quite simply brilliant. The last one I saw was between him and Andrew Neil who joined the growing band of political journalists who could not land a glove on him, that is not meant to be demeaning to Mr. Neil who is tough, able and rather good at what he does. That interview was like most others with Crow a walk in the park, Neil smart guy that he is recognised that he would not get the better of him and ended up turning it in to a jovial good natured encounter. At one juncture Neil slyly put up a picture of Crow lying on a Brazilian beach on holiday in an attempt to show him in a bad light with his members, the suggestion being that his members could not afford such luxury. Crow quite calmly and politely suggested that he would discuss holidays etc. with Neil if Neil agreed to answer Crow’s questions about his wages and holidays etc. which made me wonder why other interviewees do not do something similar, Neil was stumped but was wise enough to take it on the chin rather show himself in a bad light by becoming churlish at the big bruiser’s audacity.   

I wish our union leaders and our politicians of the left would try to emulate people like Bob Crow he represented everything a good union leader should be. Tough, uncompromising, honest and diligent in pursuit of his members interests and not afraid to speak out politically in defence of the working classes. I sincerely hope his successor carries on where Bob left off.              

SUPPORT FOR SEPARATION SLIDES TO 17% IN SALMOND'S OWN BACKYARD.

The latest laugharendum poll is interesting. It was taken in North East Scotland, a place that the snp like to portray as alex salmond's heartland. The place where he set up the Mary Salmond foundation with one of his many wages, named for his late mother, he subscribes to the theory that there is no point in doing something good unless you ensure that everyone knows you have done it, hence the name of the charity. The latest poll gives salmond and his crackpot vanity independence project just 17% support. When we see as we are doing wee Sturgeon on the TV constantly we know they are in trouble, wee salmond goes AWOL at such times, wee heilan stoat that he is. I predict that this will drop even further and the Yes campaign headed by salmond and the snp will be humiliated. We already know that 40% of snp voters have declared that they will vote No and women are getting hurt in the crush to get away from salmond and separation. Still, big sean connery has at last made a brave dynamic entry in to the proceedings. Considering the state of the yes campaign it now looks like curtains when you consider that there are very few bad situations that the arrival of connery can't make worse. He has made a courageous and extremely exhausting intervention by writing from the Bahamas, to tell us how to vote, this is a man who loves Scotland, he loves it's mountains, it's glens, it's cliffs and it's rivers. He loves to spend time gazing at their beauty as he flies over the country on his way back to his equally beloved tax haven in the Bahamas, what a man, doesn't he make you feel humble?. 25% is now a more realistic target for the yes campaign. Serves them right for all their lies.      

RENFREWSHIRE SNP UNRAVEL AND THE CAMERAS ARE THERE TO SEE IT HAPPEN.

·        Feb. 28 20 14 - 09.30. The council chamber at Renfrewshire Council has a "buzz about the place" as Councillors assemble for the first time ever under the unforgiving gaze of the TV cameras. The assembled crowd in the public gallery has been noticeably increased to what looked like a swaying mass of four people. The conduct of the snp was noticeably improved, not a difficult thing to do I hear you say but progress nevertheless. The most contentious part of the proceedings was a typically spurious motion by the snp attacking Labour and Tory peers for remarks allegedly made which, according to them politicised the coming referendum by abusing the dead and injured of WW1. The snp have 'previous' for unintentional irony in case anyone is unaware of their fragile grasp on reality. 

The object of their synthetic rage was Lord Lang the Tory peer who suggested that it was insulting the dead of that war by trying to break up the country which they had died for, Labour peers in particular Helen Liddle were also in their sights. Their powers of hypocrisy know no bounds as was witnessed by their own blatant attempts to politicise the conflict by perversely insisting that Lord Lang and Baroness Liddle had insulted the Scottish war dead with their remarks. In my contribution I defended the right of Lord Lang to have an opinion and his right to express it, likewise Baroness Liddle, this brought hysterical opprobrium upon me from in particular snp cllrs. A Doig, McEwan and Nicolson.  These three had decided that my declaration in favour of free speech and opinion meant that I was a right wing Tory and worse, particularly from Nicolson who has a distinct talent for mangling shredding and generally beating up the English language that has not been seen since the heyday of the late great Professor Stanley Unwin.

From these exchanges I believe we were seeing what would happen to people who did express views and opinions contrary to those held by the snp if they had enough power, they simply would not be allowed to express such opinions, the clamp downs would be justified by doing it “for the cause” of course. I am happy to declare that if my defence of freedom of speech and the right to form personal opinions is a crime I am guilty as charged.

The tenuous grasp on political reality and understanding was hilariously demonstrated by snp councillor Mylett who is another ‘brammer’, the snp tried to attack Labour because 47 of our Mp’s did not attend a debate on the bedroom tax, this led to Labour Cllrs. Mark MacMillan and Mike Holmes patiently trying to explain the very easy to understand practice known as the “pairing system” which allows Mp’s to be absent at the same time as their ‘opposite  pair’, simples eh?, well not to the snp it’s not and in particular not simple to the cerebrally challenged cllr. Mylett who bullishly opined that you can’t have a pairing system with an odd number of MP’s (47) cllr. MacMillan heroically managed to keep a straight face as he kindly explained to ex soldier Cllr. Mylett (yes he was allowed around weaponry) that 47 Labour MP’s is equal to 47 Tory Mp’s and no I am not making this up.

On he and the snp ploughed though demanding to know if these Labour Mp’s were paid when they did not show up for the vote. Labour Cllr. Mike Holmes then informed them that snp Mp’s Mike Weir, Stewart Hosie, Angus McNeil, Eilidh Whiteford, Angus Robertson and Pete Wishart had all failed on 5 occasions between them to turn up for votes on the bedroom tax and, yes you’ve guessed it, they were all paid for not turning up, and of course none of them had a pairing arrangement with anyone giving the Tory/Libdem government an advantage which they did not get when the 47 Labour Mp’s were paired.

This was a humiliating day for the snp in Renfrewshire and to top it all it was revealed that when the Scottish parliament led by snp finance minister John Swinney congratulated Renfrewshire Council for it’s actions and initiatives to mitigate the effects of the bedroom tax, Paisley MSP George Adam SNP despite being asked to join those congratulations refused to do so. The really disturbing aspect of all this is that the snp did not seem aware of what an embarrassing and humiliating day they had just had. They want to run a separate Scotland you know, honestly they do!.       

LABOUR FIGHTBACK CONTINUES WITH BY ELECTION VICTORY.

Labour have won the Wythenshawe and Sale East by-election taking 55% of the vote. UKIP beat the Tories in to third place and the Libdems were fourth and lost their deposit. The Greens, The BNP and the magnificently named “Captain Chapington- Smythe” of The Loony Party also lost their deposits with the good Captain coming last. The beautifully tailored and moustachioed captain was interviewed after the count and he declared defiantly while brandishing his swagger stick that they would be back and be even stronger and eventually they would ruthlessly govern “for God and her majesty” just like his inspirations and political heroes, Mussolinni, Hitler, Franco and Mr. Alex Salmond.  

ENGLAND 20 SCOTLAND 0

Why do we still insist on sending the Scottish ladie’s rugby team to play against the English men’s rugby team? It’s no fair so it’s no.   

THE WONDERS OF MODERN COMMUNICATIONS MAKE IT HARDER FOR SCOTLAND’S ANTI CATHOLIC ANTI IRISH SECTARIAN RACIST BIGOTS TO HIDE.

 Following Neil lennon’s treatment at Tynecastle many people wrote to the Herald’s comments page including me. Many people had their comments printed but I didn’t, Herald sports journalist Graham Spiers had been giving his opinion on the situation and I decided to make a few points about what I consider to be the reason that Mr. Spiers finds it easy to blame Lennon. This mild and honest criticism of one of their own journalists got me barred so here it is for at least some people to read.

Graham Spiers is as much a victim of the scourge of sectarianism as anyone else in Scotland. He recently wrote a touching piece about his late father, a Church of Scotland Minister who took young Graham to see his beloved Rangers and young Graham was suitably smitten as all wee boys are by their father's favourite team as I was by my father and Celtic. In his heart felt writings about his father however he never finds the courage to go near the fact that his father was quite happy to have him schooled in the Rangers tradition of anti Catholic sectarianism, how could he?. 

His father while obviously not a Jesuit, nevertheless "took the boy and gave us the man". That man now does not apparently recognise the deeply ingrained subliminal sectarianism which informs his views on Neil Lennon. Years ago before this latest worrying contribution from Graham about how Lennon "brings it on himself" he opined on Lennon, then a combative Celtic player about the constant controversy which seemed to always surround him. He suggested that one of the reasons back then that "he brought it on himself" was because he dyed his hair blonde. Make of that what you will.

Spiers is one of our best and most civilised sports writers and it is all the more worrying that he still finds it easy to delude himself about the real reasons for the treatment which is meted out to Neil Lennon. This clever, genial and urbane journalist is an example of how much trouble Scotland is in as far as issues like sectarianism and racism is concerned.

Len McCluskey, Stevie Deans and the Labour party were right all along over Grangemouth and the Falkirk selection process but it is too late now. Don’t let it happen again.

Owners of the Grangemouth oil refinery and petrochemical plant have dropped legal action against the Unite union.

Following the innocence and vindication of our yellow press’s “public enemy number one” Stevie Deans, the Unite Union Convener involved in the Grangemouth dispute, we find today that the company involved Ineos are back in the news. Not satisfied with intentionally causing the dispute to give it an excuse to target its workforce which they did most brutally, Ineos today at the High Court in London withdrew their legal action against the Unite Union whom they had accused of making "untrue and defamatory comments". They have also had to pay costs of £100,000. So, the deliberate Ineos provocation accompanied with their lies about Mr. Deans which forced him out of his job and gave them the opportunity they sought to destroy the livelihoods of 1,000 workers and increase their profits cost them £100,000. This is Capitalism in action, red in tooth and claw, destroying the lives of ordinary decent working people and demonising them as well as some kind of anti society criminals.

Every accusation by the company, the unctuous right wing media and even David Cameron the Prime Minister who called Mr. Deans a “rogue trade unionist” in the House of Commons has been proved to be bogus but, guess what? the damage is done and the millionaire capitalist owner of the firm who initiated all this is gone, he is back on his fancy yacht counting his money while the people he maligned and trampled on are left to pick up the pieces of their now damaged lives. The Unite Union leader Len McCluskey has also been vindicated and everything he said has turned out to be truthful.    

There is a topical and very fashionable tendency today for everyone who has been wronged to demand an apology, the gutter press usually like to lead these campaigns but I suspect that they will not be leading a campaign for apologies on behalf of Stevie Deans, Len McCluskey, Unite  and the Labour Party in considering that it is them who should be offering the apologies as well as Cameron and the shameful bullying company Ineos.

“Don’t mourn, Organise” (Joe Hill) that is what we have to keep doing, learn the lesson, remember who our enemies really are, I offer this advice as well to those in the Labour Party who turned against their own union brothers and sisters and their political comrades. It’s not rocket science comrades, brothers and sisters, when the main news outlets are condemning union action and persecuting union members, trying to destroy individual union officers and doing everything they can to damage the Labour Party,along with attacks from the Tories and the snp, make sure you don’t find yourself on their side, that is as they say today a “no brainer”. When Cameron describes a trade union member in the House of Commons as a rogue trade union member and the Daily Mail accuses Len McCluskey of being a threat to democracy and an enemy of Britain you should not have to think hard about “which side you are on” as the famous union song puts it. The next attack on Labour and the unions which comes along and you can rely on it that it will come along, will surely get you to remember what happened at Grangemouth, learn the lesson, stand together and don’t let it happen again.  

UNITE AND STEVIE DEANS VINDICATED OVER GRANGEMOUTH AND FALKIRK LABOUR PARTY. THE LIARS (TOO MANY TO NAME) SHAMED.

The snp,The Tories, the Libdems, the right wing gutter press, the whole reactionary establishment in fact are now coming to terms with the news that Mr. Stevie Deans the ex UNITE union convener at Grangemouth was in fact not guilty of the accusations made against him by those I have listed and many more. The old fashioned witch hunt which cost him his job and nearly destroyed his life was brutal and without mercy, unfortunately those guilty people will get off scot free when they should find themselves in court.

The UNITE union and it’s equally vilified leader Len McLuskie have been vindicated and their accusers have been exposed as liars and reactionary thugs, following a lengthy investigation the police have found no case to answer. There was no criminality involved, there was no law breaking and there was no interference with the selection process in the Falkirk Labour Party, some of whose members quite shamelessly and inexcusably joined the side of the anti union anti Labour hordes in an attempt to discredit Mr. Deans and UNITE, and indeed the Trade Union Movement. They are the infiltrators, the deviants, the ‘flinching cowards and sneering traitors’ we sing about when we sing the Red Flag, we are better without such people. The treatment of Mr. Deans by the company Ineos and the media was like a fascist purge and trust me, they will be back for another go, the company should be sued along with the news outlets who tried to destroy him. And disgracefully and unforgivably the snp were as opposed to the Grangemouth workers as any right wing capitalist yob could be, the snp are now bitterly opposed to the unions, the people of Scotland will not forget that, just as they will never forget that it was the snp who brought Thatcher to power.     

From now on we should remember the case of Stevie Deans when these deceitful pious hypocrites lecture us about union abuses, they are the real abusers and we must never forget that, the class war between them and us has never gone away and behaviour like theirs guarantees that it still has to be fought. If you ever wonder about the strength of Tory and upper class determination to crush organised Labour consider the case of Arthur Scargill who today is still being stalked by them and being lied about some 30 years after the miner’s strike. This is because government papers have been released which unequivocally prove that Scargill was right when he made his claims about the intentions of Thatcher to close the coal industry down. The BBC announced in relation to the revelations “it looks as though Mr. Scargill may have been right after all” “may have been right”  this is the voice of class warriors who can’t bring themselves to utter the truth.

The old questions and causes are still with us and the fight remains fundamentally the same, do you want people like Cameron and Osborne to form our society in their image, poor people being treated like animals, wages being cut while rich bankers trouser millions in bonuses, civil liberties being eroded and much more?. If you don’t then be assured you will have to stand up and be counted, you will have to organise and become politically aware, you will have to fight. I choose my words carefully when I say this is a war, for us a just war and we have to win, it’s the future we are fighting for, remember “ye are many they are few” as the great poet Shelley said in support of the working classes, his words are as truthful now as they were when he wrote them in 18 19.      

ARTHUR SCARGILL - STILL STANDING - STILL DEFYING THE TORIES - A UNION MAN TO BE PROUD OF.

If the Telegraph or “Torygraph” as it’s known is correct when it states that Arthur Scargill tried to make a killing by using ‘right to buy’ to purchase his flat in London then I can’t help but wonder what he did with all the money he was given according to the same sources by the Russians and Colonel Gadaffi? .

I also noted that the BBC said that “it looks like Arthur Scargill may have been right after all about pit closures” this stems from recent disclosures which reveal unequivocally that he was indeed right. All these years later the establishment can’t say the words Scargill was right. The fact that the right wing establishment are still on his case after all this time suggests to me that he should feel proud of his actions. We need trade union leaders today like Arthur Scargill, how much have the bosses and their parliamentary wing in the Tory party spent over the past years to try to discredit Scargill, Benn, Livingstone, Skinner etc.?.    

We are all in this together the Tories and their cowardly Libdem partners tell us, Scargill and people like them knew that we will never all be in this together until we rid ourselves of the rotten to the core capitalist system which allows parasites like Cameron, Osborne, the truly odious Clegg  and Boris Johnstone to thrive. Don’t be fooled by these people this is a class war we are involved in and the enemy does not recognise any rules, in a decent society they would be recognised for what they are, low life criminals.

Reports of our demise are however an exaggeration to paraphrase Mark Twain, we are still standing and we will continue to struggle, we have to it’s a struggle for the future.   

FIDEL CASTRO STILL FIGHTING, STILL DEFIANT AND STILL INSPIRATIONAL.

A happy New Year to the incredible El Commandante himself Fidel Castro who made a public appearance at an art exhibition in Havana Cuba on Wednesday January 10^th. 20 14. At the age of 87 years. More frail than we are used to seeing him but still an impressive and imposing figure as he was photographed among cheering crowds. He was seen chatting with the exhibition organisers and local artists. Reports say that he has retained all his legendary intellectual sharpness and is up to speed with world events and political situations. He was seen to be alert and able to discuss ideas and stories in an animated and vigorous way.

He continues to defy convention and remains an inspirational figure to Socialists and progressive people worldwide, like his close friend and comrade the late Nelson Mandela he is truly worthy of being called a legend. The story of how he, with a handful of poorly equipped comrades one of whom was the equally famous and revered Che Guevara took on the most powerful military power in history America and eventually triumphed against it is indeed the stuff of heroic legend and will live forever. Wherever there is oppression, wherever people fight for freedom and where there is injustice his name will continue to inspire. Along with Mandela I regard it as a privilege to have shared the planet with him for 65 years and I hope we continue to share it for many more years.           

SCOTTISH WORKERS BETRAYED BY SALMOND AND THE SNP. PALESTINE CONTINUES TO SUFFER ISRAELI OPPRESSION AND IT'S CHRISTMAS. NO CHANGE THEN.

Further evidence of snp duplicity and hostility to the trade union movement arrives just in time for the beginning of referendum year. Not that any was needed but this is special, the Scottish government announced that it would legislate against companies who blacklisted Scottish trade unionists and employers who employed Scottish workers on zero hour’s contracts. Unfortunately it was discovered that some large companies who are close to the snp will be exempt from that legislation, yes you heard that right, companies who are friends of the snp will be able to continue blacklisting Scottish trade unionists and employing Scottish workers on zero hours contracts with impunity because salmond and the snp have decided that their friends will not be subjected to the same rules as everyone else.  If this is not blatant anti union bias I don’t know what is. The snp for all their bluster have never been able to make a breakthrough with the trade union movement and the hatred that that has generated from them to the unions is palpable because of this.

Grangemouth provided a glimpse of the real face of the snp when salmond demanded that the union members should in fact surrender to Ineos. He called on them to accept cuts in wages and pensions, a two tier workforce, poorer conditions and a guarantee of a no strike agreement, he deliberately took those union members back a hundred years, it was the act of a vengeful traitor. Now he provides immunity for blacklisters and exploiters of labour. This man and this party are no friends of Scottish workers, unions would be discriminated against under an snp separate Scotland of that there is no doubt, they would be trampled under the snp jackboot as the snp took the side of management against them to settle scores because of their support for Labour. Scotland would become a country of cheap non unionised labour and a haven for tax dodgers.    

As 2014 approaches I am pleased that the political pendulum is swinging back to Labour and pleased that that applies to Holyrood, Westminster and the independence laugharendum, the NO campaign is rock steady and has maintained a steady and massive lead over the yes camp for well over two years now and I expect it to turn in to a complete rout and humiliation for salmond and the snp crazies.  The behaviour of the separatists is set to worsen as the car crash nears and I confidently predict civil unrest by some of what we used to call the “bampots” in the loony wing of the snp, the streets will not be safe for anyone with an English accent and we can only hope that the “Polis” are ready for it.

At this time of year I always ask people and I do so now to think of the “little town of Bethlehem” and let it remind you of those worse off than ourselves as it nestles on the west bank of the river Jordan in occupied Palestine. A place where inhabitants are surrounded by tanks, barbed wire and check points by the inhuman and brutal bully that is Israel. Offer up hope that it will someday be restored to peace and its people and all the other Palestinians under siege will be granted their dignity and human rights.   

NKOSI SIKELEL' iAFRIKA - GOD BLESS AFRICA. SOUTH AFRICAN ANTHEM - MANDELA R.I.P.

It is impossible to not think back over the life of Nelson Mandela on hearing of his death. My own involvement with South Africa goes back 45 years or more to the time when I was a teenager and a fledgling activist looking for good causes to support. South Africa was a place we knew very little about because it was an embarrassing secret to so called western democracies that were up to their elbows in it through investments. Slave Labour is one of the purest forms of capitalism there is and that was what provided the rich investment opportunities. It also provided a great standard of living with well paid jobs and all you had to do to get your share of this was to have a white skin. The whole stinking edifice was held together by that most inhuman brutal system called Apartheid, unparalleled in its evil and depravity.   

That so many seemingly nice decent people, (relatives anyone?) Yes it’s a horrible admission isn’t it, were able to go there and make themselves a comfortable living is a horrible reminder of how frail our human condition really is. The Jewish Americam writer  Hannah Arendt coined the phrase “The banality of evil” to describe Adolph Eichman when reporting his trial for war crimes and that sums up South Africa under white supremacist rule as they enjoyed the wages and lovely houses provided by the black population who were treated like beasts of burden. Now of course we see the disgusting spectacle of those who wanted Mandela not only to lose but to be executed declaring their admiration for him. Head of that list is the revolting and amoral Margaret Thatcher who declared him a terrorist and vehemently opposed sanctions against apartheid South Africa while conveniently forgetting to mention that her equally wretched husband Dennis had considerable sums of money invested in that corrupt and evil system, as did churches, The city and pillars of our superior society.  Cameron was also an enthusiastic opponent of Sanctions as was Tebbit and the rest of them, a more thoroughly dishonest and revolting bunch would be hard to find in history’s pages.  

To take on these circumstances and triumph was one of history’s greatest achievements and it is true in my opinion to say that without Mandela it would not have been done. His courage and dignity were quite amazing and he rightly became recognised as one of the greatest leaders in history. He was the mighty indestructible presence in the background as we marched and demonstrated and sometimes blundered our way through the Anti Apartheid struggle, I wonder how many times the South African White Supremacists must have bemoaned the fact that they did not just kill him when they had the chance. He became too big to kill and too well known to slip on the soap and fall down stairs in prison nor would the world believe a tale of suicide in prison, he became more powerful than those who jailed him. He was the inspiration for us and millions around the world. Glasgow was the first place to grant him freedom of the city, something to be proud of. I took my daughter Clare to see him in George Square as he thanked Glasgow for its unstinting support over the years, we were both young enough for me to lift her on to my shoulder to see him speak and then delight the crowd with an impromptu display of singing and dancing a precious memory for us both, as a delirious crowd embraced him while mother Glasgow poured down its relentless gentle rain, a memory she still talks about. He is quite simply irreplaceable but for South Africa there is no going back, the racist beast has been slain and so it must stay. There will be plenty of struggles ahead but they will win in the end and, as the legendary murdered American union man Joe Hill said “don’t mourn me, organize” Madiba would agree with that sentiment.      

REMEMBERING ROSA PARKS, A TRUE AMERICAN HERO.

Sunday saw the 58^Th. Anniversary of an event that changed history and it was down to a small, poor, quietly spoken African American woman. She was of course Rosa Parks. She has now taken her place among the most revered people in history because of her courage, her resolve and her great dignity. Her refusal to give up her seat on the bus to a white man kicked off a series of events which would change America for ever, the fire she lit still burns brightly today, for proof of that you only need look at the White House and its incumbent Barrack Obama.

Rosa Parks taken from the bus to prison

The story does not need retelling by me but I will say that Rosa Parks took her place in history and she continues to inspire those of us who struggle for a better world. She gives hope as well as inspiration. The repellent racism which blighted America at that time and still does today was not eventually challenged by armies, it was extraordinarily challenged by a small black woman who was travelling home after doing a tiring day’s work as a seamstress, she let the genie out of the bottle and it will never now be put back in.

Along with people like Mandela and Martin Luther King she has taught us that we should never give up, who would have thought that such a minor incident would go on to shake America and the world?. How many thought that white supremacist rule would ever be overturned in South Africa, how many thought that Mandela would die in jail and be forgotten and Apartheid would always be with us?. We all know now that one man did not give up despite the overwhelming odds and he, Mandela, inspires us still.   When you are ready to quit, when you are tired and exhausted, when you are losing hope, think of Rosa parks and carry on. Think also of the song we associate with her all over the world where people are oppressed and believe that right will prevail and that “we shall overcome some day”.  

1999 Rosa Parks is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton